IP Library Granted Patent US 11,479,312
Granted Patent B2
US 11,479,312 · App. 17/084,523 · Granted Oct 25, 2022

Smart trailer system

Inventors: Adam Bean (Hacienda Heights, CA); Timothy Ronald Jackson (Yorba Linda, CA); Douglas Chambers (San Pedro, CA); Ruben Chicas (San Pedro, CA); Robert Alexander Phillips (Laguna Niguel, CA); Thomas Begin (Portland, OR)
Assignee: Phillips Connect Technologies, LLC
B62D63/08G01M17/007G05B19/4185G08B13/08G08B13/126H04L12/2803H04L12/4625B62D53/00G07C5/008H04W84/042Y02P90/02
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,479,312
App. No.
17/084,523
Granted
Oct 25, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A smart trailer system coupled to a trailer of a vehicle includes a sensor configured to measure a parameter of the trailer, a sensor interface board electrically coupled to the sensor and configured to retrieve the measured parameter, and a master controller communicatively coupled to the sensor interface board via a data bus.

Claims (17)

1. A theft protection system of a trailer:

a switch configured to cut off electrical power to the trailer;

a pneumatic valve located within an air brake hose;

a sensor configured to, when activated, identify a state of a trailer door as either open or closed;

a wireless transceiver; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor and configured to activate the sensor when the trailer is in a lockdown mode and to send an alert to a user over the wireless transceiver in response to an identification from the sensor that the trailer door is open, the controller being further configured to close the pneumatic valve during the lockdown mode and to open the switch to cut off the electrical power to the trailer.

2. The theft protection system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to provide a linear measurement of a door position from fully closed to open.

3. The theft protection system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises an ambient light sensor,

wherein the parameter is an interior light level of trailer, and

wherein the controller is configured to identify the state of the trailer door as either open or closed based on a change in a measured interior light level.

4. The theft protection system of claim 1 , wherein, in response to identifying the state of the trailer as opened when the trailer in in the lockdown mode, the controller is to

detect a breach of the trailer and is configured to transmit an alert to one or more of a user device, a remote server, and a security center indicating the breach, and

wherein, in response to detecting a breach, the controller is configured to monitor a location of the trailer and to transmit the location to one or more of a user device, a remote server, and a security center indicating the breach.

5. The theft protection system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a motion sensor or a heat sensor,

wherein the parameter is a motion or a heat signature within the trailer,

wherein the controller is configured to detect a breach of the trailer based on detection of the motion or heat signature, and

wherein in response to detecting the breach, the controller is configured activate one or more cameras in the trailer to record an image and/or a video of an interior of the trailer, and to transmit the image and/or the video to one or more of a user device, a remote server, and a security center indicating the breach.

Assignments (2)
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 15, 2022
From: BEGIN, TOM
To: PHILLIPS CONNECT TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 060516/0896 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 2, 2020
From: BEAN, ADAM; JACKSON, TIMOTHY RONALD; CHAMBERS, DOUGLAS; CHICAS, RUBEN; PHILLIPS, ROBERT ALEXANDER
To: PHILLIPS CONNECT TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 054247/0778 →
Continuity (5)
Division 15728498 · Oct 9, 2017
Provisional Application 62464378 · Feb 28, 2017
Provisional Application 62457054 · Feb 9, 2017
Provisional Application 62405680 · Oct 7, 2016
Related Publication 20210046987A1 · Feb 18, 2021