Patents by Inventor Steven E. Johnson

Steven E. Johnson 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).

  • Publication number: 20250376039
    Abstract: A method and system are provided for deploying a rail connector assembly of a mobile machine onto one or more conductor rails. The rail connector assembly includes a boom assembly connected to a frame of the machine, an arm assembly connected to an end of the boom assembly, and a contactor assembly coupled to an end of the arm assembly. The method includes deploying the boom assembly from a stowed condition to a deployed condition with at least one boom assembly hydraulic actuator, deploying the arm assembly from a stowed condition to a deployed condition with at least one arm assembly hydraulic actuator, and providing hydraulic assist to the at least one arm assembly hydraulic actuator, as a function of a contact relationship of the contactor assembly with one or more conductor rails.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2025
    Publication date: December 11, 2025
    Applicant: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. JOHNSON, Dennis D. RANKIN, Maitreya V. LAGADAPATI, Darshan C. PATEL
  • Publication number: 20250376036
    Abstract: A rail connector assembly for an electrically powered mobile machine includes a boom assembly with a first end and a second end, and an arm assembly movable between a stowed condition and a deployed condition. The arm assembly includes a first end coupled to the boom and a second end. A contactor assembly is coupled to the second end of the arm assembly. The system further includes a hydraulic system controlling movement of the rail connector assembly. The hydraulic system includes a hydraulic power unit, a plurality of hydraulic actuators fluidly driven by the hydraulic power unit, and at least one float valve fluidly connected to at least one of the plurality of hydraulic actuators.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2025
    Publication date: December 11, 2025
    Applicant: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. JOHNSON, Dennis D. RANKIN, Maitreya V. LAGADAPATI, Darshan C. PATEL
  • Publication number: 20250376038
    Abstract: A rail connector assembly for an electrically powered mobile machine includes a boom assembly with a first end and a second end, an arm assembly movable between a stowed condition and a deployed condition, the arm assembly having a first end coupled to the boom, and a second end, and a contactor assembly coupled to the second end of the arm assembly. The assembly also includes a hydraulic system controlling movement of the rail connector assembly. The hydraulic system includes a plurality of hydraulic actuators, wherein a first hydraulic actuators of the plurality of hydraulic actuators includes a mechanical float coupling.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2025
    Publication date: December 11, 2025
    Applicant: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis D. RANKIN, Steven E. JOHNSON
  • Publication number: 20250108785
    Abstract: A brake system of a machine may receive stability data associated with multiple wheels of the machine. The brake system may initiate, based on the stability data, an automatic electrohydraulic braking operation associated with a brake that is operatively connected to a wheel, of the multiple wheels. The brake may be movable from a de-applied position to an applied position to apply a brake force to the wheel. The brake system may prevent, based on initiating the automatic electrohydraulic braking operation, an operator input from controlling a brake pressure that is supplied to the brake via a valve configuration of the brake system. The brake system may decrease, based on an electrohydraulic input, the brake pressure that is supplied to the brake, via the valve configuration, to move the brake from the de-applied position to the applied position to apply the brake force to the wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Publication date: April 3, 2025
    Applicant: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Edward W. MATE, Steven E. JOHNSON
  • Patent number: 11787255
    Abstract: A machine includes a first cylinder coupled to a first wheel and a second cylinder coupled to a second wheel. A first proportional dampening valve fluidly connects to the first cylinder and a second proportional dampening valve fluidly connects to the second cylinder. First accumulators are fluidly connected to the first cylinder and the first proportional dampening valve, and second accumulator(s) are fluidly connected to the second cylinder and the second proportional dampening valve. Additionally, a first proportional flow control valve fluidly connects to the first cylinder and a second proportional flow control valve fluidly connected to the second cylinder. An electronic control module (ECM) communicatively couples to the first proportional flow control valve and the second proportional flow control valve to adjust a ride height of the first wheel via the first cylinder and a ride height of the second wheel via the second cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. Johnson, Edward William Mate, Kalpeshkumar N. Patel
  • Publication number: 20230088419
    Abstract: A machine includes a first cylinder coupled to a first wheel and a second cylinder coupled to a second wheel. A first proportional dampening valve fluidly connects to the first cylinder and a second proportional dampening valve fluidly connects to the second cylinder. First accumulators are fluidly connected to the first cylinder and the first proportional dampening valve, and second accumulator(s) are fluidly connected to the second cylinder and the second proportional dampening valve. Additionally, a first proportional flow control valve fluidly connects to the first cylinder and a second proportional flow control valve fluidly connected to the second cylinder. An electronic control module (ECM) communicatively couples to the first proportional flow control valve and the second proportional flow control valve to adjust a ride height of the first wheel via the first cylinder and a ride height of the second wheel via the second cylinder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2021
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Applicant: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. Johnson, Edward William Mate, Kalpeshkumar N. Patel
  • Patent number: 11607462
    Abstract: Provided herein are compositions, systems, and methods for minimally-invasive assessment of toxicity-induced tissue injury. In particular, external (e.g., whole-body) scanning is employed to detect toxicity-induced injuries, such as those caused by chemotherapeutics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Northwestern University
    Inventors: Ming Zhao, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 11283692
    Abstract: Service discovery for an application lacking capabilities sufficient to facilitate Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Zero-configuration networking (Zeroconf), Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) or other service discovery protocols relying upon multicast User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is contemplated. The service discovery may be facilitated with a discovery proxy configured to identify available services and a discovery service having capabilities sufficient to apprise the application of the services identified with the discovery proxy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 10552518
    Abstract: Manipulation of a Web page displayed through a first device as a function of user interaction with a second device is contemplated. The manipulation may include operating the second device as a touchscreen or other gesture-based controllable device and automatically providing corresponding navigation within the Web page as a function of interactions registered through the second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20180375742
    Abstract: Service discovery for an application lacking capabilities sufficient to facilitate Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Zero-configuration networking (Zeroconf), Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) or other service discovery protocols relying upon multicast User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is contemplated. The service discovery may be facilitated with a discovery proxy configured to identify available services and a discovery service having capabilities sufficient to apprise the application of the services identified with the discovery proxy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20180333506
    Abstract: Provided herein are compositions, systems, and methods for minimally-invasive assessment of toxicity-induced tissue injury. In particular, external (e.g., whole-body) scanning is employed to detect toxicity-induced injuries, such as those caused by chemotherapeutics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Ming Zhao, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 10075348
    Abstract: Service discovery for an application lacking capabilities sufficient to facilitate Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Zero-configuration networking (Zeroconf), Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) or other service discovery protocols relying upon multicast User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is contemplated. The service discovery may be facilitated with a discovery proxy configured to identify available services and a discovery service having capabilities sufficient to apprise the application of the services identified with the discovery proxy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9998448
    Abstract: Delegating authorizations sufficient to access services is contemplate. The authorization may be delegated in the form of a token or other transmissible construct relied upon to authenticate access to services, such as but not necessarily limited to conferring a user identity established via authenticated device for the purposes of enabling an unauthenticated or unsecured device to access a service associated with the user identity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9961072
    Abstract: Delegating authorizations sufficient to access services is contemplate. The authorization may be delegated in the form of a token or other transmissible construct relied upon to authenticate access to services, such as but not necessarily limited to conferring a user identity established via authenticated device for the purposes of enabling an unauthenticated or unsecured device to access a service associated with the user identity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20170244695
    Abstract: Delegating authorizations sufficient to access services is contemplate. The authorization may be delegated in the form of a token or other transmissible construct relied upon to authenticate access to services, such as but not necessarily limited to conferring a user identity established via authenticated device for the purposes of enabling an unauthenticated or unsecured device to access a service associated with the user identity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2017
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20170244696
    Abstract: Delegating authorizations sufficient to access services is contemplate. The authorization may be delegated in the form of a token or other transmissible construct relied upon to authenticate access to services, such as but not necessarily limited to conferring a user identity established via authenticated device for the purposes of enabling an unauthenticated or unsecured device to access a service associated with the user identity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2017
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20170205974
    Abstract: Manipulation of a Web page displayed through a first device as a function of user interaction with a second device is contemplated. The manipulation may include operating the second device as a touchscreen or other gesture-based controllable device and automatically providing corresponding navigation within the Web page as a function of interactions registered through the second device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2017
    Publication date: July 20, 2017
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9648003
    Abstract: Delegating authorizations sufficient to access services is contemplate. The authorization may be delegated in the form of a token or other transmissible construct relied upon to authenticate access to services, such as but not necessarily limited to conferring a user identity established via authenticated device for the purposes of enabling an unauthenticated or unsecured device to access a service associated with the user identity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9613011
    Abstract: Manipulation of a Web page displayed through a first device as a function of user interaction with a second device is contemplated. The manipulation may include operating the second device as a touchscreen or other gesture-based controllable device and automatically providing corresponding navigation within the Web page as a function of interactions registered through the second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert M. Lund, Steven E. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9605411
    Abstract: A hydraulic circuit includes: a priority valve including a first position and a second position where: the first position includes a first fluid passage and a fixed bypass orifice connected to the first fluid passage; the second position includes a second fluid passage and a variable bypass orifice connected to the second fluid passage. The hydraulic circuit further includes: a first fluid line fluidly connecting the priority valve and a first machine component; a second fluid line fluidly connecting the priority valve and a second machine component; a check valve placed between the priority valve and the second machine component and fluidly connecting the priority valve and the second machine component; an oil passage on the priority valve fluidly connected to one or more machine components other than the first and second machine components; one or more actuators connected to the priority valve; and a control valve communicatively connected to the one or more actuators connected to the priority valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Gang Wen, Moses I. Akpan, Steven E. Johnson