Patents by Inventor George Edmund Walley, III

George Edmund Walley, III 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).

  • Compensation for trailer coupler geometry in automatic hitch operation
    Patent number: 10870323
    Abstract: A vehicle hitch assistance system includes a steering system and a controller. The controller acquires position data for a coupler of a trailer, derives a vehicle path to position a center of a hitch ball of the vehicle at an interference offset past a centerline of the coupler in a driving direction of the vehicle path, and outputs a steering control signal to the steering system to maintain the vehicle along the path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, George Edmund Walley, III, Chen Zhang
  • COMPENSATION FOR TRAILER COUPLER HEIGHT IN AUTOMATIC HITCH OPERATION
    Publication number: 20200023695
    Abstract: A vehicle hitch assistance system includes a steering system and a controller. The controller acquires position data for a coupler of a trailer, derives a vehicle path to position a center of a hitch ball of the vehicle at an interference offset past a centerline of the coupler in a driving direction of the vehicle path, and outputs a steering control signal to the steering system to maintain the vehicle along the path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2018
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, George Edmund Walley, III, Chen Zhang
  • Compensation for trailer coupler height in automatic hitch operation
    Patent number: 10479152
    Abstract: A vehicle hitch assistance system includes a controller acquiring position data of a coupler of a trailer and deriving a vehicle path to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the coupler including compensating for a determined change in the position of the coupler in a driving direction related to a difference between a vertical position of the coupler in the position data and a height of the hitch ball.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, Chen Zhang, Joseph F. Stanek, George Edmund Walley, III
  • Braking system
    Patent number: 10427656
    Abstract: A computer is programmed to determine a target brake torque that is below a preset holding brake torque and at least high enough to hold a vehicle at standstill; and upon detecting that a brake of the vehicle is applied and a speed of the vehicle is below a threshold, monotonically reduce a brake torque of the brake so that the brake torque reaches the target brake torque when the speed reaches substantially zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Chen Zhang, Li Xu, Yanan Zhao, George Edmund Walley, III, Mark Davison
  • COMPENSATION FOR TRAILER COUPLER HEIGHT IN AUTOMATIC HITCH OPERATION
    Publication number: 20190135059
    Abstract: A vehicle hitch assistance system includes a controller acquiring position data of a coupler of a trailer and deriving a vehicle path to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the coupler including compensating for a determined change in the position of the coupler in a driving direction related to a difference between a vertical position of the coupler in the position data and a height of the hitch ball.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, Chen Zhang, Joseph F. Stanek, George Edmund Walley, III
  • BRAKING SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20180354474
    Abstract: A computer is programmed to determine a target brake torque that is below a preset holding brake torque and at least high enough to hold a vehicle at standstill; and upon detecting that a brake of the vehicle is applied and a speed of the vehicle is below a threshold, monotonically reduce a brake torque of the brake so that the brake torque reaches the target brake torque when the speed reaches substantially zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Publication date: December 13, 2018
    Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Chen Zhang, Li Xu, Yanan Zhao, George Edmund Walley, III, Mark Davison