TRAILER BACKUP ASSIST REMOTE KNOB STATE MANAGEMENT

• US 20170297620A1
• Filed: 04/18/2016
• Published: 10/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2016
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Lavoie, Erick Michael, Trombley, Roger Arnold
• Granted Patent: US 10,279,839 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 13/06 for backing a normally drawn trailer
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/04 electrical, e.g. using an electric servo-motor connected to, or forming part of, the steering gear
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00

Abstract

A steering input system for a trailer backup assist system includes an input apparatus having a housing and a user-manipulable input element coupled with the housing. The system further includes a controller determining a state of a use condition of the input apparatus and, based on the state of the use condition, one of implementing or disabling a trailer backup assist mode. The trailer backup assist mode generates a vehicle steering command based on an instantaneous position of the input element.

Claims

1. A steering input system for a trailer backup assist system, comprising:

an input apparatus, including;

a housing; and

a user-manipulable input element coupled with the housing; and

a controller;

determining a state of a use condition of the input apparatus; and

based on the state of the use condition, one of implementing or disabling a trailer backup assist mode including generating a vehicle steering command based on an instantaneous position of the input element.

2. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein:

the first use condition is a location of the input apparatus with respect to a vehicle associated with the trailer backup assist system, the state of the use condition being one of presence in or absence from the vehicle; and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the state is absence from the vehicle.

3. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein

the first use condition is an occupancy of a driver seat of a vehicle associated with the trailer backup assist system, the state of the use condition being one of the driver seat being occupied or unoccupied;

and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the state is the driver seat being unoccupied.

4. The steering input system of claim 3, wherein:

the input apparatus is physically detached from the vehicle and in electronic communication with the controller by a wireless transmitter; and

the controller determines the state of the first use condition using a proximity sensor configured for communication with the input apparatus.

5. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein:

the input apparatus includes a battery within the housing for providing power to the apparatus;

the first use condition is a charge level of the battery, the state of the use condition being the charge level of the battery in relation to a predetermined minimum charge level to reliably carry out a trailer backup assist routine; and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the charge level of the battery is below the predetermined minimum charge level.

6. The steering input system of claim 5, wherein one of the controller or the input apparatus presents a battery charge level warning when the charge level of the battery is below a warning threshold that is above the predetermined minimum charge level.

7. The steering input system of claim 6, wherein the battery charge level warning is one of an audible signal, a visual indication, and a haptic indicator.

8. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein the input apparatus is a discrete unit in electrical communication with the controller to transmit the first instantaneous position of the input element to the controller.

9. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein the input apparatus further includes a display in communication with the controller for presenting information to a user regarding at least one trailer backup assist mode function.

10. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein the input apparatus further is included within a key fob associated with a vehicle including the steering input system.

11. The steering input system of claim 1, further including a charging receptacle selectively receiving the input apparatus and in communication with a power source of a vehicle including the steering input system, wherein:

the input apparatus further includes a rechargeable battery electrically coupleable with a portion of the charging receptacle to charge the battery.

12. The steering input system of claim 1, wherein the user-manipulable input element is a rotary element biased toward an at-rest position and rotatably coupled with the housing;

and

when implementing the trailer backup assist mode, the controller generates the vehicle steering command based on a desired curvature position corresponding to the first instantaneous position of the rotary element.

13. A backup assist system for a vehicle reversing a trailer, comprising:

an input apparatus, including

a housing; and

a rotary element rotatably coupled with the housing; and

a controller;

determining a state of a first use condition of the input apparatus; and

based on the state of the use condition, one of implementing or disabling a trailer backup assist mode including generating a vehicle steering command based on an instantaneous position of the input element.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the first use condition is a location of the input apparatus with respect to the vehicle, the state of the use condition being one of presence in or absence from the vehicle; and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the state is absence from the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein

the first use condition is an occupancy of a driver seat of the vehicle, the state of the use condition being one of the driver seat being occupied or unoccupied;

and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the state is the driver seat being unoccupied.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the input apparatus includes a battery within the housing for providing power to the apparatus;

the first use condition is a charge level of the battery, the state of the use condition being the charge level of the battery in relation to a predetermined minimum charge level to reliably carry out a trailer backup assist routine; and

the trailer backup assist mode is disabled if the charge level of the battery is below the predetermined minimum charge level.

17. A method for assisting a vehicle in reversing a trailer, comprising:

determining a presence or absence of a disabling condition, including one of;

a driver absent from the vehicle;

or

a battery charge level of an input apparatus below a threshold; and

according to the disabling condition, respectively implementing or disabling a trailer backup assist mode including generating a vehicle steering command based on an instantaneous position of an input element of the input apparatus.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the input element is a rotary element biased toward an at-rest position; and

the curvature command corresponds to a rotational position of rotation of the rotary element away from the at-rest position.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the presence or absence the disabling condition including the driver being absent from the vehicle is inferred based on a detected occupancy of a driver seat of the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the presence or absence the disabling condition including the driver being absent from the vehicle is inferred based on a detected location of the input element within the vehicle.