"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
Carl Sagan
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7759892 | Vehicle mirror device A vehicle mirror device includes a base unit configured to be fixed to a vehicle, a body unit that includes a mirror and is rotatably attached to the base unit, and a driving unit that drives the body unit to rotate with respect to the base unit. The driving unit in... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7468591 | Process for initializing a motorized roller shutter In the initialization process for the control of the movement of a motorized roller shutter, the travel of the shutter between its two extreme positions is divided into different segments and each segment end is allocated a duration of shutter movement in a first di... | 12/23/2008 |
| 7436141 | Movable barrier operator with travel limit adjustment capabilities A method and a device capable of making fine-tune adjustments in the traveling limits of a movable barrier operator are disclosed. More particularly, an apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises of a movable barrier operator for controlling a trav... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7420347 | System and method for using a capacitive door edge sensor A system and method for sensing capacitance at the edge of a movable barrier and for detecting an obstruction includes positioning a conductive member within or about a holder. A sensed capacitance between the conductive member and ground. A controller is coupled to... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7377363 | Elevator with variable drag for car and counterweight An elevator car and counterweight system is provided with a variable drag element. The variable drag element is controlled such that the lower of the counterweight and the car has a higher drag against further movement. In an embodiment which is particularly useful ... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7362067 | Apparatus for controlling a door drive The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for controlling a door drive comprising a path-measuring apparatus for the sensing of a door position and/or a door drive position and for the emitting of a corresponding door position signal as well as comprising a con... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355365 | Functional unit of a motor vehicle A functional unit of a motor vehicle tat has at least one adjustable functional element, a control means for controlling and/or for monitoring the position of the functional element, an angle sensor coupled to the functional element for determining the position ther... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7330008 | Apparatus for sensing position of vehicle seat An apparatus for detecting a vehicle seat position is disclosed. The apparatus includes a hall sensor for detecting a target position according to a flux variation; a first power-supply unit for activating the hall sensor in an active period of a received drive-volt... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7288908 | Switching arrangement An apparatus for controlling an electric motor (14) for, when energized, moving a vehicle window (22) selectively up or down and selectively in an auto up or auto down mode. The apparatus includes an electrical circuit electrically coupled to the elect... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7281758 | Vehicle sliding sunroof Device for opening/closing an opening in a vehicle roof by means of a transparent sunroof cover on the one hand and an opaque sunscreen cover on the other hand, which covers can be actuated separately from each other in accordance with a manual actuation of a contro... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7274164 | Electronic control system for operating groups of a vehicle Electronic control system for an actuation device of operating groups of a vehicle comprising an electronic gearcase that allows the activation and deactivation of said at least one device to be managed. The gearcase defines a first operating condition of the select... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7268510 | Control apparatus for open/close member and method for controlling open/close member A controller writes position information (count value) of the window glass into an EEPROM based on halting of operation of a drive motor and identifies the current position of the window glass based on the position information of the window glass written in the EEPR... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7268511 | Control for servo motors A drive arrangement for positioning a positioning element is disclosed that includes an electric servo motor for driving the positioning element, a potentiometer for presetting a setpoint, an actual value sensor disposed at the servo motor, and a motor driver with a... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7265538 | Method and device for measuring the rotational speed of a pulse-activated electric motor based on a frequency of current ripples A method and a device for measuring the speed of a pulse-activated electric motor are described. According to this method, the motor is fully activated at time intervals to be determined for a defined measuring time by the circuit element provided for timing and, in... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7252328 | Controller for a moving member and method for setting a reference position of the moving member A control apparatus for a movable vehicle roof panel determines the position of the panel in a tilt open state and evaluates whether the panel is in normal tilt-open range of positions or has, via inertia, traveled beyond those normal positions. The control apparatu... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7250737 | Motor control apparatus A motor control apparatus includes a detection device for detecting a rotation speed of a motor, a storing section for successively storing the rotation speed detected by the detection device, a calculation device for calculating a variation amount of the rotation s... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7248011 | Drive for automatic operating of a vehicle door The invention relates to a drive unit for automatically actuating a tailgate of a motor vehicle. Connecting the drive unit (4) to the vehicle door (1) or to a transmission device (6) by means of an output shaft (5), said transmission devi... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7235944 | Wiper control system A wiper control system for detecting an amount of raindrops landed on a windshield of a vehicle and driving a wipe operation of a wiper to wipe the landed raindrops. The wiper control system includes raindrop sensing means, average landed raindrop amount calculation... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7235942 | Method of controlling the lifting of bottom sections of lying furniture such as a bed This invention relates to a method of controlling the lifting of bottom sections of lying furniture such as a bed that has a back bottom section for lifting the back portion of a lying person and a knee bottom section for lifting his/her knee portion, in which the r... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7228883 | Motorized barrier operator system utilizing multiple photo-eye safety system and methods for installing and using the same A movable barrier operator system includes a motorized operator which moves a barrier between limit positions, and a photo-electric safety system connected to the motorized operator. The photo-electric safety system monitors for obstructions at more than one height ... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7226112 | Pinch warning and illumination system A light source is incorporated into a weatherstrip or pinch strip assembly mounted on a movable panel or at the opening in a frame or panel which receives the movable panel. The light is illuminated to warn that a movable panel of a vehicle is about to close or open... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7221119 | Robot system In a case in which an operation is alternately carried out by apparatus-1 and the apparatus-2 in cooperation with a robot, an operator carries out operation within an operation range of each of the apparatuses during the interruption of power supply to... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7180255 | Controlling the release of a brush motor which has applied a load A method for controlling the release of a brush motor which has applied a load includes several steps. One step includes applying a release current to the brush motor to rotate the brush motor in a direction toward releasing the applied load of the brush motor. Anot... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7170248 | Systems and methods for operating a barrier Disclosed are systems and methods for operating a barrier. In one embodiment, a door operator can be opened or closed by triggering either an internal device (e.g., wall button) or an external device. In one embodiment, if an obstacle is detected when the door is op... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7152922 | Powered remote release actuator for a seat assembly A mechanism for a vehicle seat is includes a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom. The mechanism includes a first adjustment mechanism connected to the vehicle seat and operable between a locked position and an unlocked posi... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7154377 | Movable barrier operator compressed information method and apparatus In a movable barrier operator, data that corresponds to force requirements to effect desired movement of a movable barrier is compressed and stored for later retrieval. Multiple compression schemes and/or compression rates can be made available. Selection of a given... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7127848 | Controller for a moving member including an abnormality detecting device A control apparatus rotates a drive motor reversely to reverse the moving direction of a roof glass when movement of the roof glass is obstructed by a foreign matter caught between the roof glass and a frame while the roof glass is moving toward the closing position... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7129662 | Method of operating a controlled roller blind supplied by way of a wire control interface The method of operating an actuator intended to drive a movable element for closure, for privacy or for solar protection or a projection screen, comprising a motor, an electronic unit for controlling the supply to the motor and a control interface furnished with at ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7122986 | Motor operator system for a power switch A motor and a rotary potentiometer, or other position sensor, running on the motor shaft are mounted in a first enclosure with an output shaft for driving a power switch open or closed. A part of the system outside the first enclosure makes use of a motor position s... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7122982 | DC motor rotation information detecting device A rotation information detection device detects rotation information of a DC motor based on a surge component waveform superimposed on a voltage waveform between the terminals of the DC motor or a current waveform of the DC motor, a circuit is provided which supplie... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7119520 | Energy storage flywheel test control system A system and method for removing energy from the rotating group in an energy storage flywheel system during flywheel system testing includes one or more sensors is operable to sense operational parameters of the energy storage flywheel and to supply a sensor signals... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7075257 | Method and device for braking a motor A method and apparatus for braking a motor has a braking circuit that intermittently shorts the windings of the motor to brake the motor. The braking circuit is powered by back EMF generated by the motor when power is disconnected from the motor. ... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7038414 | Vehicle closure anti-pinch assembly having a non-contact sensor An anti-pitch assembly is used in combination with a closure device of a motor vehicle. The closure device includes a closure panel, i.e., a windowpane or door, and a motor for moving the closure panel between an open position and a closed position. In the closed po... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7030509 | Apparatus and method for controlling movement of a movable member A control apparatus for a roof glass specifies the selection position of the selection switch when an output voltage from the selection switch is determined to be included in any of the allowable ranges predetermined respectively for the selection positions of the s... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7015666 | Device for sensing an obstacle in the opening range of a closure element of a motor vehicle A device for sensing an obstacle in said opening range of an automotive closure element movable between an open position and and closed position, more particularly an electrically powered door window (20) or sunroof is provided with a weatherseal (30) ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7009353 | Furniture drive for adjusting parts of an item of furniture in relation to each other An electric-motor driven furniture drive (2) for adjusting parts of an item of furniture in relation to each other, comprising two electric-motor driven adjustment units (4,6), both of which in an assembled position of the furniture drive (2) ar... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6995533 | Controlled torque drive for a barrier operator A controlled torque drive for a motor of a barrier operator including a current sensor coupled to a current conducting path that is in series with the motor. The current sensor is configured to sense the current level in the current conducting path and provide a sig... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6993423 | Method for adjusting vehicle cockpit devices A method for adjusting a plurality of vehicle cockpit devices via a two-part process that utilizes device position constraints to determine candidate arrangements and then, ultimately, recommended arrangements of the vehicle cockpit devices to determine a desired se... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6974948 | Perimetric detection system Systems and elements are disclosed for creating a continuous, collimated detection zone for an automatically-actuated device or container, such as an automatic waste container, wherein the detection zone can be made to match the periphery of a defined area, such as ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6969964 | Control device and method of use A control device and method of used includes receiving a signal from a first sensor and receiving a signal from a second sensor after receiving the signal from the first sensor. In response to the received signals, the electronic device executes the function. ... | 11/29/2005 |