SYSTEM FOR ASSISTING THE ATTACHMENT OF A TRAILER TO A VEHICLE
First Claim
1. A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on a rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on a front of a trailer comprising:
- a camera mounted to the vehicle, said camera positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle,a video display contained in the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera,a processor contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket, said processor programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel, and said processor recalculating said preferred path of travel whenever the vehicle veers from said preferred path of travel by a defined threshold.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on the rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on the front of a trailer. The system includes a camera mounted to the vehicle and positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle. A video display is contained within the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera. A processor is also contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket. The processor is programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel. The processor recalculates the preferred path of travel whenever the vehicle veers from the preferred path of travel by a preset threshold.
68 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on a rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on a front of a trailer comprising:
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a camera mounted to the vehicle, said camera positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle, a video display contained in the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera, a processor contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket, said processor programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel, and said processor recalculating said preferred path of travel whenever the vehicle veers from said preferred path of travel by a defined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on a rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on a front of a trailer comprising:
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a camera mounted to the vehicle, said camera positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle, a video display contained in the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera, a processor contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket, said processor programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel, and means for illuminating a rear vision of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on a rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on a front of a trailer comprising:
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a camera mounted to the vehicle, said camera positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle, a video display contained in the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera, a processor contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket, said processor programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel, and means for raising the hitch pin when the hitch pin is aligned with the hitch socket. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A system for assisting the alignment of a hitch pin mounted on a rear of a vehicle with a hitch socket mounted on a front of a trailer comprising:
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a camera mounted to the vehicle, said camera positioned to capture an image rearwardly of the vehicle, a video display contained in the vehicle which displays the image captured by the camera, a processor contained in the vehicle which calculates a preferred path of travel of the vehicle to position the hitch pin in alignment with the hitch socket, said processor programmed to provide instructions to an operator of the vehicle of the required steering to maintain the vehicle on the preferred path of travel, and provide a warning to the user if the vehicle veers from the said preferred path of travel by a defined threshold.
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Specification