Patents Examined by Anne M Antonucci
  • Patent number: 10017189
    Abstract: In a driving support device, an image output unit outputs an image including a host vehicle object representing a host vehicle and a nearby vehicle object representing a nearby vehicle, to a display unit. The operation signal input unit receives an operation of a user for changing a distance between the host vehicle object and the nearby vehicle object in the image displayed on the display unit. The command output unit outputs a command for instructing one vehicle to travel following another vehicle when the distance between the host vehicle object and the nearby vehicle object is equal to or less than a predetermined distance, to an automatic driving control unit that controls automatic driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazushige Yamada, Osamu Yamaji, Azusa Gojyo, Satoshi Kajita, Toshiaki Mori, Makoto Okada
  • Patent number: 10018477
    Abstract: An advanced driver assist system (ADAS) comprises a user interface (UI) configured to receive a destination from a user; a communicator configured to transmit position information of a vehicle; a route information transmission device configured to calculate a current position of the vehicle based on the position information and to transmit road model information by modeling map information of a traveling route from the calculated current position to the destination; and an ADAS control device configured to output a section residual distance for each road model, a section average valid gradient, and a section average valid curvature using the transmitted road model information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Gyungjin Kim, Dong Pil Yoon, Kwanghun Choi
  • Patent number: 10017272
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and system for gathering data along points of travel using common portable electronic devices that are typically used for other functions. More specifically, the data gathered by these portable electronic devices may be accessed, processed, validated, and used in conjunction with, or alone, to produce, augment, and/or validate other data sets across wide ranges of science and technology.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Inventors: James Olivo, Lan Hei Lin, Vinh Hoang
  • Patent number: 10011300
    Abstract: A lane change control arrangement, vehicle, and method are described. The lane change control arrangement is arranged to adjust a host vehicle velocity in accordance with a first velocity profile to expand a detectable zone to cover a previously undetectable zone of a second road lane, detect whether a vehicle is present in the previously undetectable zone, determine that a lane change is possible, or determine that a lane change is unsuitable using the second road lane and issue a control signal to the vehicle drive arrangement to adjust the host vehicle velocity until a safety distance is established between the host vehicle and the detected vehicle, and issue a control signal to the vehicle drive arrangement to perform the lane change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Julia Nilsson, Mohammad Ali, Mattias Erik Brannstrom
  • Patent number: 10012994
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for operating at least one partly or highly automated vehicle, environmental values that represent the environment of the at least one partly or highly automated vehicle being detected by way of at least one environmental detection system of the at least one partly or highly automatic vehicle; operation of the partly or highly automated vehicle occurring depending on the detected environmental values, and at least two possible trajectories for operation of the at least one partly or highly automated vehicle being determined, of the at least two possible trajectories, one trajectory that is to be used being selected depending on the detected environmental values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Jan Rohde, Holger Mielenz
  • Patent number: 10005474
    Abstract: A vehicle system is arranged for allowing transition from an autonomous driving mode to a second driving mode in a road vehicle having autonomous driving capabilities and including a vehicle compartment, a steering wheel and at least one pedal. The vehicle system includes a control arrangement, a first switch arranged at a first position at the steering wheel, a second switch arranged at a second position within the vehicle compartment, and a first determination arrangement for determining if the at least one pedal is depressed. The control arrangement is configured to allow the transition when the at least one pedal of the vehicle is depressed when the first switch and the second switch are simultaneously activated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Mathias Westlund, Jonas Nilsson
  • Patent number: 10006773
    Abstract: A process is provided for operating a route acquisition system, configured for determining route data during movement of the route acquisition system along preset routes, and for storing the latter as electronic routes in the data memory. A preset selection of routes is determined as a function of the stored electronic routes. For each route of the preset selection, a route count and a route point in time, and a first and a second route time indication, are determined. A route evaluation is determined for each route based on the assigned route count, the assigned route point in time, and the first and second route time indication. As a function of a determined size of the occupied storage space of the data memory, the respective route of the preset selection is deleted from the data memory as a function of its assigned route evaluation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Carsten Isert, Andreas Winckler
  • Patent number: 10007397
    Abstract: The invention relates to a Beverage preparation machine comprising: a user-interface having a selection element for selecting a first value related to at least one property of a beverage; an ingredient processing module for a preparation of a beverage according to the first value, with at least one ingredient supplied in a capsule. The user-interface comprises a feedback element configured to present a default value for the first value, the default value being computed according to values previously used for said at least one property by the machine to prepare beverages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Nestec S. A.
    Inventors: Francois Besson, Alexandre Perentes
  • Patent number: 10006708
    Abstract: A pivotally-leveraged manual centrifugal drive according to a preferred embodiment of the invention for use with a bowl and a basket formed to nest within the bowl, comprising: a) a housing formed to mate with the bowl; b) a rotation wheel rotatably connected to the housing, formed to mate with the basket, and having a plane of rotation; c) a handle pivotally attached to the housing and oriented to move in a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the rotation wheel; and d) gears connecting the handle to the rotation wheel. Also disclosed are an automatic clutch that engages the rotation wheel only when the handle is moved in one direction, and a braking mechanism that includes a disk having a diameter substantially smaller than the rotation wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Enrico Dalla Piazza
    Inventors: Edward H. Kilduff, Chi Ming Tse, Gareth Brown, Chi Fai Cheung
  • Patent number: 10006239
    Abstract: A window control arrangement for operating two or more windows in a vehicle includes one or several manually operated window control switches set as default to be associated with a specific one of the windows, a window actuator associated with each of the windows and configured for raising or lowering a corresponding window, a control unit connected to the window actuators for controlling raising or lowering of the windows, and an input device connected to the control unit, the input device having a multitude of input modes of which at least one mode is configured for receiving input concerning operation of the windows. The arrangement is configured for activating the input device to be in the at least one mode configured for receiving input concerning operation of the windows as a result of a detected intention from a driver or passenger in the vehicle to activate a window actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan Disley, Niklas Palm, Mikael Gordh, Patrik Lundgren, Conny Blomme
  • Patent number: 10008060
    Abstract: A smart system locks a door of a vehicle when there is a user's instruction to lock the door when a first portable device in which first identification information is stored is outside the vehicle and a second portable device in which second identification information is stored is inside the vehicle, and controls the power supply state from a normal state to a power supply continuation state in which power continues to be supplied only to a predetermined power supply continuation device in the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroki Inoue
  • Patent number: 10007264
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an autonomous vehicle is operated in an autonomous mode, where during the autonomous mode, the autonomous vehicle operates without influence of a human driver riding the autonomous vehicle. An electrical current is detected flowing through a first electrode and a second electrode mounted on a steering wheel of the autonomous vehicle. In response to the detecting the electrical current flowing through the first and second electrodes, the autonomous vehicle is transitioned from the autonomous mode to a manual mode. Thereafter, the autonomous vehicle is operated in the manual mode in response to user actions from the human driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: BAIDU USA LLC
    Inventors: Fan Zhu, Qi Kong, Guang Yang, Jingao Wang
  • Patent number: 10000213
    Abstract: A pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle is determined. Whether the spare tire is installed is determined based at least in part on the pressure. A vehicle subsystem is actuated based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Aed M. Dudar, Fling Finn Tseng, Mahmoud Yousef Ghannam
  • Patent number: 10000232
    Abstract: In a steering assist device, a main lane keep assist current value setting unit sets a main lane keep assist current value that generates main lane keep assist torque according to a lateral deviation and a lateral deviation change rate. A sub lane keep assist current value setting unit sets a sub lane keep assist current value that generates sub lane keep assist torque according to curvature ct of a target travel line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventor: Toshiaki Oya
  • Patent number: 9994227
    Abstract: An ECU as a driving assistance device has a traffic sign detection section, a lane entry detection section and a judgment section. The traffic sign detection section detects traffic signs including a speed limit symbol based on front-image data captured by an in-vehicle camera. The lane entry detection section detects that the own vehicle has entered a ramp lane to leave a highway. The judgment section detects an extent of a current driving lane as the ramp lane when following conditions (c1) and (c2) are satisfied after the lane entry detection section detects the entry of the own vehicle into the ramp lane: (c1) not less than two traffic signs are arranged along the current driving lane in forward direction of the vehicle; and (c2) an arrangement of speed limit symbols included in the detected traffic signs satisfy a predetermined speed reduction pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoto Yoshitomi, Jian Hu, Shota Satomura, Yusuke Fujimaki
  • Patent number: 9994175
    Abstract: An environmental condition outside of a vehicle can be detected via a camera or sensor. A notification of the environmental condition can be sent to a remote device via a telematics system. A command can be received from the remote device in response to the notification via the telematics system, wherein the command is related to a vehicle system of the vehicle. The command can be communicated to the vehicle system to cause a preconditioning of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji Maeshiro
  • Patent number: 9994220
    Abstract: A target vehicle speed generating device basically includes a determination unit and a correction unit. The determination unit determines whether or not a sudden change point is present in the target vehicle speed contained in the corrects the target vehicle speed so as to eliminate the sudden change point upon determining that the sudden change point is present by the determination unit. The sudden change point corresponds to a point at which acceleration changes in excess of a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Suzuki
  • Patent number: 9996083
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for navigation correction assistance. The method provides a vehicle with a camera and an autonomous navigation system comprising a navigation buoy database and a navigation application. The navigation application visually acquires a first navigation buoy with an identity marker and accesses the navigation buoy database, which cross-references the first navigation buoy identity marker to a first spatial position. A first direction marker on the first navigation buoy is also visually acquired. In response to visually acquiring the first direction marker, a first angle is determined between the camera and the first spatial position. A first distance may also be determined between the vehicle and the first navigation buoy using visual methods or auxiliary position or distance measurement devices. Then, in response to the first spatial position, the first angle, and the first distance, the spatial position of the vehicle can be calculated using trigonometry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventor: William Vojak
  • Patent number: 9994195
    Abstract: A heatable luminaire cover is described. The heatable luminaire cover has a polymeric main body, a first busbar, a second busbar and at least two conductor tracks on the inside of the polymeric main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FRANCE
    Inventors: Lothar Lesmeister, Andreas Schlarb, Sebastian Schmidt, Marcus Guldan
  • Patent number: 9995354
    Abstract: An electromechanical brake system may include an electromechanical actuator with a servo motor. A current control is electronically coupled to the servo motor. A resolver is configured to detect an angular velocity and an angular position of the servo motor. A converter may be configured to convert the angular velocity into a linear velocity and the angular position into a linear position. An intelligent observer may also be configured to estimate a load force of the electromechanical actuator based on the linear position and the linear velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: GOODRICH CORPORATION
    Inventor: Sameep Singh