Patents by Inventor Reiner KATZWINKEL

Reiner KATZWINKEL 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: 10346689
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for connecting a mobile camera device to a vehicle-mounted display apparatus, wherein the mobile camera device is controlled both by the driver operating the mobile camera device as well as by additional information regarding the state of the vehicle, wherein the additional information is provided by vehicle sensors. The information from the driver and the vehicle is processed by an application program on the mobile camera device and the mobile camera device is controlled. The mobile camera device can display images and/or videos and process the images and/or videos by way of the application program. The information to be processed can be displayed on the display of the vehicle-mounted display apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AG
    Inventors: Stephan Max, Stefan Brosig, Reiner Katzwinkel, Volkmar Tanneberger, Mark Beckmann, Stefan Kollmorgen, Stefan Bosse, Thomas Grummel, Andreas Titze
  • Patent number: 10122933
    Abstract: Optical radiation from an area surrounding a vehicle is detected by a sensor in order to record an image sequence of the surrounding area. The sensor may be exposed continuously to the radiation which is incident on it while the image sequence is being recorded in order to detect a light pulse of an indefinitely short time duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AG
    Inventors: Georg Lambert, Reiner Katzwinkel
  • Patent number: 10053090
    Abstract: A method for the user-defined provision of a vehicle in which a parking position in a parking region is identified and driven to automatically by the vehicle or with guidance by a user and, at the request of the user, the vehicle drives automatically to a transfer location in the parking region for further use. A trajectory which is traveled along as far as the parking position within the parking region is sorted and the transfer location can be defined at any desired point on this trajectory. Also disclosed is a system for carrying out the method and a motor vehicle having the disclosed system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Torsten Büschenfeld, Stephan Max, Alexander Urban, Stefan Brosig, Reiner Katzwinkel
  • Patent number: 9630568
    Abstract: A camera system for acquiring a stereo image of the surroundings of a motor vehicle having two cameras and a control device, the camera system being arranged on the inside of a motor vehicle window and the two cameras looking outward through the motor vehicle window in order to observe the surroundings. Each of the two cameras has a camera-specific camera viewing cone which forms a penetrating cut surface with the window surface. In order to delimit the installation space of the camera system, the camera viewing cone of each camera is delimited by cropping the penetrating cut surface, the cropping of the two penetrating cut surfaces being performed symmetrically relative to the vertical plane of symmetry of the two cameras. The erroneous formation in the image of one camera viewing cone is compensated in the control device by the image information of the other camera viewing cone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Thorsten Kuhn, Alexander Kirchner, Reiner Katzwinkel
  • Patent number: 9630556
    Abstract: A method for warning the driver of a vehicle against cross traffic when leaving a parking space, wherein the motor vehicle has far-field sensors at least in the region of the rear-end corners for detecting possible cross traffic and lateral near-field sensors for detecting the near surroundings of the vehicle and wherein the warning is generated if at least one of the far-field sensors detects cross traffic. The method surveys the nearby lateral surroundings of the driver's vehicle while leaving the parking space, determines from the results of the near-field detection whether the far-field sensors have a free view of the cross traffic, and generates a notification to the driver if one or both far-field sensors do not have a free view of the cross traffic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Stephan Max, Peter Baumann, Reiner Katzwinkel
  • Publication number: 20160362103
    Abstract: A method for the user-defined provision of a vehicle in which a parking position in a parking region is identified and driven to automatically by the vehicle or with guidance by a user and, at the request of the user, the vehicle drives automatically to a transfer location in the parking region for further use. A trajectory which is travelled along as far as the parking position within the parking region is sorted and the transfer location can be defined at any desired point on this trajectory. Also disclosed is a system for carrying out the method and a motor vehicle having the disclosed system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Publication date: December 15, 2016
    Inventors: Torsten BÜSCHENFELD, Stephan MAX, Alexander URBAN, Stefan BROSIG, Reiner KATZWINKEL
  • Publication number: 20160272115
    Abstract: A method for warning the driver of a vehicle against cross traffic when leaving a parking space, wherein the motor vehicle has far-field sensors at least in the region of the rear-end corners for detecting possible cross traffic and lateral near-field sensors for detecting the near surroundings of the vehicle and wherein the warning is generated if at least one of the far-field sensors detects cross traffic. The method surveys the nearby lateral surroundings of the driver's vehicle while leaving the parking space, determines from the results of the near-field detection whether the far-field sensors have a free view of the cross traffic, and generates a notification to the driver if one or both far-field sensors do not have a free view of the cross traffic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Inventors: Stephan MAX, Peter BAUMANN, Reiner KATZWINKEL
  • Patent number: 9348025
    Abstract: A device for lateral environment detection of a motor vehicle and a method for the substantially simultaneous operation of a parking support device and a door protection device is provided. The parking support device and the door protection device perform an environment detection with structurally identical environmental sensors. In order to be able to operate these simultaneously or overlapping in time, without interference by cross echo pulse occurring, it is provided to operate the simultaneously operated environmental sensors at frequencies that are shifted relative to one another and of which at least one of the frequencies is also shifted with respect to a resonance frequency of the environmental sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Alexander Urban, Stephan Max, Claudia Prausse, Reiner Katzwinkel
  • Publication number: 20160125250
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for connecting a mobile camera device to a vehicle-mounted display apparatus, wherein the mobile camera device is controlled both by the driver operating the mobile camera device as well as by additional information regarding the state of the vehicle, wherein the additional information is provided by vehicle sensors. The information from the driver and the vehicle is processed by an application program on the mobile camera device and the mobile camera device is controlled. The mobile camera device can display images and/or videos and process the images and/or videos by way of the application program. The information to be processed can be displayed on the display of the vehicle-mounted display apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Publication date: May 5, 2016
    Inventors: Stephan MAX, Stefan BROSIG, Reiner KATZWINKEL, Volkmar TANNEBERGER, Mark BECKMANN, Stefan KOLLMORGEN, Stefan BOSSE, Thomas GRUMMEL, Andreas TITZE
  • Publication number: 20150078130
    Abstract: A device for lateral environment detection of a motor vehicle and a method for the substantially simultaneous operation of a parking support device and a door protection device is provided. The parking support device and the door protection device perform an environment detection with structurally identical environmental sensors. In order to be able to operate these simultaneously or overlapping in time, without interference by cross echo pulse occurring, it is provided to operate the simultaneously operated environmental sensors at frequencies that are shifted relative to one another and of which at least one of the frequencies is also shifted with respect to a resonance frequency of the environmental sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Inventors: Alexander URBAN, Stephan MAX, Claudia PRAUSSE, Reiner KATZWINKEL
  • Publication number: 20130342658
    Abstract: A camera system for acquiring a stereo image of the surroundings of a motor vehicle having two cameras and a control device, the camera system being arranged on the inside of a motor vehicle window and the two cameras looking outward through the motor vehicle window in order to observe the surroundings. Each of the two cameras has a camera-specific camera viewing cone which forms a penetrating cut surface with the window surface. In order to delimit the installation space of the camera system, the camera viewing cone of each camera is delimited by cropping the penetrating cut surface, the cropping of the two penetrating cut surfaces being performed symmetrically relative to the vertical plane of symmetry of the two cameras. The erroneous formation in the image of one camera viewing cone is compensated in the control device by the image information of the other camera viewing cone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Thorsten KUHN, Alexander KIRCHNER, Reiner KATZWINKEL
  • Publication number: 20110310249
    Abstract: Optical radiation from an area surrounding a vehicle is detected by a sensor in order to record an image sequence of the surrounding area. The sensor may be exposed continuously to the radiation which is incident on it while the image sequence is being recorded in order to detect a light pulse of an indefinitely short time duration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: VOLKSWAGEN AG
    Inventors: Georg LAMBERT, Reiner KATZWINKEL