An automated system is provided for aligning a vehicle tow ball with a tow cup of a trailer. The vehicle has a controller connected to at least some of the vehicle steering, transmission and braking systems to enable the controller automatically to steer and/or move and/or brake the vehicle. Sensors at the rear of the vehicle detect the presence of an object within a region behind the vehicle. The sensors are connected to the controller to utilize the data from the sensors to identify the tow cup of a trailer located within the region behind the vehicle, and to control the reversing of the vehicle in order to bring the tow ball into alignment beneath the identified tow cup so as to facilitate coupling of the tow cup onto the tow ball.
Automatic Car trailer hitching and unhitching system
2018-12-19
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | G05D SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES , Systeme zum Steuern oder Regeln nichtelektrischer veränderlicher Größen / B60D Fahrzeugverbindungen , VEHICLE CONNECTIONS / B60R Fahrzeuge, Fahrzeugausstattung oder Fahrzeugteile, soweit nicht anderweitig vorgesehen , VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR / B60W CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION , Gemeinsame Steuerung oder Regelung von Fahrzeug-Unteraggregaten verschiedenen Typs oder verschiedener Funktion / B62D MOTOR VEHICLES , Motorfahrzeuge |