Document Document Title
US08182607B2 In-situ crystalline material screening apparatus and method
There is provided a method and apparatus for assessing in-situ crystal formation in a test sample. Both optical imaging and X-ray diffraction techniques are utilized, with the results of these processes being combined in such a way as to produce an overall score relating to the aptness of crystalline material for harvesting and subsequent X-ray crystallography.
US08182605B2 Cementitious veneer and laminate material incorporating reinforcing fibers
A cementitious veneer and laminate composition is provided. The cementitious laminate composition includes a substrate, a primer layer applied to the substrate, the primer layer comprising a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol catalyst, Portland cement, and sand; and a cementitious veneer layer applied to the primer layer, the cementitious veneer layer comprising a mixture of magnesium sulfate, filler, magnesium oxide, gypsum cement or bassanite, cellulose ethers, and polyvinyl alcohol catalyst. The polyvinyl alcohol catalyst comprises a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol fibers dissolved in water and mixed with butylene carbonate. The veneer layer is applied to the substrate and primer layer by means including spraying and manual spreading, and can be ornamentally manipulated either before or after curing of the veneer layer. The veneer composition can be formed into laminated tiles or panels for use in building applications.
US08182604B2 Microbial biocementation
A method of forming a high strength cement in a permeable starting material, the method comprising the step of combining the starting material with effective amounts of (i) a urease producing micro-organism; (ii) urea; and (iii) calcium ions and wherein the effective amount of the urease producing organism provides a urea hydrolysis rate, under standard conditions, of 0.5-50 mM urea hydrolysed.min−1.
US08182599B2 Carbon-containing refractory, production method thereof, and pitch-containing refractory raw material
A configuration in which particles of pitch 2 having a softening point in the range of 70 to 200° C. and a diameter equal to or smaller than 30 μm are held on the surfaces of particles of a refractory raw material 3 having a diameter equal to or smaller than 50 μm is employed. This pitch-containing refractory raw material 1 can be used with the pitch being in a fine-particle form without any aggregation even after the long-term storage. Using it as a part of a raw material formulation allows the fine particles of pitch to be uniformly dispersed during the mixing or kneading process. The resulting carbon-containing refractory has an excellent corrosion resistance. It also provides suppressed increase in the Young's modulus while maintaining the level of strength, thereby being excellent in thermal spalling resistance even with the carbon content ratio being low.
US08182598B2 Violet colorant for colour filters, inks for ink-jet electrophotographic toners and developers and e-inks
The invention relates to the use of a pigment preparation comprising a) a dioxazine compound of the formula (I) as base pigment and b) a dioxazine compound of the formula (II) as pigment dispersant Q-[Y—X]M   (II) in which Q is an m-valent radical of the base pigment of the formula (I), Y is a bridging moiety, X is in particular a heterocycle, and m indicates a numerical value between 1 and 4 as a colorant in color filters, ink-jet inks, electrophotographic toners and developers, and electronic inks.
US08182597B2 Thermal ink jet ink composition
A solvent-based inkjet ink composition for inkjet printing includes at least 50 weight percent solvent, a colorant, a humectant, from 0.3 weight % to 8 weight % of a binder resin, and not more than 5 weight percent water. The ink composition is compatible with components of a thermal ink jet printer.
US08182583B1 Mercury control activated carbon management
A method, system, and computer readable storage medium for managing powdered activated carbon (PAC) injections for controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers. A mercury concentration value received from a mercury continuous emissions monitor is stored in the plant control system database. A PAC injection rate from an activated carbon injection system also is stored in the plant control system database. If the mercury concentration value is greater than the mercury setpoint, a signal is sent to the activated carbon injection system to increase PAC injection by a predetermined value. If the mercury concentration value is less than the mercury setpoint, a signal is sent to the activated carbon injection system to decrease PAC injection by a predetermined value.
US08182581B2 High stability diionic liquid salts
The present invention relates to diionic liquid salts of dicationic or dianionic molecules, as well as solvents comprising diionic liquids and the use of diionic liquids as the stationary phase in a gas chromatographic column.
US08182575B2 Producing method of direct reduced iron
A producing method of direct reduced iron includes the steps of: drying an oxidized iron raw material selected from a group including iron ore and iron-making dust generated in an iron-making process to have a predetermined moisture content; mixing the oxidized iron raw material subjected to the drying step and a reducing material having a predetermined moisture content to obtain a mixture; pulverizing the mixture obtained in the mixing step for 80% minus-sieve to have a particle diameter of 70 μm to 500 μm; kneading the mixture after the moisture content of the mixture subjected to the pulverizing step is adjusted; agglomerating the mixture subjected to the kneading step to be agglomerate; and reducing the agglomerate obtained in the agglomerating step by a rotary hearth furnace to generate direct reduced iron.
US08182569B2 Separator arrangement for gas/liquid separation; apparatus; and, methods
A serviceable gas/liquid separator is provided. The gas/liquid separator has a cross-section with one long axis and one short axis, with an aspect ratio of at least 1.3. A preferred cross-section, is an elliptical cross-section. Assemblies in which the separator unit can be used, are provided. In addition methods of use and construction are provided.
US08182566B2 Fuel gas conditioning system
A feed gas conditioner includes a pressure vessel that encloses at least part of a pre-heater. The pre-heater has an inlet for connection to a source of feed gas and an outlet for delivering the feed gas into the interior of the pressure vessel. An electrical heater element located within the pre-heater increases the temperature of the feed gas as it flows through the pre-heater. An expansion valve reduces the pressure of the feed gas as it flows from the pre-heater so as to initiate condensation. A super heater is at least partially located within the pressure vessel and has an inlet within the interior of the pressure vessel. A filter is in a flow path in the pressure vessel leading from the pre-heater heater to the super heater for removing condensate from the feed gas. An electrical heater element is in the super heater for heating the feed gas.
US08182560B2 Method for gasifying hydrocarbon materials for the production of hydrogen
A process for gasifying hydrocarbon-containing materials and separating the resultant stream into hydrogen gas and other useful products.
US08182552B2 Process for dyeing a textile web
In a process for dyeing a textile web having a first face and a second face opposite the first face, dye is applied to the textile web and the web is then moved in an open configuration thereof over a contact surface of an ultrasonic vibration system with the textile web in direct contact with the contact surface of the ultrasonic vibration system. The ultrasonic vibration system is operated to impart ultrasonic energy to the textile web to facilitate the distribution of dye throughout the web. The web is then moved further in its open configuration through a microwave application chamber of a microwave system and the microwave system is operated to impart microwave energy to the web in the microwave application chamber to facilitate binding of the dye to the web.
US08182548B2 Electronic device client and server system and method
An electronic device security and tracking system. A system includes one or more clients, wherein the clients are electronic devices; and a server computer system connected to each of the clients, wherein the server computer system is capable of tracking and locating each of the clients. In one aspect, the server computer system includes one or more web servers coupled to each of the clients, wherein the web servers include a website for the electronic device security and tracking system; one or more file transfer protocol servers coupled to each of the web servers; and one or more database servers connected to each of the web servers.
US08182530B2 Methods and devices for repair or replacement of heart valves or adjacent tissue without the need for full cardiopulmonary support
Methods and systems for endovascular, endocardiac, or endoluminal approaches to a patient's heart to perform surgical procedures that may be performed or used without requiring extracorporeal cardiopulmonary bypass. Furthermore, these procedures can be performed through a relatively small number of small incisions. These procedures may illustratively include heart valve implantation, heart valve repair, resection of a diseased heart valve, replacement of a heart valve, repair of a ventricular aneurysm, repair of an arrhythmia, repair of an aortic dissection, etc. Such minimally invasive procedures are preferably performed transapically (i.e., through the heart muscle at its left or right ventricular apex).
US08182520B2 Apparatus for altering the body temperature of a patient
Apparatus for altering the body temperature of a patient includes an enclosure defining an interior space for receiving at least a portion of a patient's body therein. The enclosure is constructed to conduct a heat transfer liquid into direct contact with the portion of the patient's body received in the interior space to promote heat transfer between the patient's body and the heat transfer liquid. A reservoir for holding a supply of heat transfer liquid is disposed on the enclosure.
US08182516B2 Rod capture mechanism for dynamic stabilization and motion preservation spinal implantation system and method
A dynamic stabilization, motion preservation spinal implant system includes an anchor system, a horizontal rod system and a vertical rod system. The systems are modular so that various constructs and configurations can be created and customized to a patient.
US08182512B2 Facet joint prosthetic replacement and method
The present disclosure provides prosthesis, methods, and kits for replacing a facet joint, in particular prosthesis, methods, and kits for replacing a spinal motion segment comprising a facet joint. The prosthesis includes a first and second member that interlock to form a sliding joint.
US08182511B2 Craniospinal fusion method and apparatus
A spinal stabilization system that may be used to fix craniocervical junction. The system includes a cranial spinal attachment system that anchors one or more surgical instruments to a cranial surface using at least one cranial clamp and cranial fastener. The cranial spinal attachment system may be positioned along a perimeter of a cranial defect.
US08182504B2 Nasal dilator and uses thereof
A mechanical nasal dilator includes a frame provided with support plates (6,6′) at its ends, the frame including a central extranasal portion (1) and two intranasal portions (2,2′), wherein the extranasal portion (2) of the frame is globally U-shaped, whereof the central portion is elastic and spaces apart the nose wings by spring effect, the end of each of the branches of the U being itself U-shaped whereof one branch forms one part of the extranasal portion of the frame and the other branch, located between the branches of the extranasal portion of the frame, forms the intranasal portions (2,2′).
US08182503B2 Prostate massage apparatus
An apparatus for massaging a prostate includes a body having a substantially ellipsoid shape and sized to fit in a rectum through a sphincter, wherein the body comprises a head portion and a neck portion, wherein the head portion is configured to contact the prostate through the rectum wall when inserted in the rectum, and wherein the neck portion has a tapered section with gradually reducing diameters distal to the head portion; and a retainer bar joined the body at one end of the neck portion to form a substantially T-shaped structure, wherein the retainer bar comprises two contact points for contacting a first acupressure point, which is located in the perineum region between the anus and the scrotum, and a second acupressure point, which is located about midway between the anus and the lower end of the coccyx.
US08182497B2 Closure device
A clip for engaging tissue includes a generally annular-shaped body defining a plane and disposed about a central axis extending normal to the plane. The body includes alternating inner and outer curved regions, defining a zigzag pattern about a periphery of the clip. The body is biased towards a planar configuration lying in the plane and deflectable towards a transverse configuration extending out of the plane. Tines extend from the inner curved regions, the tines being oriented towards the central axis in the planar configuration, and parallel to the central axis in the transverse configuration. The tines include primary tines and secondary tines that are shorter than the primary tines. The primary tines may be disposed on opposing inner curved regions and oriented towards one another. The primary tines are configured such that they are offset from the axes of symmetry of the curved regions from which they extend and are connected to the curved regions by curved or linear regions or are connected directly to the curved regions. The primary tines may overlap the body and may be of different lengths.
US08182496B2 Degradable composite material with fibres having various degradation rates
A degradable composite comprising a degradable matrix, a first fiber type and a second fiber type, wherein the first fiber type has a different rate of degradation to that of the second fiber type.
US08182495B2 Suture tensioner with gauge
A tensioner for a tightening a surgical knot has a squeeze handle and a pair of jaw arms that pivot from a common point behind the handle. The jaw arms have a jaw clamp at the distal tip to clamp onto the suture material, and a release handle at the proximal or butt end. A spreader or distractor mechanism may be a pantographic arrangement of struts joined to anchor points on the jaw arms. This converts axial motion of an actuator rod into a lateral distractive force. A tension gauge in the handle indicates the amount of tension being applied to the suture material.
US08182492B2 Medical instrument, especially uterus manipulator
A medical instrument, especially a uterus manipulator, comprises a shaft, an actuator movable relative to said shaft in order to move a tool and a locking device to lock the actuator relative to the shaft. It is now proposed that the locking device comprises a clamping element which is slidably arranged therein.
US08182488B2 Apparatus and method for implementing patella resection guide during minimally invasive surgery
An improved patella resection guide and a method for applying the patella resection guide during the performance of knee arthroplasty. The patella resection guide includes a plurality of gripping handles having a corresponding plurality of pivotally interconnected crossover members at distal ends of said gripping handles, an opening in each pivotally interconnecting crossover member wherein one crossover member is position inside another crossover member, a stem having a proximal end connected to each gripping handle and each pivotally interconnected crossover member wherein the members are intertwined at a crossing point and are adjoined by fastening means to said stem, and further having a distal end comprised of a female receptor, a clamp having a top flange and side flange, and adjustable locking means for fixing a distance between the teeth of the top flange.
US08182483B2 Orthopaedic device to be associated with the outside of a bone
The present invention regards an orthopedic device to be associated with the outside of a bone and of the type comprising a support rail, extended along a central longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the bone, at least two clamps mounted slidably along the axis on the support rail and supporting endosseous screws insertable into the bone, and a distractor/compressor device removably attachable to the two clamps by means of respective connection pins inserted into corresponding holes of each clamp, wherein each clamp comprises a clamp body having a base or lower jaw and a lid, or upper jaw as well as two screws for fixing the upper jaw to the lower jaw Advantageously the holes for the connection pins are aligned along a line that is extended substantially parallel to the axis with at least one hole for the connection pins of the remaining clamp also being aligned along the line, thus making the overall structure of the clamps mounted on the orthopedic device particularly compact.
US08182481B2 PFO closing device
A PFO closing device includes a suction and hold portion at a distal portion of a catheter for sucking and holding biological tissue of a foramen ovale valve and an atrial septum secundum from one side, an electrode portion on the side contacting the biological tissue; a negative pressure supply unit for applying negative pressure to the suctional portion and hold portion, a hold mechanism adapted to protrude from the distal tip of the catheter, and be inserted into the foramen ovale to hold the foramen ovale valve while pressing it from the other side and an energy supply unit for supplying energy to the electrode portion. Energy is supplied from the energy supply unit to the electrode portion, and the foramen ovale valve and the atrial septum secundum are mutually fused together.
US08182480B2 Insulated tube for suction coagulator
An electrosurgical suction coagulator includes a housing having proximal and distal ends and a substantially malleable elongated tube-like shaft extending longitudinally from a distal end thereof. The elongated tube-like shaft includes a tube-like outer wall having a tube-like dielectric sheath at least partially disposed thereon. A tube-like electrode is disposed coaxially through the tube-like outer wall and is configured to operably couple to a source of electrosurgical energy. A distal end of the tube-like electrode protrudes at least partially from a distal end of the tube-like outer wall and the tube-like electrode has at the distal end thereof at least one aspiration port defined therein. The tube-like electrode is adapted at the proximal end thereof to operably couple to a source of suction. A vacuum space is disposed concentrically between the tube-like electrode and the tube-like outer wall to impede the propagation of thermal energy along the tube-like shaft.
US08182473B2 Cooling system for a photocosmetic device
Photocosmetic device for use in medical or non-medical environments (e.g., a home, barbershop, or spa), which can be used for a variety of tissue treatments. Radiation is delivered to the tissue via optical systems designed to pattern the radiation and project the radiation to a particular depth. The device has a variety of cooling systems including phase change cooling solids and liquids to cool treated skin and the radiation sources. Contact sensors and motion sensor may be used to enhance treatment. The device may be modular to facilitate manufacture and replacement of parts.
US08182472B2 Intrastromal refractive correction systems and methods
Devices, systems, and methods for laser eye surgery selectively ablate tissues within the cornea of an eye along one or more target surfaces, so that corneal tissue bordered by the laser incision surface(s) can be mechanically removed. An appropriate tissue-shaping surface can be selected based on the regular refractive error of the eye, and a shape of the target laser surface(s) can be calculated so as to correct irregular refractive errors of the eye, impose desired additional sphero-cylindrical and/or irregular alterations.
US08182469B2 Surgical accessory clamp and method
A surgical accessory clamp, method of use, and a robotic surgical system including the clamp are disclosed. A surgical accessory may be attached and removed from a manipulator arm during a surgical procedure without requiring the use of an intermediate sterile accessory clamp, thus removing the need for a detachable accessory mount or adaptor that needs cleaning and sterilization and allowing for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The accessory clamp further allows for easy removal and attachment of instruments, tools, or accessories to the robotic surgical system without breach of sterility. In one embodiment, an accessory clamp includes a base for coupling to a distal end of a manipulator arm; two clamp jaws adapted to receive a surgical accessory, each of the clamp jaws rotatably coupled to the base and configured to pivot relative to one another; a sterile drape portion over the two clamp jaws; and a lever portion capable of actuating the two clamp jaws into an open position or a closed position.
US08182464B2 Method for intravesical drug delivery
Implant devices for intravesical administration and local drug delivery. The device has a body which includes a hollow tube formed of a biocompatible material; at least one reservoir in the tube which contains a drug; and one or more apertures through which the drug can be released. The device is configured for minimally invasive insertion into a body cavity, such as the bladder. The hollow tube may be elastomeric to permit the device to be elastically deformed from its initial shape into an elongated shape for passage through a catheter, where following such passage the device can return to or toward its initial shape to facilitate retention of the device in the body cavity. The body may have a narrow, elongated shape effective to permit insertion of the drug delivery device through a catheter without necessarily deforming the body, yet include flexible projections which effect retention within the body cavity.
US08182461B2 Syringe pump rapid occlusion detection system
An apparatus, method and program product detects an occlusion in a fluid line by determining if a relationship between force measurements departs from an expected relationship.
US08182460B2 Infusion device and method for infusing material into the brain of a patient
A fluid infusion device and a method of using the same. The device includes an outer, flexible guide catheter having a distal end for introduction beneath the skull of a patient and a proximal end remaining external of the patient. A flexible infusion fiber is located within the guide catheter and has a distal end extending outwardly from the guide catheter to be located in a target area within the patient's brain. The infusion fiber can be fixed or axially movable within the guide catheter. In the latter embodiment, the proximal end of the infusion fiber extending outwardly from the guide catheter can be manipulated to locate the distal end of the infusion fiber in the target area. An infusion pump is connected to the proximal end of the infusion fiber to infuse a minute quantity of fluid at an extremely low flow rate into the brain of the patient.
US08182457B2 Garment having an apparent elastic band
A disposable garment includes a chassis defining one or more openings for the legs, arms, waist or the like on a wearer. An apparent elastic band is located in the vicinity of at least one of the openings. The apparent elastic band looks and functions like an elastic band, but is not an elastic band, and is less expensive to implement than an elastic band.
US08182444B2 Delivery of agents such as cells to tissue
A system for delivering a fluid comprising cells to tissue of a patient includes a container holding an injection fluid and a powered drive. A sensor system provides a measurement indicative of at least shear forces on the cells to a control system. Based at least in part on this measurement, the control system is adapted to transmit a control signal to the powered drive for pressurizing the contents of the container to deposit cells within the tissue of a patient via a fluid path and a patient interface. As an example, the cells can be pregenitor or stem cells.
US08182443B1 Drug administration controller
A drug administration controller has a sensor that generates a sensor signal to a physiological measurement device, which measures a physiological parameter in response. A control output responsive to the physiological parameter or a metric derived from the physiological parameter causes a drug administration device to affect the treatment of a person, such as by initiating, pausing, halting or adjusting the dosage of drugs administered to the person.
US08182442B2 Pyloric valve devices and methods
A pyloric valve is provided for inhibiting the flow of chyme through the pyloric region of the gastrointestinal tract. The pyloric valve includes a blocking portion having a plurality of disc-shaped flanges connected in series. The blocking portion may be disposed in a contracted position wherein the plurality of disc-shaped flanges is disposed in a stacked configuration and a resting position wherein the plurality of disc-shaped flanges is disposed in a linear configuration. The pyloric valve may further include a sleeve that may have a beveled distal end. The pyloric valve may be constructed of silicon. Also provided are methods of inserting and removing the pyloric valve, which each include a step of manipulating the support between its resting and contracted positions. Insertion and removal systems are also provided for use with the pyloric valve.
US08182439B2 Individual body support system
A body support system having a frame with a vertical section that couples with a shoulder section and a hip section that are flexible and configured to fit over the shoulders and around a user's hips. The hip elements are coupled to the vertical section and allow limited pelvic rotation around vertical axis orthogonal to the vertical section. The hip elements are configured to use a latching hip strap to couple hip padding to the hip elements. The vertical section may have spinal padding for the thoracic portion of the spine. The shoulder section has shoulder elements are curved and coupled to form a yoke that fits over the shoulders. The yoke may couple to lifting straps. The vertical section may be curved to conform to the shape of a user's back.
US08182438B2 Orthotic device
One embodiment the device described herein relates to orthotic devices, and more particularly to a modular type body brace worn about a portion of the body, and one or more removably attached body panels associated with the body brace for supporting the portion of the body. The body panels are preferably contoured to the physiology of the portion of the body and have a relatively thicker core and progressively thinner peripheral region to provide dynamic flex response when supporting the portion of the body.
US08182435B2 Intraocular pressure sensor
An implantable intraocular pressure sensor system has a sealed geometric shape with an internal pressure at a first value. A strain gauge wire is embedded in a surface of the sealed geometric shape. When the surface is deflected by intraocular pressure, a measured resistance of the strain gauge wire indicates the intraocular pressure. The system also has a processor coupled to a power source and memory. The processor is configured to read the measured resistance and write values corresponding to intraocular pressure to the memory.
US08182430B2 Thermocromatic patch for monitoring/detecting body temperature
A thermocromatic device for detecting body temperature includes a substrate treated with a thermocromatic composition. The thermocromatic composition includes a thermocromatic agent that changes color at a predetermined temperature indicative of a condition to be detected.
US08182424B2 Diary-free calorimeter
An indirect calorimeter estimates nutritional caloric intake by periodically monitoring weight and sensing physical exercise (i.e., physiological data and/or motion data related to physical exertion), which can then be used in a calorimetry model derived from regression analysis of a population (e.g., linear regression, feed-forward neural network, Gaussian process, boosted regression tree, etc.). A strap-on user device for tracking exercise can detect one or more of heart rate, body temperature, skin resistance, motion/acceleration sensing (e.g., pedometer, accelerometer), velocity sensing (e.g., global positioning system (GPS)), and an intelligent, integrated exercise machine (e.g., treadmill, exercise bike, etc.). To gain further fidelity, the user can fine-tune the estimate by undergoing a journal-based routine for a relatively short period of time or clinical calorimetry measurement (e.g., respiratory calorimeter), thereby providing a baseline for resting or exercising metabolic rate.
US08182416B1 Endoscopic device
An endoscope includes an insert portion, a display portion, a manipulation portion, a casing that houses the display portion and the manipulation portion at a front side, and to which the insert portion is connected at a back side, and a battery. The casing has an upper portion in which the display portion is housed and a lower portion in which the manipulation portion is housed. At least a portion of a back side of the lower portion is convex. The insert portion is connected to the convex portion of the back side of the lower portion at a position such that the insert portion extends between fingers of a single hand when a user holds the lower portion. And an opening for inserting and removing the battery is provided in a back side of the upper portion.
US08182415B2 Minimally invasive surgical system
A surgical instrument is inserted through a guide tube. A telemanipulation system moves the distal end of the surgical instrument in all six Cartesian degrees of freedom independently of any guide tube movements.
US08182408B2 Centrifugal separator with external bearings
A centrifugal separator includes a rotating centrifuge rotor having a casing which defines an inner separation space. A set of separation discs is provided in the inner separation space. The centrifugal separator includes a torque transmitting part connected to the centrifuge rotor. A drive motor drives the torque transmitting part for rotation of the centrifuge rotor. The drive motor has a first axial end turned towards the centrifuge rotor and a second axial end turned away from the centrifuge rotor. The centrifugal separator includes a stationary frame and a first bearing and a second bearing, which are connected to the frame. The torque transmitting part is rotatably journalled in the first bearing and the second bearing. The first bearing is provided between the drive motor and the centrifuge rotor. The second bearing is provided outside the second axial end of the drive motor.
US08182405B2 Developing roller, developing roller production method, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus
A developing roller is provided which supplies a toner to a photosensitive member to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member. The developing roller has a surface layer which includes carbon black and a polyurethane resin. The polyurethane resin has a specific structure. The surface layer has a specific ester group concentration and a specific urethane group concentration.
US08182401B2 Hammer motion exercise device
Embodiments herein include an impact-receiving member to receive an impact force imparted by a mass exerted by an exercise device user during a physical exercise workout session, a shock-absorbing mechanism to dissipate energy transferred from the mass exerted by the exercise device user, and a platform assembly to support the impact-receiving member and the shock-absorbing mechanism in a spatial orientation consistent with objectives of the physical exercise workout session.
US08182390B2 Method for controlling neutral modes in a multi-mode hybrid transmission
A method of clutch control includes engaging a first holding clutch to place the transmission in a first neutral mode and predicting a first EVT mode. The method begins tracking a first output clutch and predicts a second EVT mode. Tracking the first output clutch ends and tracking a second holding clutch begins. The method engages the second holding clutch to place the transmission in a second neutral mode, ending tracking of the second holding clutch. The first holding clutch is disengaged to place the transmission in a third neutral mode and the method begins tracking a second output clutch. Engaging the second output clutch places the transmission in the second EVT mode and ends tracking of the second output clutch. The engine may be placed into a speed control mode and the transmission placed into a full hydraulic neutral mode.
US08182375B2 Sports equipment stick with truss construction
A sports stick exhibiting a superior strength to weight ratio. The sports stick design allows for decreased flexure, increased rigidity and increased durability, which lend to greater generation of force, accuracy, reliability and longer life expectancy. The sports stick utilizes aerodynamic features in order to achieve an exposed truss like structure which permits airflow through the internal sections of the shaft which creates greater shaft acceleration and velocity. The sports stick also affords enhanced strength in the direction of a shot and receipt of a pass. The sports stick also provides for channeling away of fluids throughout the length of the stick. The sports stick also provides a system wherein weight can be regulated in multiple regions throughout by utilizing removable or fixed weighted elements or by sizing of cutaways strategically designed to be placed in a certain area of the stick, depending on player handling preference.
US08182374B1 Portable ping-pong set
A portable ping pong set having a net assembly comprising a first post having a first base member, a second post having a second base member, and a net fixedly secured within each of the first and second posts and extendible therebetween, the first and second base members operatively arranged to form an assembly base when the first and second base members are proximate one another, the assembly base having a first shape when the first and second base members are proximate one another; and, a paddle having a blade and retractable handle, the blade having a second shape, wherein the first shape and the second shape are substantially similar when the handle is retracted into the blade.
US08182369B2 Dual core golf ball having negative-hardness-gradient thermoplastic inner core and shallow positive-hardness-gradient thermoset outer core layer
A golf ball including a thermoplastic inner core and a thermoset outer core layer is described. The inner core has a surface hardness of 43 to about 65 Shore D and a center hardness of about 30 to 43 Shore D that is less than the surface hardness to define a positive hardness gradient. A cover includes an inner and outer cover layer. The thermoplastic inner core is formed from a highly-neutralized ionomer comprising a copolymer of ethylene and an α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid, an organic acid or salt thereof, and sufficient cation source to fully-neutralize the acid groups of the copolymer by 80% or greater. The outer core layer includes a polybutadiene rubber and has a surface hardness greater than an interior hardness by about 6 to 11 Shore D points to define a shallow positive hardness gradient.
US08182364B2 Golf clubs with cavities, and related methods
Embodiments of golf clubs with one or more cavities described herein.Related examples and methods are also disclosed herein.
US08182349B2 Ring and rotor coupling assembly
A coupling assembly includes a first coupling end operably connectable to a first shaft and a second coupling end operably connectable to a second shaft. A coupling body of a plastic material is located between and operably connected to the first coupling end and to the second coupling end. The coupling body includes at least one spring segment allowing relative motion between the first coupling end and the second coupling end along a coupling assembly axis. Also disclosed is a vehicle steering system utilizing the coupling assembly.
US08182339B2 Wagering game machine with three-dimensional wagering game effects
Systems and methods provide three-dimensional transformations on graphical images. The transformations may vary in accordance with various wagering game functions.
US08182337B2 Jackpot server, a method of processing a jackpot win and a gaming system
A method of processing a jackpot win in a gaming network comprising: providing a jackpot server: receiving jackpot claim data at the jackpot server; locking a jackpot record corresponding to the jackpot claim data; aggregating any outstanding jackpot contributions for the jackpot record from contributing parts of the gaming network to form a prize; and communicating prize data corresponding to the prize to a network destination identified by the jackpot claim data.
US08182330B2 Method of gaming, a gaming system and a game controller
A method of gaming comprising: selecting in each game round a plurality of symbols for display to a player in a set of display positions; superimposing a distorting element over one or more of the display positions so that one or more of the symbols can be modified, in response to determining that the distorting element should appear; and determining an outcome for each game round based on the selected symbols as modified by the distorting element.
US08182325B2 Gaming machine with challenge feature
A gaming system (10, 100) implementing a base game and a feature game. A game controller (101) controls play of the game. The gaming system has at least one display (14, 106) and a player interface (107). The feature game comprises at least one series of game events, in which a plurality of symbols from at least one predetermined symbol set that includes at least first and second symbols, are randomly selected and displayed on the at least one display (14, 106). The feature game is a challenge feature and during play of the feature game, the game controller (101) maintains in computer memory (103) counters for said at least first and second symbols, varies the value of said counters on the occurrence of the at least first and second symbols and causes the at least one display to show a value of the counters. The values of the counters are evaluated against predetermined competitive criteria to determine the outcome of the series of game events.
US08182320B2 Collectable card-based game in a massively multiplayer role-playing game
This disclosure generally describes a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) or, more specifically, a card-based MMORPG that enables characters in a virtual world to collect cards representing specified actions or powers and presents three-dimensional (3D) elements to players representing one or more aspects associated with the characters and environment. This 3D display can, in one implementation, offer a real-time combat engine that processes the card-based events. The 3D display may also offer hanging effects that dynamically present state information associated with the respective character. Further, the MMORPG may offer a real-time responsive and flexible chat management system.
US08182317B1 Handheld sanding implement
A handheld sanding implement includes an elongated handle resembling a toothbrush handle upon a first end is mounted a sanding pad. The sanding pad is attached to said handle via an affixing means. The sanding pad may be replaced with a spinning head that includes a plurality of sanding pads containing a sanding surface having the same or differing grits.
US08182315B2 Chemical mechanical polishing pad and dresser
The present invention discloses a Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) pad dresser used in lapping and polishing silicon wafers in either single or double sided polishing machines.
US08182300B2 Canine flotation apparatus
An improved canine flotation apparatus that uses a segmented panel construction and varying densities of foam within the panels of the apparatus to comfortably and evenly float canines of a wide variety of weights and dimensions. The chest yoke panel and belly panel cradles the canine in the apparatus, helping to keep the head above water. The chest yoke panel further provides a measure of insulation around the heart and lungs, permits easier lifting of the canine due to the more secure fit and facilitates more natural movement by the canine in the water.
US08182297B2 Latched connector assembly
A latched connector assembly includes a first connecting device and a second connecting device latched to each other. The first connecting device has a first casing and two terminal connectors received in the first casing. The first casing has first and second side walls. The first side walls have first engaging structures protruding outward. The second side walls each have an extending arm that has a second engaging structure. The second connecting device has a second casing and at least two terminal connectors received in the second casing. The second casing has third and fourth side walls. The third side walls have first engaging structures protruding outward. The fourth side walls each have a locking portion protruding outward for receiving the second engaging structures of the first connecting device. The terminal connectors are received, in opposite directions, in the first casing and the second casing, respectively.
US08182291B2 Connector shielding apparatus and methods
An electrical connector assembly having shielded cage assembly with at least one port for receiving modules, and methods of manufacture and use thereof. In one embodiment, the modules comprise SFP-type (small form-factor pluggable) modules, and the shielded cage assembly comprises an EMI shield member that is disposed at a port opening for the electrical connector assembly. In one variant, the EMI shield member can be disposed on the electrical connector cage assembly without the need for secondary processing techniques such as soldering, or resistance welding. This is accomplished via for example the utilization of mechanical snap features.
US08182289B2 High density electrical connector with variable insertion and retention force
An interconnection system that includes a daughter card and backplane electrical connectors mounted to printed circuit boards at connector footprints. The spring rate of beam-shaped contacts in the daughter card connector increases while mating with the backplane connector so that the retention force may be greater than the insertion force. Such a change in spring rate may be achieved by positioning the beam-shaped contacts adjacent a surface of a connector housing. That surface may include a projection that aligns with the beam-shaped contact. When the connectors are unmated, the beam-shaped contact may be spaced from the projection. As the connectors begin to mate, a central portion of the beam-shaped contact may be pressed against the projection, which has the effect of shortening the beam length and increasing its stiffness.
US08182284B2 Electrical connector assembly with improved fastening device
An electrical connector includes a housing including a mating portion defining a mating direction and located on the front portion thereof and a supporting portion rearward extending from the mating portion, a plurality of contacts receiving in the housing, a cover assembled on the housing, a plurality of cables electrically connected to the contacts. The housing further includes a pair of wing portions extending from an rear wall of the mating portion and defining substantially a Z-like configuration in a top view.
US08182280B1 Socket connector having cushioning arrangement facilitating smooth placement and ejection of electronic device
A socket connector includes a mating portion with a plurality of contacts received therein, a sidewall extending upwardly form the mating portion; and a movable supporting member mounted with the sidewall. The supporting member has a seating plane that is higher than a plane defined by utmost tips of the contacts when in a free position and does not extend over the contact field in the mating portion from a top view.
US08182269B2 Assembly for practicing a gliding or rolling sport
An assembly provided for the practice of a gliding, rolling, or walking sport, such as snowboarding, skateboarding, or snowshoeing, for example, the assembly including a device for receiving a foot or a boot, as well as a board. The assembly includes a system for marking the position of the receiving device with respect to the board (3), the marking system including a first marking arrangement associated with the receiving device, as well as a second marking arrangement associated with the board, the first and second marking arrangements being provided to cooperate with one another.
US08182268B2 Game apparatus and method for teaching core replacement behaviors
The present invention comprises a game apparatus and method for teaching and providing practice in core replacement behaviors, such as Asking the Question (i.e., Manding), Accepting “No”, Waiting and Sharing, to individuals with behavior challenges, including individuals with special needs. Grounded in principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis, the invention allow a trainer, through discrete trial training in an entertaining game format, to manipulate motivating operations in order to teach in a positive fashion these core replacement behaviors to a player. The method also incorporates the use of other procedural components, such as interspersing easy and difficult tasks and demand fading. Data as to a player's performance and progress in carrying out these core replacement behaviors may be collected and recorded both by trainers with respect to game sessions and by direct care providers in the natural environment.
US08182265B2 Endodontic instrument with multi-tapered flutes
A multi-tapered endodontic file is provided, formed from shaft of material having a shaft. The shaft includes a working portion having one or more tissue-removing edges, points and/or surfaces. The working portion includes at least a first flute and a second flute. The first flute is tapered along its length in accordance with a first predetermined taper function. The second flute is tapered along its length in accordance with a second predetermined taper function.
US08182260B2 Apparatus and method for forming tapered products
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming molded tapered products, such as masonry blocks, whereby high quality finished products are removed from their mold without the need for complex machinery for demolding. The mold may include one or more mold cavities having one or more movable cavity walls. The movable cavity walls may include an end liner having a planar product forming surface capable of moving from a vertical position to an angled position. Tapered products may be formed by moving the mold towards a pallet so that the pallet engages with the end liner and causes the end liner to move from the vertical position to the angled position. Moldable material may then be introduced into the mold cavity and may be allowed to remain in the mold cavity until it is self-sustaining. The mold may then be moved away from the pallet such that a molded product remains on the pallet, thereby allowing the end liner to move from the angled position to the vertical position.
US08182259B2 Flexible tooling method and apparatus
A molding apparatus comprises an upper molding box, a lower mold box, an upper flexible membrane covering an opening of the upper mold box, a lower flexible membrane covering an opening of the lower mold box, a heating system located in the upper mold box, a set of ports located between the upper flexible membrane and the lower flexible membrane capable of being used to draw a vacuum between the upper flexible membrane and the lower flexible membrane, and a displacement system located in the lower mold box under the lower flexible membrane.
US08182255B2 Device and apparatus for selective deposition of molten plastic material and method of manufacture by selective deposition
Device and apparatus for selective deposition of molten plastic material and method of manufacture by selective deposition. The device and the apparatus include a melting chamber communicated with a portion of a sonotrode of an ultrasonic transducer, a passage for feeding plastic material, and at least one outlet opening for supplying molten plastic material dropwise or continuously. A feeding of plastic material to the melting chamber is provided. The method includes feeding plastic material to the melting chamber configured in a device for selective deposition installed in a head of a piece of industrial manufacturing equipment, which is moved according to a strategy of its path defined by numerical control on a deposition area, and pouring plastic material melted by ultrasound through the outlet opening.
US08182243B2 Condensate pump
A condensate pump for an HVAC system includes a reservoir, a solenoid pump assembly with a solenoid pump, and a solenoid pump electronic control module for limiting the amount of energy delivered to the solenoid pump during one half cycle from an AC current source. The solenoid pump is mounted in the solenoid pump assembly by means of shock absorbing material, and the solenoid pump assembly is mounted on a support member with shock absorbing material interposed between the solenoid pump assembly and the support member.
US08182237B2 Rotary system for submerged pumps
ROTARY SYSTEM FOR SUBMERGED PUMPS. The rotary system (2), object of the present invention, is composed of a motoreducer assembly, which is coupled to a rotating shaft (5), through a pulley transmission system. At the lower part of the rotating shaft (5) the submerged pump (1) will be set.
US08182234B2 Spaceframe wind turbine energy converter structure
A wind turbine that includes a spaceframe mounted atop a support structure is provided. The spaceframe houses and is integrated with a wind turbine drivetrain. The spaceframe transfers primary rotor loads and drivetrain torque to the support structure.
US08182227B2 Wind turbine blade with lightning receptor
A wind turbine blade having two shell portions bonded together to form a wind turbine blade having an interior space having an axial length. A web disposed between the shell portions in the interior space and extending substantially the axial length thereof. Lightning receptors are disposed on the shell portions and a conductor is disposed in the interior space. The conductor is configured to contact the lightning receptors. One shell portion of the two shell portions has a removable section, e.g. a plug, receptor or panel, to provide access to the opposite conductor. A cable mounted on the web is configured to extend substantially the axial length of the wind turbine blade and is in electrical contact with the conductor.
US08182226B2 Built-in swing mechanism of rotary fan
The present invention provides an improved built-in swing mechanism of a rotary fan. The mechanism includes a ball-and-socket support frame, arranged onto front wall of the main casing corresponding to the axle center of a drive motor and provided with a spherical supporting surface and a through-hole. A spherical abut seat is fastened at a front end of the drive motor is provided with a spherical abut surface that couples with the spherical supporting surface. A punch hole is placed at the center of spherical abut surface for the penetration of the axle center. A crank linkage element is assembled between rear end of the drive motor and the rear wall of the main casing. The first end of the crank linkage element can be driven to enable the oscillation of the second end. The second end is assembled at a rotary pivot corresponding to the main casing.
US08182224B1 Turbine blade having a row of spanwise nearwall serpentine cooling circuits
A turbine blade with an array of cells arranged along the pressure side and suction side of the airfoil to provide near wall cooling to a thin thermal skin that forms the airfoil surface of the airfoil. The blade includes a main spar that forms the support for the thin thermal skin and includes a number of cooling air supply cavities and cooling air discharge cavities formed in an alternating manner along the chordwise length of the airfoil. A row of cells extend along the spanwise direction of the airfoil and includes a mini serpentine flow passage with an inlet hole connected to the adjacent supply cavity and a discharge hole connected to the adjacent collector cavity. The cooling air flow and pressure can be controlled for each of the cells by sizing the metering inlet hole to control the metal temperature of the airfoil as selected locations.
US08182220B2 Kinetically modulated fan structure
A kinetically modulated fan structure is provided. The fan structure comprises a housing, a plurality of blades and an equilibrating structure, wherein the equilibrating structure is disposed on the inner side of the housing, and formed integrally with the housing and the blades. Thereby, the fan structure is adapted to be kinetically equilibrated during the manufacturing process. As a result, the modulation of the kinetic equilibrium with respect to the fan structure is eliminated since all of the yielded fan structures are uniform in quality. The simplified production is both time efficient and cost efficient, while producing a durable product.
US08182210B2 Heat shield segment for a stator of a gas turbine
A gas turbine includes a turbine housing; a rotatable turbine rotor with turbine blades; and at least one heat shield segment for a stator. The heat shield segment is disposed radially between the rotor and the housing and attached to the housing and has a profile with a curved section in at least one region in an axial direction of the gas turbine and a radial outer surface. The heat shield segment includes a rib, a first boss, and a second boss disposed on the radial outer surface.
US08182206B2 Ring seals for gas sealing and vibration damping
A connection device for connecting two turbine housings (1, 2) of a two-stage turbocharging system includes a male/female joint for joining the two turbine housings; a cylindrical ring seal (3) installed under compression inside the male/female joint for sealing exhaust gas; and a vibration damper (4) in a shape of a flat washer and placed between the two housings. The cylindrical ring seal can be made of stainless steel mesh impregnated with vermiculite or graphite. The vibration damper can be made of stainless steel mesh but not impregnated.
US08182193B2 Trailer for transporting freight containers and method of use
A trailer for transporting a freight container is comprised of a frame having a front frame section which is adapted to be coupled to a suitable road vehicle. A pair of displaceable horizontal side beams are secured to the front frame section and are provided with a hingeable rear gate formed by a pair of hinge arms. Each of the side beams has a suspension assembly to support a tandem wheel arrangement. Retractable vertical lifting piston cylinders are secured to a portion of the front frame and to the pair of hinge arms and are actuable to lift the pair of horizontal side beams and its wheels above a ground surface. Laterally extendable piston cylinders are also secured to the front frame and the hinge arms to displace the horizontal side beams outwardly and inwardly with respect to one another when lifted off the ground surface. Container lifting posts are secured to opposed ends of the front frame section and the hinge arms for removable connection to a container positioned between the side beams to lift and lower the container therebetween. Container connectors are secured to each of the side beams for securing a container thereto for transportation.
US08182192B2 Equipment storage for substrate processing apparatus
A substrate processing apparatus has a frame and a load port connected to the frame and adapted to mate a substrate transport container to the frame. The apparatus has transportable storage that is adapted to be removably connected to the frame and fit beneath the load port. The storage may be an enclosure housing electrical, mechanical, or electromechanical devices of the substrate processing apparatus.
US08182179B2 Support structure and method of installing the structure
The present invention relates to a support structure including a plurality of mats, each mat including a substantially fixed matrix of spaced tubular rings. The mats are vertically stacked such that the tubular rings are co-extensive and form a matrix of tubular columns. Materials may be poured into the columns and into the void region between the columns, and geotextile or geomembrane-type fabric may wrap the mats and materials to form a block. The blocks may be arranged in one or more horizontal layers, and may be stacked and staggered with respect to blocks in a lower layer. A method of installing the structure is also disclosed.
US08182178B2 Directional fracture grouting method with polymer for seepage control of dikes and dams
A directional fracture grouting method with polymer for seepage control of dikes and dams includes the steps of: arranging a plurality of directional fracture grouting holes at a predetermined distance along the axis of the dike or dam; forming the directional fracture grouting holes by pushing a special drilling tool; placing a hole-sealing grouting pipe and a fracture grouting pipe into each of the directional fracture holes; and injecting including the steps of firstly injecting a small amount of polymer material into the sealing-hole pipe, and secondly injecting predetermined amount of material into the fracture grouting pipe. Under the chemical reaction, the mixed material expands, fractures the soil along the guided directions, and forms a super thin polymer segment. Finally, the polymer segments are overlapped each other, and the seepage control system is constructed inside the dike or dam.
US08182167B2 Retractable lamp pen
A lamp pen includes a pen body, a refill, a conductive rotating slide, a lamp, and a cartridge holding a battery. The rotating slide is electrically connected to the battery. A conductive bar on a surface of the slide abuts an end of the cartridge, which comprises a helical surface forming higher and auxiliary higher slots disposed at a highest point of the surface. A first lead of the lamp is connected to the battery, and a second lead is affixed within the higher slot. Rotating the slide causes the conductive bar to engage either the higher slot or auxiliary higher slot, pushing the cartridge downward so that the refill extends out of the pen tip. When the higher slot is engaged, the second lead of the lamp connects to the conductive bar, the electric circuit completes, and the lamp illuminates.
US08182159B2 Lens assembly, optical device, optical axis adjusting method for an optical device
An optical device includes a first retaining sleeve having a first capillary tube retained therein, the first capillary tube having an optical fiber inserted therein; a second retaining sleeve having a second capillary tube retained therein, the second capillary tube having an optical fiber inserted therein; and a lens assembly. The lens assembly includes a first lens and a second lens each of which has one end surface provided with a spherical surface portion, an optical functional portion, and an accommodation sleeve for accommodating the optical functional component. An end surface of the first retaining sleeve is fixed to one end surface of the accommodation sleeve, and an end surface of the second retaining sleeve is fixed to the other end surface of the accommodation sleeve.
US08182148B2 X-ray detector system
An X-ray detector system includes a detector and a mounting apparatus for mounting the detector, the detector comprising a cable comprising a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the detector and the second end coupled to the mounting apparatus, the cable configured to transmit a signal detected by the detector to an imaging processor located in the mounting apparatus, the second end of the cable comprises a plug, the mounting apparatus comprises a socket matching with the plug on the cable such that the plug is configured to be removed from the socket, the X-ray detector system further comprising a jumper wire comprising two ends that are respectively provided with plugs that are configured to be selectively matched with or detached from the plug on the cable and the socket on the mounting apparatus.
US08182145B2 Temperature sensor
A temperature sensor including a temperature sensing element (102) having a temperature sensing unit (103) and a pair of device electrode wires (104) extending from the temperature sensing unit; a sheath member (106) including a sheath wire (108) connected at a junction (110) to one of the device electrode wires and a sheath outer pipe (107) retaining the sheath wire in an insulating material (114); an inner tube (112) which has a bottomed cylindrical shape, the inner tube accommodating the temperature sensing element and the junction in a bottom portion side of the inner tube serving as a leading end of the temperature sensor, and extending in an extension direction of the device electrode wire and the sheath wire; and an outer tube (120) which has a bottomed cylindrical shape including a gas inlet hole (122a, 122b, 122c), the outer tube covering the inner tube, and being spaced, from the inner tube on a leading end side of the junction when viewed in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the inner tube.
US08182141B1 Method and circuit for providing distributed temperature sensing in an integrated circuit
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit for providing distributed temperature sensing is disclosed. For example, the integrated circuit comprises a plurality of circuit components, an internal temperature sensing device deployed among the plurality of circuit components; and a plurality of ring-oscillators deployed among the plurality of circuit components, wherein at least one of the plurality of ring-oscillators is deployed adjacent to the internal temperature sensing device, where the plurality of ring-oscillators is used to provide one or more temperature measurements, e.g., a temperature gradient, for the integrated circuit.
US08182137B2 Mixing bag or vessel with a fluid-agitating element
A vessel receives and agitates a fluid using an internal fluid-agitating element driven by an external motive device. In one aspect, the vessel is a bag including a first receiver for receiving and holding a fluid-agitating element at a home location. The first receiver may be in the form of an inwardly-projecting post having an oversized portion for capturing the fluid-agitating element, but various other forms are disclosed. Use of this feature in completely rigid vessels where the fluid-agitating element is free of direct attachment from a first receiver having an oversized portion is also disclosed. In another aspect, the vessel or bag further includes a second receiver for receiving a portion of an external structure, such as a motive device, and aligning the vessel relative thereto.
US08182133B1 Mixing blade assembly with reversible scrapers and method
A mixing apparatus and method mixes constituents of a feedstock in a vessel, utilizing a mixing blade assembly rotated within the vessel in forward and reverse directions. The feedstock engages walls of the vessel, and scraper blades are carried by the mixing blade assembly to scrape feedstock from the walls of the vessel and direct scraped feedstock to feedstock being circulated within the vessel during rotation of the mixing blade assembly in either the forward direction or the reverse direction. The scraper blades each include scraper edges and are coupled to the mixing blade assembly for pivotal movement in response to engagement with feedstock during mixing, so as to juxtapose one or the other of opposite scraper edges of each scraper blade with the vessel wall for scraping feedstock during rotation of the mixing blade assembly in both the forward and reverse directions.
US08182129B2 Light guide unit and backlight module
A light guide unit including a light guide plate and a plurality of rod lenses is provided. The light guide plate has a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a light incident surface connecting the first surface and the second surface. The light guide plate further has a plurality of diffusion net points located at the second surface. The rod lenses are disposed on the first surface. Each of the rod lenses extends along a first direction and has a curved surface curving in a second direction. The rod lenses are arranged along the second direction. Pitches of the adjacent diffusion net points in the first direction are smaller than pitches of the adjacent diffusion net points in the second direction. A backlight module using the light guide unit is also provided.
US08182106B2 Surface light source using white light emitting diodes and liquid crystal display backlight unit having the same
There is provided a surface light source using white light emitting diodes including: a plurality of white light emitting diodes arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, wherein the white light emitting diodes are arranged such that a light emitting diode unit defined by each of the white light emitting diodes and corresponding ones of the white light emitting diodes disposed at a closest distance from the each white light emitting diode has a central light amount ranging from 80% to 120% with respect to an average light amount of the white light emitting diodes.
US08182096B2 Cooling system for display device
Systems and methods for a cooling system of a display device are provided herein. One exemplary image display device includes a light source and an image-generation device for receiving light from the light source and generating an image. The image display device also includes a projection lens for projecting the image from the image-generation device. The image display device also includes a body for housing the light source, the image generation device, and the projection lens. The image display device also includes a cooling system coupled to the body. The cooling system may be positionable in a first position and a second position based on a configuration of the body.
US08182093B2 Image projection device including determining displayable region
An image projection apparatus according to the present invention includes a light source for outputting laser light and a mirror section for reflecting and projecting the laser light having been output from the light source, and displays an image with at least a portion of the projected laser light. The image projection apparatus includes a detection section for detecting at least a portion of the laser light returning from a projection direction of the laser light, and a calculation section for determining an image displayable region based on the detected light. The mirror section reflects at least a portion of the laser light returning from the projection direction of the laser light so as to be led into the detection section.
US08182091B2 Automated vision screening apparatus and method
A system and method for automatic visual acuity screening, including: a vision self testing kiosk for performing a visual acuity test. The vision kiosk has a stimulus and multiple mirrors. An image is projected from the stimulus and reflects off of each of the mirrors before exiting the vision kiosk. The mirrors are mounted on a mirror box to define an optical path from the stimulus to a user using the vision kiosk. A microprocessor connected to vision kiosk is able to receive input from the user and report results of vision testing.
US08182090B2 Fast wave front measurement
Device for measuring wave fronts generated by a lens (4) for an eye, with a radiation source (14) for emitting test radiation (12) to be directed at the lens (4) and a sensor device (26) for detecting wave fronts of incident test radiation after interaction with the lens, wherein the sensor device scans the test radiation (20) after interaction with the lens (4) at a scanning frequency which is at least equal in size to the frequency at which changes in wave fronts occur in the test radiation (20) after interaction with the lens (4).
US08182088B2 Systems and methods for determining intraocular lens power
A system for providing an intraocular lens includes a processor and a computer readable memory. The computer readable memory is configured to communicate with the processor, the memory having stored therein at least one of: one or more ocular dimensions, and at least one predetermined refractive outcome. The memory further includes a sequence of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to select an intraocular lens, select a power of an intraocular lens, or provide an intraocular lens. The sequence of instructions includes determining one or more dimensions of an eye. The instructions also include calculating, based on a mathematical relationship, a distance from an apex of a cornea of the eye to an apex or plane of the intraocular lens after insertion into the eye. The instructions further calculating an optical power of the intraocular lens suitable for providing a predetermined refractive outcome. The mathematical relationship includes an axial length of the eye, an anterior chamber depth of the natural crystalline lens, and a corneal radius of the eye, but is independent of a thickness of the natural crystalline lens.
US08182082B2 Printer accessory module for high capacity printing
A printer accessory module for coupling to a printer to increase its printing capacity. The printer accessory module includes an auxiliary media module for storing and supplying printer media; and an auxiliary ink supply station for storing and supplying ink to the printer. The auxiliary ink supply station is connected to the printer by a ink delivery conduit system.
US08182078B2 Inks, printing methods and printing devices
There is provided a printing device that includes an ink applicator and a shaping fluid outlet adapted to dispense a shaping fluid onto curable ink applied by the applicator. The printing device may further include energy emitting source used to at least partially cure the applied ink. There is further provided a curable ink mixture, the mixture includes a colorant at a concentration higher than 4%. There is further provided, a method for printing that includes applying curable ink on a substrate and shaping the ink by dispensing a shaping fluid.
US08182077B2 Ink cartridge assemblies having adapter for easily removing ink cartridge from a mounting portion
An ink cartridge includes an ink tank defining an ink chamber therein, in which the ink chamber is configured to store ink therein, and an adapter configured to be coupled to the ink tank. The adapter and the ink tank are separate members, and the adapter includes a main body, and an operation portion extending from the main body in a particular direction. When the adapter is coupled to the ink tank, the operation portion extends toward the ink tank and extends further in the particular direction than the ink tank.
US08182074B2 Liquid ejection head
In order to provide a liquid ejection head which enables ejection of a droplet at a higher frequency, according to the invention, a piezoelectric vibrator has a multilayer structure. In the multilayer structure, an upper piezoelectric layer and a lower piezoelectric layer are laminated one on another. A drive electrode is formed at a boundary between the upper piezoelectric layer and the lower piezoelectric layer and is electrically connected to a source for supplying a drive signal. An upper common electrode is formed on the surface of the upper piezoelectric layer. A lower common electrode is formed on the surface of the lower piezoelectric layer. An inertance of a nozzle orifice and an inertance of an ink supply port are set so as to become greater than an inertance of a pressure generating portion.
US08182071B2 Thermal inkjet printhead and method of driving same
Provided are an inkjet printhead and a method of driving the inkjet printhead. The inkjet printhead includes a heater configured to heat ink to produce ink bubbles, an electrode configured to apply or provide the current to the heater, and a resistor connected to the electrode and separated by a distance from the heater. The resistor having a negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC) that can be used to compensate for the effects that temperature has on the ejection speed and mass of ejected ink droplets produced by the inkjet printhead and that result from temperature changes that occur during the operation of the inkjet printhead.
US08182066B2 Liquid body discharge device and method for discharging liquid body
A liquid body discharge device includes a plurality of nozzles for discharging a liquid body to a liquid body discharged region of a substrate, and a plurality of heads moving along a moving path and each including the plurality of nozzles. Among the plurality of heads, at least one of the plurality of heads includes the plurality of nozzles aligned in a first alignment direction, while a rest of the plurality of heads includes the plurality of nozzles aligned in a second alignment direction that is different from the first alignment direction. The liquid body is discharged to the liquid body discharged region of the substrate by moving one of the substrate and at least one of the plurality of heads.
US08182064B2 Waste liquid treatment device and liquid ejecting apparatus
A waste liquid treatment device includes a storage unit configured to store waste liquid which is cured upon reception of an ultraviolet ray and an irradiating unit configured to irradiate a liquid surface of the waste liquid in the storage unit in an uncured state with an ultraviolet ray, and the irradiating unit performs a spot irradiation of the ultraviolet ray so that the surface area of the liquid surface which is irradiated with the ultraviolet ray is smaller than the surface area of the liquid surface.
US08182050B2 Brake system and method
A system for adjusting a brake force to be applied by a brake includes a module for estimating a weight of a vehicle to which a brake is fitted, a module for determining an angle of incline upon which the vehicle is positioned, and a control unit for calculating a sufficient brake force to be applied according to predetermined criteria based upon the estimated weight and the incline to maintain the vehicle in a stationary state. The control unit is configured to signal the brake to apply the calculated amount of force.
US08182044B2 Energy absorption apparatus
An energy absorption apparatus for protecting occupants of different body weights from the effects of excessive G-force by absorbing energy imparted on a vehicle during an explosion occurring below the vehicle. The apparatus has a first mounting member attached to the vehicle, a second mounting member attached to the occupant's seat, and an absorption mechanism attached between the first and second mounting members. The absorption mechanism utilizes an attenuation strip provided on one of the mounting members, and anvils provided on the other of the mounting members such that when the vehicle is subjected to excessive G-force, the attenuation strip is bent and pulled through the anvils thereby producing a frictional attenuation force which controls movement of the seat relative to the vehicle. An absorption adjustment mechanism is provided. Methods of protecting a vehicle occupant from the effects of excessive G-force are also provided.
US08182031B1 Poker kit with chairs and table
A poker kit comprising a plurality of chairs; a cushion attached to the seat panel of the chair and a plurality of legs attached to the seat panel; a first armrest and second armrest extending from the back panel of the chair; an ashtray attached to the first armrest and a cup holder attached to the second armrest; a storage pouch attached to the arm near the ashtray; a table having an octagon shape and a felt panel attached the top; a plurality of legs attached to the table; wherein the cushions of the chair are decorated with a design of one of the four top poker hands; wherein markers are labeled on the felt on the table.
US08182023B2 Plastically deformable spring energy management systems and methods for making and using the same
In one embodiment, an energy management system can comprise: a support structure; a covering; and a plastically deformable compression spring located between the support structure and the covering. In one embodiment, a method of absorbing energy can comprise: impacting a portion of a vehicle comprising an energy management system and plastically deforming the compression spring. A method for energy management in a vehicle comprises installing the energy management system in a vehicle.
US08182020B2 Aerodynamic transformable truck cap assembly
An transformable, aerodynamic cover assembly for pickup trucks which is user switchable between a closed aerodynamic configuration and a fully deployed truck cap configuration. The aerodynamic configuration reduces vehicle wind resistance and drag, thus increasing fuel efficiency. The cover assembly, constructed of rigid materials, comprises a fiberglass aerodynamic cover supporting flexible fabric widows supported by sleeve tubes, and a flexible rear hatch supported by a hanger. Internal stanchions can be deployed to elevate and support the aerodynamic cover in the elevated position. The aerodynamic cover assembly side walls and hatch provide a space for human habitation and increased cargo hauling capacity. The aerodynamic cover is detachable from the body of the assembly for hauling oversized cargo.
US08182000B2 Integrated dual pawl latching mechanism
A latch mechanism is provided for securing a storage compartment door within a vehicle. The latch mechanism includes a mounting bracket, a handle, and an undivided, one piece latching member. The latching member includes a main body portion, a first pliable leg portion, a second pliable leg portion, a first post portion, and a second post portion. The latching member is in a relaxed position when the handle is in the latched position and a flexed position when the handle is in the unlatched position. The handle includes at least one abutment member for displacing the main body portion of the latching member as the handle is pivoted from the latched position to the unlatched position. Displacement of the main body portion causes the first and second pliable leg portions to resiliently retract which retracts the first post member and the second post member from extended post positions to retracted post positions.
US08181990B2 Multiple chamber airbag system
An airbag for use within a motor vehicle, which includes a gas generator for supplying inflation gas; a lower chamber configured to be inflated directly by the gas generator; an upper chamber located above and proximate to the lower chamber; and a diffusing panel configured to separate the lower and upper chambers and allows inflation gas to pass through. The upper chamber is to be indirectly inflated by the gas generator through the diffusing panel, and upon completed deployment will have an internal pressure lower than the deployed internal pressure of the lower chamber.
US08181983B2 Vertically adjustable mount for jack assembly
A jack assembly for adjusting the height of a trailer is provided. The jack assembly is moveable between an operable and a stowed position. The assembly includes a tube having a slot portion and a slide block moveable within the slot portion. A post connected to the slide block protrudes through an opening in the slot portion to engage a clamping mechanism. The clamping mechanism is movable between a clamped position where the slide block is clamped to the tube to prevent the jack from moving, and an unclamped position where the slide block is movable within the slot portion to allow the jack assembly to be moved between an operable position and a stowed position.
US08181970B2 Unitized bi-directional seal assembly
A seal assembly is provided including a pair of end rings axially spaced from one another. A pair of annular seals are each engaged with a respective one of the pair of end rings. A locking ring is engaged with each of the pair of annular seals to connect the opposing end rings and annular seals in a unitized bi-directional seal assembly.
US08181964B2 Game
A game apparatus and method of playing a game is disclosed herein. The game apparatus having: a central area that is configured to be rotated in a first direction; an outer member surrounding the central area, the outer member being configured to be rotated in a second direction, the second direction being opposite to the first direction; a wall member separating an outer periphery of the central area from an inner periphery of the outer member; and a plurality of grabbing devices disposed about the outer member, each of the plurality of grabbing devices being configured to grab an object from the outer member and move it to the central area by tossing it over the wall member.
US08181961B1 In-tube puzzle
A self-contained three-dimensional puzzle game that has a plurality of free-floating individual puzzle pieces (6) enclosed within a transparent enclosure (8). Puzzle is solved by using a wand (1) to move the individual puzzle pieces and forming the three dimensional solution. Wand is comprised of a rod, which extends through a small hole (4) in the enclosure. One embodiment has the three-dimensional subject solution covered with image graphics (10) so that when the individual pieces are manipulated into the correct positions they bring about an overall composition.
US08181959B2 Method and apparatus for processing print products
A method and apparatus for the processing of print products. The method may include conveying individually the print products with a feeding device along a feeding section, transferring individually the print products from the feeding section to a further processing section, and generating control signals from a control unit. The control signals may correspond to further treatment of each individual print product and to the transfer of a print product to the further processing section such that it can be processed further. The apparatus may include a feeding device configured to convey the print products individually along a feeding section, a transfer device configured to individually transfer the print products from the feeding device to a further processing device, and a control unit configured to generate control signals to control the transfer of the print products from the feeding device to the further processing device.
US08181952B2 Paper sheet handling mechanism and method for handling paper sheets
A paper sheet handling mechanism and method includes a loop-shaped part configured to hold a paper sheet (W1). Once a paper sheet (W2) present on the upstream side of a transport path relative to the loop-shaped part is fed to the loop-shaped part, the paper sheet (W2) present on the upstream side and the paper sheet (W1) present on the loop-shaped part are respectively moved, such that the paper sheet (W2) can be stacked with paper sheet (W1) circulated along the loop-shaped part. A paper sheet length detector determines whether the length of the paper sheet (W2) in the transport direction, which is fed to the loop-shaped part from the upstream side relative to the loop-shaped part along the transport path, is longer than a predetermined length. If the length is longer than the predetermined length, the paper sheet (W2) is ejected from the loop-shaped part.
US08181934B2 Shut-off device
The invention relates to a shut-off device comprising a housing which is to be connected to an adjacent conduit in a pressure-tight manner. A tubular passage is defined in the housing for a medium flowing through the conduit. Said device also comprises at least one sealing body which can be displaced by an articulated mechanism, by means of an adjusting drive that can be moved vertically in relation to the direction of flow, from an open position into a closed position in which the sealing contour of the at least one sealing body comes into contact with the tubular passage in a radially sealing manner. The articulated mechanism is guided parallel to the direction of displacement of the adjusting drive and comprises a bearing body to which the at least one sealing body is pivotably applied. The inventive shut-off device is characterized in that the bearing body comprises two diametrically opposed ribs and two corresponding grooves are formed in the wall of the housing or in an insert at least partially lining the housing, the ribs forming a span extending transversally to the direction of flow of the medium.
US08181921B2 Platform telescoping mechanism
Disclosed are various embodiments of a platform telescoping system which comprises a platform, a first supporting arm, a second supporting arm, a telescopic driving mechanism which comprises a first power output, end and a rotational driving mechanism which comprises a second power output end. The first power output end is integrated with the second supporting arm and causes the second supporting arm to move in a first direction, and the second power output end is integrated with the platform and causes the platform to pivot between a first position and a second position. The second supporting arm telescopes with respect to the first supporting arm for adjusting the position of the platform. The space occupied by the platform telescoping system may be reduced while its functions enhanced.
US08181909B2 Pressure bulkhead for aircraft
A pressure bulkhead assembly adapted for installation in an aircraft fuselage includes a bulkhead web and a reinforcing structure. The bulkhead web has a first side facing the pressurized compartment and a second side opposite the first side. The reinforcing structure, which is formed from a series of primary beam members, secondary beam members, and connecting elements, is provided on the second side of the bulkhead web.
US08181903B2 Aircraft having the ability for hovering flight, fast forward flight, gliding flight, short take-off, short landing, vertical take-off and vertical landing
Aircraft having two, preferably four or more, rotors (20) in wing hatches (10) which can be closed. The closure mechanism has, at the top, individually curved elements on a rollshutter (scroll/roller blind) (40) and, at the bottom, a set of longitudinal fins (30). One or more propeller/impeller drives are firmly connected to the stabilator (60), which can be pivoted over a wide extent. In hovering flight, the wing hatches (10) are opened and the impeller drives (60), together with the stabilator, are pivoted largely vertically downwards. During the transition to cruise flight, the large flaperons (100) are lowered, and the propeller/impeller drives (60), together with the stabilator, are slowly pivoted to the horizontal. When the forward speed is sufficient, the wing hatches (10) are closed, the rotors (20) are stopped, and the flaperons (100) are raised somewhat again. The pilot has unobstructed visibility through the gap between the wingtips (70).
US08181898B2 Winding plant for use in plastic film production lines, in particular, extendable plastic films, and winding method of plastic film rolls
A winding plant for use in plastic film production lines comprises a plurality of reels (11-14) connected to a star-like reel carrier (15) rotatable around its own axis. According to the invention, said reels (11-14) are arranged around said star-like reel carrier (15) in a manner such that at least a first reel (12) of said plurality of reels is situated in an operative winding position of a film (20) to form a complete roll (21). Said reels (11-14) each comprise a mandrel (26) supported by a tailstock associated with a flange element (16) comprising at least a first and a second notch (23,24), wherein said flange element (16) is rotatable around its own axis in a manner independent from said star-like reel carrier (15) when said tails tocks are released from said mandrels (26), so to bring said first notch (23) to a second unloaded reel (13) and said second notch (24) to a third reel (14) loaded with a roll (21) of film (20).
US08181884B2 Machine-readable features for objects
The present invention provides machine-readable features for objects, both physical and electronic. One claim recites an object including a substrate and a machine-readable code provided on the substrate, the object further includes a material deposited on or incorporated in the substrate, where the material is alterable to change the machine-readable code. Another claim recites a method including: obtaining an object including a machine-readable code; reading the machine-readable code; and changing the machine-readable code in response to said act of reading. Of course, other claims are provided as well.
US08181876B2 Methods and systems for forming images of moving optical codes
A method aligns a second image of an object taken at a second time with a first image taken at a first time, wherein the object experiences motion relative to an imager between the first and second times. The images are formed of sets of pixels arranged horizontally and vertically in a pattern. The method operates on the pixels of the second image by performing a series of operations to affect an affine transformation without performing matrix arithmetic, preferably by table look-up. The method shifts the pixels of the second image vertically by a constant vertical offset, shifts the pixels of the second image horizontally by a constant horizontal offset, shears the second image horizontally by a skew factor, shears the second image vertically by a skew factor, scales the second image horizontally by a horizontal scale factor; and scale the second image vertically by a vertical scale factor.
US08181870B2 Self-aligning MICR line treatment applicator
A magnetic character recognition (MICR) encoding device has a treatment station that applies a chemical treatment to the blank region as the sheets pass along the sheet path that compensates for a fuser release agent that a marking station uses. If blank region was not treated, the fuser release agent might detrimentally affect the printing of the additional magnetic ink markings. In order to properly align the blank region with the treatment station, the embodiments herein include at least one read head that is positioned before the treatment station along the sheet path. A controller analyzes the signals from the read head to determine whether the magnetic ink markings are aligned with the treatment station.
US08181866B2 Method and system to improve product recalls
A method and system is provided to deter purchases of recalled products. An inventory control system is provided with an identification code corresponding to a recalled product. The identification code of the recalled product is identified when it is scanned or otherwise determined to be part of a sale at a retail establishment and/or an e-commerce establishment. The purchase of the recalled product corresponding to the identification code identified is automatically denied.
US08181860B2 Apparatus and methods for monitoring objects in a surgical field
Apparatus and methods for identifying and counting objects having identifiers entering and exiting a surgical field are provided. In one embodiment, the apparatus has an entry scanner, a hand held scanner and an exit scanner for generating a detection field and for receiving data which identifies said objects. In another embodiment, the apparatus has a plurality of lower antennas and an upper antenna for generating a detection field and for receiving data which identifies said objects. Various surgical devices with identifiers and methods for preventing electromagnetic coupling between and protecting objects and identifiers are also provided. The invention further provides apparatus and methods comprising a handheld scanner and a mat adapted to underlie a patient during a surgical procedure.
US08181857B1 Banking system controlled responsive to data bearing records
An automated banking machine is operated responsive to data read from data bearing records. The automated banking machine operates responsive to the card data read from user cards to carry out financial transfers for authorized users. The banking machine includes a top housing, a fascia assembly, a support, a card reader, a display, a cash dispenser, and a chest portion. An automated banking machine includes a processor case in horizontally pivotally supported connection with the housing, and which may be released from supported connection with the housing.
US08181856B1 Cash handling device having alert system
A cash recycler or other currency handling device includes a cash handling device alert system. Upon occurrence of one or more triggering events, a notification will be sent to one or more responsible entities. The responsible entity may be specified by a user. In addition, a user may specify the frequency of transmission of the notification or alert. In some arrangements, the alert may include a request for acknowledgement from the responsible entity.
US08181837B2 Pneumatic powered surgical stapling device
A surgical stapler which includes or onto which a tool assembly can be mounted for deforming a plurality of surgical fasteners through and fastening tissue includes a housing having a fixed handle and a clamping handle mountable to the housing. The clamping handle is selectively movable relative to the fixed handle from a first position in spaced relation relative to the fixed handle to a second position closer to the fixed handle to actuate the clamping of tissue. An adapter yoke is included which translates within the housing upon actuation of the clamping handle. The adapter yoke mechanically cooperates with a lead screw to actuate the tool assembly to clamp tissue. A drive assembly is also included for rotating a shaft which mechanically engages the lead screw. Upon selective activation of the drive assembly, the shaft rotates the lead screw to advance a roll nut and force a firing piston into the tool assembly to deform the surgical fasteners through and fasten the tissue.
US08181835B2 Resilient strap mounting for user-borne athletic packs
A resilient strap mount allowing for increased flexibility and movement of a user's shoulders and arms while wearing an athletic pack is presented. The resilient strap mount is constructed having a flexible body member consisting of two body member arms and a body member base. Shoulder harness straps, attaching to shoulder harnesses of the athletic pack, are each respectively threaded through one of the body member arms. An athletic pack strap, attaching to the base of the body of the athletic pack, is threaded through the body member base. In a preferred embodiment, each body member arm is constructed with a body member neck having a thinner width and thickness than the remainder of the flexible body member and each member neck has a pair of slot holes to allow for increased flexibility and stretching of the resilient strap mount.
US08181819B2 Lid and container
A lid for a container is disclosed that has a series of seals. The first seal is a cork seal mechanism that is forced against the container interior at a top portion of the container. The second seal is created by at least two ribs that produce a spring-like force against the container. An additional stretch fit seal can be incorporated into the lid. A tear strip can also be incorporated into the lid with windows immediately above the tear strip, thereby forming slits in the skirt to aid in removal of the lid.
US08181813B2 Transportation and/or storage device comprising a double-walled insulating bulb
The invention relates to a device (10) for transporting and/or storing products, particularly of cryostat type, having an external packaging structure (14) comprising walls defining an internal volume (16) within which is a double-walled insulating bulb (12) whose body (32) is formed by an outer wall (34) and an inner wall (36) defining an internal volume (38), bulb (12) comprising an upper neck (40) defining an upper filling opening (42), and the device (10) comprising bulb (12) supporting means (46) that comprise attachment means (48) capable of engaging with the inner wall (36) only of bulb (12) in order to suspend the bulb (12) vertically by its neck (40) in such a way that the bulb (12) hangs freely in the empty space inside the internal volume (16) defined by the packaging structure (14, 18, 22), with no contact between the outer wall (34) of the bulb (12) and the walls (24, 22) of the packaging structure (14), said device being characterized in that the means (46) for the suspended support of the bulb (12) consist of at least one (20) of the walls of the packaging (14).
US08181810B2 Drinking cup having storage compartment and lever actuated seal for drinking area
A container and a lid for a container or container is provided. The container includes a lid and container body to which the lid is attached. The container may further include a storage compartment attached to the end of the container body. The lid includes a lid body defining a drinking aperture providing access to a central cavity of the container. The lid includes a snap closure pivoting relative to the lid body between an open position permitting fluid to pass through the drinking aperture, a first closed position with a portion of the snap closure is only biased against, but not engaged with, the lid body to prevent fluid to pass through the drinking aperture and a second closed position wherein the snap closure is engaged with the lid body.
US08181808B2 Container for operating media of motor vehicles
A container for operating media of motor vehicles which is chemically stable both in respect of the fuel carried and in respect of additives.
US08181790B2 Flotation apparatus
A flotation apparatus F includes a tank 1 for receiving a liquid raw material, and introduces air into the tank 1 to generate bubbles for adsorbing print ink in the liquid raw material to the bubbles, thereby floating and separating the print ink. The flotation apparatus F includes a circulating device for circulating the liquid raw material by raising and then lowering the liquid raw material in the tank 1, an air supply tube 4 for supplying air into the tank 1, and an agitating member 5 provided in the tank 1 for taking the air from the air supply tube 4 and agitating the air for forming the air into fine bubbles. The agitating member 5 has a rotary shaft 51 held horizontally and a plurality of members 52 horizontally separately provided around an outer periphery. On a cross section transverse to a longitudinal direction of the tank 1, an outer periphery of the agitating member 5 is arranged on a lower side of the tank 1 and in a position at a downstream side of the liquid raw material relative to a vertical line V passing through a center of the tank 1.
US08181787B2 System and method of packaging
A packaging assembly is disclosed. The packaging assembly is easily assembled and disassembled for convenient use and provides suspension of an enclosed article by way of an arched structure providing protection from impact, shock and vibration. This suspension package and method is called KLOS Pak.
US08181786B1 Dental care kit and promotional method thereof
A dental care promotional kit includes a housing, a dental care set, and a promotion tool. The housing has a receiving cavity, a reflective windows formed on one of the front promotional panel and the rear promotional panel, and at least one promotional zone formed on the housing. The promotion tool is retrievably disposed in the receiving cavity of the housing, and comprises a promotional member and a reflective element attached on the promotional member, wherein the promotional member further has a promotional section formed thereon for allowing promotional materials to be printed on the promotional section, and is capable of being taken out from the receiving cavity, such that a user is able to freely retrieve the dental care set for performing basic dental care while being imparted with business goodwill shown on the promotion tool and the promotional zone.
US08181783B2 Wet sheet flexible package and label for the wet sheet flexible package
The present invention relates to a wet sheet flexible package 1, including a plurality of wet sheets 2 impregnated with a liquid; a film bag 3 that is a flexible film bag packaging the plurality of wet sheets 2 and including a dispensing opening 31; and a label 5 attached to a surface of the film bag 3, covering the dispensing opening 31, and being able to be peeled off. In the wet sheet flexible package 1, when the label 5 is peeled off from the film bag 3, the dispensing opening 31 is unsealed and an adhesive layer 53 is exposed around the dispensing opening 51 on the surface of the film bag 3. A substrate 54 is provided between the adhesive layer 53 and the surface of the film bag 3, and the substrate 54 is composed of a film having a higher compression strength than a film composing the film bag 53.
US08181780B1 Socket storage device
A socket holding device has a plurality of posts extending from a base. The base may be arranged so that shallow wells are linearly arranged in front of deeper wells with the posts extending from the center of the wells. The posts have arms with a radial bead connected thereto receivable within receivers in the shafts of sockets. A socket may be securely retained to the base thereby preventing undesired disengagement from the well if inverted or “knocked over”, while preferably allowing free rotation of an installed socket thus enabling one to read the sizing information on the exterior surface of the socket. This design is believed to provide an ability to be installed and uninstalled from the post multiple times without a loss of grip function and also preferably requires no secondary motion to remove or release the socket, and can consist of a one-piece design.
US08181769B2 Workpiece transfer mechanism, workpiece transfer method and workpiece processing system
A workpiece transfer mechanism 76 transfers workpieces W to a workpiece boat 40 having ringlike tables 86. The transfer mechanism 76 includes a fork main body 78 being movable forward and rearward with the workpiece W placed thereon; stopper members 94 provided at the end portion of the fork main body 78; clamp means 96 provided on the proximal end side of the fork main body 78 and having a pressing portion 102 coming into contact with the circumferential edge of the workpiece W and pressing the workpiece W toward the stopper member 94 for clamping; and fork elevating means 80 for lifting and lowering the fork main body 78. When the workpieces W are transferred to a workpiece boat 40, the pressing portion 102 of the clamp means 96 is controlled so as not to be inserted into a gap between tables 86. Thus, although the pitch between the tables 86 is small, the pressing portion 102 of the clamp means 96 does not interfere with the workpiece boat 40.
US08181764B2 Media deposit apparatus and method for controlling the same
Provided is a media deposit apparatus including: a deposit transfer portion providing a deposit circulation path of media deposited via a media deposit portion; a temporary transfer portion providing a temporary circulation path that contacts with the deposit circulation path to transfer the media to a temporary stack portion, and including a temporary stack gate, provided between the deposit circulation path and the temporary circulation path, to selectively convert a path of media to the temporary circulation path; and a media transfer portion providing a media transfer path that contacts with the temporary circulation path to transfer the media to a media storage portion, and including a media storage gate, provided between the temporary circulation path and the media transfer path, to selectively convert the path of media to the media transfer path. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify a media transfer structure and to enhance a media transfer efficiency.
US08181762B2 Frictional engaging piston and spring seat
An annular frictional engaging piston includes an annular pressure apply portion which pushes a frictional engagement element in an axial direction against urging force of a return spring that urges in a direction opposite the frictional engagement element, and which has a cutout portion where a portion in the circumferential direction has been removed to avoid interference between the piston and another member. A partially removed region is provided, and a mounting hole for mounting the return spring on the piston is provided in a region other than the partially removed region.
US08181751B2 Safety braking device of vehicle
A brake apparatus includes a motor-based braking unit driven by control of an ECU and equipped with a BIR operating unit, that is, a BIR-equipped braking unit having a BIR (Ball In Ramp) function of generating straight movement force using changes in path of balls disposed between ramps rotating, such that it can achieve F-S (Fail-Safe) and generate emergency braking force for safety by operating the BIR operating unit using a pedal-coupled cable only by operating a brake pedal even if a motor of the motor-based braking unit fails.
US08181743B2 Portable tree stand
A pole or tree mounted device having a platform assembly at a lower position, and a seat assembly at an upper position. The seat assembly includes a seat brace, seat, and armrests and a leveler for assisting in securing and leveling the seat in a desired position, and the platform assembly includes a platform positioned substantially perpendicular to an outer surface of the tree or pole, and at least two braces positioned beneath the platform, wherein a first brace is secured in a substantially vertical position along an outer surface of the tree and is secured to an inner edge of the platform. The second brace is secured at some angle relative to the outer surface of the tree to extend from a lower position of the first brace to an outer edge of the platform. A leveler is provided to effectively level the platform as desired by the user.
US08181733B2 Motorcycle equipped with an exhaust gas purifying apparatus with improved layout
An exhaust pipe includes a catalyst housing portion arranged to be at least partially positioned in a space disposed between a shock absorber and a rear wheel, and a catalyst is disposed in the catalyst housing portion.
US08181724B2 Motor vehicles
A wind-powered pneumatic engine including one or more impeller chambers and one or more impellers disposed in the impeller chambers is provided. One or more air inlets for receiving external wind resistance airflow are disposed on the impeller chambers, and the external wind resistance airflow entering the air inlets drives the impellers to operate to generate power output. The wind-powered pneumatic engine further includes an air-jet system for jetting HPCA into the impeller chambers, and the internal high-pressure compressed air jetted by the air-jet system in conjunction with the external wind resistance airflow entering the air inlets drives the impellers to operate to generate power output. In the present invention, the external resistance airflow around a motor vehicle moving at a speed is converted into power for use, which greatly reduces energy consumption and improves the moving speed of a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle equipped with wind-powered pneumatic engine is also provided.
US08181721B1 Torque track and slide assembly
A top drive track and slide assembly for use in drilling wells having a torque track slide assembly configured to connect to a top drive, and a modular torque track assembly configured to engage the torque track slide assembly. The modular torque track assembly can connect on a drilling rig. The modular torque track assembly can have a top track, one or more middle tracks, and a bottom track. One of the middle tracks can connect to the top track, and one of the middle tracks can connect to the bottom track using locking devices and connecting pins. The modular torque track assembly can be configured to be various lengths for various applications. The torque track slide assembly can have inserts retained therein without fasteners, allowing the inserts to be completely worn down before requiring replacement.
US08181714B2 Pneumatic impact piercing tool
A reversible, pneumatic ground piercing tool has a tail assembly with exhaust passages therethrough. At least a portion of each exhaust passage angles radially inwardly and ends in discharge ports that communicate with a central hole at the rear end of the tail assembly, whereby exhaust escapes through the central hole. A tail cone has a radially inwardly extending flange on the inner periphery of the central hole, which flange is rearwardly spaced from and covers the discharge ports.
US08181707B2 Apparatus and methods to protect connections
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for protecting tubular connections. In one aspect, an expandable tubular connection for use in a wellbore is provided. The tubular connection includes a tubular pin member. The tubular connection also includes a tubular box member having an end portion, wherein the tubular pin member is matable with the tubular box member to form the tubular connection. Additionally, the tubular connection includes a sleeve member disposed on the tubular pin member, wherein the sleeve member is configured to substantially protect the end portion of the tubular box member as the tubular connection is lowered into the wellbore. In yet a further aspect, a method for utilizing a tubular connection in a wellbore is provided.
US08181703B2 Method useful for controlling fluid loss in subterranean formations
Methods that include a method comprising: providing a treatment fluid comprising an aqueous base fluid and a relative permeability modifier, wherein the relative permeability comprises a water-soluble polymer having hydrophobic or hydrophilic modification; introducing the treatment fluid into an interval of a well bore penetrating the subterranean formation; creating one or more perforations through a hydrajetting tool in the interval of the well bore, wherein the perforations extend from the well bore and into the subterranean formation; and allowing the treatment fluid to contact a portion of the subterranean formation.
US08181697B2 Multi-function multi-hole drilling rig
A multi-function multi-hole rig is disclosed which, in certain aspects, includes multiple machines for accomplishing rig functions, e.g. drilling machine(s), tripping machine(s), casing machine(s), and/or cementing machine(s), for producing multiple usable wellbores one after the other. This abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure and is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims, 37 C.F.R. 1.72(b).
US08181695B2 Reinforcement for dish plate heat exchangers
A reinforcing element for a heat exchanger of the type having nested dish plates with inclined, peripheral, overlapping walls, where at least one of the nested dish plates is attached to a mounting plate, the mounting plate extending beyond the outer periphery of the walls of the nested dish plates. The reinforcing element has a base flange attached to the mounting plate extending beyond the outer periphery of the walls of the nested dish plates. The reinforcing element also has a peripheral flange located in parallel, overlapping engagement with the inclined peripheral wall of the at least one dish plate attached to the mounting plate.
US08181694B2 Collar rib for heat exchanger header tanks
The present disclosure relates to automotive heat exchangers, and, heat exchanger tanks with headers. The heat exchanger eliminates the need for use of an inner flange on the header using a collar that also acts as a rib, thereby providing a compact foot plus header tank arrangement with lower stress on the gasket mating surface of the header and tank. The present disclosure also provides a method for providing improved headering for automotive heat exchangers with plastic tanks and headers.
US08181691B1 Mold for a battery cast on strap
A dual temperature mold assembly for maintaining a mold cavity used in a cast on strap process at two different temperatures facilitates the removal of the solidified strap after the molten metal is solidified. The mold assembly includes a mold cavity having walls attached to different mold assembly segments that are heated or cooled by thermal energy input and coolant processes which can maintain the mold cavities at different temperatures, so that molten metal around the battery plate lugs in a mold cavity segment is solidified while the sides of the mold cavity are exposed to at least one adjacent heated segment to provide thermal energy thereinto, resulting in a reduction of the amount of molten metal necessary for a cast on strap, and reducing the amount of thermal energy input into the process for manufacturing the straps.
US08181687B2 Transfer tool
To provide a transfer tool that can be preferably used without a table such as a desk and can easily carry out the transfer operation in any places, the transfer tool includes a transfer tool main body (1) and a transferred object receiver (2) that is accompanied by the transfer tool main body (1), wherein an insertion space (AS) in which a paper slip (P) can be inserted is formed between the transfer tool main body (1) and the transferred object receiver (2); a transfer head (H) is positioned so that at least a transfer face (RTa) of the transfer head (H) is exposed in the insertion space (AS); and a tape glue (T) is transferred on the paper slip (P) by slidably moving the transfer face (RTa) in a predetermined transfer direction while bringing the transfer face (RTa) into contact with the paper slip (P) with the paper slip (P) inserted in the insertion space (AS) and the paper slip (P) sandwiched between the transfer tool main body (1) and the transferred object receiver (2).
US08181683B2 Pneumatic tire with tread having upper surface sipes and wall surface sipes
A pneumatic tire has a plurality of upper surface sipes formed on an upper surface of the block and arranged in parallel so as to be spaced in a sipe width direction, and a wall surface sipe extending along a tire diametrical direction in a wall surface positioned in a longitudinal direction of the upper surface sipe. The wall surface sipe is arranged between a pair of adjacent the upper surface sipes.
US08181673B2 Woven fabric band for circulation in a machine
A woven fabric band having a first and a second woven fabric layer having second longitudinal and second transverse threads, the outer side of the second woven fabric layer being formed by floats of longitudinal threads, wherein the longitudinal threads form a first longitudinal thread group with outer longitudinal threads and a second longitudinal thread group with inner longitudinal threads and that the outer longitudinal threads form the outer side of the second layer and the inner longitudinal threads extend within the band.
US08181671B2 Anti-resonant pulse diffuser
An elongate flow tube having an interior cross-section surrounding a long axis, an inlet end for receiving a fluid flow and an outlet end for discharging the fluid flow, and a diffuser plate spanning the interior cross-section to separate the flow tube into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber. The diffuser plate includes a plurality of apertures formed therein for directing the fluid flow from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber. Furthermore, the diffuser plate is orientated longitudinally at a shallow angle with respect to the long axis of the flow tube to provide an indeterminate pulsation reflective surface, with the inlet chamber gradually decreasing in cross-sectional area and the outlet chamber gradually increasing in cross-sectional area across the length of the flow tube.
US08181669B2 Compliant check valve stop
A check valve (10) includes a valve housing (14) having at least one valve opening (16). At least one petal (12) is located in the valve housing (14) and is configured to substantially cover the at least one valve opening (16) when the at least one petal (12) is in a closed position. The at least one petal (12) is rotable about a hinge axis (22) toward an open position thereby allowing fluid to flow through the at least one valve opening (16). The check valve (10) includes at least one compliant petal stop (24), (36) to prevent rotation of the at least one petal (12) beyond the open position.
US08181661B2 Modular system for concealment and shelter
An easy to use, universal, simple, lightweight, compact, portable, dynamically configurable and modular system of concealment and shelter. An operator configures a number of concealment blinds or shelters using brackets, supports, segmented shafts, covers, curtains, and skirts, and more complex modules. The segmented shafts have both the ability to make an attachment to retain a particular configuration while being able to break down the shafts for transportation or storage. The brackets and supports are used to secure a configuration to a tree, the ground, or a hand held device. Advanced modules include user adjustable domes and cylindrical arches. The system can be configured for placement on a hillside or over rough terrain and obstacles. Multiple modules can be carried by separate members of a group and combined together to form a more complex structure to meet the needs of the group. The system provides a novel star window with independently opening sections. The window openings are configured in a number of configurations to meet the needs of the user. The configuration of the structure is changed by the user to quickly provide cover, increase cover, and to adapt to terrain or changing weather. The system includes a low cost method of tightening the skin on a cover to reduce wind movement and noise.
US08181660B2 Treatment liquid permeation unit and treating apparatus
A treatment liquid permeation unit comprises: at least one vibration unit; and a vibration transmission unit for transmitting a vibration from the vibration unit. The vibration transmission unit is positioned between an adhesive with which a wafer is combined to a supporting plate or an adhesive adhered to a surface of the wafer and the vibration unit. A vibration from the vibration unit is transmitted via the vibration transmission unit. This promotes the treatment liquid for dissolving the adhesive to permeate the adhesive to which the treatment liquid is supplied. Therefore, the treatment liquid can more uniformly permeate the adhesive in a shorter time. This allows the treatment liquid for dissolving the adhesive to permeate the adhesive with which the wafer is combined to the supporting plate or to permeate the adhesive adhered to the surface of the wafer in a shorter time.
US08181658B2 Plastic hair clip
The present invention provides a plastic hairclip features in enabling to open and close by plastic resilience intrinsically. The plastic hairclip comprises a mount retainer, a lever retainer with a pair of releasing tabs, a hinged pivotal root and a pair of open-able jaws, which functions to accommodate, hold and release a hair bundle by intrinsic plastic resilience thereof. The plastic hairclip is made of a polymerized plastic mixture by 55% of 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), 30% of ethylene glycol (EG), 10% of phosphotungstic acid (PTA), 1% of optical brightener and 4% of polypropylene (PP) or butadiene-styrene copolymers sold under the trademark, K-Resin with 5% tolerance for each individual component respectively. Thereby, the plastic hairclip product features in good malleability, re-plasticization ability and tenacity as well as good artistic effect in shining brightness and eco-friendly effect.
US08181657B2 Placement method and placement system
A placement method includes inserting an endoscope into a body, blocking a tubular tissue in the body with a distal end of the endoscope, pressurizing a detection target space between a placement member which is placed in the tubular tissue and blocks the tubular tissue and the distal end of the endoscope via a channel of the endoscope, and detecting a pressure state in the detection target space.
US08181655B2 Therapeutic and protective dental device useful as an intra-oral delivery system
A dental device has a U-shaped carrier with at least one channel for embracing an arch of teeth. The carrier has recessed insets in the channel. Discrete inserts carrying a beneficial agent can fit into the insets and release the agent gradually. The device may be used in a therapeutic application and as an athletic mouthguard. Temporary blanks may be initially fitted in the insets while a portion of the mouthguard is softened before an arch of teeth is pressed into the channel to make a custom impression. The inserts possess different physical properties than the carrier and may be positioned and shaped to mechanically buffer teeth of the arch from mechanical shocks as well as release beneficial agents. The inserts may be replaced or refreshed to maintain the beneficial agent. A dental device having a core carrying a beneficial agent inside a liquid-permeable shell functions as an infant's teething device.
US08181654B2 Condom rolled on a rigid ring sheathed with a rotor
A ring structure for rolling a tubular region of a condom. A condom held and rolled on a ring includes a rigid ring, a lubricant layer, and a rotor. As an opening in the tubular region of the condom is expanded, the rigid ring is sheathed via the lubricant layer with the rubber tube. The rubber tube rotates in the ring and the ring is removable after placement of the condom.
US08181652B2 Infant positive pressure tracheal device
The invention relates to an infant tracheal device used with a source of air that provides transmission of continuous positive pressure into the lungs of an infant breathing spontaneously using a single tube inspiratory line. The invention serves as an interface with an open trachea. A one-way air valve placed within the tube will not allow pressure to return through the inspiratory line. The internal pressure within the line is measured with a monitor line which is connected to the source and the tracheal device as the pressure enters the infant lungs via a cuffless tracheal tube. A minimal amount of pressure will now be necessary to keep the lungs open. Voluntary exhalation occurs as the pressure of the exhaled air exiting the lungs goes around both the cuffless tracheal tube and out through the nose and mouth of the infant. A pressure release port located on the tracheal device facilitates monitoring and emergency pressure release as necessary. A dispenser port allows use of medication.
US08181648B2 Systems and methods for managing pressure in a breathing assistance system
A breathing assistance system for providing breathing assistance to a patient is provided. The breathing assistance system may include a ventilation system for supplying a gas flow, a conduit operatively coupled to the ventilation system, and a pressure sensor configured to measure the pressure of the gas flow through the conduit. The pressure sensor may include a structure configured to create a localized pressure drop in the gas flow proximate the pressure sensor structure.
US08181637B2 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.
US08181635B2 Breather device for engine
In a breather device for engine, in which an inlet of a breather chamber communicates with a crank chamber through a reed valve, the reed valve being formed of: a fixed stopper plate arranged so as to be opposed to a valve seat formed on an end face of the inlet facing the breather chamber; and an elastic valve plate fixed at one end thereof to the stopper plate and capable of bending elastically to change its position from a closed position in which the elastic valve plate closes the inlet by seating on the valve seat to an opening limit position in which the elastic valve plate opens the inlet and abuts against the stopper plate, the stopper plate is provided at a center part thereof with an oil discharge hole through which oil present between the elastic valve plate and the stopper plate is pushed out when the elastic valve plate is pushed toward the opening limit position in which the elastic valve plate abuts against the stopper plate by pressure in the crank chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the elastic valve plate from sticking to the stopper plate even if oil mist adheres to the elastic valve plate or the stopper plate of the reed valve.
US08181631B2 Hydrocarbon storage canister purge system and method
A hydrocarbon canister purge system includes a hydrocarbon storage canister, a fuel tank disposed in fluid communication with the hydrocarbon storage canister, an engine disposed in fluid communication with the hydrocarbon storage canister, a hydrocarbon sensor provided in the hydrocarbon storage canister and a controller disposed in signal-receiving communication with the hydrocarbon sensor and in signal-transmitting communication with the engine.
US08181629B2 Engine and exhaust heating for hybrid vehicle
A method for controlling a vehicle engine having a plurality of cylinders and an electric motor configured to rotate the engine is provided. The method includes, during engine idling, advancing spark timing of at least one cylinder to substantially before a peak torque timing. The method further includes adjusting motor torque output of the electric motor to maintain engine idle speed.
US08181628B2 Throttle valve controller for internal combustion engine
A throttle valve controller for an internal combustion engine has a throttle valve driven by a motor. The target opening of the throttle valve is determined based on the operating state of the vehicle or internal combustion engine. A first lower limit is determined beforehand as the minimum target opening, and a second lower limit is set which is smaller than the first lower limit if the determined target opening is smaller than a predetermined opening and/or if the rotation speed of the internal combustion engine is lower than a predetermined speed.
US08181623B2 Piston for an internal combustion engine
A piston for an internal combustion engine has at least two hub bores for holding a piston pin. The hub bores are formed with a cylindrical inner contour and are provided with a coating comprising a resin with solid lubricant particles embedded therein. The coating forms at least one geometric deviation from the cylindrical inner contour of the hub bores. A method for producing a piston of the type, includes producing bores with a cylindrical inner contour and applying a coating medium comprising a resin with solid lubricant particles embedded therein to the inner faces of the bores by a coating tool, such that the resulting coating forms at least one geometric deviation from the cylindrical inner contour of the hub bores.
US08181621B2 Internal combustion engine with dynamic balancing system
An internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and first and second balance shafts which are gear driven from one to the other, as a unilateral tensioning system applied to a flexible drive extending between the engine's crankshaft and a first one of the balance shafts, with the unilateral tensioning system being applied to the tension side alone of the flexible and inextensible drive element.
US08181618B2 Induction driven ignition system
An induction driven ignition system with an electrode projecting into the combustion chamber of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The electrode is adjacent to but electrically insulated from an electrical conductor which receives current at frequencies between 100 kHz to 500 kHz. Thermal insulation is also provided between the electrode and adjacent structure of the head. The induction driven ignition system causes the electrodes to rapidly and accurately heat up to very high temperatures. The electrodes may be formed in elongated edges throughout the combustion chamber to provide combustion initiation over a wide area.
US08181611B2 Stratified scavenging two-cycle engine
Provided is a laminar-scavenging two-cycle engine, which can have a higher laminar-scavenging effect than that of the laminar-scavenging two-cycle engine of the prior art and which can expect drastically excellent effects on the stabilization of combustion and on the blow-by prevention. The laminar-scavenging two-cycle engine is characterized in that a scavenging passage (4) is constituted to include a portion (or a crankcase side portion (4a)) extending along a crankcase (9) and a portion (or a cylinder side portion (4b)) extending along a cylinder (10) and to have a length larger than the sum of the diameter and stroke of the cylinder (10), in that an ambient air introducing passage (11) for introducing the leading air into the scavenging passage (4) is connected to an intermediate portion of the scavenging passage (4), and in that a notch (8a) for opening a scavenging port (7) to the side of the crankcase (9) when a piston (8) is near the top dead center is formed in the piston (8).
US08181609B2 Protective collar for an animal
A protective animal collar having a collar body for forming a barrier for an area from the base of the neck to the head of the animal, a member having openings therein covering one end of the collar body.
US08181593B2 Apparatus for applying a layer to a hydrophobic surface
An apparatus for applying a layer to a hydrophobic surface. The apparatus including: a chuck having a top surface and rotatable about a axis perpendicular to the top surface and passing through a center point of the top surface; and hollow first and second dispense nozzles having respective first and second bores, the first and second dispense nozzles mounted on a application head disposed above the top surface of the chuck, the application head moveable in a direction parallel to the top surface of the chuck, the first dispense nozzle alignable over the center point when the application head is in a first position and the second dispense nozzle alignable over the center point when the application head is in a second position, at least a portion of the bore of second dispense tube having a maximum cross-sectional dimension of between about 0.5 millimeters and about 2.0 millimeters.
US08181592B2 Apparatus for applying coating to products and methods of use thereof
An apparatus and method for coating products is disclosed herein. An exemplary apparatus comprises a vibration generating portion and a product coating portion. The product coating portion can include a coating application portion, a sifting portion, and an aligning portion. The exemplary apparatus can include a coating recycle portion as well. The vibration generation portion further comprises a motor vibration assembly secured to a frame wherein the frame is in communication with the product coating portion, such as a pan assembly, by springs that move the pan assembly with a vibratory motion. The product coating portion includes a series of angled steps that guide the coating and vibrating product upwards and forward, while simultaneously allowing the product to be agitated against the coating resting on the step surface. Additionally, the product coating portion can include a moveable wire belt conveyor assembly.
US08181578B2 Method, system and devices for railroad track reconditioning and repair
A method, system and devices for reconditioning, repair and replacement of railroad track components including direct fixation fasteners includes the use of temporary direct fixation fasteners which serve as temporary rail support and fastening and as guides for installation of permanent anchor inserts for installation and anchoring of new permanent direct fixation fasteners. The method of use of the temporary direct fixation fasteners enables operational use of the railroad line at various stages throughout reconditioning, repair and replacement processes.
US08181574B2 Displaying data in a machine which processes printing material
A device is described for displaying data (13) during process sequences in machines (2) which process printing material. The device is provided for the purpose of graphically superimposing the data (13) to be displayed on the printing material (14).
US08181573B2 Method and apparatus for feeding printing plates to a plate cylinder of a processing machine
In an apparatus for feeding printing plates to a plate cylinder of a printing press, the printing plate is prealigned on stops outside the plate cylinder with a lateral offset and with an oblique skew. Then the printing plate is fed, in the thusly aligned position to the register pins of the plate cylinder, wherein the printing plate is finally aligned by lateral displacement and by a pivoting movement about the first register pin, until the printing plate bears with its receptacles against both register pins.
US08181562B2 Principle for the integration of missile-based weapon systems on a fixed ramp for stealth surface vessels in order to counter asymmetric threats
Device for launching missiles from a ship, includes at least one missile launch ramp, includes a ditch delimited by side walls of which at least two constitute bulwarks which extend around the periphery of the ship, the ditch being open above the exterior deck of the ship, in that the launch ramp is positioned in the ditch so it can be used to launch a missile over a lateral bulwark of the ditch extending around the periphery of the ship. It includes an element for discharging the missile propulsion gases including a duct opening onto an orifice in a lateral bulwark of the ditch extending around the periphery of the ship, and the lateral bulwarks of the ditch are of a height tailored to conceal the missiles in place on the ramp, for angles of incidence of between 0 and −5° with respect to the deck of the ship.
US08181557B2 Power saw with miter angle adjustment
This specification discloses a mechanism that alters the cutting angle of a motorized miter saw. The cutting angle is altered by a mechanism that deploys a member from underneath the cutting material resting surface to above the cutting material resting surface. When deployed above the cutting material resting surface, the angle between the blade and cutting material is altered.
US08181550B2 Rotary actuator incorporating a force relationship, and a method of reducing angular slack in such a rotary actuator
A rotary actuator incorporating a force relationship includes a twistably-deformable structure having a first and a second end plate and a helical spring with a first and a second terminal end secured on the first and the second end plate, respectively, and wherein the first and the second end plate have a first and a second notch, respectively, and wherein the first and the second notch have a first and a second contact zone, respectively. The rotary actuator further includes an outlet shaft and a motor assembly having an outlet gear configured to drive the twistably-deformable structure so as to drive the outlet shaft in rotation, wherein the motor assembly, the twistably-deformable structure and the outlet shaft are disposed in succession. The rotary actuator has a first finger constrained to rotate with the outlet gear and a second finger constrained to rotate with the outlet shaft.
US08181548B2 Power transmission apparatus
A power transmission apparatus includes a rotating electric device including a rotor and a stator; a speed reducer; and a case. The speed reducer includes a first drive gear provided on a first shaft connected to the rotating electric device; a first driven gear that engages with the first drive gear, and that is provided on a second shaft that is parallel to the first shaft; a second drive gear provided on the second shaft; and a second driven gear that engages with the second drive gear, and that rotates coaxially with the first shaft. The lower end of the stator, the lower end of the second driven gear, the lower end of the first driven gear, and the lower end of the rotor are disposed in a stated order in a direction from a lower position to an upper position, in the case.
US08181539B2 Pressure isolated strain gauge torque sensor
A fluid parameter measuring instrument relies upon a torque transmitting member comprising an integrally joined and substantially concentric shaft within a tube to transfer torsional stress across a pressure differential barrier without a penetration aperture seal. On one environmental side of the barrier, a pair of thin wall beams having strain gauges secured thereto are secured proximate of the beam mid-points to the torque transmitting member and the opposite ends to barrier structure. The strain gauges are connected in an electrical balance circuit to measure torque as a function of stress on the beams.
US08181537B2 Linearized torque flow sensor
A fluid flow meter is responsive to measured torque force imposed by fluid flow over a static impeller. Exponential torque relationships imposed upon a static torque shaft by fluid flow over a static impeller are linearized by a resilient torque shaft restraint and translated to flow rate values by torque measuring means.
US08181535B2 Flow measuring apparatus using tube waves and corresponding method
Methods of measuring flow properties and flowmeters having an upstream transceiver and a downstream wave transceiver, each positioned with a wave emitting surface exposed to a fluid flowing in a conduit are described, the transceiver being separated by a length L along the conduit and adapted to receive wave signals traveling in flow direction and opposite to the flow direction, respectively, and an electronic processor for extracting from travel time measurements of the wave signals flow characterizing parameters, the transceivers being adapted to generate tube waves, particularly in the audible frequency range, in the conduit and used to determine the travel time of the tube waves between the upstream transceiver and the downstream wave transceiver.
US08181532B2 Structural deflection and load measuring device
The present invention provides a structural deflection and load measuring device for mounting on an axle. The device includes at least one light beam emitting device connected to the axle and able to emit at least one light beam and at least one light position sensing device connected to the axle. The sensing device is located relative to the light beam emitting device for receiving at least one light beam from the light beam emitting device thereon and is operable to calculate the position of the light beam received on its surface.
US08181528B2 Method and system for ultrasonic inspection of gearbox ring gear
A method and system for ultrasonically inspecting a ring gear of a gearbox is provided. The method and system can be used for the detection, characterization and/or sizing of defects in the ring gear. The ring gear has a plurality of teeth, which extend radially inward with respect to an outer surface of the gearbox. The method includes the steps of selecting an ultrasonic transducer productive of a test signal, positioning the ultrasonic transducer at an outer surface of the ring gear, orienting the ultrasonic transducer so as to direct the test signal to propagate through the ring gear, and activating the ultrasonic transducer so as to test the ring gear for defects therein.
US08181527B2 Method and apparatus for pass/fail determination of bonding and bonding apparatus
An apparatus for pass/fail determination of bonding used in a bonding apparatus, includes: an ultrasonic horn configured to vibrate longitudinally in resonance with the vibration of an ultrasonic vibrator; a capillary attached at an anti-node of the vibration of the ultrasonic horn; a flange provided at a node of the vibration of the ultrasonic horn; a bonding arm; and a load sensor attached between the center of rotation of the bonding arm and a flange mounting surface in an offset manner from a longitudinal central axis of the ultrasonic horn, in which a load on the capillary in the direction toward and away from the bonding target is continuously detected by using the load sensor during bonding operation and the maximum value of the detected load is defined as an impact load to determine pass/fail of the bonding based on the impact load, thereby allowing a mid-bonding pass/fail determination.
US08181525B2 Universal acoustic emission test sensor fixing device
A universal acoustic emission test sensor fixing device includes a radial positioning mechanism, supporting mechanisms, bases, acoustic emission test sensor mounting mechanisms, and parallelism adjusting members, in which the supporting mechanism includes a main supporting arm and an auxiliary supporting arm, with one end of the auxiliary supporting arm fixedly connected to or hinged with the main supporting arm and the other end being provided with a ball head, and a parallelism adjusting member mounting mechanism is provided at the joint of the main supporting arm and the auxiliary supporting arm, and the base is provided with a spherical hole.
US08181518B1 Float for liquid level indicator
A magnetic float is provided for a level indicator system that is suitable for low density liquids at high pressure, such as C3-liquids. The float comprises a hollow tube, first and second endcaps, and a magnet assembly. The hollow tube comprises a carbon fiber reinforced cured resin matrix and has a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis extending between the ends. The first and second endcaps are formed from polymer and dome-shaped. They seal the first and second ends of the hollow tube, respectively, to hermetically seal the inside of the float the outside. At least one polymeric reinforcing ring is mounted inside of a midsection of the hollow tube between the first end and the second end to resist radial inward collapse of the tube. The magnet assembly is mounted in the tube near the first endcap and comprises a plurality of longitudinally elongated magnets positioned adjacent the inside wall of the hollow tube. Each magnet has a longitudinal axis positioned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hollow tube and is circumferentially spaced from the other magnets.
US08181517B2 Sender card contamination reduction due to current application to sender card
Disclosed herein is a system for use in a tank containing a contaminative fluid. The system includes an electrically conductive resistive material in fluid communication with the contents of the tank, a controller configured to periodically generate a control signal, and a variable power supply coupled to the electrically conductive material to provide a current within a normal operating range and to supply current at an elevated level in response to a control signal, wherein the elevated level is selected to heat the electrically conductive material to a temperature sufficient to remove contamination building thereon.
US08181507B2 Wind condition based vapor leak detection test
A control system comprising a wind condition determination module that determines a wind condition and a leak detection test control module that selectively diagnoses a vapor leak associated with a vehicle based on the wind condition. A method comprising determining a wind condition and selectively diagnosing a vapor leak associated with a vehicle based on the wind condition.
US08181504B2 Smoke evaluating device and related method
A smoke evaluation device includes a manifold in fluid communication with a source of smoke, and a first sampling line and a second sampling line in fluid communication with the manifold. The first sampling line and the second sampling line are arranged to convey parallel smoke flows. A first filter station is located in the first sampling line, and is adapted to support a filter paper in fluid communication with the smoke. A first circuit board station is located in the second sampling line, and is adapted to support a circuit board in fluid communication with the smoke.
US08181492B2 Washing machine with steam generator
Disclosed herein is a washing machine that is capable of generating hot air and steam to be supplied into a rotary tub using a single heater. The washing machine includes a rotary tub to receive laundry, a heating duct defining a channel to supply hot air to the rotary tub, a heater mounted in the heating duct, and a steam generating part heated by the heater to generate steam to be supplied to the rotary tub. The steam generating part includes an object heated by contacting the heater. The object includes a tubular member having an outer surface contacting the heater and a hollow part for steam generation defined therein. The object may include a steam generating plate having one surface contacting the heater.
US08181489B2 Knitting tool
The present invention relates to a knitting tool 1 in which a knitting point 2 is joined to a flexible cord 3 for holding the knitted product, wherein the knitting point 2 and the flexible cord 3 are joined to one another by means of a coupling device 4 and the coupling device 4 has at least two elements 5, 6 that can be releasably coupled to one another by means of a bayonet catch.
US08181486B2 Methods for manufacturing performs for press molding and method for manufacturing optical elements
In the method for manufacturing preforms for press molding, a glass melt gob is separated from glass melt flow flowing out of a pipe and the glass melt gob is molded into a preform for press molding on a glass gob casting mold. The method comprises a viscosity-increasing step to increase viscosity of the glass melt.
US08181482B2 Cut gemstone exhibiting excellent optical brilliance
A gemstone including a substantially rectangular girdle, a crown extending in a first direction from the girdle, and a pavilion extending in a second direction from the girdle opposite the first direction. The gemstone has 65 uniquely arranged and angled facets, 25 of which are in the crown, and 40 of which are in the pavilion. The height of the crown is preferably between 9½ to 13½% of the width of the stone, the total depth of the stone is preferably between 63-70.9% of the width of the stone, and the width of the table is preferably between 60-68% of the width of the stone. The crown has four sides, a table, and four bezel facets each positioned at a respective corner of the crown. Each of the four sides of the crown have a first break extending from the girdle toward the table, a second break extending from the first break toward the table, a third break extending from the second break to the table, and a pair of star facets provided between the third break and the bezel facets at each corner of respective side of the crown. Preferably, and relative to a plane parallel to a surface of the table, the first break is cut at an angle of approximately 35-45°, the second break is cut at an angle of approximately 30-40°, the third break is cut at an angle of approximately 25-35°, and the bezel facets are cut at an angle of approximately 20-30°.
US08181481B2 Method and apparatus for cooling a stream, in particular a hydrocarbon stream such as natural gas
Method and apparatus for cooling a stream in a heat exchanger against a refrigerant fluid being cycled in a refrigerant circuit. The cycling of the refrigerant fluid includes feeding a first refrigerant fluid into an axial compressor and compressing it to obtain a compressed first refrigerant fluid. The compressed first refrigerant fluid is then fed into a centrifugal compressor, with a second refrigerant fluid. The compressed first refrigerant fluid and the second refrigerant fluid are compressed in the centrifugal compressor, thereby obtaining a compressed refrigerant fluid mixture. The compressed refrigerant fluid mixture is cooled in a heat exchanger and subsequently separated into at least two streams. The at least two streams are evaporated at different pressure levels of a heat exchanger in heat exchanging contact with the stream to be cooled, and from the at least two evaporated streams the first and second refrigerant fluids are retrieved.
US08181473B2 Refrigeration cycle device, and air conditioner for vehicle
In a refrigeration cycle device in which a compressor is driven by power transmitted from an engine, a torque limiter is adapted to interrupt a transmission of the power from the engine to the compressor when a torque transmitted from the engine to the compressor becomes a predetermined value. A control unit is adapted to determine whether the transmission of the power from the engine to the compressor is interrupted by the torque limiter by determining whether a deviation of a refrigerant discharge pressure of the compressor is below a predetermined pressure when the control unit commands the compressor to change the refrigerant discharge flow amount of the compressor. Thus, the control unit can determine whether the torque limiter interrupts the transmission of power from the engine to the compressor without, using a compressor revolution sensor.
US08181470B2 Thermal energy storage and cooling system utilizing multiple refrigerant and cooling loops with a common evaporator coil
Disclosed is a method and device for a refrigerant-based thermal energy storage and cooling system with multiple condensing units utilizing a common evaporator coil. The disclosed embodiments provide a refrigerant-based ice storage system with increased reliability, lower cost components, and reduced power consumption and ease of installation.
US08181463B2 Direct heating organic Rankine cycle
The present invention provides an organic Rankine cycle power system, which comprises means for superheating vaporized organic motive fluid, an organic turbine module coupled to a generator, and a first pipe through which superheated organic motive fluid is supplied to the turbine, wherein the superheating means is a set of coils through which the vaporized organic motive fluid flows and which is in direct heat exchanger relation with waste heat gases.
US08181462B2 Turbocharger with two-stage compressor, including a twin-wheel parallel-flow first stage
A single-shaft exhaust gas-driven turbocharger includes two parallel-flow first-stage centrifugal compressors in series with a single second-stage centrifugal compressor, and a one-stage turbine arranged to drive both the first- and second-stage centrifugal compressors via a single shaft on which the compressors and turbine are fixedly mounted. The compressor housing defines from one to a plurality of circumferentially spaced inlet ducts for the second wheel of the first stage, and from one to a plurality of circumferentially spaced interstage ducts leading from a vaneless diffuser of the first stage into the inlet of the second stage.
US08181447B2 Exhaust gas purification device
An ECU corrects a fuel addition interval, based on an amount of change between an exhaust gas temperature at present and a basic exhaust gas temperature obtained when a basic addition interval is set, to reduce the fuel addition interval with an increase in the amount of change in the exhaust gas temperature. With such correction of the addition interval, when the exhaust gas temperature is increased in a highland region or the like, the fuel addition interval is corrected to be reduced and an fuel addition amount is corrected to be increased according to the increase in the exhaust gas temperature. Thereby, an increase in a temperature at a tip portion of a fuel addition valve can be suppressed, and thus clogging of an ejection hole of the fuel addition valve with deposits can be avoided.
US08181440B2 Arrangement of a semiconductor-type igniter plug in a gas turbine engine combustion chamber
An igniter plug arrangement is disclosed. The arrangement includes an igniter plug of the semiconductor in shell type, a duct secured to a combustion chamber of a gas turbine engine, a floating sleeve via which the igniter plug is mounted in the duct, and a system for guiding air to cool the semiconductor of the igniter plug. The shell and the semiconductor define, at their combustion-chamber end, an annular igniter plug cavity. The shell includes orifices in the region of the igniter plug annular cavity that communicate with the annular cavity of the sleeve and orifices on its planar surface.
US08181426B2 Closing apparatus
A Closing apparatus (1) for closing packaging elements, in particular cardboard boxes, comprises conveying device (2) for conveying the packaging elements, a folding device (4) for folding down at least one section of the packaging element concerned, a first closing device (6) for closing at least one section of the packaging element concerned, arranged on a first longitudinal side of the conveying device (2), wherein the closing apparatus further comprises a second closing device (8) for closing at least a section of the packaging elements concerned that is mounted on a second longitudinal side of the conveying device (2) opposite the first longitudinal side of the conveying device (2).
US08181423B2 Beam
A hollow flange channel beam has a planar web with a pair of narrow rectangular cross-section flanges extending along opposite sides of said web and extending perpendicular to a face of said web in the same direction. The section capacity is optimized when Wf=(0.3)Db, Wf=(3.0)Df and WF=(30)t.
US08181422B2 Energy-absorbing structural composite element
A structural, energy absorbing composite element for aircraft structures includes a metallic or nonmetallic skin shell with a porous filler material insert positioned within the skin shell. The porous filler material is a material having ligaments that collapse resulting in a densification of the porous filler material in response to impact loading or a compression force sufficient to cause failure of the combined assembly.
US08181421B2 Edge-wrapped panel and methods for edge-wrapping a panel
An edge-wrapped panel and methods for edge-wrapping a panel. The panel comprises a substrate layer, a laminate layer, and at least one retainer. The laminate wraps around the substrate first edge and around the retainer first edge and sandwiches the substrate and the retainer between a first portion of the laminate and a second portion of the laminate. A method for edge-wrapping the panel includes the steps of securing the retainer to the laminate and then snap-wrapping the laminate flap around the edge of the panel. A stiffness and curvature in the retainer facilitates the swift snap-wrap movement.
US08181417B2 Acoustical sound proofing material and methods for manufacturing same
An improved acoustical damping wall (ceiling or floor) or door material comprises a laminar structure having as an integral part thereof one or more layers of viscoelastic material which also functions as a glue and one or more constraining layers, such as metal, cellulose, wood, or petroleum-based products such as plastic, vinyl, plastic or rubber. In one embodiment, standard wallboard, typically gypsum, comprises the external surfaces of the laminar structure; and one or more constraining layers are fabricated between the gypsum exterior. The resulting structure improves the attenuation of sound transmitted through the structure.
US08181414B2 Web structure for insulating concrete block
An insulating concrete form block adapted to be interlocked with other insulating concrete blocks to form an insulating concrete form for casting concrete. The insulating concrete block including a first foam panel and a second foam panel supported in a spaced apart, parallel relationship to form a concrete receiving cavity. Each of the first panel and the second panel having a top end, a bottom end, a first end, and a second end. The top end and the bottom end of each of the first and second panels having an outside row of a plurality of projections and an inside row of a plurality of projections. The projections of the outside row being spaced apart to define a plurality of recesses and the projections of the inside row being spaced apart to define a plurality of recesses with the projections of the outside row being adjacent to the recesses of the inside row and the recesses of the outside row being adjacent projections of the inside row. At least some of the projections of the inner row are set back from an inner edge of the panel such that when one panel is interconnected with a like panel, a plurality of spaced apart recesses are formed along an inner face defined by the interconnected panels.
US08181405B2 Partition mounting system and clamp assembly for mounting partition
A system for mounting a partition, the system including a shoe with a slot for receiving an edge of the partition and an isolator that fits within the slot between the partition and a portion of the slot. A clamp assembly fits within the slot opposite the first isolator. The clamp assembly includes upper and lower blocks and a center block. The clamp assembly and the isolator are configured to permit the angling of the partition within the slot to place the partition in a desired position. Surfaces of the blocks are angled with respect to each other so that drawing the upper and lower blocks toward each other will urge the center block in one direction so that the partition is held within the slot.
US08181404B2 Head-of-wall fireblocks and related wall assemblies
Fireblock devices, wall assemblies and related methods useful for retarding the spread of smoke and fire through dynamic head-of-wall construction joints and gaps are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the fireblock device is characterized by an elongated angled channel member having an elongated intumescent material strip, wherein the angled channel member is defined by an elongated top flange member connected to an elongated side flange member along a lengthwise edge, and wherein the top and side flange members define a right angle and a lengthwise interior corner region, and wherein the top and side flange members each have inner flange member surfaces that face inwardly with respect to the interior corner region, and outer flange member surfaces that face outwardly with respect to the interior corner region, and wherein the intumescent material strip is affixed on the outer flange member surface of the side flange member.
US08181403B1 Roof vent
A roof vent has a base member adapted to be mounted on a roof, and a cover member for excluding water. The base member has a generally planar base having an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, the inner perimeter defining a vent aperture. A water barrier wall extends upwardly from the base around the vent aperture for excluding water. A ventilated dome extends from the water barrier wall at least partially over the vent aperture. Generally triangular wedges extending outwardly from the water barrier wall, shaped to direct water flow away from the water barrier wall. The cover member has a top cover element with a perimeter flange extending downwardly, and is adapted to be mounted over the base member.
US08181402B2 Building-integrated photovoltaic power unit
A building-integrated photovoltaic power unit comprising: a solar cell module including a solar panel, a functional member, and a frame body including a first frame formed with an installation part extending outward and holding the functional member and the opposing edges of the solar panel facing each other; a processed rafter including a supporting member, the processed rafters including processed rafters configured as a structure of a roof, each having a width to allow installation parts of different solar cell modules facing each other to be installed thereon in a state where supporting members are successively installed stepwise in a longitudinal direction; and a cap member fixed to the processed rafter including a ceiling part covering upper surfaces of the first frames of the solar cell modules installed such that the respective installation parts face each other on an upper surface of the processed rafter.
US08181399B2 Stability bracing of a support structure for elevating a building structure
A support structure for elevating a building surface above a fixed surface having stability bracing to provide increased stability to the structure. The support structure includes a plurality of support pedestals that are disposed in spaced-apart relation on a fixed surface. A plurality of braces are attached to adjacent support pedestals to interconnect the support pedestals. Interconnecting the support pedestals in such a manner creates a stable support structure that can be utilized in unstable environments, such as seismically active geographic areas. The support pedestals can be adjustable-height support pedestals.
US08181398B2 Roofing system and method
A roof mounting system can include a roof substrate and flashing supportable on the substrate and including an outwardly extending projection having a concave interior side and an aperture extending through the projection between top and bottom surfaces of the flashing. A seal can extend through the aperture and contact at least a portion of the top surface and at least a portion of the bottom surface. The seal can be conformable with the concave interior side and can define a seal aperture substantially aligned with the flashing aperture. A mounting bracket can be supportable on the flashing and can define an aperture sized to receive at least a portion of each of the seal and the projection. A fastener can extend through the mounting bracket aperture, seal aperture, and flashing aperture to inhibit fluid flow through the flashing aperture.
US08181396B1 Mounting system for a coil spring in a window counterbalance assembly
A counterbalance system for counterbalancing the weight of a window sash in a window frame and the structure of the springs that provide the counterbalance force. Guide tracks are provided on a window frame to guide the movement of the window sash. Mounting slots are formed through the guide tracks at various points. Coil springs are provided to create the counterbalance force. Each coil spring is a coil of wound steel ribbon that has one end bent into an anchor configuration. The anchor configuration passes into, and is retained by, one of the mounting slots. This anchors one end of the coil spring to the guide track.
US08181391B1 Vertical aquaponic micro farm
Embodiments of a vertical aquaponic micro farm are described. The vertical aquaponic micro farm is designed to support and incorporate a variety of food growing and alternative energy devices, and can be used to grow plants, fish, and other similar organisms. The system incorporates a biologically active grow mat and filter system and combines a biological filter system with aquaculture, hydroponics, solar, wind, and battery technologies. The vertical aquaponic garden/farm represents a self-sustaining micro farm that can be set up in any area with exposure to sunlight and/or wind. It can be used in exterior locations, or interior applications with the addition of appropriate lighting systems. Depending on application, the system uses significantly less water that required for traditional farming. Water is recycled through the grow mat media bed (bio-mat) and a biologic filter, which can be inoculated with a culture of nitrifying bacteria in combination with the plant roots. This system eliminates nitrogen waste by metabolizing ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. If fish are present, the system converts the effluent from the fish pond into plant mass. The overall system then returns clean water back to the fish pond.
US08181387B2 Plant growth device
Disclosed is a rack for growing plants, including mounting means and a plurality of shelve means spaced vertically. Each of the plurality of shelve means is configured to slide generally horizontally in and out of said mounting means and includes a carrier element; and at least substantially planar light emitting element disposed under the carrier element and formed by at least one OLED. Positions of each of the plurality of shelve means are interchangeable relative to the mounting means.
US08181386B1 Encasement devices and methods for planting mangroves
Cylindrical type encasement devices and method for planting mangrove propagules or seedlings along high-energy shorelines and in non-native environments. The devices can use interior (or exterior) longitudinal grooves or thinned channels or lines of holes that hinge the device along the longitudinal axis to facilitate increases in the displacement. This displacement results in acceleration of both plant development and the adaptation process, thereby improving long-term survivability and promoting reproductive maturity in order to establish self-sustaining mangrove trees and forests. The device facilitates forced adaptation, that is, induced changes in morphology and structure in order to habituate the developing mangrove tree to environments where natural recruitment cannot occur. A manufacturing process enables control of the structure, color and opacity, to facilitate optimization of the device for applications in habitat creation, restoration, shoreline stabilization, erosion control, and environmental remediation. Safe and easy removal of the device from the environment occurs at the completion of the adaptation process without harm and damage to the tree.
US08181380B2 Electronic fishing device and a related system, method, and use
An electronic fishing device for facilitating trolling a fish-catching element in water and a related system, method, and use, the fishing device including: a first sensing element for obtaining a first indication relating to water temperature, a second sensing element for obtaining a second indication relating to the depth of the device, a steering member for adjusting the depth of the device, a processing unit for controlling, via the first and/or second indication provided by the first and second sensing elements, the steering member so as to guide the device relative to at least one element selected from the group consisting of: the position of the thermocline layer, a predetermined depth, and a predetermined temperature. In addition to fishing the disclosed device may be utilized in marine or other underwater research.
US08181377B2 Display devices and methods of displaying objects
A display device includes (a) a first mounting member containing a first film-mounting surface, wherein the first film-mounting surface demarcates a first opening in the first mounting member; (b) a second mounting member containing a second film-mounting surface, wherein the second film-mounting surface demarcates a second opening in the second mounting member; (c) a first elastomeric film mounted to the first film-mounting surface and extending across the first opening; (d) a second elastomeric film mounted to the second film-mounting surface and extending across the second opening; and (e) a chassis configured for supporting the first mounting member and the second mounting member. The first opening and the second opening are configured for oppositional alignment in the chassis, and the first elastomeric film and the second elastomeric film are configured to retain a display object in a region defined by an oppositional alignment of the first opening and the second opening.
US08181375B2 Frontal panel display with assembly and disassembly automatic system
Frontal panel display with assembly and disassembly automatic system where a display receives, in the rear side (4) of its frontal panel, (1) two pairs (5) of cardboard to form the two hinges that, under the assembly unit (16) claw effect, allow the articulable boards (9) to lock perpendicularly to such panel (1) and, parallelly between them, form two supports to maintain the display straight while by the panel grooves (3) and boards grooves (12) and again under the assembly units (16) action, the display shall be folded and compacted. In another version, the frontal panel receives just one board, maintaining the same assembly and disassembly system as well as in other version, where the parallel boards pair is equally maintained locked in the perpendicular position in respect to the frontal panel so as to maintain the display assembled.
US08181366B2 Ski boot, in particular for ski mountaineering
A ski boot for ski mountaineering or telemark skiing including a shell of plastic material and a sole. A first longitudinal cut in the shell defines two sides which allow the entry of the foot of the skier. A second cut in the shell, transverse to, and opening into the first cut, is formed in the front section of the shell. The first and second cuts form a longitudinal slot in the shell; stops are located at opposite ends of the slot. In the preferred embodiment, a peg with an enlarged head is slit within the slot to adjust the flexibility of the boot in the longitudinal direction. In the alternative embodiment, a gaiter and a profiled element are located in the area of the first cut and the second cut in the shell. A peg with an enlarged head is slid with aligned slots in the shell, gaiter, and profiled element, to adjust the flexibility of the shell in the longitudinal direction.
US08181363B2 Modular shoe system
A modular shoe is provided by a two part shoe design. A first part is an internal support structure that includes a midsole portion and a heel counter. A second part is a removable cover that is configured to accept a specific size internal support structure to provide internal support to the soft material and outsole which comprise the cover. Various cover designs are configured to accept a single size internal support structure thereby providing for interchangeable cover and a plurality of shoe designs all sharing a single internal support structure. The removable cover takes substantially less packing space that supported shoe, thereby requiring reduced storage for a traveler packing several shoe designs all sharing a single internal support.
US08181361B2 Sole structure for a shoe
A sole structure 1 for a shoe comprises an upper plate 2 having a heel region and disposed on the upper side of the structure 1, a first C-shaped portion 3 and a second C-shaped portion 4 each having a longitudinally flat, generally C-shape with an upwardly opening portion 3A, 4A, disposed alongside in the longitudinal direction under the upper plate 2, and each opening end of the upwardly opening portions 3A, 4A directly fixed to the upper plate 2, and a connecting portion 5 interposed between and connecting the first and second C-shaped portions 3. The C-shaped portions 3, 4 are formed of downwardly convexly curved surfaces 30, 40 and diagonally upwardly convexly curved surfaces 31, 41, respectively, which extend diagonally upwardly from the downwardly convexly curved surfaces 30, 40 toward the upper plate 2.
US08181358B2 Energy management apparatus and method
An energy management apparatus manages energy consumption of a machine, which has a supply part (14) for supplying energy and a consume part (10) for consuming the energy supplied by the supply part, so that the energy consumed by the consume part is positively saved. An operating part operates the consume part by using the energy supplied by the supply part. An acquisition part acquires an energy conversion characteristic, as an energy efficiency, from an input energy (40), (42) supplied to the consume part into an output energy output (44), (46) from the consume part. A change part changes an operating condition of the consume part based on the acquired energy efficiency so as to improve an actual value of the energy efficiency.
US08181341B2 Method of forming a multilayer printed wiring board having a bulged via
A method of forming a circuit board which includes generating laser light with a carbon dioxide laser and making a hole through an insulating substrate by irradiating the insulating substrate with the laser light. The hole includes a top opening in a top surface of the insulating substrate, a bottom opening in a bottom surface of the insulating substrate, and an inner wall extending from the top opening to the bottom opening along a thickness direction of the insulating substrate, the inner wall including a bulge which extends in a direction generally orthogonal to the thickness direction. A via hole is formed in the insulating substrate by providing metal in the hole such that the metal extends from the top opening to the bottom opening along the inner wall, and completely closes each of the top and bottom openings.
US08181339B2 Method of manufacturing a printed circuit board
A printed circuit board and a method of manufacturing the printed circuit board are disclosed. The method of manufacturing the printed circuit board can include forming a first protective layer over one surface of a core substrate, forming a first circuit pattern over the other surface of the core substrate by a first process, removing the first protective layer, forming a second protective layer over the other surface of the core substrate, and forming a second circuit pattern over the one surface of the core substrate by a second process.
US08181331B2 Method for producing hardened parts from sheet steel
The invention relates to a method for producing hardened structural parts from sheet steel. The method includes shaping at least one shaped part made of sheet steel provided with a cathodic corrosion protection coating, performing any required final trim of the shaped part and possibly any required punching, or the creation of a perforation pattern, subsequently heating the shaped part, at least over partial areas, under the admission of atmospheric oxygen to a temperature which permits austenizing of the steel material, and thereafter transferring the structural part to a mold-hardening tool and performing mold-hardening in the mold-hardening tool, wherein the structural part is cooled by the contact with and pressing by the mold-hardening tool and is hardened thereby.
US08181330B2 Method of manufacturing a member for a push button switch
A member for a push button switch that has a small thickness, high durability, and excellent click feeling and can be manufactured at low cost. The member for the push button switch includes one or more key tops, a metal sheet including at least holes that correspond to positions of the key tops, and an elastic sheet that is provided on the metal sheet so as to be positioned on the same side as or opposite side to the key tops. The elastic sheet is fitted into the holes and comes in contact with the key tops at positions of the holes. The elastic sheet includes a urethane film or polycarbonate, and a silicone rubber, which are laminated in a thickness direction of the metal sheet.
US08181324B2 Catheter with knit section
A catheter section comprising an elongate tubular member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a passageway defining a lumen extending between the proximal and distal ends. The elongate tubular member includes a knit tubular member and an inner tubular liner in coaxial relationship with the knit tubular member. The catheter section is for use as a distal section in a catheter having a relatively stiff proximal section.
US08181323B2 Roman blind batten guide
A guide (2) for inserting a fold of fabric into the batten of a Roman blind comprising a leading end (12) and a trailing end (4). A slot (10) runs from trailing end (12) to leading end (4). The slot (10) has a T-section which opens into a countersunk central area (14) towards the leading end (12) and into a bore (6) towards the trailing end (4). The bore (6) is adapted to receive a leading end of the batten (8) and a screw (18) projects from the sidewall into the bore (6) in order to engage the batten (8).
US08181317B2 Clamping device, mould thereof, and method for manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein is a clamping device which can resiliency clamp an item. The claming device comprises a W-shaped metallic member to impart resilience for clamping an item, and a casing member having the metallic member embedded therein. The casing member is formed of a polymeric material through injection-molding to prevent corrosion of the metallic member while enhancing an appearance of the clamping device. A mold for the clamping device, and a method for manufacturing the same are also disclosed. Since the metallic member for imparting resilience is embedded in the casing member, the clamping device can be easily manufactured as a single component, remarkably reducing manufacturing costs. Additionally, the metallic member is prevented from being corroded, whereby the clamping device has a remarkably enhanced endurance as well as a compact structure and a high quality.
US08181312B2 End-connector and method for fastening a flat-belt type suspension means of an elevator system
An end-connector for fastening a flat-belt type suspension device of an elevator system comprises a housing with two side walls and a first and a second wrapping element each of which extends between the two side walls and is wrappable by the flat-belt type suspension device in a specified arrangement so as to hold the suspension means fast in the end-connector by frictional engagement. Marked on at least one of the two side walls on the outside that faces away from the wrapping elements is the specified arrangement of the suspension device.
US08181308B2 Wiper for vehicle having improved assembling efficiency and reduced weight
A wiper for a vehicle including: a wiper stripe; a plurality of supports combined with the wiper strip; first and second yokes slidably supporting the plurality of supports; a first auxiliary lever having one end combined with a middle portion of the first yoke; a second auxiliary lever having one end combined with a middle portion of the second yoke; and a primary lever having one end combined with the first auxiliary lever and another end combined with the second auxiliary lever and including an arm combination hole in which a wiper arm is combined with a center of the primary lever, wherein the primary lever is combined with the first auxiliary lever and the second auxiliary lever, the first auxiliary lever and the first yoke are combined with each other, and the second auxiliary lever and the second yoke are combined with each other.
US08181301B2 Dental cleaning device
An electric toothbrush with a removable brush section having a transponder communicating with a handle portion of the toothbrush via a non-contacting inductive coupling.
US08181288B1 Waterproof base and methods of fabrication and installation thereof
A tile-ready shower basin, and methods of manufacturing and installing the same. A sloped structural core is provided having a topside and a bottom side. A first waterproof panel or coating is applied to the topside and a second waterproof panel or coating is applied to the bottom side. A thin fiberglass flange is provided about at least a portion of the perimeter of the core to create a lip. The basin further includes a first hole or recess formed into the basin, which does not extend through the basin, and a second hole, axially aligned with the first, which does extend through the basin, for directly receiving and coupling a drain therein.
US08181278B2 Waist protection garment
The invention relates to a waist protection garment. The waist protection garment may include: a length corresponding to the waist circumference of a wearer and the length defining two longitudinal sides; a width in a direction perpendicular to the length and the width defining two lateral sides; an outer cover including a fluid impermeable material; a liner in superposed relation to the outer cover and the liner defining a bodyfacing surface and including a liquid permeable material; and a fastener for attaching one lateral side to the other lateral side.
US08181274B1 Novelty shirt
A novelty shirt with a chest section and long sleeves. The long sleeves in a first position extend downwardly adjacent the sides of the shirt and have shoulder and cuff portions spaced from each other along the vertical axes with elbow portions therebetween. Upper and lower, complementary mouth patterns are then provided on the outsides of the sleeves. The patterns on the downwardly extending sleeves face outwardly and it is not readily apparent that they are part of any overall design. However, when the sleeves are crossed laterally in front of the chest section of the shirt with the elbow portions adjacent one another, the complementary upper and lower mouth patterns on the sleeves then reveal the overall mouth design formed by them. Thereafter, the sleeves can be manipulated to separate the elbow portions to simulate the opening of the mouth.
US08181272B2 Disposable, contoured paper like device to absorb liquid and small solid material from oral discharge
A method and apparatus for an environmentally-friendly disposable product and method that permits a caretaker to easily deploy and accurately position the product with confidence that the product is hygienic, effective in efficiently protecting the caretaker's clothing, and resistant to repositioning. The apparatus for overlaying a shoulder of a user includes a generally elongate absorbent soak-resistant body element including a front portion, a rear portion and an intermediate portion joining the front portion to the rear portion, the body element shaped for deployment over the shoulder with the intermediate portion generally disposed on top of the shoulder having the front portion overlaying a portion of a chest of the user and having the rear portion overlaying a portion of a back of the user; and a retentive element coupled to the body element, the retentive element interacting with the user to resist displacement of the body element after the body element is deployed over the shoulder.
US08181270B2 Anti-glare protection device
An anti-glare protection device for a welding mask includes a transmission control circuit for determining a darkening signal from a control signal, a welding activity detection circuit (6) for detecting a welding activity, based on the output of a first sensor circuit. The welding activity detection circuit is arranged to control, via an activation switch, whether either the darkening signal or a signal corresponding to an undarkened optical filter is input to a filter drive circuit. The filter drive circuit drives a controllable optical filter to a transmission value according to the signal input to the filter drive circuit. A manual input device allows a user to manually adjust a user selected signal. A second sensor circuit determines a sensed signal. A manually operable mode selection switch for selecting either, in a manual mode, the user selected signal or, in an automatic mode, the sensed signal to be used as the control signal to the transmission control circuit.
US08185962B2 Apparatus, system, and method for enforcing policy requirements associated with a service
A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions including instructions that when executed by a processor enable a service provider to track and enforce policy requirements associated with a provided service of the service provider. The application software configured to provide notification of the policy requirements and to trigger an intentional degradation of the provided service as a function of time when a user fails to comply with at least one of the policy requirements.
US08185959B2 Digital rights management of captured content based on capture associated locations
When captured content is detected, the captured content is analyzed to determine whether any portion of the content is subject to digital rights management protection specified for content captured, where captured content is content captured independent of distribution of the content by an owner of at least one restricted element within the captured content. In response to determining that a portion of the captured content is subject to digital rights management protection, a database is queried to select at least one digital rights management rule associated with the portion and comprising at least one location based criteria. At least one relevant location is associated with the captured content. At least one digital rights management rule is applied to restrict usage of the captured content, with the at least one location based criteria specified by the at least one relevant location. In response to determining that the captured content is not subject to digital rights management protection, a certification is applied to the captured content designating a particular system that determined no portion of the captured content is subject to digital rights management protection.
US08185952B2 Static and dynamic firewalls
A system comprising control logic adapted to activate multiple security levels for the system. The system further comprises a storage coupled to the control logic and comprising a stack, the stack associated with one, but not all, of the multiple security levels. The system also comprises security logic coupled to the control logic and adapted to restrict usage of the system if the control logic attempts to fetch an instruction op-code from the stack.
US08185948B2 Image forming apparatus capable of allowing easy operation of data while maintaining confidentiality
An image forming apparatus which requests authentication for login processing based on user information when a user requests specific processing includes a communication interface for receiving data, a print mechanism for performing printing processing on data, a registration mechanism for registering a plurality of user information, a storage mechanism for storing an access control list and an administration mechanism. The administration mechanism administers login processing of a plurality of users based on hierarchy information of the registered users and registered contents of the access control list, and to administer permission of the operation processing requested by the user. When the user instructs specific processing of data which is a guest job having no authentication information, the processing of the data is carried out.
US08185932B2 System and method for user-centric authorization to access user-specific information
In a network computing environment, a user-centric system and method for controlling access to user-specific information maintained in association with a web-services service. When a web-services client desires access to the user-specific information, the client sends a request. The request identifies the reasons/intentions for accessing the desired information. The request is compared to the user's existing access permissions. If there is no existing access permission, the request is compared to the user's default preferences. If the default preferences permit the requested access, an access rule is created dynamically and the client's request is filled, without interrupting the user. If the default preferences do not permit the request to be filled, a consent user interface may be invoked. The consent user interface presents the user with one or more consent options, thereby permitting the user to control whether the client will be given access to the user-specific information.
US08185928B2 System and method for adaptive backoff
A system and method for providing adaptive backoff including one or more transmitters configured to transmit a first data request to a media module at a scheduled time, poll the media module to determine accessibility of the media module, and transmit a second data request to the media module at a rescheduled time determined by the one or more processors. The system and method may also include one or more processors configured to determine that the media module is inaccessible and set the rescheduled time for the media box to transmit a second data request to the media module when the media module is accessible, wherein the rescheduled time is based at least in part on optimizing system capacity of the media module. The system and method may also include one or more receivers configured to receive one or more responses to the polling indicating accessibility of the media module and receive data from the media module based on the second data request. The system and method may also include an output configured to output the data to one or more output devices.
US08185924B2 Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program
Request information 3 is transmitted from a transmission means 1a of a communication device 1 to a server 2. Then, related information 4a corresponding to the request information 3 and an identification code 4b are obtained and transmitted to the communication device 1 by a transmission means 2c. The related information 4a and identification code 4b are stored in a storage means 1c of the communication device 1. Thereafter, purchase request information 5a is transmitted to the server 2 by the transmission means 1a. This purchase request information 5a is added with an identification code 5b and user identification information 5c. Then, content data 6a corresponding to the purchase request information 5a and additional data 6b corresponding to the identification code 5b are transmitted to the communication device 1 by the transmission means 2c of the server 2.
US08185915B2 Meta-architecture for multi-tiered enterprise software application and system
A method for dynamic manipulation of a multi-tiered enterprise software application comprises providing a meta-architecture in a presentation tier of a multi-tiered enterprise software application. The meta-architecture comprises at least screen content associated with the software application. The meta-architecture is capable of tying at least two tiers of the multi-tiered enterprise software application together, and allowing the dynamic manipulation of the multi-tiered enterprise software application without at least one of reprogramming the multi-tiered enterprise software application and recompiling source code for the multi-tiered enterprise software application. The method concludes by storing the meta-architecture in a database repository.
US08185913B1 Manageability platform in an unified system
An unified system that comprises a host system platform that includes a host operating system, a host processor that operates to execute host system applications within the host OS. The unified system also includes a manageability platform dedicated to performing manageability operations to manage the host system platform and includes, a manageability OS, a manageability processor dedicated to execute the manageability operations within the manageability OS, wherein the manageability processor is a general-purpose processor, an automation engine integrated in the manageability platform and executed by the manageability processor to perform the manageability operations, and a plurality of interfaces that provide the manageability processor with access to the host system platform to support the performance of the manageability operations.
US08185898B2 Method of streaming remote procedure invocation for multi-core systems
A method of streaming remote procedure invocation for multi-core systems to execute a transmitting thread and an aggregating thread of a multi-core system comprises the steps of: temporarily storing data to be transmitted; activating the aggregating thread if the amount of the temporarily stored data is equal to or greater than a threshold and the aggregating thread is at pause status; pausing the transmitting thread if there is no space to temporarily store the data to be transmitted; retrieving data to be aggregated; activating the transmitting thread if the amount of the data to be aggregated is less than a threshold and the transmitting thread is at pause status; and pausing the aggregating thread if there is no data to be retrieved.
US08185895B2 Method, apparatus and program storage device for providing an anchor pointer in an operating system context structure for improving the efficiency of accessing thread specific data
A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing an anchor pointer in an operating system context structure for improving the efficiency of accessing thread specific data is provided. A kernel thread context structure is maintained in memory. A thread accesses a pointer memory in the kernel thread context structure and sets a value within the pointer memory that addresses data specific to the thread.
US08185894B1 Training a virtual machine placement controller
To train a virtual machine placement controller, the placement controller determines a new layout of virtual machines that is different from an existing layout of the virtual machines, according to criteria. The placement controller transmits the information relating to the new layout to a user interface. The placement controller receives feedback from the user interface, the received feedback indicating a user response to the new layout. The placement controller then modifies the criteria in response to the received feedback.
US08185881B2 Procedure summaries for pointer analysis
Pointer analysis is used for different applications, e.g., compilers, debugging tools and programs understanding tools, each having different requirements. A framework for pointer analysis is provided that defines a multidimensional space, for example a three-dimensional space, containing an order sensitivity dimension, a predicate sensitivity dimension and a value persistence dimension. A point in the three-dimensional space is identified. This point yields values for order sensitivity, predicate sensitivity and value persistence. Pointer analysis is then conducted on a computer program in accordance with the identified values for order sensitivity, predicate sensitivity and value persistence.
US08185879B2 External trace synchronization via periodic sampling
A method for tracing a multi-tasking embedded pipelined processor includes executing compiled code including trace controls. Tracing is initiated when the execution of the compiled code is initiated. Tracing is stopped when execution of the compiled code is completed. A trace record is formed during tracing. The trace record includes a processor mode indication, application space identity value and an instruction architecture set mode indication.
US08185874B2 Automatic and systematic detection of race conditions and atomicity violations
A library or application is selected comprising one or more functions or methods. An interesting subset of the functions or methods is created. A plurality of multi-threaded test cases are generated from the subset of interesting functions or methods, with each test case comprising a unique pair or triple of functions or methods from the subset. The resulting set of test cases may then be filtered of thread safe test cases using static analysis techniques. The filtered set of test cases is then used as an input to a specialized application that executes each of the multi-threaded test cases to detect atomicity violations and race conditions. The results of the execution of each of the test cases by the specialized application are then aggregated and presented to a user or administrator in a report, for example.
US08185872B2 Cross-platform software package generation
A method and apparatus for cross-platform generation of new software packages. The method may include generating a list of software packages having a first format associated with a first operating system, generating new support files for entries on the list, and generating new software packages from the new support files and code of corresponding software packages. The new software packages are generated in the format associated with a second operating system.
US08185869B2 System and apparatus for real-time dynamic modification of service-oriented systems using annotations to specify real-time system constraints
A system for modifying an existing standard-based system at runtime can include a computer having an annotation framework layer configured to execute in conjunction with the standard-based system. Responsive to a user request, the annotation framework layer can associate a constraint with a selected message type. The constraint can specify a limitation on information that is requested within a service request type of message. The annotation framework layer can intercept a message exchanged between a client and a Web-based service and apply the constraint. When the intercepted message is a service request type of message, at least one parameter of the intercepted message can be modified to conform with the limitation after the service request is sent from the client and prior to the service request being received by the Web-based service. The message can be stored.
US08185868B1 System and method for cell-based code editing and publishing
A mechanism for the rapid prototyping of code whereby a user selects a subsection of code and runs multiple evaluations on the selected code and altered versions of the code without first saving and naming the code subsection is disclosed. The selected subsection of code, referred to as a code cell, groups multiple lines of code together and evaluates them together. Output from the analysis is displayed to a user. Algorithms may be altered and variable values may be modified in-place as required to achieve an optimal result for the user. Once a desired version of the code is established, the code may be saved and then published in multiple user-selected formats with a single command. Each code cell in the program code may be used to generate a separate publication thus creating a narrative effect when sequentially viewing a grouping of the publications in the user-selected format.
US08185865B2 Methods for gate-length biasing using annotation data
Methods for generating a biased layout for making an integrated circuit are disclosed. One such method includes obtaining a nominal layout defined by one or more cells, where each cell has one or more transistor gate features with a nominal gate length. Then, obtaining an annotated layout. The annotated layout contains information describing gate-length biasing of one or more of the transistor gate features in one or more cells of the nominal layout. A biased layout is produced by modifying the nominal layout using the information from the annotated layout. The biasing modifies a gate length of those transistor gate features identified by the information of the annotated layout.
US08185862B2 Architectural level power-aware optimization and risk mitigation
Systems and methods are disclosed to automatically synthesize a custom integrated circuit by receiving a specification of the custom integrated circuit including computer readable code and generating a profile of the computer readable code to determine instruction usage; automatically generating a processor architecture uniquely customized to the computer readable code, the processor architecture having one or more processing blocks to implement one or more instructions; determining an instruction execution sequence based on the code profile and reassigning the instruction sequence to spread operation to different blocks on the IC to reduce hot spots; and synthesizing the generated processor chip specification into a computer readable description of the custom integrated circuit for semiconductor fabrication.
US08185858B2 Apparatus, method, and program for predicting layout wiring congestion
A layout-wiring-congestion prediction apparatus. The layout-wiring-congestion prediction apparatus includes: a circuit-data providing section providing circuit data; a conversion processing section converting the provided circuit data into directed graph data; a node-placement-coordinate calculation processing section calculating individual node placement coordinates of the directed graph data produced by the conversion processing section; a node-placement-density calculation section calculating a node-placement density on the basis of the individual node placement coordinates calculated by the node-placement-coordinate calculation processing section; and a node-placement-density error determination processing section determining the node-placement density calculated by the node-placement-density calculation section to be an error if the node-placement density is higher than an error-determination threshold value.
US08185855B2 Capacitor-cell, integrated circuit, and designing and manufacturing methods
A capacitor-cell is in an integrated circuit that is configured by disposing a plurality of cells on a site that is on a chip and that is provided between a power line and a grounding line in a direction of the power line and grounding line. The capacitor cell is disposed in a remaining region on the site, after the plurality of cells are disposed on the site. The capacitor-cell includes a gate poly for accumulating capacitance extending up to at least one of positions of the power line and the grounding line in a planar quadrangular cell-frame that is set for disposing the plurality of cells on the site.
US08185851B2 Memory building blocks and memory design using automatic design tools
The memory building blocks can be used in conjunction with ASIC automatic design tools to generate a memory macro (e.g., a memory array) using a known ASIC design flow including, for example, register transfer level (RTL), synthesis, automatic place and route (APR) and timing analysis.
US08185846B2 Teaching box for use in robot, customization method, and robot system using the same
The present invention provides a teaching box configured such that an operator can optionally change a coloration and a size of a text displayed on a display area. The teaching box includes a main menu area, a pulldown menu area, a status area, a general-purpose area, and a message area, for monitoring and controlling an operation of an industrial robot which is operated in a plurality of modes including a teaching mode and an operation setting mode. The main menu area includes a customization portion operable to change a size and a coloration of a text, and a display portion operable to display the text set by the customization portion.
US08185843B2 Managing user interface control panels
A computer-implemented method includes displaying a user interface on a display device, the user interface displaying a content item, in response to receiving input, displaying a user interface control panel including a user interface control, the user interface control configured to enable modifying one or more attributes of the content item, and in response to detecting a first selection of the user interface control, displaying a portion of the user interface control panel and hiding a portion of the user interface control panel, the displayed portion of the user interface control panel including the user interface control.
US08185840B2 Mixed signal analysis system and method of use
System and method implementing an integrated interface for multiple instruments for signal analysis, including two or more virtual instruments. The method includes a) receiving user input specifying an operation implementing at least a portion of a signal analysis function; b) performing the operation utilizing at least one of the instruments to perform the operation; c) displaying an icon comprising a graphical representation of the operation in response to the specifying; d) storing information specifying the operation; and repeating a)-d) multiple times to specify the function, thereby producing stored information representing the operations in the function, and after which multiple icons are displayed representing the operations and visually indicating the function. The operations in the function include 1) generating signals displayed in a graph, and/or 2) modifying one or more signals displayed in the graph. After each respective operation is specified, the operation is performed substantially continuously during said repeating.
US08185838B2 Universal computer input event translator
A universal computer event translator, which can be implemented as a computer program for execution on a personal computer, handheld device, or other computer processing platform, provides configurable event translation to map essentially any type of computer input event into essentially any other type(s) of computer input event. The program detects occurrences of desired types of input events, which may be generated via a particular input device, a timer, or another program or processing running on the computer, and provides rules-based translation processing of those events. For example, the program can translate mouse events into keyboard events, MIDI or other port events into mouse or keyboard events, or into custom events. One incoming input event can spawn one or more translated input events of one or more types; conversely, different types of incoming input events can be mapped to a single type or multiple types of translated input events.
US08185832B2 Graphical deployment of a program to a device which displays the program connected to the device
A system and method for creating and using configuration diagrams for configuring distributed systems. The methods described herein may be used for various types of operations in configuring distributed systems, including creating programs, managing programs in the distributed system, deploying programs to various distributed devices, configuring remote execution or inter-operation of distributed programs, and executing distributed applications. Embodiments of the invention utilize graphical iconic-based techniques for performing the above operations. The configuration diagram may include device icons which represent devices and program icons which represent programs. Device icons and program icons may be associated with each other to accomplish various program creation and deployment operations. Device icons and program icons may also interact with graphical program nodes or icons. Context sensitive device connections and/or program connections are displayed. An asynchronous data flow node may be used to facilitate asynchronous data flow between two graphical programs. The distributed system may also support distributed graphical debugging.
US08185829B2 Method and system for rating exchangeable gestures via communications in virtual world applications
A method, system and computer-readable medium are disclosed for rating exchangeable gestures in a virtual world application. The method includes making a gesture owned by a first user of the virtual world application available to a second user of the virtual world application; in response to the second user providing a rating of the gesture, storing the rating in a repository of the first user, determining a rating metric of the gesture using at least the rating received from the second user, and communicating the rating metric to a third user of the virtual world application.
US08185826B2 Rendering document views with supplemental information content
Methods and computer-readable media are provided for rendering a document view with supplemental information. A view of a document is rendered such that the document fills a canvas. The client receives a request to view a supplemental information area associated with the document. In response to the request to view the supplemental information area, a view of the document is rendered at the client such that the document does not fill the canvas. The supplemental information area is then rendered in a portion of the canvas that is not occupied by the document.
US08185814B2 Differential dynamic delivery of content according to user expressions of interest
More particularly, methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed for differential dynamic content delivery. Typical embodiments include providing a session document for a presentation, wherein the session document includes a session grammar and a session structured document; selecting from the session structured document a classified structural element bearing a preview designation; presenting the selected structural element to a prospective user participant; and receiving from the prospective user participant an indication of interest in the selected structural element. Typical embodiments also include recording the indication of interest in association with the selected structural element.
US08185812B2 Single event upset error detection within an integrated circuit
An integrated circuit 2 includes logic circuitry 10 and sequential storage elements 8. Both the logic circuit 10 and sequential storage elements 8 can be subject to particle strikes giving rise to single event upset errors. These single event upset errors can be detected by detecting a transition in the stored value stored by the sequential storage elements 8 occurring outside of a valid transition period associated with that sequential storage element 8.
US08185808B2 Transmitting/receiving system and method of processing broadcast signal in transmitting/receiving system
A receiving system and a method of processing broadcast signal are disclosed herein. The receiving system includes a signal receiving unit, a signaling decoder, a block decoder, and an RS frame decoder. When a parade change command ordering parade change from a first parade to a second parade is generated, the signal receiving unit receives a broadcast signal including data groups of the second parade starting from a generation point of the parade change command. The signaling decoder decodes signaling information included in the data groups and outputting RS frame-related information. The block decoder performs turbo-decoding in block units on data of a portion included in the data groups. And the RS frame decoder inserts null data in data positions of a portion included in non-received data group within an RS frame of the second parade, while configuring the RS frame of the second parade by collecting data of the turbo-decoded portions based upon the RS frame-related information. The RS frame decoder also performs CRC-decoding by indicating the existence of errors on CRC error flags of each row including the null data within the RS frame, and performs RS-decoding on the CRC-decoded RS frame.
US08185807B2 Method and apparatus of encoding and decoding data using low density parity check code in a wireless communication system
A method of encoding data using low density parity check (LDPC) code defined by a m×n parity check matrix is disclosed. More specifically, the method includes encoding input source data using the parity check matrix, wherein the parity check matrix comprises a plurality of z×z sub-matrices of which row weights and column weights are ‘0’ or ‘1’.
US08185803B2 Apparatus for providing error correction capability to longitudinal position data
A method and apparatus for providing error correction capability to longitudinal position data are disclosed. Initially, data are encoded via a set of even LPOS words and a set of odd LPOS words. The encoded data are then decoded by generating a set of syndrome bits for each of the LPOS words. A determination is then made as to whether or not there is an error within one of the LPOS words based on its corresponding syndrome bits.
US08185801B2 System to improve error code decoding using historical information and associated methods
A system to improve error code decoding using historical information. An example system includes storage partitioned into memory ranks, and a table to record symbols having failures for each memory rank. The system generates a memory rank score for each memory rank. The system also includes an error control decoder that uses the memory rank score when each memory rank is accessed in order to determine whether an error should be corrected or not.
US08185799B2 Transmitting/receiving system and method of processing broadcast signal in transmitting/receiving system
A receiving system and a method of processing data are disclosed herein. The receiving system includes a receiving unit, an equalizer, a block decoder, and an RS frame decoder. The receiving unit receives and demodulates a broadcast signal. Herein, the broadcast signal includes at least a mobile service data and a data group including a plurality of known data sequences. The equalizer channel-equalizes the data group included in the demodulated broadcast signal by using the plurality of the known data sequences. The block decoder performs turbo-decoding in block units on data of portion allocated to the channel equalized data group. And, the RS frame decoder configures an RS frame by gathering data of the turbo decoded M number of portions, wherein M is an integer greater than 1 (M>1). And, when a number of contiguous CRC errors is equal to (a maximum number of errors that can be corrected by RS erasure decoding)+1, wherein the number of contiguous CRC errors is determined by performing CRC decoding on each row of the RS frame, the RS frame decoder sets up erasure points in all data of the rows including the CRC errors, so as to perform RS erasure decoding on all columns of the RS frame in the column direction.
US08185797B2 Basic matrix, coder/encoder and generation method of the low density parity check codes
The invention relates to a base matrix, a encoder/decoder of Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes and a generation method thereof. The encoder/decoder is determined uniquely by the parity check matrix of the LDPC codes. With different code sizes, said parity check matrix can be obtained by expanding different base matrixes, and also can be obtained by expanding a unique base matrix after correction. Elements of said base matrix must meet an inequation in which the girth value is up to the standard, e.g. when girth≧6, for any element i, j, k, l in the matrix which forms the short loop having a length of 4 in anticlockwise, there are always mod(i−j+k−l, z) unequal to 0. By this invention, the girth of the constructed base matrix is made as large as possible, the amount of the shortest loops is as few as possible when it is the same girth, thus the curve of bit error ratio (BER) is dropped quickly, the error floor of the LDPC codes is eliminated effectively, and the optimal performance of the LDPC codes is obtained.
US08185794B2 Media container file management
The invention teaches a media container file comprising media data organized into media source blocks. The media source blocks are partitioned into source symbols that can be processed by a forward error correction (FEC) algorithm for generation of FEC redundancy data. Information of this source block partitioning is included in the file in addition to the source blocks. The container file also comprises meta data providing an association between the media source blocks and the partitioning information. The container file can be employed by a media server in a media session for compiling media data packets to be transmitted to requesting clients without the need of extensive data processing before calculating FEC data.
US08185790B2 Resynchronization memory in series/parallel with control/output data scan cells
An integrated circuit or circuit board includes functional circuitry and a scan path. The scan path includes a test data input lead, a test data output lead, a multiplexer, and scan cells. A dedicated scan cell has a functional data output separate from a test data output. Shared scan cells each have a combined output for functional data and test data. The shared scan cells are coupled in series. The test data input of the first shared scan cell is connected to the test data output of the dedicated scan cell. The combined output of one shared scan cell is coupled to the test data input lead of another shared scan cell. The multiplexer has an input coupled to the test data output, an input connected to the combined output lead of the last shared scan cell in the series, and an output connected in the scan path.
US08185789B2 Capturing response after simultaneously inputting last stimulus bit in scan path subdivisions
Scan and Scan-BIST architectures are commonly used to test digital circuitry in integrated circuits. The present disclosure improves upon low power Scan and Scan-BIST methods. The improvement allows the low power Scan and Scan-BIST architectures to achieve a delay test capability equally as effective as the delay test capabilities used in conventional scan and Scan-BIST architectures.
US08185782B2 Test device and method for hierarchical test architecture
A test device for a hierarchical test architecture is disclosed. The architecture includes cores for plural test layers, a top-level data register, and a top-level test controller. Cores for each test layer are hierarchical test circuits. The top-level test controller retrieves plural control signals, controls the top-level data register based on first type control signals in the control signals, and controls each core based on second type control signals in the control signals.
US08185776B1 System and method for monitoring an application or service group within a cluster as a resource of another cluster
Various systems and methods for monitoring an application or service group within one cluster as a resource of another cluster are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method involves detecting an error indication generated by a first cluster (e.g., the error indication can be generated by a cluster controller or service group within the first cluster). The first cluster is implemented on a cluster resource (e.g., a virtual machine) of a second cluster. In response to detecting the error indication, restart of the cluster resource is initiated.
US08185775B2 Virtual computer system and control method thereof
When a failure occurs in an LPAR on a physical computer under an SAN environment, a destination LPAR is set in another physical computer to enable migrating of the LPAR and setting change of a security function on the RAID apparatus side is not necessary. When a failure occurs in an LPAR generated on a physical computer under an SAN environment, configuration information including a unique ID (WWN) of the LPAR where the failure occurs is read, a destination LPAR is generated on another physical computer, and the read configuration information of the LPAR is set to the destination LPAR, thereby enabling migrating of the LPAR when the failure occurs, under the control of a management server.
US08185774B2 Timer for low-power and high-resolution with low bits derived from set of phase shifted clock signals
The present invention is an electronic device comprising a counter driven by an input clock signal for counting clock cycles and providing most significant bits of a count. A clock signal generating stage provides a first set of phase shifted clock signals having m different phases. The electronic device determines n least significant bits of the count of the counter from the logic states of the first set of m phase shifted clock signals.
US08185773B2 Processor system employing a signal acquisition managing device and signal acquisition managing device
A processor system having a processor core configured to control an external apparatus in accordance with a control algorithm; a signal acquisition managing device configured to receive state signals provided by the apparatus, perform corresponding actions, and generate corresponding synchronized command signals; and a peripheral module structured to receive the synchronized command signals and generate output signals to be processed by the processor core in accordance with the control algorithm.
US08185769B2 Method for ensuring synchronous presentation of additional data with audio data
A recording medium, method and apparatus for managing data are discussed. According to an embodiment, the present invention provides a method of reproducing main data and additional data. The method includes receiving the additional data associated with the main data, the additional data being divided into a plurality of segment units; and reproducing the additional data in a synchronous manner with the main data using time information if indication information indicates a presence of the time information. The time information indicates a presentation time of the additional data with respect to the main data. The main data and the additional data are reproduced according to management data, the management data including link information for linking the main data and the additional data.
US08185762B1 Low power display
A low power display device capable of receiving display information on a wireless network and powered by environmental power, without requiring a battery or a wired power connection, is described.
US08185758B2 Method and system for determining an energy-efficient operating point of a platform
A method and system for determining an energy-efficient operating point of the platform or system. The platform has logic to dynamically manage setting(s) of the processing cores and/or platform components in the platform to achieve maximum system energy efficiency. By using the characteristics of the workload and/or platform to determine the optimum settings of the platform, the logic of the platform facilitates performance guarantees of the platform while minimizing the energy consumption of the processor core and/or platform. The logic of the platform identifies opportunities to run the processing cores at higher performance levels which decreases the execution time of the workload and transitions the platform to a low-power system idle state after the completion of the execution of the workload. Since the execution time of the workload is reduced, the platform spends more time in the low-power system idle state and therefore the overall system energy consumption is reduced.
US08185756B2 System and method for transmitting a power control signal to an external device based on the presence of linkage information
An electronic device capable of controlling a power state of an external device from a first power state (ex. “Standby”) to a second power state (ex. “ON”) includes a determination unit operable to determine whether information indicating linkage is stored in a storage unit when it is detected that communication between the electronic device and the external device is enabled, and a transmitting unit operable to transmit a control signal for controlling power state of the external device. When the information indicating linkage is not stored in the storage unit, the transmitting unit stores the information indicating linkage and transmits the control signal for controlling power state of the external device to the second power state to the external device. When the information indicating linkage is stored in the storage unit, the transmitting unit refrains from transmitting the control signal to the external device.
US08185752B2 Method and system for providing data field encryption and storage
An approach is provided for securely storing and managing sensitive data. A system and method are provided that include a central device that receives an actual data value from a requester, encrypts the actual data value, obtains a replacement value for the encrypted actual data value, obtains a secondary replacement value based on the encrypted actual data value, and transmits the replacement value to the requester for storage by the requester. The system and method also includes a storage device for storing the secondary replacement value in association with the encrypted actual data value at a secure location. The requester can later use the replacement value to retrieve the actual data value from the central device.
US08185743B1 Systems and methods for application locking using an internal and external checksum
Methods and systems for locking an application are described. A method includes receiving, over a communication network from a remote applicant, a signature for an application. The signature includes a date and time, an indication of agreement to the terms of the application, and verification information personal to the applicant and capable of confirming the applicant's identity. Based on the application and signature an internal checksum can be generated. The internal checksum is sent to a third party for generation of a second, external checksum. The external checksum is based on the internal checksum and the date and time the external checksum was generated. The internal and external checksums are associated with the application and then stored along with the application and signature.
US08185731B2 Device for configuring functional capabilities in a data processing system
A method for configuring functional capabilities in a data processing system. An intermediate link record and a System Anchor record containing the unchangeable hardware ID are used. All entitlement records are then linked to the System Anchor record. Only the System Anchor record links to the unchangeable hardware ID. It contains a system unique ID. The entitlement records link to the System anchor record via the system unique ID. The repair (or upgrade) situation with the exchange of a hardware component now becomes much simpler. There is no exchange of any asset protection record (neither System Anchor record nor entitlement record) required as long as the hardware component comprising the asset protection record is not exchanged. In case the hardware component comprising the asset protection record needs to be exchanged, the System Anchor record only must be exchanged but all the entitlement records can stay unchanged.
US08185729B2 Method of converting personal computers into thin client computers
A system repurposes a personal computer operating with a conventional personal computer operating system, such as Windows® operating system, into a thin client computer system without requiring that the hard drive of the personal computer be re-formatted to remove the previous operating system. The personal computer has its boot loader configuration file edited to include a call to a thin client boot loader file to execute the thin client operating system stored on the personal computer hard drive instead of the previous operating system of the personal computer. The repurposed personal computer can be returned to the previous operating system by electing to bypass the thin client operating system. As a thin client computer, the repurposed personal computer is managed from a central server and can access applications and data on remote servers instead of using the application programs on the hard drive or the capability of storing data on the personal computer hard drive.
US08185725B2 Selective powering of a BHT in a processor having variable length instructions
In a processor executing instructions in at least a first instruction set execution mode having a first minimum instruction length and a second instruction set execution mode having a smaller, second minimum instruction length, line and counter index addresses are formed that access every counter in a branch history table (BHT), and reduce the number of index address bits that are multiplexed based on the current instruction set execution mode. In one embodiment, counters within a BHT line are arranged and indexed in such a manner that half of the BHT can be powered down for each access in one instruction set execution mode.
US08185719B2 Message routing scheme for an array having a switch with address comparing component and message routing component
Each possessor node in an array of nodes has a respective local node address, and each local node address comprises a plurality of components having an order of addressing significance from most to least significant. Each node comprises: mapping means configured to map each component of the local node address onto a respective routing direction, and a switch arranged to receive a message having a destination node address identifying a destination node. The switch comprises: means for comparing the local node address to the destination node address to identify a the most significant non-matching component; and means for routing the message to another node, on the condition that the local node address does not match the destination node address, in the direction mapped to the most significant non-matching component.
US08185714B1 Method and apparatus for strobe-based source-synchronous capture using a first-in-first-out unit
A source-synchronous capture unit includes a data register unit to register data synchronized to a strobe or non-free running clock. The source synchronous capture unit also includes an asynchronous first-in-first-out (FIFO) unit to store the data from the data register unit in response to the strobe or non-free running clock and to output the data stored, in response to another clock.
US08185701B2 System and method for an adaptive list prefetch
A method, system, and computer program product are provided for retrieving records into a main memory. A first number of gaps and a first total gap size are received for a list of records from a database subsystem. A determination is made of a first average gap size using the first number of gaps and the first total gap size. A determination is made as to whether the first average gap size is greater than a prestaging threshold value. Responsive to the first average gap size being equal to or less than the prestaging threshold value, a prestaging flag is set for the list of records. Then, the list of records is retrieved into the main memory using prestaging.
US08185700B2 Enabling speculative state information in a cache coherency protocol
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving a bus message in a first cache corresponding to a speculative access to a portion of a second cache by a second thread, and dynamically determining in the first cache if an inter-thread dependency exists between the second thread and a first thread associated with the first cache with respect to the portion. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08185690B2 Memory module, memory system, and information device
A memory system including ROM and RAM in which reading and writing are enabled. A memory system includes a non-volatile memory (FLASH), DRAM, a control circuit, and an information processing device. Data in FLASH is transferred to SRAM or DRAM in advance. Data transfer between the non-volatile memory and the DRAM can be performed in the background. The memory system including these plural chips is configured as a memory system module in which each chip is mutually laminated and each chip is wired via a ball grid array (BGA) and bonding wire between the chips. Data in FLASH can be read at the similar speed to that of DRAM by securing a region in which the data in FLASH can be copied in DRAM and transferring the data to DRAM in advance immediately after power is turned on or by a load instruction.
US08185685B2 NAND flash module replacement for DRAM module
An electronic memory module according to the invention provides non-volatile memory that can be used in place of a DRAM module without battery backup. An embodiment of the invention includes an embedded microprocessor with microcode that translates the FB-DIMM address and control signals from the system into appropriate address and control signals for NAND flash memory. Wear-leveling, bad block management, garbage collection are preferably implemented by microcode executed by the microprocessor. The microprocessor, additional logic, and embedded memory provides the functions of a flash memory controller. The microprocessor memory preferably contains address mapping tables, free page queue, and garbage collection information.
US08185680B2 Method for changing ownership of a bus between master/slave devices
A system may comprise multiple master/slave devices coupled to a common bus, where one of the devices may operate as the current master device and the other devices may operate as current slave devices. Current slave devices may embed bus ownership request information within response packets transmitted in response to standard bus operations, such as reads and writes, issued by the current master device. When the current master device is idle, its bus interface may continually poll the current slave devices at regular intervals, according to a specified protocol, to ascertain whether any of them are requesting bus ownership. A response to a request for bus ownership received by the current master device may be configured according to desired system functionality. In one system, ownership may always be transferred to the requesting device. In other systems, the current master device may transmit a subsequent standard bus operation request packet, or a unique response packet, either comprising embedded information indicating whether ownership of the bus has been granted.
US08185677B2 Data reproducing apparatus, content management method, program, and storage medium
A data reproducing apparatus comprises: a reproducing unit adapted to read out data from a plurality of recording media; a list generating unit adapted to generate a content list which describes storage location information in association with contents stored in the plurality of recording media; and a communication unit adapted to communicate with an external device and sending the content list to the external device, wherein the list generating unit checks if the contents stored in the plurality of recording media include identical contents, and if the identical contents are detected, the list generating unit generates the content list including information indicating that the storage location information of the identical contents are integrated.
US08185667B2 Storage system comprising power saving function
A storage system constituted such that power saving to an administrator-desired storage device can be performed from a management device. That is, the storage system comprises a power-saving indication receiving section for receiving from a management console a power-saving indication specifying at least one storage device of a plurality of RAID groups, a plurality of logical units, and a plurality of physical storage devices; and a power-saving controller for saving on power to one or more physical storage devices corresponding to the storage device specified in this power-saving indication.
US08185666B2 Compare instruction
A processor executes an instruction that causes a comparison to be performed between contents of a first register and contents of a second register and between the contents of the first register and a predetermined value. The instruction is particularly useful for determining whether an attempted access (either a load or write) to an array improperly targets a location outside the boundary of the array. In some embodiments, a system (e.g., a communication device such as cellular telephone) includes a processor capable of executing the instruction as described above.
US08185665B2 Distributed computing system architecture
A computing system architecture is based upon a peer-to-peer, asynchronous model. The architecture specifies a set of infrastructure facilities that comprise an inter-prise operating system. The inter-prise operating system provides all the facilities that make application coding as easy in the peer-to-peer asynchronous model as it is in a hierarchical, synchronous model. Services, which reside in containers, are linked asynchronously by an inter-prise bus and use data from a virtual data store.
US08185663B2 Mirroring storage interface
A mirroring device includes an interface capable of coupling a primary storage array and a secondary storage array to a network. The interface further includes a logic that monitors traffic for a network packet destined for the primary storage array and selectively identifies a storage array write operation and associated data in the network packet, constructs a network packet targeted to the secondary storage array, and transmits the packet to the primary storage array and the secondary storage array.
US08185660B2 Inter-working between network address type (ANAT) endpoints and interactive connectivity establishment (ICE) endpoints
A method for inter-working between an alternative network address type (ANAT) endpoint and an interactive connectivity establishment (ICE) is provided. The method may include identifying one or more network addresses operable to be used to communicate with a alternative network address type (ANAT) endpoint. One or more candidates operable to be used for interactive connectivity establishment (ICE) traversal may also be identified. A preferred network address may be determined from the one or more network addresses based on an ANAT endpoint preference. A corresponding candidate may be determined based on the ANAT endpoint preference. The corresponding candidate may use a candidate address to communicate. A media stream may be established between the preferred network address and the corresponding candidate address.
US08185656B2 Process and computer for collectively transmitting unique messages, and recording medium storing a program for collectively transmitting unique messages
A recording medium storing a program for performing collective communication of unique-messages by a computer. According to the program, a space in which nodes are arranged is equally split into regions according to directions from the origin of a relative coordinate system, and a region to which each node belongs is determined on the basis of the relative coordinates of the node. When the computer receives an instruction to execute collective communication of unique-messages, messages are submitted to nodes in turns so that the numbers of messages addressed to the respective regions and submitted per predetermined unit time are equated, and each message submitted to one of the nodes contains data unique to the node.
US08185654B2 Systems and methods for content-aware load balancing
Improved load balancing techniques are disclosed. For example, in one illustrative aspect of the invention, a method of satisfying requests in a system comprised of a plurality of servers comprises the following steps. At least one load balancer is provided for routing requests to the plurality of servers. At the at least one load balancer, a request sent from a client is obtained. At the at least one load balancer, the request is examined. Costs of satisfying the request by at least two of the plurality of servers are estimated. The estimation is based on at least one of a number and a cost of at least one remote access for satisfying the request. The request is routed to a server of the plurality of servers with a low estimated cost of satisfying the request.
US08185653B2 Method and apparatus for ad hoc mesh routing
Packets are routed in a wireless mesh network by assigning a probability of packet retransmission based on certain factors which may include the number of hops the packet has made, whether the destination is within a certain number of known hops of the receiving node, the number of nearby nodes, whether the receiving node is a member of a past known route to the destination and/or whether a nearby neighbor of the receiving node is a member of a past known route to the destination. Once a probability is assigned, a random number generator may be used to make a decision between retransmitting the packet and dropping the packet. Signal quality may also be used as a factor in the probability of retransmission. In a preferred embodiment, Bloom filters are used to store information in the header of a data packet containing the identifiers of forwarding nodes and the identifiers of nodes on a previously-successful route from the source to the destination.
US08185645B2 Content delivery system using wireless portable terminal and delivery method therefor
To reduce time to point a directional wireless portable terminal (WPT) to an access point (AP) when data is downloaded from the AP to the WPT, a user points the WPT to the AP, performs a first operation and transmits a request of authentication and download to the AP. The AP requests a server to perform the authentication and the download. The server transmits information on a current situation to the AP. The AP calculates time required until the download can be started based on content capacity and the like and transmits information on the calculated time to the WPT. The WPT displays countdown until the download can be started. During that time, the server performs the authentication and, if successful, delivers content to the AP. When the download can begin, the user performs a second operation and transmits a request of re-authentication and download to the AP.
US08185642B1 Communication policy enforcement in a data network
A device is configured to receive authorization information from a first network device and to receive a request that data units sent to a destination device contain authorization information, where the request is received from a second network device. The device is configured to assemble authorized data units by associating the authorization information with content intended for a destination device, where the content can be exchanged with the destination device during authorized communication. The device is configured to provide at least one of the authorized data units to the second network device so that the second network device can establish the authorized communication between the device and the destination device.
US08185641B2 Client server system and connection method
In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, a computing device comprises a network interface that receives terminal information corresponding to a terminal connected to a network. A storage device stores profile information defining that the terminal is permitted to connect to the computing device. A central processing unit refers to the received terminal information and the stored profile information and determines that the terminal is permitted to connect to the computing device. A display displays a participant display area. The display area shows a client name that corresponds to the terminal. An input mechanism accepts a user operation selecting the client name displayed in the participant display area to designate the terminal. The terminal provides image data to the computing device. The computing device supplies the image data provided by the terminal to an image display apparatus connected to the network.
US08185638B2 Degrees of separation for handling communications
A sender's degrees of separation from a recipient may be used to aid in spam filtering or to otherwise handle a communication. The “degrees of separation” represent a metric used to quantify whether/how the recipient is linked to the sender through intermediary people or other entities. For example, a recipient may know a first user (first degree of separation) and the first user may know a second user (second degree of separation) who knows the sender of an e-mail. In this case, the sender is separated from the recipient by two degrees of separation (by two other contacts). A level of “trust” or “legitimacy” about a sender's communication can be inferred by looking at whether the sender is linked to an intended recipient. Typically, user contact lists (e.g., address book, buddy list, and/or white list) are evaluated to determine the number of degrees (or hops) are required to link or relate two users.
US08185631B2 Controlling service failover in clustered storage apparatus networks
A controller for use at a node of a clustered computer apparatus includes an exception detection component for detecting an exception raised by a service component at the node; a quiesce component responsive to the exception detection component for quiescing lease-governed activity by the service component prior to termination of a lease; a lease control component responsive to the quiesce component for pre-expiry relinquishing of the lease; and a communication component responsive to the lease control component for communicating the pre-expiry relinquishing of the lease to one or more further nodes of the clustered computer apparatus. The controller may further include a second communication component for receiving a communication indicating the pre-expiry relinquishing of a lease; a second lease control component responsive to the communication to control failure processing; and a second service component to perform a service in place of the service component at the node.
US08185630B2 Method for creating global distributed namespace
One example embodiment includes a method for constructing a unified namespace carried out by a domain manager service executing on a domain node in a domain network comprised of domain nodes. The method includes establishing a single, hierarchical domain tree that encompasses digital computers in a distributed data service network, wherein the domain manager service sends a request to all domain nodes requesting that each domain node export the root of its sub-domain to the domain manager service. The method also includes receiving the exported sub-domain roots. The method further includes grafting onto a domain root of the domain manager service the received exported sub-domain roots.
US08185627B2 System and method for sharing information based on proximity
A method and system are provided for facilitating interaction between a device and a device environment. The system may include a detection module for automatically detecting proximity of a participant within the device environment. The system may additionally include a user-configurable authorization module for authorizing the device to adjust a device user interface in a pre-determined manner in response to the detection of the participant. The system may also provide for sharing resources among multiple participating devices, wherein each of the multiple participating devices has a device specific set of application resources. The system may additionally include a configurable resource regulation mechanism for making the device specific application resources from the second participating device available to the first participating device.
US08185626B2 Methods for transmitting multimedia files and advertisements
The invention is directed to a method of transmitting a file having an advertising portion and a requested portion different from the advertising portion. The method includes receiving a request to transmit the file, via a streaming protocol allowing non-sequential access, transmitting the advertising portion of the file, receiving a request to transmit a portion of the requested portion of the file prior to completing transmitting the advertising portion of the file, completing the transmission of the advertising portion of the file, and transmitting the requested portion of the file.
US08185617B1 TCP-over-TCP using multiple TCP streams
A system, apparatus, and method for managing TCP over TCP communications using multiple TCP network connections. A plurality of tunneled network connections may be established between network devices. The network devices may employ one of the tunneled network connections over which to establish a plurality of application sessions. If congestion is detected on the employed tunneled network connection that exceeds a threshold, then a reset flag may be sent to abort that tunneled network connection. At least some of the application sessions are also transferred to another one of plurality of tunneled network connections, without terminating the moved application sessions. In one embodiment, at least one more tunneled network connection may be established between the network devices.
US08185615B1 Message, control and reporting interface for a distributed network access system
In a network access system including an external processor and a programmable access device, the external processor transmits a control message to the programmable access device to establish a configuration of the programmable access device. The programmable access device then communicates messages to the external processor for service processing in accordance with the configuration. For example, the control message may be a filter control message that establishes a configuration of a packet header filter in the programmable access device. The packet header filter then communicates network messages filtered from a packet flow in accordance with the configuration established by the control message. To limit the communication of network messages from the programmable access device to the external processor, the external processor can send a message setting message interface flags in the programmable access device. The external processor may also transmit a monitor control message to the programmable access device to establish a configuration of a monitor in the programmable access device. The programmable access device then communicates reporting messages to the external processor in response to the configuration of the monitor.
US08185612B1 Methods and systems for caching data communications over computer networks
A computer-implemented method of caching multi-session data communications in a computer network, includes: (a) receiving, intercepting, or monitoring data sessions between a client and metadata services; (b) analyzing queries and responses exchanged between the client and the metadata services to discover metadata for a desired content object; (c) receiving or intercepting subsequent data sessions between the client and content sources; (d) identifying a data protocol used by the client and identifying data queries within the data sessions; (e) identifying the content object requested by the client in the data queries; and (f) determining if the content object is stored in cache and, if so, sending the content object stored in cache to the client, and, if not, sending the data queries to the content sources, storing data responses from the content sources, and sending the data responses to the client.
US08185610B2 Method for client-side aggregation of asynchronous, context-sensitive request operations for java server pages (JSP)
A method, system, and computer program product for efficiently fulfilling java server page (JSP) requests for dynamic web content, in a computer network system. An asynchronous processing (AP) utility pre-defines a number of custom classes to enable the asynchronous processing of requests. A JSP which contains a custom “async:include” tag indicates an asynchronous request for dynamic content. When a set of asynchronous requests are received by an application server, an “AsyncRequestDispatcher” is called to handle the asynchronous processing of each associated request dispatcher include fragment. For each fragment, a separate request thread is initiated. A placeholder corresponding to each “async:include” request is written to a servlet response buffer. HyperText Markup Language (HTML) content, which includes the placeholders, and a number of javascripts are then written to the client browser. The original thread is closed. The Javascripts enable the retrieval of all response fragments which replace the corresponding placeholders.
US08185600B2 Programming system and method for a video network
In a signal processing system, a programming system and method for a video network are provided. An event may trigger an RDMA controller to execute current instructions in a register update list. The triggering event may be a start-of-field signal from a live source or an end-of-frame signal. The current instructions may be used to modify the mode of operation of at least one of the network elements in the video network. The modification to the mode of operation may depend on whether the current video field is top field originated or bottom field originated. An interrupt may be used to initiate an interrupt handler that generates at least one new instruction and that updates the new instructions in the register update list. When a trigger occurs prior to an update of the register update list, the RDMA controller may execute the current instructions in the register update list.
US08185594B2 Real-time messaging system for an image display device
A real-time messaging system for an image display device is provided. One disclosed embodiment includes an image display device including a light source and an image-generation device configured to receive light from the light source, and in response, generate an image. The image display device may further include a projection lens configured to display the image on a viewing surface. The image display device may also include memory and a processor operatively coupled with the memory to receive a command message sent to a select group of image display devices in real-time via a network, and upon recognizing the command message, display an alert image.
US08185593B2 System and method for freezing portions of a chat conversation in an instant messaging system
A system, method, and program product is provided that operates during an instant messaging session conducted between a first participant and a second participant. During the session, message sent to or from each participant are displayed in a first instant messaging session window. The two sets of instant messaging messages are displayed in a time-based order in the first instant messaging session window. A notification is received corresponding to one of the displayed instant messaging messages that is displayed in the first instant messaging session window. In response to receiving the notification, the selected instant messaging message is displayed in a second instant messaging session window while still including the selected instant messaging message in the first instant messaging session window.
US08185589B2 Presenting and manipulating electronic mail conversations
The present invention extends to methods, systems, data structures, and computer program products for organizing electronic mail messages into conversations. Electronic mail conversation items store attribute values representing attributes of corresponding electronic mail conversations and included electronic mail messages. Attributes of an electronic mail conversation can be changed by changing stored attribute values. Receiving an electronic mail message can cause an existing electronic mail conversation to be updated or a new electronic mail conversation to be created. When it is indicated that an operation is to be performed on an electronic mail conversation, a corresponding related operation can be performed on all electronic mail messages included in the electronic mail conversation. Attribute values of an electronic mail conversation can be presented along with portions of included electronic mail messages at a user-interface.
US08185582B2 Storage system, management server, system reconfiguration support method for a storage system, and system reconfiguration support method for a management server
In order to provide support for a system to operate in a manner appropriate for system requests desired by a user, a management server acquires functions corresponding to system requests acquired using a user interface using a second table for storing a correspondence relationship of functions provided by one or more managed storage devices and system requests occurring at the storage system, simulates whether or not implementation of the system requests is possible from the acquired functions and functions corresponding to the system requests occurring at the current storage system acquired using a third table for storing information for functions provided by the one or more storage devices, and notifies the one or more storage devices of instructions to set functions corresponding to the system requests to valid based on the simulation results of this simulation.
US08185581B2 Providing a local device with computing services from a remote host
Systems and methods for providing a local device with computing services are disclosed. One embodiment includes, identifying one or more file types of files stored on the local device which is not associated with a local application that is installed on the local device and detecting a request to access a file stored on the local device having one of the one or more file types. The remote host can generate an offer to provide access to a remote application which is able to open the file for a fee such that the file is accessible via the local device. A selected service model can determine the fee and whether the remote application is provided for use by the local device when offline.
US08185574B2 System and method for retrieving a web logging message via a dispatch communication
A system for posting web logging (blog) messages, retrieving blog messages, and being notified of the posting of blog messages by way of dispatch communications. The system includes a wireless communication system capable of setting up dispatch communications links between subscriber units and a dispatch server. The dispatch server interfaces with a blog server. Using dispatch communications, subscriber units may send messages to the blog server for posting by way of the dispatch server, may receive notification of the posting of messages from the blog server by way of the dispatch server, and may retrieve messages from the blog server by way of the dispatch server.
US08185553B2 Categorization of information using natural language processing and predefined templates
A computer implemented method for generating a report that includes latent information, comprising receiving an input data stream that includes latent information, performing one of normalization, validation, and extraction of the input data stream, processing the input data stream to identify latent information within the data stream that is required for generation of a particular report, wherein said processing of the input data stream to identify latent information comprises of identifying a relevant portion of the input data stream, bounding the relevant portion of the input data stream, classifying and normalizing the bounded data, activating a relevant report template based on said identified latent information, populating said template with template-specified data, and processing the template-specified data to generate a report.
US08185549B1 Method and system for navigating within a body of data using one of a number of alternative browse graphs
A facility for navigating within a body of data using one of a number of distinct browse graphs is described. Initially, a navigation request is received. Based upon information contained in the received navigation request, the facility selects one of the plurality of browse graphs. In response to user input, the facility browses the body of data using the selected browse graph. The browse graphs may each correspond to a collection of the body of data, such as a website.
US08185542B1 Stored procedure interface
An apparatus for and method of utilizing an Internet terminal coupled to the world wide web to access a legacy data base management system having a dialog-based request format to prepare, modify, and execute stored procedures. The user request is passed to the legacy data base management system via the Internet. The command type is determined whereby list, parameter, column, and execute commands are defined. In response to the user request, the scripted procedure is accessed, prepared, modified, or executed, as appropriate. Invalid and/or undefined requests result in an error response. Valid and defined requests result in performance of the requested command and transfer of an appropriate response to the user terminal.
US08185540B2 Visual structuring of multivariable data
Providing visual structuring of multivariable data sets in records includes: defining a key field for sorting the records; sorting the records by the key field to find patterns; grouping equivalent field values of the key field in an equivalent field value group; forming corresponding blocks for each equivalent field value group, displaying only one field value for each block, and masking all other field values of the block.
US08185530B2 Method and system for web document clustering
Method and system for web documents clustering are provided. The method for web documents clustering includes: inputting a plurality of web documents, collecting information of the links and the directory structure of the inputted web documents, extracting, according to the collected links and directory structure, a hierarchical structure for the plurality of web documents and generating and outputting, based on the extracted hierarchical structure, one or more clusters of the plurality of web documents.
US08185523B2 Search engine that applies feedback from users to improve search results
The present invention is directed to methods of and systems for ranking results returned by a search engine. A method in accordance with the invention comprises determining a formula having variables and parameters, wherein the formula is for computing a relevance score for a document and a search query, and ranking the document based on the relevance score. Preferably, determining the formula comprises tuning the parameters based on user input. Preferably, the parameters are determined using a machine learning technique, such as one that includes a form of statistical classification.
US08185514B1 User-interface feature and technique for providing users of a network site links that have been determined to be of interest to the user
A visitor of a network site is provided information about previously viewed content from that site. One or more internal pages of the network site that the user selects to view during one or more visits to the network site is recorded. At least one of the one or more internal pages is associated with a heading or category that is displayed on the network site. A user-activity is detected corresponding to the visitor directing attention to the heading or category. In response, a dynamic display is generated that provides a link to the at least one internal page that is associated with the category or heading.
US08185513B2 Method and apparatus for generating merged media program metadata
A method, apparatus, article of manufacture for generating a media program database having a plurality of media programs is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method is comprises the steps of receiving first media program metadata from a first source, searching the Internet to find second media program metadata from a second source distinct from the first source, determining if the first media program metadata and the second media program metadata are associated with the same media program, merging the first media program metadata and the second media program metadata if the first media program metadata and the second media program metadata are associated with the same media program, and storing the merged first media program metadata and second media program metadata in the media program database.
US08185490B1 Class-specific iterated subspace classifier
A method is provided for calculating a class-specific iterated subspace for a classification system utilized in a computing system. Training data in the specific class for the class-specific iterated subspace is collected. A linear orthogonal transform is applied transforming the data into at least one bin. Magnitude squared bins are calculated and used as columns of a matrix. Orthonormal vectors of this matrix are selected and a J function is calculated. The J function and orthonormal starting vectors are used to obtain the class-specific iterated subspace for each class. The method further applies these class-specific iterated subspaces in a classification system for determining the most likely class of a data signal of interest.
US08185485B2 Device for analyzing thermal data based on breast surface temperature for the detection for use in determining cancerous conditions
A device for providing improved classification of breast tissue wherein the tissue is classified as one of cancerous and non-cancerous tissue includes sensors for sensing temperature of a subject breast tissue over a predetermined period and generating signals in response thereto and a computer operatively connected to the sensors for receiving and manipulating the signals operatively associated with a normalizer for applying a normalization to each the signal by a function of X/Y where X is one temperature reading of one of the signals for a particular subject and Y is the maximum temperature obtained from a predetermined number sets of temperature readings obtained a plurality of subject breast tissue from the subject to provide a set of normalized signals used by a trained artificial classifier to produce a signal indicative of cancerous and non-cancerous tissue of the subject.
US08185484B2 Predicting and using search engine switching behavior
Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to predicting and using search engine switching behavior. In aspects, switching components receive a representation of user interactions with at least one browser. The switching components derive information from the representation that is useful in predicting whether a user will switch search engines. The derived information and information about a user's current interaction with a browser is then used by a switch predictor to predict whether the user will switch search engines. This prediction may be used in a variety of ways examples of which are given herein.
US08185478B2 Systems and methods for conducting transactions and communications using a trusted third party
Systems and methods are provided for managing the transfer of electronic files. In one embodiment, a sender transfers an encrypted version of a file (such as a digitally encoded audio track, movie, document, or the like) to someone who wishes to receive it. The receiver computes a hash of the encrypted file, and sends it to a trusted third party. The trusted third party compares the hash that was computed by the receiver with another hash computed by the sender. If the two hashes match, the third party sends the file decryption key to the receiver. In some embodiments, the receiver may also send the third party payment information so that the sender, the content owner, and/or the third party can be paid for their role in the transaction. In a preferred embodiment, the payment information is only sent to, and/or used by, the third party once the third party has confirmed to the satisfaction of the receiver that the encrypted file in the receiver's possession will decrypt correctly. In some embodiments, the sender computes a hash of the encrypted version of the file and sends it directly to the third party. In other embodiments, the sender encrypts this hash using a key associated with the third party and sends the encrypted hash to the receiver, who then forwards it to the third party.
US08185475B2 System and method for obtaining and sharing media content
A device initialization method includes generating a license request for a personal media device. A timeout indicator may be obtained for a subscription associated with the personal media device. The license request and the timeout indicator may be combined to form a device license for the personal media device. The device license may be digitally-signed to form a signed device license.
US08185457B1 Transaction risk analyzer
Methods and systems are disclosed for automatically identifying and managing potentially fraudulent transactions without adversely impacting legitimate customers. In one implementation, the methods and systems provide a transaction risk analyzer for analyzing a risk associated with a financial transaction. The transaction risk analyzer quickly and automatically evaluates a number of factors in connection with each transaction to determine the risk associated with the transaction. The factors may include, for example, the relationship of the customer to the financial services company, the identity of the customer, and the behavior pattern of the customer. A set of business rules may then be applied to these factors to help distinguish between potentially fraudulent transactions and legitimate transactions. Based on the business rules, the transaction risk analyzer may recommend certain actions to mitigate loss potentially resulting from the transaction. Such an arrangement helps lower the risk of fraudulent activity without penalizing legitimate customers.
US08185453B1 Contextual access to workflow functionality
Systems and methods provide access to features of a business management application at a contextually relevant locations within a global workflow. The system gathers data from various application features and user preferences and generates a global workflow diagram reflecting these data. The system and method provide contextual access to various features of the business management application, by way of nodes associated with their contextual location within the global workflow, allowing the user to view the information in its relevant context.
US08185447B2 Method for extending payment system architectures and/or legacy order processing systems to mobile commerce applications via text messaging
A text message order processing system includes: means for receiving text messages from consumers purchasing products from one or more merchants, each of the text messages being addressed to an address selected by the consumer and including an identification of the product being purchased and an identification of a device from which the text message was sent; means for parsing each text messages to extract the identification of the product and the identification of the device from the text massage; means for selecting based upon each received text message a payment instrument to be used to pay for the purchase; means for establishing payment information related to the selected payment instrument and delivery information indicating where the purchased product is to be delivered; means for generating for each received text message an order including the established payment information, delivery information and identification of the product being purchased; and, means for submitting the generated order to an order management system of the merchant.
US08185446B1 Generating parts bundles
Disclosed are various embodiments for generating automobile parts bundles associated with maintenance events. A maintenance schedule is retrieved and various maintenance events are identified. Various maintenance tasks associated with maintenance events are also identified. Parts associated with these maintenance tasks are placed into parts bundles associated with the maintenance event and a unique identifier within a parts catalog.
US08185437B2 Systems and methods to provide communication connections via partners
Methods and apparatuses to provide user interfaces dynamically customized according to partners through which the user interfaces are accessed in a customer acquisition process. One embodiment includes providing to a plurality of entities a platform, configured to assign references for embedding in listings for presentation and configured to connect people for real time communications according to the references embedded in the listings, the references to be used to request the platform to provide the connections; responsive to a request received via a first entity of the plurality of entities, presenting a user interface of the platform in a first format to identify the first entity; and responsive to a request received via a second entity of the plurality of entities, presenting the user interface of the platform in a second format to identify the second entity.
US08185431B2 System and method for forecasting and pairing advertising with popular web-based media
A system and method for identifying whether certain web-based media or web-based videos are likely to become popular is provided. Videos that are identified as having a strong likelihood of becoming popular with a particular demographic group are paired to advertisements or other media appropriate for the particular demographic group. Videos that are likely to be popular are identified by measuring early input rates such as request rates, replay rates, comment rates, forwarding rates and reply rates. Input rate patterns including pattern segments correlated to inputs from a particular demographic group are identified.
US08185429B2 System and method of making sales calls
A database navigation system simplifies the navigation and use of sales target information in a database. The salesperson, i.e., the user, begins navigating and using the database by logging into the secured system using a computer. Once logged in, the system displays a Leads Worksheet that lists the sales targets, or “suspect”, from the database assigned to that user and the name of a prospecting process, i.e., a prospecting cycle, that the user will follow with that target. The prospecting cycle comprises of several management-defined steps. Once the user creates a To-Do list of the targets to pursue that workday, the user goes to an Action Page. Here, the user completes the actions in the step of the prospecting cycle for each selected sales target using the tools provided. The system creates a log, i.e., a history, of the user's actions including phone calls, e-mails, video transmissions, and the like as related to the target. The history of user interaction with target data creates metrics used by the salesperson and management to evaluate performance and generate performance reports. All the above is achieved by navigating two screens with a computer mouse and with no input of information (save the optional comment) into the database by the salesperson. Thereby, this essentially automates the “cold call” sales prospecting process.
US08185427B2 Method and system for presenting user tasks for the control of electronic devices
A method of representing user tasks to be performed by one or more of a plurality of electronic devices in a task orchestration system. Each device includes therein a function description specifying a function that the device can perform. The function descriptions are obtained from one or more of the devices, task descriptions that describe device functionalities required for certain tasks are obtained, and task suggestion are generated based on the obtained device function descriptions and task descriptions. Each task suggestion represents a user task as an abstraction of on or more of the obtained device descriptions and task descriptions. The tasks suggestion are displayed on a display for the user to select from, wherein the user selected task suggestion is to be performed by orchestration (automation) of one or more of the devices based on task descriptions that use device functionalities described in the device function descriptions.
US08185425B2 Dates locator
Disclosed are apparatus and methods for locating one or more dates. Specific embodiments include a dates locator that is operable to analyze a date request in the form of natural language words or phrases and determine that such words or phrases correspond to a specific date or range of dates. In one natural language example, a date request may be in the form of a specified holiday or specified period of time before and/or after such specified holiday (e.g., Thanksgiving week) and the corresponding date or range of dates are retrieved by the dates locator. That is, dates locator embodiments receive a date request that uses date contextual information as input to thereby retrieve a specific date or range of dates. The retrieved date or range of dates may then be displayed based in the date request's contextual information. Additionally, a dates locator may include a learning mechanism to learn new associations between particular contextual information and a specific date or range of dates.
US08185421B2 Multi-objective optimization within a constraint management system
Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) is integrated with a Constraint Management System (CMS) so as to rapidly and flexibly search large design spaces and focus on “interesting” designs as determined by user-specified criteria. A method embeds a trade space and its trade-off envelope within the same CMS network used to calculate the values of the points in the trade space itself. The method supports automatic variation of the resulting trade-off analyses in response to variations in upstream parameters, assumptions, and/or requirements. When feasible, the CMS can back-solve for values of upstream parameters so that selected attributes of the trade-off envelope achieve user-specified values. The coupled use of a CMS with multi-objective optimization avoids having to generate a large set of permutations of inputs and factors and then restricting the analysis to those having desired outputs or of having to manually “reformulate” the equation set so that it solves in the desired direction.
US08185416B1 Method for linking insurance policies
An insurance program that provides improved health care and longevity by emphasizing health improvement and maintenance for members of a group. After a predetermined waiting period from the time insurance is purchased by the group, during which the health status of the members is maintained or improved, the insured group may link the insurance policy with one or more other types of insurance policies, such as; disability, nursing home, etc. Throughout the life of the policy, portions of the premiums may be deposited in an account for the benefit of the group or for each member of the group, provided that the overall health of the group or the member is maintained or improved. The account may be utilized to pay or help pay for the linked insurance and may also be utilized for retirement benefits.
US08185412B1 Method and apparatus for chronic care treatment control with custom named-type factors and user estimation error correction
A method and apparatus to record and track patient's estimation of arbitrary factor types, to analyze response errors utilizing discrete measurements, to isolate errors in various factor types and their response correlations, to enable patient in refining factor mix to reduce estimated outcome variations, and to improve patient estimation with corrections using a continuous feedback system. The input factors for the treatment in case of a Diabetic patient may be food intake, medication, activity, stress level etc, while the treatment outcome or response may be blood glucose level that the patient needs to keep within specific limits. Present invention enables a chronic care patient, such as a Diabetic patient, to make better and informed decisions about their treatment, reduce input factor estimation errors, reduce outcome parameter variations, and improve the patient well being by better treatment control.
US08185411B2 Method, system, and apparatus for patient controlled access of medical records
A method of permitting controlled access to medical information can include establishing a storage means for containing medical information and establishing a means for accessing the medical information. The method further can include controlling the means for accessing the medical information according to a type of entity accessing the medical information, wherein access is limited according to the type of entity.
US08185407B2 Referral request system
A method for electronically managing patient referrals includes, in a network of interconnected computers, submitting a referral request by a first provider, accepting the referral request by a second provider, obtaining an insurance approval of the referral request, importing a medical record for a patient from a external system, exporting the imported medical record to the external system, updating the medical record with diagnostic information, and updating a status of the referral request.
US08185406B2 Comprehensive healthcare waste assessment system
A computer implemented method, apparatus and program product analyze medical waste processes by determining waste cost information for a number of waste streams. The waste cost pricing information is organized, formatted, associated or otherwise processed for presentation in a manner that facilitates waste cost analysis.
US08185400B1 System and method for isolating and processing common dialog cues
A method, system and machine-readable medium are provided. Speech input is received at a speech recognition component and recognized output is produced. A common dialog cue from the received speech input or input from a second source is recognized. An action is performed corresponding to the recognized common dialog cue. The performed action includes sending a communication from the speech recognition component to the speech generation component while bypassing a dialog component.
US08185399B2 System and method of providing an automated data-collection in spoken dialog systems
The invention relates to a system and method for gathering data for use in a spoken dialog system. An aspect of the invention is generally referred to as an automated hidden human that performs data collection automatically at the beginning of a conversation with a user in a spoken dialog system. The method comprises presenting an initial prompt to a user, recognizing a received user utterance using an automatic speech recognition engine and classifying the recognized user utterance using a spoken language understanding module. If the recognized user utterance is not understood or classifiable to a predetermined acceptance threshold, then the method re-prompts the user. If the recognized user utterance is not classifiable to a predetermined rejection threshold, then the method transfers the user to a human as this may imply a task-specific utterance. The received and classified user utterance is then used for training the spoken dialog system.
US08185397B2 Speech processing apparatus, medium, and method recognizing and responding to speech using entity information
A speech processing apparatus, medium, and method recognizing speech and responding to the speech. The speech processing apparatus may includes an entity extracting unit which extracts entity information and an upper entity corresponding to the entity information from input speech, a focus determination unit which determines a focus using the extracted entity information requiring a response, a mapping unit which maps lower entity corresponding to the focus with the extracted entity information, and a recognition unit which recognizes a result of arranging the extracted entity information according to semantic association among the lower entities as the input speech. Thus, the speech processing apparatus can accurately recognize grammatically correct speech as well as grammatically incorrect speech and then respond to the speech.
US08185394B2 Method for accessing data via voice
A method for providing access to data via a voice interface. In one embodiment, the system includes a voice recognition unit and a speech processing server that work together to enable users to interact with the system using voice commands guided by navigation context sensitive voice prompts, and provide user-requested data in a verbalized format back to the users. Digitized voice waveform data are processed to determine the voice commands of the user. The system also uses a “grammar” that enables users to retrieve data using intuitive natural language speech queries. In response to such a query, a corresponding data query is generated by the system to retrieve one or more data sets corresponding to the query. The user is then enabled to browse the data that are returned through voice command navigation, wherein the system “reads” the data back to the user using text-to-speech (TTS) conversion and system prompts.
US08185390B2 Zero-search, zero-memory vector quantization
The invention comprises a method for lossy data compression, akin to vector quantization, in which there is no explicit codebook and no search, i.e. the codebook memory and associated search computation are eliminated. Some memory and computation are still required, but these are dramatically reduced, compared to systems that do not exploit this method. For this reason, both the memory and computation requirements of the method are exponentially smaller than comparable methods that do not exploit the invention. Because there is no explicit codebook to be stored or searched, no such codebook need be generated either. This makes the method well suited to adaptive coding schemes, where the compression system adapts to the statistics of the data presented for processing: both the complexity of the algorithm executed for adaptation, and the amount of data transmitted to synchronize the sender and receiver, are exponentially smaller than comparable existing methods.
US08185388B2 Apparatus for improving packet loss, frame erasure, or jitter concealment
The invention presents a method to improve the recovering from packet loss, frame erasure or jitter concealment during signal communication, especially for VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) applications. A variable delay concept (instead of constant delay) is introduced to guarantee the continuity and periodicity of signal after recovering lost frames, adding frames or removing frames. During the recovering of lost frames or the adding of extra frames, the copy of previous signal from history buffer into missing frame(s) is based on the frame length, onset, and offset information.
US08185378B2 Method and system for determining text coherence
A method and system for determining text coherence in an essay is disclosed. A method of evaluating the coherence of an essay includes receiving an essay having one or more discourse elements and text segments. The one or more discourse elements are annotated either manually or automatically. A text segment vector is generated for each text segment in a discourse element using sparse random indexing vectors. The method or system then identifies one or more essay dimensions and measures the semantic similarity of each text segment based on the essay dimensions. Finally, a coherence level is assigned to the essay based on the measured semantic similarities.
US08185376B2 Identifying language origin of words
The language of origin of a word is determined by analyzing non-uniform letter sequence portions of the word.
US08185364B2 Process and device for simulating a product printed by a press
A process and device for simulating a product printed by a virtual press. The process implemented by the device includes creation of a three-dimensional object page, selection of at least one fold among a set of predetermined folds, with the selected folds corresponding to the folds produced on the product to be simulated, for each fold produced and selected, a modification of the three-dimensional object page by the addition of at least one fold line at a given position on the three-dimensional object page, construction of the simulated product starting from the modified three-dimensional object page, and a display of the simulated product constructed in this manner.
US08185358B2 Apparatus for measuring distortion power quality index and method of operating the apparatus
A method of measuring a power quality index. A total current waveform of an ingress from a customer, and a current waveform and a voltage waveform of each of at least one load installed at the customer are measured. A load composition (LC) of the customer using the total current waveform of the ingress and the current waveform of each of the at least one load is computed. A total harmonic distortion (THD) of each of the at least one load using the current waveform and the voltage waveform of each of the at least one load is computed. Thereafter, a distortion power quality index (DPQI) of each of the at least one load using the LC and the THD is computed.
US08185356B2 Remote monitoring system, terminal management server and terminal management server control program
An insulation monitoring system, functioning as a remote monitoring system, comprises a plurality of insulation monitoring terminals, functioning as remote monitoring terminals, for monitoring facilities and a terminal management server controlling the insulation monitoring terminals. The insulation monitoring terminals and terminal management server are connected each other to bidirectionally transmit and receive information therebetween. The terminal management server includes collective input unit for accepting collectively input configuration information pieces to be set in the insulation monitoring terminals, storage unit for storing the plurality of configuration information pieces input by the collective input unit, and distribution unit for distributing the plurality of configuration information pieces stored in the storage unit to the insulation monitoring terminals respectively associated with the configuration information pieces.
US08185355B2 Slot-cache for caching aggregates of data with different expiry times
Techniques for collecting and displaying sensor data captured by a spatially and temporally representative sample of sensors requested in a search query are described. The sensors are represented in an index structure (e.g., a data tree) having a plurality of leaf nodes and internal nodes. The leaf nodes are associated with sensors and the internal nodes are allotted with caches having cache slots for storing sensor data with various expiry times. In response to a query, the index structure is leveraged to identify a set of nodes associated with sensors of a user selected spatial region. Sensor data having an expiry time greater than a user specified expiry time is then collected from one or more cache slots of the set of nodes. In this manner, the number of sensors to be probed to collect the sensor data is reduced.
US08185330B2 Automatic placement of measurement gates
A method and apparatus is provided for setting time positions of measurement gates on a signal under test. Signal transition data is calculated by a processor for multiple signal transitions. Measurement gate start and end positions are set relative to the multiple signal transitions based on the received signal transition data.
US08185318B2 Method of compensation of dose-response curve of an assay for sensitivity to perturbing variables
The present invention provides assays and methods of compensating for changes in an assay where such changes are due to variations in a perturbing variable. This is achieved by a two-step method, the first step of which involves measurements of the dose-response curve, and thus the individual assay parameters, at different values of the perturbing variable. In the second step, unknown samples are assayed simultaneously with a standard. During this measurement, the value of the perturbing variable is unknown and the dose-response curve is therefore also unknown. The dose-response curves from the first step are used to determine a mathematical relationship between the assay parameters and the assay signal of the standard. Assay parameters that are valid for the unknown value of the perturbing variable can be obtained by substituting the value of the assay signal from the standard into the mathematical relationship and solving for the assay parameters.
US08185313B2 Classifying potential hydrocarbon reservoirs using electromagnetic survey information
A probabilistic method for classifying observed CSEM response for a resistive anomaly to classify the response into multiple geologic categories indicative of hydrocarbon production potential. Each category is assigned a prior probability (301). For each category, conditional joint probability distributions for observed CSEM data in the anomaly region are constructed (303) from rock property probability distributions (302) and a quantitative relationship between rock/fluid properties and the CSEM data (304). Then, the joint probability distributions and prior probabilities for each category (305) are combined with observed data (307) and used in Bayes' Rule (306) to update the prior category probabilities (308). Seismic data may be used to supplement CSEM data in the method.
US08185305B2 Rewrite apparatus
A rewrite apparatus calculates a risk of destruction of data due to data retention in each file. It is determined whether a refresh start condition is satisfied. The refresh start condition is provided in accordance with the calculated risk. When the refresh start condition is satisfied, it is determined that the possibility to completely execute the refresh is high. The refresh is thereby executed. The rewrite apparatus can thus reduce the possibility to interrupt the refresh of the data stored in the storage medium such as a flash memory.
US08185304B2 Method, computer program and system for optimising routes provided by navigation systems
A method of controlling a navigation system is provided which builds up historical information of routes taken by a vehicle and uses this information to provide an appropriate route for the vehicle based upon deviations from suggested routes stored upon a mobile computer unit of the navigation system of the vehicle.
US08185298B2 Hybrid heuristic national airspace flight path optimization
Hybrid-heuristic optimization of competing portfolios of flight paths for flights through one or more sectors of an airspace represented by an air traffic system. In one embodiment, a hybrid-heuristic optimization process (100) includes one or more heuristic based processes (110), a genetic optimization process (120), an evaluation process involving an approximation model (130), an optimal portfolio selection process (140) and a validation process involving simulation (150) of the air traffic system.
US08185290B2 Data acquisition system indexed by cycle segmentation
A data acquisition system for an excavation machine having a power source configured to drive a tool through a work cycle is disclosed. The data acquisition system may have a first sensor associated with the power source to generate a first signal indicative of a performance of the power source, and a second sensor associated with the tool to generate a second signal indicative of a performance of the tool. The data acquisition system may also have a controller in communication with the first and second sensors. The controller may be configured to record the first and second signals, and partition the work cycle into a plurality of segments. The controller may be further configured to link the performance of the power source and the performance of the tool together with one of the plurality of segments during which the associated first and second signals were recorded.
US08185285B2 Transmission hydraulic pressure sensor based altitude measurement
A control system of a vehicle includes a pressure sensor that generates a pressure signal based on a pressure in a transmission of the vehicle. A control module determines atmospheric pressure based on the pressure signal. The control module controls operation of at least one of the transmission and an engine of the vehicle by generating a control signal based on the atmospheric pressure.
US08185284B2 Control device of automatic transmission, and control method of automatic transmission
ECU executes in-neutral control in a case where a first clutch is brought into a half-engagement state on the basis of execution of neutral control. During the in-neutral control, ECU detects engine speed and input-shaft rotating speed, and detects differential rotation before an oil pressure change. Subsequently, in a case where the differential rotation before an oil pressure change detected by ECU has exceeded a first differential rotation threshold value, the operating oil pressure for a hydraulic servo is reduced by the first oil pressure.
US08185277B2 Waste removing and hauling vehicle
A vehicle for removing and hauling waste has a waste bin located above a baseline. The waste bin has a chamber and an emptying site for receiving waste into the chamber. A waste receptacle transfer means is driven from a first position associated with the baseline to a second position associated with the emptying site of the waste bin and back to the first position. A waste receptacle is temporarily retainable to the waste receptacle transfer means and transferrable by the waste receptacle transfer means from the first position to the second position to spill contents of the waste receptacle into the waste bin at the emptying site and back to the first position. A first receiver is associated with the first position for receiving a signal generated by the waste receptacle at a first moment in time when the waste receptacle transfer means is in the first position and at a second moment in time when the waste receptacle transfer means has returned to the first position from second position.
US08185270B2 Vehicle steering device
A vehicle steering device (1) has a steering actuator (14) for steerable wheels (5) to be steered according to operation of a steering member (2), a transmission mechanism (18) including cables (22, 23), a connection mechanism (19) for allowing and interrupting mechanical connection between the steering member (2) and the wheels (5), and control unit (9). When the steering actuator (14) is normal, the control unit (9) causes the connection mechanism (19) to release mechanical connection between the steering member (2) and the wheels (5) and drives and controls the steering actuator (14) according to operation of the steering member (2). The control unit (9) includes a fail detecting section (29) for detecting, when the steering actuator (14) is normal, a fail of the transmission mechanism (18) based on a load on the steering actuator (14).
US08185267B2 On-vehicle apparatus and content providing method
The present invention is applied to, for example, a multimedia terminal having a function of navigation equipment and a function of playing back video and switches a display from a map display to a source display also with source switching operators 13P, 13R. In addition, menus of upper and lower hierarchies are simultaneously displayed to accept operations through a touch panel and a remote commander. In addition to a press-operable main rotary operator, a press-operable sub rotary operator is provided on a side surface. Among operations accepted through the main rotary operator, only a specific operation relating to content processing is accepted through the sub rotary operator.
US08185261B2 Systems and methods for attitude propagation for a slewing angular rate vector
Computer-based systems and methods for determining attitude of a moveable object. Attitude is determined by a transformation matrix {right arrow over (U)} from a body coordinate frame of the moveable object to an inertial reference frame. The transformation matrix is determined by: (i) determining a slew rate vector, {right arrow over (α)}, for time tN for the moveable object that represents a change in direction of an angular rate vector, {right arrow over (ω)}, for the moveable object over the time interval from tN−1 to tN in the body coordinate frame; (ii) determining an update to the transformation matrix for time tN that is based on a product of two matrices, the first matrix being related to a sum of {right arrow over (ω)} and {right arrow over (α)}, and the second matrix being related to −{right arrow over (α)}; and (iii) multiplying a transformation matrix for time tN−1 and the update to the transformation matrix for time tN to obtain the transformation matrix for time tN.
US08185260B2 Prognostic and health management accuracy maintenance system and method
A prognostic and health accuracy maintenance system and method for a system following on-site replacement of a component in the system is provided. A system characterization model of at least portions of the system is generated and embedded within a controller in the system. The system characterization model is adapted to receive a plurality of signals that are each representative of an operational parameter within the system and is responsive to each of the signals to generate simulation response data and determine system health based, at least in part, on the simulation response data. When a component within the system is replaced, a determination is made as to whether the replacement component exhibits one or more operational performance characteristics that differ from the component it replaced. If so, the embedded system characterization model is updated in-situ.
US08185258B2 Automatic strategic offset function
A system may generate a modified flight plan for an aircraft based on an original flight plan. The system may provide an automatic strategic offset function that includes an autoflight system; a sensor system including at least one of a global positioning system, an inertial reference unit, or an air data computer; and a flight management computer. The flight management computer may be operably coupled with the autoflight system and/or the sensor system. The flight management computer may process a flight plan of the vehicle and generate a non-uniform offset value in the vertical and/or lateral orientation between the flight plan and a boundary. The offset value may be used to create an offset flight plan for navigating an aircraft.
US08185256B2 Threat prioritization using engagement timeline
A method for prioritizing threats to an aircraft is disclosed. The method can include providing threat attribute information including a threat engagement timeline and a threat lethality metric and obtaining a threat track indication that indicates a threat is tracking the aircraft. The method can also include determining a historical position estimate of the aircraft at which the threat track began, a time estimate at which the threat track began and determining a period of time during which the threat track has been possible. The method can also include determining a time to engagement based on the threat attribute information and the time period and calculating a priority value for the threat based on the time to engagement and the threat lethality metric. The method can include outputting a prioritized threat list including the priority value calculated for the threat.
US08185253B2 Electronic control unit for use in a vehicle
A first microcomputer in an ECU outputs a CID of the ECU in response to a request from a scan tool when the ECU has multiple microcomputers implemented therein. Each of the multiple microcomputers has an additive value stored therein for counting an update of the software. The additive values from the multiple microcomputers are added as a sum total of the ECU that is further added to a CID base value. The sum total of the ECU added to the CID base value is then output as the CID of the ECU from the first microcomputer to the scan tool. Therefore, information stored in the first microcomputer is not necessarily changed for outputting an updated CID (e.g., software product number information) from the ECU.
US08185247B2 Method and system for controlling compressor
In the present invention, a method and a system for controlling a compressor are provided. The method includes the steps of: providing a condenser connected to the compressor, and at least one evaporator connected to the condenser; measuring an inlet pressure and an outlet pressure of the compressor to obtain a flow rate of the condensate; determining a secure flow rate and a demanding flow rate based on a total number of the at least one evaporator; comparing at least two of the flow rate, the demanding flow rate and the secure flow rate with each other to obtain a compared result; and controlling the compressor based on the comparing result.
US08185241B2 Tracked robotic crawler having a moveable arm
A tracked robotic crawler capable of multiple movement moves is disclosed. In one embodiment, the tracked robotic crawler includes at least one frame unit, the frame unit having a continuous track rotatably coupled thereto. Disposed on the at least one frame unit is at least one articulated arm, the arm being movable relative to the frame unit in at least one dimension. The articulated arm helps to improve mobility of the tracked robotic crawler in various environments.
US08185227B2 Method and system for determining manufacturing throughput target
A first linear combination of a local moving aggregated quantity derived from a WIP distribution and a global aggregated quantity derived from the WIP distribution is calculated for each range for a given product type in a manufacturing line. The first linear combination serves as a first throughput target for the range and product. A second linear combination of a standard deviation of the non-zero portion of the WIP distribution and the global aggregated quantity is calculated for the product type in the manufacturing line. The coefficients of this second linear combination are predetermined. This second linear combination serves as a second throughput target. A throughput target for each range is determined by determining the minimum of the first throughput target, which can be different for each range, and the second throughput target, which is common across all ranges.
US08185226B2 Method and system for scheduling a stream of products in a manufacturing environment by using process-specific WIP limits
By defining a section-related WIP limit or a throughput-related WIP limit, an efficient “look ahead” characteristic may be established to efficiently control the WIP in a complex manufacturing environment, such as a semiconductor facility. The respective critical WIP values may enable efficient reduction of priority of products moving towards an increased WIP queue, thereby reducing or substantially avoiding the release of products that are expected to run into the WIP queue. In this way, the efficiency of shared tools may be increased, since process capacity no longer required for the processing products running into WIP queues may be allocated for other operations.
US08185201B2 Apparatus and methods for calculating caloric expenditure using posture
Systems and methods for estimating caloric expenditure. The systems can include a physiological sensor to measure a patient's physical activity, and a posture sensor to measure the patient's posture. An estimated caloric expenditure can be calculated based on data from the physiological sensor and the posture sensor. For example, the estimated caloric expenditure can be calculated at least in part based on the posture data. For example, the estimated caloric expenditure can be validated based on the posture data.
US08185195B2 Arrhythmia classification and therapy selection
Different types of cardiac arrhythmia are classified based on the morphology of the arrhythmic beats. Cardiac beats associated with an arrhythmic episode are compared to a plurality of representative beat morphologies, each representative beat morphology characterizing a type of arrhythmia of the heart. An arrhythmic episode may be classified as a particular type of arrhythmia if the morphology of the arrhythmic cardiac beats matches a representative beat morphology characterizing the particular type of arrhythmia. An appropriate therapy for the particular type of arrhythmia may be selected based on the arrhythmia classification. A particular type of arrhythmia may be associated with one or more therapies used to treat the arrhythmia. The therapy used to treat the arrhythmia may comprise a therapy identified as a previously successful therapy.
US08185192B2 Correcting for distortion in a tracking system
A volume of a patient can be mapped with a system operable to identify a plurality of locations and save a plurality of locations of a mapping instrument. The mapping instrument can include one or more electrodes that can sense a voltage that can be correlated to a three dimensional location of the electrode at the time of the sensing or measurement. Therefore, a map of a volume can be determined based upon the sensing of the plurality of points without the use of other imaging devices. An implantable medical device can then be navigated relative to the mapping data.
US08185189B2 Investigation of body structures
A pulsed radiation beam is directed toward a body structure having a configuration or physical characteristic that changes over time, the radiation being pulsed at a pulse modulation frequency. A detector detects acoustic oscillations set up in the body resultant from the incident pulsed radiation and produces an output signal representative of one or more parameters of the acoustic oscillations. A control system controls operation of the radiation delivery and a processor to process the detector output signal. The pulse modulation frequency of the pulsed radiation is changed over a predetermined range of modulation frequencies and the processor determines the structure resonant frequency from the detector output.
US08185176B2 Method and apparatus for vasculature visualization with applications in neurosurgery and neurology
The invention provides methods and systems for neurovascular imaging (150).
US08185175B2 Superconducting coil and superconductor used for the same
A low-cost superconducting coil which can generate a high magnetic field at comparatively high temperature is provided. The superconducting coil is formed in a pancake shape by winding a superconducting conductor that is made by electrically connecting a tape-shaped (Bi,Pb)2223 superconducting wire and a tape-shaped RE123 superconducting wire in series such that the tape-shaped (Bi,Pb)2223 superconducting wire is arranged in the outer circumferential part and the tape-shaped RE123 superconducting wire is arranged in the internal circumferential part.
US08185164B2 Mobile terminal and operation control method thereof
A method of controlling a mobile terminal and includes displaying on a display of the mobile terminal a list having a plurality of items, identifying a selected item of the plurality items of the list, and detecting movement of the mobile terminal. The method further includes displaying on the display a menu having a plurality of items that are each associated with a function which can be performed based upon information associated with the selected item, wherein the displaying of the menu is in response to the detecting of the movement of the mobile terminal.
US08185159B2 Wireless communication system
A wireless communication system including a wireless terminal, a plurality of base stations and a call processing control unit is disclosed. The wireless terminal, upon reception of the notification information from any of the base stations, judges whether the area included in the notification information is contained in the location registration area list stored in a storage unit, and in the case where the particular area is not so contained, sends a location registration request to the call processing control unit. On the other hand, the call processing control unit creates a new location registration area list based on the area included in the notification information and the neighboring areas, and sends the location registration area list to the wireless terminal thereby to execute the paging process.
US08185150B2 Methods and apparatus for line selection in a communication device
Embodiments of an apparatus and methods for selecting a communication line from two or more lines on a communication device are described herein. The communication device comprises a display module, an input module, a line selection module, and a communication module for making a call over a network to a target recipient. In one broad aspect, a determination of which of the communication lines is the communication line associated with the selected one of at least two appointment categories for an appointment is made in the selection of a communication line accessible at the communication device on which an outgoing call may be placed.
US08185147B2 Wireless communication system integrated into a computer display
An electronic device has a display in which the casing of the display includes a plurality of recessed cavities into which radio and antenna modules can be inserted to provide the electronic device with a wireless communication capability. The display can have cavities for one or more radios and one or more antenna modules. A radio electrically connects to one or more antenna modules via conductor(s) contained within the display and connects to the host electronic device via a serial bus (e.g., USB). Accordingly, the display can have a plurality of radio/antenna combinations thereby concurrently providing the electronic device with multiple wireless communication capabilities.
US08185145B1 Dynamic overhead channel power control
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for dynamically adjusting power allocated for overhead communications in a sector of a radio access network (RAN). An exemplary method involves (a) detecting a switch to RC4 for resource allocation in a given sector; (b) in response to detecting the switch to RC4: (i) determining the location of each access terminal located in the sector; and (ii) based at least in part on the locations of the access terminals, determining mobility of access terminals in the sector; (c) making a determination as to whether or not the mobility is below a threshold level; and (d) if the determined mobility is below the threshold level, then: (i) based at least in part on the determined locations of the access terminals, determining an amount by which to reduce the power allocated for overhead communications in the sector; and (ii) reducing the power by the determined amount.
US08185142B2 Dispatch application utilizing short message service
A dispatch communication and management system method is provided, allowing a dispatcher and remote service technicians to exchange messages over a network in a prescribed format to notify the technicians of new dispatch orders, and to update status information for dispatch orders in corresponding customer service records in a database.
US08185134B2 Multimode GPS-enabled camera
A method and device of geographically tagging images by capturing an image, determining a position based on detection of satellite signals and a wireless network signal, and tagging the image with the determined position is provided.
US08185133B2 Mobile location and map acquisition
Providing a map and/or directions to a visitor to a facility may include and/or involve a wireless communication device signaling its presence at a location in a facility, and communicating to the wireless communication device a map of the facility indicating the location. This may include and/or involve communicating to the wireless device directions to and/or from the location to a destination within the facility.
US08185130B2 Location blocking service from a wireless service provider
Location-blocking and identity-blocking services that can be commercially offered by a service promoter, e.g., a cellular service provider or a web advertiser. In the identity-blocking service, the service promoter may disclose the current physical location of a mobile subscriber (i.e., a cellular phone operator) to a third party (e.g., a web advertiser) subscribing to the identity-blocking service. However, the service promoter may not send any identity information for the mobile subscriber to the third party. On the other hand, in the location-blocking service, the service promoter may disclose the mobile subscriber's identity information to the third party, but not the current physical location of the mobile subscriber. Blocking of the mobile subscriber's identity or location information may be desirable for privacy reasons, to comply with a government regulation, or to implement a telecommunication service option selected by the mobile subscriber. However, in the case of the mobile subscriber requesting emergency help, the service promoter may not block identity and/or location information. Instead, the service promoter may send all such information to the emergency service provider (e.g., the police or a hospital).
US08185128B2 Method and apparatus for supporting location services with roaming
Techniques for supporting location services with roaming are described. A mobile station interacts with a home mobile positioning center (H-MPC) in a home network for location services even when roaming. The mobile station communicates with a visited network for a data session and receives a request for its location. The mobile station sends first information (e.g., SID and NID) indicative of its current network location to the H-MPC. The H-MPC determines a serving mobile positioning center (S-MPC) in the visited network based on the first information. The S-MPC determines a serving position determining entity (S-PDE) in the visited network based on the first information. Depending on the selected positioning method, the H-MPC may receive an S-PDE address or a position estimate of the mobile station from the S-MPC and may forward this information to mobile station. The mobile station may communicate with the S-PDE for positioning using the S-PDE address.
US08185125B2 Transmission rate control method, mobile communication system and radio base station
A transmission rate control method according to the present invention includes: selecting, at the radio base station NodeB, increase-allowed mobile stations whose uplink user data transmission rate can be increased at a predetermined TTI; equally dividing, at the radio base station NodeB, an available radio resource at the predetermined TTI, based on the number of increase-allowed mobile stations or the number of E-AGCHs that can be transmitted in the cell; and adding, at the radio base station NodeB, the radio resource equally divided by a radio resource allocating unit 13A, to each radio resources allocated to each mobile stations to which a transmission rate control channel (E-AGCH) can be transmitted and is one of the increase-allowed mobile stations.
US08185123B2 Method and apparatus for managing radio resources in mobile communication system
Provided is a method and apparatus for managing radio resources in a mobile communication system. The method includes periodically detecting a current radio resource availability state with in a cell, and broadcasting information about the current radio resource availability state to a mobile terminal.
US08185121B2 Optimization of displayed RF coverage
A method for optimizing RF coverage includes dividing a floor plan according to a plurality of grids. Radio frequency coverage for each of the plurality of grids is calculated to render a plurality of coverages. First data representative of the plurality of coverage grids is provided to a client. Second data representative of an incremental change in radio frequency coverage for a first grid of the plurality of grids is provided to the client.
US08185118B2 Method for transferring the context of a mobile terminal in a wireless telecommunication network
The present invention concerns a method for obtaining a context of a mobile terminal (30) which is expecting to be served by a first base station (10b) of a wireless telecommunication network comprising a plurality of base stations (10) linked together by a telecommunication network. The first base station which is expected to serve the mobile terminal, receives a first message from the mobile terminal (30) through a wireless interface, the message comprising at least an identifier of the mobile terminal (30) and an identifier of a second base station (10a), transfers through the telecommunication network (50) a second message to the second base station (10a) of which the identifier is comprised in the received message, receives through the telecommunication network a third message from the second base station, the third message message comprising the context of the mobile terminal.
US08185114B2 System and method for optimizing handover in mobile communication system
Disclosed are a system and a method for optimizing a handover process in a mobile broadband wireless access system. The method performs handover in a mobile communication system including a mobile subscriber station, a serving base station currently providing service to the mobile subscriber station, and at least one neighbor base stations adjacent to the serving base station. The method includes the steps of receiving a handover request from the mobile subscriber station by the serving base station; instructing the mobile subscriber station to perform handover by the serving base station in response to the handover request from the mobile subscriber station and performing by the mobile subscriber station a network reentry process for fast handover in accordance with information included in a handover instruction from the serving base station.
US08185110B2 Apparatus for transitioning between EVDO and CDMA 1x systems using redundant data call blockings
A method and apparatus of optimizing transitioning between EVDO and CDMA 1× systems in a hybrid access terminal, the method having the steps of: preventing a reconnect data call from being sent from the hybrid access terminal. The preventing step including checking whether a transition between an EVDO and a CDMA 1× system is successful; and if not blocking the data call, and/or checking whether an EVDO received signal strength indication is greater than or equal to a receiver sensitivity on the hybrid access terminal; and if yes, allowing the hybrid access terminal to connect to the EVDO system, and/or delaying a connection timer for connecting to the EVDO system and/or applying fast dormancy to the hybrid access terminal in an EVDO state.
US08185105B2 Method, system and apparatus for using IMS communication service identifier
A method, system and apparatus for using an IMS communication service identifier is provided. The method includes getting, by an HSS, arrival of information related to a user subscribed IMS communication service identifier, and sending information of a user subscribed IMS communication service identifier to a SID-requiring network entity according to the information related to the user subscribed IMS communication service.
US08185097B2 System and method for locking and branding a mobile communication device to a network
There is disclosed a system and method for locking and branding a generic mobile communication device to a carrier network. In an embodiment, the method comprises: inserting in the device a subscriber or user identification module specifying a selection of a carrier network to which the mobile communication device is to be wirelessly connected; issuing from the device a request to lock and brand the device to the selected carrier network; in response to the request, receiving a customized configuration file for the selected network containing a device locking command, and one or more branding commands to brand the device to the selected carrier network; executing the device locking command to lock the device to the selected carrier network; and executing the one or more branding commands to brand the device to the selected carrier network with one or more customized features specific to the selected carrier network.
US08185093B2 Methods for handling an apparatus terminated communication request and communication apparatuses utilizing the same
A communication apparatus is provided. A first subscriber identity card is with a first address and camps on a first cell. A second subscriber identity card is with a second address and camps on a second cell. A processor determines whether a first communication status of the first subscriber identity card reaches a first limitation, determines whether a second communication status of the second subscriber identity card reaches a second limitation, and determines whether to activate a service instructing the first wireless network to transfer a first apparatus terminated communication request of the first subscriber identity card to the second subscriber identity card according to determination results for the first communication status and the second communication status, wherein the first apparatus terminated communication request is initiated from a peer communication entity to request for establishing wireless communication with the first subscriber identity card.
US08185077B2 Method and system for noise suppression in antenna
A system includes an antenna to receive a communications signal, an amplifier coupled to the antenna to amplify the communications signal, and a processor coupled to the amplifier to process the communications signal using high-order statistics to suppress noise in the communications signal. The processor may use a bispectrum function to remove at least a portion of the noise, and at least one of the phase of the bispectrum and the amplitude of the bispectrum to reconstruct the communications signal.
US08185070B2 Broadcast system and channel setting method using center and searching frequencies
A broadcast system and a channel setting method therein are provided. The broadcast system includes a channel searching unit for setting a center frequency for at least one broadcasting channel, and a searching frequency of n-th and (n+1)-th channels according to each center frequency, and storing channel information obtained from broadcast information received through the n-th or (n+1)-th channel when a broadcast signal is detected at the searching frequency.
US08185062B2 Configurable antenna assembly
A configurable antenna assembly includes an antenna structure and a configurable antenna interface. The antenna structure is operable, in a first mode, to provide a first antenna structure and a second antenna structure, wherein the first antenna structure receives an inbound radio frequency (RF) signal and the second antenna structure transmits an outbound RF signal. The configurable antenna interface is operable in the first mode to provide a first antenna interface and a second antenna interface, wherein the first antenna interface is configured in accordance with a receive adjust signal to adjust at least one of phase and amplitude of the inbound RF signal, and wherein the second antenna interface is configured in accordance with a transmit adjust signal to adjust at least one of phase and amplitude of the outbound RF signal.
US08185061B2 Wireless terminal with frequency switching circuits for controlling an operating frequency
A wireless terminal includes an antenna which comprises an antenna element and at least one frequency switching circuit to control an operating frequency of the antenna element in accordance with a frequency control signal, a plurality of RF circuits to perform an RF signal processing, an antenna switch to connect the antenna to one of the plurality of RF circuits in accordance with a connection control signal, and a generation unit configured to generate the frequency control signal and the connection control signal in accordance with switching between a plurality of wireless communication systems or switching between transmission and reception.
US08185058B2 Radio coexistence mechanism for variable data rate radio links
A device has a radio transmitter for a first radio link such as a Bluetooth link, having a coexistence controller arranged to communicate with a co-located other radio transmitter for another radio link, to enable both radio links to use potentially conflicting transmission frequencies. A link monitor monitors the first radio link, according to an output from the coexistence controller. By making the link monitor dependent on the coexistence controller, it can distinguish between transmission losses caused by the coexistence interface, and those caused by other effects, to reduce the risk of a data rate controller unnecessarily reducing a transmission rate if transmission losses caused by the coexistence control are misinterpreted as a drop in link quality.
US08185057B2 Uplink channel quality feedback reduction in a mobile communication system
Operating a user equipment in a mobile communication system includes generating a measure of reliability of a predicted channel estimate and of impairment stability, wherein the predicted channel estimate is a predicted estimate of a channel between the user equipment and a node of the mobile communications system. Transmission of a channel quality report to the node of the mobile communication system is controlled as a function of the generated measure of reliability of the predicted channel estimate and of impairment stability. Transmission control includes inhibiting transmission of the channel quality report to the node of the mobile communication system for a duration of time corresponding to the measure of reliability of the predicted channel estimate and of impairment stability.
US08185055B2 Apparatus for determining interference using cyclic prefix and method thereof
An interference determination apparatus, including a signal receiver to receive a first signal of a primary network and a second signal of a secondary network; a correlator to compute a correlation value of a first cyclic prefix included in the first signal and a correlation value of a second cyclic prefix included in the second signal; and an interference determination unit to determine an interference level or whether the interference occurs between the primary network and the secondary network, using the correlation value of the first cyclic prefix and the correlation value of the second cyclic prefix.
US08185051B2 Ping feature for electronic devices
A pinging electronic device, a pingable electronic device and a network for the devices are disclosed. The ping electronic devices comprising a ping function and a transmitter wherein the ping function is adapted to generate and the transmitter is adapted to transmit over an ad hoc wireless network at least one associated ping control message to at least one pingable electronic device paired to the pinging electronic device for actuation of at least one indicator element of the at least one pingable electronic device.
US08185050B2 Coexistance device communication between a Bluetooth device and a wireless local area network device
The present invention provides a system and a method for transferring data between a Bluetooth device (BTD) and a wireless local area network (WLAN) device which uses packet traffic arbitration (PTA). The method of the present invention includes encoding data using a plurality of control lines between the BTD and WLAN, transmitting the data and acknowledging the data reception using the existing control lines. The method according to the present invention allows BTD and WLAN device to transmit additional scheduling information, schedule the medium access, and reduce the number of collisions between the two devices.
US08185046B2 Power controlled communication system between a source, repeater, and base station
The present application relates to a wireless communication system and related methods and apparatuses for transmitting a signal from a source apparatus to a destination apparatus, via at least one intermediate apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to techniques which seek to improve the throughput of data in multi-hop communication systems.
US08185036B2 Medium transport apparatus, image forming apparatus and medium transport method
The medium transport apparatus is provided with: a transport unit that transports a recording medium continuing in a direction, in the direction where the recording medium continues; a detection unit that detects a mark formed on the recording medium transported by the transport unit, by using a detection effective range smaller than a dimension of the mark in a direction crossing a transport direction of the recording medium; a positional relationship identification unit that identifies a relative positional relationship between the detection unit and the mark in the direction crossing the transport direction, from a detection result obtained by the detection unit; and a move unit that moves the detection unit in the direction crossing the transport direction, on the basis of the relative positional relationship identified by the positional relationship identification unit.
US08185033B2 Photosensitive body unit and image forming apparatus having the same
An image forming apparatus having an improved photosensitive body unit capable of efficiently utilizing an inner space of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive body unit having a photosensitive body housing and a photosensitive body mounted in the photosensitive body housing. The photosensitive body housing includes a first developer storage part to store a developer collected from the photosensitive body, a second developer storage part to store a developer conveyed from the first developer storage part, and a light window provided so that light can be scanned to the photosensitive body. The light window is positioned between the first developer storage part and the second developer storage part. Developer paths are provided on outer side portions of the light window to connect the first developer storage part and the second developer storage part.
US08185027B2 Image forming apparatus, method of allowing driven member to be mounted on apparatus body in image forming apparatus and method of allowing drive force to be transmitted to belt unit in image forming apparatus
The image forming apparatus includes: an apparatus body including a drive source; a driven member detachably attachable to the apparatus body; a first transmission member in the apparatus body, including a base rotatable around a rotation axis, and transmitting drive force from the drive source to the driven member; and a second transmission member in the driven member, including a base rotatable around the rotation axis, and transmitting drive force from the first transmission member to the driven member. Any of the first and second transmission members includes a projection, and the other includes a receiving port. The receiving port receives the projection when a rotation angle between the first and second transmission members is an angle set in advance while not receiving the projection when the rotation angle is out of the angle, at the time of mounting the driven member on the apparatus body.
US08185023B2 Developer container, developing apparatus and process cartridge
A developer container for an image forming apparatus includes a developer accommodating chamber, provided with an opening, for accommodating a developer to be supplied to the opening; a feeding member, provided in the developer accommodating chamber and having an elasticity, for feeding the developer by rotation thereof; a deforming portion, provided in the developer accommodating chamber and contactable to the feeding member, for deforming the feeding member against the elasticity with the rotation of the feeding member; and a restoration portion for permitting the feeding member deformed by the deformed portion to restore elastically, thereby to throw the developer toward the opening, wherein a boundary portion between the deformed portion the restoration portion is disposed below a lower end of the opening.
US08185015B2 Image forming apparatus and process cartridge
An image forming apparatus includes: a main body; a process frame that is removably installed into the main body; and a process cartridge that is detachably installed in the process frame; the process cartridge including: a photosensitive member; and a shutter member that is configured to be movable between a closed position where the photosensitive member is covered and an open position where the photosensitive member is exposed, wherein the shutter member moves from the closed position to the open position as the process frame is operated to be installed into the main body.
US08185010B2 Charging wire cleaning apparatus
Cleaning performance of a cleaning pad for cleaning a charging wire is maintained so that the charging voltage of an image carrier by a charging wire is stabilized. A charging wire cleaning apparatus is provided with a cleaning pad for cleaning a charging wire which charges an image carrier, a slider which is a supporting body for supporting the cleaning pad, and a screw shaft which is a moving mechanism for reciprocating the slider in parallel to the charging wire. When the slider is at a predetermined position of the reciprocation range, the cleaning pad and the charging wire are separated, and the cleaning pad is adapted to be shifted with respect to the charging wire in this state.
US08185006B2 Magnetic material detecting device
A magnetic material detecting device, in which a concentration of magnetic material can be correctly detected, even when the magnetic material with unevenness in its density distribution flows. A magnetic field generating device is arranged in a two-component developer composed of magnetic carrier and non-magnetic toner and generates a magnetic field. A signal output device is arranged in the developer and outputs a signal depending on a magnetic permeability of the developer due to the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device. An agitating unit agitates the developer and makes the developer flow between the magnetic field generating device and the signal output device. A detecting unit detects a proportion of the toner in the developer based on a result of multiple times sampling of the signal outputted from the signal output device after the agitating unit starts to operate.
US08185004B2 Method and arrangement for setting the dot size of printed images generated with the aid of an electrographic printing or copying system
In a method or system to set a dot size of toner images, at least one latent raster image is generated that is not to be inked with toner particles in at least one region to form a first toner image. At least one additional latent raster image is generated that is to be inked with toner particles over its entire surface, the additional latent raster image being inked with toner particles to form an additional toner image. With a sensor unit a first toner particle quantity is determined which is used to ink at least one toner image and a second toner particle quantity is determined which is used to ink the at least one additional toner image. A ratio of the first toner particle quantity and the second toner particle quantity is determined. The determined ratio is used as a measure representing a real value for an areal coverage of the first toner image and the real value is compared with a desired value. An electrical field is set, depending on a result of the comparison, to transfer toner particles to regions of the at least one latent raster image that are to be inked.
US08184999B2 Image forming apparatus and control method thereof
An image forming apparatus and a control method thereof, the control method including applying a minimum current to a light emitting element, and applying one or more higher currents, up to a maximum current, to the light emitting element, if a light receiving element fails to detect light emitted by the light emitting element.
US08184997B2 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing system
An information processing apparatus is configured to communicate with an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a toner supply unit having a stationary toner container and a replaceable toner container. The information processing apparatus includes a first receiving unit configured to receive from the image forming apparatus a toner-low notification with respect to the stationary toner container, a second receiving unit configured to receive from the image forming apparatus a replaceability notification with respect to the replaceable toner container, and a management unit configured to manage a stock quantity of the replaceable toner containers based on the toner-low notification received by the first receiving unit and the replaceability notification received by the second receiving unit.
US08184995B2 Customer part replacement feature utilizing high frequency service interval fault and signature analyses
A diagnostic system made part of or for use with a document handling device in which a customer is guided toward performance of at least one comparison means in a diagnostic routine analysis. The comparison means is selected from a group comprising (1) a first comparison comparing a fused print media and an unfused print media for presence of a defect, (2) a second comparison comparing an output print media and at least one image on a screen for a type of defect, and (3) a third comparison comparing a low-charged print media and a no-charged print media for qualities of the defect. The customer enters a selection based on results of the first, the second, or the third comparisons. The diagnostic system can identify a part causing a defect in the print media based on results of the comparisons.
US08184994B2 Optical receiving circuit
An optical receiving circuit receives and demodulates an optical signal subjected to phase modulation and wavelength division multiplexing. The optical receiving circuit includes an interfering unit that causes a reference signal to interfere with the optical signal to output resulting signals as positive-phase signals and negative-phase signals; and a wavelength separator having input ports receiving the positive-phase signals and the negative-phase signals, the positive-phase and negative-phase signals being adjacent to each other. The wavelength separator separates according to wavelength, the positive-phase signals and the negative-phase signals, and from output ports, outputs for each wavelength, a separated positive-phase signal and negative-phase signal in a state of being adjacent to each other. The optical receiving circuit further includes balanced receivers respectively provided for each wavelength, where a given balanced receiver for a given wavelength performs balanced reception and demodulation of the separated positive-phase signal and negative phase signal of the given wavelength.
US08184992B2 Optical field receiver and optical transmission system
An optical field receiver comprises an optical brancher that branches a received optical multilevel signal into first and second optical signals; an optical delayed detector that performs delayed detection on the first optical signal by a delayed detector with a delay time of T/2 (where T is equal to a symbol time) and a phase difference of 90 degrees; a balanced optical receiver that converts the optical signal outputted from the first delay detector to an electric signal; and an optical intensity receiver that converts the second optical signal to an electric signal; and an electric field calculating part that generates, from the output signals of the first and second optical receivers, first and second reproduced signals indicative of the phase angle and amplitude value of the received symbol represented by the complex signal in each symbol time T.
US08184987B2 Method, system and device for realizing data transmission extension in passive optical network
A method, a device, and a system for realizing data transmission extension in a passive optical network (PON) are provided. Between a burst-mode clock and data recovery (BCDR) module and an electrical-optical (E/O) amplification module, the device includes a delimiter matching module and a preamble buffering and compensating module. The delimiter matching module is adapted to receive a data frame sent by the BCDR module and determine a location of a delimiter in the data frame. An optical-electrical (O/E) amplification module performs O/E conversion, amplification, and shaping on the data frame. The BCDR module then performs clock and data recovery processing on the data frame. The preamble buffering and compensating module is adapted to receive and buffer the data frame output from the delimiter matching module, insert a compensation preamble in the data frame according to the location of the delimiter in the data frame determined by the delimiter matching module, and send the data frame to the E/O amplification module according to a retiming clock of a downstream direction. Therefore, the data transmission extension is realized in an optical-electrical-optical (OEO) manner.
US08184958B2 Audio-video player and event determination device
An audio-video player, which automatically determines an event corresponding to the current state and displays a preferred message associated with the event, is provided. A DVD player includes: a massage table which stores prescribed messages in advance by associating them with a plurality of events having prescribed priorities; an event determination unit which sequentially determines whether the current state corresponds to an event, starting from an event of higher priority; and a message display control unit which reads out, when the event determination unit found the corresponding event, a prescribed message associated with the corresponding event from a message table and displays it.
US08184956B2 Method and apparatus for storing appreciation data, method and apparatus for generating order information, method and apparatus for processing appreciation data, and programs therefor
A large amount of appreciation data such as image data exceeding capacity of a recording medium is easily managed. Image data are recorded in a recording medium by a digital camera. When a user requests storage of the image data from a DPE store, the image data are read from the recording medium and stored in a storage system. The image data are deleted from the recording medium and thumbnail image data are generated. The thumbnail image data are recorded in the recording medium and provided to the user. In this manner, free space in the recording medium can be saved. By referring to the thumbnail image data, the image data that have been stored at the DPE store can be easily confirmed, which leads to easy management of the image data.
US08184954B2 Information recording medium in which one land pre-pit is formed in each group unit of wobbles formed by each “N” cycles of wobbles
An optical disc (100) is provided with a recording region where prescribed clock information (WBL) is preformatted for recording. The clock information is (i) included in a first frequency band that is definable by a first reference frequency (Fstd) (that is impossible for a conventional reproducing device to detect by a detecting method based on a self-correlation) and is (ii) defined by a frequency that is integer times the first frequency.
US08184950B2 Recording apparatus optical disk and computer-readable recording medium
Arrangements including a specifying unit for specifying a local recording time in a location where the data has been recorded, in accordance with in accordance with the data recording time information (REC_TM), the time zone information (TM_ZONE), and the recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at the data recording time, and wherein the specifying means specifies the local recording time in the location where the data has been recorded, at only a case where the flag indicates that the recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at the data recording time specifies the time difference from the world standard time (Greenwich Mean Time) in the location where the data has been recorded.
US08184949B2 Recording apparatus optical disk and computer-readable recording medium
A reproduction apparatus includes a specifying unit for specifying a local recording time in a location where the data first or last recorded on the data group has been recorded while the data is reproduced, and wherein the specifying means calculates, by (REC_TM)−(TM_ZONE)+(REC_TM_ZONE), a recording time at the local time of the data first recorded on the data group in accordance with the first data recording time information (REC_TM), the time zone information (TM_ZONE) and the recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at the data recording time; and a recording time at the local time of the data last recorded on the data group in accordance with the second data recording time information (REC_TM), the time zone information (TM_ZONE) and the recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at the data recording time, respectively.
US08184948B2 Recording apparatus optical disk and computer-readable recording medium
Data management information includes: recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at a time of recording data, indicating a time difference between the world standard time (Greenwich Mean Time) and a standard time in a location where the data of the group data for managing the data management information; first data recording time information indicating a recording time of data first recorded on the data group; and second data recording time information indicating a recording time of data last recorded on the data group, and wherein the reproduction apparatus further includes a unit for specifying respective local recording times in locations where the first recorded data and the last recorded data has been recorded, respectively, while the data is reproduced, in accordance with the first and second data recording time information, the time zone information (TM_ZONE), and the recording time zone information (REC_TM_ZONE) at the data recording time.
US08184944B2 Recording medium, recording device, recording method, and playback device
A recording medium having recorded thereon one or more pieces of playlist information each of which includes a stream table including multiple stream entries. Each audio stream has been encoded in one of a mandatory format that is an encoding format decodable by a playback apparatus with any version number, and an optional format that is an encoding format decodable by a playback apparatus with a predetermined or higher version number. In a first-type stream table, a stream entry corresponding to an audio stream encoded in the optional format is immediately subsequent, in the order of the stream entries, to a stream entry corresponding to an audio stream encoded in the mandatory format, the audio stream encoded in the optional format and the audio stream encoded in the mandatory format having been encoded from a same audio source and having a same language code and a same number of channels.
US08184943B2 Transport controls for a media device
A method of scanning content comprises receiving an input signal indicating that content being displayed is to be scanned, sensing a duration of the received input signal, and scanning the content at a rate based at least in part on the sensed duration of the received input.
US08184929B2 Method of tuning optical components integrated in a monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC)
An optical transmitter comprises a monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) chip that includes an array of modulated sources formed on the PIC chip and having different operating wavelengths approximating a standardized wavelength grid and providing signal outputs of different wavelengths. A wavelength selective combiner is formed on the PIC chip having a wavelength grid passband response approximating the wavelength grid of the standardized wavelength grid. The signal outputs of the modulated sources optically coupled to inputs of the wavelength selective combiner to produce a combined signal output from the combiner. A first wavelength tuning element coupled to each of the modulated sources and a second wavelength tuning element coupled to the wavelength selective combiner. A wavelength monitoring unit is coupled to the wavelength selective combiner to sample the combined signal output. A wavelength control system coupled to the first and second wavelength tuning elements and to said wavelength monitoring unit to receive the sampled combined signal output. The wavelength control system adjusts the respective wavelengths of operation of the modulated sources to approximate or to be chirped to the standardized wavelength grid and for adjusting the optical combiner wavelength grid passband response to approximate the standardized wavelength grid.
US08184923B2 Image analysis method, image analysis program, pixel evaluation system having the image analysis method, and pixel evaluation system having the image analysis program
In the case where a digital camera is used for evaluating a display quality of an image display panel, moire is generated due to a shift of a pixel pitch between a pixel of a panel and a pixel of a digital camera, and thus, a great influence is given as measurement deviation. The present invention carries out a panel display quality evaluation at low cost and short time with relieved influence of moire by treating a value, which is obtained by recognizing a coordinate of a panel pixel in a shot image based on an image for detecting a coordinate and positional information thereof with high accuracy and by calculating average luminance by panel pixel unit based on a center position of a coordinate, as representative luminance in each pixel of the panel, in a panel evaluation method of shooting an image display panel with a digital camera.
US08184917B2 Image processor
The image processor processes each pixel of a halftone image by sequentially setting each pixel as a target pixel. A converting unit converts a pixel density of the target pixel into a first output value. An error data calculation unit calculates error data of the target pixel. The error data corresponds to a difference between the first output value and the pixel density. A compression unit irreversibly compresses the error data of the target pixel. Partial data of the pixel density is lost from the error data when irreversibly compressing the error data. An error buffer stores the compressed error data of the target pixel and a plurality of sets of compressed error data for a plurality of processed pixels. A decompression unit reads and decompresses a plurality of sets of compressed error data for a plurality of peripheral pixels with respect to a next target pixel from the error buffer. A density correction unit corrects a pixel density of the next target pixel based on the decompressed error data sets for the plurality of peripheral pixels. The converting unit converts the corrected pixel density of the next target pixel into a second output value. A data compensating unit compensates the partial data.
US08184916B2 Method for creating and using affective information in a digital imaging system
An image file for storing a still digital image and metadata related to the still digital image, the image file including digital image data representing the still digital image, and metadata that categorizes the still digital image as an important digital image, wherein the categorization uses a range of levels and the range of levels includes at least three different integer values.
US08184913B2 Clustering videos by location
Described is a technology in which video shots are clustered based upon the location at which the shots were captured. A global energy function is optimized, including a first term that computes clusters so as to be reasonably dense and well connected, to match the possible shots that are captured at a location, e.g., based on similarity scores between pairs of shots. A second term is a temporal prior that encourages subsequent shots to be placed in the same cluster. The shots may be represented as nodes of a minimum spanning tree having edges with weights that are based on the similarity score between the shots represented by their respective nodes. Agglomerative clustering is performed by selecting pairs of available clusters, merging the pairs and keeping the pair with the lowest cost. Clusters are iteratively merged until a stopping criterion or criteria is met (e.g., only a single cluster remains).
US08184904B2 Method and apparatus for dynamic and adaptive enhancement of colors in digital video images
A method and apparatus for dynamically, adaptively and/or concurrently enhancing and diminishing of colors in digital video images is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes dynamically computing a saturation gain, adaptive to slow or fast moving image sequences, for each user chosen color of a substantially current video frame, dynamically computing a saturation dependent value gains, adaptive to slow or fast moving image sequences, for each user chosen color of the substantially current video frame, determining which of the dynamically computed saturation gain and a saturation dependent value gains associated with each user chosen color or no gain is to be applied on a per-pixel basis by comparing Hue, saturation and value (HSV) components of each pixel with predefined HSV ranges of various user chosen colors, respectively, and applying the determined saturation and/or saturation dependent value gain on the per-pixel basis, in the substantially current or next video frame.
US08184897B2 Method and apparatus for determining an optical threshold and a resist bias
One embodiment of the present invention provides techniques and systems for determining modeling parameters for a photolithography process. During operation, the system can receive a layout. Next, the system can determine an iso-focal pattern in the layout. The system can then determine multiple aerial-image-intensity values in proximity to the iso-focal pattern by convolving the layout with multiple optical models, wherein the multiple optical models model the photolithography process's optical system under different focus conditions. Next, the system can determine a location in proximity to the iso-focal pattern where the aerial-image-intensity values are substantially insensitive to focus variations. The system can then use the location and the associated aerial-image-intensity values to determine an optical threshold and a resist bias. The optical threshold and the resist bias can then be used for modeling the photolithography process.
US08184892B2 Method and apparatus for tomosynthesis projection imaging for detection of radiological signs
A method of image processing in a radiological apparatus includes reconstructing a 3D image of a body from a set of radiography projection images, locating structures presumed to be representative of 3D radiological signs within the 3D image, determining a set of 2D candidate particles corresponding to projections of the presumed 3D radiological signs, assigning, through a fuzzy logic description, to the 2D candidate particles a degree of membership in 2D membership classes of a set of membership classes, each membership class being relative to a type of radiological sign, considering a 2D fuzzy particle being formed by the set of the 2D candidate particles and by their respective degrees of membership in a class, making an aggregate of the 2D fuzzy particles to obtain 3D fuzzy particles in a digital volume, and determining a degree of confidence for each 3D radiological sign from the 3D fuzzy particles.
US08184889B2 Reconstruction support regions for improving the performance of iterative SPECT reconstruction techniques
A method for iterative reconstruction of tomographic images of an object of interest includes obtaining data corresponding to a field of view of a detector, processing the data to prepare a reconstruction support region corresponding to a region within the field of view encompassing the object, and reconstructing a tomographic image using the reconstruction support region. Preferably, the data corresponding to the field of view includes at least one of a projection image of the object, an orbit location of a detector relative to a center of rotation of the detector, or an attenuation coefficient map of the object, which data can be used to describe a reconstruction support region corresponding to the object.
US08184883B2 Motion compensated CT reconstruction of high contrast objects
Cardiac CT imaging using gated reconstruction is currently limited in its temporal and spatial resolution. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an examination apparatus is provided in which an identification of a high contrast object is performed. This high contrast object is then followed through the phases, resulting in a motion vector field of the high contrast object, on the basis of which a motion compensated reconstruction is then performed.
US08184879B2 Parallel MRI involving density weighting or acquisition weighting
In a method for magnetic resonance imaging, k-space is sampled using density weighted data acquisition or acquisition weighted data acquisition, with at least one region of k-space being intentionally undersampled with respect to the Nyquist criterion. Reconstruction of the MR image is performed using a parallel imaging method, with the influence in the reconstructed image of the missing k-space data, as a result of the undersampling, being reduced.
US08184867B2 Method and system for biometric identification or verification
The invention relates to a method for the biometric identification or verification of people. According to said method, biometric characteristics are detected by means of an imaging device and the identification or verification is carried out by means of the detected image data, especially by comparison with known data records and/or original images. The invention also relates to a system for carrying out the method. The aim of the invention is provide one such method and system which significantly improve the anti-violation security in a simple and secure manner. To this end, the retina of the eye is used as a biometric object for detecting the biometric characteristics, and movements and/or the immobility of the eye are detected and taken into account.
US08184860B2 Image processing device for controlling a plurality of tasks
An image processing device of the present invention performs a task to execute an image processing This image processing device comprises a picture frame assigning unit that assigns an identification number to the image data to be collected by a picture collection device, an image capture requested picture of checking unit that checks whether the image data to which the identification number is assigned is identical with the image data that is requested by the task, an requested picture frame image collection notification unit that notifies the task of the image data having been collected which the task requests, if the image data to which the picture frame number is assigned is identical with the image data which the task requests, and an image capture requested picture frame receiving unit receives an image collection request from the task.
US08184857B2 Moving object recognizing apparatus
The moving object recognizing apparatus includes a data acquisition unit for acquiring image data obtained in time series by an imaging device, a recognition unit for recognizing a moving object by executing a plurality of image processing operations on two of the image data obtained at different times, the plurality of image processing operations including an operation of calculating correlativity of a same recognition target pattern, and a reliability calculation unit for calculating recognition reliability indicative of reliability of recognition of the moving object, based upon at least one of the results of the respective image processing operations by the recognition unit.
US08184850B2 System and/or method for image tamper detection
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to techniques for detecting tampering of digital image data.
US08184849B2 Error processing of steganographic message signals
A form of error processing is used to decode steganographic messages embedded in image and audio signals in the presence of distortion, which tends to introduce errors in steganographic data communication. Content signals with auxiliary embedded data are analyzed to detect embedded message signals. Confidence values are assigned to the message signals and used to ascertain whether a message has been accurately detected. Error processing enables accurate message extraction in the presence of “soft errors” in the embedded message signal. This error processing enables more effective recovery of the steganographic message from content signals that undergo distortion and/or loss transformations after being embedded with steganographic data.
US08184841B2 Ear canal device retention means
The invention regards an ear canal device and a retainer strip, whereby the ear canal device has a distal part for extending into the ear canal and facing the tympanic membrane and a proximal part extending towards the ear canal opening, wherein the proximal part of the ear canal device comprises an opening extending transversely through the ear canal device, and where a retaining strip is arranged with a first end thereof arranged to be fastened in the opening and a second end arranged to lie resiliently against the inside of the concha for exerting a retaining force on the ear canal device.
US08184840B2 Combined set comprising a vibrator actuator and an implantable device
A combined set including a vibration actuator and an implantable device provided to be implanted in an inner ear part is disclosed. The implantable device has a surface in contact with an inner ear fluid when inserted in said inner ear part. The implantable device includes a frame having an inner wall and a slidably movable member having an outer wall which is connected to the vibration actuator. The slidably movable member is provided for transferring energy supplied by the vibration actuator from and towards the inner ear fluid by means of a translational movement. The slidably movable member is at least partially mounted inside the frame in such a manner that a gap extending between the inner wall of the frame and the outer wall of the member is less than or equal to 0.1 mm.
US08184833B2 Electrostatic speaker arrangement for a mobile device
A speaker is integrally formed with a multi-layered printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a flexible membrane layer with a conductive pattern thereon. Positive and negative elements are disposed on opposing sides of the flexible membrane. A drive circuit connects to the flexible membrane layer and applies current to the flexible membrane layer responsive to an audio signal to generate audible sounds.
US08184830B1 Audio amplifier with simplified electrical isolation
A power amplifier that can provide electrical isolation between an input signal and an amplified output signal avoids isolation between the amplifier output and the load to reduce complexity, component count, cost and size over prior power amplifiers. The power amplifier avoids the use of a power transformer to provide electrical isolation, while maintaining electrical isolation between the amplifier and the input signal to satisfy regulatory requirements. A power converter in the amplifier may be directly connected to input power lines, and provide power factor correction and voltage bus regulation to supply appropriate power to the amplifier. The input signal may be electrically isolated from the amplifier through any suitable isolation including optical isolation or magnetic isolation.
US08184827B2 Sound source position detector
Provided is a sound source localization device which can detect a source location of an extraction sound, including at least two microphones; an analysis unit (103) which (i) analyze frequencies of the mixed sound including the noise and received by each microphone, and (ii) generates frequency signals; and an extraction unit (105) which, for each source location candidate, (a) adjusts time axes of the frequency signals corresponding to the microphones, so that there is no time difference between when the mixed sound reaches one microphone from the source location candidate and when the mixed sound reaches another microphone from the source location candidate, and (b) determines frequency signals having a difference distance equal to or smaller than a threshold value, from among the frequency signals corresponding to the microphones with the time axis having been adjusted, the difference distance representing a degree of a difference in the frequency signals between the microphones, and (c) extracts the source location of the extraction sound from among the source location candidates, in accordance with a degree of matching of the determined frequency signals between the microphones.
US08184821B2 Acoustic transducer device
A noise attenuation device comprising a first tube for receiving an acoustic signal, a first housing defining a first cavity between a first surface and a second surface, the first tube being coupled to the first housing at the first surface for conducting the acoustic signal into the first cavity, wherein one end of the first tube contacts the first surface at a first region with a first area, a second housing defining a second cavity between a first surface and a second surface, and a second tube coupled between the second surface of the first housing and the first surface of the second housing for conducting the acoustic signal between the first cavity and the second cavity, wherein one end of the second tube contacts the second surface of the first housing at a second region with a second area, wherein the first tube, the first housing and the second tube form a filter structure and the area of the first surface of the first housing is greater than the first area and the area of the second surface of the first housing is greater than the second area.
US08184816B2 Systems and methods for detecting wind noise using multiple audio sources
A method for detecting wind noise is described. At least two audio signals are received. The at least two audio signals are filtered to reduce higher frequencies and to reduce lower frequencies to provide at least two filtered audio signals. The cross correlation of the at least two filtered audio signals is computed for multiple delays. A maximum cross correlation is determined from the cross correlations computed for the multiple delays. Wind noise is detected by comparing the maximum cross correlation with a threshold.
US08184813B2 Encryption key generation device
A scramble key generation unit generates scramble keys (individual encryption keys) which are different from one another and which are for encrypting and decrypting distributing data, by subjecting a predetermined initial encryption key at least once to a unidirectional reverse replacement and at least once to a trapdoor-equipped unidirectional replacement. A time key generation unit generates a time key (master encryption key) for regenerating the scramble keys, by subjecting any of the scramble keys generated by the scramble key generation unit at least once to the unidirectional reverse replacement. Thus, it is possible to efficiently and flexibly generate the individual encryption keys for encrypting and decrypting the distribution data, and master encryption key capable of regenerating some of the individual encryption keys.
US08184806B2 Table masking for resistance to power analysis attacks
Tables are defined to permit output masking for table look-ups to be carried out to resist power analysis attacks on cryptographic operations. A set of individually defined random values is used to mask each entry in a substitution table, defining a masked substitution table. A mask table is also defined such that the values of each entry, masked with the corresponding random value, is the value of a fixed mask. The masked substitution tables and the mask tables may be used in cryptographic operations to permit the output of table look-ups to be masked, without directly using the fixed mask value in the computations of the cryptographic operations.
US08184805B2 Program converter, encrypting device, and encrypting method
A program converter (1) converts a program (P) which performs arithmetic addition processing to execute encryption, into a converted program (tP) which performs processing equivalent to the processing of the program (P). The program converter (1) includes: a key data extraction unit (10) which extracts key data from the program (P); an addition table generation unit (11) which generates an addition table from the extracted key data; a conversion table extraction unit (12) which extracts a conversion table from the program (P); a table merger unit (13) which generates a merger table by merging the generated addition table and the extracted conversion table; a random number generation unit (14) which generates a random number; a table randomization unit (15) which generates a randomized merger table by randomizing the merger table using the generated random number; and a converted-program generation unit (16) which generates the converted program (tP) according to the generated randomized merger table.
US08184803B2 Hash functions using elliptic curve cryptography
The hash functions using elliptic curve cryptography are hash functions that are produced using both an elliptic curve and a twist of the elliptic curve. Hash points are assigned values that either correspond to points on the elliptic curve or to points on the twist, depending upon whether the scalar value of the corresponding message block produces a quadratic residue or a quadratic non-residue when substituted as the x-value into the elliptic curve equation. The corresponding hash point x-coordinates are concatenated to form the hash bit string. The hash points may be doubled, and the hash functions may be applied to multimedia data by applying a media compression method to the message data before computing the hash points.
US08184793B2 Multi-line telephone calling
Network architectures, methods, and operations for routing telephone calls are disclosed. A customer premise includes a conventional POTS dedicated communication line to a central office switch and a broadband connection to a data network. The central office switch and the data network are connected by a communication link. A first telephone call originated at the customer premise may be connected via the dedicated communication link. A second or subsequent call originated at the customer premise may be connected via the data network. Optionally, the same call identifier may be assigned to the first and second or subsequent calls.
US08184792B2 Method and apparatus for providing voice control for accessing teleconference services
A method and apparatus for providing access to teleconference services using voice recognition technology to receive information on packet networks such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Service over Internet Protocol (SoIP) networks are disclosed. In one embodiment, the service provider enables a caller to enter access information for accessing a conference service using at least one natural language response.
US08184791B2 Method and system for compensating audio signals during a communication session
An approach is provided for compensating audio signals during a communication session by receiving audio signals from parties to the communication session, sampling the audio signals to determine signal level and noise floor, and compensating the audio signals to bring each signal to approximately an equal level based on the determination.
US08184790B2 Notification of dropped audio in a teleconference call
A method enables a participant in a conference call to monitor, as he is speaking, whether his speech is getting through to the other participants. A teleconference bridge receives audio signals from a group of telecommunications endpoints that are involved in a conference call. The bridge generates audio signals to be transmitted, which are based on one or more of the received audio signals. During the ongoing process of minimizing the presence of acoustic echo, the bridge might exclude one or more of the received audio signals from the transmitted audio signals. When this occurs, particularly when an active talker is being excluded, the bridge transmits an indication to one or more of the endpoints as part of one of the transmitted audio signals. The indication can be audible such as a tone or a voice, visual such as a flashing light, or tactile such as vibration.
US08184769B2 Method and apparatus to facilitate using multiple radiation-detection views to differentiate one material from another
At least three radiation-detection views are used to facilitate identifying material as comprises an object being assessed along a beam path relative to that object. This comprises developing a first radiation-detection view (101) as corresponds to the material along the beam path, a second radiation-detection view (102) as corresponds to the material along substantially the beam path, and at least a third radiation-detection view (103) as corresponds to the material along substantially the beam path. At least one of the source spectra and detector spectral responses used for these radiation-detection views are different from one another for each view. One then uses (104) these radiation-detection views to identify the material by, at least in part, differentiating the material from other possible materials.
US08184762B2 Digital phase lock loop with multi-phase master clock
A digital phase lock loop circuit provides an output with reduced jitter. The digital phase lock loop circuit includes a phase frequency detector that determines a phase difference between a feedback signal and a reference frequency signal to generate an error signal indicative of the phase difference. A numerically controlled oscillator generates a first oscillator output signal with a frequency proportional to the error signal and a second oscillator output signal indicative of jitter of the first oscillator output signal in reference to the reference frequency signal. A phase accuracy extender determines a delay amount from the second oscillator output signal and delays the first oscillator output signal by the delay amount to generate a phase-enhanced output signal with edges aligned with one of a plurality of reference clock signals.
US08184754B1 Spur mitigation techniques
Spurs cause significant problems with signal detecting, amplifier gain adjustment, and signal decoding. Various techniques can be used to mitigate the effects of spurs on a received signal. Generally, these techniques work by either canceling or ignoring the spurs. For example, a pilot mask can be used to ignore pilot information in one or more sub-channels. A Viterbi mask can determine the weighting given to bits in a sub-channel based on spur and data rate information. Channel interpolation can compute a pseudo channel estimate for a sub-channel known to have a spur location can be computed by interpolating the channel estimates of adjacent good sub-channels. Filtering of the received signal using a low-pass filter, a growing box filter, or a low-pass filter with self-correlation can be used to cancel a spur.
US08184749B2 Sphere decoding method applied to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channel
A sphere decoding method applied to a MIMO channel is provided. Multiple constellation points of an nth detection layer corresponding to a MIMO channel matrix are enumerated based on an enumeration rule, and at least one nth sub-set of the nth detection layer is defined. The candidate range of the constellation points of the at least one nth sub-set is determined according to a predetermined number K of the preferred points of the at least one nth sub-set. K constellation points are obtained from the at least one nth sub-set as the preferred points according to partial Euclidean distances of the constellation points. The at least one nth sub-set includes at least K constellation points. Kn preferred points are selected from all K preferred points of the at least one nth sub-set. An optimal solution is determined according to the Kn, preferred points.
US08184744B2 Method and receiver for estimating the channel impulse response using a constant modulus interference removal iteration
A receiver and associated method estimates a channel impulse response of the communications signal. A communications signal is received as a burst of transmitted symbols, including a known training sequence. The joint estimation of timing offset and initial channel impulse response is determined based on the cross-correlations of the known transmitted symbols and received communications signal. A constant modulus interference removal iteration is applied to improve the initial channel impulse estimation.
US08184742B2 RF receiver having timing offset recovery function and timing offset recovery method using thereof
A preprocessing unit samples and digitalizes analog signal. A differential operation unit delays digitalized signal for a predetermined period and differentiates delayed signals. A correlation unit correlates differentiated signal with a plurality of predetermined PN code sequences. A setting unit includes a shift register having a plurality of storage locations for shifting the correlation values and sequentially storing shifted correlation values at the storage locations, respectively, a detector including the determination slots for detecting the storage location of the maximum value, and a slot setter for comparing the storage location of the maximum value from the detector with the predetermined reference storage location and shifting the determination slots by the difference therebetween. A demodulation value estimation unit estimates, as a demodulation value of the received analog signal, a symbol of a PN code sequence corresponding to the maximum value from the shifted determination slots.
US08184740B2 Signal processing circuit
Test signal generator (3) generates test signals represented, by four points, which comprise two sets of two points positioned in point symmetry with respect to the origin of an I/Q orthogonal coordinate system. Envelope detector (8) detects the amplitude of an envelope of the output signal from an orthogonal modulator when the test signals represented by four points are generated, and outputs a signal proportional to the square of the amplitude. Comparing unit (9) calculates an average value of output signals from envelope detector ( ) when the test signals represented by the two points of each set are generated. Controller (10) adjusts the amplitudes and/or phases of the test signals so that the average values produced when the test signals represented by the two sets of the two points are generated are equal to each other, and calculates an I/Q mismatch quantity based on the adjusted results.
US08184738B2 Clock reproducing apparatus and method
A common mode of a waveform of a duobinary transmission signal (IN) is set to 0 and the size of a data eye is set to Veye; and reference potentials Vref_H and Vref_L are set to the following values: Veye/√{square root over (3)}≦Vref—H≦Veye/√{square root over (2)}  (1) −Veye/√{square root over (2)}≦Vref—L≦−Veye/√{square root over (3)}  (2) More particularly, effect becomes remarkable by setting the reference potentials Vref_H and Vref_L to central values in ranges shown in Equations (1) and (2), respectively. In the central values, fluctuation (jitter) of transition data becomes the smallest, and a jitter characteristic of a reproducing clock becomes the best. Consequently, a clock reproducing apparatus in which a received clock from duobinary transmission data is reproduced with high accuracy is provide.
US08184737B2 Echo cancellation and echo channel estimation system using multiple antennas
Disclosed herein is an echo cancellation and echo channel estimation system that can relay transmit signals without interference with echo signals by canceling the undesired echo signals received by a relay. The echo cancellation and echo channel estimation system is designed to relay signals between a transmitter and a receiver through a relay using multiple antennas. The echo cancellation and echo channel estimation system includes a receive antenna, a preprocessing vector generation module, an echo cancellation module, and a transmit array antenna. The receive antenna receives a transmit signal from the transmitter and an echo signal via an echo channel. The preprocessing vector generation module generates a preprocessing vector and applies the preprocessing vector, the transmit signal and the echo signal, received from the receive antenna, to the echo cancellation module. The echo cancellation module cancels only the echo signal by multiplying the preprocessing vector, the transmit signal, and the echo signal. The transmit array antenna receives a retransmit signal from the echo cancellation module and resends the retransmit signal to the receiver.
US08184735B2 Sphere decoding method applied to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channel
A sphere decoding method applied to a MIMO channel is provided. Multiple constellation points of an nth detection layer corresponding to the MIMO channel matrix are enumerated based on an enumeration rule, and at least one nth sub-set of the nth detection layer is defined. The constellation point with the least PED is obtained as a preferred point. Another constellation, not in the nth sub-set, of the nth detection layer is selected to substitute for the preferred point as one of the nth sub-set. If other preferred points are needed to be obtained, the nth sub-set is updated repeatedly according to the least PED. An optimal solution is determined according to Kn preferred points of the nth detection layer.