Patents by Inventor Pascal Clochard
Pascal Clochard 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).
-
Patent number: 11735034Abstract: A system for implementing an interaction between a semi-autonomous or autonomous motor vehicle and a vulnerable user of a carriageway used by the motor vehicle and potentially crossed by a vulnerable user at a crossing, pedestrians and cyclists being considered to be vulnerable users. The system includes an environment sensor, a computer which processes the data received from the environment sensor, and a display device which is directed to outside of the vehicle and controlled by the computer. The display device being in the form of a horizontal strip occupying a longitudinal end of the vehicle, including an at least four pixels per cm2 matrix panel configured to provide vulnerable users present in the vehicle's environment with a visual indication as to whether or not they may cross the carriageway road surface, and delivers either an indication prompting them to cross or, conversely, an indication forbidding them from crossing.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2020Date of Patent: August 22, 2023Assignee: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Sylvain Cremonese
-
Patent number: 11727809Abstract: A system for implementing an interaction between a semi-autonomous or autonomous motor vehicle and a vulnerable user of a carriageway used by the motor vehicle and potentially crossed by a vulnerable user at a crossing, pedestrians and cyclists being considered to be vulnerable users. The system including an environment sensor, a computer processing the data received from the one or more environment sensors, and a display device arranged on the vehicle and directed to the outside of the vehicle, the display device in the form of a horizontal strip and occupying a longitudinal end of the vehicle, and providing vulnerable users present in the vehicle's environment in the vicinity of the crossing with a visual indication as to whether or not they may cross the carriageway road surface, so that pedestrians and cyclists can obtain unambiguous information as to their presence being taken into account by the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2020Date of Patent: August 15, 2023Inventors: Pascal Clochard, Hubert Koba
-
Publication number: 20220289107Abstract: A system for implementing an interaction between a semi-autonomous or autonomous motor vehicle and a vulnerable user of a carriageway used by the motor vehicle and potentially crossed by a vulnerable user at a crossing, pedestrians and cyclists being considered to be vulnerable users. The system includes an environment sensor, a computer which processes the data received from the environment sensor, and a display device which is directed to outside of the vehicle and controlled by the computer. The display device being in the form of a horizontal strip occupying a longitudinal end of the vehicle, including an at least four pixels per cm2 matrix panel configured to provide vulnerable users present in the vehicle's environment with a visual indication as to whether or not they may cross the carriageway road surface, and delivers either an indication prompting them to cross or, conversely, an indication forbidding them from crossing.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 3, 2020Publication date: September 15, 2022Inventors: Pascal Clochard, Sylvain Cremonese
-
Publication number: 20220281381Abstract: A system for implementing an interaction between a semi-autonomous or autonomous motor vehicle and a vulnerable user of a carriageway used by the motor vehicle and potentially crossed by a vulnerable user at a crossing, pedestrians and cyclists being considered to be vulnerable users. The system including an environment sensor, a computer processing the data received from the one or more environment sensors, and a display device arranged on the vehicle and directed to the outside of the vehicle, the display device in the form of a horizontal strip and occupying a longitudinal end of the vehicle, and providing vulnerable users present in the vehicle's environment in the vicinity of the crossing with a visual indication as to whether or not they may cross the carriageway road surface, so that pedestrians and cyclists can obtain unambiguous information as to their presence being taken into account by the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 3, 2020Publication date: September 8, 2022Inventors: Pascal Clochard, Hubert Koba
-
Patent number: 11260751Abstract: Disclosed is a system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a driver of a motor vehicle, including an interface pad, a light source that emits an optical beam in the infrared band toward the interface pad, an imaging sensor, for capturing images steered by the interface pad away from the driver, with a base frame and a movable plate, an optical zone of interest seen by the imaging sensor being defined at the interface between the base frame and the movable plate, the interface pad including an elastic deformable seal interposed between the base frame and the movable plate, the deformable seal including a first inclined facet, so that an optical path passing via the first inclined facet is proportionally modified by the deformation of the seal under the effect of the movement of the movable pad.Type: GrantFiled: September 4, 2018Date of Patent: March 1, 2022Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Jerome Wroblewski
-
Patent number: 11110799Abstract: A system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a driver of a motor vehicle, the system including an interface pad, a light source that emits in the infrared toward the pad, an imaging sensor, for capturing images steered by the pad away from the driver, with a base frame and a movable plate, an optical zone of interest seen by the imaging sensor being defined at the interface between the base frame and the plate, the pad including an elastic deformable seal interposed between the base frame and the movable plate, the seal being absorbent at the optical wavelengths of interest, the pad including a reflective strip behind the seal from the point of view of the camera, so that the seal forms a zone that appears dim to the camera, the size of the dim zone depending on the pressure exerted on the plate.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2018Date of Patent: September 7, 2021Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Jérôme Wroblewski
-
Patent number: 10928935Abstract: A system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a motor vehicle driver, including at least one interface pad, a light source that emits an infrared optical beam toward the interface pad, an imaging sensor, in order to capture images steered by the interface pad away from the driver, the interface pad including a base frame and a movable plate that is movable between a rest position and at least one activation position, the base frame including a first inclined edge and the movable plate including a second inclined edge, the first and second inclined edges forming a zone of contrasts of interest as seen by the imaging sensor, and being separated by a space or brought closer together depending on the position of the movable plate, and generating a contrast effect in the images of the interface pad that are captured by the imaging sensor.Type: GrantFiled: September 4, 2018Date of Patent: February 23, 2021Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Jérôme Wroblewski
-
Publication number: 20200348771Abstract: A system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a motor vehicle driver, including at least one interface pad, a light source that emits an infrared optical beam toward the interface pad, an imaging sensor, in order to capture images steered by the interface pad away from the driver, the interface pad including a base frame and a movable plate that is movable between a rest position and at least one activation position, the base frame including a first inclined edge and the movable plate including a second inclined edge, the first and second inclined edges forming a zone of contrasts of interest as seen by the imaging sensor, and being separated by a space or brought closer together depending on the position of the movable plate, and generating a contrast effect in the images of the interface pad that are captured by the imaging sensor.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 4, 2018Publication date: November 5, 2020Inventors: Pascal CLOCHARD, Jérôme WROBLEWSKI
-
Publication number: 20200254880Abstract: A system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a driver of a motor vehicle, the system including an interface pad, a light source that emits in the infrared toward the pad, an imaging sensor, for capturing images steered by the pad away from the driver, with a base frame and a movable plate, an optical zone of interest seen by the imaging sensor being defined at the interface between the base frame and the plate, the pad including an elastic deformable seal interposed between the base frame and the movable plate, the seal being absorbent at the optical wavelengths of interest, the pad including a reflective strip behind the seal from the point of view of the camera, so that the seal forms a zone that appears dim to the camera, the size of the dim zone depending on the pressure exerted on the plate.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 3, 2018Publication date: August 13, 2020Inventors: Pascal CLOCHARD, Jérôme WROBLEWSKI
-
Publication number: 20200189391Abstract: Disclosed is a system for detecting command gestures made by a finger of a driver of a motor vehicle, including an interface pad, a light source that emits an optical beam in the infrared band toward the interface pad, an imaging sensor, for capturing images steered by the interface pad away from the driver, with a base frame and a movable plate, an optical zone of interest seen by the imaging sensor being defined at the interface between the base frame and the movable plate, the interface pad including an elastic deformable seal interposed between the base frame and the movable plate, the deformable seal including a first inclined facet, so that an optical path passing via the first inclined facet is proportionally modified by the deformation of the seal under the effect of the movement of the movable pad.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 4, 2018Publication date: June 18, 2020Inventors: Pascal CLOCHARD, Jerome WROBLEWSKI
-
Patent number: 10647352Abstract: A system for detecting the position of a steering wheel of a motor vehicle, the system includes: a matrix-array optical detecting device, of the type known as a time-of-flight camera, enabling three-dimensional detection, the device including an infrared light source and a matrix-array optical sensor; and optical reference elements arranged on the rim of the steering wheel, on the side opposite the driver, the matrix-array optical detecting device being arranged in an instrument panel of the vehicle, and being configured to detect the optical reference elements on the steering wheel, and to deduce therefrom the adjustment position of the steering wheel at least depthwise.Type: GrantFiled: February 17, 2017Date of Patent: May 12, 2020Assignees: Continental Automotive France, Continental Automotive GmbHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Jérôme Wroblewski
-
Patent number: 10589781Abstract: Steering wheel assembly intended for being built into a vehicle dashboard and including a steering wheel and a mounting element which is stationary relative to the dashboard and the steering wheel being movable in rotation with respect to the dashboard. The steering wheel includes a plurality of light-emitting sources spaced apart so that at least one of the light sources cannot be concealed by a hand or by a portion of a hand of a driver of the vehicle. The steering wheel assembly includes a first plurality of sensors capable of picking up the light emitted by at least one light-emitting source, the light-emitting sources and the sensors being configured to form a continuous communication channel between the steering wheel and an instrument panel mounted on the dashboard.Type: GrantFiled: March 24, 2016Date of Patent: March 17, 2020Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventor: Pascal Clochard
-
System for detecting the presence and position of hands and/or fingers near a vehicle steering wheel
Patent number: 10502616Abstract: Disclosed is a system for a motor vehicle, including a steering wheel (2) connected to the steering system of the vehicle, the steering wheel including a plurality of optical sensors (7) arranged on the rim (25) of the steering wheel and designed to detect the presence of at least one finger (5) of at least one hand of the driver near or in contact with the rim of the steering wheel, by way of which the system is able to determine the number of fingers near or in contact with the rim of the steering wheel as well as their respective positions on the rim. Also disclosed is a method associated with the device.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2015Date of Patent: December 10, 2019Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventor: Pascal Clochard -
Patent number: 10399590Abstract: A steering wheel for a motor vehicle, including at least one translucent touch-sensitive wall, arranged on the inside of the rim of the steering wheel, the touch-sensitive wall having a front surface and a rear surface, the touch-sensitive wall includes a single capacitive detection sheet that is configured to detect the presence and a position of a thumb on the front surface and the presence of at least one other finger on the rear surface.Type: GrantFiled: February 23, 2017Date of Patent: September 3, 2019Assignees: Continental Automotive France, Continental Automotive GmbHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Philippe Corné
-
Patent number: 10322741Abstract: Disclosed is a method for automotive vehicle including a steering wheel, an instrument cluster, the steering wheel including sensors which are arranged on the rim and configured to detect the presence of fingers (5) of a hand (4) of the driver in contact with the rim (25), situated one after the other in the circumferential direction, the method including the following steps: a) defining first and second zones of activation on the rim of the steering wheel, b) defining first and second interaction entities in the digital display zone, which are situated in positional correspondence with the activation zones, c) detecting a movement of fingers including at least one closing or gripping of a hand on an activation zone, d) undertaking an action in conjunction with the first interaction entity.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2015Date of Patent: June 18, 2019Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Jerome Wroblewski
-
Publication number: 20190054954Abstract: A system for detecting the position of a steering wheel of a motor vehicle, the system includes: a matrix-array optical detecting device, of the type known as a time-of-flight camera, enabling three-dimensional detection, the device including an infrared light source and a matrix-array optical sensor; and optical reference elements arranged on the rim of the steering wheel, on the side opposite the driver, the matrix-array optical detecting device being arranged in an instrument panel of the vehicle, and being configured to detect the optical reference elements on the steering wheel, and to deduce therefrom the adjustment position of the steering wheel at least depthwise.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 17, 2017Publication date: February 21, 2019Inventors: Pascal Clochard, Jérôme Wroblewski
-
Publication number: 20190047605Abstract: A steering wheel for a motor vehicle, including at least one translucent touch-sensitive wall, arranged on the inside of the rim of the steering wheel, the touch-sensitive wall having a front surface and a rear surface, the touch-sensitive wall includes a single capacitive detection sheet that is configured to detect the presence and a position of a thumb on the front surface and the presence of at least one other finger on the rear surface.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 23, 2017Publication date: February 14, 2019Applicants: Continental Automotive France, Continental Automotive GmbHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Philippe Corné
-
SYSTEM FOR DETECTING THE PRESENCE AND POSITION OF HANDS AND/OR FINGERS NEAR A VEHICLE STEERING WHEEL
Publication number: 20180335340Abstract: Disclosed is a system for a motor vehicle, including a steering wheel (2) connected to the steering system of the vehicle, the steering wheel including a plurality of optical sensors (7) arranged on the rim (25) of the steering wheel and designed to detect the presence of at least one finger (5) of at least one hand of the driver near or in contact with the rim of the steering wheel, by way of which the system is able to determine the number of fingers near or in contact with the rim of the steering wheel as well as their respective positions on the rim. Also disclosed is a method associated with the device.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 3, 2015Publication date: November 22, 2018Inventor: Pascal CLOCHARD -
Patent number: 10094687Abstract: A display device for a motor vehicle having at least one annular gauge (1) and a display panel (2) having a display surface (20) intended to be oriented toward the inside of a passenger compartment of the vehicle. The device comprises a transparent pane (4) positioned facing the display surface (20) and serving as a support for the annular gauge (1).Type: GrantFiled: February 5, 2015Date of Patent: October 9, 2018Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBHInventors: Pascal Clochard, Arnaud De Guibert, Jean-Philippe Bekaert
-
Publication number: 20180237067Abstract: Steering wheel assembly intended for being built into a vehicle dashboard and including a steering wheel and a mounting element which is stationary relative to the dashboard and the steering wheel being movable in rotation with respect to the dashboard. The steering wheel includes a plurality of light-emitting sources spaced apart so that at least one of the light sources cannot be concealed by a hand or by a portion of a hand of a driver of the vehicle. The steering wheel assembly includes a first plurality of sensors capable of picking up the light emitted by at least one light-emitting source, the light-emitting sources and the sensors being configured to form a continuous communication channel between the steering wheel and an instrument panel mounted on the dashboard.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 24, 2016Publication date: August 23, 2018Inventor: Pascal CLOCHARD