Patents by Inventor Chad Curtis Apple

Chad Curtis Apple 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).

  • Method of operating a magnetic compass on a machine
    Patent number: 8463569
    Abstract: A method of determining the heading of an excavator at a worksite uses a magnetic field sensor, mounted on the excavator, inclinometers that provide an indication of the pitch and roll of the excavator, a gyroscopic sensor that senses the rotational rate of the excavator about the Z axis of the magnetic field sensor, and a processor circuit, having an associated memory. A calibration table of data is created and stored using the gyroscopic sensor as the excavator is rotated at a uniform velocity. The sensed indications of the magnetic field from the coordinate reference frame of the sensor are transformed to the local level plane coordinate reference frame using the outputs from the inclinometers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2013
    Assignee: Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Gary Lynn Cain, Chad Curtis Apple, Bruce Wayne Enix
  • METHOD OF OPERATING A MAGNETIC COMPASS ON A MACHINE
    Publication number: 20120245874
    Abstract: A method of determining the heading of an excavator at a worksite uses a magnetic field sensor, mounted on the excavator, inclinometers that provide an indication of the pitch and roll of the excavator, a gyroscopic sensor that senses the rotational rate of the excavator about the Z axis of the magnetic field sensor, and a processor circuit, having an associated memory. A calibration table of data is created and stored using the gyroscopic sensor as the excavator is rotated at a uniform velocity. The sensed indications of the magnetic field from the coordinate reference frame of the sensor are transformed to the local level plane coordinate reference frame using the outputs from the inclinometers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Gary Lynn Cain, Chad Curtis Apple, Bruce Wayne Enix