Document Document Title
US07949718B2 Phonetic filtering of undesired email messages
Several embodiments, among others, provided in the present disclosure teach a filtering of email messages for spam based on phonetic equivalents of words found in the email message. In some embodiments, an email message having a word is received, and a phonetic equivalent of the word is generated. Thereafter, the phonetic equivalent of the word is tokenized to generate a token representative of the phonetic equivalent. The generated token is then used to determine a spam probability.
US07949717B2 Method, system and computer program for correcting e-mail messages with missing receivers
A solution is proposed for exchanging messages (such as e-mails) among a plurality of data processing entities, such as client computers (105). A corresponding method starts with the step of sending (403-412) an original message from a sender entity to a set of original receiver entities; the original message includes an original information content and an indication of the original receiver entities. The method continues by sending (415-424) a correction message from the sender entity at least partially to the original receiver entities and completely to a set of missing receiver entities being missing in the original message; the correction message includes the original information content and an indication of the original receiver entities and the missing receiver entities. The original message for each original receiver entity is then corrected (427-496) according to the correction message.
US07949695B2 Two's complement circuit
A operator is located between two converters that convert data between floating-point format and a predetermined format. The operator operates on predetermined format data, which consists of the same sign bit, the same exponent, and the two's complement of the mantissa of the corresponding floating-point data. When the operator is an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the number of operations for a given calculation can be reduced.
US07949683B2 Method and apparatus for traversing a compressed deterministic finite automata (DFA) graph
An apparatus, and corresponding method, for traversing a compressed graph used in performing a search for a match of at least one expression in an input stream is presented. The compressed graph includes a number of interconnected nodes connected solely by valid arcs. A valid arc of a current node represents a character match in an expression of a character associated with the current node. Arcs which are not valid may be pruned. Non-valid arcs may include arcs which point back to a designated node(s), or arcs that point to the same next node as the designated node(s) for the same character. Each valid arc may comprise a next node pointer, a hash function, and a copy of an associated character. The hash function may be used to manage a retrieval process used by a walker traversing the compressed node. The walker may also use a comparison function to verify the correct arc has been retrieved.
US07949677B2 Methods and systems for providing authorized remote access to a computing environment provided by a virtual machine
A method for providing authorized remote access to a computing environment provided by a virtual machine, includes the step of requesting, by a client machine, access to a resource. A collection agent gathers information about the client machine. A policy engine receives the gathered information. The policy engine makes an access control decision based on the received information. A computing environment already associated with the user is identified in response to the received information, the identified computing environment provided by a virtual machine. A broker server establishes, responsive to the access control decision, a connection between the client machine and the identified computing environment.
US07949676B2 Information search system, information search supporting system, and method and program for information search
Using an ontology to perform an information search utilizing a meaning given to information on a network without being required to perform complicated operations for forming an inquiry sentence in conformity with the ontology.A pre-stage before a search engine provides an information search supporting system having a morpheme analysis section, a syntactic and semantic analysis section, and a conversion execution section which converts a natural language sentence on which syntactic analysis and semantic analysis have been performed into an inquiry sentence described in an ontology description language by referring to a case frame ontology dictionary in which are stored information indicating to which property in an ontology does the relationship among a predicate, a subject and an object in the natural language sentence correspond and the case frame of the natural language sentence in the property.
US07949673B2 Correlating cross process and cross thread execution flows in an application manager
Data relating to execution flows running on different processes or threads at a computer system is correlated. The execution flows may represent sequences of software components that are invoked or other computer system resources that are consumed. A first execution flow fulfills a first request by transmitting a second request which initiates a second execution flow, such as at another computer system. The second request includes meta data which identifies a context of the first request, such as a URL, an agent which monitors the first execution flow, and the component in the first execution flow which initiated the second request. A manager receives information regarding the first execution flow from the first agent, and information regarding the second execution flow, along with the meta data, from a second agent, for correlating the first and second execution flows. The received information may include execution flow shape data.
US07949671B2 System and method for the transformation and canonicalization of semantically structured data
A method of transforming and canonicalizing semantically structured data includes obtaining data from a network of computers, applying text patterns to the obtained data and placing the data in a first data file, providing a second data file containing the obtained data in a uniform format, and generating interface specific sentences from the data in the second data file.
US07949670B2 Language neutral text verification
A resource string associated with output text is identified. A regular expression pattern is generated from the resource string. The regular expression pattern is matched to the output text. A verification result based on the matching of the regular expression pattern to the output text is provided.
US07949668B2 Common point authoring system for the complex sharing of hierarchically authored data objects in a distribution chain
The Common Point Authoring system functions to provide Livestock Informational Objects via the use of a centralized repository of uniquely identified, immutable Livestock Informational Objects. This system automates the authoring, maintenance, and distribution of the Livestock Informational Objects by using an Internet-based paradigm and a centralized repository of uniquely-identified, immutable Data Elements. The Common Point Authoring system provides a set of software modules that the manufacturers can use to author, maintain, and distribute Livestock Informational Objects and their customers, as Members of the system of Livestock Informational Objects, can use to retrieve, maintain, and distribute the Livestock Informational Objects. The system's interconnectivity allows for the use of an Internet-based paradigm for the purchase and sale among Members of the system of Livestock Informational Objects as commodities, and for reducing the burden costs among Members of compliance with government regulations.
US07949663B1 Enhanced project predictor
A computer implemented system for project prediction is provided. The system includes a data manager to obtain historical project data. The system also includes an analyzer to analyze the historical project data and an analysis cycle time to generate models for a proposed project cycle time. Additionally, the system includes a user interface to select one model for the proposed project cycle time, wherein the selected model includes linear sub-models corresponding to a historical data range, and apply proposed project data and analysis cycle time to one linear sub-model corresponding to a proposed data range to predict the proposed project cycle time. Furthermore, the system captures proposed project data and obtains additional project data to update the selected model. The models provide for the accurate prediction of cycle times, or project costs, in an enterprise development environment.
US07949650B2 Associative database scanning and information retrieval
A method and device are disclosed for an associative and approximate, analog or digital scanning of databases that allows for the asynchronous accessing of data from a mass storage medium. The invention includes providing dedicated analog and digital circuitry and decision logic at the mass storage medium level for determining a key identifying the data of interest, continuously comparing the key to a signal generated from a reading of the data from the mass storage medium with an approximate or exact matching circuit to determine a pattern match, determining a correlation value between the key and the data as it is read in a continuous fashion, and determining a match based upon a preselected threshold value for the correlation value. The pattern matching technique eliminates any need to compare data based on its intrinsic structure or value, and instead is based on an analog or digital pattern. The key and data may be either analog or digital. This device and method may be provided as part of a stand-alone computer system, embodied in a network attached storage device, or can otherwise be provided as part of a computer LAN or WAN.
US07949644B2 Method and apparatus for constructing a compact similarity structure and for using the same in analyzing document relevance
A computer-readable medium comprises data structure for providing information about levels of similarity between pairs of N documents. The data structure comprises a plurality of entries of similarity values representing levels of similarity for a plurality of pairs of the documents. Each of the similarity values represents a level of similarity of one document of a given pair relative to the other document of the given pair. The similarity value of each entry is greater than a threshold similarity value that is greater than zero. The plurality of similarity-value entries are fewer than N2−N in number if the similarity values are asymmetric with regard to document pairing, and the plurality of similarity-value entries are fewer than N 2 - N 2 in number if the similarity values are symmetric with regard to document pairing. A method and apparatus for generating the data structure are described.
US07949638B1 System and method for nearly in-band search indexing
A system and method for nearly in-band search indexing. A network switch (or other intermediate network device) is configured to provide port mirroring so that data access requests directed to a storage system are forwarded to both the storage system and to a search appliance. The search appliance collects index information from the received data access requests to update a search index. As the search appliance is nearly in-band, i.e., not directly in-line of the data access request path, no increase of latency occurs for processing data access requests by the storage system.
US07949627B2 Methods and systems for selecting and presenting content based on learned periodicity of user content selection
A method of selecting and presenting content based on learned user preferences is provided. The method includes receiving search input from the user for identifying desired content items and receiving content selection actions from the user. The method further includes analyzing the date, day, and time of content selection actions by the user and analyzing descriptive terms associated with the selected content items to learn a periodicity of user selections of similar content items. In response to subsequent searches by the user, the method calls for selecting and ordering a collection of content items for presentation to the user based on comparing the user's search input to descriptive terms associated with content items and based on the learned periodicities of the user.
US07949613B2 Apparatus for improved sortation and delivery point processing of military mail
A method for distributing military mail includes the steps of compiling military unit and associated delivery code information into a computer searchable military address management system database which associates a military unit zip code with a current geographic location for that unit; obtaining military unit personnel change of address information from a number of sources including a national change of address database maintained by a federal postal service and input from a military unit to which a military mail recipient belongs, which information is compiled into a computer searchable military change of address database, which information includes change of address information more recent than change of address information reflected in a federal national change of address database; and using information from the military address management system database and the military change of address database to redirect incorrectly addressed mail pieces to a military mail recipient's current address.
US07949605B2 Secure electronic commerce
Secure transactions are achieved over a public network by using a private network to handle the sensitive information of the transaction. When a client requests a product from a vendor server over a public network, the vendor server notifies a facilitation server on the public network. This results in the client receiving a set of computer readable instructions from the facilitation server. The set of instructions provide access instructions to a transaction server system on the private network so that sensitive transaction information is sent to the transaction server system on the private network rather than over the public Internet. Where the sensitive information is credit card information, the transaction server system may obtain authorization for the transaction from a financial institution and then notify the vendor accordingly. Where the sensitive information is the identity of a user of the client, the transaction server may selectively authorize the transaction without the vendor being apprised of the identity of a user of the client. Secure communications may also be achieved by sending sensitive communications over the private network.
US07949594B2 Systems and methods for participant controlled communications regarding financial accounts
Systems and methods for directing communications related to financial accounts. Some embodiments include systems that access account information maintained in relation to an account group. One or more communication rules are received from a user, applied to the account information, and communications are formed based on the application of the communication rules. Various methods provide for receiving communication rules, and applying the communication rules to account information to provide one or more communication outputs.
US07949590B2 Apparatus, method and system for designing and trading macroeconomic investment views
The disclosure details the implementation of an apparatus, method, and system for a macroeconomic equity investment design and trade system (the Wavefront system). The disclosure teaches a set of quantitative tools to help investors design trades around macro themes. Part of the approach is a linked set of models called Wavefronts, which describe how economic shocks ripple through the economy into company performance, market value and equity returns in the US market. In one embodiment, the modeling may be viewed as having in three parts. The first converts an economic shock into a comprehensive set of shifts in the economy. The second takes those economic shifts and drives them into company fundamentals. The third values those fundamentals based on what the market normally pays. As a consequence, the Wavefront system maps economic views and risks into predictions of what the market will pay for those changes, and the industries and companies that will over-and under-perform, which allows for and results in the construction of more risk-efficient portfolios. In an alternative embodiment, the Wavefront system may also inverse the progression of the three parts to uncover and move industry specific information to uncover macroeconomic themes.
US07949580B1 Point of service third party financial management vehicle for the healthcare industry
A point of service adjudicated payment system and method which provides for creation of an adjudicated settlement transaction at a point of service which designates the portion to be paid by a third party payor and the portion to be paid by a customer. A point of service terminal accepts a payment system access card, such as a credit card, for payment of a service and/or product by a customer, where at least part of the purchase is reimbursable by a third party payor. The point of service terminal creates a purchase transaction which is adjudicated by an adjudication engine substantially in real-time to determine a covered amount payable by the third party payor and any non-covered amount which is to be paid by the customer. An adjudicated settlement transaction is returned to the point of service terminal and the payment system transfers funds according to the adjudicated settlement transaction.
US07949575B1 Account related task processing
A system for periodic and real-time processing of accounts. The system operates in a bulk mode and an error mode. A bulk component concurrently processes a set of eligible accounts with a set of dependent tasks, and a removal component removes one or more accounts from the eligible accounts if an error is associated therewith. In bulk mode, each task fetches only the required set of accounts/subscriptions/payment instruments for processing. In error mode (retry/reprocess mode), if an account encounters an error for a task in the bulk mode, the account drops is removed from bulk mode and becomes ineligible for fetching in any future bulk-mode task processing. Error-mode processing tests and processes all tasks sequentially for an errored account until the account state is in par with the accounts being processed by bulk mode. Then the account is removed from error mode processing and is picked up appropriately by bulk-mode processing.
US07949566B2 Method and system for creating ad-books
A method and apparatus and format and and form are provided for preparing ad-books or related print or publishing for an organization or organizations or a plethora of organizations over a communications network. The method includes preparing an ads or messages at a user terminal connected to the communications network. The method further includes processing the “ad” or message at a server connected to the communications network for placing the “ad” or message in an “ad-book” or printing or other publication. The method further includes an automated “ad-book” format or form for the soliciting and obtaining ads or messages which provides methods for collecting ad/message pricing, content, layout, billing and information for ad/message for “ad-book” and related printing or publishing. The method, apparatus, format or form are believed particularly useful to assist and consolidate the efforts of non-profit, charity and similar organizations who, though they may differ in many ways, all rely on ad-books and similar print and publications for their fundraising efforts.
US07949564B1 System and method of receiving advertisement content from advertisers and distributing the advertising content to a network of personal computers
A method of distributing advertisement content. One embodiment of the invention comprises a distribution server that is connected to a network of personal computers via a network. The distribution server receives advertising data from advertisers and formats the advertisement data for storage and display on the personal computers during or before bootloading a user selected application environment. Upon the occurrence of one or more events, the distribution server distributes the advertisement data to the network of personal computers. The personal computers receive the distributed advertisement content and store the advertisement data on a storage device. Upon the bootloading of the user selected application environment, the advertising data is displayed to the user.
US07949558B2 Method and apparatus for selling subscriptions to periodicals in a retail environment
A system comprises a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a POS controller, a retail subscription system. The POS terminal allows a cashier to enter subscription sales data into the POS controller. The POS controller maintains databases on available subscriptions and produces databases containing data relating to subscriptions sold to customers. The retail subscription system verifies the subscriptions by reference to its own databases and transmits the subscriptions to a fulfillment house for distribution.
US07949555B2 Tariff generation, invoicing and contract management
A computer-implemented method of supplying a tariff to a tariff recipient, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving one or more cost curves from one or more suppliers, each cost curve being indicative of variations in the cost of a product or service expected by a respective associated supplier over time; b) receiving a load curve, the load curve being indicative of expected o variations in consumption of the product or service over time; c) calculating a tariff from the load curve received in step b) and the >cost curve received in step a) in accordance with a predetermined algorithm; and d) transmitting the tariff calculated in step c) to the tariff recipient.
US07949554B2 Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring
Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes receiving a coverage rule defining multiple covering entities for performing an activity for a covered entity and at least one period of time during which the multiple covering entities is to perform the activity. Individual calendars for the multiple covering entities are monitored and a change in one of the calendars is detected. It is then determined whether the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, and in response to determining that the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, a notification indicating violation of the coverage rule is generated.
US07949553B1 Method and system for a selection optimization process
Systems and methods are described which optimize a business process through adaptive learning. Incoming customers are profiled and based on the customer's profile, a corresponding set of actions may be generated. From this set of actions, an algorithm is used to select a discrete action which is then presented to the customer. The customer's response to the presented action may in turn be used to forecast future customer responses and update the selection algorithm. These methods and systems allow attainment of a specific objective through progressive optimization of a business process.
US07949545B1 Method and apparatus for providing a centralized medical record system
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method of creating and maintaining a centralized medical record system. The method of this embodiment includes establishing, in a computer system, a record associated with a client. (The computer system is in communication with a network to which the client has access and is capable of storing records from a multiplicity of clients having medical information developed at a multiplicity of sources). The method also includes receiving medical data from a source pursuant to a written request by the client to the source for transfer of the medical data to the centralized medical record system. Also the method includes storing and logically associating a representation of the medical data with the record and providing the client with access to the record over the network such that the client may review the representation of the medical data.
US07949541B2 Vehicle activity module
Systems and methods are disclosed for maintaining security and data gathering for a number of vehicles. The systems include a vehicle activity module for each of the vehicles. The vehicle activity module has a wireless transmitter, a storage device, at least one sensor for receiving event information from identification devices, such as RFID cards, keypads, magnetic ID cards, and the like, a releasable key container, and a processor for accessing and analyzing information. The VAMs are wirelessly connected to a computer system. The VAMs control access to the keys, monitor information relating to access, and store and transmit information relating to sales events, non-sales events, and intrusion events. The VAMs are capable of autonomous operation, without the need to access the computer system to verify event information. The VAMs further include signal attenuating mechanisms to facilitate use of “smart keys.”
US07949538B2 Automated interpretation of clinical encounters with cultural cues
A method, system and a computer program product for an automated interpretation and translation are disclosed. An automated interpretation occurs by receiving language-based content from a user. The received language-based content is processed to interpret the received language-based content into a target language. Also, a presence of a cultural sensitivity in the received language-based content is detected. Further, an appropriate guidance for dealing with the detected cultural sensitivity is provided.
US07949537B2 Method for automated sentence planning in a task classification system
The invention relates to a method for sentence planning (120) in a task classification system that interacts with a user. The method may include recognizing symbols in the user's input communication and determining whether the user's input communication can be understood. If the user's communication can be understood, understanding data may be generated (220). The method may further include generating communicative goals (3010) based on the recognized symbols and understanding data. The generated communicative goals (3010) may be related to information needed to be obtained form the user. The method may also include automatically planning one or more sentences (3020) based on the generated communicative goals and outputting at least one of the sentence plans to the user (3080).
US07949536B2 Intelligent speech recognition of incomplete phrases
Intelligent speech recognition is used to provide users with the ability to utter more user friendly commands. Satisfaction is increased when a user can vocalize a subset of a formal command name and still have the intended command identified and processed. Moreover, greater accuracy in identifying a command application from a user's utterance can be achieved by ignoring command choices associated with unlikely user utterances. An intelligent speech recognition system can identify differing acceptable verbal command phrase forms, e.g., but not limited to, complete commands, command subsequences and command subsets, for different commands supported by the system. Subset blocking words are identified for assistance in reducing the ambiguity in matching user verbal command phrases with valid commands supported by the intelligent speech recognition system.
US07949528B2 System and method for spelling recognition using speech and non-speech input
A system and method for non-speech input or keypad-aided word and spelling recognition is disclosed. The method includes generating an unweighted grammar, selecting a database of words, generating a weighted grammar using the unweighted grammar and a statistical letter model trained on the database of words, receiving speech from a user after receiving the non-speech input and after generating the weighted grammar, and performing automatic speech recognition on the speech and non-speech input using the weighted grammar. If a confidence is below a predetermined level, then the method includes receiving non-speech input from the user, disambiguating possible spellings by generating a letter lattice based on a user input modality, and constraining the letter lattice and generating a new letter string of possible word spellings until a letter string is correctly recognized.
US07949527B2 Multiresolution searching
This invention relates to processing of audio files, and more specifically, to an improved technique of searching audio. More particularly, a method and system for processing audio using a multi-stage searching process is disclosed.
US07949520B2 Adaptive filter pitch extraction
An enhancement system extracts pitch from a processed speech signal. The system estimates the pitch of voiced speech by deriving filter coefficients of an adaptive filter and using the obtained filter coefficients to derive pitch. The pitch estimation may be enhanced by using various techniques to condition the input speech signal, such as spectral modification of the background noise and the speech signal, and/or reduction of the tonal noise from the speech signal.
US07949517B2 Dialogue system with logical evaluation for language identification in speech recognition
A method and device are provided for classifying at least two languages in an automatic dialogue system, which processes digitized speech input. At least one speech recognition method and at least one language identification method are used on the digitized speech input in order, by logical evaluation of the results of the method, to identify the language of the speech input.
US07949515B2 Automatically identifying unique language independent keys correlated with appropriate text strings of various locales by value and key searches
A method, system and computer program product for automatically identifying unique language independent keys. A “value search” is performed which provides a listing of values for a locale. Upon the user selecting a value in the listing, a “key search” is performed to search for various language independent keys associated with the selected value. A second locale is suggested as well as a listing of values for the second locale that are the same in meaning as the value selected by the user for the first locale in order to narrow the number of language independent keys displayed in connection with the value selected for the first locale. Upon the user selecting a value for the second locale, a subsequent key search is performed on the language independent keys displayed in connection with the first value. A unique language independent key may be identified based on this subsequent key search.
US07949513B2 Language module and method for use with text processing devices
A verbal interface appliance uses an attachable language-specific processing module to perform language-specific tasks. The language module implements an API by which the appliance can submit language-specific processing requests. The appliance submits data representing a user input gesture and receives both data representing appropriate feedback to the user in the language implemented by the language module and one or more candidates selected as likely interpretations of the user's input gesture. The language module also provides font data lookup service to the appliance. The language module can support more than one written language and can support more than one textual input mode.
US07949512B2 Systems and methods for performing virtual storage operations
The present invention includes a system for simulating the performing of data storage operations. The system may include a storage manager component, at least one media management component directed by the storage manager component to manage storage operations to at least one storage device, and a storage emulation module adapted to simulate the characteristics of the at least one storage device. Under the direction of the storage manager, the emulation module may be adapted to simulate storage operations to one or more storage devices performed by one or more of the media management components.
US07949509B2 Method and tool for generating simulation case for IC device
For generating a simulation case to verify an operation of an IC device, a database including a plurality of device description files, a plurality of pattern files and a plurality of command files is established. Files stored in the database and corresponding to an IC device are collected. The collected files are parsed to find out entries to be edited. Specified entries are edited by a user according to the operation of the IC device. A simulation case or a plurality of simulation cases are generated according to the entries.
US07949502B2 Processing composite data signal by expansion in a graphical representation
A computer system for processing composite data is provided. The system includes means for processing a computing operation that is designed to receive a non-composite data type as at least one input. The composite data is provided to the computing operation as the at least one input. The system further includes an expansion marker that indicates each element in a first composite data needs to be processed separately and an expansion mechanism that uses the computing operation to process each element in the first composite data individually. The system also includes storage for storing a result of processing each element of the first composite data individually with the computing operation.
US07949487B2 Moving body posture angle detecting apparatus
An angular velocity detected by an angular velocity sensor (10) is integrated by a small angle matrix calculator (12) and a matrix adding calculator (14), and then restored as a posture angle (angular velocity posture angle) by a matrix posture angle calculator (16). A posture matrix is calculated by a tilt angle calculator (22) and an acceleration matrix calculator (24) and an acceleration detected by an acceleration sensor (20) is restored as a posture angle (acceleration posture angle) by a matrix posture angle calculator (26). Low pass filters (18, 28) each extract a low range component, the difference between the two is calculated by a differencer (30), and only the drift amount is extracted. A subtracter (32) removes the drift amount from the angular velocity posture angle and the result is output from an output device (34). In addition, a posture angle matrix calculator (36) converts the result to a posture matrix, which it feeds back to the matrix adding calculator (14).
US07949480B2 Method for determining an interaction between an electromagnetic radiation and a material
The exemplary embodiments of the method, system, software arrangement and computer-accessible medium according to the present invention facilitates an analysis of interactions between nonlinear absorbing materials and an incident electromagnetic wave based on material properties and characteristics of the incident beam of the electromagnetic energy. Using the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to determine laser beam propagation in a variety of multiphoton absorbing materials. Energy levels associated with such materials, which may be associated with various electron absorption and/or relaxation phenomena, may be added to and/or removed from the analysis. Incident laser beams can vary from continuous wave to attoseconds in duration and a numerical solution can be obtained that is radially and/or temporally dependent. Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention can also be used to determine certain contributions of individual electronic energy levels within the materials to the total 15 absorption.
US07949478B2 Hose assembly analysis apparatus and methods
An in-situ lifespan is predicted for a hydraulic or pneumatic hose assembly for a particular installation, so that the hose assembly may be replaced before failure. A user of the apparatus, e.g. whilst on-site, is prompted to enter basic hose data together with a rating for a number of lifespan factors. The apparatus then determines a basic hose assembly lifespan based on the input hose data, and modifies the basic lifespan based on the ratings for the various lifespan factors. A hose assembly grading system is also described.
US07949468B2 Route guidance systems, methods, and programs
Route guidance systems, methods, and programs detect a current position of a vehicle and search for a route to a destination on the basis of the vehicle position. The systems, methods, and programs set a guidance point at a predetermined distance before a target point on the searched route. If a guidance condition is met, the systems, methods, and programs provide route guidance about the target point when the vehicle reaches the guidance point, the guidance condition being met on the basis of the presence or absence of traffic lights at each of at least one intersection between the guidance point and the target point. If the guidance condition is met, the systems, methods, and programs output route guidance, the content of the route guidance being preset based on the guidance condition.
US07949467B2 Road map data structure, road map data structure creating method, road map data storage medium, and navigation device
Systems, methods, and programs create a road map data structure, the data structure including road network data in which a road is represented by a plurality of links connected in a link string. The systems, methods, and programs assign a link ID to each of the links of the road network data. For each link, the link ID has a numerical range set in accordance with both a length of the link and a road attribute, and the link ID is set sequentially in a connection order within the link string.
US07949466B2 Map data providing device
Vehicular swept path data and electronic map data representing a road map are compared with each other to compute correction information that represents the amount of deviation of the electronic map data from the vehicular swept path data with respect to each predetermined block. The electronic map data is corrected using the computed correction information, and the corrected electronic map data is provided.
US07949460B2 Method and apparatus for supplying fuel of LPG car having LPI system
Disclosed is method and apparatus for supplying fuel of LPG car having LPI system. More particularly, the present invention generates a gas fuel injection signal based on a gasoline fuel injection signal and directly injects LPG fuel within a fuel tank to a combustion chamber using the generated gas fuel injection signal to drive an engine. Therefore, an engine can be easily changed, the manufacturing cost of a duel car of LPG and gasoline can be reduced, and the manufacturing process thereof can be simplified.
US07949457B2 Control apparatus for internal combustion engine
A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, includes: a crankshaft; a crank angle detection unit; a generator; and a control unit to which alternating voltage signals are input, that ascertains ignition timings based on crank signals, performs ignition control so as to spark the internal combustion engine at the ignition timings, performs polarity determination processing in which the control unit determines a polarity of the alternating voltage signal each predetermined cycle and determines a current polarity determination result, and performs reverse rotation detection processing in which the control unit obtains the current polarity determination result each time the crank signal is detected so that the control unit ascertains a polarity cycle of the alternating voltage signals and in which the control unit determines that the crankshaft is in reverse rotation and stops the ignition control.
US07949454B2 Driving dynamics control system having an expanded braking function
In a method for stabilizing a vehicle in extreme driving situations, in particular when understeering while cornering, multiple wheels are decelerated in order to reduce the driving speed. A maximum cornering force of the wheels and thus a minimal curve radius may be achieved if in particular the rear wheels are decelerated and a higher braking torque is applied on the rear wheels than on the front wheels and in the process in particular the outside front wheel remains highly underdecelerated.
US07949451B2 Driving force control device of vehicle
A powertrain manager executes a program including the steps of: reading an instruction gear ratio kgear(1) for transmission control; calculating an actual gear ratio kgear(2); determining that failure of an automatic transmission has occurred on a low gear side if relation of kgear(1)<{kgear(2)/α} or kgear(1)<{kgear(2)−β} is satisfied; and substituting larger one of kgear(1) and kgear(2) into a gear ratio for operation.
US07949444B2 Aviation field service report natural language processing
An aircraft service information handling system comprises an input module operable to collect field service narrative data. A natural language data extraction module extracts problem data and related solution data from the narrative data, and a database module populates an aircraft service information database with the extracted problem data and the related extracted solution data. The database module further searches the database for populated problem data, and retrieves the related populated solution data.
US07949443B2 Electric-vehicle driving apparatus
According to one embodiment, there is provided an electric-vehicle driving apparatus which consumes regenerative energy by a brake resistor and can decrease harmonic components generated by a brake-chopper switching circuit. Plural brake-chopper switching circuits are provided in parallel for each inverter. Harmonic components generated by the brake-chopper switching circuits are decreased by changing phases or frequencies of triangular carrier waves of the switching circuits, relatively to each other.
US07949417B2 Model predictive controller solution analysis process
The solution from a multivariable predictive controller (MPC) is analyzed and described by providing quantitative input to operators regarding the effect of changing controller limits on the MPC controller solution. This information allows a rapid operator response to changes and more optimal process operation.
US07949415B2 Apparatus and method for model-based control for integrating processes
Various methods and systems for the parametric control of a process include representing the process with a process model used to generate future predictions of a process variable. In one embodiment, the process exhibits integrating behavior that is represented by a non-integrating process model. In another embodiment, an inverse of the model is filtered using a filter that includes a lead time constant that is selected to minimize a steady state error of the predicted process variable. In yet another embodiment, an array of output model values is revised or reindexed in response to a change in a time-varying parameter related to the process.
US07949407B2 Energy delivery devices and methods
This relates to methods and devices for achieving contact between the wall of a cavity or passageway and a medical device when used in tortuous anatomy.
US07949400B2 Devices and methods for cardiovascular reflex control via coupled electrodes
Devices, systems and methods are disclosed by which the blood pressure, nervous system activity, and neurohormonal activity may be selectively and controllably reduced by activating baroreceptors. A baroreceptor activation device is positioned near a baroreceptor, preferably a baroreceptor located in the carotid sinus. A control system may be used to modulate the baroreceptor activation device. The control system may utilize an algorithm defining a stimulus regimen which promotes long term efficacy and reduces power requirements/consumption. The baroreceptor activation device may utilize RF-coupled or other electrodes to activate the baroreceptors. The electrodes may be adapted for connection to the carotid arteries at or near the carotid sinus, and may be designed to minimize extraneous tissue stimulation.
US07949394B2 Using implanted sensors for feedback control of implanted medical devices
A system and method for administering a therapeutic treatment to the heart includes a pressure sensor positioned in the pulmonary artery, an implantable medical device located remotely from the sensor, and communication means for communicating pressure data from the pressure sensor to the implantable medical device. The system includes a control module operatively coupled to the implantable medical device. The control module is adapted for comparing the pulmonary arterial pressure data to a pre-programmed value, adjusting an operating parameter of the implantable medical device based on the relationship of the pulmonary arterial pressure to the pre-programmed value, and repeating this process until the relationship between the pulmonary arterial pressure data and the pre-programmed value is such that no adjustment is necessary.
US07949383B2 Imaging apparatus with selectable moveable stage
An imaging box assembly is provided for capturing an image of a sample. The imaging box assembly includes a body having an interior cavity for receiving the sample, and having a front portion defining an opening into the cavity. The body further includes a view port enabling viewing of the sample contained in the interior cavity. A door is mounted to the body that is movable between an opened condition, enabling access to the interior cavity through the cavity opening, and a closed condition, positioning a door rear portion substantially adjacent the body front portion to prevent access through the cavity opening. The box assembly further includes a moveable stage disposed in the cavity interior that supports the sample. The moveable stage is adapted to selectively position the sample at a selected one of a plurality of positions relative to the view hole.
US07949381B2 Transcutaneous analyte sensor
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for measuring an analyte in a host. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transcutaneous measurement of glucose in a host.
US07949379B2 Foldable electronic device
A foldable electronic device (100) includes a cover (10) having a side barrel (132) and a main body (20) rotatably connected to the cover. The main body includes a body shell (21) accommodating a plurality of electronic components therein, a central barrel (244) formed at one end of the body shell, and an antenna seat (23) attached to an opposite end of the body shell. The side barrel of the cover is located adjacent to the central barrel of the main body.
US07949376B2 Advanced power saving in communication terminal, communication system and power control method
Each station makes a transition to a power saving state autonomously in response to the reception of signals from the other stations in the same group and the transmission of its own signal. Each station sets its transmission timing such that it does not overlap the transmission timing of the other stations, by referring to data elements included in a beacon signal. The transmission timing in the stations is determined for each transmission.
US07949368B2 Accessory functions
A mobile terminal capable of supporting a plurality of accessory functions with one or more accessories, the mobile terminal capable of supporting each accessory function in two or more modes, and each accessory storing a capability array indicative of the capabilities of the accessory. The mobile terminal comprises reading means for reading a capability array from an accessory; interpreting means for interpreting a capability array read by the reading means in accordance with a predefined format as including one or more fields, each field corresponding to an accessory function; identifying means for identifying a mode of an accessory function in dependence on the content of a field of the capability array, the field corresponding to the accessory function; and supporting means responsive to the identifying means for supporting the accessory function with the accessory in the mode identified by the identifying means.
US07949361B2 Terminal unit with easily detachable panel
In a terminal unit including a main body and a flexible panel coupled to a main body, the main body including a first engaging section having a guide rim. The flexible panel is mounted to the main body by using the first engaging section. The panel includes a first claw which is engaged with the first engaging section. The first claw has a guide face which extends to slantingly intersect the guide rim of the first engaging section.
US07949353B2 System and method for providing messages to a mobile device
The present invention is directed to a system and method in which data messages, which otherwise would be displayed on the screen of a mobile device are delivered in audible format. The message itself, in one embodiment does not contain the audible message, but rather the message triggers the retrieval of an audible message (or if the user chooses, he/she can be prompted to view additional information in a text or video format on the phone). The audible, message that is ultimately delivered can be prestored in the mobile device; can be created based upon data sent to the device; can be retrieved from an external source, such as from a web server accessed by the mobile device in accordance with data contained in the message received by the mobile device; or it can be sent by the sender as a “whisper” message.
US07949349B2 Mobile communication terminal and positional information providing method
An object is to provide a cell phone capable of achieving improvement in efficiency of communication and improvement in user's operability on the occasion of providing location information. A cell phone 10 has a data transmitter 101 for transmitting user data to a content delivery server 30, using a user channel, a location request part 102 for transmitting request information to request calculation of location information about the cell phone 10, to a GPS server 40 in accordance with the transmission of the user data, using a control channel, a location acquiring part 103 for acquiring the location information calculated based on the request information by the GPS server 40, using the control channel, and a location transmitter 105 for transmitting the location information to the content delivery server 30, using the control channel.
US07949346B2 Method and system for locating a terminal in a wireless telecommunications network, computer program product therefor
A method is disclosed for locating a terminal in a local wireless telecommunications network adapted to provide an estimated position of the terminal depending on a set of configuration data and a set of measuring data indicating whether the terminal belongs to a subset of said coverage areas and acquired from the terminal or network. The set of configuration data has a plurality of data bases of configurations, each one having a respective weight function, and the set of measuring data has a plurality of measuring types, depending on the type of terminal. A method for associating, to every combination of a data base of configurations and a measuring type, a respective locating procedure corresponding to an accuracy value of the locating estimation and actuating the locating procedure related to a combination selected by executing a related processing program. A processing system and a processing program or group of programs can be executed by the system and arranged to perform the above method.
US07949345B2 Cognitive radio system and method
A cognitive radio system and method for clear and idle channel survey in Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) are disclosed. Through computing average value of Received-Signal-Strength-Indicator (RSSI_AVG) in each channel, clear channels without interference from other RF devices can be distinguished in the present system and method. Based on an actual WLAN setup, a further AP has a larger possibility to be an idle and clear AP. In the present system and method, searching available channels from furthest AP to nearest AP therefore helps to reduce time of channel survey through repeated rises of signal strength threshold.
US07949331B1 Voicemail system with calling party identification
A voicemail header is modified to provide caller ID information in connection with the delivery of voice mail. The header may include an audible alert signal as is used in call waiting to alert a caller ID box in the customer's premises that caller ID information follows. The caller ID information is then delivered as FSK signaling information for display on the caller ID display.
US07949324B2 Method for compensating transmission carrier leakage and transceiving circuit embodying the same
The application discloses embodiments of methods and/or systems for compensating a transmission carrier leakage of an up-conversion mixer, a tranceiving circuit or apparatus embodying the same. One embodiment of a method can include detecting an I channel DC offset DCI0 and a Q channel DC offset DCQ0 generated by a reception carrier leakage from an output of a down-conversion mixer, detecting an I channel DC offset DCI and a Q channel DC offset DCQ from the output of the down-conversion mixer while varying a compensation parameter being inputted to an up-conversion mixer that has its output coupled to an input of the down-conversion mixer to determine the compensation parameter that can reduce or minimize a transmission carrier leakage. A combination of a transmission baseband signal and the determined compensation parameter can be transmitted using the up-conversion mixer and an antenna to compensate for the transmission carrier leakage.
US07949318B2 Multi-rank beamforming precoding apparatus and method
A multi-rank beamforming (MRBF) scheme in which the downlink channel is estimated and an optimal precoding matrix to be used by the MRBF transmitter is determined accordingly. The optimal precoding matrix is selected from a codebook of matrices having a recursive structure which allows for efficient computation of the optimal precoding matrix and corresponding Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR). The codebook also enjoys a small storage footprint. Due to the computational efficiency and modest memory requirements, the optimal precoding determination can be made at user equipment (UE) and communicated to a transmitting base station over a limited uplink channel for implementation over the downlink channel.
US07949316B2 High-efficiency envelope tracking systems and methods for radio frequency power amplifiers
Envelope tracking (ET) methods and systems for controlling the delivery of power to radio frequency power amplifiers (RFPAs). An exemplary ET system includes an RFPA and a wide bandwidth capable and power efficient envelope modulator that includes a first power supplying apparatus and a second power supplying apparatus. The first power supplying apparatus includes a switch-mode converter and a regulator. The first mode converter is operable to dynamically step down a fixed power supply voltage according to amplitude variations in an envelope signal received by the regulator, and use the resulting dynamic power supply signal to power the regulator. The second power supplying apparatus is connected in parallel with the first power supplying apparatus. Depending on a power of an output signal to be generated at an output of the power amplifier, power is supplied to the power amplifier from either or both of the first and second power supplying apparatuses.
US07949310B2 RF filtering at very high frequencies for substrate communications
A radio transceiver device includes circuitry for radiating electromagnetic signals at a very high radio frequency both through space, as well as through wave guides that are formed within a substrate material. In one embodiment, the substrate comprises a dielectric substrate formed within a board, for example, a printed circuit board. In another embodiment of the invention, the wave guide is formed within a die of an integrated circuit radio transceiver. A plurality of transceivers with different functionality is defined. Substrate transceivers are operable to transmit through the wave guides, while local transceivers are operable to produce very short range wireless transmissions through space. A third and final transceiver is a typical wireless transceiver for communication with remote (non-local to the device) transceivers.
US07949308B2 Tuneable filter
A radio receiver comprising: a frequency shifter for receiving a radio frequency signal including a wanted signal in a first frequency band and an interferer in a second frequency band overlapping the first frequency band, and for frequency shifting the radio frequency signal to form a frequency shifted signal, in which the first frequency band is shifted to a third frequency band below radio frequency and the second frequency band is shifted to a fourth frequency band; and a filter for receiving the frequency shifted signal and for attenuating the fourth frequency band relative to the parts of the third frequency band that do not include the fourth frequency band, wherein the filter is dynamically tuneable.
US07949303B2 Method and system for an efficient implementation of the Bluetooth® subband codec (SBC)
A method for processing audio may include performing using one or more processors and/or circuits in a Bluetooth enabled communication device, receiving audio samples that are encoded by a Bluetooth subband CODEC. The encoded audio samples may include inverse discrete cosine transformed windowed audio data. Shifted subband samples corresponding to the received encoded audio samples may be discrete cosine transformed during decoding by a receive Bluetooth subband codec. The inverse discrete cosine transformed windowed audio data may be generated by an encoding matrix operation. Windowing of the audio data may occur prior to the encoding matrix operation. A plurality of filter coefficients may be utilized for the windowing of the audio data. The shifted subband samples may be discrete cosine transformed during a decoding matrix operation.
US07949296B2 Wireless telecommunications signal inhibition
Wireless telecommunications is inhibited within a limited region by generating a noise signal within a frequency range of the wireless telecommunications and broadcasting the noise signal into the limited region. A system for inhibiting wireless communications includes a radio frequency noise generator generating a noise signal within a frequency range of the wireless telecommunication. At least one antenna broadcasts the noise signal into the region. Control logic initiates or suspends broadcasting of the noise signal based on at least one control input.
US07949295B2 Automated trainee monitoring and performance evaluation system
A method and system for performing automated training environment monitoring and evaluation. The training environment may include a mixed reality elements to enhance a training experience.
US07949285B2 Image forming apparatus and power transmission device thereof
An image forming apparatus and a power transmission device capable of intermittently transmitting power reliably to a plurality of driven bodies from a driving source with a small number of clutches. The power transmission device includes a cam part which rotates by receiving power of the driving source, a clutch device which intermittently transmits the power to the cam part to determine a stop position of the cam part, a first power transmission unit which transmits the power to any one of the plurality of driven bodies according to the stop position of the cam part, and a second power transmission unit which transmits the power to the other driven bodies of the plurality of driven bodies according to the stop position of the cam part. The cam part includes a rotating disc and a plurality of press members which are provided on one surface of the rotating disc to press the first power transmission unit and the second power transmission unit according to the stop position of the rotating disc.
US07949280B2 Image heating apparatus
An image heating apparatus includes a heating rotary member, which heats an image on a recording material at a nip portion, an air blowing device for blowing air toward an air blowing port to cool a predetermined area of the heating rotary member, a shutter, which opens and closes the air blowing port, and a determination device. The determination device determines an execution of an operation of the air blowing device with the shutter opened after a first job is completed, in accordance with a size of a recording material in a width direction perpendicular to a recording material transport direction in a second job for supplying a recording material, between an execution termination of the first job for continuously supplying recording materials having a size smaller than a predetermined size in the width direction, while operating the air blowing device, and a start of a recording material supply of the second job, in a case that the second job is executed subsequent to the termination of the first job.
US07949277B2 Reprographic device providing collated and uncollated subset finishing selections at the local graphical user interface to allow reprographic device users to program different document finishing types within a single printed job to construct a mixed subset finished output
Reprographic device provides collated and uncollated subset finishing selections at the local Graphical User Interface to allow the user to program different types of finishing within a single job to construct mixed subset finished output. Subset finishing provides a user with the ability to select different finishing options, stapling/folding/offset/hole-punching to a portion of a larger job. Print jobs can make use of software based solutions to create custom print subset finishing. Methods allow different finishing options to be applied to portions of a larger collated or uncollated job from the local GUI. A new group of subset programming attributes can be made available on the local UI. A user can then construct a mixed subset job of both print and scanned images and apply custom finishing operations on each subset. Based on the desired job attributes, the system will automatically acquire image orientation information, select the paper tray source(s), perform image rotation and invoke the appropriate finishing options.
US07949266B2 Image forming apparatus with function of toner supply amount control
An image forming apparatus transfers a toner image, which has been formed onto an image carrying member, to a printing medium. The image forming apparatus includes a sub-scan distance measuring part configured to measure a distance along a sub-scan direction from a predetermined position on the printing medium to a position at which the toner image is transferred to the printing medium; and a toner supplying amount control part configured to control, according to the distance measured by the sub-scan distance measuring part, a toner supplying amount used when the toner image is formed onto the image carrying member.
US07949264B2 Image forming apparatus and method
When an image forming apparatus is disabled due to a cause rather than the detection of the toner empty condition, it is determined whether a recovery operation is a first recovery operation or a second recovery operation. The first recovery operation is associated with a mounting/dismounting of the toner cartridge performed from when the image forming apparatus is disabled until when the recovery operation begins. The second recovery operation is not associated with the mounting/dismounting. A toner supply control controls the toner supply operation when the recovery operation is performed on condition that the empty memory memorizes that the toner empty detector detects the empty condition. When the recovery operation is the first recovery operation, the toner supply control allows the toner to be supplied into the developer housing. While, when the recovery operation is the second recovery operation, the toner supply control prohibits the toner from being supplied into developer housing.
US07949248B2 Camera device
An exemplary camera device includes an optical lens module, an image sensor and a light emitting module. The optical lens module is for forming an image of an object on an image plane associated therewith. The image sensor is disposed on the image plane of the optical lens module and for capturing the image formed by the optical lens module. The light emitting module includes a transflective optical element and a light emitting element. The transflective optical element is located between the optical lens module and the image sensor. The light emitting element faces towards the transflective optical element.
US07949247B2 Imaging apparatus including strobe light emitting function
A digital camera 1 comprising a xenon strobe light device 15 and an LED strobe light device 16, wherein, when strobe light consecutive imaging is performed when the strobe light is set to “automatically-switched strobe light”, the digital camera 1 illuminates a xenon tube 27 by controlling the xenon strobe light device 15 synchronously with each instance of imaging for a predetermined number of frames, and when the number of consecutively-imaged frames exceeds a predetermined number of times, the digital camera 1 switches the strobe light to the LED strobe light, and illuminates the LED synchronously with each instance of imaging in the consecutive imaging by controlling the LED strobe light device 16.
US07949245B2 Reading machine with camera polarizer layers
A reading machine includes an image input device including a lens and a polarizer disposed over the lens, a flash and a second polarizer disposed over the flash. The image input device also includes a computing device coupled to the image input device for capturing images, the computing device, including a processor to execute instructions and a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing the processor to process the captured images to recognize features in the captured images.
US07949240B2 Portable camera device
A portable camera device includes a first casing, a second casing and an extendable mechanism. The second casing contains a lens module and has a lower part connected to a first connecting position of the first casing such that the lens module is arranged above the first casing. The extendable mechanism has a rear end with a document holding structure for holding a document and a front end connected to a second connecting position of the first casing via a first pivotal mechanism. The extendable mechanism is selectively folded or unfolded with respect to the first casing when the extendable mechanism is rotated in various directions by adjusting the first pivotal mechanism. A relative spatial correlation between the lens module and the document is adjusted such that the lens module is focused on a selected area of the document for capturing an image of the document.
US07949223B2 Digital camera and printing system
With a digital camera 100, a photographed image 31 is displayed on a liquid crystal display and the user selects a desired image and specifies print specifications of the number of print sheets, a print paper size, a print color mode, etc., then print image data is prepared. The prepared print image data is transmitted from the digital camera 100 to a color printer of an output unit. An image is printed at the color printer in accordance with the print image data.
US07949210B2 Silicon-compatible surface plasmon optical elements
This invention provides fundamental science and novel device architectures for surface plasmon (SP)-based, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible, optical elements such as modulators, couplers, and switches. The primary focus of the work is on waveguides based on an ultra-long-range surface plasmon (ULRSP) waveguide mode recently discovered by our team. This mode exists at the metal-dielectric interfaces in a silicon-oxide-metal-silicon layer structure. While initial work focuses on noble metals to support the ULRSP, our analysis shows Si processing-compatible metals such as Cu and Al can also be used. Our modeling has also shown that variation in the thickness of the oxide layer can be used to give unprecedented propagation lengths in such structures. Electrically-induced free carrier modulation of the dielectric constant in the Si adjacent to the oxide can modulate the waveguide properties allowing novel Si-compatible electro-optic devices to be created. These waveguides function as the “wiring” in new classes of optical chips. This invention also provides integration of ULRSP waveguides and switches with other optical elements to create entirely new classes of hybrid optoelectronic technologies for defense applications. These range from chip-based chemical agent detection to extremely high performance processors and even all-optical computations.
US07949197B2 Method of and system for image processing and computer program
In an image processing method for carrying out an image quality correction for correcting an image quality on each of a plurality of images in an image group to obtain corrected images, an image processing method includes the steps of carrying out a temporary image quality correction for correcting an image quality on each images in the image group to obtain a temporarily corrected image. A characteristic value representing an image quality for each temporarily corrected image is calculated and a target characteristic value is calculated so that dispersion of each characteristic value to the target characteristic value is minimized on the basis of the characteristic value of each temporarily corrected image. A correction value of each of the plurality of images in the image group which corrects the characteristic value thereof to the target characteristic value is obtained, and the image is corrected with the correction value.
US07949194B2 Method and apparatus for motion estimation
A method for motion estimation and the apparatus thereof are provided. The method for motion estimation uses multi-resolution hierarchial search and allows splitting the optimal block mode at the level of the lowest resolution. The method also allows further splitting of blocks during local refinement at levels of higher resolutions.
US07949190B2 Real-time nighttime vehicle detection and recognition system based on computer vision
The present invention relates to a real-time nighttime vehicle detection and identification system comprises an illuminant object image segmentation device 1, an illuminant object classifying device 2, a vehicle lighting object identification device 3, a vehicle position determining device 4 and a vehicle tracking device 5. Under various circumstances of road lighting during nighttime, the system can efficiently and accurately demarcate and identify the lamps of oncoming and preceding vehicles and accurately provides the driver with auxiliary information needed to analyze the traffic conditions in front of the vehicle during the conditions met on the road at that time.
US07949180B2 Non-transitory computer readable medium for image processing searching colored regions for region satisfying searching condition, and image-processing apparatus for performing the image processing
A computer readable medium stores a program causing a computer to execute image process, wherein the image process includes accepting image information, accepting a searching condition, specifying colored regions in an image produced by the image information, searching the specified regions for a region satisfying the searching condition, and outputting information on the region satisfying the searching condition.
US07949176B2 Systems for mobile image capture and processing of documents
The present invention relates to automated document processing and more particularly, to methods and systems for document image capture and processing using mobile devices. In accordance with various embodiments, methods and systems for document image capture on a mobile communication device are provided such that the image is optimized and enhanced for data extraction from the document as depicted. These methods and systems may comprise capturing an image of a document using a mobile communication device; transmitting the image to a server; and processing the image to create a bi-tonal image of the document for data extraction. Additionally, these methods and systems may comprise capturing a first image of a document using the mobile communication device; automatically detecting the document within the image; geometrically correcting the image; binarizing the image; correcting the orientation of the image; correcting the size of the image; and outputting the resulting image of the document.
US07949170B2 Image processing method, image processing device, computer aided detection, and method for filtering along the time axis
An image processing method comprises: an inputting step of inputting image data which is obtained by imaging a subject for a predetermined period of time with a medical imaging apparatus and is arranged in time series; an extracting along the time axis step of extracting pixels which satisfy a predetermined condition along the time axis from all the pixels arranged in time series for each pixel coordinate position with respect to each pixel in the image data; and a constructing step of constructing a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image based on the pixels extracted along the time axis in the extracting along the time axis step.
US07949150B2 Automatic camera calibration and geo-registration using objects that provide positional information
A video sequence of a field of view within an environment is received. Targets are detected in the video sequence. Target geo-positional information is received. Correspondences between the targets detected in the video sequence and the target geo-positional information are determined and used to calibrate the camera and to geo-register a field of view of the camera.
US07949146B2 Boundary layer regulator for extended range acoustical transducers
An improved method and device for controlling cone breakup (divisional modes) in extended range, cone diaphragm type electromechanical acoustical transducers for reproducing an acoustical signal from a corresponding electrical signal is provided. The transducer assembly includes a low mass cone shaped diaphragm, a voice coil former of 30 mm or less in diameter, and a shaped device no wider than the diameter of the voice coil former and extending into the inner volume of the cone but no taller than the height of the outside edge of the cone. This shaped device defines the shape and volume of a small mass of air within the boundary layer of air where molecular adhesion of air molecules to the cone diaphragm surface becomes a significant variable in the performance of the extended range transducer.
US07949143B2 Ultrasonic transducer, ultrasonic speaker, acoustic system, and control method of ultrasonic transducer
An ultrasonic speaker or acoustic system includes an electrostatic type ultrasonic transducer of a push-pull system is constructed such that a through hole is arranged in the central portion of a fixing electrode of a circular shape. A sound wave reflecting plate is arranged on the rear face of the ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasonic wave radiated from the rear face of the ultrasonic transducer is reflected by the sound wave reflecting plate and is radiated to the front face of the ultrasonic transducer through the through hole.
US07949137B2 Virtual disk management methods
Virtual disks management methods and systems. First, a file space is set and a first password is set. A first device code is acquired. The file space is encrypted according to the first password and the first device code to obtain an encrypted file. Thereafter, a designation of the encrypted file is received. A second password is received, and a second device code is acquired. It is determined whether the second password conforms to the first password, and whether the second device code conforms to the first device code. If so, the encrypted file is mounted as a virtual disk.
US07949133B2 Controlled cryptoperiod timing to reduce decoder processing load
Systems and methods are disclosed for enabling encryptor devices to provide real-time messages having offset cryptoperiods according to an offset algorithm within common crypto-sync pulse boundaries. A master clock aligns the encryptor devices to a common crypto-sync pulse. Subsequently, a cryptoperiod offset aligner assigns a different offset value according to an algorithm to each encrypted service. The corresponding encryptor device then begins the cryptoperiod, during which real-time messages are transmitted, at the assigned offset value from the common crypto-sync pulse.
US07949131B2 Digital security system
A system and method for processing a digital audio signal is disclosed. The system includes an input to receive a digital audio signal and a first output to provide a first digital output signal. The digital audio signal has a first fidelity characteristic and the first digital output signal has a second fidelity characteristic. The second fidelity characteristic is determined in response to security information extracted from the digital audio signal. The first digital output signal is provided to a digital to analog converter.
US07949123B1 Wait time predictor for long shelf-life work
An architecture that is operable to predict when a selected work item will be serviced in a contact center 100 includes a service time predictor 260 operable to (a) select a plurality of successive time intervals, each of the plurality of time intervals recurring cyclically over a period of time; (b) determine a number of work items likely to be serviced during each of the plurality of time intervals; (c) select an enqueued work item waiting to be serviced, the enqueued work item having a corresponding queue position; and (d) predict a time interval of the plurality of time intervals in which the selected work item will be serviced by comparing the queue position of the selected work item with the number of work items likely to be serviced in at least some of the time intervals.
US07949117B2 Heterogeneous video conferencing
Some embodiments provide an architecture for establishing a multi-participant conference. This architecture has one participant's computer in the conference act as a central content distributor for the conference. The central distributor receives data (e.g., video and/or audio streams) from the computer of each other participant, and distributes the received data to the computers of all participants. In some embodiments, the central distributor receives A/V data from the computers of the other participants. From such received data, the central distributor of some embodiments generates composite data (e.g., composite image data and/or composite audio data) that the central distributor distributes back to the participants. The central distributor in some embodiments can implement a heterogeneous audio/video conference. In such a conference, different participants can participate in the conference differently. For instance, different participants might use different audio or video codecs. Moreover, in some embodiments, one participant might participate in only the audio aspect of the conference, while another participant might participate in both audio and video aspects of the conference.
US07949115B2 Providing a service framework at an endpoint
A method for providing telephony features at an endpoint includes accessing a service framework at an endpoint. The service framework is operable to provide one or more telephony features. Feature logic associated with a first telephony feature is accessed. The feature logic specifies a plurality of actions for implementing the first telephony feature. The first telephony feature is registered to receive an intercept upon the occurrence of an event. The occurrence of the event for which the first telephony feature is registered is identified. The event initiates a transition from a first state to a second state. The feature logic associated with the first telephony feature is loaded to provide the first telephony feature.
US07949114B2 Granting privileges to a telecommunications terminal based on the relationship of a first signal to a second signal
A method and apparatus are disclosed that enable a data-processing system, such as a server, to determine whether or not to grant a telecommunications terminal one or more privileges, without some of the disadvantages of the prior art. Specifically, in accordance with the illustrative embodiments of the present invention, a call-processing server transmits, to a first terminal, a first signal for verifying a second terminal, such as one that has been designated by a user. The user is then required to transmit a second signal to the call-processing server via the second terminal. The call-processing server then examines the received second signal with respect to the first signal and determines whether or not to grant the second terminal a privilege (e.g., handling calls on behalf of the user, etc.), based on the relationship between the first and second signals.
US07949094B2 Rail system and X-ray imaging apparatus using the same
Disclosed herein are a rail system and an X-ray imaging apparatus using the same. The rail system includes a rail unit, a detecting unit and an X-ray generating unit. The rail unit is provided on a support surface and extends for a predetermined length. The detecting unit is provided on the rail unit and includes a detector stand which is provided on the rail unit so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the rail unit, a detector arm which has a bent structure and is provided on a side surface of the detector stand so as to be movable upwards and downwards, and a detector which is rotatably coupled to the detector arm. The X-ray generating unit is provided on the rail unit at a position facing the detector and includes a tube stand which is provided on the rail unit so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the rail unit, a tube arm which is provided on the tube stand so as to be movable upwards and downwards, an X-ray tube which is coupled to the tube arm so as to be rotatable with respect to the tube arm, and a collimator which is fastened to the X-ray tube.
US07949081B2 Phase detecting circuit and clock generating apparatus including the same
A phase detecting circuit includes a first node that outputs a pull-up control signal, a second node that outputs a pull-down control signal, an initializing unit that initializes voltage levels of the first and second nodes in response to a pre-charge signal, a data input unit to which receives a receiver data, a phase comparison unit that compares a phase of a receiver clock and a phase of the receiver data input to the data input unit to control the voltage levels of the first and second nodes, and a charging/discharging unit that charges or discharges electric charges that are applied to the first and second nodes.
US07949079B1 Reduced complexity viterbi decoding method and apparatus
A method and apparatus for receiving an analog radio frequency signal comprising a time-domain analog OFDM symbol. The method includes converting the time-domain analog OFDM symbol into a corresponding time domain digital OFDM symbol; converting the time domain digital OFDM symbol into a frequency domain digital OFDM symbol; generating an estimate of the channel for each sub-carrier of the frequency domain digital OFDM symbol; demodulating the frequency domain digital OFDM symbol and generating a plurality of demodulated symbols based, at least in part on, the estimate of the channel for each sub-carrier of the frequency domain digital OFDM symbol; and performing a soft-decision decoding on each demodulated symbol and generating a corresponding soft-decision decoded symbol, wherein the soft-decision decoding of each demodulated symbol is based, at least in part, on the estimate of the channel corresponding to the given sub-carrier associated with the demodulated symbol.
US07949071B2 Signal processing system and information storage medium
According to one embodiment, a first encoder encodes main information, a second encoder encodes sub-information, a first modulator modulates a carrier based on an output of the first encoder, a duplicating module duplicates an output of the second encoder to generate encoded sub-information units, and a second modulator amplitude-modulates an output of the first modulator based on the encoded sub-information units. The second modulator amplitude-modulates with σ/(μ×(2N)1/2) being 0.4 or less, wherein a noise power of a transmission path or a storage medium is σ2, a number of the encoded sub-information units is N, signal levels after amplitude modulation, which correspond to bit 1 and bit 0 of the encoded sub-information units, are A and B, and a level difference A−B is μ.
US07949070B2 Method and apparatus for executing MIMO eigenmode transmission
Antennas transmit signals weighted by a weight vector. A control unit acquires, via a radio unit and the like, a predetermined column from a steering matrix derived by performing singular value decomposition on a channel matrix whose element values are channel characteristics between a plurality of transmitting antennas and a plurality of receiving antennas, respectively. The control unit varies each of components contained in the acquired column vector so as to derive a weight vector that varies with time.
US07949066B2 Method and apparatus for providing high speed data communications in a cellular environment
A method and apparatus for transmitting digital data in a cellular environment. Adjacent cells of the cellular system are prevented from simultaneously transmitting data. Because the noise from transmissions of adjacent cells is a primary source of interference, the transmission rate of power limited base stations can be dramatically increased when the noise from adjacent cells is eliminated. The transmissions to each subscriber station are made at a fixed transmission power level. However, the data rate of transmitted signals differs from one subscriber station to another depending the path loss differences. In a first exemplary embodiment, the data rate of transmissions to a subscriber station is determined by selecting an encoding rate for the transmitted signal while holding the symbol rate constant. In a second exemplary embodiment, the data rate of transmissions to a subscriber station is determined by selection a modulation format for the transmitted signal which directly changes the symbol rate of transmission to a subscriber station.
US07949059B2 Peak-to-average-power reduction of OFDM signals
A method of processing an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplex (OFDM) signal having a plurality of data carriers and a plurality of unused carriers is disclosed. The method comprises transforming an original frequency-domain OFDM signal into a time domain signal and simulating the effect of a non-linear amplifier on the time-domain signal to provide a potentially distorted time domain signal. The potentially distorted time domain signal is transformed into a potentially distorted frequency domain signal and at least some of any values of the data carriers in the potentially distorted frequency domain signal are restored with corresponding values from the original frequency domain signal. At least some of the unused carriers in the at least partially restored frequency domain signal are scaled with a scaling factor. The scaled frequency domain signal is transformed into a temporary time domain signal and the temporary time domain signal is analysed for the presence of a peak or near zero amplitude value that would lead to distortion by said amplifier. If the signal includes such a peak or near zero value, the scaling, transforming and analysing are repeated with an increased scaling factor.
US07949055B2 Communication system in digital television
A VSB communication system or transmitter for processing supplemental data packets with MPEG-II data packets includes a VSB supplemental data processor and a VSB transmission system. The VSB supplemental data processor includes a Reed-Solomon coder for coding the supplemental data to be transmitted, a null sequence inserter for inserting a null sequence to an interleaved supplemental data for generating a predefined sequence, a header inserter for inserting an MPEG header to the supplemental data having the null sequence inserted therein, a multiplexer for multiplexing an MPEG data coded with the supplemental data having the MPEG header added thereto in a preset multiplexing ratio and units. The output of the multiplexer is provided to an 8T-VSB transmission system for modulating a data field from the multiplexer and transmitting the modulated data field to a VSB reception system.
US07949052B1 Method and apparatus to deliver a DVB-ASI compressed video transport stream
A method and apparatus to compress a DVB-ASI bit stream including accepting the stream containing packets of compressed media, sync words, and stuffing words, identifying starts of packets, identifying and discarding stuffing words; and adding information to form a compressed stream, added information sufficient to reconstruct a reconstructed stream from the compressed stream, with the relative locations of starts of packets in the reconstructed bit stream matching the relative locations of starts of corresponding packets in the accepted stream. Also a method recover the timing of MPEG packets including accepting a serial bit stream containing packets of compressed media streams, and ascertaining if the stream includes information indicating that the bit stream has a DVB-ASI form with stuffing words discarded and with indicating information added.
US07949030B2 High-power, phased-locked, laser arrays
High-power, phased-locked, laser arrays as disclosed herein utilize a system of optical elements that may be external to the laser oscillator array. Such an external optical system may achieve mutually coherent operation of all the emitters in a laser array, and coherent combination of the output of all the lasers in the array into a single beam. Such an “external gain harness” system may include: an optical lens/mirror system that mixes the output of all the emitters in the array; a holographic optical element that combines the output of all the lasers in the array, and an output coupler that selects a single path for the combined output and also selects a common operating frequency for all the coupled gain regions.
US07949025B2 Laser optics integrated control system and method of operation
A controller (320) for controlling various operational parameters of the Laser Module (303). The modulation drive signal (300) causes the circuits in the driver (301) to send a signal to the output (302) so that the laser can send an optical power output (304) proportional to the drive signal (300). The control methods in Laser Controller IC (320) consist of control algorithms embedded in firmware. The Laser Controller IC (320) includes support circuits for control of a laser. Some of the distinguishing features in the present invention are 1) feedback information from the sensors is obtained in a synchronous manner as a snapshot of the laser performance, and 2) algorithms handle the entire set of controls in firmware. The algorithm feature allows for advanced servo controls, which precisely stabilize the laser, can accommodate adaptive controls, and can be leveraged from one laser transmitter design to another.
US07949021B2 Light source apparatus
The present invention relates to a light source apparatus having a structure to enable a short pulse optical output with high pulse energy or a high pulse peak equivalent to that of a Q switch laser light source. The light source apparatus comprises a seed light source, a pre-stage optical amplifier, a subsequent-stage optical amplifier, and a control section. After the pulse light outputted from the seed light source is amplified by the pre-stage optical amplifier, the pulse light is amplified further by the subsequent-stage optical amplifier. In the subsequent-stage optical amplifier, a ring-type resonator is constituted by an optical coupler, an optical coupler, an optical amplification waveguide, an optical isolator, an optical coupler, an optical waveguide, a lens, a Q switch, a lens, and an optical waveguide that are disposed sequentially on the propagation path of the pulse light. The control section controls a Q switch such that the resonator loss of the resonator in the subsequent-stage optical amplifier is minimal with the timing at which the pulse light is inputted to the subsequent-stage optical amplifier.
US07949017B2 Method and apparatus for generating high power visible and near-visible laser light
A multimode-fiber Raman laser includes a pump source configured to provide optical radiation centered at a pump wavelength and characterized by a spectral bandwidth greater than 100 MHz and an oscillator resonant at an emission wavelength greater than the pump wavelength. The oscillator includes an input coupler optically aligned with the pump source and a multimode optical fiber optically coupled to the input coupler. The multimode optical fiber includes an input section having a fiber Bragg grating, an intracavity section of a predetermined length optically coupled to the input section, and an output section having a fiber Bragg grating. The oscillator also includes an output coupler optically coupled to the multimode optical fiber and configured to provide a laser output at the emission wavelength.
US07949013B2 Wireless communication systems and methods using flexible length indicators
A wireless communication device includes a data receiving interface, a data processing device coupled with the data receiving interface, and a processing device coupled with the data receiving interface. The data receiving interface is configured to receive a first sub-group and a second sub-group of data for transmission. The first sub-group of data includes data contents for providing at least a portion of a first service, and the second sub-group of data includes data contents for providing at least a portion of a second service. The data processing device is configured to combine the first sub-group of data and the second sub-group of data as a portion of a data transmission group. The processing device is configured to provide a size of a first length indicator based at least on a size of the data transmission group. The first length indicator is configured to indicate a size of the first sub-group of data. The processing device is also configured to provide a size of a second length indicator based on one or more numbers or considerations, such as (a) the size of the first length indicator; (b) the size of the first sub-group of data; (c) the size of the data transmission group; and (d) the size of a header section. The second length indicator is configured to indicate the size of the second sub-group of data.
US07949010B2 Telecommunication network system and method in communication services using session initiation protocol
An implementation of a voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) system for accomplishing two-way, three-way and conference calling between two or more parties is disclosed, in which new call features are readily adapted. The VoIP system is implemented in a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) framework in which aspects of Distributed Feature Composition (DFC) architecture are modified and applied to overcome known limitations in the adaptability of existing VoIP frameworks.
US07949009B2 Method for determining multiturn modulo master axis data
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting multiturn modulo control axis data which includes at least one control axis position value (600°-604°; 245°-248°) and an associated control axis modulo value (720°; 360°) in one communication system which includes at least two participants, at least one real-time data transmission channel (CH1) being provided for the cyclic transmission of data between the participants; the at least one control axis position value (600°-604°; 245°-248°) is transmitted together with the associated control axis modulo value (720°; 360°) in one data telegram (22; 33).
US07949006B2 System and method for media burst control of discrete content for push-to-cellular communication
A wireless communication device, and a method thereof, for media burst control of discrete content for a push-to-cellular communication. One circuit of device communicates continuous data via a real time data, such as RTP. Another circuit communicates control information associated with the continuous data via a real time control protocol, such as RTCP. A third circuit communicates discrete data and control information associated with the discrete data via a non-real time protocol, such as MSRP. A request signal for floor control is transmitted by a first device and received by a second device via a non-real time protocol associated with discrete media. The discrete media is then transmitted by the first device and received by the second device via the non-real time protocol.
US07949003B2 Image formation device, management device, network system, control program for image formation device, and control program for management device
A management device is connected to image formation devices, each having at least one network interface, via a network. Embodiments include a presence check request transmitting unit which transmits presence check requests to the network interfaces of the image formation devices via the network; an identification information receiving unit which receives response information returned from the network interfaces in response to the presence check requests; a combined identification information equivalence judgment unit which makes a judgment on equivalence of multiple pieces of combined identification information when multiple pieces of combined identification information (each generated by combining multiple pieces of identification information assigned to two or more network interfaces) are received from two or more network interfaces as the response information; and a management unit which manages network interfaces whose combined identification information is judged to be equivalent, as network interfaces belonging to the same image formation device.
US07949002B1 Reduced latency FIFO
A First-In-First-Out (FIFO) block to buffer a packet having a size is presented. The FIFO block includes a receiver to receive a data frame including the packet and overhead information, and to extract the packet from the data frame. A buffer has a plurality of memory locations to store the packet in a FIFO configuration. A buffer manager, in response to detecting a buffer low packet condition, stalls reads of the packet from the buffer.
US07949000B2 Packet transmission scheduling technique
A packet data transmission method of the HSDPA system includes collecting information on the quality of physical channels, a status of the MAC buffer, the priority level of data, the delay of data, and the like, determining the transmission order of data and the size of a data block to be transmitted based on the collected information, and transmitting the data block through the physical layer according to the order of transmissions. Since the HSDPA scheduler takes into account the delay of data, the quality of real-time services can be improved.
US07948993B2 Address resolution optimization procedure to effect a gradual cutover from a provider bridge network to a VPLS or provider backbone bridging network
A method and apparatus that operates two bridging protocols in a hybrid bridging node is described. The operation of the two bridging protocols in the hybrid node allows for an incremental transition of a provider bridging network from operating a legacy bridging protocol that shares MAC addresses to a bridging network that operates VPLS and/or PBB bridging protocols. The hybrid bridging node selectively broadcasts address resolution packets and unicast packets with unknown MAC addresses from the nodes operating VPLS and/or PBB to nodes operating a legacy bridging protocol.
US07948988B2 Device, system and method for analysis of fragments in a fragment train
Fragment trains in a communication network are analyzed. A fragment train includes fragments in the same fragment train and associated with the same target system. One or more fragment reassembly policies are identified out of several fragment reassembly policies, where the fragment reassembly policy corresponds to a target system associated with fragments in a fragment train. The data in the fragments in the fragment train are provided in an order indicated by the fragment reassembly policy. The fragment reassembly policy can include determining the order responsive to an offset and a more fragments indication in the fragments, and/or indicating an order specific to overlapped fragments such as comprehensively overlapped fragments.
US07948981B1 Methods and apparatus for representing audio data
An audio storage architecture allows an audio management application to manipulate and recombine segments of a musical piece such that the resulting finished composition includes parts (segments) from the decomposed piece, typically a song, adjustable for length by selectively replicating particular parts and combining with other parts such that the finished composition provides a similar audio experience in the predetermined duration. The architecture defines the parts with part variations of independent length, identified as performing a function of starting, middle, (looping) or ending parts. Each of the parts provides a musical segment that is integratable with other parts in a seamless manner that avoids audible artifacts (e.g. “pops” and “crackles”) common with conventional mechanical switching and mixing. Each of the parts further includes attributes indicative of the manner in which the part may be ordered, whether the part may be replicated or “looped” and modifiers affecting melody and harmony of the rendered finished composition piece.
US07948976B2 Efficient management of queueing resources for switches
Resources allocated to a group of ports include a plurality of storage regions. Each storage region includes a committed area and a shared area. A destination storage region is identified for a packet. A packet queuing engine stores the packet in the committed area of the determined destination storage region if it has a first drop precedence value, and if available storage space in the committed area exceeds a first threshold. The packet queuing engine stores the packet in the shared area of the determined destination storage region if the packet is not stored in the committed area, and if available storage space exceeds a second threshold defined by the packet's drop precedence value. If the packet is not stored either in the committed or shared area, it may be dropped.
US07948974B2 Creating a low bandwidth channel within a high bandwidth packet stream
Creating a low-bandwidth channel in a high-bandwidth channel. By taking advantage of extra bandwidth in a high-bandwidth channel, a low-bandwidth channel is created by inserting extra packets. When an inter-packet gap of the proper duration is detected, the extra packet is inserted and any incoming packets on the high-bandwidth channel are stored in an elastic buffer. Observing inter-packet gaps, minimal latency is introduced in the high-bandwidth channel when there is no extra packet in the process of being sent, and the effects of sending a packet on the low-bandwidth channel are absorbed and distributed among other passing traffic.
US07948970B2 Communication terminal device, communication method and electronic mail server
A communication terminal device includes a connection establishing unit which establishes a connection by a call control protocol with a destination device designated by an IP telephone number, a communication protocol requesting unit which request a presentation of a plurality of communication protocols which can be supported by the destination device over the connection, a communication protocol selecting unit which selects one communication protocol which the communication terminal device itself can support from the communication protocols presented from the destination device as a response to the request by the communication protocol requesting unit, and a communication unit which communicates with the destination device over the connection by the communication protocol selected by the communication protocol selecting unit.
US07948966B2 Multi-metric routing calculations
In a Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET), multi-metric information is gathered and applied to a cost-based route calculation. In particular, each node gathers resource metrics from neighboring of nodes, along with data rate and reliability information for data links to and from the node. This information is applied to a costing algorithm such as Dykstra' Open Shortest Path First algorithm to obtain routes through the network. This approach may be adapted with suitable modifications to use with unicast traffic or with a multicast forwarding group.
US07948963B2 Satellite modem with a dynamic bandwidth
The present invention provides for a method that could be advantageously implemented in a satellite local area network (LAN) in which an average number of sites share a TDMA link. The invention provides for both a dedicated bandwidth to all the sites and a shared bandwidth that is dynamically assigned to the sites, therefore allowing for both synchronous traffic and for on request burst mode traffic. The method includes a reservation method of this shared bandwidth which is specially optimized for a satellite link. The method provides also for a network that automatically managed its communication bandwidth resources and the synchronization of the sites, without the need of an external controller. The present invention also provides for a satellite modem to transmit data from a site, to receive data from the sites and to manage the bandwidth resources of the TDMA satellite in accordance with the above method.
US07948959B2 Linear precoding for time division duplex system
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate generating and/or utilizing explicit and implicit feedback related to a forward link channel for linear precoding in a time division duplex (TDD) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Implicit feedback may be provided by estimating a reverse link channel, which may be substantially similar to at least a portion of the forward link channel (e.g., based upon reciprocity). Moreover, explicit feedback may be yielded by quantizing at least part of an estimate of the forward link channel (e.g., utilizing vector and/or scalar quantization).
US07948954B1 Architecture and method for using IEEE 802.11-like wireless LAN system to emulate private land mobile radio system (PLMRS) radio service
An architecture is described for providing IP push-to-talk (IPP2T) service using a wireless local area network (WLAN) serving a plurality of subscriber terminals (STs), having at least one broadband access network terminal (BANT), the BANT coupled to and interacting with at least one of a plurality of Access Points (APs) via a local area network (LAN), the plurality of APs in communication with the plurality of subscriber terminals; a multicast-enabled network, the multicast-enabled network coupled to and interacting with at least one BANT via a broadband access network; an IP network coupled to, and interacting with, the multicast-enabled network via an edge router; and a WLAN mobile radio service (WLMRS) controller (WLMRSC) coupled to and interacting with the IP network via a multicast-enabled router (MR).
US07948953B2 System and method for advertising the same service set identifier for different basic service sets
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises advertising services by a first wireless device. The services are provided by different basic service sets, each basic service set having the same service set identifier (SSID). Thereafter, one of the basic service sets is selected.
US07948946B2 Method for providing multicast service according to handoff of source node in mobile internet protocol communication system
Disclosed is a method for providing a multicast service when an MN performs handoff from a first AR to a second AR in a mobile IP communication system including the first AR and second AR. The MN is a source node for providing the multicast service to a number of receivers and currently performs communication with the first AR. The second AR is different from the first AR. The method includes the steps of sending a request for information for fast handoff to the first AR at the MN, notifying the MN at the first AR whether the second AR can provide the multicast service in response to the fast handoff information request, notifying the first AR at the MN that the second AR must transmit subsequently-occurring multicast service data after the MN is notified whether the second AR can provide the multicast service, notifying the second AR of handoff initiation of the MN at the first AR when the MN is notified that the second AR must transmit subsequently-occurring multicast service data, notifying the first AR of handoff initiation notification acknowledgement at the second AR after the second AR is notified of the handoff initiation, and notifying the receivers at the first AR that the MN has performed handoff from the first AR to the second AR when the first AR is notified of the handoff initiation notification acknowledgement so that the receivers are controlled to rejoin a multicast tree to be provided with the multicast service.
US07948928B2 Cordless telephone system
Cordless telephones according to the DECT standard are constantly transmitting a so-called dummy barrier at a certain power level, repetition interval and transmit frequency to apply corrections to the synchronization counters in the portable parts for synchronization to the fixed part. According to the present invention, once timing of the portable part is synchronized to the fixed part, a wired connection is used for applying these small synchronization corrections with respect to the synchronization between the portable part and the fixed part of the DECT telephone system. Advantageously, an emission of electromagnetic energy is thereby reduced significantly.
US07948917B2 Routing internet communications using network coordinates
A communication technique includes routing communications over an internet topology using coordinates, which correspond to estimated round trip times, of an origination, a destination and at least one intermediary host or node. A disclosed example includes identifying candidate intermediary nodes based upon selected criteria such as proximity to at least one of the origination or destination for the communication. A disclosed example includes identifying a plurality of intermediary nodes for some applications.
US07948898B2 Method and system to efficiently manage a network connection to connect a client and a resource
This document discusses, among other things, an example system and methods for connecting a client and a resource. Example embodiments may include receiving a request from a client computer, for a connection to a generically named resource that is associated with multiple resources. In response to the request, example embodiments may further include detecting whether one of the multiple resources is overloaded and determining a number of static connections reserved for the client computer. A static or dynamic connection may be assigned to the resource or a further one of the multiple resources based on the generic resource name, the load on the resource and the number of static connections reserved for the client computer.
US07948897B2 Delay management for distributed communications networks
A method for programming the delay for a node in a communication system is disclosed. The node receives a selected delay value and a signal path delay value indicating a delay for signals communicated to the node. The signal path delay comprises an aggregation of transport delays calculated by each node for segments of the communication system between the node and a host node. The method further calculates an additional delay necessary to meet the selected delay value.
US07948894B2 Data flow control for simultaneous packet reception
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, a module, and a system for calculating a credit limit for an interface capable of receiving multiple packets simultaneously. Generally, the multiple packets are simultaneously received at an interface on the second device, each packet being one of a plurality of packet types, and a flow control credit limit to be transmitted to the first device is adjusted based on the combination of packet types of the simultaneously received packets.
US07948890B2 System and method for providing a communication channel
Communication devices and methods are proposed for providing communication channel. In one example, devices and methods are capable of reaching one or more terminals that are not in a public network. In addition, depending on the network or the networks that the terminals are located, some examples may be capable of establishing a less indirect or a direct communication channel between two terminals after they communicate through an intermediate system. In another example, a triggering packet may be sent to provide a binding at an interface of a private network, such as an NAT, thereby reducing or eliminating communication through a relay server.
US07948876B2 Method of detecting non-responsive network flows
A network device identifies a non-adaptive flow as follows. The network device drops packets on a random basis using a Random Early Detection (RED) algorithm. A classifier reads indicia of a flow from at least one field of a header of a packet received by the network device. The network device calculates a drop interval for packets of the flow dropped by the RED algorithm, in response to a time at which the packets were dropped. The network device then applies a statistical test to drop intervals of a plurality of flows in order to identify the non-adaptive flow.
US07948872B2 Backplane interface adapter with error control and redundant fabric
A backplane interface adapter with error control and redundant fabric for a high-performance network switch. The error control may be provided by an administrative module that includes a level monitor, a stripe synchronization error detector, a flow controller, and a control character presence tracker. The redundant fabric transceiver of the backplane interface adapter improves the adapter's ability to properly and consistently receive narrow input cells carrying packets of data and output wide striped cells to a switching fabric.
US07948870B1 Dynamic renegotiation of graceful restart time to avoid double-failure traffic loss
Techniques are described for reducing the impact of failure of a primary and a secondary routing control unit within a network device, i.e., a double-failure of the network device. For example, a network device, such as a router, initially establishes a routing communication session between a primary routing control unit of the router and a neighboring router. The initial routing communication session has a first restart time in the event of a session failure. The router reestablishes the routing communication session with a secondary routing control unit upon failure of the primary routing control unit. The reestablished routing communication session has a second restart time that is less than first restart time. Upon recovery of the failed routing control unit, the secondary routing control unit renegotiates the restart time associated with the session to an increased value with the neighboring routers to which the reduced restart time was initially advertised.
US07948868B2 Method and arrangement relating to the insertion of pilot tones in the frequency domain in SC-FDMA
The present invention relates to a method and arrangement for enhancing efficiency of transmission using Single Channel-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). The method comprises the step of: applying a Discrete Fourier Transformation (DFT) of time signal providing No samples in a first resulting signal, inserting N1 pilot tones in said resulting signal providing No+N1 tones, Interpolating said signal provided with No+N1 tones to a required size, N, by insertion of zero bins in a middle section of said DFT providing a modified signal, applying Inversed Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on said modified signal, and performing a cyclic prefix insertion before transmitting the modified signal. Thus, similar equalizing techniques as for OFDM are possible for efficacy signal reception.
US07948864B2 High dimension signaling using orthogonal waveform division multiplex
A communications system (100) includes a segmenter (204) for dividing a plurality of bits into a first segment and a second segment and a symbol mapper (208) for generating a plurality of symbols based on the first segment. The system also includes a co-set selector (214) for selecting a plurality of co-set waveforms from a plurality of orthogonal waveforms based on a co-set address defined by the second segment, a number (K) of the plurality of co-set waveforms being less than a number (N) of the plurality of orthogonal waveforms. The system further includes a modulator (210) for modulating the plurality of symbols based on the plurality of co-set waveforms.
US07948852B2 Optical storage medium, optical read/write apparatus, and optical read/write method
An optical read/write apparatus causes a read/write light beam from illuminating means to strike only one side of an optical storage medium including stacked data storage layers each of which is readable/writeable separately from the other layers. In this case, the optical read/write apparatus operates so that data is read/written from/into a second data storage layer after fully recording a recordable area of a first data storage layer. Thus, light can be shone with uniform intensity across the substantially entire recordable area of the second data storage layer without using a complex read/write system even under such conditions that the transmittance to light of the first data storage layer in the recordable area may vary depending on whether any data is recorded in the recordable area.
US07948840B2 Optical disc device and converging position correction method
An optical disc device that irradiates an optical beam to an optical disc including a recording layer for recording information and a positioning layer provided with a track for identifying a recording position of the information on the recording layer, includes: objective lens that converges a predetermined positioning optical beam to adjust the optical beam to a desired track on the positioning layer and converges an information optical beam that shares an optical axis with the positioning optical beam on the recording layer; moving section that moves the objective lens in a tracking direction which is substantially orthogonal to the track to make a focal point of the positioning optical beam to follow the desired track; a detection section that detects a moving amount of the objective lens to the tracking direction; and correction section that corrects a converging position of the information optical beam in accordance with the moving amount.
US07948838B2 Disc discrimination method and apparatus
A method for discriminating a type of disc. The method includes receiving a signal having at least first and second peak points generated by an optical beam reflected from a record layer of the disc, comparing amplitudes of the first and second peak points, and determining the type of the disc based on a result of the comparing step.
US07948833B2 Clock setup over a network
The present invention provides apparatuses and methods for updating a target device from a clock device through a network. The clock device obtains a time value from a clock source and sends the time value to a target device. A node within the network determines a time delay, adjusts the time value in accordance with the time delay, and sends the adjusted time value to the target device. The node may determine a time delay from an internal timer or from a measurement message when adjusting the time value. The clock device may send a subsequent time update message to the target device if the target device does not acknowledge reception of a time update. The clock device may also send a time update message to a target device when a status change of daylight savings time occurs and obtain a subsequent time value from a clock source.
US07948822B2 Memory cell, and method for storing data
The invention relates, among other things, to a memory cell for storing at least one piece of bit data. Said memory cell comprises at least two electrical terminals and a semiconductor structure with a band curve (EL) that has at least one potential well. The charged state of the potential well with charge carries can be increased by applying a supply voltage (Us=Uspeis) to the two terminals, can be reduced by applying a discharge voltage (Us=Usperr), and can be maintained by applying a maintaining voltage (Us=Ubei), the respective charged state of the potential well defining the piece of bit data of the memory cell. According to the invention, the semiconductor structure has a space charge region (Wn) while the potential well is formed by a semiconductor heterostructure. The semiconductor heterostructure and the space charge region are spatially arranged relative to one another in such a way that the semiconductor heterostructure is located within the space charge region when the maintaining voltage is applied, at the edge of or outside the space charge region when the supply voltage is applied, and within the space charge region when the discharge voltage is applied.
US07948820B2 Circuit pre-charge to sense a memory line
Commonly, read times of a memory line are slowed due to voltage overshoot and/or voltage undershoot. To eliminate these problems, a control component can manage voltage while a leakage component manages timing of voltage. This allows for a line pre-charge that produces increase read times. The control component can implement as a variable resistor that modifies value to compensate for temperature. The leakage component can include a capacitor configuration that allows voltage to pass.
US07948819B2 Integrated circuit having a memory with process-voltage-temperature control
Certain embodiments of the inventions provide an integrated circuit (IC) having a processor operatively coupled to a PVT (process-voltage-temperature) source and an adjustable memory. The processor receives from the source an input characterizing the present PVT condition and generates a command for the memory based on that input. In response to the command, the memory adjusts its internal circuit structure, clock speed, and/or operating voltage(s) to optimize its performance for the present PVT condition. Advantageously, the ability to adjust the memory so that it can maintain its functionality and deliver an acceptable level of performance under unfavorable PVT conditions provides additional flexibility in choosing circuit design options, which can produce area savings and/or increase the yield of acceptable ICs during manufacture.
US07948817B2 Advanced memory device having reduced power and improved performance
A memory device including a memory array storing data, a variable delay controller, a passive variable delay circuit and an output driver. The variable delay controller periodically receives delay commands from a first source external to the memory device during operation of the memory device, and outputs delay instruction bits responsive to the received delay commands. The passive variable delay circuit receives a clock from a second source external to the memory device, receives the delay instruction bits from the variable delay controller, generates a delayed clock having a time relation to the received clock as determined by the delay instruction bits, and outputting the delayed clock. The output driver receives the data from the memory array and the delayed clock, and outputs the data at a time responsive to the delayed clock.
US07948809B2 Regulator and semiconductor device
Disclosed is a regulator including: a differential amplifier having a differential input stage receiving a reference voltage and an output terminal voltage, a push-pull type output portion of a current mirror configuration, a drive transistor having a control terminal connected to an output portion of the differential amplifier, first and second transistors cascode-connected between a control terminal of the drive transistor and a power supply, and third and fourth transistors cascode-connected between the control terminal of the drive transistor and ground. Control terminals of the first and the third transistors are respectively connected to control terminals of the push-pull transistors, control terminals of the second and fourth transistors are respectively connected to a first and a second control signal. A voltage of the control terminal of the drive transistor is controlled, based on the first and the second control signals, by output of the differential amplifier and the first transistor, or by output of the differential amplifier and the third transistor.
US07948808B2 Data output circuit for semiconductor memory device
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory, and more specifically, to a data output circuit capable of differentiating global data lines in accordance to an operation mode to output them to a data input/output pin. The present invention includes: a multiplexer selecting any one of a plurality of global input/output lines which can receive variable data bandwidth directed by control signals and which can output data carried on the selected global input/output line, and a controller generating the control signals in accordance to operation mode signals corresponding to a data bandwidth and address signals provided for selecting data and providing them to the multiplexer. Thereby, the present invention can realize an improved data read speed by reducing the loading of the global input/output line.
US07948806B2 Device with precharge/homogenize circuit
A device with a precharge/homogenize circuit. One embodiment provides at least one switching element is acting as a homogenizer, and at least one switching element is acting as a precharger. The diffusion region of the switching element acting as a homogenizer is separated from the diffusion region of the switching element acting as a precharger.
US07948803B2 Non-volatile memory device and a programmable voltage reference for a non-volatile memory device
A non-volatile memory device includes a voltage reference generator comprising a programmable voltage reference for generating a voltage signal having a programmable voltage level. In an embodiment, the programmable voltage reference provides the voltage signals for a wordline driver and/or a bitline current generator of the non-volatile memory device. The programmable voltage reference may comprise a Digital-to-Analog converter coupled between first and second supply voltages. A programmable current reference is also disclosed.
US07948800B2 Semiconductor memory device and driving method for the same
The semiconductor memory device includes: a first well of a first conductivity type, a second well of the first conductivity type and a third well of a second conductivity type formed in a substrate: a diffusion bit line extending in a row direction and a word line extending in a column direction both formed in the second well; a plurality of semiconductor memory elements arranged in a matrix, each connected with the diffusion bit line and the word line; a selection transistor formed in the first well for applying a voltage to the diffusion bit line; and a forward diode formed of a diffusion layer of the first conductivity type formed in the third well and the third well. The diffusion bit line, the forward diode and the source of the selection transistor are electrically connected with one another.
US07948795B2 Thin film magnetic memory device including memory cells having a magnetic tunnel junction
In the data read operation, a memory cell and a dummy memory cell are respectively coupled to two bit lines of a selected bit line pair, a data read current is supplied. In the selected memory cell column, a read gate drives the respective voltages on a read data bus pair, according to the respective voltages on the bit lines. A data read circuit amplifies the voltage difference between the read data buses so as to output read data. The use of the read gate enables the read data buses to be disconnected from a data read current path. As a result, respective voltage changes on the bit lines are rapidly produced, and therefore, the data read speed can be increased.
US07948794B2 Nonvolatile memory device using variable resistive element
A nonvolatile memory device includes multiple memory blocks divided into multiple memory block groups. Each memory block group includes at least two memory blocks of the multiple memory blocks. The nonvolatile memory device also includes a main word line common to the memory blocks, and multiple sub-word lines corresponding to the memory blocks. Sub-word lines of the multiple sub-word lines located within the same memory block group are electrically connected to each other, and sub-word lines of the multiple sub-word lines located in different memory block are electrically isolated from each other.
US07948793B2 Temperature compensation in memory devices and systems
Devices, methods, and systems for temperature compensation in memory devices, such as resistance variable memory, among other types of memory are included. A memory device can include a table with an output that is used to create a multiplication factor for a current to compensate for temperature changes in the memory device, where the output depends on an operating temperature of the memory device and a difference in the current between a highest specified operating temperature and a lowest specified operating temperature of the memory device.
US07948790B2 Semiconductor memory device
A memory cell arranged between first and second wirings includes a variable-resistor element. A controller controls a voltage applied between the first and second wirings. The controller performs a first operation that applies a first voltage between the first and second wirings to switch the variable-resistor element from a first state with a resistance value not less than a first resistance value, to a second state with a resistance value not more than a second resistance value smaller than the first resistance value. The second operation applies a second voltage smaller than the first voltage between the first and second wirings to switch the variable-resistor element from the second state to the first state. In the first operation, a verify voltage is applied between the first and second wirings. Based on the obtained signal, a third voltage smaller than the first voltage is applied between the first and second wirings.
US07948786B2 Rank select using a global select pin
Methods, memory devices, and systems are disclosed, such as those for accessing a memory circuit through the use of reduced external pins. With one such system, a single external pin receives a global memory select signal which transmits an access signal for one of a plurality of memory circuits in a system. The memory circuits may be stacked and may also be ranked memory circuits. The global memory select signal may be sent to a counter. Such a counter could count the length of time that the global memory select signal is active, and based on the counting, sends a count signal to a comparator. The comparator may compare the count signal with a programmed value to determine if a specific memory chip and/or port is to be accessed. This configuration may be duplicated over multiple ports on the same memory device, as well as across multiple memory ranks.
US07948782B2 Content addressable memory reference clock
A memory system includes a content addressable memory (CAM) including a plurality of match lines, each match line having a plurality of memory cells coupled thereto. The system also includes a match detector coupled to the CAM and a reference match line having a plurality of reference memory cells coupled thereto, the reference memory cells being of the same type and the memory cells. The system also includes a match line sensor coupled to the reference match line and the match detector that determines a characteristic of the reference match line and provides a timing signal to the match detector based on the characteristic.
US07948781B2 Contactless power receiving unit and electronic device employing the same
Provided is a contactless power receiving unit which has a simple configuration, and which is capable of generating constant induced electromotive force regardless of the orientation of a power receiving coil. Multiple power receiving coils are arranged to form certain relative angles to one another in a parallel magnetic field generated by a power supply unit. A rectifier circuit is connected to each power receiving coil. An adder circuit is configured to add DC power obtained, through the rectifier circuits, from the multiple power receiving coils, and to output resultant DC power of the addition.
US07948780B2 Semiconductor device for switching power supply control, startup circuit, and startup method for switching power supply device
A semiconductor device for switching power supply control limits the startup current supplied from a high-voltage input terminal, and prevents heat generation and combustion in case of an anomaly. A high-voltage input terminal is connected to the main winding of a transformer, and is supplied with a startup voltage upon input of a power supply to the switching power supply device. A power supply terminal is connected to a capacitor, and outputs a startup current to charge the capacitor after input of the power supply input. A startup circuit is connected between the high-voltage input terminal and the power supply terminal, and charges the capacitor while increasing the startup current with magnitude proportional to the voltage value of the power supply terminal, and after startup, turns off the startup current and supplies the power supply voltage only from the auxiliary winding of the transformer.
US07948776B2 Zero voltage switching high-frequency inverter
There is provided a zero-voltage switching high-frequency inverter capable of supplying a current of a large amplitude operation to a load, while suppressing a main switch current. The zero-voltage switching high-frequency inverter according to the present invention comprises: a first switch S1 and a second switch S2 that are connected in series between power sources Ed; a first capacitor C1, an impedance element R, and an inductor element L that are connected in series between a connecting path connecting the first switch S1 and the second switch S2 and one end of the power sources Ed; and a second capacitor C2 connected in parallel to the impedance element R and the inductor element L that are connected in series.
US07948772B2 Memory card with electrostatic discharge protection and manufacturing method thereof
A memory card with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The memory card includes a circuit board, a set of contacts, at least one chip and an ESD protection path. The signal paths of the board is not exposed at the edge of the circuit board. The ESD protection path for transmitting ESD current is disposed on the circuit board. Furthermore, a part of the ESD protection path extends to the edge of the circuit board.
US07948771B2 Electrical component and method for making the same
An electrical component (100) includes a housing (1), a number of terminals (2) molded within housing and at least one electrical element (3). The housing has at least a side wall (11) having a number of recesses (112) and an internal cavity (15). Each terminal has a first end (23) extending to a bottom of the side wall and formed with a platform portion (231) located onto the bottom of the side wall and aligned with the corresponding recess. The electrical element has a number of wires (321) wrapped thereon. One end of the wire extends outward the cavity through the recess and is soldered onto the corresponding platform portion.
US07948770B2 AC—LED system in single chip with three metal contacts
A plurality of AC_LED units are coupled and disposed on a single chip to form an AC_LED system in single chip with three metal contacts to be driven by three-phase voltage sources. Alternatively, an AC_LED system in single chip with four metal contacts is also disclosed to be driven by four-phase voltage sources.
US07948756B2 Heat dissipation device
A heat dissipation device includes a base, a connecting member and a wire-shaped clip. The base thermally contacts with an electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board. The connecting member encloses the base therein and is secured to a periphery of the base. A plurality of clasps extends upwardly from the connecting member. The clip is clasped by the clasps of the connecting member to be attached thereto. The clip is pressed downwardly to engage with a plurality of hooks of a bracket around the electronic component of the printed circuit board to make the base intimately contact with the electronic component.
US07948746B2 Cover opening/closing device and information processing unit
A cover opening/closing device of the present invention is formed so that a height of a rib to be in contact with a sealing member asymptotically decreases from a shaft toward an edge of a cover opposite to the shaft. With this configuration, the cover can be closed with only a small load imposed on the cover, whereby the operability in the opening/closing of the cover can be improved. Further, air-tightness of a recessed part provided with a disk drive sealed by the cover can be ensured.
US07948739B2 Graphite-carbon composite electrode for supercapacitors
A composite composition for use in an electrode for electrochemical capacitors, comprising: (a) an electrochemically active material; and (b) exfoliated graphite flakes that are substantially interconnected to form a porous, conductive graphite network comprising pores, wherein at least a portion of the active material resides in a pore of the network. The composite composition is characterized by having liquid accessible pores which provide a surface area greater than about 200 m2/gm, preferably greater than 500 m2/gm, more preferably greater than 1000 m2/gm, and most preferably greater than 1000 m2/gm. Also disclosed is a capacitor that includes at least an electrode comprising such a composite composition. A supercapacitor featuring such a composite electrode exhibits an exceptionally high capacitance value and high electrical conductivity.
US07948736B2 Balance transformer and backlight apparatus
The invention provides a balance transformer and a backlight apparatus using the same. The balance transformer comprises a first main coil, a second main coil, a first induction coil, and a conductor. The first main coil has a first contact point and a second contact point, and the second main coil has a third contact point and a fourth contact point. The first induction coil is corresponding to the first main coil and the second main coil. The conductor is then series connected to the first contact point and the fourth contact point. Accordingly, the balance transformer drives the backlight apparatus to light and balances the currents of a plurality of light units of the backlight apparatus.
US07948731B2 Static eliminator, and microphone electretizing method and apparatus using static eliminator
The static eliminator includes an ionizer including a power source and an electrode which applies ions to an electretized dielectric film to eliminate electric charges formed on the electretized dielectric film. The electrified substance is in an electrically non-grounded state when the electric charges on the electretized dielectric film are eliminated.
US07948728B2 Semiconductor device and method for inspecting the same
A semiconductor device of the present invention includes: a power input terminal; an internal power supply circuit that converts a voltage supplied from the outside to the power input terminal into a predetermined voltage; an analog circuit connected to an output side of the internal power supply circuit; an internal power output terminal connected to the output side of the internal power supply circuit; a logic circuit power input terminal; a logic circuit connected to the logic circuit power input terminal; and interterminal wiring connecting the internal power output terminal to the logic circuit power input terminal. The internal power supply circuit has a configuration of supplying power to the analog circuit and the logic circuit, and in a package assembly (finished product), a resting current in the logic circuit can be inspected without being influence by a consumption current in the analog circuit.
US07948727B2 Over-voltage protection circuit
An over-voltage protection circuit is disclosed herein for protection against over-voltage of an energy storage device while charging. The circuit operates within the operational limits of a battery-operated device, such as a mobile or handheld device. The over-voltage protection circuit comprises an over-voltage protection device, and an over-voltage protection controller. The controller allows current to flow to the over-voltage protection device only when an energy storage device is experiencing over-voltage. In allowing current to flow to the over-voltage protection device only when the voltage across the energy storage device is above a predetermined voltage, power conservation is achieved.
US07948726B2 Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit and method
There is disclosed an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device and method. An electronic device (100) that employs an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises an electronic component (106) having a signal input conductor (302). An exemplary ESD protection circuit (200) includes a spark gap (204) in series with a high pass quarter wave transformer (208). The exemplary ESD protection circuit (200) is adapted to discharge an ESD pulse from the signal input conductor (302) of the electronic component (106) to a ground plane (304) via the spark gap (204) and/or the high pass quarter wave transformer (208).
US07948721B2 AC motor bypass with fault annunciation, serial communication and fault tolerant coil control
A motor bypass is controlled by a digital signal processor (DSP) with embedded control software that allows fault detection and annunciation, serial communications between both a variable frequency drive (VFD) and a bypass controller and the bypass controller and a host computer. The use of the DSP and embedded control software further allows for contactor coil control to provide fault tolerant operation as well as fault condition detection and annunciation to the user.
US07948719B2 Solid state circuit protection system that works with arc fault circuit interrupter
An electric circuit includes a load, a solid state device, and a control for opening the circuit such that current will not flow through the solid state device, and for facilitating flow of current to bypass said solid state device and provide a current path to an arc fault circuit interrupter. A bypass includes a normally opened switch which is closed to provide current to the arc fault circuit interrupter.
US07948716B2 Magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording with a shield and a pole layer having a top surface with first and second portions at different heights, and method of manufacturing same
A magnetic head includes: a coil; a pole layer; a shield having an end face located in a medium facing surface forward of an end face of the pole layer along a direction of travel of a recording medium; a gap layer between the shield and the pole layer; and a substrate on which the foregoing elements are stacked. The top surface of the pole layer includes: first and second portions with a difference in height therebetween; and a third portion connecting the first and second portions to each other. The first portion has an edge located in the medium facing surface, and the second portion is located farther from the medium facing surface and from the substrate than the first portion. The magnetic head further includes a nonmagnetic layer disposed between the second portion and the gap layer. The nonmagnetic layer has a surface touching the second portion, the surface having an edge located at the boundary between the second and third portions. The nonmagnetic layer has a thickness equal to or greater than the difference in height between the first and second portions.
US07948710B2 Heat-assisted thin-film magnetic head and heat-assisted magnetic recording method
In a heat-assisted magnetic recording, a thin-film magnetic head, which can form stable recording bits pattern having steep magnetization transition regions without using a near-field light generating element, is provided. The head is formed on an element forming surface of a substrate, and has a waveguide for leading a light for heat-assist to a magnetic medium and a write element formed on a trailing side of the waveguide and having a magnetic pole for applying a write field to the medium. Here, a write field profile, which is an intensity distribution of the write field from the pole along a track in a recoding layer of the medium, has a projecting region on a leading side. Further, an anisotropy field profile, which is a distribution of an anisotropy field when the anisotropy field is reduced by irradiating the light on a part of the recoding layer, traverses the projecting region.
US07948707B2 Magnetic recording medium, method of recording servo pattern on magnetic recording medium, and magnetic head
A magnetic recording medium includes a disk substrate and a magnetic recording layer formed on one surface or both surfaces of the disk substrate. The magnetic recording layer includes at least one pattern area forming a plurality of data tracks in which a position for magnetic recording is patterned with a magnetic body and at least one continuous area formed of a continuous magnetic body, and at least a part of a servo pattern for following the data track is recorded in the continuous area. A method of recording a servo pattern on a magnetic recording medium includes determining a center position of the data track and a start position of the continuous area and recording a servo pattern for following the data track in the continuous area with respect to center position of the data track and the start position of the continuous area. A magnetic head for recording a servo pattern on a magnetic recording medium includes a data writing head for recording data, a servo writing head for recording the servo pattern, and a reading head for reproducing the data.
US07948705B2 Method of making a multi-channel time based servo tape media
A thin film magnetic recording head is fabricated by forming a substrate from opposing ferrite blocks which have a ceramic member bonded between them. This structure is then diced to form a plurality of columns, wherein each column has a ferrite/ceramic combination. Each column represents a single channel in the completed head. A block of ceramic is then cut to match the columned structure and the two are bonded together. The bonded structure is then cut or ground until a head is formed, having ceramic disposed between each channel. A ferrite back-gap is then added to each channel, minimizing the reluctance of the flux path. The thin film is patterned on the head to optimize various channel configurations.
US07948704B2 Using servo data harmonics to monitor head-medium spacing
A method is disclosed that includes measuring a first amplitude and a second amplitude in a servo pattern signal derived from a transducer head interacting with a medium; and providing an indication of a change in a spacing distance between the head and the medium, wherein the change in the spacing is evaluated using a spacing relation derived from a ratio of the first harmonic amplitude and the second harmonic amplitude.
US07948699B2 Systems and methods for equalizer optimization in a storage access retry
Various embodiments of the present invention provide data processing circuits that include a multiplexer, a memory buffer, a data processing circuit, and a channel setting modification circuit. A first input of the multiplexer receives an input data set and a second input of the multiplexer receives a buffered data set. The multiplexer provides either the input data set or the buffered data set as a multiplexer output based upon a select signal. The memory buffer receives the multiplexer output and provides the buffered data set. Operation of the data processing circuit is at least in part governed by channel settings. The data processing circuit receives the multiplexer output and performs a data detection process. The select signal is asserted to select the buffered data set when the data detection process fails, and is asserted to select the input data set when the data detection process succeeds. The channel setting modification circuit is operable to modify the channel settings when the data detection process fails.
US07948690B2 Composite lens
A composite lens of the present invention has a base lens and a resin lens placed on the base lens. The resin lens has, in an area outside an optically effective diameter, a first surface, a second surface that is adjacent to the first surface, and a third surface that is adjacent to the second surface in sequence from an optical axis to an outer circumference. The first surface has an inclined surface that becomes higher from the outer circumference toward the optical axis, and the inclined surface is connected to the second surface. The second surface has a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis, and the substantially perpendicular plane is connected to the first plane. The third surface has an inclined surface that becomes lower from an inner circumference toward the outer circumference.
US07948686B2 Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus including the same
A zoom lens comprises, from object to image side: a positive first-lens unit; a negative second-lens unit; a positive third-lens unit; and a positive fourth-lens unit; the third-lens unit comprising a negative 3a′th-lens sub-unit and positive 3b′th-lens sub-unit from object side; the second-lens unit and fourth-lens unit moving on the optical axis during zooming; the 3b′th-lens sub-unit moving in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image perpendicular to the optical axis; the 3a′th-lens sub-unit comprising a negative-lens element G3an whose both surfaces are spherical, and a positive-lens element whose both surfaces are spherical; the 3b′th-lens sub-unit including a positive-lens element G3bp including an aspherical lens surface, and a negative-lens element; wherein, assuming that the indices of the materials of the negative-lens element G3an and the positive-lens element G3bp are NG3an and NG3bp respectively, 0.21
US07948684B2 Zoom lens system, imaging device and camera
A zoom lens system comprising a first lens unit having negative power, a second lens unit having positive power and a third lens unit having positive power, wherein: the first lens unit comprises a first lens element having a concave surface at least on the image side and negative power and a second lens element having a convex surface at least on the object side and positive power; the second lens unit comprises a first cemented lens element of two lens elements having power of mutually different signs and a second cemented lens element of two lens elements having power of mutually different signs; in zooming, all of the lens units move along an optical axis; and conditions (1): 5.0<αiW<20.0 and (I-2): n11≧1.9 (where, 3.235, αiW is an incident angle of a principal ray to an image sensor at a maximum image height at a wide-angle limit, n11 is a refractive index of the first lens element to the d-line, ωW is a half view angle at a wide-angle limit, and fT and fW are focal lengths of the entire system at a telephoto limit and a wide-angle limit, respectively) are satisfied.
US07948681B2 Device for displaying a three dimensional image
A digital display system is disclosed, wherein the display system generally includes a recording mechanism, such as a digital camera, a processing mechanism for processing and saving at least one image; software for interlacing the image; software for processing slides and movies comprised of multiple images; a digital display device for receiving, storing and displaying the image, and a lenticular screen overlaid upon the digital display device for viewing the interlaced images in three dimensions. A method of manufacturing a lenticular sheet is also disclosed as having as its primary steps the provision of a substantially transparent substrate material; forming a plurality of lenses on a first side of the substrate; and shaping the substrate to correspond to a display area of the display device, wherein the plurality of lenses are angled to correspond to the pixel size and pitch of the display area.
US07948673B2 Optical wavelength conversion element having a cesium-lithium-borate crystal
An optical wavelength conversion element includes a cesium-lithium-borate crystal processed into a 10-mm long optical element cut in an orientation that allows a fourth harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser to be generated. A transmittance (Ta) at 3589 cm−1 in an infrared transmission spectrum of the optical element is used as an index that indicates a content of water impurities in the crystal and is independent of a polarization direction. An actual measurement of the transmittance Ta is at least 1%, without taking into account loss at an optically polished surface of the crystal. A wavelength conversion device, a ultraviolet laser irradiation apparatus, a laser processing system, and a method of manufacturing an optical wavelength conversion element are also described.
US07948657B2 Image processing method and image processing apparatus
An image processing method for deciding the quantization data on each image plane of the image data composed of at least first and second image planes includes performing a quantization process for the sum total value of pixel values existing at the same position on the first and second image planes, using a first threshold, to decide a quantized value, and performing an arithmetical operation on the decided quantized value, the pixel value of any one of the first and second image planes and a second threshold, to generate the quantization data on each of the first and second image planes.
US07948654B2 Image processing system for displaying operational display screens
The present invention provides a display screen based on a display pattern of an image processing apparatus. Instruction data in which process information representing as a series of processes at least one process performed to document data and UI information for setting execution contents of the processes are described is acquired, and the UI information is extracted. A screen structure is generated on the basis of the UI information, and a screen of screen information obtained by reflecting the setting information on the screen structure is displayed. In this manner, a display screen having versatility and expandability can be provided.
US07948646B2 Information processing apparatus easy for users to operate
In an information processing apparatus, a job log recording unit generates a job log that is a history of operations and settings based on user's operation. An operation/setting sequence extraction unit extracts a sequence by extracting job logs constituting a series of operations and/or settings. Of extracted sequences, a sequence for which an operation/setting sequence frequency/resemblance detection unit detects that the sequence has a predetermined frequency or a predetermined degree of resemblance, namely a sequence of operation repeatedly performed, is presented to the user by an operation/setting sequence presentation/registration unit for registration of the sequence by user's operation. Subsequently, in the information processing apparatus, a registered sequence is selected for automatically performing a series of operations and/or settings.
US07948645B2 Information processing apparatus, control method thereof, and program thereof
An information processing apparatus according to this invention acquires function restriction information used to restrict the use of functions of an image processing apparatus. The apparatus acquires job log data of a job which is processed using the functions of the image processing apparatus. The apparatus changes the acquired function restriction information. The apparatus calculates a cost incurred upon using the functions of the image processing apparatus within a designated period, based on unit price information indicating the unit prices of the resources consumed upon using the functions of the image processing apparatus, the job log data, and the changed function restriction information. The apparatus outputs the calculation result.
US07948643B2 Information processing apparatus, method for enhancing print function, computer-readable program for enhancing print function, printer, print method, and print system
An effective environment can be freely constructed in which multifunctional processing equivalent to high performance multifunction peripherals can be executed easily at low cost, by utilizing the print function of a printer driver as well as by selectively utilizing the functions of peripheral devices. In a print system environment where a print job can be issued to a printer 150 through a printer driver 203, the printer driver 203 communicates with predetermined peripheral devices thereby to search them for information of a peripheral device that can execute a substitute function processing, and updates the display of a print setting screen of the printer driver so as to allow utilization of a predetermined substitute function, in accordance with the retrieved substitute function information.
US07948642B2 Optical measuring apparatus, optical measuring method, and optical measurement processing program
An optical measuring apparatus includes a light transmission unit, a light reception unit, a measurement value calculation unit, and a correction unit. The light transmission unit forms a beam of light that focuses in a measurement area where a measurement target object is placed and scans the measurement area with the beam of light. The light reception unit receives the beam of light that has passed through the measurement area and outputs a received-light signal on the basis of the received beam of light. The measurement value calculation unit calculates a measurement value that represents the dimension of the measurement target object on the basis of the received-light signal. The correction unit corrects the measurement value on the basis of the amount of change in the strength of the received-light signal per unit of time of scanning the beam of light.
US07948640B2 Method and device for locating a piece with respect to a tool
A method of, and a device for, locating a piece with respect to a tool, utilize a measuring device for measuring a feeding speed, a driving direction and a feeding amount of the piece. The piece bears against two abutment rollers and is driven by a driving roller that is operated by a controllable motor operatively coupled to a machine numerical control apparatus. An output of the measuring device and an output of the controllable motor are both coupled to the machine numerical control apparatus.
US07948639B2 Phase-shifting interferometry in the presence of vibration
A phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) method and corresponding system including: (i) recording an interferogram for each phase in a sequence of phases between test light reflected from a test surface and reference light reflected from a reference surface, the test and reference light being derived from a common source, each interferogram corresponding to an intensity pattern produced by interfering the reflected test light with the reflected reference light, the interferograms defining an interferometry signal for each of different transverse locations of a cavity defined by the test and reference surfaces, each interferometry signal including a series of intensity values corresponding to the sequence of phases, with the difference between each pair of phases in the sequence defining a corresponding phase shift increment; (ii) calculating an initial phase map for the cavity based on at least some of the recorded interferograms; (iii) calculating an estimate for each of at least some of the phase shift increments based on the initial phase map and at least some of the recorded interferograms; and (iv) calculating an improved phase map based on the calculated estimates for the phase shift increments and at least some of the recorded interferograms.
US07948634B2 Surface profiling apparatus
Broadband light is directed along sample and reference paths such that light reflected by a sample surface and light reflected by a reference surface interfere. A mover effects relative movement between the sample and reference surfaces along a scan path. A detector senses a series of light intensity values representing interference fringes produced by a sample surface region during the movement. A data processor processes the intensity values as they are received to produce coherence peak position data and, after completion of a measurement operation, uses this coherence peak position data to obtain data indicative of the height of the surface region. The data processor includes a correlator for correlating intensity values with correlation function data to provide correlation data to enable identification of a position of a coherence peak. A surface topography determiner determines a height of a sample surface region from coherence peak position data.
US07948631B2 Method and apparatus for using multiple relative reflectance measurements to determine properties of a sample using vacuum ultra violet wavelengths
A method and apparatus is disclosed for measuring properties of an unknown sample. A reflectometer and one or more reference pieces is provided. A set of data is collected from the unknown sample and a combination of the reference pieces. A combination of the sample and reference piece data independent of incident intensity is used to determine a property of the unknown sample without calibrating incident reflectometer intensity. The method and apparatus disclosed can measure properties of thin films or scattering structures on semiconductor work pieces. In one embodiment the reflectometer utilizes vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength reflectometry. Multiple relative reflectance measurements are used to overcome effects of the inevitable contamination buildup that occurs when using optical systems in the VUV region. While advantageous for VUV wavelengths, the method described herein is generally applicable to any wavelength range, and is advantageous in situations where stable reference samples are not available.
US07948628B2 Window cleanliness detection system
A detector comprises a housing (1) having a window (3), a measuring and processing unit (2), a source (4) of electromagnetic radiation, a plurality of sensors (7), and a reflector (6). The measuring and processing unit (2), the electromagnetic radiation source (4) and the sensors (7) are mounted within the housing (1). The reflector (6) is mounted outside the housing (1). The reflector (6) is positioned to reflect electromagnetic radiation passing through the window (3) from the electromagnetic radiation source (4) onto the sensors (7) via the window. The sensors (7) are operatively associated with the measuring and processing unit (2) to provide that unit with an input indicative of the level of electromagnetic radiation reaching the sensors.
US07948618B2 Defect inspection method and apparatus with a threshold value determination
Scattered light from the surface of a sample subjected to the same process as a process for an inspection object is observed, a defect is detected from an intensity of scattered light, and a position of the detected defect and an intensity of scattered light caused by the detected defect are acquired. Defects detected are classified into a group detectable by observing secondary electrons emitted when an electron beam is applied to the surface of the sample and a group not detectable. A decision threshold value of a scattered light intensity for extracting defects to be counted is determined, in accordance with a result of classification by the above steps and the intensity of scattered light caused by the detected defect.
US07948614B2 Optical-fiber-characteristic measuring device and optical-fiber-characteristic measuring method
A measurement precision is improved and a measurement range is extended by efficiently suppressing a noise level of integrated unnecessary components from non-correlation positions. Measuring means 33 detects the Brillouin gain of a probe light output from a measurement-target optical fiber FUT while sweeping a frequency difference between the pump light and the probe light, and measures the distribution of strains of the measurement-target optical fiber FUT. An optical intensity modulator 4 performs intensity modulation on output light in synchronization with frequency modulation performed on a light source 1. Accordingly, the spectrum distribution with respect to the frequency of light from the light source 1 can be adjusted arbitrarily, and a noise spectrum shape generated at a position other than a correlation peak position and spreading over a frequency axis can be adjusted, and the peak frequency of a Lorentz spectrum generated at the correlation peak position can be measured precisely. Moreover, a measurement range dm can be extended.
US07948613B2 Optical device for measuring moving speed of an object relative to a surface
The invention relates to sensors of the speed of movement of a vehicle over the ground. The sensor comprises illumination means for illuminating the surface and at least one optical sensor able to detect the radiation returned by the surface. The illumination means and the optical sensor have one and the same optical axis, oblique in relation to the surface. This arrangement eliminates the risks of specular reflection dazzling the sensor while avoiding disturbance of the measurement by variations in the height of the sensor relative to the ground.
US07948602B2 Liquid crystal display and method for driving the same to prevent a repaired pixel from being a bright spot
A liquid crystal display and method for driving the same to prevent a repaired pixel from being a bright spot. The LCD panel includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel including: a pixel capacitor, a storage capacitor, and a thin film transistor (TFT) having a first electrode coupled to first terminals of the pixel capacitor and storage capacitor. Two different common voltages are applied to a second terminal of the pixel capacitor and a second terminal of the storage capacitor, respectively. The two different common voltages are DC voltages and an absolute difference between them is based on a value in a voltage range corresponding to a transmittance range which indicates a pixel in a dark state substantially and is determined according to a minimum transmittance and a maximum transmittance of the LCD panel.
US07948600B2 Manufacturing method of display device
A liquid crystal display device having high quality and high reliability is manufactured by preventing the occurrence of damages on a terminal portion due to the radiation of laser beams in cutting a substrate of the display device which is formed using a plastic substrate by the radiation of laser beams. A first substrate has a cutting line at a position which faces a terminal portion of a second substrate. In cutting the first substrate along the cutting line, laser beams are radiated to the first substrate along the cutting line so as to form a groove having a predetermined depth in the first substrate. Then, a load is applied to the first substrate along the groove so as to cut the first substrate.
US07948597B2 Liquid crystal display panel for liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display panel having improved optical transmissivity and viewing angle includes a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer. The first substrate includes a first base substrate, a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines, and a pixel electrode. The gate lines and the data lines are disposed on the first base substrate and cross each other. The pixel electrode includes a first pixel electrode part and a second pixel electrode part disposed on the first base substrate and inclined in a different direction from each other with respect to the gate lines. The second substrate includes a second base substrate and a common electrode disposed on the second base substrate and alternately positioned with the pixel electrode.
US07948593B2 Projector having an adjustment mechanism
A projector includes: an optical modulator including a liquid crystal cell, a first optical element formed of an optical material having positive uniaxiality, a second optical element formed of an optical material having positive uniaxiality, a third optical element including at least one optical film formed of optical material having a refractive index anisotropy, and a pair of polarization elements; an adjustment mechanism that can adjust an optical azimuth of a first group, having at least one of the first optical element, second optical element, and at least one optical film included in the third optical element, with respect to a fixed optical azimuth of a second group as a remainder excluding the element included in the first group among the first to third optical elements; a light source generating light for illuminating the optical modulator; and a projection optical system projecting the light passed through the optical modulator.
US07948587B2 Liquid crystal display device
Reflective electrodes having unevenness are formed on a resin layer of a TFT substrate. A coating-type ITO film having a film thickness of 0.5 μm to 1 μm which constitute a pixel electrode is applied to the reflective electrode. A surface of the coating-type ITO film is leveled. A capacitive insulation film is formed on the pixel electrode, and a comb-teeth-shaped common electrode is formed on the capacitive insulation film. When a voltage is applied between the common electrode and the pixel electrode, liquid crystal is controlled by a leaked electric field. Since the common electrode is formed in a planar plane, a thickness of a liquid crystal layer can be made uniform.
US07948586B2 Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof
In a liquid crystal display device, an array substrate and a CF substrate are arranged face to face with each other. A liquid crystal layer is provided between the array substrate and the CF substrate. The array substrate and the CF substrate are bonded together by a sealing member containing a photo curing material. The array substrate has a surface opposed to the CF substrate. Metal wires are provided in the circumferential portion of the opposed surface. A transparent film is disposed between the metal wires and the sealing member.
US07948585B2 Inkjet ink for color filter, color filter, methods of producing them, and liquid crystal display device using them
An inkjet ink for color filter having fine pigment particles formed with a size in the order of nanometer dispersed in a medium containing a polymerizable monomer and/or a polymerizable oligomer, a color filter using the ink, methods of producing them, and a liquid crystal display device using them.
US07948584B2 Color filter for transflective type liquid crystal display
The main object of the present invention is to provide a color filter for a transflective type color liquid crystal display which is easily produced and capable of displaying the same color tone with both of a reflecting light and a transmitting light, and shows light scattering in a reflective light region. In order to attain the above mentioned object, the present invention provides a color filter for transflective type color liquid crystal display comprising a transparent substrate and a reflective light coloring layer and a transmissive light coloring layer formed on the transparent substrate, wherein, a convex-concave is formed on a surface of a liquid crystal layer side of the reflective light coloring layer, and an average thickness of the reflective light coloring layer is formed to be thinner than the thickness of the transmissive light coloring layer, and a refractive index difference between the reflective light coloring layer and a layer in contact with the surface of the convex-concave formed side of the reflective light coloring layer, is 0.1 or more. Further, a main object of the present invention is to provide a color filter for transflective type liquid crystal display comprising a transparent membrane pattern region obtained by laminating: a transparent substrate; a transparent membrane pattern layer comprising a transparent membrane formed in a pattern on the transparent substrate; and a coloring layer formed so as to cover the transparent membrane pattern layer.
US07948580B2 Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display includes a backlight (3), a liquid crystal display panel (1), and a viewing angle control panel (2) for controlling the viewing angle of the display panel (1), the liquid crystal display further including a lens sheet (41) provided between the backlight (3) and the liquid crystal display panel (1). This provides a display device system which is capable of providing better blocking.
US07948575B2 Liquid crystal display device having particular polarizing filter in housing
A liquid crystal display device includes a housing, a liquid crystal panel provided in the housing and comprises first and second transparent substrates spaced from each other at predetermined intervals, a sealing member to seal an internal space formed between the first and second transparent substrates, a liquid crystal to fill the internal space, first and second transparent electrodes formed in the first and second transparent substrates, respectively, and a polarizing plate to transmit light in a predetermined polarizing direction, a backlight unit disposed in the housing to emit surface light to the liquid crystal panel, and a polarizing filter disposed in the housing, and spaced from the liquid crystal panel at predetermined intervals to transmit predetermined polarized light and to block other polarized light of incident light.
US07948571B2 Semiconductor device having thin film transistor with particular drain electrode structure
A first insulating thin film having a large dielectric constant such as a silicon nitride film is formed so as to cover a source line and a metal wiring that is in the same layer as the source line. A second insulating film that is high in flatness is formed on the first insulating film. An opening is formed in the second insulating film by etching the second insulating film, to selectively expose the first insulating film. A conductive film to serve as a light-interruptive film is formed on the second insulating film and in the opening, whereby an auxiliary capacitor of the pixel is formed between the conductive film and the metal wiring with first the insulating film serving as a dielectric. The effective aperture ratio can be increased by forming the auxiliary capacitor in a selected region where the influences of alignment disorder of liquid crystal molecules, i.e., disclination, are large.
US07948561B2 Video playback apparatus and method for controlling the same
The video playback apparatus includes: a video data processor for simultaneously and asynchronously reproducing a main-video stream and a sub-video stream, and controlling position- and size-information of a corresponding display window; and a video output controller, if one of the main- and sub-video streams reproduced by the video data processor is completely reproduced earlier than the other one, which controls the video data processor to enlarge a display window of the remaining video stream to an entire screen size.
US07948559B2 Method and apparatus for lipsync measurement and correction
A method and apparatus for synchronizing audio and video portions of a media program signal is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of detecting an audio event in the audio portion of the media program signal, measuring the timing interval from the audio event to a subsequent video synchronization pulse in the video portion of the media program signal, and storing the timing interval in a third portion of the media program signal. The apparatus comprises a voice detector for detecting an audio event in the audio portion of the media program signal, a timer for measuring the timing interval from the audio event to a subsequent video synchronization pulse in the video portion of the media program signal, and a processor for storing the timing interval in a third portion of the media program signal.
US07948556B2 Electronic apparatus and display control method
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: a detection unit configured to detect a start of a reproducing of a motion picture to be displayed on a display unit; a change unit configured to change a refresh rate of the display unit when the start of the reproducing of the motion picture is detected, the refresh rate being changed not by changing an operating frequency of the display unit, the refresh rate being changed by changing a blanking period, the blanking period being a period during which a drawing operation of a screen on the display unit is not performed; and a control unit configured to control the display unit to display the motion picture based on the changed refresh rate.
US07948553B2 Digital camera having sequential shooting mode
A digital camera comprises a CCD for subjecting subject light flux incident from a photographing lens to photoelectric conversion and outputting subject image signals, a movable mirror section, arranged in the imaging light path of the CCD, for reflecting some of the subject light flux and transmitting the remainder, a range finder/photosensor for receiving subject light flux reflected by the movable mirror member and carrying out ranging integration, and an optical system drive mechanism for carrying out focal point adjustment of the photographing lens based on output of the range finder/photosensor. In a sequential shooting mode for sequentially acquiring images using the CCD, during the imaging operation by the CCD ranging integration by the range finder/photosensor 217 is carried out using subject light flux that has been reflected by the movable mirror member.
US07948549B2 Camera system
A camera system 100 has an imaging optical system L, an imaging component 45, a liquid crystal monitor 16, a body microprocessor 12, an aperture setting component 29, and an image display controller 15. The body microprocessor 12 allows a target aperture value and a reference aperture value to be set as set conditions and determines the reference aperture value on the basis of the target aperture value. The aperture setting component 29 adjusts a photography condition on the basis of the set conditions. The image display controller 15 displays part of a reference image a1 acquired by the imaging component 45 at the reference aperture value as a reference display image A1 in a first display region R131 and displays part of a target image b1 acquired by the imaging component 45 at the target aperture value a1 as a target display image B1 in a second display region R132.
US07948548B2 Digital imaging device with inclination sensor
A digital imaging device comprises a screen so that a user can view a shot to be captured. One or more reference inclination lines are displayed on the viewing screen. The device also comprises an inclination sensor and displays on the screen one or more cursors mobile relative to the reference inclination line. The device further comprises a man-machine interface for controlling the movement of the reference inclination line. Thus the user can incline the imaging device to position the mobile cursor on one of the reference lines in order to orient his shot optimally. The reference inclination line(s) can also assist with framing the shot.
US07948541B2 Signal reading apparatus and image pickup system using the signal reading apparatus
A signal reading apparatus includes first and second common signal lines from which a signal from a signal generation unit is output and first and second amplifier circuits and a switch configured to control a conductive state of the first and the second common signal lines. The signal reading apparatus includes a first signal reading method of reading a signal from the first common signal line after being amplified in the first amplifier circuit and reading a signal from the second common signal line after being amplified in the second amplifier circuit and a second signal reading method of turning ON the switch to read the signal from the first common signal line and the signal from the second common signal line individually after being amplified in the first amplifier circuit. The signal reading apparatus includes a control unit for controlling between the first and second signal reading methods.
US07948540B2 Photoelectric conversion device with isolation switches arranged between signal lines and amplifiers
A photoelectric conversion device prevents a pseudo signal caused by the parasitic capacitance of a transfer switch from being input to an amplifier. A photoelectric conversion device (50) includes a pixel (10) which outputs a signal to a signal line (107), an amplifier which amplifies the signal supplied via the signal line (107), and an isolation switch (121) inserted between a signal line (108) and the input node of the amplifier. The pixel (10) includes a photodiode, a floating diffusion (FD), a transfer switch which transfers the charge of the photodiode to the FD, and an amplification transistor which outputs a signal to a signal line (109) in accordance with the potential of the FD. The isolation switch (121) is turned off at least in a period when a transfer pulse for controlling the transfer switch of the pixel (10) transits.
US07948539B2 Signal detection method and apparatus, and radiation image signal detection method and system
A signal detection method including the steps of: initiating integration of charge signals by an integrating amplifier; holding a first electrical signal integrated by the integrating amplifier during a time period from the start of the integration to the end of a predetermined baseline sampling time, and passed through a first low-pass filter having a time constant τ1; and performing signal detection by obtaining the difference between a second electrical signal and the first electrical signal, the second electrical signal being an electrical signal integrated by the integrating amplifier during a time period from the start of the integration to a predetermined time point which is a time point before the integrating amplifier is reset after the first electrical signal is obtained, and passed through a second low-pass filter having a time constant τ2 which is greater than the time constant τ1.
US07948538B2 Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, exposure control method, and program
An image capturing apparatus includes: an image capturing unit configured to generate a long-exposure image signal and a short-exposure image signal on the basis of light transmitted from a subject and output the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal as image capturing signals; a signal processing unit configured to generate a combined image signal by combining the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal, the combined image signal having a dynamic range that is relatively wider than that of at least any one of the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal; a detection unit configured to generate luminance information of the combined image signal; and a control unit configured to perform automatic exposure control for the short-exposure image signal using the luminance information in an exposure setting mode in which exposure control is performed in accordance with a user's setting.
US07948532B2 Solid-state image-pickup device signal processing apparatus with signal compensation circuit
A solid-state image-pickup device signal processing apparatus includes a solid-state image-pickup device, an amplifier for amplifying an output signal of the solid-state image-pickup device, an A/D conversion circuit for converting an analog output signal of the amplifier to a digital signal, a digital correlated double sampling circuit for removing noises, and a device for supplying an optional-value direct current signal to a video signal portion of a digital output signal of the A/D conversion circuit. The digital correlated double sampling circuit subtracts a field-through portion of the digital output signal from the video signal portion including the optional-value direct current signal added thereto so that the optional-value direct current signal remains after subtracting the field-through portion from the video signal portion including the optional-value direct current signal when the solid-state image-pickup device image-picks up a dark space.
US07948525B2 Imaging device having a linear/logarithmic imaging sensor
An imaging device including: an imaging element which comprises a plurality of pixels capable of switching between a linear conversion operation for linearly converting incident light into an electric signal and a logarithmic conversion operation for logarithmically converting the incident light into an electric signal, according to an incident light quantity; a monitor to display an image obtained by the imaging element; an operation section which is operated for specifying an arbitrary area of the image displayed on the monitor; and an inflection point changing section which evaluates an output signal of the imaging element in the specified area, and changes the inflection point which is a boundary between a linear region and a logarithmic region in the output signal of the imaging element, based on an evaluation result of the output signal.
US07948523B2 Image sensing apparatus and method of controlling the image sensing apparatus
An image sensing apparatus having an image sensing unit that converts light into an electric signal corresponding to a quantity of incident light, and outputs an image signal obtained by the conversion, and that outputs an image signal obtained by the conversion, a mode switch section that switches among a plurality of image sensing modes including at least a firework image sensing mode and a normal image sensing mode, a mode control section that changes gamma characteristics including a first gamma characteristic used in the firework image sensing mode and a second gamma characteristic used in the normal image sensing mode, and a gamma circuit that, when switch to the firework image sensing mode is made by the mode switch section, makes gamma conversion of the image signal output from the image sensing unit by using the first gamma characteristic selected by the mode control section. The first gamma characteristic includes a characteristic having the effect of suppressing a low luminance in comparison with the second gamma characteristic.
US07948521B2 Bi-directional image recording and reproduction system
According to the invention, rotating cylinders (1) are provided in at least two locations. Stripes (3) comprising light emitting elements and stripes (2) comprising a recording system resembling a scanner strip are mounted on the rotating cylinders (1) such that the surroundings of one cylinder can be represented on the other cylinder, visual contact being possible. The inventive system can also be configured in a planar manner, e.g. on a revolving band or a plate that is moved back and forth. Said system can also be configured for three-dimensional representation.
US07948518B1 Video signal communication system for mobile objects on a race track
The present invention provides a ground based video pick-up system for transmitting video signals produced on a moving object to one of a number of receivers at a fixed position and selecting the desired signal from the most appropriate one of those receivers.
US07948516B2 Position accuracy evaluation method and position accuracy evaluation apparatus
According to a related art for evaluating the position accuracy of heaters with respect to the plate, it is necessary to attach an energizing electrode to the heaters, and energize the heaters for a predetermined period to heat the entire plate, before measuring the temperature distribution map. Therefore, there is a problem in that several tens of minutes are required until the temperature distribution map can be measured. As the plate becomes larger, the time required for energizing the heaters to heat the entire plate becomes longer. A technique for evaluating the position accuracy of heaters with respect to the plate, without executing a process for energizing the heaters to heat the plate is disclosed.
US07948512B2 Image forming apparatus with separate controllers for independently controlling an irradiating section
A main controller controls drive of an LSU for irradiating laser light onto a charged photoreceptor, based on control data read from a non-volatile memory. The main controller causes the LSU to irradiate a beam of light onto the photoreceptor so as to form on the photoreceptor an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an image to be formed. A controlling section reads through an image reading section control data from the non-volatile memory at a different timing from a timing at which the main controller controls the LSU. The controlling section controls drive of the LSU based on the read control data.
US07948509B2 Line head and image forming device using the same
A line head, includes a light-emitting element row, having a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in a first direction; a plurality of feeding portions; a first power supply line for power supply, connected to a first feeding portion for a power supply of the feeding portions; and a second power supply line for ground, connected to a second feeding portion for a ground of the feeding portions. The light-emitting elements are respectively connected between the first power supply line and the second power supply line.
US07948501B2 Display control apparatus and method under plural different color spaces
A display control apparatus displays image data expressed under a plurality of different color spaces. A discriminating section discriminates color space information on image data to be displayed. A gain switching section switches between gains in accordance with a result of the discrimination and sets a gain adapted for the image data to be displayed. An amplifying section amplifies an image signal, generated based on the image data and relating to at least a color difference, in accordance with the gain set by the gain switching section.
US07948487B2 Occlusion culling method and rendering processing apparatus
A rendering processing apparatus is provided which performs occlusion culling for excluding from rendering targets a hidden object behind another object as seen from a point of view, when given a plurality of objects. An object input unit stores a plurality of objects in an object storing unit. An internal volume generating unit generates an internal volume which is included in a target object. A reduced Z-buffer updating unit updates a reduced Z-buffer based on the internal volume. An external volume generating unit generates an external volume which includes the target object subject to culling test. A culling determination unit consults the reduced Z-buffer and performs a Z culling test on the target object based on the external volume.
US07948473B2 Mouse device
A mouse device includes a main body and at least one mouse foot pad. The mouse foot pad is fixed on the lower surface of the main body. The mouse foot pad includes a first layer with first friction coefficient μ1 and a second layer with a second friction coefficient μ2, where the second friction coefficient μ2 is greater than the first friction coefficient μ1. The first layer and the second layer are formed as a laminate. The second layer is bonded to the lower surface of the main body. The first layer is in contact with the working plane when the mouse device is operated. When the second layer is in contact with the working plane, the user is reminded that the mouse foot pad needs to be changed.
US07948462B2 Method for driving LCD monitor for displaying a plurality of frame data during a plurality of frame durations
A method for driving an LCD monitor includes providing a common-voltage signal having a level conversion during each frame duration, dividing each frame duration into a first sub-frame duration and a second sub-frame duration according to a position having the level conversion of the common-voltage signal, driving a first set of pixel units during the first sub-frame duration according to a level of the common-voltage signal within the first sub-frame duration, and driving a second set of pixel units during the second sub-frame duration according to a level of the common-voltage signal within the second sub-frame duration.
US07948461B2 Image display device
The present invention provides an image display device having about the same numbers of gate lines and data lines as before and capable of reducing the power consumption of a static memory during rewriting of a display image. In the configuration of the image display device, the drain electrode of a first transistor 15 included in a pixel circuit is connected to an input for setting a storing state of the static memory, the drain electrode of a second transistor 18 is connected to an input for resetting a storing state of the static memory, the source electrode of the first transistor is connected to a data line, the gate electrode of the first transistor included in a row of pixel circuits arranged parallel to gate lines is connected to one gate line of the plurality of gate lines, and the gate electrode of the second transistor included in another row of pixel circuits arranged adjacent to the row of pixel circuits is connected to the one gate line.
US07948453B2 Signal line driving circuit and light emitting device
Variations occur in the characteristics of transistors. The present invention is a signal-line drive circuit comprising first and second current source circuits corresponding to respective plurality of signal lines, a shift register, and n (n is a natural number of one or more) video-signal constant current source s, wherein each of the first and second current source circuits has a capacitance means and a supply means. The capacitance means held in one of the first and second source circuits converts a current including a current supplied from each of the n video-signal constant current source s to voltage in response to a sampling pulse supplied from the shift register and a latch pulse supplied from the exterior; and the supply means held in the other supplies a current responsive to the converted voltage. The values of the currents supplied from the n video-signal constant current source s are set to a proportion of 20:21: . . . :2n.
US07948446B2 XYZ isotropic radiator antenna
An XYZ isotropic radiator antenna is characterized by three whip antennas connected with a housing and arranged 90 degrees perpendicular to each other. The antenna generates a heliocentric spherical radiation pattern which allows the antenna to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in any direction or plane.
US07948435B2 Method and apparatus for determining the geographic location of a device
A method and apparatus for determining the location of a device from signals provided by a plurality of satellites. A device receives a first plurality of signals comprising one signal from each of a first plurality of satellites and determines a first location of the device as a function of the first plurality of signals. The device then determines a second location thereof as a function of a second plurality of signals if the first location is not within a predetermined threshold. The second plurality of signals is a first subset of the first plurality of signals.
US07948433B2 Calculation method for network-specific factors in a network of reference stations for a satellite-based positioning system
A correction calculation method for a satellite based positioning system with a network of receiving units as reference stations comprises a partitioning of the network into groups of reference stations, calculation of group-specific correction factors, amalgamation of the group-specific correction factors and subsequently, derivation of network-specific correction parameters. In this partitioning, the reference stations are represented by nodes in a connected, edge-weighted graph, in the generation of which an edge respectively connecting two nodes is only generated if it satisfies a distance-dependent connectivity condition, whereby the distance between the nodes connected by this edge is input into the weighting function of this edge. From the graph a minimum spanning tree is derived and subsequently partitioned for establishing the groups.
US07948431B2 Radiobased locating system provided with a synthetic aperture
The invention relates to a method for increasing the accuracy of a measurement of a radio-based locating system comprising a mobile station and at least one fixed station, wherein the movement of a mobile station from an initial position is detected by way of measuring data of an absolute sensor system and a relative sensor system, a virtual antenna is embodied in the form of synthetic aperture by way of measuring data and the mobile station is focused on the fixed station and/or vice versa by using the synthetic aperture.
US07948426B2 Detection and location of radio frequency weapons from high altitude glider system
A method and system for detecting and locating RF weapons being used against aircraft. Large geographic regions may be defended by equipping a constellation of high-altitude airborne platforms with RF detectors, GPS receivers and a communications unit. The communications unit downlinks data indicating an RF weapon pulse and associated time and location data. From this data, a ground station performs a time difference of arrival (TDOA) location fix of the RF weapon.
US07948424B2 Radio wave absorber and producing method thereof
In order to provide a radio wave absorber that can be produced easily and has excellent radio wave absorption characteristics, a conductive surface 2 of a conductive paint 6 is formed on one surface 1a of a mat-shaped inorganic fiber bulk material 1.
US07948418B2 Digital-to-analog conversion circuit and column driver including the same
A digital-to-analog conversion circuit includes a digital-to-analog converter and a buffer amplifier. The digital-to-analog converter receives upper bits of digital data and a plurality of analog voltages and is configured to output two adjacent analog voltages of the plurality of analog voltages based on the upper bits. The buffer amplifier includes two input terminals. One of the input terminals receives one of the two adjacent analog voltages and the other input terminal receives the other adjacent analog voltage. The buffer amplifier is configured to generate a current offset by controlling a current flowing into each of the two input terminals based on lower bits of the digital bits.
US07948410B2 Multibit recyclic pipelined ADC architecture
An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a sample switch, a sampling capacitor, an amplifier, feedback branches, a second hold switch, an N-bit converter pair, a third hold switch, and an M-bit converter pair. The sample receives an input signal and is actuated by a sample signal. The sampling capacitor is coupled to the sample switch. The amplifier has a first input terminal that is coupled to the sampling capacitor. The feedback branches are coupled between the output terminal of the amplifier and the first input terminal of the amplifier, with each feedback branch including a feedback capacitor, and a first hold switch that is coupled to the feedback capacitor. The second hold switch is coupled to the sampling switch. The N-bit converter pair is coupled to the sampling switch and to the second hold switch. The third hold switch is coupled to at least one of the feedback branches, and the M-bit converter pair is coupled to the output terminal of the amplifier and to the third hold switch.
US07948399B2 Parking lot congested state determination device, parking lot congested state determination method, and computer program
In a case where it is determined that a vehicle is in an unparked state within a parking lot for at least a specified time, the parking lot where the vehicle is currently located is determined to be in a congested state, and information that pertains to the parking lot that is determined to be in a congested state is transmitted to a probe center as probe information. The probe center, based on the received probe information, creates parking lot guidance information to provide guidance on the parking lot that is in a congested state, then distributes the created parking lot guidance information to vehicles that are located in the vicinity of the parking lot that is determined to be in a congested state. A navigation device in a vehicle to which the parking lot guidance information is distributed provides guidance that pertains to the parking lot that is in a congested state.
US07948396B2 RF meter reading system
A meter reading system of the present invention enables transmission of data between utility meter endpoints and readers. In a first embodiment, the endpoint provides a short message providing its identification to the reader and immediately enters a listen mode. If the reader hears the short message, it can immediately respond and request additional information from the endpoint. If the reader does not hear the short message or does not request additional information during the endpoints listening period, the endpoint enters a sleep mode until its next transmission time. In another embodiment, the endpoint transmits an SCM via AM communication to the reader. The reader can then request additional information and the endpoint can respond with the information via two-way FM communication. In another embodiment, the endpoint is capable of transmitting interval data to the reader via either AM or FM communication.
US07948394B2 Control device for controlling the hue of light emitted from a light source
The invention relates to a control device (1) for controlling the hue (H) of light (L) emitted by a light source (2). The control device comprises a hue selection surface (20) capable of displaying one or more hues available for said light of said light source and interaction detection means (21) for detecting interaction between said hue selection surface and a user of said control device in selecting said hue for said light of said light source. The control device (1) allows the user to select the desired hue for the light source simply by interacting with the hue selection surface that displays the available hues. Consequently, the control device can be operated easily and intuitively.
US07948383B2 RFID tag assembly and method of managing a race
A race management system which includes an RFID tag located between an inner and outer layer and is removably secured to a participant's bib through a mounting film. The inner layer is secured to a second inner layer having at least one fold line and an adhesive portion outward of the at least one fold line. The RFID tag is secured around a portion of the participant's shoe and is activated by at least one antenna to transmit identification data encoded on the tag. The encoded data corresponds to indicia printed on the bib and allows automatic collection of running times.
US07948380B2 Spatially distributed remote sensor
A remote sensing device includes a plurality of components arranged to form a resonant electrical circuit. The plurality of components includes at least one sensing component having sensing elements distributed among regions of an area of interest. The sensing elements are arranged so that a resonant characteristic of the resonant circuit is modifiable by an external event affecting an element associated with a region. The sensing component may be a capacitor having spatially distributed capacitive elements or an inductor having spatially distributed inductive elements.
US07948367B1 Wireless illuminated indicators for motorcycle helmets
A wireless braking and turning indicator attached to a motorcycle helmet and a motorcycle mounted transmitter is herein disclosed. An illumination assembly is attached on the rear surface of the helmet by means of either double-sided adhesive or an elastic band. An integral wireless receiver powered by a rechargeable battery receives a signal from a transmitter mounted on the motorcycle and electrically connected to the brake and turn signal indication circuits. In such a manner, the helmet-mounted light assembly will illuminate whenever the motorcycle brakes are applied in much the same manner as a center-mounted high brake light on motor vehicles. Turning direction is also indicated in like manner. When used, the rider's head is at a sufficient elevation to be easily seen by following traffic.
US07948362B2 Implantable medical transceiver device
An implantable medical device having a transceiver for transmitting/receiving wirelessly transmitted data, which is turned off or switched into an energy-saving rest state between individual data transmissions via the transceiver and having a waking unit which is implemented to switch the transceiver by a waking signal from its turned-off state or its rest state into its fully operational state, the waking unit having a low-power receiver and a waking control unit of which the low-power receiver is implemented to monitor multiple predefined frequency ranges in such a way that in case of a transmission of sufficient signal strength in one of the frequency ranges, it generates an output signal and outputs it to the waking control unit and of which the waking control unit is implemented to analyze output signals of the low-power receiver and output a waking signal to the transceiver which switches it on or to fully operational.
US07948359B2 Electronic security device
A lock is provided with a housing, a shackle movably coupled to the housing, and a locking arrangement movable between a locked state and an unlocked state. The lock includes a receiver arranged to receive a remote input signal including at least one authorization code. The lock includes a logic applying arrangement programmed to selectively store at least one access code responsive to a corresponding authorization code received by the receiver and to energize the locking arrangement to move from the locked state to the unlocked state when an authorization code received by the receiver corresponds with one of a set of stored access codes. The locking arrangement is configured to secure the shackle within the housing when the locking arrangement is in the locked state, and the locking arrangement is configured to allow the shackle to move relative to the housing when the locking arrangement is in the unlocked state.
US07948357B2 Free-space gesture recognition for transaction security and command processing
A sensor panel for detecting a free-space gesture signature conducted with a gesturing instrument by providing a panel mounted on a controlled system with multiple gesturing sensors in a two-dimensional arrangement to detect movement of a gesturing instrument, and an array of infrared (“IR”) type sensors adapted to detect movement of gesturing instruments which are distinguishable by heat; determining a sensor sequence from a series of sensor detection events responsive to movement of a gesturing instrument within the sensor proximity; correlating the sensor sequence to a predetermined seguence in order to authenticate a user of the gesturing instrument: and responsive to authentication of the user, authorizing a physical security action, wherein the a gesturing sensors comprise a combination of two or more sensors selected from Radio Frequency Identification type sensors acoustic sensors, acoustic type sensors adapted to detect movement of acoustic-reflective gesturing instruments, and infrared type sensors.
US07948355B2 Embedded resistor devices
An embedded resistor device includes a resistor, a ground plane located near a first side of the resistor and electrically coupled to a first end of the resistor, at the ground plane a hole is provided, a first dielectric layer exists between the resistor and the ground plane, a conductive wire, which is electrically coupled to a second end of the resistor different from the first end of the resistor and partially surrounds the resistor, is used as an auxiliary for supporting a resistor-coating process of the resistor and to provide a terminal of the embedded resistor device at the conductive wire, a conductive region located near a second side of the ground plane different from the first side of the resistor, a second dielectric layer exists between the ground plane and the conductive region, and a conductive path to electrically couple the conductive wire to the conductive region through the hole.
US07948351B2 Circuit protection device having warning function
A circuit protection device having a warning function includes a casing with a button, a first terminal and a second terminal connected thereto. A resilient bi-metallic plate is connected between the two terminals and bends to be separated from the second terminal when the circuit protection device is overheated. A warning light is located within the button and connected to the first terminal. When a main circuit is connected, no current flows through the warning light which is not activated. When the main circuit is overheated, the bi-metallic plate bends to cut off the main circuit and a connection member on the warning light is in contact with the second terminal to form a circuit to light up the warning light.
US07948346B2 Planar grooved power inductor structure and method
An inductor may include a planar ferrite core. A first group of one or more grooves is formed in a first side of the ferrite core. A second group of two or more grooves is formed in a second side of the ferrite core. The grooves in the first and second groups are oriented such that each groove in the first group overlaps with two corresponding grooves in the second group. A first plurality of vias communicates through the ferrite core between the first and second sides of the ferrite core. Each via is located where a groove in the first group overlaps with a groove in the second group. A conductive material is disposed in the first and second groups of grooves and in the vias to form an inductor coil.
US07948336B2 Mold cased circuit breaker
A mold cased circuit breaker is disclosed that enables a user to easily discern an actually connected state between stationary contactors and movable contactors and forcibly separates a connection therebetween if there arises electrical fault, wherein the circuit breaker comprises: a first isolation link hinged at a lower end thereof to a shaft unit and selectively engaged at an upper end thereof with a lateral surface of a lever; a second isolation link centrally formed with an oblong hole for accommodating a guide pin protruded on a side plate and linked at one end thereof to an upper end of the first isolation link; and an isolation lever adjacently positioned at one end thereof to the other end of the second isolation link, and so positioned at the other end thereof as to selectively engage with a nail, and rotatably mounted at the side plate to rotate the nail by way of operation of the second isolation link.
US07948335B2 Coaxial waveguide microstructure having conductive and insulation materials defining voids therein
Provided are coaxial waveguide microstructures. The microstructures include a substrate and a coaxial waveguide disposed above the substrate. The coaxial waveguide includes: a center conductor; an outer conductor including one or more walls, spaced apart from and disposed around the center conductor; one or more dielectric support members for supporting the center conductor in contact with the center conductor and enclosed within the outer conductor; and a core volume between the center conductor and the outer conductor, wherein the core volume is under vacuum or in a gas state. Also provided are methods of forming coaxial waveguide microstructures by a sequential build process and hermetic packages which include a coaxial waveguide microstructure.
US07948333B2 Component operated by guided acoustic waves
A component working with guided acoustic waves includes a layer system configured to guide waves in a lateral plane. The layer system includes a piezoelectric layer, electrodes on the piezoelectric layer for exciting the wave, a dielectric layer with an acoustic impedance, and an adjustment layer with an acoustic impedance. A ratio of the acoustic impedance of the adjustment layer to the acoustic impedance of the dielectric layer is greater than 1.5.
US07948331B2 Thin film balun
There is provided a thin film balun which, while incorporating a capacitor used to supply a DC bias, allows improvement of various required characteristics. A thin film balun according to the present embodiment includes: an unbalanced transmission line which includes two first coils; a balanced transmission line which includes two second coils and which magnetically couples with the unbalanced transmission line; a capacitor having one end connected to the balanced transmission line; and a ground terminal connected to the other end of the capacitor. The capacitor is disposed to have a region which does not overlap a part of coil openings defined by the first coils and the second coils.
US07948330B2 Current controlled oscillator with regulated symmetric loads
An integrated circuit incorporating a bias circuit for a current-controlled oscillator (ICO) with improved power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) is described. The bias circuit for the ICO includes two error amplifiers. The first error amplifier regulates the bias voltage, VBN, referenced to a ground supply (GND). The second error amplifier regulates the bias voltage, VBP, referenced to a positive power supply (VDD). The VBP and VBN bias voltages have improved PSRR relative to conventional ICO bias circuits for noise injected into VDD and GND.
US07948329B2 Oscillator gain circuit and method
A gain circuit of an oscillator circuit includes an inverter portion having an input IN and an output OUT arranged for connection to an external feedback circuit comprising a pi network. A feedback member having a first resistive element is coupled between the input IN and output OUT. An offset sense and correction block (OSCB) is configured to detect a dc offset potential difference between said input IN and output OUT and to reduce the offset potential by supplying a current to said input IN.
US07948328B2 Oscillator generating normal clock signal
Disclosed is an oscillator including a reference voltage generator generating a reference voltage, and a logic combination circuit generating complementary first and second internal clock signals in response to the reference voltage and complementary first and second output voltages. One of the first and second output voltages—the one going high—is provided to the logic combination circuit before the other one of the first and second output voltages—the one going low.
US07948318B2 Amplifying circuit, AC signal amplifying circuit and input bias adjusting method
An amplifying circuit includes: an amplifying unit which amplifies an input signal and applies the amplified signal to a designated load; a current detection unit which detects a load current that flows into the designated load upon application of the amplified signal; an estimating unit which calculates, based on the voltage level of the input signal, an estimated value of the load current to be supplied to the load; and an adjusting unit which adjusts an input bias, to be applied to the amplifying unit, in such a manner so as to reduce a difference value representing a difference between the estimated value and the load current detected by the current detection unit.
US07948316B2 Low bias current amplifier
An amplifier is provided that includes an output portion that sources and sinks current associated with an output load and an amplification portion that is biased by a relatively small bias current with respect to an output current of the amplifier. The amplification portion provides an amplified output signal to the output portion. The amplifier further comprises at least one impedance component coupled between the output portion and the amplification portion to alter at least one pole associated with the amplifier to mitigate instability of the amplifier related to the relatively small bias current.
US07948304B2 Constant-voltage generating circuit and regulator circuit
A constant-voltage generating circuit includes: a reference potential generating unit; first and second amplifier units whose outputs are respectively connected to the output line; and a low-pass filter, and wherein first and second operation periods are repeated, one alternating with the other, the first amplifier unit stores offset voltage of the first amplifier unit during the second operation period, and produces an output, during the first operation period, that brings the first potential and the second potential equal to each other by canceling out the offset voltage using the stored offset voltage, and the second amplifier unit stores offset voltage of the second amplifier unit during the first operation period, and produces an output, during the second operation period, that brings the first potential and the second potential equal to each other by canceling out the offset voltage using the stored offset voltage.
US07948301B2 Charge pump with charge feedback and method of operation
A charge pump charges a first capacitor to a predetermined input voltage using a first switch. The first switch is coupled to a first terminal of the first capacitor for coupling the first terminal to an input terminal that receives the predetermined input voltage. A second switch couples a second terminal of the first capacitor to a reference voltage terminal. Charge is sequentially transferred from the first capacitor to an output capacitance by using the first switch. A portion of charge is sequentially removed from the output capacitance to the input terminal using a third switch and a second capacitor. Configuration logic provides control signals to make one or more of a plurality of charge transfer capacitors switch the same as said first capacitor switches.
US07948299B2 Power supply apparatus
In a power supply apparatus for performing constant current driving of a light emitting diode which is a load circuit, a constant current circuit is disposed on a path for driving the load circuit. A charge pump circuit which is a voltage generating circuit outputs a driving voltage to the light emitting diode. A monitoring circuit monitors the voltage across the two ends of the constant current circuit. This monitoring circuit includes a voltage source which generates a threshold voltage that follows the fluctuation of the voltage at which the constant current circuit can operate stably, compares the voltage across the two ends of the constant current circuit and the threshold voltage generated by the voltage source, and outputs a comparison result Vs to a control unit. The control unit controls the charge pump circuit on the basis of the output of the monitoring circuit.
US07948295B2 Miniaturized demultiplexer and electronic device using same
A demultiplexer includes an input terminal for providing an input signal, a plurality of output terminals for outputting the input signal, and a switching circuit coupled among the input terminal and the plurality of output terminals, and outputting the input signal selectively from the plurality of output terminals according to a plurality of control signals provided to a plurality of control terminals. For miniaturizing the demultiplexer, the switching circuit includes one or more switch elements connected between the input terminal and each of the output terminals in series, wherein at least two of the switch elements coupled to different output terminals are simultaneously switched in response to one control signal from the plurality of control terminals.
US07948294B2 Mixer with high linearity
A mixer is provided. The transconductance stage receives an input signal through an input node and outputs an output signal through an output node. The transconductance stage includes a first transistor coupled between the output node and a first power node, having a first gate coupled to the input node, and operating in a saturation region, a second transistor coupled to the first power node, having a second gate coupled to the input node, and operating in a sub-threshold region, a first biasing circuit providing a first bias voltage, and a third transistor coupled between the output node and the second transistor, and having a third gate coupled to the first bias voltage. The switching quad is coupled to the output node and generates a translation current according to the output signal. The transimpedance amplifier transforms the translation current to a corresponding voltage.
US07948292B1 Method and apparatus for buffering signals in voltage domains
An integrated circuit includes first and second voltage domains. The first voltage domain is associated with a positive voltage supply grid and the second voltage domain is associated with a selectably on voltage supply grid. A switch is used to selectably switch on and off the selectably on voltage supply grid to power the second voltage domain. A buffer cell cluster of at least on initial buffer cell and a pair of insulator cells is coupled to the positive voltage supply grid electrically independent of the nodes of a switch and is capable of buffering a feed-through signal having a logic one voltage level defined substantially at the voltage level of the positive voltage supply grid. The buffer cell cluster has two distal ends. buffer cell cluster, at one distal end, is coupled to a first insulator cell of the pair of cells while, at the other distal end, the buffer cell cluster is coupled to a second insulator cell of the pair of the cells.
US07948289B2 Delay locked loop circuit and semiconductor memory device using the same
The present invention relates to a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit. The DLL circuit includes a phase comparator configured to compare a phase of a source clock with a phase of a feedback clock and generate a delay locking signal based on the comparison result, a clock delay configured to delay the source clock in response to the delay locking signal for locking delay, output the delayed source clock as a delay locked clock, and generate a delay end signal when a delay amount has reached a delay limit, a delay replica model configured to reflect a delay time of an output path of the source clock at the delay locked clock and output the reflected clock as the feedback clock, and a delay locking operation controller configured to terminate a delay locking operation in response to the delay locking signal and the delay end signal.
US07948278B2 Load capacity driving circuit
The present invention provides a load capacity driving circuit that is inexpensive and has a high driving capability. When an input signal changes to low potential, gate voltage of an output stage of an amplifying circuit increases, an NMOS transistor MNO turns on, and an NMOS transistor MN8 increases potential of a node NGAT. Due thereto, an NMOS transistor MNO2 also turns on, and a load capacity is discharged via the NMOS transistor MNO and the NMOS transistor MNO2. Further, when the input signal changes to high potential, gate voltage of the output stage of the amplifying circuit decreases, a PMOS transistor MPO turns on, and a PMOS transistor MP8 decreases potential of a node PGAT. Due thereto, a PMOS transistor MPO2 also turns on, and the load capacity is charged from a constant voltage source via the PMOS transistor MPO and the PMOS transistor MPO2.
US07948277B2 Drive circuit for semiconductor element
A drive circuit wherein any abnormality of a semiconductor element is prevented from being erroneously sensed in a case where a gate “ON” command has entered in a state in which a gate voltage of the semiconductor element has not lowered fully. A detection process for a controlled variable of the semiconductor element is permitted only within a period which corresponds to a controlled variable of the semiconductor element at the time when an “ON” signal has been inputted to a control circuit, and a detected controlled variable which is detected within the period and a comparison controlled variable which is set in correspondence with the controlled variable are compared so as to output an abnormality signal, whereby the semiconductor element is turn-off at a speed lower than in normal turn-off.
US07948271B1 Molecular wire crossbar logic (MWCL)
A programmable logic array (PLA) comprising a two-dimensional array of a plurality of nanometer-scale switches is provided. Each switch comprises a pair of crossed wires which form a junction where one wire crosses another and at least one connector species connecting the pair of crossed wires in the junction. The connector species comprises a bi-stable molecule. A plurality of switches is configurable as an AND gate and a plurality of switches is configurable as an OR gate.
US07948269B1 System and method for open drain/open collector structures in an integrated circuit
In one embodiment, an output driver is disclosed. The output driver has a first driving device (Q1) that has a first terminal coupled to a bus line terminal, and a second driving device (Q2) that has a first terminal coupled to the bus line terminal. The first driving device (Q1) is configured to couple the bus line terminal to a reference voltage when activated by a first control signal, and the second driving device (Q2) is configured to couple the bus line terminal to a first supply voltage (Vcc) when the second driving device (Q2) is activated by a second control signal. The output driver also has a controller configured to activate the second control signal after the first control signal is deactivated. The second control signal remains active for a first fixed period of time.
US07948268B2 Time-balanced multiplexer switching methods and apparatus
Methods and apparatus are provided for time-balanced switching of multiplexer circuits. An embodiment of the invention includes a transistor chain coupled to the output of the multiplexer circuit. The transistor chain preferably delays transitions that would otherwise occur relatively quickly, to match the timing of transitions that occur relatively slowly. The timing of relatively slow transitions is left unaltered. The invention advantageously allows all selector input transitions to yield a data output transition with a substantially constant delay.
US07948262B2 Configurable on-die termination
Described are systems that employ configurable on-die termination elements that allow users to select from two or more termination topologies. One topology is programmable to support rail-to-rail or half-supply termination. Another topology selectively includes fixed or variable filter elements, thereby allowing the termination characteristics to be tuned for different levels of speed performance and power consumption. Termination voltages and impedances might also be adjusted.
US07948260B1 Method and apparatus for aligning the phases of digital clock signals
A method and apparatus for aligning the phases of digital clock signals are disclosed. For example, a phase alignment circuit according to one embodiment includes a frequency adjuster comprising a first plurality of inputs, where at least some of the first plurality of inputs are coupled to an output of a digital clock of an integrated circuit, a phase adjuster comprising a second plurality of inputs, where at least some of the second plurality of inputs are coupled to a plurality of outputs of the frequency adjuster, and an XOR gate comprising a third plurality of inputs, each of the third plurality of inputs being coupled to one of the plurality of outputs of the frequency adjuster.
US07948259B2 Dielectric film and layer testing
A system for testing and a method for making a semiconductor device is disclosed. A preferred embodiment includes a conductor overlying a dielectric layer. The conductor is coupled to a first test pad via a first conducting line and to a second test pad via a second conducting line.
US07948256B2 Measurement apparatus, test system, and measurement method for measuring a characteristic of a device
A measurement apparatus that detects a defect in a device based on the quiescent current (IDDQ) of a CMOS LSI or the like detects the defect by measuring the value of IDDQ that flows when a logic vector is applied. However, the miniaturization of CMOS LSIs has caused an increase in the leak current flowing through a normal CMOS circuit. This makes it difficult to distinguish between the power supply current flowing in a defective CMOS circuit and the leak current flowing through a normal CMOS circuit. By applying the logic vector after suppressing the fluctuation of the leak current by controlling the power supply voltage applied to the device under measurement and the voltage applied to the substrate of the device under measurement, the measurement apparatus of the present invention can measure the power supply current flowing through a defective CMOS circuit to detect the defect in the CMOS circuit.
US07948255B2 Test handler
A test handler is disclosed. The test handler includes first to third transfers for transferring a user tray, and first to third horizontal movement units suitable for respectively moving the first to third transfers in the horizontal direction. The first to third horizontal movement units are independently operated such that each of the first to third transfers can perform independently horizontal movements. Each of the first to third transfers performs based on its previously allocated function, thereby enhancing test process speed for devices.
US07948252B2 Multilayered probe card
A method of designing and manufacturing a probe card assembly includes prefabricating one or more elements of the probe card assembly to one or more predefined designs. Thereafter, design data regarding a newly designed semiconductor device is received along with data describing the tester and testing algorithms to be used to test the semiconductor device. Using the received data, one or more of the prefabricated elements is selected. Again using the received data, one or more of the selected prefabricated elements is customized. The probe card assembly is then built using the selected and customized elements.
US07948249B2 Semiconductor chip having a crack test circuit and method of testing a crack of a semiconductor chip using the same
A semiconductor chip includes a line structure arranged along a peripheral region of the semiconductor chip region in order to inspect a crack, a first pad and second pad arranged on different end portions of the line structure, a second pad arranged on another end portion of the line structure, an inspection device activated during a crack test mode to electrically connect the first pad, the line structure and the second pad. The inspection device may include a first switching circuit connected between the first pad and the line structure, the first switching circuit being deactivated during a normal operation mode and being activated a crack test mode; and a second switching circuit connected between the second pad and the line structure, the second switching circuit being deactivated during the normal operation mode and being activated during the crack test mode.
US07948244B2 Capacitive sensors including gain and active-filtered sampling stages
Embodiments of capacitive sensors (500, 600) and methods for reducing noise in capacitive sensors are provided. Embodiments of capacitive sensors include a gain stage (510, 610), a capacitive sensor output, and an active filtered-sampling stage (550, 650). The an active filtered-sampling stage includes a first resistive element (555, 655) coupled to the gain stage output, a second resistive element (565, 670) coupled to the capacitive sensor output, a node (560, 660) between the first and second resistive elements, and a switch (575, 675) selectively coupling the first node to an integrator circuit (550, 650), where the integrator circuit is coupled to the capacitive sensor output.
US07948227B2 Electrical circuit diagnostic tool
Diagnosing electrical circuit faults can be accomplished with a variety of tools. Voltmeters are frequently used to measure voltage to determine whether a short is present, but are not well-suited for finding intermittent faults caused by corroded connectors or excessive voltage drop under operating loads. Measuring a static voltage without load using a voltmeter can yield misleading results. A diagnostic tool that is simple to use and that yields a definitive result is preferred in certain applications such as automotive electrical system diagnosis due to the varying skill level of technicians and the variation in field conditions in automotive shops. A simple, inexpensive diagnostic tool that can be used with minimal or no training allows rapid diagnosis of circuit faults that result from a the inability of a measured circuit to supply a minimum current at a minimum voltage.
US07948223B2 Constant voltage circuit using plural error amplifiers to improve response speed
A constant voltage circuit that is capable of realizing high speed response with respect to an abrupt change in an input voltage or a load current is disclosed. The constant voltage circuit includes a first error amplifier with a high direct current gain and a second error amplifier with high speed responsiveness with respect to a change in an output voltage. The constant voltage circuit uses the first and second error amplifiers to conduct operation control of an output voltage control transistor in response to a change in the output voltage.
US07948216B2 Control apparatus for automotive alternator and automotive power generation system
A control apparatus controls power generation of an electric generator and communicates with an external control apparatus. The control apparatus includes: a control circuit that controls the power generation of the electric generator according to a command signal transmitted from the external control apparatus; means for reseting the control circuit; and means for informing the external control apparatus of a power generation condition of the electric generator by transmitting a condition signal, the condition signal indicating both the power generation condition of the electric generator and information on whether a reset of the control circuit is made by the reseting means. With such a configuration, when the control circuit is reset due to, for example, noises, the control apparatus can reliably inform the external control apparatus of the reset of the control circuit.
US07948213B2 System and method of trickle charging a battery in a narrow rail architecture
A method for charging a battery of an electronic device using a connected a/c power adapter comprising the steps of determining a state of a transistor connecting a regulated voltage to the battery and switching a charging current applied to the battery between a quick charge level and a trickle charge level responsive to the state of the transistor.
US07948211B2 System and methods to extend the service life of portable devices
A method for extending the service life of a portable device includes monitoring a battery of a portable device; identifying a problem bank; reconfiguring a connection schema for the battery to replace the problem battery bank with at least one spare bank; conditioning or exercising the problem bank; connecting the portable device to a power supply to recharge the problem bank; and reconnecting the recharged or repaired bank according to the connection schema without the at least one spare bank. A method for extending the service life of a portable device includes monitoring power consumption of at least one of the hardware or software of a portable device; and reconfiguring the connection schema of the battery banks to redistribute power consumption of at least one of the hardware or software.
US07948209B2 Wireless charger system for battery pack solution and controlling method thereof
A wireless charger system for a battery pack is disclosed. The wireless charger system in one exemplary embodiment may include a wireless charger apparatus for receiving an external power source to transmit a power signal via a charging power transmitter block and a battery pack for receiving a power signal from the wireless charger apparatus to charge power in a battery cell and supplying a power source to a portable terminal block. The wireless charger apparatus may also have an outer body composed of a resonant converter for supplying power to the battery pack and a wireless charger case having a central controller installed inside. The wireless charger case may have a protruded round portion formed around the rear edge and a display block provided as the sloped surface in the front portion thereof.
US07948207B2 Refuelable battery-powered electric vehicle
The electrical vehicle energy storage system permits the electric refueling of the electric vehicle just like an automobile would be refueled with gasoline at a gas station. Circuitry on board the vehicle accessible by the electric refueling station enables the determination of the energy content of the battery module or modules returned to the electric refueling station and the owner of the vehicle is given credit for the energy remaining in the battery module or modules which have been exchanged. Selective refueling may take place for given battery modules by removing them from the battery system and charging them at home, office or factory. A process for operating an electric vehicle is also disclosed and claimed.
US07948206B2 Assembly comprising a three-phase machine and a frequency converter
Disclosed is an assembly encompassing a three-phase machine and a frequency converter. Said assembly has the following characteristics: the three-phase machine comprises a stator and a rotor; at least the three circuits of the stator and/or the rotor can be operated in an insulated manner relative to each other for the three phases of the rotary current while being connectable to one separate terminal point of the frequency converter, respectively, so as to be insulated relative to each other; and the frequency converter is embodied with a D.C. link having a grounded neutral in such a way that a voltage or current which is symmetric regarding the potential to ground can be output at any moment between the two associated terminal points of each circuit.
US07948203B2 Device for the control of a smooth starting or ending of a three phase current motor, so-called soft starter
An arrangement for the control of a soft starting or stopping of a three phase current motors (1), a so-called soft starter, is furnished for starting of heavy mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic drives. In order to obtain a space savings with individual or multiple installation and to obtain a better accessibility during servicing, at least one switch cell (3) is formed in a switching cabinet (2), wherein the switch cell (3) comprises at least a three phase power block (4), and the power electronic (5) as well as contactors (6, 18) and is as a unit towards the front easily demountable or inversely incorporatable and is arranged without attachment at the rear or side wall (8) of the switch cabinet (2). In addition, it is furnished that in contrast a separating switch (9) attached at the switch cabinet wall (2) with a collection rail connection (10) by way of a pluggable contact coupling (10a) is connectable upon shifting inside and disengageable upon pulling out.
US07948200B2 Motor drive device, image reading device, image forming apparatus, and motor drive method
A motor drive device drives a stepping motor having a rotor mounted on a rotating shaft with a capability of making a transition between a plurality of excitation modes. A motor control unit drives the stepping motor by controlling the rotor to move to a position corresponding to an excitation modes. A stop control unit controls, when stopping the stepping motor, a stop of the rotor at a position to which the rotor is moved by the motor control unit common to the excitation modes after the stop of the rotor is issued.
US07948197B2 Controlling torsional shaft oscillation
Torsional oscillation of a shaft in a swing drive system of an excavator is minimized by monitoring torsional strain of the shaft. An electric motor provides torque to the shaft in response to a drive signal provided by a converter. A compensation circuit produces a compensation signal as a function of torsional strain of the shaft. A field excitation circuit or regulator powers a converter as a function of the compensation signal such that a counter torque is provided to the shaft and torsional oscillation of the shaft is reduced.
US07948191B2 Parallel transformer with output side electrical decoupling
A higher power package is provided in a smaller package by providing at least first and second magnetics in parallel in first and second transformers. To limit degrading performance associated with circulating current between the two transformers, the transformers are electrically decoupled. In a preferred embodiment, the circuit includes parallel primary and secondary windings of the transformer that are decoupled electrically on an output side. Particularly, diodes are provided in a preheat portion of the circuit so that once the preheat phase is terminated, the diodes prevent current flow in one direction through the preheat portion of the circuit.
US07948182B2 Low-pressure gas discharge lamp with a reduced argon proportion in the gas filling
The invention relates to novel gas fillings of low-pressure gas discharge lamps for reducing the starting and arc drop voltages at low Hg vapor pressures. In favor of a mixture consisting of Ne and Kr, the Ar portion of the gas filling is considerably reduced.
US07948179B2 Organic electroluminescence device having input function and electronic apparatus
The invention provides an organic electroluminescence device having an input function, including: an element substrate that has a light-emitting layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes; a sealing substrate that seals the element substrate; a first detection electrode that is provided at the inner-surface side of the sealing substrate; a second detection electrode that is provided at the outer-surface side of the sealing substrate; the second detection electrode having a detection axis that is not the same as that of the first detection electrode; a dielectric film that is formed on the second detection electrode; and a detection unit that detects a position at which electrostatic capacitance is generated via the dielectric film between the first detection electrode and the second detection electrode.
US07948171B2 Light emitting device
A manufacturing method of an active matrix light emitting device in which the active matrix light emitting device can be manufactured in a shorter time with high yield at low cost compared with conventional ones will be provided. It is a feature of the present invention that a layered structure is employed for a metal electrode which is formed in contact with or is electrically connected to a semiconductor layer of each TFT arranged in a pixel area of an active matrix light emitting device. Further, the metal electrode is partially etched and used as a first electrode of a light emitting element. A buffer layer, a layer containing an organic compound, and a second electrode layer are stacked over the first electrode.
US07948169B2 Light emitting element with composite layers of varying concentration, light emitting device, and electronic apparatus
It is an object of the present invention to provide a light emitting element with a low driving voltage. In a light emitting element, a first electrode; and a first composite layer, a second composite layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transporting layer, an electron injecting layer, and a second electrode, which are stacked over the first electrode, are included. The first composite layer and the second composite layer each include metal oxide and an organic compound. A concentration of metal oxide in the first composite layer is higher than a concentration of metal oxide in the second composite layer, whereby a light emitting element with a low driving voltage can be obtained. Further, the composite layer is not limited to a two-layer structure. A multi-layer structure can be employed. However, a concentration of metal oxide in the composite layer is gradually higher from the light emitting layer to first electrode side.
US07948166B2 Organic light emitting display apparatus
An organic light emitting display apparatus includes: a substrate; a display unit including a plurality of subpixels arranged on the substrate, the plurality of subpixels respectively emitting different colored light; a sealing substrate arranged on the display unit; a micro lens unit including a plurality of micro lenses arranged on a surface of the sealing substrate facing the display unit; barrier ribs arranged between the sealing substrate and the substrate to define a space between the micro lens unit and the display unit; and a black matrix arranged under the barrier ribs.
US07948154B2 Piezoelectric substance, piezoelectric element, and liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus using piezoelectric element
A piezoelectric substance which is made of oxide with perovskite type structure which is made of ABO3, where a principal component of A is Pb, and principal components of B contain at least two kinds of elements among Nb, Mg, Zn, Sc, Cd, Ni, Mn, Co, Yb, In, and Fe, and Ti, characterized by being a uniaxial orientation crystal or a single crystal which has an a-domain and a c-domain of tetragonal.
US07948150B2 Piezoceramic multilayer actuator and method of manufacturing a piezoceramic multilayer actuator
A piezoceramic multilayer actuator (10) includes a plurality of green layers, wherein the green layers are to be converted to piezoceramic layers (12) with a piezoceramic material in a subsequent step of heating. A security layer material mixture with a second material (32) and particles (30) embedded in the second material (32) is provided, wherein the particles (30) have a third material different from the first material and different from the second material (32). The security layer material mixture is laminated between two piezoceramic layers (12), thereby forming a green stack. The green stack is heated to a sintering temperature, wherein the green layers are converted to the piezoceramic layers (12), and wherein a chemical reaction of the third material degrades the mechanical connection of the piezoceramic layers (12) by the security layer (20).
US07948145B2 Switched reluctance motor
A plurality of concavities and convexities is provided on tips of all rotor teeth 24 of the SR motor 5. Depths of the concave portions α are deep on an edge side where a stator tooth 23 and rotor tooth 24 first approach and are shallow as a facing area between the stator tooth 23 and rotor tooth 24 increases. Therefore, magnetic resistance between the stator tooth 23 and rotor tooth 24 becomes high at an early stage of the stator tooth 23 and rotor tooth 24 facing each other and becomes low as the facing area between the stator tooth 23 and rotor tooth 24 increases. As a result, torque fluctuation can be suppressed at a time of a large current and a minimum generation torque can be increased at a time of a small current.
US07948144B2 Electrical rotary machine
An electric motor 1 comprises a rotator 20 rotating relative to a stator 10 and a plurality of teeth 11 winding an exciting coil 12 in the stator 10. The teeth 11 generate a magnetic field directed to the rotator 20 from tip faces 11a and comprise a radially extending part 11A extending in a radial direction of the rotator 20 and a coil winding part 11B formed to be bent from the radially extending part 11A.
US07948141B2 Electric motor device
The electric motor device is provided. The electric motor device includes: a first drive member that has a plurality of permanent magnets; a second drive member that has a plurality of electromagnetic coils; and a clearance controller that shifts at least either one of the first drive member and the second drive member, thereby changing a size of a clearance formed between the first drive member and the second drive member.
US07948138B2 Rotor
A rotor is provided with a rotor core, a magnet inserted into the rotor core and a filling portion arranged in a space between the rotor core and the magnet. The space between the rotor core and a radially outer side surface of the magnet has a uniform width in a central portion (portion (A)) with respect to a width direction (of arrow (DR4)) of the magnet. A width of the space in an end portion (portion (B)) with respect to the width direction (of arrow (DR4)) of the magnet is larger than that of the space in the portion (A).
US07948133B2 Rotor and rotating electric machine with the rotor
A motor includes: a rotating shaft having a key groove formed in the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft; a rotor core having a through hole in which the rotating shaft can be received and a key portion formed on the inner surface of the rotor core defining the through hole, the key portion being fittable in the key groove; and a stress relaxation groove formed at a position adjacent to the key portion in the inner surface of the rotor core defining the through hole, and depressed away from the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft. The inner surface of the through hole is arc-shaped. A bottom surface of the stress relaxation groove, located radially outward in the inner surface of the stress relaxation groove, includes an arc portion centered at the center defining the through hole.
US07948125B2 System and method for cooling an electric motor
A cooling system is provided for an electric motor and comprises a rotor assembly, an intake assembly, and a first reservoir. The rotor assembly is coupled to and rotatable within a housing, and comprises a rotor having a first and second ends having a first plurality of veins extending therebetween, each vein having an inlet and an outlet. The rotor assembly also comprises a first manifold coupled to and rotatable with the first end of the rotor in fluid communication with the inlets of the first plurality of veins. The intake assembly is coupled to the housing and is in fluid communication with the first manifold. The first reservoir is configured to contain a motor coolant and is coupled to the housing for collecting the motor coolant from the outlets of the first plurality of veins, and for providing a source of motor coolant to the intake assembly.
US07948122B2 Displacement device
Especially for use in the semiconductor industry, a displacement device (701) is disclosed comprising a first part comprising a carrier (714) on which a system of magnets (710) is arranged according to a pattern of row and columns extending parallel to the X-direction and the Y-direction, respectively. The magnets in each row and column are arranged according to a Halbach array, i.e. the magnetic orientation of successive magnets in each row and each column rotates 90° counter-clockwise. The second part comprises an electric coil system (712) with two types of electric coils, one type having an angular offset of +45°, and the other type having an offset of −45° with respect to the X-direction. The first part (714, 710) is movable over a range of centimeters or more with respect to the stationary second part (712). For high precision positioning of the first part, an interferometer system (731, 730) is provided.
US07948115B2 Controller for a domestic appliance and associated method
A controller for functionally controlling a domestic appliance, such as a dryer, comprises a monitoring device that monitors the correct functioning of the domestic appliance. The domestic appliance has at least one monitoring connection connected to at least one associated evaluation node within a power circuit of the domestic appliance, and an evaluation device evaluates a signal produced at the at least one monitoring connection, for monitoring the correct functioning of the domestic appliance.
US07948091B2 Mounting structure for semiconductor element
A mounting structure for a semiconductor element is disclosed. The semiconductor element is bonded to a die pad through an adhesive film, which is formed by applying a predetermined amount of a paste adhesive onto the surface of the die pad and placing the semiconductor element on the die pad so as to press and spread the adhesive between the lower surface of the semiconductor element and the die pad. A wire extends between the semiconductor element and a terminal pad disposed around the die pad. The die pad includes plural grooves in the surface thereof. Each of the grooves extends from the center of the die pad toward a peripheral edge of the die pad and ends at the inner side of the peripheral edge of the die pad.
US07948083B2 Reliable BEOL integration process with direct CMP of porous SiCOH dielectric
The present invention relates to methods of improving the fabrication of interconnect structures of the single or dual damascene type, in which there is no problem of hard mask retention or of conductivity between the metal lines after fabrication. The methods of the present invention include at least steps of chemical mechanical polishing and UV exposure or chemical repair treatment which steps improve the reliability of the interconnect structure formed. The present invention also relates to an interconnect structure which include a porous ultra low k dielectric of the SiCOH type in which the surface layer thereof has been modified so as to form a gradient layer that has both a density gradient and a C content gradient.
US07948081B2 Carbon nanotube structure, a semiconductor device, a semiconductor package and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device
A semiconductor device uses a carbon nanotube structure, which reduces an electric resistance and a thermal resistance by increasing a density of the carbon nanotubes. An insulation film covers a first electrically conductive material. A second electrically conductive material is provided on the insulation film. A plurality of carbon nanotubes extend through the insulation film by being filled in an opening part that exposes the first electrically conductive material. The carbon nanotubes electrically connect the first electrically conductive material and the second electrically conductive material to each other. Ends of the carbon nanotubes are fixed to a recessed part provided on a surface of the first electrically conductive material.
US07948062B2 Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device
A semiconductor device including a compound semiconductor laminated structure having a plurality of compound semiconductor layers formed over a semiconductor substrate, a first insulation film covering at least a part of a surface of the compound semiconductor laminated structure, and a second insulation film formed on the first insulation film, wherein the second insulation film includes more hydrogen than the first insulation film.
US07948059B2 Dividable semiconductor device having ceramic substrate and surface mount components collectively sealed on principle surface of ceramic substrate
In a semiconductor device comprising a ceramic substrate, a surface mount component, and sealing resin and obtained by division into pieces, the ceramic substrate is composed of a multiple piece substrate provided with dividing grooves for the division into pieces on both front and rear surfaces in advance, a plurality of the surface mount components are mounted on the multiple piece substrate and sealed collectively by the sealing resin, and the substrate is divided along the dividing grooves. Further, when the shortest distance from an end on the front surface of the ceramic substrate to an end of the surface mount component is set to “a” μm, a thickness of the ceramic substrate is set to “b” μm, and sum of depths of the dividing grooves on the front and rear surfaces of the ceramic substrate is set to “c” μm, a relationship of a≧269×c/b+151 is established.
US07948056B2 Integrated electronic device and method of making the same
An integrated electronic device includes a substrate, passive components, pads for external connection, and three-dimensional wiring. The passive components includes a multi-stage coil inductor provided on the substrate. The multi-stage coil inductor has a plurality of coils disposed in several layers. Mutually adjacent coil wires are spaced-apart from each other. The three-dimensional wiring includes a first wiring portion which extends on the substrate, a second wiring portion which extends off the substrate but along the substrate, and a third wiring portion connecting with the first wiring portion and the second wiring portion.
US07948034B2 Apparatus and method for semiconductor bonding
An apparatus for bonding semiconductor structures includes equipment for positioning a first surface of a first semiconductor structure directly opposite and in contact with a first surface of a second semiconductor structure and equipment for forming a bond interface area between the first surfaces of the first and second semiconductor structures by pressing the first and second semiconductor structures together with a force column configured to apply uniform pressure to the entire bond interface area between the first surfaces.
US07948032B2 Power MOS transistor device and layout
A power metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor device is provided. The power MOS transistor device includes a drain region disposed in a substrate, a gate structure layer disposed over the substrate, and enclosing a periphery of the drain region, and a source region formed in the substrate and distributed at an outer periphery of the gate structure layer. In addition, the MOS transistor device can, for example, form a transistor array.
US07948026B2 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device and method of manufacturing the same
A method of manufacturing a non-volatile semiconductor memory device including previously forming a recess in a first peripheral region on a semiconductor substrate, forming a first gate insulator having a first thickness in the recess, forming a second gate insulator having a second thickness less than the first thickness in an array region and a second peripheral region on the semiconductor substrate, successively depositing first and second gate electrode films and first and second mask insulators on each of the first and second gate insulators, forming an isolation trench on a surface of the semiconductor substrate to correspond to each position between the array region and the first and second regions of the peripheral region, depositing a buried insulator on the entire surface, and polishing an upper surface of the buried insulator so that the upper surface can be planarized.
US07948021B2 Semiconductor memory device and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor memory includes a memory cell array area provided with first and second memory cells and having a first active area and a first element isolation area constituting a line & space structure, and having a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode in the first active area, a word line contact area adjacent to the memory cell array area and having a second active area, first and second word lines with a metal silicide structure, functioning respectively as the control gate electrodes of the first and second memory cells and arranged to straddle the memory cell array area and the word line contact area. A dummy gate electrode is arranged just below the first and second word lines in the second active area.
US07948020B2 Asymmetric single poly NMOS non-volatile memory cell
An asymmetric non-volatile memory (NVM) cell for a CMOS IC formed by a standard CMOS process flow used to form both low voltage and high voltage transistors on a substrate. The NVM cell includes an NMOS floating gate transistor and an optional select transistor. The floating gate transistor includes an elongated floating gate having a first portion disposed over the channel region C150, a second portion extending into an enlarged drain diffusion area D150 away from the channel region, whereby the gate-to-drain capacitance is higher than the gate-to-source capacitance. The width of the floating gate extension portion is minimized, while both HV LDD and LV LDD implants are introduced together enabling LDD implant merging under the floating gate extension. HV LDD implant in the NVM transistor is replaced by LV LDD. The floating gate is formed using substantially U-shaped or J-shaped polysilicon structures. Various array addressing schemes are disclosed.
US07948019B2 Nonvolatile memory devices and methods of operating the same
Example embodiments include nonvolatile memory devices that have good operation performance and may be made in a highly integrated structure, and methods of operating the same. Example embodiments of the nonvolatile memory devices include a substrate electrode, and a semiconductor channel layer on the substrate electrode, a floating gate electrode on the substrate electrode, wherein a portion of the floating gate electrode faces the semiconductor channel layer, a control gate electrode on the floating gate electrode, and wherein a distance between a portion of the floating gate electrode and the substrate electrode is smaller than a distance between the semiconductor channel layer and the substrate electrode wherein charge tunneling occurs.
US07948015B2 Methods and apparatus for measuring analytes using large scale FET arrays
Methods and apparatus relating to very large scale FET arrays for analyte measurements. ChemFET (e.g., ISFET) arrays may be fabricated using conventional CMOS processing techniques based on improved FET pixel and array designs that increase measurement sensitivity and accuracy, and at the same time facilitate significantly small pixel sizes and dense arrays. Improved array control techniques provide for rapid data acquisition from large and dense arrays. Such arrays may be employed to detect a presence and/or concentration changes of various analyte types in a wide variety of chemical and/or biological processes. In one example, chemFET arrays facilitate DNA sequencing techniques based on monitoring changes in hydrogen ion concentration (pH), changes in other analyte concentration, and/or binding events associated with chemical processes relating to DNA synthesis.
US07948014B2 Electronic device
The invention relates to an electronic device having a semiconductor die comprising at least one RF-transistor (RFT) occupying a total RF-transistor active area (ARFT) on the die (DS). The total RF-transistor active area (ARFT) includes at least one transistor channel (C) having a channel width (W) and a channel length (L), and at least one bias cell (BC) for biasing the RF-transistor (RFT). The total bias cell active area (ABC) includes at least one transistor channel (C) having a channel width (W) and a channel length (L). The at least one bias cell (BC) occupies a total bias cell active area (ABC) on the die (SD). The total RF-transistor active area (ARFT) is substantially greater than the total bias cell active area (ABC). The total bias cell active area (ABC) has a common centre of area (COABC). The total RF-transistor active area (ARFT) has a common centre of area (COARF). The active areas (ABC, ARFT) are arranged such that both, the common centre of area or sub-areas of the RF-transistor (COARF) and the common centre of area or sub-areas of the bias cell (COABC) are positioned on an axis (AX2). The axis (AX2) is substantially perpendicular or parallel to the length (L) of the at least one channel (C) of the RF-transistor (RFT).
US07948004B2 Light source head and image forming apparatus
A self-scanning light source head comprising: a substrate, surface emitting semiconductor lasers arranged in an array on the substrate, and at least one thyristor disposed on the substrate and serving as a switching element selectively turning ON and OFF light emission of the surface emitting semiconductor lasers, and an image forming apparatus using the same are provided.
US07947995B2 Gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor light emitting device
An object of the present invention is to provide a gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor light emitting device having superior light extraction efficiency and light distribution uniformity.The inventive gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor light emitting device comprises a substrate and a gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor layer stacked on the substrate, wherein on at least one lateral surface of the light emitting device, the bottom (substrate side) of the semiconductor layer is a reverse taper inclined 5 to 85 degrees relative to the substrate main surface and the top of the semiconductor layer is a forward taper inclined 95 to 175 degrees relative to the substrate main surface.
US07947987B1 Method of manufacturing organic light emitting display and organic light emitting display
A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display includes: forming a transistor on a substrate; forming a cathode electrode on the transistor to be connected to a source or a drain of the transistor; forming a bank layer having an opening on the cathode electrode; allowing a natural oxide layer to form on the cathode electrode; removing the natural oxide layer from the cathode electrode; forming an insulating buffer layer on the cathode electrode; forming an organic light emitting layer on the insulating buffer layer; and forming an anode electrode on the organic light emitting layer.
US07947985B2 Thin film transistor array substrate and manufacturing method thereof
A thin film transistor array substrate and its manufacturing method are disclosed. A thin film transistor (TFT) includes a gate electrode formed on a substrate, and source and drain electrodes formed on the gate electrode and separated from each other. A common line made of the same material as the gate electrode is formed on the substrate. A storage capacitor includes a storage electrode connected with a storage electrode line and a pixel electrode formed on the storage electrode. The storage electrode and the pixel electrode are formed by patterning a transparent conductive film, and accordingly, light can be transmitted through the region where the storage capacitor is formed to thus increase an aperture ratio.
US07947976B2 Controlled alignment of catalytically grown nanostructures in a large-scale synthesis process
Systems and methods are described for controlled alignment of catalytically grown nanostructures in a large-scale synthesis process. A method includes: generating an electric field proximate an edge of a protruding section of an electrode, the electric field defining a vector; and forming an elongated nanostructure located at a position on a surface of a substrate, the position on the surface of the substrate proximate the edge of the protruding section of the electrode, at least one tangent to the elongated nanostructure i) substantially parallel to the vector defined by the electric field and ii) substantially non-parallel to a normal defined by the surface of the substrate.
US07947973B2 Organic light-emitting device
An organic light-emitting device, including a substrate, an organic light-emitting element on the substrate, a sealing member on the organic light-emitting element, a ¼ wavelength layer on one surface of the substrate, the organic light-emitting element, or the sealing member, and a linear polarization layer on one surface of the substrate, the organic light-emitting element, the sealing member, or the ¼ wavelength layer, the linear polarization layer being closer to an image display surface than the ¼ wavelength layer.
US07947970B2 Radiation detector
A radiation detector is constituted by: a recording photoconductive layer; and electrodes provided on both sides of the photoconductive layer. Electric charges, which are generated within the recording photoconductive layer when radiation is irradiated thereon while a predetermined biasing voltage is being applied between the electrodes, are read out as electric signals. The recording photoconductive layer is formed by amorphous selenium that contains alkali metal elements within a range from 0.0007 atomic ppm to 0.0035 atomic ppm.
US07947967B2 Method for evaluating a semiconductor substrate
A method for evaluating a semiconductor substrate is provided that can evaluate even a thin semiconductor substrate or a substrate with untreated surfaces, can evaluate a large quantity of semiconductor substrates for solar cells in a short time and can be used as in-line inspection in a production process of solar cells or the like. The method for evaluating a semiconductor substrate comprises a step of immersing a semiconductor substrate in an etching solution filled in a container, a step of irradiating the substrate being immersed in the etching solution with light via the etching solution to cause the substrate to emit photoluminescence, and a step of observing the emitted photoluminescence.
US07947965B2 Ion source for generating negatively charged ions
An ion source for generating negatively charged ions is presented and described, said ion source having a closure plate which is provided with an outlet opening and which has a wall which surrounds a combustion chamber, wherein the wall has a tubular section, which extends from the outlet opening and is formed from an insulating material, and has a rear wall, wherein the rear wall is arranged at the end of the tubular section which lies opposite the outlet opening and closes off the combustion chamber, having a coupling coil whose windings are arranged around the tubular section of the wall outside the combustion chamber, and having a filter field magnet. The problem of making available an ion source for generating negatively charged ions which has an increased yield and is also suitable for generating ions from substances which are only available in a gaseous form is solved by virtue of the fact that the rear wall is formed from an insulating material and has an inlet opening, and in that the filter field magnet is arranged on that side of the tubular section which faces away from the combustion chamber.
US07947955B2 Apparatus and method for detecting terahertz wave
A terahertz wave detecting apparatus includes a semiconductor chip 12, a two-dimensional graphene 14, a conductive source electrode 15, and a drain electrode 16 and a gate electrode 17. The two-dimensional graphene 14 is connected to the source electrode and the drain electrode. The apparatus further includes a SD voltage detection circuit 18, a gate voltage applying circuit 19 and a magnetic field generating device 20.
US07947945B2 Fiber optic sensing system, method of using such and sensor fiber
An embodiment of a sensor fiber includes: at least two fiber sections with a plurality of holes; and at least one other fiber section situated between said at least two fiber sections, wherein the at least one other fiber sections being without the plurality of holes.
US07947944B2 Laser transmitter, laser receiver and method
A combination of a laser transmitter and a laser receiver and a method determine the elevation of the receiver with respect to the transmitter. The laser transmitter includes a a laser light source for providing a beam of laser light and an element for directing the beam. The beam diverges vertically and varies in intensity vertically. A laser receiver includes an array of laser beam detectors for detecting the beam and the variations in the beam intensity in a vertical direction. The vertical position of the laser receiver with respect to the laser transmitter can be determined in this manner. The beam varies in intensity vertically in a predetermined vertical pattern, and the laser receiver detects at least a portion of the pattern defined by the beam such that the portion of the beam detected by the laser receiver may be determined.
US07947943B2 Pawl and ratchet assembly adapted for indirect sensing of proper operation
An apparatus for monitoring operation of a ratchet-based locking mechanism. The apparatus includes a ratchet and a pawl with a protrusion for engaging the ratchet during contact between the pawl and the ratchet teeth. The apparatus includes an elongated member or amplification arm extending from the pawl. The elongated member includes a base linked to the pawl and a tip spaced apart from the base. The elongated member is linked to the pawl to move when the pawl is displaced relative to the ratchet. The apparatus includes a sensor sensing displacement of the tip of the elongated member, which is greater than the pawl displacement, and the apparatus includes a processor monitoring displacement of the elongated member to indirectly monitor movement of the pawl protrusion during forward motion of the ratchet to verify the locking mechanism is working properly and the pawl will engage the ratchet to block reverse motion.
US07947939B2 Detection of optical radiation using a photodiode structure
The central idea of the present invention is that a readout result of an optical detection unit which is based on accumulating photocharges can be improved when the charge carriers accumulated on a photodiode capacitance can be transferred to a readout capacitance before being read out by a readout unit, and when the state of the readout capacitance can be read out in a non-destructive manner by the readout unit, so that a noise portion in the readout signal can be corrected by reading out the readout capacitance during charge accumulation and again reading out the readout capacitance after the end of charge accumulation. Additionally, it becomes possible by the transfer to the readout capacitance to vary the sensitivity of the optical detection device within broad limits and to record a sequence of successive light pulses, without having to reset a photodiode before recording every single light pulse.
US07947938B2 Methods and apparatus for projectile guidance
Methods and apparatus for projectile systems according to various aspects of the present invention comprise a projectile attached to an auxiliary control system. The auxiliary control system may include a control system and a transverse propulsion system. The control system controls the trajectory of the projectile system, for example by activating the transverse propulsion system to adjust the trajectory.
US07947937B1 Laser guided projectile device and method therefor
A laser guided projectile device and method for shooting the device through a percussion actuated non-electric disrupter or dearmer to disable or destroy improvised explosive devices, bombs, or other ordnance. The device can include a cartridge case, a laser housing, a laser module, and a projectile head. An aperture in the projectile head permits a laser beam to be emitted through the head and projected onto a target to facilitate increased shooting accuracy of the disrupter or dearmer. The device can include O-rings positioned around the laser housing and projectile head that assist in aligning the device within the disrupter or dearmer and that also provide a seal for gases that are emitted during detonation, thereby assisting in the propulsion of the device during firing. The projectile head can be interchangeable and can be rounded or cone-shaped or can comprise a shot cup.
US07947935B2 Microwave oven and latch board in the microwave oven
A latch board of a microwave oven is provided. The latch board includes a first lever for controlling on/off operation of a monitor switch. The first lever is formed in an approximate triangular shape and has a hinge formed at a first edge, a pressing part formed at a second edge to come in contact with the monitor switch, and a protrusion part formed at a third edge to come in contact with the latch more rapidly. In the latch board, a difference in operation time of the monitor switch and the circuit switch can be increased such that the operation stability of the microwave oven is improved.
US07947933B2 Ceramic heater and method for manufacture thereof
A ceramic heater comprising a ceramic body, a heat generating resistor buried in the ceramic body, an electrode pad that is electrically connected to the heat generating resistor and is formed on the surface of the ceramic body and a lead member bonded onto the electrode pad.
US07947932B2 Open coil electric resistance heater with offset coil support and method of use
An open coil electrical resistance heater uses a number of offset insulators to support the coil of the heater. The offset insulators configure the run of coil in a sinusoidal shape to hold the insulators in a more secure manner and reduce vibration and noise generation during heat operation. The sinusoidal configuration of the coil also reduces the problem of shadowing of portions of the resistance wire coil.
US07947930B2 Method and circuit for controlling at least a heating element of a heating device
The invention relates to a circuit layout for controlling at least one heating element, in particular a heating element for an electric cooking and/or baking device, with at least one electric temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the heating element and/or a surface heated by said heating element and with safety electronics for automatic shut-off of the heating element when the temperature measured by the at least one sensor reaches and/or exceeds a temperature threshold value (TS).
US07947925B2 Heater unit and battery structure with heater
There are provided a heater unit and a battery structure with heater, which are capable of heating the battery structure appropriately and preventing a heater (part or whole of the heater) itself from excessively increasing in temperature. A first heater unit is provided with a first sheet heater, a first holding member holding it, and a first sheet placed between a lower surface of a first heater and the first holding member in such a manner as to be deformable in at least a direction of thickness of the first heater. The first heater is deformed when the first heater unit is fixed to the battery pack 50, thereby pressing the lower surface of the first heater to bring an upper surface of the first heater into close contact with an outer surface (a surface to be heated) of a spaced part of the battery pack.
US07947919B2 Laser-based material processing exhaust systems and methods for using such systems
Laser-based material processing systems, exhaust systems, and methods for using such systems are disclosed herein. One embodiment of a laser-based material processing system can include an exhaust assembly configured to remove contaminants from a material processing area. The exhaust assembly can include a vacuum source and an exhaust plenum carried by a moveable arm of a gantry-style laser beam positioning assembly. The moveable arm can extend along a first axis and can be moveable along a second axis generally normal to the first axis. The exhaust plenum can extend lengthwise in a direction generally parallel with the first axis. The exhaust assembly can also include an intake slot extending lengthwise along the exhaust plenum across at least a portion of the material processing area. The exhaust assembly can further include one or more flexible exhaust ducts in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the exhaust plenum.
US07947916B2 Mail sorter system and method for moving trays of mail to dispatch in delivery order
A sorter, method, and software product are provided for sorting mail pieces. The mail pieces are fed into a sorter, sorted, and then deposited into mail trays. The mail trays are then moved from the deposit area to a dispatch area, in the order they will be loaded into a truck. That order is preferably the same as the order in which the containers received the mail pieces.
US07947911B1 Anti-tamper mesh
A method of forming an anti-tamper mesh on an electronic device. The method includes forming at least one terminal on the electronic device and forming a conductive mesh on at least one surface of the electronic device, wherein the conductive mesh is in electrical contact with the terminal, and wherein the terminal facilitates electrical conduction between the conductive mesh and an electrical detection circuit.
US07947909B2 Substrate panel
A substrate panel is disclosed. The substrate panel may include a pair of clamp contacts, a plurality of bus lines located between the pair of clamp contacts, and a plurality of substrate units supplied with an electric current by way of the plurality of bus lines, where the bus lines closer to the proximal clamp contact are arranged with larger intervals.
US07947905B2 Method and apparatus for joining ends of wires and the like
A joined wire fastener combination includes an outer sleeve having a pre-mounted implosive charge layer. A pair of enlargement members is provided. Each enlargement member is configured to be individually inserted into an adjacent, respective end of an associated stranded conductor. Each enlargement member has an outer diameter that is less than an outer diameter of at least one of the adjacent, respective ends of the stranded conductors, prior to insertion of the enlargement member into the respective end. Each enlargement member is individually inserted into the adjacent, respective end of the associated stranded conductor without the removal or partial removal of any strands of the associated stranded conductor.
US07947904B2 Conductor and wire harness
One aspect of the present invention can include a conductor to be installed on a vehicle for high current use including a stranded copper wire connected to an end portion of a single-core aluminum cable, an intermediary conductor made of copper is connected to the stranded copper wire, and an end face of a core of the single-core aluminum cable is cold welded connected to an end face of a welding shaft formed on the intermediary conductor having approximately a same diameter as the core of the single-core aluminum cable.
US07947903B2 Snap-on wall plate assembly
The wall cover plate assembly includes a base and a cover for connecting to an electrical box and an electrical wiring device. The base is connected to the electrical box and/or the electrical wiring device by suitable fasteners. The base includes a first coupling member positioned along opposite side edges and second coupling members positioned at each corner of the base plate. A cover includes a first coupling member for engaging the first coupling member on the base plate and connectors for engaging the second coupling members on the base plate. The connectors of the cover are angled with respect to a plane of the cover to engage a connecting member of the second coupling members. The connectors provide a biasing force to engage the second coupling members of the base which increase when the cover plate is pulled outwardly from the base.
US07947898B2 Photoelectric conversion element and solar cell
A photoelectric conversion element is disclosed, comprising a compound represented by the following formula between a pair of opposed electrodes: wherein Ar1, AR2 and Ar3 are each a substituted or unsubstituted aryl or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, x is an organic residue having an acidic group and n is an integer of 2 to 8. A solar cell comprising the photoelectric conversion element is also disclosed.
US07947890B2 Program recording medium, playback device, and playback control method
Disclosed is a technology that enables a user to quickly obtain associated information of a music piece to his/her taste while passively hearing music pieces. An initial screen is displayed. A box is displayed at the center of the initial screen, and a character string ‘FAVORITE MUSIC PIECE!’ is displayed in the box. Next, extracted part of a music piece is randomly selected and played back. Accordingly, a player can passively hear different music pieces in sequence. While part of a music piece is played back, when being satisfied with the music piece, a player touches ‘FAVORITE MUSIC PIECE!’ with a touch pen. If so, then a detail screen display processing is executed. During the detail screen display processing, the explanation including ‘COMPOSER’, ‘TITLE’, and ‘PLAYING FORM’ of the music piece is displayed.
US07947888B2 Method and apparatus for computer-generated music
The present disclosure relates computer music generation methods and devices. A method and associated apparatus is provided that operates with a computer to automatically create or “compose” music that is original as well as sufficiently complex to provide ongoing interest for listeners.
US07947883B2 Plants and seeds of hybrid corn variety CH626994
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH626994. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CH626994, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH626994 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH626994.
US07947879B1 Soybean cultivar 04KG128257
The present invention is in the field of soybean cultivar 04KG128257 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean cultivar 04KG128257 and its progeny, and methods of making 04KG128257.
US07947875B2 Methods and means for altering fiber characteristics in fiber-producing plants
Methods and means are provided for modulating fiber length in fiber producing plants such as cotton by altering the fiber elongation phase. The fiber elongation phase may be increased or decreased by interfering with callose deposition in plasmodesmata at the base of the fiber cells.
US07947873B2 Compositions and methods for regulation of plant gamma-tocopherol methyltransferase
Disclosed herein are zinc finger proteins that bind to target sites in a plant gamma-tocopherol methyl transferase (GMT) gene; compositions comprising these GMT-targeted zinc finger proteins and methods of making and using such zinc finger proteins. Also disclosed are methods for modulating the alpha-tocopherol content in various plant organs, particularly seeds, in transgenic plants.
US07947866B2 Gene disruptions, compositions and methods relating thereto
The present invention relates to transgenic animals, as well as compositions and methods relating to the characterization of gene function. Specifically, the present invention provides transgenic mice comprising disruptions in PRO194, PRO220, PRO241, PRO284, PRO331, PRO354, PRO355, PRO533, PRO541, PRO725, PRO937, PRO1014, PRO1120, PRO1182, PRO1325, PRO1382, PRO1410, PRO1555, PRO1556, PRO1760, PRO1787, PRO1868, PRO4326, PRO4332, PRO4346, PRO4400, PRO6003, PRO6094, PRO6244, PRO9820, PRO9828, PRO10274, PRO16090, PRO19644, PRO21340, PRO92165, PRO85143, PRO1124, PRO1026 or PRO23370 genes. Such in vivo studies and characterizations may provide valuable identification and discovery of therapeutics and/or treatments useful in the prevention, amelioration or correction of diseases or dysfunctions associated with gene disruptions such as neurological disorders; cardiovascular, endothelial or angiogenic disorders; eye abnormalities; immunological disorders; oncological disorders; bone metabolic abnormalities or disorders; lipid metabolic disorders; or developmental abnormalities.
US07947861B2 Methods of removing a constituent from a feed stream using adsorption media
A method of producing an adsorption medium to remove at least one constituent from a feed stream. The method comprises dissolving and/or suspending at least one metal compound in a solvent to form a metal solution, dissolving polyacrylonitrile into the metal solution to form a PAN-metal solution, and depositing the PAN-metal solution into a quenching bath to produce the adsorption medium. The at least one constituent, such as arsenic, selenium, or antimony, is removed from the feed stream by passing the feed stream through the adsorption medium. An adsorption medium having an increased metal loading and increased capacity for arresting the at least one constituent to be removed is also disclosed. The adsorption medium includes a polyacrylonitrile matrix and at least one metal hydroxide incorporated into the polyacrylonitrile matrix.
US07947850B2 Process for the preparation of 3,4-disubstituted-thiazolidin-2-ones
The present invention is directed to practical high-yielding synthetic processes for preparing 3,4-disubstituted-thiazolidin-2-ones, which do not compromise the absolute stereochemical integrity of the compounds. The present invention is also directed to novel compounds of 3,4-disubstituted-thiazolidin-2-ones. The compounds prepared by the present invention are useful in the synthesis and manufacture of compounds (such as latrunculins and/or their analogs) for treating diseases or conditions associated with inhibiting actin polymerization.
US07947847B2 Stabilized vegetable oils and methods of making same
A method for modifying ethylenic unsaturation in a triglyceride. One or more unsaturated fatty acyl moieties present in the triglyceride are substituted with a lactone or ketone moiety via an electron acceptor mediated reaction. The resulting reaction products are useful, for example, as formulations for lubricants, hydraulic fluids, dielectric fluids, and intermediates for polymer synthesis.
US07947845B2 Process for purifying removal of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid N-vinylpyrrolidone or P-xylene crystals from their suspension in mother liquor
A process for purifying removal of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, N-vinylpyrrolidone or p-xylene crystals from their suspension in mother liquor by means of a wash column with forced transport, whose shell of the process chamber is a metal wall, the wash column additionally being enveloped by a thermal insulation material having a water vapor barrier and a specific heat flow of >0.1 W/m2 and <10 W/m2 flowing into the process chamber through the metal wall of the wash column.
US07947840B2 Process for preparation of enantiomerically pure esomeprazole
The present invention provides an improved and commercially viable process for preparation of substantially enantiomerically pure esomeprazole in neutral form or as a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or as its solvates including hydrates. Thus, for example, a compound containing a mixture of 1-(S)-camphorsulfonyl-5-methoxy-2-[(3,5-dimethyl-4-methoxy-2-pyridyl)methyl-(S)-sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole and 1-(S)-camphorsulfonyl-6-methoxy-2-[(3,5-dimethyl-4-methoxy-2-pyridyl)methyl-(S)-sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole is hydrolyzed with barium hydroxide, isolated the resulting esomeprazole barium salt followed by neutralization with an acid to yield substantially enantiomerically pure esomeprazole in neutral form and then converted into its pharmaceutically acceptable salts.
US07947827B2 Pharmaceutical formulation comprising a metaloporphyrin and method for its purification and use
Pharmaceutical formulation for the prophylaxis, pretreatment and treatment of a poisoning caused by exposure to (either singly or as a mixture of agents) organophosphorus cholinesterase inhibitors, vesicating agents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and aflatoxin B1. This invention is characterized by active substance comprised of a metaloporphyrin molecule with an associated metal moiety (Cu, Mg) of suitable purity and chemical composition to provide a bioavailable oral dosage form to attain predictable concentrations in target tissues and bodily fluids (plasma, bronchial secretions, etc.) sufficient to counteract the effects of toxic substances through chemical complexation or catalysis of toxin degradation. Although these metaloporphyrins are semisynthetic products of chlorophyll, the preferred starting material is chlorophyll a (Chla) extracted and purified from Spirulina pacifica or other sources. A specific method is invented to achieve a critical combination of purity and yield beyond those currently available.
US07947821B2 Optimized DNA sequences encoding recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2), preparation method and the uses thereof
The invention discloses an optimized DNA sequence of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) based on the Escherichia coli expression system and a method for the preparation of the rhBMP-2. Specifically, the invention provides the optimal DNA sequences suitable for Escherichia coli expression system, the methods for efficient preparation of the rhBMP-2, and the related construction of the recombinant bacteria, the expression and purification technologies. Compared with the traditional hBMP-2 gene without optimizing, the rhBMP-2 expression level of the optimized gene in Escherichia coli is increased by 50%. Additionally, this invention also provides a method for preparation long chain rhBMP-2 with enhanced renaturation efficiency and yield of purification.
US07947820B2 Detection of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 by nucleic acid amplification
The present invention relates to a method of detecting the presence or absence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in a sample based on amplifying a portion of the Glycoprotein G (US4) gene of HSV and detecting the presence of the amplified nucleic acid using primers and detector primers as described herewith. The method of the invention further identifies the type of HSV, either HSV-1 or HSV-2, in a sample. Also encompassed by the invention is a kit comprising the primers and detector primers which may be used with the amplification method described herewith.
US07947812B2 Neoplasm specific antibodies and uses thereof
The present invention features polypeptides, such as antibodies, and their use in the treatment and diagnosis of neoplasms.
US07947811B2 Antibodies that bind specifically to human RON protein
The invention provides antibodies or fragments thereof, including human antibodies, specific for Macrophage-Stimulating Protein Receptor (MSP-R or RON), which inhibit RON activation. Also provided are methods to inhibit RON, particularly the use of RON antibodies to treat diseases such as cancer.
US07947799B2 High organic group content-periodic mesoporous organosilicas (HO-PMO's)
The present invention provides a new class of organic/inorganic hybrid materials having [ER]n rings interconnected by E′ atoms. In an embodiment a class of materials called high organic group content periodic mesoporous organosilicas (HO-PMO's) with [SiR]3 rings interconnected by O atoms is described. The measured dielectric, mechanical and thermal properties of the materials suggest that an increased organic content achieved by the [SiR]3 rings of a high organic group content periodic mesoporous organosilica leads to superior materials properties potentially useful for a wide range of applications including microelectronics, separation, catalysis, sensing, optics or electronic printing.
US07947794B2 Polymerization process
The invention relates to a process for continuously preparing water-absorbing polymer particles by mixing a monomer solution with a redox initiator consisting of at least one oxidizing agent and at least one reducing agent and polymerizing it, wherein the monomer solution is mixed with at least one oxidizing agent upstream of the polymerization reactor and the at least one reducing agent is metered into the polymerization reactor, and also to an apparatus for performing the process.
US07947790B2 Porous film of vinylidene fluoride resin and method for producing same
A porous membrane of vinylidene fluoride resin excellent in hydrophilicity and having a good balance among strength, elongation and water permeation rate, which is thus useful as a microfiltration membrane or a separator of battery. The porous membrane is formed from a copolymer of 100 mols of a vinylidene fluoride monomer and 0.01-10.0 mols of a hydrophilic monomer having at least one species of hydrophilic group selected from epoxy group, hydroxy group, carboxy group, ester group, amide group and acid anhydride group.
US07947780B2 Resin compact, casing and production method of resin compact
A resin compact includes two or more kinds of resins, wherein when a Charpy impact strength in a resin flow direction at shaping is SMD and a Charpy impact strength in a direction crossing the resin flow direction at shaping is STD, SMD/STD is from 3.5 to 5.0.
US07947774B2 Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer of increased mechanical properties
Solution blending of masterbatch of cationically functionalized polyvinyl acetate copolymer/silicate nanocomposite where the silicate is substantially exfoliated, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), produces product of increased tensile strength and Young's Modulus compared to neat EVA and reduced flammability compared to neat EVA. The product can be injection molded or compression molded or extruded without loss of these advantages.
US07947769B2 Liquid amylaryl phosphite compositions and alkylate compositions for manufacturing same
Alkylate compositions comprising a monoamylphenol in an amount ranging from 25 weight percent to 99 weight percent and a diamylphenol in an amount ranging from 1 weight percent to 60 weight percent, the weight percentages being based on the total weight of all components in the alkylate composition. The invention is also to processes for making such alkylate compositions and to processes for forming stable liquid amylaryl phosphite compositions from such alkylate compositions.
US07947768B2 Ultraviolet (UV) radiation stability and service life of woven films of polypropylene (PP) tapes for the production of jumbo bags
This invention relates woven jumbo polypropylene bags manufactured from a polypropylene resin that includes a low molecular weight hindered amine light stabilizer, a high molecular weight hindered amine light stabilizer, a first antioxidant, and a second antioxidant. Also provided are methods for the preparation of woven jumbo polypropylene bags.
US07947766B2 Crosslinking systems for hydroxyl polymers
Crosslinking systems suitable for use in a polymer melt composition wherein the polymer melt composition comprises a hydroxyl polymer; polymeric structures made from such polymer melt compositions; and processes/methods related thereto are provided.
US07947763B2 Exterior deep base paint formulation
The present invention provides increased stain resistance, tannin blocking, adhesion, and various other properties. A composition in accordance with the principles of the present invention comprises at least three binders, nanoparticle pigment, and pigmentary titanium dioxide. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a coating on a substrate wherein the coating has three binders, nanoparticle metal oxide pigment, and pigmentary titanium dioxide. Various additives may be included to formulate paint as known in the art.
US07947762B2 Aqueous ink, ink jet recording method, ink cartridge, recording unit and ink jet recording apparatus
The invention provides an aqueous ink comprising a polymer having hydroxyl groups and a pigment, which can provide images excellent in scratch resistance and highlighter resistance and can inhibit the seeping out phenomenon of the polymer and the deterioration of storage stability and ejection characteristics even when it is stored for a long period of time. The aqueous ink comprises a polymer having hydroxyl groups and a pigment, wherein a proportion of a content of a polymer that is not adsorbed on the pigment out of the polymer having hydroxyl groups to the content of the pigment in the ink is 2.0 mass % or more, and a content (mass %) of the polymer that is not adsorbed on the pigment out of the polymer having hydroxyl groups is 0.20 mass % or less based on the total mass of the ink.
US07947758B2 Moisture activated latent curing adhesive or sealant
The invention relates to a novel poly(ethylene oxide)imine; a novel amine reactive moiety; a novel moisture activated latent curing adhesive or sealant mixture comprising (1) a ketimine or aldimine, and (2) an amine reactive moiety; and a novel moisture activated latent curing adhesive or sealant comprising the reaction product of (1) and (2).
US07947756B2 Process for making visco-elastic foams
Process for making a slabstock, visco-elastic, flexible, polyurethane foam which process comprises reacting a polyisocyanate and a polyol at an index of 60-95 and using a blowing agent, wherein 5-50 and preferably 10-40% by weight of the polyol used is castor oil. The foams and a polyol composition are claimed as well.
US07947752B2 Method of producing microporous high density polyethylene film
Disclosed is a microporous high density polyethylene film for a battery separator and a method of producing the same. The microporous high density polyethylene film includes high density polyethylene with a weight average molecular weight of 2×105-5×105, containing 5 wt % or less molecule with a molecular weight of 1×104 or less. The microporous high density polyethylene film has tensile strengths of 1,100 kg/cm2 or more in transverse and machine directions respectively, a puncture strength of 0.22 N/μm or more, a gas permeability (Darcy's permeability constant) of 1.3×10−5 Darcy or more, and shrinkages of 5% or less in machine and transverse directions, respectively. Particularly, the microporous high density polyethylene film has an excellent extrusion-compoundabiliy and stretchability and a high productivity, and can improve the performances and stability of a battery produced using the same.
US07947746B2 Process for the conversion of hydrocarbons into ethanol
Process for converting synthesis gas to ethanol, including the steps of 1) introducing synthesis gas, together with methyl ethanoate and/or ethyl ethanoate, into an alcohol synthesis unit to produce methanol and ethanol, 2) separating the methanol from the ethanol of step 1, 3) introducing methanol, from step 2, together with CO, into a carbonylation unit in the presence of a methanol carbonylation catalyst, to produce ethanoic acid, and 4) introducing ethanoic acid, from step 3, together with methanol and/or ethanol, into an esterification unit to produce methyl ethanoate and/or ethyl ethanoate. In step 5), methyl ethanoate and/or ethyl ethanoate, produced in step 4, are fed into the alcohol synthesis unit of step 1, and in step 6) ethanol from step 2 is recovered.
US07947743B2 Use of agomelatine in obtaining medicaments intended for the treatment of bipolar disorders
The present invention relates to the use of agomelatine, or N-[2-(7-methoxy-1-naphthyl)ethyl]acetamide, on its own or in association, in obtaining medicaments intended for the treatment of bipolar disorders, especially bipolar disorders of types I and II, and more especially bipolar disorders of type I.
US07947738B2 Bicyclic γ-amino acid derivative
It is intended to provide a bicyclic γ-amino acid derivative having excellent activity as an α2δ ligand. The present invention provides a compound represented by the general formula (I): wherein R1, R2, R2′, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, and R8′ are a hydrogen atom or the like; and R3 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C1-C6 alkyl group, or the like.
US07947736B2 Oligomeric compounds
Method for the synthesis of a compound of formula H(OCH[CH3]CH2C[O])3—O-A-O—R wherein A is the residue of 1,3-butandiol and R is H or H(OCH[CH3]CH2C[O]3—. The method comprises reacting a cyclic oligomer of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate consisting of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate moieties with a 1,3-butandiol in an organic solvent in the presence of Candida antarctica lipase type B in a furan or pyran solvent.
US07947735B2 Compounds for the treatment of metabolic disorders
Agents useful for the treatment of various metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance syndrome, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver disease, cachexia, obesity, atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis are disclosed. Formula (I), wherein n is 1 or 2; m is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; q is 0 or 1; t is 0 or 1; R1 is hydrogen, halo, hydroxy, alkyl having 1 or 2 carbon atoms, perfluoromethyl, alkoxy having 1 or 2 carbon atoms, and perfluoromethoxy; R2 is alkyl having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms; R3 is hydrogen, halo, alkyl having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, or alkoxy having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms; one of R4 and R5 is hydrogen or hydroxy and the other is hydrogen; or R4 and R5 together are ═O; R6 is hydrogen or alkyl having one, two, three, four or five carbon atoms; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the compound. Alternatively, the agent can be a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the compound of Formula (I).
US07947733B2 Phosphorylated pyrone analogs and methods
The invention relates to phosphorylated polyphenols, phosphorylated flavonoids, and phosphorylated pyrone analogs. Methods and compositions for the modulation of side effects of substances using such phosphorylated compounds are described. Methods and compositions are described for the modulation of blood-tissue barrier (BTB) transporter activity to increase the efflux of drugs and other compounds out of a physiological compartment and into an external environment. In particular, the methods and compositions disclosed herein provide lowered side effects when phosphorylated pyrone analogs are coadministered with therapeutic agents.
US07947718B2 Isoxazole compounds as histamine H3 modulators
Certain isoxazole compounds are histamine H3 modulators useful in the treatment of histamine H3 receptor mediated diseases.
US07947710B2 Disubstituted alkyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane compounds as mu opioid receptor antagonists
The invention provides novel 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane compounds of formula (I): where the variables are defined in the specification, or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof, that are antagonists at the mu opioid receptor. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, methods of using such compounds to treat conditions associated with mu opioid receptor activity, and processes and intermediates useful for preparing such compounds.
US07947708B2 Compounds modulating C-kit activity
Compounds with 7-azaindole core structure with activity toward the receptor protein tyrosine kinase c-kit, compositions useful for treatment c-kit-mediate diseases or conditions, and methods of use thereof, are provided. Further provided are methods of c-kit ligand identification and design.
US07947700B2 Carboxylic acid amides, the preparation thereof and their use as medicaments
The present invention relates to new substituted carboxylic acid amides of general formula wherein A, B and R1 to R5 are defined as in claim 1, the tautomers, the enantiomers, the diastereomers, the mixtures thereof and the salts thereof, particularly the physiologically acceptable salts thereof with inorganic or organic acids or bases, which have valuable properties.
US07947699B2 Anhydrous amorphous imatinib mesylate
Described is a highly stable amorphous form of imatinib mesylate having a water content of less than 0.5 percent by weight, based on the total weight of the amorphous imatinib mesylate, (anhydrous amorphous imatinib mesylate), a process for preparation thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions.
US07947696B2 2-amino-4-phenylquinazoline derivatives and the use thereof as HSP90 modulators
Novel phenylquinazoline derivatives of the formula (I), in which R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 have the meanings indicated in Claim 1, are HSP90 inhibitors and can be used for the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of diseases in which the inhibition, regulation and/or modulation of HSP90 plays a role.
US07947694B2 Substituted pyrazolo[3,4-D]pyrimidines as cell cycle kinase inhibitors
This invention comprises the novel compounds of formula (I) wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, X1 and X2 have defined meanings, having cell cycle kinase inhibiting enzymatic activity, their preparation, compositions containing them and their use as a medicine.
US07947693B2 5,7-disubstituted thiazolo[4,5-D]pyrimidines as chemokine inhibitors
There are disclosed novel 5-substituted 7-amino-[1,3]thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine derivatives of formula (I) wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are as defined in the specification, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, together with processes for their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions comprising them and their use in therapy. The compounds of formula (I) are CX3CR1 receptor antagonists and are thereby particularly useful in the treatment or prophylaxis of neurodegenerative disorders, demyelinating disease, cardio- and cerebrovascular atherosclerotic disorders, peripheral artery disease, rheumatoid arthritis, pulmonary diseases such as COPD, asthma or pain.
US07947687B2 Antineoplastic and curcumin derivatives and methods of preparation and use
This invention comprises antineoplastic curcumin derivatives and methods of preparation and use thereof. Particular reference is made to the following isomeric compounds wherein R1, R2, and R3 are selected from the group consisting of H, OH, OCH3, and COOH.
US07947685B2 Pyrazine-2-carboxyamide derivatives
The present invention is concerned with novel pyrazine 2-carboxyamide derivatives of formula (I) wherein R1, R2 and R3 are as defined in the specification. These compounds are useful for the treatment of CNS disorders.
US07947679B2 Fungicides
The naphthyridine derivatives of formula (I) a and method of combating or controlling phytopathogenic fungi which comprises applying the compounds of formula (I) to a plant, to a seed of a plant and to the locus of the plant.
US07947678B2 Heterocyclic benzodiazepine CGRP receptor antagonists
Compounds of formula I: (where variables R2, R7, D, W, X, Y and Z are as described herein) which are antagonists of CGRP receptors and which are useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases in which the CGRP is involved, such as migraine. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds and the use of these compounds and compositions in the prevention or treatment of such diseases in which CGRP is involved.
US07947676B2 Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine compounds as antitumor agents
The invention concerns compounds of the formula (I) wherein the substituents are as defined in the text for use in the production of an anti proliferative effect which effect is produced alone or in part by inhibiting erbB2 receptor tyrosine kinase in a warm blooded animal such as man.
US07947675B2 Trifluoromethylbenzamide derivatives and therapeutic uses thereof
Compounds of the formula (I), in which the radicals R1 to R3 and AR are as defined in the description, processes for the preparation thereof, the use thereof in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them.
US07947673B2 Method of scintigraphy
The invention relates to combination comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable preparation of a compound of formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a gallium and its use in diagnosis. The invention also pertains to the use of a compound of formula I or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of an excess iron overload in the human or animal body whereby said body is undergoing gallium scintigraphy and whereby the treatment removing said excess of iron is interrupted for a period of 2 to 10 days prior to the gallium scintigraphy and resumed after the gallium scintigraphy readings.
US07947669B2 Agent for improving insulin resistance
To inhibit production of adipocytokines, in particular, adipocytokines that elicit insulin resistance and to prevent onset of pathosis caused by the insulin resistance, or improve the pathosis, the present invention provides an agent or a food or drink which contains a compound having a cyclolanostane skeleton, or an organic solvent extract, a hot water extract of a plant of the family Liliaceae or Gramineae, or a fraction thereof which contains the compound as an active ingredient.
US07947662B2 Folates, compositions and uses thereof
The present invention relates to folates, compositions and uses thereof; In particular, this invention describes a crystalline or amorphous compound which is a substituted or unsubstituted folate or a reduced folate, or the natural or unnatural isomers thereof, of at least one organic base, as well as compositions and uses thereof. The compounds of the invention show a long lasting stability as well as a peculiarly high water-solubility.
US07947659B2 iRNA agents targeting VEGF
The features of the present invention relate to compounds, compositions and methods useful for modulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), such as by the mechanism of RNA interference (RNAi). The compounds and compositions include iRNA agents that can be unmodified or chemically-modified.
US07947655B2 Methods for making proteins containing free cysteine residues
The present invention relates to novel methods of making soluble proteins having free cysteines in which a host cell is exposed to a cysteine blocking agent. The soluble proteins produced by the methods can then be modified to increase their effectiveness. Such modifications include attaching a PEG moiety to form pegylated proteins.
US07947640B2 Method of neutralizing a stain on a surface
Compositions, methods, apparatuses, kits, and combinations are described for neutralizing a stain on a surface. The compositions useful in the present disclosure include a composition that is formulated to be applied and affixed to a surface. If desired, the composition may be substantially removed from the surface to remove a portion or substantially all of the stain before being affixed to the surface. If a user desires to remove the composition from the surface, the composition is formulated to be removed by a number of methods including, for example, vacuuming, wet extraction, chemical application, and the like. If the user desires to affix the composition to the surface in a permanent or semi-permanent manner, the composition may be affixed to the surface by applying energy thereto in the form of, for example, heat, pressure, emitted waves, an emitted electrical field, a magnetic field, and/or a chemical. The compositions may also be utilized in the form of a kit or in conjunction with a design device, such as a stencil, to control the application of the composition to create, for example, a pattern on the surface.
US07947638B2 Composition for cleaning semiconductor device
A sulfur-containing detergent composition for cleaning a semiconductor device having an aluminum wire, wherein the sulfur-containing detergent composition is capable of forming a protective film containing a sulfur atom on a surface of an aluminum film in a protective film-forming test; a semiconductor device comprising a protective film containing a sulfur atom on a surface of an aluminum wire, wherein sulfur atom is contained within a region of at least 5 nm in its thickness direction from the surface of the protective film; and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the step of contacting an aluminum wire of the semiconductor device with the sulfur-containing detergent composition as defined above, thereby forming a sulfur-containing protective film on the surface of the aluminum wire. The semiconductor device can be suitably used in the manufacture of electronic parts such as LCD, memory and CPU. Especially, the semiconductor device is suitably used in the manufacture of a highly integrated semiconductor with advanced scale-down.
US07947607B2 Apparatus and associated method for making a virtual ground array structure that uses inversion bit lines
A virtual ground array structure uses inversion bit lines in order to eliminate the need for implanted bit lines. As a result, the cell size can be reduced, which can provide greater densities and smaller packaging.
US07947588B2 Structure and method for a CMOS device with doped conducting metal oxide as the gate electrode
A semiconductor device and method for fabricating a semiconductor device for providing improved work function values and thermal stability is disclosed. The semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate; an interfacial dielectric layer over the semiconductor substrate; a high-k gate dielectric layer over the interfacial dielectric layer; and a doped-conducting metal oxide layer over the high-k gate dielectric layer.
US07947580B2 Hybrid semiconductor structure
A method for the fabrication of a semiconductor structure that includes areas that have different crystalline orientation and semiconductor structure formed thereby. The disclosed method allows fabrication of a semiconductor structure that has areas of different semiconducting materials. The method employs templated crystal growth using a Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) growth process. A silicon semiconductor substrate having a first crystal orientation direction is etched to have an array of holes into its surface. A separation layer is formed on the inner surface of the hole for appropriate applications. A growth catalyst is placed at the bottom of the hole and a VLS crystal growth process is initiated to form a nanowire. The resultant nanowire crystal has a second different crystal orientation which is templated by the geometry of the hole.
US07947578B2 Method for fabricating semiconductor device
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device including: cleaning an apparatus used to grow a layer including Ga; performing a first step of forming a first layer on a substrate made of silicon by using the apparatus, the first layer including a nitride semiconductor that does not include Ga as a composition element and has a Ga impurity concentration of 2×1018 atoms/cm3 or less; and performing a second step of forming a second layer on the first layer by using the apparatus after the first step is repeatedly carried out multiple times, the second layer including a nitride semiconductor including Ga.
US07947576B2 Method of manufacturing by etching a semiconductor substrate horizontally without creating a vertical face
An aspect of the invention provides a method of manufacturing a method of manufacturing a semiconductor element comprises the steps of: growing epitaxially a semiconductor layer on top of a semiconductor substrate; forming a patterned portion of the grown semiconductor layer by forming a pattern by a patterning process on top of the grown semiconductor layer; removing a portion of the semiconductor layer other than the patterned portion by a first etching method with a first etchant; and immersing a resultant from the first etching method in a second etchant that etches only the semiconductor substrate by a second etching method thereby removing the substrate from the semiconductor layer.
US07947569B2 Method for producing a semiconductor including a foreign material layer
A method for producing a semiconductor including a material layer. In one embodiment a trench is produced having two opposite sidewalls and a bottom, in a semiconductor body. A foreign material layer is produced on a first one of the two sidewalls of the trench. The trench is filled by epitaxially depositing a semiconductor material onto the second one of the two sidewalls and the bottom of the trench.
US07947566B2 Method and apparatus for making coplanar isolated regions of different semiconductor materials on a substrate
A semiconductor processing method includes providing a substrate, forming a plurality of semiconductor layers in the substrate, each of the semiconductor layers being distinct and selected from different groups of semiconductor element types. The semiconductor layers include a first, second, and third semiconductor layers. The method further includes forming a plurality of lateral void gap isolation regions for isolating portions of each of the semiconductor layers from portions of the other semiconductor layers.
US07947561B2 Methods for oxidation of a semiconductor device
Methods of fabricating an oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate are provided herein. The oxide layer may be formed over an entire structure disposed on the substrate, or selectively formed on a non-metal containing layer with little or no oxidation of an exposed metal-containing layer. The methods disclosed herein may be performed in a variety of process chambers, including but not limited to decoupled plasma oxidation chambers, rapid and/or remote plasma oxidation chambers, and/or plasma immersion ion implantation chambers. In some embodiments, a method may include providing a substrate comprising a metal-containing layer and non-metal containing layer; and forming an oxide layer on an exposed surface of the non-metal containing layer by exposing the substrate to a plasma formed from a process gas comprising a hydrogen-containing gas, an oxygen-containing gas, and at least one of a supplemental oxygen-containing gas or a nitrogen-containing gas.
US07947548B2 Multifunctional tape
A method includes forming elongate structures (5) on a first substrate (3), such that the material composition of each elongate structure (7) varies along its length so as to define first and second physically different sections in the elongate structures. First and second physically different devices (1, 2) are then defined in the elongate structures. Alternatively, the first and second physically different sections may be defined in the elongate structures after they have been fabricated. The elongate structures may be encapsulated and transferred to a second substrate (7). The invention provides an improved method for the formation of a circuit structure that requires first and second physically different devices (1,2) to be provided on a common substrate. In particular, only one transfer step is necessary.
US07947546B2 Implant damage control by in-situ C doping during SiGe epitaxy for device applications
Some example embodiments of the invention comprise methods for and semiconductor structures comprised of: a MOS transistor comprised of source/drain regions, a gate dielectric, a gate electrode, channel region; a carbon doped SiGe region that applies a stress on the channel region whereby the carbon doped SiGe region retains stress/strain on the channel region after subsequent heat processing.
US07947543B2 Recessed gate silicon-on-insulator floating body device with self-aligned lateral isolation
Embodiments of a manufacturing process for recessed gate devices on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate with self-aligned lateral isolation are described. This allows the creation of true in-pitch recessed gate devices without requiring an extra isolation dimension. A lateral isolation trench is formed between pairs of recessed gate devices by etching the silicon-on-insulator area down to a buried oxide layer on which the silicon-on-insulator layer is formed. The position of the trench is self-aligned and defined by the gate width and the dimension of spacers disposed on either side of the gate. The isolation trench is filled with a dielectric material and then etched back to the middle of the SOI body and the remaining volume is filled with a doped conductive material. The doped conductor is subject to a thermal cycle to create source and drain regions of the device through out-diffusion of the doped material.
US07947532B2 Power semiconductor device and method for its production
A power semiconductor device and a method for its production. The power semiconductor device has at least one power semiconductor chip, which has on its top side and on its back side large-area electrodes. The electrodes are electrically in connection with external contacts by means of connecting elements, the power semiconductor chip and the connecting elements being embedded in a plastic package. This plastic package has a number of layers of plastic, which are pressed one on top of the other and have plane-parallel upper sides. The connecting elements are arranged on at least one of the plane-parallel upper sides, between the layers of plastic pressed one on top of the other, as a patterned metal layer and are electrically in connection with the external contacts by means of contact vias through at least one of the layers of plastic.
US07947524B2 Humidity control and method for thin film photovoltaic materials
A method for processing a thin film photovoltaic module. The method includes providing a plurality of substrates, each of the substrates having a first electrode layer and an overlying absorber layer composed of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) or copper indium selenide (CIS) material. The absorber material comprises a plurality of sodium bearing species. The method maintains the plurality of substrates in a controlled environment after formation of at least the absorber layer through one or more processes up to a lamination process. The controlled environment has a relative humidity of less than 10% and a temperature ranging from about 10 Degrees Celsius to about 40 Degrees Celsius. The method subjects the plurality of substrates to a liquid comprising water at a temperature from about 10 Degrees Celsius to about 80 Degrees Celsius to process the plurality of substrates after formation of the absorber layer. The plurality of substrates having the absorber layer is subjected to an environment having a relative humidity of greater than about 10% to a time period of less then four hours.
US07947521B2 Method for forming electrode for group-III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting devices
A method for forming an electrode for Group-III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting devices includes a step of forming a first electrode layer having an average thickness of less than 1 nm on a Group-III nitride compound semiconductor layer, the first electrode layer being made of a material having high adhesion to the Group-III nitride compound semiconductor layer or low contact resistance with the Group-III nitride compound semiconductor layer and also includes a step of forming a second electrode layer made of a highly reflective metal material on the first electrode layer.
US07947517B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor light-emitting device
Semiconductor laser elements are formed on a common substrate. Au plating is formed on principal surfaces of the semiconductor laser elements. The semiconductor laser elements are mounted on a package with solder applied to the Au plating. Areas opposed to each other across a light-emitting area of each semiconductor laser element are designated first and second areas. Average thickness of the Au plating is different in the first and second areas of each semiconductor laser element.
US07947515B2 Defect inspecting method
A defect inspecting method includes: forming, in a first air pressure state, a film, which covers one opening of two openings provided on an upper surface of a substrate, on a tubular contact hole formed on the substrate in manufacturing a semiconductor device and formed in a tubular shape by connecting two cylindrical contact holes on bottom surface sides thereof, both ends of the tubular shape being opened in the openings; exposing the substrate covered with the film in a second air pressure state; and observing whether the film is deformed to thereby inspect whether the part of the tubular shape is blocked.
US07947512B2 Dispensing cylinder, large capacity dispensing device, and method of using large capacity dispensing device
The invention relates to a dispensing cylinder, a large capacity dispensing device, and a method of using a large capacity dispensing device, and aims at providing a dispensing cylinder, a large capacity dispensing device, and a method of using a large capacity dispensing device, with high quantitativity and capable of suppressing the scale of the device and efficiently utilizing working space, despite the relatively large volumes of fluid handled. The construction comprises: a small diameter section, a large diameter section which communicates with the small diameter section and is capable of holding fluids, a sliding section provided in a slidable manner within the large diameter section which enables fluid to be sucked and discharged to and from the large diameter section through the small diameter section, and a connection section which connects the sliding section in a detachable manner to a suction and discharge mechanism which drives the sliding section.
US07947507B2 Analysis of sulfated polysaccharides
The invention relates to methods and products associated with analyzing and monitoring heterogeneous populations of sulfated polysaccharides. In particular therapeutic heparin products including low molecular weight heparin products and methods of analyzing and monitoring these products are described.
US07947501B2 Gene recombination exchange system for stable gene modification in human ES cells
A method of creating a human pluripotent transgenic stem cell, wherein heterologous DNA is inserted into specific “hot-spots” in the genome where stable and high gene expression may occur, is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: (a) selecting a pluripotent stem cell line, and (b) inserting heterologous DNA at an insertion site selected from the group consisting of insertion site one and insertion site two to form a transgenic cell line. In another embodiment, the heterologous DNA is an exchange cassette and the transgenic cell line formed is a master cell line.
US07947497B2 Methods for vitrification of human oocytes
Provided are methods for the vitrification of human oocytes, which comprises: (a) placing human oocytes on a transfer instrument; and (b) placing the transfer instrument and the human oocytes directly into a slushed nitrogen (N2 slush), wherein the human oocytes are directly exposed to the N2 slush thereby undergoing vitrification, and wherein the human oocytes are able to live for a period of time after the human oocytes are devitrified.
US07947494B2 Fusion protein comprising an E. coli chaperone protein and a human chaperone protein
The invention discloses the cloning, expression and uses of a chimeric fusion protein with superior chaperone and folding activities compared to the wild type chaperones. This invention relates to a chimeric fusion protein encoded by a recombinant DNA molecule comprising nucleotide sequences coding for a polypeptide binding segment of a non-human chaperone protein and nucleotide sequences coding for an FK506 binding protein (FKBP) or an FK506-binding-protein-like domain (FKBP-like domain). In particular, this invention relates to a chimeric fusion protein encoded by a recombinant DNA molecule comprising nucleotide sequences coding for a polypeptide binding segment of a non-human chaperone protein and nucleotide sequences coding for a human FKBP type peptidyl-prolyl-cis/trans isomerase (PPIase), methods of producing these chimeric fusion proteins and their uses as folding helpers in the production of other proteins and in the process of the production of vaccines or pharmaceuticals, and as folding helpers for performing immunoassays.
US07947485B2 Method and apparatus for molecular analysis using nanoelectronic circuits
Devices and methods for detecting the constituent parts of biological polymers are disclosed. A molecular analysis device comprises a molecule sensor and a molecule guide. The molecule sensor comprises a single electron transistor including a first terminal, a second terminal, and a nanogap or at least one quantum dot positioned between the first terminal and the second terminal. A nitrogenous material disposed on the at least one quantum dot is configured for an interaction with an identifiable configuration of a molecule. The molecule sensor develops an electronic effect responsive to the interaction. The molecule guide is configured for guiding at least a portion of the molecule substantially near the molecule sensor to enable the interaction.
US07947481B2 Chondroitin synthase, method for producing the same and method for producing saccharide chain-extended chondroitin
A vector of the present invention has DNA encoding a protein or a product having the same effect as the protein, the protein containing an amino acid sequence from amino acid numbers 47 to 802 in SEQ. ID. NO:2. Expression of the DNA gives human chondroitin synthase. By using human chondroitin synthase, it is possible to produce a saccharide chain having a repeating disaccharide unit of chondroitin. The DNA or part thereof may be used as a probe for hybridization for the human chondroitin synthase.
US07947469B2 Modulation of HIV infection
Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for modulating HIV infection by regulating expression of one or more receptors.
US07947464B2 Method for identifying regulatory T cells
The present invention relates to methods and kits for identifying, quantifying and isolating regulatory T cells, to methods and kits for diagnosing or monitoring autoimmune diseases, immunoinflammatory diseases, allergic diseases, predispositions thereto, infectious diseases, cancer, cancer treatment and/or organ transplantation based on regulatory T cell quantity, to methods and kits for predicting responses to therapy for autoimmune diseases, immunoinflammatory diseases, allergic diseases, predispositions thereto, infectious diseases, cancer and/or organ transplantation based on regulatory T cell quantity, and to methods and kits for therapy using isolated regulatory T cells.
US07947456B2 Assessing brain aneurysms
This document provides methods and materials related to assessing brain conditions within mammals. For example, methods and materials that can be used to determine whether or not a mammal (e.g., a human) with a brain aneurysm is likely to experience brain aneurysm rupture are provided.
US07947453B2 Methods for drug discovery, disease treatment, and diagnosis using metabolomics
The small molecule profiles of cells are compared to identify small molecules which are modulated in altered states. Cellular small molecule libraries, methods of identifying tissue sources, methods for treating genetic and non-genetic diseases, and methods for predicting the efficacy of drugs are also discussed.
US07947448B2 Use of regulatory sequences for specific, transient expression in neuronal determined cells
The present invention relates to the use of regulatory sequences for mediating specific, early transient expression in proliferative neuronal determined cells. Furthermore, the uses of recombinant nucleic acid molecules comprising said defined regulatory sequences for mediating specific, early transient expression in proliferative neuronal determined cells as well as for the generation of non-human transgenic organisms and/or host cells are disclosed. In addition, the invention provides for transgenic non-human animals and/or host cells comprising said regulatory sequences and/or recombinant nucleic acid molecules. The invention also describes methods for the preparation of such vectors, host cells and transgenic non-human animals as well as methods for the detection and/or isolation of neuronal determined cells. Additionally, methods for screening of compounds capable of regulating neuronal determined cell activity, neurogenesis, stimulating proliferation of neuronally committed precursor cells and/or neuronal differentiation are provided and the invention also relates to methods for the detection and analysis of neuronal differentiation, neuronal migration and/or neuronal determination processes. Finally, the invention relates to diagnostic and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the regulatory sequences, recombinant nucleic acid molecules, host-cells or isolated neuronal determined cells described herein.
US07947446B2 High throughput mutation screening methods and kits using a universalized approach—differential sequence fill-in (DSF)-enabled sequential adapter ligation and amplification
This disclosure teaches high throughput mutation screening methods allowing simultaneous analysis of multiple genetic regions of interest and sensitive detection of very low frequency mutation(s) by the use of a universalized approach. Methods comprise treating RNA:DNA heteroduplexes of interest with a ribonuclease, sequence extension by an RNA-primed DNA polymerase, ligation with a blocking adapter, and differential sequence fill-in followed by single-strand-specific nuclease digestion to permit full-length sequence extension and subsequent ligation with a tagged reporter adapter solely in mutants filled in with a complementary deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate. By forming tagged mutant-dual adapter hybrids or mutant-triple adapter hybrids, the detection and/or quantification of mutants may be directed to the commonly shared tag(s) or flanking adapter sequences for signal detection/enhancement or sequence amplification in all different mutants regardless of the source or the number of mutations involved, thereby avoiding the tremendous effort of multiple target-specific sequence amplifications. Methods may be performed wholly or partially in solution, on solid phase media, in large scale, adapted for automated or semi-automated analysis, and any combinations thereof.
US07947443B2 DNA and RNA conformational switches as sensitive electronic sensors of analytes
The electrical conductivity of DNA and other oligonucleotide constructs is dependent on its conformational state. Such a dependence may be harnessed for the electronic sensing of external analytes, for instance, adenosine or thrombin. Such a DNA sensor incorporates an analyte receptor, whose altered conformation in the presence of bound analyte switches the conformation, and hence, the conductive path between two oligonucleotide stems, such as double-helical DNA. Two distinct designs for such sensors are described that permit significant electrical conduction through a first or “detector” double-helical stem only in the presence of the bound analyte. In the first design, current flows through the analyte receptor itself whereas, in the second, current flows in a path adjacent to the receptor. The former design may be especially suitable for certain categories of analytes, including heterocycle-containing compounds such as adenosine, whereas the latter design should be generally applicable to the detection of any molecular analyte, large or small, such as the protein thrombin. Since analyte detection in these DNA sensors is electronic, the sensors may be used in rapid and automated chip-based detection of small molecules as well as of proteins and other macromolecules.
US07947442B2 Apparatus for emitting and detecting light in a nucleic acid amplification reaction
Subject of the present invention is to provide an apparatus, an instrument, and a method particularly useful in multiplex PCR applications permitting short sample measuring times of many samples combined with high sensitivity.
US07947438B2 Detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus in hair samples
The present invention relates to a method of detecting whether a target animal is Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) positive or negative by determining whether a gp48 protein-specific reagent binds to a gp48 Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus protein or protein fragment, which retains antigenic specificity, from a target animal's hair sample.
US07947433B2 Exposure method
An exposure method includes the steps of illuminating a mask that has a contact hole pattern using an illumination light, and projecting, via a projection optical system, the contact hole pattern onto a substrate to be exposed, wherein three lights among diffracted lights from the contact hole pattern interfere with each other, wherein said mask is an attenuated phase shift mask, and wherein said illumination light forms a radial polarization illumination.
US07947431B2 Lithography masks and methods of manufacture thereof
Lithography masks and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. A preferred embodiment comprises a method of manufacturing a lithography mask. The method includes providing a substrate, forming a first pattern in a first region of the substrate, and forming a second pattern in a second region of the substrate, the second pattern comprising patterns for features oriented differently than patterns for features of the first pattern. The method includes affecting a polarization rotation of light differently in the first region than in the second region of the substrate.
US07947425B2 Fluorinated vinyl ethers, copolymers thereof, and use in lithographic photoresist compositions
Copolymers prepared by copolymerization of at least one fluorinated vinyl ether are provided. In one embodiment, the at least one fluorinated vinyl ether comprises ethylene directly substituted at an olefinic carbon atom with a moiety —OR* and optionally substituted with one, two, or three additional nonhydrogen substituents, wherein R* comprises a fluorinated alkyl moiety substituted with a protected or unprotected hydroxyl group, and further wherein an atom within R* may be (i) taken together with one of the additional nonhydrogen substituents, if present, or (ii) directly bound to an olefinic carbon atom, to form a ring. The polymers are useful, for example, in lithographic photoresist compositions, particularly chemical amplification resists. In a preferred embodiment, the polymers are substantially transparent to deep ultraviolet (DUV) radiation, and are thus useful in DUV lithographic photoresist compositions. A method for using the composition to generate resist images on a substrate is also provided, i.e., in the manufacture of integrated circuits or the like.
US07947424B2 Composition for forming anti-reflective coat
There is provided a composition for forming anti-reflective coating containing a urea compound substituted by hydroxyalkyl group or alkoxyalkyl group, and preferably a light absorbing compound and/or a light absorbing resin; a method of forming a anti-reflective coating for a semiconductor device by use of the composition; and a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device by use of the composition. The composition according to the present invention exhibits a good light-absorption to a light having a wavelength used for manufacturing a semiconductor device. Therefore, the composition exerts a high protection effect against light reflection, and has a high dry etching rate compared with photoresist layers.
US07947415B2 Reflective mask blank, reflective mask, method of inspecting reflective mask, and method for manufacturing the same
A main object of the invention is to provide a reflective mask for EUV lithography, which may detect an alignment mark by transmission. The invention achieves the object by providing a reflective mask comprising a substrate, a multilayer formed on one side of the substrate, an intermediate layer formed on the multilayer, an absorber formed in pattern on the substrate on which the multilayer and the intermediate layer are formed, and a conductive layer formed on the other side of the substrate, wherein the pattern of the absorber constitutes a circuit pattern and an alignment mark, and in an alignment region where the alignment mark is provided, the other side of the substrate is exposed.
US07947414B2 Method of fabricating halftone phase shift mask
A method of fabricating a halftone phase shift mask is disclosed, by which a process time and a failure ratio can be reduced by sequentially forming a phase shift layer a first photoresist, a metal layer and a second photoresist over a transparent substrate, performing a process to expose a portion of the metal layer, and then performing an etching process to expose a portion of the substrate using the second photoresist as a mask, and then performing an electron-beam exposure process on a portion of the first photoresist such that electrons contact the surface of the transparent substrate, and then simultaneously developing a portion of the first photoresist and removing a portion of the metal layer and a remaining portion of the first photoresist to expose a portion of the phase shift layer.
US07947413B2 Pattern evaluation method
In a pattern evaluation method of determining whether a pattern formed on a photomask is acceptable, an aberration parameter of an image quality evaluation apparatus for determining a pattern image intensity in transferring a pattern formed on a photomask onto a wafer is acquired. An acceptance criterion value used in determining whether an abnormal pattern of the photomask including the effect of aberration of the image quality evaluation apparatus is acceptable is set through a lithographic simulation using the acquired aberration parameter. Then, using the image quality evaluation apparatus, an image intensity of the abnormal pattern of the photomask and an image intensity of a normal pattern corresponding to the abnormal pattern are obtained. It is determined whether the difference between the two acquired image intensities is within the set acceptance criterion value.
US07947409B2 Metallic separator for fuel cell and fuel cell including the same
A separator for a fuel cell includes a first layer that includes stainless steel and tungsten and a second layer that includes stainless steel and tungsten. The first layer contains more tungsten than the second layer so that the separator has anticorrosion properties specifically tailored to the environment of the anode and the cathode.
US07947407B2 Fuel cell apparatus having a small package size
The invention relates to a fuel cell apparatus that includes a housing. The housing defines a substantially isothermal zone which integrates a fuel cell and a tail gas burner with the isothermal zone. The fuel cell and the tail gas burner are in thermal communication and share a common wall. In one embodiment, the housing further integrates a fuel reformer, where the fuel reformer is in thermal communication with the fuel cell. In one embodiment, the fuel cell and the tail gas burner can be arranged to produce a power density greater than or equal to about 2 W/cc. The fuel cell preferably is a solid oxide fuel cell.
US07947404B2 Thermally enhanced insulator plates and fuel cell stack incorporating the same
According to the present invention, a stacked electrochemical conversion assembly is provided with an electrically and thermally insulating plate within one or both of the end unit assemblies of the stack. For example, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the electrochemical conversion assembly includes at least one end unit assembly comprising an electrically conductive terminal plate and an electrically insulating plate interposed between the terminal plate and an end unit plate of the end unit assembly. The electrically insulating plate comprises an array of thermally insulating regions defined therein.
US07947403B2 Fuel cell system
A fuel cell system repeats first processing and second processing when the system is started. In the first processing, a control section controls an electric power distribution section so that electric power generated by a fuel cell stack is supplied to accessories and a secondary battery. In the second processing, the control section controls the electric power distribution section so that electric power generated by the fuel cell stack and electric power discharged from the secondary battery are supplied to the accessories. An electric power calculation means of the control section calculates electric power generation by the fuel cell stack and inputs an output command, representing electric power, into air compressor drive/control means. The electric power calculation means gradually changes the magnitude of electric power generation by the fuel cell stack, represented by the output command, at the time of transition between the first processing and the second processing.
US07947395B2 Graphite particles and lithium secondary battery using the same as negative electrode
A graphite particle obtained by assembling or binding together a plurality of flat-shaped particles so that the planes of orientation are not parallel to one another, or a graphite particle in which aspect ratio is 5 or less or specific surface area is 8 m2/g or less or the size of crystallite in the direction of c-axis of the crystal is 500 Å or more and the size of crystallite in the direction of plane is 1,000 Å or less as measured by X ray broad angle diffraction, or a graphite particle in which pore volume of the pores having a size falling in a range of 102 to 106 Å is 0.4 to 2.0 cc/g per weight of graphite particle or pore volume of the pores having a size falling in a range of 1×102 to 2×104 Å is 0.08 to 0.4 cc/g per weight of graphite particle is suitable for production of negative electrode of lithium secondary battery, and a lithium secondary battery obtained therefrom is excellent in rapid charge-discharge characteristics, cycle characteristics, etc.
US07947385B2 Magnetic storage medium and information storage device
A magnetic storage medium includes a seed layer made of non-magnetic and amorphous Co—Cr—W, an intermediate layer having a crystalline structure, which is made of a non-magnetic material on the seed layer and has a c-axis oriented in a thickness direction of the seed layer in a hexagonal close-packed structure, and a recording layer made of mainly a magnetic material on the intermediate layer and having information magnetically recorded therein.
US07947384B2 Fire resistant glazings
Solutions comprising a sodium silicate waterglass having a modulus of less than 3 and at least 8% by weight of an organic polyhydroxy compound such as glycerol are useful in the production of interlayers used in fire resistant glass laminates. The solutions are dried on a flat surface such as glass to produce a clear intumescent interlayer having improved impact resistance. The dried interlayer may be removed from the surface in the form of an elastomeric material which may also be used as an interlayer in a fire resistant glazing.
US07947372B2 Substrate coated with a layered structure comprising a tetrahedral carbon layer and a softer outer layer
The invention relates to a metal substrate coated at least partially with a layered structure. The layered structure comprises an intermediate layer deposited on the metal substrate and an amorphous carbon layer deposited on the intermediate layer. The amorphous carbon layer has a Young's modulus lower than 200 GPa. The intermediate layer comprises a tetrahedral carbon layer having a Young's modulus higher than 200 GPa. The invention further relates to a method to reduce the wear on a counterbody of a metal substrate coated with a tetrahedral carbon coating.
US07947370B2 Microcapsules used for producing rubber and method for their production
The invention relates to microcapsules made of a core which contains at least one rubber additive and of a shell made of a first polymer.At least one coating made of a second polymer, which differs from the first polymer, and/or of a low molecular inorganic or organic compound, is deposited on the surface of the microcapsules as sliding or wearing layer in order to reduce the static friction.
US07947366B2 Adhesive sheet article
An a dhesive tape comprising a hot-melt pressure sensitive adhesive layer that comprises a lattice pattern formed by at least two linear strips that intersect; wherein the lattice pattern forms a plurality of parallelogrammic openings, having a major diagonal line (A) and a minor diagonal line (B), wherein the ratio of the major diagonal line (A) of the opening to the minor diagonal line (B) thereof is from 15 to 1; the length of the major diagonal line (A) is from 0.5 mm to 10 mm; and the length of the minor diagonal line (B) is from 0.3 to 7 mm.
US07947364B2 Energy-attenuation structure
An energy-attenuation structure comprising a core layer of cellular material. Substantially most of the cells of the cellular material are open cells, with those cells disposed in the central portion of the core layer being more open than are those cells disposed in outer portions of the core layer. The openness of the cells generally decreases from the interior of the core layer in a direction toward the outer portions. At least some of the cells of the core layer are filled with a liquid.
US07947356B2 Molded foam and mold
A molded foam containing no voids and a mold for forming such a molded foam are provided. A molded foam 5 has an external corner 5a where a small rib 10 is formed and a recessed step 7 where thin plate-like ribs 11 are formed. The rib 10 has a triangular cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the recessed step 7. The rib 10 is tapered from the base to an end thereof in a direction in which the rib 10 protrudes. The ribs 11 are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the recessed step 7.
US07947351B1 Label structure incorporating a leaflet for use on small containers
A label structure is disclosed for mounting on a container and includes a base panel for affixing to a surface of the container. An adhesive is applied to at least a portion of a rear face of the base panel for adhering the base panel to the container. The label structure further includes a leaflet associated with the base panel for application to the container with the base panel, and the leaflet comprising at least one panel with opposite faces. The label structure also includes a laminating strip securing the leaflet to the base panel, and the laminating strip overlies the leaflet and overlying the base panel. In some embodiments, the leaflet is positioned adjacent to the base panel and does not overlie the base panel. In other embodiments, the leaflet has a width dimension that is greater than a width of the base panel.
US07947345B2 Synthesis of poly(ethylene amine) on an oxide support
Methods of polymerizing polyethylene-based polymers on a support, and supports coated with polyethylene-based polymers. The coated supports may be used to improve the ink fixation properties of an ink-jet printing medium. The coated supports may also be useful for highly tailored chromatographic separations.
US07947343B2 Adhesive film
An adhesive film used for bonding a semiconductor component or a liquid crystal display component with a substrate, the adhesive film being composed of a resin composition containing a curable resin and a filler, and the adhesive film showing a water vapor transmission rate of 30 [g/m2·24 h] or above, wherein the curable resin preferably contains photo-curable resin, thermosetting resin, or curable resin cured both by light and heat. The filler preferably contains a porous filler, the filler preferably has a mean void diameter of 0.1 to 5 nm, and the adhesive film preferably shows a water vapor transmission rate at 25° C. of 4 [g/m2·24 h] or above.
US07947335B2 Quartz glass component with reflector layer and method for producing the same
Methods for producing a quartz glass component with reflector layer are known in which a reflector layer composed of quartz glass acting as a diffuse reflector is produced on at least part of the surface of a substrate body composed of quartz glass. In order, taking this as a departure point, to specify a method which enables cost-effective and reproducible production of uniform SiO2 reflector layers on quartz glass components, it is proposed according to the invention that the reflector layer is produced by thermal spraying by means of SiO2 particles being fed to an energy carrier, being incipiently melted or melted by means of said energy carrier and being deposited on the substrate body. In the case of a quartz glass component obtained according to the method, the SiO2 reflector layer is formed as a layer which is produced by thermal spraying and has an opaque effect and which is distinguished by freedom from cracks and uniformity.
US07947330B2 Production method of film, and film
A production method of a film of the present invention is a production method of a film, in which after a polymer base is wound off, metal is evaporated, and an oxygen gas is introduced and the inorganic compound layer is formed in an excitation atmosphere of an organic silicon compound containing gas when an inorganic compound layer is formed on the surface of a polymer base. The production method of a film of the present invention can produce a film having a high gas barrier property against an oxygen gas, a water vapor and the like.
US07947329B2 Methods of applying a nanocrystalline diamond film to a cutting tool
Methods of applying a nanocrystalline diamond film to a cutting tool are provided. In the methods, the cutting tool comprises tungsten carbide and has a cutting edge with a radius of curvature of no more than about 1 μm. The methods can comprise seeding a cutting surface of the cutting tool with a diamond nanopowder, the cutting surface having a reduced cobalt content, and depositing a nanocrystalline diamond film having a thickness of no more than about 1 μm onto the seeded cutting surface. The methods can also comprise implanting carbon ions into a cutting surface of the cutting tool to provide a carbide rich cutting surface and depositing a nanocrystalline diamond film having a thickness of no more than about 1 μm onto the carbide-rich cutting surface.
US07947327B2 Method for increasing metal production in smelter operations
A process for improving recovery of metal values in a smelting operation of the type wherein sulfidic ores are pyrometallurgically reduced. The process includes adding an anionic or non-ionic surfactant and blends thereof to the ore.
US07947319B2 Dough compositions
A dough composition comprising gluten-free cereal flour, a water-soluble cellulose ether, and a low substituted cellulose ether having a molar substitution of 0.05-1.0 is provided. The bread made from the dough composition has a good mouthfeel and a satisfactory volume, retains softness over time, and are eatable by those patients of food allergy to wheat or the like.
US07947315B2 Dairy products and method of manufacturing the same
The present invention provides a dairy product with smooth oral sensation and suppressed acidic taste and bitter taste and a method for manufacturing the same, wherein a protein deamidating enzyme is added to raw milk to act on the milk protein in the raw milk.
US07947311B2 Insect repellent concentrate formulation
A non-toxic insect repellent concentrate formulation utilizing a plurality of all natural active components has been proven to be effective in repelling mosquitoes for periods of between six to eight weeks, with one application. The insect repellent concentrate formulation includes a plurality of natural essential oils comprising at least one emulsifying agent to maintain the oils in a stable solution. A pH conditioning agent may be added to assure the formulation is pH balanced for application to grass, plants, and trees, without detriment. The formulation may be provided as either a concentrate, or at dilutions ready for direct application, and may be applied by any of a variety of methods including broadcast spraying, boom applicators, misting systems, aerosol spray devices, etc.
US07947308B2 Effervescent powders for inhalation
Effervescent powders comprising inhalable particles are disclosed, as are methods for preparing these powders. The inhalable carrier particles comprise an inorganic or organic carbonate, and an acid, and exhibit effervescence when exposed to water or humid air. The particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter suitable for nasal, bronchial, or pulmonary administration. The inhalable particles may be used as carriers for active agents. The inhalable particles may also be used to enhance permeability of mucosal and surface barriers on an inner surface of the nose, mouth, airway, and/or lungs of a patient, as well as to loosen, thin, cleanse, and remove mucus and extrinsic surface materials from an inner surface of the nose, mouth, airway, and/or lungs of a patient in need thereof.
US07947307B2 Methods and compositions for imaging
The present invention is directed to compositions useful as imaging agents for use in monitoring atherosclerotic plaque regression using, for example, MRI, CT, Gamma-scintigraphy, or optical imaging techniques. Methods and compositions of using the same are described.
US07947300B2 Resorbable thin membranes
Resorbable lactide polymer thin membranes are disclosed. The thin membranes are constructed of polylactide resorbable polymers, which are engineered to be absorbed into the body relatively slowly over time in order to reduce potential negative side effects. The membranes are formed to have very thin thicknesses, for example, thicknesses between about 0.010 mm and about 0.300 mm. The membranes can be extruded from polylactide polymers having a relatively high viscosity property, can be preshaped with relatively thick portions, and can be stored in sterile packages.
US07947296B2 Mixtures of phenolic and inorganic materials with antimicrobial activity
Plastic films, fibers and articles are provided long-term antimicrobial activity with a combination of certain phenolic and inorganic antimicrobial agents. The plastic films, fibers and articles with antimicrobial activity exhibit superior resistance to discoloration, may be processed at high temperature, and maintain physical properties upon weathering, especially upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
US07947293B2 Aqueous pharmaceutical formulation
The invention concerns a stable aqueous pharmaceutical composition comprising 5-[(2RS)-2-cyclopropyl-7,8-dimethoxy-2H-1-benzopyran-5-ylmethyl]-pyrimidine-2,4-diamine in form of the water soluble methanesulfonic acid salt, a physiological sodium chloride solution, ethanol and Povidone 12 PF, the liquid having a pH of over and above 4.8, but not higher than 5.2, and wherein the oxygen amount is controlled to be 0.8 ppm or less; which can be sterilized by filtration and/or by heated treatment, stored for longer time periods and which can be use for bolus injection or diluted for i.v. infusion.
US07947279B2 Peptide having hydrolase activity
The invention is directed to methods for increasing learning and memory in a subject with a neuropathological condition, specifically a condition related to elevated beta-amyloid deposition, the method comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of a compound capable of increasing the activity of Uch-L1. The invention is also directed to screening methods for identifying compounds that enhance the activity of the proteasome system, Uch-L1, or both.
US07947276B2 Antibodies and molecules derived therefrom that bind to STEAP-1 proteins
Antibodies and molecules derived therefrom that bind to novel STEAP-1 protein, and variants thereof, are described wherein STEAP-1 exhibits tissue specific expression in normal adult tissue, and is aberrantly expressed in the cancers listed in Table I. Consequently, STEAP-1 provides a diagnostic, prognostic, prophylactic and/or therapeutic target for cancer. The STEAP-1 gene or fragment thereof, or its encoded protein, or variants thereof, or a fragment thereof, can be used to elicit a humoral or cellular immune response; antibodies or T cells reactive with STEAP-1 can be used in active or passive immunization.
US07947275B2 Compositions and methods for demonstrating secretory immune system regulation of steroid hormone responsive cancer cell growth
Serum-containing and serum-free immunoglobulin inhibitors of steroid hormone responsive cancer cell growth are disclosed, along with their methods of production. Also disclosed are defined cell culture media, assay protocols, and model systems using the inhibitors for demonstrating steroid hormone growth effects of natural and synthetic substances, and other cell culture applications. The disclosed compositions and methods employing the immunoglobulin inhibitors are also useful as reagents in research, and for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mucus epithelial cancers.
US07947273B2 Human antibody molecules for IL-13
Specific binding members, in particular human anti-IL-13 antibody molecules and especially those which neutralise IL-13 activity. Methods for using anti-IL-13 antibody molecules in diagnosis or treatment of IL-13 related disorders, including asthma, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease and Hodgkin's lymphoma.
US07947266B2 Perivascular mesenchymal precursor cells
Mesenchymal precursors cells have been isolated from perivascular niches from a range of tissues utilizing a perivascular marker. A new mesenchymal precursor cell phenotype is described characterized by the presence of the perivascular marker 3G5, and preferably also alpha smooth muscle actin together with early developmental markers such as MUC 18, VCAM-1 and STRO-1bri. The perivascular mesenchymal precursor cell is multipotential and is shown to form, vascular tissue, as well as bone marrow dentin and pulp. A method of enriching using cell sorting based on these markers is also described.
US07947263B2 Biocompatible surgical compositions
Biocompatible synthetic macromer compositions are provided including a first polymer having multiple functional groups and a second functionalized polyurethane prepolymer, which can be employed as an adhesive or sealant for medical/surgical uses.
US07947262B2 Use of fullerenes for the treatment of mast cell and basophil-mediated disease
Mast cell (MC) and peripheral blood basophil (PBB)-associated diseases are treated or prevented, or their symptoms are alleviated by the administration of water soluble fullerenes (buckeyballs) to the individual under conditions sufficient to inhibit MC and PBB responses. MC and PBB responses are associated with, for example, various allergies including Type 1 hypersensitivity initiated by IgE-antigen, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, urticaria, atopic dermatitis, heart disease, etc. The treatment regimen can be enhanced using Chimeric fullerenes that specifically home to and inhibit MC and PBB cells. These molecules, for example, comprise fullerenes to which are attached IgE Fc or stem cell factor (SCF) peptides that bind to receptors specifically on MC and PBB cells. Additional molecules which may be used in the processes include IgE Fc or SCF peptides with several fullerenes covalently attached.
US07947261B2 Conjugates formed from polymer derivatives having particular atom arrangements
Polymeric reagents are provided comprising a moiety of atoms arranged in a specific order, wherein the moiety is positioned between a water-soluble polymer and a reactive group. The polymeric reagents are useful for, among other things, forming polymer-active agent conjugates. Related methods, compositions, preparations, and so forth are also provided.
US07947260B2 Low temperature-stable creamy wash composition
Creamy wash composition containing (A) at least one N-long-chain-acyl acidic amino acid or a salt thereof, (B) at least one polyhydric alcohol, (C) at least one nonionic surfactant, (D) at least one salt of a divalent or higher cation and a monovalent or higher anion, and (E) water are stable at a low temperature and exhibit good foaming properties and a good feeling upon use.
US07947259B2 Hair care compositions
The invention provides a hair care composition comprising a water-soluble, nonionic polymer of ethylene oxide and a water-soluble, nonionic cellulose ether.
US07947255B2 Fluorescent substrates for neurotransmitter transporters
The invention is based on the finding that IDT307 and analogs thereof are fluorescent substrates transported by several neurotransmitter transporters. Provided are methods for the analysis of neurotransmitter transport and binding using IDT307 and its analogs. The invention also provides rapid methods for screening for modulators of neurotransmitter transport.
US07947252B2 Microporous crystalline material, zeolite ITQ-33, method of preparation and use
The invention relates to a microporous crystalline material which is characterised in that it has the following chemical composition in the calcined state: X2O3:n YO2:m GeO2, wherein (n+m) is equal to at least 5, X is a trivalent element, Y corresponds to one or more tetravalent elements other than Ge and the Y/Ge ratio is greater than 1. Moreover, in the synthesised form without calcination, said material has an X-ray diffraction pattern in which the main lines thereof are as follows: (1), in which (mf) represents relative intensity of between 80 and 100, “d” represents relative intensity of between 20 and 40 and “md” represents relative intensity of between 0 and 20, which is calculated as a percentage with respect to the most intense peak. The invention also relates to the method of preparing said material and the use thereof in the conversion of food products comprising organic compounds.
US07947251B2 Catalyst for hydrogen production from water gas shift reaction
Fe—Al—Cu catalysts have numerous industrial applications, for example, as catalysts in a water gas shift reactor. A method of producing a Fe—Al—Cu catalyst comprises the steps of providing an organic iron precursor, dissolving the organic iron precursor in a solvent solution, adding an aqueous solution comprising aluminum nitrate and copper nitrate to the organic iron pre-cursor-solvent solution, precipitating a gel comprising Fe—Al—Cu by adding a base, and drying the gel to form the Fe—Al—Cu catalyst.
US07947245B2 Method for producing nanocarbon and catalytic reaction device for producing nanocarbon
A cylindrical screw feeder main body, catalyst feeding portions for introducing a catalyst into the screw feeder main body, low hydrocarbon feeding portions for introducing a low hydrocarbon into the screw feeder main body as a raw material, a screw for conveying the catalyst and nanocarbon produced by pyrolysis of the low hydrocarbon in the feeder main body, a solid matter discharging portion for discharging the catalyst and the nanocarbon conveyed by the screw out of the screw feeder main body and a gas discharging portion for discharging the unreacted low hydrocarbon and hydrogen produced by the pyrolysis of the low hydrocarbon out of the screw feeder main body are provided. Nanocarbon grown with the catalyst as top with time is continuously discharged out of the screw feeder main body while unused catalyst is being fed thereto at the same amount as that of nanocarbon, allowing efficient continuous reaction.
US07947242B2 Cement kiln chlorine/sulfur bypass system
A cement kiln chlorine/sulfur bypass system wherein the equipment cost is suppressed and the sulfur included in a combustion gas bled from a cement kiln is separated and effectively utilized. The cement kiln chlorine/sulfur bypass system comprises an air bleed means for bleeding a kiln exhaust gas passage, which runs from the end of the cement kiln to a bottom cyclone, of a part of the combustion gas, a separating means for separating dust in the gas bled by the air bleed means into coarse particles and fine particles, and a wet dust collector for collecting dust from the gas containing the fine particles separated by the separating means. The separating means is preferably a classifier in which the cut size is changeable. The wet dust collector is preferably a mixing scrubber. The mixing scrubber preferably comprises a circulating liquid tank to which dust slurry collected by the mixing scrubber is supplied and a circulating system by which a part of the dust slurry in the circulating liquid tank is returned to the mixing scrubber.
US07947239B2 Carbon dioxide capture and mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions
The present invention describes methods and systems for extracting, capturing, reducing, storing, sequestering, or disposing of carbon dioxide (CO2), particularly from the air. The CO2 extraction methods and systems involve the use of chemical processes, mineral sequestration, and solid and liquid sorbents. Methods are also described for extracting and/or capturing CO2 via condensation on solid surfaces at low temperature.