Patents by Inventor Rudolf Leinfelder

Rudolf Leinfelder 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: 9517769
    Abstract: A motor vehicle has a control device to control automated longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the motor vehicle within the scope of a specific driving maneuver. The motor vehicle also has an operator control element to communicate with the control device and to transfer control information, relating to the at least partially automated longitudinal and/or transverse guidance, to the control device. The control device is configured in such a way that activation or deactivation of the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance can be controlled by means of an operator-side first operator-control action at the operator-control element, and at least one driving parameter which influences the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the motor vehicle, controlled by the control device, can be modified by means of an additional operator-side, second operator-control action at the operator-control element, which second operator-control action is in particular different from the first operator-control action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Erwin Roth, Rudolf Leinfelder, Matthias Burger, Ulrich Hammes, Chao Chen, David Lenz, Pascal Minnerup
  • Publication number: 20160194006
    Abstract: A motor vehicle has a control device to control automated longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the motor vehicle within the scope of a specific driving maneuver. The motor vehicle also has an operator control element to communicate with the control device and to transfer control information, relating to the at least partially automated longitudinal and/or transverse guidance, to the control device. The control device is configured in such a way that activation or deactivation of the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance can be controlled by means of an operator-side first operator-control action at the operator-control element, and at least one driving parameter which influences the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the motor vehicle, controlled by the control device, can be modified by means of an additional operator-side, second operator-control action at the operator-control element, which second operator-control action is in particular different from the first operator-control action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Publication date: July 7, 2016
    Applicant: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Erwin ROTH, Rudolf LEINFELDER, Matthias BURGER, Ulrich HAMMES, Chao CHEN, David LENZ, Pascal MINNERUP
  • Patent number: 8948957
    Abstract: In a method for operating a vehicle which performs an autonomously controlled movement, images of the vehicle are recorded in temporal succession with a mobile control which is held by an operator located outside the vehicle, a position of the vehicle in the images, a change of the position of the vehicle in the images, a proportion of the depiction of the vehicle of the total image content and/or a change of the proportion is analyzed by an analysis device, and in case the vehicle was not or only incompletely detected in the images, the proportion of the depiction of the vehicle of the total image content, the change and or degree of change of the proportion is above or below a predeterminable threshold value, the autonomously controlled movement of the vehicle ins interrupted or terminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Audi AG
    Inventor: Rudolf Leinfelder
  • Patent number: 8948930
    Abstract: A method for autonomously controlling a movement of a vehicle includes detecting a respective actual position of the vehicle in temporal succession; recording in temporal succession with a first camera device of a mobile control device images of an operator located outside the vehicle, the mobile control device being held by the operator; determining with an analysis device an actual head orientation and/or a viewing direction of the operator based on the recorded images; and interrupting or terminating the autonomously controlled movement of the vehicle in response to at least one of two instances, a first instance in which the actual head orientation and/or viewing direction of the operator cannot be detected, a second instance in which the head orientation and/or viewing direction of the operator deviates for longer than a predeterminable time period and/or by a predeterminable angle from the actual position of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Audi AG
    Inventor: Rudolf Leinfelder
  • Publication number: 20140058613
    Abstract: In a method for operating a vehicle which performs an autonomously controlled movement, images of the vehicle are recorded in temporal succession with a mobile control which is held by an operator located outside the vehicle, a position of the vehicle in the images, a change of the position of the vehicle in the images, a proportion of the depiction of the vehicle of the total image content and/or a change of the proportion is analyzed by an analysis device, and in case the vehicle was not or only incompletely detected in the images, the proportion of the depiction of the vehicle of the total image content, the change and or degree of change of the proportion is above or below a predeterminable threshold value, the autonomously controlled movement of the vehicle ins interrupted or terminated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2013
    Publication date: February 27, 2014
    Applicant: Audi AG
    Inventor: Rudolf Leinfelder
  • Publication number: 20140058587
    Abstract: A method for autonomously controlling a movement of a vehicle includes detecting a respective actual position of the vehicle in temporal succession; recording in temporal succession with a first camera device of a mobile control device images of an operator located outside the vehicle, the mobile control device being held by the operator; determining with an analysis device an actual head orientation and/or a viewing direction of the operator based on the recorded images; and interrupting or terminating the autonomously controlled movement of the vehicle in response to at least one of two instances, a first instance in which the actual head orientation and/or viewing direction of the operator cannot be detected, a second instance in which the head orientation and/or viewing direction of the operator deviates for longer than a predeterminable time period and/or by a predeterminable angle from the actual position of the vehicle
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2013
    Publication date: February 27, 2014
    Applicant: Audi AG
    Inventor: Rudolf Leinfelder
  • Patent number: 8634968
    Abstract: The invention relates to a communication system for a motor vehicle for transmitting an information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle from a transmitting control device to a receiving control device. The communication system comprises an interface for the input or output of the information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle. Communication can be established via the interface by means of a protocol which comprises an operation field for identifying a task to be carried out using the information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignees: Audi AG, Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Frank-Martin Wille, Holger Esser, Heinz-Willi Vassen, Tobias Ammler, Norbert Ammler, Helmut Lebmeier, Yvonne Gross, Hans-Christian Jung, Rudolf Leinfelder, Jens Kötz, Carsten Krömke, Stefan Anderlik, Christian Penshorn, Matthias Wenzel
  • Patent number: 8515617
    Abstract: A control system for a motor vehicle comprises an output control unit for outputting data related to the operation of the motor vehicle and an operation control unit spatially separated from the output control unit for generating or providing data related to the operation of the motor vehicle. The output control unit comprises a data storage for storing data related to the operation of the motor vehicle and the data related to the operation of the motor vehicle can be read out of the data storage and outputted by the output control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignees: Audi AG, Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Frank-Martin Wille, Holger Esser, Heinz-Willi Vassen, Tobias Ammler, Norbert Ammler, Helmut Lebmeier, Yvonne Grob, Hans-Christian Jung, Rudolf Leinfelder, Jens Kötz, Carsten Krömke, Stefan Anderlik, Christian Penshorn, Matthias Wenzel
  • Publication number: 20070208469
    Abstract: The invention relates to a communication system for a motor vehicle for transmitting an information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle from a transmitting control device to a receiving control device. The communication system comprises an interface for the input or output of the information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle. Communication can be established via the interface by means of a protocol which comprises an operation field for identifying a task to be carried out using the information relating to the operation of the motor vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2005
    Publication date: September 6, 2007
    Applicants: AUDU AG, VOLKSWAGENWEK AG
    Inventors: Frank-Martin Wille, Holger Esser, Heinz-Willi Vassen, Tobias Ammler, Norbert Ammler, Helmut Lebmeier, Yvonne Gross, Hans-Christian Jung, Rudolf Leinfelder, Jens Kotz, Carsten Kromke, Stefan Anderlik, Christian Penshorn, Matthias Wenzel