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:
Dec. 23, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 01, 2023
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Enrique Denicia, Miguel Hidalgo, MX;
J Elias Ruiz, Atizapan, MX;
Jose Uriel Hernandez, Tultitlán, MX;
Cesar Sanchez Razo, Tlalnepantla de Baz, MX;
FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, DEARBORN, US;
Abstract
The disclosure is generally directed to a vehicle trailer light assembly monitoring system. An example system includes a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) connected in series with a light assembly of the vehicle trailer. A voltage driver is configurable by the controller to selectively couple into a gate terminal of the MOSFET one of a first voltage that places the MOSFET in a resistor mode of operation, a second voltage that places the MOSFET in a switched-on mode of operation, or a third voltage that places the MOSFET in a switched-off mode of operation. In an example implementation, the controller determines a presence or an absence of the vehicle trailer and/or of the light assembly, based on evaluating a voltage drop across the light assembly that is detected by the voltage level detector when the MOSFET is placed in the resistor mode of operation.