Document Document Title
US08235608B2 Camera module
A camera module includes a circuit board, an image sensor, a barrel, a lens holder, a base board, and a number of clamping elements. The circuit board has a mounting surface. The image sensor is mounted on the mounting surface of the circuit board and includes an image plane. The barrel has two lens received therein. The lens holder is coupled to the barrel and receives the image sensor. The base board is arranged around the lens holder, and the base board is attached to the lens holder and attached on the mounting surface of the circuit board. The clamping elements clamp the base board on the circuit board, such that an optical axis of the barrel is maintained substantially coaxially aligned with a normal of the image plane.
US08235592B2 Gauge on a pipe section
A gauge includes a pipe section with a flattened section in which an opening through a wall of the pipe is provided, an adapter disposed in the opening, the adapter being adapted to receive a measuring probe, wherein the adapter fills the opening and is attached to the pipe section through a material fusion between the adapter and at least one of the pipe wall in the opening and a surface of the flattened section.
US08235581B2 Mixing device comprising a rotor rib
The present invention relates to a mixing device for mixing a liquid, such as water, with an instant ingredient to form a beverage. The mixing device comprises a mixing chamber and a rotor which, during rotation about the axis of rotation, defines a surface of revolution extending along the circumference of the rotor. The rotor is arranged in the mixing chamber. The mixing chamber comprises a peripheral wall zone having a substantially circular cross section. The peripheral wall zone surrounds the surface of revolution. An outlet duct for discharging the mixture formed is connected to the mixing chamber. The inlet of the outlet duct is provided at the rotor. At least one rotor rib is provided at the peripheral wall zone. This rotor rib extends from the peripheral wall zone in the direction of the surface of revolution of the rotor. The invention furthermore relates to a beverage-making device comprising a mixing device according to the invention, as well as to the use of a mixing device according to the invention.
US08235576B2 Concrete cooling injection unit and method of injecting a coolant into a concrete mixture
A method and apparatus for cooling a mixture with an injection system. The injection system is adjustable to accommodate the relative position and particular specifications of a given container (e.g., concrete mixer). In one embodiment, the injection system is operable to inject a coolant directly into the mixture while in the mixing process.
US08235572B2 Backlight module
A backlight module includes a reflector, a light-guiding sheet, a light-emitting element, and a plurality of first adhesive materials. The reflector has a reflecting surface and the light-guiding sheet is disposed on the reflecting surface. The light-emitting element is disposed on the reflecting surface and located beside the light-guiding sheet. The first adhesive materials are disposed between the reflecting surface and the light-guiding sheet, and adhere the reflecting surface, the light-guiding sheet, and the light-emitting element.
US08235568B2 Security lighting for a vehicle
Disclosed herein is a security vehicle lighting system. The system includes a rocker panel trim member arranged to conceal at least a portion of a vehicle rocker panel, the trim member having a lower wall portion having at least one aperture formed therein, the lower wall portion defining an interior surface and an opposing ground-facing surface and extending inboard toward the rocker panel, and at least one light member disposed between the rocker panel and the interior surface and adjacent the at least one aperture, wherein the at least one light member is mounted on the interior surface of the trim member and operable to illuminate a portion of the ground proximate the trim member.
US08235567B2 Illuminated interior trim component
A lighting system is provided that includes an interior trim component having a light transmissive element. The interior trim component is configured to move between a first position and a second position. The vehicle lighting system also includes a light source optically coupled to the light transmissive element at least while the interior trim component is located in the first position. The light source is configured to illuminate a region of a vehicle interior.
US08235566B2 Straddle-type vehicle
A motorcycle is provided with a head light and an auxiliary light that are arranged along an up and down direction of a vehicle, and is provided with a front cover that can cover at least a portion of the legs of a rider. The respective lenses of the head light and the auxiliary light are arranged to be exposed in a forward portion of the vehicle. The front cover has an outside cover that is formed on both sides of the head light and the auxiliary light, and a head light cover that is formed in a portion closer to a center of the front cover than the outside cover. The head light and the auxiliary light protrude forward of the front edge of the outside cover. The head light cover protrudes forward of the outside cover.
US08235564B2 Street light which adopt xenon lamp
Disclosed is a streetlight having a xenon lamp in that a lamp assembly having a xenon lamp is formed at the existed streetlight, whereby lowering a power consumption and remarkably increasing the period of the lamp change. The present invention is to provide a streetlight having a xenon lamp in that the xenon lamp is formed therein, whereby emitting a lot brighter light with low power consumption. Also, the present invention is to provide a streetlight having a xenon lamp in that a ballast is built in a lamp assembly having the xenon lamp, so that the change of the xenon lamp can be easily performed and the lamp assembly can be easily applied to even the existed streetlight. Moreover, the present invention is to provide a streetlight having a xenon lamp in that a plurality of xenon lamps can be formed at one lamp assembly and the number of each lamp can be controlled, thereby adjusting the brightness thereof and another xenon lamp and ballast can be operated during the damage of the operating xenon lamp, thereby remarkably increasing the period of the lamp change.
US08235563B2 LED lamp
An LED lamp includes a bracket and an LED module. The bracket includes a mounting body configured for fixing the LED lamp at a desired position and a heat dissipation portion extending from the body. The LED module includes a circuit board thermally attached to the heat dissipation portion and an LED connected to the circuit board. A lamp cover is secured to the heat dissipation portion and covers the LED module.
US08235547B2 LED lamp with diffuser
A lamp is provided. The lamp may include one or a plurality of LED elements; and a housing with electrical and mechanical connection elements, wherein the housing has a light exit region with a light-transmissive terminating element, wherein the terminating element is an optical diffuser element, wherein the terminating element is of a form in which the wall of the terminating element has in cross section two opposite, straight sections running towards one another.
US08235546B2 Light source module having a plurality of light-emitting elements and illumination apparatus
A light source module has a reflector having a light reflection face and a plurality of light emitting elements. The light reflection face is curved in a circular arc shape in a width direction of the reflector and extends in a longitudinal direction of the reflector. The light emitting elements are arranged in a center portion in the width direction of the light reflection face and are arranged linearly along the longitudinal direction of the reflector.
US08235541B2 Backlight module and display device
A backlight module including a circuit board, at least one first light emitting diode (LED) device, at least one second LED device, and a reflection device is provided. The first and second LED devices are disposed on a carrying surface of the circuit board and electrically connected to the circuit board. The brightness of the first LED device is greater than that of the second LED device. The reflection device is disposed on the circuit board and exposes the first and second LED devices. The reflection device has at least one first reflection region disposed around the first LED device and at least one second reflection region disposed around the second LED device. The reflection ratio of the first reflection region opposite to the light-emitting energy of the first LED device is smaller than that of the second reflection region opposite to the light-emitting energy of the second LED device.
US08235534B2 Projector that projects a correction image between cyclic main image signals
A projector has: light source (1R, 1G, 1B); a light modulation unit (6) that modulates a light emitted from the light source based on image signals; a display control unit (41) that outputs the image signals including main cyclic image signals to the light modulation unit, and controls the display thereof; a projection unit (7) that projects the image based on the light modulated by the light modulation unit; and an imaging unit (40) that captures an image to be displayed based on the light projected from the projection unit, and the display control unit inserts a correction image signal for projecting a correction image, which is visually recognized as a uniform white or gray screen when time integration is performed, between the cyclic main image signals.
US08235533B2 Post-scan distortion adjustment optics for infinite focus projector system
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a scanned beam display may utilize one or more post-scan optics while at least partially maintaining an infinite focus, or nearly infinite focus, property of the display. The display may comprise a light source to generate a light beam, a scanning platform to generate a raster scan from the light beam projected as a projected image, one or more post-scan optics to at least partially adjust the projected image, and one or more collimating optics to focus the light beam from the light source, the one or more collimating optics having a selected focal length to at least partially provide infinite, or nearly infinite focus, of the projected image at or beyond a selected distance.
US08235526B2 Pupilometer with pupil irregularity detection, pupil tracking, and pupil response detection capability, glaucoma screening capability, intracranial pressure detection capability, and ocular aberration measurement capability
A pupilometer that has image capturing means, a light source that emits light; and imaging software that processes image data obtained by the image capturing means and produces an output is described. The output comprises a single scalar value indicative of a neurological condition of a patient, wherein the scalar value can be applied to a scale indicative of a neurological condition. The image data comprises one or more components of the pupil's dynamic response to light emitted by the light source.
US08235525B2 Method for making an aspheric intraocular lens
The invention relates to a novel artificial intraocular lens (IOL) and a method for improving such a lens in the field of ophthalmology, with surface shape modifications that differ from perfect spherical geometries. The intraocular lens takes into account the natural optical configuration of the human vision apparatus, for example, visual axis tilt and pupil decentration. In addition, the method accounts for potential positioning errors caused by implantation and surgery effects.
US08235524B2 Illuminated eyewear
Illuminated eyewear is provided that directs light forwardly from the user when wearing the eyewear. The illuminated eyewear herein is in the form of eyeglasses, either with or without lenses, or with a lens or lenses that can be refractive or non-refractive, that in one aspect has the lights arranged so as to optimize their performance. In another aspect, the illustrated eyewear herein has electrical components for the lights arranged to provide enhanced aesthetics over prior lighted eyeglasses.
US08235514B2 Air extraction device for inkjet printhead
An inkjet printhead assembly comprising an array of nozzles fed by a corresponding ink inlet. An ink chamber corresponding to the array of nozzles is fluidly connected to the ink inlet. An air extraction chamber includes an air chamber, a one-way relief valve having an open position that allows venting of the air chamber to ambient, and a closed position that does not allow venting of the air chamber to ambient. A compressible member forces air to be vented from the air chamber through the one-way relief valve in its open position. It also applies a reduced air pressure to a membrane while the one-way relief valve is in its closed position.
US08235506B2 Electrostatic suction type fluid discharge method and device for the same
An electrostatic suction type fluid discharge method and device include a voltage applying means that applies a pulse voltage between a nozzle and a substrate, the nozzle having a diameter ranging from 0.01 μm to 25 μm, an upper limit voltage of the pulse voltage being equal to or greater than a discharge-inducing minimum voltage. A lower limit first voltage can be provided immediately before a rise of the pulse voltage, an absolute value of the lower limit first voltage being set smaller than the discharge-inducing minimum voltage. A lower limit second voltage can be provided immediately after a rise of the pulse voltage, an absolute value of the lower limit second voltage being set smaller than the discharge-inducing minimum voltage. With this structure, it is possible to simultaneously achieve miniaturization of nozzle, discharge of micro fluid droplet, high accuracy for discharge position, and decrease in drive voltage.
US08235494B2 Image forming apparatus and ejection liquid circulating method
The image forming apparatus includes an upstream side chamber arranged further on an upstream side with respect to an ink flowing direction than a head in a circulating path and configured to temporarily store the ejection liquid that should be supplied to the head through the circulating path, a downstream side chamber arranged further on a downstream side than the head and further on the upstream side than the upstream side chamber in the circulating path and configured to temporarily store the ejection liquid collected from the head, and a pressure-difference adjusting mechanism configured to form a first pressure state in which the pressure in the downstream side chamber is lower than the pressure in the upstream side chamber and the head and a second pressure state in which the pressure in the upstream side chamber is lower than the pressure in the downstream side chamber.
US08235482B2 Liquid ejection apparatus, image forming apparatus and liquid storage amount judgment method
The liquid ejection apparatus has: a sub tank having a liquid chamber which stores liquid, a gas chamber which fills with gas, and a flexible film which divides the liquid chamber from the gas chamber; a liquid tank which is connected to the liquid chamber and stores the liquid; a liquid conveyance device which conveys the liquid between the liquid chamber and the liquid tank; an ejection head connected to the liquid chamber; a control device which carries out control in such a manner that pressure in the gas chamber is controlled to control back pressure of the liquid in the ejection head; a liquid pressure determination device which determines pressure in the liquid chamber; a gas pressure determination device which determines the pressure in the gas chamber; and a liquid storage amount judgment device which judges whether or not an amount of the liquid stored in the liquid chamber is within a tolerable range in which the back pressure of the liquid in the ejection head can be controlled, according to a gas-liquid pressure differential which is a difference between the pressure of the liquid chamber determined by the liquid pressure determination device and the pressure of the gas chamber determined by the gas pressure determination device.
US08235478B2 Acceleration device with two energy stores
In an acceleration device including a carrier element movably disposed in a housing together with a first energy store which is connected to the carrier element for moving the carrier element from a locked parking position to an end position while its energy is being discharged, a second energy store, which is charged with an initial energy amount when the carrier element is in the parking position, is associated with a guide element and is discharged upon release of the carrier element from the parking position while the carrier element is moved to an end position opposite the parking position. The second energy store, while being discharged to a residual energy amount, controls, by means of the guide element, the energy change rate of the first energy store at least in a part of its discharge time interval.
US08235460B2 Vehicle window assembly
A vehicle window assembly includes a vehicle structure, a window panel and a proximity switch. The vehicle structure defines a passenger compartment of a vehicle and a viewing aperture. The window panel is mounted to the vehicle structure and covers the viewing aperture such that a first surface of the window panel faces the passenger compartment of the vehicle structure. The proximity switch overlays a portion of the first surface of the window panel.
US08235459B2 Seat support assembly
A seat support assembly for supporting a vehicle seat on a floor panel member includes a cross member extending laterally across the floor panel member. Ends of the cross member are spaced laterally inward relative to side edges of the floor panel for providing ingress/egress areas between the ends and the side edges. A foam spacer member is complementarily received inside each of the ends of the cross member. Each of the foam spacer members is secured to the floor panel for transferring load forces from the cross member to the floor panel.
US08235457B2 Cabin and traveling construction machine with the same
A rear beam has a first beam with right and left ends welded to right and left rear supports and a second beam welded to a front surface of the first beam along the right and left direction. The second beam is welded to the first beam so that an upper end portion of the second beam is above an upper end portion of the first beam and a lower end portion of the second beam is above a lower end portion of the first beam.
US08235454B2 Vehicle with a sliding door
A vehicle comprises a body, a sliding door, which comprises a guide rail and a sliding carriage which is longitudinally movably mounted on the guide rail and which is connected with the body by a multiple joint, and a centering element which is releasably connectable with a counter bearing. To improve such vehicle, a counter bearing and/or a centering element are provided in the roof region and in the floor region of the body.
US08235453B2 Vehicle slide door alignment system
A system for aligning a slide door of a vehicle. A pair of locating features, each having a male part and a female part, are attached to a surface of a pillar of the vehicle and to a surface of the door. A rail is attached to the body, the rail having a non-flared portion and a flared portion. A wheel attached to the door is movable along the rail. The wheel is laterally constrained in the non-flared portion of the rail when the door is in an open condition and are laterally movable in the flared portions of the rail when the door is proximate a closed condition. A projecting portion of the male part mates with a receptacle of the female part when the slide door is closed, laterally adjusting and aligning the door with respect to the outer body panel.
US08235450B2 Vehicle cover restraint system
A cover system for a vehicle comprising a vehicle cover and a first retaining cord. The vehicle cover is configurable to cover a vehicle to the extent desired. The first retaining cord comprises a cord member, a first clip and a second clip. The first clip is coupled to the vehicle cover in a spaced apart orientation relative to the second clip. The cord member extends between the first clip and the second clip to maintain the vehicle cover in the desired orientation.
US08235448B2 Headliner for convertible vehicle
This invention relates to a convertible vehicle having a movable roof supported by lateral linkage parts. An inner lining or headliner faces the passenger compartment when the roof is closed. The outer transverse margins of the headliner extend below and contact lateral sections, which also serve as carriers for seals for the side window panes.
US08235444B2 Vehicle interior covering and a method for its manufacture
A vehicle interior is provided for covering with an edge cladding and method is provided for manufacturing a vehicle covering. The vehicle interior includes, but is not limited to a decorative material, a plush material, and a flat profiled core material with a visible side and hidden rear side. The visible side is coherently connected with the decorative material and the rear side is coherently connected with the plush material that is formed at least partially from a thermoplastic. The vehicle interior also includes, but is not limited to an interior covering, a U-shaped edge cladding formed at least partially of a thermoplastic material and bordering one edge of the interior covering such that a first leg of the U-shaped edge cladding covers a material of the visible side and a second leg covers the plush material of the rear side, a substantially continuous bead of adhesive bonding the U-shaped edge cladding with an edge and running in the U-profile, and a plurality of point welds connecting thermoplastic material of the second leg with thermoplastic material of the plush material.
US08235441B2 Portable work machine for pumping concrete or thick liquids and having a carrying framework and a covering hood
A transportable thick matter pump includes a carrying framework for machine assemblies. A covering hood reaches at least partly over and is fixed in place on the carrying framework and includes a frame skeleton having a rectangular roof frame and two rectangular side frames connected with the roof frame at their upper edge and releasably attached to the carrying framework with their lower edge. A basin-shaped roof cover is inserted into the roof frame, with its opening facing upward, while the side frames carry at least one side paneling element configured as a self-supporting plastic molded hinged door articulated on at the upper edge of the related side frame. The frame skeleton openings formed by the roof frame and the two side frames, on the face-side hood ends, are covered by a removable end cap configured as a self-supporting plastic molded part.
US08235434B2 Uprightly storable fecal matter scooper
A fecal matter scooper having a manipulable handle attached to an elongate handle extension from which a pair of opposable scoop jaws extend that define a fecal matter holding scoop bucket when disposed in a closed position and which define a pedestal or base upon which the scooper can be stored in an uprightly standing position when the jaws are disposed in an open pedestal position. When stored uprightly, the handle can be grasped to pick up and maneuver the scooper without the user having to bend over. A biasing arrangement is disposed in operable cooperation with at least one jaw for urging at least one of the jaws toward such an open pedestal position. In a method of operation, at least one of the jaws is perforate enabling sifting unspoiled litter back into a litter box when removing clumped fecal matter or urine from the litter box.
US08235417B2 Apparatus and method for releasing an inflation gas from an inflator
An external containment device for an inflator of an inflatable cushion is provided, the external containment device having: an outlet plate having an outlet opening; a burst disk disposed over the outlet opening; an initiator having an initiator cap; a support pin having a shaft portion and a head portion, the shaft portion being supported by the initiator cap and the head portion contacts the burst disk when the outlet opening is sealed by the burst disk; and wherein activation of the initiator causes the initiator cap to move shearing a portion of the shaft portion from the support pin which allows the burst disk to rupture.
US08235414B2 Glove door-installed knee air bag apparatus
In a glove door-installed knee air bag apparatus, a stud bolt of an inflator is fixed to an inflator supporting member in a state that the stud bolt is inclined in a vertical direction relative to a general plane of a glove door inner member. Due to the structure, a thickness W0 of an air bag module measured at the inflator installing portion is made small. The inflator supporting member includes a first portion and a second portion. In a case where a hook portion is formed in the first portion, the number of parts can be reduced. In a case where the inflator is located at a lower portion of a housing space, a handling force for opening and closing the glove door is light. In a case where the first portion comprises a bottom wall of the air bag casing and the second portion comprises a side wall of the air bag casing, the number of parts is reduced.
US08235411B2 Self-latching and locking trailer coupler
A self latching trailer coupler includes a housing having a downwardly oriented ball receiver for receiving a head of a hitch ball and a latch member mounted in the housing which is moveable between open and closed positions. In the closed position, the latch member prevents the hitch ball from being withdrawn from the ball receiver. The latch member automatically moves into the closed position upon insertion of the head of the hitch ball into the ball receiver and retains the latch member in the closed position. A lock assembly is mounted in the housing and is selectively engageable to lock the latch member in the closed position.
US08235407B2 Wheelchair with adjustable seat
A wheelchair is provided for positioning and transporting patients. An exemplary embodiment of the wheelchair includes a tiltable seat frame portion and a base frame portion. The seat frame portion is generally configured to tilt relative to the base frame portion. An arcuate track adjustment portion generally permits pivotal adjustment of the focus about which the seat frame portion rotates. A seat frame adjustment portion generally permits pivotal adjustment of the seat frame portion relative to the base frame portion such that the seat frame portion maintains proper orientation with the base frame portion upon adjustment of the focus about which the seat frame portion rotates.
US08235393B2 Piston ring
A piston ring having a base body, which comprises a running surface provided with at least one chamber, an upper and a lower flank surface, and an inner circumferential surface, wherein the running surface is provided with at least one PVD layer such that the same is adjusted to the contour of the running surface without completely filling the chamber, wherein the respective edge region is provided with a layer thickness, b that is reduced compared to the layer thickness, a of the chamber as a function of the configuration of the chamber.
US08235390B1 Automated target assembly
An automated target assembly includes a target post, a target carriage carried by the target post, a target having a switch activation flange pivotally carried by the target carriage, a target linkage assembly engaging the target carriage, a power supply, a drive motor connected to the power supply and drivingly engaging the target linkage assembly and a target switch connected to the power supply and the drive motor within a travel path of the switch activation flange.
US08235387B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes: a plurality of trays; a plurality of full-stack detectors; a first storage section; a second storage section; and a controller. The plurality of trays are loaded with first sheets that are output from an image forming section. Each of the plurality of full-stack detectors is provided at one of the plurality of trays, each full-stack detector detecting that a corresponding tray is full of first sheets. The first storage section stores the number of second sheets printed in the past by sheet type. The second storage section stores usage priorities of the trays by sheet type based on the contents stored in the first storage section and a sheet stack capacity of each tray. The controller decides a first tray for outputting a third sheet that is output this time based on the priorities stored in the second storage section.
US08235383B2 Discharge device and image forming apparatus
A discharge device includes: a discharge unit that discharges a recording medium in a discharge direction; and a forming unit arranged downstream of the discharge unit and adapted to form an oblique corrugation with respect to the discharge direction on the recording medium.
US08235378B2 Sheet take-out apparatus
A sheet take-out apparatus includes a supplying structure configured to move a plurality of sheets supplied in a stacking state in a stacking direction and supply a sheet at a leading edge thereof in a movement direction to a take-out position, a take-out structure configured to make contact with the sheet supplied to the take-out position and rotate, thereby taking out the sheet in a direction almost orthogonal to the stacking direction, and move the sheet to a conveying route, a suction structure configured to generate an air current to suck the sheet at the leading edge in the movement direction to the take-out position on an upstream side of a position where the take-out structure makes contact with the sheet in the sheet take-out direction by the take-out structure, and a controller configured to control an operation of the suction structure so as to decrease suction force by the suction structure when the sheet at the leading edge in the movement direction is not taken out by the take-out structure.
US08235375B2 Image forming system with two binding units and recording material processing device including an image forming system with two binding units
An image forming system includes an image forming unit that forms images on recording materials; a stacking unit used for stacking the recording materials having the images formed thereon as a bundle; a first binding unit that binds, by a first binding operation, first edge portions of the bundle; a second binding unit that binds, by a second binding operation, second edge portions of the bundle; a reversing transporting unit that reverses front and back surfaces of the recording materials having the images formed thereon, and that transports the reversed recording materials to the stacking unit; and a controller that performs control to determine whether or not to cause the reversing transporting unit to reverse and transport the recording materials, on the basis of orientations of the images with respect to the recording materials and positions of the first and second binding operations.
US08235374B2 Insertion apparatus and insertion method
An apparatus for, and a method of, inserting flat articles, e.g. printed pre-products or additional products, parts of newspapers, goods samples, leaflets, fliers and other inserts, into folded printed products. Use is made of a rotary system with compartments which run along a closed circular rotary path and are oriented as a tangent or secant to the rotary path (U). This makes it possible for the printed products and the articles to be fed in the direction of rotation, as a result of which the forces acting on the products can be reduced. There are also advantages relating to format adaptation, since the opening angle of the product upon adjustment of the compartment base does not change to such a pronounced extent as is the case with radially oriented compartments.
US08235370B2 Clamp device
A clamp device includes a grip member, a clamp rod, and a hydraulic cylinder, and, by the grip member being inserted into an hole in a workpiece, it can grip the inner circumferential surface of the hole. The clamp device is provided with: a main body member; seating surfaces formed upon the main body member, upon which the workpiece is seated; a seating sensor that includes a pressurized air ejection hole opening to the seating surfaces; and a workpiece mounting surface that can receive and stop a workpiece at a position that is more advanced than the seating surfaces when the grip member is at an advanced position (its unclamped state), and that shifts together with the grip member during clamp operation when the grip member and the clamp rod shift towards retraction.
US08235360B2 Fluid jet for tubs
A fluid jet for injecting fluids in the liquid of a tub through a throughbore in a wall of the tub comprises a gas injector with a hollow body having a gas inlet receiving a gas flow from a pressurized gas source. A gas outlet produces a flux of gas with the gas flow. A liquid injector comprises a hollow body with a liquid inlet connected to a pressurized liquid source to receive a liquid flow therefrom. A liquid outlet produces a flux of liquid with the liquid flow, the gas injector being received in the hollow body of the liquid injector, for the gas outlet and the liquid outlet to form a common jet outlet. The liquid injector is secured to the wall of the tub opposite the throughbore such that fluids exiting the common jet outlet are directed concurrently through the throughbore into the liquid of the tub.
US08235354B2 Regulating valve, particularly for regulating the flow of fluids in refrigeration systems
A regulating valve for regulating the flow of fluids in refrigeration systems has a valve body that has an inlet and an outlet for fluid, connected by a connecting opening, a flow control device for the opening, which is inserted in the valve body and comprises a flow control piston for the connecting opening that is driven by an electric motor along a sliding axis between an open position and a blocking position of the connecting opening. The flow control piston has openings for connection between a front face, which is directed toward the connecting opening, and a rear face thereof for balancing pressures applied by the fluid to the front face, and a head dome facing the connecting opening and forming the front face, the connection openings comprising a plurality of holes passing through the dome.
US08235353B2 Water faucet device and method of manufacturing water faucet equipment containing same
The present invention is a water faucet device (2a) connected to pipes and buried in a mounting surface (W1), including: a water conveying portion main body (20) having an inflow-side connecting portion (20a), an outflow-side connecting portion (20b), and double pipe connecting portions (20c, 20d) respectively communicating with these; a push valve (30) opened and closed by a pushing operation; a valve receiving main body, positioned at a predetermined position relative to the mounting surface, and having double pipe joining portions (26a, 26b) slidably joined to a double pipe connecting portion in a direction approximately perpendicular to the mounting surface, and a push valve receiving recess (26c) for receiving the push valve; and a push button unit (10a) disposed on the mounting surface, furnished with a push button (12b) for pushing the operating portion of a push valve.
US08235349B1 Ceiling device system for securing of devices in a ceiling
A ceiling device system for securing a device in a ceiling. The ceiling device system includes a cover plate to simulate a ceiling and has a device opening to receive the device. The ceiling device system includes a sliding mechanism mounted on an inside surface of the cover plate. The sliding mechanism includes a sliding component which moves within an area about the device opening. The ceiling device system includes a lock mechanism connected to the sliding component. The lock mechanism connected such that movement of the lock mechanism moves the sliding component. The ceiling device system includes a device mounting plate with slide tabs to engage the device and mounted to the sliding component of the sliding mechanism. The slide tabs are shaped to slide within the device to lock the device in the device opening of the cover plate due to movement of the sliding component.
US08235347B2 Adjustable ground anchor
A mailbox support has an attachment for attaching the mailbox support to the ground, a first plate attached to the attachment, a second plate rotatably attached to the first plate, a fixture attaching to the second plate for supporting the mailbox support and, an abutment for limiting rotation of the second plate relative to the first plate and for assisting in installing the attachment to the ground. A method for installing a support into the ground includes placing a first plate on a second plate, the second plate having an attachment for attaching the second plate to the ground, and utilizing the first plate and the second plate to drive the attachment into the ground. The first plate and the second plate are joined so that first and second plates may rotate relative to each other to properly orient the first plate.
US08235343B2 Fixing device for fixing backlight module
A fixing device includes a base, a first fixing arm, and a second fixing arm. The base has a first guiding slot and a second guiding slot perpendicular to the first guiding slot defined therein. The first fixing arm includes a first guiding rod and a first abutting portion slidably engaged with the first guiding rod. The first guiding rod extends through the first abutting portion and the base at the first guiding slot to move along the first guiding slot. The second fixing arm includes a second guiding rod and a second abutting portion fixedly engaged with the second guiding rod. The second guiding rod extends through the second abutting portion and the base at the second guiding slot to move along the second guiding slot. The first abutting portion and the second abutting portion cooperatively define a receiving space for fixedly receiving the backlight module on the base.
US08235333B2 Stabilization system for high-pressure water jet feed line
A support system (10) for stabilizing a high-pressure feed line (15) in a high-speed water jet food portioner, comprising a rigid span assembly (12) connected at one end to an extendable universal joint (40) that provides rotational motion around two axes (36, 37) as well as linear freedom along a third axis (38), and at the other end to a rod-end bearing (17) that permits motion about two axes at a fixed attachment point. The extendable universal joint (40) and the rod-end bearing (17) are each anchored to a fixed point, one on a portioner housing and the other on a cutting carriage such that the rigid span assembly (12) is allowed freedom at one end to move with the rapid and dramatically changing motion of the cutting carriage in order to provide support to the high-pressure feed line (15) mounted thereon, with minimal vibration.
US08235324B1 Rotorcraft with electrically driven blade control
A helicopter uses multiple redundant harmonic drive motors on the rotor head to actuate the angle of attack of rotor blades at the rotor blade roots, providing collective control that, in combination with a system for providing cyclic control on the rotor blades, eliminates the need for a swashplate, thereby advantageously reducing the weight and maintenance cost of the helicopter, increasing its reliability, and reducing its vulnerability to ballistic attack.
US08235320B2 Dual-bearing reel
The reel unit has a first side plate made of a magnesium alloy and a first side cover made of an aluminum alloy mounted to a side of the first side plate. The first side plate has an opening and a plurality of plate-like members made of an aluminum alloy mounted to the first side plate around the opening. The first side cover has an opening, and a brake case made of an aluminum alloy turnably mounted in the opening. Aluminum alloy protrusions are formed on an outer peripheral side of the brake case. The first side cover is secured to the first side plat by causing the protrusions formed on the brake case to engage in a bayonet fashion with the plate-like members separately attached to the first side plate.
US08235315B2 Method for producing hydraulic powder
According to the present invention, a hydraulic powder is prepared by including a step of grinding a hydraulic compound in the presence of (A) glycerin and (B) polyethyleneglycol that are present in a fixed weight ratio.
US08235314B2 Nonequilibrium humidity control for jet milling
A process for the jet milling of particles where water vapor is added to the jet milling system. The temperature, pressure and relative humidity of the water vapor is maintained and adjusted to ensure that the water vapor present during micronization is greater than allowed under equilibrium conditions, but remains above its Wilson point.
US08235311B2 Venting device
A venting device for a trigger sprayer closure, comprising a venting ring (2) provided with apertures (14) for allowing the passage of fluid, a gasket (4) provided with an aperture (10) covered by a material (12) for allowing the passage of gas but which prevents liquid from passing therethrough, wherein the venting ring (2) is provided with a concentric channel (18) arranged to maintain fluid communication between the one or more apertures (14) of the venting ring (2) and the at least one aperture (10) of the gasket (4) if the relative positions of the respective apertures are changed.
US08235307B2 Clamp for connecting a wire to a rail
A clamp comprising a first end including a base and a hooked portion and a second end moveably connected to the base of the first end. The second end includes a clamped portion and a wire jaw maintaining a wire. The wire jaw is shaped so as to be placed in the second end. The wire jaw including a base and arms extending from the base. The arms defining an opening including teeth, the teeth effective to grip and provide high contact pressure on a rail. A spring is disposed on the base of the first end and is effective to bias the second end toward the hooked portion of the first end.
US08235305B2 Methods and system for cooling a reaction effluent gas
In one embodiment, a method for cooling a reaction effluent gas includes feeding a sufficient amount of a suitable silicon source cooling gas into a stream of the reaction effluent gas, wherein the reaction effluent gas is produced by a thermal decomposition of at least one silicon source gas in a reactor, and wherein sufficient amount of the suitable silicon source cooling gas is defined based a concentration of the at least one chemical species in the reaction effluent gas; cooling the reaction effluent gas to a sufficient temperature so that: the cooled reaction effluent gas is capable of being handled by a material that is not suitable for handling the reaction effluent gas.
US08235297B2 Wrapped container
A wrapped container of consumer products bearing one or more machine readable indicia is disclosed, wherein the machine readable indicia are applied to the wrapper. The portion of the wrapper to which the machine readable indicia are applied may be substantially transparent and the surface of the container behind the machine readable indicia substantially neutral. Alternatively, the portion of the wrapper to which the machine readable indicia are applied may be substantially opaque. A method of providing a wrapped container of consumer products comprises wrapping a container of consumer products with a wrapper; and applying one or more machine readable indicia to the wrapper.
US08235292B2 System and method for verifying the connection status of couplable elements
A system for verifying the connection status of couplable elements employs a code member having a pattern defining a machine-readable optical code disposed thereupon. The code member is physically divided into a number of separate segments each having a portion of the pattern defined thereupon. These segments are affixed to a series of couplable elements so that when those elements are appropriately coupled together, the code segments will be in an aligned relationship so as to form a particular optically readable pattern of data indicative of proper coupling of the elements. Further disclosed are methods employing the system.
US08235288B2 Method for use in association with identification token and apparatus including identification token
In some embodiments, a method comprises: sensing at least one of movement and position of an identification token; determining if a criteria is satisfied; and enabling operation of the identification token if the criteria is satisfied; wherein determining if the criteria is satisfied comprises determining if the at least one of movement and position satisfies a reference criteria; and wherein the sensor comprises a sensor to provide a signal indicative of at least one of movement and position of the identification token prior to presentation to a proximity coupling device. In some embodiments, apparatus comprises: an identification token comprising: a sensor to provide a signal indicative of at least one of movement and position of the identification token; circuitry, to receive the signal, to determine if a criteria is satisfied, and to enable operation of the identification token if the criteria is satisfied; wherein the circuitry comprises circuitry to determine if the at least one of movement and position satisfies a reference criteria wherein the sensor comprises a sensor to provide a signal indicative of at least one of movement and position of the identification token prior to presentation to a proximity coupling device.
US08235279B2 Top or bottom structure for a folded container
A plastics-coated paperboard carton blank comprises an end part for forming a bottom end closure of the carton; the end part comprises first, second, third and fourth end panels (6-9) whereof the first and third end panels (6,8) are for forming outside panels (6,8) of the end closure and the second and fourth panels (7,9) are for forming inside panels (7,9) of the end closure; the free end portion (12) of the third end panel (8) is cut out at both sides in a laterally symmetrical manner with respect to its middle, so as to leave a central tongue (17), and the free end portions (11,13) of the second and fourth panels (7,9), respectively, are cut out at their sides adjacent to the third end panel (8), so as to form respective cut-outs (36,40); and the cut-outs (36,40) have respective edges (32,34) thereof which are further from the tongue (17) disposed obliquely relative to adjacent edges (42,44) of the respective cut-outs (36,40) and diverging outwardly relative to each other.
US08235265B2 Accessory mount for vehicle control bodies
The present invention discloses a unique and novel vehicle accessory mounting device which attaches to either a left hand or right hand control body of a vehicle handlebar, and permits various orientations for attachment of multiple accessories.
US08235262B1 Magnetic implement holder
A holder for securing a writing implement to a worn article is described. The holder includes a magnet fixed with the worn article and a magnetically-attractive base having a lower surface, an upper surface, and a peripheral edge. The upper surface includes two slots therein. The holder also includes a clamp portion having two ends adapted to engage the two slots of the upper surface of the base, and an elastomeric band securing the clamp portion to the slots of the upper surface of the base that retains the writing implement. The writing implement may be inserted between the clamp piece and the base, thereby pushing the ends of the clamp portion away from, but not completely out of, the slots of the upper surface of the base. The base, writing implement, clamp portion, and elastic band are magnetically attachable to the worn article with the magnet.
US08235246B2 Universal box top lid
A universal box top lid is adapted to be attached to the opened top of a variety of different sizes of food packaging boxes. The lid is designed to fit over the opened box top with an opened bag containing the food product inside the box being held open by an apron formed on an inner wall of the lid. The lid is provided with a cap closure that can be opened when it is desired to dispense the food product contained in the packaging box and bag, and can be closed to preserve the food product.
US08235243B2 Tank for high pressure fluids
The present invention is a tank suitable to contain high pressure fluids, especially for compressed natural gas used for automotive purposes. The tank has a discoid shape to be easily placed on board of vehicles. The tank comprises a sealed internal core and an external coating made through a twisted coats fiber wrapping of composite material with a very high mechanical tensile resistance. According to some executive variants, the tank internally comprises a reinforcing structure made up of a plurality of elements welded in contact with the internal surface of the core.
US08235239B2 Dual chamber bottle and method of manufacturing the same
A bottle including a body portion having a dividing wall extending from a base portion to a connection region; a first chamber for holding a first liquid, the first chamber configured to connect to a first orifice; and a second chamber for holding a second liquid, the second chamber configured to connect to a second orifice; wherein a height of the dividing wall is less than an overall height of the body portion and the connection region is configured to be a maximum height of the dividing wall.
US08235235B1 Limit switch cover with magnetic breakaway
A breakaway-protective limit switch cover is provided that includes a main plate, a pair of support arms attached to the main plate, and a magnet attached to each support arm. The breakaway-protective-limit switch cover attaches, via the magnets, to a conveyor track of a power conveyor system and becomes dislodged upon impact from an external force strong enough to overcome the magnetic force of the magnets.
US08235232B2 Cap and covered container
Provided are a cap capable of being easily and reliably opened and unsealed not limited in design even if an inner cap with a small diameter is used for the cap, producing no refuse after the unsealing, and not unnecessarily large in size, and a container with the cap. When an over cap (3) is rotated in the opening direction, a pair of screw threads (10a, 10b) as opening means are advanced in the direction in which they are tightened together, and this cuts off an planned opening section (4) from the inner cap (2). Thus, the cap has a relatively simple structure and can be simply and reliably unsealed by small force. Further, it is enough if the screw threads (10a, 10b) can be formed in the region of the opening, so that the structure can be applied to a cap with an inner cap with a small diameter and the design of the cap (1) is not limited. Also, the planned opening section (4) is integrated with the over cap (3) after unsealing the inner cap (2), so that no refuse is produced after the unsealing, eliminating the need to clear it away from a table.
US08235231B2 Crane control with active heave compensation
The present invention represents a procedure for compensating the heave movement of offshore cranes. The dynamic model of the compensation actuator (hydraulically operated winch) and the load hanging on a rope are derived. Based on this model, a path-tracking control unit is developed. To compensate the movement of the ship/watercraft caused by waves, the heave movement is defined as a time-varying disturbance and is analyzed with respect to uncoupling conditions. With a model expansion, these conditions are satisfied, and an inversion-based uncoupling control law is formulated. To stabilize the system, an observer is used for reconstructing the unknown state by means of a force measurement. Furthermore, the compensation efficiency can be improved by predicting the heave movement. There is proposed a prediction method in which no ship/watercraft models or properties are required. The simulation and measurement results validate the heave compensation method.
US08235230B2 Method for controlling the slewing movement of the rotary part of a tower crane
A rotary part of a crane is associated with an electric slewing mechanism including at least one geared electric motor unit of which the electric motor is powered in such a way as to produce a slewing torque having a certain maximum value. When the crane is in use and for conditions such as windspeed greater than a given value, jib length greater than a given value and moment of the lifted load greater than a given value, the maximum value of a slewing torque produced by the electric motor is increased. The crane thus becomes easier to drive, particularly in the phases during which the jib is adopting a “windward trend”.
US08235225B2 Installation assembly for hard disk drive
An installation assembly for hard disk drives (HDDs) includes a rack and a number of holding members. The rack defines a receiving space and respectively defines two rows of through holes in opposite sides bounding the receiving space. Each holding member includes a frame for receiving a HDD and two arms pivotably installed to opposite sides of the frame. Opposite sides of the frame respectively define two through holes therein. Two pins extend from an inner side of each arm. The frame is received in the receiving space of the rack and movably up and down in the rack. The pins of the arms extend through the corresponding through holes of the rack and the frame to engage with the HDD.
US08235223B2 Eyewear display system
The present invention provides a lockable eyewear display system. One embodiment of the system includes a support frame on which the eyewear is placed, a lock that secures the eyewear to the frame, and a key that removes the lock from the frame. The device may further include an anchor connected to the frame that anchors the frame to a fixture or display object such as a rack or furniture. In another embodiment, the eyewear display device includes an articulating joint allowing at least a portion of the support frame to be swiveled.
US08235218B2 Sealing apparatus with interlocking air inflation device for wafer carrier
The present invention relates a sealing apparatus with interlocking air inflation device for wafer carrier and a sealing method thereof, wherein the sealing apparatus is disposed between a wafer container and a cover of a wafer carrier, used for sealing the cover and the wafer container when the cover is closed to the wafer container. The sealing apparatus comprises: at least one latch set, at least one interlocked cam, an air inflation sealing member, and at least one air intake/outtake valve, wherein the interlocked cam is adopted for connecting an interlocking device having an air inflation member, and the interlocking device can be used to drive the interlocked cam for making the latch set bolt the cover and the wafer container, and inflate the air inflation sealing member through the air inflation member thereof and the air intake/outtake valve in order to inflate and expand the air inflation sealing member.
US08235209B2 Medical device packaging and methods for preparing and packaging medical devices
Medical device packaging, medical device packaging assemblies, and methods for preparing and packaging medical devices. An example medical device packaging assembly may include a pouch having a pocket formed therein. A carrier tube may be disposed in the pocket. The carrier tube may have a plurality of apertures formed therein. A medical device may be disposed within the carrier tube.
US08235207B2 Jigsaw puzzle transporting system
A jigsaw puzzle transporting system having a bottom part, a base plate and a lid is provided. An at least substantially vertically projecting frame is present on the bottom part for peripherally surrounding the base plate. A shoulder with a holding face fitting into the frame projects from the lid. Side faces, mutually facing in a closed position, of the shoulder and of the frame cooperate for releasably locking the shoulder in the frame. The shoulder in the closed position is positioned, relative to the base plate received in the frame, such that a distance between the holding face and an upper surface, facing the latter, of the base plate is less than a jigsaw puzzle piece height.
US08235203B2 Weighbelt feeder apparatus
A weighbelt feeder comprising a pair of metallic side rails along which moves a conveyor belt for transporting a material across the apparatus. The apparatus further includes a plurality of sheet metal frames spaced longitudinally apart on the pair of metallic side rails for supporting a mechanical load on the side rails. Each of the plurality of sheet metal frames comprises a support arm and a plurality of cross-arms cantilevered on the support arm and extending between the pair of metallic side rails. The support arm is fixed to a first side rail of the pair of metallic side rails and the free end of at least one of the cross-arms is fixed to a second side rail of the pair of metallic side trails. The apparatus also includes a metallic outer structure supporting the plurality of sheet metal frames and binding the frames into a unitary rigid construction.
US08235195B2 Engine clutch and method of using same
An engine clutch is provided. The clutch includes a drive shaft rotated by the engine, an eccentric shaft selectively rotated by the drive shaft, a clutch fluid, a plurality of pistons, and a fluid regulator. The eccentric shaft is positionable in an opening of the drive shaft for rotation thereby. The eccentric shaft has cylinders extending radially therethrough and a central channel extending longitudinally therethrough. The clutch fluid flows between the cylinders and channel. Each piston is slidably positionable in a cylinder in response to flow of clutch fluid. The pistons have an outer end in constant contact with the drive shaft via a bearing. The fluid regulator is positionable in the central channel for selectively restricting flow of clutch fluid whereby rotational speed of the eccentric shaft is adjusted. The eccentric shaft is connectable to a device, such as a fan, for rotation therewith.
US08235187B2 Hydraulic shock absorber
In a hydraulic shock absorber structured such that a vehicle body side tube and an axle side tube are slidably fitted, and a plurality of adjusting portions are provided in a cap sealed to an upper end opening portion of the vehicle body side tube, a plurality of adjusting portions are arranged side by side in a plan view of the cap.
US08235184B2 Disc brake device
A disc brake apparatus that can keep a stable contact state between a torque transmitting part of a brake pad and a torque receiving part of a mounting, so as to reliably suppress a brake noise phenomenon. At the time of forward braking where a main body member of a brake pad is pressed against a disc rotor, the rotational moment acting on the main body member of the brake pad from the disc rotor is absorbed by the main body member rotating relative to a forward braking torque transmitting member about one pin joint, so as to be restrained from being transmitted to the forward braking torque transmitting member. As a result, the respective contact states between two torque transmitting protrusions formed in the forward braking torque transmitting member of the brake pad and torque receiving surfaces formed in a forward braking torque receiving part of a mounting are held stable.
US08235183B2 Ball ramp brake
A ball ramp brake including a housing, a disc assembly within the housing, and an annular rotatable actuator to actuate the brake by compressing the disc assembly. The rotatable actuator includes a plurality of depressions oriented circumferentially therein which become progressively shallower in a first circumferential direction. A plurality of depressions are circumferentially oriented in a surface of the housing and become progressively shallower in a second circumferential direction. The depressions in the actuator and the depressions in the housing each have a first angle of depression that is steeper than a second angle of depression. A boot seal may be provided between the fluid chamber of an actuating cylinder and the inner area within the housing to prevent fluid leakage. In addition, a cooling chamber may be provided in the housing to improve the brakes efficiency.
US08235171B2 System and method for noise suppression
Systems and methods for noise suppression are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an acoustic structure has a core that includes a plurality of cells. Each of the plurality of cells includes one or more engaging structures for positioning a septum relative to the cell. The acoustic structure further includes a plurality of septums positioned relative to the plurality of cells.
US08235162B2 Driver interface assembly
A driver interface assembly (10) is provided comprising a controller element (15) mounted to a body (16) which forms an integral part of an armrest (11) associated with a driver's seat (12). The body is rotatable with respect to the armrest between two positions: (a) an operating position, in which the controller element is exposed for operation thereof, and (b) a stowed position in which the controller element is concealed from use. The body remains substantially within the profile of the armrest when in both the operating position and the stowed position. The volume occupied by the armrest (11) can therefore be exploited to mount and stow a controller element (15). This is particularly advantageous in a working environment where space is at a premium.
US08235159B2 Motor vehicle having windshield airbag
A motor vehicle has a front hood, a windshield, and an airbag, which is installed on the front hood and at least partially overlaps the windshield in the expanded state. A detachable connection is provided between a shell, which is fastened on a lower side of the front hood and receives the airbag, and the hood, at least along a rear edge of the shell.
US08235157B2 Step holder attachment structure for a saddle-type vehicle, and vehicle incorporating same
A saddle-type vehicle includes a passenger step member, a brake pedal, a step holder having the passenger step member and the brake pedal mounted thereon, and a master cylinder adapted to convert a tread force from the brake pedal into brake pressure. The master cylinder is mounted on a support bracket, which is separate from the step holder. The support bracket and the step holder are temporarily assembled with each other, and are co-fastened to a vehicle body frame of the vehicle such that a gap is formed between the support bracket and the step holder. During operation of the vehicle, such configuration of the support bracket and the step holder having the gap formed therebetween minimizes transmission of vibration from the support bracket to the step holder.
US08235156B2 Retrofitable ROPS reinforcement structure for cab raiser interface
A reinforced cab riser adapter, which adapts to standard roll-over protection structure (ROPS) to a swing frame on a hydraulic excavator resulting in improved rollover load bearing capacity, is disclosed. This invention is also retrofit-able and can be universally adapted to a wide variety of swing frames without cutting or welding of the base machine. The present invention relates to safety features with respect to attaching a cab to a frame on load bearing vehicles.
US08235154B2 Vehicle drive system
A vehicle drive system uses multi-fuel engines to provide mechanical energy as an electric generator. The electric generator provides electrical energy to an electric motor which in turn provides mechanical energy to the drive train of a vehicle. The electric generator also provides electric energy to storage batteries. Electrical energy may be provided from the storage batteries to the electric motor as needed.
US08235151B2 Return to neutral control mechanism for zero turning radius mower
A return to neutral control mechanism for a zero turning radius mower is disclosed. The return to neutral control mechanism includes a pair of control levers pivotable between forward, neutral and reverse positions. A brake pedal is moveable between a disengaged position to an engaged position. In response to engagement of the brake pedal, a control pivot attached to each control lever moves each control lever to the neutral position. The return to neutral control mechanism may include a cam that rotates in response to engagement of the brake pedal, and a control pivot that follows the cam during engagement of the brake pedal.
US08235150B2 Pneumatic hybrid turbo transmission
A pneumatic hybrid turbo transmission for reduced energy consumption is disclosed. A pneumatic hybrid turbo transmission configured as a multi-purpose unit (MPU). The MPU recovers energy from the cooling system, exhaust system, ram pressure and the breaking system. The MPU unit is an automatic transmission, supercharger, air compressor for other uses, and starter for the engine using a multi-purpose unit that will eliminate the need for a torque converter or clutch, flywheel, catalytic converter, starter and supercharger. The MPU reduces pollution to near zero and reduces the aerodynamic drag coefficient on the vehicle. The MPU uses two or more in-line compressors to transfer power from the power source, such as an internal combustion engine (ICE) to a turbine or multi-stage turbine that acts as an automatic transmission. The pneumatic hybrid turbo transmission system uses plug-in power as a second source of power.
US08235149B2 Diamond bit steel body cutter pocket protection
A drill bit that includes a steel bit body having at least one blade thereon, at least one cutter pocket disposed on the at least one blade; at least one cutter disposed in the at least one cutter pocket; at least one recess formed in at least a portion of the surface of the at least one cutter pocket, wherein the recess is adjacent a leading face of the at least one blade; and an erosion resistant material in the at least one recess is disclosed.
US08235148B2 Thread retention for an earth boring device
A threaded element for connection with a housing of an earth boring device includes a body having an inner bore and a slot. The slot extends inwardly from a perimeter of the body and terminates in the inner bore of the body. The body of the threaded element has a receptacle in the area of the slot for insertion of a locking bolt, with the body having an outer diameter which undergoes an enlargement, as the locking bolt is inserted in the receptacle. The body has an outer thread for threaded connection with a housing.
US08235146B2 Actuators, actuatable joints, and methods of directional drilling
The present invention recites a method and apparatus, wherein said methods and apparatus comprises an actuator comprising a first plate, a pocket extending through the first plate, the pocket in fluid communication with a pressurized fluid source and a second plate coupled to a component that is to be actuated, wherein the first plate, the second plate, and the pocket are dimensioned such that when a pressurized fluid is discharged through the pocket, the velocity of the fluid through a gap between the first plate and the second plate creates a pressure drop sufficient to pull the second plate toward the first plate.
US08235138B2 Power tool
A power tool capable of performing vibration damping action in working operation, without an increase in size. The working tool includes a motor, a housing in which an internal mechanism driven by the motor is stored, a tool bit disposed on one end of the housing, a hand grip continuously connected to the other end of the housing, and a dynamic damper. The dynamic damper is disposed by utilizing a space between the housing and the internal mechanism so that the damping direction of the dynamic damper faces the longitudinal direction of the tool bit.
US08235133B2 Agricultural implement having wheels that caster
An agricultural implement includes a hitch boom to which a pair of wing booms is pivotably connected. The wing booms are designed to fold forward from an extended position to a transport position. The wing booms are supported above a surface by wheels that provide the aforementioned support when the wing booms are in an extended position as well as the transport position. Maintaining surface contact of the wheels in both positions reduces the load placed on the hitch to which the hitch boom is coupled as well as the hitch boom itself. Multi-link draft links are connected between the hitch boom and the wing booms to provide support for the wing booms when the wing booms are in the extended position. The relative length of the draft links dictates how far the hitch telescopes when the wing booms are folded to the stowed or transport position.
US08235131B2 Method and apparatus for harvesting and picking up sod
A method of harvesting and handling sod includes cutting an elongated sod slab and cutting said sod slab into two sod sections, but leaving uncut at least one small sod connection between said two sod sections, thereby to tie together said sod sections in a stack containing said sod sections.
US08235129B2 System and method for suppressing fires
A fire suppression apparatus includes a canister containing a non-azide solid propellant chemical that generates an oxygen-displacing gas mixture when ignited; a pyrotechnic device associated with the canister for initiating ignition of the solid propellant chemical to generate the oxygen-displacing gas mixture; and at least one filter associated with the canister for filtering out contents of the oxygen-displacing gas mixture to result in a clean agent fire suppressant deliverable into a space. The fire suppression apparatus is preferably configured for use in fire suppression systems for normally occupied spaces.
US08235128B2 Flow path control based on fluid characteristics to thereby variably resist flow in a subterranean well
A system for variably resisting flow of a fluid composition can include a flow passage and a set of one or more branch passages which intersect the flow passage, whereby a proportion of the fluid composition diverted from the passage to the set of branch passages varies based on at least one of a) viscosity of the fluid composition, and b) velocity of the fluid composition in the flow passage. Another variable flow resistance system can include a flow path selection device that selects which of multiple flow paths a majority of fluid flows through from the device, based on a ratio of desired fluid to undesired fluid in the fluid composition. Yet another variable flow resistance system can include a flow chamber, with a majority of the fluid composition entering the chamber in a direction which changes based on a ratio of desired fluid to undesired fluid in the fluid composition.
US08235122B2 Combination well pipe centralizer and overpull indicator
A subsea wellhead assembly includes an outer wellhead member with a bore containing at least one conical generally upward facing load shoulder that inclines relative to an axis of the bore. The outer wellhead member also contains an overpull recess having a generally downward facing overpull shoulder positioned below the at least one generally upward facing load shoulder. An inner wellhead member is lowered into the housing, the inner wellhead member having at least one conical downward facing load shoulder that inclines relative to an axis of the bore. A load ring has an inner profile that slidingly engages the downward facing load shoulder and an outer profile that slidingly engages the upward facing load shoulder.
US08235117B1 Integrated in situ retorting and refining of heavy-oil and tar sand deposits
A method and system for producing hydrocarbons in situ from a heavy-oil and tar sand fixed bed, hydrocarbon deposit distributed substantially within a porous formation. The porous formation is disposed below a ground surface. The system includes at least one injection well drilled into the formation and spaced apart from at least one production well also drilled into the formation. A heated thermal-energy carrier fluid is circulated under pressure into the injection well, circulated under pressure through a hydraulic fracture in the formation. The hydraulic fracture is disposed between the injection well and the production well. The circulated carrier fluid mobilizes hydrocarbons in at least a portion of the hydrocarbon deposit in situ by heating the hydraulic fracture and surrounding formation and producing at least a portion of the mobilized hydrocarbons by flowing the carrier fluid with mobilized hydrocarbons through the production well and fractionating the hydrocarbons to generate at least two fluid fractures having differing chemical compositions.
US08235116B1 Well remediation using surfaced mixed epoxy
A two part epoxy resin system is surface mixed in a method of remediating an active well. This surface mixed epoxy resin is then placed in the well at the desired remediation depth. Finally, the mixture in situ forms a cement plug.
US08235111B2 Down-hole liquid level control for hydrocarbon wells
This invention provides for an apparatus that controls a liquid level down-hole of a hydrocarbon producing well by physically monitoring the liquid level down-hole having a down-hole liquid level measurer and a signal device connected to the liquid level measurer that causes a pump to adjust its current liquid output based on the liquid level down-hole as measured by the down-hole liquid level measurer.
US08235109B2 Instrument centralizer configurable for use with cement evaluation well logging instruments
A centralizer for a well logging instrument includes a mandrel, a plurality of bow springs arranged circumferentially about the exterior surface of the mandrel and a biasing device in contact with one longitudinal end of each bow spring. The biasing device is configured to apply longitudinal biasing force to the longitudinal end of the respective bow spring.
US08235107B2 Hydraulic oil well pumping apparatus
A hydraulic oil well pumping arrangement employs a compensating type hydraulic pump, a directional valving arrangement and a proportioning valving arrangement. When the directional valve is energized, oil is directed to the rod end of the hydraulic cylinder. The rod or piston part of the hydraulic cylinder will then elevate until a first limit switch is actuated which then will de-energize the directional valve and send a current signal to the proportional valve. This current signal to the proportional valve forces it to open to a point at which the cylinder rod would extend at the desired velocity until it reaches a second limit switch. The second limit switch is near the bottom (for example, 1 foot, or 0.30 meters) of travel of the rod or piston. The current signal to the proportional valve is then decreased, creating a choking arrangement that forces the cylinder rod to decelerate. The cylinder rod then reaches another limit switch. Upon reaching the third limit switch, the signal is removed from the proportional valve so that it closes. This halts a draining of fluid from the hydraulic cylinder. At the same time, a voltage signal is sent to the directional valve opening it so that pump flow again travels from the pump to the hydraulic cylinder and once again elevates the rod and the connected pumping string or sucker rod.
US08235104B1 Apparatus for pipe tong and spinner deployment
An apparatus for connecting or disconnecting a threaded connection of a first tubular member and a second tubular member at a wellhead has a frame movable between a first position adjacent the wellhead and a second position away from the wellhead, a first gripping member connected to the frame and extending outwardly therefrom so as to apply a torque to the first tubular, and a second gripping member movably connected to the frame so as to be movable between a first position away from the wellhead and a second position at the wellhead. The second gripping member is suitable for applying an opposing torque to the second tubular.
US08235095B2 Heat dissipation device
A heat dissipation device includes a heat sink, a fan mounted on a side of the heat sink, and an engaging portion pivotally engaging with the heat sink and connecting the fan and the heat sink. The fan includes a bracket. A mounting plate with a mounting hole is formed by the bracket. The engaging portion includes a pivot portion pivotally engaging with the heat sink and a pressing portion extending from the pivot portion. A protruded portion extends downwardly from a bottom surface of the pressing portion. The pressing portion presses the mounting portion of the bracket of the fan and the protruded portion engages in the mounting hole of the mounting portion.
US08235079B2 Fuel transfer coupling
Provided are adapter caps comprising a housing having a top, a bottom an edge, and a hub at the top of the housing. A plunger is slidably disposed about the hub, and a plurality of lock fingers are pivotally attached to the housing substantially at the edge, the lock fingers being actuable, responsive to movement of the plunger. A guide including an inner circular wall and an outer circular wall with the inner circular wall having a passageway disposed therethrough is present at the bottom of the housing. A cap as provided is selectively attachable to a coupling fitting having a first passage through which a liquid may pass and a second passage separate and distinct from the first passage through which vapor may pass, to provide accurate fuel level readings of a reservoir to which the coupling is attached.
US08235053B2 Implantable punctal plug
A punctal plug is disclosed, wherein the punctal plug includes a body portion and a retaining portion. The body portion is defined by an open distal end, an open proximal end and a wall portion. The wall portion further includes at least one window extending therethrough. The retaining flange is configured to have an outer periphery that is larger than the outer periphery of the body portion. A method of delivering a therapeutic agent to a patient using a punctal plug is also disclosed.
US08235050B2 Apparatus and method for securing uvula
A method and apparatus for securing a uvula to a soft palate. The uvula may be attached to either the nasopharyngeal side or the oral side of the soft palate with a uvula securement device. The uvula may be secured to the nasopharyngeal side of the soft palate with a suture.
US08235049B2 Condom packaging
Condom packaging comprises one or more substantially rectangular pieces of packaging material, each piece of packaging material comprising a central portion and edge portions, the edge portions being separated from the central portion by perforated areas configured to allow the edge portions to be removed, and an expansion member adjacent to or within the condom flange. The one or more pieces of packaging material surround substantially all or all of the condom, and the packaging material, when sealed with the condom inside, includes two substantially flat portions having side edges. The condom flange is attached to the packaging material and squeezing the side edges of the packaging material causes the packaging material and an open end of the condom to form a substantially cylindrical cross section, the expansion member providing rigidity and being configured to aid in formation of the substantially cylindrical cross section.
US08235046B2 Nasal devices for use while sleeping
Described here are devices for altering the flow of air in a respiratory cavity such as the mouth and nostrils of the nose. These methods and devices may be useful for affecting a physiologic benefit in patients suffering from a variety of medical diseases, particularly those that may benefit from “pursed-lip” breathing and non-invasive ventilation, such as COPD, heart failure, sleep apnea, and other medical disorders. The devices are typically removable devices that may be placed over or in a respiratory cavity to increase resistance to airflow within the respiratory cavity. Resistance to expiration may be selectively increased relative to inspiration. Removable oral and removable nasal devices are described. Oral and nasal devices that filter inhaled airflow of debris and allergens are also provided. A nasal device that increases patency of the nares is also provided.
US08235042B2 Exhalatory pressure device and system thereof
An apparatus for providing pressure into which a patient must exhale is provided. The canister has a canister axis and is disposed to hold liquid. The canister also has indicia of pressure on the canister. The apparatus also includes a substantially rigid lid disposed to substantially cover a mouth of the canister and having a first inlet through the lid. The apparatus also includes an adapter in the first inlet. The apparatus also includes a conduit being retained by the adapter such that the conduit is substantially immovable relative to the canister axis.
US08235040B2 Dispensing device
A dispensing device having a storage device and an air pump for dispensing a medical formulation. The storage device has multiple inserts, each insert containing a single dose of the formulation. Each insert is located in a separate and sealed cavity. The cavities can be individually opened for dispensing the respective dose from the respective insert by movement of the respective insert through the seal, so as to break the seal only at one side of the outlet opening so that the seal is pivoted mainly to an opposite side of the outlet opening by the movement of the insert for minimizing potential interference by the opened seal with flowing of the formulation from the receptacle toward the mouthpiece.
US08235035B2 Inflatable solar energy collector apparatus
An inflatable solar energy collector. The device uses two elongated and pressure-stabilized air chambers with a trough-shaped reflecting surface in between. The curvature of the reflecting surface is adjusted by adjusting the differential pressure between the two air chambers. The device can be configured to provide a focal point outside the air chambers or inside the air chambers. For the version using the external focal point an external energy receiver is appropriately positioned. For the version using the internal focal point, the receiver is mounted inside one of the air chambers.
US08235030B2 Paintball loader
Some embodiments are directed to a paintball loader having a diverter member supported within a housing of the loader. The diverter member can limit the number of paintballs which enter an outlet passageway leading to a marker inlet. In some embodiments, diverter member can have projections and channels formed in a bottom surface thereof to control the number of paintballs that can simultaneously enter the entrance to the outlet passageway.
US08235028B2 Hermetically sealed fuel tank apparatus
A hermetically sealed fuel tank apparatus includes a pressure-resistant fuel tank for storing a fuel therein, the pressure-resistant fuel tank being capable of holding an internal pressure equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, a fuel vapor inlet pipe for introducing a fuel vapor produced in the pressure-resistant fuel tank, a canister contained in the pressure-resistant fuel tank and connected to the fuel vapor inlet pipe for adsorbing the fuel vapor, a drain passage through which the canister communicates with external air, and a shutoff valve connected to the drain passage and normally closed to hermetically seal the pressure-resistant fuel tank.
US08235025B2 Throttle apparatus
A ventilation path is provided for communicating an accommodation chamber wherein a transmission mechanism for an electric motor is accommodated and an external space. A covering space is provided for covering an outer end opening of the ventilation path is opened to suppress formation of a water film at the outer end opening. A throttle apparatus includes a housing with covering walls defining covering spaces having open ports which are open to an external space. Lower end openings of ventilation paths are provided for communicating the external space and the accommodation chamber with each other are open to the covering spaces. The opening ports are set to such a size that adhering water flowing down along the lower outer face is cut into pieces between the covering walls and a housing body across the open ports.
US08235024B2 Directly injected internal combustion engine system
An engine system for a vehicle, comprising of a combustion chamber, a first in-cylinder direct injector configured to deliver a first substance including at least gasoline directly to the combustion chamber at a first pressure; and a second in-cylinder direct injector configured to deliver a second substance including at least an alcohol directly to the combustion chamber at a second pressure less than the first pressure.
US08235022B2 Oil supply system for internal combustion engine
A lubricating oil supply system for internal combustion engine includes an oil reservoir and oil pump connected with a lubrication distribution network including a pressure controller which selectively controls the pressure within the distribution network to at least one pressure value that is less than the maximum pressure produced by a pressure relief valve associated with the oil pump.
US08235017B2 Switchable component of a valve train of an internal combustion engine
A switchable component (1) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine is provided, with a housing (2) in whose borehole (3) an inner element (4) is held so that it can move telescopically. At least one coupling piston (7) guided by an anti-rotation locking device (6) is located in a radial borehole (5) of the inner element (4) in a decoupled case, with a section (10) that is flattened in some areas being provided on the coupling piston on one axial side (9) starting from its outer end (8). The borehole (3) of the housing (2) has a window (11) with a complementary engagement surface (12) against which, in a coupled case, the coupling piston (7) can be displaced with its flattened section (10) when passing through the cam base circle. An edge (13) between the outer end (8) and the flattened section (10) of the coupling piston (7) is provided with a bevel (14) that is a surface section of an ellipsoid whose longitudinal axis runs parallel to the flattened section (10).
US08235003B2 Methods and apparatus for identifying live eggs
Egg candling methods and apparatus are provided wherein black rot eggs can be identified and removed. A method of identifying live eggs includes illuminating eggs in a carrier with light from a light source; receiving light passing through each egg at a light detector; generating an output signal that corresponds to light received at a light detector for each respective egg; analyzing the output signal for each egg to determine opacity of each egg; removing eggs having an opacity less than a first opacity value; and removing eggs having an opacity greater than a second opacity value that is different from the first opacity value.
US08235000B2 Modular paint line and method of operation therefor
A paint line includes a plurality of modular manufacturing stations positioned in series and defining a forward transport direction. Each modular manufacturing station includes an article transportation device for moving at least one carrier through the modular manufacturing station. At least one of the modular manufacturing stations includes a piece of paint application equipment. A control system is in communication with each article transportation device and configured to independently move the carrier of each modular manufacturing station according to a unique operation pattern. The control system is also configured to index the carrier of each modular manufacturing station as the carrier traverses to a contiguous modular manufacturing station.
US08234997B2 Crumb breading distribution system
A distribution apparatus for a breading machine comprising a hopper having a number of hopper sections includes a downspout for conveying the breading material to the hopper and a spreader plate which is adjustably supported between the downspout and the hopper. By adjusting the position of the spreader plate relative to the hopper, the flow of breading material from the downspout may be distributed as desired between the hopper sections.
US08234994B1 Impact indicator
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a device and technique for impact detection and indication is disclosed. The device includes a housing; a mass member located within the housing, the housing configured to enable movement of the mass member from a first position to a second position within the housing in response to receipt by the housing of an acceleration event; and first and second spring members disposed within the housing and configured to bias the mass member to the first position, wherein, in response to receipt by the housing of the acceleration event, the mass member is configured to overcome the biasing force of the first spring member and move from the first position to the second position, and wherein each of the first and second spring members extends across a medial portion of the mass member.
US08234985B2 Boiler producing steam from flue gases under optimized conditions
This invention relates to a boiler (1) drying, igniting and combusting refuse and producing steam (2, 2a) by heat exchange with flue gases (3), said boiler defining a main flow direction (5) of gases, said boiler (1) comprising a separator element (4) and an end superheater (8), the separator element (4) being adapted for separating said flue gases (3) into streams of a less-corrosive gas flow (6) and a corrosive gas flow (7), said separator element (4) being located substantially in and along said main flow direction (5), said end superheater (8) being located in proximity to said separator element (4) and in the flow (6) of said less-corrosive gas. Said separator element (4) comprises a plate (4a) or a wall (4b), which in a number of said separator elements (4) forms a channel as another separator element. This provides for an increased lifetime of said superheater and makes the boiler provide a high and efficient electrical power output.
US08234983B2 Post and beam furniture construction
A post and beam furniture construction has a number of support posts and a plurality of beams that interconnect the posts. Accessories, including storage shelves and cabinets, and work surfaces are releasably supported by the posts at various positions relative to the shelf length and the post spacing. Support brackets interconnect accessories and posts. Each post has at least two accessory support rails extending along the post length. A support bracket engages a selected rail. Spaced support bracket receptacles extend along a length of the accessory and a support bracket engages a selected bracket receptacle. The beams may be removed from respective posts without moving the posts and may also be length adjustable.
US08234980B2 Trolley braking system
An apparatus for transporting a rider between two points on a cable or rope, having a plurality of supports configured to suspend the cable or rope between two points of unequal elevation and a trolley for transporting the rider supported by a harness on the cable or rope, the trolley having a mounting plate configured with a connection point to receive the rider's harness, a pulley rotatably mounted to the mounting plate to support the plate on the cable or rope, and a friction shoe mounted on the plate forward of the pulley to contact the upper portion of the cable or rope, wherein the connection point is located beneath the cable or rope between the centers of the pulley and the friction shoe.
US08234978B1 Hand-held firing device
An apparatus is disclosed to initiate detonation. The apparatus includes a first hollow cylinder, a second hollow cylinder laterally spaced from the first hollow cylinder, each of the first and second hollow cylinders having an inner surface and an outer surface, and extending longitudinally between a first end and a second end. A spring is disposed in each of the first and second cylinders, and a firing pin is disposed in each of the first and second cylinders, wherein the spring is positioned between the first end of each of the first and second cylinders and the firing pin. A sear lever is in communication with each of the firing pins, and bushings are disposed between the sear lever and each of the first and second hollow cylinders, positioned so that the sear lever is insulated from contact of the outer surface of the hollow cylinders.
US08234975B2 Hulling device
A hulling device includes a cap, a pushing member, a spring between the cap and pushing member, and at least one nipper having two nipping members coupled to the pushing member and extending toward the cap. The nipping members are mutually shaped with the cap and slide contiguous respective contact regions of the cap to separate tips of the nipping members upon actuation of the pushing member. The separated tips can be inserted in a food item, such as a strawberry, and twisted and pulled to hull the food item. The user can release the pushing member when the tips are in the food item to improve gripping and severing the hull. The hulling device can also include a main body housing at least a portion of the pushing member, cap, spring, and first and second nippers, the main body being coupled to the cap, the pushing member, or both.
US08234972B2 Automated grill
An automated grill automatically transfers frozen food from a freezer component to grilling component by an automatic loading device in response to a signal. Frozen food is loaded in a loading side in the freezer component. When the signal is received indicating that the food is to be grilled, food in a feeding side is raised and delivered to the loading device. When a sensor detects that food is positioned in the loading device, the loading device removes the food from the freezer component and into the grilling component. The food is then grilled as it travels between two substantially vertical grilling structures each surrounded by a conveyor belt. Preferably, the conveyor belt is made of a non-stick coated Invar. A lateral sensor detects and compensates for lateral movement of the conveyor belts. After the food exits the grilling component, the food slides onto a heated holding area for serving.
US08234971B2 Portable, non-electric piston/cylinder coffee brewer
Provided is a brewing device which is portable and does not require the use of electricity, as well as a method of brewing using the portable brewing device. The device includes an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder that function together like a piston in a cylinder. The inner cylinder includes a filter for holding brewing solids at one end. The inner cylinder is dimensioned to slide within the outer cylinder and create a water tight frictional fit with the outer cylinder. Thus, when the inner cylinder is pushed into the outer cylinder filled with liquid, the liquid is force to pass through the filter and into the inner cylinder as brewed liquid.
US08234969B2 Electronic trigger apparatus for use with firearms
Electronic trigger apparatus for use with firearms are described herein. An example electronic trigger apparatus described herein includes a trigger assembly having a trigger and trigger arm that is movable between a first position and a second position. A first biasing element biases the trigger in the first position and provides a first resistance to the trigger when the trigger moves between the first position and the second position. A switch element assembly has a spring element and a sensor operatively coupled to the spring element where the spring element provides a second resistance to the trigger as the trigger moves between a pressure-point position and the second position. The sensor detects a force or deflection imparted on the spring element by the trigger arm when the trigger is in the second position.
US08234966B2 Ballistic armor
An armor plate is provided for use in the ballistic protection of a structure against projectiles incoming from an expected threat direction. The armor plate comprises a layer of pellets made of ballistic material; a gap having a contour at least partially defined by circumferential surfaces of those of the pellets that are exposed to the gap, and occupying an area corresponding to a plurality of the pellets; and an insert inserted within the gap and having an outer surface at least a part of which has an outer shape mimicking the contour of the gap. There is also provided a method for producing the armor plate and an insert for use therein.
US08234962B2 Saw buddy
A folding mounting base is provided to convert a portable hand tool such as a portable band saw into a fixed tool which may be used on a workbench. The mounting base has upper and lower cradles, the upper cradle folding down next to the lower cradle for storage. In use, the handle of the portable tool in placed in the upper and lower cradles, and held in position by a toggle clamp. The toggle clamp engages the hand tool trigger to maintain the tool in an operating condition.
US08234957B2 Internally retained jaw roller pin
A power tong jaw comprising a jaw body having upper and lower flange sections with flange apertures formed through the upper and lower flange sections. The power tong jaw will further have a jaw roller including a pin aperture and a roller pin positioned through the pin aperture in the jaw roller and through at least one of the upper or lower jaw flange apertures. The power tong jaw will further include a flexible retaining mechanism (i) positioned between outer surfaces of the upper and lower flange and (ii) engaging the roller pin.
US08234950B1 Homogeneous and single-side-operational connector mechanism for self-reconfigurable, self-assembly and self-healing systems
Designs of single-end-operative reconfigurable genderless connectors that include a base, a plurality of movable jaws that are formed on the base and can engage to the jaws of another connector, and an actuator that is mounted on the base and can engage and move the jaws of the reconfigurable connector to connect the reconfigurable connector with another connector.
US08234940B2 Trace evidence collection method
A method of collecting trace evidence comprises utilizing a sheet material to recover trace evidence wherein the sheet material comprises a sheet of non-porous material having a first side and a second side, the first side comprising an active side exhibiting an adhesion peel force after activation by a user which is greater than an adhesion peel force exhibited prior to activation by a user and which is sufficient to form a continuous seal against any target surface. The adhesion peel force before activation is substantially zero. The activation of the active side requires no removal of components of the sheet of material. The sheet of material is sufficiently flexible to conform readily to any desired surface and has sufficiently small resiliency that it does not exert undue restorative forces which would tend to cause the sheet of material to break contact with such a desired surface. The method further comprises releasing the trace evidence, regardless of the type of trace evidence, from the sheet material without damaging the trace evidence and without utilizing chemicals.
US08234937B2 Vertical axis adjustable platform and torque sensor
A torque sensor includes an adjustable platform vertically adjustable to place a sensing module near a rotating target to obtain measurements there from with a sensing element. The apparatus can be configured to include a bottom channel mounted to a base and a PCB tray mounted to a top channel, the PCB tray and top channel vertically adjustable from the base by a rotating shaft. The top and bottom channels are coupled to side bars and side channels in pairs movably connected by joint pins with a rotatable shaft movably connecting said joint pins. The sensing module is movable with respect to the base via rotation of said rotatable shaft causing movement of said pair of side bars and side channels, placing said sensing element nearest a target to obtain rotational movement data.
US08234936B2 Torque wrench having improved tightening torque measurement value
A torque wrench having ease of operation compatible with improved accuracy of measurement. The torque wrench includes a tightening portion, a housing having a front side cover part and a back side grip part and a shaft-like strain body that is contained inside the housing. First distortion sensors and second distortion sensors are arranged on the strain body at spaced points in the axial direction of the strain body for measuring an amount of distortion of the strain body. A microprocessor chip has functions including computation of a tightening torque which is corrected for errors due to changes in a point of effort where a tightening force is applied by a user. The correction is based on the detection result of the first distortion sensors and the second distortion sensors. An output portion outputs the corrected tightening torque measurement value.
US08234934B2 Ultrasound measurement of the flow speed of a fluid in a conduit
An ultrasound measurement apparatus (10) is set forth for measuring the flow speed of a fluid in a conduit (12) having a plurality of ultrasonic transducers (14) pairs of which span between them a plurality of main measurement paths and at least one diagnosis measurement path, and having an evaluation unit (12) which is made to determine a respective individual measured value for the flow speed from transit times of ultrasound transmitted and received with and against the flow on each measurement path (16, 18), to calculate individual measured values of the main measurement paths as a main measured value for the flow speed, to determine a measured diagnosis value from the at least one individual measured value of the diagnosis measured path and to compare the main measured value and the measured diagnosis value with one another. In this respect at least some of the ultrasonic transducers (14a) have widened transmission and reception lobes so that a plurality of ultrasonic transducers (14, 14a) are arranged in their transmission and reception lobes so that, in addition to the primary measurement paths (16) spanned between two mutually aligned ultrasonic transducers, at least one additional secondary measurement path (18) is opened as a main measurement path or as a diagnosis measurement path.
US08234932B2 Annulus vortex flowmeter
An annulus vortex flowmeter for use in conjunction with a subterranean well. A flowmeter includes a housing, a vortex responsive structure which vibrates in response to vortices produced external to the housing and a sensor which senses vibration of the structure and produces a signal indicative of a flow rate. A method of measuring fluid flow rate between a tubular string and a zone intersected by a wellbore includes utilizing a flowmeter having a vortex shedding device external to a housing for interconnection in the tubular string, the flowmeter including a vortex responsive structure which vibrates in response to vortices produced by the vortex shedding device as the fluid flows through an annulus external to the housing, and a sensor which senses vibration of the structure and produces a signal indicative of the rate of flow of the fluid; and determining the flow rate based on the sensor signal.
US08234927B2 Differential pressure sensor with line pressure measurement
A pressure sensor assembly for sensing a pressure of a process fluid includes a sensor body having a cavity formed therein and first and second openings to the cavity configured to apply first and second pressures. A diaphragm in the cavity separates the first opening from the second opening and is configured to deflect in response to a differential pressure between the first pressure and the second pressure. A capacitance based deformation sensor is provided and configured to sense deformation of the sensor body in response to a line pressure applied to the sensor body.
US08234926B2 Pressure sensor with a closed cavity containing an inert filling medium
A pressure sensor has a substrate with conductor tracks for contact-connecting electrical components. The pressure sensor has a measuring element for converting a mechanical measurement variable into an electrical signal and a signal converter for processing the electrical signals from the measuring element further. Furthermore, the pressure sensor has a first diaphragm which, together with the substrate, forms a first closed cavity which contains an inert filling medium. At least one side of the measuring element of the pressure sensor, which comprises an active surface, has direct contact with the filling medium in the first cavity. The signal converter is arranged on the substrate in the form of an unhoused integrated circuit.
US08234910B2 Aqueous chemical leak detection cable
Disclosed are aqueous chemical leak detection cables that provide protection to sensor wires by using a conductive polymer coating that is resistant to corrosion by aqueous chemicals. In addition, non-conductive, liquid pervious layers may surround one or more of the sensor wires to assist in preventing false detection of an aqueous chemical leak as a result of various non-liquid contaminants. The non-conductive, liquid pervious layer may comprise spirally wrapped or braided, non-hydroscopic, non-conductive monofilament fibers, or a continuous, non-conductive pervious coating.
US08234898B1 Bending assembly for extruded stock material
A bending assembly for extruded, stock material specifically including elongated channel stock initially supported on a mandrel in an operative position relative to a forming assembly which includes a movable section and a fixed section. The movable section includes a forming channel disposed about a periphery thereof and having a predetermined curved configuration corresponding to the intended curve of the stock material to be bent. Cooperative placement and structuring of the movable and fixed sections continuously force the stock material into the forming channel and along the length thereof upon travel of the movable section through a forming cycle. A locking assembly is structured to secure the stock material to the movable section, such that the stock material moves relative to the both the movable and fixed sections and with the movable section during the forming cycle. A brace assembly is mounted interiorly of the stock material in order to prevent unwanted deformation thereof.
US08234897B2 Press-forming device and press-forming method
A press-forming device has a punch (2), a die (7) which relatively moves with respect to the punch (2), a strain amount measuring means (8) which is provided inside a member to be controlled and measures a strain amount of the aforesaid member to be controlled which occurs in accordance with press-forming, when at least one of the punch (2) and the die (7) is made the aforesaid member to be controlled, and a strain amount control means (9) which is provided in the aforesaid member to be controlled and controls the strain amount of the aforesaid member to be controlled which occurs in accordance with press-forming. The strain amount control means (9) controls a drive amount of the aforesaid member to be controlled so that the strain amount measured by the strain amount measuring means (8) is in a predetermined range during forming. Thereby, reduction in a surface strain, improvement in shape fixability or the like of a press formed product can be achieved.
US08234896B2 Padlock for adjusting to a length of a lock cylinder
A padlock for adjusting to a length of a lock cylinder includes a padlock housing and a shackle having an unlocked position and a locked position within the padlock housing. A central bore is disposed in a bottom of the padlock housing having a depth longer than the length of the lock cylinder for accepting the lock cylinder within the padlock housing. An adaptable cam is adjustably joinable to a distal end of the lock cylinder for adjusting for a difference between the depth and the length, and for rotatable engagement of the shackle to enable the shackle to move between the locked position and the unlocked position. A lock cap is joinable to an open end of the central bore for retaining the adaptable cam and the lock cylinder within the central bore.
US08234887B2 Washing machine having steam generator
The present invention relates to drum type washing machines, and more particularly, to a new type of steam generator for a drum type washing machine, which enables fast and effective washing and drying of laundry, and can provide a refresh effect of removal of wrinkles form, and sterilization of the laundry. For this, a steam generator (600) includes a steam generating portion (610) having a water supply inlet (612) at one side and an outlet (613) at the other side, and a space (611) between the water supply inlet (612) and the outlet (613), a water supply flow line (620) connected to the water supply inlet (612) for guiding the water to the space, a discharge flow line (630) connected to the outlet (613) for guiding a flow of steam generated at the space, a bypass flow line (660) connected to the water supply flow line (620) for discharging the water overflowing from the steam generating portion (610) in a case water is supplied in a state the outlet (613) and/or the discharge flow line (630) are blocked, and a heater (640) for heating the water supplied through the water supply inlet (612) to generate the steam.
US08234884B2 Air-cooling/tempering apparatus and air-cooling/tempering method for a glass sheet
The present invention provides an air-cooling/tempering device and an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass sheet, which are capable of uniformly air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet as a whole without being affected by the pitch between adjacent rollers and a roller diameter.The roller body of each roller forming the air-cooling/tempering device includes a rotary shaft formed of a guide shaft permitting a bendable action; and a plurality of ring rollers carried on the guide shaft and engaged and coupled with adjacent ring rollers; and disc rollers fixedly carried at intervals on ring rollers so as not to overlap the disc rollers on an adjacent roller with respect to a conveying direction of the glass sheet. Further, outlet modules are disposed on ring rollers between adjacent disc rollers through bearings so as to be rotatable with respect to the rotary shaft.The coupled ring rollers can curve the guide shaft to curve the roller body, and the glass sheet is air-cooled and tempered by blowing cooling air to the glass sheet from the outlet modules while the glass sheet is conveyed by the disc rollers rotated via the ring rollers.
US08234882B2 Method for producing iridescent crystal glass
The invention relates to a method for producing iridescent crystal glass. The glass products produced with the method of present invention have the advantages of good streamline shape, natural color transition, and excellent visual effect, etc.; the method is helpful for accelerating product upgrade, improving product appearance and visual effects, and enhancing competence of products. Therefore, we paint iridescent crystal ink on glass products, and add patterns suitable for household electric appliances and buildings, thereby greatly improving the appearance of the product. In addition, due to the high safety performance of toughened glass and suitability of patterns and colors, iridescent crystal glass products have been accepted by the consumers gradually. The method comprises the following steps: a. cutting; b. edge processing; c. toughening; d. ink preparation; e. iridescent crystal printing; f. drying: the drying time and drying temperature are controlled according to the properties of the mixed ink; the drying temperature is controlled at 120˜200° C., and the drying time is controlled within 5˜30 minutes.
US08234869B2 Aviation engine inlet with tangential blowing for buzz saw noise control
Buzz saw noise propagates through inlet of aviation engine at high power settings. An inlet of aviation engine with blowing slot blowing air grazing over surface of buzz saw lining at speeds higher than inlet mean air flow speed for buzz saw noise control.
US08234865B2 Thermatically operated bypass valve for passive warmup control of aftertreatment device
In order for automobile exhaust catalysts to function they must be at operational temperatures. When an engine starts from cold the vehicle, including the exhaust system and any after-treatment device located therein, is at ambient temperature. Since 60% to 80% of the total emissions emitted occur at engine cold start and idle up to 120 seconds, it is imperative that the catalyst function as fast as possible. This invention provides a passive thermatically controlled bypass valve to enable the exhaust flow to bypass the enthalpy loss incurred by driving the turbine wheel of a turbocharger, and thus more rapidly deliver heat to the catalyst or after-treatment.
US08234864B2 Engine system having multi-stage turbocharging and exhaust gas recirculation
An engine system is disclosed. The engine system includes an engine, an intake system for providing intake air to the engine and an exhaust system receiving exhaust gas from the engine. The engine system also includes a first exhaust turbine arranged downstream of the engine and a second and third exhaust turbines coupled in parallel and arranged downstream of the first exhaust turbine. A first valve is associated with the second and third exhaust turbines, the first valve configured to at least partially restrict exhaust gas to one of the second and third exhaust turbines and increase exhaust gas to the other turbine. The engine system also includes an exhaust gas recirculation system configured to redirect at least a portion of exhaust gas from the exhaust system to the intake system.
US08234856B2 Exhaust emission control system for internal combustion engine
In an exhaust emission control system for an internal combustion engine, an exhaust gas recirculation device that operates so as to partially open an exhaust valve to introduce exhaust gas into a cylinder in an intake stroke is provided; a secondary air passage capable of supplying secondary air to an exhaust passage is connected to the exhaust passage; and a one-way valve opened by negative pressure applied from the cylinder to the exhaust passage following an operation of the exhaust gas recirculation device in the intake stroke is provided in the secondary air passage. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an exhaust emission control system for an internal combustion engine that allows secondary air to be supplied into an exhaust passage to reduce HC and CO concentrations and also a NOx concentration in an exhaust gas without using an air pump regardless of an exhaust system structure of the internal combustion engine.
US08234853B2 Catalyst degradation determining method
A catalyst degradation determining method includes the steps of: controlling an upstream-of-catalyst air-fuel ratio occurring upstream of a first catalyst to an air-fuel ratio that is rich of a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio so that first and second catalysts store oxygen up to a maximum storage amount of oxygen. The method then includes the steps of controlling the upstream-of-catalyst air-fuel ratio to a first lean air-fuel ratio until an output of a downstream-of-first-catalyst sensor indicates a lean air-fuel ratio, and then to a second lean air-fuel ratio and that has a value that is determined in accordance with an oxidizing-reducing capability index value, until a time point when an output of a downstream-of-second-catalyst air-fuel ratio sensor indicates an air-fuel ratio that is lean.
US08234850B1 Tool and method for creating fashion accessories
A device comprising: (a) a body portion including: (i) a first end and ii. a second end; (b) a holder at the first end; (c) a holder at the second end; (d) a rotation device at the first end in communication with the holder at the first end; and wherein the holder is fixedly attached to a split gear having a channel therethrough so that one or more flexible mediums may be placed through the channel and removed from a work area located between the holder at the first end and the holder at the second end.
US08234841B2 Apparatus and method for filling flexible foil bags
A method of filling flexible foil bags, wherein a foil bag is shaped at least partially by a gaseous medium and is then filled with a liquid filling material, with the gaseous medium disinfecting the foil bag. Also, an apparatus for filling foil bags comprising a shaping unit for shaping the foil bags using a gaseous medium, a filling unit for filling the foil bags with a liquid medium, with the ability of adding a disinfecting effect to the gaseous medium.
US08234840B2 Form, fill, and seal system
A form, fill and seal system having a product fill assembly, a tube forming assembly and a fitment securing assembly. The system allows for the relative positioning of the fitment that is to be applied to the film that forms the bags, at various points along the film by having the fitment securing assembly relatively positionable with respect to the tube forming assembly. In turn, with adjustments, a fitment can be located at a number of locations on a finished bag.
US08234832B2 Cast-in channel
The present invention relates to a cast-in channel having a channel body which forms a receiving space for receiving a connecting element used to fixedly attach a fastening element to the cast-in channel, the channel body further being provided with holes, the holes having connectors provided therein for fixedly attaching anchoring members to the channel body. The connectors are designed as rivets, whose fixing portions, which are inserted through the respective holes, are expanded so as to secure the rivets to the channel body, and which have an attachment for fixedly attaching the anchoring members to the channel body. The present invention also relates to a rivet nut for a cast-in channel.
US08234830B2 Mechanical locking system for floor panels
Floor panels (1b, 1c) are shown which are provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a tongue with rocker arms that allows locking by a vertical turning motion.
US08234816B2 Door for a motor vehicle
A door that is pivotable and slidable relative to a vehicle includes an articulated arm pivotably supported at a pivot joint, a guide carriage displaceably guided by a guide rail and coupled to the pivot joint, a tie rod, the tie rod being hingedly connected to the guide carriage, and a spring-loaded index bolt which is vertically displaceable. The door further comprises a rotary slide having a rotary slide surface which dictates vertical movement of the index bolt between a first position in which the articulated arm and the tie rod are engaged by the index bolt so that the articulated arm and the tie rod rotate in unison and a second position in which the tie rod is disengaged from the index bolt so that the articulated arm pivots relative to the tie rod.
US08234813B2 Hydroponic growing enclosure and method for growing, harvesting, processing and distributing algae, related microrganisms and their by products
Systems and methods for hydroponically growing microorganisms within a self-contained air-supported structure, in which microorganisms are grown in an organic slurry, harvested, and processed to obtain and process and distribute molecules useful for biofuel or other purposes.
US08234807B2 High feed ramp for colt 1911 style handguns
A high feed ramp for use in Colt 1911 style handguns including a feed ramp on the frame (receiver) for guiding bullets into the barrel of the gun; a boiler room (barrel breech) with a small chamfered around its entire inner circumference; and an integral relief rim extension on the upper edge of the feed ramp, such that the feed ramp is extended over the bottom edge of the chamfered boiler room; wherein when the handgun is fired the bullets easily enter into the barrel and do not jam or misfire.
US08234801B2 Apparatus for feeding pieces of cloth
The present invention relates to an apparatus (1) for feeding pieces of cloth to a device for treating clothes, said apparatus (1) comprising: one or more sets of spreader clamps (20) arranged to be moveable away from each other for straightening of a fore edge of said pieces of cloth and for delivering said piece of cloth to the conveyor (40). At least one set of spreader clamps is configured for performing a movement between a receiving (M) and a delivery (A) position, where the spreader clamps in the receiving position (M) have a first predetermined orientation relative to the conveyor (40); and wherein the spreader clamps (20) in the delivery (A) position have a second predetermined orientation, where the straightened piece of cloth is essentially in parallel with the conveyor (40). Hereby it is accomplished that the pieces of cloth can be received in the spreader clamps (20) from a random feeding position on the charger station (70).
US08234799B2 Detachable cleat arrangement
A cleat arrangement is configured for use with an article of footwear comprises a receptacle, a cleat, and a retaining ring. The receptacle is provided in the sole of the footwear. The cleat includes a projecting member and a retaining surface. The retaining surface is configured to fit within the receptacle with the projecting member extending from the receptacle. The retaining ring fits over the cleat and engages the retaining surface of the cleat positioned within the receptacle and the projecting member of the cleat extending through the retaining ring. The retaining ring releasably engages the receptacle such that the retaining ring holds the cleat within the receptacle.
US08234793B2 Arrangement with a scale fastened on a support
An arrangement for a scale, the arrangement including a scale having a measurement graduation that defines a measurement range and a support arranged opposite to the measurement graduation. The arrangement further includes spheres two-dimensionally distributed on the support, wherein the spheres are immovably fixed on the support and to the scale.
US08234792B2 Linear encoder
A linear encoder that includes a housing having: an elongated hollow profile section including a first face end and a second face end; a cap disposed on the first face end; and a seal which is disposed in sealing fashion between the hollow profile section and the cap, wherein the seal includes an electrically conductive connecting element. The linear encoder further includes a scale made of electrically nonconductive material, wherein the scale is disposed inside the housing and the scale includes a measuring graduation that is scannable by a scanning unit, which is movable in a measurement direction relative to the housing. The linear encoder includes a shunt made of electrically conductive material, wherein the shunt is mounted on the scale and extends in the measurement direction and wherein the electrically conductive connecting element is configured so as to establish an electrical connection between the shunt and at least one of the hollow profile section and the cap.
US08234781B2 Printed circuit board and method of fabricating the same
Disclosed is a printed circuit board, which includes an insulating member having a circuit pattern embedded in one surface thereof, a build-up layer formed on one surface of the insulating member and including a build-up insulating layer and a circuit layer formed in the build-up insulating layer and having a via connected to the circuit pattern, and a solder resist layer formed on the build-up layer. A method of fabricating the printed circuit board is also provided. The printed circuit board is fabricated using a build-up process and the outermost circuit layer thereof is formed to have an embedded structure using an imprinting process, thus minimizing the separation of the circuit layer and reducing the lead time and the fabrication cost.
US08234778B2 Substrate inductive devices and methods
Methods and Apparatus for providing a low-cost and high-precision inductive device. In one embodiment, the inductive device comprises a plurality of vias having extended ends which replace windings disposed around a magnetically permeable core. In another embodiment, the inductive device comprises a wired center core as well as a plurality of vias having extended ends which act as windings disposed around a magnetically permeable core. In a second aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing the aforementioned inductive devices as well as the wired core centers is disclosed.
US08234774B2 Method for fabricating a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) resonator
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a method for decreasing a temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of a MEMS resonator. The method comprises lithographically defining slots in the MEMS resonator beams and filling the slots with oxide. By growing oxide within the slots, the amount of oxide growth on the outside surfaces of the MEMS resonator may be reduced. Furthermore, by situating the slots in the areas of large flexural stresses, the contribution of the embedded oxide to the overall TCF of the MEMS resonator is increased, and the total amount of oxide needed to decrease the overall TCF of the MEMS resonator to a particular target value is reduced. As a result, the TCF of the MEMS resonator may be reduced in a manner that is more effective relative to prior art approaches.
US08234768B2 Method of forming an information handling system enclosure
An information handling system enclosure is formed from a metal panel having a thickness, such as approximately 1 mm, by stamping a raised edge from the panel so that the height of the edge appears as a thickness of the panel, such as 2.5 mm. The raised edge is stamped to have a raised edge of slightly greater than the final edge height and then punched into a corner tool to provide the raised edge with a desired height. Punching into the corner tool forms the edge along the outer circumference of the panel to have a substantially square appearance.
US08234765B2 Method for repairing the surface of a formwork panel
A method of repairing the surface of a formwork panel made of plastic. The invention provides for a surface coating of the formwork panel to be removed by machining, for example by a milling cutter, and for the formwork panel to be recoated with the same thickness as the removed surface coating. For the repair, the formwork panel can remain in its frame.
US08234761B2 Wire-gate carabiner
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an improved wire-gate carabiner system including a frame, gate, and gate biasing system. The gate is pivotably coupled to the frame across an opening to form a continuously enclosed inner region in a closed configuration. The gate may be referred to as a wire-type gate in that it includes an arch and two ends. The arch is looped over a hook disposed on the keyed region of the frame in the closed configuration. The two ends are pivotably coupled to the frame at two independent gate coupling points on the pivot region so as to utilize the torsional rigidity of the gate structure as the gate biasing system. The keyed region of the frame includes a hook and a cover. The cover is oriented and shaped to laterally shield the arch and hook from undesirable couplings.
US08234759B2 Device for releasably securing to a support surface
A device for releasably securing to a support surface, such as a cork board, bulletin board and/or cubicle wall is provided. The device has a body, at least one pin movably coupled to the body for securing the body to a support surface, and an actuator coupled to the body and arranged to move the pin between a first position and a second position. The body may have a cavity and the pin may be movable between a first position where the pin is recessed within the cavity and a second position where the pin protrudes out of the cavity for securing the body to a support surface. In one embodiment, the device is a clip for releasably holding an object, such as paper, to the support device.
US08234747B1 Windshield wiper assembly
A vehicle windshield wiper blade having multiple cleaning elements which are rotatable to provide a new cleaning surface is herein disclosed. The wiper blade is arranged such that two (2) rubber blades and one (1) bristle brush are in contact with a windshield surface at all times during use. The wiper blade allows is rotatable and lockable in ninety degree (90°) increments as needed, thereby extending a useful life. The wiper blade is supported by a rod structure which is attached to an existing vehicle wiper arm in a conventional manner. As the wiper blade traverses the windshield, the brush scrubs the windshield, removing splattered and stuck-on debris, while the outer blades sweep water and residue away.
US08234734B2 Modular teething rail cover device
A baby crib rail device is provided for assisting an infant with relieving pain associated with teething. The device comprises a plurality of crib rail covers removably secure to the guardrail of a child's crib or playpen. Rail covers consist of channels having an inverted “U” shaped cross-section. The covers are secured to an infant crib guardrail by placing the rail through the open bottom of a crib rail cover and pushing downward to secure its location. Sections of rail cover are removably securable to each other in an end-to-end structure that results in an elongated crib rail cover. The covers may be constructed of a soft, durable, sanitizable material such as rubber or plastic. The surfaces of the different rail covers may have a variety of surface contours to provide different types of gum stimulation for teething infants. Rail covers may be arranged in any desired configuration according to the needs or interests of a child.
US08234733B1 Pillow for supporting head and neck
A sleeping pillow divided by a hinge web into head and neck sections, with a neck recess defining a neck roll formed in the neck section, and with the neck section moveable about web to hinged position with respect to a horizontal head section so that pillow supports a sleeper's head at the head section and neck on the neck roll.
US08234721B1 Headgear with integrated game netting
Headgear comprising a crown portion, a visor portion, and a netting secured to the visor portion. The crown portion is preferably separably secured to the visor portion. Various means of separably securing the crown portion to the visor portion are used including any of Velcro®, or other hook and loop fastening material, buttons, snaps, elastic, or the like. Various means of securing the netting to the visor portion are also used including any of Velcro® or other hook and loop fastening material, buttons, snaps, thread, or the like. The headgear may also omit the crown portion to provide only the visor portion with the netting secured thereto. In any case, a bill of the visor portion may be fitted between a door frame and an edge of the door and the frame, in order to render the netting available for tossing articles into the netting.
US08234719B2 Personal environmental protection apparatus
A respirator apparatus including an improved helmet or headgear construction with a unique shield including a protective lens and cuff attachment therefor. The protective lens is a thin clear plastic sheet designed to be used as a lens with a (PAPR) respirator and the cuff is an attached fabric or similar material designed to form a facial seal around the wearer.
US08239967B2 Simultaneous tamper-proofing and anti-piracy protection of software
Simultaneous tamper-proofing and anti-piracy protection of software is provided by splitting applications into two parts: an application, and an application launcher. The application is subject to the tamper-proofing protections deployed by a networked service, while the application launcher is subject to anti-piracy protections. To ensure that the application benefits from the anti-piracy protection of the application launcher, the application and application launcher share a trusted challenge-response relationship. The application includes a challenger library for issuing challenges to the application launcher, and the application launcher includes a responder library for responding to such challenges.
US08239952B1 Method and system for detection of remote file inclusion vulnerabilities
A method for detecting remote file inclusion vulnerabilities in a web application includes altering of extracted resource references from a web application, submission of altered references as HTTP requests to the web application, inspection of corresponding HTTP responses, and diagnosis of vulnerability. A system of invention implements the method.
US08239948B1 Selecting malware signatures to reduce false-positive detections
A set of candidate signatures for a malicious software (malware) is generated. The candidate signatures in the set are scored based on features that indicate the signatures are more unique and thus less likely to generically occur non-malicious programs. A malware signature for the malware entity is selected from among the candidate malware signatures based on the scores. The selected malware signature is stored.
US08239919B2 Flexible hardware password protection and access control
An optic module is disclosed having a memory configured to store data. To selectively control access to the memory and data stored in memory, a method and apparatus for memory access control is provided which creates access levels. The access levels include associated passwords, and read/write capability control, and address access range. During use a technician or other party would enter a password via an interface and the entered password is compared to the password associated with each access level. If a match is not found, then access to the memory, a hence data within the memory is denied. If a match is found the technician gains access to the data stored in the memory address range associated with the access level. Read and write access may also be granted or denied.
US08239915B1 Endpoint management using trust rating data
Techniques are disclosed for implementing dynamic endpoint management. In accordance with one embodiment, whenever an endpoint joins a managed network for the first time, or rejoins that network, a local security module submits a list of applications (e.g., all or incremental) to a security server. The server validates the list and sends back a rule set (e.g., allow/block rules and/or required application security settings) for those applications. If the server has no information for a given application, it may further subscribe to content from a content provider or service. When the server is queried regarding an unknown application, the server sends a query to the service provider to obtain a trust rating for that unknown application. The trust rating can then be used to generate a rule set for the unknown application. Functionality can be shifted from server to client, and vice-versa if so desired.
US08239913B2 Method and system for inserting digital video effects into a video stream in redundant paths before routing
A system and apparatus for generating an output signal includes a receiving system 160 generating a plurality of signals having a first format and communicating the plurality of signals simultaneously through a primary path and a secondary path. A digital video effects module 240 inserting a digital video effect into at least a first signal of the plurality of signals in a primary path. An encoder 182 encoding the plurality of signals into a plurality of transport streams and a multiplexer. A local area network 130 routes the plurality of transport streams to the multiplexer to form a combined signal. A modulator 210 modulates the combined signal to form a modulated signal and a system 202 forms the output signal from the modulated signal.
US08239901B2 Buffer control method, relay apparatus, and communication system
Disclosed is a relay apparatus including a video buffer control unit that controls a video buffer according to a control instruction received by an instruction receiving unit, a threshold set by a threshold setting unit, and a timing set by a timing generation unit. The video buffer control unit controls the video buffer for each segment, according to a result of analysis by a segment interpretation unit.
US08239897B2 Method and apparatus for multiple audio outputs
A method for transmitting audio signals. The method of transmitting audio signals may include separately transmitting a video signal and an audio signal. Further, the method of transmitting audio signals may include transmitting a first video signal and a first audio signal to one component, transmitting a second video signal to the same component and separately transmitting a second audio signal to a second component.
US08239890B2 Systems and methods for authorizing access to content for a television receiver
Described herein are techniques for transferring content authorization information between television receivers. Authorization information for content and features associated with a television receiver is securely stored on a portable storage device. The portable storage device may be moved and connected to a different television receiver in order to transfer the authorization information to the different television receiver. The other television receiver accesses information on the portable storage device and allows the user to access the content and features that are authorized on the home television receiver.
US08239888B2 Advertising metrics system and method
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for monitoring audio-video (AV) streams transported over a network. The system may include at least one AV probe configured for installation at a network node. The at least one AV probe may be configured to receive an incoming AV stream at a native frame rate and to capture at least one thumbnail of the incoming AV stream at a sampling rate which is less than the native frame rate to form a thumbnail stream. The at least one AV probe may be further configured to timestamp and transmit the thumbnail stream, and to forward the incoming AV stream substantially in real-time. The system may further include at least one monitoring engine operatively connected with the at least one AV probe, the at least one monitoring engine configured to receive the thumbnail stream, capture AV data from the thumbnail stream, and transform the AV data into a visual representation of AV stream quality of experience (QoE).
US08239886B2 System and method for a video content service monitoring and provisioning architecture
According to one example embodiment there is provided a computer program executable on a computing platform to at least in part analyze data at least in part obtained from one or more data sources of an Internet-protocol television (IPTV) network, wherein the data provided by the data sources includes set-top-box data, subscriber data, demographic data, content server data and network usage data. In another embodiment, the computer program at least in part correlates video provisioning information obtained from the data sources, individual subscriber channel viewing information, subscriber data and demographic data to provide informative views of data. The provisioning information may include information such as what programs or television (TV) commercials are shown on each channel during different time periods and the TV or video-on-demand program category information.
US08239880B1 Orchestrating flow of event information to several event handling components
Event management techniques for use in a computer system comprising an event generating component generating at least one event and a plurality of event handling components applying one or more business process rules in response to the event. In one embodiment of the invention, an event generation component provides to an event handling component a notification of an event and context information about the event, in the same communication. The context information may provide all the information necessary for the event handling component to apply one or more business policy rules to determine how to handle the event. In some implementations having multiple event handling components of different types, the event generating component may be configured to provide notification of events to the event handling components in a specified order. In some implementations, multiple event handling components may be joined in a logical pool, sharing responsibility for handling events.
US08239878B2 Verification of loadable objects
A method and apparatus for verifying loadable objects. A request is received from an application to load a first loadable object into memory. A first signature value is calculated for the first loadable object. The first loadable object is loaded into memory if the first signature value matches one of a plurality of signature values, each of the plurality of signature values being associated with a distinct loadable object.
US08239874B2 Inbox with focused messages according to categories
Focusing electronic mail messages in a list of messages. Category information is received for classifying particular e-mail messages or senders of the messages in the list of e-mail messages according to a category. The method also includes setting a status data associated with each of the particular messages. The status data indicates the category classified by the user. A first instruction is received from the user for focusing the particular messages according to the category. The particular messages having the status data therewith in the list are focused collectively without altering a preexisting order of the messages in the list.
US08239871B2 Managing timeout in a multithreaded system by instantiating a timer object having scheduled expiration time and set of timeout handling information
A method of managing a multithreaded computer system comprises instantiating, in response to each transaction initiated by a first thread of a plurality of threads, a timer object including a scheduled expiration time and a set of timeout handling information for the transaction in storage local to the first thread; registering, in response to each passing of a fixed time interval, each timer object in the storage local to the first thread for which the scheduled expiration time is earlier than the fixed time interval added to a current time in a timer processing component by adding a pointer referencing the timer object to a data structure managed by the timer processing component; and managing each timer object corresponding to a transaction initiated by the first thread that is not registered in the timer processing component in the storage local to the first thread. The timer processing component regularly processes each timer object referenced by the data structure for which the scheduled expiration time value is not earlier than the current time in accordance with the set of timeout handling information of the timer object.
US08239870B2 Scheduling execution of work units with policy based extension of long-term plan
A solution for scheduling execution of jobs is proposed. In this case, a long-term plan expressed in terms of streams of jobs is created in advance (for example, for some months). An actual production plan (for a production period P(p) typically of one day) is then generated by extracting a corresponding portion of the long-term plan and expanding the streams into their jobs. In the proposed solution, a policy for the long-term plan is defined; for example, this policy specifies a minimum length L(min) and a maximum length L(max) of the long-term plan. The (remaining) length of the long-term plan is checked after each generation of the production plan; if the long-term plan is shorter than the minimum length L (min), it is expanded automatically up to the maximum length L(max).
US08239861B2 Software-based unloading and reloading of an inactive function to reduce memory usage of a data processing task performed using a virtual machine
A method of performing a processing task in a data processing apparatus is provided that reduces memory usage of the processing task. According to this method a Virtual Machine performs the steps of accessing platform-neutral program code in a function repository, executing the processing task on the Virtual Machine, and analysing at a current execution point, on a function-by-function basis, which functions in the function repository are inactive functions. The Virtual Machine performs software-based unloading from the function repository of at least a portion of platform-neutral program code corresponding to one or more inactive functions. A corresponding virtual machine and data processing apparatus are also provided.
US08239857B2 Information processing apparatus and method of installing application program
An information processing apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive an application including a first application for the information processing apparatus, and a second application for a device other than the information processing apparatus, an installing unit configured to install the application received by the receiving unit, and an acquiring unit configured to acquire information for identifying a device on which to install the second application included in the application, wherein the installing unit installs the first application included in the application on the information processing apparatus, and sends the second application included in the application to the device identified by the information acquired by the acquiring unit.
US08239854B2 Bookmark and configuration file for installation sequence
A bookmark file is stored in persistent storage and is updated as various tasks are completed during an installation process. The bookmark file may be read when an installation process is started so that the installation process may continue from a point after the last successfully completed task, if the installation process had failed and was restarted. The bookmark file may also include data collected from a user interface during the installation process. When an installation process is restarted, some embodiments may present the data in a user interface for the user to modify. The installation process may be defined in a configuration file that includes metadata that defines the sequence of installation tasks as well as some error handling for various tasks.
US08239850B2 Computer-implemented method of releasing battery state estimation software
A computer implemented method of facilely releasing a BSE software module adapted for execution by an electronic control unit having an update model of the BSE software and a controller having an embedded desktop model of the BSE software, includes a plurality of autonomously performed steps resulting in the compiling of a plurality of c-files into a library file. A single keyword activated preferred embodiment is disclosed in a MatLab®/Simulink®/Real-Time Workshop® environment.
US08239849B2 Class loading delegation network
A method for a first software component in a class loading delegation network to obtain a class definition for a serialized software object, the software object implementing a software interface defined by a second software component and having associated a class defined by a third software component, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a reference to the third software component from the class loading delegation network using an identifier of the software interface and requesting the class from the third software component.
US08239842B2 Implicit line continuation
Modified compilers and other development tools provide implied line continuation within a sequence of syntax tokens of a programming language grammar which includes multiple semantic contexts and which uses line termination as presumptive statement termination. When source code parsing encounters a line terminator adjacent a context-dependent implicit line continuation token in an associated semantic context, an explicit decision is made whether to imply line continuation. Line continuation may also be implied in response to other specified tokens.
US08239841B2 Prefetching irregular data references for software controlled caches
Prefetching irregular memory references into a software controlled cache is provided. A compiler analyzes source code to identify at least one of a plurality of loops that contain an irregular memory reference. The compiler determines if the irregular memory reference within the at least one loop is a candidate for optimization. Responsive to an indication that the irregular memory reference may be optimized, the compiler determines if the irregular memory reference is valid for prefetching. Responsive to an indication that the irregular memory reference is valid for prefetching, a store statement for an address of the irregular memory reference is inserted into the at least one loop. A runtime library call is inserted into a prefetch runtime library for the irregular memory reference. Data associated with the irregular memory reference is prefetched into the software controlled cache when the runtime library call is invoked.
US08239836B1 Multi-variant parallel program execution to detect malicious code injection
Techniques, computer program products, apparatus and systems for controlling operation of a program code in a digital processor, a computer or a computer system, including techniques for generating program variants, monitoring execution of a program and variants of the program, and detecting functional differences between the multiple executions.
US08239825B2 Dynamic data restructuring method and system
A data restructuring method and system. The method includes receiving by a computing system from a first user content data arranged in a first specified order and a command for tagging portions of the content data according to various parameters. The computing system assigns identification tags to the portions of the content data. The computing system presents the identification tags to the first user. The computing system receives from the first user, a selection of at least one of the identification tags. The computing system restructures the content data into a second specified order in response to the selection. The computing system receives a request for viewing the content data from a second user. The computing system presents to the second user, the content data in the second specified order.
US08239822B2 Symbolic forward and reverse differentiation
The symbolic differentiation technique described herein uses operator overloading and two simple recursive procedures, both the forward and reverse forms of differentiation, to create purely symbolic derivatives. The symbolic derivative expressions can be translated into a program in an arbitrary source language, such as C# or C++, and this program can then be compiled to generate an efficient executable which eliminates much of the interpretive overhead normally encountered in automatic differentiation.
US08239799B2 Placing filler cells in device design based on designation of sensitive feature in standard cell
An instantiation of a standard cell is placed at a location of a device design. The standard cell includes a designation identifying a sensitive feature of the standard cell. An instantiation of a filler cell is placed at a selective location of the device design based on the designation.
US08239797B1 Congestion aware block placement
A circuit design process is presented that includes a block placement operation, followed by global routing based upon the initial placement of the blocks. Congestion data is generated from the global routing and, in an automated process, the blocks are placed again based upon the congestion data to reduce the routing congestion of the design. This can be used as part of a custom layout design process, for example.
US08239796B2 Method and system for synthesizing relative timing constraints on an integrated circuit design to facilitate timing verification
A method for synthesizing relative timing (RT) constraints on an integrated circuit design is disclosed. Initially, multiple trace status tables are received, and each of the trace status tables contains a trace error identified by a formal verification engine that was utilized to perform a relative timing (RT) verification on an integrated circuit design. An error causing signal is then recognized for each of the trace errors. For each of error causing signals, two associating signals are identified, and the two associating signals are then utilized to locate a common point of convergence (POC). The POC is further utilized to locate a common point of divergence (POD), and an RT constraint can be generated based on the identified POC and POD. All the generated RT constraints are applied to constrain the integrated circuit design such that the integrated circuit design is able to pass RT verifications in the future without any timing violations.
US08239789B2 System and method of predicting problematic areas for lithography in a circuit design
A system and method is provided which predicts problematic areas for lithography in a circuit design, and more specifically, which uses modeling data from a modeling tool to accurately predict problematic lithographic areas. The method includes identifying surface heights of plurality of tiles of a modeled wafer, and mathematically mimicking a lithographic tool to determine best planes of focus for exposure for the plurality of tiles.
US08239781B2 Drag and drop of an application component to desktop
The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for dragging and dropping a component of an application onto a virtual desktop. One process includes operations for receiving a request to copy a selected component of an application from a plurality of components of the application onto the virtual desktop. A display window for displaying the selected component of the application is executed and the unselected components of the application are filtered by visually concealing the unselected components. The process can further include presenting the selected component of the application in the display window.
US08239777B2 User interface and method for viewing short messages on a wireless device
A method is performed by an electronic communication device. The method includes storing electronic messages, and storing criteria for determining whether a stored message is related to a current message. A current electronic message is displayed to a user of the communication device, including the current message's outside address and message body. The relevance of each of the stored messages to the current message is assessed based on the previously-stored criteria. Those messages that meet the criteria are selected and displayed along with the current message.
US08239773B1 Systems and methods for co-browsing on a mobile device
A system, method, and computer-usable medium are disclosed for the concurrent display of information between devices. A co-browsing module is implemented to provide concurrent display of information displayed within a Web browser on a mobile device. A co-browsing module implemented on a stationary system queries a co-browsing module implemented on the mobile device to collect information including the device's hardware configuration, the network communications protocol being used, and a session number. The collected information is then used by the co-browsing module on the stationary system to establish a co-browsing session with the co-browsing module on the mobile device. The co-browsing module on the mobile device then provides web display information to the co-browsing module on the CSR's system to control the concurrent display of Web information displayed on the mobile device.
US08239765B2 Displaying stacked bar charts in a limited display area
A system and a method are disclosed for visually displaying data points using stacked bar charts on a display screen with limited display area. A magnification region allows presentation of detailed information for a stacked bar compared to other stacked bars displayed. A stacked bar within a magnification region can be further magnified to display additional information for individual bars within the stacked bar. An individual bar is expanded to a height suitable for displaying information associated with the bar. The stacked bar chart can be moved relative to the magnification region thereby changing the stacked bar displayed within the magnification region.
US08239764B2 System and method for selection of content source upon device power-on
A system and method for determining which program to display from multiple content sources at a power-on event of a content display device at a certain location is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving metadata containing content information about multiple programming available from multiple content sources on an integrated network. The content information can be analyzed so as to determine if any of the programming satisfies rules pertaining to programming appropriate for the location of the display device within a home. The content information can be analyzed in advance such that when a power-on command is received at the content display device, a program that has been determined to satisfy the rules is displayed on the display device.
US08239756B2 Intelligent document filtering
In a network environment that includes a plurality of nodes and that uses a markup language to create documents, a method for filtering the documents is provided. The method includes the step of, upon receiving a request from a requesting node among the plurality of nodes, constructing an input Document Object Model (DOM) based on a document corresponding to the request. The input DOM is stored. Elements of the input DOM that have previously been stored are identified. The input DOM is filtered to obtain a filtered DOM, based on at least one pre-specified rule being applied to the input DOM.
US08239755B2 System and method for abbreviating information sent to a viewing device
A system and method for transporting user-requested framed data from a gateway device to a handheld viewing device includes an information source, a gateway device, a relay network and a handheld viewing device. The gateway device includes a fetch and cache component, storage, and a wireless transport layer. The wireless transport layer delivers content from the gateway to the handheld viewing device. The user of the handheld device is then graphically presented with a representative form of the data and is thus able to manually select certain frames of data through a user interface.
US08239753B2 Information sharing support system providing corraborative annotation, information processing device, computer readable recording medium, and computer controlling method providing the same
An information sharing support system is provided. The system includes a first information processing device connected to a projector device for projecting an image on a projection area, and to an image pick-up device for picking up an image of the projection area; an inputting unit that inputs an event in a first layer, inputs a second annotation image as a part of a first annotation image associated with the event to a second layer, inputs a third annotation image as the remaining part of the first annotation image to a third layer, and inputs a document to a fourth layer; a transmitting unit that transmits the second annotation image; and a second information processing device that allocates the picked-up image to the second layer, and includes a display that displays the third annotation image and the document in an overlapping fashion.
US08239748B1 Media stream synchronization using device and host clocks
A synchronization manager synchronizes multiple media streams. The synchronization manager queries a media stream output device associated with each media stream to synchronize, and in response receives the current device clock time of each device, each device's next available media stream output time, and each device's delta between available media stream output times. The synchronization manager uses this timing information to determine an earliest available media stream output time common to each media stream output device, and synchronizes the output of the media streams by providing each stream to its associated output device at the earliest available common output time.
US08239747B2 Nonvolatile memory devices that utilize error correction estimates to increase reliability of error detection and correction operations
Example embodiments may provide a memory device and memory data reading method. The memory device according to example embodiments may include a multi-bit cell array, an error detector which may read a first data page from a memory page in the multi-bit cell array and may detect an error-bit of the first data page, and an estimator which may identify a multi-bit cell where the error-bit is stored and may estimate data stored in the identified multi-bit cell among data of a second data page. Therefore, the memory device and memory data reading method may have an effect of reducing an error when reading data stored in the multi-bit cell and monitoring a state of the multi-bit cell without additional overhead.
US08239737B2 Data line storage and transmission utilizing both error correcting code and synchronization information
Methods and apparatuses for including synchronization data to be used for parallel processing in a block of data having error correcting code symbols. The block of data is encoded using an error correcting code. The resulting encoding includes three check symbols per 32 data symbols. At least one synchronization symbol corresponding to the data symbols is generated. The data symbols, the check symbols and the at least one synchronization symbol are combined. The combined data symbols, the check symbols and the at least one synchronization symbol are transmitted.
US08239729B2 Data storage device with copy command
A data storage device includes an interface that is configured to interface with a host, a command bus, multiple memory devices that are operably coupled to the command bus and a controller that is operably coupled to the interface and to the command bus. The controller is configured to receive a copy command from the host using the interface, read data from a source memory device in response to the copy command, write the data to a destination memory device in response to the copy command and communicate results to the host using the interface.
US08239723B2 HARQ timing control in wireless communication systems
An apparatus and method for HARQ timing control in wireless communication systems is disclosed. The apparatus and method provides one unified algorithm to determine HARQ timing, with consideration of the downlink-to-uplink ratio, the presence of legacy zones, support of relay zones, and variable transmission time interval length. The disclosed algorithm guarantees sufficient processing time, at both the transmit and receive sides. Further, retransmissions occur in a periodic manner, simplifying the implementation.
US08239720B2 Communication over plural channels with acknowledgment variability
Reliable communication may be implemented using various underlying transport mechanisms, where the underlying transport mechanisms may be reliable or non-reliable. When data is sent from a source to a destination, the source may sent acknowledgment requests (RACKs) to the destination, and may await acknowledgments (ACKs) from the destination. The RACKs and ACKs are sent over the underlying transport mechanism. The rate at which the data source requests acknowledgments from the destination may be varied, depending on the underlying transport mechanism, to achieve lower overhead and to optimize throughput. For example, RACKs may be sent relatively less frequently when the underlying mechanism implements guaranteed delivery, and may be sent relatively more frequently when the underlying transport does not provide guaranteed delivery.
US08239710B2 Communication methods and systems having permutation schemes
A wireless communication method implemented in a communication system may include receiving a data sequence to be permuted, and obtaining information associated with the data sequence to be permuted, the information containing at least a length of the data sequence and a sampling spacing for permuting the data sequence. The method may also include identifying a first portion of the data sequence having a first number of adjacent data items, and a second portion of the data sequence having a second number of adjacent data items. The method may also include accessing the first number of data items from the first portion at the sampling spacing, and placing the accessed first number of data items into a predetermined number of sub-blocks included within a permuted data sequence to be generated based on the received data sequence. The method may further include inserting each of the second number of data items into an end position of one of the sub-blocks within the permuted data sequence, and outputting the permuted data sequence.
US08239707B2 Replicated state machine
A replicated state machine includes multiple state machine replicas. In response to a request from a client, the state machine replicas can execute a service for the request in parallel. Each of the state machine replicas is provided with a request manager instance. The request manager instance includes a distributed consensus means and a selection means. The distributed consensus means commits a stimulus sequence of requests to be processed by each of the state machine replicas. The selection means selects requests to be committed to the stimulus sequence. The selection is based on an estimated service time of the request from the client. The estimated service time of the request from the client is based on a history of service times from the client provided by a feedback from the state machine replicas. As such, requests from multiple clients are serviced fairly.
US08239702B2 One global precise time and one maximum transmission time
Method of controlling a wind power system including a plurality of system elements, the wind power system including a plurality of data processors distributed in the system elements, the method including the steps of: synchronizing at least a part of the data processors to at least one reference signal distributed to the data processors from a time synchronization arrangement, associating the data processors with local clock generation circuitries, wherein the local clock generation circuitries associated with data processors of a first subset of the data processors have a peak-to-peak tracking jitter higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold value and wherein a second subset of the data processors have a peak-to-peak tracking jitter less than the predetermined threshold value, controlling at least one of the system elements at least partly by means of a data processor from the first or second subset of data processors.
US08239699B2 Method and apparatus for performing energy-efficient network packet processing in a multi processor core system
A method and apparatus for managing core affinity for network packet processing is provided. Low-power idle state of a plurality of processing units in a system including the plurality of processing units is monitored. Network packet processing is dynamically reassigned to processing units that are in a non-low power idle state to increase the low-power idle state residency for processing units that are in a low-power idle state resulting in reduced energy consumption.
US08239695B2 Information processing device
In a configuration provided with, for example, sixty four pieces of processor cores, an on-chip-memory, a bus commonly connected thereto, and others, the processor cores are operated by a power supply with low voltage and a clock with low frequency, and the bus is operated by a power supply with high voltage and a clock with high frequency. Each of the processor cores is provided with a bus interface and a frequency divider in order to absorb a power supply voltage difference and a frequency difference between the bus and each of them. The frequency divider generates the clock with low frequency from the clock with high frequency, and the bus interface is provided with a level shifting function, a data width converting function, a hand shaking function between the bus and the bus interface, and the like.
US08239692B1 Automatic power-on system and method using high-speed communication line
A system for powering on downstream devices includes a master device; a first slave device; and a first communication link connecting the master device to the slave device for enabling the master device to transmit data signals to the slave device. The master device includes a power-on signal generator for injecting a power-on signal onto the communication link and the first slave device includes a power-on signal receiver for detecting the power-on signal injected on the communication link by the power-on signal generator and powering on the first slave device.
US08239689B2 Device and method for a secure execution of a program
A device and method for a secure execution of a program. The program includes a sequence of program commands including use and checking commands. A checking value is generated according to a setup regulation when executing a checking command. A control value is generated according to the setup regulation and the checking value is compared to the control value. An insecure execution of the program is indicated when the checking value and the control value do not match.
US08239688B2 Securely recovering a computing device
A method and an apparatus for establishing an operating environment by certifying a code image received from a host over a communication link are described. The code image may be digitally signed through a central authority server. Certification of the code image may be determined by a fingerprint embedded within a secure storage area such as a ROM (read only memory) of the portable device based on a public key certification process. A certified code image may be assigned a hash signature to be stored in a storage of the portable device. An operating environment of the portable device may be established after executing the certified code.
US08239687B2 Apparatus method and medium for tracing the origin of network transmissions using n-gram distribution of data
A method, apparatus, and medium are provided for tracing the origin of network transmissions. Connection records are maintained at computer system for storing source and destination addresses. The connection records also maintain a statistical distribution of data corresponding to the data payload being transmitted. The statistical distribution can be compared to that of the connection records in order to identify the sender. The location of the sender can subsequently be determined from the source address stored in the connection record. The process can be repeated multiple times until the location of the original sender has been traced.
US08239680B2 Secret communication method and secret communication device thereof
A secret communication method and a communication device used in the method are provided for secret communication using communication path less frequently as a whole while avoiding a duplicative use of public communication. The secret communication method includes steps of: estimating an error ratio of initial random numbers X, Y; estimating the upper limit of an eavesdrop information amount; determining an encryption function determined by the error correction code based on the estimated error probability, an error correction decoding function g, and a decryption auxiliary variable; uniquely determining a confidentiality increase matrix C based on the estimated upper limit value of the eavesdrop information amount and the encoding ratio of the error correction code; uniquely generating a ciphertext Z from information M to be sent to a receiver using the encryption function, the initial random number X, and the confidentiality increase matrix C; transmitting the ciphertext Z; and decrypting the ciphertext Z to a transmission text MB using the initial random number Y, the confidentiality increase matrix C, the decryption auxiliary variable, and the error correction decoding function g.
US08239671B2 Channel binding mechanism based on parameter binding in key derivation
This document describes a channel binding mechanism based on parameter binding in the key derivation procedure. The method cryptographically binds access network parameters to a key without need to carry those parameters in EAP methods.
US08239667B2 Switching between multiple operating systems (OSes) using sleep state management and sequestered re-baseable memory
Embodiments of switching between multiple operating systems (OSes) using sleep state management and sequestered re-baseable memory are generally described herein. Embodiments of the invention allow one OS to be suspended into S3 or sleep mode, saving its state to memory and turning off its devices. Then, another sleeping OS can be resumed from another location in memory by switching a memory base addressed to a sequestered memory region and restoring its device state. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08239660B2 Processor with automatic scheduling of operations
A high speed processor. The processor includes terminals that each execute a subset of the instruction set. In at least one of the terminals, the instructions are executed in an order determined by data flow. Instructions are loaded into the terminal in pages. A notation is made when an operand for an instruction is generated by another instruction. When operands for an instruction are available, that instruction is a “ready” instruction. A ready instruction is selected in each cycle and executed. To allow data to be transmitted between terminals, each terminal is provided with a receive station, such that data generated in one terminal may be transmitted to another terminal for use as an operand in that terminal. In one embodiment, one terminal is an arithmetic terminal, executing arithmetic operations such as addition, multiplication and division. The processor has a second terminal, which contains functional logic to execute all other instructions in the instruction set. The invention is useful for arithmetic intensive applications, such as graphic processors.
US08239659B2 Vector completion mask handling
Techniques for vector completion mask (VCM) handling are provided. A data structure includes a mask field for each operand of a particular operation. A processor attempts to execute the operation with multiple operands, which are identified in the data structure by the mask fields. If operands are successfully retrieved for execution with the operation, then the corresponding mask field within the data structure is cleared. The processor can reset if any field remains set within the data structure and can re-process the operation with operands that were not previously handled with the operation.
US08239646B2 Online virtual machine disk migration
A method for migrating a virtual machine disk (VM disk) from first physical storage to second physical storage while the virtual machine (VM) is running, the method comprising: (a) taking a snapshot of the VM disk as represented by a first parent VM disk stored on the first physical storage, whereby a first child VM disk is created on one of the first or second physical storage; (b) copying the first parent VM disk to the second physical storage as a second parent VM disk; (c) re-parenting the first VM child disk to the second parent VM disk; and (d) consolidating the first child VM disk and the second parent VM disk.
US08239638B2 Store handling in a processor
In one embodiment, a processor may be configured to write ECC granular stores into the data cache, while non-ECC granular stores may be merged with cache data in a memory request buffer. In one embodiment, a processor may be configured to detect that a victim block writeback hits one or more stores in a memory request buffer (or vice versa) and may convert the victim block writeback to a fill. In one embodiment, a processor may speculatively issue stores that are subsequent to a load from a load/store queue, but prevent the update for the stores in response to a snoop hit on the load.
US08239632B2 Data caching in consolidated network repository
System(s) and method(s) are provided for caching data in a consolidated network repository of information available to mobile and non-mobile networks, and network management systems. Data can be cached in response to request(s) for a data element or request(s) for an update to a data element and in accordance with a cache retention protocol that establishes a versioning protocol and a set of timers that determine a period to elapse prior to removal of a version of the cached data element. Updates to a cached data element can be effected if an integrity assessment determines that recordation of an updated version of the data element preserves operational integrity of one or more network components or services. The assessment is based on integrity logic that establishes a set of rules that evaluate operational integrity of a requested update to a data element. Retention protocol and integrity logic are configurable.
US08239630B2 Storage apparatus and cache control method
Optimizing cache-resident area where cache residence control in units of LUs is employed to a storage apparatus that virtualizes the capacity by acquiring only a cache area of a size that is the same as the physical capacity assigned to the LU. An LU is a logical space resident in cache memory is configured by a set of pages acquired by dividing a pool volume as a physical space created by using a plurality of storage devices in a predetermined size. When the LU to be resident in the cache memory is created, a capacity corresponding to the size of the LU is not initially acquired in the cache memory, a cache capacity that is the same as the physical capacity allocated to a new page is acquired in the cache memory each time when the page is newly allocated, and the new page is resident in the cache memory.
US08239624B2 Method and system for data migration in a distributed RAID implementation
Embodiments of the systems and methods disclosed provide a distributed RAID system comprising a set of data banks. More particularly, in certain embodiments of a distributed RAID system each data bank has a set of associated storage media and executes a similar distributed RAID application. The distributed RAID applications on each of the data banks coordinate among themselves to distribute and control data flow associated with implementing a level of RAID in conjunction with a volume stored on the associated storage media of the data banks. Migration of this volume, or a portion thereof, from one configuration to another configuration may be accomplished such that the volume, or the portion thereof, and corresponding redundancy data may be stored according to this second configuration.
US08239622B2 Data storage array scaling method and system with minimal data movement
A method for rearranging data blocks in a data storage system when adding new storage devices to create an expanded data storage system. A temporary configuration is selected for which the exchange of one or more data blocks between the temporary configuration and the source configuration produces the destination configuration before identifying and exchanging data blocks between the temporary configuration and the source configuration to produce the destination configuration. A single data element transfer chain embodiment provides superior performance in an embodiment that maintains (does not reduce) the source array data storage efficiency at the destination array after scaling. When adding a single new device to an existing array, the required data movement is minimized and does not exceed the capacity of the new device.
US08239615B2 Memory controller, flash memory system with memory controller, and method of controlling flash memory
The memory controller forms temporary virtual blocks each composed of a plurality of physical blocks, whose physical addresses are the same value, each of which is included in each of flash memories, extracts temporary virtual block to which at least one defective block belongs from the temporary virtual blocks, generates a second temporary virtual block to which a defective block does not belong by replacing a defective block belonging to one temporary virtual block with a normal block belonging to another temporary virtual block among temporary virtual blocks extracted, and allocates temporary virtual blocks not extracted and second temporary virtual blocks generated to available virtual blocks.
US08239613B2 Hybrid memory device
A method is provided. The method includes receiving data and classifying received data in one of several tiers of data. The method also includes storing each tier of data on a different non-volatile memory device.
US08239605B2 Communication between a host device and an accessory via an intermediate device
A host device and an accessory exchange information (e.g., commands and data) via an intermediate device. The host device and accessory can each connect to the intermediate device through a direct wired path and can exchange commands and data with the intermediate device. The host device and the accessory can also “tunnel” information to each other through the intermediate device, by packaging the tunneled information as a payload of a command recognizable by the intermediate device; the intermediate device can repackage and forward the payload. In some embodiments, the tunneled information relates to configuring a wireless link (e.g., a Bluetooth pairing) between the host device and the accessory.
US08239602B2 Field bus system with address connector
Field bus system, comprising (i) at least one field bus module with a connection unit for the connection to a network, wherein a control unit can be connected to the network and the at least one field bus module can be addressed in the network, and with a plurality of ports for the connection of field devices, in particular sensors and/or actuators, and (ii) at least one address connector which has a non-volatile memory for an address, wherein the at least one field bus module has an address port for the at least one address connector and the address of the at least one address connector in the network is communicated to the field bus module via its connection.
US08239589B1 Balancing latency and throughput for shared resources
Input and output (I/O) operations performed by a data storage device are managed dynamically to balance aspects such as throughput and latency. Sequential read and write requests are sent to a data storage device whereby the corresponding operations are performed without time delay due to extra disk revolutions. In order to minimize latency, particularly for read operations, random read and write requests are held in a queue upstream of an I/O controller of the data storage device until the buffer of the data storage device is empty. The queued requests can be reordered when a higher priority request is received, improving the overall latency for specific requests. An I/O scheduler of a data server is still able to use any appropriate algorithm to order I/O requests, such as by prioritizing reads over writes as long as the writes do not back up in the I/O queue beyond a certain threshold.
US08239588B2 System and method for improved I/O node control in computer system
A computer system is provided with a file system storing data; a plurality of I/O nodes which are adapted to access the file system; a compute node adapted to execute a job and to issue an I/O request when requiring an I/O operation; and a job server for job scheduling which dynamically allocates an I/O resource of the I/O nodes to a job without stopping execution of the job. The job server includes an I/O node scheduler adapted to, when being not able to fully secure an desired amount of the I/O resource of the I/O nodes required by the job in starting the job, secure a part of the required amount of the I/O resource of the I/O nodes, and to allocate the secured part of the I/O resource to the job.
US08239587B2 Device having data sharing capabilities and a method for sharing data
A method and device for sharing data. The method include: receiving, by a direct memory access controller, a data read instruction; wherein the read data instruction can be a shared data read instruction or a non-shared data read instruction; determining whether to fetch a requested data block from a first memory unit to a second memory unit by applying a direct memory address control operation; wherein the second memory unit is accessible by a processor that generated the shared data read instruction; fetching the requested data block from the first memory unit to the second memory unit by applying a direct memory access control operation, if the read data instruction is a non-shared data instruction or if the read data instruction is a shared data instruction but the requested data is not stored in the second memory unit; and retrieving a requested data block from a second memory unit.
US08239585B2 Systems and methods for improved hardware device connectivity
Systems and methods are described herein to provide for improved hardware device connectivity. Other embodiments include apparatus and system for receiving messages from an operating system and sending messages to one or more hardware devices. Further embodiments include methods for receiving messages from an operating system regarding operations on a hardware device and responding to those messages. Other embodiments include methods for receiving interrupt messages and mapping those interrupt messages to hardware devices. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08239581B2 Data storage device compatible with multiple interconnect standards
A data storage device comprises a data storage medium; an interface between the data storage medium and a host device configured to provide connectivity according to a plurality of storage interconnect standards. The data storage device also includes a interconnect detector configured to determine the presence of a physical connection to the host device and identify an interconnect standard of the host device, wherein the interconnect standard of the host device is one of the plurality of storage interconnect standards; and a controller configured to: receive an indication of the interconnect standard of the physical connection from the interconnect detector, receive data access commands in accordance with the interconnect standard from the host device via the connector; process the data access commands by accessing the data storage medium; and send a response to the data access commands in accordance with the interconnect standard to the host via the connector.
US08239579B2 PLL/DLL dual loop data synchronization
A dual loop (PLL/DLL) data synchronization system and method for plesiochronous systems is provided. A dual loop data serializer includes a phase lock loop (PLL) and a delayed lock loop (DLL) configured with a phase shifter in the feedback path of the PLL. The dual loop serializer locks to the input of the DLL instead of the local reference. Thus, the DLL adjusts the frequency from the PLL so that it matches the desired data rate. Each loop may be optimized for jitter tolerance with the net effect generating a synthesized clean clock (due to narrow bandwidth filtering) and VCO noise suppression (due to wide bandwidth filtering). A dual loop retimer includes a dual loop serializer (PLL/DLL) and a clock recovery DLL. The retimer resets the jitter budget to meet transmission requirements for an infinite number of repeater stages.
US08239573B2 Off-peak background delivery
Methods, systems, and machine readable media are disclosed for managing bandwidth utilization including off-peak, background delivery of content. According to one embodiment, a method of managing bandwidth used for delivering content to a plurality of users can comprise determining one or more destinations for the content and determining available bandwidth for delivering the content to the one or more destinations. A set of criteria can be applied to the content, the one or more destinations for the content, and the available bandwidth. A schedule for delivery of the content can be generated based on applying the set of criteria. The content can be delivered to the one or more destinations based on the schedule.
US08239570B2 Using link send and receive information to select one of multiple links to use to transfer data for send and receive operations
Link information for a plurality of links to at least one target node indicates for each link a send throughput for sending data, a receive throughput for received data, a slate of the link indicating whether the link is online, offline or degraded. The send throughput of the links having the online state is processed to select one of the links to the receiving node m response to determining that more than one of the links has the online state. The data of the send operation is sent using the selected link to the receiving node. The receive throughput is processed to select one of the links having the online state to the sending node in response to determining that more than one of the links has the online state. The data of the receive operation is received using the selected link to the sending node.
US08239569B2 OSPF optimization for hub and spoke environment
A method and apparatus for routing data in a network is disclosed. A spoke router signals its intention to act as spoke in a new bit in Hello and database descriptor packets. A router acting as hub acknowledges the spoke request. Once the spoke router receives the hub's acknowledgement, it installs a default route to the hub router. Flooding is suppressed from hub to spoke. Instead of flooding, the hub router sends empty database descriptor packets so that no request is sent from spoke routers and any further change in the topology is not sent to spoke routers. This minimizes the flooding in this environment.
US08239558B2 Transport mechanisms for dynamic rich media scenes
A transport mechanism for supporting the download of SVG over FLUTE or UDP. A RTP payload format is specified that enables live streaming and the streaming of rich media content. According to the present invention, rich media content is encapsulated in RTP packets based upon the payload format at the sender. With the present invention, an efficient framework is provided for satisfying several use cases or scenarios that involve rich media transmission.
US08239556B2 Policy-based cross-domain access control for SSL VPN
A method may include generating a request that includes a host domain associated with a multiple-domain-to-one domain mapping, capturing the request before transmission of the request, rewriting the host domain, and transmitting the request.
US08239548B2 Endpoint discriminator in network transport protocol startup packets
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to communication between a client and a server or between peers in a communications network. In one particular example, only a desired server from a plurality of servers addressable through a socket address may respond to a client request to initiate a session.
US08239546B1 Global access control for segmented streaming delivery
Various arrangements for controlling access to streaming media assets are presented. Transmission of segments of a media asset to a first user device may be commenced. During transmission of the media asset to the first user device, beaconing data from the first user device may be received and stored as session information. The first user device may no longer be permitted to receive the media asset at least partially due to the first user device no longer being authenticated. Transmission of a remainder of the plurality of media segments to the first user device may be ceased such that the first user device does not receive the media asset in its entirety.
US08239538B2 Execution allocation cost assessment for computing systems and environments including elastic computing systems and environments
Techniques for assessing the cost of allocation of execution and affecting the allocation of execution are disclosed. The cost of allocation of execution to or between a first computing device (e.g., a mobile device) and one or more computing resource providers (e.g., one or more Clouds) can be determined during runtime of the executable code. It will be appreciated that a computing system can operate independently of the first computing device and one or more computing resource providers and provide execution allocation cost assessment as a service to the first computing device and/or one or more computing resource providers. Execution allocation cost can be assessed (or determined) based on execution allocation data pertaining to the first computing device and/or one or more computing resource providers. By way of example, power consumption of a mobile device can be used as a factor in determining how to allocate individual components of an application program (e.g., weblets) between a mobile phone and a Cloud. The invention is especially suited for Elastic computing environment and systems. In an Elastic computing environment, scalable and dynamic external computing resources can be used in order to effectively extend the computing capabilities beyond that which can be provided by internal computing resources of a computing system or environment.
US08239532B1 System and method of reducing latency using adaptive DNS resolution
A system and method is provided whereby a client device adaptively optimizes the selection of a network device from a plurality of network devices hosting information desired by the client device. Each of the network devices hosting information desired by the client device is associated with a common host name and a different IP address, and the client selects an optimal network device based on a rank assigned to the one or more network devices. A rank assigned to the optimal network device indicates the greatest desirability, from the client device's perspective, of the optimal network device relative to the other network devices. Furthermore, the ranks assigned to the one or more network devices are adaptively determined based upon a determination of an estimated latency, determined from the client device's perspective, between the client device and the one or more network devices.
US08239531B1 Method and apparatus for connection to virtual private networks for secure transactions
A system and method are provided for use in establishing secure end-to-end communication links over a VPN gateway via a network interface unit. Illustrative embodiments include establishing and providing secure communication relationships between users (customers) and companies for e-commerce and other business purposes. Each company's data and linkage to users remaining private and secure from the other participating companies as well as from the general public over the Internet. Login by user with network interface units, addressing, authentication, and other configuration operations achieved using a web page-based GUI are applied in establishing tunnels from LAN clients to desired VPN destinations. Required authentication exchanges and required encryption key exchanges facilitate the secure communications. Financial arrangements regarding the provisioning and use of network interface units are also disclosed.
US08239530B2 Origin server protection service apparatus
An infrastructure “insurance” mechanism enables a Web site to fail over to a content delivery network (CDN) upon a given occurrence at the site. Upon such occurrence, at least some portion of the site's content is served preferentially from the CDN so that end users that desire the content can still get it, even if the content is not then available from the origin site. In operation, content requests are serviced from the site in the usual manner, e.g., by resolving DNS queries to the site's IP address, until detection of the given occurrence. Thereafter, DNS queries are managed by a CDN dynamic DNS-based request routing mechanism so that such queries are resolved to optimal CDN edge servers. After the event that caused the occurrence has passed, control of the site's DNS may be returned from the CDN back to the origin server's DNS mechanism.
US08239525B2 Server apparatus and communication system
A client apparatus requests a server apparatus to transmit information. The server apparatus receives the request from the client apparatus, and determines whether a state of an information source satisfies a predetermined condition. The server apparatus, as a result of the determination, if the state of the information source does not satisfy the predetermined condition, suspends a response to the client apparatus, while, if the state of the information source satisfies the predetermined condition, acquires information corresponding to the request from the information source as a response to the client apparatus, and transmits the acquired information to the client apparatus.
US08239516B2 Methods, systems and computer program products for proactively offering a network turbo boost service to end users
Methods for proactively offering a network turbo boost service to consumers including receiving a set of one or more turbo boost triggering criteria associated with a user. A network is monitored for a task that meets at least one of the turbo boost triggering criteria. If the monitoring results in locating a task that meets at least one of the turbo boost triggering criteria, then the network turbo boost service is invoked for the task.
US08239512B2 Personal inter-home media exchange network
A system and method support the exchange of media between friends, family members, and 3rd party media providers over a closed and secure media exchange network. The media may include, for example, digital video, digital audio, digital images, digital data, or any form of digital information.
US08239508B2 Storage system and data management method in storage system
Provided is a storage center including a storage subsystem for storing content data to be used by the user's home server, and a center server for controlling the storage subsystem. The center server aggregates the content recording reservation requests sent from several home servers, obtains content data from a content server and stores the content data in the storage subsystem at a designated recording start time, and notifies the user's home server that the recording reservation is complete.
US08239506B2 System and method for affecting the behavior of a network device in a cable network
A subscriber access control system (SACS) configures a network device connected to cable network to affect the behavior of that device. The SACS comprises a rules engine and a datastore that stores the current state of subscribers known to the SACS and historical request information. When the SACS receives a request to quarantine a device, it assigns attributes to a subscriber record accessed by a DHCP server to affect the configuration and behavior of that device. The actual behavior of the quarantined device is determined by the presence of the attribute and the value of the attribute.
US08239501B1 System, method and computer program product for creating mobile custom views with filtering for tenants of an on-demand database service
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for creating mobile custom views with filtering for tenants of an on-demand database service. These mechanisms and methods for creating mobile custom views with filtering for tenants of an on-demand database service can enable embodiments to allow tenants to create and push instructions for generating user-defined views to mobile devices, etc. The ability of embodiments to provide such feature may allow tenants to efficiently and effectively create interfaces for mobile devices.
US08239499B2 Online social network management system and method for simulating users to build various faces of relation
A system and method of managing a social network are disclosed. The method includes the step of recording the IDs and corresponding personal information of users who have subscribed to a service via a network, in a user DB; the step of recording corresponding relationships between the users and relationship indices R, reflecting the degrees of trustworthiness of the users having the corresponding relationships, in a relationship information DB; and the path search step of evaluating one or more paths based on the relationship indices R of respective links constituting the paths and providing evaluation results to a first user so that the first user can select an optimal path from among the paths existing between the first user and a second user on the social network constructed with the users used as nodes and the corresponding relationships of the users used as the links.
US08239496B2 Systems and methods for document management transformation and security
The present invention provides systems and methods for dynamically rendering documents during a signing ceremony (instead of validating that signature tasks are placed appropriately on all documents). The invention establishes a visibility policy that governs how documents are rendered, based on the state of system Tabs (instructions) placed on the documents.
US08239494B2 Method and system for processing published content on the internet
The invention is a method for processing content published on-line so as to identify each item in a unique manner. The invention includes software that receives and reads an RSS feed from a publisher. The software then identifies each item of content in the feed and creates a unique identifier for each item. Each item then has third party content or advertisements associated with the item based on the unique identifier. The entire feed is then stored and, when appropriate, updated. The publisher then receives the augmented feed which contains permanent associations between the third party advertising content and the items in the feed so that as the feed is modified or extended, the permanent relationships between the third party content and previously existing feed items are retained and readers of the publisher's feed do not receive a false indication of new content each time the third party advertising content is rotated on an item.
US08239479B2 Server-assisted and peer-to-peer synchronization
Systems and methods for synchronizing data between endpoints using elements of centralized and decentralized synchronization systems and communication topologies are disclosed. Such systems and methods may in some cases synchronize some subset of data with a centralized endpoint while another subset of data is synchronized in a decentralized fashion directly with other endpoints. Such systems and methods may include a variety of cooperative functionality to assist in the synchronization of data between endpoints.
US08239472B2 Notification breakthrough status and profile
Techniques and tools are described for notifications of events, such as receipt of messages, and specifically to tools and techniques related to breakthrough notification profile and status. For example, it is determining whether a profile is active and whether a contact associated with an event is identified as having a status related to the profile. If the profile is active, a notification related to the event is issued only if the sender has the status. If the profile is not active, the notification is issued whether or not the sender has the status.
US08239471B2 System and method for controlling access to an electronic message recipient
A system for, and method of, generating a plurality of proxy identities to a given originator identity as a means of providing controlled access to the originator identity in electronic communications media such as e-mail and instant messaging.
US08239464B2 Method and instantaneous messaging system for mobile terminals equipped with a virtual presence server configured to manage different contact lists of a single user
The invention relates to an instantaneous messaging system for mobile terminals comprising one or several instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2) able to deliver instantaneous messaging services to mobile terminals (TA, TB1, TC1, TD1, TB2, TE2, TF2) connected to said servers and of which the users (A, B1, C1, D1, B2, E2, F2) have opened an instantaneous messaging session, and a virtual presence server (100) independent of the existing instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2), said virtual presence server being connected to at least one mobile client terminal (TA) and to at least one of the existing messaging servers (S1, S2) in such a way that the information intended for or sent by said mobile client terminal transits by said virtual presence server, wherein the instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2) are configured to transmit contact lists intended for mobile client terminal (TA), said lists being intercepted by the virtual presence server (100), the latter comprising a means to aggregate the different contact lists received and only manage a single list (110) in which are registered the identities of the different users (B1, C1, D1, B2, E2, F2), without distinction as to the community that said users are members of.The invention also relates to a method making it possible to manage different contact lists of a single user in an instantaneous messaging session.
US08239460B2 Content-based tagging of RSS feeds and E-mail
Providing for automated generation of tags (e.g., metadata descriptors) for items of e-mail or syndication formatted communication is described herein. By way of example, a system can include a filtering component that can generate one or more tags based on information relevant to content of the communication, a sender, or recipient, or combinations thereof. In addition, such tags can be automatically attached to a received item, or a presentation component can furnish the tags to a recipient (e.g., by way of a communication device user interface) for selection, whereby selected tags are associated with the item of communication. Accordingly, the subject innovation provides for improved classification and description of items of communication by automatic generation of descriptive and/or representative tags associated therewith.
US08239457B1 Method for transmission of an electronic post message
A method of transmitting electronic mail messages using the least possible data capacity. It uses a short message service, an electronic mail message and address and/or identification data for transmission of the electronic mail message in a second communications network is transmitted with a short message in a first communications network. A first header including signaling of at least one data field, including the address and/or identification data, is transmitted with the short message. A second header, indicating the presence of the first header, is transmitted with the short message. The at least one data field is transmitted outside of any header within a data portion of the short message.
US08239456B2 Managing navigation history for intra-page state transitions
An intra Web-page navigation history mechanism allows history points to be tracked even for state transitions within the same Web page. A Web page may be subjected to a number of different state changes as the Web application executes. Along the way, a number of the state changes may be tracked as history points. When a history point is created, associated state is also recorded. When the history point is again navigated to, a navigation event may be raised along with the associated state for the history point. Various components (whether on the server or client) may listen to that event and reconstruct their respective states by using selective portions of the reconstruction state.
US08239450B2 Application executing method, application changing apparatus, and application changing program
In order to provide a user with an application customized according to a situation of a task, there is provided a computer system including: an application server for processing the task requested from a client; and a customization executing server for changing an application provided by the application server. The customization executing server is configured to: manage user status information including operation information of the application; record the operation information of the application in the user status information based on a request message transmitted from the client; change a response message transmitted by the application server based on the user status information to newly generate a response message; and transmit the newly-generated response message to the client.
US08239447B2 Retrieving data using an asynchronous buffer
A mechanism for retrieving data over a network using an asynchronous buffer is described herein. According to one embodiment, an exemplary process includes, in response to a request for first data from a client via a first thread, determining whether a local circular buffer contains the requested first data, the local circular buffer having a head region and a tail region for identifying a head and a tail of the local circular buffer respectively, and the local circular buffer containing a portion of a data file maintained by a server over a network, generating a second thread to the server over the network to request the first data, if the local circular buffer does not contain the requested first data, and returning the first thread to the client while waiting for a result of the second thread from the server. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.
US08239443B2 Method and system for tunable distribution of content
A method and system for tunable distribution of content are disclosed. Preferably, the content comprises digital rights and/or watermark information. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving a request from a client. One or more content files related to the request and a user profile of a user are determined. One or more seeders are assigned to start the delivery of the one or more content files. The client is allowed to obtain a plurality of pieces of the one or more content files from the one or more seeders. At least one piece of the plurality of pieces of the one or more content files contains digital rights and/or watermark information.
US08239440B2 Processor which implements fused and unfused multiply-add instructions in a pipelined manner
Implementing an unfused multiply-add instruction within a fused multiply-add pipeline. The system may include an aligner having an input for receiving an addition term, a multiplier tree having two inputs for receiving a first value and a second value for multiplication, and a first carry save adder (CSA), wherein the first CSA may receive partial products from the multiplier tree and an aligned addition term from the aligner. The system may include a fused/unfused multiply add (FUMA) block which may receive the first partial product, the second partial product, and the aligned addition term, wherein the first partial product and the second partial product are not truncated. The FUMA block may perform an unfused multiply add operation or a fused multiply add operation using the first partial product, the second partial product, and the aligned addition term, e.g., depending on an opcode or mode bit.
US08239436B2 Estimating a signal based on samples derived from dot products and random projections
A system and method for estimating a signal based on a stream of randomly generated samples. The method includes: (a) receiving a sample; (b) generating a sampling vector; (c) multiplying the sample and the sampling vector to obtain a current back projection; (d) computing a first intermediate vector that represents an average of the current back projection and previous back projections; (e) transforming the first intermediate vector to determine a second intermediate vector; (f) identifying locations where the second intermediate vector attains its k largest values; (g) computing an estimate for the transformation of the signal by solving a system of equations based on the identified locations, the received sample value, previously received sample values, the sampling vector and previously generated sampling vectors; (h) inverse transforming the transformation estimate to determine an estimate of the signal; and (i) storing the signal estimate.
US08239431B2 Message delivery system and method for delivering message
A message delivery system includes a plurality of terminals and a server communicating the terminals. Each of the terminals includes a message creation function unit creating a message for any member of a registered group, and a message delivery request function unit designating any location as a designated location and requesting a server to deliver the message to a member of the registered group entering the designated location. The server includes an entry monitoring function unit monitoring if a member of the registered group has entered the designated location, and a message delivery function unit delivering the message to a member of the registered group first entering the designated location and, if the first entering member refuses to accept the message, delivering the message to another member of the group next entering the designated area.
US08239427B2 Disk layout method for object-based storage devices
A disk layout method for object-based storage devices is disclosed. A disk is initialized and a root object is added while a set of blocks of the disk are configured to store attributes of the root object, a free block index table, and a partition object index table. When a partition object is added, a set of blocks of the disk are configured to store attributes of the partition object, a collection object index table, and a user object index table, wherein the partition object indexes the location of a collection object according to the collection object index table and the location of a user object according to the user object index table. When a collection or user object is added, necessary blocks of the disk are configured to store individual data.
US08239414B2 Re-ranking search results from an enterprise system
A flexible and extensible architecture allows for secure searching across an enterprise. Such an architecture can provide a simple Internet-like search experience to users searching secure content inside (and outside) the enterprise. The architecture allows for the crawling and searching of a variety of sources across an enterprise, regardless of whether any of these sources conform to a conventional user role model. The architecture further allows for security, recency, or other attributes to be submitted at query time, for example, in order to re-rank query results from enterprise resources. The user query also can be transformed to provide for dynamic querying that provides for a more current result list than can be obtained for static queries.
US08239411B2 Image processor
A first sorting unit includes a second sorting unit that sorts first frequency data for luminance based on a first table, a third sorting unit that sorts second frequency data for chrominance based on a second table, a fourth sorting unit that sorts third frequency data for chrominance based on a third table, and an updating unit that updates the second and third tables based on nonzero information on the first and second frequency data before the third and fourth sorting units start sorting.
US08239410B2 System and method for adaptive media playback based on destination
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer readable-media for adaptive media playback based on destination. The method for adaptive media playback comprises determining one or more destinations, collecting media content that is relevant to or describes the one or more destinations, assembling the media content into a program, and outputting the program. In various embodiments, media content may be advertising, consumer-generated, based on real-time events, based on a schedule, or assembled to fit within an estimated available time. Media content may be assembled using an adaptation engine that selects a plurality of media segments that fit in the estimated available time, orders the plurality of media segments, alters at least one of the plurality of media segments to fit the estimated available time, if necessary, and creates a playlist of selected media content containing the plurality of media segments.
US08239393B1 Distribution for online listings
User actions responsive to a plurality of web pages are tracked and included in records in a data store. A conversion score is calculated for each traffic source of a plurality of traffic sources, the conversion score based at least in part on the tracked user actions. A traffic source quality score is calculated for each of the plurality of traffic sources, and the plurality of traffic sources are ranked based at least in part on the traffic source quality scores. The traffic sources are allocated to sets based at least in part on the ranking.
US08239392B2 Enhanced query performance using fixed length hashing of multidimensional data
Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for enhancing query performance through fixed length hashing of multidimensional data. According to one method, a fixed length hash of a multidimensional data record is created where the hash has respective fixed length sections for each data dimension of the record being hashed. The composite fixed length hash is stored with a reference to the original data record to which it corresponds. Query parameters are hashed and compared to a corresponding section of the fixed length hash to determine a set of candidate records.
US08239390B2 Filtered remote journal
An operating system on a source computer system includes a filtered remote journal mechanism that generates a target map of a remote journal to specify where in the remote journal entries will be stored, then generates a vector array that represents the data of interest in the database journal based on specified selection criteria and the target map. The vector array and location information from the target map is then sent to a communication manager, which sends the data indicated in the vector array to the target computer system. On the target computer system, the communication manager reads the data sent from the source computer system and writes the data to the remote journal. The filtered remote journal mechanism may operate on an existing database journal, or may operate iteratively as journal entries are written on the source computer system.
US08239382B2 Method and apparatus for creating an index of network data for a set of messages
A method for creating an index of network data for a set of message data, the index being arranged for searching the set of message data. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: creating a set of dialogue records, where each the dialogue record is the set of messages corresponding to a dialogue between a sender and recipient pair in a message corpus; —logging each of the set of messages in each corresponding dialogue record; and creating an index of terms from the set of messages, the index being arranged to index each term to each dialogue record in which the message comprising the respective term is logged.
US08239376B2 Subsequent tailoring of a sign-up page based on a search engine query
The invention provides a method of processing data including, receiving a URL at a server computer system, utilizing the URL at the server computer system to extract a plurality of server search results from a data store, and transmitting the server search results from the server computer system to the user computer system.
US08239374B2 Collection of performance information for search queries executed in a tiered architecture
An execute request is sent to a search component. The execute request specifies a search query. Subsequently, an execute response is received from the search component. The execute response comprising latency data and one or more properties of query results. The latency data specifies an amount of time consumed by the search component to process the execute request. The query results are content items that satisfy the search query. A record object model latency request is sent to the search component. The record object model latency request specifies search performance information based on the latency data. A record interface latency request is sent to the search component. The record interface latency request specifies interface performance information based on an amount of time consumed by the first component to process the search request.
US08239371B2 Fast search views over business objects
A method and means, the method includes selecting a plurality of data sources having attributes to be included in a view entity; defining join conditions on the selected plurality of data sources; defining a set of attributes for the view entity by selecting attributes from the attributes of the plurality of data sources; and saving the view entity. The means includes a graphical user interface having a join builder tool to define join conditions on a selected plurality of data sources each including a pre-defined business object data structure having attributes; a view field definition tool to define a set of attributes for the view entity by selecting attributes from the attributes of the plurality of data sources; and a data source tree tool to display all of the attributes of the plurality of data sources.
US08239367B1 Bookmarks
A system receives a search query from a user and searches a repository of documents based on the search query to obtain search results. The system provides the search results to the user and automatically bookmarks one or more of the search results without the user explicitly requesting that the one or more search results be bookmarked.
US08239360B2 Content management device, content management system, and content management method
A content management device for managing acquired content in a searchable manner, includes a storage device that stores a search database in which a plurality of keywords and content are registered; a registration unit that registers new content in the search database; and a search unit that searches content registered in the search database. The registration unit performs operations includes: extracting a plurality of keyword candidates associated with the new content from the search database; displaying the extracted keyword candidates; and registering a keyword candidate designated from among the displayed keyword candidates in the search database, as a search keyword in association with the new content. The search unit performs operations includes: displaying a plurality of search keywords registered in the search database; extracting content associated with a search keyword designated from among the displayed search keywords from the search database; and displaying the extracted content.
US08239357B1 Method and system for extracting information from electronic data sources
A system and method of extracting information from electronic data sources that includes generating a list of file names containing the information to be extracted. Each file name in the list is read into memory, the file that corresponds to the file name is read into memory, and the information is extracted from the file by executing a series of programming instructions. The information is saved to an extracted file, and one or more file names in the list is identified to correspond to an extracted file.
US08239352B1 Method and apparatus for determining whether a private data area is safe to preserve
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that configures a safety-tag that indicates whether a private data area is safe to preserve. During operation, the system receives a file with a private data area. Specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention, the private data area is contained within an Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) MakerNote tag, which allows makers of EXIF writers to record any desired information. Next, the system determines whether the private data area is safe to preserve. If the private data area is safe to preserve, the system configures a safety-tag to indicate that the private data area is safe to preserve. Otherwise, if the private data area is not safe to preserve, the system configures the safety-tag to indicate that the private data is not safe to preserve. Specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention, the safety-tag is a Digital Negative (DNG) MakerNoteSafety tag.
US08239336B2 Data processing using restricted boltzmann machines
Data processing using restricted Boltzmann machines is described, for example, to pre-process continuous data and provide binary outputs. In embodiments, restricted Boltzmann machines based on either Gaussian distributions or Beta distributions are described which are able to learn and model both the mean and variance of data. In some embodiments, a stack of restricted Boltzmann machines are connected in series with outputs of one restricted Boltzmann machine providing input to the next in the stack and so on. Embodiments describe how training for each machine in the stack may be carried out efficiently and the combined system used for one of a variety of applications such as data compression, object recognition, image processing, information retrieval, data analysis and the like.
US08239333B2 Media tag recommendation technologies
Technologies for recommending relevant tags for the tagging of media based on one or more initial tags provided for the media and based on a large quantity of other tagged media. Sample media as candidates for recommendation are provided by a set of weak rankers based on corresponding relevance measures in semantic and visual domains. The various samples provided by the weak rankers are then ranked based on relative order to provide a list of recommended tags for the media. The weak rankers provide sample tags based on relevance measures including tag co-occurrence, tag content correlation, and image-conditioned tag correlation.
US08239331B2 Auction verification
An auction verification subsystem provides verification, without revealing actual bid values, that bid values remained sealed prior to a closing time for the auction and that an announced winning bidder for the auction provided a highest bid. The verification subsystem receives encrypted bids from bidders and generates commitment data based on the bids and provides the commitment data to each of the bidders. In response to receiving the commitment data, the bidders provide decryption keys for the encrypted bids. In turn, the bids are decrypted and an auction is performed using the decrypted bids. The results of the auction can be verified based on bid representations that do not reveal the actual values of bids, thereby maintaining the secrecy of bids. Providing access to an exchange between bidders and the verification subsystem facilitates verification that the auction is performed as a sealed bid auction.
US08239321B1 System and method for allocation to obtain zero activity in one or more selected aggregated deposit accounts
A method, program product and system, the method comprising: accessing one or more databases comprising: aggregated deposit account information for a plurality of government-backed insured and interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts held in a plurality of depository institutions, obtaining transfer data; allocating one or more first amounts. The allocating comprising: selecting a sub-set of one or more aggregated deposit accounts held in one or more of the depository institutions to which to deposit/transfer or to withdraw/transfer funds, while avoiding withdrawing funds for a respective sub-period of time from each of one or more of other aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on one or more criteria; and allocating a first amount(s) of funds to the aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on the transfer data and the sub-set selected to receive a deposit/transfer of funds or from which to withdraw/transfer funds.
US08239318B1 Systems and methods for determining the likelihood that a loan closes
Systems and methods are provided for determining an indication that an application for a mortgage loan to secure a property may result in closing of the loan transaction. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving application information, such that the application information includes at least borrower information, property information, and a first interest rate; receiving home value information, such that the home value information represents an estimated value of the property; receiving a second interest rate; and determining the indication based on the received application information, received home value information, and received second interest rate, such that the indication represents a likelihood that the mortgage loan may result in closing.
US08239316B2 Processing of deal tickets
A deal feed system for passing deal tickets to back office systems comprises a deal feed contributor which receives tickets from trades on a plurality of trading systems on a plurality of trading floors, a database for storing the tickets, and a distributor for passing the tickets to back office systems. Virtual deal codes are defined to which a plurality of real deal codes map. The virtual deal codes to which a ticket relates is stored in a table with a reference to the stored ticket. A deal code table is updated with the range of the virtual deal code and the update transmitted to the bank office systems and to traders.
US08239314B2 System and method for estimating a spread value
An estimated spread value is computed that represents a price at which a trader might have been able to buy or sell a spread given the current market conditions of the legs. In particular, when an event occurs in one of the legs, price information is gathered from each of the other legs based on the spread definition, in addition to the defined event, and is used in estimating the value of a spread. According to one feature, the computations may be triggered by any predefined event. According to another feature, the computation may be programmed by a user to tailor the estimation process according to the type of spread being traded. The estimated spread value may be used to analyze spreads, it may be fed to other trading related software tools, or it may be used in charting.
US08239308B2 Clearing system that determines margin requirements for financial portfolios
Methods, systems and apparatuses are described for calculating a performance bond amount for a portfolio including interest rate swaps. A risk calculation module (or risk processor) may assist in the calculation. In some examples, values, such as swap (DV01) dollar values and volatility values, and adjustments/factors, such as calendar charge adjustments and liquidity charge minimums, may be used to enhance the margin calculation. These values may be maintained and updated in various ways, including but not limited to, lookup tables, matrices, and other structures. The margin calculations may be used by an exchange or clearinghouse to request a portfolio holder to deposit additional funds towards a performance bond associated with the portfolio.
US08239302B2 Minimizing security holdings risk during portfolio trading
A method and computer program product for minimizing short-term risk to a portfolio of securities holdings during implementation of executing an outstanding trade list of securities to be traded, takes into account covariances between securities in the outstanding trade list and between securities in the outstanding trade list and securities in the portfolio of holdings so as to minimize risk to the portfolio of holdings as well as to a residual trade list of unexecuted orders during said implementation.
US08239301B2 System and method for chart pattern recognition and analysis in an electronic trading environment
A system and method are provided for chart pattern recognition and analysis. In one embodiment, a graphical interface is provided to enable a trader to select a portion of a chart to be used in the chart pattern analysis. The pattern of the selected portion of the chart could then be used to find one or more similar chart patterns in a user-defined timeframe, such as any future time period or a time period in the past. When a reoccurring chart pattern is found in any future time period, an alert signal can be generated to alert a user of a possibility of the chart pattern reoccurrence. Alternatively, chart pattern matches can be found in a time period in the past, and a set of studies can be applied to the found matches to generate a set of reoccurring indicator values. The reoccurring indicator values can be used in combination with the chart pattern to detect any similar chart patterns in the future.
US08239300B2 Method and system for extracting weight classified by ranking
A method and system for extracting a weight classified by a ranking which can calculate, in a keyword advertisement, a unit sale cost of an advertisement area exposing advertisement information by considering an advertising effect classified by a keyword, the advertising effect being acquired by using the corresponding advertisement area, is provided. The method of extracting a weight classified by a ranking includes the steps of: generating the advertisement area, wherein one keyword corresponds to a plurality of advertisement areas and each of the plurality of advertisement areas corresponds to the ranking; and extracting a weight value for advertising costs of the advertisement area by considering an advertising effect classified by the ranking of the advertisement area corresponding to a click-through rate (CTR), and the ranking.
US08239298B1 Method and apparatus for managing financial accounts
Method, system, and computer-readable medium are provided for optimizing an allocation of money to assets and liabilities. A method includes providing at least one asset comprising a value and a projected return rate at which the value is expected to appreciate over a period, providing at least one liability including a liability amount and an interest rate at which the liability amount is expected to depreciate over said period, and optimizing an allocation of money to the at least one asset and the at least one liability based on the expected appreciation of the at least one asset and the expected depreciation of the at least one liability.
US08239294B2 Method of generating multiple recommendations for multi-objective available-to-sell (ATS) optimization problem
Methods, systems and apparatus for providing a variety of end product build plans based on multiple business scenarios for exhausting excess inventory. Raw financial data and variable scaling factors are input into a scenario engine component along with a business objective that contains logic. The scaling factor may be embedded within the logic of the business objective, or it may be selected by a user to indicate the user's preferences. The scenario engine then applies the financial data and variable scaling factor inputs to the business objective logic to generate modified financial data. The logic of the business objective may also be manipulated to provide modified logic. The modified financial data, and optionally the modified logic, are then input into an optimizer component for determining multiple portfolios for end products that, if built, would consume excess inventory.
US08239292B2 Method and apparatus for dealer connectivity
An adaptable application is installed throughout a distribution network for directly accessing a variety of different databases utilized by different business systems. The direct access application periodically queries the database with which it is associated. In response to the query, sales and inventory data is read from the dealer business computer system by a data access services module. The information retrieved from the query is placed in a transmission queue. A data mapping module transforms the data into the manufacturer's standard transaction format, and presents the transformed data to a communications module. The information is then transmitted to the manufacturer or other upstream distribution channel entity. The information forwarded from each of the dealers is accumulated at the manufacturer's location. Various reports can be run which are useful to the efficient running of the distribution channel.
US08239289B2 Inter-gallery trading system for artworks
A clearinghouse system for inter-gallery trading of artworks is described. A central database stores digital images and metadata about artworks owned by all member galleries. The data is duplicated and stored in local databases at each member gallery. Customers at a first gallery can view images and information about artworks owned by other galleries using display devices installed at the first gallery. If the customer is interested in an artwork owned by a second gallery, a price request is transmitted from the display device to a remote clearinghouse management server. The clearinghouse management server transmits the price to the first gallery via an information receiver other than the display device. The first gallery may then quote a price to the customer by adding a markup to the price received from the clearinghouse management server. A purchase request can also be generated from the display device.
US08239285B1 Method and systems for providing specialty product information
Methods for providing specialty product information to consumers.
US08239283B2 Product design system and method
Computer-implemented product design creation system and method for quickly developing a product design having desirable component elements. Multiple candidate product designs are simultaneously displayed for review. Controls are provided allowing a reviewer to enter a preference level for individual component elements of each of the displayed designs. A new set of candidate designs is created based on the entered preference levels. The new candidate designs are displayed for further review and further preference level selection.
US08239279B2 Auction method involving pre-sale of auction currency drafts
A computerized system and method for conducting electronic online auctions, which includes the presale of auction currency drafts for subsequent use at a specific auction site. The system includes a centralized controller which confirms the purchase of the auction credits and credits the bidder's account for use at a specific auction website. The auction credits are subsequently assigned to a specific auction venue. The system supplies inventory to the auction venue based upon a percentage of the total presale credits assigned to each specific auction venue through its affiliated auction sites. In addition, external and historical data may be considered by the system in its analysis regarding the correlation of the inventory characteristics with the venue design parameters.
US08239278B1 Method, medium, and system for sending notifications to property managers regarding vacancies
Consumers who are interested in various rental properties can create a list of those properties, and notifications of that interest can be sent to the property managers associated with those properties. A system could be implemented to send multiple notifications (e.g., to each manager of a property on the list) with a single request by the consumer. Such notifications can be used to provide property managers with information used to screen applicants, and/or can allow property managers to seek to access additional information about the consumer. Whether any additional information has been accessed can be tracked to verify that access is only provided in compliance with relevant regulation. This type of functionality can be integrated with a system that allows regulatory investigations to be allocated to, and performed by, compliance representatives using mobile devices, and can also be integrated with functionality that allows consumers to present themselves as pre-qualified applicants.
US08239268B2 Self-checkout terminal
An article code reading device optically reads a code symbol on to an article and specifies the article, and decodes and outputs an article code. An image pickup image part picks up an image of an area of an article, the code symbol of which is read by the article code reading device, and outputs pickup image data. An article registration is executed by searching an article data file for a corresponding price for the article, and an extraction process extracts an exterior characteristic of an article from a the pickup image data outputted by the pickup image part. A consistency is determined between a first data obtained based on the extraction process and a second data obtained based on an output from the article code reading device, and an alarm is generated when it there is not a consistency between the first data and the second data.
US08239255B2 Consumer incentive system and business method
Consumer incentives are delivered by maintaining a database of consumer-customer club members and identification data. The retailing transaction is conducted by receiving a consumer-customer for a retail sales transaction at a first retail establishment. An identification input associated with said consumer-customer is received at the first retail establishment. The identification input is compared to the identification data to determine whether the identification input is associated with a consumer-customer club member. In response to a determination that an identification input which is associated with a consumer-customer club member, an incentive generating rule is applied to the retail sales transaction. In response to a determination that the identification input is not associated with a consumer-customer club member, a club membership is offered to the consumer-customer. In response to acceptance of the offer, a bank account is implemented, and associated with the accepting consumer-customer, at a banking institution the bank account is associated with an account number. A computing device is used to store in a database, associated with the banking institution, information respecting the bank account, associated with the accepting consumer-customer, at any banking institution. A banking transaction is conducted by receiving the identification input associated with the consumer-customer at the banking institution. A banking transaction request is received from the consumer-customer of the bank. The identification input is compared to the identification data to determine the consumer-customer club member with whom the identification input is associated. In response to the determination of the associated consumer-customer club member the banking transaction request is executed.
US08239249B1 Work allocation tool
Methods and systems are disclosed for automatically allocating work projects to personnel based on work complexity level and level of knowledge and experience of the personnel. In one implementation, the methods and systems provide a work allocation tool that allows a user to input the level of complexity of the work projects according to one or more predefined criteria. The work allocation tool then automatically determines which of the available personnel has the required level of knowledge and experience to complete the work projects. Personnel who have already exceeded a target number or percentage of work projects in a given time period may be automatically excluded from the allocation. The work allocation tool thereafter randomly selects one of the available personnel and automatically allocates the work projects. An administrator interface allows a manager to define each person's target numbers or percentages and to stop further allocations if needed.
US08239245B2 Method and apparatus for end-to-end retail store site optimization
A method and apparatus for end-to-end retail store one-stop site configuration integrates multiple data sources, identifying key customers, forecasting merchandise demand. Site configuration is formulated as a mathematical optimization problem with both in-store and external data as input to the problem whose solution provides proper suggestions for retail store transformation.
US08239237B2 Adaptive product configuration model
The adaptive product conditioning is a computer-implemented method for identifying product configurations that can be provided to customers in reaction to supply imbalances. The methodology uses data mining techniques to collect and analyze business level meta data to coordinate supply and sales goals in terms of optimizing profits or managing product and technology transitions.
US08239234B2 Freeform communication in calendaring system
A method of sharing a calendar between a plurality of users, the calendar being capable of holding one or more events. The method comprises providing the calendar to each of said plurality of users; allowing any of said plurality of users to add to the calendar any of a new event, a change to an event and a message relating to an event; and providing any new event, change to an event or message added by a user to the other users. A change to an event may comprise a change to at least one of a start time of the event, an end time of the event, a description of the event, a status of the event, whether the event is to be repeated and the persons attending the event.
US08239225B2 System and method for selection of airline seats and payment verification
This invention relates to an electronic means by which people can select the exact seat or seats they want for any type of event or reserve an appointment for any activity. More specifically, a customer or a ticket re-seller or a venue operator can go, for example, to the internet and select the event or activity for which he wants a ticket or tickets or reserve a time and reserve and order the exact seat or seats or the time of his choosing directly online. The seat or seats or reserved time he selects is then paid for using payment information that is verified with a payment verification server.
US08239217B2 Prescription management system
An imaging and workflow method, system, computer readable medium and user interface for processing information efficiently for the processing of medical prescription orders. The system includes support for document scanning, automated rules-based order processing, statistical reporting, document generation and document storage and retrieval. The present invention takes advantage of imaging technology to assist the user in scanning information into the system and software modules to improve the processing of orders. The present invention also includes database tables that identify to application processing logic the types and sequences of actions to be implemented for orders.
US08239215B2 Apparatus and method for revenue distribution generated from delivering healthcare advertisements via EMR systems, RHIN, and electronic advertising servers
A system and method for effectively distributing revenues generated from delivering specific healthcare advertisements and non health-care specific advertisements over electronic medical record systems (EMR) and a regional healthcare information network (RHIN) using an electronic advertising server in a manner compliant with HIPAA and Federal Anti-Kickback laws. The system consists of several components including: (1) an internet or intranet based patient portal used by health consumers to communicate with their health care provider; (2) a protocol at the patient portal in which the health consumer may choose from a menu of possible actions; 3) an ad server providing appropriate protocol to distribute the advertisement on the patient portal and EMR; 4) an EMR system used by a physician to record the clinical encounters with the healthcare consumer; 5) a RHIN which bridges the EMR systems and patient portals to create a healthcare network or community of physicians, healthcare consumers and other providers using this system; and 6) an advertisement targeting process.
US08239213B1 Systems and methods for simulating a change to a prescription drug plan
Systems and methods for simulating a change to a prescription drug plan may be provided. In response to receiving a request to simulate the change to the prescription drug plan, a prescription drug spend and/or trend application may retrieve data related to the prescription drug plan from a database. A model that includes a plurality of calculations to simulate the change may be applied to the retrieved data A user computing device may be provided with an indication of an impact on the prescription drug plan responsive to the at least one change based at least in part on the application of the model to the retrieved data. The modeling of the change may be related, for example, to an option to reduce spend and/or trend as determined by the spend and/or trend application.
US08239200B1 Delta language model
Among other disclosed subject matter, a computer-implemented method for generating a language model includes generating a language model based on a data set, the data set including at least training data and test data. The test data is to be used in testing the language model. The method includes identifying the test data in the data set. The method includes generating a delta language model based on at least the test data, the delta language model configured for evaluating the test data.
US08239197B2 Efficient conversion of voice messages into text
A system and method for efficiently transcribing verbal messages transmitted over the Internet (or other network) into text. The verbal messages are initially checked to ensure that they are in a valid format and include a return network address, and if so, are processed either as whole verbal messages or split into segments. These whole verbal messages and segments are processed by an automated speech recognition (ASR) program, which produces automatically recognized text. The automatically recognized text messages or segments are assigned to selected workbenches for manual editing and transcription, producing edited text. The segments of edited text are reassembled to produce whole edited text messages, undergo post processing to correct minor errors and output as an email, an SMS message, a file, or an input to a program. The automatically recognized text and manual edits thereof are returned as feedback to the ASR program to improve its accuracy.
US08239189B2 Method and system for estimating a sentiment for an entity
A method for estimating a sentiment conveyed by the content of information sources towards an entity is presented. The sentiment is obtained with respect to a query context that may be specified, e. g. by specific terms or expressions, like a product or service name. A sentiment dictionary having a plurality of sentiment terms is provided, wherein each sentiment term has assigned a sentiment value, and at least one of said sentiment terms is associated to a group context. Text documents are screened for occurrences of sentiment terms that are associated to a group context corresponding to the query context. Calculating a sentiment score value is performed as a function of the occurrences of sentiment terms having a similar or same group context as the query context. The method may be carried out automatically without manual analysis of the actual semantic content of the text documents under consideration.
US08239184B2 Electronic multilingual numeric and language learning tool
The teachings described herein generally relate to a system and method for multilingual teaching of numeric or language skills through an electronic translation of a source phrase to a destination language selected from multiple languages. The electronic translation can occur as a spoken translation, can be in real-time, and can mimic the voice of the user of the system.
US08239171B2 System and method of eliminating interference for impurities measurement in noble gases
The invention provides a system and a method of eliminating interference for impurities measurement in noble gases based on emission spectroscopy which provide very stable, sensitive and interference free results. The method mainly relies on the use of a combination of particularly designed means serially connected for cancelling interferences and proper means for correcting linearity issues. The proposed method is particularly advantageous since it offers long-term stability while providing very accurate and reliable results, even at sub-ppb and up to 10,000 ppm levels, whatever the surrounding conditions and the additional impurities that could be present in the gas under analysis.
US08239170B2 Complex signal decomposition and modeling
A system, method and program product for monitoring a complex signal for ultrasensitive detection of state changes, or for signature recognition and classification is provided. A complex signal is decomposed periodically for empirical modeling. Wavelet analysis, frequency band filtering or other methods may be used to decompose the complex signal into components. A library of signature data may be referenced for selection of a recognized signature in the decomposed complex signal. The recognized signature may indicate data being carried in the complex signal. Estimated signal data may be generated for determination of an operational state of a monitored process or machine using a statistical hypothesis test with reference to the decomposed input signal.
US08239167B2 Gathering context information used for activation of contextual dumping
An infrastructure is provided for gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to an error or other conditions detected in a monitored system. A diagnosability framework is provided that automates the gathering of relevant diagnostic data upon occurrence of the condition in the monitored system. In one embodiment, context data is determined for the condition detected in the monitored system. A rule-based engine is provided that is configured to automatically determine one or more actions to be performed for the condition detected in the monitored system based on the determined context data. The actions may include performing tasks that gather diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition, store the gathered diagnostic data in a repository, recommend one or more diagnostic actions to a user, and other diagnostic related actions.
US08239161B2 Measuring device with two-channel sampling
The present invention relates to a shaft encoder device, comprising magnetic sensor means designed to detect the magnetic field of a magnetic field generating means stationary with respect to the shaft, a light source, optical sensor means designed to detect light emitted from the light source and reflected or transmitted by an encoder disk stationary with respect to the shaft, and signal processing means designed to receive first data from the magnetic sensor means and second data from the optical sensor means, and to determine an angle of rotation of the shaft from the received first data and/or to determine the angle of rotation of the shaft from the received second data.
US08239152B2 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program product
An information processing apparatus processes information generated by an exposure apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes a collecting unit and a converting unit. The collecting unit collects first apparatus information obtained by the exposure apparatus via an operation of the exposure apparatus with respect to each of a plurality of first regions which form a first array defined on a substrate. The converting unit converts at least part of the first apparatus information collected by the collecting unit into second apparatus information with respect to each of a plurality of second regions which form a second array.
US08239146B2 Board sports sensing devices, and associated methods
A system assesses activity of a sportsman engaged in board sports. At least one sensor detects movement of the sportsman, and a processor processes data from the sensor to assess activity of the sportsman. Activity of sportsmen engaged in human powered sports is compared. A plurality of activity sensing units is associated with the sportsman. Each of the units (a) attach to one of either the sportsman or to a human powered vehicle ridden by the sportsman, and (b) wirelessly communicate activity to a remote location. The activity comprising one or more of airtime, speed, drop distance, power and energy absorbed. A database, accessible by Internet and connected to the remote location, provides access to the activity via the Internet.
US08239143B2 System and method for gemstone cut grading
A system for grading the cut of a diamond utilizes a number of appearance metrics to generate scores for a number of cut components that affect cut quality. These cut components include brightness, fire, scintillation, overweight, durability, polish, and symmetry. The cut grading system employs a cut grading algorithm that processes the individual scores obtained for the cut components to generate an overall cut grade for the diamond. The scoring methodology and the cut grading algorithm are designed to emulate actual observation grading such that the overall cut grade represents a fair indication of the cut quality of the diamond. In one practical embodiment, the cut grading system is fully automated and computer-implemented.
US08239141B2 Method for changing a target array, a method for analyzing a structure, and an apparatus, a storage medium and a transmission medium therefor
The objective of the present invention is the efficient analyzation of the structure of an array.By performing the prev(S) calculation for a character string S, if in the character string S a like variable is present upstream of a second variable, the second variable is changed to a numerical value that indicates the distance to the upstream like variable. But if in the character string S a like variable is not present upstream of a variable, that variable is changed to “0” to obtain a character string S1. Further, by performing the compl(S) calculation for the a character string S, if in the character string S a complementary variable is present upstream of a second variable, the second variable is changed to a numerical value that indicates the distance to the complementary variable. But if in the character string S a complementary variable is not present upstream of a variable, that variable is changed to “0” to obtain a character string S2 (102). A single suffix tree (structure suffix tree) is generated by regarding the character strings S1 and S2 as a pair of corresponding character strings (104 to 114), and the obtained structure suffix tree is employed to analyze the structure of the array that is represented by the character string S.
US08239139B2 Multimodal spectroscopic systems and methods for classifying biological tissue
Multimodal optical spectroscopy systems and methods produce a spectroscopic event to obtain spectroscopic response data from biological tissue and compare the response data with preset criteria configured to correlate the measured response data and the most probable attributes of the tissue, thus facilitating classification of the tissue based on those attributes for subsequent biopsy or remedial measures as necessary.
US08239133B2 Global positioning system and dead reckoning (GPSandDR) integrated navigation system
A global positioning system and dead reckoning (GPS&DR) integrated navigation system includes a GPS receiver coupled to a moving object for periodically generating GPS navigation information of said moving object, a DR system coupled to said moving object for periodically calculating DR navigation information of said moving object, and a filter coupled to said GPS receiver and said DR system for periodically calculating navigation information of said moving object, wherein said filter gets observation information by integrating said GPS navigation information and said DR navigation information according to a weight value of said GPS navigation information and a weight value of said DR navigation information, and calculates a current navigation information by integrating said observation information with previous navigation information from a plurality of previous cycles.
US08239132B2 Systems, apparatus and methods for delivery of location-oriented information
An augmented reality guiding system for delivery of location-oriented information, including a location server, a database coupled to the location server, and at least one mobile locating device. The database is configured to receive, store, customize and send target information relating to target points of interest. Each mobile locating device has a geographical positioning module configured to determine location information for that locating device, an imaging module configured to capture at least one image of at least some of a field of vision for that locating device, a spatial orientation detection module configured to determine spatial information of that locating device, a display module configured to provide visual feedback, and at least one wireless communication module configured to communicate with the location server. Each mobile locating device is configured to be able to receive target information relating to at least one target points of interest from the location server, and based on the target information and the location information and spatial information for that locating device, display the target information relating to the target point of interest by visually augmenting the at least one captured image on the display module.
US08239123B2 System and method for exchanging positioning information between vehicles in order to estimate road traffic
The present invention discloses a method, system and computer program embarked in a vehicle, for estimating traffic conditions based on positioning information exchanged with other vehicles using wireless communication. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: receiving positioning information repeatedly broadcast by at least one vehicle, the positioning information for each vehicle including: information related to a current location of the vehicle; and information identifying the vehicle; calculating based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the vehicle; and estimating current traffic conditions based on current location, speed and direction of identified vehicles.
US08239117B2 Method and device for operating an internal combustion engine
A start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD) is adapted as a function of a variable that is characteristic of a rotational speed profile during the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine. A lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD) is adapted as a function of at least one control parameter (LAM_RP) of the lambda controller if a preset condition (COND) is met, which presupposes the existence of a quasi-stationary operating state. An intermediate correction value (ZW_KOR) is adapted as a function of a change of the start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD) since a last adaptation of the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD). A fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is determined as a function of at least one operating variable (BG) of the internal combustion engine. The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is corrected during the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine by means of the start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD). The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered outside of the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine is corrected as a function of the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD). The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is corrected as a function of the intermediate correction value (ZW_KOR) until for the first time after the respective start (ST) the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD) is adapted.
US08239112B2 Pressure, tire force and friction estimation during antilock control
A method for estimating a brake pressure, a longitudinal tire force and a tire-road μ during periods of antilock control that measures deceleration of a wheel during a period of constant brake pressure, reduces a brake pressure to cause slip on the wheel to begin reducing, measures reacceleration of the wheel after a point in time in which the change in brake pressure is completed, calculates a change in acceleration based on the measured reacceleration and the measured deceleration, estimates a change in brake pressure from a proportional relationship between the change in acceleration and a brake pressure value, estimates a brake pressure from the relationship between a time for valve activation during a change in acceleration and the change in brake pressure. The method also estimates a longitudinal tire force from a mathematical relationship between the change in acceleration, a tire radius, and the estimated brake pressure. The method also estimates tire-road μ by dividing a normal tire force by the estimated longitudinal tire force.
US08239110B2 Method for treatment of a driveline
A method of operating a drivetrain of a motor vehicle. The drivetrain comprises a drive aggregate formed as a hybrid drive with a combustion engine and an electric machine, and a transmission connected between the drive aggregate and a drive output. The drivetrain also comprises a pressure reservoir system with at least one pressure reservoir and at least one pressure generator by the combustion engine in order to fill the pressure reservoir. A pressure in the pressure reservoir of the pressure reservoir system is measured and a value of the actual pressure, in the pressure reservoir system, is compared with at least one threshold value. When the actual pressure value is higher than a threshold value, stopping of the combustion engine is permitted, whereas if the actual pressure value is lower than the threshold value, stopping of the combustion engine is not permitted.
US08239103B2 Vehicle control device and control method
In order to simplify a door lock operation by a user after starting an energy supply receiving operation, an ECU mounted on a vehicle stores an ID code beforehand. Furthermore, ECU locks all the doors, if a charging paddle on the power supply device side is connected with a charging plug on the vehicle side, and if an ID code received from the power supply device matches the ID code stored beforehand, and if a drive system of the vehicle is stopped, and if all the doors of the vehicle are closed.
US08239099B2 Lane deviation prevention controller
A deviation controller to prevent deviation of a vehicle from a lane of travel includes a displacement estimator configured to estimate a future lateral displacement of the vehicle with respect to the lane of travel, a detecting device configured to detect a tendency of the vehicle to deviate from the lane of travel, a prevention controller configured to apply a yaw moment to correct a travel path of the vehicle when the tendency of the vehicle to deviate from the lane of travel is detected, a correction canceling device configured to cancel the yaw moment of the prevention controller when a steering angle exceeds a canceling threshold, and a threshold adjusting device configured to adjust the canceling threshold in response to the estimated future lateral displacement.
US08239094B2 Test requirement list for diagnostic tests
A diagnostic system for a vehicle, including a memory receiving and storing vehicle specific information, and storing diagnostic test requirements of a plurality of diagnostic sequences, and a processor identifying the test requirements for a selected diagnostic sequence according to the vehicle specific information in advance of executing the diagnostic sequence.
US08239092B2 Distributed vehicle event recorder systems having a portable memory data transfer system
Data transfer systems for vehicle event recorders are provided as: a vehicle event recorder, a vehicle event recorder resident memory, and upload module in conjunction with, a communication port suitable for coupling with, a portable memory device, a server computer datastore, a server download module in conjunction with, a similar cooperating communications port. The portable memory device is arranged to operably couple with the communications ports of both the vehicle event recorder and the server computer and to be repeatedly moved between the two. The upload/download modules are arranged to transfer data to/from the portable memory in an orderly fashion in which no files are removed from the vehicle event recorder resident memory without first having been successfully transferred to the server computer datastore.
US08239070B1 Root cause and system enhancement analysis
A method of assessing an electrical power system is provided that includes performing a plurality of contingencies using a mathematical model of the system and determining a representative solution for each contingency. For each bus and contingency, symptoms of system stress exhibited in the representative solution are tabulated. Each contingency is categorized into a contingency cluster based on its representative solution, and those buses having a highest number of the symptoms of system stress for each contingency categorized within a respective contingency cluster are sorted into a group associated therewith. The contingency clusters are arranged into a ranking based on its effect on the network, and a location for a network enhancement is selected from a group of buses associated with a contingency cluster of the ranking that has a largest effect on the network and also includes buses as a result of the sorting.
US08239068B1 Method and system for cooperative powering of unitary air conditioners
A method and system provide for the cooperative powering of unitary air conditioners. The method and system includes coordinating powering of unitary air conditioners in a multiunit building or other low level of aggregation in a power grid. Multiple unitary air conditioners can use a power line communication (PLC) communication module for communicating with other air conditioners that are within the same multiunit building. According to one aspect of the method and system, by using power line communications, multiple unitary air conditioners within a single building can form self-contained local area networks. The LAN can also support a token ring network. According to this token ring network, a predetermined number of tokens can be assigned within the token ring network.
US08239063B2 Servo motor monitoring and hood/deck exchange to enhance the interior coating process
A method and system for handling a swing metal panel using a robot's drive axis servo motor feedback to eliminate the need for the sensors and breakaway devices is provided. Using the servo motor feedback for this function reduces cost and improves reliability. The method also applies the servo motor feedback to hold a panel in position and exchange the panel between robots during the painting or coating process.
US08239060B2 Sheet processing system and checking method of the same
A sheet processing system includes an arrangement device, a sheet processing apparatus, and a server with a communication line to count and sort sheets. The arrangement device includes an input unit configured to input attribute information of the sheets, a reading apparatus configured to, sort the sheets to a first sheet group and a second sheet group by respective first and second identification cards, and a unified identification card corresponding to a unified sheet group. A transmitting unit processes the input attribute information and the identification information, transmits the processed arrangement processing information to the server via the communication line. A sorter conveys and sorts the sheet groups and identification cards. A second reading apparatus reads the identification information, and a CPU checks the information from the server.
US08239056B2 Advanced process control for new tapeout product
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor manufacturing method. The method includes providing product data of a product, the product data including a sensitive product parameter; searching existing products according to the sensitive product parameter to identify a relevant product from the existing products; determining an initial value of a processing model parameter to the product using corresponding data of the relevant product; assigning the initial value of the processing model parameter to a processing model associated with a manufacturing process; thereafter, tuning a processing recipe using the processing model; and performing the manufacturing process to a semiconductor wafer using the processing recipe.
US08239054B2 Manufacturing resource planning using a component management system
Order information is received for an order executable using a computer system to assemble a product from a plurality of components at a manufacturing location. A real-time record associated with the manufacturing location and being kept updated substantially in real time with order changes is updated with the order information, the real-time record associating the order with the plurality of components. For each of the plurality of components, it is determined whether a component change due to the order information meets a component-specific change criterion associated with the component. A static record is updated with the component change for any of the plurality of components required for the order where the component-specific change criterion is met. After the static record is updated, a management process configured to manage supply of at least one of the plurality of components according to the static record is initiated for the manufacturing location.
US08239044B1 Stimulation lead for steering current for stimulation of patient tissue, method of stimulating patient tissue, and implantable medical system
In one embodiment, a method of electrically stimulating neural tissue of a patient, comprises: generating, by an implantable pulse generator, one or more electrical pulses; applying the one or more electrical pulses to neural tissue of a patient using one or more electrodes of one or more stimulation leads; concurrently with the generating, providing a voltage waveform or signal by the implantable pulse generator; and concurrently with the applying, electrically coupling one or more field effect electrodes of the one or more stimulation leads to the voltage waveform or signal to generate a localized electric field within tissue proximate to the one or more electrodes used to apply the one or more electrical pulses.
US08239039B2 Device on lead to prevent perforation and/or fixate lead
This document discusses, among other things, a lead body extending longitudinally along a lead axis, a driver axially displaceable relative to the lead body, and a driven member coupled to the lead body and displaceable away from the lead axis. The driven member at least partially defines an expandable passage having at least one internal dimension. The driver is displaceable into the expandable passage and has at least one outer dimension that is larger than the at least one internal dimension of the expandable passage. An example method includes disposing a first member having a first cross-section in a lead assembly having a lead axis, an expandable passage, and a displaceable member proximate the expandable passage. The method further includes urging the first member into the expandable passage in the lead assembly, and urging the displaceable member away from the lead axis to expand the expandable passage.
US08239036B2 Method of improving electrode tissue interface
A critical element of a retinal prosthesis is the stimulating electrode array, which is placed in close proximity to the retina. It is via this interface that a retinal prosthesis electrically stimulates nerve cells to produce the perception of light. The impedance load seen by the current driver consists of the tissue resistance and the complex electrode impedance. The results show that the tissue resistance of the retina is significantly greater than that of the vitreous humor in the eye. Circuit models of the electrode-retina interface are used to parameterize the different contributors to the overall impedance.
US08239021B2 Cardiac pacing system for prevention of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia episode
A cardiac pacing system preventing short-long-short pacing sequences. The system providing pacing pulses where necessary. The system having dynamic event window generation to adapt to changes in heart rate. The event window adaptable to process a number of intervals. The system including provisions for other inputs, such as sensor and morphology detection. The system adaptable for single mode and dual mode applications. The system also applicable to long pause prevention in atrial pacing and ventricular pacing.
US08239017B2 Device for treatment of barrier membranes
The present invention features a device having a barrier membrane contacting surface, the device containing: a power source; a first conductive electrode; a second conductive electrode; and a carrier; wherein the power source is in electric communication with the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode, wherein the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode are in ionic communication with the carrier, and wherein the carrier is in communication with the barrier membrane contacting surface.
US08239012B2 Microcontrolled electrocardiographic monitoring circuit with differential voltage encoding
A microcontrolled electrocardiographic monitoring circuit with differential voltage encoding is provided. An input signal path includes an electrode, a low pass filter, and an amplifier, which are each connected in-line. The electrode senses an input signal via a conductive surface and the amplifier outputs a filtered amplified output signal. A microcontroller circuit includes an input codec, an analog-to-digital converter, and an encoder. The analog-to-digital converter is connected to the input signal path through an output of the amplifier and converts the filtered amplified output signal into a data stream of discrete digital values. The encoder determines a differential voltage between a current discrete digital value and a prior discrete digital value in the data stream. Persistent memory is connected to the microcontroller circuit via a peripheral serial interface bus, wherein the differential voltages for each of the discrete digital values in the data stream are stored into the persistent memory.
US08239008B2 Sentinel node identification using fluorescent nanoparticles
Various compositions, methods, and devices are provided that use fluorescent nanoparticles, which can function as markers, indicators, and light sources. The fluorescent nanoparticles can be formed from a fluorophore core surrounded by a biocompatible shell, such as a silica shell. In one embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be delivered to tissue to mark the tissue, enable identification and location of the tissue, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the tissue. In another embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be used on a device or implant to locate the device or implant in the body, indicate an orientation of the device or implant, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the device or implant. The fluorescent nanoparticles can also be used to provide a therapeutic effect.
US08238999B2 Method for display of at least one medical finding
In a method for display of at least one medical finding, at least one part of a body of a patient is shown on a display medium in a body view. A localization in the body of the patient is associated with each finding, and the localizations are marked at a point in the body view corresponding to the localization. The display medium is interactively operable, and a data set associated with the corresponding finding is displayed on the display medium by interaction with a marked localization.
US08238993B2 Determination of a measure of a glycation end-product or disease state using tissue fluorescence lifetime
A method of determining a measure of a tissue state (e.g., glycation end-product or disease state) in an individual. A portion of the tissue of the individual is illuminated with excitation light, then light emitted by the tissue due to fluorescence of a chemical with the tissue responsive to the excitation light is detected. The detected light can be combined with a model relating fluorescence with a measure of tissue state to determine a tissue state. The invention can comprise measuring the fluorescence lifetime in either time-domain or frequency domain modes. The invention can also comprise a variety of models relating fluorescence to a measure of tissue state, including a variety of methods for generating such models. For example, multivariate models can be developed that relate lifetime trends of one or more constituents to increasing propensity to diabetes and pre-diabetes. Other biologic information can be used in combination with the fluorescence properties to aid in the determination of a measure of tissue state. The invention also comprises apparatuses suitable for carrying out the method, including appropriate light sources, detectors, and models (for example, implemented on computers) used to relate detected fluorescence and a measure of tissue state.
US08238989B2 RF component with a superconducting area having higher current density than a non-superconducting area
A Radio Frequency (RF) component comprising a non-superconducting material, and a superconducting material, wherein the superconducting material is disposed in one or more areas of the RF component such that the areas with superconducting material conduct greater current density than do areas with the non-superconducting material.
US08238986B2 Tilt-type sliding module for mobile phone and terminal holder using the same
Provided are a tilt-type sliding module for a mobile phone and a terminal holder using the tilt-type sliding module, which enable a display unit of the mobile phone to perform a planar sliding motion and at the same time, to perform a tilt motion for inclining upwardly, thereby providing optimal convenience according to a user's purpose. The tilt-type sliding module allows a stable tilt motion of the display unit of the mobile phone by means of: a control bracket for controlling a rotation motion of a tilt rotation portion formed on each of both ends of a frame and a rotation motion and a lock motion of the tilt rotation portion by being fixedly coupled to an intermediate member of the mobile phone; a stopper shaft; and a spring ball.
US08238973B2 Method for administering the authorization of mobile telephones without a SIM card
The present invention relates to a method for administering the authorization of at least one mobile telephone (5) relative to a mobile communications network (8), wherein the mobile telephone (5) is design for near-field communication (7) and in case a mobile radio card (6) is not present in the mobile telephone (5), the authorization thereof takes place by an external device (1) having one or more mobile radio card(s) (10) and a device (3) for near-field communication (7) with said mobile telephone (5), and wherein near-field communication (7) takes place between the external device (1) and the mobile telephone (5) for authorizing, and a connection is permitted to be established to the mobile communications network (8) after successful authorization by the external device (5).
US08238972B2 Device, system, and method for providing wireless data access, digital TV access, radio, and storage capability
A portable memory device dimensioned and configured as any of a removable flash memory card, a USB flash drive, and a jump drive and a method of wireless communication, wherein the portable memory device comprises a single housing component; a data storage component within the single housing component; and a wireless receiver operatively connected to the data storage component and within the single housing component, wherein the wireless receiver is adapted to receive wireless signals comprising radio signals, satellite signals, TV signals, and Bluetooth™ specification signals, and wherein the wireless receiver is adapted to wirelessly communicate with a LAN. The portable memory device may further comprise an interface component adapted to connect to a host computing device. Preferably, the TV signals comprise mobile TV signals.
US08238971B2 Accessory detection to minimize interference with wireless communication
A wireless handheld device includes one or more antennas and a connector configured to couple with one or more external accessories. The handheld device further includes an accessory detector coupled to the connector and configured to detect whether an external accessory coupled to the connector may interfere with wireless communication with the handheld device.
US08238968B1 Camera sensor usage as luminance meter for power saving in mobile portable devices
A battery powered electronic appliance, including a first device, a visual display and a camera device having a camera sensor that is configured to sense ambient light in the environment of the electronic appliance; an ambient light measurement module coupled to the camera sensor that is configured to measure the sensed ambient light to produce an ambient light value that indicates a measured level of ambient light; and a light control module that is configured to determine a level of illumination of the visual display based on the ambient light value.
US08238966B2 Controlling multi-mode devices
In an example embodiment, a technique for automatically controlling radio interfaces of a multi-mode device. Wireless interfaces are enabled or disabled based on the probability of network availability of the interfaces at a current geographical location.
US08238960B2 Method and apparatus for multi-transmitter power control
A method (100) in a multi-transmitter mobile device (201) can include transmitting (102) a signal in a first mode causing an interrupting signal to a transmission in a second mode, receiving (104) commands to increase power in the second mode as a result of the interrupting signal, and circumventing (106) the commands to increase power in the second mode when transmitting the signal in the first mode interrupts the signal in the second mode. The method can circumvent commands to increase power by alternating (108) a power control bit up and down and masking a true bit coming from a base station to the multi-transmitter mobile device. In another alternative, the method can circumvent by storing (110) a power control setting prior to the interrupting signal with a stored value, waiting for a removal of the interrupting signal, and overwriting a calculated power control setting with the stored value.
US08238950B2 Method and system to facilitate interaction between and content delivery to users of a wireless communications network
A system and method of creating affinity groups of portable communication device users, and distributing targeted content to said users is disclosed. The user affinity groups may be formed by comparing user profiles with each other or with a predefined affinity group profile definition.
US08238945B2 Cordless phone mesh network
A system and method for providing a cordless telephone mesh network may include monitoring, by a cordless telephone base unit, a cordless communications parameter of a cordless communications signal being received from a cordless telephone handset during a telephone call. A determination that the cordless communications parameter crossed a predetermined threshold level may be made. In response to determining that the cordless communications parameter crossed the predetermined threshold value, at least one other cordless telephone handset may be caused to switch into a repeater mode so as to receive and communicate the cordless communications signal between the cordless telephone handset and the base unit.
US08238944B2 Disaster and emergency mode for mobile radio phones
A method and device are provided for allowing an efficient control of the establishment of connections of mobile radio phones that are present in an area hit by a disaster. According to the present invention, a sequence is transmitted in a single broadcast to all mobile stations in at least one cell of a mobile radio network present in the respective area. According to the sequence, a connection to a mobile station in the area is only established if the mobile station requesting establishment of the connection communicates the sequence when requesting establishment of the connection.
US08238942B2 Wireless station location detection
A technique for locating a device uses connectivity to find a distance between an access point (AP) and a device. The AP transmits a frame to a device and receives an acknowledgement frame from the device. The amount of time for a signal to pass between the AP and the device is estimated and multiplied by the speed of light to find the distance between the AP and the device.
US08238932B2 Dynamically allocating carriers
To determine which traffic and terminal types and in which parts of a call should be best served by a given carrier there is provided a method and system for dynamically allocating carriers in a MIMO network using S-CPICH. The consideration of which carrier to allocate addresses problems caused by the enablement of the diversity transmission technique. Carriers are dynamically allocated to terminals in a WCDMA network scenario taking into account each terminal's vulnerability to interference from a carrier using S-CPICH or STTD according to certain parameters, such as a requested service or the radio conditions at any given time. The carriers are allocated from carriers using P-CPICH, S-CPICH and/or STTD. The invention also relates to a system that implements this method in a WCDMA network.
US08238931B1 Auxiliary pilot triggering based on latency
A method and system is disclosed for dynamic adjustment of auxiliary pilot triggering based on latency. In an example embodiment, an AT that engages in a data communication that requires low latency will transmit its auxiliary pilot unconditionally and without regard to the payload sizes of the packets it transmits. Thus, the AT will not use a comparison of payload packet size with a threshold packet size when determining whether to transmit its auxiliary pilot. Rather, the AT will begin transmitting its auxiliary pilot upon a determination that it is engaged or will engage or has begun to engage in a communication that requires low latency. At the same time, an AT that engages in data communication that does not require low latency will advantageously trigger its auxiliary pilot less aggressively in response to an instruction from the base station to do so.
US08238930B2 Home network system and mobility anchor allocation method used in the home network system
A home network system in which an appropriate mobility anchor is allocated for a mobile node and the number of mobility anchors can be reduced. A subscriber information accumulation server accumulates first communication load prediction data for each time of a mobile node. An anchor information accumulation server accumulates second communication load prediction load for each time of each mobility anchor. When “a mobility anchor allocation request” is transmitted from the mobile node to an anchor allocation server, the anchor allocation server adds the first communication load prediction data and the second communication load prediction load data so as to obtain third communication load prediction data. Among a plurality of mobility anchors, a mobility anchor in which the third communication load prediction data is not greater than the load upper limit value at all the times and the maximum value of the second communication load prediction data is minimum is selected and allocated.
US08238922B2 Location-based address normalization
Architecture for normalizing phone numbers and other types of connection information for facilitating mobile communications for users outside their local service areas. When a mobile user attempts to make a connection to a destination entity while outside the user's regular service area, the current location of the user is determined by the system. A normalization rule is selected that corresponds to a local service area associated with the current location. The phone number or other type of connection data string is normalized to the standards of the local service area. The normalized data string is used to automatically complete the connection to the destination entity. In this way, communication is facilitated and simplified for mobile users while traveling abroad.
US08238917B2 Method and system for utilizing tone grouping with Givens rotations to reduce overhead associated with explicit feedback information
Aspects of a method and system for utilizing tone grouping with Givens rotations to reduce overhead associated with explicit feedback information are presented. In one aspect of the invention, Givens matrices may be utilized to reduce a quantity of information communicated in explicit feedback information via an uplink RF channel. The explicit feedback information may include specifications for a feedback beamforming matrix that may be utilized when transmitting signals via a corresponding downlink RF channel. The feedback beamforming matrix may represent a rotated version of an un-rotated matrix. The Givens matrices may be utilized to apply one or more Givens rotations to un-rotated matrix. The rotated matrix may reduce the quantity of information communicated in the explicit feedback information. The quantity of information communicated in the explicit feedback information may be further reduced by utilizing tone grouping.
US08238915B2 Systems and methods for locating communication terminals in cellular networks
Methods and systems in a wireless communication network for determining respective distances between a given base transceiver station and one or more other base transceiver stations. An effective location of the given base transceiver station may be calculated that is different from its physical location. The effective location may be use to report an estimated location of a communication terminal communicating with the given base transceiver station. The estimated location may be provided in networks that support both a hard handover or soft handover of the communication terminal between the given base transceiver station and the one or more other base transceiver stations.
US08238909B2 Method and apparatus for identifying user equipment, and method for transmitting and allocating a temporary identifier
A method and an apparatus for identifying a UE in an SAE network, and an MME are provided herein. The method includes: receiving an SAE-TMSI which is allocated to a UE that accesses an SAE network and includes at least: a pool-ID, an MME-ID, and a UE temporary identifier; using the SAE-TMSI to temporarily identify the UE in the SAE network. The apparatus includes: a receiving unit and a temporary identifying unit. The MME includes a temporary identifier allocating unit. Moreover, a method for transmitting and allocating a temporary identifier, and a method for receiving and transmitting information according to the temporary identifier are disclosed herein.
US08238901B2 Provision of position information in telecommunications networks
A mobile or cellular telecommunications network includes a plurality of terminals which are registered. The terminal may be fixed in position, such as a terminal in a vending machine. Alternatively, the terminal may be fixed to a vehicle used for sending an SOS message when the vehicle is involved in an accident. The terminal may be immobile, and therefore does not need to continually advise the network of its location. The terminal may not receive incoming calls or other communications. The terminals therefore may not require paging by the network. In the embodiments described, such terminals are assigned a special terminal type identifier which indicates to the network that these terminals do not require paging. The way in which the network interacts with the terminals is adjusted so that signaling to perform location updates is eliminated or at least reduced.
US08238881B2 System and method for providing multi-modal bookmarks
A system for enabling multi-modal bookmarks comprises a bookmark repository coupled to two browsers. A user bookmarks content using a first browser, and a bookmark is stored in the bookmark repository. The user subsequently uses a second browser and requests that the bookmark be de-referenced to point the second browser to the bookmarked content. The second browser accesses the bookmark in the content repository and is directed to the bookmarked content. The first and second browsers may be visual and voice browsers that render Wireless Markup Language (WML) and Voice Extensible Markup Language (VXML) content, respectively, wherein a mapping is provided that links a given piece of visual content to an equivalent piece of voice content.
US08238879B2 Policy-based controls for wireless cameras
A system and method provide parental and corporate control for a wireless camera. An administration authority web site is provided that enables an owner of a wireless camera to log into a server and establish a set of control policies that specify what actions on the phone are authorized for what user. The control policies are downloaded to the wireless camera, and the wireless camera is then operated such that a user of the wireless camera is only able to perform actions authorized by the control policies. In a further embodiment, a control policy is provided that requires the wireless camera to upload captured images to the server for review by the wireless camera owner. In addition, the images may be quarantined until the wireless camera owner authorizes their release to the user.
US08238877B2 Access technology independent identifier generation
A network system for communicating with mobile nodes has multiple gateways that can operate with each using a different access technology. In an IPv6 system, the access gateways each provide an interface identifier to the mobile nodes using the same one or more keys and hash so that different the same interface identifier regardless of the access technology used. The access gateways can have multiple options for using keys and/or hashes to provide an interface identifier such that the method for determining the interface identifier is configurable.
US08238876B2 Notifications
Notification techniques are described. In an implementation, an unlock screen is displayed by a mobile communications device that indicates that one or more keys of the mobile communications device are locked. If an input is detected at the mobile communications device to remove the lock, an animation is displayed that gives an appearance that the unlock screen is a page that is being turned and removing the lock of the one or more keys.
US08238870B2 Method and device for transmitting emergency broadcast message
A method for transmitting emergency broadcast message is disclosed in the present invention. The method comprises the following steps: setting an emergency broadcast message transmitting group in a terminal, and adding a user name and/or a telephone number of a receiving user of an emergency broadcast message to the emergency broadcast message transmitting group; after the terminal receives the emergency broadcast message via the broadcast communication system, extracting the phone number or the user name from the emergency broadcast message transmitting group and transmitting an emergency broadcast message in the mode of short message to the receiving user corresponding to the phone number or user name. The method makes the terminals which do not have the function of directly receiving an emergency broadcast message be able to receive the emergency broadcast message, through transmitting the emergency broadcast message received by the terminal which is able to directly receive the emergency broadcast message to the terminals which cannot receive the emergency broadcast message directly from the emergency broadcast system in the mode of short message, therefore achieves the objective of notifying the emergency broadcast message quickly and widely.
US08238857B2 Apparatus and method for performing attenuation function in cable broadcast receiver
An apparatus and a method for performing an attenuation function on a signal using an attenuator in a cable broadcast receiver having a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) that does not perform an attenuation function on a signal are provided. In the method, an input Radio Frequency (RF) signal is tuned, The RF signal is converted into an Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal. An intensity of the converted IF signal is compared to a threshold, and an RF Automatic Gain Control (AGC) value is generated based on a result of the comparison. When the generated RF AGC value is smaller than an RF AGC threshold, the attenuator is turned on to attenuate the input RF signal by a predefined amount. Therefore, a high SNR, such as in an analog-digital composite signal, may be obtained without using an LNA that performs an attenuation function on a signal.
US08238856B2 Wireless communicating apparatus, receiving method selecting method, and receiving method selecting program
A wireless communicating apparatus is provided which includes two receiving methods, and can determine a favorable receiving method. The wireless communicating apparatus executes, which is provided with the two receiving methods of a first receiving method which is used in a propagation path environment in which it is necessary to reduce the multi-path interference, and a second receiving method which is used in the propagation path environment in which it is not necessary to reduce the multi-path interference, a first determination (step S1) for determining whether or not the fluctuation in time for the path is less than a predetermined threshold, and a second determination (step S2) for determining whether or not the number of the paths is less than a predetermined threshold, and determines (step S3, 4) to use which receiving method of the first receiving method or the second receiving method to communicate via wireless according to a first determination result and a second determination result.
US08238850B2 Radio communication method and equipment
A radio communication method includes deciding either a sending timing or a receiving timing; measuring a receiving electric intensity; comparing a stored value and the measured receiving electric intensity; and starting a sending operation when the measure receiving electric intensity is smaller than the stored value in the sending timing and starting a receiving operation when the measurement receiving electric intensity is greater than the stored value in the receiving timing.
US08238844B2 Radio transmitter and radio receiver with channel condition assessment
FM radio transmitter is being widely used in portable devices as a convenient way to output audio contents to ubiquitously available FM radio receivers in cars or homes. However, the signal from the FM radio transmitter may be interfering with the signal being broadcast by an FM radio station. A scan system is incorporated into the FM radio transmitter to quickly and reliably identify a vacant channel for the FM radio transmitter to use. The scan system measures on-channel and out-of-channel signal quality and selects a best channel for transmission based on the measured on-channel and out-of-channel signal quality. The scan system is also incorporated into an FM radio receiver to quickly and reliably tune to a valid channel. The scan system selects the valid channel based on the measured on-channel and out-of-channel signal quality.
US08238827B2 Information processing apparatus
In a mobile telephone device applicable as an information processing apparatus, a protocol layer control unit controls a protocol layer used when a wireless communication is performed with a head set. A command queue puts an execution of a command to the protocol layer in a standby state. A request management unit manages piling up of requests accepted sequentially from the higher level layer in the command queue. A forced interruption unit requests the protocol layer control unit to disconnect a physical connection with the head set in a case where a forced interruption factor is generated. The protocol layer control unit is used to disconnect the physical connection with the head set. When a forced interruption request is accepted, a request management unit does not pile up the forced interruption request in the command queue but executes a forced interruption processing by the forced interruption unit.
US08238823B2 Method for ensuring a secure NFC functionality of a wireless mobile communication device and wireless mobile communication device having a secure NFC functionality
The invention provides a method for ensuring a secure NFC functionality of a wireless mobile communication device comprising the steps of detecting the charge state of a first energy source (1) which supplies the voltage for operating the wireless mobile communication device (S1); switching off the first energy source and switching on a second energy source (2), if the detected charge state of the first energy source (1) falls below a threshold (S2); detecting the charge state of the second energy source (2), if an external NFC signal is received (S3); charging of the second energy source via voltage induced by a received NFC signal to allow at least one secure NFC transaction, if the detected charge state of the second energy source (2) is below a threshold (S4). Furthermore the invention provides a wireless mobile communication device having a secure NFC functionality, which is always ready for operation of at least the secure NFC functionality.
US08238820B2 On-channel repeater and on-channel repeating method
Provided is an on-channel repeater, which includes a receiver for receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; a subtractor for subtracting replica from the RF signals to thereby produce output signals of the subtractor; a repeating process unit for performing a repeating process onto the output signals of the subtractor; and a replica generator for calculating replica based on the output signals of the subtractor and the signals obtained after repeating process performed thereon and feeding the replica back to the subtractor.
US08238819B2 Systems and methods for inter-system sharing of satellite communications frequencies within a common footprint
Two satellite communications systems can use the same frequency or frequencies in geographically overlapping footprints, without creating undue interference in a given system that is caused by the same frequency signal(s) that is/are used by the other system. In particular, an aggregate Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of the radioterminals and/or ancillary terrestrial components of a second satellite communications system in the common footprint is sufficiently low, and/or the receive antenna gain of a first satellite communications system is sufficiently low compared to the receive antenna gain of the second satellite communications system, so as to increase an aggregate receiver noise that is seen by the first satellite system receivers by an amount that does not substantially change a Quality of Service (QoS) of the first satellite communications system.
US08238817B1 Noise reduction system and method thereof
The reduction of echo noise in satellite communications includes receiving an aggregate signal from multiple remote stations, where the aggregate signal includes a transmit signal, whose bandwidth is in the range of 0.1 MHz to 66 MHz, is previously sent from a hub to the multiple receiving stations, computing a scaled, delayed and distorted replica of the transmit signal and using the replica to compensate for satellite transponder nonlinearities and reduce echo noise interference from a received aggregate signal received by the hub from the multiple remote stations.
US08238815B2 Wireless relay device
A wireless device includes a plurality of generating units a weight defined as a ratio at which to minimize signal power of a synthesized signal into which a coupling loop interference cancellation signal canceling coupling loop interference getting wrapped around and received by a receiving unit when transmitting a relay signal to the outside from a single transmitting unit based on the radio signal and generated by changing an amplitude and a phase of the relay signal at a setting-enabled ratio, is cancelled from the reception signal; a plurality of canceling units outputting a signal into which the signal of the coupling loop interference is cancelled, based on the weight generated by the generating unit, from the signal; a plurality of transmitting units transmitting the signal as the radio signal, which is output by the canceling unit; and a plurality of switching units cutting off the transmission of the signal.
US08238812B2 Apparatus and method for collaborative hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) in broadband wireless communication using relay station
A collaborative Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) in a broadband wireless communication system using a relay station is provided. A transmitting end includes a distance estimator for estimating a distance to a relay station; a controller for determining whether to execute a collaborative HARQ using the estimated distance to the relay station; and a transmitter for, when the execution of the collaborative HARQ is determined and a retransmission request is received from a receiving end, sending a retransmission packet according to a multiple antenna signal processing scheme by constituting a virtual multiple antenna group with the relay station.
US08238811B2 Cross-transport authentication
An authentication controller coupled to a first communication port of a portable media device is allowed to provide authentication on behalf of an accessory device coupled to a second communication port of the portable media device. In one embodiment, a cross transport connector includes a connector configured to couple with an accessory and a connector configured to couple with a portable media device such that the accessory can be coupled to the second communication port of the portable media device. The cross-transport connector also includes an authentication controller. The authentication controller may request authentication from the media device over the first communication port of the portable media device. The request may also include an identifier of the second port, to which authenticated permissions obtained via the first port may be transferred.
US08238803B2 Doctor blade surface energy modification
The present disclosure relates to a surface energy reduction material in the form of a topcoat or additive to a coating that may be applied to a toner regulating member such as a doctor blade which may reduce toner build-up about a nip region, pre-nip region, and/or post-nip region. The surface energy reduction material may be include any material having a surface energy of less than or equal to 35 dynes/cm, for example, between 15-30 dynes/cm, including all values and ranges therein. The surface energy reducing materials may include any material that provides a 25% or more reduction of the surface energy of the doctor blade compared to an untreated doctor blade, for example, greater than or equal to 50% reduction or greater than or equal to 75% reduction, including all values and ranges therein.
US08238801B2 Developing device, process cartridge, method and image forming apparatus for developing an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier
A developing device, process cartridge method, and image forming apparatus for developing an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier, the developing device including a first carrying member that supplies a developer to a developer carrier at the position of a developer attracting fourth magnetic pole while longitudinally carrying the developer, and a second carrying member that carries the developer released from the developer carrier at the position of a developer releasing third magnetic pole. The developer carrier has two magnetic poles (second and fourth magnetic poles) of the same polarity sandwiching the developer releasing third magnetic pole. Moreover, the developer releasing third magnetic pole is formed by the two magnetic poles (second and fourth magnetic poles) so that the polarity of the developer releasing third magnetic pole differs from the polarity of the two magnetic poles (second and fourth magnetic poles).
US08238796B2 Toner supplying device and image forming apparatus
A toner supplying device which supplies toners contained in a toner container to a developing device is disclosed. The toner supplying device includes a toner tank which stores the toners discharged from the toner container, a toner carrying section which carries the toners stored in the toner tank, a toner dropping route which causes the toners carried by the toner carrying section to drop into the developing device by toner's own weight, a control unit which controls an amount of the toners to flow into the toner dropping route from the toner carrying section, and a stirring member which stirs the toners staying at a region between the toner tank and the toner carrying section.
US08238789B2 Article of consumption and image forming apparatus having the same
An image forming apparatus having a consumable detachably installed in the main body is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a main body having a first opening, a consumable which is detachably installed in the main body, a door mounted on the main body to open and close the first opening, and locking members operable in association with the movement of the door to secure the consumable in place as the door is closed. Possible damages due to the movement of the consumable such as a photosensitive cartridge during shipping and/or transporting of the image forming apparatus can be prevented by the locking members.
US08238788B2 Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus and an image forming method are provided that realize both the use of a decolorizing toner and a non-decolorizing toner and miniaturization of the apparatus.
US08238783B2 Multi-function printer
A multi-function printer includes an image forming unit and a scanner unit. The image forming unit includes a body casing, a developing unit having a developing roller extending in a lateral direction, a developer cartridge provided on one side of the axis of the developing roller and detachably attached to the body casing, a discharge tray, a side cover, a support unit for supporting the developer cartridge such that the developer cartridge is detachably attached to a front side of the body casing, a sheet feeding tray detachably attachable to the front side of the body casing, and a discharge unit provided on the front side of the body casing and discharging sheet on which an image is formed to the rear side of the body casing. The scanner unit is provided above the image forming unit having a predetermined space opened on the one side therebetween.
US08238779B2 Volatile chemical substance catching device and electronic apparatus
A color multifunction printer of the present invention includes a volatile chemical substance catching device, provided in an exhaust duct provided above a fixing unit, which generates an electric field in an atmosphere with use of an electric-field generating and catching member, which attracts volatile chemical substances contained in the atmosphere to a surface of the electric-field generating and catching member by the action of the electric field, and which catches the volatile chemical substances. This makes it possible to realize a volatile chemical substance catching device and an electronic apparatus that hardly suffer from aged deterioration in performance and can catch volatile chemical compounds such as VOCs and odors over a long period of time.
US08238772B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus which forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, serving as an image carrier, develops the image using toners of a plurality of colors, and transfers a toner image onto a printing medium in accordance with an electrophotographic process. A toner consumption amount detection unit detects the toner consumption amount of each of the toners of the plurality of colors, a decision unit decides a color to be calibrated, based on the detected toner consumption amount of each color, a patch sensor detects the density of a patch of the decided color by generating the patch at a predetermined position on the photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier, and an adjustment unit adjusts the printing density of the color decided by the decision unit, based on the detected patch density.
US08238771B2 Image forming apparatus having paper-type detecting unit
An image forming apparatus having a paper-type detecting unit includes a paper-type detecting unit that detects a paper type of a sheet to be printed, a fixing unit that sets fixing temperature on the basis of the paper type detected by the paper-type detecting unit and fixes a toner image on the sheet, a paper-type-detection-failure determining unit that determines that the paper-type detecting unit is in failure, a paper-type-during-failure setting unit that sets in advance a paper type having a high frequency of use as a paper type during a failure according to a region, and a printing-during-failure selecting unit which is selectably provided, when the paper-type-detection-failure determining unit determines that the paper-type detecting unit is in failure, whether a printing condition for the paper type set by the paper-type-during-failure setting unit is set or it is determined that the paper type is a paper type of a sheet printed immediately before the failure and a printing condition is continued.
US08238768B2 Image forming apparatus including developing unit and toner supplying unit
A first developer container having a toner supplying opening is provided in a developing unit. A toner concentration sensor is arranged downstream of the toner supplying opening to detect toner concentration in developer. A supply controlling unit is provided to determine an excess or a shortage in the amount of supplied toner based on image information correspondingly to a detection result by the toner concentration sensor, and to correct the driving amount of a toner supplying unit that has been determined based on the image information correspondingly to the recognized excess or shortage in the amount of supplied toner.
US08238756B2 Long-reach passive optical network using remote modulation of an amplification optical signal
A passive optical network is provided, which includes an optical central office connected to a line termination device by a branch of the network including a passive amplification medium. The central office is adapted to send/receive a first data optical signal and has a first amplifier for sending a second amplification optical signal. The second signal exciting the amplification medium to amplify the optical power of an optical signal. The line termination device is adapted to receive the first optical signal, modulate the second amplification optical signal; and inject the modulated second signal into the network.
US08238752B2 PON (passive optical network) station side apparatus, PON uplink line communication method, and program recording medium
A PON station side apparatus is provided with a selection section and a receiving section. For multiple data transferred from multiple PON terminal apparatuses that transmit data at different communication speeds in time division multiplexing, the selection section selects any of the multiple receiving circuits to be a receiving circuit for a receiving destination at which data is received on the basis of the transmission time zones for the data. The receiving section switches the receiving circuit selected by the selection section among the multiple receiving circuits to be the receiving circuit for the destination at which data is received of the data and receives the data through the switched receiving circuit.
US08238743B2 Router having dual propagation paths for packets
A router comprising an interface module (IM), having an optical path and an electrical path and a speed sensor coupled between an input of the router and an input of the IM. The speed sensor is adapted to receive a packet and detect a speed of the IM connection and in response to the speed of the IM connection being above a threshold value, the speed sensor provides the packet to the optical path of the IM and in response to the relative speed being below the threshold value, the speed sensor provides the packet to the electrical path of the IM.
US08238738B2 Plenoptic camera
One embodiment of the present invention provides a plenoptic camera which captures information about the direction distribution of light rays entering the camera. Like a conventional camera, this plenoptic camera includes a main lens which receives light from objects in an object field and directs the received light onto an image plane of the camera. It also includes a photodetector array located at the image plane of the camera, which captures the received light to produce an image. However, unlike a conventional camera, the plenoptic camera additionally includes an array of optical elements located between the object field and the main lens. Each optical element in this array receives light from the object field from a different angle than the other optical elements in the array, and consequently directs a different view of the object field into the main lens. In this way, the photodetector array receives a different view of the object field from each optical element in the array.
US08238737B2 Lens barrel that changes focal length and image pickup apparatus equipped with lens barrel
A lens barrel that is capable of decreasing a barrel length under a retracted condition by simplifying a configuration. The lens barrel changes a focal length by moving first and second lens groups in an optical axis direction. A light-amount adjusting member is located between the first and second lens groups. First, second, third holding frames hold the first lens group, the second lens group, and the light-amount adjusting member, respectively. A cam mechanism moves the first, second, and third holding frames in the optical axis direction so that a part of the second lens group is inserted into the aperture of the light-amount adjusting member and concave and convex surfaces of the first and second lens groups are overlapped in the optical axis direction under a retracted condition. The aperture diameter of the light-amount adjusting member is enlarged when shifting to the retracted condition from a shooting condition.
US08238730B2 High voltage temperature limited heaters
A heater system may include an alternating current supply and an electrical conductor. An alternating current may be applied to one or more electrical conductors at a voltage above about 200 volts. The electrical conductors may be located in a formation. The electrical conductors may provide an electrically resistive heat output upon application of the alternating electrical current. At least one of the electrical conductors may include an electrically resistive ferromagnetic material. An electrical conductor may provide a reduced amount of heat above or near a selected temperature. Heat may be allowed to transfer from an electrical conductor to a part of the formation.
US08238722B2 Variable rate video playback with synchronized audio
The invention enables the apparent display rate of an audiovisual display to be varied. The invention can modify an original set of audio data in accordance with a target display rate, then modify a related original set of video data to conform to the modifications made to the audio data set, such that the modified audio and video data sets are synchronized. When the modified audio and video data sets so produced are used to generate an audiovisual display, the audiovisual display has an apparent display rate that approximates the target display rate. The target display rate can be faster or slower than a normal display rate at which an audiovisual display system generates an audiovisual display from the original sets of audio and video data. The target display rate can be established solely by a user instruction, by analysis of the audiovisual data, or by modification of a user-specified nominal target display rate based upon analysis of the audiovisual data. Preferably, the method for modifying the original audio data set is one that produces a modified audio data set that can be used to generate an audio display having little or no distortion.
US08238719B2 Method for processing a sports video and apparatus thereof
The present invention discloses a method of processing a sports video. The method includes the steps of: analyzing the sports video to detect at least one semantic event and each of the at least one semantic event associated with a segment length; and generating a summarized video according to the detected at least one semantic event.
US08238716B2 Reproducing device
Arrangements for playing back data from a recording medium, including: first playback circuits for reading first stream data which includes first video data, first audio data, and first sub-picture data, from a first recording medium; second playback circuits for reading second stream data which includes at least one of second video data, second audio data, and second sub-picture data, from a second recording medium; and selection circuits for conducting at least one of: switching from the first video data to the second video data, switching from the first audio data to the second audio data, and switching from the first sub-picture data to the second sub-picture data; wherein data newly switched by the selection circuits and the data which is not switched by the selection circuits are synchronously superimposed and outputted.
US08238715B2 Optical disc, video data editing apparatus, computer-readable recording medium storing an editing program, reproduction apparatus for the optical disc, and computer-readable recording medium storing an reproduction program
An optical disc includes a data area for recording a plurality of video segments and an index area from recording original type chain information and user-defined type chain information. The original type chain information defines an original type chain including first ones of the video segments by describing a reproduction order of the first video segments. The user-defined type chain information defines a user-defined type chain including second ones of the video segments by describing a reproduction order of the second video segments. The first video segments are positioned in the data area in the reproduction order of the first video segments whereas the second video segments are positioned in the data area independently of the reproduction order of the second video segments.
US08238713B2 Systems and methods for enhancing a user's DVD experience
Methods, systems and architectures for enhancing a user's DVD experience are described. In one embodiment, the physical structure (e.g. titles and chapters) of a DVD is ascertained and a playlist structure shell that represents the DVD's physical structure is built. Metadata associated with the DVD is acquired and used to populate the playlist structure shell. In some embodiments, the metadata can be acquired from a metadata source external to the DVD and/or remote from a computing device on which the DVD is being played. Remote locations can include, without limitation, those that are network- or Internet-accessible. Once the playlist structure shell is populated, it can be used to render a playlist associated with the DVD's video in an area of a user interface display. In some embodiments, a DVD's video can be rendered in a first area of the user interface display and the playlist can be rendered in a second area of the user interface display during at least some of the time that the DVD's video is rendered in the first area.
US08238712B2 Recording and reproducing apparatus and recording and reproducing method
A recording and reproducing apparatus which records and reproduces data with respect to a plurality of recording media includes a display unit for simultaneously displaying, on a display screen having a display area for each recording medium, data recorded onto recording media in corresponding display areas, a selection unit for selecting specific data from the data displayed on the display screen, and a designation unit for designating a moving destination of the selected data. If a display area other than a recording medium as a recording source of the selected data exists in the moving destination designated by the designation unit, the selected data is duplicated or moved to a recording medium corresponding to the display area.
US08238708B2 Fiber optic module
A fiber optic module includes a housing defining an interior region. A bulkhead assembly is in engagement with the housing. The bulkhead assembly includes a plurality of input adapter ports, a plurality of output adapter ports, and a plurality of monitor ports. A high-density planar lightwave circuit chip is disposed in the interior region of the housing and includes a plurality of optical splitters.
US08238707B2 Locking spool for telecommunications cable and method
The present disclosure relates to a spool for a telecommunications cable. The spool prevents twisting of the cable when the spool is operated by requiring that any connections to a side of the spool are disconnected before rotation of the spool can begin. The spool includes a base, a hub, a connector bulkhead, a barrier member, and a hub locking member. A first flange of the hub is rotatably mounted to the base. The connector bulkhead receives a terminated end of the cable and is attached to a second flange of the hub. The barrier member is moveably attached to the second flange of the hub. The barrier member has a first position that obstructs access to the terminated end of the cable and a second position that allows access to the end of the cable. The hub locking member is operably connected to the barrier member such that the hub and the base are not locked by the hub locking member when the barrier member is at the first position, and the hub and the base are locked together by the hub locking member when the barrier member is at the second position.
US08238686B2 Image processing apparatus, method and recording medium
An image processing apparatus specifies an evaluation-target area that tends to produce distortion in an object contained in an image, and calculates amount of distortion produced in vectorization of the object by comparing the shape of the object and the shape of a vectorized object obtained by vectorizing the object in the specified evaluation-target area. The apparatus further revises the shape of the vectorized object in the evaluation-target area so as to approach the shape of the object when the amount of distortion is larger than a predetermined reference value.
US08238684B2 Signal processing apparatus and method, and program
A signal processing apparatus for performing a filtering process on an input image using a plurality of filters to generate an output image includes the following elements. A region variance value calculating unit calculates a region variance value for a region around a predetermined pixel used as a pixel of interest on the input image. A filter processing unit applies a filtering process to a pixel value of the pixel of interest using the filters. A reflection amount determining unit determines a reflection amount based on the region variance value. A combining unit calculates a pixel value of a pixel of the output image corresponding to the pixel of interest on the basis of respective filter output values obtained by filtering processes applied by a plurality of filter processing units, respective reflection amounts determined with respect to the filter output values, and the pixel value of the pixel of interest.
US08238680B2 Image compression method with variable quantization parameters and variable coding parameters
An image compression method is used for processing a plurality of pixels of an image. The image compression method includes the steps of receiving N pixels; analyzing the N pixels and generating a content type corresponding to the N pixels; obtaining a quantization parameter and a coding parameter corresponding to the N pixels according to the content type and a currently available buffer space value; obtaining N quantized differences corresponding to the N pixels through a prediction and quantization way according to values of the N pixels and the quantization parameter; and encoding the N quantized differences according to the N quantized differences and the coding parameter.
US08238678B2 Providing representative image information
Providing information representative of an image in an interactive visualization system includes selecting a current image from a stream of images, evaluating context information within the visualization system, and determining representative information for the current image on the basis of the context information.
US08238674B2 Method for encoding and decoding images
A method for encoding an image includes identifying first and second sets of pixels from multiple pixels in a current row of the image, where the first set of pixels includes one or more pixels that are equal to one or more corresponding pixels in a reference row, and the second set of pixels are not equal to one or more corresponding pixels in the reference row. A third set of pixels that includes at least one of a first group of pixels selected from the first set of pixels and a second group of pixels selected from at least one of the first set and the second set of pixels is identified and encoded in an encoded data set.
US08238671B1 Scene classification for place recognition
Aspects of the invention pertain to identifying whether or not an image from a user's device is of a place. Before undertaking time and resource consuming analysis of an image using specialized image analysis modules, pre-filtering classification is conducted based on image data and metadata associated with the image. The metadata may include geolocation information. One classification procedure analyzes the metadata to perform a high level determination as to whether the image is of a place. If the results indicate that it is of a place, then a further classification procedure may be performed, where the image information is analyzed, with or without the metadata. This process may be done concurrently with a place match filtering procedure. The results of the further classification will either find a match with a given place or not. The output is a place match either with or without geolocation information.
US08238667B2 Moving image creating apparatus, moving image creating method, and program
A moving image creating apparatus includes a memory that stores a plurality of template files each of which holds a plurality of component templates each for accommodating an image. An input device that selects any one of the template files stored in the memory. A processing unit analyzes metadata about each of a plurality of images. The processing unit analyzes metadata about each of the component templates in the selected template file. Further, the processing unit places the images into the component templates of the selected template file in accordance with the analyzed metadata about the images and the analyzed metadata about the component templates and places one of the images into one of the component templates of the selected template file, in response to a determination that none of the metadata about each of the images matches the analyzed metadata about the one of the component templates.
US08238666B2 Recognition of parameterised shapes from document images
A method (1100) of creating a document comprising a modifiable shape, is disclosed. The method analyzes an image to detect at least a graphical object. The method matches the detected graphical object with at least one of a plurality of predetermined modifiable closed-form non-textual template shapes (e.g., 420) comprising control parameters for modifying the closed-form non-textual template shape in a non-affine manner. The number of control parameters of the predetermined modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape is less than the number of sections making up the modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape. The method creates a document comprising the at least one modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape.
US08238664B2 Image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and recording medium
Even if an image processing apparatus which can recognize a certain character string is available on the network, processing results of an OCR process are determined by character recognition ability of an image processing apparatus which has happened to perform the OCR process. Thus, after an MFP performs a character recognition process based on image data contained in a character region of an image, if it is determined that processing results of the character recognition process are highly likely to contain recognition errors, the processing results are output to another MFP together with first information which indicates a high likelihood of the processing results containing recognition errors. Upon acquiring the processing results, the other MFP with higher character recognition capabilities performs a character recognition process on the image data contained in the character region if the first information is attached.
US08238662B2 Method for manipulating regions of a digital image
A method for dividing a digital image into regions comprises identifying potential region borders based on edge content in the digital image. The digital image is divided into regions based on user-selected ones of the potential region borders. A method of processing a region of a digital image comprises receiving gesture data for characterizing the region. A processing tool associated with the gesture data is automatically launched, and the region is processed using the processing tool.
US08238660B2 Hybrid graph model for unsupervised object segmentation
This disclosure describes an integrated framework for class-unsupervised object segmentation. The class-unsupervised object segmentation occurs by integrating top-down constraints and bottom-up constraints on object shapes using an algorithm in an integrated manner. The algorithm describes a relationship among object parts and superpixels. This process forms object shapes with object parts and oversegments pixel images into the superpixels, with the algorithm in conjunction with the constraints. This disclosure describes computing a mask map from a hybrid graph, segmenting the image into a foreground object and a background, and displaying the foreground object from the background.
US08238659B2 Image processing apparatus and method of determining a region of an input image and adjusting pixel values of the region
An image processing method includes determining one or more candidate pixels having variation of brightness in a first direction, among a plurality of pixels constituting an input image, the variation of brightness exceeding a first reference value, determining a certain region in which the total number of candidate pixels existing in a row of pixels in a second direction different from the first direction exceeds a second reference value, and generating an output image free from the determined certain region.
US08238652B2 Image processing apparatus and method, and program
An image processing apparatus includes a feature extracting unit configured to extract a feature in each local area from an image including a plurality of colors in bands of visible radiation and non-visible radiation, the feature having elements representing ratios between a reference color and individual colors; and a discriminating unit configured to discriminate an object in each local area by using the feature extracted for the local area by the feature extracting unit.
US08238651B2 Image-guided abstraction of building facades
To reduce the amount of storage space and computing power required to render image data, particularly building image data, primary and secondary colors may be extracted from the image data. The image data may be re-rendered using only the primary and secondary colors. The re-rendered image may be evaluated for patterns, the patterns thresholded to bi-level data and a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), or equivalent, may be performed on the bi-level data. Low order coefficients may be discarded depending on level accuracy desired. DFT coefficients and color data for the primary and secondary colors may then be used to construct an abstraction of the original image data, using data that is, in some cases, three or four orders of magnitude smaller than the original image data.
US08238650B2 Adaptive scene dependent filters in online learning environments
A method and a system for determining an object segment in an electronic image. Preferably the method or system is sufficiently fast to allow real-time processing. A method for determining an object segment in an electronic image may comprise the steps of unsupervised learning of a multi-feature segmentation and of forming a relevance map. The method may further comprise the step of estimating the probability of a segment belonging to an object by the overlap of the segment and the relevance map in the electronic image.
US08238646B2 Apparatus and method for the automated marking of defects on webs of material
A system for the characterization of webs that permits the identification of anomalous regions on the web to be performed at a first time and place, and permits the localization and marking of actual defects to be performed at a second time and place.
US08238644B2 Fast method to model photoresist images using focus blur and resist blur
A method for determining an image of a patterned object formed by a polychromatic lithographic projection system having a laser radiation source of a finite spectral bandwidth and a lens for imaging the patterned object to an image plane within a resist layer. The method comprises providing patterns for the object, a spectrum of the radiation source to be used in the lithographic projection system, an intensity and polarization distribution of the radiation source, and a lens impulse response in the spatial domain or in the spatial frequency domain of the image. The method then includes forming a polychromatic 4D bilinear vector kernel comprising a partially coherent polychromatic joint response between pairs of points in the spatial domain or in the spatial frequency domain, determining the dominant polychromatic 2D kernels of the polychromatic 4D bilinear vector kernel, and determining the image of the patterned object from convolutions of the object patterns with the dominant polychromatic 2D kernels.
US08238631B2 System and method for automatic registration between an image and a subject
A patient defines a patient space in which an instrument can be tracked and navigated. An image space is defined by image data that can be registered to the patient space. A tracking device can be connected to a member in a known manner that includes imageable portions that generate image points in the image data. The tracking device can be tracked to register patient space to image space.
US08238627B2 Identification and classification of virus particles in textured electron micrographs
The method is for the identification and characterization of structures in electron micrographs. Structures in a first image are selected. The structures have a first shape type deformed in a first direction. The selected structures are transformed to a second shape type different from the first shape type. The transformed structures of the second shape type are used to form a plurality of templates. A new structure in a second image is identified. The new structure has the first shape type. The second shape type structure of each template is deformed in the first direction. It is determined which template is a preferred template that best matches the new structure.
US08238620B2 Defect correction based on “virtual” lenslets
A system constructs an image using virtual lenslets.
US08238619B2 Method of extracting ridge line and valley line from three-dimensional point data
Disclosed is a method of extracting ridge and valley lines from three-dimensional point data, the method including the steps of: receiving undefined point data obtained from a three-dimensional scanning system; estimating a normal vector by principal component analysis so as to calculate a normal vector with regard to each received point; and on the basis of such information, creating a moving least squares (MLS) surface of points approximation with regard to each received point. Then, Delaunay edge is created by a Voronoi diagram with regard to each point from the created MLS surface of points; and ridge (or valley) points are extracted by measuring zero-crossing on each Delaunay edge. Ridges and valleys as lines are created by connecting the extracted ridge points in a principal curvature direction. The extraction of ridge and valley lines is used as a pre-processing step for creating three-dimensional points into mesh data, and is advantageous for identifying general model features.
US08238616B2 Biometric authentication system and biometric authentication method
There is provided a biometric authentication system including a plurality of information processing devices divided to a first group for performing a primary authentication based on feature quantity information unique to a biological pattern of a user associated with biological information, and specifying an identification number assigned to the user, and a second group for performing a secondary authentication on the biological information that succeeded in the primary authentication based on the identification number and registered biological information registered in advance. The input biological information is transmitted to all information processing devices belonging to the first group, the biological information that succeeded in the primary authentication is added as queuing information to a queue, and each of the information processing devices belonging to the second group acquires the queuing information positioned at a head of the queue when the secondary authentication process being executed in the own device is terminated.
US08238614B2 Image data output processing apparatus and image data output processing method excelling in similarity determination of duplex document
In an image data output processing apparatus of the present invention, a storage process section, when a reference document is duplex, stores, at the time of storage, a DocID indicative of the reference document, to correspond to an ID indicative of respective document images on front and back sides of the reference document, and in matching when a matching document is duplex, extracts an ID similar to that of the reference document and a corresponding DocID for each of the document images on the front and back sides of the matching document, to create candidate lists for the front and back sides of the matching document. If first candidates in the candidate lists correspond to an identical DocID, the images are similar to each other, and if first candidates do not correspond to the identical DocID, a determination result is corrected to a reference document corresponding to the identical DocID.
US08238609B2 Synthetic image and video generation from ground truth data
A system and a method are disclosed for generating video. Object information is received. A path of motion of the object relative to a reference point is generated. A series of images and ground for a reference frame are generated from the ground truth and the generated path. A system and a method are disclosed for generating an image. Object information is received. Image data and ground truth may be generated using position, the image description, the camera characteristics, and image distortion parameters. A positional relationship between the document and a reference point is determined. An image of the document and ground truth are generated from the object information and the positional relationship and in response to user specified environment of the document.
US08238608B2 Tracking workflow in manipulating media items
A computer-implemented method is described including receiving input specifying an image frame from among a series of image frames, and automatically detecting one or more points in the specified image frame that would be suitable for tracking a point in the series of image frames. In addition, a computer-implemented method is described including choosing a first position of a point on a first image frame of a plurality of image frames, and displaying in a bounded region on the first image frame content relating to a second image frame of the plurality of image frames, wherein the content displayed in the bounded region includes a second position of the point at a different time than the first position of the point.
US08238592B2 Method for user indvidualized fitting of a hearing aid
A method for user individualized fitting of a hearing aid comprises: Performing an initial fitting (101) of the hearing aid in an interactive session between the hearing aid user and a fitter, monitoring, for a predetermined period after the initial fitting, the hearing aid user's choice of at least some of the settings of the hearing aid and storing the results of the monitoring in a log. The log is transmitted (108) to the fitter for evaluation (109) of preferred user settings. If the evaluation reveals that the preferred user settings are acceptable, the fitting of the hearing aid is finalized (105) accordingly.
US08238591B2 Method for determining a time constant of the hearing and method for adjusting a hearing apparatus
A method for adjusting a signal processing facility of a hearing apparatus is provided. An acoustic signal is presented and processing using a signal-processing facility, which has a first-time value to form a first-processed-acoustic signal. The first-processed-acoustic signal is assigned to a first loudness via the user. A renewed presentation of the acoustic signal is processed by the signal-processing facility, which has a second-time value to form a second-processed-acoustic signal as well as an assignment of the second-processed-acoustic signal to form a second loudness by the user. In one aspect the second-time value is less than the first-time value and the steps are repeated until the second loudness equates to the first loudness, with the first-time value being shortened with each repetition. In another aspect the second-time value is greater than the first-time value and the steps are repeated until the second loudness differs from the first loudness, with the first-time value being lengthen with each repetition.
US08238590B2 Automated audio source control based on audio output device placement detection
An apparatus and method for automatically remotely controlling an audio source providing the apparatus with audio for being audibly output to a user of the apparatus entails monitoring various sensors to determine whether or not one or more ear couplings of the apparatus are positioned in close proximity to one or both of the user's ears to determine whether the user is listening to the audibly output audio with either one or both ears, or is not listening at all. In response to changes in whether the user is listening with either one or both ears, or whether the user is listening at all, the audio source is automatically signaled with one or more commands to cease or resume providing the audio to the apparatus, perform or cease performing various alterations on the audio before providing it to the apparatus, etc.
US08238587B2 Electret condenser microphone
The present invention provides an electret condenser microphone including a diaphragm, a frame adapted to affix the diaphragm to, and a backplate positionable inside the frame and opposite the diaphragm with a space reserved therebetween.
US08238586B2 Thermoacoustic device
A thermoacoustic device includes a sound wave generator, a number of first electrodes and a number of second electrodes. The sound wave generator includes a carbon nanotube structure. The second electrodes and the first electrodes are separately connected to the sound wave generator. The second electrodes and the first electrodes are parallel to each other and are alternately arranged at uniform intervals. A working voltage applied to the first and second electrodes is less than or equal to about 50 volts. The sound wave generator and the first and second electrodes satisfy a formula of 1 ⁢ Ω ≤ R 1 ( n - 1 ) 2 ≤ 125 ⁢ Ω . Wherein R1 represents a resistance of the sound wave generator in the direction from the first electrodes to the second electrodes, and n represents a sum of the total number of the first electrodes and the second electrodes.
US08238578B2 Electroacoustical transducing with low frequency augmenting devices
A method for clipping and post-clipping processing an audio signal, includes clipping an audio signal to provide a clipped audio signal; filtering, by a first filter, the audio signal to provide a filtered unclipped audio signal; and filtering, by a second filter, the clipped audio signal to provide a filtered clipped audio signal. The method further includes differentially combining the filtered clipped audio signal and the clipped audio signal to provide a differentially combined audio signal; and combining the filtered unclipped audio signal and the differentially combined audio signal to provide an output signal.
US08238575B2 Determination of the coherence of audio signals
Embodiments of the invention disclose computer-implemented methods, systems, and computer program products for estimating signal coherence. First, a sound generated by a sound source is detected by a first microphone to obtain a first microphone signal and by a second microphone to obtain a second microphone signal. The first microphone signal is filtered by a first adaptive finite impulse response filter to obtain a first filtered signal. The second microphone signal is filtered by a second adaptive finite impulse response filter, to obtain a second filtered signal. The coherence of the first filtered signal and the second filtered signal is determined based upon the filtered signals. The first and the second microphone signals are filtered such that the difference between the acoustic transfer function for the transfer of the sound from the sound source to the first microphone and the transfer of the sound from the sound source to the second microphone is compensated in the first and second filtered signals.
US08238573B2 Conference apparatus
Microphone arrays, which are formed by arranging a plurality of microphones, are provided on a front side and a rear side of a housing, respectively. A virtual focus is set for each of the microphone arrays in a direction opposite to a direction in which sound is picked-up sound signals picked up by the plurality of microphones are delayed such that distances to the virtual focus are the same, and the delayed sound signals are synthesized. Therefore, sound in a sound-pickup area of a predetermined angle on each of the front side and the rear side can be picked up at a high level, and even though there is a noise source in areas other than the sound-pickup area, noise from the noise source is not picked up.
US08238570B2 Personal acoustic device position determination
Apparatus and method for determining an operating state of a personal acoustic device by receiving signal from first and second movement sensors indicating movement detected by each, wherein the first movement sensor is disposed on a portion of the personal acoustic device structured to be worn on a user's head to enable the first movement sensors to detect movements of a user's head when the personal acoustic device is in position on the user's head such that a casing of the personal acoustic device is adjacent an ear of the user, and wherein the second movement sensor is disposed on a portion of the personal acoustic device structure to not be worn on a user's head.
US08238561B2 Method for encoding and decoding multi-channel audio signal and apparatus thereof
Methods and apparatuses for encoding and decoding a multi-channel audio signal are provided. In the encoding method, spatial information that is calculated based on a multi-channel audio signal and a downmix signal is encoded, and additional configuration information is generated based on information that is selected from the encoded spatial information. The downmix signal is encoded, and then, a bitstream is generated by combining the encoded downmix signal with the encoded spatial information. Thereafter, the additional configuration information is inserted into the bitstream. Therefore, it is possible to configure an optimum bitstream according to the circumstances by retransmitting all or part of information included in a header.
US08238559B2 IPTV follow me content system and method
Tools are provided for distributing access-restricted content in an internet protocol television (“IPTV”) environment based on portable entitlement keys. Such tools can include a decoder, an encoder, and a network entitlement handler. The decoder may be configured to receive a key associated with entitlement information, and transmit the entitlement information over a network. The encoder may be configured to receive content from content providers, and to encode the content to create IP-compatible content, with access restrictions based on entitlement. The network entitlement handler may be configured to receive a request for requested content from the decoder; receive the access-restricted content including (including the requested content) from the encoder; and transmit the requested content over the network to the decoder using IP, when the decoder is entitled to receive the requested content.
US08238553B2 Steganographic method and device
An apparatus and method for encoding and decoding additional information into a stream of digitized samples in an integral manner. The information is encoded using special keys. The information is contained in the samples, not prepended or appended to the sample stream. The method makes it extremely difficult to find the information in the samples if the proper keys are not possessed by the decoder. The method does not cause a significant degradation to the sample stream. The method is used to establish ownership of copyrighted digital multimedia content and provide a disincentive to piracy of such material.
US08238550B2 Pairing computation device, pairing computation method and recording medium recording pairing computation program
There is provided a pairing computation device, a pairing computation method and a recording medium recording a pairing computation program all enabling a pairing computation at high speed. In the case where the Ate pairing e(Q,P) is defined as in equation (1) and k is any one of even, a multiple of 3, a multiple of 4, and a multiple of 6, arithmetic operations of a rational function which is required to derive the Miller function fs,Q(P) are performed on the proper subfield specified by a twist curve using a quadratic and cubic non-residue v which becomes 1 when an exponentiation of this fs,Q(P) to the power of (qk−1)/r is performed.
US08238549B2 Efficient full or partial duplicate fork detection and archiving
A method to efficiently detect, store, modify, and recreate fully or partially duplicate file forks is described. During archive creation or modification, sets of fully or partially duplicate forks are detected and a reduced number of transformed forks or fork segments are stored. During archive expansion, one or more forks are recreated from each full or partial copy.
US08238544B2 Termination for a line card in a telecommunication system
A system of terminating signals in a telecommunication system is disclosed. In one embodiment a line card comprises functional circuitry, line card connector contacts and a termination resistor. The functional circuitry is used to interface first type ports with second type ports. The line card connector contacts are adapted to be selectively coupled to a backplane of a chassis. The termination resistor is adapted to terminate signal lines when a jumper is coupled across select line card contacts.
US08238542B2 Operating managing server, system, computer-accessible medium and program
According to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a monitoring device can be provided that facilitates a supervisor in a contact center to recognize the status of each operator easily, and to recognize an irregularity in operation quickly. For example, a server can be connected to a telephone switchboard and a terminal which can include a display unit that, via a communication line; can receive operational status data indicating an operating status of a telephone from the telephone switchboard, measure an elapsed time after a change in the operational status, read out the configuration data associated and stored beforehand according to the received operational status data, generate display data for displaying an image indicating the operational status and the elapsed time, at a prescribed position on the display unit corresponding to a seating position of the operator, based on the configuration data and the elapsed time, and transmit the data to the terminal.
US08238534B2 Credit card collect call system and method
A system is provided for connecting collect calls. A collect call number for the collect call is received. A blocking status of the collect call number is determined. The collect call number is dialed. A call recipient is prompted to accept the collect call and to select a billing option according to the blocking status. The collect call is connected based on the selected billing option.
US08238531B2 Computing device with remote contact lists
In one implementation a computer-implemented method includes generating a group of telephone contacts for a first user, wherein the generating includes identifying a second user as a contact of the first user based upon a determination that the second user has at least a threshold email-based association with the first user; and adding the identified second user to the group of telephone contacts for the first user. The method further includes receiving a first request to connect a first telephone device associated with the first user to a second telephone device associated with the second user. The method also includes identifying a contact identifier of the second telephone device using the generated group of telephone contacts for the first user, and initiating a connection between the first telephone device and the second telephone device using the identified contact identifier.
US08238530B2 Authenticating a user based on the user's ability to distinguish type-A from type-B sounds
A method of authentication is disclosed. When a user registers with an enterprise, the enterprise instructs the user to select sounds from a selection of sounds. Any sound that the user selects is designated as a “type-A” sound and any sound that is not so designated is deemed a “type-B” sound. To authenticate the user, the enterprise combines type-A sounds and type-B sounds into a temporal series of sounds and constructs questions about the series that can only be answered by someone who can recognize and distinguish type-A sounds from type-B sounds. The series of sounds and the questions are then transmitted to the user. If the user is able to answer the questions, then he or she is authenticated, and if not, then he or she is not authenticated.
US08238528B2 Automatic analysis of voice mail content
A device receives an audio voice mail message, converts the audio voice mail message to a text voice mail message, analyzes the text voice mail message for voice mail information, and provides the voice mail information associated with the audio voice mail message to enable review of the voice mail information.
US08238525B2 Voice recognition server, telephone equipment, voice recognition system, and voice recognition method
A voice recognition server 200 has a voice reception unit 202 which receives a voice from a telephone equipment 100, a model storage unit 208 which stores at least one acoustic model and at least one language model used for converting the voice received by the voice reception unit 202, to character data, a number decision unit 204 which decides a current calling number and a second number of the telephone equipment 100, a model selection unit 206 which selects an acoustic model stored in the model storage unit 208, based on the current calling number and the second number, and which selects a language model stored in the model storage unit 208, based on the current calling number, and a voice recognition unit 210 which converts the voice received by the voice reception unit 202, to character data, based on the acoustic model and the language model selected by the model selection unit 206.
US08238519B2 Rotational radiation treatment of moving targets
Some aspects include a system, apparatus, and method for determining that a motion of a patient area of a patient due to breathing is substantially periodic according to a treatment plan, moving a radiotherapy gantry towards a first treatment gantry angle, moving a radiotherapy beam shaping device towards a first treatment shape corresponding to the first treatment gantry angle, determining when a next treatment window is to begin based on a predictive model derived from the motion of the patient area, where the treatment window is a period of time designated for delivery of treatment radiation to the patient area according to the treatment plan, adjusting the moving of the radiotherapy gantry such that the radiotherapy gantry will reach the first treatment angle during the determined next treatment window, and delivering a treatment radiation beam to the patient area during the determined next treatment window.
US08238506B2 Phase-discriminating device and method
A high-accuracy and computational efficient phase-discriminating device is provided and includes a phase-discriminating unit. The phase-discriminating unit converts an input and a reference signals into an input and a reference sequences respectively by a one-bit A/D conversion operation, determines a first value, an in-phase component and a quadrature component of the input signal in response to the input and the reference sequences, and produces an estimated phase of the input signal according to a relation among the first value, the in-phase component and a polarity of the quadrature component, wherein the first value is a certain integer being one of a first integer and a second integer, the first integer is a sampling count of the one-bit A/D conversion operation for producing the input sequence, and the second integer is a summation of an absolute value of the in-phase component and that of the quadrature component.
US08238499B2 Method and apparatus for low-complexity interference cancellation in communication signal processing
The teachings herein disclose interference cancellation processing that uses hard decision logic for simplified estimation of interfering signals, in combination with soft scaling of the hard decisions for better interference cancellation performance, particularly in low signal quality conditions. In one aspect, the soft scaling may be understood as attenuating the amount of interference cancellation applied by a receiver, in dependence on the dynamically changing received signal quality at the receiver. More attenuation is applied at lower signal quality because the hard decisions are less reliable at lower signal qualities, while less (or no) attenuation is applied at higher signal qualities, reflecting the higher reliability of the hard decisions at higher signal qualities. Signal quality may be quantized into ranges, with a different value of soft scaling factor used for each range, or a soft scaling factor may be calculated for the continuum of measured signal quality.
US08238490B2 Method and circuit for determining a Doppler shift of a signal
A method for determining a Doppler shift of a first signal is provided. First, a plurality of Doppler frequency hypotheses is combined to obtain a joint Doppler signal. The first signal is the correlated according to the joint Doppler signal and a plurality of code signals with phases corresponding to a series of code phase hypotheses to obtain a series of correlation results which are then examined to determine whether the Doppler shift does lie in the Doppler hypotheses. A fine Doppler search is then performed to determine the Doppler shift when the Doppler shift lies in the Doppler hypotheses.
US08238484B2 Digital transmission and reception devices for transmitting and receiving streams, and processing methods thereof
A transmission system to transmit a transport stream (TS) having normal data and additional data, the transmission system including: a stream constructor to generate a TS, and a multiplexer (MUX) to insert information representing the characteristics of additional data in the TS. Therefore, it is possible for a reception system to use the additional data efficiently.
US08238475B2 Methods and systems for PDCCH blind decoding in mobile communications
Various methods and systems for efficiently performing the blind decoding of downlink signals is described. Several forms of arranging possible CCE combinations are examined and investigated. Based on PDCCH size estimation/information, CCE concatenations that are most likely (of limited sets) can be arrived at. Tree-based concatenations are also devised using largest CCE ordering to align smaller CCE sizes to similar boundaries. By such ordering, the search space for all possible CCE ordering and sizes can be reduced to an efficient tree. Set mapping between possible lnposelstartCCElnposelend/REs are also described using a first set to secondary and tertiary sets. Various other ordering and sorting schemes are also detailed that enable a blind decode of a PDCCH channel to be efficiently performed.
US08238464B2 Method and apparatus for decomposing channel in closed-loop multiple input multiple output communication system
An apparatus for decomposing a channel in a closed-loop Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communication system is provided. The channel decomposition apparatus includes a transmitter for preceding input symbols using a first matrix which is a product of a unitary matrix V, a diagonal matrix Φ and a blockwise Uniform Channel Decomposition (UCD) matrix PBL, before outputting the input symbols.
US08238456B2 Techniques to time vary pilot locations in wireless networks
An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a receiver capable of selecting optimal pilot locations and providing feedback of the pilot locations to a transmitter in communication with the receiver. The optimal pilot locations may be selected by locations that avoid strong interference or platform noise at the receiver, by locations that avoid deep fading, by locations that maximize the spacing between pilot tones at the two ends of a wireless frequency band or by locations that equalize the interspacing between any two adjacent pilots.
US08238455B2 Methods and apparatus for downlink PDSCH power setting
Methods and apparatus for transmitting power setting information in a downlink Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in a communication system. In this communication system, a plurality of methods for calculating traffic-to-pilot ratios (T2P) are established. In addition, a mapping scheme between a plurality of overhead signals and a plurality of reference signal (RS) overhead ratios, ηRS, and the plurality of T2P calculation methods is established. A user-specific T2P ratio PB,k/PRS for certain OFDM symbols, a RS overhead ratio ηRS and a calculation method selected from the plurality of T2P calculation methods are assigned to a wireless terminal. Then, an overhead signal corresponding to both of the assigned RS overhead ratio ηRS and the assigned T2P calculation method is selected in accordance with the mapping scheme and is transmitted to the wireless terminal. In addition, the user-specific traffic-to-pilot ratio PB,k/PRS is transmitted to the wireless terminal. The wireless terminal may calculate the traffic-to-pilot ratios across different transmission antennas and different OFDM symbols in dependence upon the received traffic-to-pilot ratio PB,k/PRS, and the RS overhead ratio and the T2P calculation method indicated by the RS overhead signal.
US08238453B1 Adaptive channel bandwidth selection for MIMO wireless systems
A wireless communications device for a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless communications system. The wireless communication device includes a radio frequency (RF) transceiver including at least two antennae. A medium access control (MAC) device to dynamically adjust a bandwidth of the wireless communications device by adjusting a number of channels associated with at least two antennae. The adjusting of the number of channels associated with at least two antennae is based at least on a transmission error rate or a correlation measurement.
US08238449B2 Apparatus for removing a blocking phenomenon in a first block using properties of second and third blocks adjacent the first block
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain a block type of the second block and the third block. The second block is adjacent to the first block horizontally, and the third block is adjacent to the first block vertically. The decoder is configured to determine whether the second and third blocks have non-zero transform coefficient information if the block type of the second and third block, respectively, are not an intra-coded blocks. First and second motion vector differences between a motion vector for the first block and motion vectors for the second and third blocks, respectively, are obtained by the decoder. A horizontal filter strength value and a vertical filter strength value are determined by the decoder based on the above steps, and the blocking phenomenon in the first block is removed by the decoder according to the horizontal filter strength value and the vertical filter strength value.
US08238447B2 Method of removing a blocking phenomenon
One embodiment of the method includes obtaining a coded block pattern of first and second blocks. The coded block pattern is one of a plurality of coded block patterns, the plurality of coded block patterns includes an intra-coded block, and the second block is adjacent to the first block. Whether the first block has non-zero transform coefficient information is determined if the obtained coded block pattern of the first block is not the intra-coded block. A motion vector difference between a motion vector for the first block and a motion vector for the second block is obtained. A non-zero filter strength value is determined based on the obtained coded block pattern of the first and second block, the determination of whether the first block has non-zero transform coefficient information, and the obtained motion vector difference. The blocking phenomenon is removed according to the filter strength.
US08238435B2 Modifying bitstreams
The bitstream includes digital codes representing an information signal. At least one digital code is selected. The code occupies a part of the bitstream which is to contain at least one watermark code which represents a watermark perceptible in the information signal. The selected digital code(s) are removed from the said part of the bitstream. The watermark code(s) are put in the said part of the bitstream in place of the selected code(s). The number of bits of the selected code(s) removed from the said part of the bitstream is greater than or equal to the number of bits of the said watermark code(s) put in the said part. The removed selected code(s) are appended to an end of the bitstream and/or placed in watermark user data fields created in the bitstream.
US08238430B2 Apparatus for removing a blocking phenomenon in a block based on prioritized factors
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain a coded block pattern of first and second blocks. The coded block pattern is one of a plurality of coded block patterns, the plurality of coded block patterns include an intra-coded block, and the second block is adjacent to the first block. The decoder is configured to obtain a motion vector difference between a motion vector for the first block and a motion vector for the second block, and determine a non-zero filter strength value based on the obtained coded block pattern of the first and second block as first priority and the obtained motion vector difference as second priority. The blocking phenomenon is removed by the decoder according to the filter strength value.
US08238418B2 Apparatus for removing blocking artifact by filtering pixels in a horizontal and then vertical direction
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain quantization information of a first block, and determine a filtering coefficient based on values obtained from a table using the quantization. Four successive filtered pixel values in horizontal direction are obtained by the decoder based on the filtering coefficient, and four successive filtered pixel values in the vertical direction are obtained by the decoder based on the filtering coefficient after obtaining the four successive filtered pixel values in the horizontal direction.
US08238406B2 Time-hopping sequence for burst mode communications
A method consisting of determining, by a symbol mapper, whether a previous burst position is below a threshold, wherein the previous burst position defines a location within a previous symbol. A determination that the previous burst position is below the threshold causes generating, by the symbol mapper, a random number in a complete set, the random number defines a current burst position, the current burst position defines a location within a current symbol and sending or receiving a value in the current burst position. A determination that the previous burst position is above the threshold causes generating, by the symbol mapper, a random number in a reduced set, the random number defines a modified current burst position, the modified current burst position defines a location within the current symbol and sending or receiving a value in the modified current burst position.
US08238403B2 Base station apparatus and radio communication method
Provided is a radio communication device which can make Acknowledgement (ACK) reception quality and Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) reception quality to be equal to each other. The device includes: a scrambling unit (214) which multiplies a response signal after modulated, by a scrambling code “1” or “e−j(π/2)” so as to rotate a constellation for each of response signals on a cyclic shift axis; a spread unit (215) which performs a primary spread of the response signal by using a Zero Auto Correlation (ZAC) sequence set by a control unit (209); and a spread unit (218) which performs a secondary spread of the response signal after subjected to the primary spread, by using a block-wise spread code sequence set by the control unit (209).
US08238399B2 High-gain diode-pumped laser amplifier
A laser amplifier includes a laser active slab with a source of pump power to amplify an input laser beam, the laser active slab including a block of laser active material having opposed lateral faces defining a wedge lateral dihedral angle, opposed longitudinal faces, and opposed parallel transverse faces, the wedge lateral dihedral angle specified to minimize parasitic amplified spontaneous emission. The source of pump power may be one or more laser diode bars and microlenses producing a gain sheet in the laser active slab. The lateral faces may include optical coatings highly transmitting at a wavelength of the pump power and highly reflecting at a lasing wavelength to provide a folded path for the input laser beam though the gain sheet. The laser amplifier may optionally include one or more external mirrors highly reflecting at the lasing wavelength positioned and oriented to provide one or more additional zig-zag passes through the gain sheet for the input laser beam and to provide a multi-pass-amplified laser beam.
US08238397B2 Semiconductor laser device
A semiconductor laser device can suppress electrode-to-electrode resonance of laser light emitted from an active layer, increasing electrical conversion efficiency. The semiconductor laser device has a substrate and an active layer. The energy of the laser light emitted from the active layer is smaller than the band gap energy of the substrate, and the carrier concentration of the substrate is at least 2.2×1018 cm−3.
US08238396B2 Gas laser oscillator having function for judging discharge initiation
A gas laser oscillator capable of initiating discharge, without applying excess voltage to a discharge tube, and correctly and rapidly judging the initiation of discharge. The oscillator has a laser power commanding part adapted to generate a laser power command including a pulse superimposed on a forefront of each step, a voltage applying part adapted to apply a voltage to a discharge tube based on the laser power command, a discharge tube voltage detecting part adapted to detect the discharge tube voltage, a discharge tube voltage monitoring part adapted to monitor the discharge tube voltage, and a discharge initiation judging part adapted to judge that the discharge is initiated when the difference, between a change rate of the monitored voltage and a change rate of the discharge tube voltage predetermined based on data obtained while the discharge is normally carried out, is smaller than a predetermined threshold.
US08238387B2 Mode-locked laser device, ultrashort pulse light source device, broad bandwidth light source device, non-linear optical microscopy device, recording device and optical coherence tomography device
There is provided a mode-locked laser device including: a resonator; a solid-state laser medium that is disposed in the resonator and outputs oscillation light in accordance with the incidence of excitation light; a saturable absorber that is disposed in the resonator and induces soliton mode-locking; a group velocity dispersion correction component that is disposed in the resonator and controls group velocity dispersion in the resonator; and an excitation portion that causes excitation light to be incident at the solid-state laser medium, wherein a resonator length of the resonator is at least a resonator length with which soliton mode-locking is inducible and is less than a resonator length with which non-soliton mode-locking is inducible.
US08238385B2 Data processing circuit and data processing method
A data processing circuit comprising: a first circuit configured to time-division-multiplex a first digital signal synchronous with a clock signal input from an external controller and a second digital signal asynchronous with the clock signal; and a second circuit configured to output a digital signal time-division-multiplexed by the first circuit to the controller.
US08238384B2 Method and apparatus for generating information signal to be recorded
A compressively-encoding-resultant video signal resulting from compressively encoding a video signal, a first compressively-encoding-resultant audio signal resulting from compressively encoding a first audio signal having a synchronized relation with the video signal, a reference clock information signal relating to synchronization between the compressively-encoding-resultant video signal and the first compressively-encoding-resultant audio signal, and an indication timing information signal designating an indication timing of the video signal are multiplexed to get an AV multiplexing-resultant signal. A second audio signal is compressively encoded to get a second compressively-encoding-resultant audio signal. A sound-production-timing information signal is added to the second compressively-encoding-resultant audio signal to get a substitution playback audio signal. During playback, the substitution playback audio signal can be reproduced instead of the first audio signal while being synchronous with the video signal. The sound-production-timing information signal responds to the reference clock information signal, and relates to synchronization with the video signal.
US08238380B2 System controlling use of a communication channel
A system controlling use of a communication channel in a communication network. The system comprising a network including service nodes. The service nodes comprising one or more sets having one or more nodes adapted to provide service functions in response to messages in the network. At least one of the sets comprising a member node having an interface for communication with a remote terminal, and a user interface process coupled with the interface to include a user of the remote terminal in the network. At least one of the sets comprising a member node having an interface to the communication network, and a process coupled to the interface to control establishment of the communication channel for the user.
US08238373B2 Method and device for mapping ethernet code blocks to OTN for transmission
A method and a device for mapping Ethernet code blocks to an optical transport network (OTN) for transmission are provided. According to a preset mapping manner, 40 Gigabit (40 G) Ethernet code blocks are mapped to a payload area of a general frame provision (GFP) frame, or a plurality of 40 G Ethernet code blocks is interleaved into a payload area of an OTN frame, or 40 G Ethernet code blocks are mapped to an OTN frame according to an asynchronous bit-stream mapping manner. Thus, specific solutions for mapping 40 G Ethernet code blocks having an encoding rate lower than a minimum payload bandwidth of the OPU3 to the OTN for transmission is provided.