Document	Document Title
US08556973B2	Intervertebral disc prosthesis having multiple bearing surfaces An intervertebral disc prosthesis comprises a left prosthesis component and a symmetric right prosthesis component positioned in an intervertebral space. Each prosthesis component includes a superior vertebra facing surface, an inferior vertebra facing surface, and a substantially spherical bearing surface. The bearing surface is positioned between the superior vertebra facing surface and the inferior vertebra facing surface. The superior vertebra facing surface is provided on a superior endplate and the inferior vertebra facing surface is provided on an inferior endplate. The superior endplate is operable to rotate relative to the inferior endplate upon the bearing surface. Each prosthesis component further comprises an elastic member positioned between an endplate and the bearing surface. The elastic member may be substantially cylindrical with a plurality of resilient ribs. Flexion/extension, lateral bending, and torsional movement are allowed by a combination of endplate rotation upon the bearing surface and compression of the elastic member.
US08556970B2	Graft introducer An instrument for placing a graft into a bone tunnel comprises an elongated shaft having a forked distal end comprising a pair of tines. A suture spans a space defined between the tines whereby the graft may be positioned between the tines and against the suture so as to be manipulated into the bone tunnel. The tendon folds about the suture, the suture having a releasable tension such that the instrument can be removed from the bone, leaving the tendon behind without the tendon hanging up on the suture.
US08556967B2	Interior bag for a capsular bag and injector An interior bag for a capsular bag of an eye comprises a discriminatingly permeable interior bag that selectively reduces fluid flow volume through the interior bag. The interior bag is secured inside the capsular bag. A structure, adapted to hold a refractive device, is attached to the interior bag.
US08556966B2	Annuloplasty device Devices, systems, and methods associated with annuloplasty are described herein. One or more annuloplasty devices include a number of longitudinal filaments moveable between an introductory configuration and a deployed configuration, wherein the number of longitudinal filaments are one or more lengths, and a shell, wherein the shell contains the number of longitudinal filaments and a curable polymer to maintain the annuloplasty device in a deployed configuration.
US08556965B2	Semi-rigid annuloplasty ring and band An annuloplasty ring comprising an elongate tube of suturable material formed into a ring. A stiffener configured to prevent axial compression and radial deformation of the ring is received in the tube in a first circumferential segment of the ring. An axial support configured to prevent axial compression of the ring and to permit radial deformation of the ring is received in the tube in a second circumferential segment of the ring. The first circumferential segment of the ring may correspond to a posterior portion of a mitral valve annulus with the first circumferential portion configured to extend between the right and the left fibrous trigones of the mitral valve annulus upon installation. The second circumferential segment of the ring may correspond to an anterior portion of a mitral valve annulus and the second circumferential segment is configured to extend between the right and left fibrous trigones of the mitral valve annulus upon installation.
US08556960B2	Frameless vascular valve Prosthetic valve devices, as well as systems and methods for the delivery thereof, are disclosed. A device includes one or more leaflets disposed within a frameless conduit, wherein the conduit is adapted for attachment to walls of a vascular vessel, and the leaflets are adapted for attachment to walls of the conduit. The leaflets are configured to selectively restrict blood flow through the conduit, and the conduit can include wall-engaging adaptations, for example, barbs or an adhesive. The conduit and the leaflets are formed with a flexible material, which may comprise a remodelable material and/or a synthetic polymer.
US08556951B2	System and method of titrating a phototherapy regime using real-time EEG readings The provision of phototherapy to a subject is titrated to adapt dynamically to the sleep of the subject. The titration is performed using real-time or near real-time EEG readings. This may enhance the comfort and/or efficacy of the phototherapy.
US08556947B2	Device for fixation of bone fractures A device and method for fixation of bone fractures has a bone screw comprising a shank with a threaded end portion, on the outer surface. The screw has a through bore with two bore portions differing in diameter. A step in the diameter is formed between these bore portions and is located within the end of the screw having the thread. This step in diameter can support a metal insert which in turn supports a polymer pin when the latter if pressurized with a sonotrode in the bone screw. Together with an applied ultrasonic vibration the pressure fluidizes the polymer pin and presses the material through holes configured in the wall of the bone screw and into surrounding bone.
US08556938B2	Polyaxial bone anchor with non-pivotable retainer and pop-on shank, some with friction fit A polyaxial bone screw assembly includes a threaded shank body having an integral upper portion receivable in a receiver, the receiver having an upper channel for receiving a longitudinal connecting member and a lower cavity cooperating with a lower opening. The upper portion expands a retaining member in the receiver cavity to capture the shank upper portion in the receiver. In some embodiment either the retaining member or an insert provide for a friction fit of the shank upper portion in the receiver resulting in non-floppy placement of the shank with respect to the receiver. Some retainers and inserts have a lock-and-release feature. Final locking of the polyaxial mechanism is provided by frictional engagement between the shank upper portion and the retaining member. A pre-assembled receiver, retaining member and optional insert may be popped-on or snapped-on to the shank upper portion prior to or after implantation of the shank into a vertebra.
US08556937B2	Rod attachment for head to head cross connector Exemplary spinal fixation devices, systems, and method are provided for stabilizing vertebrae in a patient's spine. In one exemplary embodiment, methods and devices are provided for coupling one or more bone anchors, such as hooks, screws, etc., and/or one or more spinal fixation elements, such as spinal rods, cables, plates, etc. In certain exemplary embodiments, a cross connector is provided for connecting and stabilizing two bone anchors, a bone anchor and a spinal fixation element, or a bone anchor and bone.
US08556930B2	Vessel closure device The present invention relates to closing an opening within a subcutaneous bodily vessel by using a spiral closure device to engage tissue around the opening. The spiral closure device is adapted to be threaded into the vessel wall surrounding the opening in the bodily vessel. A deployment mechanism may be used to rotate the spiral closure device. As the deployment mechanism is rotated the spiral closure device is rotated such that a tip of the spiral closure device engages the vessel wall around the opening in the bodily vessel. Continued rotation of the spiral closure device threads the closure device through the tissue around the opening. As the distal end is threaded through the vessel wall, the narrowing closure device pulls the vessel wall tissue together, thereby effectively closing the opening.
US08556915B2	Skin removal instrument A skin removal instrument that comprises first and second resilient arms. Each of the first and second arms includes a main body that has a middle, an attachment end and a nipping end opposite the attachment end. The attachment ends are attached to one another, thereby forming a spring area that allows the nipping ends to resiliently move toward and away from each other. Each of the first and second arms includes an outer gripping area disposed offset from the middle of the main body of the first and second arms, respectively. The outer gripping area has a substantially bulbous shape. Each of the nipping ends of the first and second arms includes an extension portion that extends from the main body and a nipping blade portion that extends from the extension portion. Each of the nipping blade portions has an angled surface angled downwardly from an inner surface of the extension portions, respectively, such that the nipping blade portions converge toward one another. Each of the nipping blade portions includes a nipping edge at an end of the respective angled surface, wherein the nipping blade portions meet when the first and second arms are compressed together to remove a section of skin.
US08556913B2	Method to assist in Cesarean Section A method to allow an easy delivery of a fetus during a Cesarean Section when the fetal head is deeply wedged in the female pelvic cavity using a unique surgical device. The device consists of inflatable portion to lift the fetal head, the inflatable portion being attached to a foldable base plate that can be folded along with the inflatable portion for insertion of the device into the female vagina below the fetal head. The inflatable portion is inflated by injecting a biocompatible fluid with a pressurizing device such as a syringe, pressure bag, hand pump or powered pump. The device may also be utilized in other situations like abdominal delivery of a premature or small baby and when cord prolapse has occurred.
US08556912B2	Taper disengagement tool A disassembly tool for disassembly of a first component of a prosthesis from a second component of the prosthesis for use in joint arthroplasty. The tool includes a body having an internal bore. At least a portion of the internal bore is threaded for engagement with a thread on the first component of the prosthesis. The tool further includes an expandable ring surrounding a portion of the body and adapted to engage the first component, such that when a radial force is applied to the body, the ring expands, applying an axial force against the first component.
US08556909B2	System for inserting a pin into a screw A system for inserting an augmentation pin into an augmentation screw, including a pin-inserter with an axial through-bore and a lateral opening. A pin-magazine with a pin-retainer for an augmentation pin in insertable in the lateral opening. The pin-magazine is placed in the lateral opening of the pin-inserter and an augmentation pin in the pin-retainer is aligned with the axial through-bore. The augmentation pin may be pushed by means of a pusher from the pin-magazine into an augmentation screw, when the augmentation screw is arranged in front of the pin-inserter.
US08556905B2	Configured and sized cannula A dilator retractor and the dilators that are used for minimally invasive spinal surgery or other surgery are configured to accommodate the anatomical structure of the patient as by configuring the cross sectional area in an elliptical shape, or by forming a funnel configuration with the wider end at the proximate end. In some embodiments the distal end is contoured to also accommodate the anatomical structure of the patient so that a cylindrically shaped, funnel shaped, ovoid shaped dilator retractor can be sloped or tunneled to accommodate the bone structure of the patient or provide access for implants. The dilator retractor is made with different lengths to accommodate the depth of the cavity formed by the dilators.
US08556900B2	Surgical instrument for impacting and extracting a cutting instrument A surgical instrument including a cutting instrument for shaping a bone as well as an impaction/extraction device for use with the cutting instrument is disclosed.
US08556898B2	Accessory for implanting a hip endoprosthesis, and method for manipulating the same The application relates to a method of orienting a bone-milling cutter and an impact instrument for a hip-prosthesis cup in an acetabulum. The method includes initially positioning a manipulation cup by a manipulation joint head and representing this position by at least one guide rod or fixation rod that is fixed in a bone. The method also includes removing the manipulation cup and adjusting a position of both the bone-milling cutter and the impact instrument with respect to either the guide rod itself or a guide rod that is attached to a holding device disposed on at least one fixation rod.
US08556895B2	Revisable anterior cervical plating system An improved anterior cervical plating system and methods of cervical fusion using such a system are provided. The cervical plating system includes an interlocking mechanism that integrated into each of the plates such that any two plates may cooperatively engage through the interlocking mechanism such that a new cervical plate can be interconnected with a pre-existing plate during revision surgery without removal of the pre-existing plate.
US08556893B2	Medical catheter assembly with deflection pull ring and distal tip interlock A catheter assembly comprises a deflectable catheter shaft comprising a distal end and a lumen extending therethrough. The catheter assembly further comprises least one pull wire comprising a distal portion comprising a side and a distal end, wherein the side comprises a first side portion and a second side portion. The catheter assembly further comprises a distal pull assembly operatively coupled to the at least one pull wire. The distal pull assembly comprises a longitudinal axis, a first surface, and a second surface. The first side portion of the at least one pull wire is adjacent to the first surface of the distal pull assembly, and the second side portion of the at least one pull wire is adjacent to the second surface of the distal pull assembly.
US08556884B2	Compact catheter assembly Packaging including a coiled and optionally prelubricated catheter, its distal end insertable into the urethra, a slidable hygienic sheath, a proximal catheter end for voiding urine from the distal end through the assembly to the proximal end. Mutually rotatable elements providing for withdrawal of the catheter from its coiled state to an extended state, and refraction of the catheter back to its coiled state. Methods of extending the catheter, inserting it into the urethra, and voiding urine through the catheter, without requiring complete removal from the catheter packaging. A kit including automatic extrusion of the catheter's distal end upon package opening, and a water pouch for hydrophilic lubrication, and sanitary wipes for reducing the likelihood of infection. A catheter within a flexible and optionally coiled tube, a slidable hygienic sheath covering a catheter's distal end that can move along the length of the catheter during insertion.
US08556881B2	Catheter guidance through a calcified aortic valve A method of treating a patient with a calcified aortic valve includes introducing a guide wire into a blood vessel. The guide wire is advanced through the aorta to the aortic valve and then through the aortic valve. A balloon dilatation catheter is introduced into the blood vessel over the guide wire. The balloon dilatation catheter includes an elongate body, a distal portion, a guide wire lumen, an inflation lumen, and a dilatation balloon. The balloon dilatation catheter further includes at least one deflection wire lumen, and at least one deflection wire residing in the at least one deflection wire lumen and having a distal end attached to the distal portion. The balloon dilatation catheter is advanced over the guide wire through the aorta, through the aortic valve, and the dilatation balloon is inflated.
US08556877B2	Absorbent pant garments having optimized leg opening shape An absorbent pant garment including a pair of front and back side panels on opposite transverse sides of the garment, with a refastenable seam formed between the front and back side panels including a fastening component on the front side panel and a mating fastening component on the back side panel, with elasticity in the front and/or back side panel. Each of the front and back side panels includes a waist and a leg end edge, with a portion of the waist end edge and a portion of the leg end edge substantially parallel to one another adjacent a distal edge for a distance greater than a transverse width of the fastening component or mating fastening component bonded thereto. These parallel portions of the side panel edges space the fastening and mating fastening components away from major stress points of the garment, thereby reducing the likelihood of fastener pop-opens.
US08556876B2	Personal care articles of commerce comprising a magnetic member A personal care article including a thermoplastic magnetic member. The thermoplastic magnetic member is formed of a thermoplastic material with magnetic particles dispersed therethrough. The thermoplastic material comprises a resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, thermoplastic elastomers, polyamides, polyacetals, polyethers, polyesters, polyurethanes, poly(meth)acrylates, and compatible mixtures thereof. The magnetic particles are selected from the group consisting of magnetoplumbite-structure ferrite particles, rare-earth magnet particles, and mixtures thereof. The thermoplastic material may be disposed on a surface of a fibrous substrate. A surface of the thermoplastic magnetic member may be profiled. A second thermoplastic magnetic member may have an opposite magnetic polarity and a complementary surface profile such that the two thermoplastic magnetic members may be magnetically joined and mechanically interlocked when in a mated configuration.
US08556869B2	IV flow rate regulator An IV flow regulator includes a housing, a flow control disk, a screw, and a dial. The flow control disk establishes a rate of flow through the housing. The flow rate regulator further includes alignment features allowing for high volume manufacturing while also being assembled into an accurate and reliable flow rate regulator.
US08556868B2	Syringe with multi-pronged actuator Disclosed herein is a syringe comprising a syringe body with plunger and a multi-pronged actuator. The syringe can further include a male coupling member, an outer sheath, a valve member and a back plate.
US08556865B2	Medical module for drug delivery pen Various embodiments of a medical module are provided which includes a primary module housing, a secondary module housing, a dosage sensor, a power source, and a microcontroller. The module is configured to be attached to a disposable drug delivery pen or a reusable drug delivery pen so that the module may: determine dosage selected, injection of selected dosage, duration of injection, time of injection, whether the pen has been primed or shaken to thoroughly mix up insulin mixtures, transmit information relating to insulin dosage and injection to a data management unit, provide reminders, error warning or messages on improper usage or reusage of needles, track amount of drug remaining on board the pen or duration of usage of pen with respect to expiry of the drug on board, or provide an audible alarm for locating misplaced pen and module.
US08556864B2	Drive mechanisms suitable for use in drug delivery devices A drive mechanism suitable for use in drug delivery devices is disclosed. The drive mechanism may be used with injector-type drug delivery devices, such as those permitting a user to set the delivery dose. The drive mechanism may include a housing, a dose dial sleeve, and a drive sleeve. A clutch is configured to permit rotation of the drive sleeve and the dose dial sleeve with respect to the housing when the dose dial sleeve and drive sleeve are coupled through the clutch. Conversely, when the dose dial sleeve and drive sleeve are in a de-coupled state, rotation of the dose dial sleeve with respect to the housing is permitted and rotation of the drive sleeve with respect to the housing is prevented. In the de-coupled state, axial movement of the drive sleeve transfers force in a longitudinal direction for actuation of a drug delivery device.
US08556860B2	Neurosurgical cap The invention relates to a cap for use in neurosurgery. The cap may be applied to a bore hole in a patient's skull, allowing the entry and removal of neurosurgical instruments, while providing an openable seal over the bore hole.
US08556859B2	Securement device for medical fixtures A securement device for retaining medical tubing, catheters, and other medical fixtures proximal a patient's skin. The device has a base, at least one channel formed in the base, a flexible strap for overlying the base, and a coupling assembly for coupling the strap to the base. Embodiments for use with Foley catheters include a plurality of channels of differing diameters. Embodiments for use with a peripheral catheter include a single channel for retaining a spin nut. The coupling assembly includes left and right tracks in left and right sides of the base, and left and right rails on an underside of the flexible strap at left and right ends of a body of the strap. The left rail is removably coupled and held within the left track on the base, and the right rail is removably coupled and held within the right track on the base.
US08556858B2	Anchor assembly An anchor assembly is used with a medical device to engage the medical device against a body wall. The anchor assembly includes a pivotable anchor and a filament. The anchor is seated in a longitudinal orientation within a recessed channel located at the distal end of the medical device. Pulling on a proximal free end of the filament causes the anchor to pivot from a longitudinal orientation to a perpendicular orientation. The anchor in the perpendicular orientation engages against a body wall to immobilize the medical device.
US08556855B2	Dual chamber syringe with retractable needle Embodiments of a retractable syringe assembly are provided that include a dual syringe barrel configuration. One or more embodiments include reuse prevention features and features that prevent premature activation of the retraction mechanism. Methods for aspirating and expelling liquid from medical devices are also provided.
US08556853B2	Needle guard A needle guard is attached to a needle hub by a polyester film strip and a needle passes through longitudinally spaced apart apertures in the strip. The film strip is housed in the needle guard in a corrugated manner. When the needle guard is pulled over the needle, the needle moves into a housing of the needle guard and into abutment with the housing while the strip is stretched between the hub and the housing to retain the housing connected to the hub under a biasing force.
US08556849B2	Methods and devices for eluting agents to a vessel Systems, devices and methods for eluting an agent at a treatment site are disclosed. The devices include an expandable frame and at least one membrane. The membrane may carry an agent to elute at the treatment site. The membrane may allow blood flow at the treatment site during agent delivery.
US08556846B2	Blood volume controller during fluid removal A blood volume control method has been developed including: monitoring a condition of a patient (such as hematocrit (Hct)), wherein the condition is indicative of blood volume in the patient; automatically determining that the condition indicates a low blood volume in the patient; automatically infusing an infusion solution into the patient in response to the determination of a low blood volume, and automatically adjusting the infusion to maintain the monitored condition at a predetermined value.
US08556827B2	Lancing device A lancing device is adapted for use in firing a lancet into the skin of a patient to acquire a blood sample and, subsequent thereto, calculating and displaying the concentration of glucose in the acquired sample. In one embodiment, the device comprises a lancet and a torsion spring coupled to the lancet through a lancet holder. The torsion spring includes inner, middle and outer rings which are concentrically configured, a plurality of activation spring arms which connect the middle and outer rings and a plurality of return spring arms which connect the inner and middle rings. In use, the plurality of activation and return spring arms can be independently transformed between energized and de-energized states using a single, button-shaped mechanism. Rotation of the mechanism is used to energize the activation and return spring arms. With the return spring arms maintained in their energized state, depression of the mechanism transforms the activation spring arms from their energized state to their de-energized state which drives the lancet from a retracted position to an extended position. Once the activation spring arms reach their de-energized state, the return spring arms transform from their energized state to their de-energized state which pulls the lancet back from its extended position to its retracted position.
US08556826B2	Fecal specimen collector The present invention provides a fecal specimen collector. The fecal specimen collector consisting of a top cover, a bottle body, a specimen output end and a bottom cover, wherein a lower portion of the top cover forms a sampling end which may be inserted into the bottle body through an upper end of the bottle body, the top cover is connected with the upper end of the bottle body, the specimen output end is hermetically coupled with a lower portion of the bottle body, and the bottom cover surrounds the specimen output end and couples to the bottle body, wherein a convex is formed on the inner center of the bottom cover, and is inserted into a specimen output port of the specimen output end. The fecal specimen collector according to the present application has a small and delicate structure which has the advantages of easy operation, convenient portability and pollution free, etc.
US08556824B2	Production of optical pulses at a desired wavelength using soliton self-frequency shift The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing optical pulses of a desired wavelength. The apparatus includes an optical pulse source operable to generate input optical pulses at a first wavelength. The apparatus further includes a higher order mode (HOM) fiber module operable to receive the input optical pulses at the first wavelength, and thereafter to produce output optical pulses at the desired wavelength by soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS). The present invention also relates to a method of producing optical pulses having a desired wavelength. This method includes generating input optical pulses using an optical pulse source, where the input optical pulses have a first wavelength and a first spatial mode. The input optical pulses are delivered into an HOM fiber module to alter the wavelength of the input optical pulses from the first wavelength to a desired wavelength by soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) within the HOM fiber module, thereby producing output optical pulses having the desired wavelength.
US08556822B2	Reel-type blood pressure cuff A blood pressure measuring device disclosed in the present invention comprises a base, a reel-type cuff and at least one stopper. The reel-type cuff is elastically and recoverably reeled in the base with one end, and is freely extended out from the base with the other end. The stopper, after being operated, can limit at least one determined length that the reel-type cuff is extended out from the base.
US08556821B2	Adaptive frequency domain filtering for improved non-invasive blood pressure estimation A system for processing oscillometric data from a plurality of pressure steps to determine the blood pressure of a patient as disclosed herein. A heart rate monitor connected to the patient acquires the patient's heart rate. A time to frequency domain converter receives oscillometric data and converts the oscillometric data into the frequency domain. A harmonic frequency calculator is connected to the heart rate monitor and derives at least the heart rate fundamental frequency. A filter connected to the time to frequency domain converter and the harmonic frequency calculator that produces a filter frequency domain oscillometric signal. A reconstruction calculator receives the filtered frequency domain oscillometric signal and reconstructs a time domain oscillometric signal. A method of computing an oscillometric envelope for use in determining the blood pressure of a patient is also disclosed herein.
US08556805B2	Rotational force transmission mechanism, force-attenuating apparatus, medical device, and medical instrument-operation mechanism A rotational force transmission mechanism has: a rotation-inputting member freely rotative and driven in a predetermined first direction and a second direction opposite the first direction by a predetermined operating member; a first rotation-transmitting member for receiving a rotational driving force supplied from the rotation-inputting member in the first direction; a second rotation-transmitting member, disposed to face the first rotation-transmitting member, for receiving a rotational driving force supplied from the rotation-inputting member in the second direction; a connection section disposed so that the rotational force acts in the direction in which the first rotation-transmitting member and the second rotation-transmitting member face each other, the connection section in the facing position transfers the rotational driving force received by the first rotation-transmitting member in the first direction to the second rotation-transmitting member and transfers the rotational driving force received by the second rotation-transmitting member in the second direction to the first rotation-transmitting member; and a rotation-outputting member rotated and driven by the first rotation-transmitting member in the second direction, and rotated and driven by the second rotation-transmitting member in the first direction.
US08556804B2	Torque-transmitting, variably flexible insertion device and method for transmitting torque and variably flexing an insertion device A torque-transmitting, variably-flexible insertion device includes a hollow body having a proximal end with an entrance for receiving an instrument and a distal end with a tip for protrusion of the instrument. A vacuum-activated device transitions the hollow body between a relatively flexible condition and a relatively stiff condition. A torque braid transmits torque from the proximal end toward the distal end. A method for transmitting torque and variably flexing the insertion device includes transmitting torque along the hollow body with the torque braid, applying suction to create a vacuum in the hollow body for placing the hollow body in the relatively stiff condition, and relieving the vacuum for placing the hollow body in the relatively flexible condition.
US08556802B2	Endoscope and magnetic field control method thereof An endoscope device is provided. The endoscope device includes a capsule sensor entering a human body for detection and sending a signal, a driving device movably disposed outside of the human body and moving and rotating the capsule sensor in the human body with non-contact force for omni-directional human body detection, a data receiving device disposed outside of the human body and receiving signals from the capsule sensor, and a power supply device providing power to the driving device and the data receiving device.
US08556800B2	Lubricant supplying device for the everting tube drive of an endoscope A lubricant supplying device of an endoscope everting tube drive comprises a drive tube everted at least once to thus form an outer and an inner tube portion. Inside the inner tube portion an endoscope shaft is mounted in an axially displaceable manner. In addition a drive device is provided which encompasses the drive tube everted at least once or the inner tube portion thereof so as to apply a driving force for an advancing movement of the endoscope shaft onto the inner tube portion, the drive means being in fluid connection with a lubricant supplying line and a lubricant discharge line for introducing a lubricant via the drive device into the drive tube everted at least once and/or for discharging it. The lubricant supply line and the lubricant discharge are connected to the drive device in two locations thereof diametrically opposite with respect to the endoscope shaft.
US08556793B2	Control of interface between separated blood components under lipemic and hemolytic conditions Blood separation systems and methods are provided for controlling the interface between separated blood components. The system includes a blood separation chamber configured to separate blood into first and second blood components and an outlet line for removing at least a portion of the first blood component from the blood separation chamber. A primary optical sensor assembly is associated with the blood separation chamber to directly monitor the interior of the blood separation chamber. A secondary optical sensor assembly is associated with the outlet line to monitor the first blood component in the outlet line. The system also includes a controller programmed to select between the primary optical sensor assembly and the secondary optical sensor assembly for monitoring contamination of the first blood component. The system is particularly advantageous for preventing contamination of separated plasma which is lipemic or hemolytic.
US08556788B2	Method for manufacturing an assembly of a first flexible sheet and a second flexible sheet by mechanical means A method for manufacturing an assembly of a first flexible sheet and a second flexible sheet by mechanical means, wherein a longitudinal edge of the first flexible sheet is folded over for forming a hem therein, characterized in that said first flexible sheet and said second flexible sheet are mechanically cut to mutually different lengths, with the width of the hem being determined by the difference in length between the first flexible sheet and the second flexible sheet.
US08556787B2	Tilting inversion exerciser A tilting inversion exerciser includes a carrier pivotally attached to a supporting stand for mounting a supporting table and for supporting a user, and a support member is engaged with the supporting table and curved upwardly from the supporting table for selectively engaging with a waist portion of the user and for supporting and massaging the waist portion of the user. The support member includes a latch element extended from each side for engaging with the supporting table and for anchoring and securing the support member to the supporting table, and the supporting table includes a number of slots and channels for engaging with the latch elements of the support member and for adjusting a curvature of the support member relative to the supporting table.
US08556786B2	Thigh exerciser A thigh exerciser includes a U-shaped frame having a space formed between two levers, a retaining member coupled between the levers for connecting and retaining the levers of the frame together, and a spring biasing member having two arms engaged with the levers and secured to the levers respectively for securing the spring biasing member to the levers of the frame. The frame includes a projection extended from each of the levers for engaging with the arms and for securing the arms of the spring biasing member to the levers of the frame. The spring biasing member includes a channel formed in each of the arms for slidably and adjustably engaging with the projection of the lever.
US08556785B1	Golf exercise methods and apparatus Golf swing exercises are performed with left and right resistance devices proximate a person's left and right feet, respectively. Left and right flexible members extend from respective left and right resistance device housings to a lower portion of a golf club handle.
US08556784B2	Step slide A stance forcing device has a resistance band threaded through a hollow tubular member. Then a first cuff member has an end of the resistance band attached thereto. A second cuff member is attached to the other end of the resistance band. The system has a first padding device attached to the hollow tubular member as well as a second padding device attached to the hollow tubular member. The system has a first cuff member with Velcro material for attachment of the stance forcing device to a user's leg. The first cuff member has a metallic hoop attachment to thread a piece of material for leg attachment. The system has a second cuff member with Velcro material for attachment of the stance forcing device to a user's leg. The second cuff member has a metallic hoop attachment to thread a piece of material for a leg attachment.
US08556771B2	Control apparatus for vehicular power transmitting system A control apparatus for a vehicular power transmitting system includes a shifting-point changing portion configured to change a shifting point at which a determination to perform a shifting action of a transmission portion is made, such that a shifting portion is changed according to a shifting response of the transmission portion. Alternatively, the control apparatus includes a shift-control start-point changing portion configured to change a shift-control start point at which the determination to perform the shifting action is made, such that the shift-control start point is changed according to the shifting response of the transmission portion, and a compulsory shift-control starting portion configured to make the determination when an operating point of a differential portion electric motor has reached the shift-control start point.
US08556767B2	Automatic transmission An automatic transmission including a Ravigneaux planetary gear unit, an input member, an output member disposed on one side of the Ravigneaux planetary gear unit, five friction elements disposed on the other side of the Ravigneaux planetary gear unit, and a partition member cooperating with an automatic transmission case to define a transmission chamber in which the output member, the Ravigneaux planetary gear unit, and the respective friction elements are accommodated. The output member is supported on a cylindrical portion extending from the partition member toward the Ravigneaux planetary gear unit in an axial direction of the input member.
US08556766B2	Multi-speed transmission A transmission includes an input and output member, four planetary gear sets each having first, second and third members, five interconnecting members continuously interconnecting members of the four planetary gear sets and six torque transmitting mechanisms selectively engageable to interconnect one of the first members, second members, and third members with at least one of another of the first members, second members, third members, and a stationary member. The torque transmitting mechanisms are selectively engageable in combinations of at least two to establish at least eight forward speed ratios and at least one reverse speed ratio between the input member and the output member.
US08556763B2	Vehicle final reduction gear unit A vehicle final reduction gear unit includes a first friction brake positioned between a right case member which is a stationary body and a differential case which is a rotating body for applying a pressing force in an axial direction to generate a frictional force in order to put a brake on the differential case. A second friction brake occupies an area between the differential case and the right wheel and applies a pressing force in the axial direction to generate a frictional force in order to use a rotational difference to put the differential mechanism into a lock state. The second friction brake is placed within the radius of the first friction brake. A reduced size is accomplished and the final reduction gear unit can be reduced in length in the vehicle-transverse direction. Thus, a vehicle final reduction gear unit allowing a reduction in size can be provided.
US08556756B2	Game apparatuses Game apparatus, e.g., a game racquet or a golf club, with selectively variable and maintainable weight distribution, e.g. by moving material (e.g., liquid and/or solid weight members) within or on the apparatus and selectively positioning the weight(s) and maintaining weight position in or on the apparatus; in one aspect, the game apparatus having dual opposed channels for weight members; and in one aspect a set of a plurality of weight members for connection to a game apparatus.
US08556749B2	Golf ball with single layer core having specific regions of varying hardness A golf ball comprising a single layer core being formed from a substantially homogenous formulation, the inner core region has a first hardness (IC1h), the outer core region has a second hardness (OC2h), the intermediate core region has third and fourth hardnesses (IMC3h) and (IMC4h), respectively, such that the third hardness is less than the first and second hardnesses, represented by the relationships (IMC3h)<(IC1h) and (IMC3h)<(OC2h), and the fourth hardness is greater than the first and second hardnesses, represented by the relationships (IMC4h)>(IC1h) and (IMC4h)>(OC2h), and hardness of the outer surface (OSh) is greater than a hardness of the geometric center (GCh), represented by the relationship (OSh)>(GCh).
US08556745B2	Golf club with an interchangeable faceplate The present invention relates to a sand wedge type golf club, including an elongated shaft, a metal club head, a face plate, and an attachment mechanism. The club head has a wedge body and a hosel. The wedge body has a generally U-shaped frame with a planar front face and a back face. The generally U-shaped frame forms a cavity on the front face of the wedge body. The faceplate includes a ball contact surface and a mounting surface engaging the cavity and having internally threaded female connectors. The ball contact surface is co-planar with front face of the wedge body and has a plurality of grooves formed thereon. The attachment mechanism extends through the generally U-shaped frame to connect the internally threaded female connectors to the wedge body.
US08556743B2	Putting practice device A putting practice device has a bottom support, side supports, a front plate, and a cover. The side supports are attached at opposed ends of the bottom support. Each side support has a top edge with a horizontally disposed sliding track. A front plate has a face that defines at least a portion of a desired travel path of a putter head. A cover has sliders that engage the sliding track of the side supports and the central support such that the top plate is slideably connected to each side support and to the central support. The cover has an extended portion that extends past the front plate and covers the at least a portion of the desired travel path. The position of the extended portion is adjustable by sliding the sliders along the sliding tracks.
US08556738B2	Apparatus comprising a shaft and a balancing sleeve An apparatus including a shaft mounted for rotation and a balancing sleeve is provided. The balancing sleeve functions to balance the shaft during rotation and includes first and second ends. The first end is secured to the shaft so that the balancing sleeve is substantially concentric with the shaft and rotates with the shaft. The second end incorporates balancing weight to balance the shaft at lower speeds of rotation of the shaft where there is substantially no flexing of the shaft. The lengthwise stiffness of the balancing sleeve is matched to the lengthwise stiffness of the shaft to maintain balance of the shaft at higher speeds of rotation of the shaft where there is flexing of the shaft.
US08556733B2	Length-adjustable shaft A length-adjustable shaft comprises an outer sleeve-shaped axial part; an inner axial part which can be pushed into and deployed out of the outer axial part in a telescopic fashion and which encloses a buffer chamber; having a bearing which is arranged between the two axial parts and which can be lubricated with a lubricant; that end of the inner axial part which can be pushed into the outer axial part has an end wall; a ventilation opening is provided which connects, in a conducting fashion, the buffer chamber to the cavity which is enclosed by the outer axial part, and the ventilation opening comprises at least one bore which is offset with respect to the rotational axis of the shaft.
US08556730B2	Gaming device display having a digital image and silkscreen colors and process for making same A panel or reel strip of a gaming device that selectively enables light to shine through the panel or reel strip and enables the intensity of the light to be varied. The present invention also provides an efficient and productive method for developing and producing the panel or reel strip, and which provides a bright and rich color quality. In one embodiment, a transparent medium has a digital image produced on one side and has a layer of silk-screened ink placed on the opposite side. The non-inked areas enable back-lighting to make matching colors of the digital image appear to glow, that is, let a high amount of light pass through the medium. The inked areas enable outside light to reflect off the matching colors of the digital image, brightening such colors and making them appear rich and full of color.
US08556728B2	Method and apparatus for outputting a result of a game via a container A method and apparatus is disclosed that documents and authenticates cap removal data. According to a first aspect of the present invention, the apparatus measures a parameter indicative of the number of times that a cap has been removed by a user. The apparatus also encodes at least the parameter indicative of the cap removal data, thereby deriving encoded cap removal data. The apparatus outputs the encoded cap removal data to a user. According to a second aspect of the present invention, another apparatus receives the encoded cap removal data and decodes it to authenticate the cap removal data. According to a third aspect of the present invention, a medicine container is operable to output a result of a game based on cap removal data associated with the medicine container.
US08556727B2	Method and system for detecting bot scum in massive multiplayer online role playing game Provided are a method and system for detecting a bot in a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) online and in real time. By analyzing a communication pattern between a client and a server, the bot is detected based on parameters such as data length, inter-arrival time and data length auto correlation. Tests using respective parameters are combined to construct a global decision scheme, and thus more accurate detection results can be obtained. An integrated anti-bot defense system can be built by combining other tests such as a Turing test.
US08556717B2	Computer-readable storage medium having stored therein musical sound generation program, and musical sound generation apparatus A user can move the position of a pan flute in a horizontal direction on a screen by sliding a touch position in the horizontal direction on the screen while touching a touch panel with a stick. Moreover, when the user blows on a microphone hole, a musical sound of a pitch corresponding to a pipe of the pan flute which is displayed in an overlapping manner with a valid position display image at this time is outputted via a sound hole.
US08556712B2	System for presenting interactive content The invention relates to an interactive system, comprising a presentation device for presenting interactive content. The system comprises an input device for controlling a presentation parameter of a content object of the interactive content. The system further comprises at least one token representing a content object, the system further comprising association means for associating said token with said input device, and means for selecting the content object represented by the token as the content object to be controlled by the input device in response to said association.
US08556706B2	Video poker wagering game having multiple pay tables A gaming system has at least one display adapted to display a wagering game including the display of a player's hand and a computer opponent's hand in a card-based wagering game, a player input device, and a controller. The controller is operative to award to a player an award from a pay table for a player's hand having a winning combination associated with the pay table, regardless of a rank of the computer's opponent hand relative to the player's hand.
US08556705B2	System and method for substantially removing chance from a word game comprising chance and skill The system and methods of the present application comprise one or more computers for substantially removing the element of chance in a contest that would normally be on whose outcome would be determined by a mixture of chance and skill. The system comprises one or more computers that interact with a user in order to reduce or eliminate the elements of chance, thereby forcing the contest to obey the law of averages within a finite number of iterations of the contest, thereby reducing variance and increasing the success of skillful players.
US08556703B2	Method of gaming, a game controller and a gaming system A method of gaming comprising: conducting a game requiring a player to make a choice between at least one optimal action and at least one sub-optimal action having a lower return to player than the optimal action such that the difference between the sub-optimal action and the optimal action represents a lost return to player; receiving a player choice of an action; and conducting a trial for an award in which the probability of success is controlled to provide an expected return to player from the trial that compensates the player for the lost return to player in response to determining that the choice is a sub-optimal action.
US08556693B2	Online gaming systems and methods Computer implemented gaming methods are provided that include the identifying a plurality of securities to participate in a race; computing odds at an open of the race for at least one type of bet for each of the plurality of the identified securities; publishing using at least one computing device details of the race; generating a visualization of the race, the visualization comprising a plurality of participants each representing an identified security; determining a price of each of the plurality of securities at a start of the race and at least once during a running of the race; and updating the visualization of the race to reflect a change in the price of at least one of the securities in the race.
US08556685B2	Tool setter for a grinding machine A device or tool setter has the purpose of setting the position of a support bar, adjustably connected to a grinding machine, in relation to a rotatable grindstone of the machine for obtaining a desired edge angle of a tool supported for grinding by the support bar. The device is provided with discs for defining two contact points with the grindstone and a hole for connection to the support bar.
US08556679B2	Substrate polishing metrology using interference signals A polishing pad assembly for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a polishing pad having a polishing surface and a surface opposite the polishing surface for attachment to a platen, and a solid light-transmissive window formed in the polishing pad. The light-transmissive window is more transmissive to light than the polishing pad. The light-transmissive window has a light-diffusing bottom surface.
US08556675B2	Balloon toy and method of use A balloon toy includes a helium-filled balloon; a balloon string tethered to the balloon; and a balloon raising and lowering assembly including: a housing including a handle; a balloon string reel rotatably carried within the housing and carrying the balloon string; an electric motor carried within the housing; a power source carried within the housing for powering the electric motor; a gear assembly including a plurality of gears carried with the housing and operable coupling the electric motor to the balloon string reel for driving rotation of the balloon string reel; a biasing member including a biasing force that urges the gear assembly together so that the plurality of gears are engaged for driving rotation of the balloon string reel for drawing in the balloon string and helium-field balloon and allows the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other if tension on the balloon string is too high.
US08556669B2	Cam lock A cam lock that includes a cam body having a lobe-shaped working periphery and rotatable between a first locking position and a second unlocked position, a handle shaft mounted to the cam body for moving the cam body through a predetermined range of motion, and a cam shaft mounted to the cam body for pivotal movement relative to the cam body and having an end remote from the cam body for being fixed to a structure to be locked by a force applied against the structure. A bushing is mounted on the cam shaft and has an end proximate the cam body against which a locking force is applied when the cam body is rotated into its locking position.
US08556667B2	Terminal and connector with terminal A space-saving terminal includes a depth that is short and a floor space that is small. The terminal further includes a fixing part for press-in pressed into and fixed to a base material, a support part projected upward so as to cross with the fixing part for press-in, two extension parts extended downward while meandering from a branch portion on a tip of the support part so as to form a meandering slit, and a movable contact part projected from a tip portion formed by integrating free ends of the extension parts so as to be capable of moving in and out of a contacting hole of the base material. The support part is curved outward in order to avoid contact with the tip portion of the extension part while the tip portion is displaced.
US08556662B2	Card connector A card connector includes an insulating housing defining a card recess, first electrical terminals and second electrical terminals disposed in the insulating housing. Each first electrical terminal has a base strip, a first fixing arm, a first elastic arm extending forward and inclining upward from the first fixing arm, a second elastic arm slantwise extending forward and upward from a substantial middle of the base strip and apart located under the first elastic arm, and a contact portion protruding upward from a front end of the base strip and apart located under the second elastic arm. A distal end of the first elastic arm elastically stretches upward into the card recess, and can be pressed downward to resist against the second elastic arm so as to make the second elastic arm further contact with the contact portion when an electronic card is inserted into the card recess.
US08556659B1	Receptacle connector with circuitry for determining the configuration of a corresponding plug connector mated therewith An electronic device having a housing and a receptacle connector. The receptacle connector includes an opening at an exterior surface of the housing. A plurality of contacts are arranged in a two dimensional array positioned within the opening of the receptacle connector. The receptacle connector is configured to concurrently mate with multiple plug connectors where each mated plug connector electrically connects to different and mutually exclusive subsets of contacts in the plurality of contacts. Switching circuitry is coupled to the plurality of contacts and configured to detect when one or more plug connectors are mated with the receptacle connector and electrically connect circuitry within the electronic device to contacts in the one or more plug connectors via subsets of contacts from the plurality of contacts.
US08556658B2	Receptacle assembly for a pluggable module A receptacle assembly is provided for a pluggable module. The receptacle assembly includes a cage having an internal compartment and a front end that is open to the internal compartment. The internal compartment is configured to receive the pluggable module therein through the front end. The cage includes an alignment spring extending into the internal compartment. An electrical connector is positioned within the internal compartment of the cage. The electrical connector is configured to mate with the pluggable module to electrically connect the electrical connector to the pluggable module. The alignment spring of the cage is configured to engage the pluggable module as the pluggable module is received within the internal compartment of the cage such that the alignment spring biases the pluggable module in an alignment direction as the pluggable module is received within the internal compartment.
US08556655B2	Friction weld coaxial connector A coaxial connector for interconnection with a coaxial cable with a solid outer conductor by friction welding is provided with a monolithic connector body with a bore. A sidewall of the bore is provided with an inward annular projection angled toward a cable end of the bore. A sidewall of the inward annular projection and the sidewall of the bore form an annular friction groove open to a cable end of the bore. The annular friction groove is dimensioned with a taper at a connector end of the friction groove less than a thickness of a leading end of the outer conductor. The taper provides an annular material chamber between the leading end of the outer conductor, when seated in the friction groove, and the connector end of the friction groove.
US08556653B2	Electronic accessories for digital music players and related methods Embodiments of electronic accessories for digital music players are disclosed herein. Other examples and related methods are also disclosed herein.
US08556652B2	Flexible printed circuit board assembly and flat panel display apparatus using the same A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) assembly including a plurality of FPCBs configured to be plugged into a single combination slot of a single connector, each of the FPCBs including a body, and a plug unit at an end portion of the body, wherein the plug units of the plurality of FPCBs are configured to be combinedly plugged together into the single combination slot.
US08556646B2	Plug element having a locking mechanism A plug element, in particular a QSFP plug element is configured for a lockable plug connection with a counter piece. The plug element contains a plug housing that extends in the longitudinal direction. In the housing an actuating element that is displaceabley mounted in the longitudinal direction being provided for unlocking. For locking, a wall section of the plug housing latches to a wall section of the counter piece in the plugged state. A flexible locking flap engages behind an edge of a recess. The recess is formed in a side wall of the plug housing and the locking flap is configured in a side wall of the counter piece. Unlocking is carried out by a displacement of the actuating element in the longitudinal direction, the element contains an unlocking element that pushes the locking flap perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction in the transverse direction out of the locking position.
US08556644B1	Electronic device An electronic device includes a circuit board and a connector. The connector includes a first body, and a second body movably disposed on the first body. The first body includes a first plate, and a second plate connected to the first plate. The second body is located between the first plate and the second plate for clamping a reversible cable with the first body. The connector further includes a first connecting terminal disposed on the first body for contacting a first transmission terminal of the reversible cable, a second connecting terminal disposed on the second body for contacting a second transmission terminal of the reversible cable, a buckling structure disposed on the bodies, and a sheathing component. The sheathing component sheathes the first body and the second body for pressing the first body and the second body, to decrease a gap between the first body and the second body.
US08556642B2	Power supply structure A power supply structure includes a main body and a plug. The main body has a circular containing space, a cylinder and a plurality of conducting plates. The cylinder has a retaining plane and at least one annular groove. The plug has a plug seat and a first cylinder. The first cylinder has a protrusion and at least one elastic device on an inner side of the bottom of the first cylinder. The elastic device has a resilient arm and a pressing member. The annular groove has a stop block and a fixing space. The protrusion is provided and placed into the annular groove, so that the plug can be fixed into the main body.
US08556631B2	Systems and methods for assisting an educational institution in rating a constituent A higher education constituent relationship (CRM) system may provide an educational institution with a graphical display of a probability and desirability value for a person at a stage of a student life cycle. For example, the higher education CRM system may receive a history of interactions between the person and the institution. The higher education CRM system may use the history of interactions and information about the person to calculate the probability value, or measure of the likelihood that the person moves to another stage in the student life cycle, and the desirability value, or a measure of the appeal of the person to the educational institution at a stage of the student life cycle, for the person. The higher education CRM system may display the calculated values for the probability and desirability to a representative of the institution.
US08556630B2	System and method for human physical and behavioral profiling A system and method for human physical and behavioral profiling. Provides profiles based on queries to at least one individual that include physical and behavioral questions. May suggest behavior modification for an individual or a compatibility assessment between two individuals may be generating using two individual's profiles. Embodiments of the invention break personality styles into six styles, “Saturn”, “Mars”, “Jovial”, “Lunar”, “Venusian”, “Mercury” and “Solar”. The styles may be determined by visual input or physical description queries of an individual and may be associated with the polarity values of “active”, “passive”, “+” or “−”. The system further yields an alchemy type of “Gold”, “Silver”, “Copper” and “Lead” which further allows for compatibility checking. Furthermore, the system quantifies a key feature and co-feature for an individual and provides an energy center designation of “moving”, “emotional”, “instinctive” or “intellectual” which are compared between individuals for compatibility.
US08556627B2	Dental implant having a recessed surface for sealing Apparatus is provided that includes a dental implant having a central longitudinal axis, a lateral external surface, and a distal implant portion that extends from a distal implant end along up to 50% of a longitudinal length of the implant. The implant being shaped so as to define a lumen therethrough having (a) at least one distal opening through a distal external surface of the distal implant portion, and (b) a lateral opening open to the lateral external surface. The implant is also shaped so as to define a recessed surface that (a) is recessed from the lateral external surface, (b) is outside of the lumen, and (c) completely surrounds the lateral opening. Other embodiments are also described.
US08556622B2	Injection mold forming an article having a pin mounting hole The pin mounting hole used to insert and mount the pin member having a pin-like shape is formed on, among the inner wall surfaces of the cavity, the second side-wall surface that is an inner wall surface other than the inner wall surfaces perpendicular to the mold-removal direction of the injection-molded article. On the second side-wall surface, the protruding portion protruding from the second side-wall surface is formed in the surface area located on the opposite side in the mold-removal direction with respect to the pin mounting hole.
US08556612B2	Apparatus for mining simulations The present invention relates to an educational method and apparatus for the instruction of basic scientific principles relating to mining. The apparatus consists of a kit for science instruction that comprises a topographic mold, casting compound, and one or more components simulating materials found in nature beneath the surface of the earth. The kit may include a tool for obtaining core samples of the resulting topographic model and may include a topographic map. The components of the kit may be used in conjunction with weight measurement tools.
US08556609B2	Geared hydraulic apparatus An improved geared hydraulic apparatus, comprising a pair of meshing gearwheels, mounted to be reciprocally rotatable in a casing between an inlet side and an outlet side for a fluid having, in use, a substantially transverse flow with respect to the axes of rotation of the gearwheels. The meshing gearwheels create, during their reciprocal rotation, progressive meshing configurations between respective co-operating teeth. In at least one of said progressive meshing configurations is defined, in at least one cross-section of the gearwheels, at least one closed area between respective fluid entrapment teeth. The closed area decreases until it is substantially cancelled out at and around at least one other, separate progressive meshing configuration between the aforesaid respective co-operating teeth.
US08556596B2	Water pump having a clutch A water pump for a vehicle includes a power transmission member driven and rotated by an external power, a driven shaft driven to be rotatable independently from the power transmission member, an impeller, an arm member which includes a pressing portion pressing the power transmission member and which is contactable to the power transmission member for transmitting a rotation of the power transmission member to the driven shaft, a control member controlling the arm member so that the arm member and the power transmission member come in contact with each other or come out of contact from each other and so that a contact state between the arm member and the power transmission member is variable, and a biasing member biasing the arm member toward the power transmission member.
US08556588B2	Airfoil shape for a compressor An article of manufacture is disclosed. The article may have a nominal profile generally in accordance with Cartesian coordinate values of X, Y and Z set forth in TABLE A. X and Y may correspond to distances in inches which, when connected by smooth continuing arcs, define airfoil profile sections at each distance Z in inches, the airfoil profile sections at the Z distances being joined smoothly with one another to form a complete airfoil shape.
US08556584B2	Rotating component of a turbine engine A rotating component of a turbine engine is provided and includes a wheel having a face to which fluid flow is provided and a plurality of impeller vanes forming a plurality of grooves along which the fluid flow is directed from an outer to an inner diameter of the wheel face, at least one of the plurality of the impeller vanes including a radially inwardly facing vane surface formed to define a cutaway portion.
US08556581B2	Stator vane assembly A stator vane assembly comprising inner and outer support rings connected by an annular array of stator vanes at locations around the supporting rings, at least one of said stator vanes in said array being a separate, pre-formed stator vane which is slidably connected to one or both of the supporting rings for radial movement relative to the respective support ring thereby to accommodate relative radial expansion of the support rings.
US08556577B2	Lube pump retention method A lube pump has a housing with a flange extending radially outwardly from a body of the housing. At least one rotor is received within the housing, and a shaft for powering the rotor extends away from the flange. A retention plate is positioned on an end of the flange closing the housing. A first set of bolts secure the flange to the retention plate. A second set of bolts secure the flange to the gearbox. The two sets of bolts extend in opposed directions. A gearbox including such a lube pump is also disclosed and claimed.
US08556576B2	Cooled IBR for a micro-turbine A micro gas turbine engine in which the turbine rotor blades are formed as an integral bladed rotor with cooling air passages formed within the blades and the rotor disk by an EDM process. an adjacent stator vane includes an air riding seal with an air cushion supplied through the vanes to provide cooling, and where the air cushion is then passed into the turbine blades and rotor disk to provide cooling for the turbine blades. With cooling of the turbine blades, higher turbine inlet temperatures for micro gas turbine engines can be produced.
US08556575B2	Blade outer seal for a gas turbine engine A blade outer air seal for a gas turbine engine is provided. The blade outer air seal includes a body having an outer radial surface, an inner radial surface, and a plurality of cooling air apertures. The body extends between a forward edge and an aft edge. The inner radial surface includes at least one first seal section, at least one second seal section, and a riser extending radially between the first seal section and the second seal section. Each of the plurality of cooling air apertures extends between the outer radial surface and the riser, and each cooling air aperture has an exit configured to direct cooling air substantially parallel to the second seal section of the inner radial surface.
US08556574B2	Fan array fan section in air-handling systems A fan array fan section in an air-handling system includes a plurality of fan units arranged in a fan array and positioned within an air-handling compartment. One preferred embodiment may include an array controller programmed to operate the plurality of fan units at peak efficiency. The plurality of fan units may be arranged in a true array configuration, a spaced pattern array configuration, a checker board array configuration, rows slightly offset array configuration, columns slightly offset array configuration, or a staggered array configuration.
US08556570B2	Smoke and fume removal assembly with dual suction modes A fan assembly is adjustable between two suction modes by alternating the position of the fan assembly on a flat surface, such as a table top. The fan assembly has two separate suction openings, one smaller than the other, which are selectively sealed by the flat surface. The suction openings are bounded by planar edges of an air guide that protrudes outward from a fan casing of the assembly. In one position, a first suction opening is unobstructed by the flat surface while the second suction opening is either partially obstructed or substantially sealed by the flat surface. In another position, the second suction opening is unobstructed by the flat surface while the first suction opening is substantially sealed by the flat surface.
US08556563B2	Adhesive applicator for perfect bound books and method of applying adhesive An adhesive applicator is disclosed for the application of a hot melt adhesive to the spine of a book block so as to adhesively bind the book block to its respective cover so as to form a perfect bound book. The applicator has a heated head in which a small quantity of a hot melt adhesive sufficient to bind at least one book block to its cover is quickly heated to a temperature such that it may be applied to the spine. The head is brought into operative engagement with the spine and is moved with respect to the spine so that the melted adhesive forced (dispensed) out of the head onto the spine. This applicator is particularly well suited for use with print on demand book printing and binding apparatus. A method of applying the adhesive to the spine of a book block is also disclosed.
US08556561B2	Windage shield A windage shield 2 for an array of fasteners 34, the shield 2 comprising a channel 4 for accommodating portions of the fasteners 34 extending into a fluid flow path. The windage shield 2 also comprises a closure flap 12 which extends between opposite side walls 8, 10 of the channel 4 to enclose the interior of the channel 4. The closure flap 12 is displaceable away from at least one of the side walls 8, 10 to provide access to at least one of the fastener portions 34.
US08556559B2	Connection assembly A connection assembly for connecting a first member to a second member includes a first threaded member extending through the first member and engages with a first engagement hole of the second member, and a second threaded member extending through extending through the first threaded member and engages with a second engagement hole of the second member communicating with the first engagement hole.
US08556557B2	Hydraulic nut and improved seals therefor A hydraulic nut for tensioning an assembly comprises a mechanical threaded locking collar to minimize load loss during transfer of hydraulic load to the locking collar, an annular piston, an annular pressure area to generate an axial load under hydraulic pressure, a hydraulic pressure port and preferably metallic seals to maintain the hydraulic pressure within the annular pressure area that operates in an elastic region and continues to actuate hydraulic pressure after repeated operating temperature cycles. The seals of the hydraulic nut have a ‘U’ or ‘C’ shaped cross-section.
US08556552B2	Tool with releasably mounted self-clamping cutting head A metal cutting tool has a cutting head releasably mounted on a front end of a tool shank, in a self-clamping manner. The tool shank's forward end is provided with a pair of shank coupling portions, each having a forwardly facing shank support surface. A pocket recess is defined between the shank's coupling portions. Within the pocket recess are a plurality of shank fixation surfaces which are parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tool shank. The cutting head has a cap portion and a fixation portion extending in rearward direction therefrom. The cap portion includes a pair of head segments, each having a rearwardly facing head base surface. The cutting head's fixation portion has a plurality of head fixation surfaces which are parallel to a longitudinal axis of the cutting head. In the assembled tool, the tool shank's forwardly facing shank support surfaces support the cutting head's rearwardly facing head base surfaces, while the plurality of head fixation surfaces abut the plurality of shank fixation surfaces.
US08556548B2	Tool holder clamp assembly for cutting inserts and its pressing plate A clamp fastens a cutting insert to a tool holder. The clamp assembly includes a body portion provided with a screw hole, a forward protrusion formed at the front portion of the body and extending downward, a rear protrusion formed at the rear end portion of the body and extending downward, and a bridge connecting the forward protrusion and the central portion of the body. The clamp assembly also includes a pressing plate having upper and lower surfaces, a front nose portion, a rear end portion, and is provided with a keyhole shaped groove having an enlarged inner cavity open toward the rear end by a narrow neck extending thicknesswise. The forward protrusion is inserted into the enlarged inner cavity and the bridge is inserted into the narrow neck of the keyhole groove so that the pressing plate is coupled to the clamp.
US08556539B2	Trenchless drainage structure replacement Replacement drainage structures and methods for replacing drainage structures are disclosed. An example method includes driving a plurality of sections of a replacement drainage structure around a buried drainage structure to be replaced. At least a portion of the drainage structure to be replaced is positioned within the interior of a section of the replacement drainage structure. Portions of the drainage structure to be replaced are removed.
US08556538B2	Deployable optical fiber cartridge A spool has a cylinder, a first flange coupled to a first end of the cylinder and a second flange coupled to a second end of the cylinder. A compressible material surrounds the cylinder and an optical fiber is wrapped around the compressible material. When tension is applied to the optical fiber the compressible material can be deformed to reduce the tension on the optical fiber. When submerged underwater the water pressure will not compress the compressible material.
US08556534B2	Attachment coupler for heavy machinery An attachment coupler for heavy machinery, which detachably installs an attachment to an arm of the heavy machinery, includes a coupler body coupled to the arm of the heavy machinery, a fixed hook formed on the coupler body and coupled to the attachment via a first coupling pin, a movable hook rotatably coupled to the coupler body via a hinge axis and coupled to the attachment via a second coupling pin, a hydraulic cylinder that rotates the movable hook to be coupled to or disengaged from the second coupling pin, and a locking device that includes a locking hook and an engagement device. The locking hook is rotatably coupled to the coupler body via a hinge axis and closes an open end of the fixed hook while being coupled to the first coupling pin. The engagement device rotates in association with the rotation of the movable hook.
US08556531B1	Simple CMC fastening system A simple ceramic matrix composite fastening system that is utilized for attaching components of dissimilar materials, particularly, ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) and metallic engine components. The system is comprised of a detachable subassembly bracket fabricated from metal. The bracket has a metallic engine component attached to one end and a CMC component attached to the other end. The bracket releasably secures the CMC and the metallic component together using rivets or pins, which are inserted into holes through the CMC to securely fasten the adjoining parts.
US08556530B2	Oral care implement An oral care implement includes a releasable sensory material that invokes a sensory response when in contact with tissues or surfaces of a mouth of a user. In one embodiment, an element is provided that is visually indicative of the sensory response. The oral care implement may also include a soft tissue cleaner provided with the sensory material.
US08556528B2	Applicator system with adjustable implement An applicator system for applying a product to a surface includes an adjustable implement comprising an applicator that is selectively pivotable at least about ninety degrees. By virtue of having an applicator that is selectively pivotable ninety degrees, the adjustable implement is capable of applying various products in multiple positions.
US08556527B1	Lipstick case A lipstick case includes a case holder, a lid, and first and second positioning members. The case holder includes an upper end face and a surrounding wall with non-circular cross sections. The lid is removably covered on the upper end face of the case holder. The first positioning member is mounted on the upper end face of the case holder and includes several lower magnets. Each lower magnet has an upper end which is one of north and south seeking poles. The second positioning member is engaged on a lower end face of the lid and includes several upper magnets. Each upper magnet has a lower end which is the other of the north and south seeking poles. The lower end face of the lid over the case holder is able to attract and engage with the upper end face of the case holder by the upper and lower magnets.
US08556525B2	Protection sleeve, manufacturing apparatus for protection sleeve, and manufacturing method for protection sleeve A protection sleeve includes a heat shrinkable tube and an adhesive tube and a reinforcing rod housed inside the heat shrinkable tube. The heat shrinkable tube, the adhesive tube, and the reinforcing rod are adhered together in a section spanning across a lengthwise section of the heat shrinkable tube. A protection sleeve manufacturing apparatus includes a jig for securing protection sleeves and a heating device. The jig is contrived to hold a plurality of protection sleeves (each including a heat shrinkable tube an adhesive tube and a reinforcing rod housed inside the heat shrinkable tube) in a parallel arrangement with spaces in-between. The heating device includes a plurality of hot air vents, means for setting a first distance between the jig and the hot air vents, and a means of setting the jig and the hot air vents to a second distance that is closer than the first distance.
US08556524B2	Optical communication module To reduce optical axis misalignment in an optical communication module, the optical communication module 1 includes a photoelectric conversion element package 10 to which a photoelectric conversion element 12 of either one of a light emitting element and a light receiving element is fitted so as to face one side 11a of a resin housing 11, and an optical fiber coupler 20 mounted on the one side 11a of the resin housing 11 so as to be coupled with an optical fiber, in which the optical fiber 20 coupler includes a metal lens-holding plate 22 holding a lens 23 arranged opposite to the photoelectric conversion element 12, and a resin lens-holding frame 21 that is mounted on the one side 11a of the resin housing 11 and that houses the lens 23 held on the metal lens-holding plate 22 in a light transmission hole 21a1 formed therein, so that the lens 23 is aligned with an optical axis K of the photoelectric conversion element 12.
US08556521B2	Expanded beam optical fibre connector The present invention relates to an optical connector for use in a fiber optic communications system, and particularly an expanded beam optical connector (20) for connecting optical fibers. The connector (20) comprises a housing (6), a port (48) within the housing for receiving an end (35) of an optical fiber (38), a cylindrical ferrule (32) within the housing (6) having opposite first and second ends (33, 35), and an optical fiber stub held axially (14) within the ferrule (32) and extending between said ferrule ends (33, 35). The connector (20) also has a lens (8) for projecting and/or receiving an expanded beam (40) optically coupled with the optical fiber stub at the first ferrule end (33). A sleeve (34) surrounds the ferrule (32) and extends towards the port (48) axially away from the second ferrule end (35) to present an open end to the sleeve for receiving a termination ferrule (36) of an optical fiber (38) inserted into the port. The connector (20) has a connector portion (2, 4, 5) for connecting the optical fiber connector (20) to another expanded beam optical fiber connector so that said expanded beam (40) traverses between the connectors. A channel (28) extends through the housing (6) from the port (48) towards the lens (8), the ferrule (32) being secured by means of a ring (80) within the channel (28), the ring having an outer surface (78) that makes an interference fit with an inner surface (25) of the channel and an inner surface (76) that makes an interference fit with an outer surface (74) of the ferrule towards the first ferrule end. (33).
US08556519B2	Radial roller bearing, in particular single track ball roller bearing A radial roller bearing, in particular a single-track ball roller bearing, which has an outer bearing ring with an inner groove track, an inner bearing ring with an outer groove track and ball rollers, which are disposed parallel to one another and held in a peripheral direction at even distances from one another by a plastic bearing cage, that roll between the bearing rings in the groove tracks. Each roller has two lateral surfaces that are flattened symmetrically from a spherical base form and a defined axial tilting clearance. The cage has two axially separated, pocketed cage halves which can be assembled in a positive-fitted, form-locked or integral fashion by opposing connecting elements.
US08556517B1	Bushing for oil film bearing A bushing for rotatably supporting a journal comprises a cylindrical wall having an inner bearing surface configured and dimensioned to surround the journal. Oil is supplied continuously to a lubricated zone between the journal and the bearing surface. The thus supplied oil escapes in opposite directions from inboard and outboard ends of the lubricated zone. A circular channel is positioned to capture oil escaping from the outboard end of the lubricated zone. A drain conveys oil captured in the channel back in the direction of oil escaping from the inboard end of the lubricated zone.
US08556516B2	Compressor bearing cooling inlet plate A compressor bearing cooling inlet plate has a mount plate, and a boss extending forwardly from the mount plate. The boss includes a plurality of grooves extending axially into the boss to define flow passages for cooling air from an outer peripheral surface of the cooling inlet plate to an inner bore. The grooves extend for a width between side walls, at angles that are not directly radially inwardly toward a center axis of the cooling plate. There is a plurality of widths across the plurality of grooves. A compressor bearing assembly, a motor driven compressor for use in a nitrogen generation system, and a method of installing a compressor bearing cooling inlet plate are all also disclosed and claimed.
US08556514B2	Sliding support structure for shaft member A sliding support structure includes: a support member (12; 106) and a shaft member (10; 120) that relatively rotates with respect to the support member (12; 106) wherein lubricating oil is supplied to between a sliding surface of the shaft member and a sliding surface of the support member, the support member (12; 106) has a sliding surface portion (x) that corresponds to a load concentrating portion between the shaft member (10; 120) and the support member (12; 106), and sliding surface regions (Ya, Yb) that are higher in oil repellency than the sliding surface portion are respectively provided on upstream and downstream sides of the sliding surface portion in a flow direction of the lubricating oil.
US08556508B2	Bag having an elastic band, and method for the production thereof The bag (1) includes an elastic band (16) joined to the face (1a) of the bag by two joining areas (17; 2a) in such a manner that the useful length, when the elastic band is at rest (L2), corresponds to the space between the two joining areas on the bag or is less than the length (L1) of the longitudinal edge of the face. The elastic band extends over the entire width of the bag, from one lateral edge to the other, the elastic band being welded to two faces of the bag along these lateral edges, one of the at least two joining areas forming an intermediate joining area (17) located at a distance from the lateral edges.
US08556507B1	Method and apparatus of facilitating x-rays A holder for use in x-rays comprises a shaped object to be held by a person while undergoing an x-ray, the shaped object having an outer surface defining an enclosed space and filler matter in the enclosed space. At least a portion of the outer surface and filler matter is comprised of a radiolucent material. The invention is also for a method of taking x-rays of a human by placing a shaped object in the hands of the human receiving the x-ray, and then directing the human to hold the shaped object in a specified manner such that the position of the human when holding the object in the specified manner causes internal body components of the human to be located relative to each other in a preferred manner for the x-ray.
US08556506B2	Temperature-current transducer A temperature-current transducer includes first and second voltage dividers, with the first voltage divider including a thermistor in an environment. An operational amplifier has a first input coupled to an intermediate node of the first voltage divider, and a second input coupled to an intermediate node of the second voltage divider. A cascode stage is configured to be biased in a conduction state and is controlled by the operational amplifier. The cascode stage includes a first current terminal coupled to the intermediate node of the second voltage divider. A current mirror is coupled to a second current terminal of the cascode stage, and is configured to mirror on an output line current flowing through the cascode stage that is representative of temperature differences between a temperature in an environment of the thermistor and a reference temperature.
US08556504B2	Thermally decoupled micro-structured reference element for sensors A micro-structured reference element for use in a sensor having a substrate and a dielectric membrane. The reference element has an electrical property which changes its value on the basis of temperature. The reference element is arranged with respect to the substrate so that the reference element is (i) electrically insulated from the substrate, and (ii) thermally coupled to the substrate. The reference element is arranged on the underside of the dielectric membrane. The reference element and side walls of the substrate define a circumferential cavern therebetween, which is also bounded by the dielectric membrane, arranged between them. The dielectric membrane is connected to the substrate. A surface area of the reference element which is covered by the dielectric membrane is greater than or equal to 10% and less than or equal to 100% of the possible coverable surface area. A surface of the cavern which is covered by the dielectric membrane is greater than or equal to 50% and less than or equal to 100% of the possible coverable surface. An edge of the reference element which faces the dielectric membrane has greater than or equal to 50% and less than or equal to 100% of its extent contacted by the dielectric membrane. Sections of the side walls of the cavern which face the dielectric membrane have greater than or equal to 50% and less than or equal to 100% of the possible size contacted by the dielectric membrane.
US08556497B2	Plastic bag containing a disposable vortex breaker The present invention consists of a closed presterilized bag having a disposable mixing element within it, a drive mechanism outside of the bag for rotating the mixing element without voiding sterility and a vortex breaker in the torm of one or more plastic sheet materials that are attached to various inner surfaces of the bag and disrupt the formation of vortices within the bag. Preferably the sheet(s) are formed of the same material as the bag and are sealed to the bag surfaces. More preferably, the sheet(s) extend across a diameter of the bag. Most preferably, the sheet(s) are perforated with one or more slits or openings to allow for good flow and mixing without a vortex being formed.
US08556494B2	System for manufacturing emulsified/dispersed liquid A system for manufacturing an emulsified/dispersed liquid has first and second emulsification/dispersion devices which produce the emulsified/dispersed liquid by emulsifying/dispersing emulsification/dispersion material in a liquid mixture into a medium liquid in the liquid mixture. A multistage pressure/temperature control device of a multistage type cools the emulsified/dispersed liquid discharged by the second emulsification/dispersion device while applying a backpressure which can prevent occurrence of bubbling to the first and second emulsification/dispersion devices. The multistage pressure/temperature control device reduces the pressure of the emulsified/dispersed liquid gradually or in stages, and finally lowers the pressure of the emulsified/dispersed liquid to a pressure that bubbling is not caused if the emulsification/dispersion liquid is released into an atmospheric condition. The system can apply sufficient shearing force to the liquid mixture so as to sufficiently atomize the emulsification/dispersion material.
US08556491B2	Backlight assembly having a plurality of light guide plates In a backlight assembly including a plurality of light guide plates, each light guide plate includes a light incident portion having a light incident surface facing a light source and a light facing portion having a light facing surface opposite to the light incident surface. The light facing portion of each light guide plate is overlapped with the light incident portion of an adjacent light guide plate in a plan view and fixed to the light incident portion of the adjacent light guide plate.
US08556486B2	Light source assembly mechanism for LED lamps A light source assembly mechanism includes two sets installed at two ends of an LED lamp tube. Each light source assembly mechanism includes a base, a lamp tube side cap, a turning module side cap and a turning rod. The lamp tube side cap has one side fastened to one end of the LED lamp tube and another side running through the base via a fastening portion to fasten to a coupling portion formed on the turning module side cap. The turning rod runs through the turning module side cap to fasten to the lamp tube side cap. With the same modular elements used at two sides of the LED lamp tube, mold development cost can be reduced, and assembly processes can be simplified. Through turning the turning rod, illumination angle of the LED lamp tube can be adjusted to meet illumination requirements.
US08556469B2	High efficiency total internal reflection optic for solid state lighting luminaires Optical elements having components made from high refractive index materials (RI≦1.6) and lamp assemblies incorporating such elements. Various optical elements, such as total internal reflection lenses, can be fabricated from materials having a higher index of refraction than materials typically used in such elements. The compact optical elements have at least one internal reflection surface that directs radiant energy (e.g., light) from a receiving end to a transmitting end. By using a high refractive index material, a lens can be fabricated that directs a greater portion of the light emitted from a source into the lens toward the transmitting end of the lens. Thus, less of the light spills out of the lens at a surface where emission is not intended, reducing the number of lossy bounces needed to direct the light in a particular direction.
US08556465B2	Illumination lamp An illumination lamp comprises a lamp body, a light-emitting module, a power supply module, and a circuit module. The lamp body defines an inner space. The partitioning unit is disposed in the lamp body for dividing the inner space into a first space for receiving the power supply module, and a second space for receiving the circuit module. Due to the presence of the partitioning unit, thermal convection between the first and second spaces is prevented to reduce adverse influence of a high temperature of the circuit module on the power supply module.
US08556458B2	Power source unit and illumination device According to one embodiment, a power source unit includes a substrate and a reflective body. The substrate includes a plurality of light-emitting elements mounted thereon. The reflective body includes a plurality of incident openings each corresponding to one of the plurality of light-emitting elements, an output opening to which light that has passed through the incident opening is output, and a plurality of reflective surfaces that expand from the incident opening toward the output opening. Reflective surfaces included in the plurality of reflective surfaces and positioned on an outermost side are provided to be adjacent to one another, and an angle is set so as to prevent reflective light of light emitted from the light-emitting elements from traveling toward an outer side in a reflective surface formed on the outer side.
US08556450B2	Flexible battery container and method of use A flashlight apparatus including a body portion formed from a woven material, the body portion having a longitudinal length and forming at least part of an adjustable cavity for containing at least one battery, and a head portion coupled to the body portion and having at least one of an illumination source for providing illumination and a connector for connecting the flashlight to another device. Accordingly, the flashlight can supply power to the another device. The body portion can adjust (e.g., its length and diameter—or area) to the size and number of battery cells contained therein.
US08556437B2	Semiconductor light source apparatus and lighting unit A semiconductor light source apparatus can emit various color lights having high brightness. The semiconductor light source apparatus can include a radiating substrate, at least one phosphor layer disposed on the radiating substrate and a semiconductor light source. The at least one phosphor layer can be composed of at least one of a glass phosphor and a phosphor ceramic and can include at least one of a red phosphor, a green phosphor and a blue phosphor. The light source can be located adjacent the phosphor layer so that light having high brightness emitted from the light source can be efficiently reflected on the radiating substrate via the at least one phosphor layer. Thus, the disclosed subject matter can provide a semiconductor light source apparatus that can emit various color lights having high brightness and a lighting unit using the light source apparatus, which can be used for general lighting, etc.
US08556426B2	Methods of obtaining ophthalmic lenses providing the eye with reduced aberrations The present invention discloses methods of obtaining ophthalmic lens capable of reducing the aberrations of the eye comprising the steps of characterizing at least one corneal surface as a mathematical model, calculating the resulting aberrations of said corneal surface(s) by employing said mathematical model, selecting the optical power of the intraocular lens. From this information, an ophthalmic lens is modeled so a wavefront arriving from an optical system comprising said lens and corneal model obtains reduced aberrations in the eye. Also disclosed are ophthalmic lenses as obtained by the methods which are capable reducing aberrations of the eye.
US08556424B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program An image processing apparatus has an acquisition unit which acquires a second tomogram related to a first tomogram of an eye to be examined based on position information of an eye fundus of the eye to be examined according to a predetermined rule; and a display control unit which displays the first tomogram and the second tomogram on a display unit.
US08556423B2	Ophthalmic photographing apparatus A method for obtaining a tomographic image of a fundus by optical coherence tomography includes the steps of setting a line, based on which the fundus tomographic image is to be obtained, on a first front image of the fundus, the first front image being a still image, establishing a positional correspondence between a second front image of the fundus and the first front image by matching the first and second front images, specifying a line on the second front image based on positional information on the line set on the first front image, and the established positional correspondence, and obtaining the fundus tomographic image that corresponds to the lines on the first and second front images by scanning measurement light with the use of an optical scanner provided to an interference optical system.
US08556419B2	Method of preparing an ophthalmic lens with special machining of its engagement ridge A method of preparing an ophthalmic lens for mounting in a surround of an eyeglass frame includes an acquisition step of acquiring a first longitudinal profile of the surround and an orientation parameter of the first longitudinal profile relative to a horizon line or a verticality line of the surround, and an edging step of edging the ophthalmic lens so as to form a generally profiled engagement ridge of desired section that extends along a second longitudinal profile (25) that is derived from the first longitudinal profile and of orientation that is derived from the orientation parameter. The method includes a determination step of determining at least one singular portion (Z1-Z12) of the second longitudinal profile as a function of the orientation parameter. During the edging step, the engagement ridge is locally pared away in the singular portion.
US08556414B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus includes: an eyeglass-type frame worn by a head of a viewer; and an image display apparatus attached to the frame, wherein the image display apparatus includes an image formation device, and an optical device on which light that exits from the image formation device is incident, through which the light is guided, and out of which the light exits, the frame is formed of a front portion, two temple portions extending from both ends of the front portion, a nose pad, and an attachment member, the attachment member is attached to a central section of the front portion, the optical device is attached to the attachment member, and the nose pad is so attached to the attachment member that the nose pad is movable upward and downward.
US08556411B2	Inkjet printable article and method of making the same The present disclosure relates to an inkjet printable article having an ink receiving layer bonded to a core substrate, the ink receiving layer including a blend of i) at least one self-crosslinkable polyurethane resin; ii) at least one self-crosslinkable styrene butadiene copolymer; and iii) at least one styrene acrylic copolymer, wherein the ink receiving layer is anionic or neutral, and wherein the core substrate includes a material selected from the group consisting of a woven material and a non-woven material.
US08556403B2	Aqueous ink for inkjet recording An aqueous ink for inkjet printing which includes a pigment-containing polymer particle and/or a self-dispersible pigment, a compound represented by formula (1): CH3—O—(CH2CH2O)n-R1 (1) wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or an alicyclic group having 3 to 6 carbon atoms, and n is an average molar number of addition of 6 to 20, and water in a content of 50 to 65% by weight. The content of the compound represented by formula (1) is 10 to 30% by weight. The aqueous ink is excellent in the curl prevention after print, curl prevention after its storage and print density as well as in the storage stability and jetting stability. In a method of inkjet-printing images on plain paper by one-pass print, the water content in the aqueous ink which is jetted onto unit area of the plain paper is regulated within 0.2 to 1.0 mg/cm2.
US08556402B2	Fixer inks for use with ink jet inks The disclosure provides an ink set containing an ink jettable ink and an ink jettable fixer ink having: an aqueous colorant containing ink jettable ink; and a fixer ink having: (i) a multivalent metal salt, wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of divalent metal ions, trivalent metal ions, and mixtures thereof; and (ii) a salt stable, water soluble, predominantly non-ionic, polymeric binder selected from the group consisting of a polyurethane having an ethylene oxide unit, and a methoxylated carboxylated polyallylamine; wherein the polymeric binder is substantially non-reactive with the colorant. The colorant contains a dye, a self dispersed pigment or a pigment dispersion. These inks have enhanced coloristic and durability properties.
US08556399B2	Fluid interconnect for fluid ejection system A fluid interconnect for a fluid ejection system includes a fluid port having a fluid passage formed therethrough, and a filter provided at an end of the fluid port such that fluid passing through the fluid port passes through the filter to the fluid passage, wherein the filter is secured to an end surface and a peripheral surface of the fluid port.
US08556397B2	Ink container to separate unwanted particles from ink An ink container usable with an image forming apparatus having a carriage to transport the ink container in a reciprocating motion across a substrate and an ink ejector to eject the ink onto the substrate is included. The ink container includes a chamber configured to supply ink to the ink ejector of the image forming apparatus. The ink container also includes a separation member disposed within the chamber configured to separate unwanted particles from the ink in response to the reciprocating motion of the carriage and gravity, and to direct the ink downstream to the ink ejector.
US08556395B2	Liquid supply mechanism and image forming apparatus A liquid supply mechanism includes: a supply pathway that supplies liquid to a plurality of ejection sections each ejecting the liquid from nozzles; a branching path that is branched off from the supply pathway and through which the liquid circulates; a buffer unit that is disposed in the branching path and that lessens pressure fluctuations occurred in the liquid in the branching path; and a changing unit that changes a pathway to the buffer unit so that the changing unit shuts the pathway to the buffer unit during maintenance for discharging the liquid from the nozzles of the ejection sections. The liquid discharged during the maintenance is greater in quantity than the liquid discharged during normal operation.
US08556388B2	Printhead assembly with multiple printhead modules and printed circuit boards in single casing A printhead assembly that has a casing with a series of module mounting sites, printed circuit board mounting sites and busbar support formations. A printhead module is mounted to each module mounting site respectively. Each printhead module has a printhead integrated circuit (IC). A plurality of printed circuit boards control the printhead IC's, one of the printed circuit boards being fixed to each of the printed circuit board mounting sites respectively. Busbars are secured in the busbar support formations for receiving data and power from the printed circuit boards. The printhead modules are electrically connected to the busbars to provide the printhead integrated circuits with power and data.
US08556381B2	Head unit, droplet ejection apparatus, method of manufacturing panel from base, image display apparatus and electronic apparatus A droplet ejection apparatus includes first to fourth droplet ejection heads for ejecting a first liquid material and fifth and sixth droplet ejection heads for ejecting a second liquid material. The first and second droplet ejection heads, the third and fourth droplet ejection heads, and the fifth and sixth droplet ejection heads are arranged along a first direction so that nozzles of the first and second droplet ejection heads, the third and fourth droplet ejection heads, and the fifth and sixth droplet ejection heads are consecutive with a predetermined pitch via a first seam, a second seam and a third seam, respectively, when viewed from a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The third seam is arranged between the first seam and the second seam when viewed from the second direction.
US08556379B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus including a first carriage having a recording head that ejects black liquid droplets and is movable in a main scanning direction and a second carriage having a recording head that ejects color liquid droplets and is detachably attachable to the first carriage within a scanning range of the first carriage in the main scanning direction. The second carriage when attached to the first carriage is movable in the main scanning direction together with the first carriage. Attachment and detachment of the second carriage to and from the first carriage are performed based on a predetermined reference position of the first carriage in the main scanning direction.
US08556377B2	Image recording apparatus, controller used for the image recording apparatus and storage medium storing program for the controller An image recording apparatus includes: a recording portion; a conveying member having a surface opposed to the recording portion and which conveys the recording medium in a conveying direction; a wiper having an end portion which is contactable with the surface of the conveying member and which removes a foreign matter on the surface of the conveying member; and a wiping operation executing portion which executes a wiping operation in which at least one of the wiper and the conveying member is driven such that, after the end portion of the wiper distant from the surface of the conveying member comes into contact with a clean area of the surface of the conveying member, the end portion of the wiper reaches outside of the clean area.
US08556363B2	Liquid ejecting apparatus A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head with a plurality of nozzles that eject a liquid to a medium; the liquid ejecting head has actuators (piezoelectric devices), each of which causes an ejection operation for ejecting the liquid from one of the nozzles and a protrusion operation for keeping the liquid protruded from a nozzle plane in which the nozzles are disposed. The liquid ejecting apparatus also includes a controller that identifies non-used nozzles from which not to eject the liquid to the medium to have the protrusion operation performed for the nozzles and also identifies nozzles from which to eject the liquid to have the ejection operation performed for the nozzles.
US08556357B2	Computer rack A computer rack includes an upper frame, a lower frame, four parallel support legs, two horizontal struts, two mounting members, and two vertical struts. The support legs connect between the upper frame and the lower frame. The four support legs are parallel each other. Each horizontal strut is attached to two of the four support legs. The two horizontal struts is substantially perpendicular to the four support legs. Each horizontal strut is attached to two of the four support legs and is substantially perpendicular to the four support legs. Wherein, the mounting members are configured to be mounted in different positions to establish different distances between the two vertical struts in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical strut.
US08556355B2	Method and apparatus for optimizing storage space An adaptable furniture system includes at least one first article of furniture and at least one second article of furniture. The adaptable furniture system further includes a moving system for moving at least one of the at least one first article of furniture and the at least one second article of furniture, where a forward movement of the at least one second article of furniture is associated with a lowering movement of the at least one first article of furniture.
US08556354B2	Track tensioning system A tensioning system for a tracked vehicle. The present invention provides for adjusting tension of a track by moving the sprocket relative to the rollers in a substantially vertical direction. The system comprises a sprocket assembly, a roller assembly, a track, and a tension adjustment assembly. The tension adjustment assembly includes a tension bolt threaded through a tension nut. The bolt threads through the nut and contacts the roller assembly. As the bolt is threaded or unthreaded, the sprocket assembly is moved relative to the roller assembly in a substantially vertical direction. As the assemblies move relative to each other, tension in the track is resultantly adjusted.
US08556340B2	Vehicle seat recliner mechanism with selective torque transmission connectors A vehicle seat is provided with a pair of discontinuous reclining mechanisms on opposite sides of the seat that are connected by a connecting rod. A pair of torque transmission joints are provided on opposite ends of the connecting rod. The torque transmission joints connect the opposite ends of the connecting rod to the reclining mechanisms. The torque transmission joints permit torque to be transmitted by manipulation of a handle to adjust the vehicle seat. Loads applied from the rear to the vehicle seat back are prevented from transmitting torque to the connecting rod by a lost motion connection provided by the torque transmission joints.
US08556326B2	Fuel tank cover module A tank flap module is provided for installation in a motor vehicle, having a recess body insertable into an opening of the vehicle body, which has a passage opening for receiving a fuel filler neck in the area of a base section, and which has a flange-like fastening edge protruding radially outward facing away from the base section. A flexibly deformable and peripheral axial sealing tab is provided extending along the fastening edge, which extends axially outward in relation to the passage opening and comes into contact on an interior of a tank flap, which is located in the closed position and is mounted so it is pivotable on the recess body.
US08556323B2	Motor vehicle seat A folding seat arrangement comprising a first carrying structure (2) having a backrest (3) and guiding elements (11) for the removable attachment in guide rails (9) to a vehicle floor, a second carrying structure (5) pivotally mounted to the first carrying structure (2) and having a seat cushion (4), and a supporting structure (6; 31), on which in a first end region guiding elements (10) are provided for the removable attachment in guide rails (9) and which in a second region is mounted a carrying structure (2; 5) in an articulated manner such that the seat arrangement in the folded setting requires the least amount of space in the lower region of the expanded luggage compartment. This is achieved in that the guiding elements (11) on the first carrying structure (2) and the supporting structure (6; 31) can be moved relative to one another to pivot the supporting structure (6; 31).
US08556314B1	Log lifting facilitating assembly A log lifting facilitating assembly for includes a first member having a first end and a second end. A spike is attached to the first member adjacent to the first end and is orthogonal to the first member. The spike extends in a first direction relative to the first member. A second member is attached to the second end of the first member and extends in the first direction from the first member further than the spike. A strike plate is attached to the first member. The strike plate is positioned on the first member opposite of the spike. The spike is configured to be driven into an end of a log to facilitate moving of the log.
US08556313B2	Multi-configuration grappling hook system A retractable and fast-deploying grappling hook has a plurality of tines foldable around a central shaft that can quickly be individually set into a deployed position or a retracted position with no more than two turns of a capping head. The speed and ease of operation of the deploying and locking mechanism are due in part to the concavely machined undersurface of the head which mirrors the path end of the tines hinged to the side of the shaft. The same locking maneuver and adjustment of the head apply coincidentally to the deployed and retracted tines. A belt-attachable caddy houses a slotted receptacle for a removable plate mounting a take-up reel around which a cable secured to an eyelet at the proximal end of the shaft can be wound.
US08556312B2	Container-lifting spreader with drive for the telescopic movement of spreader's beams protected against damage by collision A container-lifting spreader includes locking pins insertable into seats formed at the corners of a container and upon rotation about their longitudinal axes are brought in locked engagement therewith. The locking pins are in pairs associated with a common drive effecting simultaneous rotation of the pins between locking and unlocking positions. The drive includes a reversible motor and a power transmission that includes two push rods respectively, each of which is hinged at one end to a locking pin, and at the other end to an operating lever included in the power transmission, such that a driven movement of the lever is transferred via the push rods to rotational movements of the pins. The lever acts as a pivoting arm supported on a rotatable shaft, the arm cooperating with fixed stops that mechanically limit the movement of the lever within an angular space determined by the e distance between the stops.
US08556311B1	Truck cab and bed lift tool A truck cab and bed lift tool for removing cab and bed bodies from pickup truck frames. The tool includes a horizontal main beam having adjustable and configurable end appendages. Those appendages provide adjustable contact elements that mate with suitable lifting points of a pickup truck bed, cab structure, or other major body element. The main beam includes a heavy-duty hook that enables the truck cab and bed lift tool to be lifted by an engine hoist, overhead winch, or other suitable lifting mechanism.
US08556310B1	Grill hook device A grill hook device for lifting a cooking surface grate from a charcoal grill or grill pit is provided. The cooking surface grate has a plurality of cross bars with the cross bars having a top surface and a bottom surface. The grill hook device comprises a center shaft having a first end and a second end. A handle is mounted to the first end of the center shaft. An anchor member extends from the center shaft between the first end and the second end of the center shaft. A hook mechanism is formed at the second end of the center shaft for receiving at least one of the cross bars for the cooking surface grate. Upon positioning at least one of the cross bars within the hook mechanism, the hook mechanism contacting the bottom surface of the at least one cross bar, and the anchor member against the top surface of the cross bars, the cooking surface grate is liftable from the grill.
US08556305B2	Automatic locking/unlocking apparatus for a drawer A locking/unlocking apparatus for a drawer is applicable to be assembled on a fixed slide rail and a slidable slide rail of a drawer or on a drawer body and a drawer cabinet. The locking/unlocking apparatus comprises a drive element disposed on the slidable slide rail or the drawer body, a main body fixed on the fixed slide rail or the drawer cabinet, a slide block slidably disposed on the main body, and a spring disposed between the main body and the slide block. By such arrangements, when the drawer is pulled by a large force, it can prevent the slide rails, the drawer body or the locking/unlocking apparatus from being damaged.
US08556297B2	Fender liner for vehicle and method for fabricating the same To provide a vehicle fender liner configured to easily form a solid shape and exhibit superior sound-absorption performance and excellent anti-icing, a fender liner 10 serving as a sound-absorption member to be attached to a vehicle includes a base-material layer 11 having sound-absorption function. The base-material layer 11 is formed into a solid shape of a fender liner by producing a sheet of a fibrous web 14 obtained by interlocking main fibers 12 and binder fibers 13 having a melting point lower than that of the main fibers 12, integrally providing a waterproof protective film of an LDPE resin, and then performing hot press mold.
US08556295B2	Snowboard anchoring system and method A snowboard system and methods are disclosed adapted for board stabilization while a user attaches the snowboard binding and boot from a standing position. The system includes an anchoring stake, a retainer and retractable cord, and an anchoring line, or loop. A safety retainer line from the stake may also be provided.
US08556281B2	Bracket for mounting shock absorber A bracket is provided to mount a shock absorber to a vehicle body. The bracket is configured to couple a distal end of a piston rod of the shock absorber to a vehicle body. The bracket is molded of a plastic material and includes a body having a recess formed thereon, the recess allowing a bush assembly to be inserted therein, and a flange extending from the body. The bracket is molded integrally with a metal insert.
US08556279B2	Handtruck A handtruck or trolley (90) comprising: a handtruck frame (91) including a frame base (98) extending to an outward handle portion (97) of the handtruck frame, the handtruck frame generally lying in a first plane and having a front and a rear; a load support (95) mounted to the front of the handtruck frame and generally lying in a second plane inclined relative to the first plane; and a handtruck wheel assembly (60,80) mounted to the frame base, the handtruck wheel assembly comprising at least two sets of wheels (65a,60b,82a,82b), each set having a fixed main axis (6ba,106b) of rotation parallel to the first plane and capable of travel in a direction normal to the main axes, wherein the wheel or wheels of at least one of the sets of wheels is or are multidirectional and capable of travel in a lateral direction or in an angular direction having a vector component parallel to the main axes.
US08556276B2	Convertible aid cart The present invention is directed to an aid cart for storing and transporting emergency or other supplies. The aid cart serves as a transportable storage container and is convertible into various configurations that can be used to provide first responder aid and relief, and transforms into various tools to help clean-up and rebuild after a disaster has occurred. In this manner, the aid cart enables victims to quickly care for themselves, their families, and their neighbors, and encourages victims to immediately begin the clean-up and rebuilding process. The aid cart is convertible into different configurations using various tubes. Hub brackets on either side of the aid cart include adapters to which any of the tubes can be connected. The tubes can be connected to the adapters to form different configurations.
US08556264B2	Closable-type game board for basic symbol recognition My child educational board game, “Word Battle Junior”, embodies a configuration requiring players to approach the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy by simply calling out spaces in a competition of take away so that, once all prepositioned and hidden game elements on opponents' targeted regions are found, the last player with symbol marked blocks in his/her playing field wins.
US08556262B2	Table game system A table game system comprises a plurality of playing cards and a card shooter apparatus. The cards include an ultraviolet-ray reaction code comprising at least two sets of code elements that are arranged along one side of a face of the card. The code represents at least the number of a card. The card shooter apparatus includes a card housing for containing the cards, a card guide unit that guides cards pulled out one by one from the card housing, one or more card detecting sensors that detect the existence or non-existence of a card pulled out along a card guiding direction of the card guide unit, and one or more black light sensors that read the ultraviolet-ray reaction code from the card guided by the card guide unit.
US08556258B2	Sheet storage apparatus and image formation system using the apparatus To provide a sheet storage apparatus for enabling a sheet to be aligned so that the length-direction position and width-direction position of the sheet coincide with correct reference positions in positioning and storing the sheet in a predetermined position on a tray, it is configured that a paper feed rotating member in a center portion of a sheet that is carried out onto the tray and a paper-pressing guide in the side portion are disposed swingably up and down in the sheet load direction, and that the paper-pressing guide moves upward integrally with the paper feed rotating member floating a predetermined amount or more from the sheet top surface on the tray corresponding to a curl of the sheet.
US08556257B2	Sheet loading device and post-processing apparatus A sheet loading device that includes a tray having a sheet loading surface, transports sheets one by one to the tray along a transport path, and loads the sheets one by one onto the sheet loading surface, comprising: a guide member for guiding a sheet to the tray along the transport path; a drive member; a restriction member; and a bias mechanism. Along a course of movement for pressing a loaded sheet against the sheet loading surface, the guide member engages with the restriction member, causes the restriction member to move to a position for restricting forming of a curl on the loaded sheet, and thereby prevents the transport path from being blocked by the curl. When the engagement between the guide member and the restriction member is released, the restriction member returns to an initial position by bias force applied by the bias mechanism.
US08556247B2	Vise provided with a movable jaw device having separated approaching and clamping steps in a pipe bending machine die A vise provided with a movable jaw device having separated approaching and clamping steps in a bending machine die, the vise (4) having a fixed jaw portion (7) and a movable jaw device (10) including a body (6) having two abreast supporting walls (8, 9), on an external side of one of which an operation mechanism (20) of the movable jaw is mounted, and upper edges (31, 32) of the supporting walls acts as cams for opposite spindles (29, 30) laterally projecting from one hydraulic cylinder (28) that is swing mounted on the movable jaw (11). The upper edges (31, 32) have two respective notches (33, 34) designed to receive the projecting spindles in such a way that the extension of the rod (27) of the hydraulic cylinder (28), being locked in position by its projecting spindles.
US08556242B2	Roll-rod for vehicle A roll-rod for a vehicle includes an inner pipe protruding from an end surface of a roll-rod body which penetrates an insulator engaged to a bracket and an end plate may be coupled to a rear side of the inner pipe, a fastening bolt being mounted to fasten the end plate to the inner pipe, wherein the insulator has a supporter inserted into a through-hole formed in the bracket and having a pipe shape, and a first front stopper extended from the supporter and protruding to the front of the bracket, and a first rear stopper extended from the supporter and protruding to the rear of the bracket, wherein the first front stopper, the first rear stopper and the supporter may be integrally molded to be fixedly coupled to the bracket.
US08556240B2	Fluid-filled vibration damping device and control method of the device used as engine mount A fluid-filled vibration damping device wherein a partition member is formed by fitting an inner orifice member inside an outer orifice member with the members relatively displaceable. An orifice-defining window is provided on either one of an inside peripheral face of the outer orifice member and an outside peripheral face of the inner orifice member. An orifice passage is defined utilizing a zone being produced through partial covering of the orifice-defining window by the other of the outer orifice member and the inner orifice member. The covered zone of the orifice-defining window changes through relative displacement of the inner orifice member and the outer orifice member, so that a passage length along the orifice passage changes in association with change of the covered zone of the orifice-defining window.
US08556238B2	Diffuser for aeration Disclosed is a diffuser installation structure capable of improving uniformity of air bubbles discharged from air bubble discharge holes, restricting the formation of dead zone air bubble discharge holes, and having the tolerance against design deviation. In the installation structure for a diffuser including at least one air feeding port and an air bubble discharge wall having a plurality of air bubble discharge holes, the air bubble discharge wall is inclined upward in the direction of increasing distance relative to the air feeding port.
US08556229B2	Electronic expansion valve Embodiments of the invention provide an electronic expansion valve, including a magnetic rotor and a screw rod, and further including an output shaft. The magnetic rotor is surroundingly provided on the output shaft, and the output shaft is slidably connected to the screw rod in an axial direction and drivably connected to the screw rod in a circumferential direction. Since the output shaft is slidably connected to the screw rod in an axial direction and drivably connected to the screw rod in a circumferential direction, the magnetic rotor does not subject to an axial force transmitted by the screw rod and rotates flexibly.
US08556215B1	Aerodynamically efficient surfaces A wave form tile in the form of a natural wave is provided to replace traditionally smooth surfaces to aid in more efficient shedding of a fluid medium. The wave form tile is also applied to proportionally spherical fractal surfaces defined for the surface of a vehicle.
US08556208B2	Component for bicycle frame The invention relates to a component (1) for a bicycle frame having a wing profile front side portion (2) and a back side portion (3) that is convex at least in certain portions. The invention further relates to a bottle holder (10) which is attachable to the component (1) or is configured in one piece with the component (1).
US08556200B2	System, method and apparatus for processing fiber materials A system for processing material has a power supply and a machine having a hopper for receiving and passing material to an auger. The auger has a shaft with an axis about which it rotates, a helical flighting mounted to the shaft, pins mounted to the helical flighting, and paddles mounted to the shaft. The radial outer edge of the helical flighting is crenelated with periodic notches that form rectangular blades on the helical flighting. The pins are rotationally and angularly aligned with leading edges of the rectangular blades. The system may include a vehicle, such as a trailer, having first and second compartments separated by a partition. The power supply is located in the first compartment and has a power supply member extending though the partition. The machine is located in the second compartment and coupled to the power supply member.
US08556199B2	System, package, apparatus and method for dosing coffee beans A system for dosing coffee beans, comprising a coffee bean package provided with at least one wall which at least partly encloses an inner space for multiple dosages of coffee beans, and a coffee bean outlet for delivering coffee beans, and an apparatus provided with a coffee bean grinder, a coffee bean inlet for supplying coffee beans from the coffee bean package to the grinder, a connecting device for connecting the coffee bean package to the apparatus, so that the coffee bean outlet can be connected to the coffee bean inlet, and a dosing device provided with a dosing space which is arranged for feeding-through one predetermined dose of coffee beans from the coffee bean outlet to the coffee bean inlet.
US08556195B1	Low profile attachment for emitting water The present invention provides an attachment for emitting water from a water source. The attachment comprises an inlet end, a transitional section connected to the inlet end an outlet end connected to the transitional section opposite from the inlet end, and a reinforcement member attached to the transitional sectional and the outlet end to support the transitional section. The inlet end includes an external cover and an internal sleeve disposed within and spaced from the external cover.
US08556179B2	Motion tolerant bar code reader A 2D bar code reader with improved motion tolerance is presented. The 2D bar code reader includes a lens configuration that enhances chromatic aberration to separate the focal planes on which bar code images from two different color components of a light will be focused. An imager interprets one of the focal planes as the image and the other one as noise to be ignored. In addition, the increased depth of field generated by the chromatic aberration allows for a larger aperture stop setting and quicker shutter speed, thereby improving motion tolerance.
US08556178B2	RFID devices using metamaterial antennas A radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag can comprise an RFID chip, an antenna, and a feed line electrically coupling the RFID chip to the antenna. An encoded information reading (EIR) terminal can comprise a microprocessor, a memory communicatively coupled to the microprocessor, a communication interface, and an EIR device provided by a bar code reading device, an RFID reading device, or a card reading device. The RFID reading device can further comprise an antenna and a feed line. The antenna for the RFID tag or for the RFID reading device can be provided by a patch cell, a patch cell array comprising two or more patch cells, or by a patch cell stack comprising two or more patch cells. An equivalent circuit for the patch can comprise at least two inductances and a shunt capacitance. An equivalent circuit for the patch cell array can comprise two or more inductance groups connected via a series capacitance and two or more shunt capacitances. An equivalent circuit for the patch cell stack can comprises two or more capacitances connected via a series inductance and two or more shunt inductances. The antenna can have a composite right- and left-handed (CRLH) structure.
US08556173B1	Apparatus and system for navigating in GPS denied environments An apparatus and system for allowing accurate navigation to a target regardless of GPS jamming levels. An apparatus and system can be used to update the navigation solution based upon seeker measurements in at least one of three electromagnetic frequency domains: infrared, visible, and radio frequency (RF).
US08556169B2	Opt in system and method A financial transaction system includes a computer readable storage medium and a processor in communication with the computer readable storage medium. The processor is configured to receive a financial transaction request message from a payment device reader, and parse the financial transaction request message. The financial transaction request message includes a cardholder response to an offer to enroll in a loyalty program of a commercial entity. The processor is further configured to store the cardholder response in the computer readable storage medium.
US08556155B2	Solder ball mounting tool A solder paste mounting tool is provided, and includes a base, a positioning plate, a screen plate, and a pushing element. The base includes a first surface, a second surface, a through hole extending through the first surface and the second surface, a first chip accommodating portion, and positioning pillars. The first chip accommodating portion and the positioning pillars are located on the first surface, and the position of the first chip accommodating portion is corresponding to the position of the through hole. The positioning plate includes a second chip accommodating portion and first positioning holes corresponding to the positioning pillars. The screen plate includes a mesh region and second positioning holes corresponding to the positioning pillars. The pushing element is movably disposed in the through hole and includes a first end portion and a second end portion.
US08556152B2	Retraction mechanism with clutch-less drive for use with a surgical apparatus A retraction mechanism allows the full distal retraction of the firing drive from various positions. The retraction mechanism has been developed for use with a hand held surgical apparatus. An embodiment of the retraction mechanism includes a drive member, a first pulley, a second pulley, and a firing drive. The drive mechanism is configured to be driven by a motor. The first pulley is configured to rotate when the motor drives the drive mechanism. The second pulley is movable relative to the first pulley between a proximal position and a distal position. The firing drive is movable relative to the first pulley between proximal and distal positions. In operation, the first pulley rotates in a first direction in response to a distal translation of the firing drive and wherein the firing drive moves proximally upon rotation of the first pulley in a second direction.
US08556147B2	Backpack frame A backpack from has a forwardly facing side and a back side. The frame comprises a base having a generally flat midsection with forwardly curved end sections. A pair of mutually spaced arms project from the end sections of the base. The arms have a degree of twist that gradually diminishes from the end sections of the base to the upper distal ends of the arms.
US08556144B2	Multi-purpose carrying device for car A carrying device (3) includes a first support rack (30), a second support rack (32) pivotally connected with the first support rack, and a connecting member (31) secured on the first support rack and pivotally connected with the second support rack to connect the first support rack and the second support rack. Thus, the first support rack is used to carry an elongate object (9), such as a surf board, a boat, a ladder and the like, and the second support rack is used to carry a bicycle (8).
US08556143B2	Mounting apparatus A mounting assembly for interconnecting a first object and a second object has a link assembly having a first end that couples the first object, and a second end that couples the second object, and a top plate assembly pivotably coupled to the second end of the link assembly. The top plate assembly includes an upper plate having a plurality of holes for attachment to a receiving device, and a lower plate pivotably coupled to the second end of the link assembly. The lower plate is connected to the upper plate only through a plurality of shock and vibration absorption members, thereby improving the shock and vibration absorption effect.
US08556142B2	Light bulb changing tool A light bulb carrying device is provided for transporting light bulbs to a fixture for installation. Locations for attachment of light bulbs allow the bulbs to be worn on the user's body for access to a light fixture without the need for occupying the user's hands in carrying the light bulbs during transportation.
US08556138B2	Crown-type sizer for a hanger A crown-type sizer is suitable for mounting on a hanger having a body and a hook extending from a mid-point of the body and includes a peripheral wall having a first side and a second side opposed to the first side. The sizer includes a quantity of bosses that have at least one boss in a first set and at least one boss in a second set. The first set is disposed on the first side and the second set is disposed on the second side. Each of the bosses engages onto the hanger and block the sizer onto the hanger in a stable manner. The first set of bosses is offset to the second set of bosses with respect to a plane bisecting the first and the second side.
US08556130B2	Pump dispensers A pump dispenser in which the associated container interior reduces its volume progressively as product is dispensed to avoid air contact with the product. An air trap member having a downwardly-convex dish form is provided below a floor of the associated dispenser module around an inlet to guide any such air away from the inlet. A peripheral portion forms a retaining lip for flexible wiping contact with the container wall interior, allowing air passage on assembly of the dispenser. A central tubular formation of the trap member separates the trapped air from the inlet and can be used to plug the trap member into the inlet.
US08556124B2	Bag in box packaging having a tap articulating assembly A bag in box packaging including an outer box, an inner bag and a tap. The outer box has a bottom wall and a front wall. A tap articulating assembly includes a tap wall and at least two spaced apart hinge assemblies. The tap wall has an opening to receive the tap. The hinge assemblies each have a first hinge panel and a second hinge panel. Each first and second hinge panel are joined to each other at an intermediate hinge fold, with the first hinge panel joined to the tap wall at a fold and the front wall or a respective side wall at a fold. The hinge assembly provides for a shipping orientation wherein the tap wall is recessed to substantially retain the tap within a footprint of the outer box to an dispensing orientation wherein the tap extends beyond the footprint.
US08556119B2	Horizontal product discharge system for a vending machine A system and method for discharging a selected product into a dispensing chamber of a vending machine are provided. In the system and method of this disclosure, a selected product from a vending machine is received in a product delivery cup. The product delivery cup is moved to a dispensing chamber of the vending machine. Near the dispensing chamber, the product delivery cup moves in a horizontal direction which causes or activates a delivery cup sleeve within the product delivery cup to pivot or move from a non-dispensing position to a dispensing position. The dispensing position of the delivery cup sleeve releases the selected product from the delivery cup sleeve to the dispensing chamber where a consumer is able to access the selected product.
US08556118B2	Moving mechanism of movable body The moving mechanism has a first stationary-side gear part and a second stationary-side gear part provided on a support body side; a movable-side gear part and a pinion gear provided on a supported part of a movable body; and a guide device positioned so that the movable-side gear part engages with the first stationary-side gear part and the pinion gear engages with the second stationary-side gear part. The first stationary-side gear part is formed along an arc of a virtual circle, and has teeth oriented toward a center side of this virtual circle; the second stationary-side gear part is provided adjacent to this first stationary-side gear part on the center side of the aforementioned virtual circle, is formed along an arc of a separate virtual circle from this virtual circle, and has teeth oriented toward a center side of this separate virtual circle.
US08556115B2	Surgical instrument container assembly with elliptical softgrip handle assembly A surgical instrument container assembly includes a container and a handle assembly. The handle assembly includes at least one wire handle pivotally coupled with the container. A handle grip has a longitudinally extending opening. A portion of the wire handle is positioned radially within the opening. The handle grip has an outer surface with an elliptical cross sectional shape, and a plurality of laterally spaced and longitudinally extending ribs on the outer surface. The handle grip is preferably formed of an elastomeric material.
US08556112B2	Storage module adapter assembly for modular container A storage module adapter assembly includes adapter base plates that are two-person portable, can be installed/removed by hand, and cooperate with existing structures of existing modular cargo containers. Each adapter base plate includes various longitudinal and transverse frame members, as well as first and second longitudinal frame members on opposed sides thereof. The first longitudinal frame member has a first height, and the second longitudinal frame member has a second height, which is greater than the first height. Each of the first and second longitudinal frame members also include generally horizontal flange members extending from a top side thereof, such that when two adapter base plates are appropriately positioned side by side, the generally horizontal flange members on the adjacent sides of the two adapter base plates overlap due to the difference between the first and second heights. The adapter base plates can then be connected together by appropriate mechanisms.
US08556104B2	Container closing device A container closing device suitable for cans of drink, having an opening tab provided in a container wall, and an opening element suitable for pressing in the opening tab and a fixing device, whereby the opening tab can be detachably fixed to the container wall.
US08556103B2	Closure to be screwed onto a container With an eye towards achieving the objective of configuring and refining a closure in such a way that an available space defined by the support element is effectively utilized while the volume of the chamber is maximized, a closure to be screwed onto a container, comprises a closure cap and a screw cap that can be twisted together with each other as well as relative to each other, whereby the closure cap has a support element that can be screwed to the screw cap, whereby the closure cap and the screw cap delimit a chamber that holds a substance and that can be opened by twisting the screw cap relative to the closure cap, thereby opening up at least one passage, and whereby the screw cap has a chamber wall whose free end surrounds a chamber bottom that is formed in the closure cap, wherein the screw cap has a lid section onto which the chamber wall is formed.
US08556098B2	Plastic container having sidewall ribs with varying depth A bottle may have varying depth ribs to achieve a balance of strength and rigidity while maintaining hoop strength. The varying depth ribs may smoothly transition around the circumference of the bottle from a flattened and/or shallow depth rib portion to a deep rib portion. A collection of flattened and/or shallow depth ribs act as recessed columns in the body of the bottle to resist bending, leaning, crumbling, and/or stretching. The deep rib portions provide hoop strength and make the bottle body more rigid and/or stiffer when gripped by a user. A balance may be achieved between of flattened and/or shallow depth ribs and deep ribs to attain a desired resistance to bending, leaning, and/or stretching while maintaining stiffness in a lightweight bottle.
US08556096B2	Container lid having a pulling part and a breakable connecting part A container lid intended to be used as a lid for any kind of container/bottle, and comprising an upper lid (1) and a bottom part (2) connected by a connecting part (5). The container lid is processed by multi-injection of multi-colors plastic technology to produce a container lid made of multi-materials. The connecting part (5) extends around the container lid and is adapted to be broken up to a stopper part (7) when a pulling part (4) is pulled. The container lid is intended for plastic bottles including bottled drinking water and/or flavored beverage bottles to prevent counterfeiting or imitating.
US08556094B2	Baby bottle having compartmented closure for selectively mixing and dispensing baby formula A baby formula delivery assembly includes a container that has a bottom wall, a top wall, and a perimeter wall extending between the top and bottom walls. A housing has an upper wall and a peripheral wall that is attached to and extends downwardly from the upper wall. The peripheral wall extends downwardly around the container adjacent to the top wall and is rotatably and non-removably coupled to the container. A lower wall is attached to the peripheral and is spaced from the upper wall and defines an interior space of the housing. The lower wall has a second powder aperture extending therethrough. A nipple is attached to the upper wall and is in fluid communication with the interior space of the housing. A quantity of water is positioned within the container. A quantity of baby formula is positioned within the housing.
US08556092B2	Stand alone divider for shelving A stand alone divider for a shelf is provided. The stand alone divider includes a first and a second retainer arranged to grip a first and a second edge of a shelf. The stand alone divider may be installed on and removed from a shelf without the use of tools. The stand alone divider may have an adjustable length.
US08556091B2	Device for holding shower articles An updated version of the tradition shower caddy according to the present invention is designed to use retractable cords and removable clips as an aide to assist in storage of bathing/shower products instead of plastic racks or wire trays as used in traditional shower caddies. The device according to the present invention comprises an adjustable over-the-door hanger for the device to mount on a shower enclosure panel or door, at least one retractable reel and noncorrosive retractable cord attached to the over-the-door hanger, at least one removable clip attached to the retractable cord for securely holding shower articles such as shampoo, conditioner, body soap and the like, at least one hook for robe, body scrubber, and towels, and a soap dish. The present invention is also capable of hanging from the shower head pipe by repositioning the vertical strip which is attached to the “exterior hook” into a horizontal position, bringing the hook into an upright position, allowing the entire unit to suspend securely by the “Exterior Hook” from the common shower head pipe.
US08556084B1	Baggage cart handling system A system for holding one or more bags. The system includes a cart, a first chute disposed on the cart, and a second chute also disposed on the cart. The first chute includes a first edging along each side of the first chute. The second chute includes a second edging along each side of the second chute. The second chute is intertwined with the first chute. The system may further include a third chute and a fourth chute disposed on the cart. The third chute may include a third edging along each side of the third chute, and the fourth chute may include a fourth edging along each side of the fourth chute. The top and bottom of the first chute and the top and bottom of the second chute are positioned on opposite ends of the cart at about 180 degrees apart, while the top and bottom of the third chute and the top and bottom of the fourth chute are positioned on opposite ends of the cart at about 180 degrees apart.
US08556078B1	Medicine discriminator A tray comprises a flexible floor comprising a first surface and a second surface, at least one pocket in the first surface dimensioned to hold a medicine and a flexible wall extending upward from the first surface and surrounding every at least one pocket most proximal to edges of the first surface, the flexible wall configured to deform elastically when the second surface of the flexible floor is bent.
US08556075B1	Hangtag for tools A hangtag for tools includes a suspension element, a positioning element, and a limitation element having a blocker. The positioning element includes a main body and a positioning portion having a base, an elastic piece, and a protrusion disposed on the elastic piece. The base encloses a through slot which penetrates a top and a bottom of the base and extends through a side face of the main body to reach inside of the main body. The elastic piece laterally extends into the through slot from the main body, and a shifting room is defined by the elastic piece and the through slot. When the blocker is in the shifting room and leans against the elastic piece, the protrusion is at a first position, and security is provided by the elastic piece. When the blocker doesn't lean against the elastic piece, sockets can be easily removed.
US08556074B2	Encapsulated data carrier tag for track and trace purposes A tag for tracking inventory levels and uses of an implant. The tag has a first component having a proximal portion and a distal portion and a second component having a proximal portion and distal portion. Additionally, the tag has an implant receiving cavity formed by the distal portion of the first component and the distal portion of the second component, in which the implant receiving cavity includes an encapsulating extension to substantially encapsulate an implant. Furthermore, the tag has a planar surface formed by the proximal portion of the first component and the proximal portion of the second component. The planar surface extending from the implant receiving cavity is substantially transverse to a longitudinal axis of the implant received within the implant receiving cavity. In addition, the tag has a tamper evident locking mechanism configured for locking the first component to the second component.
US08556067B2	Conveyor system and method for conveying planar products The conveyor system for planar products (60), in particular print shop products, features a feeder device (50) as well as a gripper conveyor (10) with a plurality of grippers (12) that move along an orbital track (U), wherein the grippers (12) each include two gripper parts (14, 16) that can be pivoted relative to one another between an open position and a closed position. The relative position of the gripper parts (14, 16) to one another and/or the orientation of the whole gripper (12) in space is a function of its position along the orbital track and is set by at least one control guide (28, 30, 40, 80, 80′) that interacts with the grippers such that the gripper parts (14, 16) can be moved from an open position to a closed position while moving through a transfer area (A) of the orbital track (U) for the transfer of products (60) from the feeder device (50).
US08556066B2	Bulk material leveling and volumetric measuring and feeding apparatus A bulk material leveling and volumetric measuring and feeding apparatus includes a conveyor for transporting bulk material from a hopper to a leveling assembly. The leveling assembly includes a pair of augers located perpendicular to the conveyor and with the auger terminal ends at a desired height from the conveyor. Side walls are provided parallel to the conveyor direction of travel and extend up to the auger terminal ends. Each auger is positioned within a semicircular longitudinal channel of a trough. Bulk material being transported and which is located above the augers terminal ends is lifted by the augers and thrown back towards the hopper. Thus, bulk material being transported under and beyond the leveling assembly is maintained at a desired depth. By monitoring and/or controlling the conveyor speed and the depth of the transported bulk material, the volumetric feed rate and total volume of transported material can be determined and/or controlled. The height of the leveling assembly above the conveyor is selectively adjustable. A shutoff gate is provided downstream of the leveling assembly.
US08556065B2	Content display for use with conveyor systems Systems and methods for displaying content in a conveyor system are provided. A content displaying conveyor plate includes a base plate and an upper plate that is configured to be releasably coupled to the base plate. The upper plate can be configured to display content, for example content that is integral to the base plate, content that is disposed between the upper plate and the base plate, or any combination thereof. The upper plate can be coupled to the base plate via one or more connection members defined on the upper plate and/or the base plate. Any, number, such as all of the base plates of an existing conveyor system can be replaced with respective content displaying conveyor plates. The base plate of the content displaying conveyor plate can define one or more recesses, the recesses configured to receive an attachment member and/or other components of a carousel therein.
US08556064B2	Double edged belt scraper blade A reversible belt scraper blade provides two opposed scraping surfaces on an integrally constructed body. Each scraping surface has an elastomeric wear region transitioning to an elastomeric central region. Two integral frame members are integrally joined into the central region. Each integral frame member runs the length of the belt scraper blade and is at least partially exposed at their ends. End mounts attach to the exposed integral frame members and the reversible belt scraper blade is reversible about the end mounts. The wear regions may have sub-regions of different hardness to provide good scraping qualities combined with improved structural rigidity. The central region may also have sub-regions of different hardness to improve structural rigidity.
US08556062B2	Gripper unit for supporting and transporting articles A gripper unit for transport systems for supporting and transporting articles. A gripper unit that includes a gripper head with at least two gripper arms which can be opened and closed against each other. The top of the article to be gripped and to be transported is supported in the opening formed between the gripper arms. A shifting unit is supported in a flexible manner via a fastener directly supported at the transport system. Furthermore, the gripper unit is provided with a device for interchangeable support, adjustment and spatial determination of the gripper head in a first transport direction at the gripper unit. The device provides for the vertical movement of the gripper head contrary to the gripper unit and/or contrary to the transport system, which are arranged between the gripper head and the shifting unit or between the gripper head and the transport system.
US08556061B2	Coin/bill acceptor A coin/bill acceptor includes a face panel defining a bill insertion slot, a coin insertion slot and a coin return slot, a first housing fastened to the back side of the face panel and defining a bill passageway in communication with the bill insertion slot and accommodating therein a transmission unit for transferring the inserted bill from the bill insertion slot into the bill passageway and a bill validator module for sensing the authenticity and value of the inserted bill, a second housing hinged to the first housing at one lateral side, a spacer board being attached to the inner lateral side of the second housing and defining a coin passageway in communication with the coin insertion slot and a coin return passageway in communication with the coin return slot, a coin validator module being arranged in the for sensing the authenticity and value of the inserted.
US08556052B2	Spring leaf and overrunning clutch provided with the same A spring leaf and an overrunning clutch provided with the same are provided. The spring leaf is made up of a support strip (3-1), a clamping strip (3-2), and a connection beam (3-3). The support strip (3-1) supports a needle roller in suspension. The connection beam (3-3) connects the support strip (3-1) with the clamping strip (3-2). The main body of the clamping strip (3-2) is a straight strip (3-2-1), either end of which is provided with a V-shaped bended part (3-2-2). The overrunning clutch is provided with a retainer, multiple needle rollers, and multiple spring leaves. Mounting grooves for the spring leaves are respectively disposed at positions, corresponding to each crossbeam, on outer end surfaces of a first and a second annular end edge at both ends of a window hole of the retainer. The bottom of the mounting groove for the spring leaf is V-shaped when cut along an axial direction of the retainer. An inner surface of the straight strip (3-2-1) of the clamping strip (3-2) of the spring leaf is matched with an outer surface of the crossbeam. An inner surface of the V-shaped bended part (3-2-2) of the clamping strip (3-2) is matched with a bottom surface of the mounting groove for the spring leaf. The technical problem of the potential displacement and detachment of the spring leaf during the reciprocation of the existing overrunning clutch at a high rotational speed and high frequency is solved by the invention.
US08556049B2	Damping force controlling valve assembly for shock absorber A damping force controlling valve assembly for a shock absorber is provided. The damping force controlling valve assembly includes: a main body part of a retainer having an inlet passage connected to a high pressure side of the shock absorber; a main valve generating a damping force while resisting a working fluid flowing in through the inlet passage; a spool rod part interacting with a spool inserted thereinto and supplying a working fluid through a connection port to a back-pressure chamber provided at the rear of the main valve; a solenoid part controlling a position of the spool to adjust a pressure of the back-pressure chamber; and an auxiliary valve disposed at an upstream of the main valve to generate a damping force in an extremely low speed section in advance of the main valve.
US08556037B2	Lubricating nipple A lubricating nipple (1) to be pressed into a bore (5) of a bearing bush (7) of a universal joint has a housing with a flow-through channel (22) to receive a lubricant. A check valve (25, 26, 27) is arranged in the through-flow channel (22). A seat portion (3) positions the lubricating nipple (1) in the bore (5) in the mounted condition. A coupling portion (2) couples the lubricating nipple (1) to a lubricating device. The coupling portion (2) has a first abutment face (10) that faces the seat portion (3). The mounted lubricating nipple (1), in the pressing-in direction, is axially supported by the first abutment face (10) against the thin-walled component (7). A collar portion (4) has a second abutment face (12). The second abutment face (12) is arranged opposite to the first abutment face (10). The mounted lubricant nipple (1) can be axially supported by the second abutment face (12) against the thin-walled component (7).
US08556034B2	Paint chip and drip catching ladder accessory The present invention is a paint chip and drip catching ladder accessory, which is used to prevent stray paint particles from hitting the surrounding area while painting. The present invention comprises a trough and two ladder attachments. The trough is used to catch both wet paint drops and dry paint chips from hitting the ground. The trough is also used to carry the stray paint particles to a wastebasket. Each of the ladder attachments have an insert that can be pushed into the outer side of a ladder, which allows the ladder attachments to be properly positioned along the ladder. The two ladder attachments extend away from the ladder in order to support the trough from the bottom. A plurality of grooves, which is located on the two ladder attachments, allows the trough to be adequately situated on the two ladder attachments.
US08556021B2	Hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle in which an electric motor is disposed in the vicinity of a center of a vehicle body to reduce lateral expansion. The hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a motor, and a power transmission mechanism for transmitting power of the engine and the motor to a rear wheel. The engine is suspended on the vehicle body in a non-swingable manner with a cylinder extending in a substantially horizontal direction and a crankshaft provided to be oriented in a vehicle width direction. The electric motor is located in front of and above the crankshaft of the engine.
US08556020B2	Motor-vehicle seat belt with built-in electronics This object is attained by the combination of a motor-vehicle safety belt formed as a flexible longitudinally extending band and formed with a longitudinally extending and laterally substantially closed passage with an insert fittable into the passage and comprised of a flexible and elongated support strip and at least one electrical or electronic element usable by a motor-vehicle passenger employing the belt secured to the strip.
US08556016B2	Vehicle having internal combustion engine and rotating electric machine as power supplies A hybrid vehicle includes a rear floor panel, a cross beam, a rear seat, a battery pack and a fuel tank. The rear floor panel is formed with a raised portion located behind the rear seat. The cross beam is disposed in a region located below the raised portion. The battery pack is disposed between the rear seat and the rear floor panel. The fuel tank is disposed in the region located below the raised portion, and is composed of a body located behind the cross beam and a projecting portion projecting forward from upper side surfaces of the body to extend into the space located between a second rear cross member and the cross beam.
US08556015B2	Utility vehicle A utility vehicle is provided. The utility vehicle may comprise a vehicle body frame; a dash panel having a first duct port in a substantially center portion widthwise; a hood located in front of the dash panel; a driving power source mounted to a substantially center portion of the vehicle body frame widthwise and positioned behind the dash panel; a transmission joined to the driving power source; and a first air-intake duct provided in a substantially center portion of the vehicle body frame widthwise such that it extends in a substantially forward and rearward direction and passes through the first duct port. Further, an outlet provided at a downstream end portion of the first air-intake duct is coupled to the transmission; and an inlet provided at an upstream end portion of the first air-intake duct is positioned in an upper rear portion of the space above the first duct port.
US08556014B2	Diesel particulate filter packaging and method of directing airflow in a skid steer machine A skid steer machine includes an operator cage supported on a skid steer machine frame, a pair of lift arms pivotably attached to the skid steer machine frame behind the operator cage and extending longitudinally on both sides of the operator cage, and a rear mounted engine compartment supported on the skid steer machine frame. The rear mounted engine compartment includes an internal combustion engine, a diesel particulate filter fluidly connected to the internal combustion engine and positioned between the internal combustion engine and the operator cage, and a cooling package having a predominantly horizontal orientation. The cooling package is at a higher location within the rear mounted engine compartment than the diesel particulate filter.
US08556012B2	In-wheel motor vehicle Disclosed herein is an in-wheel motor vehicle to increase design freedom of an electric motor mounted in a wheel, dynamic performance of the vehicle, and cooling performance of a brake device. The in-wheel motor vehicle includes a wheel rotatably mounted to a vehicle body, an electric motor mounted in the wheel to drive the wheel, an axle extending from the wheel to the vehicle body so as to be rotated together with the wheel, and a brake device mounted to the vehicle body at a position spaced apart from the wheel for braking of the axle.
US08555999B2	Twist-handled power tool with locking system A power tool with first and second housing portions, a powertrain, a mounting hub and a lock bar. The powertrain has an output member that extends from the second housing portion and which is movable relative to an output member axis. The mounting hub is fixedly coupled to one of the first and second housing portions. The lock bar is movably mounted to the other one of the first and second housing portions between a locked position and a first unlocked position. The lock bar cooperates with the mounting hub in the locked position to inhibit relative rotation between the first and second housing portions. Placement of the lock bar in the first unlocked position permits relative rotation between the first and second housing portions.
US08555998B2	Multi-mode drill with mode collar A drill includes a housing and a motor coupled to an output member by a transmission. The transmission can selectively couple the output member to an output spindle through a low speed output gear or a high speed output gear for rotating the output spindle at a first speed or a second speed, respectively. Alternatively or additionally, a low speed mode can be provided by actuating an electronic switch that limits the speed of the motor. A rotatably fixed hammer member and a rotatable hammer member can be mounted around the output spindle. A mode collar can be rotatably mounted on the housing and around the output member for movement to positions that correspond to various mode of operation, including a low speed mode, a high speed mode, and a hammer-drilling mode. In the hammer-drilling mode, the transmission operates in the high speed mode.
US08555993B2	Multi-purpose landscaping tool A multi-purpose dual blade tool with a hitch pin system that allows the operator to adjust the tool to serve as a sod cutter, scuffle hoe, or lightweight pick-ax which allows the operator to use the tool in an upright standing position. This tool is comprised of a base structure or assembly having points of attachment for a wheel or wheels, a cutting blade, an additional kick blade which mounts on a handle directly above the base structure or can be used independently as a lightweight pick ax, and a wooden handle with composite grip and multiple attachment holes.
US08555990B2	Integrated pumper apparatus A fire-fighting pumper vehicle that includes a cab configured to transport a crew of firefighters, a water tank disposed to the rear of the cab, and a chassis configured to support the cab, the water tank, and one or more fire pump systems disposed on the chassis proximate to, and forward of, the rear wheels. In some embodiments, the fire pump system includes a power take-off pump, which is configured to operate a water only system or a compressed-air foam system from a gear case of the fire pump. The fire pump system includes nested components and is located and configured to occupy less space than conventional fire pump systems.
US08555982B2	Method for setting up a hybrid tower in an expanse of water, hybrid tower associated installation for exploiting fluids A method includes the positioning of a rising column (22) in a vertical configuration and the total immersion of a buoy for retaining the rising column (22).The method includes the insertion of a male connecting member (62) borne by the buoy in a female connecting member (64) borne by the rising column (22) and the immobilization of the male connecting member (62) in a receiving passage (92) defined by the female connecting member (64).The female connecting member (64) includes at least one surface (98) for guiding the male connecting member (62) towards the receiving passage (92). The insertion step including the guiding of the male connecting member (62) towards the receiving passage (92) by contact with a guiding surface (98) of the female connecting member (64) which has a vertical section diverging away from the receiving passage (92) towards the male connecting member (62).
US08555967B2	Methods and systems for evaluating a boundary between a consolidating spacer fluid and a cement composition Disclosed are spacer fluids and methods of use in subterranean formations. Embodiments may include use of consolidating spacer fluids in displacement of drilling fluids from a well bore annulus. Embodiments may include determining the boundary between a cement composition and a consolidating spacer fluid based on presence of tagging material in the well bore.
US08555959B2	Compression assembly and method for actuating downhole packing elements A compression assembly (500) for actuating packing elements of a through tubing bridge plug in a casing string of a wellbore. The compression assembly (500) includes a support assembly (502) and an anti extrusion assembly (504). The support assembly (502) has a running configuration in which link arm assemblies are substantially longitudinally oriented and an operating configuration in which short arms (514) are pivoted relative to long arms (520) of link arm assemblies such that the short arms (514) form a support platform. The anti extrusion assembly (504) is operably associated with the support assembly (502). The anti extrusion assembly (504) has a running configuration in which petals (536) are substantially perpendicular to a base member (534) and nested relative to one another and an operating configuration in which the petals (536) are radially outwardly disposed substantially filling gaps between the short arms (514).
US08555940B2	Pneumatic tire with tread having circumferential grooves A pneumatic tire having on-snow performance improved by increasing traction performance on snow-covered road with maintaining dry grip performance high, and comprising tread surface 2 having at least one circumferential main groove 3 in an outer region 2o facing outward of a vehicle, the circumferential main groove 3 being a straight groove wherein ridge lines 21 at which groove wall surfaces 20 intersect with the tread surface 2 extend straight, each groove wall surface 20 comprising a gently-inclined upper wall surface 20U extending from the ridge line 21 at an angle θ1 of 40 to 60° with respect to a normal line to tread surface 2 and a steeply-inclined lower wall surface 20L extending to groove bottom 22 at an angle θ2 smaller than the angle θ1, and the lower wall surface 20L including projections 23 which are disposed at intervals in the circumferential direction and have a triangular cross section with slope surface 23S extending from lower end Ue of the upper wall surface 20U to groove bottom 22 at an angle θ3 which is not greater than the angle θ1 but is greater than the angle θ2.
US08555939B2	Pneumatic tire with tread having crown circumferential grooves and middle circumferential grooves A pneumatic tire 1 having excellent on-snow performances improved with maintaining steering stability and uneven wear resistance and including tread portion 2 having a pair of crown circumferential grooves 3 which extend continuously in the tire circumferential direction on both sides of tire equator C and have groove edges, one edge 3m extending in such a zigzag form that italic L-shaped groove edge segments 3s are continuously connected to each other in the circumferential direction, and the other edge 3n extending in such a wavy form that circular arc groove edge segments 3o each having a circular arc shape convex toward a groove center are continuously connected to each other in the circumferential direction, wherein each of the italic L-shaped groove edge segments 3s comprises long side part 3c inclined at an angle of 1 to 20° with respect to the circumferential direction, and short side part 3t having a circumferential length smaller than that of the long side part 3c and inclined in the opposite direction to the long side part 3c with respect to the circumferential direction.
US08555935B2	System and method for filling of containers of collapsible type A system for filling a package of the collapsible type with a product in the form of a powder or liquid having a package, which has a chamber defined by flexible walls, and an arrangement for filling a package of the collapsible type with a product in the form of a powder or liquid.
US08555924B2	Vortex flow control device A vortex flow control device is manufactured by forming a template unit having end walls of which the wall has an outlet opening, and a partial outer wall. The partial outer wall has an opening. A plate is subsequently secured to the template unit to partially close the opening, to leave an inlet. The size of the plate is selected so as to result in an inlet 30 sized to achieve required flow characteristics for the finished device. The plate his inclined to a planar portion on the opposite side of the inlet at an angle in the range 85° to 95°, so as to induce turbulence in the region of the inlet.
US08555921B2	Faucet component with coating A component for a faucet includes a substrate including alumina and a first material provided over at least a portion of the substrate. The first material includes titanium and carbon. The component also includes a second material provided over the first material, the second material including carbon and having carbon sp3 bonding of at least 40 percent.
US08555920B2	Flow rate ratio variable type fluid supply apparatus A flow rate ratio variable type fluid supply apparatus includes a flow rate control system supplying gas of flow rate Q that is diverted to first flow diverting pipe passage and second flow diverting pipe passage with prescribed flow rates Q1/Q0 so gas is supplied to a chamber, and a first orifice having opening area S1 is installed on the first flow diverting passage, and the second flow diverting passage is connected to a plurality of branch pipe passages connected in parallel, orifices having opening area installed on the branch passages, and open/close valves installed on all, or some of, the branch passages so gas is diverted to flow diverting passages with flow rate ratio Q1/Q0 equivalent to the ratio of the first orifice and the total opening area S2o of flow passable orifices of the second flow diverting passage by regulating total opening area of the flow passable orifices.
US08555917B2	Power line data acquisition A motor operated valve diagnostic data acquisition system including: a motor operated valve assembly; a transmitter, the transmitter being permanently connected in a housing of a motor operated valve assembly; a receiver, the transmitter transmitting signals to the receiver via motor operated valve cables, the cables being existing motor operated valve cables; and electronic circuitry connected to the receiver, the electronic circuitry processing the signals received by the receiver.
US08555915B2	Dual action low head isolation valve A Dual Action, Low Head Isolation Valve is a plumbing fitting that will isolate the interior pipes of a house from the exterior temperatures of summer and winter while allowing the passage of gasses through the system for venting. This valve would be installed at the top of the household plumbing drainage system, or the top vent, in the attic or above the roof. This valve will allow for the system to draw in air and exhaust the septic gasses, or respirate in both directions with very low head or resistance.
US08555914B2	Method for autonomous control of a chemical injection systems for oil and gas wells A control program for a positive displacement metering system measures the time required for the travel of a free piston in a cylinder of known volume to determine an average flow rate during a full stroke of the piston. The system may also measure and record the inlet and outlet pressures or the differential pressure between the fluid inlet and outlet. The control program positions a four-way valve which may function as an adjustable metering orifice in response to the measured average flow rate and/or changes in the inlet and outlet pressures to achieve the desired flow rate. At the end of each stroke, the four-way valve is repositioned to reverse fluid flow through the metering cylinder. The system may revise the valve position settings for both forward and reverse strokes based on the measured time required for a full stroke at a certain valve position. In this way, the system automatically and iteratively compensates for changes in fluid properties and fluid pressure. A cleaning cycle which progressively opens the valve stepwise and may culminate in full open valve travel in both fluid flow directions is provided in the event of an obstruction of the valve orifice.
US08555906B2	Hubs for shade structures A shade structure is provided, such as an umbrella, particularly a large free-standing umbrella, which can have a variable geometry. In some embodiments, the umbrella can comprise multiple sets of ribs supporting a canopy structure and having a mechanism associated with each set of ribs for influencing the angle or elevation of the rib sets.
US08555895B2	Reduction of constituents in tobacco Methods of selectively reducing constituents in tobacco as well as the tobacco obtained by such methods are disclosed. Subcritical fluids, e.g., liquid carbon dioxide, serve as the reduction media.
US08555890B2	Surgical positioning system Described herein are exemplary embodiments of improved surgical positioners that not only help position a patient during surgery, but also help maintain the patient's body temperature during surgery. Some exemplary surgical positioning devices disclosed herein comprise a flexible shell defining a deflatable air-tight internal region partially filled with beads and an electrical warming fabric coupled to an internal surface of the shell that is adjacent to the patient. The warming fabric is configured to convert electrical current into heat for warming the patient during surgery.
US08555884B2	Hazardous-environmental diving systems A system designed to increase diver safety in high-risk environments containing one or more hazardous materials. The system comprises one or more retrofittable kits enabling the upgrading of contaminate-vulnerable materials of an existing dive helmet to provide full environment isolation for the diver. The system preferably utilizes fluoroelastomeric replacement materials and components to convert an open circuit dive system to a closed circuit dive system. Methods of system development are also disclosed.
US08555878B2	Nasal delivery device A delivery device (20, 22) for and a method of delivering a substance to the nasal airway (1) of a subject, in particular the posterior region of the nasal airway, the delivery device comprising: a closure unit for causing the closure of the oropharyngeal velum of the subject; and a delivery unit for delivering a gas flow entraining a substance to one of the nostrils of the subject at such a driving pressure as to flow around the posterior margin of the nasal septum and out of the other nostril of the subject, wherein the delivery unit comprises a nosepiece (30, 40, 58, 82, 102, 132) which includes an outlet through which the gas flow is in use delivered to the one nostril and a sealing member for sealing the one nostril to the outlet such as in use to prevent the escape of the gas flow through the one nostril.
US08555875B2	Inhalation devices and related methods for administration of sedative hypnotic compounds An inhalation device for administering one or more sedatives via pulmonary delivery for treating a sleep disturbance.
US08555873B2	Exposure system A system and a method for studying or predicting the interaction between a lung and an aerosolized agent. The system comprises an aerosol generator (10) sealingly connected to an exposure arrangement adapted to provide a transport aerosol flow from an aerosol holding chamber of the aerosol generator (10) to a flow junction; and an exposure aerosol flow from the flow junction for distribution to an exposure organ with breathing capacity thereby a providing a residual aerosol flow transported away from the flow junction. The exposure arrangement further comprises a flow rate monitoring device located upstream the flow junction for monitoring the transport aerosol flow, a device for measuring the aerosol particle concentration located downstream the flow rate monitoring device, and optionally a flow control function for controlling the transport aerosol flow. Using the system for predicting the interaction between a lung and an aerosolized agent minimizes the loss of the agent.
US08555862B2	Apparatus for tank ventilation A system provides reliable tank ventilation, particularly in the case of supercharged internal combustion engines, while also assuring efficient operation of the internal combustion engine. A tank is connected with an adsorption filter by way of a first tank ventilation line. The adsorption filter is connected with the intake line of the internal combustion engine by way of a second tank ventilation line. A drive apparatus includes a turbine wheel and a pump wheel coupled with one another. The pump wheel is disposed in the second tank ventilation line. The turbine wheel is disposed in a bridging line branching off from the intake line and flowing into the intake line. The bridging line branches off from the intake line downstream from a compressor disposed in the intake line.
US08555852B2	Gaseous-fuelled stoichiometric compression ignition internal combustion engine In a gaseous-fuelled stoichiometric compression ignition internal combustion engine, a pilot fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber to help initiate a multi-point ignition. The engine provides performance improvements approaching those of high pressure direct injection engines but with less complexity because the gaseous fuel is introduced into the intake air subsystem at relatively low pressure and as a result of the stoichiometric combustion, the low oxygen content in the combustion products exiting the combustion chamber allows the use of a three-way catalyst instead of other after treatment arrangements normally associated with conventional compression ignition engines that require the addition of a reductant.
US08555851B2	Lubrication arrangement for timing chain and cylinder head A combustion engine is provided that includes at least one oil distribution mechanism for distributing lubrication oil to the engine.
US08555843B2	Charge bypass system for engine start The present invention provides an engine start system in a vehicle. The engine start system includes an engine and a charge system. The vehicle also includes an engine speed sensor for measuring a speed of the engine. The charge system is coupled to the engine and includes a charge pump. The vehicle further includes a control unit and a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of fluid in the charge system. The temperature sensor is electrically coupled to the control unit. A bypass system is fluidly coupled to the charge system and includes a valve and a solenoid. The solenoid is electrically coupled to the control unit such that the control unit energizes the solenoid to control the valve in response to the speed measured by the speed sensor and the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor.
US08555841B2	Coupling plate between valves A coupler plate for a multi-valve system of an internal combustion engine. The coupler plate includes an elongated planar body and through holes on opposite ends. The through holes may be either closed or open ended, and of sufficient size to insert valve stems of valves for an internal combustion engine valve system.
US08555824B2	Air flow arrangement for two diesel generator sets in shipping container A system includes a shipping container having air inlets at each end and an air outlet at a top and approximate center. The system includes two engines positioned one on each side of a center region, with two generators—each positioned between one of the engines and an end of the container. The center region includes a fuel tank and an air director. An air flow path on each side flows air in the air inlet, over the generator, over the engine, through an engine radiator, mixes the air with exhaust from the engine, and flows out the air outlet. The system maximizes an exhaust flow path length back to the air inlet to prevent exhaust gas recirculation. The system further configures the exhaust air to be heated and released at a higher location than the inlet to minimize potential exhaust gas recirculation.
US08555788B2	Table including at least one leg that can be turned either way up In one aspect, the present invention provides a table comprising a tabletop and at least first and second legs, at least the first leg of which is a moving leg, said table further comprising a connecting strut connected to the tabletop via a first horizontal axis and to the first leg via a second horizontal axis, so that, starting from a first position in which its first end and its second end face respectively towards the tabletop and towards the floor, the first leg is suitable for being turned over by pivoting about the second axis of the connecting strut so as to take up a second position in which its first end and its second end face respectively towards the floor and towards the tabletop.
US08555781B1	Garbage processing recycler The garbage processing recycler includes a series of top compartments aligned above a series of bottom compartments. A hydraulic cylinder is concentrically aligned with the top compartments to provide a compressor function attributed with opposing compressor plates that can descend into opposing top compartments to compress recyclable materials contained therein. After compression, a support base is removed and the recyclables are shredded upon passing through a screen via the same hydraulic cylinder and compressor plate, and thereafter the compressed and shredded recyclable material descends below to the respective bottom compartment.
US08555771B2	Apparatus for synthetic weapon stabilization and firing In methods and apparatuses, a weapon includes a trigger module for sensing trigger input from a shooter and generating a trigger signal, and a firing module for controlling firing of a projectile responsive to a fire control signal. The weapon also includes an image sensor configured for mounting on the weapon and sensing a series of images over a time period of interest while the trigger signal is in a motion-estimation state. A controller is configured for determining when to fire the weapon by receiving the images from the image sensor and generating a motion-estimation history over the time period of interest responsive to changes in the images. The controller is also configured for determining a centroid of the motion-estimation history and asserting the fire control signal when the trigger signal is in a fire-enable state and a current image is within an offset threshold from the centroid.
US08555769B2	Protection grid for hatch An offset ballistic protection device protecting a wall provided with a hatch (200), wherein said device comprises at least a first grid (1) offset with respect to the wall and comprising a first series of bars (1a) parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the pivot axis (400) of a hinge (300) of the hatch (200). This ballistic protection device (101) comprises a second grid (2) offset with respect to the hatch (200) and comprising a second series of bars (2a) substantially parallel to the first series of bars (1a), wherein the second grid (2) is positioned with respect to the first grid (1) so that the bars (2a) thereof are spatially offset in the plane of the second grid (2) with respect to the bars (1a) of the first grid (1), wherein the bars (2a) of the second grid (2) are therefore able to pass between the bars (1a) of the first grid (1) during pivoting of the leaf (200).
US08555763B2	Sectioning device and method of use A sectioning device including a frame having a cutter deck with an opening disposed therethrough; a removable insert having an opening disposed therethrough, the removable insert positioned above the opening of the cutter deck such that the opening of the removable insert and the opening of the cutter deck are concentrically aligned; a cutter removably positioned on the removable insert; a press assembly positioned on the frame for pushing an item against and through the cutter; and an activator moving at least one of the cutter and the press assembly between a neutral position and a sectioning position in a single continuous motion, the press assembly and the cutter configured such that the item is sectioned upon movement from the neutral position to the sectioning position.
US08555749B2	Apparatus for removing and installing elevated light bulbs An apparatus including an extendable (e.g., telescoping) pole with a handle at a first end and a light-bulb gripping unit at a second end. The gripping unit may include an adhesive member including a series of removal, disposable adhesive sheets having a “tacky” surface for controlling a light bulb during removal and installation. Different gripping units are configured for different light bulb types.
US08555748B2	Electric motor and vehicle drive device using the same An electric motor and a vehicle drive device having the same are provided. The electric motor includes a core unit having plural core assemblies fixed to a case, an annular bus ring attached to the core unit, plural supporting members attached the plural core assemblies, respectively, an attachment member holding a first sensor and fixed to a portion of a terminal accommodating portion such that the first sensor is soaked in an oil stored in the case, and an attachment member holding a second sensor and fixed to a portion of a terminal accommodating portion such that the second sensor is positioned at a second position for measuring a temperature of the coils between adjacent terminal accommodating portions which are not soaked in the oil.
US08555747B2	Air cooled gear housing A spur-gear mechanism, especially a bevel spur-gear mechanism, having one or more transmission stages is provided. The transmission stages are accommodated in a gear mechanism housing having two side surfaces and two base surfaces. Guided out of the gear mechanism housing is a drive shaft on which is fixedly secured, beyond a housing, an axial fan wheel. A spacer flange for connection to a motor spacer is formed on the gear mechanism housing. The spacer flange is provided with central openings in an extension of the base surfaces and with lateral openings in an extension of the side surfaces.
US08555746B2	Linkage arrangement A linkage arrangement is disclosed to provide an articulated machine with an arrangement that allows two frame structures to both articulate and oscillate relative to one another. The linkage arrangement includes a three point pivot arrangement with an angled link. Two of the pivots provide for articulation while two of the pivots provide for oscillation. The two pivots involved for oscillation are of lower overall height than the overall height for the two pivots providing the articulation, thereby reducing overall machine height while maintaining structural integrity.
US08555745B2	Position adjustment device for steering wheel A structure for a tilt-telescopic steering device, without requiring particularly high accuracy effectively prevents a steering wheel from being positionally displaced in a secondary collision. When an adjustment lever 18a is turned, tilt-locking serrated sections 54 of a pair of tilt-locking eccentric cams 23a and 23b are pressed against curved edges 53 of support plates 40. Moreover, a telescoping locking serrated section 62 of a telescoping locking eccentric cam 58 is pressed against the lower surface of an inner column. In a secondary collision, each of the serrated sections 54 and 62 engage with a mating surface thereof, to thereby prevent a steering wheel 1 from being displaced and moved.
US08555741B2	Power steering apparatus with adjustment device The invention provides for a power steering apparatus comprising of a housing that extends along a longitudinal axis. A rack is disposed within the housing and supported for movement along the longitudinal axis by a bearing. A pinion supported by the housing is in meshing engagement with the rack. The bearing disposed around the rack includes a wall of a continuous varying radial thickness that circumferentially surrounds the rack. An adjustment device supported by the housing is connected to the bearing and rotatably adjusts the bearing relative to the longitudinal axis. The continuous varying radial thickness of the wall positions the rack as the bearing is rotated by the adjustment device relative to the pinion ensuring proper meshing engagement between the rack and the pinion.
US08555739B2	Shift control device of saddle-ride-type vehicle A shift control device in a saddle-ride-type vehicle includes a lost motion mechanism and a locking mechanism. The lost motion mechanism is disposed between a shift spindle and a shift drum and engages a shifter-side rotary member on a shift spindle side and a drum-side rotary member on a shift drum side, in a relatively rotatable manner while accumulating a force. The locking mechanism is engaged with the shifter-side rotary member and the drum-side rotary member, respectively, so as to restrict the rotation of the shifter-side rotary member and the rotation of the drum-side rotary member, individually.
US08555731B1	Self-contained tubular compressed-flow generation device for use in making differential measurements A device used in making differential measurements of a flow includes an open-ended tubular flow obstruction and a support arm. The flow obstruction has an outer annular wall and an inner annular wall. The support arm has a first end coupled to an exterior wall of a conduit and a second end coupled to the flow obstruction. The support arm positions the flow obstruction in the conduit such that a first flow region is defined around the flow obstruction's outer annular wall and a second flow region is defined by the flow obstruction's inner annular wall. The support arm's first end and second end are separated from one another with respect to a length dimension of the conduit. Measurement ports provided in the flow obstruction are coupled to points at the exterior wall of the conduit by manifolds extending through the flow obstruction and support arm.
US08555726B2	Acoustic sensors for detecting shooter locations from an aircraft The systems and methods described herein include an acoustic sensor having piezoelectric material housed in a cartridge and sealed with a solid nonporous stainless steel cover. The systems include additional elements to tune the performance of the acoustic sensor for measuring shockwaves on the surface of an aircraft, such as a helicopter. In particular, the system includes several vibration isolating elements including foam pads and O-rings disposed between the cartridge and the cover for isolating the piezoelectric material from aircraft vibration and turbulence. Additionally, the systems and methods include circuitry for converting analog electrical signals generated by the piezoelectric material, in response to acoustic signals, to digital electrical signals.
US08555725B2	Method and apparatus of detecting an object A portable non-contact sensor system including a laser generator subsystem, a laser detector subsystem, an an analysis subsystem. The laser generator subsystem is configured to project a plurality of laser pulses at a surface of an object that is to be characterized. The laser detector subsystem is configured to receive return laser pulses from the object. The analysis subsystem is configured to analyze the received return pulses and characterize the object.
US08555724B2	Ultrasonic sensor A single element of an ultrasonic transducer includes at least one combination of an equivalent series capacitor C1, an equivalent series inductor L1, and an equivalent series resistance R1. The ultrasonic transducer further includes an equivalent parallel capacitor C0. An inductor L2 is connected in series between the ultrasonic transducer and the drive circuit. A first resonance frequency of the equivalent series capacitor C1 and the equivalent series inductor L1 is F0. A second resonance frequency determined by at least the equivalent parallel capacitor C0 and the inductor L2 is Fp. A drive circuit drives the ultrasonic transducer while switching the driving frequency of the ultrasonic transducer to one of the resonance frequency F0 and the resonance frequency Fp.
US08555717B2	Vibrating structure gyroscopes An exemplary vibrating structure gyroscope includes a ring structure, an external frame and a flexible support including a pair of symmetrical compliant legs arranged to retain the ring structure within the external frame. A metal track is provided on an upper surface of the ring structure, the compliant legs and the external frame, over an insulating surface oxide layer. Each flexible support is arranged to carry a metal track associated with a single drive or pick-off transducer. The metal track is repeated for eight circuits, one circuit for each transducer. Each circuit of metal track associated with a transducer begins at a first bond-pad on the external frame, runs along a first compliant leg, across an eighth segment of the ring structure and back along the other compliant leg to a second bond-pad on the external frame.
US08555715B2	Ground contact sensing systems and methods for lower-limb orthotic and prosthetic devices A method of sensing ground contact with a lower limb prosthetic or orthotic device is provided. A first translational displacement between a frame and a connector can be sensed and then processed to identify an axial load caused by heel-ground contact. Additionally, a second translational displacement between the frame and the connector can be sensed and then processed to identify a torsional load caused by toe-ground contact.
US08555704B2	Calibration systems and methods for tracer gas leak detection Tracer gas leak detection is provided by a calibration system with a gas leak detector having a test port for receiving a sample containing a tracer gas and coupled to a vacuum pump; a calibrated leak for a calibration sample containing the tracer gas; a mass filter coupled to the test port for receiving the test sample in an operating mode, coupled to the calibrated leak through a calibrated leak valve for receiving the calibration sample in a calibration mode, having controllable transmission of the tracer gas and providing a filtered sample; detector detecting the tracer gas in the filtered sample; a programmable gain element providing a measured value of leak rate in response to the detector signal; and a controller configured, in response to a mode control signal, to operate the leak detector in the calibration mode over two or more working ranges using the calibrated leak.
US08555694B2	Bending apparatus and bending machine A bending apparatus for performing accurate non-destructive bending of material includes first and second jigs that are rotatable about a rotary shaft and that bend the material attached to the jigs as they rotate relative to each other. The first jig includes a bending section that is arranged offset from a rotary center to a rotating side of the material and that has a partially cylindrical surface with a radius of curvature corresponding to the radius of curvature of an inner peripheral surface of the material. Each of the first and second jigs has a suppressing section for suppressing displacement of the material, and a bending center of the material is arranged such that the material is not displaced relative to the first and second jigs when the material is bent.
US08555692B2	Expanding die and method of shaping containers The present invention provides an expansion die for manufacturing containers including a work surface including a progressively expanding portion and a land portion; and an undercut portion positioned following the land portion of the work surface. The present invention further provides a process for manufacturing shaped containers including providing a container stock having a first diameter; expanding at least a portion of the container stock to a second diameter with at least one expansion die; and forming an end of the container stock to accept a container lid.
US08555687B2	Hot rolling apparatus The present disclosure relates to a hot rolling apparatus for manufacturing a metal plate by hot-rolling-treating a metal material including copper. The apparatus includes: a rough rolling device for rolling-treating the metal material, which has been heating-treated, a plurality of times with a back-and-forth movement of the metal material, to mold the metal material into a metal plate; a heat retention/application treatment device for retaining heat of or applying heat to the metal plate molded by the rough rolling device at lower temperatures than in the heating treatment, without applying bending; a finish rolling device for further rolling-treating the metal plate that has been heat-treated by the heat retention/application treatment device; a cooling device for cooling the metal plate that has been rolling-treated by the finish rolling device; and a support table for movably supporting the metal plate from below before and after the rough rolling device while the metal material is moved back and forth by the rough rolling device. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the quality of the metal plate manufactured in the hot rolling apparatus, and also to improve the speed of the process required for rolling.
US08555684B1	Electronic lock An electronic lock contains a housing including a receiving room, an electronic control device, a connecting portion, a hole, a first touch portion and a second touch portion; a rotary knob including a grip, a shaft, a cross orifice; a C-shaped seat fixed in the receiving room and including an upper extension and a lower extension, the upper extension having a clutch unit, and the clutch unit having a first clutch element and a second clutch element, the first clutch element having a first clutching portion, and the second clutch element having a second clutching portion for retaining with the first clutching portion, the first clutch element having a peg, the lower extension having an aperture; a dual axis motor including two ends having a first pillar and a second pillar; a helical transmitting gear including a stem portion, a helical face, and a protrusion.
US08555674B2	Quartz glass crucible for silicon single crystal pulling operation and process for manufacturing the same A quartz glass crucible for silicon single crystal pulling operation that by a simple arrangement, attains prevention of any collapse onto the inside at a superior edge of straight trunk part; and a process for manufacturing the same. The quartz glass crucible for silicon single crystal pulling operation having a straight trunk part and a bottom part, is characterized in that at least the straight trunk part is provided with a gradient of fictive temperature so that the fictive temperature on the outermost side thereof is 25° C. or more lower than the fictive temperature on the innermost side thereof.
US08555670B2	Power consumption economizer for refrigerating machines of the chiller type A power consumption economizer for refrigerating machines of the chiller type, comprising, on a same line, a pump for a heat transfer fluid, an evaporator of an associated refrigeration system for refrigerating the heat transfer fluid, sensors for detecting the flow and temperature of the heat transfer fluid and flow-rate adjustment means being associated with the pumping means. The system comprises bypass elements adapted to exclude reversibly the evaporator from the line.
US08555666B1	Single package, indoor air-sourced, basement heat pump for home heating and air conditioning Heating and cooling system that uses basement air as a thermal supply for efficient operation of a single-package heat pump, providing means to: (a) channel heat pump exhaust as to promote thermal transfer between said exhaust and the basement slab, using the slab as a geothermal source for sustained heat pump operation, and, (b) enable reconfiguration between heating and air-conditioning modes by modification of air ducting or air routing, with no alteration of the refrigerant cycle internal to the heat pump. The system also provides means allowing the heat pump function to be provided by a low-cost, mass-produced, window air conditioner. The window air conditioner technology leveraged by this invention has, in recent decades, become more efficient and reliable, with more convenient controls, but otherwise, has not substantially changed in form, function, or basic operating technology.
US08555656B2	Thermally conductive cup and holder A thermally conductive cup and holder for maintaining a temperature of a cold or hot beverage in the cup includes a thermally conductive cup or mug having an open or closed top, a closed bottom and an upper and lower portion between the top and bottom. The lower portion and bottom of the cup are made of a thermally conductive material such as aluminum while the upper portion includes a ceramic layer or coating. The cup holder includes a heat conductive liner engaging the bottom and lower portion of the cup and an on/off switch and a polarity switch to select heat or refrigeration. A thermal electric device maintains a hot or cold beverage at a pre-selected temperature and is connected to a computer or other source of electric power.
US08555655B2	Turbomachine, especially gas turbine A turbomachine with at least one combustion chamber and at least one turbine which lies downstream of it. The turbine has at least one support element and a lining element connected to the support element and formed as a heat shield. A gap sealed by means of a seal, is formed between the at least one combustion chamber and the turbine, an exchangeable insert is arranged in the gap on the end face on the support element and protects at least the support element against hot gases which penetrate into the gap, and against oxidation which is associated with it.
US08555640B2	Waste heat auxiliary power unit The present invention relates to a waste heat auxiliary power unit. In one embodiment, the present invention is a heat exchange unit for an automobile including a core unit configured to be connected to a catalytic converter of the automobile, the core unit generating vapor, and a first energy generation module connected to the core unit, the first energy generation module receiving the vapor from the core unit and generating energy from the vapor.
US08555638B2	Internal combustion engine with improved exhaust manifold An internal combustion engine includes a plurality of combustion cylinders, at least one turbocharger, an air supply line, an exhaust gas line and an exhaust gas recirculation system. An exhaust manifold of the exhaust gas line may have both non-direction specific and modular pulse exhaust manifold elements. If the internal combustion engine has dual cylinder banks, an exhaust gas balance tube may extend between exhaust gas lines of the cylinder banks and be fluidly connected to an exhaust manifold between the ends thereof.
US08555634B2	Electric booster An electric booster in which a rotation of an electric motor is converted into linear motion and transmitted to an output member by a rotation-linear motion mechanism. The output member pushes a piston of a master cylinder to generate brake fluid pressure in a pressure chamber in the master cylinder. An ECU casing containing boards is coupled to the top of a motor casing constituting the electric motor. The ECU casing is offset in one direction in a plane perpendicular to a plane containing an axis of the master cylinder. A male connector is provided at a side surface of the ECU casing on the opposite side from the offset direction side, and a space between the male connector and an interference area of the ECU casing is utilized as a space for attachment/detachment of the male connector.
US08555628B2	Variable displacement pump and power steering apparatus using the variable displacement pump A variable displacement pump including a drive shaft, a cam ring eccentrically moveable with respect to an axis of the drive shaft, and a solenoid drivingly controlled on the basis of variation in electric current amount to be supplied to the solenoid which is controlled in accordance with an operating condition of a vehicle. The solenoid is configured such that a rate of change in the specific discharge amount relative to the electric current amount to be supplied to the solenoid under a condition that the specific discharge amount is smaller is reduced as compared to a rate of change in the specific discharge amount relative to the electric current amount to be supplied to the solenoid under a condition that the specific discharge amount is larger.
US08555626B2	Variable geometry exhaust cooler The present invention provides an exhaust cooler mounted to a tailpipe for receiving exhaust gas. The exhaust cooler includes a jet pump connectable to the tailpipe and a nozzle connectable to the tailpipe. The nozzle defines a nozzle opening between the tailpipe and the jet pump for communicating the exhaust gas from the tailpipe to the jet pump. A first throttle member is included that is moveable between a closed position and an open position, the open position defining a first opening between the tailpipe and the jet pump for communicating the exhaust gas from the tailpipe to the jet pump.
US08555620B2	Exhaust gas aftertreatment method An exhaust gas aftertreatment method may include a regenerating a diesel particulate filter normally, accumulating a time from a point that the diesel particulate filter starts to be regenerated, determining whether the diesel particulate filter enters into an abnormal regeneration condition or not according to a predetermined condition of an engine, and regenerating the diesel particulate filter according to the abnormal regeneration logic, if the accumulated time is within a predetermined time in a condition that the abnormal regeneration condition is satisfied and regenerating the diesel particulate filter according to the normal regeneration logic, if the accumulated time is out of the predetermined time. Accordingly, if the time elapses a predetermined time from a point that that the diesel particulate filter starts to be regenerated, although the vehicle enters into the idle condition or the over-run condition, the abnormal regeneration logic is not performed such that the fuel consumption is saved and the diesel particulate filter is safely regenerated.
US08555616B2	Identifying ammonia non-slip conditions in a selective catalytic reduction application A system includes a sampling module, a correlation determination module, and an injector control module. The sampling module samples first and second signals that indicate an amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) upstream and downstream from a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst, respectively. The second signal further indicates an amount of ammonia downstream from the SCR catalyst when ammonia is released from the SCR catalyst. The correlation determination module determines an amount of correlation between the first and second signals, wherein the amount of correlation indicates a probability that ammonia is released from the SCR catalyst. The injector control module controls an amount of reducing agent injected into the exhaust gas upstream from the SCR catalyst based on the amount of correlation.
US08555611B2	Combustion engine with feedback gear/rotary pump input A combustion engine, which is highly efficient, noiseless and lightweight, includes a combustion chamber without pistons. The combusted and expanded air exiting the combustion chamber flows into a displacement pump, such as a gear pump or radial vane pump. The displacement pump drives the load, and, in addition, another smaller displacement pump, which pressurizes fresh air and introduces same, via a feedback loop, into the combustion chamber. Gas or other burnable fuels are introduced in the combustion chamber, so that a continuous fuel burning will occur, after being ignited. The ratio of bigger to the smaller pump is influenced by the percentage of expansion of the air in the combustion chamber. Additional features could be implemented for optimization of performance of the combustion chamber, such as: spring loaded adjustable baffles within the chamber to create desired compression, meandering walls and protrusions in the feedback loop, and heating the air in the smaller pump prior to entry into the feedback loop.
US08555603B1	Pole top extension A device with a base member with a tubular socket attached orthogonal to a first attachment beam and the first attachment beam has a generally rectangular cross section shape. An insert member of an attachment member is inserted in the tubular socket and a second attachment beam is attached orthogonal to the insert member for each beam to be positioned opposed and spaced apart to abut opposite sides of a pole when the socket is positioned on the top of a pole. The first and second attachment beams may have fastening loops attached for attaching cables diagonally between a loop at one of the lower ends of each attachment beam and a loop adjacent the socket or the insert member. Cable adjustment brackets with tightening bolts may be attached to the outside surface of each attachment beam for each cable end attachment for use to tension the cables.
US08555598B2	Insulation containing heat expandable spherical additives, calcium acetate, cupric carbonate, or a combination thereof A method of making thermal insulation includes, forming a thermal insulation product precursor having randomly distributed inorganic fibers and about 5-500 wt. % heat-expandable hollow microspheres in dry or slurry form and having a polymeric shell and having disposed therein a blowing agent or gas, and calcium acetate or cupric carbonate, or a combination of calcium acetate and cupric carbonate, and heating the precursor to expand the microspheres.
US08555593B2	Fire protection system for wide flange steel columns and beams This invention relates to a fire protection of structural columns and beams but more particularly to a fire protection system of wide flange steel columns and beams by means of a plurality of gypsum boards be secured to a full length slip-on encasement frames attached to a wide flange column or beams.
US08555581B2	Exterior wall finishing arrangement A finishing arrangement for an exterior wall of a building includes a weather or water barrier against at least the exterior of the wall; an outer hardboard panel; an insulating foam panel between the weather or water barrier and the outer hardboard panel, the insulating foam panel attached to the outer hardboard panel and having drainage channels therein; and a drainage guide that extends from the weather or water barrier to at least the outer hardboard panel, for guiding moisture away from the wall.
US08555576B2	Profile for the facade of a multi-storey building and a multi-storey building with such a facade A profile system for fastening of facade elements on a building frame, a building frame including the a profile system and a multi-storey building. The profile system includes a profile of a first kind and a profile of a second kind. The facade elements are arranged in the profile of the first kind and are squeezed in place with the profile of the second kind. The profile of the second kind has a groove that is wider than the thickness of the facade element, so that the facade element can be moved in the groove in the profile of the second kind.
US08555575B2	Device connecting roof to wall For use in a building having a roof and a wall each formed of hollow logs, wherein the wall has an uppermost horizontal log, a device is provided for connecting the roof to the wall. The device has a connector for connection to an end of a roof log, a saddle for mounting on the wall log and spreading the roof load over a wide area of the wall log, and a plate for securing the connector to the saddle.
US08555570B2	Hidden fastener formed in situ during attachment of sheathing onto a support member A concealed fastener is formed in situ during attachment of a first grooved sheathing member to an underlying support member. The concealed fastener rigidly attaches the first sheathing member, and permits subsequent installation of an adjoining sheathing member while providing for proper spacing between adjacent sheathing members.
US08555566B2	Two-piece track system A fire-rated receiver channel includes at least one intumescent or other fire-resistant material strip. The receiver channel can nest with a framing member, such as metal tracks, headers, header tracks, sill plates, bottom tracks, metal studs, wood studs or wall partitions, and placed at a perimeter of a wall assembly to create a fire block arrangement. In other arrangements, a track assembly includes two nested tracks, an inner track and outer track. The assembly is designed so that the outside width of the outer track is equal to or less than the outside width of the inner track to present a substantially flush external surface for attachment of exterior sheathing elements when the assembly is used in an external wall.
US08555562B2	Locking jack for a window well cover A window well cover jack is disclosed. The window well cover jack has three arms: a base arm, a support arm and an actuator handle, all connected to aid in the lifting of a window well cover and to allow egress. In one embodiment, the jack is lockable in a stowed position. It is also possible to add a spring assist to aid in the lifting of a window well cover. Ideally, the window well cover jack is also lockable in a deployed position to aid in holding an ajar window well cover so as to facilitate escape. A simple link, which is easily broken by emergency crews with the proper tools but secure against intruders without said tools, connects the window well cover jack to a window well cover.
US08555561B2	Apparatus for supporting a cemetery headstone and method of fabricating same A headstone support system includes a pole having a first auger attached to the pole proximate a first end thereof, the first auger configured to drill through soil upon rotation of the pole, and a headstone support attached to a second end of the pole.
US08555560B2	Roofing corbel A soffit enclosure for building roofs and the like of the type having at least one eave with a soffit thereunder. A first mounting member is attached to an adjacent exterior wall of the building and a second mounting member is disposed on a roof fascia of the building. The first and second mounting members support a plurality of soffit panels thereon. A decorative corbel member has a generally flat upper mounting portion with opposite end edges, a decorative lower portion shaped to enhance the appearance of the eave of the building, and first and second rigid hanger tabs disposed above and generally parallel with the mounting portion. The hanger tabs project longitudinally from the opposite end edges of the upper mounting portion and are configured for sequentially inserting into the first and second mounting members. The corbel member overlies adjacent soffit panel to conceal a joint disposed therebetween.
US08555553B2	Collapsible door apparatus A suicide prevention door kit has a movable upper segment having a top surface and a mechanism. The movable upper segment is supported by the mechanism. The mechanism is configured to transition between a loaded state and a triggered state. The top surface is approximately horizontal in the loaded state and sloped in the triggered state. The suicide prevention door kit further comprises a switch in communication with the mechanism. The switch is configured to cause the mechanism to transition from the loaded state to the triggered state.
US08555549B2	Window regulator cable tensioner A window regulator cable tensioner includes a screw and nut assembly having an irreversible thread lead angle, a first spring to absorb reversible slack in the cable, and a second spring to actuate movement of the screw and nut assembly. The stiffness of the first spring is greater than the stiffness of the second spring. The cable tensioner absorbs the reversible slack in the cable differently from irreversible slack in the cable.
US08555546B2	Modular planting system for roof applications A modular planting system for roof applications includes a plurality of green roof planter modules each comprising a planter including a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls that cooperate with the bottom wall to form an interior space, and a biodegradable insert including a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls that cooperate with the bottom wall to form an interior space, wherein the insert is adapted to retain a plant matter in the interior space of the insert, the plurality of sidewalls of the insert extend above the plurality of sidewalls of the planter, and wherein the plurality of sidewalls of the insert are adapted to retain a plant matter that extends above the plurality of sidewalls of the planter.
US08555544B2	Visual attenuation compositions and methods of using the same According to one aspect of the present invention, a visual attenuation composition is provided to be applicable to a landscape to visually attenuate or camouflage the landscape to approximate color characteristics of the surrounding terrain. The visual attenuation composition includes a colorant selected from the group consisting of a pigment, a dye, and combinations thereof, and optionally an additive selected from the group consisting of a flocculent, a tackifier, a stabilizer, and combinations thereof. The visual attenuation composition can be formulated to impart colorfastness as applied for a period of up to 6 weeks or longer. The visual attenuation composition described herein can be premixed with an erosion control medium or a blended mulch product described herein to impart desirable color and colorfastness. Alternatively, the erosion control medium and the blended mulch product can be applied to a ground surface prior to coloring and or color reinforcement with the visual attenuation composition.
US08555543B2	Salt water kill of a soft tissue organism According to aspects described herein, there is disclosed an apparatus for killing a soft tissue organism in a salt water environment. The apparatus includes an elongate tubular housing, a probe and a conductive element. The elongate tubular housing reaches from outside a salt water environment to at least a portion of a soft tissue organism disposed within the salt water environment. The elongate tubular housing includes a proximal end and a distal end. The probe targets the soft tissue organism, The probe protrudes from the distal end of the housing, wherein the probe is exposed to the salt water environment when the distal end is submerged therein. The conductive element is rigidly supported by the housing between the distal end and the proximal end. The conductive element is exposed to the salt water environment when the housing distal end is submerged therein. The probe and the conductive element being operatively coupled to a source of electric current, such that the salt water environment provides a circuit coupling between the probe and the conductive element for killing the soft tissue organism.
US08555539B2	Trigger system In a trigger system (100) comprising a hammer (110) for firing a cartridge, a striker (120) adapted to accelerate the hammer (110), and a sear (130) for releasably locking the striker (120), which sear (130) can be unlocked by means of a release device (140) capable of being actuated by means of a trigger bar (160) that can be moved by a trigger (150), wherein a front surface (121) of the striker rests against an end face (111) of the hammer for the purpose of accelerating the hammer (110) to initiate firing, protection of the cocked hammer (110) from external mechanical influences is made possible by mounting the hammer (110), the striker (120), the release device (140), and also a main spring (170) adapted to accelerate the striker (120) for rotation about a common principal axis (180).
US08555529B2	Sole element for a shoe The invention relates to a shoe having a sole element. The sole element includes a sole area extending below a wearer's foot and a heel cup three-dimensionally encompassing a heel of the wearer's foot. The heel cup alone forms at least a portion of a sidewall of the shoe.
US08555520B2	Accelerated evaporation process and apparatus utilizing re-circulating loops A covered sample plate with wells holding samples to be dried. The cover has through holes that communicate with only a portion of each well. The covered plate is inserted into a cradle of an assembly of cradles that is rotated. The cradle assembly fits into a tub and when rotated the cradles present a sold wall that functions as a centrifugal fan that drives air out through an opening in the tub. The air is dried of solvent and re-circulated back through the through holes in the cover to the sample wells.
US08555517B2	Hand saw A hand saw that includes a frame, a lever, and a rod movable in a first direction to increase a distance between a first blade support and a second blade support and the rod is movable in a second direction to decrease the distance between the first blade support and the second blade support. The rod is coupled to the lever and the frame such that the rod is movable in the first direction and with the lever when the lever moves from a release position toward a tension position in order to tension the blade. The rod is coupled to the lever and the frame such that the rod is movable with respect to the frame in the first direction and the second direction and movable in the first direction and the second direction independent of the lever when the lever is in the release position.
US08555511B2	Movable lubricating wick for hair clipper A lubricated hair clipper drive system includes a clipper frame with a pair of opposed arms separated by a drive space, a drive shaft reciprocating laterally between the arms at high speed, a drive member receiving motive power from a power source and secured to the shaft for common reciprocation within the drive space, and a lubricant reservoir and applicator disposed on the shaft between the drive member and a corresponding one of the arms.
US08555510B2	Electric razor having integrated cooling The invention relates to an electrically driven razor and an associated charging station, wherein at least one drivable cutting or shearing part is supported on a shearing head disposed on the razor housing and wherein at least one active thermocouple that can be electrically actuated is thermally coupled to a passive cooling element on the side that can be cooled relative to the ambient temperature. The passive cooing element in this arrangement is disposed having at least one free end section on or in the region of the shearing head, such that it contacts the skin of a user in shaving mode.
US08555498B2	Methods for manufacturing an implantable medical device A method for hermetically sealing electronic circuitry within a housing of an implantable medical device is provided. The method comprises assembling the housing having an interior cavity, joining a feed-through assembly to the housing, and joining a back-fill member to the feed-through housing. The back fill member has an opening there through communicating with the interior cavity of the housing. The housing is back-filled with an inert gas through the opening in the back-fill member, and the interior cavity is hermetically sealed by closing the opening through the back-fill member with a sealing element. The sealing element and back-fill member are formed of different first and second materials, respectively.
US08555495B2	Method for packaging circuits A method for packaging integrated circuit chips (die) is described that includes providing a base substrate with package level contacts, coating a base substrate with adhesive, placing dies on the adhesive, electrically connecting the die to the package level contacts, and removing the backside of the base substrate to expose the backside of the package level contacts. Accordingly, an essentially true chip scale package is formed. Multi-chip modules are formed by filling gaps between the chips with an encapsulant. In an embodiment, chips are interconnected by electrical connections between package level contacts in the base substrate. In an embodiment, substrates each having chips are adhered back-to-back with through vias formed in aligned saw streets to interconnect the back-to-back chip assembly.
US08555494B2	Method of manufacturing coreless substrate Disclosed are a coreless substrate and a method of manufacturing the same. The coreless substrate includes a solder resist layer capable of being formed on each of on a first side and a second side of a metal panel. The solder resist layer includes at least one opening. A copper layer may be plated in the at least one opening such that a height of the copper layer exceeds a height of the solder resist layer. Further, at least one dielectric layer is deposited above the copper layer, and at least one microvia drilled in the dielectric layer. The at least one microvia enables an electrical connection between at least one of the first side and the second side of the metal panel and a lower surface of the coreless substrate.
US08555487B2	Imaging device production system Provided are an imaging device production system, an imaging device inspection system, and an imaging device inspection method. The imaging device production system includes a assembling process for assembling each components constituting an imaging device, an inspection process in which the imaging device assembled in he assembling process is continuously transferred without being stopped except for emergency when two inspection tasks adjacent to and different from each other are performed, and a packaging for packaging the imaging device which passes through the inspection tasks to confirm quality of the imaging device.
US08555481B2	Multi-piece fastener with self-indexing nut According to a preferred embodiment, a multi-piece fastener with self-indexing nut is disclosed. The multi-piece fastener is designed for use in low clearance areas such as aircraft wing side-of-body joint locations. The multi-piece fastener comprises a stud comprising an elongated part extending between a first end face and a second end face, a threaded head fastener, a threaded tail fastener, and a wrenching feature. A self-indexing feature is provided on the stud and head fastener which allows automatic orientation of the head fastener with respect to the stud.
US08555480B2	Two part coupling connected by a clip A coupling formed of a tubular body defining an internal channel. The body is formed of a first part for connecting the channel to a circuit element and a second part defining a housing for a pipe end, the first and second parts including mutually engaged end portions, wherein the housing extends into the end portion of the second part and the end portions include facing openings for receiving a clip element for securing the parts to each other. The opening of the second part opens into the housing and the clip element has a locking portion that is elastically deformable from a retaining state to a free state for extracting the clip element. The clip element projects into the housing such that the pipe end prevents the locking portion from deforming to its free state and being extracted.
US08555476B2	Method and device for depositing a metal coil The invention relates to a device and a method for depositing a metal coil (200) on two support points (110-1; 110-2). In order to avoid risks, in particular instability, while depositing metal coils having high residual stress, according to the invention the risk of an unstable position of equilibrium is checked, if a change in the relative position of the two support points (110-1; 110-2) with respect to one another is foreseeable, it is carried out such that the metal coil (200) comes to rest on both support points at least approximately in a stable position of equilibrium.
US08555474B2	Method of manufacturing capacitor element A method of manufacturing a capacitor includes: anodizing a metal substrate in two stages by applying two different voltage so as to make first and second holes having different pitches, distributed randomly in an oxide substance; filling the first and second holes with an electrode material, respectively, to form first and second electrodes; connecting the first electrodes to a conductive layer formed on one surface of the oxide substance; and connecting the second electrodes to another conductive layer formed on another surface of the oxide substance.
US08555468B2	Anti-rattle carrier for magnet fastener A magnet fastener includes a carrier connectable to a first component and a magnet for attachment to a second, metal component. The carrier includes structures for holding a magnet assembly including the magnet in a manner that reduces rattle caused by vibration but provides flex so the magnet can articulate and adjust to a surface of the metal component.
US08555448B2	Roller for a rotary scrubber This relates generally to devices used in the removal of excess spray-applied insulation from building components, and more particularly to an improved roller for rotary scrubbers used in the removal of such excess insulation. A rotary scrubber generally comprises a hand-held device having a roller assembly rotatably associated with a forward end of an arm or a pair of arms of the device. The roller assembly, comprised of one or more rollers and adapted for driven, rotatable association with the scrubber, is driven to rotate by a motor and one or more associated drive belts located on the device. The improved roller comprises a cylindrical body having an at least an outer surface defining a plurality of longitudinal ribs, with each rib defining at least one longitudinal edge to enhance the removal of excess spray-applied insulation. The ribs may be machined or cut into the outer surface of each roller, or the ribs may be formed by a molding or extrusion process. The cylindrical body, to include the ribs, is preferably comprised of a polyurethane material having a hardness that resists wear incurred by the roller when contacting framing members during scrubbing operations. Each rib may have a triangular cross-section, a cross-section defining at least two right angles, or a cross-section defining a blade, to define the at least one longitudinal edge.
US08555439B2	Padded head support A padded head support for use during surgery includes a head wrap and a chin wrap. The head wrap includes a headrest pad adapted to cover the back of a patient's head and a forehead band having a first portion and a second portion extending from the headrest pad to form a first closed loop around a patient's head. The chin wrap includes a chin pad adapted to cover the bottom of a patient's chin and a chin band having a first portion and a second portion extending from the chin pad to form a second closed loop around a patient's head.
US08555433B2	Devices for the assisted loading of a stretcher A device for the assisted loading of a stretcher (2) provided with a chassis (3), comprises at least one driving wheel (4) circumferentially connected to a driving member (5) fed by connectivity member (6) and controlled by controller (7) to activate the at least one driving wheel (4) at least during the loading of the stretcher into the ambulance.
US08555431B2	Linear actuator device A linear actuator device for pieces of furniture, e.g. beds, is described which include an adjustable section (2, 3) pivotally embedded in a frame (1). The section (2, 3) is raised and lowered by at least one rod (23, 24) mounted on a pivot shaft (4, 6). The actuator comprises a housing (8) with a bushing (10) receiving the pivot shaft (4, 6), and a spindle (14) driven by a low-voltage DC motor (11). The spindle (14) carries a spindle nut (12) fixed against rotation which in one direction of motion operates an arm (5, 7) mounted on the pivot shaft (4, 6) for adjusting the section within the piece of furniture. By designing the arm (5, 7) such that, when it engages the spindle nut (12), it will rest against an area (17) of the nut's end which faces farthest away from the shaft, an expedient moment curve for pivoting the section is obtained, as a large moment occurs at the beginning and the end of the section's movement just when needed. In the initial horizontal position of the section, a large moment is needed, and so is in the end position, when for instance a mattress is folded which requires a large moment. The area, which the end of the arm (5, 7) rests against is expediently equipped with a roller (17) which reduces friction and wear on the spindle nut.
US08555423B2	Goggle attachment system for a protective helmet Goggles, protective wear, and methods attaching and detaching a goggle are disclosed. In a described example, protective wear includes a goggle and a helmet. The goggle include first and second strap attachments coupled to a strap. The first strap attachment is pivotally connected to a goggle assembly and the second strap attachment has a post. The helmet includes an anchor positioned in an opening in the helmet and is oriented to position an anchor channel to be in line with a recess formed on an exterior of the helmet. The anchor is configured to receive the post and pivotally secure the post therein to attach the goggle to the helmet. The anchor is further configured to release the post responsive to the second strap attachment pulled in a direction substantially parallel with the anchor channel of the anchor.
US08555422B2	Male undergarment including supporting structures A male undergarment, including at least one enclosing panel, a cover panel, disposed substantially at the front of the undergarment, and a separation panel disposed interiorly of the cover panel, wherein the cover panel has a portion thereof selectively attachable to a portion of the undergarment, and a portion thereof coupled to the at least one enclosing panel, and the separation panel has an opening defined therein.
US08555418B2	Combination hat and face covering A combination hat/face covering which comprises a hat for covering the entire head and an attachment for covering parts of the face.
US08555417B2	Sleeping cap A sleeping cap for lifting the face of a person away from a sleeping surface to prevent facial wrinkles comprises a U-shaped basic form covered with a fabric and having first and second extensions, each of the extensions being flexibly positioned within the fabric adjacent to each leg end of the U-shaped basic form, and the fabric covering the end of first extension is attached to the fabric at the end of the second extension to form the sleeping cap. Straps from each side of the sleeping cap secure the cap on the person's head. An alternate embodiment provides an elastic encased in the sleeping cap not having straps, and including a one piece foam rubber basic form enclosed within two stitched pieces of fabric, a lace ring with a ribbon at the top edge of the lace ring, and the lace ring is tacked to a portion of the basic form, to form a gathered top of the sleeping cap.
US08561210B2	Access to domain The invention relates to a method of allowing access to an authorized domain (100), the authorized domain (100) being managed by a domain manager (210), comprising a step in which a user authentication device (220), which user authentication device is linked to a foreign device (201), asserts to the domain manager that a local link (205) between the user authentication device and the foreign device is limited in distance, and a step in which the domain manager allows the foreign device to operate as a member of the authorized domain if the assertion is accepted as accurate.
US08561208B2	Secure user interface content Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for handling secure user interface content. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at a data processing apparatus, content over a communication network from a computing system separate from the data processing apparatus; determining that the received content is authentic secure content; retrieving information stored at the data processing apparatus and previously selected by a user for purposes of securing user interface content; rendering the received content, to a display of the data processing apparatus, as a user interface with a visual wrapper, where the visual wrapper includes the retrieved information, visually separates the user interface from other visual elements on the display, and includes an indication that the user interface is secure; and processing input received through the user interface.
US08561203B2	Simultaneous mixed protection modes over a virtualized host adapter A method for supporting simultaneous mixed protection modes for a write operation. The method includes receiving a write request that includes write data, and is received from one of a plurality of requestors. At least one of the requestors does not support data integrity protection. It is determined if data integrity protection is required for the write operation. It is additionally determined if the data integrity protection is supported by the requestor. Once the determination is made, the data integrity protection value is calculated if data integrity protection is required and is not supported by the requestor. The write data is encoded with the data integrity protection value prior to being written. If the requestor supports data integrity protection, then data integrity protection values are applied to the write data prior to writing the data to the external storage.
US08561198B2	Detection of malicious system calls Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting malicious system calls. In one aspect, a method includes monitoring a function vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack; receiving a call to the function, the call associated with a call stack, the call stack including one or more base pointers, and a destination buffer associated with the function; identifying a first critical memory address vulnerable to the buffer overflow attack comprising: determining the first critical memory address based on a base pointer of the one or more base pointers, wherein the base pointer address is greater than an address of the destination buffer; identifying a first address based on the base pointer of the one or more base pointers; and determining that the first address is a critical memory address in response to the first memory address is greater than the address of the destination buffer.
US08561195B1	Detection of malicious code based on its use of a folder shortcut Malware is identified based on its use of a folder shortcut. Files are analyzed, in order to indentify files used to implement folder shortcuts. This can take the form of monitoring the creation of new files, or searching for existing files used to implement folder shortcuts. In response to detecting such a file, it can be determined that a folder shortcut exists. The contents of the file can also be analyzed, and the determination can be made in response to finding specific content indicative of a folder shortcut. The file analysis can also involve monitoring edits made to existing files indicative of folder shortcuts. In response to detecting such edits, the content being written can be analyzed, and in response to specific content being written, it can be determined that a folder shortcut exists.
US08561192B2	Method and apparatus for automatically protecting a computer against a harmful program The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for automatically protecting computers against harmful programs. The method comprises: restricting an object program from accessing some resources in a computer system based on predetermined resource access rules; scanning computer resources accessed by the object program to determine whether the accessed computer resources are infected by the object program; and analyzing malicious behaviors based on behavior characteristics of the object program to determine whether the object program is a harmful program.
US08561191B1	System, method and computer program product for generating an encoded name for unwanted code A naming system, method and computer program product are provided. In use, unwanted code including at least one attribute is identified. In addition, an encoded name is generated for the unwanted code, where at least a portion of the encoded name represents the at least one attribute of the unwanted code.
US08561176B1	System, method and computer program product for monitoring and/or analyzing at least one aspect of an invocation of an interface A system, method and computer program product are provided. In use, execution of a portion of internal code of an interface is identified. Further, in response to the execution of the portion of internal code, at least one aspect of an invocation of the interface is monitored and/or analyzed.
US08561175B2	System and method for automated policy audit and remediation management A prevention-based network auditing system includes a central compliance server providing a user interface allowing a user to schedule and configure a network audit. The configured audit is stored in an audit repository until its scheduled time. At such a time, the compliance server automatically invokes one or more audit servers to gather information about the network. The compliance server receives the gathered information and electronically applies a network policy to the information for determining compliance with the policy. A remediation task may be generated if the policy has been violated, and the task monitored until its completion.
US08561169B2	Data processing apparatus and method for managing access to a display buffer A data processing apparatus and method are provided for managing access to a display buffer. The data processing apparatus has a display buffer for storing an array of display elements for subsequent output to a display controller, with each display element having a security permission indication associated therewith identifying whether that display element is a secure display element or a non-secure display element. At least one processing unit is provided for executing a non-secure process and a secure process, each process issuing access requests when seeking to access display elements in the display buffer, and each access request specifying a location in the display buffer. Interface logic is associated with the display buffer for receiving each access request and is arranged for at least each access request issued by the non-secure process to determine the security permission indication associated with the display element currently stored at the location specified by that access request. Based on the security permission indication, the interface logic then determines how that access request should be processed. Accordingly, the interface logic can selectively prevent access to secure display elements by the non-secure process, so as to protect the security of secure display elements contained within the display buffer.
US08561168B2	Access point, terminal, encryption key configuration system, encryption key configuration method, and program Configuration tasks needed to form a wireless LAN are performed using a simple method while increasing security during configuration. In a wireless network configuration system GH1 including an encryption key setting system LH1, where an access point 20 determines after the power thereto is turned ON that configuration for connection to a wireless LAN has not yet be carried out, the access point 20 activates a restricted receiving mode in which only an initial configuration packet is accepted. A terminal 50 that has sent an initial configuration packet and the access point 20 that has received such initial configuration packet while the restricted receiving mode is active each create an identical WEP key with reference to the data on a CD-ROM 51 or the data in a ROM 12, respectively, and set and register the created WEP key in itself.
US08561166B2	Efficient implementation of security applications in a networked environment Community based defense, in which multiple security devices operate as a part of a single community in providing security defense i.e. avoiding redundant security checks and enables efficient deployment and utilization of resources. The devices in a community communicate with each other to determine their roles and the security policies to enforce, based on the specific role they have undertaken. Thus primary player may operate with a larger set of security policies. However, the secondary players (operating on smaller policy sets) may periodically check the operational status of the primary player and assumes the role of primary, if needed. Later, it may gracefully relinquish the temporary role back to former primary, once the primary is up and operational.
US08561148B2	Methods and systems for interactive evaluation using dynamically generated, interactive resultant sets of policies A method for interactive policy evaluation using dynamically generated, interactive resultant sets of policies includes the step of receiving, by a graphical user interface, at least one of: a description of a client requesting access to a resource, a description of the resource, and a description of a method of access requested by the client. The graphical user interface displays at least one policy applicable to the client request for access to the resource. The graphical user interface displays a decision made by applying the at least one policy to the received description.
US08561144B2	Enforcing security based on a security state assessment of a mobile device Security data generated by an application running on a mobile communications device is stored in a database. The security data is processed to assess a current security state of the device. In response to a request from the device for access to a service provider or a request from a service provider to access the device, the current security state assessment can be provided for enforcement of a security policy.
US08561136B2	System to audit, monitor and control access to computers An audit, monitor, and access control system for use with at least one user computer and at least one protected computer. The system includes first software to authenticate authorized access by a user computer. A server connection network adapter permits communication with a user computer. Second software is provided to authenticate authorized superuser access by a user computer. A client connection network adapter permits communication with a protected computer. All data transferred and all activity between user computers and protected computers is recorded. Additionally, all data transferred and all activity between the user computers and the protected computers is audited.
US08561127B1	Classification of security sensitive information and application of customizable security policies Classification of security sensitive information and application of customizable security policies are described, including classifying information as security sensitive information at an application level, the security sensitive information being associated with a security sensitive category, determining a security policy for the security sensitive information, the security policy being configured to secure the security sensitive information, and applying the security policy to the security sensitive information at the application level, the policy being based on the security sensitive category.
US08561111B2	Video processor, television display device, and video processing method According to one embodiment, a video processor includes: a list output module; a selection receiver; and a data controller. The list output module is configured to output screen information in which a plurality of pieces of list information are arranged. Each of the pieces of list information includes pieces of identification information each identifying a scene contained in video data and arranged in an order in which scenes are played. The selection receiver is configured to receive a selection of one of the pieces of identification information comprised in one of the pieces of list information. The data controller is configured to control playing the video data from a scene identified by the one of identification information received by the selection receiver.
US08561108B2	Video episode order adherence Viewing episodes of a video series in order allows for a good viewing experience and understanding of episode content of the individual episodes. Functionality can be implemented in a video recording device and/or at a content provider to collect data about viewing behavior to determine if a user(s) tends to view episodes of a series in order. The video recording device and/or content provider can also keep track of partially or fully viewed episodes and episodes that are ready for viewing to avoid acquiring already viewed episodes Being able to quickly catch up on missed episodes will allow for easier introduction to a video series and prevent viewers from abandoning programs. In addition, requests for particular episodes can be leveraged for dynamic episode scheduling and dynamic setting of advertisement rates.
US08561107B1	Method and apparatus for selecting customized multimedia content for a user in pervasive computing environments A method of delivering and minimizing duplication of multimedia content to users in pervasive computing environments is disclosed. A mobile device enters a first environment and establishes a short-range wireless connection to a non-mobile device in its proximity. The non-mobile device transmits metadata as it displays content. The metadata is received by the mobile device and stored in a local buffer. The mobile device accumulates a viewing history of content that has recently been viewed. The mobile device later enters a second environment and establishes short-range wireless connection to another non-mobile device. The viewing history is transmitted from the mobile to the non-mobile device and is used to select and sequence content.
US08561105B2	System and method for a schedule shift function in a multi-channel broadcast multimedia system A global program guide pause function in a broadcast multimedia system including a first main control configured to process multimedia content received from a packet processor, the first main control including an analyzer module for acquiring and analyzing program guide data to determine multiple time-delayed start content, a filtration module for filtering undesired content and enabling desired data streams to be saved in at least one global memory device, and a guide module for creating a program guide comprising only non-filtered programs being offered at time-delayed start times. The guide module is further configured to create multiple listings in the program guide showing a real-time versus a delayed-start time for each non-filtered program. A popular stream packet processor can be provided for saving data content corresponding to popular programs.
US08561104B1	Systems and methods for adaptively transmitting media and advertising content Embodiments provide methods and systems for presenting advertisements associated with a particular media. The advertisement may have several versions, any one of which may be presented, based on several factors, including the length of time between transmission and receipt of any particular version. The transmission of the advertisements and related media content is optimize in order seamlessly transition between advertisements and media content.
US08561101B2	Trusted content access management using multiple social graphs across heterogeneous networks A method, system, and computer readable storage device (that stores the method) extract connectivity information from multiple telecommunication services, provided by a single multiple service provider. The method, system, and device merge the separate connectivity information from each service in a unified graph of telephone service users and digital service users (including common users of both services). The method, system, and device assigne trust values based on the connectivity information and shared data content between users. The method, system, and device may also issue a proxy certificate of authority (CA), by a trusted CA residing within the digital service, to provide digital service to a user of the telephone service in the unified graph, when the trusted CA is a nearest trusted CA in the unified graph.
US08561099B2	Systems and methods for using interactive content to increase viewership Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to methods and systems for increasing viewership of video content. Video content may be provided for viewing by a plurality of users. Interactive content may be associated with the video content and delivered for viewing by the plurality of users. The interactive content may request a response from the users, and one or more reward levels may be assigned to each responding user.
US08561091B2	Single body type bracket and disk drive device having the same Disclosed is a disk drive device including a spindle motor portion including a stator wound with a coil, a rotor rotating in reaction to the stator, and a rotation shaft that is a rotational center of the rotor; a stepping motor portion including a lead screw to move an optical pick-up device; and a single body type bracket that has the spindle motor portion and stepping motor portion engaged thereto.
US08561088B2	Registering network applications with an API framework A method for registering a network application with an application programming interface (API) framework. In operation, a registrar may send a registration message that associates a namespace with the network application to the API framework. In one implementation, the namespace associated with the network application may be a uniform resource identifier. In another implementation, the registration message may specify a format of the standardized clients, a security policy, and the application resources associated with the network application.
US08561087B2	Methods for enabling software in storage-capable devices Methods for enabling software from a storage-capable device including the steps of: loading, by a host system operationally connected to the storage-capable device, software from an authenticatable storage area residing in the storage-capable device; validating the software; and installing the validated software, wherein the validated software provides an interface between the host system and the storage-capable device. In some embodiments, the software is enabling software, the method further including the step of: loading, by the host system, device-functionality software from the authenticatable storage area. In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: validating the device-functionality software; and enabling the validated device-functionality software. In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: prior to the step of loading the software, executing a probe command in the host system; and returning, by the probe command, a list of device functional units residing in the storage-capable device.
US08561084B2	Scoping an alias to a subset of queue partitions A method of performing message operations includes receiving a message operation request identifying a queue, retrieving a list of the subset of partitions associated with the alias received in the request, and selecting at least one of the partitions within the retrieved subset. According to the method, the queue includes a plurality of partitions, the request identifies the queue with an alias, and the alias having a subset of the plurality of partitions associated therewith.
US08561083B2	Application associating based on cryptographic identification As each application is loaded for use by an operating system, a message handling application within the operating system associates the applications with relativity metrics for later use in handling interprocess messages. A cryptographic identifier associated with each application is verified and, based on the verifying, each application is associated with a relativity metric. The message handling application receives a message from an origin process. The message handling application then determines a destination process for the message, a relativity metric for the origin process, and a relativity metric for the destination process. Based on an analysis of the relativity metrics of the origin process and the destination process, the message handling application determines whether to forward the message to the destination process.
US08561079B2	Inter-thread load arbitration control detecting information registered in commit stack entry units and controlling instruction input control unit The information processing device in the simultaneous multi-threading system is operated in an inter-thread performance load arbitration control method, and includes: an instruction input control unit for sharing among threads control of inputting an instruction in an arithmetic unit for acquiring the instruction from memory and performing an operation on the basis of the instruction; a commit stack entry provided for each thread for holding information obtained by decoding the instruction; an instruction completion order control unit for updating the memory and a general purpose register depending on an arithmetic result obtained by the arithmetic unit in an order of the instructions input from the instruction input control unit; and a performance load balance analysis unit for detecting the information registered in the commit stack entry and controlling the instruction input control unit.
US08561073B2	Managing thread affinity on multi-core processors Embodiments of the invention intelligently associate processes with core processors in a multi-core processor. The core processors are asymmetrical in that the core processors support different features or provide different resources. The features or resources are published by the core processors or otherwise identified (e.g., via a query). Responsive to a request to execute an instruction associated with a thread, one of the core processors is selected based on the resource or feature supporting execution of the instruction. The thread is assigned to the selected core processor such that the selected core processor executes the instruction and subsequent instructions from the assigned thread. In some embodiments, the resource or feature is emulated until an activity limit is reached upon which the thread assignment occurs.
US08561069B2	Task computing A computer-based system includes task computing enabling users to define tasks by combining available functionality and to execute such tasks. The computer-based system of includes available functionality which originates in devices, computing applications and electronic services available through local and remote procedure calls including Web Services, UPnP, CORBA, RMI, RPC, DCE, DCOM or comprises previously defined tasks. All available functionality is abstracted to the user as a service and each service is expressed in a service description language, and the services have a semantic description associated with them.
US08561065B2	Virtualization of vendor specific network interfaces of self-virtualizing input/output device virtual functions A vendor independent partition interface between a logical partition and an adjunct partition associated with a self-virtualizing IO resource is used to effectively abstract away vender-specific interface details for the self-virtualizing IO resource. By doing so, vender-specific implementation details may be isolated from the operating systems resident in logical partitions, thus requiring only changes in vendor specific firmware in order to support new or revised self-virtualizing IO resources.
US08561062B2	Synchronizing changes made on self-replicated machines to the corresponding parent machines A self-replicating machine includes a virtualization tool, a provisioning tool, and a configuration tool, stored in a distributable self-contained repository of the machine. The machine is able to automatically rebuild itself solely from the tools stored in the distributable self-contained repository. The virtualization tool is configured to build one or more virtual machines on the machine. Each virtual machine has a corresponding operating system and environment. The provisioning tool is configured to provision the one or more virtual machines. The configuration tool is to configure the one or more provisioned virtual machines. A custom configuration management tool further customize and configure the physical machine for specific users.
US08561058B2	Methods and systems for dynamically generating installation configuration files for software The present invention provides methods and systems for dynamically generating configuration files used in installing software distributions and software installation testing. In particular, the present invention employs a framework comprising an API to discover and monitor an inventory of distributions, a set of templates for the configuration files, and plugins that may be selectively invoked to customize the configuration files. When performing installation testing, a server will access the distribution inventory and select appropriate templates that are to be part of the test. The server will then automatically generate the installation configuration files from the templates. The server may also execute one or more plugins that customize the configuration files as desired. Small client applications run on the target machines of the installation tests and are used to download the configuration files and the distributions. The present invention may also employ a scheduling service to coordinate the operations of the server and target machines.
US08561054B2	Method for updating software components A method is provided for updating at least one software component of a motor vehicle. The method operates such that the updating of the software component to be updated is offered to the driver by a service facility outside the vehicle before updating is executed. The updating can be enabled solely by the driver of the motor vehicle in response to the offer. The transmission of vehicle configuration information and identification data to the service facility takes place repeatedly in a time controlled and/or event controlled manner without the involvement and/or notification of the driver.
US08561051B2	Solidifying the executable software set of a computer System and method for solidifying (or “freezing”) the set of software and configuration data available for execution on a computer. Any additional software installed on the computer after the solidification process will not execute, regardless of whether the installation is initiated or otherwise performed by a person with administrative privilege. The ability to allow new or modified software to execute on the computer rests with an integrity server separate from and outside of the solidified computer. The solidification of software and configuration data proceeds on a level of granularity selectable by the integrity server and any operators thereof.
US08561046B2	Pipelined parallelization with localized self-helper threading A system and method for automatically parallelizing a computer program for multi-threaded execution. A compiler identifies and parallelizes non-DOALL parallel regions, such as loops, within a computer program. The compiler determines enhanced helper thread instructions based upon the main body instructions of the non-DOALL region. These helper thread instructions are inserted ahead of the main body instructions within each of the plurality of threads, rather than within a single main thread. Next, synchronization instructions are inserted in one or more threads such that the main body of work of each thread is performed in a pipelined manner. The helper thread instructions within each thread may reduce the total execution time of each thread.
US08561042B2	System and method for reducing execution time of bytecode in java virtual machine A system and method for reducing the bytecode execution time in the Java virtual machine are disclosed. The system includes a DB cache to store old machine code converted from a bytecode, a machine code change unit to change the old machine code to new machine code by removing a predetermined instruction included therein, a register management unit to manage stack data necessary for operations of the new machine code and a register file to provide a register region to conduct the operations, and a machine code information storage unit to store basic block information on the new machine code and spill and fill execution information in the stack of the register file.
US08561039B2	Method for generating a set of machine-interpretable instructions for presenting media content to a user The invention addresses the objective of optimizing performance of a media data carrier interpreting device. This is achieved by a media data carrier interpreting device which comprises means for transforming a machine- interpretable instruction comprised in a media data carrier into a machine-executable code during media content presentation. Said media data carrier comprises a set of machine-interpretable instructions generated according to a method which comprises the steps of generating a first auxiliary set of instructions corresponding to a set of elements wherein the elements are conform with a template and compiling said first auxiliary instruction set. Then, said compiled first auxiliary instruction set is linked with a compiled second auxiliary instruction set corresponding to said template. This method removes the need for runtime parsing and therefore frees processing capacity for runtime transformation of the machine-interpretable instructions into machine-executable code.
US08561037B2	Compiler for generating an executable comprising instructions for a plurality of different instruction sets A software compiler is provided that is operable for generating an executable that comprises instructions for a plurality of different instruction sets as may be employed by different processors in a multi-processor system. The compiler may generate an executable that includes a first portion of instructions to be processed by a first instruction set (such as a first instruction set of a first processor in a multi-processor system) and a second portion of instructions to be processed by a second instruction set (such as a second instruction set of a second processor in a multi-processor system). Such executable may be generated for execution on a multi-processor system that comprises at least one host processor, which may comprise a fixed instruction set, such as the well-known x86 instruction set, and at least one co-processor, which comprises dynamically reconfigurable logic that enables the co-processor's instruction set to be dynamically reconfigured.
US08561036B1	Software test case management A computer-implemented method of identifying software test cases to be executed is discussed. The method includes determining one or more features changed in a software project, correlating the one or more features with one or more secondary source code files that exhibit the one or more features, and identifying test cases to be executed based on the correlation between the one or more features and the one or more secondary source code files.
US08561033B2	Selective branch-triggered trace generation apparatus and method A method for selectively generating trace data is disclosed. Such a method includes executing a first module on a processor. The processor is operably coupled to a memory storing the first module and one or more branch modules. The method further includes detecting the execution of an instruction of the first module to execute a branch module. In response to detecting execution of the instruction, traces of branch modules subsequently executed by the processor are generated. Upon detecting a return of execution by the processor to the first module, the generation of traces is terminated and a trace report is generated. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed herein.
US08561026B2	Method, apparatus and computer program for facilitating the improvement of a user interface There is disclosed a method, apparatus and computer program for facilitating improvement of a user interface. A plurality of critical paths though the user interface are determined. A complexity of each of the critical paths is calculated. The complexity of the critical paths relative to a level of criticality of those paths is then indicated.
US08561025B1	Flow and module level detecting and debugging with inclusion of generated log statements Flow and module level debugging in a system. An applicable filter-set comprising at least one user defined flow and at least one module corresponding to the at least one user defined flow are identified. An incoming message flow is then tagged with information of the applicable filter-set. Further, the at least one module is detected for debugging corresponding to the user defined flow based on the tagged information of the incoming message flow. Log statements are then generated for the at least one module detected for debugging.
US08561024B2	Developing software components and capability testing procedures for testing coded software component Capability test programs are generated implementing the capability test test cases for the components, wherein component developers use the capability test programs to test components during the development and coding of the components. Documentation is generated describing component abstract test cases incorporating information on capability test test cases. Component test programs are generated implementing the component abstract test cases for the components and utilizing capability test programs, wherein each component test program tests one component for at least one test case specified in the component abstract test case documentation for the component. The capability test programs and component test programs are stored in a shared repository. A software development program is deployed to enable the developers and testers to execute groups of component test programs in the shared repository to test the components during different phases of the development of the software product.
US08561021B2	Test code qualitative evaluation A test environment may include qualitative evaluations of the test code used to test application code. Several qualitative evaluations may be determined from analysis of test code in compiled or source form, including evaluating descriptive assertions made by the test code, dependency evaluations, cyclomatic complexity evaluations, return value assertions, mutable parameter assertions, and test effectiveness history. The qualitative evaluations may also include analysis of the test code in relation to the application code, including exception capturing, boundary conditions, assertions for returned values, and other evaluations. The test code evaluations may be presented in a user interface along with the test code and may be used to manage testing progress of an application. The test code evaluations may be integrated into a code development application with a graphical user interface.
US08561007B2	Distributable serializable finite state machine A distributable and serializable finite state machine and methods for using the distributable and serializable finite state machine are provided wherein finite state machine instance can be location-shifted, time-shifted or location-shift and time-shifted, for example by serializing and deserializing each instance. Each instance can be located-shifted between agents, and a persistent memory storage location is provided to facilitate both location-shifting and time-shifting. Finite state machine instances and the actions that make up each instance can be run in a distributed fashion among a plurality of agents.
US08561001B1	System and method for testing stacked dies Systems and methods are disclosed for testing dies in a stack of dies and inserting a repair circuit which, when enabled, compensates for a delay defect in the die stack. Intra-die and inter-die slack values are determined to establish which die or dies in the die stack would benefit from the insertion of a repair circuit.
US08560996B1	Method and system for preparing modularized circuit designs for dynamic partial reconfiguration of programmable logic Approaches for dynamically reconfiguring a programmable integrated circuit (IC) are disclosed. In response to user input to a reconfiguration controller while a circuit is operating in programmable resources of the programmable IC, a replacement module and a module to be replaced in the circuit are selected. A process determines whether or not interfaces of the replacement module are compatible with interfaces of the circuit to the module to be replaced. In response to the interfaces of the replacement module and the interfaces of the circuit to the module to be replaced being compatible, the programmable IC is partially reconfigured with a realization of the replacement module in place of a realization of the module to be replaced.
US08560992B2	Method for inspecting a chip layout A method is provided for inspecting a chip layout. The method includes providing a chip layout having a plurality of patterns designed according to a design rule and performing a first inspection to the plurality of patterns according to the design rule. The method also includes determining patterns violating the design rule, as violating patterns, and corresponding violation values, and determining violating patterns having a minimum violation value among the violating patterns. Further, the method includes classifying the violating patterns having the minimum violation value into at least one sub-category based on characteristics of the violating patterns having the minimum violation value, and performing a second inspection on a selected violating pattern from the sub-category to determine whether the selected violating pattern and other violating patterns in the sub-category satisfy fabrication process conditions.
US08560987B2	Test functionality integrity verification for integrated circuit design Systems and methods are provided for verifying the integrity of test functionality for an integrated circuit design. This may be achieved, for example, by analyzing the integrated circuit design to identify a driver element that outputs a security signal for controlling the test functionality, analyzing the integrated circuit design to identify an input stage of one or more elements that feed the driver element, monitoring the security signal over a range of values for the input stage, and determining that an error exists in the test functionality if a change in the security signal is detected during the monitoring.
US08560984B1	Methods and systsm for physical layout estimation In one embodiment of the invention, a physical layout wire-load algorithm is used to generate a wire-load model based on physical data including aspect ratio and wire definitions defined in a physical library. The physical layout estimator is utilized to dynamically produce the physical layout wire-load model and to calculate net length and delay for each optimization iteration.
US08560980B2	Optimal chip acceptance criterion and its applications At least one target metric is identified for an integrated circuit chip design for which manufacturing chip testing is to be optimized. At least one surrogate metric is also identified for the integrated circuit chip design for which manufacturing chip testing is to be optimized. A relationship between the at least one target metric and the at least one surrogate metric is modeled using a general joint probability density function. A chip disposition criterion is determined based on the general joint probability density function. The chip disposition criterion determines, for a given physical chip putatively manufactured in accordance with the design, based on the at least one surrogate metric for the given physical chip, whether the given physical chip is to be accepted or discarded during the manufacturing chip testing.
US08560976B1	Display device and controlling method thereof Disclosed herein are a display device, which can control a user interface being displayed by a user's gaze and touch input, and a controlling method thereof and a controlling method of the same. The method for controlling the display device includes a hierarchical user interface and also includes displaying at least one control interface, detecting a user's gaze selecting one of the displayed control interface, transmitting information for providing a portable device with a sub-control interface of the control interface selected by the user's gaze, to the portable device, and receiving a control signal respective to the selected control interface from the portable device, and executing the received control signal. Herein, the portable device may provide the sub-control interface to a user with tactile feedback, may generate the control signal in accordance with a detected touch input, and may transmit the generated control signal to the display device.
US08560975B2	Touch event model A device with a touch-sensitive surface detects a touch on the touch-sensitive surface, determines that the touch is cancelled, and in accordance with a determination that the touch is cancelled, sends a touch cancel event to at least one of the one or more applications. Also disclosed is a device configured to determine that a respective touch has been cancelled by the device. If the respective touch has been cancelled, the device ignores the respective touch. If the respective touch has not been cancelled, the device processes the respective touch. In addition, a device configured to detect one or more touches and process at least a subset of the touches with at least one application is described. While processing at least a subset of the touches, the device receives a touch cancel event, and, in response to receiving the touch cancel event, ignores the touches.
US08560974B1	Input method application for a touch-sensitive user interface In an aspect, a method includes the actions of displaying, at a touch-sensitive display, a plurality of characters that each represent a distinct consonant included in a language script; receiving, at the touch-sensitive display, a touch selection of a first character from the plurality of characters, the touch selection being received at a location on the touch-sensitive display at which the first character is displayed; and in response to receiving the touch selection: detecting a gesture input, selecting a vowel marker based at least in part on an association of the gesture input with one or more vowel markers; and displaying, at the touch-sensitive display, an updated representation of the first character based at least in part on the selected vowel marker. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.
US08560973B2	Mobile terminal and method of displaying a plurality of objects by the mobile terminal A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes displaying a plurality of objects on a touchscreen and if a first user command is inputted, controlling the objects pertaining to a category corresponding to the first user command among a plurality of the objects displayed on the touchscreen to move into a specific region on the touchscreen. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, even if numerous icons for executing diverse functions are displayed in a touchscreen type mobile terminal, the present invention facilitates a terminal user to discover a specific icon from the numerous icons.
US08560971B2	Management of selected and nonselected items in a list A method includes, in response to items being selected in a graphical user interface, defining a first state for the items as selected items and a second state for a set of one or more unselected items in the list as unselected. The method includes graphically indicating via the graphical user interface the items as selected items and the set of items as unselected items. The method includes updating the first state of the items to a third state that reflects manipulation of the items while still indicating the items as selected items and maintaining the second state for the set of items. The method includes updating the graphical user interface to depict the manipulation of the items in accordance with the command while still indicating the items as selected items and the set of items as unselected items.
US08560969B2	Systems and methods for imaging operations data in a three-dimensional image Systems and methods for imaging operations data as a three-dimensional image, which include rendering a three-dimensional image of an object having at least one attribute, a marker in the object, and one or more operations values relative to one or more respective positions on the marker in the object. A data structure comprising a data field, the data field comprising a three-dimensional image of an object having at least attribute, a marker and one or more operations values relative to one or more respective positions on the marker in the object at a selected time.
US08560959B2	Presenting an application change through a tile This document describes techniques and apparatuses for presenting an application change through a tile. These techniques enable a user to see content associated with content changes to an application or other information about the application, such as a new article, new email, or a software update having become available since a user last visited the application. By so doing, the techniques enable a user to forgo visiting the application or permit the user to quickly and easily decide whether or not to visit the application.
US08560950B2	Advanced playlist creation Media players and associated methods are described that may allow a user to initiate playback of content or other media assets based on information associated with content. A media player may receive information associated with content from a user selection of a song, movie, photo, or the like. Based on the information, the media player may procure other additional content to be added to a playlist. The media player may automatically add to a playlist or modify a playlist with content that matches a user's preferences for artists, albums, genres, or the like. The user may interact with the media player to determine what content is added and how a playlist should be mixed. The user may specify how much of any content procured by the media player should be present in the playlist without the need to specify each individual item that constitutes a playlist.
US08560947B2	Touch screen with user interface enhancement The present invention is a graphical user interface in a computing device having a processor running an operating system and a display. The graphical user interface comprises a touch screen and a driver coupling the touch screen to the operating system. The driver can display a plurality of icons on the touch screen, or a plurality of screen images having at least one icon, with each of the icons associated with operations on the display and/or the touch screen. Other embodiments include the touch screen having unactivated and activated states, as well as the presence of an application programming interface that enables an application to display at least one image on the touch screen.
US08560946B2	Timeline visualizations linked with other visualizations of data in a thin client An apparatus in one example has: a controller having a data connector for inputting temporal data, and an item collection for providing timelines and overlays, and for providing linked visualizations of the temporal data in a timeline to other visualizations of the temporal data; and a display for displaying the timeline and overlays, and the linked visualizations. The method may have the steps of: obtaining temporal data; displaying the temporal data in at least one timeline in a web browser and in at least one other visualization in the web browser; and linking the displayed data in the at least one timeline with the displayed data in the at least one other visualization.
US08560945B2	File editing apparatus, file editing method and file editing program There is described a file editing apparatus, a file editing method and a file editing program, each of which makes it possible not only for the user to edit an XPS file easily and conveniently, but also for plural users, respectively located at different sites, to issue instructions for editing the same XPS file from the different sites at a time. The apparatus includes: a receiving section to receive a print job; a parsing section to parse the print job, so as to read file editing instruction information attached to the print job; and a file editing section that decompresses an XPS file to edit the XPS file decompressed, and then, compresses the XPS file after editing, so as to create an edited XPS file. Accordingly, the apparatus also makes it possible to edit the XPS file, irrespective of the OS or the environment of the application program currently executed.
US08560932B2	Digital system and a method for error detection thereof The subject matter hereof relates to error detection. Various example embodiments for error defection are disclosed. In an example method of error detection in a Module UnderTest (MUT), a parity signal representing the parity of an MUT output is compared to a parity signal representing the parity of an errorless MUT output. In an example system, an Actual Parity Generator provides a parity signal representing the parity of on MUT output, a State Parity Generator provides a parity signal representing the parity of an errorless MUT output, and a comparator compares these two parity signals.
US08560927B1	Memory error detection circuitry Integrated circuits with memory elements may be provided. Integrated circuits may include memory error detection circuitry that is capable of correcting single-bit errors, correcting adjacent double-bit errors, and detecting adjacent triple-bit errors. The memory error detection circuitry may include encoding circuitry that generates parity check bits interleaved among memory data bits. The memory error detection circuitry may include decoding circuitry that is used to generate output data and error signals to indicate whether a correctable soft error or an uncorrectable soft error has been detected. The output data may be written back to the memory elements if a correctable soft error is detected. The memory error detection circuitry may be operable in a pipelined or a non-pipelined mode depending on the desired application.
US08560925B2	System and method for handling bad bit errors A method and system for detecting and correcting a bad bit error in a solid-state nonvolatile memory device. The device includes a bad bit detection module that receives an old page from the memory device and determines whether a page has a bad bit. The device further includes a bad bit correction module that generates a new page, determines a location of the bad bit, determines a preferred value of the bad bit, determines a user value of the bad bit and inserts the preferred value into a string of bits corresponding to substantive data of the old page, recording the string of bits with the preferred value inserted therein and stores the new page at an address of the old page.
US08560917B2	Systems and methods for efficient low density parity check (LDPC) decoding A system for low density parity code decoding according to one embodiment includes a plurality of variable node (vnode) logic modules for sequentially processing groups of vnode values associated with a codeword and outputting updated vnode values; a vnode memory for storing the vnode values and updated vnode values; a plurality of check node (cnode) logic modules for sequentially processing groups of cnode values and outputting updated vnode values; a cnode memory for storing the cnode values and updated cnode values; and logic for checking the codeword using the updated vnode values and the updated cnode values. Additional systems and methods are also presented.
US08560899B2	Safe memory storage by internal operation verification The disclosed invention provides a structure and method for detecting address line (e.g., wordline, bitline) memory failures. In one embodiment, the method and structure comprise generating an address signature, by re-encoding an internally generated address signal from activated elements (e.g., wordlines) inside a memory array. The regenerated address signature may be compared with a requested memory address location. If the regenerated address signature and memory location are equal than there is no error in the memory array, but if the regenerated address signature and memory location are equal than an error is present in the memory array. Accordingly, re-encoding an address signature provides a closed loop check that a wordline and/or bitline, that was actually activated in a memory array, was the correct requested wordline and/or bitline, that no other wordlines or bitlines were also triggered, and that the wordline and/or bitline is continuous.
US08560898B2	Error correction method and error correction apparatus utilizing the method An error correction method for correcting an first ECC code from a storage unit, comprising: (a) marking at least a first part of the first ECC code according to a correction result generated by correcting error of the first ECC code, to generate a first error correction reference information; and (b) marking at least a second part of the first ECC code according to the first error correction reference information to generate a second error correction reference information.
US08560896B2	Priority based exception mechanism for multi-level cache controller This invention is an exception priority arbitration unit which prioritizes memory access permission fault and data exception signals according to a fixed hierarchy if received during a same cycle. A CPU memory access permission fault is prioritized above a DMA memory access permission fault of a direct memory access permission fault. Any memory access permission fault is prioritized above a data exception signal. A non-correctable data exception signal is prioritized above a correctable data exception signal.
US08560893B1	Systems and methods for automatically generating executable system level-tests from a partially specified scenario A method and system are provided for automatically generating executable system-level tests from an initial action or partially specified scenario by accumulating necessary complement actions and forming a set of constraints required by the initial action and the necessary complement actions. The set of constraints is solved by a constraint solving engine to provide an at least partial sequence of the actions and parameters thereto that satisfies the set of constraints. The sequence of actions that comply with the set of constraints are used to generate an executable system-level test code.
US08560891B2	EDRAM macro disablement in cache memory A computer implemented method of embedded dynamic random access memory (EDRAM) macro disablement. The method includes isolating an EDRAM macro of a cache memory bank, the cache memory bank being divided into at least three rows of a plurality of EDRAM macros, the EDRAM macro being associated with one of the at least three rows. Each line of the EDRAM macro is iteratively tested, the testing including attempting at least one write operation at each line of the EDRAM macro. It is determined that an error occurred during the testing. Write perations for an entire row of EDRAM macros associated with the EDRAM macro are disabled based on the determining.
US08560877B2	Image processing apparatus and method of transmitting reference clock An engine unit and a control unit are connected via an interface. A power source supplies electric power to the interface. The engine unit is controlled based on a reference clock generated in the control unit and transmitted to the engine unit via the interface. Only when a voltage output from the power source to the interface is in the operating-voltage range, the clock generator sends the reference clock to the engine unit via the interface.
US08560876B2	Clock acceleration of CPU core based on scanned result of task for parallel execution controlling key word In a computing system having a multi-core central processing unit (CPU) having at least two cores, it is determined that a task to be scheduled meets clock acceleration criteria such as requiring a number of threads less than or equal to a pre-defined threshold and/or having tasks that will run above a pre-determined amount of time. Thereafter, a clock speed of a first core of the CPU is increased and a clock speed of a second core of the CPU is decreased. Once the clock speeds have been adjusted, the task is scheduled to be executed by the first core. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.
US08560872B2	Body heat sensing control apparatus and method Embodiments of the disclosed invention include a body heat sensing control apparatus and method for automating features of an electronic device based on detection of a user's body heat. For example, in one embodiment, a data processing system is disclosed having a heat sensing mechanism for detecting the body heat of a user. In addition, the data processing system includes a data storage component for storing computer executable instructions and a processing unit for executing the computer executable instructions for enabling a user to configure one or more functions associated with the data processing system that are triggered in response to detecting the presence or absence of the user within the proximity of the data processing system using the heat sensing mechanism.
US08560869B2	Dynamic power reduction Some embodiments of the invention include systems, apparatuses, and methods for dynamically reducing requested supply voltage based on idle functional blocks.
US08560864B2	Firewall for removable mass storage devices A firewall device comprising a first connection device for connecting with a data device supporting transfer data with a removable mass storage device; second connection device for connecting with the removable mass storage device; and a microprocessor, adapted to control and secure data transfer between the data device and the removable mass storage device.
US08560860B2	Strong password entry Methods and systems are provided to assist users with the entry of strong passwords. The password may be considered strong if it satisfies one or more requirements. A set of these requirements may be selected and then presented to the user. The requirements may be randomly selected one by one or as a group. The requirements may also be presented to the user one by one in a random order or in the form of a list with a random order. As characters for the password are entered, the user may then be notified when one or more the requirements have been satisfied.
US08560858B2	Secure session identifiers An apparatus and a method for an authentication protocol. In one embodiment, a server generates a sequence number, and a server message authentication code based on a server secret key. The server sends the sequence number, an account identifier, and the server message authentication code to the client. The client generates a client message authentication code over the sequence number, a request specific data, and a shared secret key between the client and the server. The client sends a request to the server. The request includes the sequence number, the account identifier, the server message authentication code, the request specific data, and the client message authentication code. The server determines the validity of the client request with the shared secret key.
US08560856B2	Lightweight secure neighbor discovery protocol for low-power and lossy networks An apparatus comprising a network node configured to support a lightweight secure neighbor discovery (LSEND) protocol for securing neighbor discovery protocols (NDP) for energy-aware devices, wherein the network node is configured to wirelessly communicate with a host node, wherein the network node is configured to exchange LSEND protocol messages with the host node, and wherein the LSEND protocol uses reduced public key and signature sizes and more lightweight signature calculations in comparison to a secure neighbor discovery (SEND) protocol for securing NDP communications that are more suitable for low-power and lossy networks (LLNs).
US08560855B2	Verification of dispersed storage network access control information In a dispersed storage network access control list information must be occasionally written out to system units across the network. A dispersed storage (DS) managing unit (18) combines (204) the access control list information with a clock stamp and hashes (206) that combined output. An encryptor (208) encrypts a security key (210) and the hash output to obtain a signature. A combiner (212) combines the signature and the output of combiner (204) and outputs to a publisher (214). Upon receipt of the output of the publisher (214) a dispersed storage unit (44) can reverse process and securely validate the access control list information provided by the publisher (214) to receive and store updated and valid access control list information. This processing is performed by the unit (44) using parsers (216), caches (218 and 228), hash operations (224), decryptors (222), comparators (226), logic (230), and key stores (220).
US08560848B2	Galois/counter mode encryption in a wireless network A system including a temporal key module, a nonce module, a security module, and an encryption module. The temporal key module generates a first temporal key used to encrypt a plurality of packets. The nonce module generates a nonce for each packet encrypted based on the first temporal key. Each nonce includes a packet number that is different than packet numbers associated with other nonces generated by the nonce module. The packet number is greater than N bits in length, where N is an integer greater than 40. The security module determines when the packet number included in the nonce generated by the nonce module is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. The encryption module encrypts more than 2(N−1) packets using the first temporal key and the nonces without reusing a value of the packet number.
US08560844B2	Method and transmitting device for securely creating and sending an electronic message and method and receiving device for securely receiving and processing an electronic message The subject matter relates to a method for securely creating and sending an electronic message, whereby the message is created using a first application running in a secure operating system, the created message is stored in a storage that can only be accessed by the secure operating system and a virtualizing unit. In a second application executed by the virtualizing unit, the internal storage is analyzed for the presence of a message and, if the message is present, the message is transmitted to a receiver. The subject matter also relates to a method for securely receiving and processing an electronic message, whereby an external storage is analyzed for the presence of a message using a second application and, if the message is present, the message is transmitted to the internal storage. The presence of the message is polled using the first application and, if the message is present, the message is transmitted from the internal storage to the first application for processing. The subject matter further relates to a transmitting device for carrying out the method for securely creating and sending the electronic message and a receiving device for carrying out the method for securely receiving and processing the electronic message.
US08560839B2	Tamper proof location services A secure location system is described herein that leverages location-based services and hardware to make access decisions. Many mobile computers have location devices, such as GPS. They also have a trusted platform module (TPM) or other security device. Currently GPS location data is made directly accessible to untrusted application code using a simple protocol. The secure location system provides a secure mechanism whereby the GPS location of a computer at a specific time can be certified by the operating system kernel and TPM. The secure location system logs user activity with a label indicating the geographic location of the computing device at the time of the activity. The secure location system can provide a difficult to forge, time-stamped location through a combination of kernel-mode GPS access and TPM security hardware. Thus, the secure location system incorporates secure location information into authorization and other operating system decisions.
US08560829B2	Method and system for command interface protection to achieve a secure interface Aspects of a method and system for command interface protection to achieve a secure interface are provided. A host device may encrypt a command based on a key index generated within the host device, a host device key, a command count, a random number from a slave device, at least one host control word, and a host variable value. The encrypted command may be communicated to the slave device where it may be decrypted based on the key index, the host device key decrypted from a slave device key generated by the slave device, the command count, the random number, at least one slave control word, and a slave variable value. The key index may be utilized in the host and slave devices to select a master key from a key table from which generational derivatives may be generated for command encryption and decryption respectively.
US08560821B2	Network storage target boot and network connectivity through a common network device The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to booting to a network storage target. In general, in one implementation, a bus-to-network device driver is loaded during a machine boot, where the bus-to-network device driver is capable of sending machine bus commands over a network, providing access to the network for a network device driver, and distinguishing between received responses to the machine bus commands and other network traffic corresponding to the network device driver. Loading of the bus-to-network device driver can occur in response to an operating system load of bus drivers. For example, the bus-to-network device driver can be an iSCSI driver, and the operating system load of bus drivers can be the operating system load of SCSI drivers.
US08560817B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing system, computer program and information processing method, determining whether operating environment can be assigned It will be provided with an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, a computer program and an information processing method, which can prepare operating environment based on setting information distinctive in respective users without causing interference on operating environments for other users.A controlling unit 10 of the information processing apparatus 1 can implement plural virtual PCs. When receiving a request for activating a virtual PC from a terminal apparatus, the controlling unit 10 obtains setting information from the terminal apparatus. The controlling unit 10 determines whether the setting information obtained from the terminal apparatus falls into acceptable range based on constraint conditions being set by a setting acceptable range template 13d. When having determined that the setting information falls into the acceptable range, the controlling unit 10 activates the virtual PC based on the setting information obtained from the terminal apparatus.
US08560810B2	Microprocessor with microtranslator and tail microcode instruction for fast execution of complex macroinstructions having both memory and register forms A microprocessor includes a first instruction translator that translates an instruction of an instruction set architecture of a microprocessor. The instruction may specify a first form that writes its result to a destination register or a second form that writes its result to memory. The first instruction translator generates, in response to encountering an instance of the instruction, an indication of whether the instance is of the first form or the second form. A microcode memory stores a tail instruction as part of a microcode routine invoked in response to encountering the instance of the instruction. A second instruction translator receives the tail instruction from the microcode memory and the indication and responsively generates a first micro-operation that writes the result to the destination register if the indication specifies the first form or a second micro-operation that completes a write of the result to memory if the indication specifies the second form.
US08560801B1	Tiering aware data defragmentation Various systems and methods for performing tiering-aware data defragmentation. One method can involve receiving tiering information from a storage device that comprises multiple tiers. The information specifies a tiering attribute and tiering attribute value for the tiers. The method involves establishing zones that have zone attribute values corresponding to the received tiering attribute values. The method then involves storing a given block in a particular zone in response to detecting that a block attribute value of the block corresponds to a zone attribute value for the zone.
US08560795B2	Memory arrangement for multi-processor systems including a memory queue A hardware memory architecture or arrangement suited for multi-processor systems or arrays is disclosed. In one aspect, the memory arrangement includes at least one memory queue between a functional unit (e.g., computation unit) and at least one memory device, which the functional unit accesses (for write and/or read access).
US08560792B2	Synchronous extent migration protocol for paired storage Extent migration is provided in a data storage environment configured for synchronous replication between a primary and secondary pair of storage entities, each having tiered storage devices In one embodiment, by way of example only, a migration instruction is sent, by the primary storage entity, to the secondary storage entity, the migration instruction including a relative priority based on a primary ordered heat map of the tiered storage devices of the primary storage entity. The relative priority is used against a secondary ordered heat map of the tiered storage devices of the secondary storage entity to perform the extent migration, regardless of whether the primary and secondary storage entities are identical.
US08560784B2	Memory control device and method A priority control register 104 dynamically controls the internal transition state based on the issuability state of a memory request obtained in the memory request issuability signal generation unit 106 and retaining state of the memory request in the REQ_BUF 102 obtained by each of determination circuits 105 #2 through #5. Thus, the jump control of the priorities corresponding to the access regulation of the DRAM module 109 can be realized.
US08560776B2	Method for expediting return of line exclusivity to a given processor in a symmetric multiprocessing data processing system A method and apparatus for eliminating, in a multi-nodes data handling system, contention for exclusivity of lines in cache memory through improved management of system buses, processor cross-invalidate stacks, and the system operations that can lead to these requested cache operations being rejected.
US08560775B1	Methods for managing cache configuration Techniques for managing cache configuration are disclosed. In some embodiments, the techniques may be realized as a method for managing creation of nodes names and references to source devices during detection of storage devices (e.g., a physical devices such as a SCSI Disk, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), or logical devices such as logical volume management (LVM) volumes or automatic storage management (ASM) volumes). Management of cache configuration may include creation of rules to generate node names upon detection of source and/or cache devices. Management of cache configuration also may include the creation of rules to create caches or initiate creation of caches upon successful creation of source devices and cache devices corresponding to a cache. Management of cache configuration may include management of the creation of symbolic links to a cache of a source device.
US08560766B2	Non-volatile memory device having assignable network identification Memory devices and methods disclosed such as a memory device having a plurality of memory dies where each die includes a network identification that uniquely identifies the memory die on a bus. Access for each memory die to the bus can be scheduled by a bus controller.
US08560762B2	Limited memory power Storage devices can retain information through application of a charge upon the storage device. However, applying the charge upon the storage device can be change physical characteristics of the charge and ultimately increase a likelihood of device failure. Therefore, a determination can be made on how to apply the charge based upon analysis of the device, of data for retention, and the like. Raw data can be analyzed and/or estimations can be made to determine the charge.
US08560757B2	System and method to reduce memory access latencies using selective replication across multiple memory ports In one embodiment, a system includes memory ports distributed into subsets identified by a subset index, where each memory port has an individual wait time based on a respective workload. The system further comprises a first address hashing unit configured to receive a read request including a virtual memory address associated with a replication factor and referring to graph data. The first address hashing unit translates the replication factor into a corresponding subset index based on the virtual memory address, and converts the virtual memory address to a hardware based memory address referring to graph data in the memory ports within a subset indicated by the corresponding subset index. The system further comprises a memory replication controller configured to direct read requests to the hardware based address to the one of the memory ports within the subset indicated by the corresponding subset index with a lowest individual wait time.
US08560755B2	PCI-E based POS terminal Exemplary embodiments describe a system and a method for performing the functions of a PCI Express feature card remotely from a data processing system. The system is comprised of a circuit board connected to a PCI-E feature card. The PCI-E feature card is remotely located in comparison to the circuit board. Architecturally, the PCI-E feature card appears to the circuit board to be located at the circuit board.
US08560751B2	Memory card, memory card reader and memory card system A memory card includes a connector unit, an external switch, a mode switch, a processing unit, and at least one memory. The connector unit includes a plurality of connector pins. The external switch generates a mode switching signal. The mode switch selectively couples at least one connector pin of the plurality of connector pins to a memory card path or a wired universal serial bus (USB) path in response to the mode switching signal. The processing unit includes a memory card interface unit coupled to the memory card path and a wired USB interface unit coupled to the wired USB path, and selectively operates the memory card interface unit or the wired USB interface unit in response to the mode switching signal. The at least one memory stores data received through the connector unit. Therefore, the memory card may perform a cable association for a wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) communication.
US08560750B2	Systems and methods for advanced interrupt scheduling and priority processing in a storage system environment Methods and systems for advanced interrupt processing and scheduling are provided. The system comprises a memory operable to store interrupt priorities, an interface, and a processor operable to acquire incoming interrupts and to handle the incoming interrupts according to the interrupt priorities. The processor is also operable to receive interrupt processing criteria from the interface (sent, for example, from a device not directly coupled with the system), and to modify the interrupt priorities of the memory based upon the interrupt processing criteria without losing incoming processing requests for the system. Additionally, the processor is operable to process the incoming interrupts according to the modified interrupt priorities responsive to modifying the interrupt priorities.
US08560748B2	Information processing system including interrupt processing function An interrupt control circuit asserts a remap signal in response to an interrupt request from a low-speed slave to a processor, and reads information stored in an information register of the low-speed slave. The interrupt control circuit writes the read information into a buffer exclusively for interrupt processing. A switch circuit supplies a read access request which is a request from the processor to the information register to the low-speed slave during negation of the remap signal, and supplies the read access request to the buffer via the interrupt control circuit in order to read the information from the buffer during assertion of the remap signal. By accessing to the buffer exclusively for the interrupt processing instead of the information register in response to the read access request from the processor, the interrupt processing time may be shortened.
US08560742B2	Methods of providing access to I/O devices A method of providing one or more computing devices with access to a plurality of resources. The plurality of resources are provided by at least one physical device. The method comprises, at a first control element receiving a data packet transmitted by one of said one or more computing devices, and determining whether said data packet comprises a command including a first logical identifier identifying one of said resources. If it is determined that said data packet comprises a command including a first logical identifier a second logical identifier is obtained, the second logical identifier being associated with said first logical identifier and identifying said one of said resources. A request including said second logical identifier is transmitted to a second control element, the second control element being arranged to identify a physical device associated with said second logical identifier and to forward said request to the identified physical device.
US08560738B2	Information processing device that accesses a device management program and manages the peripheral device and manages setting information for the peripheral device There is disclosed an information processing device that displays a link related to one peripheral device on a device screen. The information processing device includes obtaining means for obtaining device information of a peripheral device, link forming means for forming the link corresponding to setting information obtained by the obtaining means, and access means for accessing a device management program that manages the peripheral device corresponding to the link when it is determined that an instruction of the link formed by the link forming means has been provided on the device screen.
US08560735B2	Chained bus method and device Memory devices and methods are described and shown that are capable of being configured in a chain. In one configuration, a single data input port and a single data output port are utilized at a host to communicate with the chain of memory devices. Methods for assigning identifiers to memory devices in the chain are described that include detection of a presence or absence of downstream memory devices. In selected examples, identifiers are assigned sequentially to memory devices in the chain until no additional downstream memory devices are detected.
US08560728B2	System and method for addressing a mobile device in an IP-based wireless network A system and method for addressing a mobile device in an IP-based wireless network is provided. Push service providers prepare data for transmission to the mobile device using a first IP address. The addressed data is then transmitted to a push proxy. The push proxy obtains a network identifier that is permanently associated with the wireless mobile device using the first IP address. The network identifier is then used by the push proxy to obtain a second IP address that is temporarily associated with the wireless mobile device. Using this second IP address, the data from the push proxy is then addressed and transmitted to the wireless mobile device via a tunnel created through the wireless network using the second IP address.
US08560718B2	Wired Internet network system for the Internet video streams of radio stations The present invention provides multi media video streams via high speed internet to a worldwide audience by using a specialized automation system with audio and video switching capabilities. This system provides video media streams to multiple platforms such as, cell phones, internet websites, and cable television subscribers.
US08560712B2	Method for detecting and applying different security policies to active client requests running within secure user web sessions A method for detecting and applying security policy to active client requests within a secure user session begins by applying a first heuristic to a plurality of requests for a particular resource to identify a pattern indicating of an active client. In one embodiment, the heuristic evaluates a frequency of requests for the particular resource across one or more secure user sessions. Later, upon receipt of a new request for the particular resource, a determination is then made whether the new request is consistent with the pattern. If so, an action is taken with respect to a secure session policy. In one embodiment, the action bypasses the secure session policy, which policy is associated with an inactivity time-out that might otherwise have been triggered upon receipt of the new request. In addition, a second heuristic may be applied to determine whether a response proposed to be returned (in response to the new request) is expected by the active client. If so, the response is returned unaltered. If, however, applying the second heuristic indicates that the response proposed to be returned is not expected by the active client, the response is modified to create a modified response, which is then returned.
US08560707B2	Seamless host migration based on NAT type Systems and methods of the present invention for maintaining network data distribution are provided. Network data may be distributed in such as manner as to allow a network session to weather interrupted communications between host and clients without significant loss of data. Embodiments of the present invention provide for one or more clients to serve as backup host(s) for the network session, such determinations including the use of NAT profile information. When the other clients transmit data to the host, they may also transmit the data to one or more backup hosts if there are any indications of interrupted communication.
US08560706B2	Degrees of separation for handling communications A sender's degrees of separation from a recipient may be used to aid in spam filtering or to otherwise handle a communication. The “degrees of separation” represent a metric used to quantify whether/how the recipient is linked to the sender through intermediary people or other entities. For example, a recipient may know a first user (first degree of separation) and the first user may know a second user (second degree of separation) who knows the sender of an e-mail. In this case, the sender is separated from the recipient by two degrees of separation (by two other contact). A level of “trust” or “legitimacy” about a sender's communication can be inferred by looking at whether the sender is linked to an intended recipient. Typically, user contact lists are evaluated to determine the number of degrees (or hops) are required to link or relate two users.
US08560704B2	Method of establishing charged connection using screen sharing application between multi- platforms A method of establishing a charged connection using a screen sharing application between multi-platforms is disclosed. A transmitting end application is installed in a transmitting end apparatus of a sharing source. A receiving end application is installed in a receiving end apparatus of a sharing target. If the transmitting end application is a charged version, an unlimited connection is established for performing screen sharing between the transmitting end apparatus and any receiving end apparatus. If the transmitting end application is a free version, the method further confirms if the receiving end application is a charged version for deciding whether a limited connection or an unlimited connection should be established. Thus, it is assured that either the transmitting end application or the receiving end application is a charged version, the interests of application developers are protected and users are free from paying twice for establishing one connection.
US08560702B2	Saving and retrieval of browser sessions Included are systems and methods for resuming a previous browsing session. At least one embodiment of a method includes receiving a request to initiate a current browsing session and in response to receiving a request to initiate a current browsing session, retrieving data related to a previous browsing session, the previous browsing session being different than the current browsing session. Other embodiments include providing the retrieved data in the current browsing session such that the current browsing session is presented as a continuation of the previous browsing session.
US08560696B2	Transmission of advanced-MAP information elements in mobile networks An apparatus that transmits Advanced-MAP (A-MAP) information in a mobile communication network determines whether or not to split an information element to two or more parts that will be transmitted in two or more logical resource units. Each part of information element in a logical resource unit includes an indicator to indicate that a second part exists in another subsequent logical resource unit. In one embodiment, the mobile communication network is used in conjunction with orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) techniques.
US08560694B2	Virtual application server with version control A management system for virtual applications may deploy sets of virtual applications to many client devices, dynamically allocate virtual application servers to individual clients, manage updates to the virtual applications, and provide other high level management to deployments of virtual applications. A client device may include a virtual application management client that may communicate with a management server. The management client may add or remove virtual applications to the client device based on a policy received from the management server, and may query the management server to determine a currently available virtual application distribution server when a virtual application is requested. The management server may distribute and manage versions of applications across one or more virtual application distribution servers.
US08560684B2	Network transaction discovery Disclosed herein is a computer implemented technique for discovering the information technology resources that are involved in a particular networked business transaction. The system comprises three basic components. A robotic transaction playback client records the various steps in a particular transaction and can repetitively execute these steps to analyze the results. A network record collector observes the traffic throughout the network in response to the repeated instances of the transaction executed by the robotic transaction playback client. A backend processor analyzes the observations of network traffic to determine which ones are possibly tied to the transaction, and from this information determine which network components are part of the transaction being analyzed. Event timing information from a plurality of executions of a particular transaction are used to determine resource usage and paths.
US08560675B2	Determining projection weights based on a census data Projection weights may be configured to project usage of a first set of resources by users of a first group of clients systems to usage of the first set of resources by users in a larger group of users. Users of the first group of client systems may be a sample of a larger group of users that access resources on the network using client systems. The projection weights may be determined based on a first set of usage data and a second set of usage data. The first set of usage data may be determined based on information received from monitoring applications installed on a first group of client systems. The second set of usage data may be determined based on information received from a second group of client systems sent as a result of beacon instructions included with a second set of resources accessed by the second group of client systems.
US08560673B2	Methods, systems and products for presenting information correlated to communications Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for managing the communications and information resources of a user. When a request for data is received, a message log is queried for the data. A result of the query is then communicated.
US08560671B1	Systems and methods for path-based management of virtual servers in storage network environments Systems and methods for analyzing the service and performance levels associated with virtual machines in a storage network environment for compliance with a resource capacity policy are provided. Component configuration and connectivity information from components in the network environment is collected without using host agents on the virtual machines. Access paths defining end-to-end access relationships between an application on a virtual machine and storage data objects associated with the virtual machine in the network environment are derived. Access paths comprise sequences of components configured to enable information flow between an application residing on a virtual machine and a data object on a respective storage device. Access path resource consumption is computed and virtual machines with resource consumptions that violate the resource capacity policy are identified.
US08560666B2	Link usage A method for providing usage data for links in a resource is disclosed. The method involves maintaining a link usage data for each of the links within a resource, such as a web page, and adjusting a copy of the resource to incorporate the link usage data associated with each link. A user can access the adjusted copy of the resource from a device connected to a network, such as the Internet, to display the link usage data with each associated link. The link usage data can be collected for a selected period of time by the user.
US08560658B2	Managing distributed address pools within network devices In general, techniques are described for managing distributed address pools within network devices. A network device that includes a control unit and at least one interface may implement these techniques. The control unit stores data defining a network address pool shared by both the network device and another network device. The control unit includes a shared pool manager module that evaluates the data defining the network address pool to determine a block of addresses of the network address pool that is not in use by the other network device. The at least one interface transmits a request to the other network device requesting the determined block and receives a response from the other network device indicating whether one or more addresses of the requested block are available. The control unit then allocates one or more addresses from the requested block to subscriber devices based on the indication in the response.
US08560650B2	Network device and method for setting parameters of the network device A network device and method for setting parameters of the network device provides a management agent to receive parameters input by a user. The parameters corresponds to one or more service agents of the network device. The management agent sends the corresponding parameters to the one or more service agents. The service agent sends all the parameters to a corresponding driver of the network device upon the condition that the service agent has received all the parameters. The driver sets the received parameters to enable functions of the network device.
US08560648B2	Location control service In embodiments of a location control service, location data that identifies the location of a device is stored in a memory module, such as secured non-volatile memory or a storage module, of the device along with a timestamp that correlates to local time at the location of the device. A determination is then made as to whether the location of the device has changed. Functionality of the device can be disabled, and access to data stored on the device restricted, when determining that a change in location of the device was not authorized. Alternatively, the location data can be updated to identify a new location of the device when determining that a change in location of the device was authorized.
US08560636B2	Methods and systems for providing a virtual network process context for network participant processes in a networked business process The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing a virtual process context to a plurality of network participants associated with a networked business process. One example method comprises associating a networked business process with a virtual process context, the networked business process comprising a set of interrelated business processes performed by at least two different network participants, receiving a first data object from a first network participant business process associated with the networked business process, storing the received first data object in the virtual process context associated with the networked business process, and notifying at least a second network participant of the stored first data object. In some instances, notifying at least a second network participant of the stored first data object may include transmitting a copy of the first data object to at least a second network participant associated with the first data object.
US08560633B2	Communicating in a peer-to-peer computer environment Communicating in a peer-to-peer computer environment. A request is received from a user at a peer provider node computer system, wherein the request is signed by a private key. Provided a public key verifies the private key, providing potential peers to the user from the peer provider node computer system such that the user is enabled to utilize the peer-to-peer computer environment for a communication according to user requirements.
US08560624B1	Method of detecting compromised computers in a network A method of detecting a compromised machine on a network. The method receives an email message from a machine on the network and classifies it as either spam or non-spam. A probability ratio is then updated, according to whether the message was spam or non-spam, by applying a sequential probability ratio test. If the probability ratio is greater than or equal to a first threshold, then the machine is compromised. If the probability ratio is less than or equal to a second threshold, then the machine is normal. The operations of receiving a message, classifying the message, updating the probability ratio, and indicating the machine is normal or compromised until the probability ratio is greater than or equal to the first threshold are repeated for a plurality of messages. Such repeated operations are performed on each of the messages one at a time, as each of the messages is received.
US08560622B2	System and method for vote-based, interest specific collaboration regarding location of objects Systems, devices, and methods of generating location information for an object of interest are disclosed. The location information is based on dynamic input from one or more members of an interest group associated with the object. The input from the one or more members can be provided by users of a collaboration device. The collaboration device includes a GPS receiver, and a target input mechanism in communication with the GPS receiver. The target input mechanism is configured to receive a user indication of the presence of an object of interest to generate location data from the GPS receiver for the object of interest. The collaboration device further includes a radio configured for transmitting the location data to at least one other member of the interest group.
US08560621B2	Method and system of automating data capture from electronic correspondence A method and system of automating capture of electronic data provide a user with an effective universal Internet identity and e-mail address, comprehensive e-mail filtering and forwarding services, and e-receipt identification and data extraction. Detailed user e-mail preferences data stored at a central server may be selectively altered such that incoming correspondence is redirected in accordance with the user's preferences. Computer program code at the central server parses incoming e-mail header information and data content, selectively extracts data from identified types of correspondence, and forwards extracted data in accordance with user preferences data. Additional computer program code may manipulate the extracted data in accordance with format requirements and display the manipulated data to a user in a desired format.
US08560620B2	Information processing apparatus, control method of E-mail appended document in that information processing apparatus, and storage medium storing program thereof An e-mail message to which a document is attached is received, and it is determined whether or not a digital signature is appended to the e-mail message. The document attached to the e-mail message is saved as an approved document, which is approved for printing, when it is determined that the digital signature is appended to the e-mail message. On the other hand, the document attached to the e-mail message is saved as a non-approved document, which is not approved for printing, in association with an e-mail address of the e-mail message when it is determined that the digital signature is not appended to the e-mail message. User information is acquired, and the non-approved document saved in association with an e-mail address that is associated in advance with the user information is retrieved. The retrieved non-approved document is changed to an approved document, and that approved document is saved.
US08560619B1	Email bankruptcy Methods, systems, and apparatus for reducing the delivery of undesirable electronic mail. In one aspect, a method includes, in response to receiving a request to declare email bankruptcy of an email account, emails identified as having undesirable content are identified based on one or more predetermined parameters and automatically moved to a designated location, and, for one or more senders of the emails, a notification is transmitted.
US08560616B1	IP management for outbound E-mails Technologies are described herein for managing the IP addresses of outbound e-mail messages based on sender reputation. A range of reputation scores is divided into a number of reputation segments, each covering a span of the reputation scores. The available IP addresses are distributed evenly among the reputation segments. The span of reputation scores for each of the reputation segments may be periodically adjusted based on historical data regarding a volume of e-mail messages sent by sender reputation score. In order to select a source IP address for a particular outbound e-mail message, the reputation segment encompassing a sender reputation score regarding the sender of the e-mail message is determined. An IP address is selected from the IP addresses assigned to the reputation segment and returned to be utilized as the source IP address in sending the outbound e-mail message.
US08560609B2	Automotive telemetry protocol Disclosed is a method of conveying vehicle operation data from a vehicle to a remote monitoring recipient, comprising the steps of establishing a data link between the vehicle and the remote monitoring recipient; collecting vehicle operation data from data sources in the vehicle; packaging the vehicle operation data in a data packet using protocol derived from SNMP; and conveying the data packet over the data link.
US08560608B2	Crowd formation based on physical boundaries and other rules The present disclosure relates to forming crowds of users taking into account known physical boundaries. In general, current locations of a number of users are obtained. A crowd of users is then formed based on the current locations of the users while taking into account one or more known physical boundaries such that the crowd does not include spatially proximate users on opposite sides of the one or more known physical boundaries. By utilizing known physical boundaries in a spatial crowd formation process, users that are spatially proximate to one another but are separated by a physical boundary are not included in the same crowd. In this manner, the spatial crowd formation process provides accurate and meaningful crowd formation in environments such as, but not limited to, buildings with multiple rooms, shopping malls, or the like.
US08560605B1	Social affinity on the web Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage devices, for determining social affinities from public data. In one aspect, a method computes numeric affinity scores or weights between pairs of network identities, e.g., identities made public by users of social web sites on the Internet, where the pairs of identities appear to represent pairs of individual people, using explicit and inferred social connections obtained from public user data on the Internet. Some of the system and methods explore all social connections (paths) between any given pair of vertices X and Y in the weighted graph data structure of such social connections and aggregates information about their number and relative strength to produce the affinity score from X to Y.
US08560581B2	Recovering transactions of failed nodes in a clustered file system Systems. Methods, and Computer Program Products are provided for recovering transactions of failed nodes using a recovery procedure in a clustered file system (CFS). A data segment is determined that the data segment should be copied to a final storage location by validating that an ownership of the data segment is not associated with any other operational node, via a distributed shared memory (DSM) agent. The ownership of the data segment is set to a local DSM agent.
US08560580B1	Visual display of room information An apparatus and method for the visual display of room information. Information of interest is graphically displayed in a manner which conveys the information to in a form which aids in comprehension of the information. Specifically, the information is preferably conveyed on the unit level through the use of the unit's floor plan in a graphical seating chart type format. A graphical icon is used to represent each room in the unit. Components of the icon indicate key considerations for every room. Additional information may also be displayed by clicking on a component of the icon.
US08560573B2	Map difference data generation apparatus and map difference data generation method A map difference data generation apparatus includes: most recent and supplementary map data storage devices storing primary most recent and supplementary map data, respectively; a map update reflection device generating secondly most recent and supplementary map data according to an update of a first link, and generating tertiary most recent and supplementary map data according to an update of a second link; a determination device determining a dependency relationship between the update of the first and second links, in accordance with results of searching a route in the tertiary most recent and supplementary map data between first and second nodes, which are both ends of the second link; and a map difference data generation device generating map difference data, which defines a combination of the update of the first and second links, when the update of the first and second links have the dependency relationship.
US08560565B2	System and methods for the retention of a search query A computer implemented method for the retention of a search query, the method comprising selecting a media search source via a user interface; providing a form-based interface that allow the entry of inputs to form a first media search query; submitting the first media search query to the media search source; receiving a first media search result for viewing on the user interface based on the first media search query, the first media search result comprising first media; displaying the first media search result in a collection depository on the user interface; and saving the first media search query as a permalink for later use in submitting a second media search query; wherein the method is performed by one or more processors adapted to execute instructions stored on one or more memory components of the computer, is described herein.
US08560559B1	Highlighting occurrences of search terms A system highlights search terms in documents distributed over a network. The system generates a search query that includes a search term and, in response to the search query, receives a list of one or more references to documents in the network. The system receives selection of one of the references and retrieves a document that corresponds to the selected reference. The system then highlights the search term in the retrieved document.
US08560554B2	Methods and apparatus for selecting updates to associated records to publish on an information feed using importance weights in an on-demand database service environment Disclosed are systems, apparatus, methods, and computer readable media for selecting updates to associated records to publish on an information feed in an on-demand database service environment. In one embodiment, one or more updates associated with a data record are stored in a database. One or more criteria are applied to the one or more updates to generate an importance weight associated with each update. The one or more importance weights are compared with a designated threshold. When one or more importance weights are identified as meeting or exceeding the designated threshold, the one or more updates associated with the identified one or more importance weights are provided as one or more candidates for publication on an information feed associated with the data record, where the information feed is capable of being displayed on a display device.
US08560548B2	System, method, and apparatus for multidimensional exploration of content items in a content store A computer-implemented method for accessing content items in a content store are described. In one embodiment, the computer-implemented method includes maintaining a text index of content items in a content store to enable a keyword search on the content items, receiving a query having a keyword and generating a hit list from the text index using the keyword, and extracting frequent phrases from text within content items of the hit list. The computer-implemented method also includes assigning a relative relevance to the frequent phrases and grouping content items into topics based on presence of relevant phrases within the content items of the hit list. The hit list includes one or more content items of the content store. The frequent phrases having a relatively high relevance are relevant phrases.
US08560547B2	System and method for providing live scoring information and statistical data A scorebook system and related methods for receiving optimal performance and weight classification data for wrestlers of any age and background, creating brackets for a tournament event, providing live scoring and real-time statistical data at a wrestling meet and thereafter, analyzing and reporting statistical information about the meets, teams and wrestlers, and compiling and providing media information about a wrestling meet.
US08560534B2	Database for a capture system A tag database storing tags indexing captured object can be searched efficiently. In one embodiment, such a search begins by receiving a query for one or more objects captured by a capture system, and determining whether a query time range exceeds a time range of a set of fast tables. In one embodiment, the invention further includes searching the set of fast tables if the query time range does not exceed the time range of the fast tables, the set of fast tables containing tags having meta-data related to captured objects. In one embodiment, the invention further includes searching a set of hourly tables if the query time range does exceed the time range of the fast tables. In one embodiment, the present invention further includes searching a set of daily tables if the query time range also exceeds the time range of the hourly tables.
US08560530B2	Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to rank web site influence Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to rank a web site are disclosed herein. An example method to rank the influence of a web site involves receiving a topic term, filtering out a post that is not relevant to the topic term from a first plurality of posts to a web site, determining a number of inbound links to the web site based on the topic term, determining a time between the inbound links to the web site based on the topic term, and generating a rank of the web site based on the number of inbound links and the time between the inbound links.
US08560529B2	System and method for measuring the quality of document sets Systems and methods are described that calculate the interestingness of a set of one or more records in a database, either absolutely (i.e., compared to an overall collection of records) or relative to some other set of records. In one embodiment, the measure is a relative entropy value that has been normalized. Various applications of the measure are described in the context of an information retrieval system. These applications include, for example, guiding query interpretation, guiding view selection and summarization, intelligent ranges, event detection, concept triggers and interpreting user actions, hierarchy discovery, and adaptive data mining.
US08560524B2	Allocating priorities to prevent deadlocks in a storage system One embodiment is a server in a cluster storage system. The server includes a Global Lock Manager (GLM) that receives requests for lock priorities for transactions from local lock manager (LLMs) in the cluster storage system. The GLM prevents deadlocks in the cluster storage system by issuing groups of priorities for transactions to the LLMs.
US08560520B2	Information retrieval using time Information retrieval using time is described. In an embodiment a web-crawler creates time objects which are composites of content of different media types obtained from potentially different sources and, for example, are about the same date or date range. For example, a time object may comprise an image and a piece of text about an event in 1977. In this case the time object may have the date 1977 stored with it as well as URLs of originating web pages. In an embodiment a user is able to query a search engine to retrieve time objects which are displayed in a manner related to the dates of the time objects. For example, the time objects may be displayed in chronological order against a time line. In examples time objects may be dynamically created as a web page is requested and displayed with that web page.
US08560518B2	Method and apparatus for building sales tools by mining data from websites A website mining tool is disclosed that extracts information from, for example, a company's website and presents the extracted information in a graphical user interface (GUI). In one embodiment, web pages from a website are stored in, for example, computer memory and a structure of the web pages is identified. A plurality of blocks of information is then extracted as a function of this structure and a category is assigned to each block of information. The elements in the blocks of information are then displayed, for example to a salesperson, as a function of these categories. In another embodiment, Document Object Modeling parsing is used to identify the structure of the web pages. In yet another embodiment, a support vector machine is used to categorize each block of information.
US08560516B2	Local search method and system A local search method to be implemented by a portable electronic device is provided for searching a database that contains a plurality of data sets, each of which includes location information and content information. The local search method includes the steps of: (a) upon obtaining a search condition word string inputted by a user, determining whether the search condition word string contains a predefined symbol; and (b) when it is determined in step (a) that the search condition word string contains the predefined symbol, setting a string segment before the predefined symbol as a content condition, and a string segment after the predefined symbol as a location condition, and conducting a type-one search on the database, in which the database is searched for at least one data set whose content information corresponds to the content condition and whose location information corresponds to the location condition.
US08560513B2	Searching for information based on generic attributes of the query Searching information includes: receiving current query data from a client; extracting generic attribute features of the current query data, wherein the generic attribute features are used for calculating a plurality of confidence degrees of the current query data that correspond to a plurality of categories, each of the confidence degrees indicating a degree of confidence that the current query data belongs to a respective one of the plurality of categories; determining the plurality of confidence degrees of the current query data based at least in part on the generic attribute features; searching in a chosen category for a search result that corresponds to the current query data, the chosen category being one of the plurality of categories and being chosen based at least in part on the plurality of confidence degrees; and returning the search result.
US08560511B1	Fine-grain locking Configurations for providing fine-grain locking of data structures for concurrent reading and writing into one or more data structures utilized by a real-time server. In one aspect, when an update is required to a portion of a data structure, the process enables locking of only that portion of the data structure to prevent other threads and/or processes from accessing the locked portion. Other threads or CPU processes can concurrently read and/or update non-locked portions of the data structure. Another aspect provides for determining whether an access to a portion of a data structure has occurred if the portion is locked and subsequently releasing the portion of the data structure if the access has occurred. In one aspect, the portion is release after a configurable predetermined period of time.
US08560502B2	Method and a system for replaying database workload with transactional consistency The present invention relates to a method and a system for replaying full scale Production Database workload using Network or Kernel Capture. In one embodiment, the capture of the Server workload is done using Network Capture or using Kernel drivers. The captured workload is then pre-processed and Replayed to a test system along with full transactional integrity.
US08560499B2	Data reduction for optimizing and testing A reasonably-sized testing database instance can be efficiently replicated and maintained for a very large production database while retaining the characteristics and cross-sectional data. The performance characteristics are maintained in order to provide for proper testing of the production database for various application programs. Statistics on the type of data distribution for the customer data are obtained, allowing for parameters to be determined which can be used to store data only near the endpoints of the distribution (and/or at other key locations). In this way, a substantial amount of data skew is retained in a much smaller instance of the production database, allowing for easier performance testing, upgrade testing, etc.
US08560493B2	Determining and/or using end user local time information in an ad system The usefulness, and consequently the performance, of advertisements are improved by allowing advertisers to better target their ads to a responsive audience. For example, end user local time information may be used in a relevancy determination of an ad. As another example, end user local time information may be used in an attribute (e.g., position) arbitration. Such end user local time information may be associated with price information, such as a maximum price bid. Such end user local time information may be associated with ad performance information. Ad performance information may be tracked on the basis of end user local time information. The content of an ad creative, and/or of a landing page may be selected and/or modified using end user local time information.
US08560492B2	Robust filtering and prediction using switching models for machine condition monitoring In a machine condition monitoring technique, a sensor reading is filtered using a switching Kalman filter. Kalman filters are created to describe separate modes of the signal, including a steady mode and a non-steady mode. For each new observation of the signal, a new mode is estimated based on the previous mode and state, and a new state is then estimated based on the new mode and the previous mode and state. In the steady mode, evolution covariances of both the observed signal and the rate of change of that signal are low. In the non-steady mode, the evolution covariance of the observed signal is set to a higher value, permitting the observed signal to vary widely, while the evolution covariance of the rate of change of the signal is maintained at a low level.
US08560474B2	System and method for providing adaptive manufacturing diagnoses in a circuit board environment An example method is provided and includes collecting inputs for a circuit board under test; evaluating historical repair records using a neuron network; providing repair actions for the circuit board based on the historical repair records; and providing an output reflecting a particular component of the circuit board to be replaced or to be repaired, where the output is associated with a developed probability of successfully fixing an issue that was identified by the test. In more specific implementations, the inputs include fault syndromes and log files associated with the circuit board under test. Additionally, at least one of the inputs of the neuron network is a syndrome vector extracted from a failure log. In yet other instances, particular outputs having higher probabilities are selected as the repair actions. The neuron network can be weighted using diagnosis knowledge weights.
US08560470B2	Method and apparatus for evolving a quantum system using a mixed initial Hamiltonian comprising both diagonal and off-diagonal terms Various adaptations to adiabatic quantum computation and quantum annealing are described. These adaptations generally involve tailoring an initial Hamiltonian so that a local minimum is avoided when a quantum processor is evolved from the initial Hamiltonian to a problem Hamiltonian. The initial Hamiltonian may represent a mixed Hamiltonian that includes both diagonal and off-diagonal terms, where the diagonal terms at least partially define a center point of a first computation space that is at least partially contained within a second computation space. A problem Hamiltonian may be evolved into a low energy state by inhomogeneously inducing disorder in the qubits of the quantum processor. A higher degree of disorder may be induced in a subset of qubits predicted to contribute to a local minimum of the problem Hamiltonian.
US08560460B2	Automated waste sorting system A system for disposing of medical waste is generally configured to sort waste items into a plurality of containers according to applicable rules and regulations governing the handling and/or disposal of such items. In some embodiments, a system comprises sorting stations each of which houses a number of disposable containers. Each station can identify an item of waste, determine the most appropriate container for the item, and facilitate disposal of the item in the appropriate container. In some embodiments, a detection system for determining a presence and/or a quantity of waste items within a container is also provided. In some embodiments, access to discarded waste items is restricted once the waste items have been placed in a container.
US08560457B2	Enhanced network server authentication using a physical out-of-band channel Systems and methods for increasing user trust by authenticating an electronic commerce server over an electronic communications channel using information received through an out-of-band communication in a physical communications channel are described. In one configuration, a paper bill is sent to a user by physical mail delivery and it includes challenge and response data used to authenticate the electronic commerce server over the electronic communications channel.
US08560453B2	Method and apparatus for dynamic, real-time ad insertion based on meta-data within a hardware based root of trust A client computing system inserts selected advertising into digital content. Ads may be inserted into content based on a dynamic advertising matching process that is securely implemented within a hardware-based root of trust. User profiles used in ad matching may be privacy protected and maintained with confidentiality protection in the client computing system and/or a service provider server, respectively. When a client computing system makes a request to the service provider server for content with specified ad slots, the request may be made with the client's EPID signature, which is inherently privacy protected. The hardware-based root of trust protects insertion of selected ads into the linear rendering flow of the content.
US08560450B2	Interactive bill payment center A software suite that provides a bill-payment module and comprises an interactive main interface listing bills due and payment accounts, an interactive history link, an interactive set-up link embedded in the main interface, an interactive transfer-funds link, an interactive calendar link, a plurality of interactive drop-down menus providing upon invocation a plurality of selectable, interactive options for treating the listed bill and an interactive refresh-all link embedded in the main interface.
US08560446B2	Product level payment network acquired transaction authorization A flexible spending account system can be implemented according to one embodiment of the invention so as to automatically substantiate purchases made at a retailer merchant. For example, according to one embodiment of the invention, a method of authorizing products for purchase can be implemented by determining via a computer that a product requested for purchase at a point of sale by a consumer matches a qualified product category under the flexible spending account, sending an authorization request message for requesting use of said flexible spending account of said consumer, wherein said authorization request message comprises a total purchase amount field and a first qualified amount field for a first type of qualified items.
US08560444B2	Systems and methods for presenting payoff information to credit card customers A method of presenting account payoff information to customers includes receiving electronic data relating to a plurality of customers and evaluating the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs. The method also includes preparing an account statement for each customer in a first class and for each customer in a second class. The account statement for each customer in the first class includes a standard message, and the account statement for each customer in the second class includes a detailed message. The method also includes transmitting an electronic file comprising the account statements for the plurality of customers to a statement generator. The standard message comprises a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments. The detailed message comprises a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.
US08560430B2	System and method for smart hedging in an electronic trading environment A system and associated methods are provided for smart hedging in an electronic trading environment. According to one example method, a first order for a first tradeable object and a second order for a second tradeable object are placed based on a spread strategy. Upon receiving an indication that a quantity of the first order is filled, the method involves determining if the second order can be used to offset the quantity filled of the first order by determining if a price of the second order would result in achieving a desired spread price defined for the spread strategy. If the price results in the desired price, the second order is used to offset the quantity filled for the first order in an attempt to achieve the desired spread price. Other tools are provided as well.
US08560420B2	Calculating predictive technical indicators A suite of predictions is defined to model the financial data commonly used to calculate technical indicators one or more periods in the future. Neural networks are trained to make these predictions. The predictions are then integrated with the standard technical indicator calculations to produce predictive technical indicators which are superior because they lead more and lag less.
US08560417B2	Payment entity for account payables processing using multiple payment methods A method begins by receiving an accounts payable data file from a client device. The method continues by determining whether a payables profile of a client associated with the client device is to be modified based on the accounts payable data file. The method continues by determining a level of service of the client when the payables profile is not to be modified. The method continues processing payment transactions for accounts payable contained in the accounts payable data file on behalf of the client in accordance with the payables profile via a wide area network when the level of service is a first level of service.
US08560416B1	Apparatus and method for converting investment capital into publicly traded and private master limited partnerships A method of generating income includes receiving investment capital from an investor. The investment capital is invested in publicly traded master limited partnerships to generate a revenue stream. The investment capital is also invested into a private company. The private company is subsequently converted to a master limited partnership to generate an equity gain. A portion of the revenue stream and a portion of the equity gain are distributed to the investor.
US08560415B2	Smart trade template based matching Systems and methods for matching orders are provided. One or more trade templates are created. The trade templates define groups of orders for financial instruments that may be combined such that all of the orders are matched. A collection of tradable price levels is also created for each template. New orders and resting orders are analyzed using one or more trade templates and tradable price levels to determine whether a combination of orders satisfies all of the elements of a trade template with a required price level. When all of the elements of a trade template are satisfied and an order with a tradable price level is received, the corresponding orders may be matched contemporaneously.
US08560413B1	Method and system for detecting distributed internet crime The invention broadly comprises a method and service of visualization of Internet nodes involved in distributed electronic crime in order to see patterns of actionable intelligence, such as multiple phishing nodes hosted at the same hosting center, or domain names registered in one country that are actually in another country or nodes related by one or more aspects, such as specific criminal attack campaign, target or technical weakness exploited to ease commandeering of the node. The invention involves collecting topological and latency data including changes over time and using the data to determine probable topological and geographical locations of single or multiple nodes, as well as inferential geolocation.
US08560405B1	Method, system, and computer readable medium for displaying items for sale in uploaded video content Methods and system for displaying a click-to-buy overlay for an item on a video in a video hosting site. The item is matched to the video according to video metadata and/or rules selected by the video rights holder. If the uploader is not the video rights holder, the video rights holder can choose to monetize the video by selecting Click-to-Buy metadata and/or rules. A viewer of the video can choose between multiple retailers for an item offered in the overlay. The viewer can further navigate between multiple overlays associated with the video while the video is playing.
US08560401B1	Electronic gift registry management Implementations of methods of the present disclosure include managing an electronic gift registry by establishing an electronic gift registry for a registrant, accessing information about multiple different products that are available to be added to the registrant's gift registry, enabling display of a graphical user interface that presents indications of at least some of the different products that are available to be added to the registrant's gift registry, enabling the registrant to add to the registrant's electronic gift registry the different products for which indications are presented within the graphical user interface by interacting with the graphical user interface, and enabling the registrant to designate one or more products that the registrant has added to the registrant's electronic gift registry as products that, once purchased by a gift giver, are not to be shipped until after receiving a future authorization from the registrant to ship the products.
US08560394B2	System and method to enable a customer to select a wine based upon available inventory A system for aiding a restaurant patron to make a wine selection from wines available in the restaurant wine inventory includes a plurality of dedicated patron display devices and a content management system including a processor, a communications interface and a database wherein the dedicated patron display devices are operable to receive and display screens transmitted from the content management system and transmit patron input to the content management system in order to select a wine from the restaurant inventory.
US08560389B2	Consumer offer redemption methods and systems A computer-implemented offer redemption method includes the steps of: (a) storing information on a consumer and a payment account associated with the consumer in a computer storage system; (b) receiving activation of an offer from the consumer covering a product or service or a purchase from a retailer; (c) linking the offer to the consumer's payment account; (d) monitoring transactions in the consumer's payment account; and (e) when the consumer has purchased the product or service or made a purchase from the retailer covered by the linked offer using the consumer payment account, making payment for offer settlement to a payment processor managing the consumer's payment account to be credited to the consumer's payment account.
US08560386B2	Online map advertising Systems and methods for selecting advertisements for presentation in a map space are disclosed. Map requests are received, map spaces identified, advertisement bids are received for advertisement space within the map spaces, and advertisements are selected for presentation in the map space based on the advertisement bids. The advertisement bids can be selected through an auction.
US08560384B2	Generating a score for a coupon campaign Techniques are provided for generating, by a coupon distributor, a score that represents a quality of a coupon campaign that a coupon provider offers to the coupon distributor. The score may be generated based on the brand of the product, the product category to which the product belongs, the coupon value, and the percentage discount reflected by the coupon. One or more of these factors may be based on historical data that indicates the success (or failure) of previous coupon campaigns (e.g., of the same product, brand, and/or product category, and/or similar coupon value). The coupon distributor uses the score to, e.g., determine whether to accept a proposed coupon campaign, project the number of prints/redemptions of the coupon campaign, determine how to present the coupon, determine an amount to charge for running the coupon campaign, and/or determine products or product categories of coupons to which the coupon distributor should seek.

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