Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – For trailer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-04
2002-09-17
Trieu, Van (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
For trailer
C340S686200, C340S686600, C280S435000, C280SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06452485
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an electronic system for monitoring the coupling of a trailer to a trailer hitch assembly that is mounted on a truck chassis and, more specifically, to an electronic system that indicates whether the trailer is properly coupled to the trailer hitch assembly.
An electronic coupling control system for a vehicle trailer hitch assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,802, entitled “FIFTH WHEEL HITCH COUPLING CONTROL SYSTEM” to Hungerink et al., which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,802 discloses an electronic coupling control system that includes a trailer proximity sensor for sensing when a trailer is in the proximity of the hitch assembly, a kingpin sensor for sensing the presence of a trailer kingpin in a hitch plate throat and a lock sensor for sensing when the locking mechanism is locked in a secured position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,802 also discloses an indicator located within the vehicle for providing trailer hitch assembly coupling status information to a driver of the vehicle. A control circuit is coupled to the trailer proximity sensor, the kingpin sensor, the lock sensor and the indicator. These sensors are utilized by the control circuit to inform a driver when a trailer is in close proximity to the trailer hitch assembly, when the trailer kingpin is positioned in the hitch throat and when the locking mechanism is in a locked position. The electronic coupling control system also includes an interface for coupling a control input, of an electrical control system of the vehicle, to the electronic coupling control system. The electronic coupling control systen is also capable of performing various self-diagnostic routines to ensure proper operation of the system, when the vehicle ignition is turned on.
While the electronic coupling control system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,802 advantageously provides some information to a user, it would be desirable for an electronic control coupling system to reliably provide additional information to a user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an electronic system for monitoring a trailer hitch assembly, which includes a hitch plate with a throat for receiving a kingpin of a trailer and a locking mechanism for locking the kingpin in the throat. The system determines whether the trailer hitch assembly is properly coupled to the trailer and includes a trailer sensor, a lock sensor and a control circuit. The trailer sensor senses the position of the trailer relative to the trailer hitch assembly. The lock sensor senses the position of the locking mechanism and the control circuit is coupled both to the trailer sensor and the lock sensor. The control circuit determines whether the trailer hitch assembly is properly coupled to the trailer by taking into account the sequence in which the trailer sensor and the lock sensor sense the respective positions of the trailer and locking mechanism and masks an output of the lock sensor for a first predetermined stabilization period after the control circuit initially determines that the trailer hitch assembly is properly coupled to the trailer.
These and other features, advantages and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims and appended drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2982566 (1961-05-01), Geerds
patent: 3013815 (1961-12-01), Geerds
patent: 3535679 (1970-10-01), Connors
patent: 3640549 (1972-02-01), Neff et al.
patent: 3697974 (1972-10-01), Harris et al.
patent: 3868127 (1975-02-01), Marulic et al.
patent: 4258421 (1981-03-01), Juhasz et al.
patent: 4428595 (1984-01-01), Martin et al.
patent: 4614355 (1986-09-01), Koch
patent: 4649369 (1987-03-01), Walker et al.
patent: 4669748 (1987-06-01), LeVee
patent: 4685695 (1987-08-01), LeVee
patent: 4809177 (1989-02-01), Windle et al.
patent: 5108123 (1992-04-01), Rubenzik
patent: 5456484 (1995-10-01), Fontaine
patent: 5477207 (1995-12-01), Frame, Sr. et al.
patent: 5506773 (1996-04-01), Takaba et al.
patent: 5549166 (1996-08-01), Orbach et al.
patent: 5583770 (1996-12-01), Sekido et al.
patent: 5696676 (1997-12-01), Takaba
patent: 5757645 (1998-05-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 5861802 (1999-01-01), Hungerink et al.
patent: 5917408 (1999-06-01), Cardillo et al.
patent: 5964813 (1999-10-01), Ishii et al.
patent: 6100794 (2000-08-01), Hillier
patent: 3018905 (1980-11-01), None
patent: 3604185 (1987-08-01), None
patent: 3803931 (1989-08-01), None
patent: 4013672 (1991-10-01), None
patent: 19820139 (1999-11-01), None
Dieter Raab, “Remote Control of Fifth Wheel Couplings”, Truck Technology International, 1990 (4 pages).
Truck Tech advertisment, “Contvertible-Jaw Fifthwheel Senses Kingpin,” Nov. 1991, p. 151 .
Dupay Steven C.
Dykema Kurt A.
Ginocchio Michael H.
Schutt Randy L.
Price Heneveld Cooper DeWitt & Litton
The Holland Group, Inc.
Trieu Van
LandOfFree
Electronic system for monitoring a fifth wheel hitch does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electronic system for monitoring a fifth wheel hitch, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electronic system for monitoring a fifth wheel hitch will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2863461