Method for monitoring the hitch of a trailer hitchable to a tow vehicle and corresponding electronic device unit

• US 8,855,854 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Schmidt, Oliver, Huemmer, Armin
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US13/781,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20140032040A1
• Time in Patent Office: 586 Days
• Field of Search: 701/33.9
• US Class Current: 701/33.9
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/30 for sway control , e.g. stabilising or anti-fishtail devices; Sway alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/62 involving supply lines, electric circuits, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2230/06 Tractor-trailer swaying
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/20 specially for trailers, e.g. in case of uncoupling of or overrunning by trailer inertia-actuated overrun brakes B60T13/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1708 for lorries or tractor-trailer combinations
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/172 Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters B60T8/17551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/14 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/02 Control of vehicle driving stability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00

Abstract

In a method for monitoring the hitch of at least one trailer, which is hitchable to a tow vehicle, the tow vehicle having a steering system with which a steering angle is settable, the following steps are performed: a) detecting yaw oscillations of the tow vehicle over a certain period of time, e.g., 1 second to 3 seconds, at a constant or almost constant steering angle and above a predefinable speed of the tow vehicle without brake intervention, and b) evaluating the detected yaw oscillations for whether the amplitudes of the yaw oscillations do not fall below a predefinable amplitude threshold.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a hitch of at least one trailer hitched to a tow vehicle having a steering for setting a steering angle, comprising:

detecting, using at least one sensor, yaw oscillations of the tow vehicle over a predefined time period ranging from 1 to 3 seconds, at a substantially constant steering angle and above a predefined speed of the tow vehicle without brake intervention, and

evaluating the detected yaw oscillations to determine whether the amplitudes of the detected yaw oscillations do not fall below a predefined amplitude threshold value.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the steering angle is set to be substantially equal to zero.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein monitoring of the hitch is triggered with the aid of at least one of (i) a predefined steering angle change and (ii) a predefined steering angle change per unit of time which is less than 0.02 rad/s.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the predefined speed is above 15 m/s.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the detected yaw oscillations are evaluated to determine whether the frequency of the detected yaw oscillations is substantially constant.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the detected yaw oscillations are evaluated to determine whether the amplitude of the detected yaw oscillations is substantially constant.

7. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the predefined amplitude threshold value has a magnitude of approximately 0.01 rad/s.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium storing a computer program having program codes which, when executed on a computer, performs a method for monitoring a hitch of at least one trailer hitched to a tow vehicle having a steering for setting a steering angle, the method comprising:

detecting yaw oscillations of the tow vehicle over a predefined time period ranging from 1 to 3 seconds, at a substantially constant steering angle and above a predefined speed of the tow vehicle without brake intervention, and

evaluating the detected yaw oscillations to determine whether the amplitudes of the detected yaw oscillations do not fall below a predefined amplitude threshold value.

9. An electronic device unit for a tow vehicle, the tow vehicle having a steering for setting a steering angle, at least one yaw oscillation detection sensor, and a steering angle sensor, the electronic device unit comprising:

an electronic control unit connected to the yaw oscillation detection sensor and the steering angle sensor, wherein the electronic control unit includes;

a monitoring device for hitch monitoring of at least one trailer hitched to the tow vehicle;

an evaluation unit configured to (i) analyze detected yaw oscillations of the tow vehicle over a predefined time period ranging from 1 to 3 seconds, at a substantially constant steering angle and above a predefined speed of the tow vehicle without brake intervention, and (ii) determine whether the amplitudes of the detected yaw oscillations do not fall below a predefined amplitude threshold value.