Automatic park brake system and method

1 . A method configured to prevent an idle or unattended vehicle from rolling away and causing property damage and/or personal injury, the method comprising:

providing an automatic park brake system (APB system) including:

an automatic park brake controller (APBC);

an automatic park brake actuator (APB actuator) having a first retracted APB actuator position and a second extended APB actuator position, the APB actuator being configured to extend in response to a first command from the APBC from the first retracted APB actuator position to the second extended APB actuator position, and configured to retract in response to a second command from the APBC from the second extended APB actuator position to the first retracted APB actuator position;

an automatic park brake cable (APB cable) operably connected to the APB actuator, the APB cable being configured to be pushed and pulled by and in response to the movement of the APB actuator between a first retracted APB cable position and a second extended APB cable position;

an equipment park brake system operatively connected to the APB cable, wherein the equipment park brake system is configured to be activated and deactivated in response to movement of the APB actuator, wherein the equipment park brake system is activated in response to movement of the APB actuator from the second extended APB cable position to the first retracted APB cable position, and the equipment park brake system is configured to be deactivated in response to movement of the APB actuator from the first retracted APB cable position to the second extended APB cable position;

an automatic park brake battery (APB Battery) configured to provide power to the automatic park brake system;

wherein the automatic park brake controller (APBC) comprises an electronic control unit configured to process all inputs of the automatic park brake system (APB system) and carry out a plurality of commands to the automatic park brake actuator (APB actuator);

wherein the automatic park brake actuator (APB actuator) is configured to apply force to a plurality of articulating components of the system, which in response actuate the equipment park brake system to generate a braking force;

a plurality of automatic park brake brackets (APB brackets) configured to support the plurality of articulating components of the system;

wherein the plurality of automatic park brake brackets is configured to adapt the plurality of articulating components of the system to the equipment park brake system;

wherein the plurality of articulating components supported by the plurality of automatic park brake brackets comprises the automatic park brake actuator and the automatic park brake cable;

wherein the automatic park brake cable (APB Cable) is configured to transfer force from the APB Actuator to the Equipment Park Brake System; and

wherein the equipment park brake system comprises a drum brake configured for attachment to a transmission tail shaft of a vehicle;

installing the automatic park brake system in a vehicle;

starting the automatic park brake system by initializing (starting) the automatic park brake system following an installation or a maintenance of the automatic park brake system to ensure the automatic park brake system is properly adjusted and operating within a set of operational specifications;

determining a status of a plurality of fundamental inputs, the plurality of fundamental inputs comprising:

whether the automatic park brake system is being manually activated via an operator input,

whether there is an operator input to deactivate the automatic park brake system and set the equipment park brake system to an “off” state;

whether the vehicle is turned on or off; and

whether the automatic park brake controller (APBC) is in “Sleep Mode”:

if the automatic park brake controller is in sleep mode, the automatic park brake remains in sleep mode and the automatic park brake system returns to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and

if the automatic park brake controller is not in sleep mode, the automatic park brake system proceeds to a next step of the method; and

activating the automatic park brake system (APB system), by execution of a command from the automatic park brake controller (APBC) to actuate the automatic park brake actuator (APB actuator) by:

determining whether the vehicle is in motion:

if the vehicle is in motion activating the equipment park brake system in a phased manner, and if the vehicle is not in motion activating the equipment park brake system in a non-phased manner;

after the brake has been applied, performing a brake wear compensation; and

determining whether a brake maintenance service is needed;

if the vehicle is on, monitoring the vehicle by determining whether the vehicle is in motion:

if it is determined the vehicle is in motion;

confirming whether the vehicle operator is in an operator position and activating an operator presence timer if the operator is not present;

if the operator presence timer detects an absence of the operator that has not exceeded a predetermined threshold, the system will return to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and if the operator presence timer detects an absence of the operator which has exceeded the predetermined threshold, the system indicates an error condition comprising an operator is not present;

following the error condition comprising the operator is not present, the system follows the steps for activating the automatic park brake system (APB system);

if it is determined the vehicle is not in motion:

determining whether the vehicle is in park or neutral gear;

if the vehicle is in park or neutral gear, activating a park or neutral timer configured to monitor an amount of time the vehicle remains in park or neutral gear:

if the park or neutral timer does not exceed a predetermined threshold of time, the automatic park brake system will take no further action; and

if the park or neutral timer detects an amount of time which exceeds the predetermined threshold, the system indicates the vehicle has been in park or neutral longer than the predetermined threshold and determines whether the equipment park brake has already been applied:

 if the equipment park brake has not yet been applied, the system follows the steps for activating the automatic park brake system; and

 if the equipment park brake has already been applied, the system returns to the step of starting the automatic park brake system;

if the vehicle is not in park or neutral gear, confirming whether the vehicle operator is in an operator position;

if the operator is present, the system determines whether the park brake has been activated:

 if the park brake has been activated, the system will deactivate the park brake and the system will return to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and

 if the park brake has not been activated, the system will return to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and

if the operator is not present:

 an error condition that the operator is not present and an error condition that the vehicle is not in park or neutral will be displayed by the system on a system operator panel;

 the system determines whether the park brake has been activated and if the park brake has not yet been applied, the system follows the steps for activating the automatic park brake system;

 the system determines whether the park brake has been activated and if the park brake has already been applied, the system will return to the step of starting the automatic park brake system.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the system determining the vehicle is in an “off” state and the vehicle is not in sleep mode;

after determining the vehicle is in an “off” state and is not in sleep mode, the system determining whether the park brake has been activated;

if the park brake has been applied, the system monitoring by a sleep mode timer how long the vehicle has been “off” with the park brake already applied:

if the sleep mode timer is below a threshold value, the system taking no further action; and

if the sleep mode timer has exceeded the threshold, the system activating a sleep mode process configured to enable operation of the system in a reduced power consumption state to conserve energy of the automatic park brake battery;

if the park brake has not been applied, the system determining whether the vehicle is currently moving;

if it is determined the vehicle is in motion:

determining whether the vehicle operator is in an operator position:

 if the operator is in the operator position, the system taking no further action and returning to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and

 if the operator is not in the operator position and the presence timer detects an absence of the operator has not exceeded a predetermined threshold, the automatic park brake system will take no further action and the system will return to the step of starting the automatic park brake system; and if the operator presence timer detects an absence of the operator which has exceeded the predetermined threshold, the system indicates an error condition comprising an operator is not present and following an error condition comprising an operator is not present, the system follows the steps for activating the automatic park brake system (APB system);

if it is determined the vehicle is not in motion:

determining whether the vehicle is in park or neutral gear;

 if the vehicle is not in a park or neutral gear, indicating an error condition that the vehicle is not in a park or neutral gear, indicating an error condition that the vehicle is not set to a parked condition, and the system following the steps for activating the automatic park brake system (APB system); and

 if the vehicle is in a park or neutral gear, the system returning to and following the step of activating the automatic park brake system (APB system).

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the step of initializing the automatic park brake system comprising an initialization routine comprising one or more of the following steps:

determining if an automatic park brake system initialization mode is currently active;

if the initialization mode is active:

the automatic park brake controller (APBC) commanding the automatic park brake actuator (APB actuator) to actuate to a predetermined position and evaluating one or more of an amperage or a force required to achieve the predetermined position;

if the amperage and/or the force at the predetermined position are within the set of operational specifications, the system creating a set of operating set points associated with the predetermined position and exiting the initialization mode; and

if an automatic park brake system error exists wherein the amperage and/or the force at the predetermined position are not within the set of operational specifications:

 the automatic park brake controller remaining in the initialization mode until a service technician resolves an automatic park brake system issue causing the error; and

 after the automatic park brake system issue causing the error is resolved, the initialization mode is repeated.