Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Marcel Grein

Detlef Kuck

Jeroen Lem

Turgay Isik Aslandere

Ilya Popov

Moritz Martinius

Johnathan Andrew Line

Joseph Michael Kish

Jimmy Moua

Keith Allen Godin

Andreas Hegerath

David Longin

Michael Oelscher

Nicole Leonarda Wilhelmina Eikelenberg

Alexandra Holz

Jörg Christian Kirchhof

Hendrik Berger

Nicole Eikelenberg

Walter Pijls

Ramola Rege

A rack system for a cargo space of a commercial vehicle having a rack with at least one shelf and at least one adjusting device for adjusting the shelf about a pivot axis extending in the width direction of the rack between a loading and unloading setting and a transport setting, In order to provide a rack system that can be used more efficiently and more ergonomically, the adjusting device is designed in such a way that a tilt angle of the shelf in the transport setting is greater than in the loading and unloading setting, and a load surface of the shelf in the transport setting faces away from an access side of the rack.

Rack system and method for operating a rack

The disclosure relates to a system for monitoring consumable material quantities, having at least one loading plate having an upper side providing a loading surface, at least two weight sensors arranged spaced apart from one another on a lower side of the loading plate, and at least one monitoring electronics unit connected or connectable to the weight sensors. To make this monitoring more cost-effective and technically simpler, the system has at least two containers arranged adjacent to one another on the upper side of the loading plate for accommodating a quantity of a consumable material in each case, wherein the monitoring electronics unit is configured to ascertain from sensor signals of the weight sensors, generated before and after consumable material is taken from one of the containers, from which container the consumable material has been taken and/or which quantity of the consumable material has been removed.

System and method for monitoring consumable material quantities

A rack system for a commercial vehicle including at least one guide rail fixable to at least one vehicle structure of the commercial vehicle, and at least one rack slidingly supported by the guide rail back and forth in a lateral direction of the commercial vehicle. To laterally balance a loading of the commercial vehicle the rack system comprises at least one fixing unit for temporary fixing the rack selectively in one of several fixing positions disposed along the guide rail by fixing the rack to the guide rail and/or to the vehicle structure.

Rack system for a commercial vehicle and method for laterally balancing and loading of a commercial vehicle

A tracking system and method for tracking tools in and nearby a transportation vehicle is provided. The tracking system comprises a vehicle-based detection unit for optically acquiring tool sets in the vehicle loading space from different angles and providing digital image data as well as corresponding range information. An electronic main controller unit is operatively coupled to a communication receiving unit and communicates with the vehicle-based detection unit and a cloud-based computer system of the tracking system. A mobile computing unit includes an optical camera and a LIDAR sensor device and wirelessly communicates with the electronic main controller unit and the cloud-based computer system. The tool detection and tracking is accomplished by combining an image-based detection employing an artificial neural network in the cloud-based computer system and a signal-based detection employing the short-range wireless network communication means.

Tracking system and method employing an artificial neural network for tracking tools in and nearby a transportation vehicle

An automobile having a cargo space, a rear door opening for accessing the cargo space and a door pillar which delimits the rear door opening. The vehicle has a rack which in a stowed state is arranged entirely in the cargo space and is at least partially concealed by the door pillar as viewed from outside the automobile in the direction of the vehicle longitudinal axis of the automobile, and in a deployed state is arranged at least partially outside the cargo space. The vehicle has a transfer mechanism to transfer the rack between the stowed state and the deployed state via the rear door opening, wherein the transfer mechanism is configured such that, during a transfer of the rack from the stowed state into the deployed state, the rack moves inward in the direction of the vehicle transverse axis of the automobile.

Automobile with rack in the cargo space

A cargo space is monitored for objects connected to respective beacon-transmitting devices which transmit identification signals associated with the objects. Signal strengths of received signals and repetition periods associated therewith are determined using a monitoring device which checks whether each received beacon identification signal identifies a respective object in an object inventory of the cargo space based on comparisons of the signal strengths with current signal strength threshold values respectively associated with them and on comparisons of the respectively associated beacon repetition periods with respective current repetition period threshold values. The monitoring device detects whether the cargo space is currently in a first state (in which loading and unloading operations of objects in the cargo space is permissible) or a second state (in which loading and unloading is not permissible). The monitoring device adjusts signal strength threshold values and repetition period threshold values only during the second state.

Monitoring a vehicle cargo space for objects connected to beacon-transmitting devices

The invention relates to a storage system () for a loading space of a commercial motor vehicle. In order to make commercial motor vehicles available that can be utilized more productively and more effectively, the storage system () exhibits at least one weighing machine with counting scale (), capable of being fixed in the loading space, and at least one indicating unit (), assigned to the weighing machine with counting scale (), for indicating a piece number of bulk commodity located on the weighing machine with counting scale () and/or for indicating a volume of a liquid commodity located on the weighing machine with counting scale ().

Storage system for a loading space of a commercial motor vehicle and method for monitoring a piece number and/or a volume of a commodity located in a receiving unit in a commercial motor vehicle

Apparatus for recognizing left-behind objectshas a sensor devicedesigned to generate sensor signalsupon sensing a left-behind object, a control unitdesigned to receive and process the sensor signalsand generate control signalsin reaction to the processed sensor signals, and a warning device, designed to receive the control signalsand output a warning signalin reaction to the received control signals. A module arrangementof individual component units having pairs of LED sensors and emitters may be arranged in a vehicleto scan a storage region.

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Geilenkirchen, Germany

Marcel Grein