SYSTEM, METHOD AND ARTICLE FOR USE WITH COUPLED VEHICLES

• US 20110068602A1
• Filed: 09/21/2009
• Published: 03/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Consolidated Metco Incorporated (Amsted Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Daniel Burrows
• Inventors: Burrows, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,167,358 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 296/180.1
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 35/001 For commercial vehicles or tractor-trailer combinations, e.g. caravans

Abstract

An automatic gap closing system automatically moves a gap closing cover between an un-deployed and a deployed configuration to selectively cover a gap between two coupled vehicles (e.g., tractor-trailer combination) in response to an actual or expected speed of at least one of the vehicles, thereby increasing fuel efficiency at relatively high or fast speeds without hindering maneuverability of the coupled vehicles at relatively low or slow speeds. Indications of speed and/or location may come from speed sensors, on-board computers (i.e., black box), GPS receivers, or wireless receivers.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use with vehicles, the apparatus comprising:

a cover that is selectively extendable between two vehicles that are physically coupled to one another by a selectively releasable coupler to at least partially enclose a top and at least two sides of a gap between the two vehicles, the cover having a first end attached to be at least proximate one of the vehicles and a second end movable with respect to the two vehicles; and

an actuator responsive to an automatically generated signal indicative of at least one of a speed or a location of at least one of the vehicles to selectively move the cover between an un-deployed configuration in which the second end of the cover is proximate the vehicle to which the first end of the cover is attached and a deployed configuration in which the second end of the cover extends at least partially between the two vehicles to be at least proximate the vehicle to which the first end of the cover is not attached, the signal automatically generated without a manual input of a person.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cover is a material that is at least water resistant.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a frame physically carried by a leading one of the two vehicles, the frame selectively moveable toward and away from a trailing one of the two vehicles to deploy and un-deploy configurations, respectively.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the frame is coil shaped.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cover is bellows shaped and is retracted in the un-deployed configuration and extended in the deployed configuration.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a lead one of the two vehicles is a tractor and a trailing one of the two vehicles is a trailer physically coupled to the tractor to be pulled thereby, and the actuator is responsive to selectively extend the cover from the tractor and the trailer.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller coupled to receive the automatically generated signal indicative of at least one of the speed or location, the controller configured to provide a first drive signal to the actuator to retract the cover into the un-deployed configuration in response the automatically generated signal indicating that the two vehicles will operate below a threshold speed.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to provide a second drive signal to the actuator to extend the cover into the deployed configuration in response the automatically generated signal indicating that the two vehicles will operate below a threshold speed.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to at least one of a speed sensor of one of the two vehicles or an on-board computer of one of the two vehicles that tracks at least one of speeds, locations, distances, or hours of operation of at least one of the vehicles.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a global positioning receiver communicatively coupled to provide a global positioning signal to the controller indicative of a global location of at least one of the vehicles.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller coupled to receive the automatically generated signal indicative of at least one of the speed or location and configured to provide a drive signal to the actuator to extend the cover into the deployed configuration in response to the automatically generated signal indicating that the two vehicles will operate above a threshold speed.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a wireless receiver that receives a wireless signal from a transmitter located proximate a section of a roadway having a posted speed limit at least equal to a defined threshold, the wireless receiver communicatively coupled to provide information to the controller indicative of the posted speed or a geographic location.

13. A method of increasing fuel efficiency of two vehicles that are physically coupled to one another by a selectively releasable coupler with a gap between a respective body of the two vehicles when the two vehicles are physically coupled to one another, the method comprising:

receiving an automatically generated signal that is indicative of at least one of a speed of at least one of the two vehicles or a location of at least one of the two vehicles that is indicative of a speed of the at least one of the two vehicles; and

automatically selectively moving a cover between an un-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration in response to the automatically generated signal, the cover selectively extendable between the two vehicles to enclose a top and at least two sides of at least part of the gap between the two vehicles in a deployed configuration in which the cover extends across at least part of the gap to a first length and selectively retractable to an un-deployed configuration in which the cover extends across part of the gap to a second length, the second length smaller than the first length.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving an automatically generated signal includes receiving an automatically generated signal from at least one of a speed sensor of one of the two vehicles or an on-board computer of one of the two vehicles that tracks at least one of speeds, locations, distances, or hours of operation of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving an automatically generated signal includes receiving a global positioning signal indicative of a global position location of at least one of the vehicles.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving an automatically generated signal includes receiving a wireless signal from a transmitter located proximate a section of a roadway having a posted speed limit at least equal to a defined threshold, the wireless signal indicative of the posted speed for the section of roadway or a geographic location which is logically associated with a posted speed.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

comparing an actual speed of at least one of the vehicles to a threshold speed; and

providing a control signal to an actuator to move the cover into at least one of the deployed or the un-deployed configurations based on the comparison.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining an expected speed of at least one of the vehicles based at least in part on a location of the at least one of the vehicles;

comparing the expected speed of at least one of the vehicles to a threshold speed; and

providing a control signal to an actuator to move the cover into at least one of the deployed or the un-deployed configurations based on the comparison.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein automatically selectively moving a cover between an un-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration in response to the automatically generated signal includes automatically moving the cover from the un-deployed configuration into the deployed configuration in response to the speed that the automatically generated signal is indicative of being above a threshold speed.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein automatically selectively moving a cover between an un-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration in response to the automatically generated signal includes automatically moving the cover from the deployed configuration into the un-deployed configuration in response to the speed that the automatically generated signal is indicative of being below a threshold speed.