Patents by Inventor Geoffrey D. Gaither

Geoffrey D. Gaither 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).

  • Publication number: 20160152152
    Abstract: A method/system is provided for improving reverse hill climb performance of a hybrid vehicle. An electronic control unit (ECU) determines whether pre-charging is needed based on vehicle state and environmental conditions. This determination can be based on a grade value of a hill upon which the vehicle is positioned, a state of charge (SOC) of the battery, and/or the expected distance that the vehicle will travel uphill. The ECU sets a charging rate and a target charge value based on the foregoing data. The battery may be charged to have an SOC that exceeds an actual needed target charge value by a hysteresis margin. A message may be displayed requesting the driver to wait until pre-charging is complete. The engine charges the battery at the charging rate until the SOC reaches the target charge value. The driver is prompted that he or she can start reverse driving.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2014
    Publication date: June 2, 2016
    Inventor: Geoffrey D. Gaither
  • Publication number: 20150274177
    Abstract: Systems and methods for adaptively adjusting settings of a vehicle during a known route are described. A method may include storing a driving route, parsing the driving route into a plurality of segments based on at least one of a turn detection, an intersection detection, a change in road conditions, a change in speed of the vehicle, or a predetermined distance traveled. The method may also include assigning to each segment a unique identification code, storing a plurality of values correlating to settings, the settings having values determined during a segment of the driving route, and associating each of the plurality of values to the unique identification code of the segment in which the setting was determined. The method may also include automatically changing each of the plurality of values at the beginning of each segment in which the value was altered.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Joshua D. Payne, Mohammad E. Dufford, Geoffrey D. Gaither
  • Publication number: 20150275788
    Abstract: A method/system for optimizing vehicle operations for a predicted route and/or a route set. The method/system may record location data and time data for a route. Two or more routes can be linked to form a route set by analyzing the location data and time data of the routes using a linking threshold. The linking threshold may be based on a relationship between locations and/or times of different routes. The vehicle may predict that a particular route segment or route will likely be driven. An operation of a unit or a device of the vehicle over the predicted route and/or route set may be adjusted based on information stored regarding the predicted route and/or route set in order to enhance the energy efficiency of the vehicle. The links may be categorized as having different types in order to apply a different control strategy to different types of links.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Applicant: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Mohammad E. Dufford, Joshua D. Payne, Geoffrey D. Gaither
  • Patent number: 9008858
    Abstract: Systems and methods for adaptively adjusting settings of a vehicle during a known route are described. A method may include storing a driving route, parsing the driving route into a plurality of segments based on at least one of a turn detection, an intersection detection, a change in road conditions, a change in speed of the vehicle, or a predetermined distance traveled. The method may also include assigning to each segment a unique identification code, storing a plurality of values correlating to settings, the settings having values determined during a segment of the driving route, and associating each of the plurality of values to the unique identification code of the segment in which the setting was determined. The method may also include automatically changing each of the plurality of values at the beginning of each segment in which the value was altered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Joshua D. Payne, Mohammad E. Dufford, Geoffrey D. Gaither