Lucas Industries Public Limited Company

Girling Limited

Lucas Industries Limited

Malcolm Brearley

Richard B Moseley

David Charles Hurst

Alfred K White

Denis John McCann

Dennis John McCann

Glyn P Farr

Andrew John Ward

Mark Ian Phillips

Jurgen Dufft

Colin F Ross

Sigmar H Micke

Robert D Prescott

Paul Feetenby

John Adamson

Alan Goodwin

Paul Antony Fawkes

Roger J Banks

Paul J Milsom

Electronic braking system for road vehicles operating with a trailer

Differential braking control in road vehicles

Brake lining wear sensing system

An electronic braking system for a multi-axle road vehicle, having a foot-operable braking transducer which generates electrical braking demand signals representative of a driver's braking demand, load transducers which generate electrical load signals representative of the respective load on different axles of the vehicle, and in electronic controller which receives the braking demand signals and load signals and generates electrical output signals for controlling the operation of braking devices for the wheels carried by axles, the controller including adaptive load compensation device which acts to modify the output signals of the controller to the various braking devices so as to take account of prevailing loads on the respective axles. The system can be brought into a test mode wherein in place of the electrical braking demand signals representative of a drivers braking demand, a preset standard braking input demand is applied to the controller whereby the system generates for testing purposes compensated braking pressures which take into account the operating values of the axle loads.

Electronic braking system with system test

Braking in electronic braking systems

Braking distribution system for a multi-axle vehicle making allowance

An electronic braking system for wheeled vehicles comprising an electronic controller which produces, in response to driver braking demands, electronic signals for controlling the braking pressures applied to the vehicle wheels from a source of braking pressure. The system includes a second, back-up braking pressure source which can be selected when required, and means for switching over from the first-mentioned normal source of braking pressure to the back-up pressure source at selected occasions when the vehicle is being braked and has come to rest, provided that the prevailing driver's braking demand is above a predetermined minimum threshold. A test is then performed on the braking pressure signals generated by the system while it is energized by the back-up source and a warning signal is generated if the back-up source is found to be faulty.

Electronic braking system

A trailer braking control system which is adapted to modify trailer braking from a towing vehicle by regulating the coupling head service braking pressure signal generated on the towing vehicle in response to driver's demand pressure and measured values of longitudinal force exerted on the trailer coupling just before and during braking. At least two adaptive variables are developed on the towing vehicle, and on selected qualifying stops of the towing vehicle/trailer combination, one of these adaptive variables is chosen to be corrected at the end of that stop using average trailer thrust error signals for use in regulating trailer braking on subsequent stops.

Trailer braking control system for a towing vehicle

An electrically controlled braking system, in which the operation of the brake actuation is split into three bands depending upon the brake demand level, such that at low demand in a first band the braking pressures are set to generate equal wear at the vehicle axles, and at higher demands in a third band braking pressures are set to apportion braking between axles dependent upon the axle loads being carried, while in a second band, located intermediate the first and second bands, the braking is gradually changed from being equal to being fully apportioned, the extent of this change-over depending upon the actual level of demand within this second band.

An electronic braking system in a motor vehicle capable of towing a standard trailer not having its own EBS system has a separate pressure control channel for the generation of a trailer service brake pressure signal in the event that a driver's braking demand is sensed at any axle of the towing vehicle. The pressure signal level is set in the towing vehicle so as to be a function of the driver's electrical demand signal modified in dependence upon the load exerted by the trailer on the towing vehicle as measured at a towing link therebetween. Separate adaptive loops are provided in respect of the towing vehicle braking and the trailer braking, with the towing vehicle adaptive loop being responsive to deceleration error established by a comparison of vehicle retardation against driver braking demand, and with the trailer adaptive loop being responsive to towing link load, such as to obtain error signals which cause the adaptive adjustments to be made in the two loops in a mutually co-ordinated manner in order to achieve the required overall vehicle retardation.

Trailer brake control for towing vehicles having electronic brake control

An electronic braking system (EBS) for a towing vehicle which provides for trailer service brake pressure supply via an additional EBS sub-system, and wherein, in order to speed up the application of trailer braking, the electrical signal representing the driver's braking demand is processed to generate an additional pressure pre-pulse of predetermined amplitude to pressurise the trailer braking circuit in advance of the proportional pressure setting determined by the driver. The pre-pulse is made up of two parts, a preset fixed duration pulse followed without break by a variable duration continuation pulse. The variable duration of the variable duration pulse is determined primarily by the rate of increase of the driver's demand signal.

Trailer braking in electronically controlled braking systems

A trailer braking system for a towing vehicle has a trailer braking valve (26) is fed with a pressurized air supply which is modulated by the opening of the valve, as controlled by a first control pressure regulated by a trailer braking controller (24) in accordance with braking demand signals, to produce a trailer braking pressure. In order that a trailer braking pressure may be generated even if the above trailer braking valve control fails, the valve is supplied with a second control pressure independently of the first, and which is also capable of operating the trailer braking valve (26). In a preferred embodiment, the second control pressure is supplied from a braking line of the towing vehicle, such that the 'back up' control pressure is a function of the towing vehicle braking.

Trailer braking system for a towing vehicle

A dual computer cross-checking system includes a control computer for controlling a process in accordance with input data and a monitoring computer. The two computers are interconnected to exchange check data on a cyclic basis, each computer carrying out a number of processing operations on the received check data before transmitting the data thus processed to the other computer. In addition, each computer checks the received check data against an expected value. An error condition is detected if the result of at least one of these comparisons is found to be incorrect.

Dual computer cross-checking system

A vehicle braking system wherein, for avoiding serious brake unbalance under fault conditions which would cause either loss of braking or excessive braking at one wheel, a small bore link pipe is arranged to connect the pressure control elements, for example solenoid actuated relay valves, of respective brake circuits associated with the two wheels at opposite ends of an axle whereby the pressure control elements in each electronically controlled pressure adjustment channel are influenced in such a manner that a correctly functioning channel attempts to influence a faulty channel in such a direction as to reduce the pressure unbalance.

A vehicle dual wheel braking system of the type in which a respective electronically controlled pressure adjustment channel is provided for each of the wheels at the opposite ends of an axle of the vehicle for setting the braking pressures individually for each wheel in dependence upon a common electrical signal representative of the braking demand level set by a driver of the vehicle, each channel comprising a pressure control loop containing a pressure controller, a pressure control valve which adjusts the supply of fluid from a reservoir to the brake actuators for applying and releasing the brakes by solenoid control of the inlet and exhaust functions of the pressure control valve, and a feedback transducer which supplies a signal representative of the pressure in the pressure control valve. The system includes respective fault monitoring device for detecting the presence of faults in the signals provided by the two feedback transducers, and a device responsive to the fault monitoring device such that if a feedback signal fault is detected in one of the two channels, the individual pressure control on that channel is disabled and the solenoids controlling inlet and exhaust functions of the pressure control valve of that channel are energized from an alternative mechanism of control which does not rely upon the output signal from the faulty feedback transducer.

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Solihull, United Kingdom

Malcolm Brearley