Granted Patent B2

US 12,257,932 · App. 17/092,751 · Granted Mar 25, 2025

Inventors: Marcos Silva Kondrad (Macomb Township, MI); Patrick Maloney (Livonia, MI); Kevin Mozurkewich (Milford, MI); Johnathan Andrew Line (Northville, MI); Robert Parenti (Dearborn, MI)

Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC

B60N2/12B60N2/0021B60N2/02246B60N2/0248B60N2/0273B60N2/0278B60N2/26G06V20/56G06V40/10B60N2/0268B60N2/0272H04N7/18

Abstract

Claims (16)

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a passenger compartment;

an access door on at least a selected one of a right and left side of the vehicle;

a plurality of seating assemblies positioned within the passenger compartment in a current seat arrangement;

a sensor to capture images in its field of view, wherein the sensor is mounted on the vehicle the field of view thereof being oriented toward a vehicle-exterior environment, wherein the sensor is configured to collect images of prospective users exterior to the vehicle; and

a controller that references the sensor and includes a microprocessor and memory, wherein the memory comprises routines stored therein, and wherein the controller is configured to:

process the images collected of the prospective users exterior to the vehicle;

determine an arrangement of the plurality of seating assemblies within the passenger compartment based upon the images of the prospective users exterior to the vehicle, wherein the arrangement of the plurality of seating assemblies includes a child seat arrangement, and wherein the child seat arrangement includes one of the plurality of seating assemblies placed in a side-facing orientation in which a seating surface of the one of the plurality of seating assemblies is presented to the access door to decrease a difficulty of placing a child in the one of the plurality of seating assemblies; and

identify a first prospective user exterior to the vehicle and a second prospective user exterior to the vehicle, the second prospective user being smaller in stature than the first prospective user, wherein the controller is configured to control the plurality of seating assemblies to adjust the passenger compartment from the current seat arrangement into the child seat arrangement if the second prospective user has an age below a threshold age based on predefined criteria, and wherein the controller is configured such that it does not adjust the passenger compartment from the current seat arrangement into the child seat arrangement if the second prospective user does not have an age below the threshold age based on the predefined criteria.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller identifies the second user being carried by the first user.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller identifies the first user holding a hand of the second user.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the controller estimates a height of the second user and infers an age of the second user based upon the height.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller identifies a cargo item that is in the possession of the prospective user, and wherein the controller arranges to the passenger compartment into a cargo arrangement, the cargo arrangement placing seats of two of the plurality of seating assemblies in an upwardly-stowed position and actuating the two of the plurality of seating assemblies in a vehicle-forward direction.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the cargo item identified by the controller is one or more bags carried by the prospective user.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller identifies the prospective user as comprising a plurality of occupants, and wherein the controller arranges the passenger compartment into an ingress/egress arrangement, the ingress/egress arrangement placing a seat of one of the plurality of seating assemblies in an upwardly-stowed position and actuating the one of the plurality of seating assemblies in a vehicle-forward direction.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller identifies the prospective user as comprising a plurality of occupants, and wherein the controller arranges the passenger compartment into a social arrangement, the social arrangement placing at least one of the plurality of seating assemblies in a rearward-facing orientation.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (400)