Trailer backing up device and table based method
First Claim
1. A method of controlling the direction of a towed trailer that has a length that can be measured, that is connected to a tow vehicle by a jointed connection, and that is being pushed with the jointed connection by the tow vehicle, and where the tow vehicle has a front set of wheels and a rear set of wheels with the two sets of wheels being separated by a distance and an angle of at least one of the two sets of wheels is changeable to effect steering, comprising the steps of:
- I.) determining a jointed connection angle, the jointed connection angle being formed at the intersection of a centerline of the tow vehicle and a centerline of the trailer,II) determining a value representative of the steering of the tow vehicle, this steering value being related to the angle of the set of wheels that is changeable to effect steering,III.) using an electronic computing device for determining a turning value whereby inputs to the turning value determination comprise (i) the determined steering value for the tow vehicle, (ii) the separation distance of the two sets of wheels of the tow vehicle, and (iii) the length of the towed trailer, andIV.) using an electronic computing device for determining a potential change in direction of either the tow vehicle or the towed trailer by using the turning value to look up an angular value indicating where the trailer and the tow vehicle will become generally in-line from a fixed table, by looking up within the table where the turning value would be and locating a corresponding potential change in direction value on an axis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a guidance computing system used by the driver of a vehicle towing a trailer while backing-up that rapidly calculates and predicts the direction in which the tow vehicle and trailer will become generally in-line for a given position of the steering wheel, thereby enabling the use of slower, lower cost microcomputers. This is accomplished by using a predetermined table, based on a baseline trailer of known length, having a measure of turning as one of its axes; such an axis is necessary to facilitate ratiometric scaling to convert table values to correspond to any length trailer. In a specially equipped vehicle incorporating servomechanisms to enable the vehicle to steer itself, the driver indicates the direction desired for the trailer to travel. The present invention also predicts left and right path limits for controlling the direction of the trailer when maneuvering complex paths.
11 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the direction of a towed trailer that has a length that can be measured, that is connected to a tow vehicle by a jointed connection, and that is being pushed with the jointed connection by the tow vehicle, and where the tow vehicle has a front set of wheels and a rear set of wheels with the two sets of wheels being separated by a distance and an angle of at least one of the two sets of wheels is changeable to effect steering, comprising the steps of:
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I.) determining a jointed connection angle, the jointed connection angle being formed at the intersection of a centerline of the tow vehicle and a centerline of the trailer, II) determining a value representative of the steering of the tow vehicle, this steering value being related to the angle of the set of wheels that is changeable to effect steering, III.) using an electronic computing device for determining a turning value whereby inputs to the turning value determination comprise (i) the determined steering value for the tow vehicle, (ii) the separation distance of the two sets of wheels of the tow vehicle, and (iii) the length of the towed trailer, and IV.) using an electronic computing device for determining a potential change in direction of either the tow vehicle or the towed trailer by using the turning value to look up an angular value indicating where the trailer and the tow vehicle will become generally in-line from a fixed table, by looking up within the table where the turning value would be and locating a corresponding potential change in direction value on an axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A device for predicting the direction of travel of a towed trailer that has a length that can be measured, that is connected to a tow vehicle by a jointed connection, and that is being pushed with the jointed connection by the tow vehicle, and where the tow vehicle has a front set of wheels and a rear set of wheels with the two sets of wheels being separated by a distance and an angle of at least one of the two sets of wheels is changeable to effect steering, comprising:
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I.) a sensor to determine a jointed connection angle, the jointed connection angle being formed at the intersection of a centerline of the tow vehicle and a centerline of the trailer, II.) an electronic device to determine a value representative of the steering of the tow vehicle, this steering value being related to the angle of the set of wheels that is changeable to effect steering, III.) an electronic computing device to determine a turning value whereby inputs to the turning value determination comprise (i) the determined steering value for the tow vehicle, (ii) the separation distance of the two sets of wheels of the tow vehicle, and (iii) the length of the towed trailer, and IV.) an electronic computing device to determine a potential change in direction of either the tow vehicle or the towed trailer by using the turning value to look up an angular value indicating where the trailer and the tow vehicle will become generally in-line from a fixed table, by looking up within the table where the turning value would be and locating a corresponding value on an axis. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A system comprising a towed trailer (A) that has a length that can be measured, (B) that is connected to a tow vehicle by a jointed connection, and (C) that is being pushed with the jointed connection by the tow vehicle, and where the tow vehicle comprises (a) a front set of wheels, (b) a rear set of wheels, whereby the two sets of wheels are separated by a distance and an angle of at least one of the two sets of wheels is changeable to effect steering, and (c) an electro-mechanical actuator to effect the amount of steering of the tow vehicle, further comprising:
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I.) a sensor to determine a jointed connection angle, the jointed connection angle being formed at the intersection of a centerline of the tow vehicle and a centerline of the trailer, II.) a direction indicating input device for indicating a desired angular change in direction in which an operator would have either the tow vehicle or the trailer travel, III.) an electronic computing device to determine from a fixed table a turning value for the tow vehicle comprising the steps of (i) locating an angular value corresponding to the determined jointed connection angle, and (ii) locating a turning value for the tow vehicle adjusted by the towed trailer'"'"'s length corresponding to the desired angular change in direction of either the tow vehicle or the towed trailer on a line in the table corresponding to the determined jointed connection angle, whereby the line in the table comprises a range of values representative of the turning of the tow vehicle adjusted by the trailer'"'"'s length, IV.) an electronic computing device to determine a steering value for the tow vehicle by making an adjustment to the located turning value, the adjustment comprising the separation distance of the two sets of wheels of the tow vehicle and the trailer'"'"'s length, and V.) applying the determined steering value to the electro-mechanical actuator to effect an amount of steering of the tow vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification