Patents by Inventor John Piper

John Piper has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11951929
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
  • Patent number: 11897411
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: ZOOX, INC.
    Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
  • Publication number: 20230335018
    Abstract: A system for serving legal documents for initiating legal proceedings which includes a repository, the form of a database which is stored on a server (not shown), for receiving and storing legal documents for initiating legal proceedings, a notification means, in the form of a notifier, for notifying a recipient via an agreed digital address (not shown) of receipt by the database of a legal document, and a payment means (not shown) for allowing the recipient to access the legal document free of charge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Publication date: October 19, 2023
    Inventors: Benjamin George CAREY, Stephen John PIPER
  • Patent number: 11752907
    Abstract: A safety system for vehicle may include a restraint surface adjustment mechanism for adjusting at least one of a height or an angle of a restraint surface disposed under a vehicle seat during a collision and/or predicted collision in which the vehicle seat is facing in the direction of travel and/or the direction of the oncoming collision. The seat may comprise a bench seat including a first seating space and a second seating space. A first restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the first seating space and a second restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the second seating space. The restraint surface adjustment mechanism may include, for example, an inflatable bladder, a movable plate which rotates about an axis, or other restraint surface adjustment mechanisms that adjust at least one of the height, angle, or physical property (e.g., rigidity) of one or more restraint surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, David Maurice Libeaut, Andrew John Piper, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
  • Publication number: 20230242062
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Publication date: August 3, 2023
    Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
  • Patent number: 11623602
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
  • Patent number: 11569539
    Abstract: A vehicle system may include an impact screen for reducing damage in a collision involving the vehicle. The impact screen may be disposed in a cavity of the vehicle system between a motor unit and a battery to reduce a likelihood of impact and/or a force of an impact between the motor unit and the battery. The impact screen may be fixed at opposite sides of the vehicle, such that motor unit moves relative to the impact screen during the collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Andrew Stoddart, Ramanjaneya Reddy Butukuri, Austin Hilton, Kevin Francis O'Hara, Andrew John Piper
  • Publication number: 20220297630
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
  • Patent number: 11407347
    Abstract: A headrest may be fixed relative to a seat or a bank of seats in a vehicle and can provide multiple stages of deformation in response to a collision event. The headrest can include a resilient member that deforms in response to a first force caused by the collision event. The headrest can also include a frame that deforms in a first manner in response to a second force greater than the first force and in a second manner in response to a third force greater than the second force. Such a headrest can provide improved impact mitigation for occupants, regardless of height and/or weight such that occupants ranging from the 5th to 95th percentile in height and/or weight are afforded similar impact mitigation despite a fixed headrest structure. In some examples, multiple such headrests may be conjoined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Mikael Jarsaeter, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Daria Di Costanzo
  • Patent number: 11358559
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
  • Patent number: 11279270
    Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including an intermediate portion including a first portion having a first stiffness and a second portion including a second material different than a first material of the first portion, such that the seatback quickly couples an associated occupant and dissipates as much energy as possible. The intermediate portion may be configured such that as at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback and the seatback is at least partially compressed, a reaction force from the seatback against at least a portion of the back of the occupant increases from a minimal reaction force to a first reaction force corresponding to a first displacement, and thereafter the reaction force decreases to a second reaction force as displacement of the front surface of the seatback further displaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Anthony Baer, Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, Brandon Loeb, Karthikeyan Marudhamuthu, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
  • Patent number: 11235689
    Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include a seat-back actuator system, including a seat-back actuator configured to move a portion of a seat toward a back of an occupant of the vehicle during a collision in which the occupant is facing opposite a direction of travel of the vehicle. The seat-back actuator system may also include an actuator controller configured to receive a triggering signal indicative of one or more of an actual change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision, and cause the seat-back actuator to move the seat toward the back of the occupant. By moving the seat toward the back of the occupant, a maximum rate of change of velocity of the back of the person may be reduced, reducing the likelihood or severity of injury to the occupant due to the collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
  • Patent number: D959502
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Eric Michael Jacobsthal, John Piper, Douglas V. Montgomery, Jesse Weldon Gonzales, William Venth
  • Patent number: D967872
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: William Venth, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, John Piper, Washington Magalhães
  • Patent number: D982040
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: CNH INDUSTRIAL AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Charles O'Connell, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, Adam Callif, John Piper, Douglas V. Montgomery, Nicholas R. Pederson, Matthew William Gunlogson, Michael Buckmeier, James R. Keppers, Mitchell Sandey
  • Patent number: D989129
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: CNH INDUSTRIAL AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Charles O'Connell, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, Adam Callif, John Piper, Douglas V. Montgomery
  • Patent number: D990526
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: William Venth, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, John Piper, Washington Rocha de Magalhães
  • Patent number: D999259
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: CNH INDUSTRIAL AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Pederson, Charles O'Connell, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, Adam Callif, Matthew William Gunlogson, John Piper, Michael Buckmeier
  • Patent number: D1007717
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: CNH INDUSTRIAL AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Eric Michael Jacobsthal, John Piper, Jesse Weldon Gonzales
  • Patent number: D1011571
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: CNH INDUSTRIAL AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Charles O'Connell, Eric Michael Jacobsthal, Adam Callif, Mitchell Sandey, Matthew William Gunlogson, John Piper, Michael Buckmeier, James R. Keppers