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. 29, 2022
Filed:
Aug. 07, 2019
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Luke Niewiadomski, Dearborn, MI (US);
Donald Jacob Mattern, Canton, MI (US);
Douglas Rogan, Mountain View, CA (US);
Roger Arnold Trombley, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Bruno Sielly Jales Costa, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle has a trailer hitch, a vehicle electrical connector configured to electrically connect to a trailer electrical connector, and an imaging system oriented to captures images proximate to the trailer hitch. The vehicle also includes a proximity sensing system arranged to sense objects proximate to the trailer hitch and generate a proximity signal, an electrical connection detection system to detect an electrical connection to the vehicle trailer connector and generate an electrical connection signal, and a controller processing the captured images, the proximity signal and the electrical connector signal and determining a connection state of a trailer to the vehicle based on the captured images, the proximity sensor and the electrical connector signal, and generating an output indicative of the determined connection state.