The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 22, 2023
Filed:
Dec. 18, 2020
Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US);
Chang Gi Samuel Hong, San Francisco, CA (US);
James Michael Eccleston, Foster City, CA (US);
Andrew Frank Raczkowski, San Jose, CA (US);
Andrew Mark Stieber, Foster City, CA (US);
Goutham Shanmuga Sundaram, Foster City, CA (US);
Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and system for disinfecting an autonomous vehicle includes one or more LEDs coupled to the autonomous vehicle to emit UVC light into a passenger compartment of the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle can include sensors to confirm that the passenger compartment is empty and can be configured to prevent ingress of passengers into the passenger compartment while the UVC light is being emitted. Moreover, visible light indicators in the vehicle can be controlled to provide different visual indicators during the disinfecting cycle and when the vehicle is available to a passenger. In examples, the disinfecting cycle can be performed while the autonomous vehicle is in use, e.g., while the autonomous vehicle is traversing to a location to retrieve a passenger. The methods and systems can provide improved cleaning and disinfection of autonomous vehicles without the need to take the vehicles out of operation.