Grote Industries, Inc.

A cable system for a truck trailer with connectors having a main power connection, a ground connection, and one, two, or more communication cable connections. Connectors include at least a power and ground connection for electrically connecting an individual trailer to the cable system. A master control circuit may be included in the trailer nosebox, and the master control circuit configured to send commands to slave control circuits mounted within the connectors. The slave control circuits in the connectors are configured to receive a control command sent by the master control circuit that may include an address, mode identifiers, or other indications of which connectors in the cable system should take action, and what actions should be taken.

A rear collision warning device for trailers that may include one or more sensors, a control circuit, and one or more warning devices. In one aspect, the sensors are configured to monitor a predetermined zone behind and/or alongside a trailer and to optionally trigger warnings as predetermined criteria are satisfied. In another aspect, the control circuit controls the warning devices to emit a warning signal in the form of flashing lights, strobes, audible alarms, and the like, or to send warning notifications to a remote server, an app, or to a cab mounted display. The sensors, circuits, and warning devices are optionally mounted together in a separate housing and mounted at or near the side and/or rear of the trailer.

A lamp or lens assembly for a motor vehicle that includes electrically conductive traces for defogging or deicing the lens. Aspects include a light transmissive lens coupled to a lamp housing. The light transmissive lens may define a curved cross-section with a curvature extending across the length and/or the width of the lens. The lens may include one or more electrically conductive traces positioned on a surface of the lens, the electrically conductive traces optionally extending across and curving with the curvature of the light transmissive lens. One or more coatings may optionally cover the conductive traces and a portion of the lens surface leaving portions uncovered. The electrically conductive traces may extend outwardly away from the surface of the lens with height that is greater than their width.

A vehicle LED lighting outage detection circuit is disclosed for detecting a fault in the LED light and automatically increasing the power drawn from the light power supply in response to the fault. A complementary detection circuit is also disclosed for detecting the increased power draw and signaling a fault to an operator. The increased power draw can be selected to be in the form of a pulse that settles to a lower power draw state after a time to avoid excessive and wasteful power draw. The system can be mounted in a vehicle and, more particularly, to a semi-tractor truck.

A rear collision warning device for trailers that may include one or more sensors, a control circuit, and one or more warning devices. In one aspect, the sensors are configured to monitor a predetermined zone behind a trailer and to optionally trigger warnings as predetermined criteria are satisfied. In another aspect, the control circuit controls the warning devices to emit a warning signal in the form of flashing lights, strobes, audible alarms, and the like, or to send warning notifications to a remote server, an app, or to a cab mounted display. The sensors, circuits, and warning devices are optionally mounted together in a separate housing and mounted at or near the rear of the trailer.

A lamp for a vehicle or other object that includes multiple functions. In one aspect, the lamp includes a first circuit for emitting a first color light (such as red light), and at least a second circuit for emitting a second color of light (such as amber light). In another aspect, the lamp optionally includes a microcontroller that may be programmed to control the activation of the different colored lamp circuits based on lamp location information, and based on an operating mode.

A cable system for a truck trailer for reducing the number and/or size of wiring in a commercial trailer cable system from seven to four, three, or two, while also facilitating bidirectional communication with all connected electronic devices in the trailer. The cable system has a ground cable, a power cable, and zero, one or two additional communication cables that may carry analog and/or digital communications between the control circuit and components of the trailer such as turn signal lamps, brake lamps, backup cameras, environmental sensors, and the like. A transformer for increasing the voltage on the power cable is disclosed, allowing the power and ground cables to be smaller without reducing power delivered to the trailer.

A lamp for the rear of a vehicle is disclosed with a light transmissive cover having a red first illuminated surface area and a clear second illuminated surface area. It has a first LED light emitter located directly beneath the red first area, a second LED light emitter located directly beneath the clear second area, and a third LED light emitter, also located directly beneath said clear second area. The third red LED light emitter is for emitting red light through the clear second area simultaneously with light transmitted through the red first area, whereby the first and second areas are adapted to collectively form a contiguous red illuminated surface area.

A lamp for the rear of a vehicle is disclosed with a light transmissive cover having a red first illuminated surface area and a clear second illuminated surface area. It has a first LED light emitter located directly beneath the red first area, a second LED light emitter located directly beneath the clear second area, and a third LED light emitter, also located directly beneath said clear second area. The third red LED light emitter is for emitting red light through the clear second area simultaneously with light transmitted through the red first area, whereby the first and second areas are adapted to collectively form a contiguous red illuminated surface area.