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US 10,914,112 B2Granted
Vehicle liftgate control for cargo management
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsMahmoud Yousef Ghannam, Brian Bennie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Method and apparatus are disclosed for vehicle liftgate control for cargo management. An example vehicle includes a liftgate with a sensor on an inner surface and a processor. The liftgate provides access to a cargo area. The processor, when an object is in the cargo area, detect when the object is banked against the liftgate using measurements from the sensor, and when the object is banked and a command to open the liftgate is received, autonomously opens the liftgate to an intermediate position between fully open and fully closed.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a liftgate with a sensor on an inner surface, the liftgate providing access to a cargo area of the vehicle;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- determine, during a period in which the liftgate is in a closed position, that an object is banked against the liftgate using measurements from the sensor;
- determine that a command to open the liftgate is received;
- and
- open, based on the determination that the command to open the liftgate is received and the determination that the object is banked against the liftgate, the liftgate to an intermediate position between fully open and fully closed, wherein a distance between the liftgate in the intermediate position and the cargo area is based on a size of the object.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- determining, with a liftgate sensor and during a period in which the liftgate is in a closed position, that an object is in a cargo area of a vehicle;
- determining, with a vehicle processor, that the object is likely to fall out of the vehicle from the cargo area;
- receiving a command to open a liftgate of the vehicle;
- and
- opening, based on receiving the command to open the liftgate and the determination that the object is likely to fall out of the vehicle, the liftgate to an intermediate position between fully open and fully closed, wherein a distance between the liftgate in the intermediate position and the cargo area is based on a size of the object.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.