System for a towing vehicle
US-10940889-B2 · Mar 9, 2021 · US
Vehicle and system having trailer coupler connection detection
US11040588B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-11040588-B2 |
| Application number | US-201916404923-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | May 7, 2019 |
| Priority date | May 7, 2019 |
| Publication date | Jun 22, 2021 |
| Grant date | Jun 22, 2021 |
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- Title
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Abstract
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A vehicle is provided with a trailer hitch, a camera oriented to capture images of the trailer hitch, and a controller processing the captured images, detecting a trailer coupler coupled to the trailer hitch, determining a locked or unlocked state of the hitch coupler by comparing the captured images to known trailer coupler images, and generating an output indicative of the determined state of the trailer coupler.
First claim
Opening claim text (preview).
What is claimed is: 1. A vehicle comprising: a trailer hitch; a camera oriented to capture images of the trailer hitch; and a controller processing the captured images, detecting a trailer coupler coupled to the trailer hitch, determining a locked or unlocked state of the hitch coupler by comparing the captured images to known trailer coupler images, and generating an output indicative of the determined state of the trailer coupler, wherein the known images are leaded images, and wherein the learned images are earned by the controller during a calibration procedure by saving images of the hitch coupler in the locked and unlocked states. 2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the saved images are stored in memory. 3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the trailer hitch comprises a tow ball. 4. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a display for displaying the output as a warning to a driver of the vehicle. 5. A vehicle comprising: a trailer hitch; a camera oriented to capture images of the trailer hitch; and a controller processing the captured images, detecting a trailer coupler coupled to the trailer hitch, determining a locked or unlocked state of the hitch coupler by comparing the captured images to known trailer coupler images, and generating an output indicative of the determined stat o the trailer coupler, wherein the controller further detects the vehicle is in a trailer mode before generating the output. 6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the controller detects the trailer mode when a driving task is initiated. 7. The vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the initiation of the driving task comprises a vehicle transmission shifted out of park. 8. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the controller detects the trailer mode by a user input. 9. A system for detecting a state of a trailer coupler connected to a vehicle trailer hitch on a vehicle, comprising: a camera oriented to capture images of the vehicle trailer hitch; and a controller processing the captured images, detecting the trailer coupler coupled to the vehicle trailer hitch, determining a locked or unlocked state of the trailer coupler by comparing the captured images to known trailer coupler images, and generating an output indicative of the determined state of the trailer coupler, wherein the known images are learned images, and wherein the learned images are learned by the controller during a calibration procedure by comparing images of the hitch coupler in the locked and unlocked states. 10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle trailer hitch comprises a tow ball. 11. The system of claim 9 further comprising a display for displaying the output as a warning to a driver of the vehicle. 12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller further detects the vehicle is in a trailer mode before generating the output. 13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the controller detects the trailer mode when a driving task is initiated. 14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the initiation of a driving task comprises a vehicle transmission shifted out of park. 15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the controller detects the trailer mode by a user input.
Assignees
Inventors
Classifications
for preventing unwanted disengagement, e.g. safety appliances · CPC title
for viewing trailer hitches · CPC title
Ball-and-socket hitches · CPC title
for facilitating docking to a trailer · CPC title
using joined images, e.g. multiple camera images · CPC title
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Frequently asked questions
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- What does patent US11040588B2 cover?
- A vehicle is provided with a trailer hitch, a camera oriented to capture images of the trailer hitch, and a controller processing the captured images, detecting a trailer coupler coupled to the trailer hitch, determining a locked or unlocked state of the hitch coupler by comparing the captured images to known trailer coupler images, and generating an output indicative of the determined state of…
- Who is the assignee on this patent?
- Ford Global Tech Llc
- What technology area does this patent fall under?
- Primary CPC classification B60D1/36. Mapped technology areas include Operations & Transport.
- When was this patent published?
- Publication date Tue Jun 22 2021 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
- What related patents are in patentsdb?
- We list 3 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).