Patents by Inventor Rick Dempsey

Rick Dempsey 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: 12643362
    Abstract: A method for determining an operation state of a suspension damper of a vehicle that may include receiving first data, determining whether the vehicle may be in a steady state condition based on the first data, and responsive to the vehicle being determined to be in the steady state condition, determining damping oscillation magnitude data for a set of suspension dampers based on second data. The method may further include performing a comparison between the damping oscillation magnitude data for a reference suspension damper and the damping oscillation data for remaining suspension dampers, determining an operation state of the reference suspension damper based on the comparison, cycling the reference suspension damper to one of the remaining suspension dampers, and repeating the method until the operation state of each one of a set of suspension dampers has been determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2026
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jason Wallace Michener, Rick Dempsey
  • Patent number: 12576684
    Abstract: A control system for a suspension system of a vehicle may include a set of suspension height sensors that may be operably coupled to a set of wheels of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor that may be operably coupled to the vehicle; and a controller that may be operably coupled the set of suspension height sensors and the vehicle speed sensor. The controller may be configured to receive the current suspension height data and the vehicle speed data, may determine whether the vehicle may be in a steady-state condition based on the vehicle speed data, responsive to the vehicle being determined to be in the steady-state condition, may perform a comparison of the current suspension height data to a variable range, a fixed range, and a fixed threshold of suspension height data; and may determine an operation state of the individual suspension height sensor based on the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2026
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rick Dempsey, Jason Wallace Michener
  • Publication number: 20250276555
    Abstract: A method for determining an operation state of a suspension damper of a vehicle that may include receiving first data, determining whether the vehicle may be in a steady state condition based on the first data, and responsive to the vehicle being determined to be in the steady state condition, determining damping oscillation magnitude data for a set of suspension dampers based on second data. The method may further include performing a comparison between the damping oscillation magnitude data for a reference suspension damper and the damping oscillation data for remaining suspension dampers, determining an operation state of the reference suspension damper based on the comparison, cycling the reference suspension damper to one of the remaining suspension dampers, and repeating the method until the operation state of each one of a set of suspension dampers has been determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2024
    Publication date: September 4, 2025
    Inventors: Jason Wallace Michener, Rick Dempsey
  • Publication number: 20250276556
    Abstract: A control system for a suspension system of a vehicle may include a set of suspension height sensors that may be operably coupled to a set of wheels of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor that may be operably coupled to the vehicle; and a controller that may be operably coupled the set of suspension height sensors and the vehicle speed sensor. The controller may be configured to receive the current suspension height data and the vehicle speed data, may determine whether the vehicle may be in a steady-state condition based on the vehicle speed data, responsive to the vehicle being determined to be in the steady-state condition, may perform a comparison of the current suspension height data to a variable range, a fixed range, and a fixed threshold of suspension height data; and may determine an operation state of the individual suspension height sensor based on the comparison.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2024
    Publication date: September 4, 2025
    Inventors: Rick Dempsey, Jason Wallace Michener
  • Patent number: 11548498
    Abstract: A dynamic vehicle stability control system for a vehicle may include an active wing extending laterally relative to a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle and configured to be rotatable to change an angle of attack relative to wind passing over the vehicle parallel to the longitudinal centerline, a repositioning assembly operably coupling the active wing to the vehicle, and a controller operably coupled to components and/or a sensor network of the vehicle to receive status information about the vehicle. The repositioning assembly may be operated based on a wing angle command received by the controller responsive to execution of a plurality of control algorithms executed by the controller. The controller may be configured to determine the wing angle command based on respective wing angle requests generated by each of the control algorithms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Titus, Steven Thompson, Michael Sylvester, Rick Dempsey
  • Publication number: 20210253087
    Abstract: A dynamic vehicle stability control system for a vehicle may include an active wing extending laterally relative to a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle and configured to be rotatable to change an angle of attack relative to wind passing over the vehicle parallel to the longitudinal centerline, a repositioning assembly operably coupling the active wing to the vehicle, and a controller operably coupled to components and/or a sensor network of the vehicle to receive status information about the vehicle. The repositioning assembly may be operated based on a wing angle command received by the controller responsive to execution of a plurality of control algorithms executed by the controller. The controller may be configured to determine the wing angle command based on respective wing angle requests generated by each of the control algorithms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Matthew Titus, Steven Thompson, Michael Sylvester, Rick Dempsey