Patents Examined by Steven Lim
  • Patent number: 10486593
    Abstract: An in-vehicle alert apparatus includes an electronic control unit. The ECU configured to estimate a predicted traveling course of a center point in a vehicle width direction of a host vehicle based on vehicle status information, extract an object having a possibility of colliding with the host vehicle as an obstacle, calculate an index value that is changed in accordance with a degree of need for an alert operation which alerts a driver to each extracted obstacle, select a processing target obstacle from the extracted obstacles by using the index value calculated for each extracted obstacle, determine whether a specific condition is established in accordance with a result of comparison between the index value for the processing target obstacle and a predetermined threshold, and display an alert screen on a display unit when the specific condition is determined to be established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Teppei Ohta
  • Patent number: 10488246
    Abstract: An escape system for a sinking car and an ultrasonic component thereof are illustrated. In the present disclosure, an ultrasonic signal transmitting unit capable of emitting ultrasonic is installed on the car. When the car falls into the water, based upon an acoustic resistance concept which the ultrasonic propagated in air collides and transmits into the water, a difference between a reflection or transmittance rate of the ultrasonic and a corresponding set value can be calculated, or alternatively, a difference between a reflection time deviation or a reflection distance of the ultrasonic and a corresponding set value can be calculated. Therefore, a warning signal indicating that the car falls into the water can be fast sent, and this makes sure that the rescue opportunity which the car falls into the water can be grasped to decrease the damage or death of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Inventor: Jr-Hui Hsieh
  • Patent number: 10482744
    Abstract: A system for detecting and discriminating the severity of a fall includes a mobile device configured to communicate a network, a notification module, and a wearable device configured to communicate with the mobile device, the wearable device including a fall monitor and an activity log resident on the wearable device, where the fall monitor is configured to record detected movement on the activity log. The notification module is configured to effect a selectable setting of a rate of communication between the mobile device and the wearable device based on at least part of a predetermined pattern of a fall discriminator within the activity log, where the selectable setting defines a predetermined period of communication between the mobile device and the wearable device. The fall discriminator is configured to determine when the activity log includes a notable fall event based on the predetermined pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: FallCall Solutions, LLC
    Inventor: Shea C. Gregg
  • Patent number: 10480308
    Abstract: An electro-acoustic system for downhole telemetry employs a series of communications nodes spaced along a string of casing within a wellbore. The nodes allow wireless communication between transceivers residing within the nodes and a receiver at the surface. The transceivers provide node-to-node communication up a wellbore at high data transmission rates for data indicative of fluid flow within the wellbore. A method of monitoring the flow of fluid within a wellbore uses a plurality of data transmission nodes situated along the casing string sending signals to a receiver at the surface. The signals are then analyzed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Timothy I. Morrow, Stuart R. Keller, Max Deffenbaugh, Mark M. Disko, David A. Stiles
  • Patent number: 10482746
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for generating an automated response to a catastrophic event, that includes (1) analyzing a sample set of data generated in association with a catastrophic event to determine a threshold pattern; (2) receiving, with customer permission or affirmative consent, home sensor data from a smart home controller via wireless communication or data transmission, the home sensor data including data regarding at least one of (i) structural status; (ii) wind speed; (iii) availability of electricity; (iv) presence of water; (v) temperature; (vi) pressure; and/or (vii) presence of pollutants in the air and/or water; (3) determining, based upon or from computer analysis of the home sensor data, whether the home sensor data indicates a match to the threshold pattern; and (4) automatically generating a response if the home sensor data indicates a match to the threshold pattern. As a result, catastrophic events and responses thereto may be improved through usage of a remote network of home sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Phillip Moon, Sunish Menon, Jeffrey Kinsey, Jeffrey W. Stoiber
  • Patent number: 10471970
    Abstract: A safety apparatus of a vehicle and a method of using the same are disclosed. The safety apparatus provides safety to a pedestrian and a vehicle traveling in a lane next to parked vehicles in a blind spot formed by the parked vehicles. The safety apparatus for a vehicle includes a plurality of sensor, a controller, and a display. The sensors sense the presence and positions of a pedestrian and a traveling vehicle that are approaching the vehicle. The controller calculates a moving direction and moving speed of each of the pedestrian and the traveling vehicle using the result sensed by the plurality of sensors. The display displays the position, the moving direction, or the moving speed of the pedestrian or the traveling vehicle such that the displayed information is easily recognized by any object present in an external part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: MANDO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Gi Yeon Won
  • Patent number: 10463301
    Abstract: A wearable device is disclosed. The wearable device may include a body. The wearable device may also include a band coupled with the body. The band may include a signal generator configured to generate a signal indicating a change of a shape of the band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: ZTE Corporation
    Inventor: Ming Liu
  • Patent number: 10467879
    Abstract: Various arrangements are presented for monitoring a resident of a residence. A confidence assessment may be performed based on a plurality of smart home devices in the residence. The residence may be identified as eligible for monitoring of the resident based on the confidence assessment. A learning process may be performed to create an ordinary behavior model. Data that is received from the plurality of smart home devices may be monitored to identify data indicative of behavior considered unusual based on the ordinary behavior model. An alert may be created that identifies the behavior and identifies how the behavior contrasts with the ordinary behavior model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Mark Stefanski, Yoky Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 10467901
    Abstract: A warning device includes: a sensor which is attachable to a supporting member and measures a distance, the supporting member being fixedly installed; and a notifier which performs notification using predetermined output. The sensor measures at least one of sensor-object distances and a moving object distance, the sensor-object distances being distances between the sensor and each of at least two moving objects which are approaching to each other, the moving object distance being a distance between the at least two moving objects which are approaching to each other, and the notifier performs the notification by varying a manner of the predetermined output according to the at least one of the sensor object distances and the moving object distance which are measured by the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaaki Ikehara, Kentaro Yamauchi, Kazuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 10462750
    Abstract: A sensor system for detecting a property of or within an absorbent article. The system may comprise a first sensor and a first transmitter. The sensor may be disposed in or on the absorbent article. The sensor may have a first status and may be capable of changing to a second status. The first transmitter may be capable of sensing a change in status of the sensor from the first status to the second status. The first transmitter may be capable of checking the status of the sensor noncontinuously. The first transmitter may programmed to check the status of the first sensor at least every 5 minutes but not longer than every 2 hours.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Gary Dean LaVon, Grant Edward Anders Striemer, Jonathan Livingston Joyce
  • Patent number: 10451725
    Abstract: Systems and methods for embedding a warning signal in a sensor pulse. When a taxi anticollision system of a host aircraft senses a threat headed for the aircraft, a warning signal is embedded in a sensor pulse to warn the offending vehicle that it is in the field of view of the host aircraft's sensor and is moving on a trajectory that is threatening collision with the host aircraft. Alternately, the radar issues a dedicated pulse for reading and alerting the receiving device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventor: James C. Kirk
  • Patent number: 10446030
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a coordinated parking-monitoring system. A co-monitored parking space is monitored by at least two parking-monitoring devices. Its effective parking-monitoring area is substantially more than that if it were monitored by a single parking-monitoring device. This lowers the overall system cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignees: HangZhou HaiCun Information Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: WenSheng Wang, Guobiao Zhang
  • Patent number: 10446010
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a grouped multi-device anti-loss warning system with multiple warning devices categorized as one group in which the warning devices granted an identical Group ID and not divided into mater/slave devices communicate with one another; a warning message can be activated among these warning devices in which contacts are disabled for broadcasting a notification that a group member (warning device) is considered as being out-of-touch within a preset period and fulfilling an anti-loss effect by mutual reminders among warning devices in the same group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: KUN SHAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Ping-Tsung Wang, Han-Chiang Chen, Ming-Fang Wu
  • Patent number: 10438457
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting the activation of at least one alarm has at least one alarm detection device, at least one alarm, and a cloud storage platform. The alarm detection device can monitor and analyze the tonal and/or vibrational qualities of a sound to determine its origin. If the sound is determined to be a warning alarm (i.e. home security system), the information associated with that detection is forward to a gateway which then forwards an alert to an end user. The alarm detection system and methodology can be used with existing alarm systems (retrofit) with little added cost to the consumer. This creates a simple and affordable monitoring solution use in residential, commercial, and industrial settings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: BlueRadios, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Kramer, Wilfred Tucker, Timothy Ikenouye
  • Patent number: 10421398
    Abstract: A driving-assistance device 100 makes it a condition for implementing driving assistance for collision avoidance that a normal travel area AR is set in the vicinity of a host vehicle, and that an unavoidable obstacle D is present within the normal travel area AR. Particularly, in the driving-assistance device 100, a degree of width W of the normal travel area AR is set in accordance with a rule based on a type or the like of the obstacle D. For this reason, a timing at which a collision with the obstacle D cannot be avoided within the normal travel area AR (timing at which a condition for implementing driving assistance for collision avoidance is established) becomes variable in accordance with the type or the like of the obstacle D. Thus, it is possible to implement the driving assistance for collision avoidance more appropriate to a driver's intuition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shinji Igarashi
  • Patent number: 10420682
    Abstract: Sensor arrangement and method for monitoring a person with a sensor arrangement, which includes measuring electronics and a sensor structure that can be fitted onto a base. The sensor structure includes at least one sensor, and the arrangement determines, by the data measured by the measuring electronics and the sensor, a change in the moisture of the base and the presence of a person on the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: MARICARE OY
    Inventors: Juha Lindström, Atte Piipponen, Göran Sundholm
  • Patent number: 10422874
    Abstract: A method is described for spatial modelling of an interior of a vehicle. The method includes transmitting a wireless signal, from each of multiple transmitters, each transmitter having a known location in the vehicle, receiving, by multiple receivers, multiple reflection signals having been reflected in the interior of the vehicle, each receiver having a known location in the vehicle. The method also includes, for the received reflection signals, determining a source data set by determining multipath propagation components, Doppler shifts, phase shifts and time differences of the received reflection signals, and determining a spatial model of at least a portion of the vehicle interior by applying a computer vision algorithm on the source data set. A system is also described for performing the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventor: Robert Fekete
  • Patent number: 10414332
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vehicle emergency safety device using a selfie stick, the device comprising: a support which comprises a plurality of poles with different diameters, including first, second, third, and fourth poles, wherein the poles are successively nested in the first pole with the largest diameter and withdrawn therefrom up to a desired length in a telescopic manner; two fixing brackets installed in the lower portion of the support; a joint part installed in the upper portion of the support; a cradle which is installed in the upper portion of the joint part and can be rotated 360 degrees by a second adjusting screw; and a flashing light inserted into and fixed to the cradle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Inventor: Bong Cheol Kim
  • Patent number: 10417512
    Abstract: Provided is at least two of a direction determination unit which determines that the state is abnormal when a gaze direction of a driver of a vehicle is not within a first predetermined range based on a captured image of a head of the driver, a height determination unit which determines that the state is abnormal when a height of an eye of the driver is not within a second predetermined range based on the captured image, and a position determination unit which determines that the state is abnormal when a position of the head in a lateral direction is not within a third predetermined range based on the captured image; and an abnormal state determination unit which determines whether the state of the driver is abnormal based on the determination results of the determination units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minori Yamataka, Takeshi Enya
  • Patent number: 10410515
    Abstract: An emergency vehicle alert system is an emergency vehicle transmitter system with multiple possible passenger vehicles, motorcycle, and pedestrian receivers that are able to receive the emergency signal when located or passing within a predetermined radius. The system, in addition to the audio warning system, may be adapted to reduce or to silence the volume of radios and personal electronic devices within proximity to the emergency transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Inventor: Jose Muro-Calderon