Former executive at Apple Computer Jean-Louis Gassée who got fired by John Scully for not producing any successful products for the company in the 80's is now a general partner over at Allegis Capital, a venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, California. He recently wrote a report wherein he stated "how can we seriously believe that Apple would enter the automaking field?"

I remember very vividly when I wrote patent reports about a possible coming iPod that would be able to make phone calls. The patents refused to call their invention a phone. The naysayers would go ballistic saying "how could Apple compete with the likes of Motorola and Nokia? Apple will never, ever enter the phone market and these patents are a joke." Even Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer  laughed at the iPhone and laughs no more. 

The naysayers said that if Microsoft couldn't make a tablet people wanted, how could little Apple think that they could pull it off? Naysayers went on to laugh at smart pen patents, watches and the Apple Store. They used to yell, if Gateway computer couldn't pull off making computer retail stores viable, how could Apple succeed?

Ah, the joy of knowing that millions of big mouth naysayers got it wrong over and over again by dismissing what Apple was capable of. We followed Apple's patents then and stayed focused  today no matter what naysayers think. 

In that light, excuse me if I don't take Gassée's opinion to heart. On the flip side, that doesn't mean that Apple's Project Titan is a guarantee either. It's quite the gamble to be sure. Yet the pace of Apple's intellectual property on this one project is non-stop, almost equal to Apple's focus on eyeware. 

Chinese spies have worked at Apple in an effort to steal their  vehicle related technologies. A second spy story is here.  So, some are taking Apple's work into developing an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle(s) very seriously. 

Apple was granted another four Project Titan patents today alone covering a wide range of technologies including a new braking system, a new safety system, a vehicle charging system and one on latches for securing vehicle doors.

Braking System Control State Transitions

Today Apple was granted patent 10,661,764 titled "Braking system control state transitions." The patent covers a method for controlling a vehicle which includes operating a braking system in a robotic control state, determining that an emergency stop state is to be entered by the braking system, entering the emergency stop state upon determining that all conditions from a group of state entry conditions are satisfied, decelerating the vehicle using the braking system while in the emergency stop state, determining, while in the emergency stop state, that all conditions from a group of state exit conditions are satisfied, and exiting the emergency stop state in response to determining that all conditions from the group of state exit conditions are satisfied.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is an illustration showing a vehicle; FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a braking system; and FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram for the braking system.

For more details of this Project Titan invention click here

Airbag-Based Occupant Safety Systems

On May 12th Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Wins a Project Titan Patent illustrating Next-Gen Seat belt systems that includes Roof and Lapbelt Airbags." Today Apple was granted a second safety restraint-based patent 10,661,748 which is titled "Airbag-based Occupant Safety Systems."

Apple notes that their invention covers an occupant safety system which includes a sensor that provides an output signal indicative of an imminent collision and a pair of inflatable restraints.

The inflatable restraints deploy from opposing interior surfaces of a passenger compartment of a vehicle based on the output signal. The inflatable restraints each include a central chamber and a pair of outer chambers. The outer chambers extend along opposing side surfaces of the central chamber upon deployment, and the central chamber has a first pressure and the outer chambers have a second pressure.

The central chambers and the outer chambers of the pair of inflatable restraints meet along an interface region within the passenger compartment.

Another aspect of the invention covers includes a sensor that provides an output signal indicative of an imminent collision, a first inflatable restraint that deploys from a first interior surface of a passenger vehicle in response to the output signal, and a second inflatable restraint that deploys from a second interior surface of the passenger vehicle in response to the output signal. An interface structure is defined on one or both of the first inflatable restraint and the second inflatable restraint to restrain motion of the first inflatable restraint relative to the second inflatable restraint when the first inflatable restraint and the second inflatable restraint are deployed.

Apple's patent FIGS 2A and 2B illustrate a motion diagram of a collision. The collision of FIGS. 2A and 2B can also occur in an opposed seating system as shown.

For more details of this Project Titan invention click here

Project Titan: Charging Station

Today Apple was granted patent 10,661,669 titled "Charging station with passive alignment mechanism."

Apple's granted patent notes that exiting a vehicle to connect the vehicle to a charging station may be inconvenient for the operator of the vehicle. In addition, charging stations that require manual connection of the vehicle to the charging station do not permit charging to be performed when there's no human operator present.

The systems and methods described in Apple's patent allow an electric vehicle to connect to a charging station without manual connection by an operator. As an example, a charging station may include a charging plug that is mounted using one or more passive translation stages that change position upon contact with a structure that is formed on the vehicle. The vehicle-side structures, including a charging receptacle, are aligned with the charging plug by driving the vehicle, either under manual control or under autonomous control.

Apple's patent FIG. 1A is an illustration showing a charging station and a vehicle in a disconnected position; FIG. 1B is an illustration showing the charging station and the vehicle in a connected position; FIG. 10 is a block diagram that shows charging station components and vehicle charging system components.

For more details of this Project Titan invention click here

And lastly, Apple was granted a fourth Project Titan patent today under number 10,662,676 titled Concealed Latch relating to latches for securing vehicle doors.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

As always, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.