Document	Document Title
US07677746B2	Illumination device The present invention discloses an illumination device for illuminating users of a multimedia communication terminal. In particular, the illumination device includes high power white LEDs together with a reflector and a diffuser integrated in, or connected to, the terminal. Preferably, the light intensity and the position and angle relative to the terminal are controllable through a user interface.
US07677742B2	Micromirror array The invention relates to a microstructured technological system and, in particular, micromirror arrangements. The aim of the invention is to produce facade elements for buildings having large areas in square centimetres and above, at reduced cost. The entire micromirror arrangement can be produced as a flat, architectonically useable structural element in a modularly replicable manner. According to the invention, the control electronic system, which contains the logics which are controlled as mirror elements, is arranged in the centre of a control device at a specific, remote distance from which an addressing network is used to control the individual mirror elements or modules. Said addressing network is already integrated into the flat modules during production and to a large degree, in the form of printed lines. As a result, the necessity of incorporating silicon-based chip technology into the facade elements, which is expensive, is no longer necessary. Also, essentially less expensive materials than highly pure silicon are used in the production of the micromirror arrangements. Production costs, which are at least in the same size order as other, traditional, high quality façade elements, result therefrom.
US07677729B2	Apparatus and method for the analysis of retinal vessels The object of an apparatus and a method for the analysis of retinal vessels is to improve the reproducibility of individually determined artery-to-vein ratios and to reduce the measurement uncertainty in determining the artery-to-vein ratio in order to substantially increase the individual validity of the determined values for vessel diagnosis. At least two images are recorded successively as an image sequence in a predetermined timed sequence adapted to the vasomotricity of the vessels and are evaluated such that a mean artery-to-vein ratio is formed from artery-to-vein ratios that are determined on the basis of the at least two images.
US07677727B2	Eye refractive power measurement apparatus An eye refractive power measurement apparatus capable of performing analysis of an examinee's eye for irregular astigmatism with accuracy comprises a measurement optical system comprising an optical system projecting measurement light onto an examinee's fundus and an optical system photo-receiving the measurement light as a ring or substantially-ring fundus reflection image, a light deflection member placed in the optical systems, a unit rotating the deflection member, a memory storing the photo-received image as a measurement image, an analysis unit performing analysis of the measurement image, and an output unit, wherein the analysis unit detects the number of images or a width of an image in each meridian direction in the measurement image and judges the eye has irregular astigmatism when a portion in which the number of the images is two or a portion in which the width of the image goes beyond a predetermined level is detected.
US07677723B2	Eyeglasses with a heart rate monitor A pair of glasses with a heart-rate monitor according to one embodiment. The heart-rate monitor is configured to measure the heart rate of the user of the glasses. The heart-rate monitor can include a sensor with a radiation transmitter and a radiation receiver. The radiation could be infrared radiation. In one approach, the receiver measures signals transmitted by the transmitter through a body part of the user to measure the user's heart rate. The sensor could be incorporated in a clip to clip onto the body part of the user, such as the ear lobe of the user. In another approach, the receiver measures signals transmitted by the transmitter and reflected by a body part of the user to measure the user's heart rate.
US07677720B2	Chemically-modified coatings for enhanced performance of ink-jet images Ceramic pigment-based, chemically-modified porous coatings can be used for enhancing image permanence of ink-jet image printing. Specifically, a porous coated media sheet, comprising a media substrate, having a porous coating coated thereon comprising a modified ceramic pigment including a fixer group and a stabilizer group, each covalently attached to the ceramic pigment is disclosed. Additionally, a method and system for preparing permanent ink-jet images is also provided.
US07677719B2	Inkjet recording apparatus An inkjet recording apparatus includes a holding face, an inkjet head including plural nozzles arranged along a predetermined direction correspondingly with a predetermined resolution, a first moving mechanism which performs a first movement of moving at least one of the inkjet head and the holding member in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, a second moving mechanism which performs a second movement of moving the holding member in the predetermined direction, and a first movement controlling unit which controls the first moving mechanism to perform the first movement first and second times. In the second time, the inkjet head and the holding member are moved in directions that are opposite to directions in the first time. A second movement controlling unit controls the second moving mechanism to, after the first movement for the first time, perform the second movement by one half of a distance corresponding to the predetermined resolution.
US07677715B2	Ink jet recording apparatus When an image is formed by imparting aqueous ink discharged from a recording head onto a recording medium P, water content contained in the aqueous ink is evaporated by a heater to suppress curl generated in the recording medium P after the image formation. The aqueous ink contains at least 15% by weight of curl control agent, and the viscosity of the aqueous ink is lower than 4 cp. The viscosity is increased to suppress the curl generation by evaporating the water content contained in the aqueous ink imparted on the recording medium P after the image formation.
US07677714B2	Inkjet inks providing improved wet smudge on porous print media A printing system for use in inkjet printing. The printing system includes an inkjet ink having a free binder, an additional free binder, and a chemically modified pigment, a fixer fluid and a porous print medium.
US07677704B2	Printhead unit cell having welled heater element A unit cell of a printhead is provided having a multi-layer substrate defining an ink inlet, one or more side walls extending from the substrate around the ink inlet, a nozzle plate supported by the side walls to define a chamber in fluid communication with the ink inlet, where the nozzle plate defines an aperture through which ink in the chamber can be ejected, and a looped and elongate heater element suspended within the chamber, which can be heated so that bubbles are generated in ink within the chamber and ink is ejected from the aperture. The elongate heater element terminates in a peripheral well in which the side walls are received.
US07677697B2	Droplet discharging head with a through hole having a protrusion on a surface, droplet discharging device and a functional-film forming device A droplet discharging head includes a first through hole having an outlet for discharging of a liquid material and a second through hole having an inlet for injection of the liquid material, the second through hole having a protrusion on surface.
US07677693B2	Line printing type inkjet image forming apparatus and method of enhancing printed image quality A line printing type inkjet image forming apparatus and a method of enhancing printed image quality. The inkjet image forming apparatus includes a printhead having one or more subheads having nozzles and a length corresponding to a width of a print medium, a driving unit to drive the nozzles, a first feeding path, a second feeding path through which the print medium is guided to be again fed along the first feeding path, a path conversion guide unit being disposed in a position where the first and second feeding paths intersect to guide the print medium to be discharged or fed along the second feeding path, a print medium feeding unit, and a controller to synchronize operations of the driving unit, the path conversion guide unit, and the print medium feeding unit, wherein the controller drives the nozzles and the nozzles divided in groups in the same direction time-divisionally.
US07677691B2	Droplet jetting applicator and method of manufacturing coated body A droplet jetting applicator includes: a droplet jetting head which freely moves and includes a nozzle surface with a plurality of nozzles formed, from which droplets are jetted; a suction section which sucks the droplets jetted by the droplet jetting head from a facing position facing the nozzle surface; a support/transfer section which supports the suction section, freely moves together with the droplet jetting head, and moves the supported suction section to the facing position and a non-facing position which is apart from the facing position; and an exhaust section which evacuates the suction section to give the suction section a suction force.
US07677688B2	Image forming apparatus and control method thereof When printing an image on a printing sheet, it is judged whether or not an RFID tag has been arranged in the printing sheet. When an RFID tag has been arranged, an image indicating the presence of RFID tag is printed, or an RFID tag cutting assistant line or the like for invalidating RFID tag is printed, whereby the user can easily recognize the presence of RFID tag. Also, the user can easily cut out and invalidate the RFID tag. When the user's information has been recorded on the RFID tag, a mark indicating the writing of information into RFID tag is attached to the printing sheet, whereby the user can easily recognize the presence/absence of information recorded on RFID tag. Consequently, there can be provided a method capable of identifying and easily discarding a printing sheet with RFID tag which can leak out the user's secret, privacy information or the like, and a method for easily judging whether or not ID information has already been recorded on a printing sheet with RFID tag.
US07677686B2	High nozzle density printhead ejecting low drop volumes A printhead assembly that has a printhead substrate having a plurality of drop generators formed thereon at an area density of at least six drop generators per square millimeter. The droplets emitted have a drop volume less than 8 pico liters. The fluid forming the droplets has a viscosity in the range of 2 to 5 centipoise. A high area density of drop generators and relatively low droplet volume of water-based ink provides high print resolutions and energy efficient operation.
US07677679B2	Slide assembly A slide assembly includes a first slide (10), a second slide (20) slidably attached to the first slide, and a third slide (30) incorporated with a releasing member (50) slidably attached to the second slide. The first slide includes a stop (14) and a block (16). The second slide has a stop piece (28) and a slot (26) for movably receiving a retention pin (40). When the first, second, and third slides are in a fully extended state, the retention pin and the stop piece are resisted by the stop and the block of the first slide respectively, thereby restraining sliding movement between the second slide and the first slide; when the third slide is retracted from the fully extended state to a semi-extended state, the retention pin is lifted by the releasing member and disengaged from the stop, thereby allowing the second slide to retract into the first slide.
US07677675B2	Method and apparatus for making brushes A method and apparatus for continuously making a brush mat for brush manufacture integrates a continuous source of extruded and cut filaments with forming an extrusion of thermoplastic material on an end of the filaments to form the brush mat. The brush mat can then be cut and used in its straight configuration or shaped in a ring or other form as part of a subsequent brush making step.
US07677654B2	Foldable armrest An armrest for a vehicle seat includes a seat cushion and a backrest. The armrest is intended to be turned around a pivot axis between a first active position and a second folded-away position. The armrest includes an upper part, which in the active position is positioned with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel to a substantially vertical plane through a side surface constituting an outer edge surface of the vehicle seat and intended to support a user's forearm, and at least one lower part provided with a fixing device for attaching the upper part to the vehicle seat. The lower part includes a linking mechanism arranged for setting the upper part in a transverse direction between a first position outside the side surface and an adjustable second position, and a locking device that is arranged to activate a catch that locks the upper part in a set position after it has been moved to the second position. A vehicle seat provided with an armrest and to a vehicle including an armrest are also provided.
US07677647B2	Adjustable mounting restraint device A work vehicle includes a frame, a cab structure connected to the frame and a seat connected to the frame. A substantially rigid restraining device of unitary construction is pivotably connected behind the seat to any one of the frame, the cab structure, or the frame and the cab structure. The pivotable connection between the restraining device and the frame and/or the cab structure is adjustable.
US07677642B2	Butt joint for trailer side wall A butt joint assembles side panels of a side wall of a trailer to the base rail of the trailer. The butt joint positions the side panels over the base rail and vertically aligns the outer surfaces of the side panels and the base rail, which provides for an improved trailer side wall.
US07677639B2	Active material based closure hinge and alignment process An adjustable closure hinge assembly, includes a first hinge portion having a first aperture, a second hinge portion having a second aperture coaxially aligned with the first aperture, a hinge member disposed in the first and second apertures for joining the first and second hinge portions, wherein the hinge member further comprises a spacer intermediate walls defining the first and second apertures and the hinge member, wherein the spacer comprises an active material, and an activation device in operative communication with the active material, wherein the activation device is operable to selectively apply an activation signal to the active material and effect a reversible change in at least one property of the active material, wherein the change in the at least one property is effective to provide up to six degrees of freedom to the hinge member and less than or equal to two degrees of freedom in the absence of the activation signal.
US07677633B2	Convertible vehicle and hinge device In a convertible vehicle having a folding convertible top (16), whose rear side is affixed to a tensioning bow (20) laterally supported relative to the vehicle, and a rear trunk lid (14) laterally supported relative to the vehicle, wherein its front side is arranged in the vicinity of the tensioning bow in its closed state, the tensioning bow (20) can be brought into an upwardly pivoted position during the opening of the rear trunk lid (14) or when the rear trunk lid is opened, so that an opening for loading of a luggage compartment, which is arranged underneath the rear trunk lid and underneath the tensioning bow at least when the folding convertible top is closed, is enlarged.
US07677629B2	Movement device for vehicle seat A movement device for a vehicle seat includes lower rails extending in a forward or rearward direction of a vehicle are arranged in a vehicle width direction on a vehicle floor. An upper rail provided at a lower part of a seat slidably movably engages with the lower rails. A recess is formed in the vehicle floor, enabling a carriage to be conveyed between the lower rails along the vehicle width direction. The carriage is separated from the vehicle floor, and guide rails are installed on the carriage. The guide rails are provided in extensions of the lower rails so as to be capable of directly accepting a sliding movement of the upper rail from the lower rails, as the upper rail is removed from the lower rail into the extension thereof.
US07677627B2	Vehicle with cabin A vehicle with a cabin comprising: a vehicle body supported by a plurality of wheels; a cabin bracket supported by the vehicle body; and an elastic member disposed between the cabin bracket and the cabin, wherein the cabin bracket comprises: a fixed member fixed to the vehicle body, a higher rigidity portion extended to the outward side of the body from the fixed member, and a lower rigidity portion that is extended to the outward side from the end portion of the outward side of the higher rigidity portion, and that is lower in rigidity in the vertical direction than the higher rigidity portion; and a vibration suppressing weight disposed at the end portion in the outward direction of the cabin bracket.
US07677626B2	Multi-functional vehicle tailgate A deployable multi-functional tailgate apparatus forms a ramp platform and bulkhead piece, and is stowable against and deployable from an inner surface of a dual-action tailgate door which is usable as a swinging or a drop-style tailgate door. A damping mechanism controls the rate of descent of the platform. The bulkhead piece seals against the vehicle body when deployed to form a barrier, and secures a piece of cargo. A door assembly has a dual-action tailgate door and a multi-functional tailgate apparatus, with the apparatus being deployable as a ramp platform for accessing the rear cargo area when the tailgate door is used as a swinging-style tailgate door, and to form a bulkhead piece for transporting a piece of cargo external to the rear cargo area when the tailgate door is used as a drop-style tailgate door.
US07677625B2	Extendable flatbed manufactured primarily from aluminum A primarily aluminum extendable flatbed trailer has front and rear flatbed sections adjustable to various trailer lengths. Reinforcing plates with holes therein are connected to an aluminum longitudinal rail on one flatbed section. Holes in the rail aligned with the reinforcing plate holes removably receive a locking pin which secures the front section to the rear section. The locking pin slidably engages the reinforcing plates and associated wear bars. A generally vertical web strengthener is secured to a vertical longitudinal web on the rail adjacent the suspension of the trailer. Tubular aluminum braces are used in various locations. A friction reducing plastic slide member on one flatbed section slidably engages the other flatbed section. Another trailer includes first, second and third flatbed sections whereby the first and second sections are joinable in an extendable configuration and the first and third sections are joinable in a standard configuration.
US07677623B2	Active rigging device An active rigging system, using multiple lines to support a load, places a constant tension on at least one of the lines. The constant tension allows a resistance to slack in the line, which in turn allows the line to maintain support of the lines' respective share of the load. This configuration allows a reduction of stress in the load and an enablement of support of loads having an unequal weight distribution. Additionally, the invention includes a method for relieving stress from a load, supported by multiple lines generally susceptible to slack. The method includes placing a constant tension on at least one of the lines to allow that line to resist slack. The resistance to slack involves utilizing a tension force and an adjustment of the line via a pulley.
US07677622B2	Method for operating a vacuum handling device A method is proposed for operating a vacuum handling device controlled by a programmable controller (39) which can be connected to a machine controller (10), with at least one vacuum generator (28) and with a number of gripper modules (20), which are connected to the vacuum generator and are each equipped with a first pressure sensor (46) and with a control valve (44) for the vacuum in the gripper module, and which are connected to the programmable controller. The control valve in the gripper module is closed in a first switching state (vacuum on) of the programmable controller and is detected up to the control valve (44) by means of a second pressure sensor (78) in the vacuum generator.
US07677620B1	Disc retrieving apparatus A disc retrieving apparatus includes an elongated pole that has a first end and a second end. The pole is telescopic and is selectively extended into an engaged position or retracted into a stored position. A head is attached to the pole adjacent to the first end of the pole. The head includes a plate attached to the pole and a plurality of tines extending away from the plate. The tines are approximately coplanar with each other. Each of the tines has a distal end with respect to the plate. Each of a plurality of teeth is attached to one of the distal end. The teeth extend downwardly from a plane of the tines. The pole is extended to the engaged position as needed to retrieve an object from water with the head.
US07677619B2	Collapsible remote mechanical grasper for handling explosive devices A collapsible remote mechanical grasping apparatus that can be used to grasp explosive devices is provided. The collapsible remote mechanical grasping apparatus comprises a first rod and a second rod which are connected by a joint assembly. The collapsible remote mechanical grasping apparatus further includes a claw assembly pivotably connected to the second rod, a cable assembly mounted to the first rod, and a slidable locking sleeve assembly positioned around the first rod, the joint assembly, and the second rod. The cable assembly comprises a claw control lever and an actuation cable that is mechanically connected to the claw control lever and the claw assembly. Actuation of the claw control lever causes the actuation of the claw assembly. Additionally, the joint assembly allows the second rod to pivot towards the first rod when the slidable locking sleeve is retracted from the second rod and the joint assembly.
US07677604B2	Adjustable offset bushing type coupling A nested bushing coupling for attaching a plumbing component to a conduit. The assembly includes at least one or more nested bushings having off-centered openings which may be situated at various orientations within a receiver.
US07677603B2	Seal assembly for pipe-to-structure connections A seal assembly for effecting a fluid tight seal between a pipe and an opening in the wall of a structure, particularly a relatively thin-walled structure made of a rigid plastic, fiberglass, or of metal, for example. The seal assembly generally includes a seal ring and an annular nut. The seal ring includes a relatively rigid fastener component having external threads, and a relatively resilient sealing component joined to the fastener component and including a first sealing projection for providing a compressive seal between the seal ring and one side of the structure wall, and a second annular sealing projection for providing a compressive seal between the seal ring and the outer surface of a pipe inserted through the seal ring. The seal ring is inserted through the opening in the structure, and the annular nut is threaded onto the external threads of the fastener component and into engagement with a first side of the wall to thereby compress the first sealing projection against the opposite, second side of the wall. Thereafter, a pipe is inserted through the seal ring to compress the second sealing projection between the outer surface of the pipe and the seal ring.
US07677602B2	Tube fitting A tube fitting for a tube end has a first coupling member and a second coupling member joined with the first coupling member. A tube gripping device is disposed between the first coupling member and the second coupling member such that assembly of the first coupling member with said second coupling member to a pulled-up condition causes the tube gripping device to be plastically deformed and swaged into the tube to grip and seal the tube. The first coupling member engages an internal surface of the second coupling member to provide an indication of completed pull-up.
US07677595B2	Curtain airbag mounting device An apparatus for mounting an airbag inflator to a vehicle includes a mounting adapter. The mounting adapter includes a base and at least one slot, wherein the base captures the inflator. A p-bracket that engages the slot is also added, wherein the p-bracket captures the inflator. A mounting tether is also looped around the p-bracket. A tether retainer or a wire harness retainer may also be added to the adapter.
US07677588B2	Hitch assembly with a guide element A hitch assembly comprises a first coupling element and a second coupling element suited to be latched to the first coupling element. A rod member has a first end connected to the first coupling element. An actuator has a movable output member that can move between a retracted and an extended position.
US07677584B2	Motorized collapsible step The present invention provides an improved collapsible step assembly for recreational vehicles. The movable step apparatus comprises a mounting frame, at least one step mounted to the frame through a linkage assembly, and a pivot assembly having a pivot rod with a longitudinal axis of rotation. In use, the pivot rod is rotatably mounted to the frame and rotates the linkage assembly and the steps between an extended position and a retracted position. Rotating the pivot rod in a first direction moves the step to the extended position, and rotating the pivot rod in the opposite direction moves the step to the retracted position. A two-part linkage is rotatably engaged between the pivot rod and the step linkage and transfers downward forces on the step when retracted and when extended to the drive unit so that the step stays in its position.
US07677582B2	Vehicular component apparatus An apparatus for removing, installing and/or servicing a vehicular component, such as a wheel/tyre, a motor or the like, particularly for large mining and/or earthmoving equipment. The apparatus includes a carrier device (100) and a component handling device (200). The carrier device (100) enables the apparatus to be moved over a substrate surface, and is preferably a U-shaped chassis having a pair of outwardly extending arms (140), and at least three wheels (120,130). The component handling device (200) is removably coupled to the carrier device (100). The component handling device (200) includes a frame (270) of complementary shape to the chassis to support the lower portion of the vehicular component, and, a support element (210). At least one retaining arm (220) extends from the support element (210) to provide support to an upper end of the vehicular component.
US07677581B2	Travel cooler with collapsible sidewalls A portable cooler assembly includes sidewalls connected by a bottom wall. The sidewalls and bottom wall collectively define an interior space. A rim is attached to a top of the collapsible side walls, and a lid is supported on the rim and encloses the interior space. A base defines a container receiving recess within which the bottom wall is received and supported. A drain conduit defines a passageway in fluid communication with a lower portion of the interior space. When the portable cooler assembly is in a first configuration, the collapsible sidewalls extend outwardly from the container receiving recess. When the portable cooler assembly is in a second configuration, the collapsible sidewalls are completely received within the container receiving recess in a collapsed condition, and an outer peripheral edge portion of the rim is at least partially received within the container receiving recess.
US07677580B2	Travel cooler assembly having separable wheeled base and insulated container A travel cooler includes a wheeled platform and an insulated container configured to be selectively coupled to, and uncoupled from, the wheeled platform. The wheeled platform includes a base, a plurality of wheels mounted to the base for rolling movement of the platform and a first coupling component fixedly disposed on the base. The insulated container includes a second coupling component fixedly disposed on the container. The first and second coupling components are disengaged from one another when the insulated container is uncoupled from the wheeled platform. The first and second coupling components are disposed in interlocking engagement when the insulated container is coupled to the wheeled platform, whereby the insulated container is securely coupled to the wheeled platform in fixed disposition relative thereto for safe transportation on the wheeled platform. The base defines a container receiving recess within which a bottom portion of the insulated container is received when the insulated container is coupled to the wheeled platform.
US07677576B2	Electronic last-to-answer timed response game An electronic game that awards the last player to correctly answer a question before the expiration of a timer. The game includes a plurality of buttons and corresponding indicators coupled to a housing. Within the housing is a controller that causes a question to be displayed on a screen. A timer also counts to a time interval. The controller activates an indicator associated with a button that was depressed last by a player that provides a correct answer to the question at the expiration of a timer. The last player can then move a token on a board. The player that moves their token to the end of the board wins the game.
US07677575B2	Apparatus for playing a lawn game Golf Gladiator is a lawn game of skill involving balls or other objects connected by a string or rope and a ladder design that has rungs at various distances from the players due to its unique angled design. To play, the ladder assembly is placed a predetermined distance from the players. A player grabs one ball and rope assembly and swings its at the ladder rungs, attempting to get it to wrap around a rung. Each rung has a point value assigned to it. There are three ball and rope assemblies per person or team. Each player or team throws all of his or its ball and rope assemblies and then the next player or team takes his or its turn. A variety of variations on these rules are possible.
US07677567B2	Cubic assembly puzzle and support structure A game or puzzle including a plurality of polyomino assembly pieces and a support base. The support base aids the user in visualizing the shape of the puzzle to be assembled and provides support to the assembly pieces during puzzle assembly.
US07677564B2	Sudoku-type puzzle board game and method of play A game apparatus is provided for one or more players having a first game member that includes a puzzle or a game area having indicia forming a grid having sub-grids including a plurality of cells. Each cell is assigned indicia in a solution pattern of the puzzle such that a distinct indicia appears once in each row, column, and sub-grid. The first game member displays the solution indicia for some of the cells and the remaining cells are divided into a number of sub-cells bearing the possible solution indicia for the corresponding cell such that each sub-cell includes a distinct indicia. A player speculates which sub-cell bears the correct solution indicia for the respective cell. The apparatus further includes at least one game piece adapted to randomly display an indicia when manipulated, the indicia modifying a game parameter such as a player's score or number of possible speculations the player can make in one turn.
US07677553B2	Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus An air blowing portion blows air toward an edge surface on a downstream side in a sheet feeding direction of a sheet. A presser portion presses an upper surface of the sheet at both side edge portions in a width direction of the sheet, thereby allowing, throughout an entire region of the sheets in a sheet feeding direction, a central portion in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction of the sheet to blow up with the air blown by the air blowing portion.
US07677552B2	Unstacker apparatus having a retractable blower member Unstacker apparatus (1) for unstacking flat items (E), the unstacker apparatus comprising a flat item feed magazine (M) in which the flat items are disposed in a stack and on edge and are moved in a certain direction (D) until they reach an unstacking plate (6) disposed in alignment with said feed magazine, whereupon they are ejected one-by-one in a perpendicular direction (P) that is perpendicular to said certain direction (D), the unstacker apparatus further comprising a blower member (13) which is disposed so as to blow a jet of air onto the flat items, and which is mounted in a manner such as to be retractable into the unstacking plate.
US07677550B2	Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming system A sheet feeding apparatus includes: a sheet tray in which a plurality of sheets is to be stacked; a sheet feeding section which vacuums a sheet from the plurality of sheets stacked in the sheet tray and feeds the sheet to an image forming apparatus; a first sheet separator which has a member which separates each sheet from the plurality of sheets when the sheet feeding section feeds the plurality of sheets; and a second sheet separator which has a forward roller rotated in a sheet transport direction, which feeds the sheet to the image forming apparatus, and a parallel retard roller rotatable in an opposite direction so as to separate each sheet from the plurality of sheets.
US07677549B2	Sheet supplying apparatus A sheet supplying apparatus capable of being connected with sheet feeding apparatuses, image forming apparatuses and post processing apparatuses having: a common conveyance path to convey the sheet from the apparatuses on the upper stream side or sheet storing sections to down stream side having, a plurality of sheet feeding paths, a receiving conveyance path, a sending conveyance path, and a transit path to connect the receiving conveyance path and sending conveyance path, wherein the sending conveyance path has a shared conveyance path in which a plurality of sheet conveyance paths to feed the sheet from a plurality of the sheet storing sections are merge and reach to a sheet outlet, and the transit conveyance path is provided integrally with any one of the sheet storing sections, which can be withdrawn from a sheet supplying apparatus main body, at the bottom of the sheet storing section thereof.
US07677545B2	Paper-sheet storing and feeding device A sheet storing/feeding device includes a receptacle for holding standing sheets, a stacking and feeding mechanism to successively carry the sheets into the receptacle and to feed a forefront sheet out of the receptacle. A pushing member configured to be optionally advanced and retracted is provided on the side of the forefront sheet in the receptacle, and a holding member is provided to be in contact with a backmost sheet in the receptacle. A retaining member is provided to be optionally advanced and retracted relative to a storage space defined between the stacking and feeding mechanism and the holding member. The retaining member, when advanced, can hold the sheets in the receptacle between the retaining member and the holding member so as to bring them into a temporary holding state, while, when retracted, can release the paper-sheets in the temporary holding state.
US07677543B2	Sheet handling apparatus A sheet handling apparatus is provided for collating or inserting inserts. The sheet handling apparatus has a raceway adapted to transport sets of inserts at a raceway transport rate. An insert feed line is provided adapted to feed individual inserts to the sets of inserts on the raceway at the raceway transport rate. The insert feed line has a Singulater adapted to separate the individual inserts from bundles of inserts at a separation rate. The separation rate may be varied to allow the insert feed line to feed the individual inserts to the sets of inserts on the raceway at the raceway transport rate.
US07677539B2	Force control strut A force control strut including a housing having first and second ends and an internal chamber, a rod member having an inner end reciprocally movable inside the housing and along the internal chamber, a guide member forming a bushing allowing reciprocation of the rod member in the housing, a bottom plug fixed in the internal chamber, a guide piston secured to an inner end of the rod and slidable along an inner surface of the internal chamber, a first coil spring positioned between the guide piston and one end of the housing to bias the rod member in a given direction in the housing, a first external connector fixed to the rod member, a second connector fixed to the bottom plug, and a damper that includes a plunger reciprocally mounted in a force controlling passageway inside the rod member and movable in a passageway of the rod member.
US07677537B2	Stopper structure for engine mount A stopper structure including: a rigid abutting member extending in its longitudinal direction with a rectangular cross sectional shape; and a rubber stopper having a base portion of tubular cross sectional shape and secured press-fit onto the rigid abutting member without being adhesive thereto, two peripheral projections formed on laterally opposite sides of a first abutting plane of the base portion and extending in the longitudinal direction, and a central projection formed on an intermediate area interposed between the peripheral projections of the first abutting plane of the base portion. The peripheral projections are situated above laterally opposite edges of a first abutting plane of the rigid abutting member, and have a width dimension extending inside and outside the laterally opposite edges. The central projection projects outward from the first abutting plane of the base portion with the same height as the peripheral projections.
US07677536B2	Humidifier with controlled heated scent mechanism A portable appliance including a humidifier and an electrically heated scent mechanism. The heated scent mechanism includes a scent generator and an electrical heating element. The heating element and humidifier may be independently controllable such that the appliance can serve as either a humidifier or air-freshener, individually or simultaneously.
US07677532B2	System to guide a wire, chain or cable onboard a vessel A system is described for handling a wire, a chain, a cable, etc. (12) onboard a vessel, comprising a number of winches (10) to pull in and let out said wire, chain, etc. (12), and also a number of tow pins (14) and shark jaws (16), mounted in an area at the stern of the vessel, and which is arranged to guide and/or to hold said wire, chain, etc. (12) that runs from or to said winches (10). The system further comprises at least one centering device (18) arranged between said tow pins (14) and shark jaws (16) and winches (10), preferably adjoining said tow pins (14) and shark jaws (16), where the centering device (18) comprises at least two guiding plates (20) that can be raised and lowered and which are arranged to guide and possibly to hold said wire, chain, etc. (12).
US07677530B2	Flow rate regulation valve A flow rate regulation valve comprising a housing (11) formed with a valve hole (13), a needle valve (60) moved relative to the valve seat (16) in the housing, and a flow rate adjust knob (40) mounted at the proximal end of the needle valve extending from the housing, wherein the needle valve is moved relative to the valve seat by rotating the flow rate adjust knob thereby regulating the flow rate of fluid flowing through the valve hole, the flow rate regulation valve further comprising a knob fixing means (35) for stopping the rotation of the flow rate adjust knob. As a result, the flow rate is prevented from being changed accidentally by a user or the like. Further, the value may have a seal adjust means (20) adjusting the sealed state between the housing and the needle valve. The seal adjust means may be formed as a part of the housing, and may be fixed to the housing by a fixing pin (15).
US07677528B2	Controller A controller comprises power transmitting means (11) for amplifying the force applied on the operating shaft (6) and transmitting to the valve rod (4); and a slow start means (12) for slowly moving the operating shaft (6) upward are arranged. The slow start means (12) includes a piston (8) that moves up and down with respect to the operating shaft (6); a pressure spring (44), arranged between a pressure spring receiver (43) arranged at the operating shaft (6) and the piston (8); a constantly opened communication passage (47) and an auxiliary communication passage (49) for communicating the pressure chamber (10) and the operation gas introducing chamber (27); a flow adjusting valve (48) provided in the constantly opened communication passage (47); and an open-close valve (50), arranged in the auxiliary communication passage (49), for opening the communication passage (49) when the piston (8) is at the lower most position and closing the communication passage (49) when raised from the lower most position by a predetermined distance and reaching the auxiliary communication shut off position.
US07677527B2	Dual position pilot operated valve assembly A dual position pilot operated valve assembly having a main piston, with a valve member, reciprocable within a valve body, wherein the valve body is adapted for sealingly mating with a valve seat and passage located intermediate the valve body inlet and outlet ports, the valve body having a cylindrical adapter secured to an open end thereof and housing a secondary piston, reciprocable therein, with an axial stem depending from the second piston bottom surface and extending through the adaptor to the first piston cavity for intermittent contact therewith; and an end cap secured to and closing the adapter and having an inlet port interconnected with a source of high pressure control gas and respective first and second conduits leading to the main and secondary piston bore cavities, with an adjustment mechanism controlling the degree of opening/closing of the valve assembly. Several methods of operation are also set forth.
US07677518B2	Adjustable stand for monitor and keyboard The adjustable stand has lower and upper components spaced vertically apart. The upper component supports a monitor of a computer and is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the lower component while the lower component remains fixed in position. An operator of the computer can accordingly adjust the monitor to eye-level whether the operator is standing or is seated. A platform supports a keyboard and is movable with the upper component. The level of the platform may be adjusted selectively upwardly and downwardly relative to the upper component.
US07677514B1	No drill equipment support bracket The invention is an equipment support bracket that can be secured to a vehicle frame without drilling holes. The top bracket has a top tang that fits over the top web of the frame. A bottom bracket has a bottom tang that secures against the bottom web. Once installed on the frame, tensioning bolts tighten the top tang against the top web. In one embodiment, the equipment can be first attached to the support bracket and then the support bracket with equipment attached is positioned between the top bracket and the rail of the frame. In another embodiment, the equipment bracket can be attached to an I beam frame.
US07677494B2	Boarding ramp device for aircraft When a single door for opening and closing an opening in a body is opened outward with its lower part as a fulcrum, a plurality of plate-shaped steps of a foldable boarding ramp provided on an inner face of the door are swung in association with one another from a stored position along the inner face of the door to a deployed position to be used for ingress and egress of the passengers. Since the boarding ramp is folded into the stored position, it does not impair the space of a passenger compartment. Further, since the steps are folded into a position so as not to interfere with a window provided in an upper part of the door, they do not give an oppressed feeling to the passengers in the passenger compartment. The step is deployed to cover the window provided in the upper part of the door during use.
US07677492B1	Automatic mechanical control of rotor blade collective pitch A rotary aircraft has a fuselage with wings and a rotor. The blades of the rotor are twistable about a pitch axis to vary collective pitch. A collective pitch shaft moves in an advancing direction to increase the collective pitch. Weights are mounted to the blades for outward movement along the blades in response to an increase in rotational speed of the blades. A linkage between each of the weights and the collective pitch shaft moves the collective pitch shaft in the advancing direction in response to an increase in rotational speed. A spring acting through a cam mechanism exerts a non linear force in opposition to the outward movement of the blades.
US07677491B2	Methods and apparatus for airborne systems In various representative aspects, an airborne delivery system according to various aspects of the present invention comprises a container and an autorotating rotor system. The container may contain contents, and the rotor system facilitates control of at least a portion of the flight of the airborne system and the descent. Exemplary features may include a guidance system, for example to guide and control the airborne system, and a wing for gliding.
US07677490B2	Apparatus and method for unwinding rolls of elongated flexible material, such as electrical wire A dispenser is adapted to be used in unwinding a roll of elongated flexible material. The dispenser includes a support bracket, a central member rotatably mounted to the support bracket and a plurality of hinged support arm assemblies attached to the central support member and movable between an extended position and a retracted position.
US07677489B2	Wire caddy The wire caddy is designed to hold single or multiple spools of electrical wire commonly used in the building trades. This device allows wire spools to be inserted onto a support shaft and retained onto the support shaft by insertion of a retaining pin through retaining pin holes in the end of the support shaft. Wire is guided off the spool through a guide hole in the support bracket.The diameter of the support shaft is smaller than the diameter of the wire spool end plate center holes. The center line of the support shaft is positioned higher than the center line of the wire spool end plate holes. This creates a gap between the bottom of the support shaft and the edge of the wire spool hole. Thereby the wire spool is resting on and supported by the friction plate, and not the support shaft. Upon applying an upward pulling force, the wire spool is lifted off the friction plate allowing for uncoiling of the wire. Once the pulling force is stopped, the weight of the wire spool will force the wire spool end plates down onto a friction plate that will stop the turning momentum of the wire spool, causing the wire spool to stop quickly. By stopping the turning momentum quickly, turns of wire on the spool will not uncoil themselves thus preventing entanglement with each other.
US07677487B2	Fly reel The present invention relates to a fly reel, wherein the drag system installed in frame comprises: a drag knob that is connected rotation-controllably to one side periphery of center shaft; a drag spindle that is connected rotationally to periphery of said center shaft and distantly from said drag knob; a friction means for restraining controllably any one-directional rotation force of said drag spindle in accordance with transferred amount of said drag knob moved to axial direction of said center shaft; a drag spindle insert that is inserted rotationally to periphery of said center shaft and rotated by rotational manipulation of said spool; and a unidirectional bearing that is inserted at inside of said drag spindle for permitting one directional rotation and restraining the other directional rotation of said drag spindle insert being inserted therein. Overall configuration thereby can be made efficient and simple; direction setting of unidirectional bearing can be changed easily if necessary.
US07677485B2	Multi-blade food processing apparatus A multi-blade food processing apparatus having two independent blade assemblies, each of which blade assemblies having two opposed horizontal cutting blades, wherein the upper of two independent blade assemblies is selectively removable from the apparatus, the cutting blades are spaced apart in elevation, and are offset in orientation 90 degrees for improved cutting efficiency. The blade assemblies are positioned at 90 degrees from each other but may include additional positions for orienting the blades at any angle with respect to each other.
US07677482B2	Electric charge concentration type droplet dispensing device having nonconductive capillary nozzle Provided is a droplet dispensing device having a nonconductive capillary nozzle. The droplet dispensing device comprises: a nonconductive capillary nozzle disposed in a downward position; a pump connected with the nonconductive capillary nozzle through a hermetically sealed fluid tube and generating a negative pressure to decrease the influence of gravity on a solution within the nonconductive capillary nozzle and the fluid tube; and an open circuit voltage supplier applying a voltage to the solution. The droplet dispensing device supplies the solution by capillary force to regularly maintain the shape of a droplet surface in the tip of the nonconductive capillary nozzle without using a separate driving device.
US07677470B2	Spraying device A spraying device includes a gas can and a sprayer/joint combination. The gas can is formed with a collar defining a cutout. The sprayer/joint combination includes a frame, two shoes, an expanding element and a sprayer. The frame defines two slots and includes a block formed thereon and disposed in the cutout. The shoes are pivotally connected to the frame, and each of them includes a head and a tail. The expanding element includes a cam with two lobes. The expanding element can be pivoted between a locking position where the lobes push the heads of the shoes against the collar of the gas can and an unlocking position where the lobes contact the tails of the shoes. The sprayer includes a nozzle, a knob and a connective unit. The connective unit of the sprayer is connected to the expanding element through the frame.
US07677469B1	Sprinkler with reversing planetary gear drive A sprinkler for irrigating turf and/or landscaping includes a turbine and a nozzle. A planetary gear drive and a reversing mechanism rotatably coupling the turbine and the nozzle. The planetary gear drive includes at least a portion of the reversing mechanism.
US07677466B2	Insulated rail joint assembly An insulated rail joint assembly comprises a rail with a thick web section, held in place by joint bars and secured with electrically isolated fasteners. The joint bars have non-uniform cross-sections, being shaped with a thicker midsection area and thinner ends. Electrically non-conductive shear pins through the rail and the joint bars provide shear resistance and prevent glue bond failure. High strength cloth between the rail ends and between the rail and the joint bars strengthens the joint, as does an insulating rail clip resiliently fastened to an insulating tie plate, which itself may be supported on a cross tie of increased width.
US07677461B2	Digital labels for product authentication A label for a product includes an electronic display for displaying label information. The digital label includes a processor, a memory, and a display configured to store and display label information about a product to which the label is attached. The digital label also stores product authentication data for authenticating the product to which the label is attached.
US07677460B2	Smartcard method and computer system A method and computer system for determining the compatibility, for application to a smartcard, of smartcard personalization profiles, the respective smartcard personalization profiles describing respective file trees on the smartcard that are required by respective applications. The method involves determining if the sets of paths of the file trees described by the respective smartcard personalization profiles are disjoint.
US07677450B1	Control system for cashless transactions at metered vending output devices A local area network has a first node to receive an input in the form of account identification data, and a second node to receive this input from the first node via a transport layer protocol. A vending control device connected to the second node includes a relay to be activated and deactivated by the second node. The relay is to enable and disable the functioning of an output device. A circuit is to meter an amount of output processed by the output device. The vending control device is to communicate the amount of output that has been processed to the second node. The second node calculates a cost of the processed output and sends the cost via the transport layer protocol to a remote server. The remote server in turn sends the costs to a gateway through which a payment transaction is settled. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US07677445B2	Method of counting currency A method of counting currency documents including a plurality of coded data portions thereon. Each coded data portion is indicative of an identity of the currency document and the method includes, sensing at least one coded data portion for each currency document using a sensing device. This is used to generate indicating data, which is transferred to a computer system, to allow the computer system to determine the identity for each currency document. The identity is then used to determine a value for each currency document, allowing the documents to be counted.
US07677435B2	Double-walled paperboard cup Described is a double-walled heat-insulating paperboard cup which stacks with the aid of an upper stacking stopper. A particularly stable design is achieved by means of the embodiment of the upper stacking stopper, which results in good stackability and de-stackability of the cups. Furthermore a process is described which is applied for the manufacture of a cup of this type.
US07677434B2	Containers with tapered sidewalls and stacking tabs A stackable container has a bottom panel, upstanding sidewalls, upstanding end walls, and an open top. According to one aspect of the invention, narrow reinforcing flaps are attached to the upper edge of at least one of the side and end walls, defining a stacking ledge and reinforcing the walls against outward bulge. The reinforcing flaps extend over only a small portion of the height of the side or end wall, and corner post flaps extend from opposite ends of the reinforcing flaps, extending diagonally across interior corners of the container. According to another aspect, the side and/or end walls lean inwardly, defining a narrower footprint at the top of the container than at the bottom. In a specific embodiment one of the walls leans in more than the other. According to a further aspect, an indexing and aligning tab extends upwardly from an upper edge of the container, and a complementary notch is formed in a lower edge for receiving the tab when the containers are stacked. According to a still further aspect, stacking tabs extend upwardly from the upper edge of the container, and slots are formed in the bottom panel for receiving the tabs when containers are stacked. Locking flaps extend into the slots to frictionally engage and hold the tabs.
US07677432B2	Spot heat wirebonding Methods and systems are disclosed for forming secure wirebonds between electrical contacts in electronic device assemblies. Representative embodiments of the invention are described for forming a wirebond including system components and method steps for generating electromagnetic energy from a heat source and transmitting heat to a ball formed on a bondwire. Subsequently, pressure applied to the ball at the bonding site is used in the formation of a wirebond.
US07677427B2	Welding tool for friction-stir welding apparatus The invention is a welding tool used in a friction-stir welding apparatus for welding a plurality of members to be welded. The welding tool includes: a tool holder having a front end and a base end, the base end being held by the friction-stir welding apparatus so as to be driven to rotate and move by the friction-stir welding apparatus; and a welding unit of a wear resistant material adapted to be removably mounted on the front end of the tool holder, the welding unit mounted on the front end of the tool holder being immersed into a part of the members to be welded during a friction-stir welding.
US07677419B2	Syringes and methods of syringe manufacturing A syringe for holding fluids susceptible to void formation when frozen and thawed before use. The interior surface of the syringe sidewall may be roughened, which serves to prevent or significantly reduce the incidence of void formation in the fluid. The required level of surface roughening for counteracting void formation may be reduced by increasing the sidewall flexibility. Alternatively, the flexibility of the syringe sidewall may operate over certain thickness ranges to prevent or significantly reduce void formation in the fluid without intentionally roughening the interior surface.
US07677414B2	Device for applying foamed hot melt adhesive, and method for selectively applying foamed hot melt adhesive and solid hot melt adhesive In application of a foamed hot melt adhesive, a mixing ratio of foam can be selectably and quickly set, and also application of a foamed hot melt adhesive and that of a solid hot melt adhesive can be selectively performed by a single application device. A first gear pump and a second gear pump are driven by drive mechanisms independent from each other. The pressure of a liquid being sent by the pressure in the second compression process is detected, and this causes the speed of the first gear pump and the second gear pump to be sequence-controlled to automatically control the amount of mixing of gas. A gas suction opening is provided between the first gear pump and the second gear pump, and a mixer is provided between the gas suction opening and the second gear pump. The end of a return circuit is set on the downstream side of the first gear pump to prevent foam from returning to the tank side. A restriction valve is installed in a gun to produce a single bubble. The ratio of discharges between the first gear pump and the second gear pump is automatically controlled and set at a value greater than 1/1, enabling solid hot melt adhesive application and foamed hot melt application to be selectively performed.
US07677413B2	Pierceable dispenser container and closure A dispensing container having a neck with a throat opening closed by a cap having a pierceable membrane adjacent atop of the cap, the cap having a dispensing nozzle with a lumen therethrough and an overcap for enclosing the dispensing nozzle having a moveable plunger pin extending into the lumen of the nozzle and moveable therein to pierce the membrane.
US07677412B2	Fluid dispensing system suitable for dispensing liquid flavorings A fluid dispensing apparatus includes a pulse generator coupled to a pump that operates in discrete cycles. Each cycle includes a first part in which fluid is drawn into the pump through an inlet, and a second part in which fluid is expelled from the pump through an outlet. Each cycle results in a discrete, consistent volume of fluid being expelled. The pulse generator transmits discrete pulses to the pump, causing the pump to operate for a set number of cycles per pulse. The total number of cycles is a multiple of the number of pulses transmitted, so that the number of pulses determines the volume of fluid dispensed. Alternatively, the pump is driven through increments of the second part of the cycle, with the number of pulses supplied to the pump determining the proportion of the second part of the cycle completed, and therefore the volume of fluid dispensed.
US07677395B2	Recovery of reprocessable medical devices in a sharps container Reprocessable medical devices that have been disposed of in a sharps container are recovered, disinfected or sterilized, sorted, and packed for reprocessing in a generally continuous process. In one embodiment, either a sharps container or at least a portion of its contents is successively and controllably conveyed, either manually or automatically, through a plurality of processing stations that are configured to perform different operations. The operations performed by the processing stations can include, for example, detecting and identifying contents, cleaning and disinfecting, opening the sharps containers, separating and sorting their contents, and disposal of contents that are non-reprocessable. Reprocessable medical devices can be sorted by type as they move along on a conveyor.
US07677392B2	Trocar assembly tip protector A packaging device for a trocar assembly includes a housing member having a compliant first sleeve adapted for selective frictional retention of a trocar assembly component relative to the housing member and a compliant second sleeve adapted for selective frictional retention of a trocar assembly component relative to the housing member. The first sleeve includes an inlet opening at a first end thereof and a closed second end defining a shield member positioned about a tip of a trocar assembly component positioned therein. The second sleeve includes an inlet opening at a first end thereof and a closed second end defining a shield member positioned about a tip of a trocar assembly component positioned therein.
US07677388B2	Disk protecting plate A disk protecting plate includes a disk-shaped plate body having a central through hole. The plate body is provided on one side with a centered and low-raised annular wall, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs radially outward extended from the annular wall. Each of the reinforcing ribs has a top gradually inclined toward an outer circumferential periphery of the plate body. The disk protecting plate with the radially outward inclined reinforcing ribs may be made with reduced material to obtain a reinforced overall structural strength without forming an excessively thick outer periphery, and a plurality of disks concentrically stacked and packaged between two pieces of the disk protecting plates could therefore be effectively protected against damage caused by compression or impact against the disk protecting plate.
US07677386B1	Multi-component soap system A first uppermost tray is constructed of longitudinal and latitudinal components. Perforations are formed between the components. A fourth lowermost tray consists of a base, upstanding side and end walls and upstanding end walls. At least one intermediate tray is in a funnel like configuration. The intermediate tray has a centrally located aperture. The intermediate tray has spacer coupling posts separating the uppermost, intermediate and lowermost trays. A directing component is located above the base of the lowermost tray and beneath the aperture of the intermediate tray.
US07677381B2	Value medium processing device A small-sized value medium processing device discriminates the genuine/false status of coins, and reads or write processes an electric information recording medium. The value medium processing device allows a coin slotted into a slot to roll along a coin path for discriminating the coin genuine/false status wherein the coin in the coin path can be cancelled by a canceling device. Slots for a coin and for an electric value recording medium are at least partly common with each other. A detecting device for the electric value recording medium is provided in the electric value medium slot. A deactivating device deactivates the canceling device based on detection by the detecting device.
US07677378B2	Vehicular transmission A vehicular transmission, includes: an input shaft; a drive gear, fixed to the input shaft; an output shaft; a driven gear, brought in mesh with the drive gear, and provided at the output shaft; a hub configured to rotate along with the output shaft; a sleeve configured to rotate integrally with the hub, and configured to slide in an axial direction so as to connect the driven gear to the output shaft to drive; a parking gear, integrally formed with the sleeve; a claw member, provided at a vicinity of an outer periphery of the parking gear engageably with and disengageably from the parking gear; and a sleeve restricting member, provided with the claw member, and configured to restrict the sleeve from a movement in the axial direction when the claw member is moved in a direction of being engaged with the parking gear.
US07677373B2	Lock-up clutch control method A torque converter lock-up clutch may be controlled by a lock-up clutch regulator control valve. The valve is utilized to selectively direct a fluid to the torque converter or to a pressure regulator valve. For example, in a hydrodynamic condition of the torque converter, the valve permits fluid to flow to the torque converter. In a lock-up condition of the torque converter, the valve directs fluid to a pressure regulator valve which selectively permits pressure to build in the torque converter.
US07677365B2	Bicycle rim brake assembly A bicycle rim brake assembly includes a fastening shaft, a mounting part, a pair of brake arms and a pair of brake shoe attaching parts. The fastening shaft extends in an axial direction and is configured for attachment to a portion of a bicycle frame adjacent to the bicycle wheel. The mounting part includes a fastening portion that is configured such that the fastening shaft extends through the fastening portion. The mounting part and the fastening portion are movable between a plurality of mounting positions relative to the fastening shaft along a first direction that intersects the axial direction. The brake arms are supported in a freely pivotal manner on an outer perimeter of the mounting part. The brake shoe attaching parts are provided on respective ones of the brake arms.
US07677364B2	Elevator installation comprising a light module in the door sill profile An elevator installation contains an elevator car (12) that is arranged movably between floors (S1, S2) in an elevator hoistway (11). The elevator car (12) has a car door (14), and the elevator hoistway (11) has on the each floor (S1, S2) a hoistway door (13). Assigned to the car door (14), or to the hoistway door (13), is a sill-section (16). To draw attention to a gap (30), or give a warning of a step, between elevator car (12) and floor (S1, S2), it is proposed to arrange in the sill-section (16) of the elevator car (12), or of the floor (S1, S2), at least one light module (20, 21, 22).
US07677362B2	Actuator driving method and actuator driving circuit An actuator has a driving first coil and a driving second coil. A capacitor is electrically connected to both the first coil and the second coil through a discharge switch using electric power accumulated in a capacitor which can be selectively supplied. An operation portion for operating the discharge switch is electrically connected to the discharge switch. For example, when an electric power supplied to the operation portion is cut due to a power failure, the second coil and the capacitor are electrically connected to each other through the discharge switch.
US07677360B2	Shock absorbing fabric structures A shock absorbing fabric structure is a one-piece webbing. The shock absorbing fabric structure has a tubular-shaped high strength sheath and a high elongation member inside of the sheath. The sheath and the high elongation member are secured together at spaced apart connection locations and the high elongation member is generally not secured to the sheath between the connection locations. Heat treatment shrinks the length of the high elongation member. The sheath does not substantially shrink from the heat treatment relative to the high elongation member and gathers together in an accordion-like arrangement. A tensile load applied to the fabric structure stretches the high elongation member and unfolds the gathered sheath. The high strength sheath supports the tensile load when completely unfolded while the high elongation member absorbs energy as it stretches or elongates.
US07677346B2	Frame structure of motorcycle A head pipe is disposed in a front side of a vehicle frame. Left and right main pipes extend from the head pipe toward a rear side of the vehicle frame. The Left and right main pipes are welded to the head pipe. A down tube extends from the head pipe toward the rear side and welded to the head pipe. The head pipe includes: a head pipe main body supporting a steering shaft; a main pipe connection portion disposed in a rear upper portion of the head pipe, the main pipe connection portion to which a front ends of the left and right main pipes are welded; and a down tube connection portion disposed in a rear lower portion of the head pipe. The head pipe main body, the main pipe connection portion and the down tube connection portion are integrally formed with one another by a casting or a forging. The down tube connection portion includes: an extension connection portion extending from the head pipe main body in a extending direction of the down tube; and a welding connection portion formed at a rear end portion of the extension connection portion, the welding connection portion to which a front end of the down tube is welded.
US07677344B2	Hybrid remote control lawn mower A hybrid remote control lawn mower that includes embodiments to provide use in all seasons. These embodiments include, a wagon, a spreader, a dethacher, a leaf collector, a leaf blower, a lawn trimmer, a lawn edger, an edger, a hedge trimmer, a snow plow blade, a snow blower, etc. The hybrid remote control lawn mower allows an operator to stay at a safe distance away from the hybrid remote control lawn mower in dangerous places such as on steep hills.
US07677335B2	Tools and technology of radical and level drilling/well completion under ultra-short radius A system of components and a method is provided for radial and level drilling and completion with an ultra-short radius which includes a deflecting drill tool assembly and a level drill tool assembly. The deflecting drill tool has a deflecting rotary assembly, flexible drill pipe, directional follow-up tube, tail tube for deflecting drill tool, and drill pipe nipple joints. The level tool has a level rotary assembly, the flexible drill pipe, quick couplings, the directional follow-up tube, a tail tube for level drill tool, the drill pipe nipple joint, an adjusting nipple joint, a recessed left hand thread bushing, and convex left hand thread coupling. A triangle backing block is installed on outside of a casing of the deflecting rotary assembly. Splines matched with each other are provided at the level rotary assembly and the flexible drill pipe. The tail tube for level drill tool has a recessed left hand thread bushing and convex left hand thread coupling. A body of an inner ball is situated in a ball bowl and in frontal part of the main body of the flexible drill pipe and any single section of the flexible drill pipe may bend 3°-6°.
US07677334B2	Anti-surge/reverse thruster An anti-surge/reverse thrusting tool for reducing the forces on a drill bit used in subterranean well drilling operations along with methods for drilling wells using a drill string employing the tool. The tool utilizes the pressure differential between drilling fluid flowing through the tool and the fluid located in the well bore annulus proximate the tool to reduce the likelihood of drill bit stall. The tool generally comprises an outer housing and a piston assembly that is axially shiftable relative to the housing.
US07677330B2	Apparatus for in situ testing of a soil sample An apparatus for in situ testing of a soil sample includes an elongate body having a hollow core and an open end, an upper barrier or means for forming an upper barrier within soil across the hollow core, and means for forming a lower barrier within soil across the hollow core such that a sample zone is defined with the hollow core between the upper and lower barriers. A fluid supply means delivers a fluid to the sample zone; and a fluid exit means removes the fluid from the sample zone.
US07677328B2	Multiple flex-shaft adapter for electric drill A multiple flex-shaft adapter coupled to an electric drill has a housing assembly attaching to the drill at one end and to a plurality of flex-shafts at an opposite end. The flex-shafts have specialized drill bits attached thereto for performing different nail operations. A gear assembly is located in the housing assembly for transferring power from the drill to the plurality of flex-shafts. Preferably, an operator selects a switching member corresponding to a desired one of the plurality of flex-shafts and pushes the member horizontally into the housing. After entering the housing assembly, the switching member rises up towards the gear assembly. Subsequently, the operator inserts the desired one of the plurality of flex-shafts into the housing assembly through a receiver to engage the gear assembly. In turn, power is transferred from the drill through the gear assembly to the desired one.
US07677325B2	Pneumatic tool The invention of this application provides a pneumatic tool with a simple structure. The tool has a tubular housing, a stationary shaft, a first piston slidable along the stationary shaft, a second piston, a tool attachment member drivingly connected to the second piston, a compressed air supply path extending through the stationary shaft to supply compressed air between the first and second pistons, and an air discharge path for discharging the compressed air supplied between the first and second pistons to the outside of the housing when the first and second pistons are separated by a predetermined distance. The compressed air supply path has an axial portion in the stationary shaft and a radial portion, a compressed air inlet recess in the inner wall surface of a shaft sliding hole, and a supply outlet extending forward from the forward end of the compressed air inlet recess and communicating with a portion between the first and second pistons.
US07677311B2	Internal breaker for oilfield treatments A composition and method for improving the fluid efficiency of many oilfield treatments is given. The composition is a solid additive, in a viscosified fluid, in a size range small enough that it enters formation pores; it optionally bridges there to form an internal filter cake, and then decomposes to provide a breaker for the viscosifying system for the fluid. Examples of suitable additives include waxes, polyesters, polycarbonates, polyacetals, polymelamines, polyvinyl chlorides, and polyvinyl acetates. Degradation of the additive may be accelerated or delayed.
US07677306B2	Hydraulic fracturing Method and apparatus for estimating a fluid driven fracture volume during hydraulic fracturing treatment of a ground formation. A series of tiltmeters are positioned at spaced apart tiltmeter stations at which tilt changes due to the hydraulic fracturing treatment are measurable by those tiltmeters. Tilt measurements obtained from the tiltmeters at progressive times during the fracture treatment are analysed to produce estimates of the fluid driven fracture volume at each of those times as the treatment is in progress. The analysis may be performed sufficiently rapidly to provide real time estimates of the fluid driven fracture volume and may also produce estimates of fracture orientation. The estimates of fracture volume may be compared with the volume of fluid injected to derive an indication of treatment efficiency.
US07677305B2	Ring reduction via natural anaerobic microbiological activity for transformation of crude oil-associated aromatic chemicals Methods of reducing the viscosity of crude oil in an oil well are provided. The methods comprise the introduction of at least on reductant to an injection fluid which is then injected into the well. Aromatic hydrocarbons in the oil are reduced in the presence of reductant and indigenous microbial populations to reduce the viscosity of the oil.
US07677304B1	Passable no-go device for downhole valve A downhole valve has a flow tube hydraulically actuated to open and close a flapper. The flow tube moved to a first position closes the flapper to restrict flow through the valve. The flow tube moved to a second position opens the flapper. A passable no-go device disposed in the valve permits or restricts mechanical passage through the valve in response to the position of the flow tube. The apparatus has a support and one or more dogs supported in windows of the support and biased by springs. The flow tube in the first position pushes the dogs to an extended position that restricts mechanical passage through valve so that a tool cannot be passed through the valve while the flapper is closed. When the flow tube is in the second position, however, the dogs retract so the tool can be passed through the valve while the flapper is open.
US07677301B2	Heat transfer plate, plate pack and plate heat exchanger A heat transfer plate for a plate heat exchanger has a first port portion (A) with at least one port (1, 4) for each of two fluids and a second port portion (B) with at least one port (2, 3) for each of the fluids, and a heat transfer portion which is located between the port portions (A, B). The ports (1, 4) in the first port portion (A) are located along a first geometric line (LA; LA1-LA2) which is essentially parallel to a longitudinal direction (L) of the plate, while the ports (2, 3) in the second port portion (B) are located along a second geometric line (LB; LB1-LB2) which is essentially parallel to the longitudinal direction (L) of the plate. A flow limiter (5) is arranged at least in the first port portion (A) adjacent to at least one of the ports which is located nearest the second port portion (B). The second port portion (B) has a corresponding flow limiter (6).
US07677293B2	Centre-pin plug The invention relates to a plug for releasable engagement with the centre-pin of a roller blind control unit wherein engagement of the plug with the pin ensures that a tip of the center-pin engages an external surface of the control unit. In addition, a releasably inter-engaging combination of this plug and center-pin wherein insertion of the center-pin through a roller blind control unit and engagement with the plug, ensures that a tip of the center-pin engages an external surface of the control unit is described. The invention also relates to a control unit for use in a window blind head rail assembly comprising: a sprocket wheel, a sprocket support and wrap spring, a splined bush for engagement with a roller blind tube, a center-pin, and a plug for releasable engagement with the center-pin.
US07677289B2	Methods and apparatuses for the automated production, collection, handling, and imaging of large numbers of serial tissue sections An automatic taping lathe-microtome that produces a continuous ribbon of tissue by lathing an extremely thin strip off the surface of a cylindrical block containing a multitude of embedded tissue samples. Mechanisms are included for sandwiching this fragile ribbon of tissue between a pair of support tapes. Viewing holes are cut in the support tapes above and below each tissue slice such that the tapes act as slot grids allowing for direct viewing of each tissue slice in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The resulting tissue-tape is placed on a spooling mechanism and fed into the beam of a TEM much like the film in a movie projector. This allows for random-access imaging of any section on the tape without requiring the TEM's vacuum be broken. This system is intended to give neuroscientists a tool to ultrastructure image large volumes of neural tissue and to trace multi-scale synaptic circuits.
US07677287B2	Heavy load radial tire A belt layer 7 of a heavy load radial tire includes second and third belt plies 7B and 7C in which belt cords are arranged at an angle in a range of 10 to 45° with respect to a circumferential direction of the tire, and a fourth belt ply 7D which is disposed outside of the second and third belt plies 7B and 7C and which is spirally wound in the circumferential direction of the tire. When ply widths of the belt plies 7B to 7D are defined as W2 to W4 and a tread ground-contact width is defined as Tw, the following relations are established: 0.85Tw≦W2, 0.85Tw≦W3, (W2−W3)≧14 mm, W4≧40 mm. A distance K between a tire equator and an outer end of the fourth belt ply 7D is in a range of 35% to 40% of the tread ground-contact width Tw. A reinforcing rubber layer 10 having the maximum thickness T1 of not less than 3.0 mm and a complex elastic modulus E* of in a range of 6.0 to 12.0 MPa is disposed between outer ends of the second and third belt plies 7B and 7C.
US07677285B2	Tire chain tightening apparatus The present invention relates to an apparatus used for tightening tire chains. One embodiment of the present invention includes an outer portion and an inner portion. The outer and inner portions have a plurality of first and second apertures, respectively. A plurality of arms are secured onto the inner portion and extend through the second aperture and then through the first apertures. The arms have a first end which is adapted to be secured onto the inner portion, and a second end which is adapted to secure to a tire chain. A bar variably couples the outer portion and the inner portion. The distance between the outer and inner portions adds or subtracts tension in the arm which correspondingly adds or subtracts tension in the tire chain.
US07677284B2	Pneumatic tire with tread tape radially inside carcass and method of manufacturing the same A pneumatic tire including a tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of bead portions, and a carcass extending between the bead portions through the tread portion and sidewall portions, wherein the tread portion is provided radially inside the carcass with a tread tape having a thickness of not more than 2.0 mm and having a tensile elastic modulus larger than any rubber existing between the tread tape and the adjacent carcass cords. A method of manufacturing the pneumatic tire includes vulcanizing a main body of the tire, excepting the tread tape, and attaching the tread tape onto the inside of the vulcanized tire main body.
US07677278B2	Fuel filler tube assembly and manufacturing method A fuel filler assembly includes a filler tube including a tube inlet having a larger diameter than a tube outlet and a transition portion disposed between the tube inlet and the tube outlet. An insert is received by the tube inlet and includes an insert inlet and an insert outlet. The insert outlet is received by the tube inlet and includes a nozzle opening axially offset from a central axis of at least one of the tube inlet, the insert inlet, and the insert outlet. The nozzle opening positions a nozzle received by the nozzle opening to direct supplied fuel toward the transition portion of the filler tube.
US07677277B2	Fuel tank cap with integrated carbon canister A fuel tank cap including a vapor storage receptacle and a discriminator that discriminates between liquid fuel and fuel vapor for protecting the vapor storage receptacle from liquid and adsorbent granulated carbonaceous material. A fuel storage system including a fuel tank cap having a vapor storage receptacle is also disclosed.
US07677271B2	Portable flexible and extendable drain pipe A flexible collapsible corrugated drain pipe has a corrugation structure that permits a tight bending radius and relatively facile collapsing and expansion of corrugations, thereby permitting convenient manipulation and installation of drain pipe and packaging, display, storage and transportation of the collapsed pipe sections.
US07677270B2	Plug for a hydraulic fitting A hydraulic or other type of high-pressure hose fitting can be temporarily sealed using a special type of plug. The plug is made of a rubber like material and can be used both as a male plug or a female plug. The plug contains a plug body with a tapered end portion that can be pushed into and seal against the tapered seat of a female hydraulic fitting. The plug also contains an internal open ended bore that can be pushed over a male fitting with the threads of the male fitting tightly pressing into the rubber material to form a seal and minimize the plug being blown off the fitting.
US07677267B2	Dunnage airbag inflation circuit The dunnage airbag inflation circuit of this invention includes a pilot valve that is controlled by a pressure sensing line in communication with the dunnage bag, and an arrangement of other valves to allow the dunnage bag to inflate up to a certain preset pressure. The pressure sensing line controls pilot air to various valves and ultimately to the main pilot valve allowing airflow to the dunnage bag until the dunnage bag reaches a certain preset pressure. The inflation circuit also includes (i) a safety pressure valve to stop airflow to the dunnage bag if for some reason the dunnage bag continues to be inflated past the preset pressure, and (ii) a stop valve that allows an operator to manually override the pressure valve and stop the airflow to the dunnage bag.
US07677264B2	Manifold-type solenoid valve with external port A manifold-type solenoid valve comprises a main valve section and a solenoid operating section. The main valve section has a spool in a valve hole to which respective switching flow paths for supply, output, and discharge are opened. The main valve section comprises connecting flow paths for collective supply and/or collective discharge having connecting ports, output ports, and an external port for connecting an external piping for independent supply or independent discharge. The output ports are in communication with the switching flow path for output. The connecting flow paths for collective supply and/or collective discharge are in communication with the switching flow path for supply and the switching flow path for discharge. Additionally, the external port is in communication with the switching flow path for supply or the switching flow path for discharge.
US07677259B1	Crutch walker and associated use therefor An apparatus that combines the functionality of a walker with that of a single crutch is herein disclosed. The apparatus provides for one crutch that comes up from the side support of the walker and thus the side of the user's body and is adjustable in height, as is the walker support handles, such that the invention can be customized for any sized user. The adjustment is facilitated by use of spring pin slip fittings, and thus can be adjusted in a matter of minutes without tools. The crutch support can be easily moved from the right to left hand side of the walker by use of a removable clamp system. It is also envisioned that certain models of the invention can provide crutches on both the right and left hand side of the walker simultaneously, based upon the needs of the patient. When not in use or not needed, the invention folds up in a manner similar to a conventional walker thus providing a low profile for ease of storage.
US07677256B2	Wrapping materials for smoking articles Smokable rods of cigarettes are manufactured using wrapping materials that incorporate at least one fibrous material (e.g., flax fibers, hardwood pulp fibers and/or softwood pulp fibers) at least one filler material (e.g., calcium carbonate in particulate form). The wrapping materials possess multi-layer coatings. The wrapping materials possess coatings in the form of series of spaced apart bands, each band possessing a series of layers. At least one of the coating layers can have a filler material dispersed or suspended within a film-forming material of that layer.
US07677255B2	Nanoscale particles of iron aluminide and iron aluminum carbide by the reduction of iron salts A method of making intermetallic nanoscale particles comprising iron aluminide and/or iron aluminum carbide comprising the steps of preparing a mixture of a solvent, an iron salt and LiAlH4, and heating the mixture to form the intermetallic nanoscale particles. The intermetallic nanoscale particles, which can comprise intermetallic nanoscale particles of iron aluminide and/or iron aluminum carbide in an alumina matrix, are capable of reducing the amount of 1,3-butadiene in the mainstream smoke of a cigarette.
US07677242B2	Solar-panel unit A solar-panel unit is provided with: an attachment structure; at least one solar panel, which is delimited by an extensive plane surface of incidence of the solar radiation and is connected to the attachment structure; and a hinging assembly, set between the attachment structure and the solar panel, to enable rotation of the solar panel with respect to the attachment structure about an inclined hinge axis forming an angle smaller than 90° with a horizontal plane.
US07677234B2	Paint ball gun having paint ball dispenser with snap connector A paint ball gun is disclosed including a dispenser having a locking connector designed to lockingly engage a locking connector on a gun feed tube or one end of a hollow connecting member.
US07677233B2	Crossbow support rod A weapon, such as a crossbow or firearm, may have a main beam, a trigger mechanism mounted to the main beam and, a support rod that can be positioned into a first use position and a second stowed position. The support rod may have a first end used to support the main beam and a second end used to contact a ground surface. In one embodiment, a contact member with a hemispherical contact surface is attached to the second end of the support rod. In another embodiment, the support rod has a handgrip portion that receives a user's hand in supporting the weapon when shooting the weapon when the support rod is in the second stowed position. In still another embodiment, a mounting bracket is used to provide at least two locations for attaching the support rod to the main beam.
US07677232B2	Multiple projectile-firing toy gun with separate target-launching mechanism The present invention relates to a toy gun that is capable of firing multiple projectiles using an internal rotating firing assembly. The toy gun further provides a separate target launching mechanism to launch a target object into the air for use as a target when firing the projectiles. A plurality of projectiles is spring-loaded into a cartridge on a barrel of the gun, where they can then be sequentially fired from the gun in rapid succession by pulling a projectile trigger. The projectile trigger activates a rotating firing control disc inside the barrel of the gun to fire at least one projectile every time the projectile trigger is pulled. Additionally, the toy gun is capable of launching a flying object with a separate mechanism for use as a target when firing the projectiles.
US07677231B2	Control system for an exhaust gas sensor An exhaust sensor control system for an exhaust sensor is mounted in an exhaust path of an internal combustion engine, wherein the exhaust sensor includes a sensor element for generating an output in accordance with the status of an exhaust gas and a heater for heating the sensor element. The exhaust sensor control system includes a recovery value counting means for counting the elapsed time or the cumulative intake air amount after internal combustion engine startup as a characteristics recovery value; a heater control means for controlling the heater with a recovery target temperature; a stop period counting means for counting stop period during which the internal combustion engine is stopped; and a determination value correction means for decreasing the characteristics recovery value or increasing a recovery determination value with an increase in the stop period during which the internal combustion engine is stopped.
US07677217B2	Power assembly for internal combustion engine with in-cylinder deposit scraper A power assembly for an internal combustion engine includes a cylinder with a circular wall defining a first inside diameter. A piston is reciprocably housed within the cylinder. An integral, unitary piston deposit scraper is formed in a portion of the circular wall of the cylinder by upsetting a portion of the metallic wall so as to configure a piston scraper with a second inside diameter which is less than the first inside diameter. The inside diameter of the piston scraper closely matches that of the outside diameter of the top land of the piston. As a result, the piston scraper removes combustion deposits from the piston each time it moves into the top dead center position.
US07677215B2	Power management device, control system, and control method A power management device comprises a start management control unit having a starter hold control function for actuating a starter motor and holding the actuation based on an operating signal from a button switch, a first terminating unit for terminating cranking hold when receiving a starter stop instruction signal sent from an engine control device when it is determined that an engine reached a complete explosion, a second terminating unit for terminating cranking hold when it is determined that the engine reached a complete explosion based on an engine revolution signal sent from the engine control device, and a forced terminating unit for forcefully terminating cranking hold when cranking hold cannot be terminated by those terminating units.
US07677199B2	Surface treatment system and method A surface treatment system is disclosed to form a deposition layer at a surface of an object of surface treatment by using a deposition reaction in which an electrode (110) for applying power to form a deposition reaction in the deposition chamber (100) is installed between an inner wall (120) of the deposition chamber (100) and an object of surface treatment (900) and further includes a cooling unit (200) installed at the inner wall (120) of the deposition chamber (100) facing the electrode (110) and cooling ambient thereof.
US07677196B2	Coating plant and associated method of coating an object A coating plant having a multi-axis application robot to apply a coating means to an application object, where the application robot is installed hanging at least partially into a paint booth. A method for coating an object in a coating plant is also taught.
US07677191B2	Frictional resistance reduction ship and operation method A ship is provided with microbubble generators attached below the waterline to supply microbubbles, which decrease the ship's frictional resistance during navigation and improve fuel efficiency. The below waterline region (L.W.L.) of the ship is divided into an upper region (R1) proximate the waterline, and a lower region (R2) proximate the ship's bottom. The air supply to the microbubble generators (10) in the upper region (R1) is performed through a pipe (3), one end of which is exposed to the atmosphere. The air supply to the microbubble generators (10) in the lower region (R2) is performed through a branch pipe (6) from a pipe (5) using an assist compressor (4), which is arranged as a closed system instead of being exposed to the atmosphere.
US07677185B2	Method and system for treating chemical waste The invention is a system and method for neutralizing fluid chemical waste products that result from a chemical production process and are collected from the production line. The invention comprises a pyrolysis/reaction chamber into which the fluid chemical waste is pumped through an atomizer. The jet of small droplets of liquid waste that is formed by the atomizer effectively contacts the plasma stream created by a plasma torch. When the droplets contact the plasma stream the molecules of the waste from which the droplets are composed are dissociated into atoms and/or ions. These atoms and ions move out of the immediate region of the plasma stream and recombine to form a mixture of product gases which exits the chamber. The product gases then enter a post-pyrolysis subsystem, which is designed to neutralize and/or collect the components comprising the mixture of product gases.
US07677177B2	Device for the disassembly of rail anchors The invention relates to a device for the disassembly of a rail anchor, connecting a rail to a sleeper of a track, comprising two opposing tool levers, connected by a rod, operated with displacement about a pivot axis by means of a press drive. A first tool lever is connected to the press drive, coupled to the tool frame. A further tool lever is defined at an upper end by the pivot axis.
US07677163B2	Cooking device with a cooking chamber outlet A cooking device has a cooking chamber as well as a cooking chamber outlet for a fluid. An air trap is provided downstream of the cooking chamber outlet. A device outlet is arranged in turn downstream of the air trap. A water reservoir is located in the air trap. A connection pipe leads from the water reservoir in the air trap into the cooking chamber. Associated with the connection pipe is a transport means, which permits a controllable supply of fluid from the water reservoir in the air trap into the cooking chamber.
US07677159B2	Apparatus for preparing hot beverages, in particular soups An apparatus for preparing hot beverages, in particular soups, includes a frame (1) containing a heating system (2) for heating water drawn from a water main or, alternatively, from a tank, and for converting the water into pressurized steam. The steam is delivered to a heating chamber (3) having a discharge duct (4) that passes through the heating chamber. A beverage to be prepared is stored in an aseptic pack (61) placed in a removable receptacle (7) housed in the frame (1). The liquid beverage is delivered from the aseptic pack (61) to the discharge duct (4) by a sequential dispenser (6), and is then discharged to a container (5).
US07677157B2	Hot beverage maker with floating fluid level gauge A hot beverage maker comprises a stand, a water reservoir, a filter basket to hold beverage grinds to be brewed, a brewed beverage tank for holding a brewed beverage, a dispenser for dispensing the brewed beverage from the brewed beverage tank, and a floating brewed beverage level indicator. The floating indicator is adapted to protrude through an aperture in a wall of the brewed beverage tank. At least a portion of the indicator is buoyant and floats on a surface of the brewed beverage. A portion of the indicator protrudes through the aperture to indicate an amount of the brewed beverage in the brewed beverage tank.
US07677156B2	Piston load of vehicle height adjusting shock absorber and method of machining the same A piston rod installed to a vehicle height adjusting shock absorber includes a body portion having a hollow portion with first and second ends that are open. A step portion extends inwardly into the hollow portion a predetermined length from the first end of the hollow portion, the step portion having a thread formed on an inner surface thereof. A guide member threadly engaged to the step portion to plug the open hollow portion.
US07677132B2	Tilt and telescopic steering system Disclosed is a tilt-and-telescopic steering system having a guide bush, the system including an interior tube and an exterior tube which surround a steering shaft; a distance member integrally fixed to an outer peripheral surface of the exterior tube; tilt brackets assembled with an outer peripheral surface of the distance member so as to limit a movement angle in tilt operation; and a lever and a bolt which hold and release the tilt-and-telescopic system, wherein a through hole is formed in the exterior tube and the distance member which are disposed between an outer peripheral surface of the interior tube and an inner peripheral surface of the tilt brackets, wherein a guide bush is inserted in the through hole.
US07677131B2	Gear arrangement A steering-wheel arrangement is disclosed which comprises a steering-wheel having a first gear element. A second gear element is provided which is mounted on a steering column. The first and second gear elements inter-engage one another and the arrangement is further provided with an anti-backlash gear which is mounted on one of the gear elements. The anti-backlash gear has teeth configures to as to align substantially with the teeth of the gear element upon which it is mounted, and the anti-backlash gear is biased relative to the gear element upon which it is mounted towards a position in which the teeth of the anti-backlash gear become displaced from the corresponding teeth of the gear element. This gear arrangement has been found to provide improved “feel” for a person driving a motor vehicle.
US07677130B2	Painting robot with improved wrist conduit The invention relates to a robot, specifically a painting robot, having at least one moveable member which has a conduit for lines which houses at least one line. It is proposed that the line is disposed in the conduit at least partially in a spiral or winding configuration and/or is carried by an axially compliant bellows to allow axial movement of the line with a change in the position of the robot.
US07677120B2	Apparatus for sample preparation The invention, in various embodiments, provides systems, methods and devices relating to processing a sample. Aspects presented herein relate to collecting, stabilizing, pulverizing, fragmenting, and/or analyzing biological and non-biological sample specimens. Before constituents of sample specimens are analyzed, the sample specimens may be fragmented into a plurality of smaller specimens. Such smaller specimens may then be stored, analyzed, or further processed.
US07677116B2	Force sensor device in a two-wheeled vehicle A force sensor apparatus in a two-wheeled vehicle in which a main frame that connects a front wheel to a rear wheel is attached to at least one additional frame component for accommodating persons and belongings, has a bearing body with an integrated force sensor attachable at least in a region of a connecting point between the main frame and the at least one additional frame component and sensing forces that occur between the main frame and the at least one additional frame component.
US07677115B2	Magnetostrictive torque sensor and electric power steering apparatus A magnetostrictive torque sensor having a rotating shaft on which at least one magnetostrictive film is formed, and has such a structure that the rotating shaft has small diameter portions and large diameter portions positioned on both end sides of the small diameter portions, and a length in an axial direction of the small diameter portion is determined in relation to a coil width of an induction heating coil to be used at a high frequency heating step and one magnetostrictive film is formed in the small diameter portion.
US07677109B2	Pressure sense die pad layout and method for direct wire bonding to programmable compensation integrated circuit die A method for direct die-to-die wire bonding incorporates a pressure sense die and a programmable compensation IC die that can be mounted on a ceramic substrate. The two die can be positioned beside each other such that wire bond pads on the pressure sense die and bonding leads on the compensation IC die are in same order. The pressure sense die and the compensation IC can be connected directly with wire bonds in order to reduce the number of wire bonds and to improve reliability. The pressure sense die can be designed with multiple wire bond pad patterns in order to be utilized with different programmable compensation IC dies.
US07677105B2	Double-ended tuning fork type piezoelectric resonator and pressure sensor To provide a double-ended tuning fork type piezoelectric resonator that includes: a piezoelectric element having two arm portions disposed in parallel, a first supporting portion that support one ends of each of the arm portions, a second supporting portion that support the other ends of each of the arm portions; and an exciting electrode formed on a surface of each of the arm portions, and has a structure suitable for being built into a pressure sensor as a pressure sensitive element. A double-ended tuning fork type piezoelectric resonator includes: a piezoelectric element 3 having two arm portions 4 disposed in parallel and apart from each other, and a first supporting portion 5 and a second supporting portion 6 that respectively support one ends and the other ends of each of the arm portions; and an exciting electrode 7 formed on a surface of each arm portion. In the resonator, an annular linking piece 8 is provided to link the first and the second supporting portions to dispose the two arm portions in an internal space of the annular linking piece.
US07677103B2	Systems and methods for non-destructive testing of tubular systems Method and systems for non-destructive testing of a gas or liquid filled object at atmospheric pressure or high pressure. The method includes steps of: providing an acoustic pulse reflectometry (APR) system having a wideband transmitter, a pressure sensor and a short mixed wave tube, performing at least one calibration to obtain at least one calibration parameter; attaching the object to the APR system and performing a measurement to obtain an object test result and processing the object test result and the at least one calibration parameter to obtain an object impulse response that reflects a status of the object.
US07677102B2	Head with roller for pulse-echo ultrasonic inspection of parts in an automatic parts inspection facility A head for ultrasonic inspection with a semidry coupling system involving a roller (4) and an ultrasound scanner that rolls on the surface (5) of the part to be inspected, includes a first frame (1) to which the roller (4) is connected and pivots around a stationary axis (4a) in a direction that is perpendicular to the probe's movement; a second frame (2) from which linear vertical guides (6) emerge and is connected in an oscillatory manner to the first frame (1) through an oscillating axis (11a) that is perpendicular to the stationary axis (4a): a third frame (3) that slides vertically through the linear guides (6); and at least two actuators of vertical adjustment (9) anchored to the third frame (3) and to the second frame (2), their corresponding laterally aligned pivotal axes (10), connected to the first frame (1) in a rotating manner and parallel to and lower from the plane of the stationary axis (4a) and the respective ends of the stationary axis (4a).
US07677096B2	Landing gear ground test A method of applying a test load to a landing gear mounted on an aircraft, the method comprising parking the aircraft with at least one tire of the landing gear on a platform; and moving the platform so as to apply the test load to the landing gear via the tire. An array of six platforms is mounted on a sliding chassis in a recessed oil bath. The platforms can be independently rotated to apply torque. The spacing between the platforms can be adjusted to adapt for different landing gear configurations.
US07677084B2	Filtration tester A filtration tester has a scale, a collector disposed on the scale, a pump having an outlet aligned with an opening of the collector, and a force sensor connected to the pump.
US07677074B2	Method for the production of hollow elements, hollow element, assembly piece, and follow-on composite tool for carrying out said method Disclosed is a method for producing hollow elements (200), such as nut elements, which are to be mounted on parts generally made of sheet metal, particularly for producing hollow elements having an at least substantially square or rectangular outer contour (202). According to said method, individual elements are cut to size from a profiled member that is provided in the form of a profiled bar or a reel after punching holes into said profiled member, optionally followed by embodying a threaded cylinder (206) using a follow-on composite tool (10) with several workstations (A, B, C, D). The inventive method is characterized in that a penetrating process, a punching process, and a flattening process are carried out in the workstations (A, B, C, D). Also disclosed are hollow elements (200), assembly pieces, and a follow-on composite tool (10).
US07677072B2	Method of and apparatus for strip blow-off The invention relates to a method of strip blow-off at an exit of rolling mills for producing a spotless and clean rolled strip, according to which the strip (5) is blown off with at least one nozzle (16) arranged above the upper side (14) of the strip, and a rolling oil/emulsion stuck on the strip (5) is aspirated from their edges (18′, 18″) by a suction device (20), and wherein on the upper side (14) and a lower side (15) of the strip (5), a chamber (21, 22) in which overpressure prevails, is formed and to a corresponding device.
US07677063B2	Washing machine Disclosed herein is a washing machine. A stator is mounted at the inside surface of a tub, a spider is mounted at a drum, a rotor is mounted at the spider such that the rotor is rotated by the stator, and a support shaft is mounted at the spider for supporting the drum, the rotor, and the spider. Consequently, the capacities of the drum and the tub are increased as compared with the case that the stator and the rotor are mounted at the rear of the tub, and therefore, washing capacity of the washing machine is greatly increased.
US07677055B2	Refrigerator According to one aspect, there is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber formed at a relatively upper portion of a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber formed at a relatively lower portion of the refrigerator body, which comprises an ice-making chamber which is partitioned in the refrigerating chamber by insulating walls and includes an icemaker for making ice and an ice storage for storing the ice made in the icemaker. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber can be accurately controlled, the loss of cold air can be minimized and the structures for supplying water into the icemaker and the dispenser can be simplified.
US07677054B2	Apparatus for air cooling and humidifying A constructive disposition introduced in air conditioning placed in the technological sector of air conditioning in general, that optimizes mist production as well as providing direction and non-atomized liquid flow generating a more effective and uniform mist in the gravitational area besides ensuring more security in its use avoiding accidents to users when near the equipment.Therefore, constructive disposition introduced in air conditioning is comprised by a cabinet (1) with a centrally positioned electrical motor (2) that presents a propeller (3) connected in the preceding edge of its motor shaft, which connects to the spinning disc (4) on the other edge, running centrally through the water collector calotte (5), which has peripheral radial grooves and is complemented by a condensed liquid collector (6) interconnected to a storage (7) placed inside the casing provided of a liquid entrance tubing (8) and wherein it is placed the buoy set (9) and liquid pump (10), which has tubing (11) interconnected to the regulator register (12) with liquid liberation hose (13) along with disc internal surface (4), characterized by the fact the water collector calotte (5) has peripheral radial grooves in a curve shape (14); and by the fact that the spinning disc (4) is overlapped by a protector calotte and mist filter (15), properly fixed along with water collector calotte (5).
US07677040B2	Turbocharger with wastegate An actuator rod (17) for a turbocharger pressure control assembly comprises a first elongate portion (17a) defining a first rod end and a second portion (17b) defining a second rod end. The first and second portions are pivotally joined to one another to allow a degree of relative pivotal motion therebetween in at least one plane perpendicular to the axis of said elongate first portion (17a).
US07677035B2	Control system for a hydraulic servomotor A control system for a hydraulic servomotor (13) is disclosed. The control system comprises an electro hydraulic actuator (2) comprising a number of valves (9, 10, 11, 12, 18) for controlling fluid flows, a main control module (1), and one or more connectors. The control system further comprises at least one extension control module (3) comprising one or more connectors. Finally, the control system comprises means (6) for communicating signals between the main control module (1) and each of the extension control module(s) (3). Since the main control module (1) and the extension control module(s) (3) are able to communicate signals, it is possible to provide signals to/from the main control module (1) via an extension module (3), thereby in effect providing additional connectors to the main control module (1). Thereby the main control module (1) may be able to perform additional functions as compared to similar prior art control modules.
US07677032B2	Apparatus, system, and method for determining the distribution of particulate matter on a particulate filter An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for determining the distribution of particulate matter on a particulate filter. The apparatus, in one embodiment, determines a first distribution of particulate matter by comparing the pressure change across the particulate filter with a change in engine operating conditions. The apparatus may include an input module for receiving input corresponding to engine operating conditions and input from a differential pressure sensor and a feedback module to determine a first distribution of particulate matter. The apparatus may further include a feed forward module for determining a particulate distribution trend and a selection control module to combine the first distribution of particulate matter with the particulate distribution trend to determine a second distribution of particulate matter. The distribution may be defined as a uniform distribution factor in certain embodiments.
US07677027B2	Deterioration detecting apparatus for catalyst A deterioration detecting apparatus for a purifying catalyst in an exhaust system of an engine. A first oxygen concentration sensor is disposed upstream of the catalyst. A second oxygen concentration sensor is disposed downstream. An amount of oxygen flowing into the catalyst is calculated from the oxygen concentration detected by the first sensor and the detected intake air flow rate. A control command value of an air-fuel ratio is alternately switched between a first value corresponding to a lean air-fuel ratio and a second value corresponding to a rich air-fuel ratio according to a result of comparison between the calculated inflowing oxygen amount and target values. Excessive inflowing oxygen amounts are calculated. The target values are corrected with the excessive inflowing oxygen amount. A deterioration degree of the catalyst is detected based on an output of the second sensor when performing the switching of the control command value using the corrected target values.
US07677024B2	Cable protection and guide device A cable protection and guide device includes comb teeth-shaped connecting link units. A plurality of side plates of each unit are interconnected through coupling portions. Stopper links of an opposing unit fit between adjacent side plates and interengage the coupling portions. Stopper links limit the bending angle. Connecting arms are integrally molded with the side plates and reside on the bending inner circumferential side of the device opening/closing arms are integrally molded with one of the side plates and reside on the bending outer circumferential side. The comb teeth-shaped connecting link units are opposed to each other.
US07677023B2	Cabled carbon-fiber thread Thread having at least two strands of continuous carbon fiber that are twisted around one another, whereby the carbon fibers of the strands are arranged approximately parallel to the thread direction. The at least two strands of continuous carbon fiber are twisted around one another and produced by direct cabling. A method for the production of the thread includes twisting each of the at least two strands of continuous carbon fiber around one another by direct cabling. An eyelet assembly with an eyelet that has a radius of at least 4 mm in the area of contact between the strands and the eyelet assembly. The thread is used as a sewing thread or a thread for reinforcing polymers, elastomers, rubber or concrete.
US07677019B2	Exhaust circulation lawnmower An exhaust circulation lawnmower is disclosed in which grass clippings are sent, along with carrier air, from a cutter housing to a grass bag; the grass clippings are held in the grass bag; and the carrier air is returned to the cutter housing as exhaust. A surface area A1 of a grass clippings discharge opening and a surface area A2 of a recirculation opening have a relationship of A2≦{1/(1−βN)0.5}A1, where A1 is the surface area of the grass clippings discharge opening through which the grass clippings and carrier air are discharged from the cutter housing to the grass bag, A2 is the surface area of the recirculation opening through which the carrier air is recirculated from the grass bag to the cutter housing, N is the number of bends having an angle of α degrees in the space between the grass clippings discharge opening and the recirculation opening, and β is a pressure loss coefficient for each of the bends.
US07677017B2	Modular power source for walk-behind mower A walk-behind mower includes a frame, and a cutting unit connected to the frame and at least one cutting element. Interchangeable power unit support assemblies are each adapted to support either a reciprocating engine or a battery unit. One of the power unit support assemblies is releasably connected to the frame. An electric motor is provided to displace the cutting element. An output voltage generated by either the reciprocating engine or the battery unit mounted on the power unit support assembly energizes the electric motor.
US07677015B2	Method and apparatus for forming films A process for forming filled sealed pouches, comprising: supplying a thermoformable film to an upper surface of a conveyer which includes a plurality of recessed vacuum molds in its upper surface and is mounted to slide over an elongated conveyor support through holding, forming, filling and sealing stations; holding the film on the conveyer at the holding station; forming the film to form pouches at the forming station by supplying a forming under-pressure at the forming station into the mold recesses wherein the forming under-pressure is supplied through vacuum apertures leading from a vacuum supply apparatus and discharging through the conveyer support through vacuum orifices extending through the conveyer into the vacuum molds wherein under-pressure is supplied to the mold recesses at one or more subsequent processing stations through the vacuum apertures and vacuum orifices, and wherein the under pressure at the forming station is greater than the under-pressure at one or more of the subsequent processing stations; filling the pouches at the filling station; and sealing the pouches with a sealing film at the sealing station.
US07677013B2	Spout installation method and spout installation device A rotary type pouch reception/delivery unit is configured to receive a pouch supplied by a pouch supply unit at a pouch reception/delivery position α, conveys it to a pouch reception/delivery position β, and delivers it to a spout installation unit at a pouch reception/delivery position β. The pouch reception/delivery unit is provided with a plurality of take-up members rotating at a constant rotation speed so as to pass the pouch reception/delivery position α and a pouch reception/delivery position β. The pouch reception/delivery unit receives the pouch supplied in a standing state at the pouch reception/delivery position α by sucking and holding it by a take-up member and tilts the pouch during conveyance. At the pouch reception/delivery position β, the pouch receipt/delivery unit delivers the pouch to the spout installation device with a spout installation edge portion horizontally tilted.
US07677002B2	Wall sheathing system and method of installation The invention comprises a wall sheathing barrier system having moisture permeability and simple improved installation method. The system comprises adjoined structural panels. Each panel has an overlay paper bonded permanently to the structural panel, which provides a moisture permeable barrier and a textured skid-resistant surface. The skid resistant surface may include indicia for aligning strips of tape or for aligning fasteners. Further, the seams of adjoining panels are sealed with a sealing means to complete the moisture barrier.
US07676992B2	Wall mountable frame structure for mounting equipment A wall mountable frame structure for supporting appliances, entertainment equipment or other devices including peripheral horizontal and vertical structural beams with at least one intermediate vertical beam extending between and secured to the horizontal beams. A plurality of cladding panels removably attached to the vertical beams by way of a stud having a trapping member at its terminus which fits within a complimentary receiving portion of the vertical beams to secure the cladding panel to the vertical beams. A support bracket to be affixed to a wall and having mounting forks pivotally secured thereto is provided. A plurality of transverse mounting members are affixed to the vertical beams and are received by the mounting forks to secure the frame to a wall. The mounting forks are rotatable between first and second positions with the frame positioned away from the wall in the first position and against the wall in the second position. Each of the vertical beams defines a channel within which there is received a moveable fastener which is utilized to attach one or more pieces of equipment to the frame structure. The movable fastener frictionally engages the side walls of the channel to hold the fastener in position once it is adjusted to a desired location.
US07676991B2	Fire collar A fire collar, for location in a concrete slab around a deformable conduit, has a housing with a passageway through which the conduit passes. The collar has the housing in which are located two compression springs with arms which are held against the force of the springs by fusible links. When the heat of a fire on one side of the slab causes the fusible links to soften or melt, the force of the springs causes the spring arms to rotate towards the conduit, engaging the conduit and collapsing it. An intumescent layer may be provided around the conduit to assist in collapsing it.
US07676982B1	Method and apparatus for venting fish A tool for saving the lives of captured fish that are swollen by expanded gases when brought to the surface includes an elongate hollow tube of rigid construction having a sharp cutting edge formed in a distal free end of the tube. A user grasps a proximal end of the tube and punctures a fish at a predetermined location in its body with the sharp cutting edge to allow gases to flow out of the body of the fish until the body returns to a substantially unswollen condition. The fish is conventionally resuscitated prior to release after the gases have been vented. The tube folds into a handle for storage when not in use.
US07676978B2	Vehicular gun rest A hunting vehicle incorporates a roll cage having a tubular frame member. A gun rest incorporates a standard mounted on the tubular frame member and provides a support moveable up and down on the standard between a plurality of supporting positions. The standard is mounted on the frame member so a hunter may place a rifle on the support to steady the hunter's aim. The standard is mounted on the tubular member for easy rotation by the hunter so the hunter may aim in a wide arc without unfastening or loosening any fasteners and without moving the vehicle.
US07676974B2	Automatic rifle converted for non-military use In an automatic rifle which has been converted for non-military purposes to be semi-automatic by the removal of parts that allow its automatic function, additional suppressing elements are provided to ensure that the interruptor remains depressed until the bolt carrier fully passes the striker catch before the striker catch is engaged by the interruptor. This prevents premature connection of the striker catch and the interruptor, which could prevent sufficient striker spring pressure so that the next round can be fired. In one embodiment the trigger mechanism is fitted with an additional suppressing element (10) formed as a side push plate 7 on the bridge (6) of bolt carrier (5). In a second embodiment the interruptor is provided with a pin (8) protruding to the left, in a direction of fire, while the receiver side wall has a cavity (11), over which a thin metal sheet (9) with a beveled corner is placed such that between the lower edge of metal sheet (9) and the lower edge of cavity (11), as well as between rear edge of metal sheet (9) and rear edge of cavity (11) a gap (12) is provided to receive the pin. The additional suppressing element is particularly applicable to a Czech model SA vz.58 semi-automatic rifle which has been converted for non-military purposes.
US07676973B1	Firearm or repeating pyrotechnic mortar that advances cartridges from a magazine into a firing chamber by a chemical detonation or steam explosion A method of loading individual caseless cartridges sequentially into a firearm firing chamber by the expansive force of a small detonation in the magazine focused locally on the current top cartridge in a magazine without damaging remaining cartridges. Small individual propelling charges containing an igniter microchip located in the magazine behind each cartridge provides the loading thrust. More energetic charges containing igniter microchips are imbedded in the cartridges to fire the cartridge in the firing chamber at will.
US07676972B2	Portable self-defense device A non-lethal self-defense device that ejects two electrically charged streams of conductive fluid at a biological target for a period of time sufficient to have the liquid contacting both the target and the electrically charged device until incapacitation of the target occurs.
US07676969B2	Kinetic display assembly A display frame for supporting an image insert for display is provided. The display frame comprises i) an abutment structure for supporting the image insert for display; ii) an upright member including a first connection member and a second connection member; and iii) an interlocking mechanism for interlocking the first connection member and the second connection member. The upright member has a first substantially planar state and a second non-planar display state, and is operable to support the abutment structure. The interlocking mechanism is operable to interlock the first connection member and the second connection member such that the upright member is in the second non-planar display state.
US07676958B2	Ski boot A ski boot comprising a conventional rigid sole from which there protrudes, from the area of the forefoot and approximately up to the area of the arch of the foot, a shell open in the direction of the area of the heel of the sole, thereat and to which there is rearwardly and slideably connectable a buttress element interacting with adjustment and guiding elements of the axial position with respect to the sole and to which a height-adjustable cuff is rotatably connectable.
US07676955B2	Article of footwear having a fluid-filled bladder with a reinforcing structure A sole component and a method of manufacturing the sole component are disclosed. In general, the sole component includes a fluid-filled bladder and a reinforcing structure extending around the bladder. The reinforcing structure is bonded to the exterior of the bladder, and may be recessed into the bladder. In some embodiments, the reinforcing structure extends along the side surfaces of the bladder and between upper and lower surfaces of bladder. In manufacturing the sole component, the reinforcing structure may be located within a mold, and the polymer material forming the bladder may be bonded to the reinforcing structure during the molding process.
US07676946B2	Invisible mounting system A method of construction, assembly, and suspension that allows for the mounting of properly cut, placed and independently hanging pieces of sheet material to form a complete image of any size, on drywall or other substrate, without any visible means of support and minimal wall damage. Applicable to any image that best describes itself in only two colors, such as black and white, or simply, positive and negative.
US07676938B1	Bicycle wheel and hub apparatus and method A bicycle wheel and hub apparatus capable of dynamically and precisely truing a bicycle wheel, and a method thereof, is provided. The bicycle wheel and hub apparatus includes a hub, including a hub body and a hub mounting plate, adaptable to a center hole of the bicycle wheel, a mounting device for mounting the hub onto the bicycle wheel, and a plurality of set screws for truing the bicycle wheel relative to the hub.
US07676931B2	Folding knife A folding hand tool with an open-assist mechanism that is not mechanically linked to a folding knife blade is disclosed. The open-assist mechanism is allowed to rotate around the same pivot used by the blade, and includes a lug that interacts with the kick of the blade when rotated. Because the open-assist mechanism is not mechanically linked to the blade, it has a range of free motion that promotes safety, and allows the mechanism to rotate into the blade cavity when the blade is extended. The folding knife also may have a carabiner that shares the blade cavity with the blade, with the blade nesting into the carabiner to save space, thereby giving the folding knife a smaller profile.
US07676922B1	Method of forming a saucer-shaped half-loop MEMS inductor with very low resistance A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inductor is formed in a saucer shape that completely surrounds a magnetic core structure which is formed from a ferromagnetic material. In addition, an array of MEMS inductors can be formed by dividing up the saucer-shaped MEMS inductor into a number of electrically-isolated MEMS inductor wedges.
US07676917B2	Method of manufacturing a circuit board A method of manufacturing a circuit board which may include the steps of forming a circuit board with horizontal and vertical fiberglass fibers, rotating the circuit board, and cutting the circuit board so that the horizontal and vertical fiberglass fibers form a non-right angle with a cut line of the circuit board. The circuit board may have a plurality of conductive traces located thereon which pass by areas of higher fiberglass-to-resin material and lower fiberglass-to-resin material to assist in reducing differential to common mode conversion between signals in the plurality of conducive traces.
US07676912B2	Method of manufacturing electronic component package An electronic component package includes: a main body including a plurality of layer portions that are stacked and that have their respective side surfaces, the main body having a side surface including the side surfaces of the layer portions; and wiring disposed on the side surface of the main body. Each of the layer portions has at least one electronic component chip and a plurality of electrodes disposed on the side surface of the layer portion. A method of manufacturing the electronic component package includes the steps of: fabricating a main body aggregate including a plurality of pre-main-body portions each of which is to become the main body later, the pre-main-body portions being arranged in one direction orthogonal to the direction of stacking of the plurality of layer portions; forming the wiring for each of the pre-main-body portions of the main body aggregate; and cutting the main body aggregate after the formation of the wiring so as to separate the plurality of pre-main-body portions from each other so that each of them becomes the main body and a plurality of electronic component packages are thereby formed.
US07676908B2	Pressing member and electronic device handling apparatus A pusher 30 is composed of a pusher base 31 and a pressing body 32 attached to the pusher base 31 in a removable way. Specifically, a base portion of the pressing body 32 is provided with a flange portion 321, and the pusher base 31 is provided with a plate 33 having a U-shape when seen two-dimensionally. By sliding the pressing body 32 with respect to the pusher base 31 with the flange portion 321 of the pressing body 32 supported by the plate 33, the pressing body 32 can be attached to and removed from the pusher 30 without using any tools.
US07676907B2	Component placement device as well as a method for transporting substrates through such a component placement device A component placement device suitable for placing a component on a substrate comprises at least one component feeder, at least one substrate conveyor as well as at least one component pickup and placement device for picking up a component from the component feeder and placing said component on a substrate supported by the substrate conveyor. The substrate conveyor comprises a substrate feeding portion comprising at least two substrate feed tracks extending parallel to each other, a substrate processing portion located near the component feeder, which is connected to the substrate feeding portion and which comprises a single substrate processing track, a substrate discharging portion connected to the substrate processing portion, which comprises at least two substrate discharge tracks extending parallel to each other, as well as transfer means for transferring substrates from a second substrate feed track to a first substrate feed track and from a first substrate discharge track to a second substrate discharge track.
US07676905B2	Method of manufacturing a self aligned magnetoresistive sensor A magnetoresistive sensor having a pinned layer that extends beyond the stripe height defined by the free layer of the sensor. The extended pinned layer has a strong shape induced anisotropy that maintains pinning of the pinned layer moment. The extended portion of the pinned layer has sides beyond the stripe height that are perfectly aligned with the sides of the sensor within the stripe height. This perfect alignment is made possible by a manufacturing method that uses a mask structure for more than one manufacturing phase, eliminating the need for multiple mask alignments.
US07676894B2	Clasp for jewelry, especially for necklaces and bracelets The invention describes a clasp for jewelry, especially for necklaces and bracelets, comprising a push-in fastener element, a receptacle element for receiving the push-in fastener element, a latching mechanism by means of which the push-in fastener element can be latched in the receptacle element, the latching mechanism comprising a spreadable latching means which when spread comes into a form-locking engagement with the receptacle element, and a handling means that can be gripped from outside of the receptacle element, for operation of the latching mechanism.It is provided according to the invention that the handling means is attached to a slide which is provided in the receptacle element and which in a first position, hereafter described as the latched position, is in engagement with the latching means and holds the latter in spread condition while in a second position, hereafter described as the unlatched position, it does not hold the latching means in spread condition.
US07676889B2	Hinge device for portable terminal A hinge device for a portable terminal including a first housing, a second housing foldably coupled to the first housing is disclosed. The hinge device causes the first housing and the second housing to be rotatably coupled in such a manner that both housings are either rotated away from each other, or both housings are rotated close to each other. The hinge device includes a hinge shaft fixed to one of the first housing or the second housing. The hinge shaft has a first cam surface on one surface. A hinge cam is movably coupled on the other housing of the first housing and the second housing and has a second cam surface opposite to the first cam surface. An elastic member provides an elastic force in such a way as to cause the second cam surface to contact the first cam surface. The first cam surface has a first peak portion, and the second cam surface has a stopper groove. The first peak portion is engaged with the stopper groove when the second housing is opened with respect to the first housing between about 90° and 115°.
US07676884B2	Vacuum cleaner equipped with bag compartment including a bag cage A vacuum cleaner includes a housing, a suction generator carried by the housing, a bag compartment and a bag cage. The bag compartment is defined by a bag compartment wall including an airflow inlet and an airflow outlet. The bag cage is received in the bag compartment. The bag cage defines a bag cavity that hold a filter bag in a position spaced from the bag compartment wall so as to maintain a clear airflow passage.
US07676880B2	Direct drive windshield wiper assembly A windshield wiper assembly including at least one motor having an output shaft and a windshield wiper operatively connected to the output shaft. The motor includes a stator adapted to provide an electromagnetic flux and a rotor assembly supported for rotation about the stator. The rotor assembly includes a back iron that defines an inner circumference and a plurality of magnets disposed in spaced parallel relationship relative to one another about the inner circumference of the back iron and in radially spaced relationship about the stator. The rotor assembly is operatively connected to the output shaft and responsive to electromagnetic flux generated by the stator so as to provide a rotational force to the output shaft to drive the windshield wiper in repeated wiping motion across the windshield.
US07676871B1	Pillow assembly with adjustable girth and elastic center panel A pillow assembly with an elastic center panel and an adjustable girth. The pillow assembly comprises a C-shaped or ring-shaped pillow body and a pillow cover. The cover defines a continuous, generally tubular, ring-shaped enclosure sized to receive the pillow body. The pillow body defines a well, and the cover preferably includes a center panel that spans the well and forms a seat area. A cinch assembly on the front of the pillow cover allows the overall girth of the pillow assembly to be adjusted.
US07676865B2	Transferable patient care equipment support A patient care equipment support is transferable between a first device having a first tapered socket and a second device having a second tapered socket. The equipment support includes an equipment supporting portion configured to support patient care equipment and a post coupled to the equipment supporting portion and extending generally downwardly therefrom. The post has first and second tapered portions. The first tapered portion is configured for receipt in the first tapered socket and the second tapered portion being configured for receipt in the second tapered socket.
US07676859B2	Folding bed with scissors-type lifting arrangement The invention relates to a folding bed which is covered with a mattress (9) and comprises a head frame, back frame and foot frame (8, 7, 6) which are connected to one another in an articulated manner and are arranged in a collapsed state in a basic frame (1) or box such that they can be raised and lowered by means of a lifting mechanism (4), in which case the lifting mechanism (4) comprises scissors-type lifting arrangements which are provided on both sides of the head frame (8), are spring-loaded for lifting action, and have their top ends articulated on the end sides of the head frame (8), and that the first scissors arm (47) is articulated, at the top end, on a short block link (43) at the back-part head-frame end at an articulation (44) on which acts a link plate (42) which is connected in an articulated manner to a control arm (41) and is connected to a spacing head-frame connector (20) of the head frame (8) and of the back frame (7). Supporting legs and catches secure the end positions; claddings prevent access to movable parts and springs.
US07681246B1	System and method for server side data signing To ensure data integrity, data are signed using a server-side key before being stored with a signature in a persistent storage on a client. Before the data that were stored are subsequently used, the data signature is verified to confirm that the data have not been modified. A signer identification (ID) uniquely identifying the client is sealed into the signature so that the identity of the signer cannot be changed without invalidating the data signature. If the data or the signer ID is altered, a temporary signature computed for the stored data and signer ID will differ from the signature that was stored. The server preferably signs a digest of the data to be stored and verifies a digest of the stored data. An intermediate key can be provided by the server to enable plural sets of data on the client to be signed before storage.
US07681242B2	Allocation of network resources Techniques are provided for allocating resources over a network. A resource consumer requests access to a resource over a network. As part of that request, the resource consumer acquires information that permits it to securely communicate with a resource provider. The resource provider controls the resource and once satisfied with the security of a request from a resource consumer allocates the resource for access by the resource consumer.
US07681241B2	Apparatus and method for managing digital rights with arbitration A method is disclosed for controlling access to a digital content. The method allows receipt of a notice regarding suspension of a sender's rights to use the content. A trusted third party arbiter transmits a key to restore the sender's access to the content. Information regarding at least the sender and the key is then documented. The sender can also be required to supply proof of ownership or authority to access the content. This can be in the form of original licensing information supplied by the content provider. The key can also be generated such that it expires after a predetermined length of time.
US07681236B2	Unauthorized access prevention system An unauthorized access prevention system that includes a search unit searching the flowing-in path of the unauthorized access to the services by a Web system disclosed by a user's ISP, a determination unit determining the place to implement a countermeasure for protecting the services from the unauthorized access based on the result of the search, and a notification unit notifying, according to a determination that that the countermeasure is implemented in the flow source that makes the unauthorized access flow into the user's communication network, the determination to the flow source.
US07681228B2	Method of one time authentication response to a session-specific challenge indicating a random subset of password or PIN character positions Financial institution back office computerized transaction-processing system with embedded privacy and security layer (EPSL) enables strong transaction authentication prior to a merchant or vendor contact, based on a user account number, transaction conditions like anticipated transaction time and money, user two-factor authentication with a static transaction PIN and a transaction session-specific random partial password or PIN recognition algorithm. User enters the user name and then, challenged by server with a random session-specific subset of a password or PIN character's consecutive position numbers, enters based on cognitive association a one time authentication response. The authentication session is interactive, transaction session-specific, and followed by either a transaction denial or an alphanumeric transaction signature generated by EPSL for this specific transaction. Then, the user submits her request to a transaction counterpart along with the transaction signature. The merchant or vendor requests an authorization session with EPSL.
US07681225B2	Content distribution system, content distribution control apparatus, content distribution control method, content distribution control program and content distribution control program storage medium A content distribution method where a user PC reserves a distribution channel at the live casting server in order to distribute content to the client PCs and requests the live casting server to post program presentation information on the content to be distributed on the distribution channel on the program presentation display screen of the top page screen, and the live casting server executes billing processing in response to the request, sends the top page screen having the program presentation display screen including the program presentation information, to the client PCs, which thereby allows the client users to see the program presentation information on the program presentation display screen of the top page screen first and increases the chances of selecting the program, resulting in distributing the content to much more client users.
US07681221B2	Content processing apparatus and content processing method for digest information based on input of content user Value-added information is created based on favorite information of a content user. The content is processed according to the generated value-added information. Favorite data indicating operations, such as fast-forward, pause, and rewind operations, performed while the content is being played back, and personal user information, such as the age group, the gender, and the life-style, of the content user are transferred to a server via a network. The server performs statistical processing on the user favorite data to generate value-added information according to the attributes of the user, such as the age group, the gender, and the life-style. Accordingly, the user is able to search for popular titles, play back only popular scenes, and skip uninteresting scenes by using a content playback apparatus.
US07681215B2	Emergency alert signaling method and digital television receiver A digital television receiver includes a tuner receiving a digital television signal including a DCCT, a demodulator demodulating the digital television signal, and a demultiplexer demultiplexing the DCCT from the demodulated signal. The receiver further includes a decoder parsing channel ID information and a priority code from the DCCT, where the channel ID information specifies an emergency alert channel associated with an emergency alert event and the priority code specifies an alert priority of the emergency alert event. The receiver further includes a controller that controls operation of the tuner to automatically tune to the emergency alert channel based upon the alert priority.
US07681209B2	Optical disk player An optical disk player comprises a rack which holds an optical pickup unit and moves with rotation of a pinion. The rack includes a fixed rack plate, which is fixed to the optical pickup unit, and a movable rack plate, which can slide in a moving direction of the fixed rack plate, and projecting members on the fixed rack plate are inserted into guide slots in the movable rack plate. A projecting portion which includes a resin spring is provided on the movable rack plate. When the projecting portion presses a supporter on the fixed rack plate, inner surfaces of the guide slots are pressed against the projecting members by a repulsive force of the projecting portion, and a shaky movement between the movable rack plate and the fixed rack plate is avoided, thus a clatter can be reduced when the rack moves with rotation of the pinion.
US07681201B2	Method and system for integrating and controlling components and subsystems A method and system for integrating and controlling a hardware device having one or more embedded systems including one or more hardware components configurable for use with the hardware device and one or more operating systems for use with the one or more hardware components. A control module configurable for use with the one or more hardware components and one or more operating systems accesses and controls the one or more hardware components with the hardware device. The control module generates and displays access and control commands on the hardware device to allow user to operate and manage the embedded system.
US07681196B2	Providing optimal number of threads to applications performing multi-tasking using threads In an environment in which applications perform multi-tasking by using threads, the optimum number of threads to be provided to an application is determined based on historical data. Due to the use of the historical data, optimum number of threads can be accurately determined, leading to better response times for service requests, without creating unneeded overhead on system processing the service requests. In one embodiment, various status information (of potentially several prior weeks) such as number of tasks received and pending, system resources status (e.g. idle processor time and aggregate memory usage in the system), is maintained. In addition, a table may be maintained to indicate the optimum number of threads for a given combination of status information values. Thus, based on the expected status scenario, the optimum number of threads can be determined and provided at various points of time.
US07681186B2	Resolvable semantic type and resolvable semantic type resolution A system for developing natural language enabled software applications is described. Resolvable types define abstract representations of linguistic elements and interrelationships between linguistic elements of a natural language input. Resolution semantics define procedural rules for resolving validity of the resolvable types in a natural language enabled software application.
US07681184B1	System and methodology for cross language type system compatibility A system and methodology for cross language type system compatibility is described. In one embodiment, for example, a system for translation of data types between a first application in a first language and a second application in a second language is described that comprises: a formal mapping between data types of the first language and data types of the second language; translators for translating data types between the first language and the second language based on the formal mapping; a translation mapping to the translators based on actual data types of the first application and formal data types of the second application; and a module for selecting an appropriate translator for translating between a particular data type in the first language and a data type in the second language based on the translation mapping in response to invocation of a method of the first application with the particular data type.
US07681182B1	Including function call graphs (FCG) generated from trace analysis data within a searchable problem determination knowledge base A trace file providing details of an execution of a software application experiencing unexpected behavior can be identified. The trace file can be converted into a graph structure (e.g., Function Call Graph), which details functions called during the execution, a calling relationship, and errors encountered during the execution. The converted graph structure can be programmatically matched against a set of stored graph structures to determine matched results. Each stored graph structure can correspond to unique record of a symptom database. Each unique record can be associated with a determined problem. The matched results can be provided as possible problems causing the unexpected behavior of the software application.
US07681180B2	Parameterized test driven development In one embodiment a computer system automatically generates unit tests. The computer system accesses a parameterized unit test that provides a base outline from which one or more unit tests are automatically generated, generates input parameter values for a unit of software code, automatically generates a unit test configured to assess the functionality of the unit of software code, and receives test results from a software testing program and provides feedback to a user. In other embodiments, a computer system automatically maintains a unit test database. The computer system receives a unit test at a unit test database, assigns a test identity to the received unit test, determines that the test identity assigned to the received unit test is unique when compared to other unit tests, determines that the received unit test has different functionality coverage characteristics, and adds the received unit test to the unit test database.
US07681178B1	Cascading style sheets (CSS) prototype pointer chaining in object-oriented environment A method, system, and computer program product for providing an application include representing a plurality of hierarchical rules as a plurality of objects in a prototype pointer chain, and providing a function to search the rules for a desired style by traversing the prototype pointer chain. An exemplary method provides a user interface or application with one or more visual objects. The visual appearances of the visual objects is affected by style information retrieved by traversing a prototype pointer chain to search for style-related rules. A compiled file can include code that describes rules as objects and creates class inheritance relationships between those objects and code that describes a style-finding function. A displaying program instantiates the objects arranged in a prototype pointer chain and uses its own inheritance logic to traverse the chain according to the style-finding function.
US07681172B2	Method and apparatus for modeling an apodization effect in an optical lithography system One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that accurately predicts an apodization effect in an optical lithography system for manufacturing an integrated circuit. During operation, the system starts by collecting an apodization-effect-induced spatial transmission profile from the optical lithography system. The system then constructs an apodization model based on the spatial transmission profile. Next, the system enhances a lithography model for the optical lithography system by incorporating the apodization model into the lithography model, wherein the enhanced lithography model accurately predicts the effects of apodization on the optical lithography system.
US07681169B2	Process for managing complex pre-wired net segments in a VLSI design A method for pre-wiring through multiple levels of metal using flues includes steps of: receiving information comprising flue geometries and flue properties; producing multiple routing patterns of a design for the flues; identifying macro instance terminals to be pre-wired in the design; selecting at least one of the routing patterns for the macro instance terminals in the design to avoid blockage; and instantiating the design such that the flues can be manipulated as vias.
US07681168B2	Semiconductor integrated device, method of designing semiconductor integrated device, device for designing the same, and program A semiconductor integrated device has a wire layout structure such that SL1≦SL2
US07681165B2	Apparatus and methods for congestion estimation and optimization for computer-aided design software A method of performing placement of resources in a computer-aided design (CAD) tool includes performing a first congestion analysis, proposing a placement move, and evaluating the placement move. The method further includes incrementally updating information used for performing another congestion analysis.
US07681163B2	Capacitor layout technique for reduction of fixed pattern noise in a CMOS sensor A new capacitor architecture includes a front plate of the capacitor formed from a first polysilicon layer. The front plate is surrounded by a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer. The back plate of the capacitor is formed from one layer of a first two-layer conductive structure which surrounds the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer. The two-layer conductive structure is an equal potential structure and includes a conductive coupling between the two layers.
US07681162B2	Standard cell, cell library using a standard cell and method for arranging via contact According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a standard cell, including a cell frame having a rectangular region, a power supply interconnection, a center line of the power supply interconnection overlapping with a side line along a first direction of the cell frame, a via contact, the center of the via contact overlapping with the center line of the power supply interconnection and a grid having a minimum interval in a layout of the via contacts, wherein a width of the cell along the first direction is an integral multiplication of the grid and the center of the via contact is at a distance of at least 1.5 multiplication of the grid from the nearest apex in the cell frame.
US07681156B2	Transmission circuit simulator and transmission circuit simulation program storage medium A circuit simulator includes: a DC analysis section which analyses a static stable potential on a transmission circuit if a capacitor which blocks a DC current while allowing an AC current to pass therethrough is connected in series in the line of the transmission circuit; and an initial potential application section which applies, as an initial potential in the simulation, the stable potential obtained by the DC analysis section to an application position on the upstream side of the capacitor in the flow of the signal through the transmission circuit. The simulator also includes a circuit simulation section which performs the simulation of the transmission circuit under the initial potential applied by the initial potential application section.
US07681155B2	Method of designing and manufacturing semiconductor device A semiconductor device designing method includes calculating capacitance. The semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate, an insulator formed on the semiconductor substrate, and an electrode formed on the insulator. The capacitance is calculated under an approximation assuming a portion of the semiconductor substrate, the insulator and a portion of the electrode to be one of a conductor and a dielectric depending on electric characteristics thereof, respectively.
US07681148B2	Method for enabling ease of use with page exception programming A page exception icon is provided for programming a page exception during a document processing job. The page exception icon is pre-programmed by selecting at least one document job processing parameter from a plurality of document job processing parameters and storing the document job processing parameter in association with a name provided for the page exception icon. The page exception icon can be dragged and dropped onto objects representing pages of a document processing job to perform a page exception in accordance with the document job processing parameters pre-programmed for the page exception icon.
US07681142B2	Scrolling web pages using direct interaction Aspects of the present invention provide a system and method for scrolling or dragging information on a display. A panning tool is provided that may scroll information, such as a web page, on a display in tandem with movement of a cursor. If interactive elements are present on the page or document, an interactive element may be activated as desired. Scrolling may be accomplished with the panning tool either on non-interactive elements or interactive elements that are not required to be activated. Furthermore, inertia of movement of the information on a display is optimized and autoscrolling is provided in which a page or document may be scrolled without dragging.
US07681133B2	Declarative task-based user interfaces In one embodiment, a method for building wizard-style user interfaces (UIs) for a business task includes identifying a collection of metadata associated with the business task, and processing the collection of metadata to provide a set of wizard-style UIs pertaining to the business task.
US07681129B2	Audio clutter reduction and content identification for web-based screen-readers A method and apparatus for reading a web page according to a set of user-configurable settings. In one embodiment, a set of user-configurable settings configured for reading the web page is determined. An initial reading position on the web page is determined as specified by the user-configurable settings. The web page is then read from the initial reading position according to the set of user-configurable settings.
US07681127B2	Dynamic localization for documents using language setting A method, for dynamic document localization, includes issuing a request for locale-neutral content, the request having a locale-neutral identifier. The locale-neutral content is received responsive to the request. Localized language content is built by applying a language setting for a current language selection to the locale-neutral content. The language setting includes a language-specific string in a strings data structure corresponding to the current language selection.
US07681126B2	Method for spell-checking location-bound words within a document The present invention uses spatial dictionaries (termed locationaries), for meaningfully checking and correcting the spelling of text on Geographic Information System (GIS) maps or other computer documents containing spatially, or coordinate-, bound text. Locationaries keep track of correctly spelled words and the geographic areas within which they are considered correctly spelled. In a preferred embodiment, locationaries are feature classes, ‘map layers’ of properly-spelled words or attributed features (objects). The invention selects such features from locationaries based on spatial criteria relative to the textual objects to spell-check. It then exports the attribute values to dictionaries that can be used by conventional spell checking engines. Once all errors and suggestions are found with such an engine and within user-specified criteria, a dialog is shown that contains a row per potentially-misspelled word found. From that dialog, the user can edit the word in the original textual object of the map.
US07681119B2	Method and apparatus for providing a graphical user interface for creating and editing a mapping of a first structural description to a second structural description A method, apparatus, and computer program product for providing a graphical user interface for creating and editing a mapping of structured information to different structured information, which allows a user to interactively define the mapping. The present invention operates as a user tool by accepting interactive input from a user of a source input, processing the input to display the source input in a format for accepting user commands to create or edit a transformation map of source components to target components. Interactive user input is accepted for selection of an input file to be transformed and selection of a transformation map for the requested transformation. Interactive user input is accepted for processing for selection of individual components of the first structured information format for mapping, and for selection of options for the target components. Exemplary options for the target components are a null value, the source component itself, a single selected target component, or plural selected target components. Interactive user input is accepted for processing to assign attribute values to components of the second structured information format. Exemplary options for the sources of attribute values are attribute values obtained from the source components, system attribute values, no value, attribute values input interactively by the user through the user interface, and content of element. Interactive user input is then accepted and processed to initiate processing of a transformation of the source input file in the first structured information format to a target output file in the second structured information format.
US07681118B1	Methods and apparatus for creating markup language documents A method for generating markup language documents, e.g., XML documents, uses a code generator that creates programs configured to create dynamic XML documents at run time, avoiding many of the complexities arising from the use of conventional “XML GENERATE” statements. In one embodiment, this process involves (1) creating a template document using a markup language, wherein the template document includes a set of tags associated with the markup language documents; (2) parsing the template document to determine a working storage structure corresponding to the tags in the template document; and (3) generating an application program in the programming language (e.g., COBOL), wherein the application program includes a definition of the working storage structure, and is configured to generate, during run-time, a markup language document corresponding to the original template document.
US07681117B2	Grid entry user interface extensions A computer-readable medium has computer-executable instructions for generating a user interface on a display device, the user interface includes a grid having a plurality of cells. The user interface also includes a visual affordance presented on the grid and visually connected to one of the plurality of cells, the visual affordance exposing properties of the one of the plurality of cells to which it is visually connected.
US07681110B2	Decoding technique for linear block codes The present decoding technique provides an efficient technique for decoding linear block codes from multiple encoders. When an error in a code sequence is detected, the decoding technique estimates a confidence for each bit within the code sequence. Based on the confidence, a subset of bits within the code sequence is obtained. The subset of bits is then incrementally flipped to determine a set of modified code sequences. A syndrome is computed for each of the modified code sequences based on a preceding computed syndrome and an update vector.
US07681106B2	Error correction device and methods thereof A method of error correction includes retrieving raw data from a memory device during a first operational phase of the error correction device. The raw data is retrieved by a bus interface device that interfaces with a variety of memory devices. During a second operational phase, the raw data is outputted from the bus interface device to the bus master. In addition, error correction data is calculated, and error correction is performed on the raw data during the second operational phase. By retrieving the raw data before performing error correction, and by outputting the raw data during the same operational phase, data may be retrieved from the memory more rapidly.
US07681103B2	Reliable generation of a device-specific value A device-specific value is reliably generated in a device. In a first component of the device, a first digital value is generated that is substantially dependent fabrication variation among like device. Redundancy information is computed based on the first digital value. A subsequent digital value is later generated in the first component of the device. The first digital value is then determined in a second component of the device from the subsequent digital value and the redundancy information.
US07681102B2	Byte level protection in PCI-Express devices Method and system for protecting data in a PCI-Express device is provided. The method includes adding error correction code (ECC) to every byte of data that enters a PCI-Express Transaction Handler (“PTH”) Module and is destined for a host system memory or destined to another device, before the data is aligned within the PTH module; verifying the ECC code for every byte of the data before the data leaves the PTH module; and generating the ECC code for a data block size, wherein the data block size depends on the destination of the data.
US07681096B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit, BIST circuit, design program of BIST circuit, design device of BIST circuit and test method of memory A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a memory, a BIST main circuit and a BIST sub circuit. The BIST sub circuit is to generate a row address pattern or a column address pattern of the memory and includes a boundary address generation circuit for alternately generating a top address and a bottom address of the memory for at least one of the row address pattern and the column address pattern. The BIST main circuit is provided in common with a plurality of memories and the BIST sub circuit is individually provided corresponding to the memories. The boundary address generation circuit includes a top address memory unit for storing the top address and a top/bottom address generation unit for reading out the top address and alternately outputting the top address and the bottom address.
US07681093B2	Redundant acknowledgment in loopback entry Redundant acknowledgment between agents performing a loopback test over bidirectional communications bus is described. In one example the acknowledgment is performed by initiating loopback communications from a first agent to a second agent, sending a packet including a redundant acknowledgment sequence from the first agent to the second agent, receiving the packet including the redundant acknowledgement sequence looped back from the second agent at the first agent, sending a test sequence from the first agent to the second agent, and receiving the test sequence looped back from the first agent.
US07681090B2	Ripple correlation control based on limited sampling A method for controlling a variable of a switching electrical circuit detects values for each of a first waveform and of a second waveform in the switching circuit at a beginning of and at a predetermined instant during a switching interval of a switching operation of the electrical circuit, both of the first and second waveforms are perturbed by the switching operation, and evaluates the variable based on the corresponding values of both the first waveform and the second waveform detected at the beginning and at the predetermined instant during the switching interval. The method further adjusts an operating point of the circuit based on a change in the variable between the two evaluations so as to maximize the variable.
US07681089B2	Redundant storage controller system with enhanced failure analysis capability A redundant storage controller system that robustly provides failure analysis information (FAI) to an operator of the system is disclosed. The system includes first and second storage controllers in communication with one another, such as via a PCI-Express link. When one of the controllers fails, the FAI is transferred from the failed controller to the surviving controller over the link. The operator issues a command to the surviving storage controller, which responsively provides the FAI. In one embodiment, the failed storage controller writes the FAI to the second storage controller. In one embodiment, each storage controller periodically writes the FAI before there is a failure. In one embodiment, the second storage controller reads the FAI from the failed storage controller. The FAI may include boot logs, crash logs, debug logs, and event logs. The FAI may also be written to a disk drive connected to the controllers.
US07681083B2	Isolation of input/output adapter error domains Method, apparatus and system for isolating input/output adapter error domains in a data processing system. Errors occurring in one input/output adapter are isolated from other input/output adapters of the data processing system by functionality in a host bridge that connects the input/output adapters to a system bus of the data processing system, thus permitting the use of low cost, industry standard switches and bridges external to the host bridge.
US07681082B2	Method and apparatus for improved error avoidance in a redundant data path system A logic arrangement, method and computer program for reducing incidence of errors in a redundant path system during a process of attachment of a device to a running subsystem, comprises a control component for encapsulating the process of attachment of a device to a running subsystem; a disabling component for disabling a path interface; a testing component for testing for the presence of a usable data path across at least one further path interface; and an enabling component for enabling the at least one further path interface to accept communication with the device responsive to a positive outcome from the testing component; wherein the control component is adapted to permit operation after attachment of the device only if full redundancy is retained. A re-enabling component may re-enable any path interface or further path interface.
US07681079B2	Diagnostic test sets Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with metadata driven diagnostic test execution are described. One exemplary system embodiment includes a diagnostic test set repository where pre-defined and/or user-defined XML files that store the metadata for driving the diagnostic test execution can be stored. The example system may also include a first logic to prepare the XML file to control a diagnostic session and a second logic to control the diagnostic session based on the prepared XML file.
US07681075B2	Method and system for providing high availability to distributed computer applications Method, system, apparatus and/or computer program for achieving transparent integration of high-availability services for distributed application programs. Loss-less migration of sub-programs from their respective primary nodes to backup nodes is performed transparently to a client which is connected to the primary node. Migration is performed by high-availability services which are configured for injecting registration codes, registering distributed applications, detecting execution failures, executing from backup nodes in response to failure, and other services. High-availability application services can be utilized by distributed applications having any desired number of sub-programs without the need of modifying or recompiling the application program and without the need of a custom loader. In one example embodiment, a transport driver is responsible for receiving messages, halting and flushing of messages, and for issuing messages directing sub-programs to continue after checkpointing.
US07681066B2	Quantifying core reliability in a multi-core system A system may comprise a first processor core, a second processor core and a processor core assignor. The first processor core may include a first circuit to generate a first data and a second processor core may include a second circuit to generate a second data. The processor core assignor may assign a first thread to the first processor core or to the second processor core based on the first data, the second data, and an application reliability requirement.
US07681064B2	Apparatus and computer program product for TOD-clock steering A system, method and computer program product for steering a time-of-day (TOD) clock for a computer system having a physical clock providing a time base for executing operations that is stepped to a common oscillator. The method includes computing a TOD-clock offset value (d) to be added to a physical-clock value (Tr) value to obtain a logical TOD-clock value (Tb), where the logical TOD-clock value is adjustable without adjusting a stepping rate of the oscillator.
US07681062B2	Synchronous type semiconductor device for high speed data processing Disclosed is a synchronous semiconductor device including clock generation circuit that frequency divides a clock signal (PCLK) input from an input buffer and generates first and second internal clock signals having a predetermined phase difference from first and second frequency-divided clock signals of different phases, respectively, a first input circuit control unit that receives a chip select signal and samples the chip select signal in synchronization with the clock signal, second and third input circuit control units that sample an output of the first input circuit control unit in synchronization with the first and second internal clock signals, respectively, and first and second input circuits that receive a result of a logic operation between the output of the first input control unit and an output of the second input circuit control unit and a result of a logic operation between the output of the first input circuit control unit and an output of the third input circuit control unit as input enable signals, respectively, and sample an externally input signal in synchronization with the first and second internal clock signals, respectively based on enabling instructed by the input enable signals.
US07681057B2	Power management of non-volatile memory systems Methods and apparatus for placing a non-volatile memory systems in one of a number of power-down modes in response to events being monitored are useful in reducing power consumption of the non-volatile memory system. The power-down modes provide for successively less functionality, thus providing for successively less power consumption. A non-volatile memory system thus can respond to the events to place the system in a mode that permits the desired operation or a desired response time for subsequent operations while seeking to minimize power consumption.
US07681048B2	Data encryption using a key and moniker for mobile storage media adapted for library storage Disclosed are a method and apparatus for a data storage library comprising a plurality of drives and a combination bridge controller device adapted to direct and make compatible communication traffic between a client and the plurality of drives. The combination bridge controller device is further adapted to encrypt a first data package received from the client. The combination bridge controller device is further adapted to transmit the encrypted first data package, a first moniker and a first message authentication code to one of the plurality of drives for storage to a cooperating mobile storage medium. The combination bridge controller device is further adapted to decrypt the first data package when used in combination with a first key associated with the first moniker and guarantee the decryption of the first data package was successfully accomplished with authentication of the first message authentication code.
US07681047B2	Decryption of data in storage systems Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a controller receives encrypted data from a first storage unit coupled to the controller. The received encrypted data is stored in a second storage unit coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is capable of accessing the second storage unit faster in comparison to the first storage unit. The encrypted data is maintained in the second storage unit, until at least one condition is satisfied.
US07681045B2	Software algorithm identification A system and method for determining export requirements for a content file may include examining a content file to identify content used by or included in the content file that is subject to export control, determining, in response to the identified content, export requirements that are applicable to the content file, and providing an indication of the determined export requirements.
US07681041B2	Image formation apparatus, data reception method, program for performing data reception method, and storage medium for storing program In an image formation apparatus which receives data transmitted from plural external apparatuses connected through a network and processes the received data, transmission source lists associated with users of the image formation apparatus are stored in a memory, the transmission source list corresponding to the user authenticated with respect to the image formation apparatus is selected, it is judged, when the data is received from the external apparatus, whether or not transmission source information of the external apparatus has been registered on the transmission source list, and it is controlled based on the judged result whether or not to process the received data.
US07681039B2	Collusion-resistant watermarking and fingerprinting An implementation of a technology is described herein that facilitates rights enforcement of digital goods using watermarks. More particularly, it is a fingerprinting technology for protecting digital goods by detecting collusion as a malicious attack and identifying the participating colluders. If a digital pirate breaks one client and enables this client to avoid watermark detection, all content (both marked/protected an unmarked/free) can be played as unmarked only on that particular client. However, to enable other clients to play content as unmarked, the digital pirate needs to collude the extracted detection keys from many clients in order to create content that can evade watermark detection on all clients. The described implementation significantly improves collusion resistance through a fingerprinting mechanism that can identify the members of a malicious coalition even when their numbers are several orders of magnitude greater than what conventional collusion-protection schemes can accomplish. However, in this scenario each member of the malicious coalition leaves a fingerprint in every digital good from which the estimated watermark is subtracted. Thus, like a burglar without gloves, the digital pirate leaves her fingerprints only when she commits a crime. This abstract itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.
US07681037B2	Network connection system A network connection system includes a client apparatus, an authentication server, and a connection server. The authentication server authenticates a user of the client apparatus and transmits a network address of the client apparatus to the connection server. When information indicating the transition to a connection wait state is received from the connection server, the network address of the connection server is transmitted to the client. The client apparatus transmits an encrypted user name and password to the network address. The connection server 11 conducts authentication using the encrypted user name and password.
US07681033B2	Device authentication system A device authentication module and an encryption module can be connected via a dynamic link in a CE device.A random number is generated in an authentication server (5). The device authentication module (7) combines a pass-phrase and this random number to generate a digest, and transmits this and a device ID to the encryption module (8). The encryption module encrypts a communication pathway and transmits these items of information to the authentication server (5). The authentication server (5) searches for the pass-phrase based on the device ID and combines this and the generated random number to generate a digest. This digest is compared with the digest received from the encryption module (8) for device authentication. The encryption module (8) receives from the device authentication module (7) not the pass-phrase but a digest, and therefore can be connected via a dynamic link instead of a static link.
US07681023B2	Method for ensuring optimal memory configuration in a computer A method according to the invention ensures optimal memory configuration in a computer: A determination is made whether performance can be improved by rearranging the DIMMs that are installed in the computer. If so, then a user of the computer is notified that the DIMMs can be rearranged to improve performance.
US07681021B2	Dynamic branch prediction using a wake value to enable low power mode for a predicted number of instruction fetches between a branch and a subsequent branch A processor has a fetch unit and a branch execution unit. The fetch unit has a branch predictor. The branch predictor has a branch target buffer and a branch direction predictor. A wake value is a number of instruction fetches that is predicted to be performed after a fetch of a branch. Thus, for a first branch, for example, a first wake number is predicted. A low power mode of the branch predictor is enabled for a duration of the first wake value in response to hit in the branch target buffer in which the hit is in response to the first branch.
US07681012B2	Method, system and device for handling a memory management fault in a multiple processor device A method or device handles memory management faults in a device having a digital signal processor (“DSP”) and a microprocessor. The DSP includes a memory management unit (“DSP MMU”) to manage memory access by the DSP, and the DSP and the microprocessor access shared physical memory. Upon the DSP executing an instruction attempting to access a virtual address wherein the virtual address is invalid, a page fault interrupt is generated by the DSP MMU. A microprocessor interrupt handler in the microprocessor is activated in direct response to the page fault interrupt. Thereafter in the microprocessor, a translation lookaside buffer (“TLB”) entry is created in the DSP MMU, which includes a valid mapping between the virtual address and a page of physical memory. After creating the TLB entry, the microprocessor indicates to the DSP that the access by the DSP of the virtual address is completed.
US07681004B2	Advanced dynamic disk memory module Memory modules address the growing gap between main memory performance and disk drive performance in computational apparatus such as personal computers. Memory modules disclosed herein fill the need for substantially higher storage capacity in end-user add-in memory modules. Such memory modules accelerate the availability of applications, and data for those applications. An exemplary application of such memory modules is as a high capacity consumer memory product that can be used in Hi-Definition video recorders. In various embodiments, memory modules include a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and a command interpreter that includes interfaces to the memories and to various busses. The first memory acts as an accelerating buffer for the second memory, and the second memory provides non-volatile backup for the first memory. In some embodiments data transfer from the first memory to the second memory may be interrupted to provide read access to the second memory.
US07681001B2	Storage system In a storage system having a function of acquiring update history information in correspondence with a write operation from a host, update data according to the amount of data written will become enormous. Thus, there is a problem in that long-term backup and data management using update history information is not possible. A management computer defines a service level according to time progress of data, and stores and manages update history information according to the service level in the respective stages. The management computer manages the update history information, and partially migrates update data from a certain storage system to another storage system according to the service level required in the data. The management computer also restores data in the storage system to which the update data was migrated.
US07680995B1	Data replication system and method for clustered systems In a clustered processing system, replication logic controls replication of object data to one of more replica instances. Correction logic generates correction data based on the object data and generates code words by combining the object data and the correction data. The code words are transmitted to the one or more replica instances such that correctable errors in the object data can be corrected without re-transmission of the object data.
US07680984B2	Storage system and control method for managing use of physical storage areas An object of the present invention is to improve the usage efficiency of a storage extent in a storage system using the Allocation on Use (AOU) technique. A controller in the storage system allocates a storage extent in an actual volume to an extent in a virtual volume accessed by a host computer, detects any decrease in necessity for maintaining that allocation, and cancels the allocation of the storage extent in the actual volume to the extent in the virtual volume based on the detection result.
US07680976B2	Method and apparatus for emulating rewritable memory with non-rewritable memory in an MCU An integrated circuit having an embedded multiple time programmable memory includes a processing core for executing stored instructions with a data memory and a non volatile memory. The non-volatile memory block provides for storage of program instructions and includes a plurality of blocks of non-volatile memory, each of which can be written to once and read from many times and each having a size that is equal to or less than a program memory address space addressable by the processing core for output of data there from. It also includes a reserve storage location for storing a status word defining the one of the plurality of blocks addressable by the processing core, the status word operable to be changed in response to external signals when another of the plurality of blocks is to be selected, such that once another of the plurality of blocks is selected, the status word cannot indicate as addressable by the processing core a prior one of the plurality of blocks that was defined by the status word as being previously addressable by the processing core.
US07680974B2	Cooperative interconnection and operation of a non-volatile memory card and an input-output card Very small non-volatile memory cards are modified to include a connector to which a connector on a separate data input-output card electrically and mechanically mates when pushed together. The input-output card transfers data directly between an external device and the non-volatile memory, without having to go through the host to which the memory card is connected. The input-output card communicates with the external device through a wired or a wireless communication channel.
US07680967B2	Configurable application specific standard product with configurable I/O A configurable application specific product with a configurable input/output interface is described. The illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a single microcontroller and a microprocessor having a configurable I/O interface that can be programmed to handle any one of a plurality of interfaces that embedded applications might have, including communication protocols and bus interfaces, data acquisition from multiple sensors and actuators, and controls of various motors.
US07680965B2	Data processing system having a channel adapter shared by multiple operating systems A channel adaptor is provided which can be shared by a plurality of operating systems (OS's) running in a data processing system, by generating an address translation table without changing input/output process control data. A plurality of OS's execute an input/output process for the channel adaptor by using input/output process control data having different identifiers, without sharing the input/output process control data for the channel adaptor by different OS's. The data processing system generates one virtual address translation table from a plurality of address translation tables generated by OS's, and the channel adaptor processes the input/output control data of OS's by using the virtual address translation table.
US07680961B2	Device recognition system and method A device recognition system comprises an identification module of a computer device configured to generate an impedance signature for an external device using an impedance of the external device measured at least two different stimuli, the impedance signature used to identify the external device.
US07680957B1	Computer system configuration representation and transfer System and method for generating modifiable representations of system hardware and software configurations and for transferring a system to another system using the configuration representations. A configuration representation may include a backup of a system's files. A configuration representation may be modified, and may be used to restore the system to hardware that may be different than the original system's hardware. In one embodiment, a configuration transfer mechanism is provided to perform the transfer of a configuration representation from a source system to a target system. One embodiment of a configuration transfer mechanism may use one or more servers coupled to the source and target systems via a network. Another embodiment of a configuration transfer mechanism may be used to restore a source system's configuration and files from a source system directly to a target system coupled to the source system without using servers.
US07680949B2	Source address selection scheme suitable for multi-home environment In a source address selection system containing a router device connected to a plurality of Internet service providers, and a communication node connected to the router device, it becomes possible to utilize the multi-home environment effectively, by enabling the selection of the source address according to the egress router with respect to the Internet, by accounting for the state of connection with the Internet service provider.
US07680939B2	Graphical user interface to manipulate syndication data feeds A pipe specification editor is provided to configure a plurality of modules for processing a syndication data feed. The editor is operable to provide a graphical user interface to receive a user specification of a plurality of modules and to receive a user specification of wires. Each module is characterized by at least one of a group consisting of an input node and an output node, wherein the input node, if present, is configured to input a syndication data feed and the output node, if present, is configured to output a syndication data feed. At least one of the modules is a module configured to retrieve a source syndication data feed. The wires are configured to provide a syndication data feed provided from an output node of a module to an input node of another module.
US07680935B2	Entity domains Strategies are described for organizing the runtime components of an application into an entity domain framework. The entity domain framework includes one or more entity domains arranged in a hierarchical fashion. Each entity domain further groups one or more components together in a hierarchical fashion. Each entity domain can include one or more services that provide a policy to the components within the entity domain. Composite functionality couples the framework together, and further provides a bus-like mechanism whereby an entity can forward service requests up through the hierarchy until a domain is found that satisfies the requests. Exemplary services provided by the entity domain framework include lifetime management services, error handling services, and so forth. The hierarchical structure provides an efficient way of exposing functionality to groups of components that will share this functionality in a common context, without requiring costly and complex atomistic coupling of services to components or duplication of service instances.
US07680934B2	Method and apparatus for assigning and allocating network resources to layer 1 virtual private networks Network resources are assigned as dedicated, shared, or public network resources. The resources are then allocated to L1-VPN subscribers on demand. Splitting assignment of the resources from allocation of the resources enables resources to be assigned to more than one subscriber on the network. Temporary physical dedication of the resources to one of the subscribers may be accomplished by allocating the assigned resources on demand, so that particular subscribers are provided with dedicated resources on an as-needed basis. Dedication of the network resources allows the network resources to be configured, managed, and controlled by the customers. The network resources may be optical resources and the links may be time slots on particular fibers. Optionally, by enabling prioritization to cause displacement of link allocations, additional flexibility may be obtained in allocating links to L1-VPNs such as by allowing the use of private and shared resources by other subscribers.
US07680933B2	Apparatus, system, and method for on-demand control of grid system resources An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for on-demand control of a grid system resource on a grid computing system. An on-demand management apparatus includes a user input module, a parameter module, and a reservation module. The user input module is configured to allow a user to input a parameter control request. The parameter control request corresponds to a performance parameter of the grid computing system. The global parameter module is configured to dynamically change the performance parameter, which corresponds to a performance resource, according to the parameter control request. The global reservation module is configured to reserve the performance resource for a grid computing operation. The on-demand management apparatus is also configured to terminate a performance resource reservation when a client reclaims the performance resources from the grid computing system.
US07680925B2	Method and system for testing provisioned services in a network A method, system, and apparatus are provided for testing a service in a network. A simulated interface is created on a network device by a Network Management Station (NMS). Thereafter, an instruction is received at the simulated interface from the NMS. The instruction comprises a source address, a destination address and other information to test a service. The service is tested on the network device based on the received instruction. A response is generated from the test. The response indicates whether the service is working as intended between the source address and the destination address. The response is sent from the simulated interface to the NMS.
US07680920B2	Methods, systems and computer program products for evaluating network performance using diagnostic rules identifying performance data to be collected A path of a communication connection between a first node and a second node is determined. The path includes at least one connecting node. A first set of network performance data associated with the communication connection is obtained. Ones of a plurality of diagnostic rules is automatically evaluated based on the obtained first set of network performance data to identify a second set of network performance data to be collected.
US07680914B2	Autonomous control apparatus, autonomous control method, and computer product An apparatus for autonomously controlling an information processing system made up of a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected via a network includes a policy storing unit that stores a policy required for managing the information processing system, and a control performing unit that performs an autonomous control based on the policy stored.
US07680911B1	Method for managing objects in a communication network and implementing device A method for distributed management of a catalogue of objects in a communication network comprising devices. The method comprises the step of registering local objects present in a device in a local registry managed at the level of the device, wherein a local object may formulate a request for a list of objects, and receive a collected response. The request is transmitted to the single local registry of the device hosting the local object and propagated through the local registry to distant registries. The responses are collected by the local registry and the collected response is transmitted to the local object that formulated the initial request. The invention applies in particular within the context of home communication networks.
US07680902B2	Method and system for accessing web pages based on playback of recordings Entertainment content complementary to a musical recording is delivered to a user's computer by a computer network link. The user employs a browser to access the computer network. A plug-in for the browser is able to control an audio CD or other device for playing the musical recording. A script stored on the remote computer accessed over the network is downloaded. The script synchronizes the delivery of the complementary entertainment content with the play of the musical recording.
US07680899B1	Seamless retrieval of non-standard items for a mobile device Systems and methods for seamless retrieval of coupons and other non-standard items to a mobile device. Some method embodiments comprise: receiving a communication that specifies a user id and a coupon id, and storing the user id and a location of the coupon in a table in response to said receiving. A response to the communication is sent to the mobile device to invoke an application that accesses the table to determine the coupon location and uses the coupon location to download the content. The communication may be a web page request from a browser on the mobile device, and the application may be a coupon organizer external to the web browser. The communication may further include origination information, so that once the retrieval is complete, the mobile device once again displays the original web page and the user is given the perception that the download was accomplished within the browser.
US07680898B2	Systems for processing multi-media editing projects Systems for processing multi-media editing projects are described. In one embodiment, a computing system comprises input means for generating a request for one or more multi-media files for use in a multi-media editing project, one or more processors, one or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, perform a method comprising: intercepting the request; ascertaining whether a requested multi-media file is located on the user computer by checking one or more user-designated directories for the multi-media file; retrieving the multi-media file if the file is located on the user computer; and seeking the requested file from the network-accessible location if the multi-media file is not located on the user computer.
US07680897B1	Methods and systems for managing network traffic Methods and systems for network traffic management are provided. A content distribution network application manages data in a cache. A network rate shaper application controls and manages requests for access to an external network connection. The content distribution network application determines priorities associated with requests and communicates these priorities to the rate shaper application. The rate shaper application adjusts access levels or data transfer rates for the requests based on the received priorities.
US07680895B2	Integrated conversations having both email and chat messages Email and chat messages may be displayed as part of the same conversation, in an integrated conversation view. The conversation view would include items corresponding to email messages that are part of the conversation and chat messages that are part of the conversation. A user may reply to an email message in the conversation by chat.
US07680883B2	Dynamic integration of web sites A method for displaying information includes identifying computer-readable service code at a service site, which code, when read by a client computer via a network, causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information. At least a portion of the service code is selected for inclusion in a service component containing at least a portion of the service information that corresponds to the selected code. A pointer is generated, indicating a location at which the service component is accessible, for inclusion of the pointer in host code accessible to the client computer from a host site, which is separate from the service site and is accessible via the network, the host code, when read by the client computer, causing the computer to display a host page containing host information. An invocation of the pointer by the client computer is received at the location when the client computer accesses the host page. The selected service code is then conveyed to the client computer, such that responsive to the selected service code, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
US07680882B2	Multimedia aggregation in an online social network Multimedia content is featured on user pages of an online social network using embed codes that are generated using a configuration file associated with the source ID for the multimedia content and a content ID for the multimedia content. The configuration file, the source ID and the content ID are stored locally by the online social network so that any changes to the embed codes can be made by changing the configuration file associated with the source and regenerating the embed codes. By managing multimedia content in this manner, greater control can be exercised by the online social network over the multimedia content that are featured on its user pages.
US07680877B2	Implementing a web service application on a device with multiple threads Techniques are provided for efficiently processing SOAP requests at a Web service application (WSA) of a multi-functional device (MFP). In one technique, a WSA includes at least three threads. An external request processing thread processes SOAP requests from different client applications. A request processing thread processes a SOAP request according to the business logic of the WSA. A internal communications thread communicates with other components of the MFP that are distinct from the WSA. In another technique, a WSA processes different SOAP request differently, depending on the size of the SOAP and the resources required to process the SOAP request so that fast requests may be processed immediately while slow requests are pending. In another technique, a WS-Eventing specification is implemented within a WSA to simplify the event subscription and notification process.
US07680876B1	Highly available domain name system A technique is performed by a high availability main primary DNS name server. The technique involves receiving a DNS update sent from a DNS client to the main primary DNS name server and directly modifying a main DNS record based on the DNS update. The technique further involves directing a backup primary DNS name server to modify a backup DNS record based on the DNS update while both the main primary DNS name server and the backup primary DNS name server (i) are configured to distribute DNS information to secondary DNS name servers and DNS clients and (ii) are in ongoing communication with each other, the backup primary DNS name server being configured to receive DNS updates sent from the DNS clients to the backup primary DNS name server and modify backup DNS records based on the DNS updates in response to a loss of communication between the main primary DNS name server and the backup primary DNS name server.
US07680872B2	Canonical signed digit (CSD) coefficient multiplier with optimization An apparatus comprising an address generation circuit, a lookup table, a multiplexer and an output circuit. The address generation circuit may be configured to generate a series of addresses. The lookup table may be configured to generate one or more coefficients in response to the addresses. The multiplexer circuit may be configured to generate one or more shifted values in response to (i) the coefficients and (ii) the one or more operands. The output circuit may be configured to generate an output signal by combining one or more component values in response to said shifted values. The coefficients are grouped as one over power of 2 components into mutually exclusive groups.
US07680856B2	Storing searches in an e-mail folder A method for saving search query information on a server coupled to the Internet as a search folder. The method may include the steps of: identifying a user communicating with the server; storing the search query associated with the user in a data store on the server responsive to a user instruction to store the search query; and submitting the query to an Internet search engine for execution based on a triggering event. A data structure for storing the search folder is also described.
US07680853B2	Clickable snippets in audio/video search results Search results are provided in a format that allows users to efficiently determine whether audio or video documents identified from a search query actually contain the words in the query. This is achieved by returning snippets of text around query term matches and allowing the user to play a segment of the audio signal by selecting a word in the snippet. In other embodiments, markers are placed on a timeline that represents the duration of the audio signal. Each marker represents a query term match and when selected causes the audio signal to begin to play near the temporal location represented by the marker.
US07680849B2	Multiple media type synchronization between host computer and media device Improved techniques for transferring media assets between a host computer and a media device are disclosed. The transfer of media assets between a host computer and a media device can be referred to as synchronization. According to one aspect of the invention, media assets being transferred can be formatted (e.g., rendered) in advance at the host computer and then delivered to the media device. According to another aspect of the invention, media assets can be grouped into collections and transferred on a collection basis. According to still another aspect of the invention, media assets to be transferred can be limited based on an amount of storage capacity available at the media device. According to yet another aspect of the invention, media assets of different media types can be transferred in accordance with different priorities.
US07680847B2	Method for rebalancing free disk space among network storages virtualized into a single file system view A method for moving files between network storages in a virtualized network storage system having multiple network storages and rebalancing the free disk spaces. It periodically judges whether to start rebalancing. Two different conditions are adopted for the determination of start: (a) an imbalance of free disk spaces and the minimum value of the free disk spaces is less than a threshold and (b) an imbalance of free disk spaces and the frequency of accesses to the system is less than a threshold. Rebalancing is performed until the difference in free disk spaces falls below the threshold without exceeding the maximum execution time of rebalancing. If a request to write into a file which is being moved from a client takes place during a file moving step, the movement of the file is aborted and the file is deleted from the destination.
US07680844B2	Method for preserving virtual filesystem information across high availability takeover A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for preserving a virtual file system. Data for a virtual file system is received. The data include file handle information, vnode information, and gnode information. The data is saved to a storage device. The saved data can be used to reconstruct the virtual file system upon changeover between a primary data processing system and a backup data processing system.
US07680833B1	System and method for database structure comparison Systems and methods for comparing one database structure to another to identify differences between the two. In one embodiment, tree structures corresponding to each database are generated. The tree structures have nodes corresponding to objects in the databases. Each node has an individual check value based on the node attributes and a cumulative check value based on the attributes of the node and its sub-nodes. Beginning with the uppermost nodes of each tree, the check values are compared to identify differences in the check values, hence the node/tree attributes. If the cumulative check values match, the sub-nodes match and do not need to be compared directly. Only the portions of the tree structures that do not have matching check values are traversed. If individual check values do not match, the attributes of the corresponding nodes are compared to determine the exact differences.
US07680830B1	System and method for policy-based data lifecycle management System and method for policy-based lifecycle management of data in file systems. In embodiments, an expiration policy for the files may be stored as part of the file system metadata. The expiration policy may be as simple as an expiration date for the file, or a more complex policy that specifies one or more metrics to be evaluated to determine if a file is expired. The expiration policy may also specify one or more actions to be taken if the file has expired. The expiration policy may be evaluated on attempts to access the files in the file system, on other file systems, and on backup/archive images to determine if the files are expired and thus whether access to the files is to be allowed. In one embodiment, a scan mechanism may periodically or aperiodically delete files in the file system for which the expiration date has passed.
US07680827B2	Method of automatically selecting multimedia files for transfer between two storage mediums A method of automatically selecting at least one of stored multimedia files for transfer between a first storage medium and a second storage medium. In the method, each stored file is assigned a popularity weighting based on popularity information and files are selected that have a popularity weighting within a preferred range.
US07680826B2	Computer-readable recording medium storing security management program, security management system, and method of security management A security management program coping with a security hole found in a library. When a request for executing jobs, including a job program, is input, a service library-determining section analyzes the job program and determines link libraries called by the job program. Then, a job submission section transmits the job program to submission destination nodes, and instructs the submission destination nodes to execute the jobs according to the request. After that, when identification information for identifying a vulnerable library having a security defect is input, a submission destination-determining section obtains identification information for identifying the job program corresponding to the vulnerable library, and identification information for identifying the submission destination nodes corresponding to the job program. Subsequently, a forcible job stop section instructs the submission destination nodes to stop processes for executing the job program.
US07680824B2	Single action media playlist generation A method for generating a list of media items selected from a library of media items in response to only a single action being performed. The method displays information identifying a portion of the library of media items and selects a group of media items from the portion of the library in response to only a single action. By utilizing only a portion of the media items in the library, the generated list of media items is desirable to a user by excluding less desirable media items.
US07680814B2	Navigating media content by groups Grouping media files via playlists on a computer-readable medium. One or more media files are selected according to a grouping criterion to define one or more playlists from the media files. A folder is associated with the playlists and stores values identifying each of the playlists associated with the folder along with references to each of the playlists.
US07680813B2	Information management system An information management system for modifying action of system in accordance with previously set policy with reference to metadata and/or log data accompanying data to be managed makes efficient information lifecycle management by reducing the grading of the data to be managed and increasing the expressive power of the definable policy while suppressing increase of the amount of necessary metadata and/or log data. The ontology for defining the relation between terms referred in business level is introduced and analyzed together with the policy, so that the range necessary for acquisition of information can be clearly decided to thereby reduce time and labor required for modification of setting and the operation management cost and optimize necessary resources.
US07680801B2	Systems and methods for storing meta-data separate from a digital asset Systems and methods for managing digital assets in a distributed computing environment are described. Meta-data for the digital assets is stored separately from the digital assets. Meta-data for some of the digital assets is copied and stored at a central location. Meta-data for the digital assets is generated by clients of the system.
US07680798B2	Method, device and system for automatic retrieval of similar objects in a network of devices A method, device and system for characterizing an image sharing objects within a network. The method steps include initiating a query for a query object on a first device connected to a network of devices. Finding a similar object similar to the query object on a second device connected to the network of devices, wherein the similarity is automatically judged by any device on the network. Transferring the similar object from the second device to the first device.
US07680789B2	Indexing and searching numeric ranges Index entries representing ranges of values are queried with a query value to determine if the query value is in one of the ranges. Numeric ranges are represented in an index and queries are constructed to match index entries. Search terms are constructed from the query value, such that a search term matches an index entry if and only if the queried for valued is in the range represented by the index entry. To facilitate querying the indexes, queries are constructed to contain search terms having a data structure format similar to that of the index entries.
US07680776B2	Systems and methods for proactive caching utilizing OLAP variants The present invention leverages MOLAP performance for ROLAP objects (dimensions, partitions and aggregations) by building, in a background process, a MOLAP equivalent of that object. When the background processing completes, queries are switched from ROLAP queries to MOLAP queries. When changes occur to relevant relational objects (such as tables that define content of OLAP objects), an OLAP object is switched back to a ROLAP mode, and all relevant caches are dropped while, as a background process, a new MOLAP equivalent is created.
US07680770B1	Automatic generation and recommendation of communities in a social network Systems and methods for automatic generation and recommendation of communities in a social network or set forth. According to one embodiment a method comprising accessing a group of profiles in a social network, identifying a match between entries in at least two profiles within the group of profiles, and determining a community based at least in part on the match is set forth.
US07680769B2	Method of creating a database and search keys and for searching the database A searchable information database is provided. At least one network processor having one or more packet processors is provided which are programmed to independently search for a match of any one of the keys in a key set which is delivered to the network processor(s). Each key set is independently identifiable and searchable. If a match is found, then either a function associated therewith or a pointer to the location of the information in the database is returned. Several searching techniques can be used. For example, multiple network processors can be used, with each storing the keys of a different set of keys, and each set of keys can be searched concomitantly in the network processors. Alternatively, a large lookup table may distribute multiple network processors. If a single network processor is used, the key sets can be pipeline searched, or pico processors or packet processors can independently search each key set.
US07680766B2	Method and apparatus for adding a database partition A data repository system and method are provided. A method in accordance with an embodiment includes an operation that can be used to port data from one or more existing database partitions to new database partitions according to a minimally progressive hash. The method can be used to increase the overall size of databases while a system runs hot, with little or no downtime.
US07680761B2	Method and mechanism for database partitioning The present invention is directed to a method and mechanism for partitioning using information not directly located in the object being partitioned. According to an embodiment of the invention, foreign key-primary key relationships are utilized to create join conditions between multiple database tables to implement partitioning of a database object. Also, disclosed are methods and mechanisms to perform partition pruning.
US07680757B2	Association rule mining in peer-to peer systems A method for discovering association rules in a distributed database that includes a plurality of partitions associated with respective computing nodes includes generating a candidate association rule defining an association relationship between itemsets in the distributed database. At each node among at least a subset of the nodes, an asynchronous fully-distributed majority voting process is applied to assess a correctness of the candidate association rule.
US07680754B2	System and method for evaluating differences in parameters for computer systems using differential rule definitions A method for evaluating the differences between computer systems is provided. The systems are evaluated using one or more differential rule definitions and one or more differential rule sets. The rules evaluate the differences between specific parameters in the computer systems and are used to generate a score that indicates how different the systems are based on these parameters and preferably what the cost to remedy the difference would be. The rules can be used for consolidation analysis, compliance analysis etc. The rules each include a weight that quantifies the importance of the rule to compatibility and the score is affected accordingly. Systems can be evaluated against each other or against themselves at different instances in time.
US07680751B2	Neural network based refrigerant charge detection algorithm for vapor compression systems Methods and apparatus are provided for determining refrigerant charge in a vapor compressor system (VCS) of an aircraft. The methods and apparatus comprise the following steps of, and/or means for, generating a data set from historical data representative of a plurality of VCS operating conditions over time, identifying one or more steady-state data points in the generated data set, forming a revised data set that includes at least the steady-state data points, using principal components analysis (PCA) to derive values for a plurality of minimally correlated input variables, supplying the derived values for the plurality of minimally correlated input variables and the corresponding values for the VCS refrigerant charge in the revised data set to a nonlinear neural network model, and deriving a simulator model characterizing a relationship between the plurality of minimally correlated input variables and the VCS refrigerant charge.
US07680746B2	Prediction of click through rates using hybrid kalman filter-tree structured markov model classifiers Methods for predicting the click-through rates of Internet advertisements placed into web pages are disclosed. Specifically, a click-through rate prediction is generating using a hybrid system with two terms. The first term is constructed using a machine learning model that incorporates a limited number of important factors. The second term is constructed using a look-up table that is built using a complex statistical analysis of various web page and advertisement combinations. To construct the second term, the field of multi-level hierarchical modeling is used. Specifically, a tree-structured Markov model is used to process the training data and construct the adjustment factor look-up table. To reduce the complexity of the statistical analysis, Kalman-filters are used to estimate parameters in the traditional multi-level hierarchical models for scalability.
US07680745B2	Automatic configuration and control of devices using metadata Particular embodiments generally relate to automatically controlling an item. For example, items may include electronic devices, such as televisions, lights, etc, and/or virtual devices, such as applications, etc. In one embodiment, items may be configured using metatags. When a device is connected for operation, one or more metatags for the device are received. A metatag be used to classify the device. For example, the metatag may indicate uses, locations, connections, etc. The use of device (e.g., pathway, reading, etc.) classifies the item in way it can be used. For example, a user may use a pathway light in different ways, such as the user may turn on all lights with the pathway metatag at night. The location indicates the location of the item, such as in the living room, bedroom, etc. The connections indications a type of item, such as a bedroom light, lamp, TV, etc.
US07680741B2	Method and apparatus for using retail authorization to reduce the initial value of a software product One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for using retail authorization to reduce the initial value of a software product. During operation, the system receives an initial bill for an un-activated version of the software product. Because this un-activated version is not fully functional, it has a lower value than a functional version of the software product, and hence the initial bill charges for a lower initial cost. During the sale of an un-activated version of the software product, the system activates the un-activated version from a point of sale system. After the sale, the system receives an additional bill for activating the software product.
US07680740B2	Managing copy protecting information of encrypted data The present invention provides according to an embodiment a method of reproducing digital content, comprising the steps of: (a) reading a position information where a sample data is present, the sample data being same as a portion of digital content and not encrypted; and (b) reproducing the sample data based on the read position information without a key information, the key information required for decrypting an encrypted digital content.
US07680730B2	Downstream correspondent foreign exchange (FX) banking Systems and methods that enable real-time (or almost real-time) foreign exchange (FX) pricing via retail branch networks, wire room operations and cash management platforms are provided. Essentially, the systems and methods decouple the FX-infrastructure and enable downstream banks to effectively and efficiently access FX transaction services and infrastructure without the need to locally manage such an FX platform. In doing so, an FX generation component is employed in connection with standard downstream mechanisms to provide necessary information to a partner FX processing component. The partner FX processing component conveys information to the downstream environment while shielding the downstream entity from risks and costs involved in FX operations.
US07680728B2	Credit/financing process A method for a borrower to obtain and/or evaluate desired financial services is disclosed. Personal information from the borrower is obtained and recorded. The personal information includes reasons that the borrower wants to obtain the financing. Financing evaluation information based on pre-established and objective criteria used by at least one established financial institution that provides financing of the type sought by the borrower is obtained and recorded. A credit grading for the borrower is determined based on the personal information, and the financing evaluation information. The credit grading is determined by an independent entity that will not provide the financing to the borrower. The financing may be a loan, such as a mortgage loan or an auto loan or the financing may be the issuance of a credit card or a line of credit.
US07680712B2	Electronic processing system A system for use in processing cash transactions comprising an electronic processor and a database, the processor comprising an interface for receiving requests for generating coded numbers representing cash and receiving requests that numbers previously allocated may be redeemed, the interface including a message format storage area storing a plurality of prescribed message formats and determining by reference to the stored message formats the format of a received message, a holding memory for holding requests of specified message formats so that single requests for generating a plurality of numbers in a batch can be processed.
US07680711B2	Portfolio management evaluation A method and software tool are provided for evaluating portfolio management. During an interview with an industry expert, weightings of evaluation categories and responses to evaluation questions are collected from the industry expert. The weightings and responses are then input into the software tool during the same meeting with the industry expert. The software tool analyzes the inputs and generates a report that is reviewable by the industry expert during the same meeting in which the weightings and responses are collected.
US07680709B1	Selection processing for financial processing in a relational database management system A Value Analyzer system is a data-driven computer-facilitated financial model that provides accurate and consistent profitability calculations using account and event data stored in a relational database managed by a relational database management system (RDBMS), wherein the account data comprises attributes of the accounts being measured and the event data comprises attributes of account-related transactions. A selector function uses selection criteria to select accounts and events from the relational database in order to generate a number of inputs for profitability calculations.
US07680706B2	Automotive core fulfillment system and method A system and method for facilitating acquisition of automotive core parts from automotive recyclers for remanufacture includes identifying automotive cores and determining the value of the cores with a core fulfillment system. The core fulfillment system includes an interchange database with automotive core descriptions and corresponding interchange identification indicators. The system includes a core supplier database that includes automotive core descriptions with corresponding core supplier identification indicators and an interchange number matching module that equates database entries in the interchange database with database entries in the core supplier database. An interface module provides access to the core fulfillment system, accepts vehicle information, and provides demand and pricing information regarding automotive cores. Vehicle information is received and compared to automotive core descriptions, automotive interchange numbers, and core supplier identification indicators that correspond to the vehicle identification information. Automotive cores are identified based upon the comparison, and a core value is determined.
US07680691B2	Inventory management system using RFID An inventory management system is provided that includes an RFID interrogator and corresponding RFID tags that are placed on items to be monitored. The tags can be used to monitor the storage time of food items stored in a refrigerator or pantry, the time in use of replaceable items such as toilet bowl cleaners, or the nature of laundry items being washed. The interrogator can be coupled to a display providing various reports on the status of such items. Also disclosed are devices for dispensing such RFID tags.
US07680687B2	Method and system for reward points exchange between accounts A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns rewards from a plurality of reward issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned rewards. A trading server accumulates some or all of the user's earned rewards from of the reward servers and credits the accumulated rewards into a single reward exchange account associated with the user. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated rewards. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the rewards. Reward points may also be redeemed in exchange for services, such as the playing of a video game or Internet access.
US07680682B2	Method, system and program product for assessing a product development project employing a computer-implemented evaluation tool A product development project assessment approach is provided which includes identifying multiple possible root causes of trouble for a product development project, identifying question sets related to the multiple possible root causes of trouble, and providing a computer-implemented tool to evaluate answers to the question sets and provide guidance regarding existence of one or more root causes of trouble for the product development project. The assessment approach further includes evaluating project management processes employed for the product development project by comparison thereof to identified, standard project management processes, and provide guidance regarding effectiveness of implementation of the project management processes employed. Product management work product is also evaluated as further evidence of the existence of one or more root causes of trouble or the effectiveness of implementation of the project management processes. The product development project can comprise a software or hardware development project.
US07680681B2	Shared insurance industry system for non-disruptive enhancement and substitution of insurance transaction processing Apparatus and methods for implementing a new insurance industry business processing system, called a “Shared Industry Platform”, are described. A network-based computing platform is defined which includes a communications portal and industry shared databases which are controlled by enabling application and security software and which may be accessed through a global computer network by insurance company computers, managing general agency computers, selling agent computers, and consumer computers. This shared industry platform allows communication among the various components of the insurance industry in a flexible manner as specified by each insurance company, no matter what the company's customary internal processing system might be. The present invention provides an evolutionary, non-disruptive means for interconnecting insurance company computers, managing general agency computers, agent computers, and consumer computers to allow interactive communication and secured business processing and data exchange over the Internet.
US07680673B2	System for real estate sale management In a method for promoting the sale of real estate, a first dealer, such as an independent seller, may offer a commission to a second dealer, such as a professional real estate agent or broker, for the sale of a real estate property. The commission offer may be transmitted from the first to the second dealer through a computer server. The second dealer may also have previously determined a minimum acceptable commission, which may be posted on an administration environment or page maintained by the second dealer. If the commission offered by the first dealer is at or above the second dealer's selected minimum, and the real estate property is in the same general geographic location as the second dealer, then the listing for the real estate property may appear as a listing on the second dealer's administration page.
US07680672B2	Event collection architecture The present invention relates to an event tracking server that determines event tracking information related to a user's interaction with a server device on a computer network, such as a server device for a Web site. The event tracking server determines the event tracking information by first receiving an event signal from a client device associated with the user, wherein the user used the client device to interact with the server device. The event signal includes an event ID and data that describes the user's interaction with the server device. The event tracking server then retrieves a set of instructions that correspond to the event ID included in the event signal and extracts the descriptive data from the event signal in accordance with the retrieved instructions. The retrieved data is then stored in a database. The user interaction with the server device can include various actions, such as downloading a file, placing or removing an item into or from an electronic shopping cart, purchasing an item, or using a search capability of a search engine.
US07680671B2	Multi-precision technique for digital audio encoder AC-3 is a high quality audio compression format widely used in feature films and, more recently, on Digital Versatile Disks (DVD). For consumer applications the algorithm is usually coded into the firmware of a DSP Processor, which due to cost considerations may be capable of only fixed point arithmetic. It is generally assumed that 16-bit processing is incapable of delivering the high fidelity audio, expected from the AC-3 technology. Double precision computation can be utilized on such processors to provide the high quality; but the computational burden of such implementation will be beyond the capacity of the processor to enable real-time operation. Through extensive simulation study of a high quality AC-3 encoder implementation, a multi-precision technique for each processing block is presented whereby the quality of the encoder on a 16-bit processor matches the single precision 24-bit implementation very closely without excessive additional computational complexity.
US07680669B2	Sound encoding apparatus and method, and sound decoding apparatus and method A plurality of sets of position code books indicating the pulse position are provided in a multi-set position code book storing circuit (450). In accordance with a pitch prediction signal obtained in an adaptive code book circuit (500), one type of position code book is selected from the plurality of position code books in a position code book selecting circuit (510). From the selected position code book, a position is selected by a sound source quantization circuit (350) so as to minimize distortion of a sound signal. An output of the adaptive code book circuit (500) and an output of the sound source quantization circuit (350) are transferred.Thus, a sound signal can be encoded while suppressing deterioration of the sound quality with a small amount of calculations even when the encoding bit rate is low.
US07680665B2	Device and method for interpolating frequency components of signal adaptively A frequency interpolating device for restoring a signal similar to the original signal by creating a suppressed frequency component of a specific frequency band of the original signal, approximately from the input signal having the suppressed frequency component. In the frequency interpolating device, when the suppressed frequency component is artificially created from the input signal and added to the input signal, the additional level is set dynamically and adaptively on the basis of the spectrum pattern of the remaining frequency component of the input signal. This setting of the addition level is done by searching a look-up table which stores data that causes a plurality of reference frequency spectrum patterns to be associated with predetermined addition levels. Moreover, the data stored in the table is created on the basis of the results of either an aural test on a plurality of signal sample sounds or a physical frequency analysis on the massive signal data.
US07680663B2	Using a discretized, higher order representation of hidden dynamic variables for speech recognition A hidden dynamics value in speech is represented by a higher order, discretized dynamic model, which predicts the discretized dynamic variable that changes over time. Parameters are trained for the model. A decoder algorithm is developed for estimating the underlying phonological speech units in sequence that correspond to the observed speech signal using the higher order, discretized dynamic model.
US07680659B2	Discriminative training for language modeling A method of training language model parameters trains discriminative model parameters in the language model based on a performance measure having discrete values.
US07680658B2	Method and apparatus for speech recognition A method and apparatus for enhancing the performance of speech recognition by adaptively changing a process of determining the final, recognized word depending on a user's selection in a list of alternative words represented by a result of speech recognition. A speech recognition method comprising: inputting speech uttered by a user; recognizing the input speech and creating a predetermined number of alternative words to be recognized in the order of similarity; and displaying a list of alternative words arranged in a predetermined order and determining an alternative word that a cursor currently indicates as the final, recognized word if a user's selection from the list of alternative words has not been changed within a predetermined standby time.
US07680656B2	Multi-sensory speech enhancement using a speech-state model A method and apparatus determine a likelihood of a speech state based on an alternative sensor signal and an air conduction microphone signal. The likelihood of the speech state is used, together with the alternative sensor signal and the air conduction microphone signal, to estimate a clean speech value for a clean speech signal.
US07680637B1	Automated linearization analysis A method and apparatus automatically determines equilibrium operating conditions of a system model. The automated method enables users of block diagram models of dynamic systems to utilize simulation to define operating conditions for linearization. The automated method further allows users to generate operating conditions during simulation instead of explicitly specifying them by hand or using trim analysis. In accordance with one example, the method of generating a linear time invariant model includes providing a system model. A user specifies at least one event at which a linearization analysis should be performed. A simulation of the system model is executed. The electronic device automatically performs the linearization analysis upon occurrence of the at least one event as the simulation is running. Output results are generated of the linearization analysis to form the linear time invariant model.
US07680636B2	System and method of generating equation-level diagnostic error messages for use in circuit simulation A mechanism for providing equation-level diagnostic error messages for system models undergoing circuit simulations is discussed. The components in a model of a system being simulated are converted into multiple numerical equations where each equation corresponds to a component in the system being simulated or a topology equation for the system model. Each numerical equation is numerically analyzed in order to identify illegal configurations in the system. Upon detection of an error, an error message listing the components associated with the illegal configuration is generated for the user.
US07680623B2	Measuring system, computing device and computer readable medium having program executing to perform measuring a region-in-object A region-in object measuring system comprises a reference object (1) having two frames, i.e., an object surface frame (2) brought into contact with the surface of an object and a film frame (3) with which an X-ray film (7) is brought into contact, spaced from each other and a computing device. The computing device sets a three-dimensional X-ray coordinate system using the reference object (1) according to a two-dimensional X-ray image acquired by imaging a region in an object in a state that the object surface frame (2) of the reference object (1) is in close contact with the surface of the object by means of an X-ray imaging apparatus, determining the position of an X-ray source from the projection magnification and size of the image of the object surface frame (2), determining the position vector of a specific region in a body according to the position of the X-ray source, and accurately determines the direction and three-dimensional position of the region in the object with respect to the position of the image of the region in the object shown on the X-ray image.
US07680622B2	Protection of an integrated circuit and method thereof An integrated circuit comprises a power device located on a die. The power device is operably coupled to a processing function, wherein the signal processing function is operably coupled to two or more temperature sensors. A first temperature sensor is operably coupled to the power device to measure a temperature of the power device and the second temperature sensor is located, such that it measures a substantially ambient temperature related to the die. The signal processing function determines the temperature gradient therebetween.
US07680618B2	Random edge calibration of oversampling digital acquisition system A calibration method for an oversampling acquisition system uses a digital calibration signal that has a period between edges that is unrelated to the period of a sample clock. The calibration signal in input in parallel to a plurality of samplers, each of which is clocked at a different time by a delayed version of the sample clock, to produce a plurality of sequential samples per sample clock period. Edge transitions of the calibration signal are counted that occur between adjacent ones of the samplers, and are accrued over an acquisition period to produce a plurality of edge counts. The edge counts are then processed to produce control signals to adjust the sample clock delay for each sampler so that the time intervals between the sequential samples are essentially uniform.
US07680616B2	Method for correcting an error of the imaging system of a coordinate measuring machine A method for correcting an error of the imaging system of a coordinate measuring machine is disclosed. The position of at least two different edges of at least one structure on a substrate is measured. The substrate may be automatically rotated into another orientation. Then the position of the at least two different edges of the at least one structure is measured on the rotated substrate. Based on the measurement data, a systematic error of the imaging system is eliminated.
US07680614B2	Method for determining the humidity and density of a dielectric material The invention relates to a method for determining the humidity and/or density of a dielectric material in a resonator that is filled with said material and that contains a transmitter and a receiver. According to said method: the transmitter emits a signal; a resonance curve of the filled resonator is scanned in stages, whereby respective signal intensity values (Ui) are measured at different frequencies (fi); the resonant frequency (frm) and the bandwidth (BWm) are determined for the filled resonator from measured points (fi/Ui); and the humidity (ψ) and/or density (ρ) of the material are calculated by solving a second system of equations (G2), containing the resonant frequencies (fr0, frm) and bandwidths (BW0, BWm) of the empty and filled resonators and known calibration coefficients (ar1, ar2, br1, br2, cr1, cr2, abw1, abe2, bbw1, bbw2, cbw1, cbw2) of said resonator. The aim of the invention is to provide a method for determining the humidity independently of the density in a rapid, precise manner.
US07680613B2	Battery management system (BMS) and driving method thereof A Battery Management System (BMS) includes a sensing unit and a Micro Control Unit (MCU). The sensing unit measures a battery current, a battery voltage, and a battery temperature. The MCU determines a State of Charge (SOC) reset point based on the measured battery current and voltage. The BMS determines a battery overcharge state using a current integration result after the SOC reset point is reached. The MCU includes an SOC calculator and a full charge determining unit. The SOC calculator transmits a present current integration value upon detecting the SOC reset point. The full charge determining unit receives the present current integration value, integrates the current using the measured battery current, and determines that the battery is being overcharged when the current integration value reaches a predetermined battery rating capacity.
US07680609B2	Biopolymer automatic identifying method The invention aims to provide a highly accurate automatic biopolymer determination technique utilizing mass spectrometry whereby calibration prior to measurement or the addition of an internal standard to a sample can be eliminated. The biopolymer automatic identifying method of the invention comprises: retrieving a candidate molecule by matching an observed mass value X obtained by mass spectrometry with a predetermined database; selecting an arbitrary number of candidate molecules with high similarity scores; calibrating the observed mass value X using the candidate molecule as an internal standard; calculating relative error Ec between a calibrated mass value Xc and a theoretical mass value M of the candidate molecule; determining the standard deviation SEc of the relative error; determining a tolerance Tc of database search from the standard deviation SEc; and repeating a database search based on the tolerance Tc.
US07680605B2	System and method for discovery of biological instruments A system and methods for integrating laboratory instrumentation and applications to provide a unified control and coordination architecture under a common interface. The system provides mechanisms for detection of various hardware and software components wherein the individual functionalities and input/output data types for each component are automatically recognized and incorporated into a centralized control system that provides live monitoring of the operational status of available components.
US07680604B2	PCR elbow determination by rotational transform after zero slope alignment Systems and methods for determining the elbow or Ct value in a real-time, or kinetic, PCR amplification curve data set. A PCR data set may be visualized in a two-dimensional plot of fluorescence intensity vs. cycle number. The data set may be adjusted to have a zero slope. In one aspect, a data set is fit to a double sigmoid curve function with the function parameters determined using a Levenberg-Marquardt regression process. The determined parameters are used to subtract off the linear growth portion from the data set to provide a modified data set. For multiple data sets, all the data curves can be aligned in this manner to have a common baseline slope, e.g., a slope of zero. A rotation transform is applied to a modified data set to rotate the data about a defined coordinate such as the origin so that the data point representing the Ct value becomes a minimum or a maximum along the intensity axis. The data point representing the elbow or Ct value of the curve is identified, and this data point is then rotated back and the cycle number of the data point is returned or displayed.
US07680589B2	In-vehicle navigation apparatus An in-vehicle navigation apparatus includes the following: a master road regulation data table which stores a master road regulation data to be associated with road segments as applied targets; a temporary road regulation data table, which is prepared apart from the master road regulation table and stores temporary road regulation data to be associated with road segments and applied in preference to the master road regulation data; and a data determination unit which determines with respect to each road segment an application of either the master road regulation data or temporary road regulation data based on reference information for determining road regulation data validity. The determined road regulation data is outputted.
US07680573B2	Suspension control system and suspension control method for vehicle A suspension control system and a suspension control method for a vehicle control the suspension based on the condition of the road surface traveled by the vehicle in addition to information pertaining to a corner obtained from a navigation device when the vehicle approaches the corner. A microprocessor controls damping forces of suspension devices on the basis of a degree of irregularity of the road surface detected immediately preceding entry of the automobile into a turn around the corner, and corner information from the navigation device.
US07680570B2	Parking assist devices, methods, and programs Parking assist devices, methods, and programs determine a current position of a vehicle and acquire image data from a camera provided on the vehicle. The devices, methods, and programs extract a predetermined region of the acquired image data, the predetermined region being a portion of the image that will be in a blind spot of the camera if the vehicle travels a first predetermined distance from the current position. The devices, methods, and programs correlate the extracted image data with the current position of the vehicle and cause the correlated extracted image data to be stored in a memory. The devices, methods, and programs read out past correlated extracted image data, the past correlated extracted image data having been acquired when the vehicle was in a previous position, the previous position being a second predetermined distance from the current position. The devices, methods, and programs output a parking assist image to a display, the parking assist image displaying both the past correlated extracted image data, and the image data acquired at the current position of the vehicle.
US07680567B2	Method for reducing driveline vibration in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain A method is disclosed for managing torque distribution in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain. An engine power estimation is determined for use in obtaining an optimum wheel torque command to attenuate sustained powertrain dynamic oscillations during operation of the vehicle with varying wheel torque and speed.
US07680564B2	Leisure vehicle A leisure vehicle including a plurality of communication devices built into a vehicle body of the leisure vehicle; and a multiplex communication line through which the plurality of communication devices are coupled to each other. The communication devices are configured to perform multiplexed data communication through the multiplex communication line. The multiplex communication line is positioned a distance apart from a noise source mounted in the vehicle body so as not to be subjected to a noise.
US07680554B2	Method for associating objects in a manufacturing process A method for associating objects in a manufacturing process. In response to an occurrence of an event for an object, a time is recorded of the event for the object. Entries for parts and assemblies associated with the object are located within a database. An entry of the event for the object is created within the database. The entry includes the event for the object, the time of the event for the object, and the entries for the parts and the assemblies associated with the object.
US07680547B2	Method, system and computer program for generic synchronized motion control for multiple dynamic systems The present invention provides a generic synchronized motion control system for multiple dynamic systems. Free choices of synchronization strategies are allowed with no implementation modification. Furthermore, synchronization selections are converted into a numerically searchable parameter space that enables systematic development, automated process, and performance optimization. In addition, the present invention enables a uniform computer program of control synchronization algorithm due to its innovation of separating synchronization strategy from control implementation.
US07680543B2	Tissue ablation and removal The present invention provides devices and systems, as well as methods, of electric field delivery and ablation (e.g., non-thermal ablation) of target tissues, including cancerous cells and solid tumors. A method of the present invention can include applying an alternating current to a target tissue and removing ablated or liquefied tissue from the target tissue region.
US07680533B2	Energy delivery apparatus and method There is provided an energy delivery device comprising a storage device, a discharge circuit and a disarm circuit. The discharge circuit comprises a switch electrically connected to the storage device, and is selectively operable to deliver energy from the storage device to a load, e.g., a patient needing defibrillation, preferably in a multiphasic waveform. The disarm circuit comprises the switch. Preferably, the discharge circuit comprises an H-bridge circuit. There are also provided delivery devices: which comprise a shoot-through elimination circuit; which include housing elements which, when assembled, cause electrical connection between respective components; which include a housing having a small volume and an energy storage device having a large capacitance; which comprise a shunt circuit which, when activated, prevents switching of a switch. There are also provided methods of assembly and disassembly of an energy delivery unit and methods of delivering energy to a load.
US07680529B2	System and method for monitoring blood glucose levels using an implantable medical device T-wave amplitude and QT interval are derived from patient cardiac signals. Then blood glucose levels are determined based on a combination of the T-wave amplitude and the QT interval. By using a combination of both T-wave-based and QT interval-based signals, blood glucose levels can be reliably detected throughout a wide range of blood glucose levels. Once the blood glucose level has been detected, the implanted device compares the blood glucose level against upper and lower acceptable bounds and appropriate warning signals are generated if the level falls outside the bounds. In one example, wherein an implantable insulin pump is additionally provided, the pump is controlled based on the detected blood glucose level to maintain glucose levels within an acceptable range. A calibration technique is also provided for determining patient-specific parameters for use in the detection of blood glucose levels.
US07680525B1	Method for lateral motion magnetic resonance imaging The method includes positioning a patient within a receiving space of a stand-up MRI apparatus and imaging the region of interest of the patient while the patient moves the region of interest. Further in accordance with the method the patient may be positioned such that the patient faces a pole face of a magnet of the MRI apparatus. The apparatus comprises a patient support which allows imaging of a patient's spine with a gravitational load on the spinal system.
US07680524B2	Magnetic fluid detection method and magnetic fluid detection apparatus The apparatus of the present invention comprises: an excitation device which excites the measurement site with a local direct-current or alternating-current magnetic field, and a plurality of magnetic field detection devices which are disposed in proximity to each other to measure the magnetic field component that is perpendicular to the exciting magnetic field. A magnetic fluid that possesses paramagnetism is injected from the outside into a substance in which a fluid can flow, and the local magnetic field gradient is then measured while the injected magnetic fluid is excited by the application of a direct-current or alternating-current magnetic field from the outside, thus measuring the presence or absence of distortion of the local magnetic field distribution arising from the fact that the specific magnetic permeability of the magnetic fluid injected into the substance is higher than that of the surrounding substance, so that sites where large amount of the magnetic fluid has accumulated are identified in a non-invasive manner without being affected by external magnetic noise.
US07680519B2	Handsfree apparatus including volume control In a vehicular navigation system, “AT command +CIEV” is received from a cellular phone by a BLUETOOTH communications. The received “+CIEV” is determined to identify a phoning state (or call state) of the cellular phone. A sound corresponding to the identified phoning state is outputted via a speaker in a corresponding sound volume level stored in an external memory device. A sound volume level, which was finally set for a certain phoning state, is not continuously used as an initial sound volume level for a subsequent phoning state different from the certain phoning state. An incoming sound, dialing sound, calling sound, and communicating sound are individually outputted in appropriately set sound volume levels, which enhances usability of the navigation system for users.
US07680517B2	Communication system and method A communication system including a first station having at least two first narrow beam antennas and a second station having at least two second narrow beam antennas. The first and second stations establish a first communication path for wireless communication via a pair of first and second narrow beam antennas. When communication via the first communication path is disturbed by obstacles, the first and second stations automatically establish at least one alternative communication path, which is spatially different from the first communication path, for wireless communication using the at least two first narrow beam antennas and the at least two second narrow beam antennas.
US07680513B2	Contact-centric user-interface features for computing devices Embodiments described herein provide a system, method and technique for operating a communication device. According to an embodiment, information contained in a contact record is displayed, where the information includes a plurality of entries. Each entry is associated with one of a plurality of communication types and includes an identifier for use with an application of the associated communication type. An input is detected corresponding to a user's selection of one of the plurality of entries. In response to the user's selection, the application of the communication type associated with the selected entry is automatically executed by initiating a communication using the identifier included in the selected entry.
US07680509B2	Transmission/reception integrated radio-frequency apparatus There is provided a highly reliable transmission/reception integrated radio-frequency apparatus which can achieve a high communication quality in a cable modem. A reception RF signal is input to a reception system block via an input/output terminal, converted to an intermediate-frequency signal, and output from a terminal. An output terminal of a transmission processing section of a transmission system block is connected to the input/output terminal via an overvoltage protection circuit, a high-pass filter functioning as a countermeasure to overvoltage, and a low-pass filter for suppressing harmonics produced from the high-pass filter.
US07680507B2	Shared control and signaling channel for users subscribing to data services in a communication system The downlink shared channel includes dedicated physical channel control information for more than one mobile. In HSDPA, providing the downlink shared channel replaces the downlink dedicated physical channels for at least two mobiles.
US07680500B2	Apparatus, system, and method for autonomously managing reverse link communication resources in a distributed communication system An apparatus, system, and method efficiently manage reverse link communication in a communication system having geographically distributed base stations. A base station functioning to at least one mobile station as a non-serving active base station estimates an expected coupled load due to the at least one mobile based on a previous total coupled load. The base station determines a total available capacity based on the difference between the total capacity of the base station and the estimated expected coupled load. The base station allocates reverse link resources to other mobile stations served by the base station so as not to exceed the total available capacity. Since the allocation of reverse link channels resources are controlled directly by the base station, delays due to communications with a central controller are eliminated. As a result, adverse effects of load scheduling based on obsolete reverse channel information are minimized.
US07680499B2	System and method for managing incoming call in dual mode phone A method for managing incoming calls for a dual mode phone, comprising steps of: receiving an incoming call from a terminal; processing the incoming call and generating a prompt message to notify a user of the dual mode phone of the incoming call; determining whether the user accepts the incoming call; determining whether the dual mode phone is idle, if the user accepts the incoming call; determining whether a type of the incoming call matches with a current call mode of the dual mode phone if the dual mode phone is idle; switching from the current call mode to another call mode matching with the call mode of the incoming call if the type of the incoming call does not match with the current call mode of the dual mode phone; and establishing communication between the terminal and the dual mode phone.
US07680497B2	Method and system for optimizing system-access and soft-handoff parameters based on location information A system and method for updating a current set of parameters in a communications system is provided. The system and method determines the current position of a mobile unit in a first coverage area, determines a set of optimum parameters based on the current position of the mobile unit, and updates the current set of parameters in the mobile unit with the set of optimum parameters. The system and method may be used for optimizing position-dependent system-access and soft-handoff parameters.
US07680488B2	Apparatus for notification in a cellular communication system A notification apparatus 201 for a cellular communication system 100 comprises a call detector 209 which detects a communication initialization involving a first subscriber 101. A notification processor 211 determines if a communication notification requirement is stored for the first subscriber. If so, the notification processor proceeds to determine a second subscriber 115 associated with the first subscriber and the communication notification requirement. A notification message generator 215 then generates a notification message and transmits this to the second subscriber. The notification message comprises an indication of the communication initialization and may specifically be a text message indicating the nature of the communication and the involved parties.
US07680485B2	Radio controlled timepiece, electronic device and time correction method A clocking unit (27) that clocks a time; a display unit (3) that displays a time based on clock information from the clocking unit (27); a receiving unit (20) that receives standard radio waves from transmitting stations in at least two countries or regions; a second-synchronization detecting unit (23) that detects second-synchronization information (P3) from a demodulated signal (P2) obtained by the receiving unit (20); a transmitting station determining unit (25) that analyzes the demodulated signal (P2) based on the second-synchronization information (P3) to determine a transmitting station in a country or a region; and a decoding unit (26) decodes information included in the standard radio wave from the transmitting station determined by the transmitting station determining unit (25) to obtain time information are included, and the clock information of the clocking unit (27) is corrected based on the time information obtained by the decoding unit (26).
US07680476B2	Receiving device A receiving device having an input receiving an input signal which includes a useful signal and an interference signal, a demodulator coupled to the input and generating a demodulated output signal from the input signal, which has an adjustable operating point, and a detector coupled to the demodulator and determining from the output signal a characteristic value representing a power level of the interference signal and setting the operating point of the demodulator as a function of the characteristic value.
US07680471B2	System and method for prolonging wireless data product's life Digital upgrade system and method for translating analog commands and digital commands in wireless customer services premises equipment (CPE). The digital upgrade system receives a command from a CPE Host and translates the command from analog to digital in order to broadcast it over a wireless digital network to be received by a client. Alternatively, the digital upgrade system receives a digital command from a digital network and translates it to an analog command to be received by a functionality module of a wireless CPE Host.
US07680467B2	Distortion compensating amplifier In a distortion compensating amplifier that compensates for distortion occurring in main amplifiers, a first amplifying unit amplifies, with a first main amplifier, a first signal consisting of a main signal to be amplified and detects distortion occurring in the first main amplifier, a distortion adjusting unit subjects the distortion detected by the first amplifying unit to vector adjustment, a second amplifying unit combines a second signal consisting of the main signal to be amplified and the distortion supplied from the distortion adjusting unit and amplifies a combined signal with a second main amplifier, and a combining unit combines an amplified signal supplied from the first amplifying unit and an amplified signal supplied from the second amplifying unit.
US07680466B2	Communication device To eliminate the necessity of providing a special heat insulating structure or heat resisting properties and to simplify wiring. A modulation/demodulation unit, transmission/reception units of active and standby transmission systems, branching units of active and standby transmission systems, and a line switching and monitor control unit are accommodated in one casing. The modulation/demodulation unit and the line switching and monitor control unit, commonly used in the active and standby transmission systems, are incorporated in the lower part of the casing, and the transmission/reception units and the branching units of the active and standby transmission systems are incorporated in the upper part of the casing. The transmission/reception units and the branching units of the active and standby transmission systems are arranged in parallel such that the branching units are positioned at the center thereof.
US07680461B2	Wireless communications system, wireless communications method, and wireless communications apparatus In an SVD-MIMO transmission using a singular value decomposition, the amount of information fed back to a transmitter from a receiver is reduced. Instead of feeding back to the transmitter, a transmission weighting vector V obtained by performing a singular value decomposition of a channel information matrix obtained by the receiver, the receiver sends reference symbols to the transmitter, which obtains the channel information matrix and performs the singular value decomposition to yield the vector V necessary when transmitting data. In the procedure of obtaining the vector V, a noncoincidence between channel matrices in the opposite directions is compensated for, by performing a calibration for compensating an error between transmitting and receiving analog devices on the part of both the transmitter and the receiver.
US07680456B2	Methods and apparatus to perform signal removal in a low intermediate frequency receiver Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture are disclosed for removing an undesired component from a low intermediate frequency signal having an intermediate center frequency and an undesired component at a first frequency. One example method may include determining an amplitude of the undesired component; frequency shifting the low intermediate frequency signal from the intermediate center frequency to produce a zero intermediate frequency signal; filtering the zero intermediate frequency signal; generating a tone based on the amplitude of the undesired component; and subtracting the tone from the filtered zero intermediate frequency signal to remove the undesired component.
US07680449B2	Image-forming apparatus A guide body for guiding the back surface of toner-image-bearing paper is formed from an insulating material and is disposed so as to face a paper transport path. A paper-transport-path-facing portion of the guide body, which faces the paper transport path, has guide ribs projecting upward toward the paper. A covering metal sheet is configured such that a covering portion thereof partially covers a guide surface of the paper-transport-path-facing portion which faces the paper transport path. The covering metal sheet has slits formed therein and corresponding to the guide ribs. The slits allow the guide surface to be partially exposed therethrough.
US07680448B2	Printing integration system This disclosure relates to a printing integration system. Specifically, this disclosure provides a means to integrate one or more pairs of substantially vertically aligned marking engines using an intersection transport. The intersection transport includes a media sheet input intersection transport, a single horizontal transport, and a media sheet output intersection transport.
US07680442B2	Powder stirring device, developing device, and image forming apparatus incorporating the same A developing device includes a developing container that accommodates toner particles, a developing roller that supplies the toner particles to an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a stirring and transporting member that transports the toner particles inside the developing container toward the developing roller with stirring by rotating around a shaft axis. The stirring and transporting member includes a shaft portion serving as a rotation center and sheet-shaped first stirring blade and second stirring blade fixed to the shaft portion so as to extend outward in a radius direction from the shaft portion. The first stirring blade transports the toner particles in a first transportation direction. The second stirring blade transports the toner particles in a second transportation direction different from the first transportation direction.
US07680441B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a plurality of developing units. A cam shaft includes a plurality of cams having different rotation phases respectively corresponding to the plurality of developing units. A regulation means controls a rotational force of a driving force source that is transferred to the cam shaft. The regulation means includes a spring clutch having a plurality of latch portions of which phases correspond to the plurality of cams, and an actuator that is selectively connected to the plurality of latch portions and corresponds the plurality of cams to the plurality of developing units. A control means is disposed at the spring clutch and substantially prevents the cam shaft from excessive rotation to prevent the cams from being separated from a corresponding position with respect to the selected developing unit.
US07680440B2	Rotary developing device A rotary developing device 30 is provided in an image forming device that is rotated by an input gear 46. The rotary developing device 30 has a plurality of developing units 13, a frame 28, and a rotation stop mechanism 50. Each of the plurality of developing units 13 house toner of one of the colors, and develops at a predetermined developing position. The frame 28 includes a support portion 36 that supports the plurality of developing units 13 and has a rotation shaft, and a ring shaped gear 29 that is rotated by the input gear 46. The rotation stop mechanism 50 stops the rotation of the frame 28 at the developing position. Also, the number of gear teeth in the ring shaped gear 29 is the number of gear teeth in the input gear 46 multiplied by the number of developers.
US07680438B2	Image forming apparatus having contactless type temperature sensor A sealing member which is compressed by a contactless temperature sensor and a cover member of a fixing unit is provided between the sensor and the cover member. An opening portion for temperature detection is shut off from a space around the fixing unit by the sealing member, thereby preventing the air from flowing from the opening portion into the fixing unit.
US07680431B2	Image reading apparatus and image composite apparatus having a document reader openably and closably attached to an upper part of the apparatus An image forming apparatus has a main body for performing image forming operations. A document reader is above the main body and can displace between closing and opening postures. A coupling has a first end rotatably coupled to the main body and a second end coupled to the document reader for movement between a first posture to support the document reader in the opening posture and a second posture when the document reader is closed. A guiding surface at the document reader guides movement of the second end of the coupling. A stopper is supported for rotation between an interfering posture to interfere with the second end of the coupling and a freeing posture to free the second end. The second end is pushed into an escaping recess of the guiding surface by the stopper when the stopper is displaced from the interfering posture to the freeing posture.
US07680428B2	Grid wire cleaning mechanism A grid wire cleaning mechanism is provided to prevent a reduction in image quality due to the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier not being uniformly charged as a result of corona products adhering unevenly to the surface of the grid wires to extend the life of the grid wires and grid wire contact member. A first abrading member 71 abrades grid wires 224. A movement device 73 moves the first abrading member 71 in the same direction as the direction of extension of the grid wires 224. A humidity measurement unit 741 measures the humidity near the grid wires 224. The operation control unit 743 operates the movement device 73 when cleaning the grid wires 224, but does not operate the movement device 73 when the humidity measured by the humidity measurement unit 741 exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
US07680426B2	Image forming apparatus with air flow blocking mechanism In a configuration with a plurality of developing units, an influx of air into one developing unit from another developing unit can be blocked with a simple configuration. An operation section for a developing unit that is not in operation rotates a developer roll in the reverse direction to move developer accumulated on a pickoff pole, and fills a clearance formed between a housing and the developer roll with the developer so that the air flow of the developing unit that is not in operation is blocked. Accordingly, even if a difference in pressure between a developing unit that is in operation and a developing unit that is not in operation occurs, an air flow from the developing unit in operation to the developing unit not in operation is not apt to be formed, and an influx of air into the developing unit that is not in operation is blocked.
US07680420B1	Optical E-field modulation using a directly driven laser A method of synthesizing a modulated optical signal using a laser cascaded with an amplitude modulator. A phase drive signal VF(t) is derived for driving the laser to generate an optical carrier signal with a desired phase φ(t). An amplitude drive signal VS(t) is then derived for driving the amplitude modulator to impose a desired amplitude S(t) onto the optical carrier signal generated by the laser. The amplitude drive signal VS(t) is compensated for amplitude modulation of the optical carrier signal generated by the laser.
US07680408B2	Lens module and camera module having same A lens module includes a lens barrel, a first lens, a second lens, a plurality of electrostrictive members and a controlling unit. The first lens has a first optical axis thereof, the second lens has a second optical axis thereof, the first and second lenses being received in the lens barrel. The electrostrictive members are arranged in the lens barrel and connected with the second lens. The controlling unit is configured for controlling the electrostrictive members so as to adjust the second optical axis of the second lens to be in alignment with the first optical axis of the first lens. A camera module using the lens module is also provided.
US07680402B2	Image shooting device with camera shake correction function An image shooting device with a camera shake correction function is provided. The image shooting device is capable of avoiding the deterioration of image quality due to performing camera shake correction. An image shooting control unit of the image shooting device can be configured to select to take in either one piece of image data for ordinary image shooting or a plurality of pieces of image data for camera shake correction, on the basis of the determination result of a determination unit. It also can be configured to take in both one piece of image data for ordinary image shooting and a plurality of pieces of image data for camera shake correction.
US07680401B1	Portable photography studio and method of assembly A portable photography studio includes a carrier for transporting the components of the photography studio. The carrier is made up of a number of panels, several of which are detachable from the other panels. The main components of the photography studio include a pair of reflectors and three light diffusing screens, each of which has an edge attached to one of the panels of the carrier. When in use, the carrier panels may be detached and moved away from one another, allowing for the reflectors and screens to be pivoted about their attached edges and assembled in their proper positions for photographing objects. A background may also be attached to one of the panels and contained within the carrier. When the photographing is completed, the background, screens and reflectors may be pivoted back to their original positions and the carrier panels reassembled to form an enclosure holding all of the components. An accessories pouch for holding lighting devices may be included and positioned within the carrier during transport.
US07680394B2	Recording medium, recording method, reproduction apparatus and method, and computer-readable program An AV Clip generated by multiplexing video and graphics streams is recorded on a BD-ROM. The graphics stream is a sequence of PES packets. The PES packets include ODSs (Object Definition Segments) carrying graphics data and PCSs (Presentation Control Segments) carrying control information. A PCS indicates that graphics data in a preceding ODS in the arrangement is to be displayed at a predetermined time in a state of being overlaid on the video stream. The PCS and the preceding ODS belong to different DSs, and the graphics data in the preceding ODS may be non-referenced graphics data that is not referenced by a PCS which belongs to the same DS as the preceding ODS.
US07680391B2	Remote control system for device connected to network A control device remotely controls a controlled device. The control device includes a display unit, a communication unit and a control unit. The display unit displays a control panel of the controlled device. The control unit produces operation information. The communication unit sends the operation information to the controlled device. The operation information includes a shifting history of a cursor displayed on the control panel. The shifting history includes identification information of buttons depressed by the cursor in a single operation.
US07680381B1	Bend insensitive optical fibers An optical fiber includes a core, an inner cladding and a low index ring of silica-based glass. The core comprises silica-based glass, an index of refraction n1, and a relative refractive index percent Δ1% relative to pure silica glass. The inner cladding surrounds the core and comprises an index of refraction n2 and a relative refractive index percent Δ2% relative to pure silica glass, wherein Δ1%>Δ2% and the difference between Δ1% and Δ2% is greater than about 0.1%. The low index ring surrounds the inner cladding and comprises silica glass co-doped with boron and fluorine, a radial thickness of less than about 20 μm, an index of refraction n3 and a third relative refractive index percent change Δ3% relative to pure silica glass, wherein Δ2%>Δ3% and Δ3% is less than about −1.0%.
US07680368B2	Monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) with a traversely disposed output A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) chip comprising an array of modulated sources, each providing a modulated signal output at a channel wavelength different from the channel wavelength of other modulated sources and a wavelength selective combiner having an input optically coupled to received all the signal outputs from the modulated sources and provide a combined output signal on an output waveguide from the chip. The modulated sources, combiner and output waveguide are all integrated on the same chip.
US07680364B2	Wavelength locking and power control systems for multi-channel photonic integrated circuits (PICS) A transmissive active channel element is provided in each signal channel of a monolithic multi-channel TxPIC where each channel also includes a modulated source. The active channel element functions both as a power control element for both monitoring and regulating the output channel signal level of each signal channel and as a modulator for channel wavelength tagging or labeling to provide for wavelength locking the modulated sources. The power regulating function is also employed to control the channel signal power outputs of each channel to be uniform across the channel signal array. All of these functions are carried out by a feedback loop utilizing digital signal processing.
US07680359B2	Method for merging digital images to obtain a high dynamic range digital image A method of processing digital source images, each represented by pixel matrices, to obtain from two or more source images, representing one and the same real scene and acquired by utilizing different exposure levels, a final digital image capable of reproducing the real scene with an exposure latitude greater than that of each of the source images. The method, which can be advantageously used in digital still cameras, produces the final image by combining the source images with the help of a weighted average constructed pixel by pixel. Thanks to a special filtering to which the weighting coefficients are subjected before the weighted mean operation, the method obtains a final image in which the source images are harmoniously combined with each other.
US07680357B2	Method and apparatus for detecting positions of center points of circular patterns Voting of coordinates of each pixel in a photographic image onto a Hough space corresponding to annuluses is performed, the Hough space being defined by a coordinate system having an X coordinate axis for a circle center point, a Y coordinate axis for a circle center point, and an r coordinate axis for a radial direction. A vote value of each voting position having coordinates (X, Y, r) on the Hough space is acquired as a first integrated vote value from a calculation of a number of votes given to each voting position. A position represented by (X, Y) coordinate values of a voting position associated with the largest first integrated vote value is detected as the position of the center point of the circular pattern.
US07680353B2	Stabilization of objects within a video sequence A simplified general model and an associated estimation algorithm is provided for modeling visual data such as a video sequence. Specifically, images or frames in a video sequence are represented as collections of flat moving objects that change their appearance and shape over time, and can occlude each other over time. A statistical generative model is defined for generating such visual data where parameters such as appearance bit maps and noise, shape bit-maps and variability in shape, etc., are known. Further, when unknown, these parameters are estimated from visual data without prior pre-processing by using a maximization algorithm. By parameter estimation and inference in the model, visual data is segmented into components which facilitates sophisticated applications in video or image editing, such as, for example, object removal or insertion, tracking and visual surveillance, video browsing, photo organization, video compositing, etc.
US07680344B2	Encoding control circuit and encoding circuit It is possible to control the number of generated codes while retraining deterioration of an image quality by an encoding circuit constituted so as to select any of a first image signal not decreasing information quantity and a second image signal decreasing information quantity in accordance with the accumulated value of the number of codes.
US07680338B2	Image processing apparatus, image reading apparatus and image recording apparatus An image processing apparatus for receiving image data composed of a plurality of pixels, extracting an area from an image based on the received data and detecting a type of an image included in the extracted area, includes means for calculating the ratio of pixels having a predetermined pixel value to pixels constituting the area, and detects the type of the image included in the area, based on the calculated ratio of pixels.
US07680337B2	Process for finding endmembers in a data set The invention provides a method for identifying one or more materials in a scene by determining a set of spectral vectors, called endmembers, from a data set comprised of spectra from the image data, and matching the set of endmembers to predefined library materials. The image data of the scene is captured with a sensor, and comprises a plurality of spectra. The method applies an iterative mathematical criterion, termed residual minimization, to find the endmembers. The first endmember may be selected based on the largest mean square value or the largest mean magnitude value. Subsequent endmembers are determined by calculating weighting factors, such that the weighting factors are non-negative and the calculated vector differences, or residuals, generate the smallest error metric. The error metric is dependent upon the vector difference between two spectra in the image data set, and may be the mean squared vector difference between two spectra.
US07680332B2	Grouping lines in freeform handwritten text Techniques for efficiently and accurately organizing freeform handwriting into lines. A global cost function is employed to find the simplest partitioning of electronic ink strokes into line groups that also maximize the “goodness” of the resulting lines and the consistency of their configuration. The “goodness” of a line may be based upon its linear regression error and the horizontal and vertical compactness of the strokes making up the line. The line consistency configuration for a grouping of strokes is measured by the angle difference between neighboring groups. The global cost function also takes into account the complexity of the stroke partitioning, measured by the number of lines into which the strokes are grouped. An initial grouping of strokes is made, and the cost for this initial grouping is determined. Alternate groupings of the initial stroke grouping are then generated. The global cost of each of these alternate stroke groupings is then calculated, and the stroke grouping that produces the largest global cost decrease from the global cost of the original grouping is selected. The alternate grouping creation, cost determination and evaluation, and grouping selection process then is repeated until the global cost for new grouping alternates no longer decreases.
US07680328B2	Histogram generating device A histogram generating device is disclosed. An embodiment has a brightness signal generating module generating a brightness signal by use of RGB component data of an input frame, an image component data selecting module outputting a single component frame consisting of image component data, which is one of the RGB component data and the brightness signal, an interval histogram generating module generating a level value by calculating the number of image component data belonging to each level grouped by a histogram resolution as a detection interval of the plurality of successive single component frames is changed, and a memory storing a plurality of level values generated for each of the single component frames.
US07680325B2	Image processing method of detecting a correspondence between colors, image processing apparatus and program for detecting a correspondence between colors An image processing method has a detection step of detecting a correspondence between one color of a first plurality of colors in a first image and one color of a second plurality of colors in a second image, and a correction step of correcting the first plurality of colors or the second plurality of colors in accordance with the correspondence.
US07680324B2	Use of image-derived information as search criteria for internet and other search engines Search terms are derived automatically from images captured by a camera equipped cell phone, PDA, or other image capturing device, submitted to a search engine to obtain information of interest, and at least a portion of the resulting information is transmitted back locally to, or nearby, the device that captured the image.
US07680323B1	Method and apparatus for three-dimensional object segmentation A three-dimensional (3-D) machine-vision involving a method and apparatus for performing segmentation of 3-D objects. Multiple stereo-related sets (left/right, top/left, top/right) of two-dimensional video pixel data are separately processed into sets of edges. Each stereo-related set is then pair-wise processed to convert pairs of sets of edge data into 3-D point data. Multiple sets of pair-wise 3-D data are then merged and used for obtaining 3-D features which are then clustered into discrete 3-D objects that can lie on any arbitrary plane.
US07680320B2	Image processing method, substrate inspection method, substrate inspection apparatus and method of generating substrate inspection data A color image as a combination of color data corresponding to a plural n-number of different hues is processed by extracting a target object from the image and carrying out a specified image processing. A reference image is obtained in the absence of the target object. Color data corresponding to specified less than n of the different hues are considered and difference in the degree of intensity of the considered color data relative to the combination of color data corresponding to n different hues between each pixel of the target image containing the target object and a corresponding pixel on the reference image are extracted. Pixels for which the extracted difference is greater than a specified threshold value and is in a specified direction are extracted. An image area formed by the extracted pixels are recognized as the target object.
US07680315B2	Facilitating computer-aided detection, comparison, or display of medical images The present invention is methods for processing medical images so as to remove certain effects of the physical characteristics of the object being imaged and/or of the apparatus used to form the images. The invention further provides for the formation of a standardized image from the processed image and for the use of the standardized image or the processed image in the training of computer-aided detection/diagnosis algorithms. These algorithms may then be used to detect abnormalities in other standardized or processed images derived from any of a variety of image acquisition systems.
US07680312B2	Method for knowledge based image segmentation using shape models A method for segmenting an object of interest from an image of a patient having such object. Each one of a plurality of training shapes is distorted to overlay a reference shape with a parameter Θi being a measure of the amount of distortion required to effect the overlay. A vector of the parameters Θi is obtained for every one of the training shapes through the minimization of a cost function along with an estimate of uncertainty for every one of the obtained vectors of parameters Θi, such uncertainty being quantified as a covariance matrix Σi. A statistical model represented as {circumflex over (f)}H (Θ,Σ) is generated with the sum of kernels having a mean Θi and covariance Σi. The desired object of interest in the image of the patient is identified by positioning of the reference shape on the image and distorting the reference shape to overlay the obtained image with a parameter Θ being a measure of the amount of distortion required to effect the overlay. An uncertainty is quantified as a covariance matrix Σ and an energy function E=Eshape+Eimage is computed to obtain the probability of the current shape in the statistical shape model Eshape(Θ,Σ)=−log({circumflex over (f)}H) and the fit in the image Eimage.
US07680295B2	Hand-gesture based interface apparatus An interface is provided that corresponds to an individual person without being restricted to a particular place within a room, by performing gesture recognition while identifying an individual person. A stereo camera (1) picks up an image of a user (4), and based on the image pickup output, an image processor 2 transmits a color image within a visual field and a distance image to an information integrated recognition device (3). The information integrated recognition device (3) identifies an individual by the face of the user (4), senses the position, and recognizes a significant gesture based on a hand sign of the user (4). The information integrated recognition device (3) executes a command corresponding the identified user (4) and performs operations of all devices (6) to be operated in the room (such as a TV set, an air conditioner, an electric fan, illumination, acoustic condition, and window opening/closing).
US07680287B2	Directional setting apparatus, directional setting system, directional setting method and directional setting program A directional setting apparatus according to the present invention, comprising: a voice recognition unit which detects a certain voice included in a sound signal outputted from a microphone array having a plurality of microphones and a directional determination period indicating a detection period of said certain voice; a voice direction detector which detects occurrence direction of said certain voice in said directional determination period; and a directional controller which controls directivity of a prescribed apparatus based on the sound signals outputted from said plurality of microphones in said directional determination period.
US07680280B2	Electronic device, control method thereof, security program and others An electronic device, a control method thereof and a security program are provided which are capable of preventing or suppressing the theft of the electronic device.The electronic device comprises mounting means for loading a portable recording medium and encrypted information write means for encrypting predetermined information using an encryption key unique to the electronic device and writing the encrypted information in the recording medium. The electronic device further comprises encrypted information read means for reading the encrypted information recorded in the recording medium in the case where the recording medium is loaded in the mounting means, decryption execution means for executing the decryption of the encrypted information using the encryption key, and control means for setting the electronic device in usable mode in the case where the encrypted information is decrypted by the decryption execution means.
US07680272B2	Inverse calculation circuit, inverse calculation method, and storage medium encoded with computer-readable computer program code In an inverse calculation circuit, an inverse calculation method, and a storage medium encoded with a computer readable computer program code, a random number generator generates a first random number and a second random number; and an inverter receives a plurality of first bits expressing a first element of a finite field(s) as first inputs, receives a plurality of second bits expressing a second element of a finite field(s) as second inputs. In response to the first and second random numbers, the inverter outputs a plurality of third bits expressing the inverse elements of the first element. The first random number prevents a different power analysis (DPA) decryption attack, and the second random number prevents a timing decryption attack.
US07680271B2	Zero-knowledge proof cryptography methods and devices A cryptography method involving a keyholder having a number m≧1 of private keys Q1, Q2, . . . , Qm and respective public keys G1, G2, . . . , Gm, each pair of keys (Qi, Gi) (where i=1, . . . , m) satisfying either the relationship G1=Qiv mod n or the relationship Gi×Qiv=1 mod n, where n is a public integer equal to the product of f (where f>1) private prime factors p1, . . . , pf, at least two of which are separate, and the exponent v is a public integer equal to a power of 2. Disclosed is what mathematical structure may be imparted to the public keys for it to be impossible to calculate said private keys from said public parameters in a reasonable time unless said prime factors are known. Devices adapted to implement the method are also disclosed.
US07680262B2	Method and apparatus for placing a long distance call based on a virtual phone number A method and apparatus for reducing the cost of long distance phone calls is disclosed. Accordingly, an originating phone network is operatively connected to a first intermediate point, and a receiving phone network is operatively connected to a second intermediate point. Each intermediate point is operatively connected to communicate via a data network. Users on the originating and destination phone networks may communicate based on virtual numbers. The virtual number is preferably within the local calling area of the originating phone network. The first and second intermediate points route calls to any geographic location, regardless of distance, over the data network based on the virtual number. This provides the advantage of allowing a user on the originating phone network to access a user at a distant location for a price that is substantially similar to the price of a local call.
US07680256B2	Contact number encapsulation system A contact number encapsulation system is disclosed that is operable to consolidate a plurality of contact numbers associated with a given user into a single contact number. The system includes a call processing application that uses information contained in a SIP message header to determine a list of contact numbers to call. The SIP message header contains a call destination indication that is used by the call processing application to retrieve the list of contact numbers. The list of contact numbers is user defined and may be updated or modified by an account holder at any given time. Once the list of contact numbers is obtained, a simultaneous call module is used to simultaneously call each number contained in the list. As such, the account holder only needs to provide the primary contact number to individuals desiring to reach him/her instead of various numbers that are associated with various locations the account holder may be located.
US07680252B2	Switch proxy for providing emergency stand alone service in remote access systems A switch proxy comprising a controller, a translations database and a switching fabric are connected to a trunk group between a remote terminal and its controlling local switching system. The switch proxy monitors control signals to and from the switching system on the trunk. In the event of loss of control signals from the host switching system, the switch proxy intercepts requests for service, etc. from a calling telephone connected to the remote terminal and performs a look up in the translation database. If the call can be completed without the controlling switching system the call is looped back to the remote terminal. The translation database is maintained by a switch proxy management system that receives change orders from the local exchange carrier. The switch proxy management system forwards relevant changes to the switch proxy's translation database in the field.
US07680251B2	Prevention of an alarm activation and supporting methods and apparatus A method and apparatus for preventing false alarm activation is provided. According to one embodiment of the invention, a determination (410) is made as to whether an instruction from a controller is a commanded reset, and control of a Subscriber Line Interface Circuit is taken (416) from a voice processor circuit when the instruction is a commanded reset.
US07680249B2	Filter unit, X-ray tube unit, and X-ray imaging system A small-sized filter unit of a simple structure, as well as an X-ray tube unit and an X-ray imaging system both having the filter unit, are implemented. A filter unit in a first aspect of the present invention comprises a filter plate, the filter plate having a first filter, a second filter disposed in a first direction with respect to the first filter and a third filter disposed in a second direction having a predetermined angle from the first direction with respect to the first filter, a guide plate having a guide frame for movement of the filter plate in the first and second directions, and a drive device for moving the filter plate.
US07680248B2	X-ray tube and X-ray analyzing apparatus To be able to achieve further small-sized formation and light-weighted formation and to promote a sensitivity by further efficiently detecting a fluorescent X-ray or the like in an X-ray tube and an X-ray analyzing apparatus, there are provided a vacuum cabinet 2 inside of which is brought into a vacuum state and which includes a window portion 1 formed by an X-ray transmitting film through which an X-ray can be transmitted, an electron beam source 3 installed at inside of the vacuum cabinet 2 for emitting an electron beam e, a target T generating a primary X-ray X1 by being irradiated with the electron beam e and installed at inside of the vacuum cabinet 2 to be able to emit the primary X-ray X1 to an outside sample S by way of the window portion 1, and an X-ray detecting element 4 arranged at inside of the vacuum cabinet 2 to be able to detect a fluorescent X-ray and a scattered X-ray X2 emitted from the sample S and incident from the window portion 1 for outputting a signal including energy information of the fluorescent X-ray and the scattered X-ray X2.
US07680240B2	Iterative reconstruction of tomographic image data method and system Methods for performing image reconstruction that include deriving background projection data for an area outside a targeted field of view of a tomographic image, and reconstructing the tomographic image of the targeted field of view, wherein the background projection data is used in the reconstruction. Methods for selecting a reconstruction methodology that include determining a number of pixels in a reconstructed image for a first reconstruction methodology, determining a number of pixels in a reconstructed image for a second reconstruction methodology, comparing the number of pixels for the first reconstruction methodology and the number of pixels for the second reconstruction methodology, and selecting the reconstruction methodology for image reconstruction based on the comparison of the number of pixels. Imaging systems implementing these methods are also provided.
US07680238B2	Frequency divider circuit A frequency divider circuit comprises a plurality of T flip-flops, a first transmission gate, a second transmission gate and an inverter. The plurality of T flip-flops is connected in series. The output of the inverter is connected to a clock input of a first T flip-flop. The first transmission gate connects a clock signal and the other clock input of the first T flip-flop and the input of the inverter. The second transmission gate connects the inverted signal of the clock signal and the output of the first transmission gate.
US07680235B2	VCO circuit, PLL circuit using VCO circuit, and data recording apparatus the PLL circuit A PLL circuit includes a phase comparing section, a low pass filter, a digital VCO circuit, and a frequency divider. The phase comparing section compares an inputted clock signal and a frequency-divided clock signal in phase to detect a phase difference. The low pass filter averages the phase difference outputted from the phase comparing section to output the averaged result as a frequency control input. The digital VCO circuit operates in synchronism with a reference clock signal, and generates a sync clock signal based on the frequency control input while a phase of the sync clock signal is controlled in units of predetermined resolution values. The predetermined resolution value is a 1/K (K is a natural number more than 1) of a period of the reference clock signal. The frequency divider frequency-divides the synch clock signal to generate the frequency-divided clock signal.
US07680234B2	Method and apparatus for signal phase locking A phase locked loop (PLL) circuit provides ac devices, such as power inverters and power measurement devices, with a reliable means for synchronizing to ac electrical systems. In an exemplary embodiment, the PLL circuit is configured for operation with single-phase electrical systems and offers substantial noise immunity by basing its locking operations on measured fundamental components, i.e., measured x-y phasors, of the electrical system voltage. Further, with its phasor-based locking operations and with its timer/counter-based operation, the PLL circuit can be implemented partly or wholly in digital processing logic.
US07680232B2	Method and apparatus for multi-mode clock data recovery The disclosed invention is a technology for producing a recovered clock signal using a multi-mode clock data recovery (CDR) circuit that accommodates a flexible range operating frequencies F and consecutive identical digit requirements CID. In a first mode of operation, a controlled oscillator produces the recovered clock signal, and in a second mode of operation, a phase interpolator produces the recovered clock signal. The multi-mode CDR circuit operates in the first mode if (CID/F) is less than a threshold time value and in the second mode if (CID/F) is greater than the threshold time value.
US07680231B2	Adaptive variable length pulse synchronizer An adaptive variable length pulse synchronizer including a state keeper circuit, an asynchronous pulse edge detection circuit, a data synchronization circuit, and a pulse edge synchronization circuit. The state keeper circuit detects a leading edge of the asynchronous pulse. The asynchronous pulse edge detection circuit detects a trailing edge of the asynchronous pulse after the state keeper circuit has detected the leading edge. The asynchronous pulse edge detection circuit further provides a pulse synchronized with a clock signal after the asynchronous pulse has been detected. The data synchronization circuit latches the asynchronous data and provides the synchronous data in response to the synchronous pulse. The pulse edge synchronization provides the synchronous ready signal after synchronous data has been provided. In one embodiment, the synchronous pulse occurs between successive rising edges of the clock whereas the synchronous ready signal is provided in response to the intermediate falling edge of the clock.
US07680228B2	Communication system, real-time control device, and information processing system In addition to fast on-off timing, instructive information on an output wave such as an amplitude or a slope is transmitted through a small number of signal lines. Output wave modifier information such as the amplitude or slope is transferred through serial communication 1, and an on-off timing signal is transmitted as an individual signal 20.
US07680226B2	Minimizing dynamic crosstalk-induced jitter timing skew A digital signal waveform receiving circuit may be processed by a non-linear adaptive canonical correlation analysis circuit that may quantify and minimize crosstalk-induced jitter timing skew for improving set-up and hold timing margins of data streams on the receiving circuit. A non-linear adaptive canonical correlation analysis circuit may be placed between an incoming digital signal from a serial link and a PHY receiving layer of an information handling system 100. The PHY receiving layer of the information handling system may be coupled to the non-linear adaptive canonical correlation analysis circuit or may be coupled to the digital signal. This coupling selection may be automatically programmed depending on received signal cross-talk-induced jitter timing skew or may be programmed by a user of the information handling system.
US07680222B2	Receiver and method of processing received data A receiver includes a channel estimator for estimating a channel impulse response of a radio channel; an equalizer for generating linear minimum mean-square error equalizer coefficients and providing an equalized signal to a correlator; an estimating unit for forming an initial estimate of received data elements on the basis of an equalized signal; and a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to calculate a scaling factor by taking an inverse value, subtracted from a value of one, of a conjugate transpose of a linear minimum mean-square error equalizer coefficient vector multiplied by a channel impulse response vector, and to use the scaling factor for determining reliability of the initial estimate of the received data elements.
US07680220B2	Numerical phase detector with interpolated values A phase measurement circuit is described that receives a signal with irregularly spaced edges and assigns a numerical value to the phase of each edge. An interpolator provides linear interpolation between successive values to provide continuous phase values at smaller, regular intervals. The interpolated values are resampled at a lower, regular rate to simplify subsequent processing by filters or other data-reduction means. The interpolation is performed without dividers or two-variable multipliers.
US07680216B2	Adaptive thresholds for high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) (part I) detection schemes A technique is provided for implementing adaptive thresholds associated with HS-SCCH detection schemes; and when applied to any HS-SCCH detection scheme, the resulting false alarm probability curves are more robust to amplitude variations of the different shared control channels. The technique has low computational complexity and low storage requirements for the estimator. Such lower complexity detection schemes have been found to outperform more complex schemes when adaptive thresholds are applied.
US07680214B2	Computation of soft bits for a turbo decoder in a communication receiver A device (20) for computing a threshold Sthi used in demodulating a quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) signal to generate a plurality of soft bits per received symbol for input to a turbo decoder, the device including: means (30) for computing the mean amplitude A of the received symbols and multiplying the mean amplitude A by of the received symbols and multiplying the mean amplitude A by a constant Ci for a square QAM constellation with 4m points, such that Sthi=A×Ci where m is a positive integer and i is a positive integer from 1 to (√4m-1)−1.
US07680207B2	Mobile communication system, mobile communication method, and radio station suitably used for the same The object of the present invention is provide a mobile communication system which can improve a communication quality of the mobile communication system as a whole by changing a transmission method for transmitting common information. Each of the mobile stations 200a to 200l comprises a communication quality measurer 230 configured to measure a communication quality of a signal transmitted from the radio station 100a. The radio station 100a comprises a communication quality acquirer 130 configured to acquire the communication quality from the plurality of mobile stations 200a to 200l; a transmission method changer 140 configured to change a transmission method for at least one of an error encoding rate, the number of repeated bits, an interleave length, the number of multiple codes and the number of transmission signal repetitions, in accordance with the acquired communication quality; and a transmitter 110 configured to transmit the signal to the plurality of mobile stations 200a to 200l using the changed transmission method.
US07680201B2	Forward error correction coding for AM 9kHz and 10kHz in-band on-channel digital audio broadcasting systems A method of broadcasting an AM compatible digital audio broadcasting signal includes: producing an analog modulated carrier signal centrally positioned in a radio channel, wherein the analog modulated carrier signal is modulated by an analog signal, producing a plurality of digitally modulated subcarrier signals in the radio channel, wherein the digitally modulated subcarrier signals are modulated using complementary pattern-mapped trellis code modulation (CPTCM) including a code mapped to overlapping partitions including an upper main partition, a lower main partition, an upper backup partition and a lower backup partition, and a non-overlapping tertiary partition, and transmitting the analog modulated carrier signal and the plurality of digitally modulated subcarrier signals. Transmitters that broadcast the signal and receivers that receive the signal, and the reception method are also included.
US07680199B2	Communications systems In a multi user communication system, subcarriers are allocated to subchannels using a quality measurement for each subchannel. An initial sub carrier is allocated to each subchannel, and a quality metric measured. Subsequent subcarriers are allocated in dependence upon the quality measurement for each subchannel. The subchannel with the lowest quality measurement receives the first allocation, and the subchannel with the highest quality measurement receives the last allocation. The subsequent allocation is repeated, following a re-sort of the subchannel quality measurements, until all of the subcarriers are allocated.
US07680198B2	Adaptive bit/power loading technique for a multicarrier communication system A bit/power loading method in an adaptive modulation-based multicarrier communication system computes ratios of modulation mode values to transmission power values sub-channel-by-sub-channel, selects a combination of sub-channels in which a sum of the ratios is maximized for a total number of bits to be simultaneously transmitted, and transmits signals in modulation modes corresponding to ratios of modulation mode values to transmission power values associated with the selected sub-channels. Because the bit/power loading method selects a combination of sub-channel modulation modes with the minimum total transmission power for a given number of bits on the basis of transmission power in each sub-channel modulation mode, the bits can be transmitted at the minimum transmission power in a given environment.
US07680197B2	Apparatus and method for sampling timing compensation in multi-carrier system The present invention provides an apparatus and an associated method for sampling timing compensation, which can estimate sampling frequency offset between the receiver and transmitter of a multi-carrier system according to estimated frequency responses of two consecutive received symbols within each pilot subchannel, and compensate an accumulated sampling timing offset resulted from the sampling frequency offset. When the accumulated timing offset is not large, the apparatus uses a phase rotator to compensate with a corresponding accumulated phase rotation in frequency domain. When the accumulated timing offset is large, the apparatus first compensates with a specific timing offset in time domain, and then uses the phase rotator to compensate with a phase rotation corresponding to the remaining timing offset in frequency domain. A timing controller is used to compensate with the specific timing offset by adjusting a clock generator or a cyclic prefix remover of the receiver.
US07680192B2	Multi-sensor panoramic network camera A multi-sensor network camera providing up to 360 degrees angle of view. The includes multiple image sensors with individual optics, one or more image processors, compression units and network interfaces mounted in the single housing. The image sensors are positioned in non-parallel planes, cumulatively providing panoramic field of view and image streams originating from all sensors share the same image compression and network interface hardware, providing for low cost implementation. The images from all sensors are transmitted over the network simultaneously via packet interleaving, with appropriate bandwidth reduction achieved by image decimation. Simultaneously with transmission of decimated images from all sensors, full resolution window or entire image of one or more sensors may also transmitted, where the selection of contents is based on motion detection or user setting.
US07680191B2	Apparatus and method for compressing video information A method and apparatus is disclosed for efficiently encoding data representing a video image, thereby reducing the amount of data that must be transferred to a decoder. The method includes transforming data sets utilizing a tensor product wavelet transform which is capable of transmitting remainders from one subband to another. Collections of subbands, in macro-block form, are weighted, detected, and ranked enabling prioritization of the transformed data. A motion compensation technique is performed on the subband data producing motion vectors and prediction errors which are positionally encoded into bit stream packets for transmittal to the decoder. Subband macro-blocks and subband blocks which are equal to zero are identified as such in the bit stream packets to further reduce the amount of data that must be transferred to the decoder.
US07680186B2	Apparatus for estimating motion considering correlation between blocks and method thereof A motion estimation apparatus and a method considers a correlation between blocks. The motion apparatus includes a full search unit which divides a current frame/field into blocks of predetermined size and estimates an arbitrary motion vector of each block by a full search algorithm; a candidate motion vector estimating unit which computes a plurality of motion prediction error values by applying a block matching algorithm (BMA) to a current block and estimates candidate motion vectors from motion prediction error values below a predetermined threshold; a motion compensating unit which computes a correlation between respective candidate motion vectors and the motion vectors of adjacent blocks and compensates one among the candidate motion vectors to a final motion vector of the current block based on the computed correlation. By estimating motion vector of the current block in consideration of the correlation between the blocks, images free of block artifact can be provided.
US07680185B2	Self-referencing bi-directionally predicted frames An encoder/decoder uses “self-referencing” frames. For example, a second B-field in a current frame references the first B-field from the current frame in motion compensated prediction. Allowing the first B-field in a frame to act as a reference for the second B-field in the frame allows more accurate prediction of the second B-field, while also preserving the temporal scalability benefits of having B-fields in the current frame.
US07680183B2	Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus A video encoding method comprises selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations each including a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture, generating a prediction picture signal in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination, generating a predictive error signal representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal, and encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination.
US07680180B2	Decision feedback equalization with composite trellis slicer A decision feedback equalizer is configured to equalize an input signal to generate a recovered output signal. Linear feed-forward filter circuitry is configured to provide a linearly filtered output signal based on the input signal. Composite trellis decoder circuitry configured to process a combined signal that is based on a combination of at least the linearly feed-forward filtered output signal and on output of linear or non-linear feedback filter circuitry, in accordance with state metrics generated by processing a composite trellis diagram relative to the combined signal, to provide a trellis-decoded output signal as input to the linear or non-linear feedback filter circuitry. The composite trellis decoder circuitry is further configured to provide a particular phase output of the combined signal, based on the state metrics, as the decoded output signal.
US07680178B2	Cross-correlation detection and elimination in a receiver A communication device with cross-correlation detection based upon statistical tests to determine whether the off-peak signal energy is consistent with auto-correlation energy levels.
US07680176B2	Simplified generalized rake receiver method and apparatus According to a method and apparatus taught herein, a Rake receiver circuit selectively operates with or without colored interference compensation, in dependence on current operating conditions. For example, in one embodiment the Rake receiver circuit comprises one or more processing circuits that are configured to generate Rake combining weights in a first mode of operation as first combining weights calculated from channel estimates corresponding to a set of Rake signal fingers. In a second mode, the processing circuit(s) generate the Rake combining weights as compensated combining weights obtained by compensating the first combining weights with second combining weights calculated from colored interference estimates corresponding to a set of Rake probing fingers.
US07680175B2	Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving signal in a communication system using a plurality of transmit antennas An apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving a signal in a communication system with a plurality of antennas are provided. Received modulation symbols of channel coded transmission information data are generated using a space-time mapping scheme and processed to RF symbols. The RF symbols are transmitted through antennas among the plurality of antennas.
US07680172B2	Laser diode device A laser diode device capable of detecting laser light with a simple structure is provided. A laser diode device, includes a semiconductor layer formed through laminating a first conductive type layer, an active layer and a second conductive type layer in this order, the second conductive type layer including a striped current confinement structure in a top portion thereof, and a plurality of electrodes being formed on the second conductive type layer side of the semiconductor layer and being electrically connected to the second conductive type layer at predetermined intervals, wherein the semiconductor layer has a photoreceptor region in a region corresponding to an electrode (a first electrode) of the plurality of electrodes except for at least one, the photoreceptor region absorbing a part of the light emitted in the semiconductor layer to convert the part of the light into a current signal.
US07680162B2	Long wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting laser device and method of fabricating the same Provided is a vertical cavity surface emitting device. The surface emitting device includes a lower mirror layer emitting light having a long wavelength, an active layer providing an optical gain, a tunnel junction layer for confining a current, and an upper mirror layer, which are sequentially stacked on a compound semiconductor substrate, wherein a heat release layer is formed on side surfaces of at least one of the active layer, the tunnel junction layer and the upper mirror layer by using etching process, and the heat release layer has greater thermal conductivity than at least one of the active layer, the tunnel junction layer and the upper mirror layer.
US07680161B2	Temperature compensated laser focusing optics A laser source assembly comprises a laser diode for generating a laser beam and a focusing lens for focusing the light beam. A spacer is provided for keeping the diode and the lens at a predetermined distance, and is made of a material of low expansion coefficient. Preferably, the subassembly constituted of the diode, the spacer and the lens is housed in a case made of another material that may have a higher expansion coefficient. A resilient element is provided to continuously keep the diode and the lens abutting on the opposite ends of the spacer.
US07680160B2	Control circuit for optoelectronic module with integrated temperature control A microprocessor is used to control the temperature of a laser emitter and thereby regulate the wavelength of optical signals from the laser. A serial interface in the microprocessor provides input and output lines to a host device, and temperature lookup tables are stored in nonvolatile memory. Control logic processes information stored in the memory as well as information on operating conditions of the laser emitter to precisely control the temperature of the laser emitter. A thermo-electric cooler adjusts the temperature of the laser emitter.
US07680156B2	System and method for transmitting random access data using orthogonal frequency division multiple access Disclosed is a random access data transmission system and method using OFDMA. The system includes a scheduling ID into an access grant on a preamble for a random access, and transmits it together with an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgment of the preamble, a base station uses the scheduling ID to notify the mobile station of a random access data transmittable time and a data transmission channel through a control channel, and the mobile station transmits a preamble in advance. After receiving a transmission assignment instruction corresponding to a scheduling ID through the control channel, the mobile station transmits random access data through an assigned channel.
US07680153B2	Method and device for stream synchronization of real-time multimedia transport over packet network A method for stream synchronization of real-time multimedia transport over a packet network, in which the multimedia includes a first stream and a second stream which are buffered and played through buffers. The method includes: measuring average transport delays of the first and second streams; measuring transport delay jitters of the first and second streams; and calculating a delay difference between the first and second streams which corresponds to the average transport delays and the transport delay jitters of the first and second streams, and setting buffer durations. A device for stream synchronization of real-time multimedia transport over a packet network is also provided.
US07680152B2	Method for establishing a user of a data network as a pilot master A method is described for establishing one user from multiple users of a data network as a pilot master for emitting a pilot signal, to which the other users of the data network may synchronize themselves. In the related art, a pilot signal is typically generated by a separate pilot signal generator or a permanently predefined selected user. However, this has the disadvantage that if the pilot signal generator or the selected user malfunctions, synchronization and therefore also communication of the users with one another via the data network is no longer possible. In order to avoid this disadvantage, it is suggested that at least two of the users of the data network be implemented to be pilot-master-capable and one of them assume the pilot mastership according to a described method.
US07680143B2	Methods and apparatus for combining session acceleration techniques for media oriented negotiation acceleration A method of establishing a session between a first device and a second device. The session is established over a telecommunications network using an accelerated session setup technique. The method includes providing a first accelerated session setup technique and providing a second accelerated session setup technique. The method also includes establishing the session using either the first accelerated session setup technique or the second accelerated session setup technique based on a predetermined process.
US07680138B2	Inter-module communication apparatus The inter-module communication apparatus includes a first module and a second module which operate individually on a processor; a common memory interposed between the first module and the second module for functioning as a communication medium; a plurality of communication paths provided to the common memory for connecting the first module and the second module to be communicable; a transmission unit for transmitting communication data from the first module to the second module; a reception unit for receiving the communication data transmitted from the first module by the second module; a processing order relating device for registering a processing order of communication processing, which is set between each communication path constituting a plurality of the communication paths; and a processing order relevance register which, for transmission, registers the processing order to the processing order relating device when the processing order is set for the communication data to be transmitted.
US07680134B2	Tunneling Ethernet A machine readable medium for tunneling Ethernet is described. A machine readable medium comprises receiving an Ethernet frame and transmitting the Ethernet frame over a non-homogenous tunnel, the tunnel distinguishing subscriber traffic.
US07680128B2	Method and apparatus for interfacing applications to LCAS for efficient SONET traffic flow control The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for interfacing high-layer applications to Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) on Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH) edge nodes. These applications include high-level control protocols, such as Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) and Optical Switching and Routing Protocol (OSRP), and user-initiated cross-connect creation and termination. The present invention provides a mechanism that is capable of mapping SONET/SDH connections to Virtual Concatenated Groups (VCGs), thus enabling an efficient interface for operators to control and manage the connections via LCAS. As part of the mechanism, the existing LCAS protocol state machine is enhanced such that the operators can shut down bi-directional SONET/SDH flows from a single edge node, as opposed to from both source and sink nodes, as provided for by existing specifications.
US07680126B2	Two-dimensional pipelined scheduling technique A scheduler and method for scheduling packet forwarding operations is provided. Packet forwarding request information associated with a first set of input port/output port combinations is received. Packet forwarding request information associated with a second set of input port/output port combinations different from the first set of input port/output port combinations is received, where the first set of input port/output port combinations and the second set of input port/output port combinations are selected to not conflict with each other. Packet forwarding for both the first set of input port/output port combinations at a first future time slot and the second set of input port/output port combinations at a second future time slot are simultaneously scheduling at a first scheduler and a second scheduler, respectively, based on the received packet forwarding request information. Reservation information for the first set of input port/output port combinations and the second set of input port/output port combinations is transferred to adjacent schedulers based on a module pattern, where the adjacent schedulers are responsible for scheduling additional sets of input port/output port combinations for the first and second future time slots, respectively.
US07680125B2	Scheduling packet data transmissions in a packet data network based on early decoded channel feedback reports A method of scheduling wireless packet data traffic on a downlink packet data channel takes advantage of early decoding opportunities to decode the channel feedback reports before receipt of the mandated Lth repetition. The early-decoded channel feedback reports are promptly used in making scheduling decisions. Mobile stations are required to repeat transmissions of channel quality reports at least L times. The base station receives channel quality information report CFN from a first mobile station one or more times, but less than L times; and, prior to reception of the Lth repetition of CFN, successfully decodes CFN to form a first decoded report. Packet data transmissions on the downlink packet data traffic channel are scheduled based on CFN. A corresponding apparatus is also described.
US07680123B2	Mobile terminated packet data call setup without dormancy When the binding of a mobile station (MS) in a home agent (HA) expires, the HA generates an identifier from the MS's IMSI. The HA maintains a binding between the home address (HoA) and a special care of address (MAP-CoA), where the host ID of MAP-CoA is the identifier, and where the network ID of MAP-CoA is a special code. When a packet destined for the HoA is received at the HA, the HA responds by communicating the MAP-CoA to the PDSN that serves the special code. The PDSN recovers the IMSI from the host ID of the MAP-CoA, and uses the IMSI to page the MS. The MS responds by setting up a call, obtaining a new care of address, and then binding the new care of address with its HoA in the HA. Advantageously, packets can be sent to a dormant MS at its HoA without out-of-band signaling.
US07680122B2	Communication method for data communication based on point-to-point protocol A communication method in a third communication apparatus of a first node located between a first communication apparatus of the first node and a second communication apparatus of a second node, the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus performing data communication based on PPP.
US07680119B2	Main station and substation in a network and a method for transmitting data in a network A network station for a data network for receiving external data and for transmitting device-internally prepared data has a repeater for transmitting an external data packet received at a data input to a data output, a first data preparation unit for transmitting an internal data packet generated from the prepared data via the data output, having a switching device for interrupting the data path between the data input and the data output, a control unit that is connected to the switching device in order, in a first operating mode, to block the transmission of the received external data packet via the data output if the internal data packet is currently being transmitted via the data output by the data preparation unit, and to permit the transmission of the received data packet by the repeater via the data output if no internal data packet is currently being transmitted via the first data preparation unit.
US07680115B2	Internet protocol based encryptor/decryptor bypass device A system (706, 714) is provided for a network signaling protocol bypass around a cryptographic device (1006, 1106). The system is comprised of a bypass means for receiving a packet (900) having a transport layer protocol header (908), for parsing a GIST signaling transport protocol identifier (950) from the transport layer protocol header, and for determining whether the GIST signaling transport protocol identifier is a NTLP or a NSIS signaling transport protocol identifier. If the GIST signaling transport protocol identifier is a NTLP or a NSIS signaling transport protocol identifier, the packet is bypassed around the cryptographic device. However, if the GIST signaling transport protocol identifier is not a NTLP or NSIS signaling transport protocol identifier, the packet is forwarded to the cryptographic device. A method is also provided for a network signaling protocol bypass around the cryptographic device.
US07680103B2	Device and method for billing connections that are routed via a packet network In one aspect, a method for billing for a connection routed via a packet network is provided. According to the method, billing is started the when the connection is established between a plurality of subscriber terminals. Information packets are transmitting according to a quality standard by at least one of the terminals. The information packets are routed in the network via a central device controlling a quality. The billing is stopping if the quality standard is not met.
US07680096B2	System for configuring switches in a network A network is set forth that comprises a plurality of multiple port switches, a plurality of endpoint devices connected to the ports of the plurality of switches, and an enumerating endpoint device that is connected to at least one of the multiple port switches. The enumerating endpoint device configures the routing through the multiple port switches based on whether the multiple port switch is on path with respect to a newly discovered processing element or off path with respect to the newly discovered processing element. Each off path switch may be configured so that communication packets destined for the new processing element are routed through the port of the off path switch that the off path switch uses for communications with the enumerating endpoint device. Each on path switch may be configured so that communication packets destined for the newly discovered processing element are routed through the port of the on path switch at which the enumerating endpoint device discovered the new processing element. In one example, the network is implemented as a RapidIO network.
US07680091B2	System and method for link quality source routing Systems and methods for routing packets by nodes in an ad hoc network in accordance with a link quality source routing protocol are disclosed. Route discovery, route maintenance, and metric maintenance are designed to propagate and keep current link quality measurements. Metric maintenance includes a reactive approach for links that a node is currently using to route packets, and a proactive mechanism for all links. Nodes are configured to include a send buffer, a maintenance buffer, a request table, link quality metric modules, and preferably a neighbor cache and a link cache. The invention allows for asymmetric links in the network. The invention may be implemented within a virtual protocol interlayer between the link and network layers. The invention may employ any particular link quality metrics, including metrics based on probing techniques as well as metrics based on knowledge gained in other ways.
US07680085B2	Out-of-band management and traffic monitoring for wireless access points In a wireless data communications system a method is provided for conducting out-of-band for management and other communications with access points. The system operates under a first protocol, such as IEEE 802.11 protocol to provide wireless data communications. The access points are provided with a second radio module for conducting wireless data communications using a second protocol, such as Bluetooth. A wireless terminal, operating as a Bluetooth master can access the processor in the access point to conduct management and other communications relating to the operation of the access point.
US07680072B2	Radio communications control system, radio communications control method A radio communications system of this invention is configured to control transmission power of a shared control channel for transmitting control signals to a plurality of mobile stations. The radio communications system has a transmission power controller configured to control the transmission power of the shared control channel, in accordance with transmission power of a dedicated channel accompanying the shared control channel, and communication quality of the shared control channel.
US07680071B2	Method and apparatus for managing power during a discontinuous reception mode A method and apparatus for managing power during discontinuous reception (DRX) mode are disclosed. A DRX mode is defined for a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for reducing power consumption of the WTRU. During the DRX mode, the WTRU enters into a sleep state and periodically wakes up for processing paging blocks for detecting a paging indication for the WTRU and a corresponding paging message. If the WTRU is paged the WTRU terminates the DRX mode. If the WTRU is not paged, the WTRU reenters the sleep state. For power management during the DRX mode, a synchronization update period is defined. The synchronization update period is a period for performing automatic frequency correction and/or frame time correction.
US07680062B2	Apparatus and method for controlling abnormal traffic An apparatus and method for controlling abnormal traffic are provided. The apparatus includes: a list management unit which stores a list of Internet Protocols (IPs) transmitting normal packets and, conditionally, announces that the current packet traffic is packet traffic generated by a registered IP; a channel allocation unit which allocates channels to the input packets in such a manner that a packet determined as being normal is given priority over a packet determined as being abnormal, transmits the input packets to a network node, and transmits IP information regarding the input packets that are determined as being normal; a success rate determination unit which determines a service success rate for packets received from a registered IP; and a channel number adjustment unit which transmits the predetermined command to the channel allocation unit so that the channel allocation unit can adjust the number of channels reserved for allocation to normal packets.
US07680061B2	Method and system which apply heuristics to identify signals accessible to subscribers in hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) interactive networks A system and method for identifying which signals provided by a head-end are accessible to CPE of a subscriber in an HFC network. The method includes obtaining a partial list of signals accessible to the CPE, and then applying heuristic rules on the partial list to generate a complete accessible signal list. Obtaining the partial list includes discovering signal information regarding a subset of the signals which are accessible to the CPE; using the discovered signal information to obtain a signal identification of a signal accessible to the CPE; and generating the partial list based on the obtained signal identification. Applying a heuristic rule includes using a bit mask within the obtained signal identification or a naming convention of the obtained signal identification to identify other associated signals. The partial list is then generated based on the obtained signal identification and the signal identifications of the other associated signals.
US07680060B2	Transferring state information in a network A system for storing information in a network. The system includes one or more network elements and a message adapted for transfer between the one or more network elements. A mechanism selectively augments the message with information pertaining to a state associated with the one or more network elements. In one embodiment, the system includes space within the message for accommodating one or more state vias containing the state information. One or more computers associated with the one or more network elements are adapted to update the message with state information pertaining to each of the one or more network elements that receives the message via the network.
US07680053B1	Inter-device flow control A network switching device comprises first and second ports. A queue communicates with the second port, stores frames for later output by the second port, and generates a congestion signal when filled above a threshold. A control module selectively sends an outgoing flow control message to the first port when the congestion signal is present, and selectively instructs the second port to assert flow control when a flow control message is received from the first port if the received flow control message designates the second port as a target.
US07680046B2	Wide area load sharing control system A wide area load sharing control system includes a statistic information gathering module obtaining from respective nodes, as statistic information, a traffic state of links connected to the respective nodes in a network, a route determining module determining, based on the obtained statistic information, at least one route for extending a plurality of paths between ingress edge nodes and egress edge nodes that correspond to within a traffic engineering section in the network, and a load sharing determining module determining, based on the obtained statistic information, a ratio at which a traffic should be distributed to respective paths on the determined route. Active modules among the statistic information gathering module, the route determining module and the load sharing determining module are switched over to between the ingress edge nodes and the network control device concentratedly controlling the respective nodes, mutually.
US07680042B2	Generic on-chip homing and resident, real-time bit exact tests Details of media encoding and decoding devices which support generic homing sequences, and methods for operating such devices are disclosed. The use of generic homing sequences may permit an embodiment of the disclosed invention to support real-time, bit-exact testing of existing and future media encoding and decoding devices. An embodiment of the present invention may permit the initialization of encoding and decoding algorithms to a known state, enabling bit-exact testing of a large group of devices using these algorithms, including those whose specifications do not support such functionality. This capability may permit the full-speed, bit-exact, testing, of both locally and remotely situated media encoders and decoders.
US07680037B2	Resource-sensitive parser, method of parsing and session initiation protocol (SIP) network employing the same The present invention provides a resource-sensitive parser for use with a session initiation protocol (SIP) network. In one embodiment, the resource-sensitive parser includes a resource condition indicator configured to provide an overload indication for a network element in the SIP network. Additionally, the resource-sensitive parser also includes a parsing engine coupled to the resource condition indicator and configured to parse a SIP request employing an overload protection mode corresponding to the overload indication for the network element.
US07680034B2	Redundant control systems and methods A redundant control system for controlling an electromechanical system is provided. The control system includes a first processor, a second processor, an input-output node, a first communication channel, a second communication channel, and a signal selector. The first and second processors have a control algorithm and state variables resident thereon. The first and second processors each generate an output signal based on the control algorithm, the state variables, and an input signal from the electromechanical system. The first communication channel communicates the input signal and the output signal between the first processor and the input-output node, while the second communication channel communicates the input signal and the output signal between the second processor and the input-output node. The signal selector communicates either the output signal from the first processor or the output signal from the second processor to the electromechanical system.
US07680033B1	Network manager circuit rediscovery and repair The present invention provides a way to discover/rediscover or repair a path in a SONET network using a “bottom-up” approach. In particular, information from nodes in the network is retrieved. The information indicates whether a node in the network cross-connects or adds/drops information in each of the timeslot of a SONET frame. A timeslot that is configured as an add/drop is considered a boundary of the path. Accordingly, based on the timeslots that are configured as boundaries, a path may be discovered/rediscovered or repaired.
US07680028B1	Method and apparatus for restarting RSVP processes in multiple network devices An RSVP node that has crashed and restarted sends a non-zero Recovery Time value in a Restart_Cap object of a Hello message. Other nodes receiving such messages can detect, based on the non-zero Recovery Time value, that the sending node is restarting. In particular, a first RSVP node can detect whether a second, neighbor node has restarted regardless of the order of restart with respect to the first and second nodes. As a result, the first node can determine whether to forward PATH messages with Recovery Label or Suggested Label, as appropriate or necessary to rebuild label-switched paths with crashed and restarted nodes. Therefore, when multiple RSVP nodes crash relatively concurrently, the multiple nodes can restart gracefully and automatically detect what kind of communication to use in order to rebuild label-switched paths among themselves.
US07680027B2	Methods and systems for channel estimation in a collaborative multi input multiple output (MIMO) communication system Methods and systems for estimating channel of one or more MSs in a collaborative MIMO communication system are provided. The method includes receiving a signal transmitted from a transmit antenna of a first MS and a transmit antenna of a second MS at a BTS using one or more receiver antennas. The method further includes computing one or more conjugate products for each of the first MS and the second MS using the signal. Thereafter, an average is determined over the plurality of receiver antennas and the plurality of tiles of the plurality of conjugate products for each of the first MS and the second MS. A phase determined based on the average of the plurality of conjugate products for the first MS and the second MS is divided into a first phase and a second phase for each of the first MS and the second MS. Additionally, the method includes determining a channel estimate for each tile of the first MS and the second MS at each receiver antennas. The method further includes performing predefined computations on the channel estimate of each tile of the first MS and the second MS at each receiver antenna of the BTS using the corresponding first phase and the corresponding second phase.
US07680025B2	Optical information recording medium, reproducing method thereof, and manufacturing method thereof Super-resolution technology was proposed for generating marks smaller than the optical resolution in order to record data at high density on the optical disk. However, the achievable high density of the super-resolution technology was limited due to fluctuation of the region exhibiting the super-resolution effect due to the grain size or the molecular size comprising the super-resolution film. However fluctuation in the region exhibiting the super-resolution effect is reduced by utilizing recording marks possessing their own super-resolution effect and also by separating the recording marks from each other.
US07680012B2	Recording medium, method of configuring control information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the same, and apparatus thereof A method of recording control information in a recording medium, such as an optical disc, including at least one recording layer is provided Velocity information and per recording velocity write strategy (write strategy parameters) is included in control information, such that standardized control information can be uniformly applied to cope with the playback of a recorded optical disc. The method includes steps of recording, per applicable recording velocity, the control information within a management area of the at least one recording layer of the optical disc; and recording at least one write strategy information per the applicable recording velocity within the control information.
US07680011B2	Write-once recording medium having a data structure for managing recording of the recording medium, and methods and apparatuses for recording on a recording medium A user data area of the recording medium is at least partially divided into separate recording areas such that data recorded in a separate recording area is of a same type. For example, at least one of the separate recording areas may be storing managing information for managing the recording medium. Additionally, at least two separate recording areas may be for recording different types of data. For example, at least one of the separate recording areas may be storing managing information for managing the recording medium, and at least another one of the separate recording areas is for storing a copy of the data in the at least one of the separate recording areas for storing management information.
US07680007B2	Optical state recognizer, information processor, and optical state recognizing method A disc device (100) implements information processing with respect to, for example, a zeroth recording layer of an optical disk by an information processing section (510), and outputs a double-layer main voltage value and a double-layer sub voltage value corresponding to the intensities of a zeroth-order light beam and ±first-order light beams which are received by a photodetecting element (350) to an offset calculating section (522) by a voltage value acquiring section (521). The voltage value acquiring section (521) stores voltage values corresponding to the intensities of the zeroth-order light beam and ±first-order light beams which are received by the photodetecting element (350) as a single-layer main voltage value and a single-layer sub voltage value in a memory (400) in a state where a single-layer disc is loaded. The offset calculating section (522) calculates a voltage value corresponding to the intensity of a stray light beam that is reflected by a first recording layer not intended for information processing as an offset voltage value on the basis of the respective voltage values.
US07680003B2	Optical disk device with disk type recognition The optical disk drive of the present invention can read data from multiple types of optical disks and includes: a motor for spinning a given optical disk; at least one light source for radiating light beams with multiple different wavelengths; at least one lens for converging each light beam onto the disk; a spherical aberration correcting section that can change the spherical aberration states of the beam; and a control section for controlling the operations of the motor, light source, lens and spherical aberration correcting section. The control section includes a disk type recognizing section that irradiates the disk with a light beam using the light source and the lens, thereby recognizing the type of the disk. The recognizing section performs the recognition by reference to first and second signal waveforms that have been generated based on the light beams reflected from the optical disk when the spherical aberration correcting section sets the spherical aberration states of the light beam to first and second states, respectively.
US07680001B1	Device and method for preventing the use of a compromised pharmaceutical that is stored in a vial or similar container A cap assembly for a container that holds a perishable product. The cap assembly defines an opening through which the perishable product inside the container can be accessed. At least one obstruction plate is present within the cap assembly. Each obstruction plate is positionable between an open position, where the obstruction plate is clear of the opening, and a closed position where the obstruction plate obstructs the opening. A mechanism is provided within the cap assembly that automatically moves each obstruction plate from its open position to its closed position when the shelf life of the perishable product has expired. Optionally, the cap assembly may also include at least one condition sensor for detecting a condition harmful to the perishable product in the container. The mechanism also closes each obstruction plate if such a harmful condition is detected by the condition sensor.
US07679999B2	Marine acoustic sensor assembly A marine acoustic sensor assembly includes an acoustic panel having a forward surface and an after surface, a laser scanner oriented so as to project a laser beam onto the acoustic panel after surface, and a sensor oriented so as to receive reflections of the laser beam off the acoustic panel and to transmit data from which a position of a sound generating source can be determined, wherein the acoustic panel is provided with an absorber layer extending over the after surface thereof, and the absorber layer is provided with holes extending therethrough, the holes being of a size sufficient to permit passage of the laser beams to the acoustic panel after surface and the reflections to pass to the sensor, whereby to minimize reflections and noise originating from aft of the after surface, while permitting sound incoming from forward of the acoustic panel to be measured.
US07679996B2	Methods and device for ultrasonic range sensing A system and method for sensing proximity of an object includes a signal generator, which generates a plurality of signals. A transducer is in communication with the signal generator to receive the plurality of signals from the signal generator. The transducer is capable of transforming a plurality of signals from the signal generator into a plurality of ultrasonic waves. The plurality of ultrasonic waves includes a first ultrasonic wave and a second ultrasonic wave, wherein the first ultrasonic wave and the second ultrasonic wave are formed out of phase. The plurality of ultrasonic waves are directed toward and reflected by the object. The transducer receives the plurality of ultrasonic waves reflected by the object, which become a plurality of received ultrasonic waves. An analog to digital converter is in communication with the transducer. The received plurality of ultrasonic waves reflected by the object is communicated to the analog to digital converter by the transducer.
US07679986B2	Data latch controller of synchronous memory device Disclosed is a data input circuit of a synchronous memory device for detecting and amplifying data, and transferring the amplified data for storage, which including: a write strobe signal converter for receiving a write strobe signal, dividing the received write strobe signal, and outputting control signals of predetermined bits, the control signals being synchronized with rising and falling edges of the divided signal; and a latch unit for latching data corresponding to the bits by means of the control signals, and outputting the data for the detection and amplification of the data. The data input circuit may include a first delay unit for delaying the data in order to match setup-hold time, a second delay unit for performing delay for adjusting the data outputted from the latch unit, and a third delay unit for performing delay for adjusting the write strobe signal outputted from the latch unit.
US07679985B2	Semiconductor memory device and arrangement method thereof A semiconductor memory device and an arrangement method thereof are disclosed. The semiconductor memory device comprises column selecting signal lines and global data IO signal lines arranged on the same layer in the same direction above a memory cell array; word lines and first local data IO signal lines arranged on a different layer from the column selecting signal lines above the memory cell array, in a perpendicular direction to the column selecting signal lines; and second local data IO signal lines arranged on a different layer from the column selecting signal lines and the word lines above the memory cell array, in the same direction as the first local data IO signal lines.
US07679984B2	Configurable memory data path A data path in a memory device is configured by selecting a data path configuration configured to at least partially maintain data bit order between the memory device and a chip carrier. The memory data path is arranged based on the data path configuration for memory operations where maintaining data bit order between the memory device and the chip carrier is required.
US07679978B1	Scheme for screening weak memory cell A novel scheme for screening weak memory cell includes a cell coupled to a leakage stress delivery circuitry (LSDC), which, in turn, is coupled to an induced leakage adjustment control (ILAC). The LSDC includes a combination of PMOS transistors, NMOS transistors or both PMOS and NMOS transistors that are controlled by a plurality of stress inducing signals. The PMOS and/or NMOS transistors of the LSDC are coupled to a pair of complementary data lines. The complementary data lines are inputs to a sense amplifier and are outputs of a write driver. The ILAC controls the quantity of the leakage stress applied through the LSDC to the pair of complementary data lines. The ILAC further includes a leakage varying circuitry that is configured to adjust the leakage stress applied to the complementary data lines through the LSDC. The applied leakage stress is adjusted to establish a desired pass/fail threshold and to detect other process variations or defects so that the sense amplifier can be applied to detect the voltage differential during a read operation. The applied leakage stress can also be applied to write driver circuitry such that a write driver along with the applied stress provide enough voltage level to screen difficult-to-write cell from a easy-to-write cell during a write operation. The plurality of stress inducing signals are controlled such that the appropriate leakage stress may be applied to force a leakage to Vdd or Vss associated with the cell through the complementary data lines.
US07679974B2	Memory device having selectively decoupleable memory portions and method thereof In response to determining a bit cell of a bit cell array of a memory device is a defective bit cell, a portion of the bit cell array including the defective bit cell is decoupled from a power source of the memory device. The portion can be decoupled via a fuse, a transistor, and the like.
US07679971B1	Dual port PLD embedded memory block to support read-before-write in one clock cycle A method for a read-before-write functionality for a memory within a programmable logic device (PLD) is provided. The method begins when a read operation and a write operation are initiated through two different ports of a memory simultaneously to access the same address in the memory. In order to prevent the write operation from proceeding prior to the read operation, a read-before-write control logic is provided to the control block of the port that supports the write operation. Thus, the write operation is paused until the control block of the port that supports the write operation receives a signal from a read sense amplifier indicating that the read operation is complete. The read sense amplifier is capable of detecting the completion of a read operation by monitoring the voltage difference of the read bitline. When this voltage difference reaches a threshold value, the read sense amplifier triggers a write wordline signal. The enabling of the write wordline signal causes, the data to be written to the memory.
US07679970B2	Semiconductor memory device for simultaneously performing read access and write access Disclosed herein is a semiconductor memory device which can simultaneously perform a read access and a write access independently. The semiconductor memory device according to the present invention can access a plurality of data through the global sense amplifying unit and the global bit line, and enables the read controller and the write controller to independently control the global bit line and the bit line sense amplifying unit to be connected to each other to thereby perform the read access and the write access simultaneously.
US07679965B2	Flash memory with improved programming precision A memory includes a plurality of flash cells and circuitry for programming a first cell to store first data and one or more second cells to store second data. Either the circuitry itself, or a controller of the memory, or a host of the memory by executing driver code, causes the programming of the first cell to be in accordance with the second data, with at least a portion of the programming of the first cell being effected before any of the programming of the second cell(s).
US07679957B2	Redundant non-volatile memory cell Two floating gate devices are arranged in a redundant configuration in a non-volatile memory (NVM) such that stress induced leakage current (SILC) or other failures do not result in a complete loss of memory storage. The redundant NVM may be arranged as a series configuration, a parallel configuration, a single-ended device, a differential device, a simple logic circuit function, a complex logic circuit function, and/or as part of an RFID tag system.
US07679954B2	Phase change memory apparatus having an improved cycling endurance and programming method therefor A phase change memory apparatus includes a phase change memory array in which a plurality of phase change memory devices are arranged, and a pulse generator that supplies a writing current pulse, an erasure current pulse, and a reverse repair current pulse to the phase change memory devices in the phase change memory array. The reverse repair current pulse has opposite direction to the writing current pulse and the erasure current pulse of the phase change memory devices, and is of such a size that resultant Joule heat and electromigration move the elements of the reverse repair current pulse. The reverse repair current pulse has a width equal to or more than a smaller one of duration of a normal writing operation and duration of a normal erasure operation.
US07679947B2	Semiconductor devices with source and bulk coupled to separate voltage supplies A semiconductor transistor array is disclosed having a plurality of identical transistors, with sources of the transistors commonly coupled to a first voltage supply, and bulks of the transistors commonly coupled to a second voltage supply which is different from the first voltage supply, wherein different voltages can be supplied to the sources and bulks.
US07679945B2	Persistent volatile memory with sense amplifier and discharge switch A persistent volatile memory cell memorizes a binary datum during a retention time independent from a supply voltage of the memory cell. The memory cell comprises a capacitive memory point supplying a persistent voltage and having a determined discharge time, a switch for triggering the discharge of the memory point when an erase signal has an active value, a switch for triggering the charge of the memory point when a write signal has an active value, and a sense-amplifier circuit having an input receiving the persistent voltage, and an output supplying the binary datum. The memory cell can be applied to the management of an inventory flag in a contactless integrated circuit.
US07679943B2	Uninterruptable power supply The present invention is an apparatus for providing an uninterruptible power supply for an electronic device. The apparatus includes an AC-to-DC power supply that receives an external AC voltage supply and outputs a DC voltage to the electronic device. The power supply includes a bridge rectifier that rectifies the AC voltage from the external AC voltage supply, a boost power factor correction (PFC) converter that boosts the rectified voltage, and a line isolated DC-to-DC converter that changes the boosted voltage to the operating voltage range of the electronic device. The apparatus also includes an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) subsystem that contains, a controller that monitors the external AC voltage supply for interruptions, and a high voltage isolated DC-to-DC (HVDC) converter that supplies high voltage DC power directly to the PFC converter if the controller detects an interruption in the external AC voltage supply.
US07679935B2	Electromagnetic-shielding device An electromagnetic-shielding device disposed in an electronic device prevents that an electric component in the electronic device is interfered by electromagnetic wave. The electromagnetic-shielding device has at least one positioning and leaning wall, which is mounted on a laminate member as a part of a housing of the electronic device or a central plate within the electronic device. By means of the positioning and leaning wall, an electromagnetic-shielding mask is conveniently mounted within the electronic device so as to cover the electronic component.
US07679934B2	Mounting apparatus for circuit board A mounting apparatus includes a securing mechanism, a drive bracket (20), and a fastener (50). The securing mechanism has a securing hole (15) defined in a circuit board (10). The drive bracket includes first and second side plates (23, 24). The first side plate defines a mounting hole (237) therein, corresponding to the securing hole of the circuit board. The second side plate forms two lines of tabs (243) for sandwiching the circuit board therebetween. The fastener engages into the securing hole of the securing mechanism and the mounting hole of the drive bracket, for preventing the circuit board releasing from the tabs.
US07679923B2	Method for applying coating agent and electronic control unit A method for easily applying a coating agent to an electronic circuit board accommodated in a housing without leaving uncoated portions. The method includes mounting the electronic circuit board to the housing, performing an electrical connection process in the electronic circuit board, and filling the housing with the coating agent (anti-moisture agent) to immerse the electronic circuit board in the coating agent.
US07679922B2	Display device A display device is arranged such that a voice device is laminated on a liquid crystal panel so as to be confined in a planar area of the liquid crystal panel, and a voice-system circuit block which drives the voice device is formed on the thin film substrate of the liquid crystal panel. A signal is inputted into the voice-system circuit block through an FPC which is connected to the thin film substrate and which inputs a video signal, and the signal processed at the voice-system circuit block is conducted through the FPC. A connecting terminal part is provided in a middle portion of the FPC and adhered to an FPC. One end of the FPC is connected to the voice device. In this way, a multifunctional display device can be achieved at low cost by efficiently using a limited space around the display element without sacrificing the advantages of a lightweight and thin-shaped flat display device.
US07679920B2	Cooling air distribution scheme for communication boards A cooling distribution configuration is provided for chassis-mounted electronics boards. In one embodiment, the chassis comprises a housing and at least one electronics board. The electronics board may comprise a communication board having a plurality of ports. Cooling air spaces are defined above and below the board, permitting cooling air to be drawn over both sides of the board. Notches extend inwardly from an edge of the board, the notches serving as air flow paths between the cooling air spaces and serving to distribute cooling air flowing into the housing from one or more intakes to the cooling air spaces.
US07679912B1	Heat sink assembly having heat pipe A heat sink assembly includes a first heat dissipating plate, a second heat dissipating plate, at least one flat heat pipe horizontally positioned between the first heat dissipating plate and the second heat dissipating plate. The at least one flat heat pipe surrounds or defines an enclosed-space. The enclosed-space is closed by the first heat dissipating plate and the second heat dissipating plate. At least one through hole communicates with the enclosed-space and is defined in the second heat dissipating plate.
US07679911B2	Electronic package whereby an electronic assembly is packaged within an enclosure that is designed to act as a heat pipe An electronic component or assembly that is assembled within a case that is designed to operate as a liquid phase to gas phase heat pipe where the electronic component or assembly is introduced into a liquid or partially liquid partially gaseous environment; whereby said liquid evaporates into a gas absorbing heat energy and transferring it to and through the component's or assembly's case. The case will be engineered out of materials that do not contaminate the liquid and electronics with ions and will be engineered to include a plurality of chambers/towers that extend in various directions providing enhanced heat pipe functionality in any physical orientation.
US07679907B2	Electronic apparatus and fin unit According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a housing, a heat-generating element mounted in the housing, a cooling fan mounted in the housing, a fin unit which is mounted in the housing and opposed to the cooling fan, and a heat transfer member which thermally connects the fin unit to the heat-generating element. The cooling fan includes a fan case which is provided with an opening portion. The fin unit includes an insertion portion which is inserted into the fan case through the opening portion. The insertion portion is provided to extend from one longitudinal end area to the other longitudinal end area of the opening portion.
US07679902B2	Vertical docking station A docking station, serving as a digital hub and cable management platform, support a laptop computer (42) in an upright position with the laptop screen (43) in a comfortable viewing position relative to the working position of the user. The laptop (42) is positioned in an upright slot (4) in the docking station, with the connection ports easily seen and accessed. The surface of the laptop slot (4) is lined with non-slip surface (3) to ease insertion and control of the laptop (42) as it is lowered into the slot (4). An adjustable front cover (15) defining the front boundary of the slot (4) covers the keyboard of the mobile computer (42) so that the user does not need to view two keyboards, and the appearance of the docked laptop (42) is clean and aesthetic. Wireless data and power transmission into the laptop (42) is provided while the laptop (42) is in the slot (4) so that the laptop (42) can be used in the docking station without a need for cable connections (45, 46) at all.
US07679898B2	Air flap mechanism for server chassis An air flap mechanism is installed in a server chassis with an opening. A functional module is capable of being inserted into the server chassis from the opening. The air flap mechanism includes an air flap pivotably installed in the server chassis for shielding the opening of the server chassis and a pair of first torsion springs attached to the air flap. A connecting bar connects between the first torsion springs for being driven by an end of the functional module to pivot the air flap inside the server chassis when the functional module is pushed into the server chassis.
US07679887B2	Switching system comprising switchgear that can be contacted via pin contacts A switching system includes switchgear that can be contacted via pin contacts. In at least one embodiment, the switching system is provided with pin contacts and mating pin contacts and at least one device(s) for the transmission of force onto the switchgear, thereby allowing to establish and interrupt contact to the switchgear even when only little space is available.
US07679885B2	Tantalum powder and methods of manufacturing same Tantalum powder capable of providing a small-sized tantalum electrolytic capacitor while maintaining capacity is described. Tantalum powder in the present invention can be characterized in that the CV value is from 200,000 to 800,000 μFV/g, when measured by the following measuring method. Pellets are produced by forming tantalum powder such that the density is 4.5 g/cm3, then the pellets are chemically converted in a phosphoric acid aqueous solution of concentration 0.1 vol. % at a voltage of 6V and a current of 90 mA/g, and the chemically converted pellets are used as measuring samples to measure the CV value in a sulfuric acid aqueous solution of concentration 30.5 vol. % at a temperature of 25° C. under a frequency of 120 Hz and a voltage of 1.5V.
US07679875B2	Protective circuitry for photomultiplier tubes An electronic circuit for protecting a photomultiplier against overloads is provided. The photomultiplier has a cathode, an anode, a plurality of dynodes and a voltage divider. The circuit includes a high-voltage source, which applies a high voltage to the photomultiplier. A protective switch is set up for preventing a current flow through the anode. A comparison device is configured for comparing a load signal characterizing the loading of the anode with a maximum load signal and for driving the protective switch in accordance with this comparison.
US07679872B2	Electrostatic-discharge protection using a micro-electromechanical-system switch Embodiments of an interface circuit are described. This interface circuit includes an input pad, a control node and a transistor, which has three terminals. A first terminal is electrically coupled to the input pad and a second terminal is electrically coupled to the control node. Moreover, the interface circuit includes a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch, which is electrically coupled to the input pad and the control node, where the MEMS switch is in parallel with the transistor. In the absence of a voltage applied to a control terminal of the MEMS switch, the MEMS switch is closed, thereby electrically coupling the input pad and the control node. Furthermore, when the voltage is applied to the control terminal of the MEMS switch, the MEMS switch is open, thereby electrically decoupling the input pad and the control node.
US07679869B2	Input/output device capable of blocking external interference signals An input/output device comprises a bonding pad, a signal transport circuit, and a blocking unit. The signal transport circuit has a first terminal connected to the bonding pad and a second terminal connected to a core circuit of an IC product. The signal transport circuit is capable of transporting a signal either from the bonding pad to the core circuit or from the core circuit to the bonding pad. The blocking unit has a control terminal and is coupled between the bonding pad and the signal transport circuit. The control terminal is coupled to receive an enable signal. The blocking unit ties the bonding pad to a predetermined voltage level when the enable signal is de-asserted, thereby blocking the signal transport provided by the signal transport circuit. The blocking unit unties the bonding pad from the predetermined voltage level when the enable signal is asserted.

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