Patent ID: 7311364

Claim:
A trailer brake controller comprising: a two axis accelerometer that includes first and second sensor devices for sensing deceleration along first and second axes, said second axis being perpendicular to said first axis, and said accelerometer operative to generate a pair of deceleration signals that are a function of a towing vehicle deceleration; a microprocessor connected to said accelerometer and responsive to said deceleration signals to generate an output brake actuation signal which is related to said pair of deceleration signals, said microprocessor operative to combine said deceleration signals in accordance with the following formula: Deceleration=1 g times arctan( A OUTY /A OUTX ), where g=the force of gravity, A OUTY is the output of said second sensor device, A OUTX is the output of said first sensor device, and arctan(A OUTY /A OUTX ) is the angle between the controller and a reference plane in radian degrees, and at least one pushbutton connected to said microprocessor, said pushbutton being operative to change selected operating parameters of said microprocessor.