Update: A law firm known for filing Apple patents now says that the listing of Apple as the patent assignee was a ‘typographical error’ and that the true assignee should be the inventor, BAE Systems. This suggests the firm may have used a boilerplate form and forgotten to remove Apple from the document.
It could only be a matter of time before we started seeing vehicle-related patents for Apple, but the first one spotted by Patently Apple is an odd one: it’s assigned from another company, and it relates to articulated vehicles – not quite what one would expect for an Apple car.
The patent itself is for a more reliable method of connecting the two halves of an articulated vehicle, such as a ‘bendy bus.’ More specifically, it’s designed to protect the steering member from snow and ice.
The patent is assigned to Apple by BAE Systems in Sweden, and the patent drawings seem to show a tracked vehicle, like a tank, but PA did spot an image of an articulated bus on BAE’s website. One suggestion that has been made about Apple’s self-driving car ambitions is that it may be aiming more for an Uber-type ride service rather than private sales, so perhaps a bus isn’t too much of a stretch.
The present invention relates to a steering device comprising a steering member for mutually steering a first vehicle unit and a second vehicle unit of an articulated vehicle which comprises a link mechanism for mutually pivoting said vehicle units, a housing configuration arranged to form a supply space between said vehicle units and a removal mechanism arranged in the supply space, wherein the removal mechanism comprises a heating device arranged to heat air intended to stream through the housing configuration. The invention also relates to an articulated vehicle with a steering member.
If you have any theories, do share them in the comments …
