The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 17, 2020
Filed:
Nov. 16, 2017
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Andrew Niedert, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Rinku Patel, Kalamazoo, MI (US);
Anton Rogness, Dearborn, MI (US);
Elliott Pearson, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods for determining force direction and magnitude acting on a trailer hitch are disclosed. An example vehicle includes two magnetoelastic pins, having respective magnetic fields, configured to couple a trailer hitch receiver to a vehicle chassis. The vehicle also includes a plurality of sensors corresponding to the two magnetoelastic pins, configured to detect changes in the respective magnetic fields. And the vehicle further includes a processor configured to determine a magnitude and direction of a force acting on the trailer hitch receiver based on data from the plurality of sensors.