Ford Motor Company

Systems and processes for applying coatings, films, or materials onto surfaces in manufacturing or industrial contexts, often involving automated movement, surface preparation, or post-application treatment.

Systems and methods for accurately controlling the volume, location, and characteristics of sprayed fluids, often involving sensors, feedback, or specific nozzle geometries for precise application.

Innovations in the materials, manufacturing, and assembly of vehicle body components to enhance rigidity, crashworthiness, and functional integration.

Integration of electric motors into larger systems (e.g., vehicles, power tools) and safety features for high-voltage components, including control interfaces, mechanical integration, and environmental protection (e.g., waterproofing).

Systems and methods for real-time sensing, modeling, and closed-loop control of additive manufacturing parameters to ensure part quality, consistency, and process efficiency. This includes thermal management, atmospheric regulation, and precise material deposition.

Manufacturing processes and techniques for producing stator cores, windings, and coils, including lamination, impregnation, hairpin winding, and segment coil bending, to improve motor efficiency, power density, or reliability.

Innovations in nozzle internal geometry, actuation, or multi-fluid mixing to achieve specific spray patterns, droplet sizes, or performance characteristics, especially for challenging fluids or conditions.

Electronic, hydraulic, or steer-by-wire systems that precisely control vehicle direction, often incorporating feedback loops, compensation, and adaptation for various driving conditions or vehicle types.

Systems and methods for enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists) by improving their detection, prediction, and precise localization relative to the vehicle, often leveraging communication technologies and specialized markers.

Tools and systems engineered for the precise installation, removal, or manipulation of specific components or fasteners, often involving specialized gripping, depth control, or extraction mechanisms.

Techniques for combining multiple materials or layers, often with specialized surface treatments, coatings, or assembly methods, to create functional or aesthetically enhanced plastic articles, including consumer goods and encapsulated electronics.

Focuses on the structural integrity, housing, mounting, and physical integration of battery cells into robust and protected packs within electric vehicles, including manufacturing considerations.

Integration of additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing (e.g., machining, cutting) or other traditional processes within a single system or workflow to create parts with improved features, surface finish, or material properties, or to enable new manufacturing paradigms.

Integrated systems for managing parking facilities, guiding vehicles to available spots, and providing notifications, often leveraging sensors, communication, and remote control.

Techniques and hardware architectures for optimizing the radio frequency (RF) front-end, antenna systems, and beamforming strategies in wireless networks to improve signal quality, capacity, and interference mitigation.

Techniques for building three-dimensional metal objects layer-by-layer using metal powders, including powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition. This theme encompasses process mechanics, equipment design, and operational control for AM systems.

Spraying devices designed to handle, mix, or independently dispense multiple distinct fluid components, often with mechanisms for selection, blending, or sequential application.

Development of novel motor architectures beyond traditional radial flux designs, including linear, axial, or multi-armature configurations, often to optimize for specific performance characteristics like torque density or form factor.

Techniques utilizing deep learning models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or diffusion models to create new images, modify existing ones, or generate synthetic data based on various inputs or conditions.

Utilizing sensor data, historical performance, and analytical models to anticipate equipment failures, diagnose faults, and estimate remaining useful life, thereby enabling proactive maintenance and reducing downtime.

Design elements and integrated components that improve the usability, comfort, and versatility of hand tools, such as built-in lighting, vibration reduction, modular storage, or adjustable form factors.

Design and optimization of the mechanical components and power transmission systems within powered hand tools, including motors, gears, spindles, and impact mechanisms, for efficiency, durability, and compact form factor.

Technologies for safely and efficiently connecting, stabilizing, and maneuvering trailers, including hitch mechanisms, load sensing, and trailer-specific steering or stabilization.

Systems enabling wireless communication between vehicles (V2V), vehicles and infrastructure (V2I), or vehicles and other entities (V2X) to share information for traffic management, safety, and navigation.

Methods and equipment for continuously shaping plastic materials by forcing them through a die, often involving screw extruders, heating elements, and downstream calibration.

Processes involving the application of heat and pressure to shape thermoplastic or elastomeric materials, often using molds or presses, to achieve specific forms or material properties.