EP4143039A1 - Trailer hitch with a swivellable hitch hook and a motor for swivelling the hitch hook - Google Patents

Trailer hitch with a swivellable hitch hook and a motor for swivelling the hitch hook

Info

Publication number
EP4143039A1
EP4143039A1 EP20723333.9A EP20723333A EP4143039A1 EP 4143039 A1 EP4143039 A1 EP 4143039A1 EP 20723333 A EP20723333 A EP 20723333A EP 4143039 A1 EP4143039 A1 EP 4143039A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
motor
current
hook
control unit
test pulse
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP20723333.9A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Florinel JOITA
Robert Gabriel MITRICA
Jan SCHMÄLING
Mihai Gabriel TOLGOI
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hella GmbH and Co KGaA
Original Assignee
Hella GmbH and Co KGaA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hella GmbH and Co KGaA filed Critical Hella GmbH and Co KGaA
Publication of EP4143039A1 publication Critical patent/EP4143039A1/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60D—VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
    • B60D1/00—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices
    • B60D1/58—Auxiliary devices
    • B60D1/62—Auxiliary devices involving supply lines, electric circuits or the like
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60D—VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
    • B60D1/00—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices
    • B60D1/01—Traction couplings or hitches characterised by their type
    • B60D1/06—Ball-and-socket hitches
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60D—VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
    • B60D1/00—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices
    • B60D1/48—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting
    • B60D1/54—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting collapsible or retractable when not in use, e.g. hide-away hitches

Definitions

  • the invention concerns a trailer hitch for a motor vehicle, said trailer hitch comprising
  • a motor that can be used to swivel the hook from a first position, preferably a working position, in which a trailer can be attached to the hook, to a second po sition, preferably a parking position, in which no trailer can be attached to the hook,
  • control unit for controlling the motor, said control unit being able to activate the motor by means of an test pulse in such a way that a hook located in the first position is subjected during the test pulse to a force which has a direction which is directed counter to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the first position into the second position, and
  • a current or voltage sensor for detecting the current received by the motor or a voltage applied to the motor during the test pulse, wherein the current or volt age sensor is connected to the motor and is either connected to an input of the control unit or the current or voltage sensor is part of the control unit and the connection to the motor is established via an input of the control unit.
  • a towing device with a pivoting tow hook is described in document EP 2724876 A1 and in the application filed by the applicant with the application number PCT/EP2018/082253. It is also disclosed in the document that the hitch hook has a motor for swivelling the trailer hook from a parked position to a working position and vice versa. It also described that a current sensor may be provided to measure the motor current. The motor current measurement can be used to measure the load on the hitch hook. By detecting the load on the trailer hooks, it is possible to monitor whether the trailer is still connected to the towing vehicle's hitch or whether the con nection between the towing vehicle and the trailer has become loose. An additional sensor can be optionally mounted for measuring the weight of the trailer on the hitch hook. The motor current measurement performed during the test pulse is also used to determine whether the hitch hook is securely locked into the working position or the hitch hook has become loose.
  • a sensor for the motor current provided for swivelling the hook can also be used to de termine whether the hook is in a first position, for example a working position or not.
  • a test pulse is applied to the motor, the magnitude of which is deter mined by the voltage of the on-board power supply system supplying the motor and by the level of the counterforce opposing the force of the motor.
  • the counterforce is generated by the motor pressing the hook against a stop defined by the construction of the base and the hook, which defines an end position.
  • This counterforce is large compared to the counterforce acting on the hitch in the park ing position or in a position between the parking position and the working position.
  • the force applied by the motor and, as a result, the current supplied to the motor is corre spondingly high, as the current is proportional to the torque applied by the motor and, therefore, to the force applied.
  • the cyclical test pulses increase the force with which the trailer hook is pressed into its end position by the motor.
  • the voltage in the on-board power supply system of the towing vehicle increases, especially during longer journeys, especially when all power storage devices connected to the on-board power supply system, such as batteries, are charged.
  • the higher voltage of the on-board power supply is then also applied to the motor of the trailer coupling, which during a test pulse drives a larger current through the motor of the trailer hitch than is the case when the voltage in the on-board power supply is lower.
  • This higher motor current caused by the higher voltage in the vehicle electrical system, also results in a higher force with which the motor acts on the trailer hitch.
  • the present invention is based on the objective of improving a trailer hitch of the type mentioned above in such a way that blocking of the hook in the first position (for ex ample a working position) is prevented.
  • this problem is solved by programming the control unit in such a way that the current received by the motor or the voltage applied to the motor is controlled during the test pulse.
  • the force exerted by the motor on the hook can be limited. This pre vents the hook from blocking in the first position (for example the working position) and ensures that the hook can easily be swivelled from the first position (for example the working position) to the second position (for example the parking position) if nec essary.
  • the trailer hitch may have a DC/DC converter which has an input for connection to a vehicle electrical system, an output connected to the motor and a control input con nected directly or indirectly to an output of the control unit.
  • the con trol unit may have an output for the power supply of the motor.
  • the control unit of a trailer hitch in accordance with the invention may have a control ler for controlling the voltage applied to the motor, hereinafter referred to as voltage controller, or a controller of the motor current, hereinafter referred to as current con troller.
  • the current controller in particular can be a PID (proportional-integral-deriva tive) controller.
  • the controlling unit (ECU) comprises a controller for controlling the current absorbed by the motor by adjusting the duty cycle of the PWM motor com mand during the re-tension pulse.
  • a current value can be stored in the control unit, which forms the reference variable for the current controller.
  • Several different current values can also be stored which can be selected as reference variable s for the current controller. The same applies to the voltage controller, for which one or more voltage values can be stored in the control unit.
  • the control unit can be programmed so that the highest stored current value is up to approx. 15% above a minimum current value that must be reached during the test pulse motor current. This ensures that the amount of current necessary for a positive result of the test of the function of the trailer hitch can be achieved with a trailer hitch according to the invention. If the current is not reached, the trailer hitch is not in the working position or there is some other fault which can lead to a negative test result.
  • the control unit of a trailer hitch can be programmed in such a way that during the generation of a test pulse, the stored current amounts are successively selected as reference variable until the highest stored current amount is selected. In this way a so-called soft start can be achieved, which leads to a lower load on the vehicle electrical system or to better EMC. In addition to a lower load on the vehicle electrical system, the soft start will prevent the appearance of the inrush current assuring thus a smoother increase of the current consumed by the hitch motor and therefore a smoother increase of the torque applied to the hitch hook.
  • an test pulse is cyclically generated with which the motor of the trailer hitch is supplied in order to exert a force on the hook with the motor, which presses the hook in a direc- tion opposite to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the working posi tion to the parking position, thereby controlling the voltage or current applied to the motor so that a desired amount of the force acting on the hook is not exceeded.
  • the voltage controller can be used to control the voltage applied to the motor or the current received by the motor can be controlled with the current controller.
  • the test pulse can have a length or duration of approx. 400 ms, for example. If the motor current is controlled, the reference varia ble can be increased in steps. It is possible that the steps between the start of the test pulse and a maximum motor current have a length of approx. 50 ms each.
  • the motor current can be controlled by pulse width modulation.
  • the current level can be adjusted by setting the duty cycle.
  • Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a control circuit for a trailer hitch according to the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled with a regu lation without soft start at an on-board voltage of 13 V,
  • Fig. 3 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 13 V and a reference variable ,
  • Fig. 4 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 15.8 V and the reference variable , and
  • FIG. 5 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 10.5 V and the reference variable .
  • a trailer hitch according to the invention has a base which can be attached to a towing vehicle.
  • a hook is pivotably attached to the base via a swivel joint. The hook can be swivelled between a second position (for example a parking position behind a bumper), and a first position (for example a working position) in which a trailer can be attached.
  • the trailer hitch has an electric motor.
  • the motor can apply a force to the hook in the direction of movement from the parking position to the work ing position and thus against movement of the hook from the working position to the parking position.
  • the motor current is determined by the voltage applied to the motor and the electrical properties of the motor.
  • the motor current is proportional to the force applied by the motor, which always exceeds a specified value when the trailer hook is pressed against the stop. If the specified value is reached for a specified period of time, this is an indication that the hook is in the working position. If it is not reached, there is an error.
  • the idea of the invention is preventing an increase of the re-tension force during every pulse applied to the motor. This is done by limitation of the voltage and/or the current applied to the motor. Because the torque generated by a DC motor is proportional to the motor current, the best approach for assuring a constant force for each pulse is to control the motor current to a desired set point or reference motor current.
  • the input will be error between the reference variable and the measured motor cur rent - the output will be the duty cycle of the motor PWM command
  • Such a motor current control is represented in fig. 1 , which shows an electronic control unit ECU of a so called trailer tow module TTM.
  • Iref is the reference variable for the pulse, which must be above a minimum current threshold for re-tension validation
  • I is the actual motor current of a hitch hook motor measured on a feedback line MOT1_IS_AI
  • e Iref - 1 is an error signal
  • PID is a proportional-integral-derivative controller
  • DC is a duty cycle for the motor driver computed by the controller and provided on a control line MOT1_PWM_PO.
  • the PID feedback control is a control loop mechanism providing feedback of the con trolled motor in the presentation of the continuously calculated error signal e(t), which is the difference between the reference motor current Iref and a measured process variable I.
  • trailer tow module TTM usually is a discrete system
  • a discrete transfer function of PID Z transform
  • T s is the sampling time, in this case 5 ms.
  • the controller performance is adjusted through adjusting the coefficients or gains K p , K j and K d to obtain an error as small as possible for the controlled current.
  • controllers coefficients need to take into account the entire system, including also the mechanical part of the electrical hitch and not only the electrical characteristics of the hitch motor. Therefore, for deter mining the controller’s coefficients also take into consideration all the tolerances that can occur in all domains (mechanical, electrical). An appropriate way to determine the gains is the experimental way.
  • the controlled motor current is stabilized at approximately 8.3 A, which is above the minimum current of 7.2 A required to validate the test or re-tension pulse.
  • the error from the refer ence variable has stabilized at 0.2 A and the duty cycle of the PWM motor command stabilizes at around 85%. This can be observed in the measurement shown in fig. 2.
  • a smoother curve of the motor current can be obtained by adding a soft start of the reference variable in the first 100 ms of the test or re-tension pulse:
  • the soft-start can be adjusted based on the controlling application in each application.
  • the motor current has a smoother ramp and stabilizes around 8.4 A.
  • the stationary error is 0.1 A and the duty cycle stabilizes around 86%.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Control Of Direct Current Motors (AREA)
  • Electric Propulsion And Braking For Vehicles (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention concerns a trailer hitch comprising • a base, • a hook that is pivotably attached to the base, • a motor that can be used to swivel the hook from a first position, preferably a working position, in which a trailer can be attached to the hook, to a second position, preferably a parking position, in which no trailer can be attached to the hook, • a control unit for controlling the motor, said control unit being able to activate the motor by means of an test pulse in such a way that a hook located in the first position is subjected during the test pulse to a force which has a direction which is directed counter to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the first position into the second position, and • a current or voltage sensor, for detecting the current received by the motor or a voltage applied to the motor during the test pulse, wherein the current or voltage sensor is connected to the motor and is either connected to an input of the control unit or the current or voltage sensor is part of the control unit and the connection to the motor is established via an input of the control unit.

Description

Trailer hitch with a swivellable hitch hook and a motor for swivelling the hitch hook
Description
The invention concerns a trailer hitch for a motor vehicle, said trailer hitch comprising
• a base,
• a hook that is pivotably attached to the base,
• a motor that can be used to swivel the hook from a first position, preferably a working position, in which a trailer can be attached to the hook, to a second po sition, preferably a parking position, in which no trailer can be attached to the hook,
• a control unit for controlling the motor, said control unit being able to activate the motor by means of an test pulse in such a way that a hook located in the first position is subjected during the test pulse to a force which has a direction which is directed counter to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the first position into the second position, and
• a current or voltage sensor, for detecting the current received by the motor or a voltage applied to the motor during the test pulse, wherein the current or volt age sensor is connected to the motor and is either connected to an input of the control unit or the current or voltage sensor is part of the control unit and the connection to the motor is established via an input of the control unit.
A towing device with a pivoting tow hook is described in document EP 2724876 A1 and in the application filed by the applicant with the application number PCT/EP2018/082253. It is also disclosed in the document that the hitch hook has a motor for swivelling the trailer hook from a parked position to a working position and vice versa. It also described that a current sensor may be provided to measure the motor current. The motor current measurement can be used to measure the load on the hitch hook. By detecting the load on the trailer hooks, it is possible to monitor whether the trailer is still connected to the towing vehicle's hitch or whether the con nection between the towing vehicle and the trailer has become loose. An additional sensor can be optionally mounted for measuring the weight of the trailer on the hitch hook. The motor current measurement performed during the test pulse is also used to determine whether the hitch hook is securely locked into the working position or the hitch hook has become loose.
A sensor for the motor current provided for swivelling the hook can also be used to de termine whether the hook is in a first position, for example a working position or not. For this purpose, a test pulse is applied to the motor, the magnitude of which is deter mined by the voltage of the on-board power supply system supplying the motor and by the level of the counterforce opposing the force of the motor. In the working position of the hook, the counterforce is generated by the motor pressing the hook against a stop defined by the construction of the base and the hook, which defines an end position. This counterforce is large compared to the counterforce acting on the hitch in the park ing position or in a position between the parking position and the working position. The force applied by the motor and, as a result, the current supplied to the motor is corre spondingly high, as the current is proportional to the torque applied by the motor and, therefore, to the force applied.
If now during the test pulse a motor current is detected which has a predetermined minimum amount for a predetermined time, this is a sign that the trailer hook is in the working position, i.e. in the end position, because only in the end position the prede termined level of the motor current is reached. If, on the other hand, the motor current is not high enough or not high enough for a long enough time, this is a sign that there could be a fault.
The cyclical test pulses increase the force with which the trailer hook is pressed into its end position by the motor. In addition, the voltage in the on-board power supply system of the towing vehicle increases, especially during longer journeys, especially when all power storage devices connected to the on-board power supply system, such as batteries, are charged. The higher voltage of the on-board power supply is then also applied to the motor of the trailer coupling, which during a test pulse drives a larger current through the motor of the trailer hitch than is the case when the voltage in the on-board power supply is lower. This higher motor current, caused by the higher voltage in the vehicle electrical system, also results in a higher force with which the motor acts on the trailer hitch.
This higher force can cause the hook in the working position to become blocked and cannot be moved easily from the working position to the parking position.
The present invention is based on the objective of improving a trailer hitch of the type mentioned above in such a way that blocking of the hook in the first position (for ex ample a working position) is prevented.
According to the invention, this problem is solved by programming the control unit in such a way that the current received by the motor or the voltage applied to the motor is controlled during the test pulse. By controlling the motor current or the voltage ap plied to the motor, the force exerted by the motor on the hook can be limited. This pre vents the hook from blocking in the first position (for example the working position) and ensures that the hook can easily be swivelled from the first position (for example the working position) to the second position (for example the parking position) if nec essary.
The trailer hitch may have a DC/DC converter which has an input for connection to a vehicle electrical system, an output connected to the motor and a control input con nected directly or indirectly to an output of the control unit. As an alternative the con trol unit may have an output for the power supply of the motor.
The control unit of a trailer hitch in accordance with the invention may have a control ler for controlling the voltage applied to the motor, hereinafter referred to as voltage controller, or a controller of the motor current, hereinafter referred to as current con troller. The current controller in particular can be a PID (proportional-integral-deriva tive) controller. The controlling unit (ECU) comprises a controller for controlling the current absorbed by the motor by adjusting the duty cycle of the PWM motor com mand during the re-tension pulse.
A current value can be stored in the control unit, which forms the reference variable for the current controller. Several different current values can also be stored which can be selected as reference variable s for the current controller. The same applies to the voltage controller, for which one or more voltage values can be stored in the control unit.
The control unit can be programmed so that the highest stored current value is up to approx. 15% above a minimum current value that must be reached during the test pulse motor current. This ensures that the amount of current necessary for a positive result of the test of the function of the trailer hitch can be achieved with a trailer hitch according to the invention. If the current is not reached, the trailer hitch is not in the working position or there is some other fault which can lead to a negative test result.
The control unit of a trailer hitch according to the invention can be programmed in such a way that during the generation of a test pulse, the stored current amounts are successively selected as reference variable until the highest stored current amount is selected. In this way a so-called soft start can be achieved, which leads to a lower load on the vehicle electrical system or to better EMC. In addition to a lower load on the vehicle electrical system, the soft start will prevent the appearance of the inrush current assuring thus a smoother increase of the current consumed by the hitch motor and therefore a smoother increase of the torque applied to the hitch hook.
In a method according to the invention for testing whether a hook of a trailer hitch ac cording to the invention is in the first position (for example the working position) or not, an test pulse is cyclically generated with which the motor of the trailer hitch is supplied in order to exert a force on the hook with the motor, which presses the hook in a direc- tion opposite to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the working posi tion to the parking position, thereby controlling the voltage or current applied to the motor so that a desired amount of the force acting on the hook is not exceeded.
During the test pulse, the voltage controller can be used to control the voltage applied to the motor or the current received by the motor can be controlled with the current controller.
With a method according to the invention, the test pulse can have a length or duration of approx. 400 ms, for example. If the motor current is controlled, the reference varia ble can be increased in steps. It is possible that the steps between the start of the test pulse and a maximum motor current have a length of approx. 50 ms each.
The motor current can be controlled by pulse width modulation. The current level can be adjusted by setting the duty cycle.
The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of the attached drawings. Thereby shows:
Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a control circuit for a trailer hitch according to the invention,
Fig. 2 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled with a regu lation without soft start at an on-board voltage of 13 V,
Fig. 3 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 13 V and a reference variable ,
Fig. 4 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 15.8 V and the reference variable , and
Fig. 5 is a current-time diagram showing the motor current controlled by a soft- start control at an on-board voltage of 10.5 V and the reference variable . A trailer hitch according to the invention has a base which can be attached to a towing vehicle. A hook is pivotably attached to the base via a swivel joint. The hook can be swivelled between a second position (for example a parking position behind a bumper), and a first position (for example a working position) in which a trailer can be attached. For swivelling, the trailer hitch has an electric motor.
To check whether the trailer hook is in the working position or not, the motor can apply a force to the hook in the direction of movement from the parking position to the work ing position and thus against movement of the hook from the working position to the parking position. When the hook is in the working position, it is pressed against a stop during the test, which increases the motor current. The motor current is determined by the voltage applied to the motor and the electrical properties of the motor. The motor current is proportional to the force applied by the motor, which always exceeds a specified value when the trailer hook is pressed against the stop. If the specified value is reached for a specified period of time, this is an indication that the hook is in the working position. If it is not reached, there is an error.
In order to prevent the trailer hook from being blocked by the force with which the hook is pressed into its end position in the case where the hook is to be swivelled from the working position to the parking position, a limitation of the force is provided for in the invention.
The idea of the invention is preventing an increase of the re-tension force during every pulse applied to the motor. This is done by limitation of the voltage and/or the current applied to the motor. Because the torque generated by a DC motor is proportional to the motor current, the best approach for assuring a constant force for each pulse is to control the motor current to a desired set point or reference motor current.
For controlling the motor current during the pulse, the best approach is to use a PID controller for which:
- the input will be error between the reference variable and the measured motor cur rent - the output will be the duty cycle of the motor PWM command
Such a motor current control is represented in fig. 1 , which shows an electronic control unit ECU of a so called trailer tow module TTM.
In fig. 1 Iref is the reference variable for the pulse, which must be above a minimum current threshold for re-tension validation, I is the actual motor current of a hitch hook motor measured on a feedback line MOT1_IS_AI, e = Iref - 1 is an error signal, PID is a proportional-integral-derivative controller and DC is a duty cycle for the motor driver computed by the controller and provided on a control line MOT1_PWM_PO.
The PID feedback control is a control loop mechanism providing feedback of the con trolled motor in the presentation of the continuously calculated error signal e(t), which is the difference between the reference motor current Iref and a measured process variable I.
Where:
• u(t) is the output command of the PID algorithm, which is the duty cycle in this case,
• e(t) = lref(t) - I{t) is the error signal,
• Kp is the proportional gain,
• K; is the integral gain, and
• Kd is the derivative gain.
Because the trailer tow module TTM usually is a discrete system, a discrete transfer function of PID (Z transform) can be used
Where Ts is the sampling time, in this case 5 ms. The controller performance is adjusted through adjusting the coefficients or gains Kp, Kj and Kd to obtain an error as small as possible for the controlled current.
An important aspect to be considered is that the controllers coefficients need to take into account the entire system, including also the mechanical part of the electrical hitch and not only the electrical characteristics of the hitch motor. Therefore, for deter mining the controller’s coefficients also take into consideration all the tolerances that can occur in all domains (mechanical, electrical). An appropriate way to determine the gains is the experimental way.
After executing some measurements with a tested hitch, it has been observed that the optimal coefficients for the tested system are the following:
Kp=0.06, Ki=0.013, and Kd=0.0002
For a reference variable of 8.5 A and a supply voltage of 13 V, the controlled motor current is stabilized at approximately 8.3 A, which is above the minimum current of 7.2 A required to validate the test or re-tension pulse. In this case the error from the refer ence variable has stabilized at 0.2 A and the duty cycle of the PWM motor command stabilizes at around 85%. This can be observed in the measurement shown in fig. 2.
A smoother curve of the motor current can be obtained by adding a soft start of the reference variable in the first 100 ms of the test or re-tension pulse:
• t = 0 to 50 ms: Irefl =1/4 Irefmax
• t = 50 to 100 ms: I ref = 1 /2 Irefmax
• t > 100 ms: Irefmax
The soft-start can be adjusted based on the controlling application in each application.
In fig. 3 the motor current is illustrated which is a result of a control with a soft start per-formed with a supply voltage of 13 V, and lrefmax= 8.5 A. The motor current has a smoother ramp and stabilizes around 8.4 A. In this case the stationary error is 0.1 A and the duty cycle stabilizes around 86%. Performing the same test with different supply voltages, it can be observed that the motor current is always maintained closed to the reference variable regardless the value of the supply voltage:
• 15.8 V supply voltage (overvoltage limit of the vehicle voltage): error « 0.2 A, duty cy cle * 78 % (figure 4)
• 10.5 V supply voltage (undervoltage limit of the vehicle voltage): error « 0.7 A, duty cycle « 97 % (figure 5)
Reference sign list
Iref reference variable for the pulse
I actual motor current e error signal u output command of the PID
Kp proportional gain
Kj integral gain
Kd derivative gain
Ts sampling time
TTM trailer tow module
ECU electronic control unit
M0T1_IS_AI feedback line
PID proportional-integral-derivative controller
MOT1 PWM PO control line

Claims

Claims
1. Trailer hitch for a motor vehicle comprising
- a base,
- a hook which is pivotably attached to the base,
- a motor which enables the hook to be swivelled from a first position, pref erably a working position, in which a trailer can be attached to the hook, to a second position, preferably a parking position, in which no trailer can be at tached to the hook
- a control unit (ECU) for controlling the motor, said control unit being able to activate the motor by means of a test pulse in such a way that a force which has a direction which is directed counter to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the first position into the second position is applied to the hook when located in the first position, and
- a current or voltage sensor for detecting a current (I) received by the mo tor during the test pulse or a voltage applied to the motor during the test pulse, wherein the current or voltage sensor is connected to the motor and is either connected to an input of the control unit (ECU) or the current or voltage sensor is part of the control unit and the connection to the motor is established via an terminal of the control unit, characterised in that
- the control unit (ECU) is programmed so that the control unit (ECU) con trols the current (I) received by the motor or the voltage applied to the motor during the test pulse
2. Trailer hitch according to claim 1 , characterized in that the trailer hitch fur ther comprises a DC/DC voltage converter which has an input for connect ing to an on-board power system of the motor vehicle, an output which is connected to the motor of the trailer hitch, and a control input which is con nected indirectly or directly to an output of the control unit (ECU).
3. Trailer hitch according to claim 1 , characterized in that the control unit (ECU) comprises an output for the power supply of the motor.
4. Trailer hitch according to claim 1 , 2 or 3, characterized in that the control unit (ECU) comprises a controller for controlling the voltage applied to the motor or a current controller for controlling the current received by the mo tor.
5. Trailer hitch according to claim 4, characterized in that the current controller is a PID controller (PID).
6. Trailer hitch according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that a current amount which forms a reference variable (Iref) for the current controller is stored in the control unit (ECU), or several different current amounts which can be selected as reference variable (Iref) for the current controller are stored.
7. Trailer hitch according to claim 6, characterized in that the control unit (ECU) is programmed in such a way that the highest stored current amount is up to approximately 15% above a current amount which is predetermined during the test pulse as the minimum amount for the motor current.
8. Trailer hitch according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the control unit (ECU) is programmed in such a way that, in order to generate a test pulse, the stored amounts of current are selected in succession as reference varia ble (Iref ) until the highest stored amount of current is selected.
9. Method for testing whether a trailer hook of a trailer hitch according to one of claims 1 to 8 is in a first position, preferably a working position, or not, characterized by the cyclic generation of a test pulse that controls the motor of the trailer hitch in order to exert a force on the hook, said force pressing the hook in a direction which is opposite to the direction of movement for moving the hook from the first position, preferably a working position, to a second position, preferably a parking position, the voltage or the current (I) applied to the motor being controlled during the test pulse
10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that during the test pulse the voltage applied to the motor is controlled by a voltage controller or that the current (I) received by the motor is controlled by a current controller.
11. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the test pulse has a dura tion of approximately 400 ms and in the case of control of the motor current a reference variable (Iref) is increased in steps, the steps between the start of the test pulse and a maximum amount of the motor current each having a length of approximately 50 ms.
EP20723333.9A 2020-04-29 2020-04-29 Trailer hitch with a swivellable hitch hook and a motor for swivelling the hitch hook Pending EP4143039A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/EP2020/061837 WO2021219209A1 (en) 2020-04-29 2020-04-29 Trailer hitch with a swivellable hitch hook and a motor for swivelling the hitch hook

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EP4143039A1 true EP4143039A1 (en) 2023-03-08

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CN117048258A (en) * 2023-07-19 2023-11-14 深蓝汽车科技有限公司 Control method, device, equipment and storage medium for electric tow hook

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EP2316669B1 (en) * 2009-10-29 2014-07-16 SCAMBIA Industrial Developments Aktiengesellschaft Tow bar

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