Patents Assigned to Espro
  • Patent number: 11506768
    Abstract: A TOF camera apparatus for transmitting light signals and recording the light that is scattered back at an object and also for determining the distance of the TOF camera apparatus from the object is proposed, wherein the TOF camera apparatus comprises: a transmitter for transmitting light signals, a receiver for detecting the light scattered back at the object, embodied in the form of a pixel matrix having at least one pixel, a modulation device for producing a modulation signal in order to modulate light signals that are to be transmitted by the transmitter, an evaluation device for evaluating the light detected by the receiver, which evaluation device is connected to the modulation device to obtain the modulation signal for evaluating and determining the distance. In order to make possible particularly reliable error detection, a check apparatus for error detection in at least one of the pixels is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: ESPROS Photonics AG
    Inventor: Beat De Coi
  • Patent number: 11436503
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems, methods and machine readable programs. In some implementations, the systems, methods and machine readable programs can be used for selecting coffee cups or mugs of particular shapes with the objective of accentuating particular flavor notes in coffee as experienced by a user. In further implementations, the systems, methods and machine readable programs can be used for recommending an infusible extract based on a drinking vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: 11307296
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a time-of-flight distance measuring device. The light source (24) includes a plurality of emitting portions (70, 72), each of which illuminates a respective one of the sub-regions (R1, R2). The light receiver (26) includes a plurality of receiving portions (74, 76) corresponding to respective ones of the emitting portions (70, 72). The first controller (28) controls (i) a first emitting portion (70) to emit the emitted light including an Nth-order harmonic component of a fundamental frequency and (ii) a second emitting portion (72) to emit the emitted light including an Mth-order harmonic component. The second controller (30) controls a particular receiving portion (74) corresponding to the first emitting portion (70) to be sensible to the Nth-order Mth-order harmonic components. The multipath detector (82) detects occurrence of the multipath error when the particular receiving portion (74) senses both the Nth-order and Mth-order components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, ESPROS PHOTONICS AG
    Inventors: Toshiaki Nagai, Martin Popp, Cengiz Tugsav Kupcu
  • Patent number: 11175403
    Abstract: A flexibly usable optoelectronic sensor device for detecting an object, comprising a receiving device for receiving light backscattered after the scattering of an emitted light beam at the object, wherein the receiving device has an array of at least two receiving elements for detecting radiation and a receiving optical unit for imaging the received radiation on the array; the array is divisible and/or divided into at least two array regions, wherein the at least two array regions correspond in each case to scatterings at objects at different distances from the monitoring region and/or different brightnesses of the received radiation, and the receiving elements respectively arranged in different array regions are settable and/or set to detect with mutually different light sensitivities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignees: ESPROS Photonics AG, Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH
    Inventors: Jan Simon, Thomas Schuler, Peter Horvath, Beat De Coi
  • Patent number: 10845483
    Abstract: A method for reading a demodulation pixel of a distance sensor for determining a distance, in particular for determining the difference between two charge quantities independently of the total magnitude of the charge quantities, and also a distance sensor are proposed. For faster signal processing, provision is made for applying a variable control voltage to the transfer gates for influencing the potential wall, and lowering the respective potential walls of the corresponding transfer gates, before and/or until from the storage gates in each case charge carriers can surmount the respective potential wall of the corresponding transfer gate and pass to the assigned floating diffusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: ESPROS Photonics AG
    Inventors: Beat De Coi, Martin Popp
  • Patent number: 10754014
    Abstract: In order to measure distances precisely, a receiver device for determining a distance from an object is proposed, comprising: a receiver having a semiconductor structure with a photosensitive region for generating photo-induced charge carriers, which region faces the rear side, and having a transportation region, which faces the front side, wherein the photosensitive region and the transportation region are spatially separated from one another by a separation layer which has a passage between the photosensitive region and the transportation region, wherein the transportation region has an arrangement of at least two gates lying one next to the other, at least one of the gates thereof being located in the overlapping region of the passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignees: Espros Photonics AG, Valeo Schalter Und Sensoren GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Popp, Beat De Coi, Jan Simon, Peter Horvath, Lin Lin, Thomas Schuler, Felix Mueller, Heiko Hofmann
  • Patent number: 10502625
    Abstract: Spectrometer for recording a spectrum, in particular in a wavelength range of 250 nm to 1150 nm, comprising: a sensor array and a filter array for filtering the radiation depending on the wavelength, wherein, in order to reduce production costs, provision is made of a device for identifying the sensor pixels covered by the filter array, having a nonvolatile memory in which the coordinates of the filter array in relation to the sensor array and/or the coordinate transformation of the filter array in relation to the sensor array are/is stored in order to assign the sensor pixels to the individual filter pixels on the basis of the stored coordinates and/or coordinate transformation and/or in order to activate the individual filter pixels depending on which of the sensor pixels are covered by the corresponding filter pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Espros Photonics AG
    Inventor: Beat De Coi
  • Patent number: 10398255
    Abstract: A steaming pitcher comprising a flow receiving surface adapted to receive an incoming flow of steam at a substantially oblique angle provides enhanced control of fluid flow inside the steaming pitcher to enhance mixing and heating of the fluid by the incoming steam. The steaming pitcher may also comprise flow directing and launching surfaces to assist in control of fluid flow patterns. A flow control kit with a flow receiving surface may be installed in an existing flat-bottom steaming pitcher to provide aspects of fluid flow control. The flow receiving, flow directing and launching surfaces of the steaming pitcher may be substantially smooth, faceted, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Espro Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Constantine, Christopher R. McLean
  • Publication number: 20190257929
    Abstract: A TOF camera apparatus for transmitting light signals and recording the light that is scattered back at an object and also for determining the distance of the TOF camera apparatus from the object is proposed, wherein the TOF camera apparatus comprises: a transmitter for transmitting light signals, a receiver for detecting the light scattered back at the object, embodied in the form of a pixel matrix having at least one pixel, a modulation device for producing a modulation signal in order to modulate light signals that are to be transmitted by the transmitter, an evaluation device for evaluating the light detected by the receiver, which evaluation device is connected to the modulation device to obtain the modulation signal for evaluating and determining the distance. In order to make possible particularly reliable error detection, a check apparatus for error detection in at least one of the pixels is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2019
    Publication date: August 22, 2019
    Applicant: ESPROS Photonics AG
    Inventor: Beat DE COI
  • Patent number: 10368685
    Abstract: An infusion extractor is provided including a plunger to be inserted into an infusing container containing the infusion mixture that has vertical inner walls oriented parallel to a vertical axis of the container. The plunger includes a first surface with a seal situated at an edge of the surface. The seal is adapted for sealing against the inner walls of the infusing container as the plunger moves within the container, to define a first chamber containing the mixture of infusible material and extract. The plunger also includes a second surface extending from the first surface and defining a second chamber; the second surface includes extract flow openings which permit flow of extract from the first chamber into the second chamber. At least a portion of the extract flow openings are situated at a depth either above or below the first surface along the vertical axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Espro Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: 10264911
    Abstract: An infusion extractor is provided including a plunger to be inserted into an infusing container containing the infusion mixture that has vertical inner walls oriented parallel to a vertical axis of the container. The plunger includes a first surface with a seal situated at an edge of the surface. The seal is adapted for sealing against the inner walls of the infusing container as the plunger moves within the container. The plunger also includes a second surface extending from the first surface and defining a second chamber. At least a portion of the extract flow openings are situated at a depth either above or below the first surface along the vertical axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: 10172495
    Abstract: Embodiments of an infusion extractor are provided including a plunger to be inserted into an infusing container containing the infusion mixture that can have vertical inner walls oriented parallel to a vertical axis of the container. In some implementations, the plunger includes a first surface with a seal situated at an edge of the surface. The seal is adapted for sealing against the inner walls of the infusing container as the plunger moves within the container. The plunger also includes a second surface extending from the first surface and defining a second chamber. At least a portion of the extract flow openings are situated at a depth either above or below the first surface along the vertical axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: ESPRO, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D871142
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: ESPRO, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D884420
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D885126
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: Espro, lnc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D899186
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D904117
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine
  • Patent number: D929804
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Cary Ong, Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine, Jordan Sciberras
  • Patent number: D937626
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Cary Ong, Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine, Jordan Sciberras
  • Patent number: D953801
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Espro, Inc.
    Inventors: Cary Ong, Christopher R. McLean, Bruce A. Constantine, Jordan Sciberras