A system and method for detecting a sway event in a trailer

摘要

A system and method of controlling a trailer pulled by a tow vehicle which comprises determining the sway of the trailer utilizing an electronic sensor (114) and independently applying the left trailer brakes and or right trailer brakes to different magnitudes of braking force to reduce the trailer sway and thus resulting in the trailer following directly behind the tow vehicle. By monitoring trailer sway and the consequences in trailer sway related to apply the left brakes and or right brakes at different magnitudes of braking force the system can either increase or decrease the applied magnitude of braking until the desired amount of sway reduction is achieved. To achieve independent control of the left brakes from the right brakes the device electronics separate the traditional braking signal from the tow vehicle into two independent braking signals connected separately to the left brakes and right brakes and then utilize the traditional braking signal to apply both the left brakes and right brakes whenever the traditional braking signal goes active and then utilizes trailer battery power to activate the left brakes and or right brakes independently when trailer sway is detected to thus reduce trailer sway. Figure 2. TOW VE HICLE El + Batt Brake Controller + Batt .. .. .. .. LEFT..RIGHT Figure.1