Document Document Title
US07914219B2 Apparatus and method for moving a cover
The illustrative embodiments described herein provide an apparatus and method for moving a cover. The apparatus includes a base. The apparatus also includes a cover pivotably coupled to the base. The apparatus also includes a set of flexible bands. A first end of each of the set of flexible bands is coupled to the cover. A second end of the set of flexible bands is coupled to the base. The set of flexible bands are adapted to bias the cover into an open position. When the cover is opened by a user, the set of helical springs are elongated when the cover is forced beyond its open position.
US07914204B2 Apparatus and method for measurement of temperature using oscillators
A temperature sensor includes: a first oscillator that generates a first frequency signal; a second oscillator that generates a second frequency signal; a multiplexer that selectively passes the first frequency signal and the second frequency signal; and a frequency-to-digital converter that converts a frequency difference between the first frequency signal and the second frequency signal into a digital code.
US07914200B1 Mixing blade assembly with trailing scrapers and method
An apparatus and method for mixing feedstock within a vessel wherein the feedstock is moved along a heat transfer surface within the vessel. A mixing blade assembly includes a mixing blade and at least one mixing blade support member moved within the vessel to sweep forward along a path of travel extending adjacent the heat transfer surface. Feedstock is circulated within the vessel by the mixing blade, and the mixing blade support member includes a mixing surface confronting the heat transfer surface. The mixing surface is spaced from the heat transfer surface and is configured such that feedstock material is squeezed between the mixing surface and the heat transfer surface so as to be subjected to mixing shear and heat transfer between the squeezed feedstock material and the heat transfer surface. A scraper blade is located on the mixing blade support member in position to trail behind a trailing face of the mixing blade support member and is engaged with the heat transfer surface during movement of the mixing blade support member along the path of travel so as to scrape feedstock material from the heat transfer surface and direct the squeezed feedstock material to the mixing blade to be mixed with the feedstock circulated within the vessel by the mixing blade.
US07914198B2 Modular luminaire system
The modular track luminaire system of the present invention is a modular lighting system which has a lighting unit which is electronically connected to a remote ballast housing by a removable and reattachable insulated cord and plug system, the luminaire unit electrically connected to the ballast housing through the flexible cord and plug system thereby allowing the entire system to be modularized.
US07914192B2 Enhanced light diffusing sheet
A light transmitting diffusing sheet can be used in backlighting systems for liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Such displays are typically used in televisions, computer monitors, laptop computers and handheld devices such as mobile phones. Embodiments of the light diffusing sheets are suitable for use with both cold-cathode fluorescent (CCFL) and light emitting diode based backlighting systems. Desired light transmitting properties in the light transmitting diffusing sheet have been achieved by modifying both the volume and surface features of the sheet. Embodiments of this invention when used as part of the backlighting assembly for a LCD system results in improved brightness and controlled viewing angles. In one embodiment, substantially asymmetric particles in the volume of the sheet are combined with a ridged structure on one surface of the sheet. The use of the sheet removes the need for separate prismatic films and diffusing sheets, while also optimizing the light transmitting properties of these two elements.
US07914165B2 Beverage bottle with accessories
A configurable beverage container comprises a container body defining a central axis and bounded by non-opaque sides, an openable top, and a bottom defining a cavity in which a liquid can be retained. The container body includes a connector, such as a set of female thread portions, located on a lower end of the container body adjacent the container body bottom. The configurable container further includes an accessory having an accessory connector (e.g. male thread) located on a top end thereof and another (e.g. female thread) on a bottom thereof, with the top end configured to be coupled to the container body connector along a long axis of the container body. Examples of accessories include a first-aid kit, a GPS, a power source, and a flashlight. The flashlight accessory may further include an inward-shining light adapted to shine into the beverage container cavity and turn it into a lantern. Multiple accessories may be coupled in serial fashion in any configuration.
US07914164B2 Discharge tube, ferrule, lighting device, display device and television receiver
A ferrule includes a body having a cylindrical shape. Elastic gripping portions are arranged on the body so as to bulge radially inwardly. The elastic gripping portions can have elastic contact with the outer circumferential surface of a glass tube. The body of the ferrule is mounted to the glass tube via the elastic gripping portions capable of elastic and radial deformation. Thereby, the variations in outer diameter of the glass tube can be absorbed, and therefore the dimensional control with high precision is not required for glass tubes at the time of manufacturing. This leads to cost reduction.
US07914159B2 Method for manufacturing lens using opaque or semi-opaque material
An exemplary lens (50) includes a central transparent portion (44) and a peripheral portion (35). The central transparent portion is configured for converging or diverging the light beams transmitted therethrough. The peripheral portion surrounds and extends from the central transparent portion. The peripheral portion is comprised of a shading material.
US07914156B2 Optical engine for a projection display device
An optical engine for a projection display device includes a housing, a light source module, an imaging unit, and a projecting mechanism. The housing includes a base wall and a surrounding wall cooperating with the base wall for defining a receiving space with an opening. The light source module is disposed at a side of the housing for providing an illuminating light beam into the receiving space. The imaging unit is disposed in the receiving space, and includes a display element and an optical lens set. The projecting mechanism includes a lens barrel having first and second barrel ends, a projecting lens disposed at the second barrel end, and a coupling element formed on an outer surface of the lens barrel adjacent to the first barrel end. The coupling element is configured to have a size and shape corresponding to those of the opening, and is disposed to cover the opening and to seal the receiving space.
US07914149B2 Presbyopia correction program
A method of generating a computer program for control of an apparatus for photorefractive treatment of presbyopia by ablation of corneal tissue or a contact lens, comprising the following steps: (a) electing an eye model, (b) measuring the pupil diameter of the patient at far distance mesopically and at short distance photopically, (c) selecting wanted short and far distances regarding optimum sight, (d) calculating a global optimum regarding curvature (1/R) and asphericity (Q) of the cornea on the basis of the results obtained in steps (a) (b) and (c) by means of optical ray tracing and minimal spot diameter at the retina, and (e) deriving the computer program in accordance with the results of step (d). Alternatively step (d) includes determining a central steep island with a diameter in the range of 2 to 4 millimeters at the cornea and calculating a curvature and asphericity in the rest of the cornea.
US07914148B2 Ophthalmic lens simulation system and method
A method of simulating an optical effect, and/or characteristic of a selected ophthalmic lens design for a wearer is disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes retrieving simulation data for the selected ophthalmic lens design and processing the simulation data to generate output image data for an output image simulating the optical effect and/or characteristic of the selected ophthalmic lens design. The output image is displayed, using a head-mounted display worn by the wearer, for viewing by the wearer.A system for simulating an optical effect, and/or characteristic of a selected ophthalmic lens design for a wearer is also disclosed.
US07914145B2 Progressive power lens and manufacturing method therefor
A progressive power lens in which distortion aberration is restricted and a manufacturing method therefore are provided. In a progressive power lens in which a progressive refracting surface provided with a first region arranged at an upper part of the lens for viewing relatively far, a second region arranged lower than the first region and having a larger refracting power than that of the first region, and a progressive zone arranged between these regions, whose refracting power is progressively changing, is formed on an inner surface of the lens, when both the far-sighted diopter and the near-sighted diopter are negative, as an upper practical region is separated from a virtual horizontal line passing through the geometric center of the lens, the curvature of the curve of the outer surface of the lens is gradually increased, while as the lower practical region is separated from the horizontal line, the curvature of the curve of the outer surface of the lens is gradually decreased.
US07914135B2 Liquid cartridge and circuit board
A liquid cartridge mountable on a cartridge mounting portion of a liquid consuming apparatus, the liquid cartridge includes: a circuit board that is attached to an outer surface of the liquid cartridge in an insertion direction of the liquid cartridge into the cartridge mounting portion; and a connection terminal that is formed in the circuit board to be contactable with a connector provided in the cartridge mounting portion, wherein the circuit board has a positioning hole that is formed at a front end side in the insertion direction into the cartridge mounting portion, and an error absorption hole that is formed at a base end side in the insertion direction and has a larger opening area than that of the positioning hole, and the positioning hole is engaged with a positioning boss that is provided in the liquid cartridge, the error absorption hole is engaged with an error absorption boss that is provided in the liquid cartridge, and the circuit board is fixed to a container main body by thermally caulking the bosses.
US07914127B2 Nozzle plate for an ink jet print head comprising stress relieving elements
The invention relates to an ink jet print head structure for printing devices, comprising a substrate in which one or more slots are realized and a nozzle plate connected to the substrate. The nozzle plate defines a first axis (X) and a second perpendicular axis (Y) and comprises a plurality of nozzles from which ink is ejected in fluid communication with the slots. The slots extends along the second axis (Y). A plurality of strip-like stress relief elements is realized on the nozzle plate, the plurality of stress relief elements is disposed so to extend along the Y axis, and each stress relief element of the plurality defines an aperture on a free surface of said nozzle plate. In addition, the total X projections of all apertures defined by the plurality of stress relief elements along the first (X) axis has a resulting length comprised between 10% and 55% of the overall width of the nozzle plate along the same first axis (X).
US07914126B2 Ink jet head manufacturing device, ink jet head manufacturing method, and ink jet device
In an ink jet head manufacturing device, first and second diodes are arranged on a path extending from a gate of a control unit to an individual electrode of an ink-pressure control part in an ink jet head, the first diode allowing a current from the individual electrode of the ink-pressure control part to flow into a first wiring, and the second diode allowing a current from a second wiring to flow into the individual electrode of the ink-pressure control part. A short-circuit unit is arranged to short-circuit the first wiring and the second wiring when depolarization or polarization of the ink-pressure control part is performed.
US07914119B2 Printhead with columns extending across chamber inlet
An inkjet printhead for a printer that prints via an array of ink ejection devices. Each ink ejection device has a chamber for holding a quantity of ink. The chamber is partially defined by at least one sidewall and has an inlet in fluid communication with the chamber. The inlet defines a flow path into the chamber and has a series of columns extending across the flow path. The series of chambers form a barrier structure that creates a flow constriction that traps contaminants in the ink flow.
US07914118B2 Integrated circuit (IC) incorporating rows of proximal ink ejection ports
The present invention relates to an ink ejection integrated circuit (IC) for a printhead. The IC includes rows of elongate nozzle arrangements. Each nozzle arrangement defines an ink ejection port at one end and has an internal cantilevered actuator anchored at the other end so that the actuator can move to eject ink out though the ink ejection port. The rows are arranged in pairs with the ports of one of the rows being proximally located to the ports of the other row, for each pair.
US07914111B2 Printer waste ink apparatus
Printer waste ink subsystem apparatuses are described including an apparatus located between a waste ink pump output port and a waste ink container such as a waste ink pad or sponge for containing waste ink splashing. In one illustrative example, a muffler is placed at the distal end of the waste ink pump discharge port. Such a muffler contains waste ink splatter caused by air bubbles in the waste ink stream as it exits the waste ink pump output port.
US07914108B2 Image forming apparatus and method, and ink set
The image forming apparatus comprises: a treatment liquid deposition device which deposits treatment liquid onto a recording medium, the treatment liquid containing a polymerization initiator and particles introducing electrorheological properties; an electric field application device which applies an electric field to the treatment liquid having been deposited on the recording medium; an ink ejection device which ejects ink toward the recording medium on which the treatment liquid has been deposited, the ink containing a coloring material and a radiation-curable polymerizable compound; and a radiation irradiation device which irradiates radiation to cure the ink having been deposited on the recording medium.
US07914105B2 Configurable system for creating 3D object
A system is provided for creating a three-dimensional object. A plurality of printheads are provided with each printhead configured to print a respective portion of the object. The system is configured to enable a first printhead that is initially configured to print a first portion to be dynamically reconfigured to print a second portion, and if a second printhead initially configured to print the second portion fails, the first printhead is dynamically reconfigured to print the second portion.
US07914100B2 Recording apparatus and transport amount correcting method
A recording apparatus including: a head for performing recording on a medium, a transport mechanism that includes a roller on an upstream side of the head and transports the medium in the transport direction according to a target transport amount that is targeted, a sensor that is provided at a more upstream side than the upstream-side roller in order to detect a lower end of the medium transported in the transport direction, and a controller that corrects the target transport amount by correction values matched with a relative position of the head and the medium.
US07914095B2 Head element substrate, recording head, and recording apparatus
A head element substrate includes receiving means for receiving data in which recording data and drive pulse width data have been multiplexed, a shift register which separates recording data from the multiplexed data, and a drive pulse width signal generation circuit which generates a drive pulse width signal by separating the drive pulse width data from the multiplexed data.
US07914092B2 Dresser
A dresser featuring a center storage piece having a first set of drawers on one side and a second set of drawers on the other side, a set of shelves and a first concealing device and a second concealing device the first concealing device featuring a first track for a first door to slide open and shut, wherein the first track has a major bend and a minor bend, and wherein the first door features a couple of guide studs located on an upper edge of the first door and a couple of guide studs located on a bottom edge of the first door.
US07914085B2 Brake control system and method for automotive vehicle
In brake control system and method for an automotive vehicle, a vehicle body deceleration increment correction quantity is set to zero during a start of braking, the vehicle body deceleration increment correction quantity is set to be gradually larger along with at least one of a decrease in the traveling velocity of the vehicle and an increase in a braking passage time in a first region in which a traveling velocity of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a first predetermined traveling velocity, and the vehicle body deceleration increment correction quantity is set to a substantially constant value in a second region in which the traveling velocity of the vehicle is lower than the first predetermined traveling velocity.
US07914084B2 Control component for hydraulic circuit including spring applied-hydraulically released brake
A control for use in a hydraulic circuit where the control can act as a valve and an auxiliary pressure source for the hydraulic circuit.
US07914076B2 Device with a limit switch and trunnion
Dental devices with cylinders, trunnions, and limit switches, and a method are provided. The dental devices include a cylinder and a trunnion having a cavity and an outer surface. A portion of the cylinder is slidably mounted within the cavity of the trunnion, and a portion of the cylinder protrudes out of the trunnion. The limit switch is coupled to the outer surface of the trunnion, with the limit switch is operable to contact the cylinder. Separation of the limit switch and the cylinder causes actuation of the limit switch, and the actuation of the limit switch inhibits a downward movement of the device. Alternatively, the limit switch may be coupled to the portion of the cylinder that protrudes out of the trunnion, with the limit switch operable to contact the trunnion. As such, separation of the limit switch and the trunnion causes actuation of the limit switch.
US07914071B2 Front structure of vehicle body
A front structure of a vehicle body is disclosed as having a radiator core support including an upper member and a lower member vertically spaced from each other and extending in a vehicle width direction. The upper member is structured in two stages on upper and lower sides composed of an upper-stage upper member and a lower-stage upper member, which have both left and right ends connected to vehicle body components placed in a vehicle body on both sides thereof.
US07914067B2 Excavator mounted with tanks having side doors
An excavator mounted with tanks having side doors. Bend-formed side doors are mounted on outer sides of a hydraulic fluid tank and a fuel tank that are welded structures mounted on an upper frame of the excavator, have the same curved surfaces as an external shape of the equipment, so that no precise tank manufacturing work is required and welded portions of the tanks are prevented from being exposed to an outside.
US07914043B2 Adjustable steering column assembly for a vehicle
The present invention provides for a steering column assembly having a column jacket defining a longitudinal axis. A first clamping member and a second clamping member are disposed along the longitudinal axis about the column jacket. A lever is coupled to one of the first and second clamping members and rotatable between a set and adjustable positions. The lever includes a first arm and a second arm flanking the column jacket and coupled to at least one of the first and second clamping members with a portion of the locking device disposed about at least one of the first and second clamping members and engaging both of the first and second arms such that rotation of the lever moves the portion of the locking device for minimizing rotation of the lever between the set and adjustable positions when the locking device moves between a locked and unlocked positions.
US07914041B2 Occupant protection device on the passenger side
An occupant protection device on a passenger side of a vehicle includes a gas bag (16) having a front wall (18) facing an interior of the vehicle. The occupant protection device further includes a tether strap (26) arranged inside the gas bag (16). The tether strap (26) has a first fastening section (32) and an elongated second fastening section (40). The first and second fastening sections (32, 40) are fastened to the front wall (18) of the gas bag (16). The second fastening section (40) extends substantially vertically in an unfolded state of the gas bag (16).
US07914038B2 Airbag system
An airbag system includes an airbag, and the airbag includes an airbag body having a passenger-side wall portion that is arranged at a passenger side when having completed deploying and inflating, and a slip cloth that is disposed at an outer surface side of the passenger-side wall portion. The slip cloth formed in a loop shape an axial direction of which is in a left and right direction includes: a front panel portion arranged at a passenger side; an upper back panel portion extending downward from an upper end of the front panel portion; and a lower back panel portion extending upward from a lower end of the front panel portion, and a lower end of the upper back panel portion and an upper end of the lower back panel portion are mutually approximated, and joined to the passenger-side wall portion.
US07914035B2 Headliner system
An interior trim assembly including vehicle roof structure that supports a headliner-mounted component and a headliner, a separating means proximate a mounting location perimeter of the headliner-mounted component for maintaining a mounting integrity of the headliner-mounted component upon deployment of an inflatable restraint.
US07914034B2 Cargo tube
A tube shaped cargo container and method of manufacture. The cargo container is manufactured by a process that includes pultruding or extruding a seamless container with two sides, a roof, and a floor. Doors, landing gear, structural supports, another side, and a wheel assembly may be added after the pultrusion/extrusion process. The cargo container may include rounded side/floor and side/roof connections. The cargo container may include one or two rounded ends.
US07914031B2 Bicycle damper
A damper for a bicycle having a primary unit and a remote unit that is substantially entirely outside of the primary unit. The primary unit includes a damper tube, a spring chamber, and a piston rod that supports a main piston. The main piston is movable within the damper chamber of the primary unit. The main piston and the damper tube at least partially define a compression chamber. The remote unit comprises a remote fluid chamber, and an inertial valve within the remote unit. The inertial valve is preferably responsive to terrain-induced forces and preferably not responsive to rider-induced forces when the shock absorber is assembled to the bicycle. The shock absorber forms a flow path separated from the piston rod that connects the remote fluid chamber and the compression chamber of the damper tube.
US07914028B2 Occupant propelled vehicle
An occupant propelled vehicle is provided that includes a frame having a front portion and a rear portion, front and rear wheels, a platform for the occupant, an integrated articulating steering mechanism and a drive mechanism. The steering mechanism provides the multiple function of power transmission to a drive train, maneuvering the vehicle through a 360° turning radius and reversing the direction of the vehicle, so that it can travel both forward and backward. In one embodiment, the driving mechanism includes a power transfer means having a first end connected to a drive sprocket through a chain and a second end connected to another drive sprocket through the chain both sprockets mounted on a front wheel for propulsion. The steering means transfers power through the chains that in turn rotate the sprockets and associated wheel propelling the vehicle.
US07914022B2 Vehicle control systems and methods
Systems and methods for controlling the speed and direction of vehicles such as tractors.
US07914019B2 Countersteering rear vehicle axle
A countersteering rear vehicle axle, which under the effect of a lateral force upon the wheel that is outside during cornering and is fastened to a wheel carrier, causes a rotating movement of this wheel carrier about a virtual steering axle inclination in the toe-in direction. The wheel carrier is supported by supporting elements on an axle body extending essentially in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Above and below the wheel center, in each case, two torsionally soft but bend-resistant supporting elements are provided which are essentially equally inclined with respect to the vertical direction. An upper linkage supporting element is supported, on the one side, on the wheel carrier and, on the other side, on an upper torsion supporting element which is supported on the axle body. A lower linkage supporting element is supported on the wheel carrier, on the one side, and on a lower torsion supporting element, on the other side.
US07914009B1 Universal pool skimmer gasket
The present invention is universal gasket for a pool skimmer opening, which comprises an essentially rectangular planar sheet of material with a horizontal top member and a horizontal bottom member; a first and second vertical member connected to the horizontal top member and the horizontal bottom member defining a rectangular first end opening; a third vertical member connected to the horizontal top member and the horizontal bottom member defining a middle opening in conjunction with the second vertical member; a fourth vertical member connected to the horizontal top member and the horizontal bottom member defining second end opening in conjunction with the third vertical member; and wherein the vertical and horizontal members are individually, selectively detachable from the planar sheet to alter the shape of the planar sheet and cause the remaining portion of the planar sheet to form a standard sized gasket for a pool skimmer opening.
US07914006B2 Drilling tool with elastomer seal having graded properties
A subterranean drill tool has a seal gland formed between a rotating and a static surface. An annular elastomeric seal is located in the gland in engagement with each of the surfaces. A property gradient is formed in at least part of the elastomeric material. The property gradient defines a property that changes from a first level at the surface to a second level in the interior of the seal. The elastomeric material within the property gradient has the same chemical composition as the rest of the seal.
US07914005B2 Hand-held setting tool with connection means for a positioning device
A hand-held setting tool (10) includes a connection element (16) for connecting the setting tool (10) with a positioning device (20) having a switching link (30) for connecting the actuation element (24) to the actuation switch (13) of the setting tool (10), and a safety device (50) for preventing actuation of the actuation switch (13) at an orientation of the setting tool (10) other than a predetermined orientation and including at least three blocking members (55a, 55b, 55c) displaceable in at least three separate channels (56) respectively, and receivable in a recess (51) formed in a first, switching element (34) of the switching link (30) with the channels (56) being inclined with respect to a plane (E) extending perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (A) of the positioning device, and with at least three channels (56) intersecting, in some regions, an axial projection of the switching element (34).
US07914000B2 Feedback-based document handling control system
A method and system for performing sheet registration are disclosed. Output values for a sheet may be identified within a reference frame. A difference between each output value and a corresponding desired output value may be determined. Input values may be determined based on at least the differences. State feedback values may be determined based on information received from one or more sensors. Jerk values may be determined for multiple drive rolls based on the input values and the state feedback values. A desired angular velocity for each drive roll may be determined based on the corresponding jerk value. A motor voltage may be determined for each drive roll that tracks an observed angular velocity value to the desired angular velocity value. The jerk values may create a linear differential relationship between the input values and the output values. The steps may be performed multiple times.
US07913999B2 Resilient belt sheet compiler with mixed sheet length mode
A system, method, and resulting resilient belt type sheet compiler with a mixed sheet length mode is provided. The device includes a resilient belt transport for sequentially feeding sheets from a sheet inlet to a compiler tray, the compiler tray having a lead edge stop and a trail edge wall. A monitoring means is positioned proximate to the trail edge wall for detecting a lead end and a trail end of sequentially fed sheets from the sheet inlet to the compiler tray. A sheet brake, responsive to the monitoring means detecting a short sheet, selectively stalls the detected short sheet until a lead end of a subsequent sheet is detected by the sensor or subsequent sheets are absent.
US07913994B2 Feeding device
In a feeding device, a first friction pad and a second friction pad are disposed on a circumferential surface of a pick roller so that a first contact area and a second contact area overlap each other. Thus, to a conveyance-target medium, which is either one of a conveyed medium and a separation-target medium, pressing forces are successively applied by the first friction pad or the second friction pad over the first contact area to the second contact area. Therefore, the conveyance-target medium, which is either one of the conveyed medium and the separation-target medium, successively receives a separation force in a total contact area wider than an area when receiving a separation force only in either one of the first contact area and the second contact area. With this, the capability of separating the conveyed medium and the separation-target medium can be increased.
US07913992B2 Methods of moving a media sheet in a scanning device
The present application is directed to embodiments for moving a media sheet within a scanning device. The methods include moving the media sheet through a separation mechanism that prevents multiple media sheets from being moved simultaneously along the media path. Further, a buckle is formed in the sheet at a point upstream from a scanner. The buckle acts as a buffer to absorb any load release that could occur as the media sheet exits the separation mechanism. The load release could cause a change in the velocity of the media sheet as it moves across the scanner.
US07913986B2 Automatic truss jig setting system
A automatic truss jig setting system is disclosed that includes a table including a plurality of segments with a side edge of adjacent segments defining a slot. At least one pin assembly, and optionally a pair of pin assemblies, is movable independently of each other along the slot. Movement apparatus is provided for independently moving the pin assemblies along the slot. Each of the side edges of the segments associated with the slot defines a substantially vertical plane with a zone being defined between the substantially vertical planes of the side edges, and the movement apparatus is located substantially outside of the zone of the slot. The invention may optionally include a system for handling the obstruction of pin assembly movement, and a system for keeping track of the position of the pin assembly when the pin assembly has encountered an obstruction.
US07913985B2 Cap
A container cap for providing a seal with an annular wall of a receptacle is disclosed. The cap includes a top wall, an annular seal wall, and cam structure. The annular seal wall extends axially from the cover portion. The annular seal wall is spaced radially inward of the cam structure. An end portion of the annular seal wall is configured to form a seal with the annular wall of the receptacle when the end portion is forced into engagement with annular wall of the receptacle.
US07913977B2 Handle with a ratchet mechanism tightening a tape winding it around an object
The present invention is briefly named “The tightener” for fastening a selected securing member around an object and carrying it comprising a set of two independent devices. One of them is an ordinary clamp being in common use everywhere in the world with a strap permanently attached to it and said clamp is modified to enable connecting it with a tightening device and named a jamming clamp to distinguish one clamp from the other. The tightening device comprises a shaft with its ends and with a ratchet mechanism is mounted in a two-arms handle. Said handle operating as a lever of the ratchet mechanism turning said shaft. The securing member exiting the jamming clamp is initially pulled by hand then is pulled by winding it onto the shaft turned by said ratchet mechanism to reach needed tension in said securing member, which is the main idea of the invention and it is impossible to attain said task by pulling said securing member only by hand, automatically jammed in said jamming clamp when the pulling of it is stopped. The handle is detached if an object is prepared for transportation only, not for carrying it.
US07913975B2 Mechanized container and hamper stacker
A stacker unit having an inlet area with sensors to detect ingress of a hamper or similar nestable container whereby a plurality of parallel lifting elements complimentary of the container, may grasp the container and lift it to perform a stacking operation when combined with a plurality of stacked containers. The inlet area has a plurality of walls providing structure and mounting for sensors and controls for selecting containers having an open end forming an entrance, within the entrance a plurality of guides, lifting elements and adaptors are actuated upon detection of an incoming container operable in lifting the container for stacking by utilization of a chain drive and motor having adjustable plates coupled to the lifting elements. It is also capable of lateral adjustment to suit differently sized containers utilizing attachments for the lifting of hampers, wire containers and 084C containers along with having a plurality of lockout controls for better control and safety precautions while operating a lifting and stacking procedure.
US07913973B1 Reverse flow fueldraulic valve
A reverse flow valve for metering high pressure gaseous media, such as ignition media to the injectors of a scramjet engine in a hyerpsonic flight vehicle, has a metering member that moves parallel to the flow direction of the metered media and throttles the valve in a direction counter to the flow direction. This reduces side loading on the metering member and permits the use of a lighter and smaller actuating mechanism. The metering member can be a pintle having a uniquely configured pintle seat providing bubble tight shut off of the inlet flow without effecting the critical flow contour of the media. The pintle can be driven by a piston that is responsive to push-pull forces of pressurized drive fluid under servo control. The drive fluid is isolated from the gaseous media by a primary seal, which can be seated on the piston without deformation by a seal retainer. The drive fluid can be fuel diverted from the sustained combustion fuel system of the vehicle so that a separate hydraulic system is not required.
US07913971B2 Hydraulic override
A valve system comprising a closure member that is linearly translatable within a valve body. A hydraulic override assembly comprises a first end that is connected to the valve body and a first rod member that is connected to the closure member. A linear actuator is connected to a second end of the hydraulic override assembly and comprises a second rod member that is operable to move the first rod member.
US07913970B2 Food preparation mould
A mold 10, 30, 40 particularly for use in food preparation comprising a base 11, and a collar 12 having a continuous wall 14 that upstands from the base with a lower edge 16 of the collar abutting the base 11. The mold may be for single use with the base and the collar being formed from fiberboard and in a particular form the collar wall incorporates a releasable connection to enable opening of the collar. In one form, the collar includes tabs 25 that extend from the lower edge 16 and retaining means (18, 19, 31) which are operative to retain the tabs in relation to the base so as to retain the lower edge 16 of the collar in proximity with the base. The mold further includes in one form an insert 19 which is locatable within the mold cavity 17 and in another form a support arrangement (29, 42, 43) is provided to support the collar wall.
US07913967B1 Adjustable picture-hanger assembly
An adjustable picture-hanger assembly comprises a hanger adapted to be secured to a wall and defining a substantially central opening of an interior of the hanger. A hanger slide is movably mounted to the hanger, is adapted to slide continuously substantially rotationally in the opening of the hanger, and defines a slot of an interior of the hanger slide. A mounting fastener is received through the slot of the hanger slide and adapted to slide continuously along the slot and be fastened to the wall to mount the assembly to the wall. A combination of the continuous substantially rotational sliding of the hanger slide and continuous sliding of the mounting fastener allows for substantially infinite placement of the mounting fastener in the opening of the hanger. A hanger hook is fixedly connected to and extends outwardly from the hanger and overlies the opening of the hanger for supporting an object hung on the hanger hook.
US07913959B2 Medical/dental suction nozzle holster having a universally adjustable strap
A suction nozzle holster is provided with a latch mechanism for receiving a universally adjustable strap having a groove system whose individual grooves can engage with a pawl of a lever arm of said latch mechanism. A forward surface of the holster may be provided with a hole into which a suction hose can be forced in order to constrict said hose and, hence, curtail the vacuum conditions in a suction nozzle serviced by that hose.
US07913954B2 Electrodynamic structure
An electrodynamic structure having a periphery. The electrodynamic structure includes a power system, a plurality of collectors, a plurality of emitters, and conductive paths. The plurality of collectors are disposed on the periphery of the electrodynamic structure and configured to collect electrons. The plurality of emitters are disposed on the periphery of the electrodynamic structure and configured to emit electrons. At least 20% of the periphery of the electrodynamic structure is utilized for electron collection and electron emission. The conductive paths are configured to conduct current between the power system, the collectors, and the emitters to provide at least one of power generation and electrodynamic propulsion.
US07913950B2 Aircraft with palletized functional units
An aircraft comprises a cargo compartment having a cargo-compartment floor, and at least one functional unit, such as a water tank, a waste-water tank, or an electrical equipment rack. The functional unit is disposed on a pallet so that the functional unit can be transported into, and installed in, the cargo compartment. A fixation device attaches the pallet to the cargo-compartment floor.
US07913948B2 Method and apparatus for stratospheric and space structures
The high-altitude balloon has a skin made of nearly evacuated electrostatically inflated cells which provide thermal insulation to minimize heat loss from the gas in the balloon, while transmitting heat from the sun to heat the gas. The lower surface of the balloon is reflective to microwave or laser beams. A stable array of the balloons is maintained at a high altitude and is used to facilitate communications in a world-wide communications system. Ascent of the balloon is well controlled and weight is minimized by starting with lighter-than-air gases in liquid form, releasing a lifting gas into the craft, and then using the empty containers to store the remaining gas when the balloon is aloft.
US07913946B2 Insert body, reel, and recording tape cartridge
A reinforcement ring is insert-molded as an insert body on a reel hub of a reel around which recording tape is wound. The reinforcement ring includes a metal ring at least whose inner peripheral surface is covered by a resin layer. The clearance between the reinforcement ring and a mold during reel molding can be reduced, and the amount of eccentricity of the insert body with respect to the reel hub can be reduced.
US07913933B2 Essential oil atomiser
An oil atomizer apparatus for essential and fragrant oils includes at least one atomizer that engages with a container of essential and fragrant oils, and a body with a generally hollow interior and having a mixer housing associated with one surface of the body. An oil feeder tube extends from the mixer housing and through a surface of the body to the container of essential and fragrant oils. The mixer housing includes a compressed air inlet of a first diameter which is larger than a second diameter of the inlet, which passes to a diffusion chamber in the mixer housing having a passage to the body of the container. The application of compressed air to the inlet of the mixer housing causes the essential and fragrant oils to be dispersed to air in a fine droplet form through at least one aperture in the body.
US07913927B2 Fuel economizer
An electronic circuit for a hot water heating system conserves fuel consumption and reduces carbon dioxide emissions. A heating system includes a burner that heats water and a room thermostat. The electronic circuit comprises an override thermostat which has a setting for a lower temperature limit and an upper temperature limit below those of the room thermostat. The override thermostat is operable to activate continuous operation of the burner when the indoor temperature falls below the lower temperature limit of the override thermostat and until the upper temperature limit of the override thermostat is reached. The electronic circuit further comprises a timer operable to deactivate and reactivate the burner while the room thermostat is calling for heat.
US07913920B2 Document processing devices, systems and methods thereof
A document processing system and method thereof are disclosed. The system comprises machine-readable data such as DataGlyphs and human-readable data such as rendering text of the DataGlyphs that are applied on the document. Processing devices of the system can decode document-processing instruction(s) embedded in the machine-readable data, and then optionally execute at least part of the instruction automatically. A designed stamp is also provided to generate the machine-readable data and human-readable data on the document.
US07913919B2 Multi application smartcard with currency exchange, location, tracking and personal identification capabilities
A smart card capable of performing more than one function, said smart card comprising a first memory means comprising a first set of data to access a bank account, a second set of data to access a credit card account, a third set of data representing the identification of a holder of the smart card, and a fourth set of data to access telephone communication services. The smart card further comprises a microprocessor, said microprocessor being in electrical communication with a second memory means, and a location tracking means for determining a location of the smart card.
US07913914B2 Connector device
A card connector for ejection and introduction of smart cards is disclosed for usage in a portable electronic device comprising a card reader with a resilient card connecting device for operative connection of the smart card to the card reader by introducing the smart card into the card reader or disconnection of the smart card from the card reader by withdrawing the smart card from the card reader by moving the smart card in a plane being substantially in parallel with the plane of the card reader, wherein the card connecting device is extending substantially along a plane being inclined in relation to the plane of the card reader at an angle α, wherein the angle α is not 90°.
US07913912B2 On-demand point-of-sale scanner access
Associating and/or disassociating a mobile point-of-sale scanner device with a particular shopper. Shoppers may be identified, for example, using biometrics or by scanning a loyalty card. As an example of using biometrics, the shopper's fingerprint may be scanned as a trigger of the scanner is activated to scan an item's barcode. The fingerprint is preferably transmitted, along with the scanned barcode, to a server or other device for comparison to previously-stored information. The scanner is then automatically associated with the shopper to whom the fingerprint corresponds. In another embodiment, scanned loyalty card information is preferably transmitted (optionally, along with a scanned barcode), such that the scanner is then automatically associated with the shopper to whom the loyalty card corresponds. Disassociating the scanner from a shopper is preferably triggered using a sensor (such as a light) that forms part of the scanner device, whereby the sensor is activated when the shopper releases the scanner device. A timer may be used to filter out accidental activation of the sensor.
US07913902B2 System and method for implementing a virtual automated teller machine
Method and system for implementing a virtual automated teller machine (“VATM”) system are described. In one embodiment, the system includes a VATM host connectable to each of a plurality of registered disbursement entities (“DEs”) via a secure connection, such as an SSL connection. The system further includes an accessing computer connectable to the VATM host via a secure connection, such as an SSL connection, the accessing computer comprising a card reader for reading user information from an ATM card and having installed thereon VATM client software executable by the accessing computer to interact with the VATM host to validate user information read from the ATM card and an associated PIN entered by a user and, responsive to the validation, present the user with a list of DEs comprising at least one of the registered DEs, prompt the user to select one DE from the list of DEs from which funds are to be disbursed to the user, and specify an amount of funds to be disbursed. The VATM host sends a disbursement order to the selected DE indicating the specified amount of funds to be disbursed.
US07913897B2 Carton with reclosable dispenser
A carton includes a reclosable dispenser that allows a top end of the carton to be accessed and subsequently reclosed. The sides of the carton can be pressed together to vary the size of the dispenser opening.
US07913893B2 Surgical stapler
A surgical device is described herein that can be used to fire different types and sizes of disposable loading units. In a preferred embodiment, the device applies parallel rows of surgical fasteners to body tissue and concomitantly forms an incision between the rows of staples during an endoscopic or laparoscopic surgical procedure. The device can be utilized with disposable loading units configured to apply linear rows of staples measuring from about 15mm in length to about 60mm in length and can be used to fire disposable loading units containing surgical clips and individual staples.
US07913889B2 Automatic quick clear nose for nailer
A fastener driving apparatus includes a motor with an output shaft. The motor is shiftable between a de-energized condition in which it can not be actuated to move the output shaft, and an energized condition in which it can be actuated to move the output shaft. The apparatus further includes a nose and a control device. The nose is shiftable between differently configured conditions, including a first condition for guiding a fastener driven by the output shaft, and a second condition for releasing a fastener that jams when the nose is in the first condition. The control device maintains the nose in the first condition while the motor remains in the energized condition.
US07913886B2 Attaching loader bucket to tractor for shipping
A loader bucket is attached for tractor shipping in a non-operational position between the front and rear wheels of the tractor. The loader bucket may be attached to the mast using a bracket between a first surface of the loader bucket and the mast, and a brace between a second surface of the loader bucket and the bracket, to resist pivotal movement of the loader bucket.
US07913880B2 Squirting toy including a supplemental reservoir system and methods thereof
A squirting toy capable of squirting water received from a reservoir and/or from an external source. The squirting toy can include a housing, a piston, a shaft, and an handle portion. As the piston is slidably moved through the housing the water can be squirted out of the housing. Water can be drawn in from an external source by placing a part of the housing in the water and slidably moving the piston through the housing. Water can also be drawn in from a water reservoir (e.g., a standard water bottle).
US07913879B2 Beverage dispensing system
The present application describes a product dispenser. The product dispenser may include at least one macro-ingredient source, at least one micro-ingredient source positioned about the dispenser, a diluent source, a dispensing valve, a number of pumps or metering devices, and a user interface. The user interface receives a request for a product type and instructs the pumps or metering devices to dispense a predetermined type and ratio of macro-ingredients, micro-ingredients, and diluent to the dispensing valve for a predetermined flow rate.
US07913867B2 Lid, in particular for a disposable cup
A lid for a cup which provides for use of a beverage bag unit comprising a beverage bag and a drawstring connected to the beverage bag, the lid comprising: a flange for attachment to a cup; and a body unit comprising a body section including an aperture through which the drawstring is slideable, and at least one wing member operable to allow a user to squeeze and/or hold the beverage bag when in a raised position.
US07913856B2 System and method for cleaning fuel storage tanks
Systems and methods for cleaning a fuel storage tank are disclosed. One system includes a plurality of filter elements mounted within a portable housing, and a hose in fluidic connection to at least some of the filter elements, the hose extendable from the portable housing and into an interior of a fuel storage tank, the hose having a nozzle including an inlet. The system also includes a pump in fluidic connection with one or more of the filter elements and configured to draw contents of the fuel storage tank into the hose and forward the contents through the one or more filter elements. The system further includes a video camera configured to capture video images of the interior of the fuel tank in an area proximate to the nozzle of the hose during cleaning.
US07913855B2 Self-cleaning filter for agricultural irrigation water
The invention relates to an improved self-cleaning filter for agricultural irrigation water having a support base (8) for the rings (3) traversed by perforated tubes (4) which clean them, allowing the axial movement of the tubes (4) having an integral upper cover (5) at the opposite end which presses them in an axial direction, whereas the lower base (6), also integral thereto, generates the axial thrust to separate and press them, acting as a blocker and allowing the flow path to the perforated tubes (4); incorporating a base (9) acting as a membrane and a spring pressing on the rings (3), with an adjustable separation and variable in number.
US07913852B2 Modified amine-aldehyde resins and uses thereof in separation processes
Modified resins are disclosed for removing a wide variety of solids and/or ionic species from the liquids in which they are suspended and/or dissolved. These modified resins are especially useful as froth flotation depressants in the beneficiation of many types of materials (e.g., mineral and metal ores), including the beneficiation of impure coal comprising clay impurities, as well as in the separation of valuable bitumen from solid contaminants such as sand. The modified resins are also useful for treating aqueous liquid suspensions to remove solid particulates, as well as for removing metallic ions in the purification of water. The modified resins comprise a base resin that is modified with a coupling agent, which is highly selective for binding to solid contaminants and especially siliceous materials such as sand or clay.
US07913839B2 Merchandise security display bag
A security bag for displaying items of merchandise includes a mesh bag formed of metal wire providing an internal storage chamber. A two-piece member locking device is attached to an open end of the bag. A magnetically attachable locking tine is mounted in one of the members and engages a locking projection on the second member which is slidably received into the first member to lock the bag in a closed position protecting the stored merchandise from theft. An EAS tag is secured within one of the locking members. A magnetic key moves the locking tine to an unlocked position when placed adjacent the locking tine enabling the two locking members to be separated into an unlocked position and the bag open end spread apart for removing items therefrom.
US07913830B2 Bill storage device in automated teller machine and method for storing bill in the same
The bill storage device in an automated teller machine includes an input port through which a bill introduced in the automated teller machine is inputted perpendicularly; a pair of opening/closing plates for supporting both side surfaces of the bill inputted into the input port; first and second storage parts arranged at both sides of the input port; a push bar placed in the input port and stroke-operated selectively toward the storage part in which the bill is inputting; a push bar driving motor for performing a stroke-operation of the push bar; and a pair of push plates forcing a pressure toward the input port to support perpendicularly the bill stored by a stroke-operation of the push bar.
US07913825B2 Electronically controlled fluid coupling device with fluid scavenge control and slip speed sensor
A viscous fan drive with a front-mounted fan and electrical actuation without a tethered harness. The mechanical package includes an inverted viscous clutch, a drive pulley and a split electromagnetic actuator with the electrical portion mounted to a stationary mounting member. An integrated slip speed sensor is provided in order to determine the output speed.
US07913822B2 Ride height sensing shock damper
A shock assembly includes a first tube having a cylindrical wall with an inner surface and an outer surface. A second tube is received within the first tube and includes a cylindrical wall having an inner surface and an outer surface. A piston assembly is received within the second tube and includes a piston rod and a piston that is selectively movable relative to the first tube and the second tube. A height-sensing device is disposed within the first tube between the inner surface of the first tube and the outer surface of the second tube.
US07913820B2 Control system for elevator
A control system for elevators controls the operations of a plurality of elevator apparatuses. The elevator apparatuses have cars and elevator doorways provided at each landing floor. The control system for the elevators is equipped with a landing call registration device, a landing call automatic registration portion, a response selection portion, a passenger traveling time period calculation portion, and an opening/closing control portion. The landing call registration device is provided at the landing floor to be operable at the landing floor. The landing call automatic registration portion sets as a car call floor the landing floor whose landing call registration device is operated, and makes a car call registration for stopping one of the cars at the car call floor. The response selection portion selects as a selected elevator that one of the elevator apparatuses which responds to the car call registration, based on information from the elevator apparatuses and information from the landing call automatic registration portion. The passenger traveling time period calculation portion sets as a selected doorway that one of the elevator doorways of the selected elevator, which is provided at the car call floor, based on information from the response selection portion, and calculates a passenger traveling time period corresponding to the selected doorway. The opening/closing control portion controls opening/closing operations of the selected doorway based on information from the selected elevator and information from the passenger traveling time period calculation portion.
US07913815B2 Automated seal oil by-pass system for hydrogen cooled generators
Disclosed is a solution to automate a seal oil float trap by-pass for a hydrogen cooled generator. An automated by-pass system is coupled to an existing manual by-pass system for a float trap for a hydrogen cooled generator. The automated by-pass system includes at least one solenoid valve and a controller that controls opening and closing of the solenoid valve. The automated by-pass system can also include manual valves, orifices and limit switches. The controller activates the solenoid valve to allow the seal oil to drain. The controller can also provide a notification alarm that the hydrogen cooled generator is being purged.
US07913814B2 Acoustic baffle assembly
An acoustic baffle assembly for sealing or baffling a hollow body having a mass of heat activated expandable material that is capable of activating at a predetermined temperature. A substrate supports the mass. The substrate has a central portion and spaced apart projections extending outwardly from the central portion. The projections are configured to control expansion of the mass.
US07913812B2 Composite sound barrier panel
A composite sound barrier panel includes a concrete substrate provided for strength and a noise attenuation layer bonded thereto. The noise attenuation layer in one embodiment is a concrete mixture of a fiber composite material and cement. In another embodiment, recycled wood chips are added to the mixture. A plurality of identical panels are pre-cast in a mold for use in forming a noise abatement wall, particularly between a residential neighborhood and a highway.
US07913808B2 Waterproofing loudspeaker cones
A water-resistant composite paper, suitable for use as a loudspeaker component, is made from a composition including wood pulp, hydrophobic fibers, and stiffening fibers that retain stiffness when wet. In some examples, fibrillated acrylic fibers and glass fibers are used.
US07913805B2 Electric power steering apparatus
A rotational angle sensor used in an electric power steering apparatus detects a rotational angle of a motor shaft at a portion on a steering system side, as a motor rotational angle (θm). A MPU sets a base correction amount (Δθ′m) based on a q-axis actual current value (Iq). The MPU sets a rotational angle correction amount (Δθm) used to correct the motor rotational angle (θm) by decreasing the base correction amount (Δθ′m) as a rotational angular speed (ω) increases and by increasing the base correction amount (Δθ′m) as a torque differential value (dT/dt) increases.
US07913796B2 Exhaust system for motorcycle and motorcycle
An exhaust system for a motorcycle in which a bank angle is secured while a necessary passage area of exhaust gas is maintained. A connection pipe connecting left and right exhaust pipes is disposed in an area enclosed by a bottom surface of an engine and left and right bank angle lines in a front view.
US07913792B2 Electric fork-lift truck and process for manufacturing the same
The fork-lift truck comprises a body (11) with one or more directional rear wheels and a mast (12) with a slide (13) sliding and hearing front forks for gripping and supporting the load. According to the invention, the truck comprises an intermediate frame (14), bearing the front wheels (21; 22) and oscillating with respect to the body (11) around a transversal axis (X-X) parallel to the axis (Y-Y) of the front wheels, as well as operating-cylinder means (30) interposed between said frame and said body. Said mast (12) is dismountably fastened to said intermediate frame (14), so as to be made to oscillate integrally with the frame itself around said transversal axis (X-X) by means of said operating-cylinder means (30) to swing forwards and rearwards, with both idle (21) and driving (22) front wheels, whereas it can be easily disassembled and assembled with respect to the intermediate frame (14).
US07913789B2 Reinforced upper frame for supporting cabin of heavy construction equipment using welding deformation preventing structure, and method of manufacturing the same
A reinforced upper frame for supporting a cabin of heavy construction equipment using a welding deformation preventing structure and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed, in which even if a side frame is welded to a machined center frame, there is no thermal deformation around the machined portion. The reinforced upper frame includes a center frame having a lower plate machined to accommodate a swing ring gear, a lateral plate machined to accommodate an operation device, and a welding deformation preventing structure fixed to one side of the lower plate and lateral plate prior to welding, in which a part of the cabin is mounted on the welding deformation preventing structure, and left and right frames each having a side channel disposed in a longitudinal direction of the center frame and a side frame welded to the structure for connecting the side channel and the center frame.
US07913773B2 Bidirectional drill string telemetry for measuring and drilling control
The disclosure has application for use in conjunction with an operation of drilling an earth borehole using: a drilling rig, a drill string having its generally upper end mechanically coupleable with and suspendable from the drilling rig, and a bottom hole assembly adjacent the lower end the drill string, the bottom hole assembly including a drill bit at its lower end. A method is set forth for obtaining information about at least one parameter sensed at the bottom hole assembly, including the following steps: providing at least one measuring device in the bottom hole assembly, the at least one measuring device producing measurement data representative of a measured condition at the bottom hole assembly; providing an uphole processor system at the earth's surface; providing a drill string telemetry system coupled with the at least one measuring device and coupled with the uphole processor system; and transmitting the data from the measuring device to the uphole processor system via the drill string telemetry system.
US07913772B2 Drilling fluid flow diverter
An embodiment of the apparatus includes a housing having a first flow bore and a second flow bore, the first flow bore having a drilling fluid flowing therein, a device disposed in the second flow bore to receive a fluid flow, and a diverter disposed between the first and second flow bores, the diverter having a first position preventing the drilling fluid from flowing into the second flow bore and a second position allowing a portion of the drilling fluid to flow into the second flow bore and through the device. Another embodiment includes a variable second position directing the drilling fluid into the second flow bore at a variable flow rate. A further embodiment includes a drill collar as the housing and a power generation assembly as the device to receive the fluid flow. Embodiments of a method of diverting a fluid flow in a downhole tool include diverting a portion of a first fluid flow to a second flow bore, and further varying a flow rate of the fluid to the second flow bore.
US07913768B2 Release device
A downhole system including a driving unit for driving an operational tool. The driving unit is provided in a first part of the system and the operational tool is provided in a second part of the system. The system further includes a release device for releasing the operational tool and the second part from the first part of the system.
US07913764B2 Return line mounted pump for riserless mud return system
Systems and methods for drilling a well bore in a subsea formation from an offshore structure positioned on a water surface with a drill string that is suspended from the structure and includes a bottom hole assembly adapted to form a top hole portion of the well bore. A drilling fluid source on the offshore structure supplies drilling fluid through the drill string to the bottom hole assembly where the drilling fluid exits from the bottom hole assembly during drilling and returns up the well bore. A suction module is disposed at the sea floor and collects the drilling fluid emerging from the well bore. A pump module is disposed on a return line, which is in fluid communication with the suction module, at a position below the water surface and above the sea floor. The pump module is operable to receive drilling fluid from the suction module and pump the drilling fluid through the return pipe to the same offshore structure or a different offshore structure.
US07913762B2 Method of fracturing using ultra lightweight proppant suspensions and gaseous streams
In a method of hydraulically fracturing a hydrocarbon-bearing subterranean formation, a proppant stage is introduced into the fracture which contains a gaseous fluid and an ultra lightweight proppant suspended in a viscosified aqueous fluid. The gaseous fluid of the proppant stage contains at least about 90 volume percent of the combination of gaseous fluid and aqueous fluid. A pad fluid may first be introduced into the formation, the pad fluid containing a gaseous fluid and, optionally, an aqueous fluid. The gaseous fluid of the pad fluid mixture typically contains at least 70 volume percent of the mixture.
US07913751B2 Micro-heat exchanger
The invention concerns a micro-heat exchanger having a microstructure of channels (2) arranged at least in one matrix element (1) in the form of a plate and circulating at least one coolant, said matrix element (1) having upper and lower surfaces (5, 6) as well as lateral surfaces (3, 4). The invention is characterized in that the channels (2) are open on the upper surface (5) and/or on the lower surface (6) and closed on the lateral surfaces (3, 4).
US07913741B1 Screen connection pass-through for hoses, electric/power cords, telephone and cable lines
Devices, apparatus, systems and methods for providing a pass through connection opening for water hoses, electrical and power cords, telephone lines, and cable lines to freely pass through screens such as screen pool enclosures, screen doors, and the like. The pass-through connectors easily attach to the screens to allow for a permanent pass through to exist between an interior space and an exterior space that is separated by a screen wall. The connectors can have a first plate with central opening and corner adjacent male protruding members with enlarged heads, and a second plate with central opening and corner adjacent female openings in similar locations. The plates can be positioned on opposite sides of the screen wall so that their respective fastening portions and their central openings are aligned to another. The plates can then be snapped together by the male members being received within each of the female openings. An opening in the screen wall can be formed through the aligned central openings of the plates, and garden hose or electrical conduit can pass through. The central plate openings can have reduced diameters by a ringed grommet. Also, a connector having a threaded end can be locked in place in the openings with a nut.
US07913735B2 Adhesive tape joining apparatus
An adhesive tape joining apparatus of this invention adopts an inverted “T”-shaped layout configured with a rectangular section that extends laterally when being viewed in a plane and a protrusion section that is coupled on a center of the rectangular section. An adhesive tape joining part is disposed in the protrusion section and joins an adhesive tape to a ring frame and a wafer. A transport mechanism is disposed in the rectangular section and transports the wafer, the ring frame, and the wafer held by the ring frame. An electronic substrate processing unit is disposed in at least one of two regions adjoining to the rectangular section with the protrusion section being interposed therebetween, and is coupled to the transport mechanism.
US07913726B1 Trailer-mounted table wood splitter
A trailer-mounted wood splitter with an integral platform, log boom and grappler provides an extended table area to facilitate the splitting of wood. The apparatus comprises a hydraulic-powered wood splitting assembly operated by an internal combustion engine mounted to a trailer. A horizontal surface worktable is provided all around the upper surface of the wood splitting plane. In such a manner, any wood that is placed upon the platform for splitting does not fall off after splitting is complete. This allows the user to reposition any remaining sections of wood for additional splitting without having to pick them up off the ground. Once completely split, the wood can be directed to the side of the table or platform for stacking or transportation. The apparatus further comprises a log boom with a grappler attached to a far end for moving and manipulating felled logs.
US07913724B2 Inflation device
An inflation device for inflating containers with non-rigid walls such as bags, which includes a body having a venturi shaped air channel. First and second air inlets lead into the air channel, with an outlet being adapted to allow air to exit from the air channel for inflating a container when joined to the outlet. The second inlet is adapted to be closed by a self-closing valve if air does not flow through the air channel. A sensor associated with the body is adapted to detect when a container, such as a bag, joined to the body has been filled to a predetermined degree and then causes the flow of air through the air channel to be interrupted.
US07913723B2 Method for filling a container with gas
The invention relates to a method for filling a container with gas, gas being inserted into the container under compression. In order to be able to fill the container with a larger amount of gas than before and to reduce gas pressure peaks during filling, it is proposed according to the invention that electrically conducting stretched material is inserted into the container before it is filled with gas. Furthermore, the invention relates to a gas container (1), in particular a high-pressure gas cylinder, for storing gases under pressures exceeding 50 bar, in particular exceeding 200 bar, which contains electrically conducting stretched material (11). With gas containers (1) according to the invention, a higher filling level is achieved than before with a given pressure. Containers with a small wall thickness can be used without a safety risk because of a reduction of gas pressure peaks in the interior of containers.
US07913717B2 Fast acting gate
The invention can be used in pipelines, any devices, man holes and arrangements, at any pressures and working conditions for closable large-diameter pipes. The object of the present invention is to improve serviceability of a gate. The inventive gate comprises a lid consisting of a flange and a bottom which is caved-in inwards the pipe, a sleeve provided with a supporting ring which is welded to the bottom, arresting elements in the form of sectors inserted into a circular recess of the pipe when they are radially displaced on the flange along clamping bolts and on the supporting ring by the action of the inclined surface of a drive nut, are arranged on the end face of the flange and on the supporting ring. The nut is embodied in the form of a truncated pyramid provided with T-slots on lateral surfaces thereof. The sectors are provided with T-shaped tenons enabling movement of the sectors along the end surfaces of strengthening ribs, control markers are mounted on the sectors, a locking plate provided with a lever, said plate lowering into a gap embodied between the sectors and locking them by the action of a pneumatic cylinder in the presence of excessive pressure inside a closable pipe is arranged inside the lid. The nut may be embodied in the form of a truncated cone. The lid is mounted on articulated joints; the pipe with the lid is covered by a casing.
US07913716B2 Sealing element and a coupling device provided with such a sealing element
A sealing element including a tube-shaped body of metallic material and first and second male sealing members arranged at a respective end of the body. At least two intermediate members are arranged in series in the body between the first and second male sealing members. Each one of the intermediate members is compressible so as to be capable to store elastic energy when the body is subjected to axial compression and includes a protuberance arranged in the body and extending around the center axis of the body. A coupling device provided with such a sealing element.
US07913715B2 Relief valve including a check valve in a damping chamber
A relief valve includes a body, a damping chamber in the body, a poppet in the body, wherein the poppet includes an end in the damping chamber, and a check valve in the damping chamber. The damping chamber is located adjacent an inlet side of the relief valve, and the check valve includes a sealing member to prevent fluid flow into the damping chamber at the inlet side. The sealing member is unseated during opening of the poppet to permit fluid to flow into the damping chamber at the inlet side.
US07913705B2 Cleaning cup system for chemical mechanical planarization apparatus
The present invention is related to an improved cleaning cup arrangement for CMP systems that efficiently and effectively removes most, if not all, of any slurry material present on the abrasive conditioning disk and conditioner head as they are resting in the cup between conditioning cycles. The cleaning cup of the present invention includes an underside water knife for directing a high velocity stream of cleaning fluid against the rotating abrasive disk (or conditioning brush, which may be used instead of a disk) surface, and at least a pair of spray stems for directing columns of cleaning fluid with sufficient cleaning force against all exposed portions of the conditioner head.
US07913696B2 Self-fitting device for location in an ear canal
A self-fitting device for location in an ear canal. The device includes a body having a body ear end, an opposite body user end, and a shaft extending from the ear end to the user end. A resilient bladder is joined with the body ear end and a chamber is defined inside the resilient bladder. An elongate plunger is located in the shaft. The resilient bladder is deformable between an at-rest position and an in-ear position. The elongate plunger actuates between the at-rest position and an insertion position to assist the resilient bladder to be deformed into the in-ear position. The plunger actuates in the insertion position without extending a front end portion of the bladder forward of a position of the front end portion when the bladder is in the at-rest position.
US07913694B2 Protective shield and cover
Protective shield and protective or ornamental cover for protecting the vulva and labia minora of a female. The protective shield is shaped to conform to the outer shape of the labia minora and protects the vulva of a female user.
US07913689B2 Identification system and method for mask and ventilator components
Components of a CPAP or other patient ventilation apparatus have a remotely-readable identification tag encoded with component identification data. The flow generator controller 40 is programmed to receive data derived from the identification tag from a tag reader, and to adapt functions of the flow controller to coordinate with the component.
US07913687B2 Oral airway
An oral airway for providing an air passage to a patient's trachea. The oral airway includes a curved section and a straight section with the curved section having spaced-apart curved upper and lower members and the straight section having spaced-apart planar upper and lower members with the same width. The curved upper member has the same width as the planar upper member with the curved lower member having a greater width than the width of the lower planar member. The width of the curved lower member is greater than the width of the planar lower member and the distance between the curved upper and lower members is greater than the distance between the planar upper and lower members. The curved lower member has a generally inverted V-shaped cross-section.
US07913683B2 Radiant tube heater
A radiant tube heater has a tubular arrangement with an air duct portion forming a combustion air passage and a radiant tube portion which is heated by and surrounds a laminar flame. An inlet end of the air duct portion receives combustion air from a blower. A burner assembly mounted in the air duct portion includes a burner nozzle and a burner head for mixing gas and combustion air, this head having an inlet portion and an outlet portion wider than the inlet portion. A perforated restricting plate is mounted in the air duct portion and extends around the burner head. Air holes in this plate are sized and distributed so that the plate increases flow of combustion air through openings formed in the side of the inlet portion and allows combustion air to flow in the annular passage between the outlet portion and the air duct portion.
US07913679B2 Valve assembly for a compressed gas gun
A valve assembly according to the present invention includes a valve housing having a first end and a second end. A selectively closeable flow path runs through the valve housing. A valve body is disposed in the valve housing. The valve body is moveable from a first position closing the flow path to a second position opening the flow path. The valve body has a channel therethrough. A secondary chamber is provided adjacent the valve body in communication with the channel. An exhaust port is provided in communication with the secondary chamber. A solenoid is provided adjacent the secondary exhaust port, the solenoid adapted to selectively open the secondary exhaust port. A compressed gas gun employing the valve assembly is also provided.
US07913678B2 Retracting containment arrow rest
An arrow rest that contains the arrow shaft before, during, and after the shot. To give the archer a precise, accurate shot, pull-away support fingers 120 degrees apart move in a self centering radial motion towards the center of the arrow shaft when the archer draws the bow to full draw and simultaneously pull away from the arrow shaft in a simultaneous radial motion to give complete clearance to the arrow shaft and its vanes or fletching once released from full draw.
US07913669B2 Method for controlling cylinder deactivation
A method of controlling a cylinder deactivation system is disclosed. Information from one or more sensors is received by a control unit. The control unit compares the current values of a parameter with one or more prohibited ranges in order to determine if cylinder deactivation should be prohibited. The one or more prohibited ranges are discrete ranges, each with a lower limit and an upper limit.
US07913666B2 Method and device for controlling an injection valve of an internal combustion engine
In order to reduce the quantity deviation of a fuel injection valve, it is proposed according to the various embodiments that a test injection be carried out during an overrun cut-off phase of a motor vehicle in operation. In the process, the fuel rail (2) is closed on the inlet side and the selected injection valve (1) is activated. A quantity difference between the predetermined setpoint and the actual value can be determined by measuring a pressure difference in the fuel rail (2) before and after the test injection. This results in a correction factor with which the activation for the selected injection valve (1) is corrected for subsequent injections.
US07913663B2 Rotary piston machine
A rotary piston machine 10 includes an enclosure 12 having a cavity 14 therein with arcuate side walls 16a,b,c defining a plurality of arcuate recesses 18a,b,c and a piston member 20 rotationally disposed in the cavity 14. The piston member 20 includes opposite ends 42 and 43 configured to rotationally engage the arcuate side walls 16a,b,c and the arcuate recesses 18a,b,c such that compression chambers 26a,b,c are ultimately formed via the piston member ends 42 and 43 cooperatively engaging two arcuate recesses 18a,b,c. The two piston member ends 42 and 43 each including first and second arcuate edges 44 and 46 that sequentially engage cooperating first and second edge portions 50a,b,c and 52a,b,c of respective arcuate recesses 18a,b,c, resulting in two relatively large seals between one end of the piston member 20 and an arcuate recess 18a,b,c during rotation of the piston member 20 until forming compression chambers 26a,b,c, thereby preventing a fuel-air mixture from “leaking” during the formation of the compression chambers 26a,b,c, resulting in maximum power output from the rotary piston machine 10.
US07913662B2 Engine with cylinder disabling mechanism
An engine includes engine valves disposed on intake and exhaust sides of a combustion chambers with a valve operating device for opening and closing the engine valves and an engine valve disabling mechanism for disabling opening and closing movement of the engine valves in response to hydraulic pressure. An oil pump is disposed in a lower portion of the crankcase, for supplying hydraulic pressure to the engine valve disabling mechanism. A hydraulic pressure control valve controls the supply of hydraulic pressure to the engine valve disabling mechanism depending on a vehicle operating state. An oil passage extends to the hydraulic pressure control valve and can easily be formed without affecting mounts for functional components. A pipe for delivering working oil from the lower portion of the crankcase to the hydraulic pressure control valve is disposed on a front surface of the engine.
US07913652B1 Elevating animal bathing tub
An elevating animal bathing tub having an elevating platform and a tub formed of light weight strong material secured to the platform. The tub is provided with a downward directed skirt and the elevating platform is provided with an upward directed skirt that telescopes with the skirt on the tub to shield the elevating apparatus. The tub is provided with an entry cutout so that when the tub is in the lowered position an animal to be bathed can easily enter the tub. The tub is configured to accept utilities and attachments specific to the tasks to which the tub is to serve.
US07913651B1 Modular animal and gear containment and transport system
An animal and gear transportation system for positioning in a cargo space of a vehicle is disclosed. The system may comprise a kennel module including a base portion mountable on a bed of the cargo space, and the base portion is elongate with opposite ends. The kennel module may include a containment portion defining an interior capable of receiving an animal, with the containment portion being mounted on the base portion and being elongate with opposite ends and sides extending between the ends. The containment portion may be slidable with respect to the base portion such that the containment portion is movable between a retracted position in which the containment portion is substantially fully positioned over the base portion, and an extended position in which the containment portion is at partially cantilevered with respect to the base portion.
US07913650B2 Containment systems and components for animal husbandry
Provided are animal containment systems and components, including single-use animal containment cages and modular rack units. Also provided are methods for assembling and using components of the animal containment systems.
US07913648B2 Water drinking container for animals
A water drinking container for animals is provided with which the temperature of water placed therein can be suppressed over a long period of time, especially during a period of high air temperature, to make water readily drinkable for a dog or other animal to weak from heat and make it easy for the animal to weather the heat by adequate hydration, the water drinking container being simple in arrangement, being available inexpensively, and including: a water container, having an upwardly-open, water containing recess; a cold reserving material, contained in a bag or a plastic case; and a cold reserving material container, holding the cold reserving material in a state of contact with a bottom rear surface of the water containing recess of the water container.
US07913647B1 Animal food dispenser and water dispenser
An animal food dispenser is disclosed. The animal food dispenser includes a base having a base interior and a dispensing slot communicating with the base interior. A food hopper having a hopper interior is provided on the base. A food opening is provided between the hopper interior and the base interior. A food tray pivotally mounted in the hopper adjacent to the food opening is pivotal between closed and opened positions. A water dispenser is also disclosed.
US07913646B2 Vacuum processing apparatus and vacuum processing method
The invention provides a vacuum processing apparatus having a function for removing particles on the surface of the sample stage in order to improve the yield of the sample being processed. The vacuum processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber 104 disposed in a vacuum reactor and having plasma formed in the interior thereof, a sample stage 113 placed below the processing chamber 104 and having a sample 102 to be processed placed on the upper plane thereof for processing, and a gas introducing mechanism placed at an upper portion of the processing chamber 104 and having introduction holes for introducing processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the sample stage 113 comprises grooves 117 and a gas supply port 119 for introducing thermal conductance gas 118 between the sample stage and the sample 102 to be processed, and a mechanism for introducing dust removal gas 120 through the gas supply port 119 between the sample stage 113 and the sample 102 to be processed or a dummy sample 202 having substantially the same shape as the sample to be processed placed on the sample stage 113 within the vacuum reactor, by which particles 201 attached to the sample stage 113 are removed via hydrodynamic force by the dust removal gas 120.
US07913644B2 Electroless deposition system
An electroless deposition system includes a deposition solution, and saturating the deposition solution with an oxygen concentration in a range from about two thousand parts per million to about twenty thousand parts per million.
US07913638B2 Wasp repellent device
According to the present invention, there is provided a wasp repellent device comprising a suspension member operatively connected to a closed end of a bag. The bag has a skirt extending from the closed end of the bag to a mouth of the bag, with a drawstring for contracting the mouth of the bag to give the bag the approximate shape of an inverted cone. The exterior of the bag is provided with a striated pattern and, in use, the bag imitates the appearance of a wasp nest.
US07913637B2 Marine seating system and apparatus
A boat comprising an assembled modular seat formed from two individual, modular seating components. Each seating component includes a base and a seating frame secured thereto. The seating frame further includes a front wall, a back wall, and a connecting structure extending therebetween. The connecting structure forms a void or depression extending substantially entirely between the front wall and the back wall of the seating frame. Extending from the front wall to the back wall and across the depression formed by the connecting structure is a layer of tightly stretched, resiliently extensible fabric support material. The support material, which may be attached directly to the seating frame, can then be covered by cushioning material and/or a final covering, such as foam and/or vinyl, respectively, to form the final seating surface.
US07913635B2 Surface skimming watercraft
A water craft including a hull having a main longitudinal axis defining a direction of travel of the craft, a plurality of discs mounted at respective opposed sides of the main longitudinal axis to and below the hull and in combination having sufficient buoyancy to support the hull above the water, each disc comprising an essentially circular convex skimming surface adapted to skim upon the water as the craft moves at low speed, wherein the discs are mounted to the hull such that the skimming surface of each disc faces downwardly with respect to the longitudinal central axis of the hull, and adapted for movement between a low speed orientation in which the discs present a portion of the circular convex skimming surface to the water surface and a high speed orientation in which the discs present a portion of the edge of the disc to the water.
US07913625B2 Ammunition assembly with alternate load path
An ammunition round assembly with alternate load path is disclosed herein. The ammunition round assembly includes a projectile, a body engaging the projectile, and a non-combustible base at least partially enclosing the body. A structural member having first and second engagement portions opposite to each other is positioned inside an interior space defined by the body and the base. The first engagement portion firmly engages the base, and the second engagement portion firmly engages the projectile to provide an alternate load path between the projectile and the base.
US07913617B1 Plastic bottle crushing system and method
A container with a door forms an operating chamber. A crushing zone within the chamber is defined below by a support and above by a vertically reciprocable ram. A driving assembly raises and lowers the ram to compact a plastic bottle in the crushing zone. A heating element softens the plastic bottle. A programmer is operatively coupled to a plurality of controls for receiving operating instructions and to the heating element and the driving assembly to thereby cause an appropriate cycle of operation for crushing and compacting the plastic bottle.
US07913614B2 Milk foamer
An object is to provide a milk foamer capable of smoothly and securely managing hygiene of a suction tube which sucks milk from a milk storage section. The milk foamer sucks the milk from a milk pack via the suction tube and mixes the milk and air with the milker to produce milk foam. The milk foamer includes a control unit which controls the production of the milk foam, and a cleaning unit which executes a cleaning operation of a route extending from the suction tube to the milker. The control unit prohibits the production of the milk foam and instructs the cleaning unit to execute the cleaning operation, in a case where a predetermined time elapses from the previous production of the milk foam.
US07913612B2 Actuator control device
In an actuator control device that controls an expansion/contraction operation of a hydraulic cylinder, when a main spool 52 is switched to a discharge position for discharging working fluid in the hydraulic cylinder, a back pressure chamber 7 communicates with a tank passage 13 via a first port 14, thereby opening an operate check valve 51, and as a result, the working fluid in the hydraulic cylinder flows into a return passage 4 from an actuator port 1 and into a pilot chamber 20 through a second port 15. A pilot spool 53 is maintained in a balanced position by the pressure of the pilot chamber 20, which is caused to act by a front-rear differential pressure of a control throttle 25, and the biasing force of a spring 22 housed in a spring chamber 21, and therefore the opening area of the first port 14 is controlled to and maintained at a fixed level.
US07913610B2 Ammunition retainer for linked ammunition
An ammunition retainer apparatus for restraining a continuous belt of linked ammunition cartridges loaded into bays of an ammunition box or magazine from flowing over a divider wall from a first bay to a second bay adjacent to the first bay. The ammunition retainer apparatus comprises an elongated body having on a first side, a first pair of tabs rigidly attached to the body and protruding from the body in a first direction, and on a second side, a second pair of tabs rigidly attached to the body and protruding from the body in a second direction.
US07913605B2 Missile launcher
This missile launcher is characterized in that the cells do not extend in rows parallel to an elongated chimney, but by surrounding a central chimney, providing a more compact and especially lighter arrangement with identical resistance conditions.
US07913602B2 Method and apparatus for cutting a ribbon of rubber-coated fabric
A method for cutting a ribbon of rubber-coated fabric includes dragging a free end of the ribbon past a working position of a punching device, forming a notch between two adjacent reinforcing cords of the ribbon using the punching device, moving a counter-blade of the punching device away from the working position, inserting at least one cutting blade through the notch, and performing first and second cuts of the ribbon. An associated apparatus includes a punching device and a cutting device. The punching device includes an incision tool, an abutting counter-blade, and control devices for moving the incision tool and the abutting counter-blade toward and away from the ribbon. The cutting device includes at least one cutting blade and a control device for moving the at least one cutting blade toward and away from the ribbon.
US07913601B2 Enhanced performance saw blade toothform pattern
A saw blade, such as a bandsaw blade, has a toothform pattern that includes a raker tooth and set teeth. The bandsaw blade teeth are configured such that a distance from a tooth point of the raker tooth to a tooth point of an immediately preceding set tooth is the smallest tooth spacing in the saw blade toothform pattern. With the use of a smaller spacing, the raker tooth removes the smallest chip thickness from a work piece relative to the chip thicknesses removed by the set teeth. This reduces the amount of load imposed on the raker tooth point. In one arrangement, in order to balance the forces on either side of the blade during operation, the saw blade is configured such that an accumulated pitch of the tooth points set to a first side of the blade are substantially equal to the accumulated pitch of the tooth points set to a second opposing side of the blade.
US07913591B2 Multipurpose tool
A multipurpose tool is provided that includes a carabiner and that is designed to fold into a closed position that is relatively compact. As such, the carabiner of the multipurpose tool can be utilized to secure the multipurpose tool to a user, such as to a belt loop or the like, while permitting the multipurpose tool to be folded into a compact form. A handle that includes a carabiner and that can be utilized by such a multipurpose tool as well as a method of forming the handle are also provided. Still further, a multipurpose tool is provided that includes a handle defining a pocket for storing at least one bit in instances in which the bit is not engaged by the bit driver, thereby reducing the likelihood that the bit will be lost or otherwise separated from the multipurpose tool.
US07913590B2 Socket apparatus
A socket apparatus includes a socket, at least one detent and an elastic element. The socket includes a bit-receiving recess in an end, a mandrel-receiving recess in an opposite end, at least one vent in communication with the mandrel-receiving recess and at least one aperture in communication with the mandrel-receiving recess. The detent is inserted in the aperture so that the detent includes a portion disposed in the mandrel-receiving recess. The elastic element is used to bias and keep the detent in the aperture.
US07913587B2 Internal combustion engine and vehicle having the internal combustion engine
An engine (internal combustion engine), in accordance with an embodiment, includes: a crankcase; a crankshaft accommodated in the crankcase; a first crank gear and a second crank gear disposed inside the crankcase to rotate about the crankshaft; a balancer gear meshed with the first crank gear to rotate as the first crank gear rotates; and a water pump part having a water pump gear. The water pump gear is meshed with the second crank gear to rotate as the second crank gear rotates. The balancer gear and the water pump gear are disposed to overlap each other as viewed from an end of the crankshaft.
US07913584B2 Support arm for a clamping and centering element of a gripper frame for holding three-dimensional components in the motor vehicle industry
A support arm for a clamping and/or centering element of a gripper frame for holding three-dimensional components includes an adjustment mechanism, such as a ball that can pivot or a cylindrical pin that slide and rotate, held in a clamping and release unit with clamping jaws that can be radially clamped and are configured as shells engaging on opposing halves of the ball or the cylindrical pin and whose separation distance can be set by a means of adjustment. A radially directed compression force can be applied to the clamping jaws by a ring-shaped hydraulic force generator that is arranged about the jaws.
US07913577B2 Flow meter
A flow meter may include a case body formed with a fluid space in its inside, an impeller disposed in the fluid space, a detected part integrally provided in the impeller, a detecting part provided with detecting terminals for detecting the detected part, terminal pins which is provided with terminal contact parts, which are electrically connected with the detecting terminals of the detecting part, and connector parts with which a connector for outputting an electric signal to an outside is connected, and a holder to which the terminal pins are fixed and which is detachably held by the case body through a holder holding part provided in the case body. The detecting part and the terminal contact parts are held between the case body and the holder by attaching the holder to the case body so that the terminal contact parts are contacted with the detecting terminals.
US07913576B1 Flow scale with basket feature
A flow scale apparatus includes a substantially vertical flow path along which material can flow, a plurality of spreader baffles substantially aligned horizontally and positioned in the flow path, a plurality of basket baffles located downstream from the spreader baffles in the flow path and substantially aligned horizontally, and a sensor. The basket baffles are secured together and configured to be displaceable such that portions of the material in the flow path contact each of the basket baffles to displace the basket baffles relative to the spreader baffles as a function of a weight of the material in the flow path. The sensor is configured for sensing displacement of the basket baffles and generating an output signal.
US07913572B2 Integrated multi-measurement system for measuring physical properties of gas diffusion layer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell with respect to compression
Disclosed is an integrated multi-measurement system for measuring physical properties including thickness, electrical resistance and differential pressure of a gas diffusion layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with respect to compression. The integrated multi-measurement system simultaneously measures changes in the physical properties of the gas diffusion layer depending on pressure upon measurement of the physical properties of the gas diffusion layer of the fuel cell and also measures through-plane permeability in which a gas is passed through a sample in a direction perpendicular to the sample and in-plane permeability in which a gas is passed through a sample in a direction parallel to the sample.
US07913568B2 Method of dimensioning and producing stiffened structural components, use of structural condition sensors and an aircraft
The invention concerns a method of dimensioning and producing stiffened structural components (4) comprising at least one shell component (6) and at least one stiffening component (8) which can be connected thereto, in which the shell component (6) and the at least one stiffening component (8) is dimensioned on the assumption of intactness of the at least one stiffening component and having regard to a predetermined safety factor and/or a predetermined structural inspection interval in which a predetermined maximum crack progression in the shell component is not to be exceeded and/or the strength of the structural component is not to fall below a predetermined minimum residual strength, and in which the at least one stiffening element (8) of the structural component dimensioned by this method is equipped with at least one structural condition sensor (30) for detecting intactness; as well as the use of structural condition sensors in an aircraft, in particular a passenger aircraft.
US07913567B2 Temperature compensating pressure sensor having corrugated active membrane
A temperature compensating pressure sensor comprises a substrate having sealed channels on which is deposited a CMOS layer; a conductive layer and a passivation layer deposited on the CMOS layer; a conductive active membrane spaced from the conductive layer to form an active chamber, the conductive active membrane having a corrugated cross section; a conductive reference membrane spaced from the conductive layer to form a reference chamber; and a cap which covers the membranes, said cap exposing the active membrane to an outside fluid pressure. The active membrane deflects due to differential stresses so that an active capacitance is developed between the active membrane and the conductive layer depending on the electrical permittivity e of the fluid, with the reference membrane providing a temperature compensating reference capacitance.
US07913566B2 Industrial process device utilizing magnetic induction
A process device for coupling to an industrial process for use in monitoring or controlling the process includes a device housing configured to physically couple to the industrial process. A coil of wire is mounted to the housing and a magnet is configured to move through the coil of wire. The relative movement of the magnet is responsive to vibrations in the industrial process. Such relative movement induces an electrical current in the coil of wire. Electrical circuitry in the housing includes an input to receive the electrical current from the coil of wire.
US07913558B2 Method for prevention/detection of mechanical overload in a reciprocating gas compressor
Mechanical overloads in a reciprocating gas compressor can cause irreparable damage to compressor components if the source of the overloads is not repaired. A method of detecting mechanical overloads includes applying an overload indicator across an interface between components in the compressor, and observing a mechanical condition of the overload indicator. The mechanical condition of the overload indicator is indicative of whether the compressor experienced a mechanical overload. By placing the indicator in an appropriate location in the compressor, overload conditions can be checked during routine inspections and maintenance checks.
US07913555B2 Tubing expansion
A method of expanding a tubular downhole comprises mounting a sensing device in a downhole tubular to be expanded, expanding at least a portion of the tubular and then engaging the sensing device with a retrieving device. The sensing device is then translated through the expanded tubular.
US07913552B2 Device for testing the adhesion of a coating to a substrate and method of using same
A device for testing the adhesion of a coating to a substrate and a method of using the device are disclosed. The device is adapted to substantially replicate and consistently conduct the adhesion test procedure described in ASTM standards D3359 and F1842. The device includes a support with a source of a pressure sensitive adhesive tape rotatably mounted to the support. A tape dispenser and means to cause the tape to contact a test surface are mounted to the support. Means to remove the tape from the test surface is provided that includes a take-up spool adapted to receive the tape removed from the test surface.
US07913549B2 Transition from exhaust braking to exhaust particulate filter regeneration in a diesel engine
An intake throttle valve (ITV) position determination module generates a desired ITV position based on at least one of a desired airflow in a regeneration mode and an exhaust braking request in an exhaust braking mode. An ITV position limitation module generates a limited ITV position based on the desired ITV position. A transition module detects a transition from the exhaust braking mode to the regeneration mode, wherein an ITV is controlled to the limited ITV position after the transition is detected.
US07913542B2 Isolated gas sensor configuration
A gas sensor assembly detects a constituent in a gaseous stream. The assembly comprises: (a) a mounting surface, (b) a sensor mounted on the mounting surface and sensor capable of generating a detectable signal in the presence of the constituent, and (c) an enclosing structure. The enclosing structure comprises: (i) a walled component having a pair of vertically spaced ends and mounted at one end on the mounting surface so as to circumscribe the sensor, and (ii) a gas-permeable membrane attached at the other end of the walled component, thereby defining an interior volume within said enclosing structure. Flowing the gaseous stream across the membrane infuses a portion of the gaseous stream into said interior volume containing the sensor.
US07913540B2 Odor screening system
An apparatus and method are provided for screening odor emitters for one or more target odors. A screening station is adapted to permit an odor emitter, such as a pedestrian or vehicle, to pass through the screening station. An observation room contains a dog trained to identify at least one target odor. An airflow inducer; directs airflow through the screening station. A porous passage allows airflow from the screening station to the observation room. Air flows through the screening station to entrain odors emitted in the screening station and passes through the porous passage for sensing by the dog.
US07913532B2 Manipulator for metal sheets
A manipulator of a metal sheet (4) is disclosed, comprising pickup means (8) for picking up the metal sheet, which pickup means (8) is connected to a rack (3) associable with a first pinion (1) and an operating head (9). The manipulator comprises at least a second pinion (2) and the first (1) and the second (2) pinions are arranged along the movement path of the metal sheet (4); at least one between the first (1) and the second (2) pinions are each time engaged with said rack (3) to move the rack from one part to the other of the operating head (9) (FIG. 2).
US07913527B2 Locking device for a connecting port on a computer
A locking device includes an enclosure having an insertion section formed with two holes for inserting into a connecting port on a computer, and a plurality of windows axially spaced on at least one side of the enclosure; a locking unit arranged in the enclosure and including a rod having axially spaced teeth, a push member connected to one end of the rod and having an engaging portion, a hooking member movably connected to the engaging portion with two hooking arms extended into the two holes on the insertion section; an elastic member located between the push member and the fixing seat; a plurality of rotating discs fitted on the rod corresponding to the windows and each having a plurality of numeral areas and a notch; and at least one push button movably arranged on at least one lateral side of the enclosure to interfere with the push member.
US07913522B2 Water level sensor of steam generating apparatus for washing or drying machine and steam generating apparatus with the same
A steam generator is used in a machine such as a clothes washing machine, a clothes drying machine, a clothes washing and drying machine, and the like and a level sensor is used in the same. More particularly, a level sensor is integrally formed by molding and conveniently assembled in the steam generator. The steam generator includes a case having a space for storing water, and formed with a level sensor insertion hole and a level sensor. The level sensor includes a conductor having a detector positioned in the space for storing the water and a connector electrically connected to the exterior, and a level sensor housing is inserted into the level sensor insertion hole and is integrally formed with the conductor by insert molding.
US07913520B1 Structure of spacer fabric and thickness-controlled knitting method for producing the same
In a structure of a spacer fabric and a thickness-controlled knitting method for producing the same are disclosed, the method includes knitting a yarn into a three laminated layer fabric, and the three laminated layer fabric includes a top layer, a middle layer and a bottom layer, wherein the middle layer has one end connected with the top layer and the other end connected with the bottom layer; and the spacer fabric has its thickness determined by a length and a knitted angle of the yarn of the middle layer; when in the knitting process, the length of each yarn of the middle layer is gradually decreased/increased and the knitted angle of each yarn of the middle layer is varied, thereby gradually increasing or decreasing the thickness of the spacer fabric.
US07913518B2 Process and device for pushing hollow glass objects from a glass forming machine onto a conveyor belt
A process and a device for pushing hollow glass objects off a glass forming machine onto a moving conveyor belt are disclosed. Each hollow glass object is pushed by a push-off unit from a dead plate along a curved path onto the conveyor belt in such a way that the curved path is brought tangentially to a contact point in a movement direction of the conveyor belt. Subsequent to the contact point each hollow glass object is pushed further by the push-off unit by a further linear path portion in the movement direction of the conveyor belt as far as a release point at which the push-off unit is released from the hollow glass object. The push-off unit is then moved back to dead plate.
US07913516B2 Crystallized glass article having patterns and method of producing the same
A crystalline glass with a characteristic of precipitating crystals from the surface of the crystalline glass to the interior thereof when it is being heated at a temperature higher than the softening point is used in the invention. A plurality of small crystalline glass masses 12 are accumulated and leveled in a fireproof mold coated with a mold release agent, and two crystalline glass plates 14A and 14B cut in an S shape are placed on the accumulated surface of the small crystalline glass masses 12 with the cut faces tightly bonded. A heat treatment is then performed to obtain a crystallized glass article having patterns. The crystalline glass plate can be cut into any shape to tightly bond the cut faces, and therefore the obtained crystallized glass articles have different patterns like natural-marble-like patterns, human figure patterns, animal patterns, etc. The invention also discloses a method of producing crystallized articles having patterns.
US07913514B2 Water spillage management for in the door ice maker
A refrigerator freezer having an ice maker positioned on a refrigerator compartment or freezer compartment door. The ice maker is arranged to prevent or manage spills from the ice maker in the event the door on which the ice maker is mounted is opened or closed when unfrozen water is present in the ice maker. Spill management embodiments for a number of fixed and movable tray ice makers are disclosed.
US07913512B2 Air-heated heat exchanger
A heat exchanger comprises a first tube having a first fin of a first predetermined height extending outward therefrom. A second tube is vertically spaced above the first tube. The second tube has a second fin of a second predetermined height extending outward therefrom. A fan is positioned to force ambient air across the second tube and then across the first tube to heat a fluid flowing therethrough. A method of heating a fluid comprises sequentially flowing the fluid upward through a plurality of vertically spaced rows of substantially horizontal tubes, and forcing air downward over the plurality of tubes to heat the fluid.
US07913511B2 Cargo container for transporting temperature sensitive items
A cargo container includes an outer aluminum shell or housing having side, rear, bottom and top walls and a front opening with a pair of hinged doors. The housing receives a molded box-shaped composite outer shell which receives a molded box-shaped composite inner shell defining a cargo chamber. Corresponding walls of the inner and outer shells and the doors confine insulation cassettes each including vacuum insulation panels forming layers, all protected by plastic sheets and plastic film. Air is circulated by blowers within the chamber through a refrigeration evaporator and electrical heating elements, and a rear portion of the housing encloses operating components including a refrigeration compressor, storage batteries and exhaust fans. A control system senses temperature within the chamber and smoke and humidity outside the container and controls the operation of the compressor, exhaust fans and other components from storage batteries or an external power source.
US07913507B2 Electronic equipment cooling system
An electronic equipment cooling system of the invention comprises: a heat receiver; a closed refrigerant circulation path (including: the heat receiver; a refrigerant condenser; a refrigerant pump; and a refrigerant tank); and a closed gas circulation path (including: the heat receiver; the refrigerant condenser; and a blower). The heat receiver includes: a heat receiver base contacting a heat generating component; a box; a gas flow space surrounded by the heat receiver base and box; a refrigerant inlet through which a liquid refrigerant dribbles down along an internal surface of the heat receiver base; a liquid refrigerant spreader used for spreading the liquid refrigerant thereacross and having a mesh portion with an opening for passing a vapor of the refrigerant into the gas flow space; a gas inlet through which a gas is fed from the blower; and a gas outlet for venting the gas containing the vapor of the refrigerant.
US07913506B2 Free cooling cascade arrangement for refrigeration system
A refrigeration system includes a medium temperature subsystem circulating a coolant in a closed loop between at least one medium temperature chiller and at least one medium temperature load and at least one cascade heat exchanger, and a low temperature subsystem circulating a coolant in a closed loop between at least one low temperature chiller and at least one low temperature load. A cooling circuit is provided for circulating a coolant and includes a first pump and a second pump and a fluid cooler and a valve, and interfaces with the medium temperature chiller and the low temperature chiller. The valve is movable to a closed position to define a first flow path and a second flow path, where the first flow path includes the first pump and the medium temperature chiller and fluid cooler, and the second flow path including the second pump and the low temperature chiller and the cascade heat exchanger.
US07913505B2 Air conditioning device for work vehicle
A work vehicle comprises a plurality of wheels; a vehicle body supported by the plurality of wheels and having a cabin, a front half region and a rear half region; an engine located in the rear half region of the vehicle body; and an air conditioning unit located in a lower forward region of the cabin and having an evaporator and a fan.
US07913496B2 Apparatus and method for pumping a cryogenic fluid from a storage vessel and diagnosing cryogenic pump performance
An apparatus and method are provided for pumping a cryogenic fluid from a storage vessel. The cryogenic fluid is pumped from the storage vessel to a heat exchanger and then to a delivery conduit. A pressure sensor measures fluid pressure in the delivery conduit. An electronic controller is programmed to monitor a signal from the pressure sensor, process the signal to determine from the measured process fluid pressure when cryogenic pump performance is degraded, and to send a signal to an operator of the apparatus indicating when the electronic controller determines that cryogenic pump performance has degraded below a predetermined threshold volumetric efficiency.
US07913494B2 Burner for combustion chamber and combustion method
A burner 1 for combustion chamber is provided with a cylindrical mixing portion 3 that mixes air for combustion (oxidizing agent) and fuel in the interior thereof and has one end 3a that opens to a combustion portion 2; a spray nozzle (fuel spraying portion) 5 that sprays fuel in the mixing portion 3, being disposed on another end 3b of the mixing portion 3; first blowing ports 6 that introduce the air for combustion to the mixing portion 3 to form a swirling flow with the fuel, being disposed to open to the inner wall of the mixing portion 3; and second blowing ports 7 that additionally introduce the air for combustion to the mixing portion 3, opening in a direction different from the first blowing ports 6 and being disposed further to the other end 3b side of the mixing portion 3 than the swirling flow. The burner for combustion chamber and combustion method of the present invention can shorten the flame length in the central axial direction by improving the combustion efficiency even during low loading and shorten the overall length of the burner for combustion chamber in the central axial direction.
US07913490B2 Hydraulic circuit for construction machine
A hydraulic circuit for a construction machine is disclosed, which can prevent an energy loss of a hydraulic system by automatically reducing revolution of an engine when a working device such as a boom is not driven. The hydraulic circuit includes first to third hydraulic pumps, first to third switching valves for controlling hydraulic fluid fed to working devices, a fourth switching valve for controlling hydraulic fluid fed to left and right traveling devices, a confluence switching valve for selectively supply the hydraulic fluid from the third hydraulic pump to either the working devices on the first hydraulic pump side or the working devices on the second hydraulic pump side, a signal line for traveling devices, signal lines for working devices, and a shuttle valve for selecting any one of the signal pressure formed in the signal line for the traveling devices and the signal pressure formed in the signal lines for the working devices.
US07913489B2 Device for lowering tail pipe exhaust temperature
A component for a vehicular exhaust pipe includes an upstream venturi forming portion for creating at least a partial vacuum interior to the component. A downstream diverter housing portion of the component has an inlet coupled to an outlet of the venturi portion. The diverter housing portion includes the diverter element positioned adjacent an output of the diverter housing portion for forcing axially central exhaust flow radially outward toward a wall of the diverter housing. The partial vacuum in the component device causes colder environmental ambient air to enter an inlet of the component. The diverter also creates a mixture of hot exhaust flow with the colder environmental air, resulting in a lower temperature of the exhaust gas exiting the component and substantial elimination of centrally disposed exhaust hot spots.
US07913482B2 Bale shape monitor for round balers
A bale shape monitor for assisting an operator of a round baler. The bale shape monitor has an indicator with variable sensitivity. The indicator is less sensitive for small bales and more sensitive for larger bales so that the indicator de-emphasizes bale shape problems at the beginning of bale formation and emphasizes bale shape problems when the bale is almost fully formed. The indicator also changes colors according to the degree the bale is misshapen and provides textual driving instructions.
US07913478B2 Food service set assembly system and method
Food service set assembly systems and methods include delivery of one or more utensils and a napkin to a receiving cradle where they are grasped by two fingers attached to a rotatable shaft and wound to a desired tension. Utensils are delivered to the receiving cradle is a uniform alignment via a gravity driven system. Sterilization of the utensils can also be provided. Related systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles are also described.
US07913470B2 Insulating strip for supporting a composite structure
An insulating strip is configured to support two profiles or frames in a spaced relationship. The insulating strip includes a body extending in a longitudinal direction and has at least first and second longitudinal edges. The longitudinal edges are configured to be connected with the respective frames or profiles in a shear-resistant manner. Openings penetrate through one or more walls of the body and one or more struts separate the openings from each other in the longitudinal direction of the body. The body further comprises at least one attachment structure configured to retain a covering profile configured to cover the openings. The covering profile may be integral with the insulating strip body or may be a separate part. A composite structural unit comprises two frames supported in a spaced relationship by such an insulating strip.
US07913465B2 Expandable door frame and method of installation
An expandable frame for a storm door mounted onto the header and door jamb in an entrance, a frame kit, and method of installation. The expandable frame includes an expandable header assembly, an expandable lock-side assembly and a hinge-side piece. The header assembly includes a frame mount and a header stop mounted onto the underside of the header, the hinge-side piece is mounted vertically against the door jamb on one side of the entry, and the lock-side assembly includes a lock-side stop and a frame mount mounted vertically onto the door jamb opposite the hinge section. A user can adjust the position of the header assembly and lock-side assembly to accommodate a door having smaller dimensions than the height and width of the entrance.
US07913462B2 Structural member for buildings and methods of use
The present invention provides structural members for buildings, methods for using the same, and building structures comprising such structural members. In particular, the present invention provides buildings that can withstand natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, high winds such as hurricanes and tornadoes, and other natural disasters.
US07913458B2 Self cleaning gutter shield
A gutter shield device for mounting to a rain gutter is provided. The gutter shield device includes an elongated body comprising a first body portion; a second body portion; and an intermediate body portion disposed between and connected to the first and second body portions. The intermediate body portion defines a surface and includes a plurality of extending portions extending in a direction away from the surface to define a plurality of openings in the surface. The gutter shield device further comprises a filter element secured to the intermediate body portion. A surface of the filter element is arranged adjacent to the openings. A filtration element adapted to be mounted to a rain gutter is also provided. The filtration element comprises a plurality of interwoven threads defining a first substantially planar surface and at least one substantially planar extending portion extending at an angle to the first substantially planar surface. The at least one substantially planar extending portion may be a folded portion.
US07913448B2 Traps for crabs or lobsters
A trap for crabs or lobsters has a mesh extending over a trap frame, with at least one inlet opening provided with a one-way inlet gate spaced apart pins which are pivotable between open and closed positions. Pin retainers prevent spreading of the pins apart from one another when the pins are in the closed position and an undersized crab outlet opening, dimensioned to allow undersized crab or lobsters to escape from the interior chamber, is provided at a side of the trap and at the bottom of the trap. The frame includes an top peripheral frame portion and finger grip openings at the underside of the trap frame. The one-way inlet gate has first and second sets of spaced apart pins, each set being pivotable independently of the other between open and closed positions. Also, the one-way inlet gate has pairs of pins which are pivotable between the open and closed positions, each pair being formed by parallel legs of a U-shaped length of wire, with retainers engaging the legs of each pair to prevent spreading of the legs.
US07913436B2 Omnibearing display system of integrated display screens
An omni-directional display technology allows for obtaining better display effect and more rational dynamical structure through adopting the assembly of two or more rotating and symmetrical configurable structure of display which is fitted with a blankoff device, comprising: one chassis (12), one rotating display part consisting of a display (1) which is fitted with a blankoff device (3) in front of the display plane, and one vertical rotary driving device (11) fitted on the chassis. This driving device is connected to the rotating display part, comprised of two or more displays which are equipped with blankoff devices and distributed around the vertical axial line, which will, when driven by the vertical rotary driving device, rotate around a vertical axial line (L) and thus realize omni-directional display. This display system is featured by high display brightness, low rotating speed, fine integrity, rational dynamical structure, safe and reliable running, and other advantages.
US07913425B2 Convertible traction shoes
A convertible shoe having a shoe body and a shoe sole. An air channel formed in said shoe sole including pressurized air inlet and air exhaust. An elongated pocket or multiple individual pockets in the bottom of the shoe sole and along said air channel. A flexible wall portion between said air channel and pocket that expands into the pocket(s) upon pressurization of said air channel. A protrusion affixed to said flexible wall portion and which extends out of said pocket and into engagement with a support surface when said air channel is pressurized.
US07913420B2 Skateboard shoe with textured surface
Footwear having a textured surface. The footwear may have an upper, where at least a portion of the footwear upper has a textured surface. The textured surface may be formed, at least in part, by contoured structures. These contoured structures may define a group of alternating peaks and troughs extending in two orthogonal directions. The textured surface may optionally include apertures that will allow air to pass through the upper into the shoe, and allow moisture to expire from the inside of the shoe into the air.
US07913408B2 Chalk line device, hook therefor, and method
A chalk line hook is constructed and arranged to connect with an identical chalk line hook to provide a chalk line having a length of two chalk lines. The chalk line hook includes a connector portion, an anchor portion, and a lock portion. The connector portion is constructed and arranged to connect with a free end of the chalk line. The anchor portion is operatively joined with the connector portion for anchoring the hook. The lock portion is constructed and arranged to lockingly engage with a captured portion of the identical chalk line hook.
US07913406B2 Hands-free measuring instrument
A hands-free measuring instrument is disclosed. The disclosed instrument includes an upright member extending perpendicularly from a base member. At least one magnet is affixed to the instrument to facilitate the mounting thereof on a ferrous workpiece. The disclosed instrument includes at least one bubble level disposed thereupon. Graduations may be provided on the instrument to facilitate measurement of linear distances. Embodiments are provided wherein a spring-loaded spike is disposed within the instrument that is adapted to secure the measuring instrument to a workpiece which may be non-ferrous. The spike assembly may be configured to work with commonly used building materials, e.g., wood, drywall, masonry, and sheet metal surfaces.
US07913405B2 Target for use in measuring and surveying applications
One embodiment of the present invention concerns a target for use with a measuring instrument in distance measuring and surveying applications. The target includes a base element, at least one light reflecting area arranged at the base element, the at least one light reflecting area being arranged to reflect light beams being incident in an angular area of substantially 360° degrees in plane, and an identification unit arranged at the base element and being adapted to emit signals having predetermined characteristics, wherein the predetermined characteristics may be used to identify the target.
US07913404B1 Alignment tool and method of checking wheel alignment
An alignment tool and method is disclosed for use in aligning wheels of trucks and truck trailers. The tool includes at least one self-leveling laser for checking wheel alignment. The self-leveling laser includes a body, an attachment member and a laser. The attachment member secures the alignment tool to the vehicle or trailer and the alignment tool provides for self-leveling to enable a user to make various predetermined measurements from the laser marking “+” when aligning the wheels of the vehicle or trailer. The alignment tool also may include a fifth wheel adapter for attaching the alignment tool to a fifth wheel pin of a truck trailer when checking the alignment of a truck trailer.
US07913403B1 Reciprocating pruning saw
An apparatus for the cutting of tree limbs includes an extensible drive shaft that is detachably-attachable at one end to a portable electric drill and is secured to a housing at an opposite end thereof. The housing converts the rotary motion that is supplied by the drill into reciprocating motion of a saw blade and it disposes the saw blade at an angle with respect to the drive shaft that is slightly less than 90 degrees. An extensible two-part cylindrical outer sleeve covers the drive shaft and is detachably-attached at one end thereof to the drill and at an opposite end to the housing. A hook is provided in the housing and is used to grab and urge severed limbs where desired. An optional clamping mechanism is attached to the housing and is used initially to urge the blade and the limb toward each other during cutting and then to retain the limb proximate the housing after it has been cut for controlled placement and safe release of the limb.
US07913401B2 Three-in one trimmer head
A three-in-one cutting head for a rotary trimmer usable with discrete lengths of string, flail blades, and fan blades is provided. The present disclosure represents an improvement over presently existing multi-purpose trimmer heads in that there is no requirement for the trimmer head to be disassembled in order to change the different blades or strings. The cutting head being selectively rotationally driven through a drive shaft includes a generally cylindrical body having first and second pairs of diametrically opposed apertures disposed on a periphery of the body; at least one clamping member disposed in the body adjacent to each aperture of the first diametrically opposed pair configured for releasably retaining at least one cutting string; and at least one holding member disposed in the body adjacent to each aperture of the second diametrically opposed pair configured for releasably retaining at least one blade.
US07913399B2 Blade set for hair clipper
A blade set for hair clipper which has a lower fixed blade, an upper fixed blade, a movable blade assembly and a blade holder. The movable blade assembly is disposed in between the lower fixed blade and the upper fixed blade and is connected to a driving means driven by a driving unit in the hair clipper to reciprocate laterally relative to the lower fixed blade and the upper fixed blade in an operating condition. A third toothed front edge is provided at a front end of the movable blade assembly. A lower portion of the third toothed front edge cooperates with an upper portion of the first toothed front edge to define a first cutting surface. An upper portion of third toothed front edge cooperates with a lower portion of the second toothed front edge to define a second cutting surface.
US07913397B2 Folding pocket utility knife
A folding pocket utility knife includes a front handle, and a rear handle pivotally mounted to the front handle via a pivot. The rear handle contains a cavity configured to contain at least a portion of the front handle within the cavity. A blade holder is mounted inside the front handle for holding a blade, and a bendable blade strap is attached to the blade holder and to the rear handle. The blade strap extends around an outer circumference of the pivot to move the blade holder from a closed position where the front handle is in the cavity and the blade is completely within the front handle, to an open position where the front handle is not in the cavity and the blade extends from a terminal end of the front handle.
US07913391B1 Nail clipper apparatus
A nail clipper apparatus formed of thick steel and having a broad textured contoured handle lever providing a slip-free surface which substantially conforms to a user's thumb and which is at angle an angle to an upper arm in a range of about 0 to 30 degrees thereby increasing gripping capacity, an aperture accommodating passage of a chain therethrough and also providing a nail file. The nail clipper may also provide a curved nail length determining gauge member as a depth stop feature provided in range of predefined increments thereby accommodating a desired nail length trimming position.
US07913386B2 Method of manufacturing a flat gasket
Flat gasket comprising a first sheet metal layer consisting of a spring steel and a second sheet metal layer consisting of a ductile steel, the first layer being provided with a sealing bead, and the second layer being provided in an edge area bordering on an edge of the layer with a thickened zone as supporting element for receiving pressing forces; to increase the design possibilities for such a supporting element, the latter is formed by at least one elongate arch of the second layer, which is stamped into the edge area of the second layer and extends approximately parallel to the free edge of the edge area, the arch being compressed in such a way that the metal volume of the supporting element is at least three times the total hollow space volume which the supporting element and two tangential planes abutting on the latter and extending parallel to the plane of the second layer include between them.
US07913383B1 Manufacture of waterproof wire connectors
A method of manufacturing gel containing wire connectors with a silicone gel that remains in an unseparated state wherein the temperature of the gel precursors are elevated before being mixed and dispensed into the cavity of a wire connector where the mixed gel precursors are allowed to cool and cure without the necessity of additional heating of either the mixed gel precursors or the wire connector.
US07913376B2 Method of forming an actuating mechanism for a probe storage system
A method of forming an actuating mechanism for a probe storage system includes providing a scanner chip having a main body including first and second outer surfaces and first and second coil mounting cavities. First and second coils are positioned in respective ones of the first and second coil mounting cavities. First and second magnet receiving pockets are formed in a first plate with first and second magnets being positioned in corresponding ones of the first and second magnet receiving pockets. The first plate is arranged relative to one of the first and second outer surfaces of the scanner chip with the first and second magnets registering with respective ones of the first and second coils. The first plate is spaced from the one of the first and second outer surfaces by a gap of less than about 10 microns.
US07913368B2 Method of manufacturing chip capacitor including ceramic/polymer composite
A method of manufacturing a chip capacitor according to an aspect may include: preparing a capacitor lamination including a dielectric sheet formed of a composite having ceramic powder and a polymer mixed with each other, and first and second internal electrodes formed on both surfaces of the dielectric sheet at predetermined intervals; forming covering layers formed of an insulating material on both surfaces of the capacitor lamination; forming a first opening and a second opening in the capacitor lamination having the covering layers formed thereon to expose the first and second internal electrodes, respectively; forming plating layers in the first and second openings, the plating layers connected to the first and second internal electrodes; and dicing the capacitor lamination into chips on the basis of the first and second openings so that the plating layers formed in the first and second openings are provided as first and second external terminals.
US07913347B2 Rotational toothbrush
A toothbrush which head can be rotated to form different angle with the handle. This action of rotation can be done while brushing the teeth, once the handle leaves out the slot at the head, the handle can be moved to another slot, the angle of the head and the handle is changed from 180 degree to 90 degree and then from 90 to 180 degree again. The handle also can be free rotated without fixing to the slot at the head. A T-shape shaft is inserted between two covers at the head of the toothbrush, a connector is connected between the T-shape shaft and the handle of the toothbrush, so that the head and handle can be rotated freely.
US07913344B2 Electric inter-dental brush
Disclosed is an electric inter-dental brush device which is generally divided into a cleaning brush attached at a head assembly of the electric inter-dental brush device, a finger grip of a small size for holding a small-sized motor for driving the cleaning brush and a housing for holding a battery or AC adaptor for the small-sized motor and other components and parts of the electric inter-dental brush device. The finger grip and the housing are physically separated except through an electric cord connecting the small-sized motor and the battery or AC adaptor.
US07913342B1 Counterbalance mechanism for fold out ramp
A ramp assembly has a ramp portion configured for reciprocating motion between a stowed position, a deployed position, and a neutral position. A counterbalance is associated with the ramp portion and includes a drive element with a spring fitting. The drive element is rotatably coupled about a first axis of rotation that moves along an arcuate path. A restraint is slidably coupled to the drive element and is also rotatably coupled about a fixed axis of rotation. An end stop is associated with the restraint. A compression spring is disposed between the spring fitting and a portion of the restraint so that the compression spring provides a force to bias the ramp portion toward the neutral position.
US07913341B1 Counterbalance mechanism for fold out ramp
A ramp assembly has a ramp portion configured for reciprocating movement between a stowed position, a deployed position, and a neutral position, and a counterbalance. The counterbalance includes a restraint slidably coupled to a driving element having a spring fitting. The drive element includes a first engagement surface for engaging a first bearing surface associated with the ramp portion and a second engagement surface for engaging a second bearing surface associated with the ramp portion. A compression spring is disposed between a portion of the restraint and the spring fitting so that the compression spring provides a force to bias the ramp portion toward the stowed position when the ramp portion is between the deployed position and the neutral position, and toward the deployed position when the ramp portion is between the stowed position and the neutral position.
US07913338B2 Inflatable pad
A pad (10) of interleaving linear cells (2) has loop straps (1) to hold the central section of the cells (2) linearly in parallel with the cell axis (11), whilst the opposite ends (3) of each cell (2) are secured a pre-determined distance (4) off-set from the cell axis (11). The distance (4) can vary along the length of the pad. By fixing of the ends (3) of the cells (2) at a distance (4) away from the cell axis, each end (3) of the cell (2) is pulled away from the centre axis of the cell, the loop straps (1) and the cell (2) become tensioned, preventing the central cell section from moving or rotating. The resulting cell has been seen to dramatically reduce the movement of a user along the pad with improved user comfort and enhanced pressure relief.
US07913333B2 Mattress hugging bed rail
A bed rail structured to minimize the gap between the mattress and the bed rail and including a leg portion and a rail portion. The rail portion extends upwardly on a first side of the mattress to extend beyond the sleeping surface of the mattress and prevent a person from rolling out of bed. The leg portion is sandwiched between the mattress and the box spring and extends toward a second side of the mattress. In one embodiment, the leg portion includes a distal end that is engaged to the second side of at least one of the mattress and box spring such that the distal end and rail portion hug the mattress. In another embodiment, the bed rail includes a relatively rigid cover depending from an upper portion of the rail portion to the sleeping surface so as to cover a gap that may exist between the first side of the mattress and the rail portion. In still another embodiment, the rail portion is set at an acute angle relative to the leg portion so as to tend to close off any gap between the first side of the mattress and the rail portion. In another embodiment, the wall of the rail portion may include tubing and the rail portion may be drawn against the bed with a strap extending about the periphery of the bed.
US07913324B2 Headpiece
A headpiece having a first section and a second section separated along a fold-line. The sections have a decorative design printed thereon and are cut from a piece of material such that a top edge and bottom edge have the shape of the decorative design. The first section has a tab extending from the top edge that is received within a slit on the second section. A strap extends outwardly from the side edge of the second section and has at least one slit that receives a tab that extends outwardly from the side edge of the first section.
US07913317B2 Wet/dry suit with knitted wool layers
A suit for use to be worn by a person when immersed in water or in contact with water and may be provided, for example, as a wetsuit construction or a dry suit construction. The suit includes an outer layer typically of a rubber foam construction and in accordance with the invention there is provided on the inner side of said layer, at least one portion of the suit, a layer of wool (8) or wool blended with other material. This inner wool (8) containing layer typically lies in contact with the wearer. In one embodiment the wool used is that obtained from Merino sheep which is found to be particularly well suited.
US07917965B2 Electronic media distribution system
A system and method for sharing electronic content. A sending user can specify one or more criteria that a recipient memory device must have to store the content. The sending user can also specify a digital rights management control that can be associated with the content. The content can be transferred to the recipient if the recipient memory device has the specified properties. Software at the recipient can ensure that the content is handled in accordance with the digital rights management controls specified by the sender.
US07917955B1 System, method and computer program product for context-driven behavioral heuristics
A system, method and computer program product are provided for detecting unwanted data. A scan for unwanted data is performed to generate results of the scan. A context of the scan is then identified. Further, the presence of unwanted data is conditionally indicated based on both the results of the scan and the context of the scan.
US07917946B2 Method and network for securely delivering streaming data
In a procedure for delivering streaming media, a Client first requests the media from an Order Server. The Order Server authenticates the Client and sends a ticket to the Client. Then, the Client sends the ticket to a Streaming Server. The Streaming Server checks the ticket for validity and if found valid encrypts the streaming data using a standardized real-time protocol such as the SRTP and transmits the encrypted data to the Client. The Client receives the data and decrypts them. Copyrighted material adapted to streaming can be securely delivered to the Client. The robust protocol used is very well suited for in particular wireless clients and similar devices having a low capacity such as cellular telephones and PDAs.
US07917942B2 System and method for configuring security in a plug-and-play architecture
A plug-and-play (PnP) for configuring security in a PnP architecture includes a security manager and a PnP device. The PnP device is adapted to send a device description document to a user entity. The device description document includes an address pointing to the security manager, and as such, the user entity is capable of accessing the security manager based upon the address. The security manager is adapted to authenticate the user entity, and it authenticated, to communicate with the user entity to configure application-layer security of the PnP device, whereby configuring the application-layer security includes creating an access control list (ACL) document for restricting access to a service of the PnP device. In a further aspect, the PnP device may bootstrap establishing its link-layer security with configuring its application-layer security.
US07917930B2 Information signal transmission system and remote control device for the same
An information signal transmission system and a remote control device for such a system for allowing a viewer to continuously watch, for example, in a bedroom a program the viewer has watched in a living room. A recipient of information is detected referring to identification information set in a remote command device, and monitor devices are alternately switched for continuously providing the viewer with an information signal.
US07917929B2 Remote reservation recording control system and method thereof
A reservation recording control system and a method thereof, in which a user records a reservation for a desired broadcast program in a personal video recorder from a remote location over a distributed computer network such as the Internet. To this end, the system includes: a web server for transmitting reservation recording information for reservation-recording a broadcast program selected by a user; a communication unit for receiving the reservation recording information; and a personal video recorder for downloading the reservation recording information received by the communication unit and for recording the broadcast program selected by the user on the basis of the downloaded reservation recording information at a reserved time.
US07917921B2 Control of an interactive application
A method for controlling an interactive application comprises receiving a data stream comprising an interactive application and monitoring the data stream to identify a change in the stream. In response to the change, the method further comprises preventing the interactive application from accessing files, identifying those files present in the data stream, and enabling the interactive application to access only those files present in the data stream.
US07917919B2 Disc clamping mechanism and disc drive device
A disc clamping mechanism includes a clamp board, a clamp base, a first supporting unit and a second supporting unit. The clamp board rotatably clamps a disc in cooperation with a turntable to be rotated in a housing. The clamp base rotatably supports the clamp board at a position opposite to the turntable, and is movable so as to move away from or come into contact with the turntable. The first supporting unit comes into contact with a first peripheral edge of the clamp board protruding from the clamp base when the clamp board moves away from the disc according to the movement of the clamp base, to exert pushing force in a direction of the turntable side and pushing force in a direction of the clamp base side against the first peripheral edge. The second supporting unit is provided at the clamp base, and securely supports the second peripheral edge of the clamp board situated at a position opposite to the first peripheral edge when the first peripheral edge is pushed by the first supporting unit.
US07917913B2 Injecting proxy components using blueprints
A software component deployed in a distributed system includes a stub that enables the component to be used remotely. The stub can include its own proxy (or at least a sufficient description of it) that is automatically and dynamically injected to the remote environment. Thus, native proxies do not need to be included in the platform initially, and do not need to be downloaded, since marshalling methods are generated at runtime based on a blueprint in the code of the application.
US07917905B2 Process control system and control method therefor
A process control system has a process state detection unit 10 that detects activation of a predetermined process in a computer and determines whether the process is a previously determined one of control-target processes, a comparison unit 30 that, if the process state detection unit 10 determines that the control-target process is activated, acquires the CPU usage rate of the entire system and compares the acquired CPU usage rate with a previously determined target value of the CPU usage rate of the entire system, and a process suspension control unit 40 that controls suspension and resumption of the control-target process based on the result of comparison by the comparison unit 30.
US07917898B2 Methods and apparatus to provide a modular native method invocation system
Methods and apparatus to provide a modular native method invocation (NMI) system are described herein. In an example method, first NMI information associated with a first NMI call from a first virtual machine is received and second NMI information associated with a second NMI call from a second virtual machine different from the first virtual machine is received. The first NMI information and the second NMI information is translated via an NMI adapter. To generate a native stub, the translated NMI information is provided to a modular NMI component.
US07917889B2 Data locations template based application-data association and its use for policy based management
Method and system are disclosed for automatically discovering associations between applications and data in multi-tiered distributed systems. The method in one aspect uses a machine-readable specification of a model or template that describes use and transformation of data by software components. The method additionally utilizes a model of system configuration and appropriate runtime support to mine information available from systems management software present in enterprise systems. The application-data association discovery process performs a traversal of the distributed system configuration graph with actions taken during this traversal driven by the contents of the templates for the software components present in the system. The results of the application-data association discovery process are stored in a database and may be used to specify application-specific information lifecycle management (ILM) policy or as input to impact analysis tools in access control and antivirus systems.
US07917886B2 Automatic system and method for providing PCB layout
An automatic system for providing printed circuit board (PCB) layout of a PCB includes an input device, a data processing device, and a storage device. The data processing device includes an invoking module, a calculating module, and a determining module. The invoking module is to read a name and a thickness of each layer of the PCB from the storage device. The calculating module is to calculate an actual length of a via stub of each layer according to the name and thickness of each layer, and calculate an ideal length of the via stub of the PCB according to input information from the input device, and a preset formula. The determining module is to compare the ideal length and the actual length of the via stub of each layer to determine whether the layer can be used as a high-speed signal layout layer or not.
US07917883B2 Method for incorporating pattern dependent effects in circuit simulations
Methods, software, and apparatus for providing a netlist for simulation that includes one or more parameters that are determined by one or more pattern dependent effects. One particular embodiment of the present invention receives a layout of a circuit including one or more MOSFET transistors. For one or more of the MOSFET transistors, spacing between transistors is measured using the received layout and a pattern dependent parameter is determined. This parameter modifies the length of the gate that is used in simulation. In other embodiments, other pattern dependent effects can be used to determine the values of one or more parameters. These parameters may be used to modify gate length, emitter size, resistor width, or other device characteristics.
US07917873B1 System and method for verification of integrated circuit design
Embodiments of the methods and systems of the present invention may provide improved methods for the verification of an integrated circuit where a verification project for an integrated circuit may be created by selecting a set of intent units corresponding to the integrated circuit design from a library of intent units and linking these intent units to the integrated circuit design. Specifically, in one embodiment each of these intent units may comprise a corresponding code component and text component such that from the set of intent units selected and configured based on the integrated circuit design a verification plan can be generated from the text components of the corresponding intent units while a testbench can be generated from the code components of the corresponding intent units. This testbench can then be used to generate a model for testing the integrated circuit design.
US07917872B2 Simulation method and computer-readable storage medium
A simulation method to be implemented in a computer causes the computer to execute a procedure carrying out a weighting with respect to layout parameters of a circuit, which is an analyzing target, based on priority information of cells forming the circuit, and converting the weighted layout parameters into physical characteristics and storing the physical characteristics in a memory part, a procedure converting the physical characteristic read from the memory part into circuit parameters and storing the circuit parameters into the memory part, and analyzing the circuit based on a net list including the circuit parameters read from the memory part.
US07917869B2 Human-computer interface incorporating personal and application domains
The present invention provides a human-computer interface. The interface includes provision of an application domain, for example corresponding to a three-dimensional application. The user is allowed to navigate and interact with the application domain. The interface also includes a personal domain, offering the user controls and interaction distinct from the application domain. The separation into two domains allows the most suitable interface methods in each: for example, three-dimensional navigation in the application domain, and two- or three-dimensional controls in the personal domain. Transitions between the application domain and the personal domain are under control of the user, and the transition method is substantially independent of the navigation in the application domain. For example, the user can fly through a three-dimensional application domain, and always move to the personal domain by moving a cursor near one extreme of the display.
US07917866B1 Method, system, and graphical user interface for meeting-spot-related online communications
A method, system, and graphical user interface for meeting-spot-related online communications are disclosed. A “meeting spot” is a specific physical location where two or more people can arrange to meet face to face. One aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented method in which a server computer receives meeting spot data that correspond to a plurality of meeting spots selected by a computer user at a client device and sends information concerning other computer users that have also selected two or more of the meeting spots selected by the computer user to the client device for display.
US07917865B2 Display processing apparatus, display processing method, and computer program product
According to one embodiment, an display processing apparatus includes an operation receiver, a relation calculator, a display information generator, a display controller, and a scrolling module. The operation receiver receives selection of a key content. The relation calculator calculates relation between the key content and each of second contents. The display information generator generates first display information of the key content and second display information of the second contents. The display controller displays list information in which pieces of the second display information are arranged to form concentric polygons around the first display information along directions of operation such that second display information of second content with higher relation is closer to the first display information. The scrolling module scrolls, in response to user operation, the list information. The display controller maintains the first display information in the display range.
US07917862B2 System and method for improving the performance of a plurality of peripheral devices
A system for improving the performance of a plurality of peripheral devices is disclosed. In one embodiment, the invention comprises a first peripheral device associated with a first software component and having a first functionality, and a second peripheral device associated with a second software component and having a second functionality, the second peripheral device being coupled to the first peripheral device, the first and second peripheral devices together performing functionality in addition to the first and second functionalities and having a common user interface.
US07917856B2 Converting between user interface technologies
Converting components for a first user interface (UI) technology into components for a second UI technology includes enabling the second UI technology to access first components of the first UI technology, modeling second components of the first UI technology as native components of the second UI technology, the first components being usable by the native components, and defining one or more navigational paths through the native components.
US07917850B2 Document managing system and method thereof
For each of documents or folders containing the documents, setting data on a plurality of setting items in a print settings window for printing the document and display setting data on the print settings window are stored. When an instruction is provided to print a document, the print settings window for the document is displayed on the basis of the setting data and display modification data, and the display modification data for the print settings window is stored according change or addition of a setting item in the print settings window.
US07917847B2 Method, program and terminal device for rendering web page
A method of rendering a page, which includes starting obtaining operation for obtaining a page made by a markup language, performing a text browsing mode operation on obtained part of data of the page in parallel with the obtaining operation of the page, judging whether or not acquisition of definition information which is information to be applied to the entire page so as to render the page as designated by a markup language document of the page is finished, and switching onscreen representation, depending on a result of the judging, from onscreen representation in a text browsing mode to onscreen representation in which the definition information is applied.
US07917845B2 System and method for managing dynamic document references
Document fragments are managed by the use of fragment objects. Fragment objects contain a reference to a portion of a source document. Referencing documents contain a reference to a fragment object which delivers the content of the fragment of the source document to the referencing document. The source document can be directly updated through updating the fragment of the source document contained in the referencing document via the use of the fragment object. Source document deletion is controlled by storing the references to the source document by fragment objects so that no fragment object has a reference to a nonexistent source document. A process for organizing document fragments within a document management system wherein source documents comprise duplicates of the document fragments includes replacing a duplicate fragment with a reference to a single fragment object the fragment object including a reference to a fragment of a source document and an object class method for deletion of the fragment object including instructions to remove the reference to the fragment object from the metadata of the source document to which the fragment object refers.
US07917836B1 Detection in the presence of media noise
A signal detector comprises a filter that equalizes data in an input signal to a primary target. A detector is matched to the primary target and generates a most likely path corresponding to the data in the input signal. A post-processor is matched to one of the primary target and a secondary target, determines at least one most likely error event in the most likely path, and generates revised paths based on the at least one most likely error event. A processor is matched to the secondary target, computes path metrics corresponding to each of the revised paths as a function of a non-linear noise model and selects one of the revised paths based on the path metrics.
US07917834B2 Apparatus and method for computing LLR
Provided are an apparatus and method for efficiently computing a log likelihood ratio (LLR) using the maximum a posteriori (MAP) algorithm known as block combining. The method includes the steps of: calculating alpha values, beta values and gamma values of at least two time sections; calculating transition probabilities of respective states in the at least two time sections; performing a comparison operation for some of the transition probabilities to determine the highest value, selecting one of the other transition probabilities according to the determined high value, comparing the determined value with the selected value to select the higher value, and thereby obtaining the highest of the transition probabilities; and determining an operation to apply according to the highest transition probability and calculating an LLR.
US07917826B2 Error correction apparatus and method for data stored in memory
An error correction device includes a main memory, a memory bus coupled to the main memory, and a correction module. The correction module is coupled to the system bus and directly connected to the memory bus. The correction module reads an error data from the main memory via the memory bus according to an error address, generates a correct data according to the error data and an error value, and directly writes the correct data into the main memory via the memory bus. Because the correction module reads and writes the correct data into the main memory without using the system bus managed by an arbitrator, a number of the change row operations can be reduced to increase system efficiency.
US07917824B2 Scan path adaptor with state machine, counter, and gate circuitry
Scan architectures are commonly used to test digital circuitry in integrated circuits. The present disclosure describes a method of adapting conventional scan architectures into a low power scan architecture. The low power scan architecture maintains the test time of conventional scan architectures, while requiring significantly less operational power than conventional scan architectures. The low power scan architecture is advantageous to IC/die manufacturers since it allows a larger number of circuits (such as DSP or CPU core circuits) embedded in an IC/die to be tested in parallel without consuming too much power within the IC/die. Since the low power scan architecture reduces test power consumption, it is possible to simultaneously test more die on a wafer than previously possible using conventional scan architectures. This allows wafer test times to be reduced which reduces the manufacturing cost of each die on the wafer.
US07917815B2 Multi-layer context parsing and incident model construction for software support
A context analyzer may be configured to receive, from a software support system associated with a software application associated with multiple architectural layers, an incident report associated with a software incident of the software application. The incident report may include context information associated with the software application at the time of the software incident, the context information being received from a plurality of context providers. An incident model generator may be configured to determine, from parsed context information output by a first context parser and a second context parser, a plurality of entities and links therebetween associated with the software application, and configured to display an incident model that includes the entities and the links and that provides access to the parsed context information on an entity-specific basis.
US07917808B2 Methods, systems, and products for verifying integrity of web-server served content
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for verifying the integrity of web server content. Communication with a server is initiated and content is retrieved that is specified by a Uniform Resource Locator. The content is parsed and searched for an error message. When the content contains linked content, then the linked content is parsed and also searched for the error message. The error message is logged to indicate an existence of a partial page error.
US07917799B2 Method and system for digital frequency clocking in processor cores
Disclosed are a method of and system for digital frequency clocking in a processor core. At least one-processor core is provided, and that processor core has a clocking subsystem for generating an output clock signal, which may be an analog signal at a variable frequency. Digital frequency control data are transmitted or distributed to the processor core; and that one processor core receives the digital frequency control data transmitted to the core, and uses that received digital frequency control data to set the frequency of the output clock signal of the clocking subsystem of the processor core. Preferably, multiple cores are asynchronously clocked and the core frequencies are independently set, and, there is no phase relationship between the core clocks.
US07917791B2 Electronic apparatus
An electronic device includes a display having a memory function and a communications capability. Display functions are controlled based on a state of the operation of the device and/or based on a state of received data. Also disclosed is a method of selectively displaying advertising information based on a state of the device where the advertising can be maintained on the display without requiring any power consumption.
US07917786B2 Voltage regulating circuit for motherboard
An exemplary voltage regulating circuit for a motherboard includes a selecting switch and a first switch module, the selecting switch comprising a first input terminal arranged to receive a standby power provided by a power supply, a first control terminal arranged to receive a state signal from the motherboard via a first switch module controlled by a power good signal generated by the power supply, and an output terminal, wherein, when the motherboard is turned off, the state signal is at a high level and the first switch module is turned on by the power good signal for turning off the selecting switch to stop outputting the standby power.
US07917777B2 System for circulating power usage information on a closed ring communication path with multi-node computer system
A method of regulating power for multi-node computer system components has a closed-ring path that links all the power governors and circulating in the ring is a system power number that represents the power consumption of the entire system. Meanwhile, all the governors keep counting its local power consumption. Each time the number passes a governor, the governor will add its local count onto this number, store this number for future usage, and reset its local count. When the new number returns back to the same power governor, the governor will subtract the new number with its stored number to calculate the overall system power usage within a number circulation period. The system power number overflow problem is also detected with a counter if the incoming number is smaller then the number previously stored. The counter whose counting capacity is greater than the maximum system power usage on all the nodes within a number circulation period. A single number transfer mode and multiple number transfer mode and heterogeneous multi-node components which could have different power usage configurations are employed.
US07917776B2 System-on-chip including deepstop mode to reduce total leakage current and method thereof
A system-on-chip may include a hard-macro block, a deepstop control logic circuit, and/or a multi-threshold complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (MTCMOS) logic circuit. The deepstop control logic circuit may be configured to transfer data to the hard-macro block from the multi-threshold complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (MTCMOS) logic circuit during a normal mode. The deepstop control logic circuit may be configured to latch the data output from the MTCMOS logic circuit upon an entry into a deepstop mode and interrupt a power supply to the hard-macro block during the deepstop mode.
US07917769B2 Transaction authentication card
A transaction authentication card uses a biometric input and a wireless output. The biometric input may be a sensor pad on the transaction authentication card that measures blood flow patterns, temperature, and/or fingerprint patterns to identify a user to permit access. The transaction authentication card is preferably substantially rigid, but may be formed to have some flexibility. Power to the transaction authentication card may be accomplished through an internal battery that is optionally rechargeable. Biometric data is stored on the card only and used for user verification. Biometric data will not be transferred from the card. If authorized biometric data is authenticated the card will transmit a wireless access code to a proximity reader or transaction equipment.
US07917758B2 TLS tunneling
An authentication protocol can be used to establish a secure method of communication between two devices on a network. Once established, the secure communication can be used to authenticate a client through various authentication methods, providing security in environments where intermediate devices cannot be trusted, such as wireless networks, or foreign network access points. Additionally, the caching of session keys and other relevant information can enable the two securely communicating endpoints to quickly resume their communication despite interruptions, such as when one endpoint changes the access point through which it is connected to the network. Also, the secure communication between the two devices can enable users to roam off of their home network, providing a mechanism by which access through foreign networks can be granted, while allowing the foreign network to monitor and control the use of its bandwidth.
US07917754B1 Method and apparatus for linking businesses to potential customers through a trusted source network
In accordance with one embodiment, a method and apparatus for linking businesses to customers through a trusted source network includes creating and providing an authenticated rating and review/referral database. The authenticated rating and review/referral database is then used as a central hub to distribute authenticated ratings and reviews to various interested parties in one or more trusted source networks and/or through one or more portals linked to existing trusted source networks.
US07917752B2 Method of controlling the processing of data
A method of controlling the processing of data, is provided comprising defining security controls for a plurality of data items, and applying individualised security rules to each of the data items based on a measurement of integrity of a computing entity to which the data items are to be made available.
US07917751B2 Distributed filesystem network security extension
A security protocol that dynamically implements enhanced mount security of a filesystem when access to sensitive files on a networked filesystem is requested. When the user of a client system attempts to access a specially-tagged sensitive file, the server hosting the filesystem executes a software code that terminates the current mount and re-configures the server ports to accept a re-mount from the client via a more secure port. The server re-configured server port is provided the IP address of the client and matches the IP address during the re-mount operation. The switch to a secure mount is completed in a seamless manner so that authorized users are allowed to access sensitive files without bogging down the server with costly encryption and other resource-intensive security features. No significant delay is experienced by the user, while the sensitive file is shielded from un-authorized capture during transmission to the client system.
US07917737B2 System and method for managing data
A method of performing data and pointer compression includes, in a buffer which is formed between a processor and a level one cache and stores plural tags and full-word values associated with the tags, when the buffer is presented with an address, breaking the address into a line number which indexes a set of the full-word values, and a tag which is used as a key to determine whether a value in the set of full-word values includes a value associated with the presented address, if a tag in the presented address matches a tag in the buffer, returning a full-word value in the buffer which is associated with the tag, and storing the returned full-word value in a destination register of an instruction which originated the presented address, and if a tag in the presented address does not match a tag in the buffer, generating a fault and branching control to a pre-defined handler.
US07917732B2 Microprocessor for executing byte compiled JAVA code
A microprocessor architecture for executing byte compiled Java programs directly in hardware. The microprocessor targets the lower end of the embedded systems domain and features two orthogonal programming models, a Java model and a RISC model. The entities share a common data path and operate independently, although not in parallel. The microprocessor includes a combined register file in which the Java module sees the elements in the register file as a circular operand stack and the RISC module sees the elements as a conventional register file. The integrated microprocessor architecture facilitates access to hardware-near instructions and provides powerful interrupt and instruction trapping capabilities.
US07917713B2 Optimized data migration with a support processor
A system migrates data between a source device and a target device in a storage system. A processor is operational within a local domain of the storage system. A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) controller electrically connected to the processor. The RAID controller divides a capacity of the source device into a plurality of sub-regions, locks the sub-regions from storage activity, establishes a mirroring relationship for write data updates between the source device and target device, and assigns the processor to copy data from the source device to the target device. A method of migrating data includes dividing a capacity of a source device into a plurality of sub-regions, locking the sub-regions from storage activity, establishing a mirroring relationship for write data updates between the source device and a target device, and assigning a local processor to copy data from the source device to the target device.
US07917711B2 System, apparatus, and method for automatic copy function selection
The invention automatically selects a copy function according to a policy associated with data to be copied. The apparatus comprises an identification module configured to identify available copy functions in response to a data copy request that includes a predefined copy policy, a comparison module configured to compare each copy function of a storage device to attributes of the predefined copy policy, a selection module configured to automatically select a copy function that satisfies the predefined copy policy, and a relationship module configured to establish a copy relationship between the determined copy function and the data copy request. A policy generation module may be included and configured to read a set of required attributes from an application and to establish the predefined copy policy based on the set of required attributes from the application.
US07917710B2 Memory protection in a computer system employing memory virtualization
The use of a token-based memory protection technique may provide memory protection in a computer system employing memory virtualization. A token-based memory protection technique may include assigning a unique identifier to an application, process, or thread, and associating the identifier with a block of memory allocated to that application, process, or thread. Subsequent to assigning the identifier, a packet requesting access to that block of memory may include a token to be compared to the identifier. A memory controller may be configured to associate the identifier with the block of memory and to compare the token in the memory request packet to the identifier before granting access. If a second block of memory is subsequently allocated to the application, process, or thread, the identifier may be disassociated with the first block of memory and associated with the second block of memory.
US07917698B2 Method and apparatus for tracking load-marks and store-marks on cache lines
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that handles load-marked and store-marked cache lines. Upon asserting a load-mark or a store-mark for a cache line during a given phase of operation, the system adds an entry to a private buffer and in doing so uses an address of the cache line as a key for the entry in the private buffer. The system also updates the entry in the private buffer with information about the load-mark or store-mark and uses pointers for the entry and for the last entry added to the private buffer to add the entry to a sequence of private buffer entries placed during the phase of operation. The system then uses the entries in the private buffer to remove the load-marks and store-marks from cache lines when the phase of operation is completed.
US07917690B2 Method of controlling card-shaped memory device
Each of a plurality of memory areas includes a plurality of blocks. Each of the blocks includes a plurality of pages. Each of the memory areas also includes a data cache and a page buffer. A control unit controls a lower-limit value of the number of empty blocks in each of the plurality of memory areas.
US07917688B2 Flash memory module, storage apparatus using flash memory module as recording medium, and address translation table verification method for flash memory module
An purpose of the invention is to immediately return the operation in a flash memory module from low power consumption mode to regular mode.A flash memory controller having memory that stores an address translation table for translating between a logical page address and a physical page address in the flash memory chip controls regular mode and low power consumption mode of operating at lower power consumption than in regular mode by halting operation, or decreasing power supply voltage or lowering operating frequency. A flash memory module having the flash memory controller verifies data in the address translation table while low power consumption mode is set.
US07917687B2 Flash memory apparatus and access method to flash memory
There is provided a flash memory apparatus for storing data aggregate having a plurality of types of data in and reproduce the data aggregate from a flash memory via a plurality of ports. The flash memory apparatus includes a plurality of access request units configure to request to write data in one block of the flash memory by aligning a writing position of one block data with a page unit on a data type basis of the flash memory when the data classified by type that are inputted via the ports corresponding to the access request units on the one-to-one basis are stored to reach an amount relative to one block of the flash memory, and an access controller configured to write the data in the flash memory during time division allocated per port based on the requests incited by the respective access request units.
US07917680B2 Performance based packet ordering in a PCI express bus
A communications arrangement is implemented for packet data communications control. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a communications arrangement (100), such as a PCI Express type arrangement, carries out separate arbitration functions (112, 116, 117, 118) for ordering packet data. One of the arbitration functions (112) orders the packet data in accordance with protocol standards (e.g., to meet PCI Express standards when implemented with a PCI Express system). The other arbitration function (116, 117, 118) orders the packet data in accordance with performance standards while maintaining compliance with the protocol standards.
US07917679B2 Trusted LPC docking interface for docking notebook computers to a docking station
A method and apparatus for operating a portable computer configured for docking to a docking station is disclosed. In one embodiment, a portable computer system includes a docking interface having a bus switch and a bus monitoring circuit, and a bus coupled to the docking interface. With the computer coupled to a docking station, the bus switch, when closed, may couple the bus to a peripheral interface in the docking station. The bus switch may close responsive to docking, thereby completing the electrical coupling of the bus to the peripheral interface in the docking station. The portable computer being docked to the docking station, the bus monitoring circuit may monitor the bus cycles occurring on the bus and identify trusted read and/or write cycles. During trusted bus cycles the monitoring circuit may operate to open the bus switch thereby preventing information transmitted during the trusted cycles to be accessible outside of the portable computer system, even with the portable computer system remaining docked to the docking station. The monitoring circuit may also operate to close the bus switch in response to a currently occurring trusted bus cycle being interrupted, aborted and/or completed.
US07917667B2 Methods and apparatus for allocating DMA activity between a plurality of entities
A system and method are disclosed which may include providing a processor operable to request an ongoing processor operation DMA communication task; providing at least one data transfer device operable to request a defined-content DMA communication task; providing a memory operable to conduct DMA communication with the processor and the at least one data transfer device over at least one data bus, the DMA communication having a bandwidth; and allocating the DMA communication bandwidth between the processor operation DMA communication task and the defined-content DMA communication task.
US07917664B2 Storage apparatus, storage apparatus control method, and recording medium of storage apparatus control program
A storage apparatus having a plurality of storage units for storing data comprises: a detecting module for detecting status information indicative of the operation environment of said storage apparatus; a controlling module for accessing said data in said storage unit, said controlling module performing processing in accordance with said status information; and a relaying module for relaying said data between said controlling module and said storage units, storing the status information, and transmitting said status information stored in said relaying module to said controlling module in response to a request from said controlling module.
US07917653B2 SyncML data sync system and data exchanging method for data exchange between clients
Disclosed is a SyncML data sync system and a data exchanging method thereof for data exchange between clients. A sync server receives data to be provided to another client and authentication of a target client to which the data is provided from a first client, and transmits a signal reporting that the data has been provided to the target client. A second client according to the authentication information of the target client transmits its own authentication information to the remote sync server if it receives the signal reporting that the data has been provided. The sync server receives the authentication information of the second client, authenticates whether the second client is the target client, and provides the data to the second client. Accordingly, the data can be exchanged between a certain client and another client.
US07917648B2 Self-adaptive scheduling method and network element
The present invention relates to a method and network element for scheduling data transmission in a packet data network, e.g. a differentiated services network. Data traffic of a predetermined traffic class is classified based on a predetermined traffic profile, e.g. responsive or non-responsive traffic, and an in-profile rate of the data traffic is estimated. Then, a weight determining a transmit order of queued data packets of said predetermined traffic class is adjusted according to the estimated in-profile rate. Thus, the data traffic is marked into different classes based on the traffic profile and a queue scheduler improves fairness between the classified flows in the packet data network. Thereby, enhanced fairness between traffic profiles can be achieved easily and effectively.
US07917646B2 Speculative distributed conflict resolution for a cache coherency protocol
A conflict resolution technique provides consistency such that all conflicts can be detected by at least one of the conflicting requestors if each node monitors all requests after that node has made its own request. If a line is in the Exclusive, Modified or Forward state, conflicts are resolved at the node holding the unique copy. The winner of the conflict resolution, and possibly the losers, report the conflict to the home node, which pairs conflict reports and issues forwarding instructions to assure that all requesting nodes eventually receive the requested data. If a requested cache line is either uncached or present only in the Shared state, the home node provides a copy of the cache node and resolves conflicts. In one embodiment, a blackout period after all responses until an acknowledgement message has been received allows all conflicting nodes to be aware of conflicts in which they are involved.
US07917643B2 Digital information library and delivery system
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a computer system that can transfer a digital information file to a removable media storage. The digital information file can include targeting information, which may include combined descrambling information and information identifying a mobile playback device. The mobile playback device can render the targeted digital information file if the information identifying the mobile playback device included in the targeting information corresponds to an identifier of the mobile playback device, so as to allow the mobile playback device to descramble the targeted digital information file using the descrambling information.
US07917631B2 System for providing security in a network comprising computerized devices
A system useful within a network and adapted to provide communication security. In one embodiment, the network comprises an untrusted network, and the system includes network security apparatus adapted to create security associations between devices on the network, including mutual authentication. Traffic between the associated devices may be encrypted for e.g., data confidentiality and integrity protection. In one variant, the network security apparatus comprises a software entity disposed at least partly within the software stack of the devices. The associated devices may be for example fixed or portable, and may also act as a gateway to other networks (including the Internet). The portable devices may be untrusted (e.g., have an untrusted operating system).
US07917627B1 System and method for providing security in a network environment
A method for providing security in a network environment is provided that includes receiving a flow that propagates through an access gateway, the flow being initiated by an end user associated with the flow and propagating through a network. Internet protocol (IP) address information may be gleaned from the flow at a network element. The method further includes recognizing a selected one of the end user being connected to the network and the end user being disconnected from the network such that the IP address information in the access gateway and the network element is substantially synchronized.
US07917623B2 Method of allocating data communication sessions based upon user information
A method and apparatus are provided for establishing communication sessions through the Internet. The method includes the steps of receiving a request from an Internet requester by a website for a communication session with an agent of the website, analyzing browser associated information relating to the request and selecting an agent for the communication session based upon a content of the analyzed browser associated information.
US07917622B2 Content delivery system via a communication network
On the basis of information of a first user, requesting delivery of content, received from a content reproduction apparatus, a content providing server refers to first and second storage section, as necessary, to specify a second user having purchased or reproduced the same content as the first user, then identify other music content having ever been purchased or reproduced by the second user and then delivers the other content to the first user. The content reproduction apparatus can store the content, delivered from the content providing server, in an overwriting fashion and reproduce the stored content. In this way, the first user is allowed to readily acquire various music content, fitting his or her taste, without performing any particular operation.
US07917621B2 Method and system for network access control
Prior art quarantine networks were implemented by two methods, the IEEE802.1x method and the DHCP method, but these methods both have different problems. The problem with the IEEE802.1x method is that it is difficult to make the transition from an existing management framework. The problem with the DHCP method is that it is difficult to prevent attacks on the network itself, and to repeat client quarantine. The present invention implements client login authentication and client security status quarantine independently, and controls layer-2 connectivity based on the respective results. This permits quarantine using an existing management framework, as well as enhancing network protection by layer-2 connection control and permitting repeat quarantine of the client using the same IP address. Moreover, by incorporating other layer-2 connectivity control mechanisms, flexible layer-2 connectivity control outside the quarantine network can also be implemented.
US07917612B2 Techniques for analyzing commands during streaming media to confirm delivery
Techniques for determining a status of a streaming delivery of content are provided. During the streaming delivery of content between a device and a content provider, commands may be sent between the device and a content provider in order to facilitate the delivery of content. These commands may be intercepted by a command interpreter. The commands are then analyzed to determine a delivery status for the streaming delivery of content. For example, the sequence of commands may provide an indication as to whether the streaming delivery of content was successful or not. Based on the commands, the command interpreter determines if the streaming delivery of content should be considered successful from a billing standpoint. For example, a user that requested the streaming delivery of content may be billed based on whether the streaming delivery of content is considered successful or not.
US07917611B2 Method and system for monitoring the quality of service in telecommunication networks, components and compute products thereof
To measure the quality of service at the application level in a telecommunication network (N), a function (A) is provided for carrying out sessions at the application level on said network (N). Through this activation function (A), sessions are then carried out, measuring (F) and also storing (HK in a set of points (S1, . . . , Sk, Sn) of the network (N) data indicative of the behavior of said network. The possible occurrence of critical situations relating to quality of service is verified (B) and, upon the occurrence of a said critical situation, a trigger signal (Trigger) is generated. By effect of the generation of said trigger signal, the data indicative of the behavior of the network measured and stored in the aforesaid set of points of the network (N) are collected in centralized fashion (H). The data thus collected are indicative of the end-to-end quality of service of the network (N) itself. Preferential application to packet networks like mobile telephony network such as GPRS or UMTS networks.
US07917609B2 Method and apparatus for managing lightweight directory access protocol information
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing a lightweight directory access protocol environment. A replication hierarchy is identified for a plurality of lightweight directory access protocol servers within the lightweight directory access protocol environment by querying the plurality of lightweight directory access protocol servers for replication information. Environment information is collected for the plurality of lightweight directory access protocol servers using the replication hierarchy, wherein the environment information for the plurality of lightweight directory access protocol servers is used to manage the lightweight directory access protocol environment.
US07917607B2 Software management systems and methods, including use of such systems and methods in a provider-tenant environment
Exemplary methods and systems may associate data structures specific to a first tenant with a first tenant template, determine whether new data structures are specific to the first tenant, and if so, associate the new data structures with a second tenant template. By doing so, methods and systems may determine a difference between the first and second tenant templates, making it possible to upgrade a tenant based on the difference. With this capability a provider-tenant system may upgrade applications and data.
US07917602B2 Method and system for remote television replay control
A method, system, computer medium, and other embodiments for integrating unrelated web hosted services with stand-alone media-based devices are provided. Users can access and control the media-based device conveniently with a web-browser through various portals on the Internet. An application program interface allows the various web servers and portals to take advantage of the system. In one embodiment, users access the media-based device through one or more unrelated web portals, so as to control and to program the media-based device in a single web session, and to see information both stored on the media-based device and originating from third-party online sources of information and services in a single integrated presentation.
US07917592B1 Method for grouping exchange 2007 journal messages
During an initial scan of a journal inbox, journal reports are modified so that the Internet Message ID in the text body appears as a custom message ID value in a new custom message ID MAPI property created on the journal reports. Further, the message class value of the message class MAPI property on the journal reports is modified to a journal part. During a secondary scan of the journal inbox, related journal parts are grouped together based on the custom message ID value. Also, the message class value is modified to prevent the journal reports from being considered in subsequent initial or secondary scans. One of the journal reports of the group is selected as a master copy. A new custom related journal parts MAPI property is created on the master copy that includes a related journal parts value which is a list of identifiers that can be used to locate the other related journal parts of the group.
US07917589B2 Instant messages with privacy notices
In an embodiment, an instant message is received that includes data, a privacy indication, and an override indication. In an embodiment, if the privacy indication specifies that the data is non-private, then the data is presented. But, if the privacy indication specifies that the data is private, then a privacy notice is presented and the data is hidden until an acknowledgment of the privacy notice is received. The privacy notice may include a prompt for the acknowledgment. In an embodiment, if the privacy indication specifies that the data is private and the override indication allows the privacy indication to be overridden, the data is presented. In another embodiment, if the privacy indication specifies that the data is private, the override indication allows the privacy indication to be overridden, and a time period since a user interface device received input is less than a threshold amount of time, then the data is presented.
US07917587B2 Method and system for prioritizing communications based on interpersonal relationships
A method and system for calculating the importance of persons based on interpersonal relationships and prioritizing communications based on importance of participants in the communications is provided. A prioritization system identifies relationships between persons and identifies the importance of a person to other persons based on these relationships. After the prioritization system identifies the importance of persons, the prioritization system can prioritize communications based on the importance of the senders or recipients.
US07917559B2 Configurable IC's with configurable logic circuits that perform adder and/or subtractor operations
An integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed that includes a set of configurable logic circuits. Each configurable logic circuit configurably performs a set of functions. A particular configurable circuit receives configuration data defining a function for the particular configurable circuit. In some embodiments, one configuration of a configurable circuit is to add two input signals received by the configurable circuit. Also, in some embodiments, one configuration is to subtract two input signals received by a configurable circuit. In some such embodiments, each configurable logic circuit receives a first input signal, a second input signal, and a carry input signal and generates a propagate and generate signal for the add or subtract operation based on the inputs to the configurable circuit and the configuration of the configurable circuit.
US07917552B2 Generating coherent global identifiers for efficient data identification
A method and system thereof for identifying records are described. Records on a node are distinguished from other records on the node by assigning each record a unique local identifier. When a record is moved from one node to another node, a unique global identifier is assigned to the record. A translation technique is employed to map the local identifier to the global identifier (and vice versa).
US07917538B2 Method and apparatus for data item movement between disparate sources and hierarchical, object-oriented representation
Data moves between multiple, disparate data sources and the object-oriented computer programs that process the data. A data access server is interposed between the object-oriented programs and the data sources, and acts as an intermediary. The intermediary server receives requests for data access from object-oriented computer programs, correlates each request to one or more interactions with one or more data sources, performs each required interaction, consolidates the results of the interactions, and presents a singular response to the requesting computer program. The consolidated response from the intermediary server contains data items requested by the computer program, information regarding the hierarchical topology that relates the data items, and an indication of the possible object types that might embody the data items. The application program receives the consolidated response and builds an object hierarchy to embody the data items and to interface them to the rest of the application program. The class of an object used to embody data items is selected at execution time from a list of possible candidates.
US07917534B2 Systems and methods for extensions and inheritance for units of information manageable by a hardware/software interface system
By modeling real-world application objects with complex structures, behaviors, and operations described by a schema which is enforced by the hardware/software interface system, various embodiments of the present invention provide rich sub-typing functionality by extending Items (and Item types) using “Extensions” which provide additional data structures (Properties, Relationships, etc.) to already existing Items type structures. Extensions are strongly typed instances that cannot exist independently and must be attached to an Item or a Nested Element. Extensions are also intended to address “multi-typing” issues by enabling the overlap of type instances (e.g., a Document may be a “legal document” as well a “secure document”).
US07917533B2 Master management system, master management method, and master management program
A master management system includes a duty master creating part that counts the number of users in each group of same-attribute users who desire to use each of the applications, that identifies the applications each of which the number of users desiring to use is equal to or larger than a predetermined number, that creates and stores a master in a master management database of a storage device; and an individual setting part that identifies virtualization-possible applications of the applications each of which the number of users desiring to use is equal to or smaller than the predetermined number, and that sets data on users desiring to use the virtualization-possible applications in the distribution destination list of a distributing server.
US07917531B2 Information processing apparatus
The present invention pertains to an information processing apparatus which allows users to easily know content which others are allowed to check out. A management server 352 records data relevant to content which others are allowed to check out. A web server 351 receives a request for the data relevant to the content, and transmits the data relevant to the content when the data relevant to the content is requested. The present invention is applicable to an information processing apparatus for handling data relevant to copyright protected content.
US07917524B2 Systems and methods for providing a mockup data generator
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for mockup data for a mockup object. In one exemplary embodiment, the method may include receiving, from a user, a name of the mockup object for which the mockup data should be created, wherein the object comprises one or more nodes. The method may also include receiving, from the user, a number of records to be created for each node of the object, determining whether to modify existing mockup data or create new mockup data for each node, receiving, from the user, a beginning range and an ending range for the mockup data, and generating, within the framework, the mockup data for each node of the object based on metadata stored within the framework and the beginning and ending range.
US07917518B2 Compositional balance and color driven content retrieval
For each image in a collection of images, a respective model of visual weight in the image and a respective model of color in the image are determined. An image query is generated from a target visual weight distribution and a target color template. For each of the images a respective score is calculated from the image query, the respective visual weight model, and the respective color model. At least one of the images is retrieved from a database based on the respective scores.
US07917515B1 System and method of accelerating processing of streaming data
Embodiments include methods and systems for processing XML documents. One embodiment is a system that includes a method of efficiently processing XML documents received concurrently from a plurality of network connections in the form of streams of data. Other embodiments include systems configured to perform such processing of streamed XML documents. Other embodiments include systems and methods of efficiently performing document processing using digests for identifying XML document structure.
US07917512B2 Method for automated design of range partitioned tables for relational databases
A workload specification, detailing specific queries and a frequency of execution of each of the queries, and a set of partitions, are obtained for the database, as inputs. A number of candidate tables are identified for the database, the tables having a plurality of attributes. A chosen attribute is allocated for each of the tables, to obtain a set of tables and a set of appropriate partitions for each of the tables.
US07917511B2 Query system using iterative grouping and narrowing of query results
A query system comprises a search component, a grouping component, and a narrowing component. The search component is configured to apply search criteria to an input data set and to generate an output data set. The grouping component is configured to divide an input data set into multiple output data sets and to display aggregate information about the output data sets. The narrowing component is configured to receive a selection of input data sets and to generate an output data set that comprises data items belonging to the selected input data sets. The grouping component and the narrowing component may be invoked iteratively to further group or narrow output data sets generated by the search component, the grouping component, or the narrowing component.
US07917505B2 Methods for publishing content
A system and method for publishing information to a community of users is disclosed. Published information is inclusive of, for example, calendar data, blog data and photographs. Communities may be defined by PIM data or automatically generated by a data aggregation server in response to a user-defined rubric. Published information may be provided to a recipient or in conjunction with a notification delivered to the recipient. Published data may be subject to certain read/write limitations.
US07917481B1 File-system-independent malicious content detection
The present invention enables a large number of files to be processed for evidence of malicious content, independently of the file system that maintains the files. The processed files can be obtained from live data or a point-in-time copy (e.g., a snapshot) of the data, based on mapping information that maps the files to the physical storage device. In one embodiment, a method involves accessing mapping information corresponding to a set of data. The mapping information maps at least a portion of a file to a physical storage location. The portion of the file can be read from the physical storage location using the mapping information, without accessing a file system. The portion of the file can then be analyzed for evidence of malicious content.
US07917480B2 Document compression system and method for use with tokenspace repository
The disclosed embodiments enable multi-stage query scoring, including “snippet” generation, through incremental document reconstruction facilitated by a multi-tiered mapping scheme. The mapping scheme includes a first mapping between unique tokens contained in a set of documents and unique global token identifiers (e.g., 32-bit integers) contained in a global-lexicon (i.e., dictionary). The mapping scheme also includes a second mapping between the global token identifiers and a set of fixed-length local token identifiers (e.g., 8-bit integers) contained in one or more mini-lexicons (i.e., sub-dictionaries). Each mini-lexicon is associated with a range of token positions in the tokenized documents. The first and second mappings are used to encode/decode documents into local token identifiers having fixed widths which can be compactly stored in the tokenspace repository. The use of fixed-length local token identifiers allows for fast and efficient decoding of tokenized documents.
US07917470B2 Logging last resource system
A logging last resource (LLR) system can provide a transaction log and transaction data to a LLR resource after a number of two-phase-commit resources have been prepared. The LLR resource manager can operate on the transaction log and transaction data in an atomic fashion so that the local commit can be done. The local commit can be done by the LLR manager in an atomic manner.
US07917468B2 Linking of personal information management data
A system and method for linking information of one user to other users via a data aggregation server is provided. Various security settings govern the linking of information. Various methodologies for initiating a link of PIM data are also provided including automatic linking, targeted linking and requested linking. Implementations utilizing group profiles are also provided.
US07917467B2 Processing of data sets in a computer network
A system and method for the resource-saving collaborative handling of data sets in a computer network is described. The method comprises the steps of providing a data set having an initial collaborative workflow, determining if the data set satisfies a set of one or more first start conditions to trigger a random function query, providing the data set to a random function if the random function query is triggered, stochastically determining, by the random function, whether or not to assign a modified collaborative workflow to the data set, and replacing the initial workflow with the modified workflow for the data set if the random function determines to assign the modified workflow.
US07917465B2 System and method for providing vector terms related to instant messaging conversations
The method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes retrieving one or more terms or phrases comprising an instant messaging conversation in which one or more users are participating. One or more term vectors comprising one or more vector terms associated with the one or more retrieved terms or phrases comprising the instant messaging conversation are generated and one or more vector terms are selected from said term vectors. The one or more selected vector terms are displayed to the one or more users participating in the instant messaging conversation. An indication of a user selection of a given displayed vector term is received and one or more content items responsive to the selected vector term are identified.
US07917463B2 System and method for data warehousing and analytics on a distributed file system
A computer implemented method for executing an ANSI SQL expression belonging to the SELECT-WHERE-equi-JOIN class on data residing in a distributed file system, said method comprising the steps of entering the ANSI SQL expression into a user interface; converting the ANSI SQL expression into a map-reduce program; running the map-reduce program on the distributed file system; storing the result set of the program in the distributed file system; and presenting the result set through a user interface.
US07917460B2 Systems and methods for generating a decision network from text
Systems and methods are provided for generating a decision network from text. An information extraction component extracts a quantum of evidence and an associated confidence value from a given text segment. An evidence classifier associates each quantum of evidence with one of a plurality of hypotheses. A fusion engine builds a decision network from the plurality of hypotheses, an associated base structure, the extracted quanta of evidence, and the confidence values.
US07917458B2 Temporal-influenced geospatial modeling system and method
A computer-implemented geospatial and temporal data storage system and method provides access to geospatial and temporal data as it is associated with events and event-types, thereby assisting in forecasting occurrences of identifiable events and/or results based on signature and/or pattern matching.
US07917449B2 Method and system career management assessment matching
A method for system for career matching assessment matching. One or more electronic questionnaires that are designed to reflect models of working environments, problem solving, communication and inter-personal skills are presented via a communications network. Each candidate and/or employer fills in a separate questionnaire. The particular pattern of their answers provides a profile for both the job seeker and the employer. A matching process then assesses the amount of overlap between the profiles of different candidates and employers. Greater candidate-employer overlap yields superior job performance, higher levels of job satisfaction and longer retention.
US07917448B2 Apparatus and method for online dating service providing threaded messages with a notes and diary function
A notes function and a diary function for an online dating service is provided. Each subscriber to the online dating service has access to a message center for communicating messages between candidates. The messages in the message center are organized as threads. Additionally, a subscriber may create and edit a note associated with a candidate and/or an email message between the subscriber and the candidate. The note is by default accessible to the subscriber and inaccessible to the candidate. Furthermore, the message center can provide a facility for enabling a subscriber to create a diary regarding online dating service activities. The diary can include the authored notes, summaries, impressions, videos, movies, pictures, graphics, colors, messages, threaded messages, threaded list views, and the like.
US07917436B2 Internet billing method
An Internet billing method comprises establishing an agreement between an Internet access provider and a customer, and an agreement between the Internet access provider and a vendor, wherein the Internet access provider agrees with the customer and the vendor to bill the customer and remit to the vendor for products and services purchased over the Internet by the customer from the vendor. The provider creates access to the Internet for the customer. When the customer orders a product or service over the Internet from a vendor, transactional information transmitted between the customer and the vendor is also transmitted to the provider. The provider then bills the transaction amount to the customer and remits a portion of the transaction amount to the vendor, keeping the differential as a fee for providing the service. As a result of this method, there is no need for any customer account numbers or vendor account numbers to be transmitted over the Internet, thereby maintaining the security of that information.
US07917435B2 Apparatus and method for facilitating account restructuring in an electronic bill payment system
A system can have a plurality of participating entities including a plurality of receivers and a plurality of originators. A data file indicative of an account restructuring of a given one of the receivers can be obtained. The data file specifies at least one old account number associated with the receiver and at least one new account number associated with the receiver. The data is placed in a conversion data structure in a format to facilitate account number conversion. Remittance data, including the old or new account number of the receiver, is obtained from a given one of the participating entities, and is routed in accordance with the old or new account number in the remittance data, and the data structure.
US07917433B2 Automated process for fully insuring large bank deposits that provides compensating payments between banks that offer different deposit terms
An automated method and computer program product are provided for processing a large deposit that exceeds an established deposit insurance limit so that the large deposit is fully insured. The large deposit is received from a depositor by a first one of a plurality of unaffiliated banks. A processor receives an order placed by the first unaffiliated bank to process the large deposit. The first unaffiliated bank offers a first set of deposit terms to a first depositor. The processor assigns a portion of the large deposit not exceeding the established deposit insurance limit to a second one of the plurality of unaffiliated banks. The second unaffiliated bank offers a second set of deposit terms to a second depositor. The processor calculates the amount of a present value payment to be transferred between the first unaffiliated bank and the second unaffiliated bank to compensate for differences between the first and second sets of deposit terms.
US07917428B2 System and method for changing the view of a trading screen
A trading screen displays market information, such as working orders, buy and sell orders, and other items of interest, in association with values on a value axis. Each item of interest is therefore displayed in relation to the value axis to provide a trader with an intuitive display of the market. In one embodiment, a user can select a location associated with a particular value on the trading screen and upon an selection, for example, by a click of the mouse button, the value axis is repositioned so that the selected value is moved to a predefined location. During which, market information is moved to new locations that are associated with their respective values on the value axis.
US07917426B1 System and method for processing and displaying quantity information during user-configurable time periods
A system and method for displaying quantity related information determined for a plurality of time periods are described. According to one method, a trader may define one or more time periods for which a trading application may determine traded quantities, traded buys, traded sells, or other quantity related information at a plurality of price levels during the defined time periods. The trading application may then graphically display the quantities for each time period in relation to the static axis of prices. The method further includes periodically updating the displayed traded quantity to reflect the quantity during the defined time period, where the quantity is updated based on subsequent market updates that are received from the exchange for the tradable object.
US07917425B2 Method for directing and executing certified trading interests
Preferred embodiments of the subject invention comprise: (a) electronically receiving securities order-related data regarding a set of securities market participants; (b) electronically storing the received order-related data regarding the set of securities market participants; (c) electronically receiving a securities order-related query (or order parameters) from a first securities market participant; (d) based on the order-related query (or order parameters) received from the first securities market participant and on the securities order-related data regarding the set of securities market participants, computing a dissemination list of securities market participants based on ranking likely contras by probability of execution; and (e) transmitting that dissemination list to an entity who has been granted the privilege of receiving such lists in exchange for being contractually bound to respect confidentiality of the dissemination list and to use the list only for the purpose of sending securities-related information to members of the list.
US07917422B2 Open end mutual fund securitization process
A computer implemented system is provided for exchanging shares in an exchange traded product. A display is provided for displaying data representing shares of an exchange traded product comprising a leveraged portfolio of securities satisfying capitalization and performance criteria, the securities within the portfolio being weighted and having an expected future performance return greater than securities comprising a benchmark. The leveraged exchange traded product is configured for trading shares of the leveraged exchange traded product at a real time determined price related to the underlying price of each of the selected securities comprising the leveraged exchange traded product and related to the respective weightings of the selected securities. The exchange traded product can be open ended. An exchange computer is also provided for processing the exchange of the shares at a price related to the price of the securities within the leveraged portfolio, the exchange computer being configured to transmit data indicative of trades which occur intra-day over a communication network to an exchange clearing computer.
US07917417B2 System and method for organizational and personal portfolio
An intelligent and automated system and method for establishment, collection, and maintaining of organizational and personal portfolios. In relationship to the present invention the term intelligent refers to the systems program structure which facilitates simple user entry while performing complex operations and manipulations, transparent to the individual. The term automated relates to the structured computer algorithms implementing the present system. Additionally, users may customize interfaces and functions to improve their interactions with the present invention. Also multiple selected copies may be collected into repositories as the user desires. The present system functionality is offered as a complete package with hardware and software available through any internet connection. The combination of native code with design patterns to isolate repeated elements improves reliability and stability of system operation.
US07917416B2 Systems and methods for safeguarding employee stock options from stock price fluctuations
Systems and methods for hedging against stock price fluctuations are provided. These systems and methods are preferably directed towards providing executives holding company stock options with opportunities to limit their exposure to fluctuations in the price of stock issued by such companies. This is established through entering into transactions involving stock options with a counterparty.
US07917413B2 Message broadcasting billing system and method
A system and method for billing for network usage for broadcast transmission to broadcast message receiving devices located within a broadcast target area includes validating the broadcast message record for transmission over a broadcast transmission network and generating a validated broadcast message record as a function of the validating. The method also includes determining a density of broadcast receiving devices associated with the broadcast transmission network in the broadcast target area, calculating an area for message broadcast transmission within the broadcast target area served by the broadcast transmission network, and determining a length of the broadcast message contained within the validated broadcast message record. The method further includes calculating an incurred broadcast message billing amount for the broadcast message as a function of the determined broadcast message length, the calculated broadcast area, the determined density, the broadcast message originator identifier, and a broadcast transmission network billing rate parameter.
US07917410B2 Real-time accounting using wireless traffic control
A method for real time accrual basis accounting may involve detecting a purchase made via a computer network and obtaining a guarantee for the payment via the network based on the determined method of payment. The guarantee may be an escrow account or an insurance policy that guarantees payment. The premium may be charged back to the client. At least a portion of the proceeds of from the sale may be recorded as income in a general ledger database in real time. Network-enabled assets may provide automated depreciation updates to further automate the accounting process.
US07917407B1 Computer-implemented system and method for defining architecture of a computer system
A method of determining a computer system is provided. The method comprises categorizing the criticality level of each application based on a business impact assessment. The method includes identifying computer system configurations for an application based on a decision tree and on the criticality level of the application. The method also includes providing a computer system selected based on the computer system configurations.
US07917406B2 Introduction support method and system, and introduction method and system
Introduction service is supported, in order to activate and facilitate community activities. A community management center 1 searches for offered-service information that matches at least partly with an application designated by a coordinator terminal 2, and selects participants specified by detected offered-service information, as introduction candidates. Then, an introduction candidate list that describes private information, desired terms, and possessed value of ticket for each of the selected introduction candidates is displayed on a coordinator terminal 2. When the coordinator terminal 2 selects a participant to be introduced to the applicant, out of the introduction candidates described in the introduction candidate list, then, the private information and the desired terms of selected participant is displayed on a participant terminal 3 of the applicant.
US07917400B1 Environmentally conscious transaction determinations
The environmental impact of various transactions can be reduced or offset by determining the impact of various shipping and packaging options, and providing these options to customers. Customers then have the ability to select options that reduce the environmental impact of each transaction. A customer also can purchase environmental offsets to offset the determined impact. Customers can be provided with environmental impact information determined or tracked for each item viewed by the customer, such that each customer can be informed of the additional impact of each individual when making a selection. The selections and/or actions of a customer can be tracked such that environmentally friendly options and suggestions can be provided for subsequent transactions.
US07917398B2 Method and system for illustrating where a ticket is located in an event venue
A system and method of illustrating where at least one ticket is located in an event venue, comprising: accepting event criteria for at least one ticket and at least one event; accepting price criteria for the at least one ticket and the at least one event; displaying an interactive graphics-based event venue map illustrating a location of all sections at a venue with at least one ticket meeting the event criteria and price criteria; accepting section selection criteria, at least one section being selected from the interactive graphics-based event venue map; displaying ticket information in a web browsing language corresponding to the section selection criteria, the displayed ticket information in the web browsing language being able to be utilized to drill down to a specific ticket, causing a location of the specific ticket to be displayed in the interactive graphics-based event venue map; and enabling a capability to utilize the interactive graphics-based event venue map to choose a section of interest, causing corresponding ticket information to be displayed in the web browsing language.
US07917397B1 Merging private images for gifting
An e-commerce method involving on-line viewing of commercial article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. The method includes providing a host site accessible to an on-line viewer (shopper) and web-linkable to a retailer having an apparel site. These articles can be apparel from retail stores for viewing over the web, and the on-line viewer is linked to the host site. The shopper provides a personal-body structure, such as a photograph of a person captured in system memory, which is stored at the shopper's PC. Alternatively, the personal-body structure can be stored at the host site. Using the host site, the shopper is linked to the retailer's apparel site and images of articles are passed from that site to the host site. The images of articles are merged with the personal-body structure for view by the shopper.
US07917393B2 Probabilistic alert correlation
This invention uses probabilistic correlation techniques to increase sensitivity, reduce false alarms, and improve alert report quality in intrusion detection systems. In one preferred embodiment, an intrusion detection system includes at least two sensors to monitor different aspects of a computer network, such as a sensor that monitors network traffic and a sensor that discovers and monitors available network resources. The sensors are correlated in that the belief state of one sensor is used to update or modify the belief state of another sensor. In another embodiment of this invention, probabilistic correlation techniques are used to organize alerts generated by different sensors in an intrusion detection system. By comparing features of each new alert with features of previous alerts, rejecting a match if a feature fails to meet or exceed a minimum similarity value, and adjusting the comparison by an expectation that certain feature values will or will not match, the alerts can be grouped in an intelligent manner.
US07917392B2 System for separating mobile search traffic from web search traffic using keyword separation
A system is described for separating mobile search traffic from web search traffic. The system may include a processor, a memory and an interface. The memory may store a keyword, mobile data related to the keyword, web data related to the keyword, and a search request. The interface may communicate with a user. The processor may be operatively connected to the interface and the memory and may store the mobile data and web data in the memory. The processor may receive a search request from a user via the interface and may determine if the search request is mobile traffic or web traffic. The processor may then retrieve and serve the mobile data to the user if the search request is mobile traffic, or may retrieve and serve the web data to the user if the search request is web traffic.
US07917391B2 Integrated marketing portal for businesses
A method for creating solicitations based on geolocalization and observation. At remote terminal, a need is identified and a solicitation based on that need is created at a server based on commands sent over a network, such as a wireless network. In an example embodiment, a roofing company worker passing through a residential area spots a roof in need of work and based on the location of the spotter, transmits a command to a server to generate a mailing (e.g., email or regular mail) to the address responsively to the GPS data and other data.
US07917388B2 Marketing communication and transaction/distribution services platform for building and managing personalized customer relationships
An interactive marketing communication and transaction services platform for managing personalized customer relationships. The platform facilitates communication and transactions between consumers, retailers and manufacturers, by helping suppliers customize product/service offerings, presentations and advertising messages to reflect individual consumers' needs, while providing portals with premium advertising messages for personal interactive info/news/entertainment services. The core of the platform consists of i) a central database system with ‘product/retail information’ and ‘holistic purchase-behavior specific consumer profiles’, generated by registering on-line product/retail information retrieved by consumers, as well as purchases made both on-line and in-store, using a loyalty card; ii) software applications, that create ‘market intelligence’ on manufacturer/retailer offers, consumer purchase needs, market performance of products/retailers and impact of brand/retailer presentations and ads on consumer purchase behavior; and iii) standard performance indicators, that make it possible to benchmark individual consumer communication programs against each other.
US07917385B2 Forecasting demand and availability of resources of a military installation
Methods and computer systems for forecasting demand and availability of resources of a geographic region are provided. Physical, operational, traffic and construction data for a geographic region for a specified time period is utilized to compare the operational needs for at least one resource for a geographic region to the available resources to forecast demands and availability of the at least one resource for the geographic region over the specified time period and determine whether the demand for the at least one resource exceeds the availability of the at least one resource. The forecasted demand and availability of the at least one resource for the geographic region for the specified time period is stored and presented.
US07917383B2 Method and system for boosting the average revenue per user of products or services
An enhanced business reporting methodology and system architecture provide a way to receive, store, and manipulate customer and revenue data to increase average revenue per user for a business. The system and method analyze a business's current revenue streams and historical revenue trends to identify those revenue streams that may benefit from stimulation, assess the effectiveness of past marketing campaigns, select a revenue stream and strategy to increase the revenue for the selected revenue stream, select a previously successful marketing campaign consistent with the selected strategy. The system and method analyze the customer base to identify characteristics of customers who have responded positively to previous marketing campaigns and whose revenue has increased as a result, in order to create statistical models to identify customers with similar traits, and apply the statistical models to score and select customers to contact during future campaigns.
US07917381B1 Compensation system for selected paths in hierarchical networks
A compensation system is provided which assigns compensations to nodes in specific paths within a hierarchical network. The system receives a task and a compensation method from an original poster and generates an original, uniquely identifiable posting, which can be viewed by various contacts. If any of these contacts is unwilling or unable to achieve the task, then they can generate a derived uniquely identifiable posting based on the original posting, which can then be viewed by one or more of their contacts. This process is repeated until an Nth level contact achieves the task, forming a hierarchical network of contacts with the original poster as a root node of the network. The contacts in the chain of contacts from the original poster to the achieving contact are compensated according to the stated compensation method. Contacts not in the achieving contact path are compensated differently from those in the path.
US07917376B2 System and method for monitoring patient care
Systems and methods are provided for facilitating management of health care in medical facilities such as hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms, etc., for example by monitoring and assessing the quality of patient care. Data is collected and operated on relating to medical conditions, treatment, cost, care, events, outcomes and results of treatments, and data representing the collective experience of similar patients is mined to discover opportunities to improve the quality of health care. Statistical and comparative data and reports including such and other information indicate a quality of care and provide epidemiologically cogent information. Quality of care may be considered as achieving desired or expected norms of performance, including success, in a timely fashion, and can be judged not just by what functionally happens during a patient instigated encounter, but also by long term outcomes evidenced by the patient's passage through the health care delivery system.
US07917375B2 Medicine management apparatus and medicine management system
A medicine management apparatus 100 includes: a medicine storage 148 which stores a plurality of medicines used at a site of medical care; a storage and retrieval detector 146 which, when a medicine handling personnel manipulates the apparatus to store or retrieve an accommodated medicine to be accommodated in the apparatus, physically detects the target accommodated medicine for which the apparatus is manipulated, differentiating it from the other accommodated medicines; and a counter 150 which counts each type of the plurality of accommodated medicines. An injection prescription receiver 152 receives injection prescription data from an external prescription analyzer 250. A retrieval determining unit 124 determines whether the accommodated medicine detected as being retrieved is the accommodated medicine directed by the injection prescription data to be retrieved. A retrieval completion notification unit 154 transmits a retrieval completion signal to the prescription analyzer 250, prompted by the completion of the retrieval of the accommodated medicine directed by the prescription data to be retrieved.
US07917374B2 System and method for early identification of safety concerns of new drugs
Method and system for identifying safety concerns regarding a new drug. In one example, a database of healthcare claims is utilized and the method may include identifying from the database a first group of patients that have received the drug; extracting one or more medical events that the first group of patients have experienced; identifying a second group of patients that have received a comparator drug; extracting one or more medical events that the second group of patients have experienced; and comparing the one or more medical events of the first group to the one or more medical events of the second group to determine one or more common occurrences therebetween. The method may also include computing a probability value for each of the one or more common occurrences. In this way, embodiments of the present invention may be used to identify and quantify the probability that certain medical events will occur to patients taking the new drug.
US07917368B2 Method for interacting with users of speech recognition systems
A computer implemented method facilitates a user interaction via a speech-based user interface. The method acquires spoken input from a user in a form of a phrase of one or more words. It further determines, using a plurality of different domains, whether the phrase is a query or a command. If the phrase is the query the method retrieves and presents relevant items from a plurality of databases. If the phrase is a command, the method performs an operation.
US07917366B1 System and method for determining a personal SHG profile by voice analysis
According to one embodiment of the present invention a computerized voice-analysis device for determining an S,H,G profile is provided (as described herein, such an S,H,G profile relates to the strengths (e.g., relative strengths) of three human instinctive drives). Of note, the present invention may be used for one or more of the following: analyzing a previously recorded voice sample; real-time analysis of voice as it is being spoken; combination voice analysis—that is, a combination of: (a) previously recorded and/or real-time voice; and (b) answers to a questionnaire.
US07917358B2 Transient detection by power weighted average
A transient in a digital audio signal can be detected by generating a first set of spectral characteristics associated with a first portion of the digital audio signal and a second set of spectral characteristics associated with a second portion of the digital audio signal, wherein the first and second portions of the digital audio signal partially overlap, comparing values in the first set of spectral characteristics with corresponding values in the second set of spectral characteristics to generate a set of ratios, weighting the set of ratios, and analyzing at least a portion of the weighted set of ratios to detect a transient associated with the first portion of the digital audio signal. Further, an indicator identifying the presence of a detected transient can be output. Additionally, one or more ratios in the set of ratios can be weighted based on amplitude, frequency, or a power function.
US07917355B2 Word detection
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, in which data from web documents are partitioned into a training corpus and a development corpus are provided. First word probabilities for words are determined for the training corpus, and second word probabilities for the words are determined for the development corpus. Uncertainty values based on the word probabilities for the training corpus and the development corpus are compared, and new words are identified based on the comparison.
US07917353B2 Hybrid text segmentation using N-grams and lexical information
A hybrid n-gram/lexical analysis tokenization system including a lexicon and a hybrid tokenizer operative to perform both N-gram tokenization of a text and lexical analysis tokenization of a text using the lexicon, and to construct either of an index and a classifier from the results of both of the N-gram tokenization and the lexical analysis tokenization, where the hybrid tokenizer is implemented in at least one of computer hardware and computer software and is embodied within a computer-readable medium.
US07917339B2 Heat trace system design
Heat trace system design is disclosed. In some embodiments, pipe system data including data associated with pipe system components is received, and in response to receiving a selection of a pipe system component, data associated with a set of one or more pipe system components including the selected pipe system component is automatically extracted from the received pipe system data. One or more heat trace system components for the set of pipe system components are determined based at least in part on the extracted data.
US07917336B2 Geometric source separation signal processing technique
A computer system that processes mixtures of signals, such as speech and noise sources derived from multiple simultaneous microphone recordings, in order to separate them into their underlying sources. A source separation routine optimizes a filter structure by minimizing cross powers of multiple output channels while enforcing geometric constraints on the filter response. The geometric constraints enforce desired responses for given locations of the underlying sources, based on the assumption that the sources are localized in space.
US07917329B2 Electronic balance
An electronic balance 1 is provided with a measured weight storage controlling portion 33 for storing measured weight in sequence, a measuring mode storing portion 42 for storing a number of measuring modes where different averaging parameters are preset, an input portion for a measuring mode 72 which carries out an input operation for selecting one measuring mode from among a number of measuring modes, and an average weight display controlling portion 31 for calculating the average weight by averaging the number of measured weight on the basis of the averaging parameter in the measuring mode and displays the average weight in a display portion 60, and is characterized in that the electronic balance is further provided with an input portion 71 for making a modification which carries out an input operation for making a modification on the averaging parameter in the selected measuring mode, and the average weight display controlling portion 31 calculates the average weight by averaging the number of measured weight on the basis of the averaging parameter where a modification is made and displays the average weight in the display portion 60.
US07917325B2 Method for error containment and diagnosis in a fluid power system
In a method for error containment and diagnosis in a fluid power system the fluid volumetric flow of the overall system or at least a part thereof or a quantity dependent thereon is detected as a measurement quantity respectively during an operating cycle and is compared with stored references. In each case at the point in time of a deviation or change in the deviation from the reference the method finds at which component or at which components (10 through 14) in the system an event has occurred influencing the fluid consumption in order to then to recognize same as subject to error. In the case of such a deviation or change therein and the simultaneous occurrence of several activities influencing fluid consumption by several components (10 through 14) a process of exclusion is performed, in which during the following activities involving at least one of such components (10 through 14) a check is made to see whether a deviation or a change in the deviation has occurred, and in each of such further examination steps the components involved are excluded from such further examination, if no deviation or change in the deviation takes place.
US07917318B2 Structure for a duty cycle measurement circuit
A design structure for a circuit for measuring the absolute duty cycle of a signal anywhere on an integrated circuit device is provided. The circuit has a plurality of substantially identical pulse shaper elements, each of which expand the pulse of an input signal whose duty cycle is to be measured by a same amount. The outputs of the pulse shaper elements may be coupled to substantially identical divider circuits whose outputs are coupled to a multiplexer that selects two inputs for output to a set of master/slave configured flip-flops, one input serving as a clock and the other as data to the flip-flops. The flip-flops sample the divider outputs selected by the multiplexer to detect if the dividers have failed or not. The outputs of the flip-flops are provided to an XOR gate which outputs a duty cycle signal indicative of the duty cycle of the input signal.
US07917310B2 Fault detector and method of detecting faults
A fault detector for detecting valve movement of a valve in a fuel injector of an engine system, the valve includes an electromagnetic actuator arranged to move the valve between first and second valve positions, the engine system includes a sensor for sensing a current through the actuator. The detector includes a controller arranged to control the sensor; receive sensor data related to the current through the actuator; analyze the received data for current discontinuities; and output a valve movement signal dependent upon the current discontinuities. The controller is arranged to sense current during a finite sampling window, move the sampling window from a first window position to a later window position for one or more subsequent injection events; determine a new sampling window position on based a valve movement signal output the two preceding windows; and feedback the new sampling window position for a subsequent injection event.
US07917308B2 Process for determining a molecular weight distribution in a polymer
The invention relates to a process for determining a molecular weight distribution in a polymer. When a polymer is prepared, chains of different length are formed. Correspondingly, a distribution of the molecular weights of the chains of a polymer arises.It is an object of the invention to be able to determine the molecular weight distribution in an improved manner compared to the prior art.The object of the invention is achieved by describing starting data G*(ω) available in numerical form, i.e. the complex shear modulus measured as a function of frequency or the mastercurve constructed therefrom, are described by an analytical function. In this way, exact knowledge of the relaxation behaviour is available in improved form, in particular also in the case of prolonged relaxation times. This enables a valid determination of the relaxation time spectrum and hence a fundamentally more valid calculation of the molecular weight distribution.
US07917297B2 Methods, software arrangements, storage media, and systems for genotyping or haplotyping polymorphic genetic loci or strain identification
The present invention relates generally to systems, methods, storage media, and software arrangements for genotyping and/or haplotyping a sequence of polymorphic genetic loci in a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample or identifying a strain variant from the DNA sample. Exemplary embodiments of systems, methods, storage media, and software arrangements may perform the optimization of the design of one or more microarrays, each containing a set of oligonucleotide probes capable of detecting one or more known genotypes and/or haplotypes at given polymorphic genetic loci or identifying the strain variant, by optimizing the set of oligonucleotides to be incorporated into the microarrays and by optimizing the arrangement of a set of oligonucleotides on the microarrays. The optimization may be achieved through the application of one or more optimization procedures. The instant invention may be useful in typing individuals at the HLA loci or other polymorphic genetic loci, or may be employed to quickly identify viral or bacterial pathogens from which genome sequence information is available.
US07917289B2 Perspective view primary flight display system and method with range lines
A display system for a vehicle includes a navigation database storing navigation data; a terrain sensor configured to gather terrain data; a processor adapted to receive the navigation data and the terrain data and operable to supply one or more image rendering display commands based upon the navigation data and the terrain data; and a display device. The display device is coupled to receive the image rendering display commands and operable, in response thereto, to render (i) a perspective view image representative of the terrain data and the navigation data and including terrain and (ii) at least one line on the perspective view image that extends at least partially across the terrain and represents at least one of a ground-referenced range to a fixed location on the terrain and a vehicle-referenced range from the vehicle to a fixed range away from the vehicle.
US07917286B2 Database assisted OCR for street scenes and other images
Optical character recognition (OCR) for images such as a street scene image is generally a difficult problem because of the variety of fonts, styles, colors, sizes, orientations, occlusions and partial occlusions that can be observed in the textual content of such scenes. However, a database query can provide useful information that can assist the OCR process. For instance, a query to a digital mapping database can provide information such as one or more businesses in a vicinity, the street name, and a range of possible addresses. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, this mapping information is used as prior information or constraints for an OCR engine that is interpreting the corresponding street scene image, resulting in much greater accuracy of the digital map data provided to the user.
US07917284B2 Mobile device with on-screen optical navigation
A mobile computing device, including a main body, a processor and associated memory housed within the main body, a display screen housed within the main body and responsive to signals from the processor, an optical sensor fixed to the main body for capturing successive images and providing image signals representative of the captured images to the processor, and a navigation module associated with the processor for determining, based on the image signals, a relative movement between the main body and a reference surface and moving a pointer on the display screen based on the determined relative movement.
US07917283B2 Engine control unit systems and methods for a boat propulsion system
A predicted boat speed value generator, in accordance with one or more embodiments, receives an engine rotation signal, an intake pressure value, and other detection signals including shift position, and provides a predicted boat speed value. A control signal generator determines the fuel injection amount, the amount of air, and the ignition timing based on the predicted boat speed to provide respective control signals. The predicted boat speed value generator includes a predicted boat speed mapped value extraction process to search through the predicted boat speed value map during the constant speed operation and acceleration, based on the rotational speed and the intake pressure, to extract the predicted boat speed mapped value “d” for output. A predicted decelerating boat speed value output process establishes the initial predicted boat speed value to provide the attenuated predicted boat speed value in every cycle.
US07917280B2 Method and device for operating an internal combustion engine
In order to operate an internal combustion engine, a fresh-air quantity, a residual-gas quantity and a fuel quantity are provided as a function of a load demand. During a change of load from a first to a second load demand, provision is made for the residual-gas quantity to first be provided according to the first load demand and for the fuel quantity to first be provided according to the second load demand.
US07917279B2 Method of controlling a mechanical compression ratio, a closing timing of an intake valve and air stream
A spark ignition type internal combustion engine comprises a variable compression ratio mechanism able to change a mechanical compression ratio, a variable valve timing mechanism able to control a closing timing of an intake valve, and an air flow control valve controlling an air flow in a cylinder and able to control the amount of intake air fed into a combustion chamber. The mechanical compression ratio is made maximum so as to obtain the maximum expansion ratio at the time of engine low load operation and the actual compression ratio at the time of engine low load operation is made an actual compression ratio substantially the same as that at the time of engine medium and high load operation. When the engine load is in an extremely low load region, the air flow control valve is used to control an amount of intake air fed into the combustion chamber. Due to this, a high heat efficiency can be realized even in a region where the amount of intake air is difficult to control by changing the closing timing of the intake valve.
US07917271B2 Vehicle and traveling state determination method of vehicle
When an accelerator opening Acc is smaller than a flat road threshold Aref1, an ECO indicator is illuminated, and when the accelerator opening Acc is equal to or larger than a climbing road threshold Aref2 larger than the flat road threshold Aref1, the ECO indicator is extinguished (S120 and S220), when the accelerator opening Acc is equal to or larger than the flat road threshold Aref1 and smaller than the climbing road threshold Aref2, the previous state of the ECO indicator is maintained until climbing road determination performed based on a vehicle speed V is finished, and when the climbing road determination is finished, the ECO indicator is illuminated or extinguished based on the result of the determination.
US07917268B2 Vehicle clutch engagement control system and method
A clutch engagement control system for a vehicle transmission. The system comprises an automatic transmission gearset and at least one hydraulic clutch coupled to the gearset. A hydraulic pressure controller is coupled to the clutch. A clutch engagement controller is coupled to the pressure controller, and an altitude sensor is coupled to the clutch engagement controller. The clutch engagement controller is configured to receive from the altitude sensor an altitude signal corresponding to the altitude of the vehicle. The clutch engagement controller adjusts a hydraulic pressure request of the pressure controller in accordance with the altitude signal, such that the clutch engages with at least one of a rate and pressure corresponding to the sensed altitude. A method employs the system.
US07917265B2 System for automated excavation control based on productivity
A control system for a mobile excavation machine is disclosed. The control system may have a ground engaging work tool, a sensor, and a controller. The sensor may be configured to sense a parameter indicative of a current travel speed of the mobile excavation machine and generate a speed signal in response thereto. The controller may be in communication with the ground engaging work tool and the sensor, and configured to receive the signal. The controller may also be configured to determine an amount of material currently being moved by the work tool and calculate a current productivity value associated with removal of the material based on the speed signal and the determined amount of material currently being moved. The controller may be further configured to control the ground engaging work tool to vary the amount of material currently being moved in response to the current productivity value.
US07917264B2 Seat apparatus for vehicle
A seat apparatus for a vehicle having a side support portion that is controlled depending on a road condition, includes a distance calculating means for calculating a distance of a straight portion between a first curve, on which a vehicle is supposed to be driven, and a second curve, on which the vehicle is supposed to be driven after the first curve, based on an electronic map data, a first controlling level calculating means for calculating a first controlling level at which the side support portion is controlled when the vehicle is driven on the first curve, a second controlling level calculating means for calculating a second controlling level at which the side support portion is controlled when the vehicle is driven on the straight portion, and a driving means for operating the side support portion based on the first controlling level and the second controlling level.
US07917263B2 Activation system and method for passenger protection device
An activation system for a passenger protection device comprises a pair of communication wires, a central unit for detecting currents flowing in the communication wires, and a satellite unit for varying the currents flowing in the communication wires based on output data of an acceleration detection sensor. The central unit calculates a sum of the detected currents and compares the sum with a first predetermined level to detect the output data of the sensor. The central unit also calculates a difference between the detected currents and compares the difference with a second predetermined level, thereby detecting failure in the communication wires and stopping activation of the passenger protection device.
US07917262B2 Control apparatus for vehicle
An ECU executes a program that includes the steps of: sensing an accelerator position (S100); calculating a target engine torque of a manipulating system “a” from the accelerator position (S200); holding the target engine torque of the manipulating system “a” (S300); calculating a target driving force of the manipulating system “A” from the target engine torque of the manipulating system “a” (S400); arbitrating in driving force between the target driving force of the manipulating system “A” and the target driving force of the supporting system “B” (S500); and, if the target driving force of the manipulating system “A” is selected as a result of the arbitration (NO in S600), outputting the held target engine torque of the manipulating system “a” as the target engine torque to the engine ECU (S900).
US07917259B2 Distributed vehicle service method and system
A method and system for conducting a vehicle service comprises the steps of receiving signals representative of vehicle parameters, accessing data and/or software necessary for performing the vehicle service from at least one remote computer over a data transmission network, and performing signal processing related to the vehicle service based on the signals representative of the vehicle parameters and the accessed data and/or software. Since the data and/or software necessary for conducting the vehicle diagnostic analysis is distributed in different systems that are connected via a data communication network, an automotive service system can minimize the size of software stored locally and can access most of the information and/or algorithm required for conducting the vehicle diagnostic analysis from a remote system.
US07917253B2 Method for making vehicle-related data available to an authorized third party
A method for obtaining vehicle-related data from a vehicle equipped with a telematics unit and making that data temporarily available to a third party that has been approved by an authorized user, such as the vehicle owner. This enables the authorized user to decide which third parties, if any at all, are to receive vehicle-related data so that they may take advantage of any promotions or other services that are offered by the third parties. The vehicle-related data is preferably maintained on a temporary basis so that after the occurrence of an event, such as the expiration of a predetermined period of time or after the authorized third party has already accessed the vehicle-related data, the data is deleted.
US07917245B2 Automated material handling system
Objects to be transported which are transported between at least one storage unit and a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses by a plurality of transport vehicles in accordance with a command of a controller are managed inexpensively and easily and with high reliability. An ID card 20 incorporating a wireless communication function is installed on all carriers 18, and an ID read/write unit 25 is installed in some transport vehicles 10. Further, a carrier ID is read or written with respect to the ID card 20 in accordance with a command of an MCS 4 connected to the ID read/write unit 25, so as to manage the carrier ID by a carrier ID management unit 4a.
US07917243B2 Method for building three-dimensional objects containing embedded inserts
A method for generating build sequence data for a computer-aided design model of a three-dimensional object, the method comprising identifying a location of an insert data representation in the computer-aided design model, slicing the computer-aided design model into a plurality of sliced layers, generating a plurality of support layers for at least a portion of the plurality of sliced layers, and generating an unfilled region in the computer-aided design model at the identified location of the insert data representation.
US07917238B1 Portable music device and systems
A portable music device which integrates certain features of a personal music listening device with certain features of a personal audio recorder whereby a user can listen through headphones to a music selection containing both the instrumental score and/or integrated vocals. Utilizing the device, the user can sing through a microphone connected to the device while simultaneously listening to one or more parts of the music score/lyric tracks to create a music recording of the user's voice lyrics without recording the instrumental score and/or the integrated vocals. The portable music device may include or work with a system that includes features to procure, store and manage (both electronically and legally) copyrighted music.
US07917234B2 Manufacturing design and process analysis system
Methods, apparatuses and systems that facilitate the design, production and/or measurement tasks associated with manufacturing and other processes. In one embodiment, the present invention provides an understanding of how the multiple characteristics of a given process output are related to each other and to process inputs. This knowledge facilitates a reduction in measurement costs. It also facilitates an understanding of the sometimes complex interrelationships between design targets, design tolerances, process inputs, process control variables, average process output and variation in the process output. As disclosed in more detail below, embodiments of the present invention facilitate 1.) determination of design target values, 2.) determination of design application limits, 3.) design of process inputs, 4.) determination of process control variable settings, and/or 5.) reduction of measurement costs.
US07917228B2 Medical lead adaptor assembly
An adaptor, including a housing and a flexible circuit, facilitates electrical connection between a connector of an implantable medical lead and an external medical device. The adaptor housing includes an inner surface forming a longitudinally extending connector receptacle and a first portion of the flexible circuit is adapted to be positioned within the connector receptacle, substantially conforming to the inner surface, such that at least one contact portion of the flexible circuit is directed inward and positioned in a location corresponding with at least one ring contact of the lead connector when the lead connector is engaged within the receptacle. A second portion of the flexible circuit is adapted to reside outside the housing such that at least one contact pad, coupled to the at least one contact portion via a conductive pathway, is accessible for coupling to at least one contact element of the external medical device.
US07917219B2 Passive electronic network components designed for direct body fluid exposure
An EMI filter capacitor assembly and implantable passive electronic network components utilize biocompatible and non-migratable materials to adapt the electronic components for direct body fluid exposure. The assembly includes a capacitor having first and second sets of electrode plates which are constructed of non-migratable biocompatible material. A conductive hermetic terminal of non-migratable and biocompatible material adjacent to the capacitor is conductively coupled to the second set of electrode plates. One or more conductive terminal pins having at least an outer surface of non-migratable and biocompatible material are conductively coupled to the first set of electrode plates, while extending through the hermetic terminal in non-conductive relation. The terminal pins may be in direct contact with the first set of electrode plates, or in contact with a termination surface of conductive connection material. The termination surface is also constructed of non-migratable and biocompatible materials.
US07917210B2 Method and apparatus for cardiac protection pacing
A pacing system delivers cardiac protection pacing to protect the heart from injuries associated with ischemic events. The pacing system detects an ischemic event and, in response, initiates one or more cardiac protection pacing sequences each including alternative pacing and non-pacing periods. In one embodiment, the pacing system initiates cardiac protection pacing sequences including at least one postconditioning sequence to protect the heart from a detected ischemic event and a plurality prophylactic preconditioning sequences to protect the heart from probable future ischemic events.
US07917204B2 Method and implantable medical device for measuring an electrical bio-impedance of a patient
In a method and device for measuring an electrical bio-impedance of a patient at least one impedance measurement signal is generated by a current pulse generator, the signal having at least one asymmetric multiphasic impedance measurement waveform that is asymmetric in term of pulse amplitude and/or pulse width relative to the operating voltage of the current pulse generator. The waveform has a DC component that is substantially equal to zero, and is adapted to the available voltage headroom of an implantable device that contains the current pulse generator. The impedance measurement signal with the aforementioned waveform is applied to a patient and a resulting impedance signal is produced thereby, from which at least one impedance value is determined.
US07917203B2 Method and probe for measuring the impedance of human or animal body tissue
A method for determining whether a probe for measuring the impedance of human or animal body tissue has been placed over a boundary between different tissue types is described. The probe used in the method comprises at least a first (16), a second (22), a third (18) and a fourth (20) electrode arranged such that the third (18) and fourth (20) electrodes are each located substantially the same distance from both the first (16) and second (22) electrodes. The method comprises: driving a current between the first (16) and the second (22) electrodes; measuring a first value of an electrical parameter between the third (18) and the fourth (20) electrode; and determining whether the probe has been placed over a boundary between different tissue types based on the first value. A probe for carrying out the method is also described.
US07917199B2 Patient event marking in combination with physiological signals
Methods for receiving a patient mark in an implanted device. A patient may experience symptoms that indicative of a neurological event or are common precursors to more severe clinical symptoms. The patient may activate a patient activator. Activation of the patient activator can cause the patient activator to transmit the patient mark to an implanted device. The implanted device may adjust physiological data being stored in response to the patient mark, including data before and after the patient mark. The patient mark may be used to fine tune the detection algorithms and otherwise tune the detection capability of the implanted device and may also be used as an aid in statistical analysis of the stored physiological data.
US07917198B2 Calibration of performance monitor
In the solution of the invention, an association is formed between activity information characterizing the activity level of a user and a performance parameter value proportional to the heart rate information of the user, the activity information and heart rate information having been measured in a user-specific performance monitor, and the heart rate information being responsive to the activity level.
US07917197B1 Methods and devices for determining exercise diagnostic parameters
A device, such as an implantable cardiac device, and methods for determining exercise diagnostic parameters of a patient are disclosed. Specifically, a maximum observed heart rate of a patient during exercise can be identified when an activity level and a heart rate measurement of the patient exceed predetermined thresholds. Included are methods for filtering out premature heartbeats or noise from the maximum heart rate determination. Methods of determining other exercise parameters, such as workload are also disclosed. The device includes hardware and/or software for performing the described methods.
US07917195B2 Systems, methods and computer program products for heart monitoring
The present invention provides systems, methods and computer program products for monitoring a heart. According to one embodiment, the system includes an implantable registering unit. The registering unit comprises a first controller structured to register an electrical signal from the heart. The system includes a second controller in operable communication with the first controller. The second controller comprises a data repository structured to receive data corresponding to the registered electrical signal and being structured to store the data. The data repository stores data corresponding to a baseline electrical signal of the heart. The second controller is structured to receive the data from the first controller corresponding to the registered electrical signal and to compare the registered electrical signal to the baseline electrical signal to determine whether the heart is functioning properly.
US07917190B2 Image acquisition and reconstruction method for functional magnetic resonance imaging
Acquisition of MR data during a fMRI study employs a hybrid PR pulse sequence to acquire projection views from which multi-slice image frames may be reconstructed that depict the BOLD response to an applied stimulus or performed task. Composite images are reconstructed at each slice using the combined interleaved projection views from all the acquired image frames. The composite images are used to reconstruct the highly undersampled image frames.
US07917180B2 Button with an included display
A mobile device is provided that includes a main display screen and at least one button that includes a secondary display screen. The disclosure also provides a method for providing information on a mobile device. The method includes providing a keypad on the mobile device including a display screen on at least one of the buttons on the keypad. The method also includes displaying the information on the display screen on the button.
US07917179B2 Task display switching method, portable apparatus and portable communications apparatus
A task display switching method, a portable apparatus and a portable communications apparatus which, when a plurality of software applications are activated and processed in parallel, make it possible to switch a display between each of the software applications with ease. According to the task display switching method, a portable apparatus capable of processing a plurality of tasks in parallel and of displaying a plurality of display regions for displaying data, an icon associated with a task displayed on a first display region is generated automatically or manually, and the generated icon is displayed in a second display region. When any icon thus generated is selected from a plurality of icons displayed on the second display region, the task associated with the selected icon is restored and displayed in the first display region.
US07917174B2 Method and system for the configuration of a mobile station baseband circuit for an acoustic accessory
A method and system for the configuration of a mobile station baseband circuit for an acoustic accessory having an identifier, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether the mobile device recognizes the identifier of the acoustic device; and configuring the baseband circuit with a DSP filter response and CODEC acoustic gain parameters for the acoustic device if the mobile device recognizes the identifier of the acoustic device. The system comprising: an identifier for each of the plurality of acoustic devices; a local memory in the mobile station storing a frequency (filter) response and gain parameters for at least one of the plurality of acoustic devices and for mapping them to the identifier; and a digital signal processor to re-shape an acoustic frequency response and adjust an audio gain of a baseband circuit for the mobile station based on the stored frequency response and gain parameters.
US07917157B2 Location services for mobile communication system
There is disclosed a method of providing location information in a mobile communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a request for a current location of a mobile station; determining a time at which a last known location of the mobile station was determined; comparing the time to a threshold time limit; and providing, as the current location, the last known location if the time is within the threshold time limit.
US07917156B2 Position determination for a wireless terminal in a hybrid position determination system
Techniques to determine a position estimate for a wireless terminal. An accurate position estimate for the terminal is initially obtained (e.g., based on a first (accurate) position determination sub-system). For each of one or more transmitters (e.g., base stations) in a second (less accurate) position determination sub-system, an “expected” pseudo-range is computed based on the accurate position estimate for the terminal and the base station location, a “measured” pseudo-range is also obtained, and a pseudo-range residual is then determined based on the expected pseudo-range and the measured pseudo-range. Thereafter, to determine an updated position estimate for the terminal, measured pseudo-ranges are obtained for a sufficient number of transmitters. The measured pseudo-range for each base station may be corrected based on the associated residual. The updated position estimate is then determined based on the corrected pseudo-ranges for these transmitters.
US07917151B2 Flexible network architecture with user group support
A base station of a mobile communication network is connected to a core network and is operable in a normal mode and in a direct mode. The base station detects a request originating from a first user equipment to communicate with a second user equipment. The first user equipment is in direct reach of the base station. The base station establishes a communication link between the first and the second user equipment, and checks if the second user equipment is also within direct reach of the base station. The base station operates the communication link in direct mode, if yes, and operates the communication link in normal mode, otherwise.
US07917148B2 Social musical media rating system and method for localized establishments
A method and system are provided for enabling users in shared physical places to collaboratively rate the music playing within such places by using portable computing devices on their person. In one embodiment, the portable computing devices are mobile phones and each user may independently rate a currently playing musical piece within the physical place by sending an electronic message from their phone, for example in SMS format. The method and system further enables the receipt of a plurality of such rating messages, the computing of a statistical result, and the providing of the statistical result to each of the plurality of portable computing devices. In this way a group of people may collectively listen to a currently playing musical piece in a physical place, may each provide a subjective rating of the musical piece, and may each receive an indication of the collaborative result of the provided ratings.
US07917147B2 Method of monitoring performance, performance monitoring system, and network performance monitoring apparatus
A method of monitoring performance of a communications network supporting a plurality of communications devices comprises providing a number of the plurality of the communications terminals with respective software agents to make respective measurements in relation to an attribute of a communications service supported by the communications network. The number of the plurality of communications terminals is equipped with position determination capabilities so as to provide global position information with respect to a measurement made. The measurement made and the corresponding location is communicated to a performance processing application that supports a database and stored by the performance processing application in the database, thereby recording a representation of a variation of the attribute of the communications service with respect to location.
US07917142B2 Comprehensive registration method for wireless communication system
In a wireless communication system including an access terminal operating based on a hierarchical protocol stack requiring registration for each of individual layers and/or services, a base station providing a wireless access service to the access terminal, and network elements required for performing the registration for each of individual layers and/or services with respect to the access terminal, a comprehensive registration method is provided where the access terminal transmitting to the base station or requesting from the network parameters required for the access terminal to register in at least one layer and service, and the a base station transmits to the corresponding network elements parameters required for the access terminal to register in the at least one layer and/or service and receiving the parameters from the network elements. The access terminal is registered in the at least one layer and/or service depending on the collected parameters. Redundant procedures in the registration of individual layers and/or services are reduced by considering characteristics of the respective layers and/or services, thereby enabling seamless handover as well as fast service.
US07917141B2 Method for tuning a system to a plurality of service signals
A method for tuning a system to a plurality of service signals. The method uses a first and a second tuning process. The first tuning process is adapted and performed to search and find carrier signals of potential service signals and to determine frequencies of potential services corresponding to the service signals. The second tuning processing is adapted and used to register to the system the services corresponding to the service signals based on the determined frequencies.
US07917140B2 Initial cell search in mobile communications systems
An initial search for locating cells in a telecommunication system includes defining a set of carrier frequencies to be searched, and selecting as a cell search mode either a wide cell search mode or a narrow cell search mode, wherein selecting the cell search mode is based on a level of frequency generation accuracy. The wide cell search mode searches a wider frequency range than the narrow cell search mode searches. For each carrier frequency in the set of carrier frequencies to be searched, a most-recently selected cell search mode is used when searching for a cell transmitting on the carrier frequency. The narrow cell search mode is used only when the level of frequency generation accuracy is better than an expected worst level of frequency generation accuracy.
US07917134B2 Method and system for determining deterioration in the quality of a mobile telephony network
A method for determining deteriorations in the quality of a mobile or fixed telephony network on a day D (or at any other frequency, for example hour or minute) by implementing one or more items of special equipment in the network, wherein the method implements at least one measurement means and at least one calculation means, characterised in that the method including at least: a stage for selecting (S1) the Usage Messages (MU) (1) corresponding to each call of the day D (2a) or at any other frequency (for example hour or minute); a stage for characterising (S2) groups of UMs corresponding to the callbacks from among the UMs of the calls selected (4); a stage for filtering (S3a) the UMs in order to separate the UMs called “incoming—outgoing” (5), the UMs called “return incoming” (6) and the UMs called “return outgoing” (7); a stage for calculating at least one indicator (S7) by grouping the UMs (15) as a function of several common data fields; a stage for calculating the callback rates for an indicator; a stage for intervening to restore or improve the quality of the calls in the section of the network defined by at least one field code common to several UMs.
US07917129B2 Method and apparatus for distributed data transfer over multiple independent wireless networks
The present invention provides for methods and apparatus for fragmenting a single message and sending the message fragments over multiple independent networks to a single receiving unit. The receiving unit then reassembles the message fragments to generate the original message. The preferred apparatus embodiment is a wireless radio frequency modem that can both receive and transmit fragmented messages over multiple independent networks.
US07917127B2 Apparatus for changing the behavior of an electronic device
A novel apparatus and method for changing the behavior of an electronic device is provided. In an embodiment, an electronic device includes the functionality of a cellular phone, a voice mail system and a calendar application. The device is configured to use the calendar application to determine whether to direct a phone call to the user or whether to instantly direct the call to voice mail.
US07917125B2 Method and apparatus for managing message history data for a mobile communication device
A method and apparatus for managing history data of messages received from and transmitted to other users by a user of a mobile communication device is provided. Message history data is extracted from received and transmitted messages and stored such that a user of the mobile communication device may easily input a conditional request to the device and view message history data associated with a specific other user or message history data identified by conditional data input to the device.
US07917124B2 Third party access gateway for telecommunications services
A telecommunications architecture exposes telecommunications services to third parties through a secure access gateway. The third parties may be other telecommunications service providers who employ the services to support their own products and services. The access gateway provides a secure, standardized, and controlled access platform for the exposed services, and addresses the technical problems associated with such access. In addition to providing technical solutions for efficient and secure access to exposed services, the architecture also provides an additional revenue channel for existing telecommunication service providers.
US07917085B2 System and method for blocking devices from a carrier network
There is disclosed a system and method for blocking a device from a carrier network. In an embodiment, the method comprises defining an unauthorized combination filter including one or more device parameters; attaching the unauthorized combination filter to a carrier; comparing the device parameter values in the unauthorized combination filter to device parameter values stored in the device; and if the device parameter values stored in the device match the device parameter values in the unauthorized combination filter, then blocking the device from accessing the carrier network. The device parameter values stored in the device may include one or more of a device type value, a device operating system version value, and a device application version value, and the method further comprises comparing these one or more values to corresponding device parameter values defined in the unauthorized combination filter. The unauthorized combination filter may be attached to a carrier by providing a carrier identifier.
US07917074B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device including a pressure member that presses an endless fixing belt toward a fixing nip portion from the inner circumferential surface side; a sliding sheet that covers the pressure member; and a regulating member arranged on an end part of the sliding sheet for regulating the slack of the sliding sheet.
US07917071B2 Transfer belt unit and image forming apparatus using the same
An image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt unit which has an intermediate transfer belt for supporting toner images and primary transfer rollers for pressing the intermediate transfer belt against corresponding photoreceptor drums and moves the intermediate transfer belt along the surface of each photoreceptor drum to transfer the toner images to the intermediate transfer belt. The intermediate transfer belt is formed so as to be 30 μm to 50 μm in average thickness, each primary transfer roller is arranged at a position, along the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt, which is deviated downstream with respect to the moving direction from the position where the intermediate transfer belt is in contact with the photoreceptor and which is projected toward the photoreceptor drum side so as to press the intermediate transfer belt against photoreceptor with a nip pressure ranging from 10 gf/cm2 to 40 gf/cm2.
US07917070B2 Intermediate transfer device and image forming apparatus using same
An intermediate transfer device includes a secondary intermediate transfer member configured to transfer a toner image from an image bearing member via a primary intermediate transfer member, for transfer of the toner image onto a recording medium, a heating unit configured to heat the toner image on the secondary intermediate transfer member, and a deformation unit configured to deform the toner image on the secondary intermediate transfer member by application of pressure. A heating region in which the heating unit heats the toner image has a larger area than a deformation region in which the deformation unit deforms the toner image. The deformation region is provided on a downstream side from the heating region relative to a direction of movement of the secondary intermediate transfer member.
US07917061B2 Image forming apparatus
Disclosed is an image forming apparatus with an improved structure for mounting or dismounting a cleaning device. An image forming unit includes an image carrier for transporting a developer image. A cleaning device includes a cleaning member to remove residual developer from the image carrier. The cleaning device is mounted or dismounted to/from the image forming unit by moving along a first direction and along a second direction. A first guide device includes a restraining unit to generally restrict movement of the cleaning device in the second direction when the cleaning device moves in the first direction, and a receiving unit to receive the restraining unit so as to allow the cleaning device to move in the second direction when desirable.
US07917055B2 Toner container including a toner draining unit and a shutter, and corresponding image forming apparatus
A toner container includes a vessel for storing toner, a toner draining unit having a toner draining passage, and a shutter in the toner draining passage. The toner draining passage includes a horizontal passage and a connection passage. Further, the toner draining unit includes the horizontal passage, a middle part, and an external part.
US07917050B2 Wiring structure for an electrical device and an image forming apparatus equipped with such a wiring structure
A wiring structure of an image forming apparatus includes a main body frame; a cylindrical motor disposed on the main body frame and having a cylindrical surface, an end surface, and a peripheral edge between the cylindrical surface and the end surface; a wire routed near the motor and along the main body frame; and a flexible sheet member attached along the cylindrical surface of the motor so as to cover at least a part of the peripheral edge and having a shape substantially capable of maintaining the wire in a routed state.
US07917047B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a toner image forming means for forming a toner image on a belt member, a stretching member that stretches the inside of the belt member, a transfer member, a fur brush, and a controller. The transfer member presses against the stretching member through the belt member, forming a transfer portion for transferring a first toner image onto a recording material. The controller applies a first voltage of a predetermined polarity to the stretching member to transfer the first tone image onto the recording material. During an ejecting operation, the toner image forming member forms a second toner image which is not transferred to the recording material, and the stretching member is supplied with a second voltage that has the predetermined polarity and an absolute value smaller that an absolute value of the first voltage, and subsequently the fur brush electrostatically cleans the transfer member.
US07917036B2 Bi-directional optical module
An optical transceiver is provided which includes: a bi-directional optical subassembly; a printed circuit board which transmits and receives light for the bi-directional optical subassembly; and an outer casing which covers the bi-directional optical subassembly and the printed circuit board. The bi-directional optical subassembly includes: a laser diode; a photodiode; a stem on which to laser diode and the photo diode are mounted; a cap, which cooperates with the stern to seal the laser diode and the photodiode; and a crosstalk reducing structure for reducing optical and/or electric crosstalk. The crosstalk reducing structure may include a layer which is formed on an inner surface of the cap and is able to absorb an infrared ray.
US07917027B2 Actuator body and throttle mechanism
An actuator body and a throttle mechanism that are small and have a simple structure are provided. The actuator body comprises a polymer actuator 11 that bends and deforms by an electric driving source, an intermediate 12 that transmits the bending force of the polymer actuator, and an elastic body 13 to which the bending force is applied through the intermediate, wherein the dimension of a hole portion that is formed in the elastic body 13 changes when the bending force of the polymer actuator 11 is applied onto the elastic body 13 through the intermediate 12.
US07917022B2 Shaking sensing and correction apparatus and method
A shaking sensing unit includes a sensor sensing a rotation about at least one axis, a high pass filter passing only a signal having a frequency not less than a cutoff frequency of the high pass filter, among electrical signals output from the sensor, and a low pass filter passing only a signal having a frequency not greater than a cutoff frequency of the low pass filter and higher than the cutoff frequency of the high pass filter, among the electrical signals output from the sensor. The cutoff frequency of the high pass filter and the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter are variably determined according to a shaking frequency.
US07917021B2 Portable apparatus
A portable apparatus, comprising a first detector, a second detector, and a controller, is provided. The portable apparatus has a photographing function. The first detector detects a movement in a first direction. The second detector detects a second direction. The second direction is different from the first direction. The controller switches the running and suspension of a first and second function according to the combination of movements in the first and second directions. The first and second functions are different from each other.
US07917017B2 Motor drive apparatus and method
If a PWM duty instruction D1 determined by a duty calculation circuit exceeds an upper limit value, a duty signal processing circuit in a motor drive apparatus divides a switching current supply period in each of the phases into a first current supply period and a second current supply period. In the first current supply period, the duty is set to the upper limit value. In the second current supply period, the duty is set to 100%, and the length of the second current supply period is set depending upon the duty instruction.
US07917016B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07917015B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07917009B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07917007B2 Automatic track generation
A method of generating a dependent media item (911) is disclosed. The method comprises arranging a sequence of EDL elements (901-907) in an order, wherein at least an ordered sub-set of the EDL elements (901-907) are associated with track control attributes (912) for the dependent media item (911). The method further comprises producing a sequence of media items (904-908) in a source track (906) dependent upon at least some of the sequence EDL elements (901-907), and generating the dependent media item (911) dependent the track control attributes (912) and the order in which the sub-set of EDL elements is arranged.
US07917006B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07917004B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07917003B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07916997B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07916995B2 Method and device for recording digital data
Various applications record or handle uncompressed video, where the amount of information needed for each frame or field is constant, based on the video frame rate and color resolution of each pixel. Since various video frame rates and audio sample rates are defined and can be combined independently, the amount of audio samples per video frame may vary. The disclosed method allows packing audio samples and video samples into constant size containers, e.g. MXF containers, so that there is an integer amount of audio samples within the time period needed for one video frame, independent from the used video raster. The method includes generating constant length KLV encoded video packets, generating variable length KLV encoded audio packets corresponding to the same time period as the video packets, generating variable length KLV encoded data packets, wherein the sum of the lengths of the audio packet and the data packet are constant, and generating from said packets a constant size content package.
US07916990B2 Optical fiber bundle and method of manufacturing the same
A plurality of optical fibers are bundled, and the fiber bundle is cut at a part of a mouthpiece which is fixed on an intermediate part of the fiber bundle. Thus, the fiber bundle is divided into a first optical fiber bundle and a second optical fiber bundle. Division surfaces of the first and second optical fiber bundles have the same properties and condition since the first and second optical fiber bundles are formed of the fiber bundle that is obtained by bundling the same optical fibers. The first optical fiber bundle is assembled in an insertion section of an endoscope and the second optical fiber bundle is assembled in a flexible tube, and a first light guide in the insertion section of the endoscope and a second light guide in the flexible tube are formed. Thereby, a separable light transmission path of the light guide is formed.
US07916987B2 Beam homogenizer, laser irradiation apparatus, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device
The present invention is to provide a beam homogenizer, a laser irradiation apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, which can suppress the loss of a laser beam and form a beam spot having homogeneous energy distribution constantly on an irradiation surface without being affected by beam parameters of a laser beam. A deflector is provided at an entrance of an optical waveguide or a light pipe used for homogenizing a laser beam emitted from a laser oscillator. A pair of reflection planes of the deflector is provided so as to have a tilt angle to an optical axis of the laser beam, whereby the entrance of the optical waveguide or the light pipe is expanded. Accordingly, the loss of the laser beam can be suppressed. Moreover, by providing an angle adjusting mechanism to the deflector, a beam spot having homogeneous energy distribution can be formed at an exit of the optical waveguide.
US07916985B2 Integrated visible pilot beam for non-visible optical waveguide devices
In one embodiment, a radiation based analysis system comprises a first radiation source to generate first radiation having a wavelength outside the visible spectrum, a second radiation source to generate second radiation having a wavelength within the visible spectrum, and a waveguide coupler to couple a portion of the first radiation and a portion of the second radiation into a combined radiation beam such that the first radiation and the second radiation follow a path that is substantially coaxial.
US07916981B2 Optical modulator
An optical modulator, including: a substrate; an optical waveguide embedded in the substrate; a traveling wave electrode mounted on the substrate and having a traveling wave applied thereon so that a light wave is modulated by the traveling wave with an electro-optic effect. The traveling wave electrode includes a center electrode and ground electrodes; in which the optical waveguide has a plurality of interaction optical waveguides that form a Mach-Zehnder optical waveguide that modulates the light wave in a phase modulation manner when the traveling wave is applied to the traveling wave electrode, the interaction optical waveguides form a region where respective widths of the interaction optical waveguides are different from each other, and the center electrode and the ground electrodes are positioned such that interaction efficiencies between the high frequency electric signal and the light wave guided in the respective interaction optical waveguides are substantially equal to each other.
US07916978B2 Sensing device for sensing a position within a region
A sensing device for sensing a region provided on or in a surface having at least one region. The at least one region having printed therein or thereon coded data indicative of an identity of the at least one region, and visible information at least some of the information being at least partially related to the at least one region. The sensing device includes a sensor for sensing at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the at least one region and generating indicating data. The indicating data is at least partially indicative of the identity of the at least one region and at least one of movement and a position of the sensing device relative to the at least one region. The sensing device includes a communicator configured to communicate the indicating data to a computer system.
US07916975B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing control method
An image processing apparatus capable of regulating memory increase to realize cost reduction while securing the degree of freedom in programming by means of a small-sized programmable data processing section, and thereby improving processing performance. A programmable data processing section comprises two processing sections capable of performing different processings simultaneously. Each of the processing sections repeatedly executes the steps of: reading image data from an image data storage section; reading mutually different processing programs from a processing program storage section; executing a predetermined processing in parallel on the image data; and returning the processed image data to the image data storage section.
US07916973B2 Image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a processing program for permitting a computer to perform image processing routines
In order to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method whereby a high quality output image can be consistently obtained, regardless of the order in which an operator sets the parameters for the performance of filtering, (I) a GUI module (9a) stores, in an input value storage area (9p) of a RAM, reference signs that are employed for first to fourth processes for the filtering of reduced image data, and (II) a filtering module (9f) refers to the reference signs in the input value storage area (9p) when performing the first to the fourth processes for the filtering of input image data, and obtains output image data.
US07916966B2 System and method for contrast extension adjustment and overflow compensation of image signal
This invention provides a system and method for image signal contrast extension and overflow compensation. The system includes contrast extension and overflow compensation look-up tables, an image gray level boundary determining unit, a contrast extension unit, an overflow judging unit, and an overflow compensation unit. The image gray level boundary determining unit defines a maximum and a minimum among the gray levels of the pixels of an image signal and calculates the difference. The contrast extension unit selects corresponding parameter from the contrast extension table for contrast extension of a given image pixel. The overflow judging unit judges whether the pixels are overflowed. The overflow compensation unit compensates the pixel. When a pixel is overflowed, the overflow compensation unit selects, according to the gray level of the pixel, a corresponding overflow compensation parameter to reduce the gray level to overcome the problem of overflow.
US07916961B2 Compression encoder, compression encoding method and program
A rate control unit performs data truncation on a code sequence having been sorted and bit shifted as shown in FIG. 10 so that a desired noise reduction effect is achieved. The data truncation occurs in sequence from the rightmost bit. For example, in FIG. 10, data is truncated from data of bit 0 in a subband VHL4 downwardly in sequence through data of bit 0 in a subband YHH5, and so on. If the desired noise reduction effect can be achieved by truncation of up to bit data in the subband YHH1, data in those subbands in a dotted area in FIG. 10 will be truncated. If the desired noise reduction effect cannot be achieved by truncation of up to bit data in the subband YHH1, data will then be truncated from data of bit 0 in a subband VLL4 downwardly in sequence.
US07916952B2 High quality wide-range multi-layer image compression coding system
Systems, methods, and computer programs for high quality wide-range multi-layer image compression coding, including consistent ubiquitous use of floating point values in essentially all computations; an adjustable floating-point deadband; use of an optimal band-split filter; use of entire SNR layers at lower resolution levels; targeting of specific SNR layers to specific quality improvements; concentration of coding bits in regions of interest in targeted band-split and SNR layers; use of statically-assigned targets for high-pass and/or for SNR layers; improved SNR by using a lower quantization value for regions of an image showing a higher compression coding error; application of non-linear functions of color when computing difference values when creating an SNR layer; use of finer overall quantization at lower resolution levels with regional quantization scaling; removal of source image noise before motion-compensated compression or film steadying; use of one or more full-range low bands; use of alternate quantization control images for SNR bands and other high resolution enhancing bands; application of lossless variable-length coding using adaptive regions; use of a folder and file structure for layers of bits; and a method of inserting new intra frames by counting the number of bits needed for a motion compensated frame.
US07916949B2 Method of inspecting granular material and inspection device for conducting that method
A method of inspecting granular material and an inspection device for conducting that method, wherein agents (10a, 10b) to be inspected are imaged, the pixel value of each pixel of images thus picked up is digitized, a plurality of reference points are dispersed along the outlines of massive regions corresponding to the agents (10a, 10b) in digital images, the numbers of other reference points that can be viewed through massive regions from individual reference points are counted, a reference point giving a minimum counted value is extracted as a base point, and the number of these base points is counted as the number of granular materials. Accordingly, the number of granular materials can be counted accurately even if a plurality of granular materials to be inspected overlap each other, are in contact with each other, or any agent having a groove in one surface is erected.
US07916934B2 Method and system for acquiring, encoding, decoding and displaying 3D light fields
A method and system acquire and display light fields. A continuous light field is reconstructed from input samples of an input light field of a 3D scene acquired by cameras according to an acquisition parameterization. The continuous light is reparameterized according to a display parameterization and then prefiltering and sampled to produce output samples having the display parameterization. The output samples are displayed as an output light field using a 3D display device. The reconstruction can be performed by interpolating the input samples having the different views.
US07916933B2 Automatic target recognition system for detection and classification of objects in water
A method of detecting objects in water, comprises the steps of capturing a plurality of images of a region of interest, extracting voxel data from the images, and processing the voxel data to detect items of interest in the region of interest. An apparatus that performs the method is also included.
US07916923B2 Medical image forming method and apparatus with grayscale conversion processing
In an image forming apparatus, an isolated shadow is extracted from image data, and a feature amount is calculated from the extracted isolated shadow. The grayscale conversion characteristic is changed on the basis of the calculated feature amount. Grayscale conversion of the image data is executed on the basis of the changed grayscale conversion characteristic.
US07916915B2 Image handling and display in x-ray mammography and tomosynthesis
A method and system for acquiring, processing, storing, and displaying x-ray mammograms Mp tomosynthesis images Tr representative of breast slices, and x-ray tomosynthesis projection images Tp taken at different angles to a breast, where the Tr images are reconstructed from Tp images.
US07916912B2 Efficient border extraction of image feature
Method of segmenting mammography image comprising steps of: scanning along row from outermost pixel towards the breast and comparing grayscale gradient across adjacent pixels until a significant gradient is determined; confirming that variation in gradient indicates a first true boundary pixel by ascertaining gradient across subsequent pixels is still significant;iteratively repeating steps of: (i) scanning next adjacent line in vicinity of boundary pixel, and (ii) determining the boundary pixel of adjacent line by variation in grayscale intensity gradient along row (iii) until failure to find subsequent pixel occurs and (iv) attempting scanning horizontally by repeating steps (i) and (ii), and, if attempt fails, extrapolating to edge of image or to first line,  until having determined boundary around the feature to one side of first line; repeating steps (i) to (iv) on other side of line until boundary of breast on the other side of the line is determined.
US07916877B2 Modular interunit transmitter-receiver for a portable audio device
The invention pertains to a modular inter-unit transmitter/receiver for a portable audio device such as an MP3 player, a handheld device for playback of audio signals, a telephone, etc. More particularly, the unit is configured for an audio player device to enable the player device for wireless transmission and reception of audio signals. In one aspect, a communication means connects the modular audio unit to the audio player device. The device further comprises a switch in which a user of the audio player device can select to play audio signals received from an inter-unit transmitter/receiver or from the audio player device. The switch further enables the user to select whether to play the audio signal on the audio player device or to play the audio signal while transmitting the signal to a compatible device.
US07916875B2 Audio input-output module, plug-in device detection module and methods for use therewith
A plug-in device detection module includes a measurement signal generator for generating a measurement signal. A port coupler couples the measurement signal to a selected plug-in receptor of a plurality of plug-in receptors, generates an input/output signal and generates a port signal in response to the measurement signal. A reference signal generator generates a reference signal based on the input/output signal, the reference signal having a plurality of reference signal values. A detection module detects a plug-in device type of a plug-in device coupled to the selected plug-in receptor, based on the reference signal and the port signal.
US07916872B1 Integrated short range RDS FM transmitter
A low-power, software based modulator that is used to transfer text data from an auxiliary audio device to an FM radio receiver includes a processor that receives the text data to be transmitted to the FM receiver, processes the data as an RDS signal or converts the text data to speech and then combines the processed data signal with an FM audio signal that is sent to the FM receiver. In one embodiment, the auxiliary audio device is a CD or CD-MP3 player and the software-based modulator is implemented on the control processor or DSP of the device. The FM encoder that produces the FM encoded audio signal may be a separate analog encoder or may also be implemented in the control processor of the auxiliary audio device.
US07916861B2 System and method for establishing secondary channels
A method for establishing a secondary communication channel between at least two computing devices over a network medium through use of a primary channel connects a first computing device with a first telephonic unit and a second computing device with a second telephonic unit. If the two telephonic units are in communication with each other over a primary channel, and communication channels are established between the computing devices and their respective telephonic units, then the first computing device transmits its location information to the second computing device over the primary channel. A connection is then established between the second computing device and the first computing device over a secondary communication channel.
US07916859B2 System and method for obtaining telecommunication access numbers
A method for determining a user intended number from a partial phone number includes steps for receiving a partial phone number, determining whether the partial phone number corresponds with at least one database number based on at least one selected criteria list and performing a system action based on the determination. The method may include prioritizing a list of database numbers that correspond to the partial number.
US07916854B2 Methods and apparatus for controlling processing entities, such as distributed signalling gateways
A method of controlling a local process that forms part of a first processing entity, where the first processing entity maintains a plurality of associations with a plurality of remote processes in a second processing entity, comprises receiving a failure message from a remote process indicating a fault affecting an association linking the local process with that remote process; queueing data messages destined for that remote process; controlling the transmission of an acknowledgement of the failure message so that data messages pending on the association are received at that remote process before the acknowledgment of the failure message; and initiating a traffic diversion to set up an alternate path between the first processing entity and the second processing entity for queued data messages.
US07916850B2 IMS subscriber access control
A method of controlling subscriber access to SIP-based services facilitated by an IP Multimedia Subsystem. The method comprises defining at a Serving Call Session Control Function node at least one default screening trigger, and downloading from a Home Subscriber Subsystem, specific screening triggers allocated to at least certain subscribers. At the Serving Call Session Control Function node, at least certain SIP messages originating at subscriber terminals are intercepted and, for each intercepted message and in the absence of a matching specific screening trigger, the default trigger is activated so as to cause the SIP message to be forwarded to a specific SIP application service.
US07916848B2 Methods and systems for participant sourcing indication in multi-party conferencing and for audio source discrimination
Indications of which participant is providing information during a multi-party conference. Each participant has equipment to display information being transferred during the conference. A sourcing signaler residing in the participant equipment provides a signal that indicates the identity of its participant when this participant is providing information to the conference. The source indicators of the other participant equipment receive the signal and cause a UI to indicate that the participant identified by the received signal is providing information (e.g. the UI can causes the identifier to change appearance). An audio discriminator is used to distinguish between an acoustic signal that was generated by a person speaking from that generated in a band-limited manner. The audio discriminator analyzes the spectrum of detected audio signals and generates several parameters from the spectrum and from past determinations to determine the source of an audio signal on a frame-by-frame basis.
US07916843B2 Digital telephone data and control signal transmission system
Techniques are disclosed for using Ethernet Layer 1 as a means for transporting audio, control, and status signals between telephones and an aggregator device in a telephone system. Techniques are also disclosed for using the aggregator to determine whether a telephone supports only Ethernet Layer 1, and for using the aggregator to communicate with the telephone using an appropriate protocol based on the results of the determination.
US07916839B2 Collimator
The present invention is directed to a collimator that comprises grooves or channels in the submicrometer to micrometer range. The present invention is also related to uses of a collimator and collimator holder as described herein as well as apparatuses comprising the same.
US07916838B2 Betatron bi-directional electron injector
A Betatron having a toroidal passageway disposed in a cyclical magnetic field with a main electron orbit circumnavigating the toroidal passageway. Within the toroidal passageway is a first electrode that is spaced apart from a second electrode. The combination of the first electrode and the second electrode define a central space having a first opening and a second opening. A cathode is disposed within the central space. This cathode has a first electron emitter aligned to inject electrons through the first opening and a second electron emitter aligned to inject electrons through the second opening. Electrons injected in a proper direction are accelerated in the main electron orbit. At a time of maximum electron acceleration, the electrons are deflected and impact a target that generates x-rays on impact.
US07916836B2 Method and apparatus for flexibly binning energy discriminating data
A CT detector includes a direct conversion material configured to generate electrical charge upon reception of x-rays, a plurality of metallized anodes configured to collect electrical charges generated in the direct conversion material, at least one readout device, and a redistribution layer having a plurality of electrical pathways configured to route the electrical charges from the plurality of metallized anodes to the at least one readout device. A plurality of switches is coupled to the plurality of electrical pathways between the plurality of metallized anodes and the at least one readout device, wherein each of the plurality of switches includes an input line electrically coupled to one of the plurality of metallized anodes, a first output node electrically coupled to the at least one readout device, and a second output node electrically coupled to at least one other switch of the plurality of switches.
US07916826B2 Diagnostic method and apparatus for non-destructively observing latch data
The invention provides a circuit that can observe data within shift registers without altering the data. The circuit includes selectors connected to the inputs and outputs of the shift registers. The selectors selectively connect the input with the output of a selected shift register to form a wiring loop for the selected shift register. A control device connected to the wiring loop uses the wiring loop to cause the data to be continually transferred from the output of the selected shift register to the input of the selected shift register and back through the selected shift register in a circular manner. The control device includes a counter used for determining the length of a selected shift register and a set of registers to store, for future use when rotating data in the shift registers, the length of each shift register. The control device also includes a data output accessible from outside the circuit. An observation wire is connected to the wiring loop, and the data passes from the wiring loop to the control device through the observation wire. The control device outputs data appearing on the wiring loop as the data is circulated through the selected shift register to permit data within the selected shift register to be observed outside the circuit without altering the data within the selected shift register.
US07916825B2 Fuel rod of nuclear fuel assembly
The present invention relates to a fuel rod of a nuclear fuel assembly having a vase-like compression spring adapted to increase the internal volume thereof wherein when the vase-like compression spring is inserted into a cladding tube, it has a relatively smaller volume occupied inside the fuel rod when compared with the existing coil type compression spring, such that the vase-like compression spring can ensure a sufficient space portion receiving the fission gases generated during the operation of the fuel rod, thereby increasing the burn-up performance of the fuel rod and the mechanical integrity thereof.
US07916815B2 Method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection
A method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection described. The invention allows the FFT size and guard interval size to be detected quickly even in the presence of relatively noisy input signals. The method is robust in noise environments, and also sufficiently robust to process signals having severe multipath and/or co-channel interference. Moreover, the method is of low complexity, and can be implemented in a VLSI circuit.
US07916809B2 Digital receiver apparatus
An object of the present invention is to provide a digital receiving apparatus for providing useful information to its user without interruption when reception quality deteriorates.It includes: an information separating unit 4 for reproducing a stream of demodulation signal S3, and separating it into stream signals S4 on multiplexed respective channels for output; a decoding unit 5 for decoding and outputting the stream signals S4; and a control unit 6 for switching and controlling a stream signal for the decoding unit 5 to decode out of the stream signals on the respective channels, and the control unit 6 switches to the stream signal on another channel and makes the decoding unit 5 decode it when physical information for indicating reception quality under reception and the data type of the stream signal on the channel selected out of the channels do not conform to a predetermined relationship.
US07916806B2 Transmitter diversity technique for wireless communications
A simple block coding arrangement is created with symbols transmitted over a plurality of transmit channels, in connection with coding that comprises only simple arithmetic operations, such as negation and conjugation. The diversity created by the transmitter utilizes space diversity and either time or frequency diversity. Space diversity is effected by redundantly transmitting over a plurality of antennas, time diversity is effected by redundantly transmitting at different times, and frequency diversity is effected by redundantly transmitting at different frequencies: Illustratively, using two transmit antennas and a single receive antenna, one of the disclosed embodiments provides the same diversity gain as the maximal-ratio receiver combining (MRRC) scheme with one transmit antenna and two receive antennas. The principles of this invention are applicable to arrangements with more than two antennas, and an illustrative embodiment is disclosed using the same space block code with two transmit and two receive antennas.
US07916800B2 Method for estimating frequency offset at a subscriber station receiver in a multi-carrier system
A method and system of estimating frequency offset of a subscriber station is disclosed. The method includes the subscriber station receiving a composite signal, wherein the composite signal includes multi-carrier signals transmitted from a plurality of base stations. The subscriber station selects a subset of the plurality of base stations. The subscriber station selects at least one pair of multi-carrier symbols of the composite signal, wherein each of the at least one pair of multi-carrier symbols includes a plurality of pilot sub-carriers. The subscriber station selects at least one group of the plurality of pilot sub-carriers within the at least one pair of multi-carrier symbols based on transmit pilot symbols of the pilot sub-carriers of the multi-carrier signals transmitted by the subset of the plurality of base stations. The frequency offset is estimated based on a conjugate product between a linear combination of received symbols of a first multi-carrier symbol of a pair of multi-carrier symbols with a linear combination of received symbols of a second multi-carrier symbol of the pair of multi-carrier symbols on each of the pilot sub-carriers of the at least one group of the plurality of pilot sub-carriers.
US07916793B2 Picture searching apparatus
The picture input section 12 fetches image data from the storage device 11, and then, inputs image data on sequential n images into the section 13 for measuring correlation between sequential images and the section 14 for measuring correlation between sampled images. The section 13 for measuring correlation between sequential images measures the correlation between sequential images based on video data. The section 14 for measuring correlation between sampled images measures the correlation between sub-sampled images. The short shot determining section 15 determines short cut points by using the correlation between the sequential images and the correlation between the sub-sampled images. Otherwise, short cut points may be determined in consideration of motion amount between the sequential images or the sub-sampled images.
US07916789B2 Apparatus, medium, and method generating motion-compensated layers
An apparatus, medium, and method generating a motion-compensating layer, with the apparatus including a spatial layer generator to generate an enhancement layer and a base layer, the enhancement layer including a plurality of temporally sequential video frames, and the base layer including at least one sub video frame obtained by sub sampling the plurality of video frames, and a temporal layer generator to generate at least one temporal layer corresponding to the base layer, and to generate at least one temporal layer corresponding to the enhancement layer by predicting a lower second frame using at least one of an upper second frame and an encoded first frame. The first frame may be a frame included in the at least one temporal layer corresponding to the base layer, and the second frame may be a frame included in the at least one temporal layer corresponding to the enhancement layer.
US07916786B2 Method of processing a current field macroblock
In one embodiment, the method includes obtaining a reference picture list including multiple reference pictures, obtaining motion vector information for the current field macroblock, and obtaining a field reference picture index associated with the current field macroblock. A frame reference picture index is determined based on the field reference picture index. The frame reference picture index is based on the field reference picture index divided by 2. The embodiment further includes selecting a frame reference picture based on the frame reference picture index and the reference picture list, selecting a field reference picture based on the selected frame reference picture and the field reference picture index, and decoding the current macroblock based on the motion vector information and the selected field reference picture.
US07916783B2 Bit-rate control method and device combined with rate-distortion optimization
In the invention, a rate distortion optimization (RDO) based rate control scheme is comprised of following two steps: first, does bit allocation for every frame in a GOP, and based on the allocated bits, a predicted quantization parameter is used to do the first rate distortion optimization mode selection for every macroblock in the current frame; second, the information of the current macroblock collected from the first rate distortion mode selection is used to calculate a final quantization parameter for rate control, and if the final quantization parameter is different from the predicted one, a second rate distortion mode selection will be executed again. A rate distortion optimization based rate control implementation includes following modules: a video coding encoder module (for example, H.264/JVT processing module), rate distortion optimization based macroblock mode selection and adaptive quantization module, virtual buffer, and global complexity estimation module. As RDO and rate control are considered together in the invention, the RDO based rate control scheme can achieve better coding performance while with accurate target bitrate control.
US07916780B2 Adaptive equalizer for use with clock and data recovery circuit of serial communication link
An adaptive equalizer system for use in a serial communication link uses timing information generated by a phase detector of a clock and data recovery circuit of the serial communication link and a frequency pattern of the recovered data to determine whether the data received over the serial communication link is over-equalized or under-equalized. The equalizer strength of the adaptive equalizer system is adjusted based on such determination.
US07916758B2 Method and system for precise-clock synchronization, and device for precise-clock frequency/time synchronization
A precise-clock synchronization method and system and a precise-clock frequency/time synchronization device are provided. In the embodiments of the present invention, two time stamp engines are provided at a slave clock side. A relative time stamp engine provides a relative arrival time stamp. An absolute time stamp engine provides an absolute arrival time stamp. The frequency/time synchronization is calculated by using different time stamps obtained from different time stamp engines, so the frequency synchronization and time synchronization of the master clock and the slave clock may be separately accomplished, and one synchronization function may be enabled or disabled. Therefore, the frequency synchronization and time synchronization of the master clock and the slave clock do not interfere with each other, thus greatly reducing the occupied link bandwidth resources.
US07916756B2 Transmission apparatus
A transmission apparatus is disclosed, which performs positive/negative stuffing with 8-bit/10-bit (8B/10B) codes being kept intact while retaining the normality of 8B/10B codes and the continuity of running disparity (RD) without termination of 8B/10B codes of a plurality of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) signals received. The apparatus then executes multiplexing and separation after synchronization of the plurality of signals, thereby achieving the “transparent” transport of management information which is contained in the 8B10B codes between user devices.
US07916749B2 Method, apparatus and computer program to signal additional modulation scheme without additional signalling overhead
A method and apparatus are provided for jointly encoding bits containing information about an existing modulation technique or an existing antenna transmission technique in order to extend signaling to include new information about an additional modulation technique or the use of an additional antenna transmission technique without having to increase the number of bits transmitted in the signaling; and conveying the new information in unused combinations of the encoded bits. The signaling may take the form of a high speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH) that forms part of a high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA). In some embodiments, the existing modulation technique may include quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), or some combination thereof, and the additional modulation technique may include 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (64QAM).
US07916742B1 Dynamic jitter buffer calibration
An embodiment of the invention provides for dynamically calibrating a jitter buffer based on a percentage used of the jitter buffer. Such a solution provides for efficiently adapting the size of a jitter buffer without the need for complex and processor intensive operations. By adjusting the size of a jitter buffer in a simple and dynamic fashion, undesirable delay can be removed from a service session, and gaps prevented. Similarly, delay can be easily introduced into a service session when necessary. In an embodiment of the invention, a communication system comprises a jitter buffer and a processing system. The jitter buffer is configured to buffer traffic. The processing system is configured to determine the percentage used of the jitter buffer by the buffered traffic, and calibrate the size of the jitter buffer in response to the percentage used of the jitter buffer.
US07916735B2 Method for applying macro-controls onto IP networks using intelligent route indexing
Systems and methods are described that manage routing information in an IP network using extensible indexing and use the indexing to control the network. The indexing and associated controls apply to any router within the routing domain.
US07916730B1 Methods and system for solving cross-chip-trunk continuous destination lookup failure
A method and system for preventing excessive flood packets from switching devices in a network for routing packets between a source station having an address and a destination station in the network having an address. A first packet directed toward the destination station is received over the network via an incoming traffic switch. The incoming traffic switch includes a table without the address of the destination station. The first packet is flooded over the plurality of switches. The flooded first packet is received at a front facing switch coupled to the destination station. The front facing switch has a table including the source address of the packet. The source address of packet is flushed from the table of the front facing switch. A response packet is sent from the destination station to the source station. The response packet is flooded to the incoming traffic switch. The flooded response packet is received at the incoming traffic switch. The table of the incoming traffic switch is updated with the address of the destination station.
US07916725B2 Packet forwarding to a connection-oriented network
The present invention relates to a method, routing device, and access device for forwarding a data packet with multicast purpose to a connection-oriented network, wherein a predetermined broadcast address is added to the data packet if the address of the data packet to be sent is a network-layer multicast address. Based on the broadcast address, the data packet is forwarded to a plurality of access devices (31-3n) of the connection-oriented network, arranged to check whether the destination address of the data packet is supported. Then, the data packet is forwarded from a supporting access device (32) to the destination address. Thereby, the data packet does not have to be sent to every possible destination address one by one, and link capacity can be saved.
US07916724B2 Packet switching equipment and switching control method
A packet switching equipment and a switch control system employing the same performs operation of the switch core portion independent of content of decision of an arbiter portion and overall equipment can be constructed with simple control structure. The packet switching equipment includes input buffer portions temporarily storing packets arriving to the input ports and outputting packets with adding labels indicative of destination port numbers, a switch core portion for switching the packets on the basis of labels added to the input buffer portions, and an arbiter portion adjusting input buffer portions to provide output permissions for outputting to the output ports. A sorting network autonomously sorting and concentrating the packets on the basis of the labels added to the packets is employed in the switch core portion.
US07916722B2 Method for indirect access to a support interface for memory-mapped resources to reduce system connectivity from out-of-band support processor
A method and apparatus are provided for a support interface for memory-mapped resources. A support processor sends a sequence of commands over and FSI interface to a memory-mapped support interface on a processor chip. The memory-mapped support interface updates memory, memory-mapped registers or memory-mapped resources. The interface uses fabric packet generation logic to generate a single command packet in a protocol for the coherency fabric which consists of an address, command and/or data. Fabric commands are converted to FSI protocol and forwarded to attached support chips to access the memory-mapped resource, and responses from the support chips are converted back to fabric response packets. Fabric snoop logic monitors the coherency fabric and decodes responses for packets previously sent by fabric packet generation logic. The fabric snoop logic updates status register and/or writes response data to a read data register. The system also reports any errors that are encountered.
US07916718B2 Flow and congestion control in switch architectures for multi-hop, memory efficient fabrics
A shared memory switch and switch fabric architecture are described which employ partitions of the shared memory to implement multiple, independent virtual congestion domains, thereby allowing congestion to be handled for different classes of traffic independently.
US07916717B2 Automated gateway routing, incoming and outgoing
A method and system for establishing a videoconference between a first network endpoint and a second network endpoint. The method and system including, inputting a plurality of numbers into the first network endpoint, wherein, the first network endpoint is an IP based network endpoint, the plurality of numbers are in a standard telephone format, and the plurality of numbers are associated with the second network endpoint. Then communicating the input numbers to a first network gatekeeper having a call forwarding table, wherein the input numbers are manipulated based on processing parameters, identifying a gateway based on the manipulated numbers, establishing a connection with the identified gateway, establishing a connection between the identified gateway and a second network gatekeeper, establishing a connection between the second network gatekeeper and the second endpoint, and transferring videoconferencing data between the first network endpoint and the second network endpoint through the established connections.
US07916715B2 Hybrid protocol to support communications with multiple networks
Systems and techniques are disclosed relating to wireless communications. The systems and techniques involve monitoring a first network in accordance with a first air interface, and receiving a message from a second network through the first air interface, the second network being associated with a second air interface different from the first air interface. Various registration and related techniques are also discussed for maintaining connectivity with both networks as the wireless communications device moves through different geographic coverage regions.
US07916710B2 Method, device, system and software product for alternative time division duplex frame structure optimization
A method, mobile device, network device, and software product are for forming a time division duplex frame structure, including a downlink pilot timeslot within an initial data timeslot of the frame structure, and also including an uplink pilot timeslot in a further data timeslot of the frame structure. A guard period is located between the initial data timeslot and the further data timeslot.
US07916699B2 CDMA communication system and method
In CDMA communications, a base station detects a difference between a reference phase of a spreading code and a phase of a received signal of each terminal station, and feeds a phase jump signal PJ-i representative of the phase difference back to each terminal station. After timing acquisition, the reception operation is performed using the reference phase, and a shift amount between the phase of a received signal and the reference phase is fed back to each terminal station as phase synchronization control information PC-i. Each terminal station coarsely adjusts the phase of the spreading code in accordance with the phase jump signal PJ-i, and thereafter finely adjusts the phase of its transmitting signal in accordance with the phase synchronization control information PC-i. It is therefore possible to synchronize the phases of the signals transmitted from terminal stations and received at the base station. Accordingly, an orthogonal code is used for spreading on the reverse links.
US07916687B2 Standby time improvements
Broadcast or multicast traffic is classified into different types of traffic and different transmission schedules associated with each of the different types of traffic. The different types of broadcast and multicast traffic may be implemented in an 802.11-based system where an access point is configured to classify broadcast and multicast traffic into different types and assign different transmission schedules to each of the different traffic types. An associated wireless station may thereby wake from a power save mode only at intervals corresponding to delivery times of the types of traffic that the wireless station has elected to receive. In some aspects the different types of broadcast and multicast traffic may comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.
US07916686B2 Method and communication network components for managing media signal quality
A media signal quality manager for controlling one or more parameters of a network node through which passes a media signal. The audio signal quality manager has an input for receiving information conveying a characteristic of the media signal and a processor that generates performance control information in response to the characteristic of the media signal. The performance control information can be conveyed to the network node for allowing the network node to adjust at least one parameter of the media signal that can influence the quality of the media signal as perceived by a user.
US07916681B2 Method and apparatus for communication channel error rate estimation
A wireless communication device or system generates transmit power control feedback for a received power control channel by determining a command error rate (CER), or by identifying a target signal quality for the power control channel according to a defined signal-quality-to-CER mapping function. Generally, the power control channel does not include error-coded data to use for CER estimation. However, in one embodiment, the channel does include known reference bits that are evaluated for CER estimation, with the estimated CER used to set the signal quality target for inner loop power control. In other embodiments, a computed reception error probability is used to identify a CER estimate according to a defined probability-to-CER mapping function. By way of non-limiting example, these embodiments may be used to provide power control feedback for power control commands transmitted on a Fractional Dedicated Physical Channel in WCDMA systems.
US07916679B2 Wireless network system, wireless communication instrument, wireless communication instrument setting device, game process control method, information storage medium, and portable electronic instrument
In a game system including a wireless LAN AP instrument and a portable game device, the AP instrument transmits a beacon signal including a MAC address of the AP instrument and a network ID obtained by encoding an instruction code so that the network ID can be decoded using the MAC address. The portable game device decodes the network ID included in the received beacon signal using the MAC address, and executes control based on control data when authenticity determination data included in the decoded instruction code coincides with specific data and the present date is within a valid period indicated by valid period data.
US07916667B2 Method for detecting RF link imbalances in a wireless communications network
A method for determining an RF link imbalance between an Uplink Path and a Downlink Path of an RF Link formed between a User Equipment (UE) and a Node in a wireless network is provided. The method includes determining the UE receive power levels and the UE transmit power levels for the RF Links at the UE side of the radio interface and identifying one or more RF Links having AvgSumTx+Rx values deviating from the AvgSumTx+Rx values of other RF Links, as one or more RF Links having an RF Link imbalance.
US07916666B2 Reliable broadcast protocol and apparatus for sensor networks
A method for broadcasting messages in an ad hoc wireless network having a tree-based architecture is provided. When a node receives a broadcast message for re-broadcasting to other nodes in the network, it builds a list of identifiers of other nodes in the network from which the node requires reception of a broadcast message as an implicit acknowledgment that said other nodes in the network have received said broadcast message. The node builds this implicit acknowledgment list based on stored data pertaining to an existing tree-based topology of the network. After this list is built, the node re-broadcasts the broadcast message. Each node in the network executes this broadcasting protocol and in so doing a broadcast message quickly and efficiently propagates through the network with minimal redundancy and impact on the topology of the network.
US07916658B2 Method for congestion detection in packet transmission networks
A method for measuring degree of packet congestion on a channel of a packet communication network. The method includes: during a training mode, generating an mathematical relationship between the degree of packet congestion on the channel and a plurality of measurable features of the network over a plurality of network conditions; and, during a subsequent normal operating mode, periodically measuring the plurality of measurable features and applying the generated mathematical relationship to such periodically measured plurality of measurable features to determine actual degree of congestion on the channel; and comparing the actual degree of congestion on the channel with a predetermined channel congestion threshold level. The degree of packet congestion on the channel is saturation level. The measurable features include: time delay between transmission starts and terminations of the previously transmitted packet; the fraction of time the channel is busy; and, average number of packet transmission retries.
US07916650B2 Network device and data transmission method thereof in wireless sensor network
A wireless sensor network and data transmission method thereof provides for improving channel access efficiency and energy saving effect by using inventive carrier sensing mechanism. The data transmission method includes assessing a channel after initializing, when a packet to be transmitted is generated, a number of carrier sensing attempts (Ns) and a backoff value (W); determining, when the channel availability is assessed to be idle, whether W reaches 0; transmitting the packet if W reaches 0; and reassessing, if W does not reach 0, the channel after a duration corresponding W/(Ns-1) slot.
US07916638B2 Time-independent deficit round robin method and system
A scheduling mechanism and method for scheduling the output of frames from a plurality of priority queues in a network router or multi-layer switch is disclosed. The method of scheduling packets generally includes the steps of: allocating bandwidth credits for a plurality of queues; dequeuing frames from a current queue if there is available credit; deducting the available credit in accordance with the credit requirements of the frames that are dequeued; and replenishing the available credit for each of the queues when the available credit for the current queue is insufficient to dequeue a frame. Since the available credit for each of the queues is replenished as needed instead of at a regular or periodic interval, the scheduling method is executed independent of time and with reduced computational resources. The present invention offers an efficient variant of deficit round robin, while reducing the computation burden associated with conventional deficit round robin.
US07916635B2 Transparent network traffic inspection
Methods and systems are disclosed for providing parties with levels of transparency into filtering functionality of network traffic inspection implementations. Embodiments include receiving a filter change request from a subscriber over a network that defines a modification to a set of filter criteria for filtering network traffic, the filter criteria being stored in association with the subscriber in a filter criteria data store; updating the set of filter criteria in the filter criteria data store as a function of the filter change request; receiving a content dataset relating to the network traffic; identifying the content dataset as being associated with the subscriber; retrieving the set of filter criteria associated with the subscriber from the data store; and filtering the network traffic as a function of the set of filter criteria. Embodiments further provide layers of access for different entities to the filtered traffic.
US07916628B2 Trunking for fabric ports in fibre channel switches and attached devices
N_Ports and F_Ports are provided with logic allowing designation of multiple virtual interfaces on a single host bus adaptor or other Fiber Channel interface, one virtual interface for each VSAN operating on the node interface. Node ports with this additional functionality are referred to as trunking N_Ports or TN_Ports. These ports have a functional design allowing creation of the multiple virtual interfaces as appropriate for the application at hand. This port design also includes logic for communicating with a peer fabric port to initialize and modify the configuration of the virtual interfaces on the TN_Port. A corresponding functional design and communication logic is provided for fabric ports, referred to herein as trunking F_Ports or TF_Ports.
US07916626B2 Method and system for fault-tolerant quality of service
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide for a system and method for fault-tolerant QoS data communication including differentiating one or more message data into a primary storage, storing the differentiated one or more message data in a secondary storage if the primary storage becomes exhausted, prioritizing the one or more message data, and communicating the one or more message data. The one or more message data may be differentiated based on one or more queue selection rules. The one or more message data may be prioritized based on one or more queue sequencing rules. The one or more message data may be communicated based at least in part on the prioritization of the one or more message data.
US07916622B2 Apparatus and method for allocating resources in mobile communication system
Provided are an apparatus and method for allocating resources in a mobile communication system. The apparatus includes a modulating/coding unit for modulating transmission data of one or more users according to a predetermined modulation scheme and for outputting a complex signal; a 2-Dimensional (2D)/1-Dimensional (1D) converter for converting the complex signal into a 1D signal; and a re-modulator for reconstructing the 1D signal to a 2D signal and for allocating two components of the 2D signal to two different frequency bands.
US07916619B2 Optically-readable disk with copy protection device
An optically-readable disk includes a device that disrupts readability of the disk when the disk is spun at an angular velocity substantially greater than required to play the disk in its intended playing device, or for when a defined integral of velocity and time is exceeded. The device may include a fluid container that disperses a data-disruptive fluid. The device may include a membrane or layer that is disrupted when the disk is rotated above a defined angular velocity, or when a defined integral of velocity and time is exceeded.
US07916617B2 Recognizable patterns in adjacent tracks of ROM record carriers for simultaneous scanning for copy protection
In order to distinguish a duplicated record carrier from an original record carrier, a pattern is included in a ROM type record carrier. The pattern is oriented perpendicular to the reading direction of the record carrier. During illegal duplication the spatial relationship is disturb which can be easily detected. The patterns can be read out simultaneously by the same single read-out spot by including both patterns within the diameter of the optical spot, thus guaranteeing that the read-out patterns are actually still spatially close together.
US07916613B2 Higher performance DVD writing current circuit
A writing current circuit (42) supplies a controlled electrical current to a laser diode (34) for recording data swiftly onto a DVD (16). A plurality of current sources (62) in the writing current circuit (42) supply electrical current to the laser diode (34). Each current source (62) respectively receives a single output signal from a current control register (52) included in the writing current circuit (42) which activates or deactivates the current source (62) for supplying a particular quantity of electrical current to the laser diode (34). In each current source (62), electrical current flows to the laser diode (34) through a MOSFET output transistor (142) connected in series with the laser diode (34). Each current source's MOSFET output transistor (142) has a gate insulating layer which is thinner than the gate insulating layer conventionally used for a MOSFET output transistor (142) that is energized by the electrical potential the it applied to the writing current circuit (42).
US07916612B2 Optical pickup apparatus and focal-point adjusting method
An optical pickup apparatus includes an astigmatic element, an angle adjusting element for contradicting propagation directions of luminous fluxes within four different luminous flux regions out of a reflected light, a polarization adjusting element. Two of the luminous flux regions are placed in a direction in which aligned are a set of opposite angles made by the two mutually crossing straight lines respectively parallel to a first convergence direction and a second convergence direction vertical to the first convergence direction by the astigmatic element, and the remaining two luminous flux regions are placed in a direction in which an alternate set of opposite angles are aligned. The polarization adjusting element differentiates polarization directions of luminous fluxes which are selected out of the luminous fluxes within the four luminous flux regions and which are adjacent in a peripheral direction in which the optical axis of reflected light serves as an axis.
US07916611B2 Optical pickup apparatus
A light blocking unit includes a plate-like member which is different from a housing member, and a light blocking portion formed on the plate-like member, for blocking light. A light detector has a light receiving portion for receiving light which is partitioned into four divided regions, by a Y-axis-wise parting line and an X-axis-wise parting line in X-Y coordinates, and outputs photoelectric output signals for the respective divided regions in accordance with intensity of the light received by the respective divided regions of the light receiving portion. Of light beams emitted from a polarization beam splitter, a part of the light beams are blocked by the light blocking unit while the other part of the light beams are not blocked and thus emitted to the light detector excluding a region defined by two sides parallel to the parting lines.
US07916610B2 Information recording apparatus, information reproducing apparatus, information recording method, information reproducing method, and optical information recording medium
An information recording apparatus for recording information on a multi-layered optical information recording medium having a recording material, which changes quality according to light intensity of an irradiated light, and having an altered layer in which the recording material is already altered and a non-altered layer in which the recording material is not yet altered alternately existing in plurals is provided. The information recording apparatus includes a light source for emitting a recording light having coherency; a light path branching unit for branching a light path of the light into a first light path and a second light path; focal position control units for controlling focal positions of the light in the first and the second light path; and objective lenses for collecting the lights in the first and the second light path on the recording medium.
US07916609B2 Apparatus and method for holographic information storage and retrieval
A method for holographic information storage and retrieval is disclosed. The method supplies a holographic data storage system comprising a light source and a holographic data storage medium and provides information to the holographic data storage system. The method generates a reference beam using the light source, forms a data beam comprising a data image and an orientation image, wherein the data image comprises all or a portion of the information. The method then generates a hologram using the data beam and the write reference beam, and encodes the hologram in the holographic data storage medium to form an encoded holographic data storage medium.
US07916600B2 Optical writing device, optical reading device, recording-medium writing method, including wobble signal evaluation features
When performing writing and/or reading of information to/from an optical disk provided with a wobble including time axis information, an occurrence of a reading error of the time axis information from the wobble is suppressed so that disabled reading of information from the optical disk and an occurrence of a writing error can be prevented. Evaluated parameters such as a CRC error rate of an ATIP signal, an FMDT jitter amount and a phase error between an ATIP synchronization signal and a frame synchronization signal of writing data are evaluated based on a range of set values. When the evaluated parameter is deviated from the range of set values, writing and reading speeds are changed, thereby increasing the reading accuracy of the wobble signal.
US07916593B2 Optical disk device and method of control of an optical disk utilizing retry feature
An optical disk device capable of increasing access speed and an image pickup device having such an optical disk device. In a region at the inside of an optical disk where the rotational speed of the spindle motor reaches its limit, a CAV mode is used for access, while in a region at the outside of the optical disk where a frequency band of an RF signal processor reaches its limit, a CLV mode is used for access. High-speed access to a maximum extent in a range of performance limits of the spindle motor and the RF signal processor is achieved. A retry feature retries failed access attempts to the optical disk when access failure is determined and a controller judges whether or not a defect of the optical disk has caused the access failure. The controller further judges if the predetermined cause of the access failure repeatedly occurs in a predetermined nearby range on the optical disk.
US07916588B2 Control apparatus, control method, access apparatus, access method, program, and write-once recording medium
A control apparatus is provided for controlling an access means for accessing a recording medium containing at least one area so that the access means accesses the at least one area. The apparatus comprises a means for determining whether or not at least one first recorded area storing data is included in the at least one area, and a means for controlling the access means. When it is determined that the at least one first recorded area is included in the at least one area, the control means controls the access means based on a result of accessing the at least one first recorded area.
US07916585B2 Optical disc drive and method of controlling focal position
An optical disc drive for recording and/or reading information on or from an optical disc is disclosed. The optical disc drive includes: a position controller which controls the position of the objective lens based on the position-controlling light beam reflected by the reflective surface by condensing the position-controlling light beam by the objective lens such that the position-controlling light beam is brought to a focus at a target guide position on the reflective surface corresponding to the target recording position; a tilt angle detector which detects tilt angle of the optical disc relative to optical axis of the position-controlling light beam; and a focal position corrector which makes a correction such that a focal position obtained when the information light beam is condensed by the objective lens is aligned to the target recording position according to the tilt angle.
US07916581B2 Optically-readable disk with copy protection device
An optically-readable disk includes a device that disrupts readability of the disk when the disk is spun at an angular velocity substantially greater than required to play the disk in its intended playing device, or when a defined integral of velocity and time is exceeded. The device may include a fluid container that disperses a data-disruptive fluid. The device may include a membrane or layer that is disrupted when the disk is rotated above a defined angular velocity, or when a defined integral of velocity and time is exceeded. The device may include an electro-optical material that is activated by an electrical signal from a controller in response to an input from a sensor responsive to motion of the disk.
US07916575B2 Configurable latching for asynchronous memories
A memory, such as a flash memory, may receive a configuration bit from a memory controller to set the memory in one of two selectable modes. Thus, based on the way the memory controller operates, it can adapt the operation of the memory to suit the memory controller's techniques for entering synchronous burst read mode. In some embodiments, the bit may selectively enable the memory to assume one of two synchronous burst read modes which are based on different arrangements of CLK and ADV# signals.
US07916574B1 Circuit providing load isolation and memory domain translation for memory module
A circuit is configured to be mounted on a memory module connectable to a computer system so as to be electrically coupled to a plurality of memory devices on the memory module. The memory module has a first number of ranks of double-data-rate (DDR) memory devices activated by a first number of chip-select signals. The circuit is configurable to receive bank address signals, a second number of chip-select signals, and row/column address signals from the computer system. The circuit is further configurable to generate phase-locked clock signals in response to clock signals received from the computer system, to selectively isolate one or more loads of the first number of ranks from the computer system, and to translate between a system memory domain and a physical memory domain of the memory module.
US07916573B2 Word line block/select circuit with repair address decision unit
A word line block select circuit includes a dummy repair logic unit including a dummy logic circuit to output a first control signal and having a delay path for a repair address decision, and a word line activation unit for activating a word line in response to the first control signal and an active command signal.
US07916572B1 Memory with addressable subword support
Integrated circuits are provided that have memory arrays. The memory arrays may include rows and columns of data byte storage locations. To implement algorithms that that process data subwords, a memory array may be partitioned into individual memory banks each of which has its own associated data register and its own associated address decoder. Each address decoder may receive address signals from an associated multiplexer. Address mapping circuits may be used to distribute address signals to multiplexer inputs using an non-blocking memory architecture. The memory architecture allows collections of data bytes to be written and read from the memory array using column-wise and row-wise read and write operations. The data bytes that are written to the array and that are read from the array may be stored in adjacent data byte locations in the array.
US07916563B2 Programmable control block for dual port SRAM application
A dual-port static random access memory (SRAM) includes a multitude of programmable delay elements disposed along the paths of a number signals used to carry out read, write or read-then-write operations. At least one of the programmable delay elements controls the timing margin between a pair of clock signals that trigger a read/write enable signal. A second programmable delay element coarsely adjusts the delay of a first signal associated with a dummy bitline. A third programmable delay element finely adjusts the delay of a second signal associated with the dummy bitline. A fourth programmable delay element controls the delay of a signal used to reset the read/write enable signal. During a read operation, the voltage level of the second signal is used as an indicator to activate the sense amplifiers. During a write operation, the voltage level of the second signal is used to control the write cycle.
US07916561B2 DLL circuit, imaging device, and memory device
A variable delay circuit successively delays an input clock to generate a plurality of delayed clocks having different phases. A phase comparison circuit receives a first reference clock, which is either one of the delayed clocks or the input clock, and a second reference clock, which is one of the delayed clocks and whose phase lags behind that of the first reference clock, specifies a validated interval for the second reference clock, and compares the phases of the first and second reference clocks according to voltage levels of the first and second reference clocks only during the validated interval. A delay control circuit controls a delay time in the variable delay circuit according to a result of the comparison obtained by the phase comparison circuit.
US07916540B2 Non-volatile memory devices and systems including bad blocks address re-mapped and methods of operating the same
A method of operating a non-volatile memory device included in a memory card can be provided by re-mapping addresses of bad blocks in a first non-volatile MAT in a memory card and re-mapping addresses of bad blocks in a second non-volatile MAT in the memory card, the second non-volatile MAT including blocks that are address mapped with blocks in the first non-volatile MAT. Also a method of scanning a non-volatile memory device for bad blocks can be provided by sequentially scanning blocks in a non-volatile memory device for data indicating that a respective block is a bad block starting at a starting block address that is above a lowermost block address of the non-volatile memory device, wherein the starting block address is based on a yield for the non-volatile memory device.
US07916539B2 Differential, level-shifted EEPROM structures
Memory embodiments are provided to operate in memory systems which are configured to have a system ground and a system substrate that are biased at different voltages. At least one of these embodiments includes a memory cell and write and read circuits in which the memory cell is coupled to the system substrate and the write and read circuits are coupled to the system ground. The memory cell preferably has a cross-coupled pair of transistors which can be set in first and second states. The write circuit is arranged and level shifted to drive the cross-coupled pair into either selected one of the states and the read circuit is arranged and level shifted to provide a data signal indicative of the selected state.
US07916537B2 Multilevel cell memory devices having reference point cells
Embodiments of the disclosure include multilevel memory cell devices that utilize reference point cells to determine the states of other cells. Embodiments of the disclosure also include methods of storing data to and retrieving data from multilevel memory cell devices utilizing reference point cells. In one embodiment, a multilevel memory cell device includes user data cells, a reference point cell, and a controller. The user data cells each has one of a plurality of states. The reference point cell has a first state. The controller determines the states of the user data cells based at least in part on the first state of the reference point cell.
US07916534B2 Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device of the invention comprises a memory cell array which includes a first region that has a plurality of memory cells each capable of storing n-bit data (n is a natural number) and a second region that has a plurality of memory cells each capable of storing k-bit data (k>n: k is a natural number), a data storage circuit which includes a plurality of data caches, and a control circuit which controls the memory cell array and the data storage circuit in such a manner that the k-bit data read from the k/n number of memory cells in the first region are stored into the data storage circuit and the k-bit data are stored into the memory cells in the second region.
US07916532B2 Use of recovery transistors during write operations to prevent disturbance of unselected cells
A memory array and method for performing a write operation in a memory array that eliminates parasitic coupling between selected and unselected bitlines and protects memory cells on unselected bitlines. A memory array (100); has a plurality of memory cells (148, 150,152, 154), each of which is coupled to a unique array bitline (104, 106, 108,110). A unique recovery transistor (138; 140, 142, 144) coupled to each array bitline (104, 106, 108, 110). The recovery transistors (140, 144) on odd bitlines (140, 144) are coupled to a first and second voltage (128, 144), while the recovery transistors on even bitlines are coupled, to a first and third voltage (128, 126). During a write operation, each recovery transistor coupled to an unselected bitline is active during a write operation and a recovery operation, while each recovery transistor coupled; to selected bitline is active during a recovery operation. The first voltage (128) is sufficient to prevent parasitic coupling between the selected bitlines and the unselected bitlines during the write operation.
US07916530B2 SCR matrix storage device
In various embodiments, an addressable storage matrix includes a first plurality of intersection points, at least some of which are bridged by two-terminal non-linear elements that exhibit a threshold below which current flow is significantly lower than if the threshold is exceeded, as well as, disposed at each intersection point bridged by a non-linear element, a programmable material in series with the non-linear element and determining a bit state for the corresponding intersection point.
US07916528B2 Predictive thermal preconditioning and timing control for non-volatile memory cells
A method and apparatus for using thermal preconditioning to write data to a non-volatile memory cell, such as a spin-torque transfer random access memory (STRAM) memory cell. In some embodiments, a logical state is written to an unconditioned non-volatile first memory cell associated with a first block address. Thermal preconditioning is concurrently applied to a non-volatile second memory cell associated with a second block address selected in response to the first block address.
US07916525B2 Phase-change memory device
A phase-change memory device includes a data write control unit configured to generate write control signals according to a data combination of a plurality of input data and output write control codes with a code update period controlled according to an activation period of one of the write control signal, and a data write unit configured to output a program current in response to the write control signals and control a level of the program current according to a code combination of the write control codes.
US07916521B2 Magnetic random access memory and write method of the same
A magnetic random access memory includes a magnetoresistive effect element which includes a fixed layer in which a magnetization direction is fixed, a recording layer in which a magnetization direction is reversible, and a nonmagnetic layer formed between the fixed layer and the recording layer, and in which the magnetization directions in the fixed layer and the recording layer take one of a parallel state and an antiparallel state in accordance with a direction of an electric current supplied between the fixed layer and the recording layer, and a yoke layer which concentrates a magnetic field generated by the electric current, and causes the magnetic field to act on magnetization in the recording layer.
US07916520B2 Memory cell and magnetic random access memory
A memory cell is used which includes a plurality of magneto-resistive elements and a plurality of laminated ferrimagnetic structure substances. The plurality of the magneto-resistive elements are placed corresponding to respective positions where a plurality of first wirings extended in a first direction intersects with a plurality of second wirings extended in a second direction which is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The plurality of the laminated ferrimagnetic structure substances corresponds to the plurality of the magneto-resistive elements, respectively, is placed to have a distance of a predetermined range from the respective plurality of the magneto-resistive elements, and has a laminated ferrimagnetic structure. The magneto-resistive element includes a free layer having a laminated ferrimagnetic structure, a fixed layer, and a nonmagnetic layer interposed between the free layer and the fixed layer.
US07916519B2 Burn-in methods for static random access memories and chips
A burn-in method for SRAMs and chips. For a memory cell of the SRAM, the SRAM burn-in method controls the control signals of the memory cell to generate current paths to pass through the memory cell, the corresponding bit-line and the corresponding bit-line-bar. The contacts/vias in the current paths are tested by providing burn-in currents to flow through the current paths, so that mismatched contacts/vias are burned by the burn-in currents. SRAMs that fail the burn-in test are abandoned after the burn-in procedure.
US07916510B1 Reformulating regular expressions into architecture-dependent bit groups
An apparatus and method of programming a search engine to implement regular expression search operations are disclosed that selectively transform a source regular expression into an equivalent reformulated regular expression in response to a determination of the architectural characteristics of the search engine. In this manner, the regular expression can be reformulated to optimize the configuration and available resources of the associated search engine.
US07916508B2 Systems and methods involving thyristors
An exemplary embodiment includes a system for measuring and controlling a thyristor comprising a thyristor, a Rogowski coil in operable communication therewith the thyristor, and a processor operative to receive signals from the Rogowski coil, determine a direct current value of the thyristor, and control the thyristor.
US07916494B1 Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board includes a high-speed differential signal control chip, first to fourth coupling capacitor pads, first and second connector pads, first and second inductor pads, a number of transmission lines, a power pin, two sharing pads, and two selection pads. Two coupling capacitors can selectively connect the first and second coupling capacitor pads and the two sharing pads or between the third and fourth coupling capacitor pads and the two sharing pads, respectively. Two inductors can connect the first and second inductor pads and the two selection pads respectively, and the first and second inductor pads and the two selection pads can be void.
US07916490B2 Electronic device enclosure
The invention related to an electronic device enclosure that includes a chassis and a cover. The chassis includes a bottom wall, an opening and a circuit board mounted on the bottom wall. The cover is mounted on the chassis and is adapted to cover the opening of the chassis. A shock absorber is mounted on the cover and is resiliently resisted on the circuit board.
US07916483B2 Open flow cold plate for liquid cooled electronic packages
A method and associated assembly is provided for cooling of a computing embodiment having electronic components. The heat generating components are disposed in the vicinity of at least one cold plate providing direct liquid cooling. Coolant is provided to the cold plate which will eventually exit it through one or more ports or orifices placed on the sides or both side and bottom of the cold plate. The placement, size and number of port(s) or orifice(s) can be selectively adjusted to control amount of coolant flow. Effluent flow from the cold plate flows over the remaining immersion cooled components and then exits the liquid tight enclosure which houses the electronic components.
US07916475B2 Electronic device having movable display and sliding apparatus thereof
An electronic device includes a main body, a pivoting member pivotably mounted to the main body, a display, a sliding piece fixed to the inner surface of the display and capable of sliding relative to the pivoting member, and a resilient member positioned at one side of the sliding piece opposite to the pivoting member for driving the sliding piece to slide relative to the pivoting member.
US07916466B2 Computer enclosure with input/output module
A computer enclosure includes an inner chassis, an input/output (I/O) module defining a number of I/O interfaces, a latching unit attached to the inner chassis, a resilient member connected between the I/O module and the inner chassis, a gear rack attached to the I/O module, and a damping gear assembly attached to the inner chassis and engaging with the gear rack. The I/O module is pivotably mounted to the inner chassis. The latching unit is capable of keeping the I/O module at a closed position where the I/O interfaces of the I/O module are unexposed. A movement of the I/O module is restrained by the damping gear.
US07916465B2 Hard disk fixing rack
A hard disk fixing rack, which is used to emplace and fix the hard disks used in a computer, is composed of a seat which is fixed in an interior of a computer casing, a rack body, and a plurality of elastic gliding members which are installed on the hard disk. An interior of the rack body is formed with a plurality or rails, such that after the hard disk is gliding on the aforementioned rails, it can be fixed into locking slots at tail ends of the rails.
US07916461B2 Electronic device with rotatable keyboard
An electronic device with a rotatable keyboard is provided. The electronic device includes a casing defining a plurality of button holes, and a pressable plate having a plurality of transparent pressable protrusions. Each of the pressable protrusions exposes itself through a corresponding button hole of the casing for a user to press the pressable protrusions to input commands to the electronic device. The electronic device further includes at least one rotatable member mounted in the base. A plurality of touch points are arranged on each surfaces of the rotatable member. The electronic device further includes a transmission mechanism and a knob. The knob is for driving the transmission mechanism, and the transmission mechanism is for rotating the rotatable member to make one surface of the at least one rotatable member face the pressable plate and the touch points on the surface being touchable by the user.
US07916455B2 Conductive composition and production method thereof, antistatic coating material, antistatic coating, antistatic film, optical filter, and optical information recording medium, and capacitors and production method thereof
A conductive composition comprises a π conjugated conductive polymer, a dopant composed of polyanion, and at least one crosslinking site forming compound selected from (a) compounds having a glycidyl group and (b) compounds having a hydroxyl group and one selected from the group consisting of allyl, vinyl ether, methacryl, acryl, methacrylamide, and acrylamide groups. An antistatic coating material comprises a π conjugated conductive polymer, polyanion, at least one crosslinking site forming compound selected form the above (a) and (b), and a solvent. An antistatic coating is formed by applying the above-mentioned antistatic coating material. In a capacitor comprising an anode composed of a valve metal porous body; a dielectric layer formed by oxidizing the surface of the anode; and a cathode formed on the dielectric layer, the cathode has a solid electrolyte layer formed by crosslinking complexes of a π conjugated conductive polymer and a dopant composed of a polyanion.
US07916450B2 Ceramic slurry composition, method for producing thin green sheet by extrusion, and electronic device fabricated using the green sheet
A ceramic slurry composition includes 20˜50 wt. % of a ceramic powder, 2˜10 wt. % of a polymer having average molecular weight of 400,000 or more, 0.1˜2 wt. % of a polymer having hydrogen bond-forming functional groups, and 40˜75 wt. % of a solvent. If necessary, the ceramic slurry composition further includes 1˜5 wt. % of a polymer having weight average molecular weight of 400,000 or less.
US07916447B2 Electrostatic chuck for substrate stage, electrode used for the chuck, and treating system having the chuck and electrode
An electrostatic chuck is provided for a substrate stage that can be used in plasma treatment of various substrates such as a large-sized glass substrate for a flat panel display (FPD), a semiconductor wafer or the like. The electrostatic chuck is divided into a plurality of electrodes formed into nearly bar-like shapes. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, each of the divided bar-like electrodes includes an inner electrode and a single layer thermally sprayed film formed on the surface of the inner electrode, with the bar-like electrodes disposed in parallel so as to form a plane electrode.
US07916434B2 Tunnel magnetoresistive effect element with limited electric popping output voltage
A TMR effect element with sufficiently reduced element resistance and restricted popping noise is provided, which comprises a tunnel barrier layer formed primarily of a metal oxide including many electric charge sites. The electric charge sites density n and the mobility μ of electrons trapped due to the electric charge sites satisfy a relationship expressed by: 0<(ns1−1−ns2−1)−1·(μ0−μ)·(nμ)−1<0.2, where ns1 and ns2 are densities of tunnel electrons when an element resistance is a minimum and maximum respectively during reading signals and μ0 is the mobility of electrons when not trapped.