Patents Examined by David P. Merlino
  • Patent number: 10156060
    Abstract: A rotation drive apparatus for rotating an upper rotary body of a construction machine, the rotation drive apparatus eliminating, while achieving a fundamental goal of stopping a rotation when an emergency stop operation is performed, wasteful stopping by a parking brake. The apparatus includes: an emergency stop switch; a rotation control section which performs control to stop a rotating motor when the emergency stop operation is applied to the emergency stop switch; and a timer which activates the parking brake when a set period of time has elapsed after the emergency stop operation is performed. Preferably, the rotation control section detects a failure of an inverter and causes the parking brake to perform a braking operation before the elapse of the set period of time when the failure is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Yamashita, Takayuki Doi
  • Patent number: 10150541
    Abstract: A method includes calculating a frequency and a phase of a vibration of a floating vessel, generating a control signal based on the vibration frequency and the vibration phase, operating a motion compensation system of the floating vessel during an ith control cycle using the control signal to mitigate the vibration of the floating vessel, calculating a first vibration amplitude based on the control signal, updating one or more parameters including a magnitude of the control signal, a decay rate of the vibration, the vibration phase, and the vibration frequency using the first vibration amplitude, updating the control signal based on the one or more updated parameters, and operating the motion compensation system based on the updated control signal during an (i+1)th control cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason D. Dykstra, Xingyong Song, Yiming Zhao
  • Patent number: 10145088
    Abstract: A control system comprising a position information generation unit configured to operate three modes to output position information: a first mode in which information about the position detected by a position detection apparatus is output as position information related to the position of a work machine, when the position determination is normal, a second mode in which information about a position obtained by using both of a particular point as a reference of the work machine obtained before a position determination becomes abnormal and operation information detected by a status detection apparatus is output as the position information, when the position determination is abnormal and the work machine is a static status, and a third mode in which the position information is not output, when the position determination is abnormal and the work machine is in a non-static status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuo Kanemitsu, Yoshiki Kami
  • Patent number: 10147327
    Abstract: A method for integrating a constrained aircraft route(s) optimization application is implemented in an avionics onboard system comprising a DAL+ core computer and a DAL? peripheral computer for managing the application. The method of integration determines an optimal functional and physical distribution of the elementary functions OPT_RTE_FU(i) of the application within the onboard avionics system over the set of possible distributions which minimizes a global cost criterion CG, dependent on several parameters, including at least the additional development cost of the elementary functions integrated within the DAL+ digital core computer, and carries out the integration of the application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: François Nefflier, Hervé Aulfinger, Patrick Pierre
  • Patent number: 10131446
    Abstract: An apparatus comprises a time-of-flight ranging sensor that scans in two or more directions relative to the apparatus over a series of scanning cycles. A processor computes, and to communicates to the time-of-flight ranging sensor, a pulse repetition rate (PRR) for the time-of-flight ranging sensor for each of the two or more directions based on information about surrounding terrain of the apparatus and a sensor pointing schedule for the time-of-flight ranging sensor that indicates directions that the time-of-flight ranging sensor is scheduled to point at time during the scanning cycles. In addition or lieu of computing the PRR, the processor(s) matches returns from pulses of the time-of-flight ranging sensor to the pulses probabilistically based on a current map of the vehicle's surroundings and scan coherence analysis for shapes in the returns. The current map can then be updated based on the matched returns for the next iteration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: NEAR EARTH AUTONOMY, INC.
    Inventors: Adam Stambler, Lyle J. Chamberlain, Sebastian Scherer
  • Patent number: 10136392
    Abstract: Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for identifying in real time unpredictable network communication faults based upon pre-processed raw telematics big data logs that may include GPS data and an indication of vehicle status data, and supplemental data that may further include location data and network data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Geotab Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Charles Cawse, Daniel Michael Dodgson, Yi Zhao
  • Patent number: 10124644
    Abstract: A damper control device includes a rate sensor that detects a pitching angular velocity of a vehicle body, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor and a calculation unit that detect a roll angle and a yaw angular velocity of the vehicle body, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of a contraction-side chamber in a front-wheel side damper, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of a contraction-side chamber in a rear-wheel side damper, and a correction unit that corrects the pitching angular velocity. The pressures are controlled on the basis of the corrected pitching angular velocity and the pressures. The vehicle speed sensor, the steering angle sensor and the calculation unit detect the roll angle and the yaw angular velocity on the basis of a traveling speed and a steering angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: KYB Corporation
    Inventor: Norihiko Kurita
  • Patent number: 10124677
    Abstract: A regeneration control device for a vehicle includes: a motor control unit that drives a motor generator connected to running wheels of the vehicle at the time of decreasing a vehicle speed, so as to generate electricity, performing regenerative braking; a paddle switch that performs increasing/decreasing operation on a regeneration amount Tr by the motor generator; and a main control unit that performs increasing/decreasing control on the regeneration amount Tr continuously in response to the increasing/decreasing operation by the paddle switch, wherein the main control unit sets a regeneration amount increasing rate in an increasing operation of the regeneration amount by operation of an UP switch of the paddle switch to be higher than a regeneration amount decreasing rate in a decreasing operation of the regeneration amount by operation of a DOWN switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masahiro Murase
  • Patent number: 10126913
    Abstract: A mapping system presents geographically relevant images. The images may be relevant to a search entered by the user, directions requested by the user, or any other factor relevant to the user's relationship to the displayed map. Moreover, the images may change in response to user actions or other factors, wherein new images “bubble up” as user context changes. The mapping system may display geographically relevant images by way of an information card presented in response to a user interacting with a point on a digital map. The user may interact with any of the geographically relevant images, causing an indicator of the map location associated with the image to be presented. Alternatively or additionally, a user interaction with a geographically relevant image may cause an interactive panoramic presentation of street-level imagery to be presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Kelvin Ho, Jonathan Siegel, Su Chuin Leong
  • Patent number: 10124782
    Abstract: Methods for estimating the cooling time of a brake assembly are disclosed. Methods are provided comprising receiving, by the processor, a first temperature of a brake assembly at a first time, receiving, by the processor, a second temperature of a brake assembly at a second time, wherein the second time occurs a fixed period after the first time, determining, by the processor, a temperature decay coefficient (“?”) of the brake assembly based on the first temperature and the second temperature and calculating, by the processor, an estimated total time to cool the brake assembly to a predetermined temperature based on the first temperature, the predetermined temperature and ?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Goodrich Corporation
    Inventors: Marc Jean Claude Georgin, Todd Rook
  • Patent number: 10124809
    Abstract: A method, arrangement and system are described for estimating one or more vehicle cornering stiffness parameters (cf, cr) in a linear vehicle operating region. The method includes reading sensor data representative of at least vehicle (1) longitudinal velocity (vx), vehicle lateral acceleration (ay), vehicle yaw rate (?z) and vehicle steering angle (?), determining from the read sensor data if the cornering stiffness parameters (cf, cr) are observable, and if so providing an estimate of the cornering stiffness parameters (cf, cr) using a bicycle model that includes a model of tire relaxation dynamics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Mikael Thor, Tony Gustafsson
  • Patent number: 10127096
    Abstract: Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for identifying in real time unpredictable network communication faults based upon pre-processed raw telematics big data logs that may include GPS data and an indication of vehicle status data, and supplemental data that may further include location data and network data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Geotab Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Charles Cawse, Daniel Michael Dodgson, Yi Zhao
  • Patent number: 10124828
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus and systems are provided for steering a vehicle, for example, during autonomous operation. One exemplary method involves operating a locking system associated with a first set of one or more wheels of the vehicle to lock an angle of the wheel(s) and detecting a steering adjustment condition based on the angle during subsequent operation of the vehicle. In response to the steering adjustment condition, the locking system is operated in an intermediate mode, and then thereafter operated to relock the angle of the wheel(s) based on monitoring the angle of the wheel(s) during operation in the intermediate mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Pinaki Gupta, Nikhil L. Hoskeri
  • Patent number: 10127821
    Abstract: An aircraft system includes a processing unit configured to identify an airport marker during a surface operation at an airport. The processing unit is further configured to automatically generate a reporting message based on the airport marker at a predetermined location relative to the airport marker. The aircraft system further includes a communications unit coupled to the processing unit and configured to send the reporting message.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Padmashree Balasubramanian, Ravindra Jayaprakash
  • Patent number: 10124697
    Abstract: The present invention provides a hybrid vehicle, including a power battery, a fuel storage tank, an electrical power generation unit, a pressure detection unit and a work mode controller, and adopts a pressure protection mode under the work mode controller, wherein the work mode controller is configured to control the vehicle to enter the pressure protection mode when the electrical power generation unit is in a stop state and when the gas pressure detected by the pressure detection unit is higher than a pressure threshold; and in the pressure protection mode, the electrical power generation unit is started from the stop state to enter the working state to consume the fuel in the fuel storage tank, and the gas pressure in the fuel storage tank is accordingly reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignees: ZHEJIANG GEELY HOLDING GROUP CO., LTD, ZHEJIANG GEELY AUTOMOBILE RESEARCH INSTITUTE CO., LTD
    Inventor: Shufu Li
  • Patent number: 10123488
    Abstract: A system for controlling the speed of harvested crop as it is discharged from a crop accumulator onto a field comprising a discharge mechanism for imparting a desired rearward travel speed to the harvested crop as it is being discharged from the crop accumulator and a speed measurement device for measuring forward travel speed of the crop accumulator. A processor is in communication with the discharge mechanism and the speed measurement device and is operable to adjust the discharge mechanism for imparting the desired rearward travel speed or the forward travel speed of the crop accumulator, to discharge harvested crop with a rearward travel speed that is substantially equal to the forward travel speed such that the harvested crop has a substantially net zero speed as it contacts the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Timothy J. Kraus, Henry D. Anstey
  • Patent number: 10074220
    Abstract: Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for the real time generation and transformation of raw telematics big data into analytical telematics big data that includes raw telematics big data and supplemental data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Geotab Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Charles Cawse, Yi Zhao, Daniel Michael Dodgson
  • Patent number: 10023176
    Abstract: A method for predicting a range of a vehicle having an at least partially electric drive. When a first operating mode of the vehicle is ended at a time, the vehicle switches into a second operating mode when the first operating mode ends. The range of the vehicle is determined when the first operating mode ends. Starting at the time at which the first operating mode ends, the temporal development of a parameter from the surroundings of the vehicle is determined for a certain duration, wherein the vehicle is in the second operating mode for at least a portion of the certain duration. Also disclosed is a device for predicting a range of a vehicle having an at least partially electric drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Gökhan Tabanoglu, Mirko Vujasinovic
  • Patent number: 10011369
    Abstract: The vision system for an aircraft according to the invention comprises a display management system, on a display, capable of dynamically displaying synthetic information coming from a synthetic environment generating assembly on the display. The management assembly can control the display, on a first region of the display, of relief lines representative of the terrain situated facing the aircraft, without displaying synthetic surface representations of the terrain in the intermediate areas situated between the relief lines of the first region of the display. The generating assembly includes means for determining the position of the crest lines of the terrain from topographical data present in at least one database, and means for computing the position of the relief lines from the position of the crest lines of the terrain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: DASSAULT AVIATION
    Inventors: Olivier Baudson, Arnaud Turpin
  • Patent number: 10002531
    Abstract: An approach is provided for predicting driving behavior. A prediction platform determines driving characteristic information for one or more vehicles in association with a segment of a travel path navigated by each of the one or more vehicles. The prediction platform also processes driving characteristic information to determine one or more response types, one or more behavior types, or a combination thereof associated with the segment of the travel path and associates the one or more response types, the one or more behavior types, or a combination thereof with mapping information for specifying the segment of the travel path, a behavior connection link-chain, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventor: James D. Lynch