Patents Examined by James M Pontius
  • Patent number: 11443632
    Abstract: A vehicle includes: a transceiver configured to communicate with another vehicle; an acceleration sensor configured to detect an impact of the vehicle; a camera configured to acquire first image data of an external field of view of the vehicle; and a controller configured to determine whether an impact of the vehicle with a first vehicle has occurred based on an output value of the acceleration sensor, perform image processing for the first vehicle that generated the impact of the vehicle based on the first image data when is the controller determines that the impact of the vehicle has occurred, and to control the transceiver to request the another vehicle for second image data corresponding to an occurrence time of the impact of the vehicle when the plate number of the first vehicle is not identified based on the image processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Seul-A Jung, Donghyuk Jeong
  • Patent number: 11445108
    Abstract: Method and system are provided for direction guidance of an endoscopic device in a tubular organ. The method receives a current image frame from a camera disposed on the endoscopic device, where the current image frame captures a visible lumen of the tubular organ. The method determines an area of the visible lumen in the current image frame and a ratio of the area of the visible lumen to a minimum enclosing circle of the visible lumen. If the ratio breaches a defined threshold, the method adjusts a target direction of the endoscopic device in a direction from a center of the visible lumen towards a center of the image frame and outputs a notification of the adjusted target direction to a controller of the endoscopic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Saniya Ben Hassen, Marc P. Yvon, Anthony Herve, Christel Beaujard
  • Patent number: 11440474
    Abstract: A vehicle is provided that includes a trailer hitch, a camera oriented to capture images of the trailer hitch, and a controller processing the captured images, detecting a trailer safety chain associated with a trailer, determining a connection state of the trailer safety chain to the vehicle, and generating an output indicative of the determined connection state of the trailer safety chain to the vehicle. The vehicle may determine a change in a scene of the captured image following placement of a trailer coupler onto a vehicle hitch and determine a trailer connection state based on the change in scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, Roger Arnold Trombley, Lihui Chen
  • Patent number: 11433811
    Abstract: Various embodiments include a method for operating a camera-monitor system for a motor vehicle, wherein the camera-monitor system has a side camera assigned to a longitudinal side of the motor vehicle to provide an image of surroundings of the motor vehicle. The method may include: specifying a region of interest in the surroundings; and transforming the image of the camera into a transformed image wherein the region of interest in the transformed image is arranged in a specified image region with a specified magnification independent of any change in relative position between the region of interest and the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventor: Andreas Weinlich
  • Patent number: 11433815
    Abstract: A display system includes: a display device; a reflection optical system; a housing; and a shield member. The reflection optical system includes at least a last reflective member on which light, emerging from a display screen of the display device, is incident either directly or indirectly. The shield member is held by the housing to assume either a shielding state or an unshielding state. The shielding state is a state where the shield member at least partially cuts off light incident on, or reflected from, the last reflective member. The unshielding state is a state where the shielding state is canceled. The shield member in the shielding state reflects, toward the viewer's eyes, external light impinging on the housing. The housing has a holding structure to hold the shield member, no matter whether the shield member assumes the shielding state or the unshielding state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shoji So, Kenji Nagatomi, Norihiro Imamura, Michihiro Yamagata
  • Patent number: 11427126
    Abstract: The invention relates to a rear view mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising a housing configured for mounting to a vehicle; one or more mirror units disposed in the housing, wherein each mirror unit comprises a reflective mirror element and a mirror mount for securing the mirror element within the housing, wherein at least one mirror unit is an overhead mirror unit that is positioned to allow an operator in the vehicle to see an area that is behind the operator and above the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: LUCERIX INTERNATIONAL COMPANY
    Inventor: Pasquale Castelmezzano
  • Patent number: 11418796
    Abstract: An example method includes determining, for each respective coding block of a plurality of coding blocks of a current coding tree unit (CTU) of video data in a current picture of video data, a respective search area of a plurality of respective search areas, wherein at least one of the plurality of search areas includes samples of the current picture located outside of the current CTU, and wherein at least one of the plurality of search areas does not include samples of the current picture located outside of the current CTU; selecting, for each respective coding block and from within the respective search area for the respective coding block, a respective predictor block of a plurality of predictor blocks; and reconstructing samples of each respective coding block based on samples included in a corresponding predictor block in the plurality of predictor blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
    Inventors: Vadim Seregin, Luong Pham Van, Wei-Jung Chien, Cheng-Teh Hsieh, Marta Karczewicz
  • Patent number: 11410332
    Abstract: A map system is a system for autonomously navigating a vehicle along a road segment and includes at least one processor. The processor acquires at least one image representing the environment of the vehicle from the imaging device, acquires the brightness of the environment of the vehicle, analyzes the image to calculate the position of the landmark with respect to the road on which the vehicle travels, determines the position of the own vehicle based on the position of the landmark calculated from the image and the map information stored in the server, and emits an illumination light in a direction in which a presence of the landmark is estimated when the brightness is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuta Fujii, Takahisa Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 11400861
    Abstract: A camera monitoring system for a side region of a vehicle, includes an image-capturing unit for simultaneously capturing image data relating to a first ground region and relating to a second ground region on at least one side of the vehicle, and an image-analyzing unit, which is designed to separate image data relating to the first ground region from image data relating to the second ground region so as to enable independent display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: KNORR-BREMSE Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
    Inventors: Viktor Tihanyi, Huba Nemeth, Levente Balogh, Adam Szoellosi, Balazs Gal
  • Patent number: 11400862
    Abstract: The present application discloses a method of controlling a rear-view mirror for a vehicle. The method includes determining a gaze position and a gaze direction of a user; and controlling the rear-view mirror based on the user's gaze position and gaze direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yu Gu, Ying Zhang, Yifei Zhang, Kai Zhao, Hongli Ding
  • Patent number: 11403759
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses provide improved navigation through tubular networks such as lung airways by providing improved estimation of location and orientation information of a medical instrument (e.g., an endoscope) within the tubular network. Various input data such as image data, EM data, and robot data are used by different algorithms to estimate the state of the medical instrument, and the state information is used to locate a specific site within a tubular network and/or to determine navigation information for what positions/orientations the medical instrument should travel through to arrive at the specific site. Probability distributions together with confidence values are generated corresponding to different algorithms are used to determine the medical instrument's estimated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Auris Health, Inc.
    Inventors: David S. Mintz, Atiyeh Ghoreyshi, Prasanth Jeevan, Yiliang Xu, Gehua Yang, Matthew Joseph Leotta, Charles V. Stewart
  • Patent number: 11383600
    Abstract: A power consumption of a screen can be lowered while a motor vehicle is traveling, based on a line of vision of a user of the motor vehicle. An image of a surrounding area of the motor vehicle is captured, and a line of vision of the user of the motor vehicle is determined. The screen is switched to a normal mode of operation or a power-saving mode based on the determined line of vision. The power consumption of the screen in the power-saving mode is less than a power consumption of the screen in the normal mode of operation. The image of the surrounding area is displayed by use of the screen, at least while the screen is operated in the normal mode of operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Jürgen Lerzer, Andreas Prücklmeier
  • Patent number: 11388424
    Abstract: A system implemented by one or more computers comprises a visual encoder component configured to receive as input data representing a sequence of image frames, in particular representing objects in a scene of the sequence, and to output a sequence of corresponding state codes, each state code comprising vectors, one for each of the objects. Each vector represents a respective position and velocity of its corresponding object. The system also comprises a dynamic predictor component configured to take as input a sequence of state codes, for example from the visual encoder, and predict a state code for a next unobserved frame. The system further comprises a state decoder component configured to convert the predicted state code, to a state, the state comprising a respective position and velocity vector for each object in the scene. This state may represent a predicted position and velocity vector for each of the objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: DeepMind Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Nicholas Watters, Razvan Pascanu, Peter William Battaglia, Daniel Zorn, Theophane Guillaume Weber
  • Patent number: 11377033
    Abstract: A display system includes: a display device in a mobile body; a concave mirror for displaying, in a first mode, a virtual image of a display image shown by image light emitted by the display device; and a plane mirror for reflecting, in a second mode, a rear-view image shown by light that has entered the mobile body. In a top view of the mobile body, the display device and the concave mirror are disposed such that a straight line connecting centers of the display device and the concave mirror has a predetermined angle relative to a front-and-rear direction of the mobile body. A normal direction at a center of a concave mirror surface of the concave mirror when the first mode is functioning and a normal direction normal to a plane mirror surface of the plane mirror when the second mode is functioning are not parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenji Nagatomi, Norihiro Imamura, Michihiro Yamagata
  • Patent number: 11375163
    Abstract: A vehicle inspection device includes a camera mounted to a power folding side-view mirror provided to a vehicle, the camera being configured to switch between an exterior image capture state in which an exterior of the vehicle is within an image capture range and an interior image capture state in which an interior of the vehicle is within the image capture range, while the side-view mirror performs an opening/closing operation between a completely open state and a closed state, and a vehicle processor that executes a vehicle image capture process of capturing an image of the exterior of the vehicle by the camera when the camera has entered the exterior image capture state due to an operation of the side-view mirror, and capturing an image of the interior of the vehicle by the camera when the camera has entered the interior image capture state due to an operation of the side-view mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akira Terauchi, Naoki Kato, Kayoko Fukasawa, Hiroyuki Tomosugi, Takahiro Iijima
  • Patent number: 11369027
    Abstract: Various implementations for a display positioning system include stand with a front a back surface being connected to form a curved bend such that the bottom edges of the front and back surface are spread out to support the stand, the front surface is further connected to a stand lip forming a stand channel between the front surface and an extended portion of the stand lip, an insert configured to rest within the stand channel of the stand and including a front plate and a back plate that extend beyond a top portion of the insert and form an insert channel, the insert channel being configured to receive a first edge of a computing device and support the computing device in an elevated position, and an adapter with an optical element that is configured to rest within a first slot in the stand when not in use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Tangible Play, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Solomon, Jon Karl Dukerschein, Andrew Berwald, Ariel Zekelman, Jerome Scholler
  • Patent number: 11350154
    Abstract: A receiving method of receiving a first data unit in which data making up an encoded stream is stored and the first data unit stores a plurality of second data units. The receiving method includes: receiving the first data unit, first time information indicating a presentation time of the first data unit, second time information indicating, together with the first time information, a presentation time or a decoding time of each of the plurality of second data units, and identification information; calculating the presentation time or the decoding time of each of the plurality of second data units using the first time information and the second time information; and correcting the presentation time or the decoding time of each of the plurality of second data units based on the identification information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
    Inventors: Noritaka Iguchi, Tadamasa Toma
  • Patent number: 11343503
    Abstract: A digital media encoder/decoder uses a flexible quantization technique that provides the ability to vary quantization along various dimensions of the encoded digital media data, including spatial, frequency sub bands and color channels. The codec utilizes a signaling scheme to signal various permutations of flexible quantization combinations efficiently for primary usage scenarios. When a choice of quantizer is available, the codec efficiently encodes the current quantizer by defining a subset of quantizers and indexes the current quantizer from the set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Chengjie Tu, Sridhar Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11339887
    Abstract: A system for regulating fluid flow having a processor configured to reduce image noise is provided. The system includes an image sensor to capture an image of the drip chamber. The processor captures the image of the drip chamber using the image sensor, performs an edge detection on the image to generate a first processed image, and performs an AND-operation on a pixel on a first side of an axis of the first processed image with a corresponding mirror pixel on a second side of the axis of the first processed image to generate a second processed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: DEKA Products Limited Partnership
    Inventors: Bob D. Peret, Derek G. Kane, Dean Kamen, Colin H. Murphy, John M. Kerwin
  • Patent number: 11338735
    Abstract: An exterior mirror assembly for a vehicle includes an arm having a proximal end coupled with a vehicle door and a distal end. A mirror assembly is coupled to the arm. The mirror assembly includes an electro-optic element. The mirror assembly is rotatable about the distal end between first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: GENTEX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michael G. Hendricks, Danny L. Minikey, Jr., Christopher B. Case