Patent ID: 11945502
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A vehicle-to-vehicle in-flight energy transfer system, comprising:
a towing vehicle;
a towed vehicle;
a towing device that mechanically connects the towed vehicle and the towing vehicle to allow the towing vehicle to pull the towed vehicle during a towing event; and
a control module programmed to coordinate parking steering maneuvers of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle when parking during the towing event between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle;
wherein, as part of coordinating the parking steering maneuvers, the control module is programmed to:
coordinate a first steering-related use case configured to:
instruct a user of the towing vehicle to turn a first set of drive wheels in a first direction toward a curb when parking on a downhill grade of a roadway; and
command the towed vehicle to turn a second set of drive wheels of the towed vehicle in the first direction toward a curb; or

coordinate a second steering-related use case configured to:
instruct the user of the towing vehicle to turn the first set of drive wheels in a second direction away from the curb when parking on an uphill grade of the roadway; and
command the towed vehicle to turn the second set of drive wheels of the towed vehicle in the second direction away from the curb; or

coordinate a third steering-related use case configured to:
instruct the user of the towing vehicle to turn the first set of drive wheels in a third direction away from a traffic side of the towing vehicle when parking on a minimal grade of the roadway; and
command the towed vehicle to turn the second set of drive wheels of the towed vehicle in a fourth direction that is opposite of the third direction.