A controller of an electric brake device includes first, second and third PKB operators. Upon receipt of an instruction to produce a parking brake active state while a parking brake is released, the first PKB operator exerts a braking force without depending on a brake pedal and determines if a desired braking force is exerted. After the determination by the first PKB operator, the second PKB operator makes a movable part ready to come into engagement with an engaged part and causes an electric motor to rotate in a direction in which the braking force is decreased, so that the movable part comes into engagement with the engaged part to prevent the rotation of the electric motor. Then, the third PKB operator produces the parking brake active state where no driving power is generated to the electric motor.

A brake control unit generates an output signal to the brakes of a towed vehicle directly related to a variety of input signals sent from the towing vehicle, the towed vehicle, the operator, or a combination of any of the three. The brake control unit communicates input signals between a first module and a second module. The first module may include at least one manual input device. The second module may include power circuitry and a processor. The first module may communicate with the second module with LIN communication bus. The brake control unit may include a trailer brake gain switch attached with a steering wheel of a towing vehicle, a trailer brake manual override control attached with the steering wheel, and a brake control unit driver operatively coupled with the trailer brake gain switch and trailer brake manual override.

The present invention relates to a vehicular control device including a plurality of ECUs connected to each other through an in-vehicle network. The vehicular control device includes a first control device that controls an electrical component and a second control device connected to the first control device through an in-vehicle network. In a case where an operation switch of the electrical component in the first control device is fixed in an on-state and an ignition key is off, data transmission from the first control device to the second control device is stopped, or the first control device is set to a reception-only mode, and thus the second control device is prevented from operating due to a wake-up function.

A method for providing a brake force in a vehicle with a hydraulic vehicle brake and an electromechanical brake device includes determining a position of a brake piston at a brake contact point on the basis of a state variable of an electric brake motor when the electromechanical brake device is released. The method further includes displacing the brake piston in a positioning operation until reaching a braking start point.

Disclosed is an electronic parking brake. The electronic parking brake is provided with an operating lever, which is configured to support first and second brake shoes, which are installed at both sides inside a drum, and push the first and second brake shoes toward an inner surface of the drum when a pivot lever is pulled, and is electronically activated to operate the pivot lever to brake the drum, and the electronic parking brake includes a housing mounted on a vehicle body; an actuator installed at the housing and configured to generate a driving force for braking; a power conversion unit having a nut member configured to be rotated by receiving the driving force from the actuator, and a spindle member screw-coupled to the nut member to allow a rectilinear movement; and a parking cable configured to move according to a reciprocal linear movement of the spindle member, operate the parking brake, release an operation of the parking brake, and be connected to an end of one side of the spindle member, wherein the parking cable has a predetermined length and is formed with a single integrated type steel bar body to prevent occurrence of a bending deformation.

A method for maintaining a brake system in a vehicle with a hydraulic vehicle brake and an electromechanical brake device with an electric brake motor includes preparing the brake system for maintenance operations by actuating the electric brake motor to displace a transmission member into a retracted position that is remote from a brake starting position in which a brake lining is located adjacent to a brake disk of the wheel brake device. The method further includes actuating the electric brake motor to displace the transmission member in the direction of the brake starting position after completion of the maintenance operations.

A composite cable includes a first twisted-pair wire formed by twisting a pair of first electric wires, a second twisted-pair wire formed by twisting a pair of second electric wires, a pair of third electric wires arranged between the first and second twisted-pair wires in a circumferential direction, each third electric wire having a larger outer diameter than the first and second electric wires, and a tape member spirally wound around an assembled article that is formed by twisting the first twisted-pair wire, the second twisted-pair wire and the pair of third electric wires together. The two twisted-pair wires have the same twist direction, the twist direction of the two twisted-pair wires is different from a twist direction of the assembled article, and the twist direction of the assembled article is different from a winding direction of the tape member.

A system for the remote actuation of a parking brake in a vehicle, thereby to insure that the parking brake of the vehicle is set when the driver exits the vehicle, includes: an actuator disposed within a vehicle equipped with air brakes and a parking brake button and coupled to the parking brake button and configured to set the parking brake upon the occurrence of a predetermined event; and a remote actuation device configured to be with the driver of the vehicle and to indicate to the actuator when the driver exits the vehicle such that the actuator sets the parking brake if not already set.

In a method for setting a parking brake that has an electromechanical brake device having an electrical brake motor, the release time duration for displacing the electrical brake motor in the release direction is determined from the closing time duration in which the brake motor was previously displaced in the closing direction.

An electric brake device has at least three control units: a first front wheel control unit for controlling a front-left wheel brake mechanism and a front-right wheel brake mechanism; a second front wheel control unit again for controlling the front-left wheel brake mechanism and the front-right wheel brake mechanism; and a rear wheel control unit for controlling a rear-left wheel brake mechanism and a rear-right wheel brake mechanism. In case of failure of at least one of the three control units, at least one of the non-defective other control units temporarily reduces the braking force of the target brake mechanism.