CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM HAVING VERIFICATION AND/OR NOTIFICATION FEATURES

• US 20090178869A1
• Filed: 01/15/2008
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Ressa, Andrew Joseph, Doll, John William Arthur
• Granted Patent: US 8,126,627 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/170
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/00 Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator fittings acting on two or more sub-units B60W30/14; speedometers G01P; systems or devices for controlling speed in general G05D13/00 ; in traffic anti-collision system for road vehicles G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/186 Status of parking brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/14 Clutch pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence

Abstract

Cruise control systems and methods suitable for use in vehicles, such as Class 8 trucks, are provided. For example, cruise control systems are disclosed that include verification and/or notification features for verifying the operational condition of the cruise control system, and if non-operational, notifies the vehicle operator of system inoperability and/or instructs the operator to activate a specified control input, e.g., press and release the clutch pedal, the service brake pedal, the parking brake, etc., so that cruise control functionality may be enabled.

Claims

1. In a vehicle that includes a cruise control system having at least one functionality switch that engages the cruise control and one or more control inputs that disengages the cruise control upon activation, a method of notifying a vehicle operator of the availability of using the cruise control system during vehicle operation, the method comprising:

testing whether the cruise control system is operational;

if the cruise control system is operational, then enabling the cruise control system;

if the cruise control system is not operational, then notifying the vehicle operator that the cruise control is disabled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein testing whether the cruise control system is operational includes:

monitoring a sensor or switch associated with the one or more control inputs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein testing whether the cruise control system is operational further includes:

determining if the sensor or switch generated one or more signals, the one or more signals indicative of cruise control system operability.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying the vehicle operator includes visually, audible, or haptically notifying the vehicle operator.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the visual notification includes instructions for vehicle operator activation of the one or more control inputs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more control inputs are selected from a group consisting of a brake pedal, a clutch pedal, and a parking brake.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein vehicle operator activation of the one or more control inputs causes the cruise control system to be operational.

8. The method of claim 1, further including:

monitoring the cruise control system for errors; and

if errors are detected, disabling the cruise control system.

9. A cruise control system for a vehicle, comprising:

an output device operative to transmit information to a vehicle operator;

one or more control inputs;

one or more signal generators capable of generating signals indicative of the actuation of one or more associated control inputs; and

a controller that;

     1) receives signals generated by the one or more signal generators;

     2) stores said signals generated by the one or more signal generators;

     3) determines if the cruise control system is operational based on said stored signals; and

     4) generates cruise control inoperability information for output by the output device for notifying the vehicle operator of cruise control inoperability.

10. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the output device transmits audible, visual, or haptic information to the vehicle operator.

11. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the output device is a display for visually displaying information generated by the controller.

12. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the control input is selected from a group consisting of a service brake pedal, a clutch pedal, and a parking brake.

13. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the controller determines cruise control system inoperability upon vehicle operator input.

14. The cruise control system of claim 13, wherein the vehicle operator input is activation of one or more cruise control functionality switches.

15. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the controller determines the cruise control system inoperability at a predetermined time period after vehicle start-up.

16. The cruise control system of claim 11, wherein the controller further generates signals to be displayed on the display that instruct the vehicle operator to activate the control input associated with system inoperability.

17. The cruise control system of claim 9, wherein the one or more signal generators are selected from a group consisting of a service brake pressure sensor, a service brake pedal position sensor, a service brake pedal position switch, a clutch pedal position sensor, a clutch pedal position switch, a parking brake position sensor, and a parking brake position switch.

18. A vehicle cruise control system, comprising:

a display mounted in a location visible to a vehicle operator and operative to display information;

one or more control input devices;

a cruise control monitoring system for monitoring the activation of the one or more control input devices;

means for determining the operational condition of the control input monitoring system and for displaying a message on the display indicating cruise control inoperability.

19. The vehicle cruise control system of claim 18, wherein the message further includes information that vehicle operator activation of a specified control input is required before cruise control functionality will be enabled.

20. The vehicle cruise control system of claim 18, wherein the one or more control input devices are selected from a group consisting of a parking brake, a service brake pedal, and a clutch pedal, and wherein the control input monitoring system includes one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of a service brake pressure sensor, a service brake pedal position sensor, a service brake pedal position switch, a clutch pedal position sensor, a clutch pedal position switch, a parking brake position sensor, and a parking brake position switch.