An electronic parking brake system that generates a clamping force required for parking of trailer-mounted towing vehicles includes an electronic parking brake provided on at least one of front and rear wheels of the towing vehicle; and a controller configured to receive a front wheel speed, a rear wheel speed, and a longitudinal acceleration of the towing vehicle, determine whether or not the trailer is mounted based on changes in the received front wheel speed, rear wheel speed, and longitudinal acceleration when the towing vehicle passes a speed bump, and determine the clamping force required for parking according to whether or not the trailer is mounted when parking is operated, and control the electronic parking brake to generate the determined clamping force.

The invention has a purpose of providing a controller and a control method capable of suppressing a posture of a motorcycle from becoming unstable in a process of reducing a brake force that has been retained by hill-hold control.

In the cases where the brake force, which has been retained by the hill-hold control, starts to be reduced and it is then determined on the basis of a detection signal of a detection mechanism 8 that the motorcycle starts moving, a control section 7 reduces a reduction amount of the brake force per time to make it smaller than the reduction amount of the brake force per time prior to the determination that the motorcycle starts moving.

The invention has a purpose of improving applicability of a controller and a control method to a vehicle, the controller and the control method executing brake control in which primary information is selectively supplemented by secondary information that is information on an assumed state related to connection and disconnection of a clutch.

The invention includes: a determination section 5A1 that determines whether an actual state and the assumed state, which are related to the connection and the disconnection of the clutch, match each other in accordance with a temporal change in the secondary information; and a brake control section 5A4 that executes the brake control by using the primary information but not the secondary information in the case where the determination section 5A1 determines that the actual state and the assumed state do not match each other.

A method for operating an electropneumatic parking brake system of a vehicle combination, which includes a tractor vehicle and a trailer vehicle, includes activating, after a parking operation and braking of the vehicle combination, a trailer check function in a standstill state. The trailer check function enables a check as to whether, in the case of a decrease in the braking action of the trailer vehicle, the vehicle combination can be held in a stationary manner solely by way of the braking action of a parking brake of the tractor vehicle. The trailer check function is carried out automatically when a vehicle combination has been braked in a stationary manner independently by way of an automatic parking function.

A parking brake control apparatus for a vehicle includes a parking switching operation unit switching the parking brake between ON and OFF, a vehicle power source switching operation unit switching a power source of the vehicle between ON and OFF, a parking brake controller controlling the parking brake and executing automatic application control when the power source of the vehicle is operated from ON to OFF by the occupant with use of the vehicle power source switching operation unit, and a prohibition condition determination unit determining that a prohibition condition for prohibiting the automatic application control is satisfied when a turning-off operation for the vehicle power source switching operation unit is executed after a turning-off operation for the parking switching operation unit is executed in a state where the power source of the vehicle is ON, a state where the vehicle is stopped, and a state where the parking brake is OFF, and when a determination is made that the prohibition condition is satisfied, the parking brake controller does not execute the automatic application control.

A braking control system for an automotive vehicle having driven rear wheels which are coupled through a coupling arrangement to the front wheels of the vehicle so as to switch the vehicle between two-wheel drive mode and four-wheel drive mode, comprises an input for receiving a signal indicative of the nature of the terrain on which the vehicle is parked, wherein the nature of the terrain includes the incline of the terrain and one or more additional indicators of the nature of the terrain, and a processor configured to determine, depending on the signal, a braking force to be applied to the front wheels to brake the vehicle securely. The braking system comprises an output for providing a signal to the coupling arrangement to apply the determined braking force to the front wheels. The processor is also configured to receive a further signal indicative of whether the park brake of the vehicle is applied to the rear vehicle wheels, and is configured to disable the output in the event that the park brake is not applied.

The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for controlling a vehicle (100) during a downhill start. The vehicle comprises a service brake (131a, 131b; 132a, 132b; 33a, 133b), an engine (119) and a transmission (120) being arranged between the engine and at least one driven axle (123), wherein the service brakes, the engine and the transmission are controlled by an electronic control unit (140). The method involves registering that the vehicle is located on a downhill gradient; registering an action from the driver, indicating a request to start the vehicle; controlling the service brake to maintain the vehicle stationary during a predetermined time after the request before initiating a controlled service brake release; controlling a gradual release of the service brake in response to at least one detected first vehicle operating parameter; and releasing the service brake when detecting that a predetermined threshold for at least one second vehicle operating parameter has been attained.

A control device is applied to a vehicle that has a braking device configured to be able to adjust the braking force applied to the vehicle. The control device has a stopping braking force imparting unit that controls the braking device in order to apply a stopping braking force to the vehicle, as a minimum value of the braking force required to keep the vehicle stopped. The control device also has a deviation quantity deriving unit that derives a deviation quantity between a state quantity of the vehicle obtained when the stopping braking force is applied to the vehicle by the stopping braking force imparting unit and an ideal value of the state quantity of the vehicle. The control device also has a stopping braking force updating unit that updates the stopping braking force on the basis of the deviation quantity derived by the deviation quantity deriving unit.

A stability control system of a vehicle utilizing an electronic control unit that minimizes rollback of a vehicle as a result of wheel slip immediately following a hill start assist operation. The electronic braking control module controls actuation and de-actuation of vehicle brakes on an inclined surface. Immediately following a hill start assist operation on the inclined surface after each wheel brake is de-actuated for allowing forward movement of the vehicle up the hill, a split-mu road surface condition is detected in response to sensing wheel slip for each of the wheels. The electronic control unit determines a respective undriven, or non-dominant driven, wheel having the highest coefficient of friction among the undriven, or less dominant driven wheels, as determined by the wheel speeds. The electronic braking control module actuates the vehicle brake of the undriven, or less dominant, driven wheels having the highest coefficient of friction relative to a tire/road surface interface for reducing rollback of the vehicle. The braking of the undriven, or less dominant, driven wheel is in addition to any standard stability control braking that may already be occurring.

Some embodiments relate to apparatus for enhancing vehicle performance along an inclined surface. The apparatus can include a brake modulator that is controllable to reduce or limit the vehicle speed. A controller can control the brake modulator to selectively operate in a hill start assist mode. In the hill start assist mode, the controller can control the brake modulator to hold the vehicle stationary after the vehicle is initially stopped while traveling along the inclined surface, until an acceleration input member is manually operated to control a power source to propel the vehicle. The controller can control the brake modulator to release fluid pressure at the friction members at a pressure release rate that is based on a current position of the acceleration input member.