Patent ID: 7400058

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling a plow having an electrically operable device for moving the plow after the plow is mounted on a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a switch adapted to be mounted on the vehicle remote from the plow and operable by a user to provide a command signal to command an operation of the electrically operable device on the plow; a first controller located in the proximity of the switch and electrically connected to the switch for receiving the command signal; a second controller adapted to be mounted on the plow and electrically connected to the electrically operable device; a first dedicated communications bus electrically connected to the first controller and dedicated exclusively to conducting signals to and from the first controller; a second dedicated communications bus electrically connected to the second controller and dedicated exclusively to conducting signals to and from the second controller; a first connector electrically connected to the first dedicated communications bus; a second connector electrically connected to the second dedicated communications bus, the second connector being connectable to the first connector upon the plow being mounted on the vehicle, thereby connecting the first dedicated communications bus to the second dedicated communications bus to form a continuous dedicated communications bus for conducting exclusively signals between the first controller and the second controller, and the second connector being disconnectable from the first connector upon the plow being removed from the vehicle, the first controller providing the command signal to the second controller via the continuous dedicated communications bus, and the second controller operating the electrically operable device on the plow in response to the first connector being connected to the second connector and receiving the command signal.