Patents by Inventor Andrew John Piper
Andrew John Piper has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11951929Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 2022Date of Patent: April 9, 2024Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
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Patent number: 11897411Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: GrantFiled: April 7, 2023Date of Patent: February 13, 2024Assignee: ZOOX, INC.Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
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Patent number: 11752907Abstract: A safety system for vehicle may include a restraint surface adjustment mechanism for adjusting at least one of a height or an angle of a restraint surface disposed under a vehicle seat during a collision and/or predicted collision in which the vehicle seat is facing in the direction of travel and/or the direction of the oncoming collision. The seat may comprise a bench seat including a first seating space and a second seating space. A first restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the first seating space and a second restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the second seating space. The restraint surface adjustment mechanism may include, for example, an inflatable bladder, a movable plate which rotates about an axis, or other restraint surface adjustment mechanisms that adjust at least one of the height, angle, or physical property (e.g., rigidity) of one or more restraint surfaces.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2019Date of Patent: September 12, 2023Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, David Maurice Libeaut, Andrew John Piper, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Publication number: 20230242062Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 7, 2023Publication date: August 3, 2023Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
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Patent number: 11623602Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: GrantFiled: September 13, 2021Date of Patent: April 11, 2023Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
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Patent number: 11569539Abstract: A vehicle system may include an impact screen for reducing damage in a collision involving the vehicle. The impact screen may be disposed in a cavity of the vehicle system between a motor unit and a battery to reduce a likelihood of impact and/or a force of an impact between the motor unit and the battery. The impact screen may be fixed at opposite sides of the vehicle, such that motor unit moves relative to the impact screen during the collision.Type: GrantFiled: December 24, 2019Date of Patent: January 31, 2023Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Thomas Andrew Stoddart, Ramanjaneya Reddy Butukuri, Austin Hilton, Kevin Francis O'Hara, Andrew John Piper
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Publication number: 20220297630Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 9, 2022Publication date: September 22, 2022Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
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Patent number: 11407347Abstract: A headrest may be fixed relative to a seat or a bank of seats in a vehicle and can provide multiple stages of deformation in response to a collision event. The headrest can include a resilient member that deforms in response to a first force caused by the collision event. The headrest can also include a frame that deforms in a first manner in response to a second force greater than the first force and in a second manner in response to a third force greater than the second force. Such a headrest can provide improved impact mitigation for occupants, regardless of height and/or weight such that occupants ranging from the 5th to 95th percentile in height and/or weight are afforded similar impact mitigation despite a fixed headrest structure. In some examples, multiple such headrests may be conjoined.Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2019Date of Patent: August 9, 2022Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Mikael Jarsaeter, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Daria Di Costanzo
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Patent number: 11358559Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.Type: GrantFiled: July 6, 2020Date of Patent: June 14, 2022Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez
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Patent number: 11279270Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including an intermediate portion including a first portion having a first stiffness and a second portion including a second material different than a first material of the first portion, such that the seatback quickly couples an associated occupant and dissipates as much energy as possible. The intermediate portion may be configured such that as at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback and the seatback is at least partially compressed, a reaction force from the seatback against at least a portion of the back of the occupant increases from a minimal reaction force to a first reaction force corresponding to a first displacement, and thereafter the reaction force decreases to a second reaction force as displacement of the front surface of the seatback further displaces.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2019Date of Patent: March 22, 2022Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Michael Anthony Baer, Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, Brandon Loeb, Karthikeyan Marudhamuthu, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Patent number: 11235689Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include a seat-back actuator system, including a seat-back actuator configured to move a portion of a seat toward a back of an occupant of the vehicle during a collision in which the occupant is facing opposite a direction of travel of the vehicle. The seat-back actuator system may also include an actuator controller configured to receive a triggering signal indicative of one or more of an actual change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision, and cause the seat-back actuator to move the seat toward the back of the occupant. By moving the seat toward the back of the occupant, a maximum rate of change of velocity of the back of the person may be reduced, reducing the likelihood or severity of injury to the occupant due to the collision.Type: GrantFiled: March 29, 2019Date of Patent: February 1, 2022Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Publication number: 20220001828Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 13, 2021Publication date: January 6, 2022Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
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Patent number: 11117543Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: GrantFiled: March 28, 2019Date of Patent: September 14, 2021Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski
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Patent number: 11077816Abstract: A safety system for vehicle may include a restraint surface adjustment mechanism for adjusting at least one of a height or an angle of a restraint surface disposed under a vehicle seat during a collision and/or predicted collision in which the vehicle seat is facing in the direction of travel and/or the direction of the oncoming collision. The seat may comprise a bench seat including a first seating space and a second seating space. A first restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the first seating space and a second restraint surface adjustment mechanism may be associated with the second seating space. The restraint surface adjustment mechanism may include, for example, an inflatable bladder, a movable plate which rotates about an axis, or other restraint surface adjustment mechanisms that adjust at least one of the height, angle, or physical property (e.g., rigidity) of one or more restraint surfaces.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2019Date of Patent: August 3, 2021Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, David Maurice Libeaut, Andrew John Piper, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Publication number: 20210221263Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include a seat-back actuator system, including a seat-back actuator configured to move a portion of a seat toward a back of an occupant of the vehicle during a collision in which the occupant is facing opposite a direction of travel of the vehicle. The seat-back actuator system may also include an actuator controller configured to receive a triggering signal indicative of one or more of an actual change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision, and cause the seat-back actuator to move the seat toward the back of the occupant. By moving the seat toward the back of the occupant, a maximum rate of change of velocity of the back of the person may be reduced, reducing the likelihood or severity of injury to the occupant due to the collision.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 29, 2019Publication date: July 22, 2021Inventors: Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Publication number: 20210122270Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including an intermediate portion including a first portion having a first stiffness and a second portion including a second material different than a first material of the first portion, such that the seatback quickly couples an associated occupant and dissipates as much energy as possible. The intermediate portion may be configured such that as at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback and the seatback is at least partially compressed, a reaction force from the seatback against at least a portion of the back of the occupant increases from a minimal reaction force to a first reaction force corresponding to a first displacement, and thereafter the reaction force decreases to a second reaction force as displacement of the front surface of the seatback further displaces.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 25, 2019Publication date: April 29, 2021Inventors: Michael Anthony Baer, Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, Brandon Loeb, Karthikeyan Marudhamuthu, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
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Patent number: 10960844Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.Type: GrantFiled: March 28, 2019Date of Patent: March 30, 2021Assignee: Zoox, Inc.Inventors: Josh Alexander Jimenez, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Goutham Shanmuga Sundaram
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Publication number: 20200391637Abstract: A headrest may be fixed relative to a seat or a bank of seats in a vehicle and can provide multiple stages of deformation in response to a collision event. The headrest can include a resilient member that deforms in response to a first force caused by the collision event. The headrest can also include a frame that deforms in a first manner in response to a second force greater than the first force and in a second manner in response to a third force greater than the second force. Such a headrest can provide improved impact mitigation for occupants, regardless of height and/or weight such that occupants ranging from the 5th to 95th percentile in height and/or weight are afforded similar impact mitigation despite a fixed headrest structure. In some examples, multiple such headrests may be conjoined.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 14, 2019Publication date: December 17, 2020Inventors: Mikael Jarsaeter, Markus Jost, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Andrew Frank Raczkowski, Daria Di Costanzo
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Publication number: 20200385074Abstract: Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 1, 2020Publication date: December 10, 2020Inventors: Timo Birnschein, Adriano Di Pietro, Kyle Matthew Foley, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper
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Publication number: 20200331419Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 6, 2020Publication date: October 22, 2020Inventors: Markus Jost, Timothy David Kentley-Klay, Andrew John Piper, Josh Alexander Jimenez