A motorized supplemental trailer axle includes an axle securable to a trailer and having a wheel affixed to opposing ends thereof. A motor for powering the axle wheels is operably connected to a battery power supply. A transfer case having a clutch mechanism is operably connected to the motor and the axle, wherein the clutch mechanism is configured to selectively engage the motor with the axle to rotate the pair of wheels. A control module includes a sensor configured to monitor rotational speed of the pair of axle wheels, a processor, a non-transitory computer readable medium operatively connected to the processor, and a logic that, when executed by the processor, causes the system to calculate a wheel speed of a vehicle currently towing the trailer and activate the motor to rotate the wheels of the trailer axle at a speed that matches the towing vehicle's wheel speed.
Motorized Supplemental Trailer Axle
2022-04-14
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B62D MOTOR VEHICLES , Motorfahrzeuge / B60K Anordnung oder Einbau von Antriebseinheiten oder von Kraft- bzw. Drehmomentübertragungen in Fahrzeugen , ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES / B60L PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES , Antrieb von elektrisch angetriebenen Fahrzeugen |
SAE Technical Papers | 1999