Brake control unit
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of controlling braking of a towed vehicle, said method comprising:
- receiving a speed signal based on speed of a towing vehicle, or a towed vehicle, or both said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle;
receiving a pressure signal based on a brake system of said towing vehicle;
generating a brake output signal based on said speed signal and said pressure signal;
sending said brake output signal to brakes of said towed vehicle to provide power to said brakes;
applying said brakes of said towed vehicle based on said brake output signal;
determining a relationship between said speed and a speed threshold;
applying a function to modify said brake output signal when said speed of the towing vehicle is below said speed threshold;
wherein said function modifies said brake output based on said speed; and
wherein said brake output signal is not modified based on speed when said speed of said towing vehicle is above said speed threshold.
20 Assignments
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
Towed vehicles can be extremely heavy. Accordingly, it is too much of a burden to the braking system of a towing vehicle to not have brakes on the towed vehicle. Controlling the brakes of the towed vehicle must be accurately applied otherwise very dangerous conditions can be created. A method of controlling braking of a towed vehicle is, therefore, needed. The method comprises receiving speed signals based on speed of a towing vehicle, or a towed vehicle, or both said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle, receiving pressure signals based on pressure of a hydraulic brake system of the towing vehicle, and generating a brake output signal based on the speed signals and the pressure signals.
111 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of controlling braking of a towed vehicle, said method comprising:
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receiving a speed signal based on speed of a towing vehicle, or a towed vehicle, or both said towing vehicle and said towed vehicle; receiving a pressure signal based on a brake system of said towing vehicle; generating a brake output signal based on said speed signal and said pressure signal; sending said brake output signal to brakes of said towed vehicle to provide power to said brakes; applying said brakes of said towed vehicle based on said brake output signal; determining a relationship between said speed and a speed threshold; applying a function to modify said brake output signal when said speed of the towing vehicle is below said speed threshold; wherein said function modifies said brake output based on said speed; and wherein said brake output signal is not modified based on speed when said speed of said towing vehicle is above said speed threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification