Brake control unit

• US 20060214506A1
• Filed: 10/11/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Horizon Global Americas Inc. (Horizon Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cequent Performance Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Austin, Mark, Reichard, Jason, Prater, Jerald, Burgess, Pat, Morse, Dennis, Hoot, Marvin, Eccleston, Larry, Zavodny, Steve, Marsden, Doug, Englert, Kirk, Kulkarni, Chandrakumar, Albright, Marcia
• Granted Patent: US 8,746,812 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 303/123
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 17/22 Devices for monitoring or checking brake systems; Signal devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2270/402 Back-up
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2270/413 Plausibility monitoring, cross check, redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/085 by electrical means, e.g. travel, force sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/20 specially for trailers, e.g. in case of uncoupling of or overrunning by trailer inertia-actuated overrun brakes B60T13/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/172 Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters B60T8/17551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/323 Systems specially adapted for tractor-trailer combinations
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/885 using electrical circuitry

Abstract

Towed vehicles can be extremely heavy. Accordingly, it is too much of a burden to the braking system of a towing vehicle to not have brakes on the towed vehicle. Controlling the brakes of the towed vehicle must be accurately applied otherwise undesirable conditions can be created. There is a need for a method for controlling braking of a towed vehicle. This method comprises receiving a first signal via a communication bus of a towing vehicle, the first signal relating to at least one operating condition of at least one the towing vehicle and a towed vehicle, sending a second signal to brakes of the towed vehicle, the second signal based on said first signal.

Claims

1. A method for controlling braking of a towed vehicle, said method comprising:

receiving a first signal via a communication bus of a towing vehicle, said first signal relating to at least one operating condition of at least one of said towing vehicle and a towed vehicle; and

sending a second signal to brakes of said towed vehicle, said second signal based on said first signal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a third signal to said towing vehicle via said communication bus to interface with other subsystems in said towing vehicle, said third signal based on at least one of said first signal and said second signal.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating a brake output signal to said brakes of said towed vehicle based on said second signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said first signal is received by a processor from at least one source.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one source comprises at least one of a brake pressure transducer of said towing vehicle, a brake-on-off line, towing vehicle interior lighting, memory of said towing vehicle, transmission of said towing vehicle, powertrain of said towing vehicle, an anti-lock brake system of said towing vehicle, a speed meter, an ignition of said towing vehicle, a speedometer of said towing vehicle, and a brake pedal of said towing vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said second signal is based upon algorithms stored within said processor.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a signal from a brake pressure transducer of said towing vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said second signal is based on said first signal and said signal from said brake pressure transducer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one operating condition comprises at least one of speed of said towing vehicle, speed of said towed vehicle, said towing vehicle'"'"'s anti-lock brakes, vehicle identification number of said towing vehicle, condition of an ignition of said towing vehicle, gears of a transmission of said towing vehicle, and powertrain load of said towing vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a manual input signal from an operator of said towing vehicle, wherein said second signal is based on said manual input signal and said first signal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said manual input signal comprises at least one of gain setting and boost setting.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting and storing information in a memory to allow for diagnostics, life cycle management, and variables for future use.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said life cycle management includes at least one of number of ignition cycles of said towing vehicle, gain adjustments, number of manual activations, vehicle identification number of said towing vehicle, calibration data of said towing vehicle, calibration data of a brake control unit, date of manufacture of said brake control unit, configuration data of said brake control unit, and calibration data of said towed vehicle.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising interfacing with components of said towing vehicle to diagnose said components of said towing vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said components of said towing vehicle comprises at least one of brake pressure transducer, anti-lock brake system, brake on-off, cluster instrument panels, stability system, and power distribution.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a signal from a brake control unit, said signal from said brake control unit relating to operating conditions of said brake control unit.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said operating conditions of said brake control unit includes at least one of serial number of said brake control unit, configuration of said brake control unit, date of manufacture of said brake control unit, and components of said brake control unit.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a signal from said towing vehicle relating to detection of said ignition of said towing vehicle being turned off and sending a signal to a brake control unit via said communication bus instructing said brake control unit to power down.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving a signal relating to detection of ignition of said towing vehicle being turned on and sending a signal to said brake control unit to power up.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a signal relating to a lack of activity on said communication bus of said towing vehicle and sending a signal to a brake control unit via said communication bus instructing said brake control unit to power down.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising receiving a signal relating to detection of activity on said communication bus of said towing vehicle and sending a signal to said brake control unit to power up.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing at least one of a limited operating strategy, an automatic adjustment of output based on variable inputs from said towing vehicle, an inductive and resistive load testing, an internal short circuit protection procedure, and a gain button and scroll stuck routine.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein performing said limited operating strategy comprises operating said brakes of said towed vehicle despite unavailability of a main input.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein performing said automatic adjustment of output based on variable inputs from said towing vehicle comprises continuously sampling supply voltage and adjusting said second signal based on said sampling.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein performing said inductive and resistive load testing comprises sensing load of said brakes of said towed vehicle to determine if said load is normal and sensing if said brakes are available on said towed vehicle.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein performing said gain button and scroll stuck routine comprises continuously sampling inputs activated by an operator and determining if said inputs are real or an electrical failure.

27. A method for controlling braking of a towed vehicle, said method comprising:

receiving a first signal relating to at least one of an operating condition of a towing vehicle, a manual input, and an operating condition of a towed vehicle, said first signal being received via a communication bus of said towing vehicle;

sending a second signal to brakes of said towed vehicle, said second signal based on said first signal;

sending a third signal to said towing vehicle via said communication bus, said third signal relating to said operating condition of at least one of said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle; and

storing said third signal in a memory.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising generating a brake output signal to said brakes of said towed vehicle based on said second signal.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising sending a fourth signal to said towing vehicle via said communication bus, said fourth signal relating to said operating condition of at least one of said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising modifying said brake output signal based on said fourth signal.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising storing each ignition cycle of said towing vehicle in said memory.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising using variable length data grouping in storing each ignition cycle.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising using an end of configuration marker in storing each ignition cycle.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising using said end of configuration marker to initialize operating variables and diagnostic information for each subsequent ignition cycle.

35. A brake control unit comprising:

a processor;

a first signal relating to at least one of an operating condition of a towing vehicle, a manual input, and an operating condition of a towed vehicle, said first signal sent to said processor via a communication bus of said towing vehicle; and

a second signal sent by said processor to brakes of said towed vehicle, said second signal based on said first signal.

36. The brake control unit of claim 35, further comprising a third signal sent to said towing vehicle from said processor via said communication bus, said third signal relating to said operating condition of at least one of said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle.

37. The brake control unit of claim 36, wherein said brake control unit is integrated with said towing vehicle.

38. The brake control unit of claim 37, wherein said towing vehicle includes a dash having dash lighting elements and wherein said display is integrated with said dash of said towing vehicle.

39. The brake control unit of claim 38, wherein said display includes lighting that is adjustable to match said dash lighting elements of said towing vehicle.

40. The brake control unit of claim 39, wherein said display includes a display for a towed vehicle connected state and a towed vehicle disconnected state.

41. The brake control unit of claim 35, further comprising a controlled area network communication device to communicate with a controlled area network of said towing vehicle.

42. The brake control unit of claim 35, further comprising a manual input device, wherein said manual input device is capable of changing configuration of said brake control unit from electric to electric over hydraulic.

43. A brake control unit comprising:

a first signal sent from a towing vehicle'"'"'s communication bus, said first signal relating to at least one operating condition of said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle;

a processor capable of receiving said first signal;

a second signal sent from said processor to brakes of a towed vehicle, said second signal based on said first signal;

a third signal sent to said towing vehicle from said processor, said third signal based on a failure of at least one of said towing vehicle, said towed vehicle, and said brake control unit; and

memory operably coupled to said processor to store said third signal.

44. The brake control unit of claim 43, wherein said memory stores information relating to at least one of number of ignition cycles of towing vehicle, gain adjustments, number of manual activations, vehicle identification number of towing vehicle, calibration data, and defect codes of said towing vehicle.

45. The brake control unit of claim 43 wherein said memory stores variables for future use.

46. The brake control unit of claim 45, wherein said variables include at least one of gain setting, manual override setting, towed vehicle diagnostic codes, and brake control unit diagnostic codes.

47. A method for controlling braking of a towed vehicle, said method comprising:

receiving a first signal via a communication bus of a towing vehicle, said first signal relating to anti-lock brakes of said towing vehicle;

sending a second signal to brakes of said towed vehicle, said second signal based on said first signal;

releasing said brakes to prevent wheels of said towed vehicle from locking; and

reapplying said brakes of said towed vehicle based on said first signal.