Steering assembly for towed vehicles
First Claim
1. A steering assembly for coupling a towing vehicle to a towed vehicle having a rear axle wheel assembly and at least one steerable wheel mounted for turning movement on a forward axle, said steering assembly comprising:
- tow bar means for connecting the towed vehicle to the towing vehicle and including a pivot member pivotable relative to one of said vehicles;
a first means for providing an angle steering input manifestation in response to angle signals produced by changes in the angle between the respective longitudinal axes of said towed vehicle and said towing vehicle;
a second means for providing an offset steering input manifestation in response to offset signals produced by changes in the amount of lateral offset between the respective longitudinal axes of said towed vehicle and said towing vehicle, said offset manifestation as provided by said second means being substantially independent of the angle between said respective longitudinal axes and thus also substantially independent of said angle steering input manifestation; and
,steering means responsive jointly to both said angle and said offset steering input manifestations for turning said steerable wheel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The steering assembly disclosed has means for sensing changes in both lateral offset and angle between a towed and a towing vehicle, means for generating angle and offset signals responsive to such changes, means for combining the angle and offset signals to produce a joint steering input, and means for turning a steerable wheel of the towed vehicle in response to the joint steering input. The assembly has two operating modes, one in which offset signals and angle signals are subtracted to produce a joint steering input for forward travel of the vehicles and another in which offset signals and angle signals are added to produce a joint steering input for backing of the vehicles. The assembly also includes steerable wheel means, means for detachably coupling the vehicles together, and means for remotely shifting between the two operating modes.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A steering assembly for coupling a towing vehicle to a towed vehicle having a rear axle wheel assembly and at least one steerable wheel mounted for turning movement on a forward axle, said steering assembly comprising:
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tow bar means for connecting the towed vehicle to the towing vehicle and including a pivot member pivotable relative to one of said vehicles; a first means for providing an angle steering input manifestation in response to angle signals produced by changes in the angle between the respective longitudinal axes of said towed vehicle and said towing vehicle; a second means for providing an offset steering input manifestation in response to offset signals produced by changes in the amount of lateral offset between the respective longitudinal axes of said towed vehicle and said towing vehicle, said offset manifestation as provided by said second means being substantially independent of the angle between said respective longitudinal axes and thus also substantially independent of said angle steering input manifestation; and
,steering means responsive jointly to both said angle and said offset steering input manifestations for turning said steerable wheel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40)
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35. Apparatus for coupling a towing vehicle to a towed vehicle having a rear axle and a forward axle supporting at least one steerable wheel, said apparatus comprising:
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a coupling means providing for changes in the angle formed between the longitudinal axes of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle and for changes in lateral offset between said longitudinal axes, a first sensing means providing a first signal responsive to changes in said angle, a second sensing means providing a second signal responsive to changes in said offset, and, actuator means responsive jointly to said first and second signals for steering said steerable wheel. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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41. A steering assembly for coupling a towing vehicle to a towed vehicle having a rear axle wheel assembly and at least one steerable wheel mounted for turning movement on a forward axle, said steering assembly comprising:
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tow bar means for connecting the towed vehicle to the towing vehicle and including angle means pivotable relative to one of said vehicles to provide for changes in the angle between the longitudinal axes of said vehicles; offset means having a first member movable relative to a second member to provide for changes in the lateral offset between the longitudinal axes of said vehicles, relative movement between said first and second members being substantially independent of pivotable movement of said angle means; offset actuator means for providing offset signals responsive to relative movement between said first and second tow bar members; and
,steering means for turning said steerable wheel in response to said offset signals. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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Specification