Cable actuated tow brake system
View Patent ↗A cable actuated tow brake system to remotely monitor and control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising a actuator cable secured to a pulley wherein the actuator cable is coupled between a pulley drive motor and the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle to selectively displace the brake pedal of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied.
1 . A cable actuated tow brake system to control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising an actuator cable coupled to a pulley disposed within a brake control assembly and the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle, said pulley operatively coupled to a drive motor to rotate said pulley to selectively displace the brake pedal of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the braking of the towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied, said brake control assembly comprises an enclosure secured to the towed vehicle and including a front wall, rear wall, top wall and bottom wall to house said pulley and said drive motor and further including a cable guide including a cable opening formed in said front wall of said enclosure and having a pair of substantially parallel rollers forming a slot or opening therebetween to receive said actuator cable therethrough.
2 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 wherein said rollers are rotatably mounted to said front wall of said enclosure by a mounting bracket secured to said front wall of said enclosure.
3 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 wherein said actuator cable is coupled to the brake pedal assembly of the vehicle by a brake pedal assembly connector comprising a pair of substantially parallel members disposed in spaced relationship to each other having a proximal attachment member extending between a proximal end portion of each said substantially parallel member to attach a distal end portion of said actuator cable to said brake pedal assembly connector.
4 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 3 further including a pair of substantially parallel brake pedal arm connector members disposed in spaced relationship relative to each other extending between said substantially parallel members to cooperatively form an opening therebetween to retain the brake pedal arm of the brake pedal assembly therein to couple said actuator cable to the brake pedal assembly.
5 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 further including a pair of substantially parallel brake pedal arm connector members disposed in spaced relationship relative to each other extending between said substantially parallel members to cooperatively form an opening therebetween to retain the brake pedal arm of the brake pedal assembly therein to couple said actuator cable to the brake pedal assembly.
6 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 wherein a proximal end of said actuator cable including a diameter is coupled to said pulley disposed within a pulley block cavity including a diameter formed in a pulley block disposed within said enclosure.
7 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 6 wherein a groove is formed in the circumference of said pulley to receive a proximal portion of said actuator cable, said groove having a depth equal to or less than twice said diameter of said actuator cable.
8 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 7 wherein the depth of said groove is equal to or less than twice said diameter of said actuator cable to prevent said actuator cable from crossing over itself to prevent binding.
9 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 6 wherein the depth of said groove is equal to or less than two diameters of said actual cable to prevent said actuator cable from crossing over itself in said groove.
10 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 wherein a drive motor selectively rotates said pulley to increase or decrease the tension between said actuator cable and the brake pedal assembly to control braking of the towed vehicle.
11 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 10 wherein said drive motor comprises a reversible drive motor connected to output shaft to selectively wind said actuator cable onto said pulley to actuate the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle to actuate the tow vehicle brakes or to unwind said actuator cable on said pulley to release the brakes of the towed vehicle.
12 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 11 wherein drive motor is free to move within said brake control assembly allowing said drive motor to exert essentially the same magnitude of force as applied to the brake pedal arm on a force sensor disposed within said enclosure.
13 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 12 wherein said force sensor is normally biased in to prevent a force from being applied in the absence of a braking event.
14 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 11 further including a brake pedal position sensor and a microprocessor, said brake pedal position sensor disposed adjacent said output shaft to sense the rotational position of said pulley relative to the non-braking position of said pulley when there is no tension on said actuator cable and the brake pedal assembly is not displaced and to generate a signal as an indication of the amount of said actuator cable is taken-up on said pulley fed to said microcontroller.
15 . The cable actuated tow brake assembly of claim 14 wherein said brake pedal assembly position sensor comprises an encoder coupled to said pulley mount to support an encoder assembly including an encoder and encoder printed circuit board that in combination with a magnet mounted to said output shaft generates said signal corresponding to the angle of said output shaft relative to the position of said encoder and when said pulley is in position that the tension of said actuator cable is not actuating the brakes of the towed vehicle.
16 . The cable actuated tow brake assembly of claim 15 wherein said encoder is disposed coaxially relative to said output shaft and said magnet to sense the position or angle of said output shaft angle relative to said encoder printed circuit board.
17 . The cable actuated tow brake assembly of claim 15 wherein a force sensor located on said encoder printed circuit board and an acceleration sensor together generate signals fed to said microcontroller to generate proportional brake signals to brake towed vehicle of acceleration generated by towing vehicle.
18 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 1 wherein said microcontroller reverses operation of said reversible motor to apply tension to said actuator cable when the force applied to the brake pedal assembly is reduced to correlate to the predetermined current of the motor current.
19 . A cable actuated tow brake system to control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising an actuator cable coupled to a pulley disposed within a brake control assembly and the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle, said pulley operatively coupled to a drive motor to rotate said pulley to selectively displace the brake pedal of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the braking of the towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied wherein a proximal end of said actuator cable including a diameter coupled to said pulley is disposed within a pulley block cavity wherein a groove is formed in a circumference of said pulley to receive a proximal portion of said actuator cable, said groove having a depth equal to or less than twice said diameter of said actuator cable.
20 . The actuator tow brake system of claim 19 wherein the depth of said groove is equal to or less than twice the diameter of said actuator cable and wherein the depth of said groove is equal to or less than twice the diameter of said actuator cable to prevent said actuator cable from crossing over itself to prevent binding.
21 . A cable actuated tow brake system to control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising an actuator cable coupled to a pulley disposed within a brake control assembly and the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle, said pulley operatively coupled to a drive motor to rotate said pulley to selectively displace the brake pedal of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the braking of the towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied wherein a proximal end of said actuator cable including a diameter is coupled to said pulley disposed within a pulley block cavity and a groove formed in a circumference of said pulley having a depth equal to or less than two diameters of said actual actuator cable to prevent said actuator cable from crossing over itself in said groove.
22 . A cable actuated tow brake system to control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising an actuator cable coupled between a pulley disposed within an enclosure and a brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle, said pulley is operatively coupled to a reversible drive motor to increase tension on said actuator cable to displace a brake pedal of the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the braking of a towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and to decrease tension on said actuator cable to release the brakes of the towed vehicle when the towing vehicle is not braking, said reversible drive motor is movably disposed within said enclosure to selectively engage a force sensor when tension is applied to said actuator cable displacing the brake pedal and a microcontroller coupled to said reversible drive motor to control the operation of said reversible drive motor, said microcontroller includes logic to compare a sensor signal generated by said force sensor proportional to the force applied to the brake pedal assembly by said actuator cable when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and the current motor operating said reversible motor and to generate a signal to reverse operation of said reversible motor when the motor current exceeds the preestablished motor current correlating with the force applied to said actuator cable to reduce tension on said actuator cable.
23 . The cable actuated tow brake system of claim 22 further including a brake pedal assembly position sensor to sense the rotational position of said pulley and to generate a pulley signal to indicate the amount of said actuator cable taken-up on said pulley, said pulley signal fed to said microcontroller including logic to compare said pulley signal with the motor current operating the reversible motor when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and to generate a signal to reverse operation of said reversible motor when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and to generate a signal to reverse operation of said reversible motor when the motor current exceeds the motor current preestablished correlation with said pulley signal to reduce tension on said actuator cable.
24 . The cable actuator tow brake system of claim 23 wherein said microcontroller reverses said reversible motor to apply tension to said actuator cable when the rotational position of said pulley and the motor current reach the pre-established correlation.
25 . A cable actuated tow brake system to control the braking of a towed vehicle comprising an actuator cable coupled between a pulley disposed within an enclosure and a brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle, said pulley is operatively coupled to a reversible drive motor to increase tension on said actuator cable to displace a brake pedal of the brake pedal assembly of the towed vehicle to apply the brakes of the towed vehicle proportionally to the braking of a towing vehicle when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and to decrease tension on said actuator cable to release the brakes of the towed vehicle when the towing vehicle is not braking, said reversible drive motor is movably disposed within said enclosure to selectively engage a force sensor when tension is applied to said actuator cable displacing the brake pedal and further including a brake pedal assembly position sensor to sense the rotational position of said pulley and generate a pulley signal indicative of the amount of said actuator cable taken-up on said pulley and to generate a signal indicative of the amount of the said actuator cable taken-up on said pulley and a microcontroller coupled to said reversible drive motor to control the operation of said reversible drive motor, said microcontroller includes logic to correlate a force sensor signal sensed by said force sensor proportional to the force applied to the brake pedal assembly by said actuator cable when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied and the pulley signal indicative of the rotation position of said pulley and to generate a signal to reverse operation of said reversible motor when the force sensor signal exceeds the correlation with the force applied to said actuator cable to reduce tension on said actuator cable.
26 . The cable actuator for brake systems of claim 25 wherein said microcontroller reverses operation of said reversible motor to apply tension to said actuator cable when the rotational position of said pulley and the force applied to the brake pedal assembly is reduced to correlate with the preestablished correlation.