Granted Patent B2

US 12,280,815 · App. 17/878,328 · Granted Apr 22, 2025

Inventors: John F. Daly (Frisco, TX); Adrian Lombard (Saline, MI); Satoshi Nagashima (New York, NY); Trinell Ball (Stamford, CT); Brent Bowen (Salt Lake City, UT); Vic Hoffman (Salt Lake City, UT)

Assignees: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.; Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

B62B5/0086B60P1/6445B60P3/06B62D63/025B66F9/063B66F9/075

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A system comprising:

a main vehicle;

a secondary vehicle configured to couple to the main vehicle, the secondary vehicle comprising:

a wheel configured to move the secondary vehicle; and

a body coupled to the wheel, the body comprising:

a set of apertures, each of the apertures defining a vertically elongated oval shape; and

a first set of retractable bars, configured to:

extend into receivers of the main vehicle in a deactivated state;

translate vertically within the apertures;

be disposed in the body in a retracted state; and

extend into a pod and lift the pod in an attached state.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary vehicle further comprises a second set of retractable bars configured to:

extend into receivers of the main vehicle in the deactivated state;

be disposed in the body in the retracted state, and

extend into the pod and lift the pod in the attached state.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary vehicle further comprises a gyroscope to maintain an orientation of the secondary vehicle during movement of the secondary vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary vehicle further comprises a controller programmed to:

obtain a first position of the pod while the first set of retractable bars are in the retracted state;

based on the first position, instruct the secondary vehicle to move to a predetermined distance away from the pod; and

instruct the first set of retractable bars to extend into the pod and to lift the pod.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:

receive signals from a plurality of presence sensors.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further programmed to generate a three-dimensional environment surrounding the secondary vehicle, based on the signals.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of presence sensors are at least one of visual sensors and proximity sensors.

8. The system claim 1 , wherein the wheel is a spherical wheel.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a tertiary vehicle, wherein:

the secondary vehicle is configured to be coupled to a first side of the main vehicle; and

the tertiary vehicle is configured to be coupled to a second side of the main vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary vehicle is electrically coupled to the main vehicle.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary vehicle further comprises a controller programmed to:

detect a distance of the pod away from the secondary vehicle via a plurality of presence sensors;

based on the distance, translate the secondary vehicle to the pod;

extend the first set of retractable bars into the pod; and

translate the pod to a predetermined location via the secondary vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a docking station, wherein the docking station is disposed on an external surface of a cabin of the main vehicle.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the main vehicle includes a bed; and

the main vehicle comprises a controller programmed to:

in response to placing the pod onto the bed of the main vehicle, translate a position of the pod on the bed via a conveyor belt for the bed of the main vehicle.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the main vehicle comprises a controller programmed to:

in response to coupling the secondary vehicle to the main vehicle, lift the secondary vehicle relative to the main vehicle via the main vehicle.

15. A pod mover comprising:

a body having a set of apertures, each of the apertures defining a vertically elongated oval shape;

a set of retractable bars, the set of retractable bars vertically translatable within the apertures; and

a controller programmed to:

detect a coupling between the set of retractable bars and a pod;

instruct the pod mover to place the pod onto a bed of a truck in response to detecting the coupling;

detect a decoupling between the set of retractable bars and the pod; and

instruct the pod mover to couple to a docking station disposed on the truck in response to detecting the decoupling.

16. The pod mover of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:

in response to coupling the pod mover to the docking station, retract a wheel of the pod mover into a base of the pod mover.

17. The pod mover of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:

in response to coupling the pod mover to the docking station, electrically couple a battery of the pod mover to the truck.

18. The pod mover of claim 15 , further comprising a gyroscope to maintain an orientation of the pod mover during movement.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (30)