Wheeled vehicle
DCFirst Claim
1. A wheeled vehicle having a plurality of wheels, a plurality of braking means each for braking one of said wheels, wheel lock detection means for detecting locking of any of said wheels, vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, a driver-operable accelerator and control means which has an activated state and a de-activated state;
- wherein in the activated state the control means is arranged to apply each braking means to slow the vehicle when the vehicle speed detecting means detects that the vehicle speed is above a predetermined target speed and the wheel lock detection means detects no locking of the wheels, to release the braking means to accelerate the vehicle when the vehicle speed detecting means detects that the vehicle speed is below the predetermined target speed, and to release the braking means if locking of its respective wheel is detected while the detected vehicle speed is above said threshold speed, and to change the target speed in response to operation of the accelerator by a driver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wheeled vehicle has brakes (14, 16, 17) controlled by an electronic control unit (22) and a hydraulic control system (20). A switch (32) can be used to cause the control unit to enter a hill descent control mode. In this mode the control unit controls the speed of the vehicle by keeping it at or below a threshold level to achieve controlled descent of a hill without the need for the driver to apply the brakes.
45 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A wheeled vehicle having a plurality of wheels, a plurality of braking means each for braking one of said wheels, wheel lock detection means for detecting locking of any of said wheels, vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, a driver-operable accelerator and control means which has an activated state and a de-activated state;
wherein in the activated state the control means is arranged to apply each braking means to slow the vehicle when the vehicle speed detecting means detects that the vehicle speed is above a predetermined target speed and the wheel lock detection means detects no locking of the wheels, to release the braking means to accelerate the vehicle when the vehicle speed detecting means detects that the vehicle speed is below the predetermined target speed, and to release the braking means if locking of its respective wheel is detected while the detected vehicle speed is above said threshold speed, and to change the target speed in response to operation of the accelerator by a driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A brake control system for a wheeled vehicle having a plurality of wheels, a plurality of braking means each for braking one of said wheels, wheel lock detection means for detecting locking of any of said wheels and vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, the system comprising control means which has an activated state and a de-activated state;
wherein in the activated state the control means is arranged to apply each braking means to slow the vehicle when a detected vehicle speed is above a predetermined target speed and wheel locking is undetected, to release any of the braking means if locking of its respective wheel is detected while the detected vehicle speed is above said target speed, and to control a rate of change of speed of the vehicle towards the target speed if the vehicle speed is substantially different from the target speed. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A brake control system for a wheeled vehicle having a plurality of wheels, a plurality of braking means each for braking one of said wheels, wheel lock detection means for detecting locking of any of said wheels and vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, the system comprising control means which has an activated state and a de-activated state;
wherein in the activated state the control means is arranged to apply each braking means to slow the vehicle when a detected vehicle speed is above a predetermined target speed and wheel locking is undetected, but to release any of the braking means if locking of its respective wheel is detected while the detected vehicle speed is above said target speed, the system further comprises sensing means arranged to determine a steepness of a slope on which the vehicle is traveling and the control means is arranged to vary the target speed dependent on said steepness. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
Specification