Remote control of a brake controller for a towed vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12589719-B2
Application number	US-202017772190-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2020
Priority date	Nov 1, 2019
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

This disclosure relates to remote control of a brake controller for a towed vehicle. An example communication system includes a controller management application operating on a mobile device and a brake controller that includes a wireless network controller to communicatively couple to the mobile device. The controller management application manages a plurality of profiles. Each profile includes characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle. The controller management application receives a selection of one of the plurality of profiles, and determines braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles. The brake controller controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the braking characteristics.

First claim

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed:

1 . A communication system comprising:
a controller management application configured to:
manage a plurality of profiles, each profile comprising characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle;
receive a selection of one of the plurality of profiles; and
determine braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles to create a transfer function; and
a brake controller that controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the transfer function; wherein the controller management application is configured to display, in real time, a representation of the braking signal received from the brake controller, a boost setting, and a gain setting, wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.

2 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the controller management application is configured to receive inputs from a user to automatically adjust in real time the boost setting and the gain setting, and wherein the transfer function is refined over time and updated as the brake controller obtains data of operating conditions.

3 . The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller management application is configured to determine the braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles and road conditions.

4 . The communication system of claim 3 , wherein the controller management application determines road conditions based on sensor measurements received from the brake controller and on information received from a remote server.

5 . The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of profiles is stored on a remote cloud server accessible by the controller management application or on the brake controller.

6 . The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller management application is configured to display an alert in real time in response to receiving an indication of a fault condition from the brake controller.

7 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the transfer function is refined over time and updated by logging the operating data comprising: amplitude of the braking signal, measurements from an accelerometer on the towed vehicle, measurements from a speed sensor on the towed vehicle, the boost setting, and the gain setting.

8 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the selected one of the plurality of profiles has a unique identifier and selection of the towed vehicle via the unique identifier enables the controller management application to apply historic and real-time operation data to generate the transfer function.

9 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the gain setting is based on a coefficient of friction and a weight of the towed vehicle.

10 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the towed vehicle comprises a sway controller module assembly for sensing load and weight distribution so that the transfer function accounts for load and weight distribution of the towed vehicle.

11 . A method comprising:
managing, via a controller management application operating on a mobile device, a plurality of profiles, each profile comprising characteristics of a corresponding towed vehicle; receiving, via the controller management application, a selection of one of the plurality of profiles; determining, via the controller management application, braking characteristics based on the selected one of the plurality of profiles to create a transfer function; directing, via a brake controller comprising a wireless network controller communicatively coupled with the mobile device, a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle determined based on the transfer function; sending, via the brake controller, the braking signal to the controller management application; and displaying in real time, via the controller management application, a representation of the braking signal and a boost setting, wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the braking characteristics include a gain setting.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the braking characteristics is further based on road conditions.

14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determining, by the controller management application, the road conditions based on sensor measurements received from the brake controller.

15 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determining, by the controller management application, road conditions based on information received from a remote server.

16 . The method of claim 11 , comprising retrieving, by the controller management application, the plurality of profiles from memory of the mobile device and/or the plurality of profiles from a remote cloud server accessible by the controller management application.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein subsequent operations comprises:
operation of the brake controller when the towing vehicle is next operated with the corresponding towed-vehicle profile; operation of the brake controller when the controller management application selects the profile of the corresponding towed vehicle after that towed vehicle is attached; and operation of the brake controller when the controller management application and/or the brake controller uses the stored operating data associated with the selected profile to determine updated gain, boost, and/or transfer function settings for controlling the braking signal for a corresponding towed vehicle.

18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the transfer function is refined over time and updated as the brake controller obtains data of operating conditions.

19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising displaying, via the controller management application, an alert in real time in response to receiving an indication of a fault condition from the brake controller.

20 . A communication system comprising:
a controller management application operating on a mobile device, the controller management application configured to:
manage a profile comprising characteristics of a towed vehicle; and
determine braking characteristics based on the profile to determine a transfer function; and
a brake controller that controls a braking signal to brakes of the towed vehicle according to the transfer function, the brake controller including a wireless network controller to communicatively couple to the mobile device,
wherein the controller management application is configured to display a representation of the braking signal received from the brake controller and a boost setting, and
wherein the transfer function is automatically refined over time based on operating data obtained by the brake controller and saved in association with the selected one of the plurality of profiles for use in subsequent operations.

Assignees

• Horizon Global Americas Inc

Inventors

• Kulkarni Chandrakumar D

Classifications

• B60T2210/10

  Detection or estimation of road conditions · CPC title

• B60T8/885

  using electrical circuitry · CPC title

• B60T8/172

  Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters {(B60T8/17551 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60T8/1708 Primary

  for lorries or tractor-trailer combinations · CPC title

• B60T7/20

  specially for trailers, e.g. in case of uncoupling of {or overrunning by} trailer (inertia-actuated overrun brakes B60T13/08) · CPC title