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Apparatus and method to dynamically adjust electronic braking using TPMS

  • US 10,150,456 B2
  • Filed: 06/19/2014
  • Issued: 12/11/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of dynamically adjusting a braking system of a secondary vehicle being towed by a primary vehicle, the method comprising:

  • receiving an area of the dynamic footprint of a tire, the area of the dynamic footprint being determined by and received from a tire pressure monitoring (TPM) sensor, the area being determined by measuring an elapsed time between;

    a. the occurrence of a first shock wave created and detected by the TPM sensor at a first instantaneous time impacting pavement on which the tire is traveling; and

    b. the occurrence of a second shock wave created and detected by the TPM sensor at a second instantaneous time leaving the pavement on which the tire is traveling, said shock waves being detected by an accelerometer in the TPM sensor;

    the area being determined by calculating the length of an arc travelled by the tire between the occurrences of the first and second shock waves and comparing the calculated length to an overall length of the tire rotation;

    receiving the measured pressure of the tire;

    calculating the weight or force of the secondary vehicle on the tire using the pressure and the area;

    calculating a mass from the calculated weight or force;

    using the mass, calculating at a processor a momentum value sufficient to change a speed of the secondary vehicle from a first value to a second value;

    transmitting instructions to alter the operation of the braking system based upon the momentum value;

    re-calculating the momentum value in real-time and at predetermined time intervals regardless of the speed of the secondary vehicle.

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