Patents Assigned to ACPS Automotive GmbH
  • Publication number: 20230398823
    Abstract: In a trailer coupling, in order to detect the rest position and/or the operating position by means of an unambiguous signal, it is proposed that a detector unit is associated with the rest position locking device, said detector unit detecting at least one active position of the rest position locking device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2023
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner
  • Patent number: 11813908
    Abstract: In order to improve a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between a working position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to a vehicle and by means of which the pivot bearing body is received such that it is pivotal for the purpose of performing a pivotal movement about a pivot axis between the working position and the rest position, and a rotation-blocking device that is active between the pivot bearing unit and the pivot bearing body, it is proposed that there run between the working position receptacles and the rest position receptacles of the rotation-blocking device blocking faces against which rotation-blocking bodies of the rotation-blocking device are configured to abut, that rotation-blocking units of the rotation-blocking device and the working position receptacles and the rest position receptacles are arranged at angular spacings from one another around
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner
  • Patent number: 11813907
    Abstract: In order, in the case of a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between a working position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to a vehicle and by means of which the pivot bearing body is received such that it is pivotal for the purpose of performing a pivotal movement about a pivot axis between the working position and the rest position, and a rotation-blocking device that is active between the pivot bearing unit and the pivot bearing body, to achieve fixing of the rotation-blocking device in the release position in the simplest possible manner, it is proposed that there run between receptacles in the rotation-blocking device blocking faces against which the rotation-blocking bodies of the rotation-blocking device are configured to abut and from which the receptacles extend, that rotation-blocking units of the rotation-blocking device and the receptacles are arra
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner
  • Publication number: 20230234413
    Abstract: The invention relates to an installation unit for a carrier element of a carrier unit that is arranged on a body of a motor vehicle, comprising a housing having a first housing portion that, on a first outer side, is supported against a receiving region of the carrier element, and a second housing portion that engages in a receptacle in the receiving region of the carrier element, and a fixing unit that, when the installation unit is mounted in the receptacle, is supported against the receiving region, wherein, when the installation unit is fixed on the receiving region, the fixing unit is connected to the housing, in particular to the second housing portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2023
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Aleksej Kadnikov
  • Patent number: 11707954
    Abstract: To improve a trailer device for a motor vehicle, comprising a holding unit for a crossmember mountable on a vehicle body on the rear-end side thereof and a ball neck receiving body having a ball neck receptacle, into which an insertion portion of a ball neck carrying a coupling ball is insertable and fixable, wherein the ball neck receiving body is arranged mounted on the holding unit so as to be pivotable at least between a working position, in which a ball neck is insertable by means of its insertion portion into the ball neck receptacle, and a rest position, it is proposed that the trailer device comprises a drive, which is coupled to the ball neck receiving body by means of a coupling unit which has a freewheel and which in particular comprises a plurality of coupling elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventor: Bernhard Rimmelspacher
  • Patent number: 11701929
    Abstract: To improve a trailer device for motor vehicles, comprising a holding unit for a crossmember mountable on a vehicle body on the rear-end side thereof and a ball neck receiving body having a ball neck receptacle, in which an insertion portion of a ball neck supporting a coupling ball is insertable and fixable therein, wherein the ball neck receiving body is arranged mounted on the holding unit so as to be pivotable at least between a working position, in which a ball neck is insertable by means of its insertion portion into the ball neck receptacle, and a rest position, it is proposed that the trailer device comprises a locking device which fixes the ball neck receiving body in the rest position in a locking state relative to the holding unit and has an unlocking state, in which the locking device allows the ball neck receiving body to pivot from the rest position in the direction towards the working position, and that an actuator is provided, by means of which the locking device is movable from the locking sta
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Bernhard Rimmelspacher, Michael Fischer, Aleksej Kadnikov
  • Publication number: 20230182516
    Abstract: In a trailer hitch for motor vehicles, comprising a bearing unit which carries a ball neck which at a first end is connected to the bearing unit and at a second end carries a hitch ball, and a holding base which supports the bearing unit and which is connectable to a vehicle body, in particular by means of a crossmember mountable on the vehicle body, in order to reduce the mass of the holding base it is proposed that the holding base has a mounting body that has at least two interconnected shaped parts made of flat material, and that the mounting body on the one hand forms a mounting region molded into the shaped parts and on the other hand forms at least one stiffening region arranged outside the mounting region and molded into the shaped parts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2022
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Pascal Wisirenko
  • Publication number: 20230047694
    Abstract: In order to improve a trailer coupling, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between a working position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot unit, which is arranged fixed to a vehicle and by means of which the pivot bearing body is pivotal for the purpose of performing a pivotal movement about a pivot axis between a working position and a rest position, wherein the pivot unit comprises a pivot bearing unit fixed to the vehicle and a rotation-blocking device for blocking a pivotal movement of the pivot bearing body about the pivot axis, at least in the working position, the improvement being such that this susceptibility to faults in a trailer coupling of the kind mentioned in the introduction is avoided, it is proposed that a pivot control unit should be integrated within the pivot unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Publication date: February 16, 2023
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner
  • Patent number: 11577563
    Abstract: In order to improve an installation unit for a carrier unit that is mounted on a body of a motor vehicle, comprising a housing having a first housing portion that is supported on one side of the carrier unit, a second housing portion that passes through a receptacle in the carrier unit, and a mounting body that is opposite the first housing portion and is supported on the carrier unit on a side remote from the first housing portion and, when the installation unit is mounted on the carrier unit, is fixed by latching elements, wherein the mounting body has a base body to which the second latching elements are connected, and the mounting body cooperates with support elements that are supported against the carrier unit, in such a way that the connection between the latching elements is on the one hand stable over the long term and on the other can be released easily, it proposed that the second latching elements should be connected to the base body by latching element carriers, and that the latching element carri
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Ferdinand Koenig
  • Patent number: 11577557
    Abstract: In order to connect a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between an operative position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to the vehicle by means of a carrier that is configured to be secured to a vehicle body, wherein by means of the pivot bearing unit, which has a pivot bearing housing, the pivot bearing body is mounted such that it is pivotal about a pivot axis between the operative position and the rest position, and a rotation-blocking device that, in at least one rotation-blocking position, blocks a pivotal movement of the pivot bearing body about the pivot axis in relation to the pivot bearing unit and, in a release position, releases such pivotal movement, to the carrier in a manner that is stable and simple to assemble, it is proposed that the pivot bearing housing should pass through a receptacle in a bearing part of the carrier and in so doing be hel
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Aleksej Kadnikov
  • Patent number: 11577562
    Abstract: The invention relates to a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between an operative position and a rest position and has a trailer ball, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to the vehicle, and a rotation-blocking device having at least two rotation-blocking bodies that are guided such that they are movable by means of a guide body in a guide direction having at least one component in the radial direction in relation to the pivot axis, and having an actuation body, which is arranged such that it is rotatable about the pivot axis and has a respective wedge face extending transversely to the guide direction for each of the rotation-blocking bodies and of which the rotary movement in an actuation direction causes the at least two rotation-blocking bodies to be movable and urgeable in the guide direction, wherein there is provided a release position latching device that, in a release position of the actuation body, is movable between a latch release position, which releases movement o
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Gentner, Bernhard Rimmelspacher, Stefan Naegele, Aleksej Kadnikov
  • Publication number: 20220396106
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device, which can be mounted on the rear end of a motor vehicle body, for coupling a trailer or a load carrier unit, comprising a holding arm, which at a first end is fixedly connected to the motor vehicle body during operation and which, at a second end, is configured to support a coupling element, wherein the holding arm is provided with a sensor arrangement with at least three deformation sensors, and wherein the at least three deformation sensors deliver sensor values, on the basis of which at least one force component is determined by means of an evaluation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2022
    Publication date: December 15, 2022
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Christian HOLZ
  • Patent number: 11331969
    Abstract: A device for pulling a trailer and/or retaining a load carrying unit that is mountable at the rear end of a motor vehicle body. The device comprises a supporting arm that is connected by a first end region to the motor vehicle body and is provided at a second end region with an element for attaching the trailer and/or for fixing the load carrying unit and furthermore which comprises sensors for capturing reversible deformations of the supporting arm caused by loads on the supporting arm. The device includes strain sensors which are affected by reversible deformations thereof are assigned to a supporting arm section of the supporting arm. For capturing at least one selected bending strain, at least one strain sensor is arranged on one side and at least one strain sensor on an opposite side of a surface region of a neutral reference surface assigned to the selected bending load. Each of the strain sensors are arranged at a distance from this surface region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Gentner, Galib Krdzalic
  • Publication number: 20220063361
    Abstract: In order to improve a mounting system for a load carrier or a trailer coupling, comprising at least one mounting receptacle, which can be mounted on a rear section of a motor vehicle body, in such a way that a high weight saving is made possible, in particular in the case when a load carrier or a trailer coupling is not being used, it is proposed that the mounting system has a set of two mounting receptacles, which is configured such that each of the mounting receptacles in the mounted state is connected to the motor vehicle body by means of a mounting region for a rear-side impact or crash element provided on the motor vehicle body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Publication date: March 3, 2022
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Hipp, Aleksej Kadnikov, Bernhard Rimmelspacher
  • Patent number: 11220145
    Abstract: In order to provide a trailer coupling device for motor vehicles, comprising a rear-side cross member which is mountable on a vehicle body, a supporting unit provided on the cross member which holds a ball neck receiving sleeve having a ball neck receptacle in which a ball neck incorporating a coupling ball is insertable and fixable therein, in which the ball neck receiving sleeve is minimally visible and disturbing when the ball neck is not inserted, it is proposed that the supporting unit comprises a pivot bearing unit by means of which the ball neck receiving sleeve is pivotable from a working position in which the ball neck is insertable therein in order to use a trailer, into a rest position in which an insertion opening of the ball neck receiving sleeve is arranged outside a visible region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Bernhard Rimmelspacher, Aleksej Kadnikov, Wolfgang Gentner
  • Publication number: 20210370731
    Abstract: To improve a trailer device for a motor vehicle, comprising a holding unit for a crossmember mountable on a vehicle body on the rear-end side thereof and a ball neck receiving body having a ball neck receptacle, into which an insertion portion of a ball neck carrying a coupling ball is insertable and fixable, wherein the ball neck receiving body is arranged mounted on the holding unit so as to be pivotable at least between a working position, in which a ball neck is insertable by means of its insertion portion into the ball neck receptacle, and a rest position, it is proposed that the trailer device comprises a drive, which is coupled to the ball neck receiving body by means of a coupling unit which has a freewheel and which in particular comprises a plurality of coupling elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Bernhard Rimmelspacher
  • Publication number: 20210370729
    Abstract: To improve a trailer device for motor vehicles, comprising a holding unit for a plvcrossmember mountable on a vehicle body on the rear-end side thereof and a ball neck receiving body having a ball neck receptacle, in which an insertion portion of a ball neck supporting a coupling ball is insertable and fixable therein, wherein the ball neck receiving body is arranged mounted on the holding unit so as to be pivotable at least between a working position, in which a ball neck is insertable by means of its insertion portion into the ball neck receptacle, and a rest position, it is proposed that the trailer device comprises a locking device which fixes the ball neck receiving body in the rest position in a locking state relative to the holding unit and has an unlocking state, in which the locking device allows the ball neck receiving body to pivot from the rest position in the direction towards the working position, and that an actuator is provided, by means of which the locking device is movable from the locking
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Bernhard Rimmelspacher, Michael Fischer, Aleksej Kadnikov
  • Patent number: 11179984
    Abstract: In order to improve a holding device which is mountable on a tail region of the bodywork of a motor vehicle, comprising a swivel bearing unit which is mountable fixed to the vehicle on the tail region of a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger motor vehicle, by means of a support unit, on which swivel bearing a swivel element supporting an attachment element is mounted pivotable about a swivel axis extending transversely, in particular inclined, relative to a longitudinal central plane and is thereby pivotable from an operating position into a rest position and vice versa, such that a holding device is provided to which widely differing attachment elements are fixable, it is proposed that the swivel element is provided with an attachment element carrier having a plug-in receptacle, into which attachment element carrier an attachment element is pluggable with an end region and is fixable with positive engagement, and in that in the operating position, the plug-in receptacle extends with its central axis sub
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Gentner, Bernhard Rimmelspacher, Stefan Naegele, Aleksej Kadnikov, Francois Capron
  • Publication number: 20210331539
    Abstract: In order, in the case of a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between a working position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to a vehicle and by means of which the pivot bearing body is received such that it is pivotal for the purpose of performing a pivotal movement about a pivot axis between the working position and the rest position, and a rotation-blocking device that is active between the pivot bearing unit and the pivot bearing body, to achieve fixing of the rotation-blocking device in the release position in the simplest possible manner, it is proposed that there run between receptacles in the rotation-blocking device blocking faces against which the rotation-blocking bodies of the rotation-blocking device are configured to abut and from which the receptacles extend, that rotation-blocking units of the rotation-blocking device and the receptacles are arra
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Publication date: October 28, 2021
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner
  • Publication number: 20210331540
    Abstract: In order to improve a trailer hitch, comprising a ball neck, which is movable between a working position and a rest position and has a pivot bearing body arranged at a first end and a coupling ball arranged at a second end, a pivot bearing unit, which is arranged fixed to a vehicle and by means of which the pivot bearing body is received such that it is pivotal for the purpose of performing a pivotal movement about a pivot axis between the working position and the rest position, and a rotation-blocking device that is active between the pivot bearing unit and the pivot bearing body, it is proposed that there run between the working position receptacles and the rest position receptacles of the rotation-blocking device blocking faces against which rotation-blocking bodies of the rotation-blocking device are configured to abut, that rotation-blocking units of the rotation-blocking device and the working position receptacles and the rest position receptacles are arranged at angular spacings from one another around
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Publication date: October 28, 2021
    Applicant: ACPS Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Gentner