Patents Issued the Week of July 13-17

7.16.26

Patent Protection & Registration

Patents grant property rights on new and useful inventions, allowing the patent holder to prevent others from using, making, or selling that invention without permission for a limited time. U.S. patents are permitted by the U.S. Constitution and are designed to promote scientific progress and invention. By allowing inventors to profit from licensing or selling their patent rights, inventors can recoup their research and development costs and benefit financially from their inventing efforts. There are three main types of patents utility, plant, and design. Utility and plant patents can last up to 20 years, while design patents can last up to 15 years. When a patent expires, the patented material enters the public domain, making it free to use by anyone without a license. U.S. patents are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

U.S. Patent No. 12,680,244 entitled “Self-Propelled Earth Working Machine Having an Electrically Driven Working Apparatus and a Balanced Weight Distribution” issued July 14, 2026 to Wirtgen GmbH of Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Markus Bach of Bonn, Germany and Philipp Prassel of Neustadt/Wied, Germany. Abstract: An earth working machine includes a machine frame, a plurality of rollable drive units, a rotatable working apparatus rotatable about an axis of rotation, an electric work drive, an electrical energy store, and a receiving configuration for receiving a conveyor. In a reference state in which the earth working machine stands on level ground the electrical energy store and the receiving configuration are located on opposite sides of a reference plane containing the axis of rotation and extending orthogonal to the level ground.

U.S. Patent No. 12,682,694 entitled “Wireless Communication Devices” issued July 14, 2026 to Bridgestone Mobility Solutions B.V. of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Invented by Gianfranco Santoro, Henrik Schiller, Alexander Schmidt, Christian Meissner, Thomas Hagenau, André Pomsel, and René Liebscher all also of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Abstract: A method is provided for operating a wireless communication device located in a vehicle to transmit data indicative of trips made by the vehicle to a remote device via a wireless transmitter. An engine ‘on’ state of the vehicle is determined, and a corresponding first time is stored. A first time window of a first non-zero duration is defined beginning prior to the first time and ending at the first time, and a second time window of a second duration is defined beginning at the first time and ending at a second time. First user input is enabled only during the first and second time windows, via an input device operatively connected to the wireless communication device. A current trip is selectively characterized based on the first user input, or omission thereof, as being of a first or second type. A message is generated, indicating the current type of trip.

U.S. Patent No. 12,682,695 entitled “Selective Capture of Work Machine Productivity Factors Based on Work State Estimation” issued July 14, 2026 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Samantha F. Echaves of Dubuque, Iowa. Abstract: A computer-implemented system and method are provided for state-based payload capture by a work machine comprising ground engaging units supporting a frame, and a work implement moveable with respect to the frame for loading and unloading payloads. At least a first set of sensors associated with the work machine are used to detect event-based transitions between work states in a defined work cycle having a sequence of work states therein, e.g., from digging states to loaded states. An onboard payload measuring unit is used to selectively capture payload data corresponding to a current work cycle in association with the detected transition. The captured payload data is categorized and stored, independently for the current work cycle with respect to associated locations within a work site and/or with respect to time, and in aggregate with other captured payload data for each of a plurality of work cycles for the work machine.

U.S. Patent No. 12,678,019 entitled “Shoe Disinfecting Device” issued July 14, 2026 to DG Technologies LLC of Ooltewah, Tennessee. Invented by Dillion George also of Ooltewah, Tennessee. Abstract: A shoe disinfecting device of the present disclosure may comprise a base, an interior compartment configured to hold a liquid disinfecting solution, at least one shoe wiping assembly including a tray and at least one absorbent pad, a first sensor configured to generate output signals representing a liquid content level of the tray, and a controller. The tray may include a recess having at least one channel defined therein. The controller may include a liquid disinfecting solution control mode configured to receive the output signals from the first sensor and, based on a comparison between the measured liquid content level and a target liquid content level, to selectively pump the liquid disinfecting solution from the interior compartment of the base via at least a liquid pump and into the channel of the shoe wiping assembly.

U.S. Patent No. 12,680,266 entitled “Laser Receiver Height Adjustment” issued July 14, 2026 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Anthony K. Kraft of Epworth, Iowa and Caitlin S. George of Platteville, Wisconsin. Abstract: A system and method are provided for determining a difference in height of a dozer blade relative to a vehicle frame between a reference position wherein the dozer blade engages the ground and a calibration position wherein the at least one sensor is at a desired height relative to a laser signal plane using a laser receiver automatic find mode.

U.S. Patent No. 12,677,739 entitled “Unthreshed Grain Loss Detection and Analysis” issued July 14, 2026 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Rana Shakti Singh of Ramgarh, India and Nathan R. Vandike of Geneseo, Illinois. Abstract: A method of operating a grain harvesting machine includes: capturing images of a crop material flow in an image capture area of the grain harvesting machine, the crop material flow including known grain elements, known material other than grain (MOG) elements, and unknown elements not yet identified as grain or MOG; identifying one or more of the unknown elements in the images; determining a velocity of each of the identified unknown elements; based on the velocity of each of the identified unknown elements, determining whether each of the identified unknown elements is grain or MOG; and controlling a subsystem of the grain harvesting machine at least in part based upon the determination of whether each of the identified unknown elements is grain or MOG.

U.S. Patent No. 12,679,451 entitled “Rear Wheel Steering Alignment Calibration” issued July 14, 2026 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Noah J. Rasmussen of Cambridge, Iowa, Jason J. Wanner of Cedar Falls, Iowa and Joshua T. Lawson of Woodbury, Minnesota. Abstract: A work vehicle includes steerable left and right front wheels and steerable left and right rear wheels and a manually operated steering input for steering the wheels through a hydraulic steering circuit connected to left and right front hydraulic actuators configured to steer the left and right front wheels. In order to perform a rear wheel alignment operation, the hydraulic steering circuit is bypassed so that the steering wheel can be used as an input device to steer each of the rear wheels in a steer by wire arrangement for alignment, without steering the front wheels during the alignment process.

U.S. Patent No. 12,680,277 entitled “Method Of Automatic Delay Compensation For Implement Control With Work Machine” issued July 14, 2026 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Qiang R. Liu of Urbandale, Iowa and Ashish Barsu Patil of West Des Moines, Iowa. Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for automated self-correction of lookahead delay for working intermissions of at least one work implement associated with a work machine. During traverse by the work machine of a work area, one or more working conditions are determined and command generated to at least one actuator corresponding to a working intermission for an associated work implement or component thereof, wherein the generated command accounts for an estimated delay between initiation of the command and execution of at least part of the working intermission. An error value is ascertained based on a determined actual delay with respect to the estimated delay, and a modified delay is stored based on the ascertained error value as the estimated delay for subsequent working intermissions at least with respect to the determined one or more working conditions.

U.S. Patent No. 12,680,966 entitled “Method for Non-Contact Ground Moisture Level Estimation at Various Depths Using Reflected Energy at a Work Machine” to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Mark D. Moran, Nathan Ogden and Chad A. Ackerman all of Champaign, Illinois. Abstract: According to a method, model generation includes receiving inputs comprising actual soil properties comprising moisture values at a training ground surface and corresponding ground depths, temperature, surface-RF antenna distance, and antenna vibration. RF signals across a first frequency range are emitted toward the ground surface, and characteristic values determined based on reflected energy. The model is iteratively trained to observe correlations between various inputs and characteristic values at corresponding frequencies. Real-time and non-contact moisture estimation includes corresponding inputs, and a vector network analyzer identifies target frequency ranges as subsets of the first range, and directs RF emittion across the target range toward the ground. Using characteristic values determined from reflected RF signals and further reference to the trained model, moisture values for the current ground surface and corresponding depths are estimated, and an output signal generated for display, control of irrigation, planting depth, etc.

U.S. Patent No. 12,677,820 entitled “Weed Treatment Systems” to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Tiffany L. Ingersoll of Maxwell, Iowa and Erik A. Sorensen of Warren, Pennsylvania. Abstract: A system for spraying an agricultural field provides a weed distribution model including information corresponding to a weed distribution as a function of geographic location within the field. An initial portion of the field is sprayed with a first product from a first tank leaving a remaining portion of the field to be sprayed. A quantity of the first product from the first tank required to complete the spraying of the remaining portion of the field is estimated based at least in part on the weed distribution model, the estimated quantity being less than the first tank capacity. The estimated quantity of the first product is loaded into the first tank so that the remaining portion of the field may be sprayed with the first tank being empty, at least to a threshold level, at the end of the spraying of the remaining portion of the field.

U.S. Patent No. 12,683,979 entitled “Systems and Methods for Ingesting Credential Information” issued July 14, 2026 to Essential Credential Exchange, LLC of Tampa, Florida. Invented by Anthony Begando also of Tampa, Florida, Matthew M. Sylvestre of Norfolk, Massachusetts, Tami L. Hansen of Easton, Massachusetts. Abstract: A method for selective data ingestion into an exchange platform for verified credentials includes receiving credential data associated with first users (participants) in native file formats. For each participant, the received credential data is converted into a first participant credential set (PCS) according to a markup language format and having a source-independent data structure, and the first PCS is transformed into a second PCS having a data structure resolvable against a host template comprising a data set of minimum requirements. The second PCS for the respective participant is discarded if it fails to conform after being resolved against the host template, or otherwise cryptographically hashed and instantiated as a searchable object in an underlying persistence layer. A query is receiving from a second user (buyer), the query comprising search parameters, wherein each of the qualifying second PCS from the participants are further programmatically reviewed against the query.