Patent ID: 6176495
Filing Date: 2001-01-23
Classification: B60S

Abstract:
A leveling control system for assisting an operator to level a vehicle chassis, the vehicle chassis presenting a longitudinal axis, and a transverse axis, and having a ground-engageable vehicle leveling system, the leveling control system comprising:sensor means having a first tilt sensor for sensing tilt along the longitudinal axis, the first tilt sensor providing an output signal related to a low front/high rear and a high front/low rear conditions, no signal being provided during front/rear level conditions and a second tilt sensor for sensing tilt along the transverse axis, the second tilt sensor providing output signals related to a low left/high right and a high left/low right conditions, no signal being provided during left/right level conditions;logic means communicatively coupled to the sensor means for receiving indications of sensed tilt in the longitudinal and transverse axes therefrom;a control box adapted to be held in an operator's hand, the control box being in signal communication with the logic means, the control box comprising a set of lights observable by the operator,the lights being disposed on the control box in a roughly quadrature pattern with the lights approximately only at the four quadrants of the quadrature and the lights at each quadrant of the pattern being associated with one of the corners of the vehicle chassis,the lights and logic means being electrically associated so that the logic means causes the light associated with one corner of the vehicle to be illuminated when that corner of the vehicle is lower than the other three corners of the vehicle, and the logic means causes illumination of the lights associated with two vehicle corners when the two vehicle corners are level with respect to each other and are also lower than the other two vehicle corners, wherein the logic means is incapable of illuminating two diagonally opposite light,the control box further comprising a set of height controls, the height controls being communicatively connected to a power source and capable of sending a height signal to height-adjusting means that adjust the height of the corners of the vehicle, the height signal being a signal to increase or decrease the height of a vehicle corner, the height controls being activated to send a height signal only in response to manipulation by an operator.