Trailer brake control for towing vehicles having electronic brake control
First Claim
1. An electronic braking system in a motor vehicle capable of towing a standard trailer having brake actuators on at least one set of trailer road wheels but not having its own on board electronic braking system comprising:
- a separate pressure control channel responsive to a driver'"'"'s braking demand signal on the towing vehicle for the generation of a trailer service brake pressure signal in the event that said driver'"'"'s braking demand signal is sensed at any axle of said towing vehicle,a towing link carried by said towing vehicle and constructed and arranged to be engaged by a trailer,load measuring means associated with said link for measuring load exerted by a trailer on said towing vehicle,means on the towing vehicle for setting a trailer service brake pressure signal level in the towing vehicle so as to be a function of said driver'"'"'s demand signal modified in dependence upon a load exerted by a trailer on the towing vehicle as measured at said towing link, andseparate adaptive loop means provided in respect of towing vehicle braking and in respect of trailer braking, respectively,said towing vehicle adaptive loop means being responsive to a deceleration error signal established by a comparison of vehicle retardation against said driver'"'"'s braking demand signal, and said trailer adaptive loop being responsive to towing link load, such as to obtain error signals which are arranged to cause adaptive adjustments to be made in said two loops in a mutually co-ordinated manner in order to achieve the required overall vehicle retardation.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic braking system in a motor vehicle capable of towing a standard trailer not having its own EBS system has a separate pressure control channel for the generation of a trailer service brake pressure signal in the event that a driver'"'"'s braking demand is sensed at any axle of the towing vehicle. The pressure signal level is set in the towing vehicle so as to be a function of the driver'"'"'s electrical demand signal modified in dependence upon the load exerted by the trailer on the towing vehicle as measured at a towing link therebetween. Separate adaptive loops are provided in respect of the towing vehicle braking and the trailer braking, with the towing vehicle adaptive loop being responsive to deceleration error established by a comparison of vehicle retardation against driver braking demand, and with the trailer adaptive loop being responsive to towing link load, such as to obtain error signals which cause the adaptive adjustments to be made in the two loops in a mutually co-ordinated manner in order to achieve the required overall vehicle retardation.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. An electronic braking system in a motor vehicle capable of towing a standard trailer having brake actuators on at least one set of trailer road wheels but not having its own on board electronic braking system comprising:
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a separate pressure control channel responsive to a driver'"'"'s braking demand signal on the towing vehicle for the generation of a trailer service brake pressure signal in the event that said driver'"'"'s braking demand signal is sensed at any axle of said towing vehicle, a towing link carried by said towing vehicle and constructed and arranged to be engaged by a trailer, load measuring means associated with said link for measuring load exerted by a trailer on said towing vehicle, means on the towing vehicle for setting a trailer service brake pressure signal level in the towing vehicle so as to be a function of said driver'"'"'s demand signal modified in dependence upon a load exerted by a trailer on the towing vehicle as measured at said towing link, and separate adaptive loop means provided in respect of towing vehicle braking and in respect of trailer braking, respectively, said towing vehicle adaptive loop means being responsive to a deceleration error signal established by a comparison of vehicle retardation against said driver'"'"'s braking demand signal, and said trailer adaptive loop being responsive to towing link load, such as to obtain error signals which are arranged to cause adaptive adjustments to be made in said two loops in a mutually co-ordinated manner in order to achieve the required overall vehicle retardation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electronic braking system in a motor vehicle capable of towing a standard trailer having brake actuators at at least one set of trailer road wheels but not having its own on board electronic braking system, said system comprising a separate pressure control channel responsive to a driver'"'"'s electrical braking demand signal for the generation of a trailer service brake pressure signal in the event said driver'"'"'s electrical braking demand signal is sensed at any axle of the towing vehicle, a towing link carried by said towing vehicle and adapted to be engaged by a trailer, load measuring means associated with said link for measuring load exerted by a trailer on said towing vehicle, means on the towing vehicle for setting the trailer service brake pressure signal level as a function of said driver'"'"'s electrical braking demand signal modified in dependent upon the load exerted by the trailer on the towing vehicle as measured at said towing link therebetween, and means for achieving required overall retardation for the motor vehicle and trailer combination comprising a first adaptive loop for towing vehicle braking and a second separate adaptive loop for trailer braking, first transducer means for detecting vehicle retardation, second transducer means for generating an electrical signal representative of driver braking demand, third transducer means for detecting the load in said towing link between the motor vehicle and the trailer, said first adaptive loop receiving a deceleration error input signal established by the comparison of vehicle retardation and driver braking demand from said first and second transducer means, said second adaptive loop receiving a towing link load input signal from said third transducer means, and a data exchange path connecting both adaptive loops, said data exchange path including an inter connection between said third towing link load transducer means and said first adaptive loop for towing vehicle braking, and a further inter connection between said second driver braking demand transducer means and said second adaptive loop for trailer braking.
Specification