Patents Examined by Tan Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6493611
    Abstract: Torque control of an electrical motor 4 connected to a drive shaft 6 and control of the rotation speed of a generator 2 supplying electrical power to the electrical motor 4 are performed in response to the running conditions of a vehicle. The actual generator output of the generator 2 is estimated at a given time and the drive output of the electrical motor 4 is limited in response to the estimated generator output. The drive output of the electrical motor 4 is limited in response to increases in consumed energy and reductions in the generated output of the generator 2 resulting from increases in the kinetic energy of rotating components of the engine 1 or the generator 2 during acceleration. Thus the difference of the generated output of the generator 2 and the consumed electrical power of the electrical motor 4 can be reduced during acceleration and it is possible to reduce the capacity of the battery supplying auxiliary electrical power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahiro Yoshino, Yuki Nakajima
  • Patent number: 6490512
    Abstract: A diagnostic system of an LED lamp system for a motor vehicle has a light control module for controlling an LED lamp via a supply wire and in case of malfunction, the LED lamp sends a diagnostic signal via the supply wire to the light control module. Additionally, the LED lamp, in case of malfunction, modulates a received current with a switchable current sink, whereby the light control module receives coded diagnostic information via the supply wire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Hella KG Hueck & Co.
    Inventor: Detlef Niggemann
  • Patent number: 6490515
    Abstract: A passenger detecting apparatus determines the presence of a passenger or an object, such as a child seat, in a seat unit, estimates the weight of the passenger or determines the build of the passenger, thereby improving the usability of peripheral devices of a seat. The passenger detecting apparatus has a dielectric sensor (111) and a pressure-sensitive sensor (112) in a seat cushion (102) and detects the presence of a passenger or an object on a seat based on their outputs, or has a dielectric sensor and a pressure-sensitive sensor in the seat cushion and a dielectric sensor (113) in the back rest and an angle sensor (114) for detecting an angle defined by the seat cushion and the back rest and determines the build of a passenger based on their outputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyo Okamura, Naobumi Kuboki, Takayuki Enomoto, Shoichi Negami, Kyosuke Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 6487489
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for controlling the speed of a vehicle. The actual speed of the vehicle is determined and a desired speed and/or limit speed is pregiven. Furthermore, an engine drag torque controller and/or a drive slip controller are provided. The deviation between desired and/or limit and actual speed is supplied to at least one of these controllers. In the active speed control operation, at least one of these controllers influences an output quantity of the drive unit in dependence upon the speed deviation. In the active road speed limit operation, the drive slip controller influences an output quantity of the drive unit in dependence upon the speed deviation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Johannes Schmitt, Tobias Weiss
  • Patent number: 6487479
    Abstract: A system for accessing aircraft engine component repair information by internal users and external customers is described. The system includes a server, at least one computer and a network connecting the computers to the server. The server is configured with a database of repair order and quote information and a plurality of user interfaces associated with the repair information. The user interfaces allows a user to input information into the database, which is downloaded to the customer in response to an inquiry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: General Electric Co.
    Inventor: John Randall Nelson
  • Patent number: 6487499
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for locating mobile device over a broad coverage area using a wireless communications link that may have large and unknown latency. The apparatus comprises at least one mobile device, a reference network, a position server, a wireless carrier, and a location requester. The mobile device is in communication with the wireless carrier and receives global positioning system (GPS) signals from a plurality of satellites in the GPS satellite constellation. The reference network is coupled to the position server and provides GPS data. The mobile receiver receives GPS signals, performs rudimentary signal processing and transmits the processed signals to the wireless carrier. The wireless carrier passes the signals on to the position server. The position server processes the mobile receiver's GPS data and the reference network ephemeris data to identify the location of the mobile receiver. The location is sent to the location requester.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Global Locate, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald L. Fuchs, Charles Abraham, Frank van Diggelen
  • Patent number: 6487488
    Abstract: A method of and a system for determining a maximum brake pipe service reduction in the brake system of a train having a pneumatic brake on each car connected to a brake pipe which is controlled by a brake pipe controller. The method includes determining the status of the brake system throughout the train and determining a maximum brake pipe reduction for the brake pipe controller, using the status of the brake system, above which further reduction will not result in further brake application in the train. The determined maximum brake pipe reduction is displayed by itself or in combination with the brake pipe reduction produced by the brake pipe controller and/or used for automatic control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: New York Air Brake Corporation
    Inventors: Edmund R. Peterson, Jr., Michael J. Hawthorne
  • Patent number: 6487480
    Abstract: A calibration of a system which operates in dependence on a sensor in a motor vehicle includes testing, with the use of sensors available in a motor vehicle or with the use of data representative of selected conditions or processes or signals of control devices available in the motor vehicle, whether it can be ascertained that nobody is located in a motor vehicle which can influence variables to be determined by a sensor of a system to be calibrated, and performing the calibration when the testing confirms that it can be ascertained that nobody is located in the motor vehicle which can influence variables to be detected by the sensor of the system to be calibrated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Hardy Haas
  • Patent number: 6484088
    Abstract: A system for monitoring fuel consumption and optimizing refueling of a vehicle. The system includes a fuel level sensor designed to be mounted on a fuel tank. The fuel sensor has a transducer, such as an ultrasonic transducer, for generating a distance signal that represents the distance between the sensor and the surface of the fuel in the fuel tank. A processor coupled to the transducer is programmed to convert the distance signal to a percentage of capacity signal, calculate the volume of fuel within the fuel tank, and create a message that includes information regarding the volume of fuel in the fuel tank. The processor of the fuel level sensor is coupled to a network that may include a dispatch terminal, a fuel optimization server, and a fuel-price-by-location service. The network calculates an optimal location for refilling the fuel tank and a route to travel to the location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: SSI Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Lawrence B. Reimer
  • Patent number: 6484075
    Abstract: In order to improve the fuel consumption efficiency of the fuel cell vehicles, a control flow is provided, in which, first, it is determined whether the vehicle speed VST is lower than a predetermined speed ISTP (step S01), whether a motor output PMCMD including the driving motor and the motor for driving the air compressor is less than a predetermined motor output ISTPPM (step S04), whether the brake is in the ON state (step S05), and whether the terminal voltage Vst of the power storage unit is higher than predetermined values VISTPH and VISTPL (step S06). When all of the determinations are “YES”, a permission flag for executing the idle stop F_ISTP is set to “1”, and if any of them is “NO”, the permission flag F_ISTP is set to “0”.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yusuke Hasegawa, Satoshi Aoyagi, Hibiki Saeki
  • Patent number: 6484084
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and device for a coupling (2) in a motor vehicle transmission, the coupling being controlled and regulated during two operational states by way of a first regulating circuit (3). The regulated quantity corresponds to the actual value of a differential engine speed of the coupling (2). The first state corresponds to a starting action and the second state to operation with a variable transmission ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Martin Vohmann, Ralf Dreibholz
  • Patent number: 6484070
    Abstract: A method and system of improving the performance of an embedded control system by reducing the complexity of an averaging process. An average windowing filter with an average window size is implemented. A first processed data value is retrieved from memory and a current data value is determined. A past data value within the average data window is determined and the difference between the current data value and the past data value is calculated. An average of the difference over the average data window size is then determined. Finally, an output signal is generated based on the sum of the average and the first processed data value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Robert Bosch Corporation
    Inventor: Liming Chen
  • Patent number: 6484091
    Abstract: There is provided an alternative vehicle guiding system wherein a communication sever system receives a fault condition information from vehicles and also transmits the necessary information to the navigation system of an alternative vehicle in order to prevent the damage of loads by quickly guiding the alternative vehicle to the fault generating vehicle position and then realizing smooth transfer of remaining work to the alternative vehicle. The navigation system, fault monitoring means and vehicle communication means are respectively provided in the vehicles for transportation work and the center server system is also provided to transmit the vehicle distribution information to the vehicles. When a fault is generated in the vehicle, the communication server system receives the information from this vehicle and the navigation system of the alternative vehicle displays the transmitted information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Makoto Shibata, Nobuyuki Moribe, Tomonari Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 6484073
    Abstract: Described is a device for determining the attitude on board of a satellite (1) with a data transfer device for carrying out optical data exchange between at least two satellites (1, 3); a device for determining one's own attitude; a device for determining the directional vectors in an inertial co-ordinate system from one's own attitude and from attitude data of at least two satellites (1, 3), said attitude data having been transmitted by means of the data transmission device; a device for determining the directional vector directed to the satellites (1, 3) of which there are at least two, in a fixed-body co-ordinate system of the satellite; and a device for attitude determination from the directional vectors determined. Also described is a method for carrying out attitude determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Astrium GmbH
    Inventors: Walter Fichter, Jörg Flemmig, Günter Lange, Mihael Surauer
  • Patent number: 6484077
    Abstract: An assembly carrying vehicle running control system, includes a plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, a control apparatus, and a plurality of access points connected with said control apparatus and provided for said plurality of assembly carrying vehicles. Each of the plurality of access points has a communication area. When each of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles is individually in the communication area of a currently communicating access point of the plurality of access points, the assembly carrying vehicle transmits an operation status data indicative of an operation status to the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point. The control apparatus determines an operation control instruction based on the operation status data to transmit to the assembly carrying vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Unose, Eiichi Inoue, Yoshiharu Nakazono, Muneatsu Minato, Hideya Yamamuro
  • Patent number: 6484097
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for locating mobile device over a broad coverage area using a wireless communications link that may have large and unknown latency. The apparatus comprises at least one mobile device, a reference network, a position server, a wireless carrier, and a location requester. The mobile device is in communication with the wireless carrier and receives global positioning system (GPS) signals from a plurality of satellites in the GPS satellite constellation. The reference network is coupled to the position server and provides GPS data. The mobile receiver receives GPS signals, performs rudimentary signal processing and transmits the processed signals to the wireless carrier. The wireless carrier passes the signals on to the position server. The position server processes the mobile receiver's GPS data and the reference network ephemeris data to identify the location of the mobile receiver. The location is sent to the location requester.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Global Locate, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald L. Fuchs, Charles Abraham, Frank van Diggelen
  • Patent number: 6480785
    Abstract: A system for determining a route and presenting navigational instructions therefor preferably includes a plurality of map records including a plurality of business records each identifying a business, a plurality of street records each identifying a street, and a plurality of node records each identifying a node. The system preferably further includes a computation module adapted to execute an algorithm for determining a route between a source location and a destination location using at least one of the map records. The algorithm is preferably adapted to manipulate a graph representation having vertices and edges, wherein each of the vertices corresponds to a respective one of the streets, each of the streets corresponds to exactly one of the vertices, each node corresponds to at least one of the edges, and each edge corresponds to exactly one node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Vindigo, Inc.
    Inventors: David S. Joerg, Jon D. McAuliffe
  • Patent number: 6480763
    Abstract: A system and method for issuing an aircraft drift advisory. In one embodiment, the system includes a head or eye tracker to monitor the rotational position of the pilot's line of sight with respect to the aircraft axis. The pilot's line of sight is compared to the direction of the aircraft. If the absolute value of the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined angle, corresponding to the foveal cone of vision, the incremental aircraft drift distance is computed and used to update the cumulative aircraft drift distance. The cumulative aircraft drift distance is compared to the predetermined advisory criterion, which may be a constant, a uniform function of altitude or a function of altitude that is tied to a digital terrain map. When the cumulative aircraft drift distance equals or exceeds the advisory criterion, the pilot is given a drift advisory that the aircraft has drifted so as to prompt the pilot to adjust his line of sight to the direction of the drift.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
    Inventor: Nicholas D. Lappos
  • Patent number: 6480766
    Abstract: A method using the position data being determined on the train to determine characteristics of the train and/or the track. This is achieved by providing position determining devices at two or more spaced locations along the train. The position of the two locations are determined by the position determining devices. A processor determines the difference between the two locations from the positions determined by the position determining devices and determines the characteristics of the train from the determined difference between the two locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: New York Air Brake Corporation
    Inventors: Michael J. Hawthorne, Stephen K. Nickles, John E. Haley
  • Patent number: 6480783
    Abstract: A system and method for real time vehicle guidance by Central Traffic Unit are presented. The proposed vehicle Guidance System includes a plurality of vehicles equipped with Individual Mobile Units including GPS units (position determining systems adapted to determine their present position) and communicatively linked to the Central Traffic Unit computer server. The Central Traffic Unit broadcasts the updated traffic patterns in real time thereby enabling the Individual Mobile Units to dynamically calculate the desired optimal travel paths. In response to a request from a driver for a route update from his present position to a desired destination, the Individual Mobile Unit searches for an optimal (usually fastest) route and shows it to the driver. In route searching by the minimal time criterion, the Individual Mobile Unit relies on estimated travel times stored in its database, and may also use current real time information on bottleneck situations received from Central Traffic Unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Makor Issues and Rights Ltd.
    Inventor: David Myr