Patent ID: 8820856

Claim:
An apparatus for a vehicle having components of a parking brake system and components of a service brake system, the apparatus comprising: a normally-energized solenoid operatively coupled to components of the parking brake system and for, when de-energized, exhausting air pressure in at least some components of the parking brake system to set park brakes of the parking brake system; and an electronic controller arranged to (i) monitor a combination of one or more signals indicative of a service brakes holding function of the vehicle, (ii) monitor a combination of one or more signals indicative of a fault condition of the vehicle, and (iii) provide one or more signals to be applied to the normally-energized solenoid to de-energize the normally-energized solenoid to exhaust air pressure in at least some components of the parking brake system and thereby to set park brakes of the parking brake system when both the combination of one or more signals indicative of a service brakes holding function and the combination of one or more signals indicative of a fault condition of the vehicle are detected.