Patents Examined by Adam Tissot
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Patent number: 9238473Abstract: A system and method for incrementally accomplishing brake pipe reductions using an operator button, touch sensitive screen or other human machine interface. The system is preferably made available to the user when the brake handle is positioned in the ‘minimum’ brake application position and allows an operator to create a more precise target reduction value without having to manually move the brake handle to the location that the operator believes may result in the desired reduction. Using small, predetermined increments, the system allows for more precise control over brake pressure without an operator having to estimate what handle movement will accomplish the desired brake pressure.Type: GrantFiled: June 6, 2014Date of Patent: January 19, 2016Assignee: New York Air Brake, LLCInventors: Erich Leonard, John Reynolds
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Patent number: 9227586Abstract: In a method for controlling a triggering element for passenger protection arrangement, a first connection is established from an energy source to the triggering element via a high-side control circuit, and a second connection is established from the at least one triggering element to ground via a low-side control circuit, and an ignition current is regulated to a predefined nominal value. The ignition current is continuously detected and compared with a predefined first threshold value, first phases being determined in which the ignition current falls below the first threshold value after reaching the nominal value, and second phases being determined in which the ignition current again reaches the nominal value after falling below the first threshold value. The control rate is increased if the number of alternations between the ignition current phases reaches a predefined second threshold value.Type: GrantFiled: January 14, 2013Date of Patent: January 5, 2016Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBHInventors: Wolfgang Schmauder, Steffen Walker
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Patent number: 9228844Abstract: Disclosed is a feature for a vehicle that enables taking precautionary actions in response to conditions on the road network around or ahead of the vehicle, in particular, an intersection without traffic signals and without a sufficient merge lane. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where roads meet without a traffic signal and without a sufficient merge lane. Then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken about the location of the insufficient merge lane. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to determine when the vehicle is at a location that corresponds to the location of a precautionary action. When the vehicle is at such a location, a precautionary action is taken by a vehicle system as the vehicle is approaching a location of an insufficient merge lane.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2014Date of Patent: January 5, 2016Assignee: HERE Global B.V.Inventor: Robert Denaro
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Patent number: 9220410Abstract: The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the control and utilization of multiple sensors within a device. For an example, motion of a device may be detected in response to receipt of a signal from a first sensor disposed in the device, and a power state of a second sensor also disposed in the device may be changed in response to detected motion.Type: GrantFiled: December 23, 2013Date of Patent: December 29, 2015Assignee: QUALCOMM IncorporatedInventors: Leonid Sheynblat, Thomas G. Wolf, Alexander Hodisan
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Patent number: 9216708Abstract: A bumper assembly for a vehicle includes a bumper beam and an energy absorbing member adjacent the bumper beam. An airbag module includes an inflator coupled to the bumper beam and an airbag coupled to the inflator. The airbag is disposed between the bumper beam and the energy absorbing member. The airbag is deployed during an impact between the vehicle and an object to modify the stiffness of the bumper assembly during the impact.Type: GrantFiled: May 28, 2014Date of Patent: December 22, 2015Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLCInventors: Iskander Farooq, Manoharprasad K. Rao, Jialiang Le
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Patent number: 9213334Abstract: A runway traction estimation and reporting method and computer readable medium is provided. Upon detection of a landing event, a runway traction estimation and reporting method provides for various measurements and calculations to estimate the traction of the runway and create a traction map of the runway. A computer readable medium may contain instructions for a runway traction estimation and reporting processor directing the processor to perform various measurements and calculations to estimate the traction of the runway. The processor may communicate with a ground station or with other aircraft to produce collaborative results.Type: GrantFiled: May 1, 2014Date of Patent: December 15, 2015Assignee: Goodrich CorporationInventors: William A. Veronesi, Enrico Manes, Michael Anthony Lynch, Stephen E. Tongue, Richard Kolk, Richard Paul Metzger, Paul Martin Franz, Robert Rudd, III
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Patent number: 9212919Abstract: A road learning device includes: a map data storage device; an own vehicle location detection portion; a travel data storage device; an unregistered road travelling determination device; an unregistered road travel data storage control device; a potential unregistered road track creation device; a first correction device that corrects a potential unregistered road track to be a first track; a map-matching trial device for the first track; a primary successful map-matching determination device; a second correction device that corrects the first track to be a second track when primary map-matching is unsuccessful; a secondary successful map-matching determination device for the second track; and a new map data storage control device that discards a group of unregistered road travel data when secondary map-matching is unsuccessful, merges the first track with the map data when the primary map-matching is successful, and merges the second track with the map data when the secondary map-matching is successful.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2013Date of Patent: December 15, 2015Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventor: Osamu Kanematsu
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Patent number: 9214045Abstract: A mechanism for express storage of sensor data in response to an indication of a power fluctuation, power brownout or blackout that can affect operation of a microcontroller is provided. Embodiments provide a flash memory having memory space allocated to express storage of the sensor data, and a protocol machine configured to provide the desired information to reserved registers associated with express program/erase operations accessing the allocated memory space.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2014Date of Patent: December 15, 2015Assignee: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.Inventors: Timothy J. Strauss, Thomas Jew
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Patent number: 9199651Abstract: In a vehicle control apparatus, a system controller that overall controls an engine controller and a converter controller is provided. The system controller drives, through the converter controller, a generator with a generator-rotational-speed command value ?c_ref1 smaller than idling maintenance minimum rotational speed ?e_idol_min of an engine, starts, through the engine controller, fuel injection to the engine after elapse of a predetermined time, and, when the rotational speed of the engine reaches a predetermined rotational speed threshold ?e_th that is larger than the generator-rotational-speed command value ?e_ref and smaller than the idling maintenance minimum rotational speed ?e_idol_min, outputs, to a converter, a gate cutoff signal GSTOP for turning off energization to the generator.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2012Date of Patent: December 1, 2015Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATIONInventors: Yasuhiko Wada, Hisanori Yamasaki, Keita Hatanaka, Yuruki Okada
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Patent number: 9200912Abstract: Provided are an apparatus and method of controlling traveling of an automatic guided vehicle. The method includes: receiving information about a start point and a target point from and to which the automatic guided vehicle is to move; obtaining information about a shortest path between the start point and the target point; obtaining sensor information at one or more points on the shortest path; determining a travel direction of the automatic guided vehicle by using current sensor information about the automatic guided vehicle at a current point and the sensor information at the one or more points on the shortest path; controlling the automatic guided vehicle to travel in the determined travel direction; and ending the traveling if the current sensor information about the automatic guided vehicle that has traveled matches sensor information at the target point.Type: GrantFiled: July 11, 2014Date of Patent: December 1, 2015Assignee: Hanwha Techwin Co., Ltd.Inventor: Jin Han Lee
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Patent number: 9194881Abstract: An acceleration detection device is provided with a zero point correction unit for correcting a zero point position of a sensor signal by a correction amount based on the acceleration signals when the neutral control starts and ends, respectively, and an acceleration signal Gsen-r that is eliminated of a body vibration from an acceleration signal Gsen-f after passing a filter at transition from a vehicle stationary state to the running state.Type: GrantFiled: August 3, 2011Date of Patent: November 24, 2015Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.Inventor: Yuzuru Tohta
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Patent number: 9169110Abstract: A method for determining the probability a handling truck tipping over includes determining a respective normal force acting in the z direction for at least two of at least three wheels of the handling truck. At least two normal forces are compared and the probability of the tipping of the handling truck is determined on the basis of the comparison.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 2011Date of Patent: October 27, 2015Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbHInventors: Manfred Gerdes, Stefan Otterbein, Ralf Becker, Christian Schmidt, Martin Gustmann
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Patent number: 9162666Abstract: A method of braking a vehicle includes determining via a controller a desired braking power for braking the vehicle. Under the method, a bypass valve that controls exhaust gas flow through the exhaust heat recovery device is moved via the controller to a relatively restrictive position to provide at least some of the desired braking power.Type: GrantFiled: March 15, 2013Date of Patent: October 20, 2015Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLCInventor: Alan G. Holmes
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Patent number: 9156430Abstract: A system for activating a triggering element for a passenger protection unit includes: a high-side control circuit establishing a first connection from an energy source to the triggering element, a low-side control circuit establishing a second connection of the triggering element to ground, and a regulating device regulating a firing current for the triggering element). A firing mode is selected as a function of a connected triggering element. In a first firing mode, a first firing current having a first time characteristic is generated for an ohmic triggering element, and in a second firing mode, a second firing current having a second time characteristic is generated for an inductive triggering element.Type: GrantFiled: November 21, 2012Date of Patent: October 13, 2015Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBHInventors: Hartmut Schumacher, Alain Jousse, Steffen Walker
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Patent number: 9142142Abstract: Disclosed are a device and method for providing driver tracking and behavior analysis, initiated without concurrent user input, by the presence detection of one or more drivers of the vehicle. Vehicle motion inferred from a location aware device sensor, as well as other driver smartphone sensors and application use are logged and analyzed to determine risk factors associated with identified drivers. Internet data sources are further utilized for associating road conditions and traffic regulations with the logged locations of the vehicle. Logged and analyzed data from the identified drivers is aggregated for reporting on vehicle risk.Type: GrantFiled: April 29, 2013Date of Patent: September 22, 2015Assignee: Kaarya, LLCInventors: Ujjual Nath, William Fletcher, Brian Billett
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Patent number: 9132812Abstract: A method and a brake system, in which method a vehicle having a service brake and a parking brake is held by autonomous brake actuation, wherein in a first step, an actuation of the service brake is performed, and in the event of a predefined condition being met, a transfer from the service brake to the parking brake takes place. According to an aspect of the invention, during the transfer, both an actuation of the parking brake and also an additional actuation of the service brake takes place.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 2011Date of Patent: September 15, 2015Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. oHGInventors: Patrick Treppenhauer, Erik Hartmanshenn, Alexander Mann-Wahrenberg
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Patent number: 9135510Abstract: Apparatus for and method of processing sensor data for the purpose of navigating a vehicle (for example an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle), the sensor data being from a sensor (for example a camera) mounted on the vehicle. The method can include can include: for a number of time-steps, measuring a value of a parameter of a scene using the sensor to produce a sequence of images of the scene; determining a value of one or more image quality metrics (for example, spatial entropy and spatial information) in each image in the sequence; and identifying as either valid or invalid, a sub-sequence of images in the sequence based on the determined metric values.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 2011Date of Patent: September 15, 2015Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEYInventors: Thierry Peynot, Christopher Brunner
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Patent number: 9129520Abstract: An unmanned aerial system (UAS) position reporting system may include an air traffic control reporting system (ATC-RS) coupled with a ground control station (GCS) of an unmanned aerial system. The ATC-RS may include an automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) and traffic information services broadcast (TIS-B) transceiver and one or more telecommunications modems. The ATC-RS may be adapted to receive position data of the UAS in an airspace from the GCS and to selectively communicate the position of the UAS in the airspace to a civilian air traffic control center (ATC), to a military command and control (C2) communication center, or to both the civilian ATC and the military C2 communication center through the ADS-B and TIS-B transceiver. The ATC-RS may also be adapted to display the position of the UAS in the airspace on a display screen coupled with the ATC-RS.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2013Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: Kutta Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Douglas V. Limbaugh, David H. Barnhard, Thomas H. Rychener
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Patent number: 9126573Abstract: In a braking force control apparatus which controls a braking force applied to a vehicle based on a relation thereof with an obstacle ahead of the vehicle, irrespective of a braking operation of a driver, a lateral force is predicted which can be generated in cases where avoidance steering is carried out by the driver, in order to avoid an obstacle which has been detected, and an actual braking force actually applied to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle is limited in accordance with a braking force which can be applied in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and which is calculated based on the lateral force thus predicted. According to this, in the braking force control apparatus which controls the braking force of the vehicle, the lateral force for avoiding a collision with the obstacle by means of steering is obtained.Type: GrantFiled: May 27, 2010Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hitoshi Yuasa, Osamu Sato, Toshinori Okita, Takeshi Nanami
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Patent number: 9126542Abstract: A rewriting apparatus of a vehicle program rewriting system predicts, on the basis of both a state of a battery at the time of starting rewriting the programs of ECUs and a scheduled process time period of rewiring the programs, a state of the battery after rewriting the programs, and executes rewriting the programs if the predicted state of the battery satisfies a condition on which the vehicle can be restarted.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2011Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.Inventors: Masanori Matsuura, Aiko Miyamoto, Kenichi Ishida, Kazuyoshi Wakita