Patents Examined by Edward Pipala
  • Patent number: 9002543
    Abstract: A system and method for assisting flight crew recovery in the aftermath of an unexpected event is provided. A processor is used to detect that an unexpected event has occurred in an aircraft and, in response to detecting that the unexpected event has occurred, state data are stored in memory. The processor is also used to detect that the unexpected event has been resolved and, in response to detecting that the unexpected event has been resolved, the processor retrieves the state data from the memory, generates an aftermath plan that includes prompts to guide the flight crew to complete the aftermath plan, and continuously updates the aftermath plan until the aftermath plan is completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Christian Dorneich, Chris Hamblin, William Rogers, Stephen Whitlow
  • Patent number: 8977429
    Abstract: A system for shifting a vehicle's transfer case into or out of the neutral position, using an electronic vehicle information center. The system comprises a transfer case control module connected to a transfer case and an electronic vehicle information center connected to the transfer case control module. The electronic vehicle information center instructs the transfer case control module to shift the transfer case into or out of the neutral position by detecting an input signal request from a control panel to shift the transfer case into or out of a neutral position, and sending an instruction signal to the transfer case control module to shift the transfer case into or out of the neutral position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Chrysler Group LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey C Hendry, Michael Mashkevich
  • Patent number: 8977466
    Abstract: Embodiments disclose a vehicle brake fluid pressure controller. The controller includes: a normally-open proportional solenoid valve provided in a hydraulic passage extending from a hydraulic pressure source to a wheel brake; a normally-closed solenoid valve provided in a hydraulic passage extending from the wheel brake to the hydraulic pressure source; an antilock brake control module configured to perform an antilock brake control for suppressing the locking of a wheel by performing a pressure increase control, a pressure decrease control and a pressure holding control for a hydraulic pressure of the wheel brake, using the normally-open proportional solenoid valve and the normally-closed solenoid valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Nissin Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomoaki Sekiya
  • Patent number: 8972162
    Abstract: Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for managing the power consumption of an automotive vehicle, and thereby for optimizing the power consumption of the vehicle. The devices and systems for managing the power consumption of the vehicle typically include power management logic that can calculate an applied power for the vehicle engine based on information provided from the external environment of the vehicle, the operational status of the vehicle, one or more command inputs from a driver, and one or more operational parameters of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Invent.ly, LLC
    Inventors: Martin Koebler, Jason H. Harper, Stephen J. Brown, Nicole G. Goldstein
  • Patent number: 8972161
    Abstract: Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for managing the power consumption of an automotive vehicle, and thereby for optimizing the power consumption of the vehicle. The devices and systems for managing the power consumption of the vehicle typically include power management logic that can calculate an applied power for the vehicle engine based on information provided from the external environment of the vehicle, the operational status of the vehicle, one or more command inputs from a driver, and one or more operational parameters of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Invent.ly, LLC
    Inventors: Martin Koebler, Nicole G. Goldstein, Stephen J. Brown, Jason H. Harper
  • Patent number: 8972138
    Abstract: A method for controlling a vehicle's speed by adopting a desired speed vset for the vehicle; determining a horizon for the intended itinerary made up of route segments, effecting the following during each of a number of simulation cycles (s) each comprising a number N of simulation steps conducted at a predetermined frequency f: first predicting the vehicle's speed vpred—cc along the horizon with conventional cruise control when vset is presented as reference speed, comparing the predicted vehicle speed vpred—cc in a range vmin to vmax, making a second prediction of the vehicle's speed vpred—Tnew along the horizon based on the vehicle's engine torque T; determining a reference value for how the vehicle's speed is to be influenced on the basis of at least one of the comparisons and the predicted vehicle speed vpred—Tnew; controlling the vehicle by the reference value. A module for the foregoing controls a vehicle's speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Scania CV AB
    Inventors: Oskar Johansson, Maria Södergren, Fredrik Roos
  • Patent number: 8958982
    Abstract: Disclosed is a navigation device including: a target candidate extracting unit for extracting target candidates located along a guidance route from a map database on a basis of a vehicle position, the guidance route, and intersection information about a target intersection for guidance; a target determining unit for determining a target on a basis of knowledge about target determination from among the target candidates extracted by the target candidate extracting unit; a guidance sentence generating unit for generating a guidance sentence by using the target determined by the target determining unit; and a sound output unit for outputting voice guidance on a basis of the guidance sentence generated by the guidance sentence generating unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Sempuku, Takeyuki Hori, Sachiko Harada, Yoko Sano
  • Patent number: 8954240
    Abstract: An active suspension seat for use in a vehicle incorporates a swivel enabling the active suspension seat to be rotated about a vertical axis towards and away from a position appropriate for use in driving the vehicle, and incorporates a seat controller operating a brake to prevent such rotation away from that appropriate position in response to an indication that the vehicle is in motion, and limiting the active suspension to being enabled only when the seat is in the appropriate position for use in driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventor: Linda Scully
  • Patent number: 8948965
    Abstract: An electronic parking brake system and assistant starting method thereof for a motor vehicle are provided, wherein, the electronic parking brake system receives a plurality of sensor signals indicative of vehicle condition and releases the electronic parking brake when any one of the plurality of sensor signals indicates a predetermined condition to assist the driver, the conditions including a relation between a torque transmitted by a clutch and a torque needed for starting the motor vehicle, an engine rotational speed being greater than an engine idle speed and simultaneous depression of the accelerator and clutch pedals, a starting trend, a detected engine rotational speed lower than a threshold value calculated according to a throttle opening data, and a detected rotational speed or angle of driving wheel greater than a predetermined threshold value, thereby providing a method and system adapted to accurately judge whether the brake can be automatically released.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Wuhu Bethel Automotive Safety Systems Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhaoyong Liu, Yongbin Yuan, Qindong Gu, Sheng Zhang, Liping Liu, Yulin Qiang
  • Patent number: 8930120
    Abstract: A system for detecting and diagnosing a faultive state of an airplane engine, including: at least one vibration sensor attached to an airplane; a reference model database construction unit; and a fault detection and diagnosis unit which estimates a parameter of a model, obtains a test variable and a numerator coefficient value difference of a transfer function between the models, and the covariance of parameter estimation error, and diagnoses the faultive state and the faultive cause of the airplane engine. Accordingly, the present invention can determine the faultive state and the detective cause of the airplane engine using the vibration data of the airplane engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Inha-Industry Partnership Institute
    Inventors: Oh-Kyu Kwon, Ji-Hyuk Yang, Sang Yong Lee
  • Patent number: 8914191
    Abstract: A method for controlling a motor vehicle electrohydraulic braking system. The method being activatable in a “brake-by-wire” operating mode, having a pressure supply device (2), which can be activated by an electronic control and a regulation unit, can be connected to a hydraulically actuatable wheel brake. Wherein the pressure supply device (2) is formed by a cylinder-piston assembly (43). The piston (45) can be actuated by an electromechanical actuator (44), the control unit carries out the steps of determining a pressure target value (PV,Soll) for the pressure supply device (2), performing a pressure control operation or an actuator position control operation on the pressure supply device (2) in accordance with the magnitude of the pressure target value (PV,Soll).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG
    Inventor: Jurgen Bohn
  • Patent number: 8898002
    Abstract: Systems and methods for obtaining geographical location data from multiple sources and aggregating the geographical location data are disclosed. A particular embodiment includes: receiving geo-location data from a plurality of geo-location data collectors, at least one of the plurality of geo-location data collectors being in data communication with an in-vehicle geo-location data source, at least one of the plurality of geo-location data collectors being in data communication with a geo-location data source in a mobile device; collecting reliability data corresponding to one or more of a plurality of geo-location data sources corresponding to the plurality of geo-location data collectors; collecting map data including information related to geographical features associated with the geo-location data; and aggregating, by use of a data processor, the geo-location data from the plurality of geo-location data collectors based on the reliability data and the map data to produce a resulting geo-location fix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: CloudCar, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Barrett, Zarko Draganic
  • Patent number: 8897950
    Abstract: A single input having multiple functions is provided. The single input having multiple functions may be used on off-board tools. In accordance with one embodiment, an off-board tool having a read/scroll actuator is provided. The read/scroll actuator, upon being actuated, performs either a read function or a scroll function. Another embodiment of an off-board tool having a display and capable of receiving information is provided. The off-board tool includes a contextual actuator having a first and a second mode. Actuation of the actuator in the first mode effectuates retrieval of information. Actuation of the actuator in the second mode effectuates display of at least a portion of the retrieved information. In accordance with another embodiment, an off-board device is provided. The off-board tool includes a display, read logic, scroll logic and a read/scroll actuator. Another embodiment of an off-board tool includes a display, a read means, a scroll means and a read/scroll means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Bosch Automotive Service Solution LLC
    Inventors: Robert A. Roberts, Hamid Namaky
  • Patent number: 8886419
    Abstract: An automatic transmission apparatus includes a clutch including a drive side rotator to which torque of an engine is transmitted and a driven side rotator, a multi-gear transmission mechanism including a dog clutch, at least one actuator to drive the clutch and the transmission mechanism, a torque changing device to change the torque of the engine, a gear shifting command output device to output a gear shifting command, and a transmission control system to control the at least one actuator and the torque changing device. The transmission control system includes a shock reduction control unit to execute control to, upon receiving the gear shifting command from the gear shifting command output device, reduce the engine torque by controlling the torque changing device and thereafter to start to disengage the clutch by controlling the at least one actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takuya Murayama
  • Patent number: 8886391
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments of off-board tools (OBTs) may be used in vehicle inspection maintenance programs are provided. The OBT may include a processor, vehicle communication circuitry for linking to a vehicle diagnostic system, host interface circuitry for communicating with a host computer, and voltage determination circuitry for measuring a voltage through the vehicle diagnostic system. The OBT may include logic for storing a communications protocol used to link with a vehicle diagnostic system that is preferably used for re-establishing dropped communications links. In addition, the OBT may contain logic for testing at least one component of a starting and/or charging system of a vehicle. Still other embodiments may include logic for sending unsolicited messages to a host computer. Additional embodiments may include logic for determining the minimum number of messages that must be received by an OBT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Bosch Automotive Service Solutions LLC
    Inventors: Thomas J. Bertosa, Robert A. Roberts, Michael Gessner, Hamid Namaky
  • Patent number: 8880259
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling an electric motor. An electric motor apparatus has an electric motor with motor stator windings, a battery, battery control module coupled to the battery and configured to monitor and detect a state of the battery, and a motor control unit coupled to the battery and the batter control module and being configured to select an operation of the electric motor based on a signal from the battery control module representing the state of the battery. The motor control unit selects a normal motor control operation, a power dissipation motor control operation, or a discharge operation. During the power dissipation motor control operation, power from brake torque is dissipated in the motor stator windings of the electric motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Chrysler Group LLC
    Inventors: Bing Cheng, Goro Tamai
  • Patent number: 8880306
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a friction clutch located between an engine and a driving wheel; a clutch actuator arranged to disengage and engage the friction clutch; a clutch actuator control section arranged and programmed to control the clutch actuator; a slip detection section arranged to detect a slip of the driving wheel; and an engine control section arranged and programmed to decrease an output of the engine when the slip of the driving wheel is detected by the slip detection section. When the friction clutch is in a half clutch state and the slip of the driving wheel is detected, the clutch actuator control section is arranged and programmed to control the clutch actuator so as to maintain a pushing force of the friction clutch at a fixed or substantially fixed level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kengo Minami
  • Patent number: 8880308
    Abstract: A method and system of improving shift event performance in a vehicle with an automatic transmission. One or more accelerometers in the vehicle are used to sense one or more longitudinal acceleration values. The longitudinal acceleration values or values derived therefrom are compared with predetermined stored values. Shift event behavior is changed in response to differences between the one or more longitudinal acceleration values or values derived therefrom and the predetermined stored values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Chrysler Group LLC
    Inventors: Hussein Dourra, Mircea Gradu, Michael Hall
  • Patent number: 8874314
    Abstract: A vehicle damping control apparatus is basically provided with a braking/accelerating torque generating component, a corrective torque calculating component, a corrective torque command value output component and a priority level setting component. The braking/accelerating torque generating component is configured to generate braking/accelerating torque in a wheel. The corrective torque calculating component is configured to calculate a corrective torque to suppress vehicle pitching vibration and vehicle bouncing vibration. The corrective torque command value output component is configured to output a corrective torque command value to the braking/accelerating torque generating component based on the corrective torque. The priority level setting component is configured to set a priority level for calculating the corrective torque command value such that vehicle bouncing vibration is suppressed with priority over vehicle pitching vibration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yosuke Kobayashi, Mitsunori Ohta
  • Patent number: 8862319
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an over-current damage prevention method and apparatus for a subsidiary inverter of an electric bus, which may reduce surge current generated due to a substantially abrupt occurrence of a load when a clutch is connected thereon by reducing the speed of a power steering motor before the clutch is connected thereon. The method and apparatus include sensing, by a sensor, a pressure of an air tank and an on position of an air pressure; reducing, by an inverter, a speed of a power steering motor by controlling the voltage applied to the power steering motor when the pressure of the air tank is less than a setup value or when the air pressure switch is on; and in response to reducing the speed of the power steering motor, maintaining a clutch in an engaged position to transmit power from the power steering motor to an air compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Kyung Su Han