Patents by Inventor Scott C. Harris

Scott C. Harris 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).

  • Publication number: 20240131884
    Abstract: A vehicle including a cross member and a tow hook assembly. The tow hook assembly is coupled to the cross member and includes a housing, a tow hook, and a shear pin. The housing includes an arcuate interior. The tow hook is moveable between an extended position and a retracted position. The tow hook includes a retaining block and a receiving member having a distal portion extending from the retaining block and a leading portion extending from the distal portion. The shear pin is positionable to extend through the housing. When the tow hook is in the extended position and a force exceeding a predetermined threshold is applied to the leading portion of the receiving member, the shear pin shears to permit the retaining block of the tow hook to move along the arcuate interior of the housing and position the tow hook into the retracted position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2022
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Applicants: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryan C. Harris, Scott L. Frederick
  • Patent number: 11958346
    Abstract: A tonneau cover for a vehicle has a topside and an underside. The tonneau cover also includes a rail system attached to the underside. The tonneau cover also includes a ramp system. The ramp system is slidably engaged with the rail system and is configured to slide out from the underside along the rail system such that a rear end of the ramp system engages a ground surface to create a rampway between the topside and the ground surface. The ramp system can be used to load large cargo onto the topside of the tonneau cover. The ramp system is also removable from the rail system and attachable to an end of a truck bed of the vehicle such that the ramp system can be used to load cargo into the truck bed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Ryan C. Harris, Scott Louis Frederick
  • Patent number: 11914415
    Abstract: An optical neural network is constructed based on photonic integrated circuits to perform neuromorphic computing. In the optical neural network, matrix multiplication is implemented using one or more optical interference units, which can apply an arbitrary weighting matrix multiplication to an array of input optical signals. Nonlinear activation is realized by an optical nonlinearity unit, which can be based on nonlinear optical effects, such as saturable absorption. These calculations are implemented optically, thereby resulting in high calculation speeds and low power consumption in the optical neural network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Jacques Johannes Carolan, Mihika Prabhu, Scott A. Skirlo, Yichen Shen, Marin Soljacic, Dirk Englund, Nicholas C. Harris
  • Patent number: 11875786
    Abstract: A Natural Language Command system, which receives Natural Language Commands either over a voice system or over a text system. The commands are associated with the session, and thus can be modified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11838449
    Abstract: An AI based moderator system for an electronic conference. The moderator scores users based on ratings and diversity, and attempts to keep a high rating person talking while maintaining diversity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20230208979
    Abstract: An AI based moderator system for an electronic conference. The moderator scores users based on ratings and diversity, and attempts to keep a high rating person talking while maintaining diversity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2023
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11657716
    Abstract: A smart car system that determines when danger from another vehicle is likely, and addresses that danger. An embodiment signals the other car using open air communication. Another embodiment starts the deployment of anti-crash structure, e.g, airbag or an anti crash fencing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11622249
    Abstract: A smart car system that exchanges information between different vehicles. An embodiment exchanges information one for the other. Another embodiment determines or sends information from one vehicle to the other, and then receives information from a different vehicle and keeps a score of a ratio between the amount of information that is set in an amount of information received. The information is checked for trust.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11609900
    Abstract: A computer that operates with a distributed ledger system, and stores a copy of a distributed ledger file that is stored by multiple different client computers. The distributed ledger file having plural values therein, and the distributed ledger file also having encryption values that verify the values in the distributed ledger file. The computer processes the values to verify at least some of the values in the distributed ledger file using the encryption values in a way that ascertains a cryptographic accuracy of the values, and to create a report indicating values that have been verified using the encryption values. The computer can use its GPU to process these values in parallel. The computer can also set new sequence numbers using a distributed system, for new values to be added to the distributed ledger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11608010
    Abstract: A sensor system for a vehicle includes sensors that can be extended further away from the vehicle in order to obtain additional information. The sensors can be kept in their stowed position, to obtain the minimum amount of information but to maintain maximum of the looks of the vehicle. The sensors can then be extended to obtain additional information about the vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11611437
    Abstract: A crypto token wallet which allows storing reduced size ledgers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11595528
    Abstract: An AI based moderator system for an electronic conference. The moderator scores users based on ratings and diversity, and attempts to keep a high rating person talking while maintaining diversity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20230049570
    Abstract: A smart sound appliance which has a noise producing device such as a compressor that is controlled by a controller. The controller receives information from a user indicative of whether the user is in a location to receive those sounds. When the user is in the location to receive those sounds, the controller can take an action to reduce those sounds by either turning off the compressor, or reducing the sound of the appliance in some other way.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2021
    Publication date: February 16, 2023
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20220405868
    Abstract: An AI based moderator system for an electronic conference.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2021
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20220383312
    Abstract: A cryptocurrency system that allows multiple different forms of coins to be handled by a single system, and using a single distributed ledger, where each operation iterates through the mathematical operations for each of the different forms of coins.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C. Harris
  • Publication number: 20220321703
    Abstract: An AI based moderator system for an electronic conference. The moderator scores users based on ratings and diversity, and attempts to keep a high rating person talking while maintaining diversity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20220309594
    Abstract: A social network uses a crowd analysis, which requires analyzing both the crowd and analyzing the posts. The crowd is analyzed to determine their diversity characteristics, and the posts are analyzed by requiring that multiple people having different diversity characteristics analyze the posts. The posts are stored as part of a blockchain so that different users can use their own stylesheets to get the information in a desired format.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C. Harris
  • Patent number: 11328532
    Abstract: A face identification system detects that a user is wearing a facemask, by finding an area on the face image which has no facial recognition facial features, and that area is a continuous area and includes the nose and mouth of the user, being covered by the mask. Responsive to making this detection, the system determines that the user is wearing a facemask and carries out a facemask recognition operation. The facemask recognition operation can include finding some other way to verify the user, or reducing security so that the user can be verified while still wearing the facemask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Publication number: 20220136766
    Abstract: A smart refrigerator system which determines a location of each item in the refrigerator, and provides information to the user about the items in the refrigerator, without opening the refrigerator door. A sensor, such as a camera, can image an area adjacent to the internal cavity of the refrigerator. A processing system uses that information about items which are being put into and removed from the refrigerator, and forms a map of items that are in the refrigerator including information about the items in the refrigerator and a location of the item in the refrigerator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C Harris
  • Patent number: 11252280
    Abstract: A system of handling callers, uses a computer, that receives a call, assigns an operator to handle the call, and automatically recognizes at least one aspect of a voice from a caller, and automatically forms a response to be given to the caller. The caller is prevented from knowing they are speaking with a computer by receiving responses from multiple different similar sounding operators. The computer providing sound to the caller which interferes with the caller being able to determine that the caller has been placed on hold from the operator, e.g., an average of multiple people talking in the background. The computer also maintains a ledger of the call, where the ledger includes information about recognized voice from the caller, and responses which were given to the caller, for each of a plurality of exchanges which occur during the call and distributes that ledger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Inventor: Scott C Harris