US 12,304,578 B2
Fifth wheel control arrangements for articulated vehicles
Richard Söder, Nödinge (SE); Lars Johansson, Sätila (SE); and Olof Johansson, Hålanda (SE)
Assigned to VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION, Gothenburg (SE)
Appl. No. 17/440,087
Filed by VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION, Gothenburg (SE)
PCT Filed Mar. 20, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/056931
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/187406, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0185397 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
Int. Cl. B62D 53/06 (2006.01); B62D 53/08 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 53/068 (2013.01) [B62D 53/0835 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A fifth wheel control arrangement for an articulated vehicle, comprising:
a fifth wheel having a biased hinge joint and an actuator arranged to control a biasing force and/or a damping force of the biased hinge joint, the control arrangement further comprises a control unit configured to automatically control the actuator in response to one or more input sensor signals associated with a current state of the articulated vehicle, to obtain a target wheel axle load of the articulated vehicle and/or to stabilize the articulated vehicle, and
an articulation angle sensor and/or a vehicle tilt angle sensor arranged to register a current articulation angle and/or a current tilt angle of the articulated vehicle, wherein the control unit is arranged to control the actuator to adjust the damping force of the biased hinge joint in response to the current articulation angle and/or the current tilt angle of the articulated vehicle.