Patents Examined by Sara J Lewandroski
  • Patent number: 11420646
    Abstract: A driving apparatus is controlled by using a driving command that is obtained by applying an accelerator operation amount to a relation between the accelerator operation amount and the driving command for the driving apparatus, and the relation is set by using a distribution of usage of the driving command by a driver such that a gradient that is a change in the driving command with a change in the accelerator operation amount in a high usage range including a value having a longest usage time among values of the driving command is less than the gradient in a range other than the high usage range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Jun Yoshida, Ken Imamura
  • Patent number: 11420594
    Abstract: A configurable windshield wiper system for a variable sweep angle and/or variable sweep speed. The system includes a bidirectional motor, a gearbox, the gearbox having and input shaft operably coupled to the motor and an output shaft; the gear box configured to ratiometrically step down the number of turns at its output shaft relative to its input shaft; a wiper arm for sweeping a surface of a windshield, the wiper arm operably coupled to an output of the gearbox; and a controller in operable communication with the motor, the controller configured to execute an algorithm to control the position and speed of the motor to achieve a configured sweep angle and configured sweep speed for the wiper arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: ROSEMOUNT AEROSPACE INC.
    Inventors: Prashant Vadgaonkar, Guru Prasad Mahapatra, Sujoy Khanra, Pullaiah Dussa
  • Patent number: 11420634
    Abstract: Kalman filter based road grade estimation techniques use models of a longitudinal accelerometer, an angular pitch rate gyroscope, and a velocity sensor and their outputs, and fuses the sensor measurements to optimally estimate the road grade. The proposed Kalman filter formulation is unique in that it uses a mathematical model of the sensors where the gyroscope output is considered as the input and the combined accelerometer and velocity sensor output is considered as the output of the model whose states are to be estimated. By using this unique second-order state space model, a Kalman filter based estimation algorithm is developed to estimate road grade accurately in real-time. This estimated road grade is then being utilized by various vehicle efficiency and/or safety systems to improve vehicle efficiency and/or vehicle safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventor: Cevat Gokcek
  • Patent number: 11415979
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a controller (10) for controlling movement of a vehicle (100), and a corresponding method. The controller (10) comprises processing means configured to: receive (501) a first signal indicative of the vehicle being in a remote control drive mode; receive (502) a second signal indicative of operation of a main input device (124S, 161, 163, 171, 174) within the vehicle (100); and provide (520) an output signal for applying a braking force to slow the vehicle (100) to a stop in dependence on said first and second signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: JAGUAR LAND ROVER LIMITED
    Inventors: Jonathan Woodley, Roxana Ciovnicu
  • Patent number: 11407421
    Abstract: Disclosed are an apparatus for controlling a reverse drive of a vehicle and a method of outputting warning thereof. The apparatus for controlling a reverse drive of a vehicle includes a sensor that senses whether a reverse shift is input, a lamp that outputs a reverse guide pattern to a ground surface, and a controller that controls the lamp to output the reverse guide pattern when the reverse shift is input and determine whether the vehicle is able to be reversed based on whether the reverse guide pattern output to the ground surface is changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Sung Ik Bae, Ji Hoon Kim
  • Patent number: 11400828
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus of the present invention includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire location information of an electric vehicle equipped with a removable and replaceable battery, and acquire the status of the battery installed in the electric vehicle; and a specifying unit configured to specify a place where two or more electric vehicles can meet, on the basis of the location information of each of the electric vehicles and the status of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yasuyuki Nasu
  • Patent number: 11396386
    Abstract: A method of supporting off-wing maintenance of an engine of a specific aircraft includes accessing flight data for a plurality of aircraft including measurements of properties from sensors or avionic systems, and maintenance data that indicates past maintenance or off-wing maintenance of a corresponding engine of each aircraft. A machine learning model is built to predict a life expectancy of the engine of the specific aircraft, measured to future off-wing maintenance of the engine, using a machine learning algorithm, and a set of features produced from selected properties. The machine learning model is built further using a training set produced from the set of features, the flight data including measurements of the selected properties, and the maintenance data. The machine learning model is then output for deployment to predict and thereby produce a prediction of the life expectancy of the engine of the specific aircraft from distinct flight data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Joseph Rice
  • Patent number: 11391072
    Abstract: A device for controlling an opening/closing body for a vehicle provided with a locking device and a control device, the control device being provided with an inverse rotation stopping unit for stopping the inverse rotation of a rotary member based on the on/off state change of a first neutral switch or the on/off state change of a second neutral switch, and a re-inversion control unit. The re-inversion control unit executes re-inversion control for causing the rotary member to rotate in a first direction when the inverse rotation of the rotary member is stopped based on the on/off state change of the second neutral switch in inversion control after close control, and not causing the rotary member to rotate in a second direction when the inverse rotation of the rotary member is stopped based on the on/off state change of the second neutral switch in inversion control after release control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: AISIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noriyuki Kamiya, Takeshi Nishikibe
  • Patent number: 11383729
    Abstract: A control device includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire, from a driving assist system, a requested acceleration and ending information indicating an end of a deceleration control; and a control unit configured to control a powertrain and a brake based on the requested acceleration, and perform a prescribed process of stabilizing a driving force and a braking force that are generated in an ending process of the deceleration control based on the requested acceleration when the acquisition unit acquires the ending information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, ADVICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akitsugu Sakai, Ryo Sumikura, Taisuke Hayashi, Yuma Mori, Jun Aoki
  • Patent number: 11378955
    Abstract: Among other things, planning a motion of a machine having moving capabilities is based on strategic guidelines derived from various basic principles, such as laws, ethics, preferences, driving experiences, and road environments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Andrea Censi, Emilio Frazzoli, Hsun-Hsien Chang, Kostyantyn Slutskyy, Scott D. Pendleton
  • Patent number: 11370449
    Abstract: An identification system in communication with a vehicle control system comprises a communication circuit configured to communicate with a remote server and at least one scanning apparatus configured to capture a biometric data. A controller is in communication with the communication circuit and the scanning apparatus. The controller is configured to receive a request for a security authorization, capture the biometric data with the scanning apparatus, and compare the biometric data to authentication data in an identification profile. Based on the comparison, the controller is further configured to authenticate a vehicle operator and communicate with a mobile device associated with the vehicle operator via the communication circuit. The communication with the mobile device is configured to limit or restrict operations of the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: GENTEX CORPORATION
    Inventor: James D. Collins, II
  • Patent number: 11351990
    Abstract: A swerve assist to assist the driver of a transportation vehicle during an avoidance maneuver so that a collision with an obstacle is avoided. An additional steering torque for amplifying a current steering torque is applied when an avoidance maneuver of the transportation vehicle is detected. A single-wheel braking of the transportation vehicle is actuated to increase a transverse offset of the transportation vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Inventor: Maike Wall
  • Patent number: 11334064
    Abstract: A control method for controlling a movable device includes controlling a motion of the movable device based on a plurality of flight commands in a normal mode; and controlling the motion of the movable device based on a plurality of inverse commands in a reverse return flight mode. An execution order of the plurality of inverse commands is reverse of an execution order of the plurality of commands, the plurality of inverse commands are generated based on the plurality of flight commands, and an operation of each of the inverse commands is opposite to an operation of a corresponding flight command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wenzhao Fang, Xiang Teng, Deen Zheng, Xiangzhan Meng
  • Patent number: 11325640
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling an motor-driven power steering (MDPS) may include: a driving information input unit configured to receive driving information; a steering angle position control unit configured to receive a command steering angle and a current motor steering angle of a driving motor, and output an autonomous driving command; and an MDPS control unit configured to drive the driving motor based on the autonomous driving command in an autonomous driving mode, determine whether a driver intervenes in steering, calculate a driver command by the driver's steering according to whether the driver intervenes in steering, and change an operation mode from the autonomous driving mode to a driver mode while driving the driving motor with a compensation output between the driver command and the autonomous driving command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tae Hong Kim
  • Patent number: 11325613
    Abstract: An automatic driving system allows a vehicle to travel by automatic driving. The system includes first and second detectors and first and second determiners. The first detector is disposed on a movable part of the vehicle and detects an object located around the vehicle. The second detector is disposed on the vehicle and has an object detection region that partially overlaps a detection region of the first detector. The first determiner determines whether a detection state of the first detector based on a position of the object detected by the second detector and behavior of the object estimated from a detection position of the first detector and a traveling state of the vehicle. The automatic driving availability determiner determines availability of the automatic driving according to the detection state of the first detector and disables the automatic driving when the first detector is not in a regular detection state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hajime Oyama
  • Patent number: 11321977
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a volatile memory module configured to store vehicle data, and a refrigeration module coupled to the volatile memory module. The refrigeration module includes one or more chambers containing one or more coolant materials. When the one or more chambers are exposed by an exigent situation associated with a vehicle, the one or more chambers are configured to release the one or more coolant materials to lower a temperature of the volatile memory module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Woven Planet North America, Inc.
    Inventors: George James Hansel, Yi Lu
  • Patent number: 11307577
    Abstract: An autonomous driving control device is capable of starting an autonomous driving control without an operation of a driver and reducing a possibility that the driver can not start manual driving. An autonomous driving control is switched to manual driving when a determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a first threshold, before a predetermined time elapses since the autonomous driving control is automatically started. An autonomous driving control is switched to a manual driving when the determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, after the predetermined time elapses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kentaro Ichikawa, Bunyo Okumura, Maiko Hirano
  • Patent number: 11308741
    Abstract: A vehicle forensics analytics (“VFA”) computing device is configured to: (1) determine a time and a location of a traffic collision; (2) retrieve map data and contextual data associated with the time and the location of the traffic collision; (3) receive speech data, the speech data corresponding to a statement given by a witness of the traffic collision; (4) parse the speech data for phrases describing the traffic collision; (5) determine, based upon the parsed speech data, for each of a plurality of moments in time during the traffic collision, a position and an orientation of a vehicle involved in the traffic collision; (6) generate a simulation including a representation of the vehicle involved in the traffic collision based upon the map data, the contextual data, and the determined position and orientation for each of the plurality of moments in time; and (7) display the simulation to reconstruct the collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Alexander Cardona, Jerome Scott Trayer, An Ho
  • Patent number: 11299868
    Abstract: A hybrid work machine is configured with an engine 41, a hydraulic pump 51, a hydraulic actuator, a generator motor 61 coupled to the engine 41, an electric storage device 62 that transmits and receives electric power to and from the generator motor 61, an engine controller 42 that controls the engine 41 based on a target engine revolution speed, a power controller 63 that controls action of the generator motor 61, a controller 72 that controls the engine controller 42 and the power controller 63, and a target engine revolution speed change instructing device that give instructions on a change in the target engine revolution speed. The controller 72 controls the engine controller 42 and the power controller 63 to act the generator motor 61 as a generator until an actual revolution speed of the engine 41 is reduced to a revolution speed corresponding to a target engine revolution speed after change if the target engine revolution speed has been changed to be lower while the engine 41 is in an unloaded state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Takigawa, Kentaro Itoga
  • Patent number: 11299263
    Abstract: The present invention includes an apparatus and method for automatically adjusting the tracking of one or more blades comprising: a blade tracking adjustment mechanism connected to one or more blades of an aircraft; a blade tracking measurement system that measures the tracking of the one or more blades; and a computer that receives an output from the blade tracking measurement system with tracking information for each of the one or more blades; wherein the computer outputs instructions for the blade tracking adjustment mechanism to change a pitch of one or more of the blades to correct blade tracking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
    Inventors: Terry K. Thompson, Kyle Thomas Cravener