Patents by Inventor Theodoros Tzivanopoulos

Theodoros Tzivanopoulos 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: 11628785
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method for providing a retreat space for the periodic recuperation of a person. In this case, the interior of a vehicle serves as the retreat space. Said vehicle may be a person's own passenger vehicle or a rented vehicle. Since the retreat space is only used for brief recuperation, e.g., during a lunch break, the space is prepared such that it can fulfill the recuperation requirements from the very start. For this purpose, a request message is sent to the vehicle, by means of which request message the vehicle is prepared as a retreat space for the person. Said preparation consists in configuring the vehicle interior, at least in terms of lighting and/or climatic conditions and/or entertainment facilities, to serve as a retreat space for the recuperation of said person at the reserved time in accordance with the request message. The vehicle may also receive a reservation request message from a service provider who provides vehicles for rent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Theodoros Tzivanopoulos, Frank Minter, Marcel Kaltenberg
  • Patent number: 11492055
    Abstract: A parking robot for a transportation vehicle having a holding device for firmly holding a wheel of the transportation vehicle and housing at least one drive installation on two opposite sides. The drive installation has a height-adjustable running gear having at least one parking robot wheel and adjusts the holding device relative to the at least one parking robot wheel between a lowered and a raised position. The parking robot autonomously moves to a receiving position on the wheel of the transportation vehicle, in which receiving position the holding device firmly holds the wheel, and by adjusting the holding device to the raised position by the running gear, raises the firmly held wheel of the transportation vehicle relative to the respective parking robot wheels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Inventors: Julius Ibenthal, Theodoros Tzivanopoulos
  • Patent number: 11312415
    Abstract: A parking robot for a transportation vehicle having at least two wheel axles and a method for operating a parking robot. The parking robot includes a main robot part and a secondary robot part which each have a pair of wheel support arms on two opposite sides. The two-part parking robot then moves under the transportation vehicle with respective folded-in wheel support arms and disconnects the secondary robot part from the main robot part to position the main robot part and the secondary robot part each in a region of one of the wheel axles beneath the transportation vehicle and to lift up respective wheels of the respective wheel axle of the transportation vehicle by folding out the respective pairs of wheel support arms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Inventors: Theodoros Tzivanopoulos, Stephan Herold, Juan Mauricio Toro Ramos, Daniel Schütz
  • Patent number: 11021138
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods for a motor vehicle parking robot. The parking robot includes a pair of wheel support arms and a retracted wheel retention arm configured laterally from the outside of the parking robot and configured to lift a wheel of a vehicle by extending the pair of wheel support arms and affix the wheel in place on the parking robot by extending the wheel retention arms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Theodoros Tzivanopoulos
  • Publication number: 20200180695
    Abstract: A parking robot for a transportation vehicle and a method for operating a parking robot. The parking robot has a pair of wheel bearing arms which use a crank element to indirectly mount rotatably about a respective rotation axis. The parking robot autonomously moves from the outside to a receiving position beside a wheel of a wheel axle of the transportation vehicle in which the respective wheel bearing arms are parallel with the wheel axle and one of the wheel bearing arms in a vehicle longitudinal direction is positioned in front of the wheel and the other wheel bearing arm in the vehicle longitudinal direction is positioned behind the wheel. The parking robot raises the wheel of the transportation vehicle by rotating the respective wheel bearing arm about the respective rotation axis in a predefined rotation direction, wherein the respective rotation directions of the respective wheel bearing arms are mutually opposed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventors: Theodoros TZIVANOPOULOS, Julius IBENTHAL
  • Publication number: 20200180572
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods for a motor vehicle parking robot. The parking robot includes a pair of wheel support arms and a retracted wheel retention arm configured laterally from the outside of the parking robot and configured to lift a wheel of a vehicle by extending the pair of wheel support arms and affix the wheel in place on the parking robot by extending the wheel retention arms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventor: Theodoros Tzivanopoulos
  • Publication number: 20200180696
    Abstract: A parking robot for a transportation vehicle having at least two wheel axles and a method for operating a parking robot. The parking robot includes a main robot part and a secondary robot part which each have a pair of wheel support arms on two opposite sides. The two-part parking robot then moves under the transportation vehicle with respective folded-in wheel support arms and disconnects the secondary robot part from the main robot part to position the main robot part and the secondary robot part each in a region of one of the wheel axles beneath the transportation vehicle and to lift up respective wheels of the respective wheel axle of the transportation vehicle by folding out the respective pairs of wheel support arms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventors: Theodoros TZIVANOPOULOS, Stephan HEROLD, Juan Mauricio Toro RAMOS, Daniel SCHÜTZ
  • Publication number: 20200180712
    Abstract: A parking robot for a transportation vehicle having a holding device for firmly holding a wheel of the transportation vehicle and housing at least one drive installation on two opposite sides. The drive installation has a height-adjustable running gear having at least one parking robot wheel and adjusts the holding device relative to the at least one parking robot wheel between a lowered and a raised position. The parking robot autonomously moves to a receiving position on the wheel of the transportation vehicle, in which receiving position the holding device firmly holds the wheel, and by adjusting the holding device to the raised position by the running gear, raises the firmly held wheel of the transportation vehicle relative to the respective parking robot wheels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventors: Julius IBENTHAL, Theodoros TZIVANOPOULOS
  • Publication number: 20200130616
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method for providing a retreat space for the periodic recuperation of a person. In this case, the interior of a vehicle serves as the retreat space. Said vehicle may be a person's own passenger vehicle or a rented vehicle. Since the retreat space is only used for brief recuperation, e.g., during a lunch break, the space is prepared such that it can fulfill the recuperation requirements from the very start. For this purpose, a request message is sent to the vehicle, by means of which request message the vehicle is prepared as a retreat space for the person. Said preparation consists in configuring the vehicle interior, at least in terms of lighting and/or climatic conditions and/or entertainment facilities, to serve as a retreat space for the recuperation of said person at the reserved time in accordance with the request message. The vehicle may also receive a reservation request message from a service provider who provides vehicles for rent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2019
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Applicant: Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Theodoros Tzivanopoulos, Frank Minter, Marcel Kaltenberg