System and method for trailer height adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10913494-B2
Application number	US-201816051553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2018
Priority date	Aug 1, 2018
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle system comprises a hitch assembly mounted on a vehicle, a display, and a controller. The controller is configured to access a saved configuration for the hitch assembly and display the saved configuration on the display. The controller is further configured to receive a selection of the saved configuration and program a characteristic of the hitch assembly based on the selection.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle system, comprising:
a hitch assembly mounted on a vehicle;
a display; and
a controller that:
stores a plurality of trailer selections as a plurality of saved configurations, wherein each of the saved configurations identify a hitch size compatibility of a trailer corresponding to each of the trailer selections;
accesses a plurality of saved configurations for the hitch assembly;
displays the saved configurations on the display;
receives a selection identifying one of the saved configurations; and
programs a characteristic of the hitch assembly based on the selection.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the hitch assembly comprises a hitch ball in connection with a hitch adapter, wherein the hitch adapter is in connection with the vehicle.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a user interface configured to display the saved configurations.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the saved configuration comprises a plurality of configurations for the hitch assembly accessed in a memory.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the saved configurations are stored in the memory based on a previous record for the hitch assembly.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the saved configurations are saved in response to receiving a user input identifying an instruction to save a configuration of the hitch assembly.

7. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one image sensor configured to capture image data in communication with the controller.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the controller further:
detects a configuration of the hitch assembly via an image processing routine processed for the image data captured by the image sensor.

9. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the image processing routine comprises an identification of a proportion of a hitch ball and a position of the hitch ball in the image data.

10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller further:
identifies a coupler configuration for a coupler of a trailer; and
based on the coupler configuration, determines a connection compatibility between the hitch assembly and the coupler of the trailer.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the connection compatibility comprises a hitch ball diameter of a hitch ball of the hitch assembly and connection diameter of the coupler.

12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of saved configurations are stored in the memory in response to entries received via the user interface, wherein the entries identify the hitch size compatibility for each of the trailers corresponding of the saved configurations.

13. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the hitch size compatibility comprises a hitch ball size requirement for each of the trailers of the saved configurations.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ling Yu
• Zhang Chen
• Niewiadomski Luke
• Lavoie Erick Michael

Classifications

• B60K35/50

  Instruments characterised by their means of attachment to or integration in the vehicle (B60K35/231 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K35/80

  Arrangements for controlling instruments · CPC title

• B60K35/10

  Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• B60D1/36

  for facilitating connection, e.g. hitch catchers · CPC title

• B60D1/06

  Ball-and-socket hitches · CPC title