Document	Document Title
US08998344B2	Self-propelled building machine A road cutting machine has a machine frame and at least one left-hand running gear and at least one right-hand running gear. A device is provided for raising or lowering the running gears resting on the ground, in relation to the machine frame, and also a control unit is provided for activating the device for raising and lowering the running gears, so that the height of the running gears can be adjusted to the machine frame. The control unit comprises sensors for detecting changes in the height of the ground to be covered by the running gears in relation to the machine frame, whereby the control unit contains a control mode for initiating actions in the control system for adjusting the height of the running gears. The control unit is configured in such a way in the control mode that if a change is detected in the height of the ground, the respective running gear or the respective running gears are raised or lowered so as to compensate any lateral tilting due to a change in the height of the ground.
US08998343B2	Method for determining the position or location of plant components in mining extracting plants and extracting plant A method and system for determining the position and/or location of plant components of a mining extracting plant, which includes at least one face conveyor, a shield-type support system having a plurality of shield-type support frames and an extracting machine, the position/location of at least one plant component is determined by an evaluation system including a detection unit. To determine the location/position of at least one plant component even in the case of a dynamic mineral mining process, the detection unit includes an image sensor, by way of which at least four object points, which are at a predetermined spacing to each other and are detectable within the optical wavelength range, of at least one measuring object associated with one of the plant components, are detected and the position/location of the plant component can be determined from the projection of the object points detected by the image sensor.
US08998329B2	Fitting for a vehicle seat A fitting for a vehicle seat has a first fitting part and a second fitting part. The fitting parts can be rotated relative to one another about an axis. A toothed ring is formed on one of the fitting parts, and guide segments for guiding bolts are formed on the other of the fitting parts. A rotatably mounted eccentric acts on the radially displaceable bolt which then interacts with the toothed ring in order to lock the fitting. A spring arrangement acts on the eccentric and is arranged in a central receptacle in the second fitting part. The second fitting part has a guide part having the guides and a cover for covering the spring arrangement, wherein the guide part and the cover are formed separately and are connected to one another.
US08998327B2	Marine seat A reclining marine seat is provided. An embodiment of the reclining marine seat marine seat comprises a seat back retainer section having at least one sidewall. The sidewall defines a top surface. The reclining marine seat further comprises a back having at least one sidewall. The sidewall defines a bottom surface. The back is pivotal between first and second positions with respect to the seat back retainer section. The bottom surface of the back does not extend above the top surface of the seat back retainer section during movement of the back between the first and second positions. The reclining marine seat further includes a seat. First and second frames are provided to support the back and seat.
US08998324B2	Vehicle seat A seat main body is mounted on a seat mount base on a vehicle body floor through left and right seat rails. The seat mount base includes left and right side members and a connection member connecting substantially central portions of the side members to each other. The seat rails each include a lower rail and an upper rail. Force sensors are disposed between the side members and the corresponding lower rails. The upper rails are secured to the seat main body. A central region of the connection member, located substantially in a center in a seat width direction, protrudes toward the front compared to joining portions where the connection member is joined to the left and right side members. A space opening toward the rear is formed between the joining portions.
US08998318B2	Child restraint with tiltable juvenile seat A child restraint includes a seat base and a juvenile seat. The juvenile seat is tiltable relative to the seat base at the option of a caregiver.
US08998317B2	Support base for a child safety seat A support base for a child safety seat includes a shell body, an adjustable arm assembled with the shell body and having a rear end provided with a fastener operable to attach with an anchorage fixture of a vehicle, a safety lock, and a coupling portion assembled through an interior of the adjustable arm. The shell body is movable along the adjustable arm to adjust a distance between the fastener and a rear of the shell body. The safety lock is assembled with the shell body, and includes a latch operable to engage and disengage an opening of the adjustable arm. The latch is operable to lock the shell body with the adjustable arm, and a locking engagement of the fastener with the anchorage fixture causes a displacement of the coupling portion that pushes the latch to disengage from the opening for allowing displacement of the shell body toward the fastener.
US08998314B2	Bicycle seat Among other things, a structure supports the ischial tubularities of a user of a device to which the structure is attached, while gravity is applying a downward force on the ischial tubularities and the user's legs are engaged in motion during which forces are being applied that tend to cause the user's respective ischial tubularities to move relative to a frame of the device. The structure includes two buttock supports having surfaces against which the bottom surfaces of the user's respective buttocks bear during the motion. A mechanism connects the two buttock supports to the frame of the device to permit simultaneously (1) free motion of the two buttock supports (a) up and down relative to a frame of the device and (b) back and forth relative to the frame of the device and (2) free variation of the angular orientations of the bottom surfaces of the user's buttocks back and forth, relative to a hypothetical horizontal plane that is fixed relative to the frame of the device.
US08998312B2	Infant safety seat An infant safety seat comprises a seat shell, a handle and at least a latch element mounted between the seat shell and the handle. Two sides of the seat shell are provided with first coupling elements, each of which includes multiple locking grooves. Two sides of the handle has second coupling elements that are pivotally connected with the first coupling elements, each of the second coupling elements having an interior defining a guide slot. The latch element is movably assembled in the guide slot and includes at least a first stud, the latch element being operable to switch between a locked state where the first stud is engaged with one of the locking grooves to hold the handle in place, and an unlocked state where the first stud is disengaged from the locking grooves to allow rotation of the handle relative to the seat shell.
US08998304B2	Cab rear mounting device A cab rear mounting device includes: a pair of posts disposed at a predetermined interval in a width direction of a vehicle, and fixedly mounted to a vehicle body; strikers mounted to the pair of posts, respectively; a pair of locking devices mounted to the cab, and coupled to each striker to be locked, so as to fix the cab to the vehicle body, or separated from each striker to be unlocked, so as to release the cab from the vehicle body; and damper devices mounted to the posts, respectively, and configured to absorb vibration or shock, thereby promoting a decrease in the number of components, and weight and cost of the vehicle.
US08998303B2	Cab frame with integrated rollover protective structure The cab for a mobile machine includes a seat for an operator, and a rollover protective structure (ROPS). The ROPS being positioned on either side of a first vertical plane centrally located on the seat and extending along a length of the cab. The ROPS may include a C-post positioned behind the seat, and a B-post positioned in front of the seat. The C-post may include a first portion extending upwards and angled towards the seat. The first portion may extend from a first end proximate a bottom rear corner of the cab to a second end proximate the first vertical axis. The ROPS may also include a second portion extending upwards from the second end to a third end proximate a roof of the cab. The ROPS may further include a third portion extending in a direction away from the seat from the third end to a fourth end proximate a top rear corner of the cab.
US08998297B1	Systems for mounting a vehicle windshield Systems for mounting a windshield to a vehicle are described. In one example, an apparatus configured to a mount a windshield to a vehicle is disclosed. The apparatus includes a foam configured to be positioned between the windshield and a frame of the vehicle along at least three sides of an interior perimeter of the windshield. The apparatus also includes one or more rigid components configured to compress the foam when the windshield is deformed. The one or more rigid components may be positioned at least partially within the foam. The apparatus further includes an attachment component configured to attach the foam to the frame of the vehicle.
US08998280B1	Toggle cam release mechanism A release mechanism that decreases the effort necessary to release a tensile load is provided. The mechanism includes a connecting body that secures a member connected to a load between a fixed jaw and an opposing jaw, two floating links connected to a moveable jaw and to a moveable toggle pivot, and a moveable toggle that includes a central lever and two toggle links mounted on the moveable toggle pivot. A cam lobe is formed on the lever and rotation of the cam lobe against a flat rise included in the connecting body decreases the effort necessary to unlock the mechanism and release the load. The central lever is interspersed between the toggle links and can move between spacer/stops attached to each of the toggle links. The spacer/stops keep the lever from exceeding the prescribed range of motion.
US08998277B2	Outside handle for sliding door An outside handle for a sliding door includes a base member, a grip member, and a lever. The base member is mounted on a door panel and has a first hole formed at one end thereof. The grip member is rotatably and slidably mounted to the base member and has a first hook formed at one end thereof, the first hook being inserted into the first hole. The lever is connected to the first hook of the grip member and is positioned in the first hole of the base member to enable rotation and sliding of the lever in response to rotation and sliding of the grip member. The outside handle improves the operation convenience and ease of assembly of outside handles for sliding doors.
US08998262B2	Seat-belt load limiter A device that limits a load of a seat belt includes various elements. For example, the device includes a seat-belt webbing and a shoulder anchor to which a portion of the webbing is secured. A button is attached to the webbing at a position that is a distance away from the portion secured to the shoulder anchor. The button is able to engage a lever, when the webbing is pulled out, to control energy absorption of the seat belt.
US08998261B2	Mounting structure A mounting structure for mounting a support for a seat belt to a vehicle, arranged so that when mounted to a vehicle it will move relative to the vehicle in a first range of directions under application of a first force urging the mounting structure in one of the range of directions, but will not move relative to the vehicle in a direction outside the first range of directions when a second, greater, force is applied urging the mounting structure in such a direction. The structure may have a bracket (7) secured to a vehicle by bolts (18) passing through slots (15) in the bracket, allowing the bracket to move generally in the direction of the slots, but not otherwise. De-couplers, in which toothed flanges (20) on collars (19) through which the bolts extend bear against raised pads on u-shaped washer structures (23) may be disposed between the bolt heads and the bracket to limit the force applied to the bracket and enable the applied force at which the bracket will move relative to the vehicle to be controlled.
US08998256B2	Loader stand A front loader (10) for a tractor with a parking stand unit (28) including a parking support (30) pivotably mounted on the front loader arm (12). A locking brace (32) is pivotably seated at one end on the parking support (30) and is movably guided at the other end by a guidance means (50) formed on the locking brace (32) and at least one guide groove (48, 49) formed in the parking support (30). The guidance means (50) can be brought by pivoting the parking support (30) into the parking position (P3) into a locking position in which it comes to rest at a stop (66) formed in the guide groove (48, 49). The guidance means (50) can be pressed against the stop (66) and fixed in the locking position by a support force of the front loader arm (12) acting in the parking position (P3) on the locking brace (32).
US08998247B2	Airbag cover with at least one flap An airbag enclosure has a cover formed by a rigid panel having a portion forming a flap defined by a plurality of sides all formed as breakaway lines and one of which also forms a hinge. The cover is made of a thermoplastic laminate that has a plurality of first layers alternating with a plurality of second layers. The first layers each consist of a homogenous thermoplastic film of a polyolefin copolymer, polyester, or a polyester copolymer. The second layers each consist of an array of strips, fibers, or filaments of polypropylene or polyester.
US08998245B1	Folding wheelchair A wheelchair includes left and right side frames and a folding mechanism for connecting the left and right side frames to each other in a folding and unfolding relationship. The folding mechanism includes cross struts rotatably connected to the lower side frame members, hinge links connected to the upper side frame members, and a lock for locking the hinge links together when the folding mechanism is unfolded to form a rigid truss between the left and right upper side frame members.
US08998238B1	Meal-serving stock shelf-equipped wheelchair There is provided a meal-serving stock shelf-equipped wheelchair, with which the wheelchair user can efficiently perform meal-serving work when charged with the work, and in which the stock shelf is capable of being folded in a compact manner after the meal serving. The meal-serving motorized wheelchair includes: a wheelchair meal-serving table that is attached via a frame; and a meal-serving stock shelf that is engaged with an engaging plate via an engaging portion. The meal-serving stock shelf is structured by a raising and lowering mechanism powered by a motor and a dish tray storage section. The dish tray storage section stores dish trays of at least two levels disposed at a predetermined interval. The stock shelf can be folded in a compact manner when not in use.
US08998236B2	Bicycle frame with adjustable suspension components A bicycle frame with an improved suspension system. The bicycle frame includes an adjustable dropout assembly that provides adequate shock absorption without affecting or being affected by the chain length or the pedaling action of the bicycle. The bicycle frame includes a uni-axis system that increases the efficiency and performance of the bicycle while eliminating latter movement found in traditional frames. The bicycle frame includes a micro-adjustable suspension system that allows the rider to easily adjust the suspension of the frame to precise measurements quickly and without additional tools.
US08998218B1	Shopping cart bottom shelf monitor The invention includes a pivoting floor member coupled to the bottom shelf of a shopping cart. The floor member is pivotally arranged so that it assumes a first position when nothing is placed upon it and a second position when any object having more than a predetermined weight is placed upon it. The floor member is mechanically coupled to a mechanical indicator which assumes a first indicating position when the floor member is in its first position and a second indicating position when the floor member is in its second position. The indicator may be a rod and sleeve arrangement and the rod may include indicia such as one or more colored stripes.
US08998217B1	Footwear with selectively retractable skating wheels A footwear product (10) with a selectively retractable skating mechanism (30) that permits a user to selectively change from WALK to SKATE. Mechanism (30) includes two coaxially disposed elongated rail assemblies (40; 60) conforming to each other and snuggly fitted to allow them to slide and cammingly deploy and retract wheel assembly (80) that protrudes outwardly in the SKATE position. Upper rail assembly (40) is totally housed within the sole assembly (20) in the WALK position.
US08998216B2	Vehicle A vehicle includes a pair of rear wheels, a frame portion, a roll-over protection cage supported by the frame portion, a pair of suspension assemblies at a rear region of the frame portion to suspend the pair of rear wheels, an engine supported by the frame portion, with at least a portion of the engine being at a more rearward position than the roll-over protection cage, and a rear stabilizer connecting the pair of suspension assemblies to each other. Each of the pair of suspension assemblies includes an arm portion supported pivotably by the frame portion, and a shock absorber which connects the arm portion and the frame portion to each other. The rear stabilizer overlaps the engine in a plan view, passing in front of the pair of shock absorbers and below the engine.
US08998215B2	Arrangement for overcoming an obstruction to traveling movement The invention relates to an arrangement (9) for overcoming an obstruction (8) to traveling movement, preferably on an automatically traveling floor cleaning appliance (1) having a driven travel wheel (3). To configure an arrangement of the kind in question in an improved manner, it is proposed that on the travel wheel (3), a lifting part (10) is mounted in an eccentrically pivotable manner, the lifting part protruding with a front end surface (12) beyond a running surface (7) of the travel wheel (3) in the direction of travel (r), a counter mounting being provided which is fixed to the housing.
US08998210B2	Card disposal system for table game A card disposal system for a table game is provided that is capable of assuring the disposal of all of cards corresponding to a predetermined number of decks that are used at a game table without any deficiency and without any fraudulent diversion being made over such cards.A card disposal system for a table game of the present invention includes a discharge opening (4) for disposal of cards (3) after a game, a disposed card receiving board (5) for receiving the cards 3 from the discharge opening (4), a disposed card information acquiring means (6) that acquires information on the number (rank) of the card 3 placed in the discharge opening (4), a group information acquiring means (7) that acquires group information of the card (3) disposed of, a card counter (8) serving as a number counting means that counts the number of cards (3) that are placed in the discharge opening (4) for disposal, a deck examination means (13) that determines whether cards (3h) to be disposed of includes all the cards within a predetermined number of decks, for example, 416 cards in case of 8 decks (52 cards×8 decks), and an output means (10) that outputs a result of the determination. With the card disposal system, a void hole is made on the card to be disposed of, and the disposal of all the cards without any deficiency and without any fraudulent diversion being made over such cards is assured.
US08998207B2	Image recording apparatus An image recording apparatus includes: a recording portion; a sheet conveyor; a detector; and a controller configured to control the sheet conveyor to stop a first-attribute sheet in a state in which the sheet conveyor is nipping the first-attribute sheet when the detector has detected that the first-attribute sheet reaches a first-attribute-sheet stopping position; and to control the sheet conveyor to stop a second-attribute sheet in a state in which the sheet conveyor is nipping the second-attribute sheet when the detector has detected that the second-attribute sheet reaches a second-attribute-sheet stopping position which is located on an upstream side of the first-attribute-sheet stopping position in the conveying direction.
US08998206B2	Medium feeding direction switching mechanism and medium issuing and collecting device A medium transport direction switching mechanism may be provided of a simple configuration which is capable of switching the transport direction of a transported information recording medium. One end may be a biasing member for biasing a pinch roller toward a transport roller engages a support shaft which supports the pinch roller, whereas the other end of the biasing member engages a retaining member which retains the support shaft. In the medium transport direction switching mechanism, rotational behavior of the pinch roller centering upon a rotational center of the transport roller is possible between a first facing position and a second facing position, wherein the pinch roller moves to the first facing position when the transport roller rotates positively, and moves to the second facing position when the transport roller rotates negatively.
US08998194B2	Image forming apparatus There is provided an image forming apparatus including separating members in a conveyance direction of sheets conveyed from a paper tray, the separating members being configured to separate the sheets one by one. The separating members include an upward regulating member configured to regulate a central part of a sheet in a width direction in a manner that the central part of the sheet points upward, and downward regulating members on both sides of the upward regulating member, the downward regulating members each being configured to regulate both ends of the sheet in the width direction in a manner that both ends of the sheet point downward. A position of an upper end of the upward regulating member is higher than a position of a lower end of each downward regulating member.
US08998192B2	Sheet punching device and image forming system In the invention, for a first sheet, regardless of the sheet size (width), a lateral registration detector is moved in a direction towards an edge face of the sheet from a home position to detect the edge face of the sheet. With lateral deviation in the sheet position corrected, punching is performed by a puncher. For the second and subsequent sheets, the lateral registration detector is moved in advance to near the edge face of the sheet with reference to the detected position of the sheet edge of the first sheet, and the edge face is detected at a given timing. With lateral deviation in the sheet position corrected, punching is performed by the puncher.
US08998188B2	Elastomer components that can be prestressed by pressure means and method for the production thereof Elastomer components (104), which are to have an elastomer volume with a sufficiently large prestress, as is required, for example, for use in wind energy plants. The elastomer components (104) are substantially based on the incorporation and integration of separating elements (105) into the elastomer body of the component, the elements are disposed either individually or in structures. The body may be compressed by pressure supplied into the region, between the separating elements and the surrounding elastomer material, or directly into the separating elements, such that elastomer components are prestressed in a dynamically adjustable manner.
US08998181B2	System and method for vibration isolation In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus includes a connection body and a connection element arranged at least partially within the connection body. The connection body is operable to couple to a first element in a link arrangement and the connection element is operable to couple to a second element in the link arrangement. The apparatus further includes a metallic spring system arranged circumferentially around at least a portion of the connection element. The metallic spring system is operable to compress in response to relative movement between the connection body and the connection element.
US08998180B2	Fuel carburetor A fuel carburetor includes a fuel passage, a heat medium passage, a space part, and an absorbent material. Ammonia as fuel flows through the fuel passage. The heat medium passage is arranged adjacent to the fuel passage, and a heat medium flows through the heat medium passage. Ammonia gas leaking out of the fuel passage flows into the space part. The absorbent material is provided in the space part for absorbing the ammonia gas. The fuel carburetor is configured to exchange heat between the fuel flowing through the fuel passage and the heat medium flowing through the heat medium passage so as to heat and vaporize the fuel.
US08998179B2	Aeration ship An aeration ship including a ship body, a ship bottom, and an aerator. The aerator includes an air cylinder having an upper section and a lower section. The upper section of the air cylinder is fixed on the ship body, and the lower section of the air cylinder penetrates the ship bottom and extends downwards.
US08998175B2	Rail crossover A railing assembly that, in one embodiment, includes a first rail, a second rail, and a post that are coupled with a rail crossover assembly. The rail crossover assembly may include a first end with a first flange configured to be received in a cavity of the first rail, a second end with a second flange configured to be received in a cavity of the second rail, and a post coupling member configured to be received in a cavity of the post. The first end, the second end and the third end of the rail crossover assembly are oriented so the post is substantially orthogonal with respect to the first rail and the second rail.
US08998172B2	Ball valve seat seal In an embodiment of the present invention, a valve seal for a ball valve includes a ball configured to mate with a tail piece, an annular seat ring to facilitate the mating of the ball with the tail piece, the seat ring having an angled wall having a first groove for accommodating a first seal and a second groove for accommodating a second seal, the first seal having a different Young's modulus from the second seal.
US08998169B2	Toothed gate valve seat In accordance with the present invention, there is provided is a fluid control valve configured to attenuate acoustic resonance generated by a fluid flow. The fluid control valve includes a valve body defining a fluid passageway. A pair of seat rings are coupled to the valve body, with each seat ring defining an opening disposed about the fluid passageway. Each seat ring includes a plurality of vortex generators disposed about the radial periphery thereof for generating streamwise vorticies which suppress acoustic resonance.
US08998166B2	Combination diaphragm piston actuator An actuator for operating a linear valve, such as a gate valve, includes a sealing plate that extends across the diameter of a housing. A diaphragm is located on, and fully supported by, the plate. When pressure media urges the diaphragm and sealing plate downward, the sealing plate urges a step downward to actuate a valve. A hub and an annular support plate can be assembled to form the plate, and the plate can be different sizes by selecting different sized annular support plates.
US08998164B2	Insulated foot pad for a tripod An insulated foot pad for a tripod has an insulated block sandwiched between two plates. The plates are made of a material that is a poor conductor of heat. Tripod legs placed on the foot pads will not sink into the snow on sunny days nor into warm asphalt on hot days.
US08998148B2	Acoustical warning system A locomotive warning system includes an acoustical warning subsystem configured to emit variably directed sound. A controller subsystem is responsive to an initiation command and is configured to trigger the acoustical warning subsystem to begin a sounding sequence when the initiation command is received at a first directivity angle and to continue the sound blast sequence at increasing directivity angles for a pre-establish time and/or distance traveled.
US08998140B2	Window of aircraft, closing member for opening and gasket seal An electromagnetic shield mesh 25 is provided on a window part 21, and a gasket seal 50 is provided between the electromagnetic shield mesh 25 and a window frame 30 made of a conductive material. The first seal part 51 of the gasket seal 50 has a low volume resistivity, and makes it possible to prevent electromagnetic noise from entering the inside of an airframe between the window part 21 and a window frame 30. Moreover, the second seal part 52 of the gasket seal 50, which is made in contact with the electromagnetic shield mesh 25 of the window part 21 on the outer perimeter side of window panels 23A and 23B, has a volume resistivity of, for example, 300 Ωcm or more, so that it becomes possible to prevent corrosion from occurring at contact portions with a clamp 28, a clip 29 or the like.
US08998139B2	Aircraft passenger seating arrangement A passenger seating arrangement in an aircraft cabin includes a plurality of pairs of seat units, the pairs of seat units being located directly behind one another, and each seat unit having a longitudinal axis. Each pair of seat units includes an aisle-seat unit and a non-aisle-seat unit. The longitudinal axes of the non-aisle-seat units are arranged in-line with one another, and the longitudinal axis of the aisle-seat unit of each pair of seat units is angled so as to provide a passenger access path linking the non-aisle-seat unit of a pair, with the aisle.
US08998135B1	Translating equipment rack system An apparatus and method comprising a rack and a translation mechanism. The rack may be configured to hold components. The rack may comprise movable rack segments that are movable independently of each other. The translation mechanism may be configured to move a portion of the movable rack segments relative to another portion of the movable rack segments inside a platform such that internal access to at least a portion of the components is provided inside the platform.
US08998133B2	Landing gear system A method and apparatus for changing a length of a landing gear system. A first cylinder and a second cylinder are moved relative to each other along an axis extending centrally through the first cylinder and the second cylinder such that the first cylinder and the second cylinder are in an extended position. In response to the first cylinder and the second cylinder being in the extended position, a flow of a fluid is substantially prevented between a first chamber formed between the first cylinder and the second cylinder and a second chamber within the first cylinder and the second cylinder. In response to a pressure applied to the first chamber, the first cylinder and the second cylinder are moved relative to each other along the axis such that a length of the first cylinder and the second cylinder is reduced.
US08998129B2	Landing gear Aircraft landing gear including an axle pivotally connected to a bogie beam and a locking device. The locking couples the axle to the bogie beam, and has a movable member and a follower. The movable member is movable between first and second configurations. Movement of the movable member towards the second configuration causes corresponding movement of the follower so as to transfer a steering force to the axle through the follower which causes the axle to rotate in a first direction. With the movable member in the first configuration, the follower is in a first configuration that inhibits the movable member being moved by an external force applied to the axle. With the movable member in the second configuration, the follower in a second configuration that permits the movable member to be moved by an external force applied to the axle.
US08998127B2	Pre-landing, rotor-spin-up apparatus and method A method and apparatus for reducing roll of rotorcraft landing in autorotation may include executing a flight with a rotorcraft. The flight may include first, second, and third portions ordered sequentially. During the first portion, the rotorcraft may be flown with the rotor exclusively in autorotation. During the second portion, the rotorcraft may be flown with the rotor powered at least partially by an engine of the rotorcraft, which may increase the rotational speed of the rotor. During the third portion, the rotorcraft may be flown with the rotor exclusively in autorotation. The flight and the third portion may terminate simultaneously with a touch down of the rotorcraft. Kinetic energy stored in the rotor during the second portion, during the third portion, bring the ground speed of the rotorcraft to substantially zero before touching down.
US08998126B2	Lift generating device A lift generating device is provided enabling vertical flight. The lift generating device includes a first revolution structure having a funnel shape and a second revolution structure having a funnel shape. Each revolution structure includes a circular open surface and an open stem. The second revolution structure is attached to the first revolution structure by a plurality of connectors so as to form a gap between the first revolution structure and the second revolution structure. A propeller is coupled to an open stem at a bottom end of the first revolution structure and a motor is operatively connected to the propeller to provide power for the propeller to suction air into the lift generating device.
US08998118B2	Truck mounted debris grinder A debris grinder interfaces directly with a typical roll-off container and a typical roll-off truck. By interfacing to the roll-off container, there is no need to feed waste by hand—an operation that is often dangerous to those operating the equipment. By interfacing with a typical roll-off truck, the debris grinder becomes mobile for spreading of the ground debris into the soil around the construction site. The debris grinder includes a skid portion for supporting and holding the roll-off container, a grinder portion for grinding debris from the roll-off container and depositing the ground-up debris onto the soil at the job site.
US08998116B2	Reagent injector with crimped pintle An injector for injecting a reagent includes an electromagnet and an axially translatable valve member positioned within a housing. The valve member is moveable from a seated position to an unseated position in response to energizing the electromagnet. The valve member includes a hollow tube including a curled end having a reduced diameter sized to allow a ball to partially extend beyond the tube end but not pass through the tube. The tube includes an inwardly extending detent restricting the ball from movement within the tube. A pintle head is fixed to the tube and positioned proximate the electromagnet.
US08998113B2	Drip irrigation emitter A drip irrigation emitter receives liquid flowing in an irrigation pipe at an inlet pressure and emits the liquid out of the emitter at an outlet pressure lower than the inlet pressure. The emitter has a flow path through which the liquid flows in the emitter, wherein below a threshold pressure of liquid in the pipe the emitter is adapted to emit a regulated flow of liquid out of the emitter, and above the threshold pressure of liquid in the pipe the emitter is adapted to emit a non-regulated flow of liquid out of the emitter.
US08998110B2	Safe handling spraying device Safe handling spraying device, which comprises a reservoir where is assembled an actuating lever or, manually or automatically actuating air pumps, that perform the internal reservoir pressurization. Inside of it, there is a pressure chamber where is stored water and the Chemical Concentrated product that is inside a pliable tightly closed bag. The reservoir (10) is designed for supplying water (Ag), the chemical concentrated product (CCP) is stored separately in a pliable container (12). The pliable container (12) is disposed inside of a pressure chamber or water reservoir (10), so that the same pressure defined inside the reservoir (10) is applied to the pliable container (12) simultaneously. The output end of the pliable container (12) is connected to the inlet of a mixing device (20) which doses the CCP continuously. After the CCP had been mixed with water, it communicates with a hose provided with an actuating trigger (30) and spraying nozzle (27) at the free end.
US08998106B2	Boom mounting assembly for an agricultural application machine A boom mounting assembly (20; 120; 220) for attachment to an agricultural application machine (10) is provided. The assembly comprises a boom support frame (22) which is suspended from a primary frame (24) mounted to a chassis. The boom support frame comprises a transverse beam (35) for supporting an intermediate section of a fluid application boom (16). The suspension mechanism allows both yaw and pitch of boom support frame relative to the primary frame resulting from fore and aft forces on the boom. Dampers (50, 52) are each connected between the primary frame and the boom support frame at a position spaced from the transverse centre of the assembly. Damping of pitch and asymmetrical yaw movement of the transverse beam away from a neutral position is controlled by the first and second dampers.
US08998102B2	Round thermostat with flanged rotatable user input member and wall-facing optical sensor that senses rotation A sleek, low-profile wall-mountable thermostat for controlling an HVAC system is described. The thermostat includes a ring-shaped controller that rotates about a central axis, and an optical sensor directed away from the central axis and toward a radially inward-facing surface of the ring-shaped controller so as to accurately detect optical signals indicating controller's rotational movement.
US08998098B2	Microcircuit card and a tool and method for making thereof A microcircuit card (2) and held within a carrier card (3) is generally shown as 1 in FIG. 1. The microcircuit card (2) is bounded on all edges except one edge (10a) which is free. The free edge (10a) is substantially in alignment with an edge (7) of a carrier card (3). The microcircuit card and carrier card are held together by connections (12), which can be broken to release the microcircuit card (20) so it can be used independently of the carrier card. The position of the microcircuit card allows it to be easily and cleanly removed from the carrier card.
US08998088B2	Token storage device Provided is a chip tray which is capable of accurately reading out an IC tag for use in RFID without increasing a magnitude of a magnetic field generated by an antenna. A magnetic field generating antenna is disposed along a direction in which a plurality of tokens having embedded therein feeder antennas of IC tags for use in RFID are stacked.
US08998079B2	Method and apparatus for money transfer A staged bill payment transaction method comprises receiving transaction information from a user terminal at a kiosk, building a staging record at a data center in communication with the kiosk, and providing a retrieval key to the sender. The transaction information includes sender and biller information, for example where the sender has an account with the biller. The staging record comprises the transaction information and the retrieval key, which identifies the staging record for finalizing the transaction. If the retrieval key leads to the staging record at the data center, the staged bill payment transaction proceeds to credit a send amount to biller. If not, the transaction is rejected.
US08998075B1	Gambling risk management device A gambling risk management device restricts access to financial resources while in a gambling facility to prevent risking financial resources beyond an initial selected limit. The device includes a container and a bottom door selectively closing a bottom opening into the container. A lock selectively secures the bottom door in a closed position. A bill compartment and a card compartment are each positioned in the container. A bill opening is positioned at a top of the bill compartment. The bill opening permits passing a bill through the bill opening into the bill compartment and restricts removal of the bill from the bill compartment. A card opening is positioned at a top of the card compartment. The card opening permits passing a card through the card opening into the card compartment and restricts removal of the card from the card compartment through the card opening.
US08998074B2	Displayable shipping container A container includes a first blank and a second blank. The first blank includes a first plurality of panel and a plurality flaps. The first plurality of panels includes a first side panel, a second side panel opposing the first side panel, a back panel, and a front panel of the container, the first plurality of flaps defines a bottom of the container and a first exterior portion of a top of the container. The front panel includes a first breakaway portion. The second blank includes an insert front panel and a top flap. The top flap defines a second exterior portion of the top of the container. The insert front panel includes a second breakaway portion that is attached to the first breakaway portion of the front panel.
US08998071B2	Three-pronged box flap closure device A three-pronged box flap closure device is provided for securing together three box flaps of a moving box or carton without the use of adhesive tape or overlapping the box flaps to secure the same together. One or more closure devices are contemplated for each box end, wherein each closure device comprises a first and second upper prong member forming a substantial V-shape with a common apex. A third prong member extends from the apex and between the first and second prong members, wherein the third prong member is disposed below the plane created by the first and second prong members. The first and second prong members are adapted to be positioned over a pair of aligned box flaps, while the lower prong member extends beneath a third, undermost box flap below the aligned box flaps, thereby sandwiching the three box flaps together along one side of the box end.
US08998069B2	Package with easy access opening The present package is formed from a bag construct that entirely surrounds a blank construct and that can be folded from a flat configuration to a carton configuration. The blank construct has five sides, including four sides and a bottom side, and an open top. The bag construct surrounds all four sides, the bottom, and the open top. The package includes a dispensing flap that provides access to contents, and the dispensing flap can be hinged about a hinge line or that can be removed entirely from the package. Any variance in density of product in the package can be accommodated by the stiff, yet flexible, sides of the package.
US08998067B2	Tubular friction welding joining method without rotation of the tubulars Tubulars are joined to each other without rotation of the tubulars. A coupling is placed between the aligned tubulars and is supported for rotation or oscillating about its longitudinal axis. The tubulars are clamped in a manner that allows a compressive force to be transmitted to the coupling as the coupling is rotated. An induction device can preheat each connection site before friction welding and/or provide heat as the connection is made and is allowed to cool down. The process can continuously create a string of casing or liner that can be run in or drilled into a wellbore.
US08998060B2	Resistive heated surgical staple cartridge with phase change sealant An apparatus for endosurgical use includes an instrument having an end effector and a staple cartridge insertable into the end effector. The staple cartridge includes staples, staple apertures, a resistive member, and a medical fluid. When coupled to a power source, the medical fluid is vaporized by the resistive member and expelled out the staple apertures onto the stapled tissue. The power source may be contained within the instrument. In one configuration, a resistive strip with strip contacts may electrically couple to a conductor in the end effector. The medical fluid may also be divided into a plurality of sealant pads corresponding to the staple apertures, and the medical fluid may be a depolymerizable cyanoacrylate, a sprayable thermoplastic urethane, or any vaporizable medicament or pharmaceutical. The staple drivers may include one or more apertures to permit the medical fluid to pass through or around the staple drivers.
US08998054B2	Holder for tongs A holder for a set of tongs is provided that includes a back anchoring portion with a tab joined to an intermediary bridge portion which is in turn joined to a forward tubular tong-receiving portion. A bend at the bridge portion positions the back anchoring portion to the back of the forward tong-receiving portion. The tab and bridge portion are adapted to be engaged over the top edge of an apron, apron tie, or similar support at a user's waist. The forward tong-receiving portion is formed into a generally open tubular-shape to receive a set of tongs. Preferably the holder is formed of a unitary continuous, thin blank. The support of the bridge and back anchor portion including a projecting tab allows the tongs to be inserted quickly and removed efficiently from the forward tubular tong-receiving portion.
US08998053B2	Load bearing devices for human load bearing usages A load bearing device for human use include first and second load bearing plates that have a first uncompressed position and a second compressed position that conform to the anatomy of the hips of a human. The plates are sufficiently rigid so as to prevent local inversion when the plates are subject to point or line loads and so as to distribute local loads over the plates. The plates can be used with belts, clothes, backpacks and other load carrying devices and can be incorporated into belts, clothes, backpacks and other load carrying devices.
US08998052B1	Skateboard carrier strap with reflective stripe This is a skateboard carrier strap that is designed in a manner to that of a waist belt. This is a skateboard carrier strap that is worn in said manner when not appropriating a skateboard. It is a carrier body strap in its separated state [FIG. 2] having a lower carrier body strap 10a member and an upper carrier body strap member 10b. Additionally there are loop straps 12 members located and attached at each end of upper member carrier body strap and lower member carrier body strap. Alternatively there are VELCRO (hook&loop) fastener open loop straps with high friction adhesive inlay, making this skateboard carrier suitable to appropriate multiple dimensions of long boards, skate boards and deck boards.The essence of this present art; it is a skateboard carrier strap designed and styled to be worn like a fashionable belt, when not being used to appropriate a skateboard. It is a no bulk, unobtrusive skateboard carrier suitable and desirable to those skilled in the present art. Its design makes it very accommodating to the skateboarder's persons, also appreciated by one skilled in the present art. It has a illuminating stripe that contours to the carrier's complete and entire length on both sides of the skateboard carrier strap webbing.Its illuminating stripe suggestively implies usage as a safety strap, in both its reflective feature and or, (see Specifications) its extended strap form design. It is a carrier for today's times and those in it, who are avid purchaser and appreciators of skateboard paraphernalia that is, the board pushers of today. The transparency of this present invention's superiority is that it has eluded the unattractiveness, balky and cumbersomeness, that plagues the outdated and out of touch prior art, and the other skateboard carriers.
US08998047B2	Hitch-mounted telescopic rack and method of use One possible embodiment of the invention could be a hitch-mounted telescopic rack and its operation, the rack could be comprised of a vertical telescopic tube assembly having an inner tube movably received within a hollow outer tube, the hollow outer tube having a hitch attachment end while the inner tube has an attachment end that connects to a top tube assembly that movably supports one or more rollers perpendicularly to the vertical telescopic tube assembly; wherein the hitch attachment end is reversibly received by a trailer hitch of an automotive vehicle to vertically orient the vertical telescopic tube assembly and place the rollers in a horizontal position distal from the trailer hitch, the one or more rollers moving an object relative to a rear edge of a top of the automotive vehicle as well as supporting the rear overhanging portion of the object that is placed on the top.
US08998039B2	Caulking guns An electric caulking gun may include a cartridge setting portion to which a cartridge containing a caulking material can be set, an electric motor, a push rod driven by the electric motor via a power transmission path and configured to be pressed against the cartridge for dispensing the caulking material from the cartridge, and an interruption device provided in the power transmission path and operable for interrupting the power transmission path and allowing the push rod to be freely moved.
US08998037B2	Drink dispensing device with holding and drip-collecting system for receptacles of different sizes A drink preparing device that includes a box and a holding and drip-collecting system that comprises a holding part positionable beneath a drink outlet in order to accept a first, relatively small receptacle, and being configured and dimensioned to be moveable between a deployed holding position suitable for accepting the small receptacle and a second position in which the part is moved at least partly out of the way of the drink outlet to create an unoccupied space in which a second, larger receptacle can be positioned, in place of the first receptacle, beneath the drink outlet.
US08998036B2	Dispenser and refill unit A dispenser including a base unit with an actuation mechanism for dispensing liquid and a refill unit insertable into the base unit in an inverted configuration with its outlet lowermost for the supply of liquid to the base unit. The refill unit includes an annular wall projecting into the refill unit and defining an outlet from the refill unit, the annular wall being closable at its innermost end by a valve element biased onto the annular wall. The base unit includes a hollow spigot and an annular seal surrounding and spaced from the top of the spigot whereby insertion of the refill unit into the base unit causes the spigot to enter the annular wall and to lift the valve element from the annular wall to define a flow path from the refill unit, and the annular seal to seal between the spigot and the annular wall.
US08998035B2	Liquid beverage concentrate dispensing system A system, method, and apparatus are disclosed for controllably dispensing a liquid beverage concentrate for use in dispensing a beverage. The beverage may contain liquid beverage concentrate in combination with a liquid dilution ingredient such as water and may also include one or more additional ingredients. This system, method, and apparatus provides more precise control of the quantity of beverage concentrate dispensed by operating a pump used to dispense the concentrate based on the number of pulses of concentrate dispensed. A calibration is made to determine the measure of concentrate in each pulse. This volume per pulse is recorded and stored in a controller to controllably dispense a precise volume for a specific type of concentrate based on a predetermined recipe retained in the controller for each drink, type, and volume of the finished beverage.
US08998034B2	Device with co-molded closure, one-way valve and variable-volume storage chamber, and related method A device includes a first part having a co-molded first support, valve cover and elastic actuator, and a second part having an injection molded second support, valve seat, and variable-volume storage chamber pre-form. The pre-form is blow molded into a flexible pouch defining the variable-volume storage chamber. The one-way valve includes a semi-annular, curvilinear, relatively rigid valve seat defining axially-extending, opposing first marginal portions, and an axially-extending first mid-portion angularly extending between the opposing first marginal portions. A flexible valve member is superimposed on the valve seat and defines axially-extending, opposing second marginal portions fixedly secured on or adjacent to respective first marginal portions of the valve seat, and an axially-extending second mid-portion angularly extending between the opposing first marginal portions and superimposed onto the first mid-portion of the valve seat. The flexible valve cover and valve seat form a normally closed axially and angularly extending valve seam therebetween.
US08998025B2	Container and base with deflectable dome Base for a container, the base being made of polymeric material, including a support surface having an outer perimeter defining a first dimension along a major axis and a second dimension along a minor axis disposed at an angle to the major axis. An inner wall is coupled to the support surface opposite the outer perimeter. A dome projects upwardly from the inner wall and has an initial depth with respect to the support surface, the initial depth of the dome is between approximately 8 percent to approximately 15 percent of the first dimension. The dome includes a major radius of curvature along the major axis and a minor radius of curvature along the minor axis. The dome is deflectable in response to a differential pressure across the base without permanent deformation of the base.
US08998016B2	Forcing-off device and container including such a device A forcing-off device of an, in particular, explosion-proof or flameproof container for electronic devices, the container including at least one base body having an opening surrounded by an opening edge and a cover part that can be placed onto or inserted into the opening edge. A forcing-off shoulder is formed on the base body or cover part at least in a section in circumferential direction of the container. The forcing-off shoulder is part of a shoulder running around the opening edge, and at least one forcing-off part is rotatably mounted in a lateral recess of the cover part or on the base body in an eccentric fashion between a forcing-off position and a passive position. The forcing-off part is an eccentric disc and in the forcing-off position is in abutment with the forcing-off shoulder for the gap-forming spacing of cover part and base body.
US08998012B2	Container cap locking mechanism A container cap locking mechanism includes a barb and adjacent stop both projecting downward from a cap edge to mesh with a V-shaped block projecting outward from a container sidewall.
US08998011B2	Collapsible rack A collapsible rack is disclosed. In one embodiment, a collapsible rack has a first supporting member, a second supporting member, a first connecting member and a second connecting member. The first supporting member may include a first pair of supporting rods, a second pair of supporting rods and a first supporting fabric. The first pair of supporting rods are parallel and spaced with a predetermined distance, as well as the second pair supporting rods. The first pair of supporting rods and the second pair of supporting rods are connected to form a rectangular surface and the first supporting fabric is secured. The structure of the second supporting member is substantially identical to the first supporting member, and the first and second supporting members are parallel, spaced with a predetermined distance and connected by the first and second connecting members.
US08998003B2	Ballasted cart storage station A freestanding storage station includes a pair of spaced-apart, generally parallel side members and a roof that is supported by the side members. Each side member includes a cross bar, and at least one saddle-shaped, hollow ballast-receiving member that straddles the cross bar and rests on the ground. When filled with ballast, the ballast-receiving members serve to stabilize the storage station relative to the ground and enable the storage station to resist movement due to environmental winds or collision. The ballast-receiving members include a first ballast-receiving portion and a second ballast-receiving portion, and the ballast member straddles the cross bar such that the first ballast-receiving portion resides on an interior-facing side of the cross bar and the second ballast-receiving portion resides on an exterior-facing side of the cross bar.
US08997993B2	Stackable envelope trays A stackable tray is provided that includes a tray having a bottom, a pair of side walls each having an upper edge, and a rear wall. A pair of support columns is provided on each side wall. Each of the support columns includes: a protrusion extending upwardly from a top portion of the support column; a first groove formed in a bottom portion of the support column, the first groove being aligned with the protrusion in the vertical direction; and a second groove formed in the bottom portion of the support column, the second groove being aligned with the upper edge of the respective side wall in the vertical direction.
US08997987B1	Wrap-around container carrier A carrier is constructed from paperboard and includes a rounded or non-rectangular top in combination with a non-rounded or rectangular bottom. Dust flaps which extend from the top and bottom of the carrier overlap one another to form a pair of opposing composite side panels. The dust flaps which are attached to the side panels include a crease or fold line adjacent to the bottom of the carrier which only extends partially along the height of the carrier so that the juncture between the side flap and the associated side panel adjacent the top of the carrier does not include a crease or fold line. As such, the side panel and adjacent side flap adjacent the top of the carrier can be tightly wrapped around the arcuate sidewall of the containers within the carrier to thereby provide a neat and tightly packed package configuration.
US08997977B2	Ammunition storage container An apparatus for storing ammunition. The apparatus is comprised of a first member and a second member. The first member has an interior portion. The second member is configured so that at least a portion of the second member may enter the interior portion of the first member. The first member includes a first element of a securing device and the second member includes a second element of the securing device. The securing device releasably secures the first and second members together.
US08997974B2	Transversely deformable endless conveyor belt for a conveyor device An endless conveyor belt for a conveyor device, includes a planar body (2) that is transversely deformable into a tubular configuration, the body having a plurality of longitudinal reinforcing members built into the body thereof. The body has an upper layer (10), a portion of the lower surface of which is combined with a lower layer (11). The two layers are made of two different elastomer materials, with the lower layer made of a first elastomer material, whose hardness is greater than that of the second elastomer material constituting the upper layer, and the lower layer includes a plurality of softening recesses (13) that are distributed across the entire length of the lower layer and each of which extend over at least a portion of the body thereof so as to reduce the resistance thereof to longitudinal deformations in order to reduce the resistance to the bending of the conveyor belt into the tubular configuration thereof.
US08997973B2	Conveyor system, belt, and method for measuring and controlling static electricity Conveying systems and method for detecting the presence of static electric charge on a conveyor. The conveyor system includes a conveyor with an outer conveying surface. Embedded or external static-electricity sensors make measurements of static electricity on the belt's conveying surface. A controller uses the measurements to control the level of electric charges on the belt by transferring charge to or from the belt.
US08997970B2	Storage device A storage device for products includes parallel transport elements configured to convey product in opposite directions, and storage sections formed on corresponding transport elements and defining a transport plane. A transfer element includes a transfer section that extends over the transport elements. An actuating drive is arranged beneath the transport plane and coupled to the transfer element to change receiving capacities of the storage sections. The actuating drive is configured to adjust the transfer element by movement along the transport elements. At least one of the transport elements is controllable independently of adjustment of the transfer element.
US08997962B2	Clutch apparatus for a power unit and power unit incorporating the same A clutch apparatus includes a clutch outer member for supporting friction discs, which are nonrotatable relative to the clutch outer member, and are axially slidable along a clutch axis; a clutch inner member for supporting clutch discs, which are nonrotatable relative to the clutch inner member, and are axially slidable along the clutch axis, and a pressure plate having a deep recess for accommodating a clutch spring engaged with the clutch inner member. The deep recess includes a bottom portion having a spring seat for receiving the clutch spring, and a partially cylindrical shape wall portion having an axis parallel to the clutch axis. The wall portion is oriented towards the clutch axis. The deep recess has a communicating portion formed therein for establishing the communication between the inner and outer surfaces of the wall portion so as to discharge oil towards the friction and clutch discs during operation.
US08997958B2	Hydraulic circuit, method for operating the same A dual clutch transmission, in particular of a motor vehicle, includes a hydraulic circuit for cooling the dual clutch transmission, wherein the hydraulic circuit includes at least one pump for conveying a hydraulic medium flow, at least one cooler for cooling the hydraulic medium flow, and a volume control valve for adjusting the hydraulic medium flow for at least one cooling system associated with clutches of the dual clutch transmission. The volume control valve is designed to convey the hydraulic medium flow in a first switching state to a first cooling system associated with a first of the clutches, and in at least one second switching state to a second cooling system associated with a second of the clutches.
US08997953B2	Shock absorber having a full displacement valve assembly A shock absorber includes a piston assembly disposed within a pressure tube. The piston assembly has a first and a second housing and a valve assembly located adjacent the first housing. The valve assembly has a valve disc which engages the first housing to close at least one of a first plurality of passages extending through the first and second housings and a biasing member for applying a load to the valve disc.
US08997952B2	Motor vehicle shock absorber A motor-vehicle shock absorber has a tube at least partially filled with damping liquid and extending, a piston rod axially shiftable inside the damper tube, and a piston connected to the piston rod and subdividing the damper tube into a piston rod-side working chamber and an opposite working chamber. An on-off control valve is axially movable inside the piston between a closed and an open position. A first soft-characteristic damping valve inside the piston through which the damping liquid may flow in both flow directions is connectable to a flow path of the damping liquid from one into the other working chamber through the control valve. A second hard-characteristic damping valve through which the damping liquid may flow in both flow directions is also provided in the piston.
US08997949B2	Brake beam assembly A low weight and low cost brake beam assembly having high static strength and fatigue resistance having two independent brake heads each including a receiving section for receiving and retaining an end of a tension member, an end of a compression member and a portion of an end extension.
US08997940B2	Elevator installation and operation method therefor An elevator installation includes a control unit and at least one elevator cage in a building with a plurality of stories, wherein elevator control units are arranged on at least two stories. A travel request is communicated to the control unit, wherein a destination story is defined either by the input into the elevator control unit or by an input into a control unit, which communicates the input to the control unit, and wherein the at least one input travel destination and the at least one input travel request are executed by the control unit by means of a collect operating mode. Energy consumption values of the elevator installation for journeys are determined by the control unit. A journey is undertaken to that destination story or travel request story for which the at least one energy consumption value of the elevator installation is smaller.
US08997937B2	Direct drive rotation device for passively moving fluid The device is configured for moving a fluid within a gearbox. In one illustrative embodiment, the device includes a base portion coupled to a rotatable member within the gearbox. An inlet portion of the device is configured to draw the fluid from a reservoir portion of the gearbox. The device is configured to utilize a centrifugal force for moving the fluid from the inlet portion toward the base portion along an interior surface of a conical portion. In another illustrative embodiment, the device includes a conical portion having an external threaded portion configured to capture a fluid during a rotation of the device. In such an embodiment, the threaded portion is configured to utilize a centrifugal force for moving the fluid captured by the threaded portion along an exterior surface of the conical portion.
US08997934B2	Lubrication system for a gear system providing emergency lubrication A lubrication system for a gear system for a wind turbine is disclosed. The lubrication system comprises a reservoir adapted to contain lubricant, first pump means arranged to supply lubricant from the reservoir to the gear system via a first fluid connection, and vacuum generating means arranged in fluid connection with the reservoir, thereby maintaining a total air pressure in the reservoir which is lower than an ambient pressure during normal operation. The lowered total air pressure in the reservoir draws lubricant from the gear system into the reservoir, thereby increasing the lubricant level in the reservoir and decreasing the lubricant level in the gear system, allowing the lubrication system to be operated in a ‘dry sump mode’. In the case of an emergency or during start-up the vacuum generating means is stopped, thereby increasing the total air pressure in the reservoir. This causes a decrease in the lubricant level in the reservoir and an increase in the lubricant level in the gear system, allowing the lubrication system to be operated in a ‘wet sump mode’.
US08997932B1	Climbing safety assembly A climbing safety assembly for securing a ladder to a stanchion includes a plate that may abut a stanchion so the plate extends laterally away from the stanchion. The plate selectively engages a ladder. The ladder is retained proximate the stanchion so the ladder may be safely climbed by a user. A hook is operationally coupled to the plate. The hook may selectively engage the stanchion so the hook retains the plate on the stanchion. A belt is operationally coupled to the plate. The belt may be extendable around the stanchion so the plate is retained on the stanchion.
US08997925B2	High temperature resistant sound absorbing materials for vehicle Disclosed is a highly heat resistant sound absorbing material for a vehicle capable of maintaining a shape even at high temperatures of about 200° C. or above and which satisfies UL 94V-0 flame retardancy. More particularly, the a highly heat resistant sound absorbing material includes a fiber material having a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of at least about 25% and capable of maintaining a shape at a temperature of about 200° C. or above, and a thermosetting binder resin capable of maintaining a shape at a temperature of about 200° C., wherein the fiber material and thermosetting binder resin are provided at a specific proportion.
US08997923B2	Sound wave guide for use in acoustic structures The bandwidth or acoustical range of an acoustic structure is increased by locating a sound wave guide within the acoustic cell. The wave guide divides the cell into two acoustical chambers. The two chambers provide an effective increase in resonator length of the cell.
US08997922B1	Exhaust muffler for vehicle An exhaust muffler for a vehicle includes a muffler body coupled to an exhaust pipe and a tailpipe coupled to the muffler body. The muffler body has a plurality of expansion chambers, an exit communication pipe that discharges exhaust to the tailpipe from one of the plurality of expansion chambers positioned in a most downstream part of an exhaust flow path, and a spark arrester arranged in the exit communication pipe. An exhaust flow path narrowing portion is provided at an entrance portion of the exit communication pipe.
US08997921B2	Exhaust system of saddle-ride type vehicle An exhaust system of a saddle-ride type vehicle includes an end cap and a muffler close to each other to achieve uniformity therebetween and which is capable of preventing the occurrence of a knocking sound. The exhaust system of a saddle-ride type vehicle includes a muffler connected to an exhaust pipe for discharging exhaust of an engine E and an end cap is attached to a muffler rear end portion. In the end cap, an insertion portion thereof is inserted into and held by an end cap inserted portion provided in the muffler rear end portion, and multiple protruding portions are formed on an outer surface of the insertion portion at a predetermined interval in a circumferential direction of the outer surface. The multiple protruding portions come in contact with an inserted portion inner peripheral wall surface of the end cap inserted portion.
US08997920B2	Method and damping element for reducing the natural vibration of a component The invention relates to a method for the reduction of the natural vibration (resonance) of a component (2). According to the invention a vibration behavior of component (2) is determined, wherein to each of the positions having vibration amplitudes, which exceed a preset threshold value, an attenuation element (1) is locally mounted, which is formed as a multilayered adhesive element including a support layer (1.1) and a self-adhesive damping mass. Moreover the invention relates to an attenuation element (1) for the reduction of the natural vibrations of a component (2). According to the invention the attenuation element (1) is formed as a multilayered adhesive element of a support layer (1.1) and a self-adhesive damping mass (1.2), wherein the support layer (1.1) is formed of a bend-resistant material and the damping mass (1.2) preferably is formed of butyl rubber.
US08997907B2	Variably openable radiator cowling, shroud, or fairing for over the road vehicles and the like A cowling assembly (10) is installed about the radiator (R) of a vehicle (V). A frame (12) fits about the radiator and defines an opening through which air can flow into the radiator. A rack and pinion drive (600) for moving a sheet (618) over the frame to expose a portion of the opening and allow air to flow into the radiator, the frame and sheet producing a smoother flow of air over and about the front of the vehicle thereby reducing the amount of drag on the vehicle while still allowing air flow into the radiator.
US08997905B2	Electric utility vehicle A utility vehicle can comprise a wheeled platform, a motor coupled to the platform and configured to propel the platform, at least one cleaning element coupled to the platform, wherein the at least one cleaning element is movable between a collapsed position and an expanded position, and one or more controls configured to move the at least one cleaning element between the collapsed position and the expanded position. The at least one cleaning element can also be movable between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the wheeled platform, and the one or more controls can further be configured to move the at least one cleaning element between the raised position and the lowered position.
US08997904B2	System and method for powering a hydraulic pump A hydraulic pump powering system includes a mobile vehicle, a first electric current generator device, and one or more electric pump motors. The mobile vehicle has first and second prime movers. The first electric current generator device is disposed onboard the mobile vehicle and is configured to be mechanically coupled with the first prime mover to convert movement created by the first prime mover into first electric current. The one or more electric pump motors are configured to receive the first electric current to power a hydraulic pump. The second prime mover is configured to generate movement that is converted into a propulsive force that propels the mobile vehicle. The one or more electric pump motors are configured to receive the first electric current in order to power the hydraulic pump to pump a fluid into a pumping location located off-board the mobile vehicle.
US08997897B2	Impregnated diamond structure, method of making same, and applications for use of an impregnated diamond structure A layer of matrix powder is deposited within a mold opening. A layer of super-abrasive particles is then deposited over the matrix powder layer. The super-abrasive particles have a non-random distribution, such as being positioned at locations set by a regular and repeating distribution pattern. A layer of matrix powder is then deposited over the super-abrasive particles. The particle and matrix powder layer deposition process steps are repeated to produce a cell having alternating layers of matrix powder and non-randomly distributed super-abrasive particles. The cell is then fused, for example using an infiltration, hot isostatic pressing or sintering process, to produce an impregnated structure. A working surface of the impregnated structure that is oriented non-parallel (and, in particular, perpendicular) to the super-abrasive particle layers is used as an abrading surface for a tool.
US08997896B2	Oil-based drilling fluid recovery and reuse Methods and related systems are configured to treat a drilling fluid to cause water droplets to coalesce. One or more phases are thereafter separated from the treated drilling fluid. The oil and/or solids separated from the treated drilling fluid may be added to a base fluid.
US08997889B2	Underwater drilling arrangement and method for introducing a foundation element into a bed of a body of water The invention relates to an underwater drilling arrangement and a method for introducing a foundation element into a bed of a body of water comprising a submersible working platform for placement onto the bed of a body of water, several ground contact elements which are arranged in an adjustable manner on the working platform for aligning the working platform on the bed of a body of water, and at least one guide pipe for receiving and guiding the drilling tool. For an improved anchoring provision is made according to the invention for the guide pipe to be supported in a longitudinally displaceable and rotatable manner on the working platform and for a guide pipe drive to be provided on the working platform for driving the guide pipe in a rotating manner.
US08997877B2	Riser components and methods for making the same A method for making a riser component includes: positioning a coupler adjacent and end of a tube such that a region of the coupler forms an interface with the tube's end, wherein the region includes a material (in some embodiments an aluminum alloy), and the tube's end includes a groove and another material (in some embodiments a steel alloy) that is different than the region's material; heating the region of the coupler to increase the region's malleability; and exerting pressure on the region of the coupler to plastically deform the region to insert some of the region's material into the groove in the tube's end. By fixing the coupler to the tube in this manner, the coupler may be strongly secured to the tube, and thus able to withstand high, dynamic loads frequently experienced in service. Also, the material of the coupler may be different than the material of the tube, and thus the material of the coupler may be lighter than the material of the tube. This allows one to design a riser component that is lighter than a conventional steel riser component having a steel tube and steel flanges, but that can withstand the high, dynamic loads frequently experienced in service.
US08997874B2	Method and apparatus for evacuating hydrocarbons from a distressed well A method of evacuating hydrocarbons from a plurality of nested tubulars of a well pipe, extending from an underwater well tree, includes attaching a fluid transmission line to the underwater well tree, the fluid transmission line having one end portion forming the attachment to the tree and the other end portion attached to a pump that forces fluid under pressure to the tree and attached nested tubulars. Openings are formed through one or more tubulars at a selected location. A specially configured fitting is attached to the tubulars. The fitting seals the openings. The fitting has an expandable seal that is expandable responsive to rotation of a rotating member that rotates upon a saddle, pulling a tapered mandrel against the seal. The saddle surrounds the mandrel and bears against an outer tubular of the nested tubulars. The fitting mandrel has a bore through which hydrocarbons escape from the tubulars.
US08997870B2	Method and apparatus for separating downhole hydrocarbons from water An apparatus for downhole separation of an oil/water fluid and the injection of the separated water into the formation includes a casing in a borehole, a tubing string in the casing, first perforations in the casing at a production zone in the borehole for admitting the mixture into an annulus between the casing and the tubing string, second perforations in the tubing string for admitting production fluid from the casing into the tubing string, third perforations in the casing for discharging separated water from the annulus into the formation, a packer in the annulus separating the first perforations from the third perforations, a first check valve in the tubing string above the packer for admitting the mixture from the tubing string into the annulus where water separates by gravity from the hydrocarbons for discharge through the third perforations, and a second check valve in the tubing string above the first check valve for admitting separated hydrocarbons from the annulus into the tubing string for passage to the top of the borehole.
US08997866B2	Cement compositions comprising lignite-based grafted copolymers and methods of use A method of cementing in a subterranean formation may comprise: introducing a cement composition comprising cement, water, and a lignite-based copolymer into a subterranean formation, wherein the lignite-based copolymer comprises a lignite backbone, a first grafted monomer selected from the group consisting of -acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, a salt of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, and a second grafted monomer comprising N,N-dimethylacrylamide; and allowing the cement composition to set in the subterranean formation, wherein cement composition has a transition time of less than or equal to about 150 minutes.
US08997865B2	Process of sealing a breakthrough created during the production of hydrocarbons in a subterranean formation A method for sealing a breakthrough penetrating an injection well.
US08997851B2	Grinding arrangement for tool joints on a drill string A grinding arrangement is described to remove sharp edges on a pipe coupling (51) of a drill string (50), as a consequence of marks from the jaws of pliers and machines used to connect the pipe couplings (51) on a drill deck. A receiving unit (30) is arranged to receive a grinding unit (36) which is equipped with at least one grinding element (38), as the grinding unit (36) is arranged to be driven into the receiving unit (30) with the help of the drill string (50) or a suitable running tool and to be locked securely into the receiving unit (30). Furthermore, the receiving unit is arranged in a riser, landing string or in other connections between the drill deck and a wellhead and over a sealing arrangement for dynamic sealing around the drill string (50) during pressure controlled drilling.
US08997850B2	Method and apparatus for dropping a pump down plug or ball An improved method and apparatus for dropping a ball, plug or dart during oil and gas well operations (e.g., cementing operations) employs a specially configured tool body assembly having valving members (e.g., safety or kelly values) and valving members holding plugs, balls, or darts to be dropped. In one embodiment, the ball(s), dart(s) or plug(s) are contained in a sliding sleeve that shifts position responsive to valve rotation. An optional indicator indicates to a user or operator that a ball or plug has passed a selected one of the valving members. A transmitter (or transceiver) provides an ability to generate a wireless signal that is received by receivers (or transceivers) on the tool body assembly. Each receiver (or transceiver) controls an electrical actuator that engages a valving member or the indicator. Wireless signals can be used to open or close a valve or to reset a “tripped” indicator.
US08997848B2	Pressure balanced ultrasonic flowmeter A system, including an ultrasonic flow meter with a conduit including a conduit wall and configured to flow a fluid, an housing disposed about the conduit to define a fluid chamber about the conduit, wherein the conduit facilitates fluid flow into the fluid chamber and through the ultrasonic flow meter and a first ultrasonic transducer disposed in the fluid chamber.
US08997844B2	Reinforced collector for the collecting box of a heat exchanger and collecting box comprising one such collector The invention relates to a manifold, of the type comprising a substantially flat plate (20) with holes (22) to accept tubes of a heat exchanger, and turned-up lateral edges (24) extending at an angle to said plate (20) and connected thereto by at least one curved portion in which ribs (52) are formed, the ribs each having a convexity extending substantially in the direction of extension of the lateral edges (24). The plate (20) comprises at least one additional rib (50) between at least some of said holes (22), which ribs each have a convexity extending substantially in the opposite direction to the direction in which the lateral edges (24) extend.
US08997833B2	Method of producing ingot with variable composition using planar solidification Molten metal of a first composition is fed into a mold cavity, via a first control apparatus, wherein the control apparatus is open, wherein the feeding includes at least flowing out of a first feed chamber. The first control apparatus is closed. A second control apparatus is opened. Molten metal of a second composition is fed into the mold cavity, via the second control apparatus, wherein at least a portion of the metal of the first composition in the mold cavity is sufficiently molten so that an initial feed of molten metal of the second composition mixes with the molten metal of the first composition in the mold cavity, wherein the feeding includes at least flowing out of a second feed chamber, wherein the second composition is different from the first composition. An ingot is removed from the mold cavity, wherein the ingot as a top section, a middle section, and a bottom section, wherein the bottom section is composed of metal of the first composition, wherein the top section is composed of metal of the second composition, wherein the middle section is composed of a mixture of metal of the first composition and the second composition.
US08997831B2	Sunshade assembly A sunshade assembly includes two rail seats, a shade member and a guide unit. The shade member has a main portion and two foldable portions connected respectively to left and right sides of the main portion. The guide unit includes two guide members mounted respectively to the rail seats. Each guide member has a guide groove for receiving a portion of a respective one of the foldable portions of the shade member, and a guide surface formed in the guide groove. When the shade member is unwound, the foldable portions pass through the guide grooves and are urged to be folded through guidance of the guide surfaces before entering and being confined in the rail seats.
US08997830B1	Drape assembly A drape assembly facilitates replacement of curtains without tools and without disassembling or taking down a curtain rod. The assembly includes a suction cup that may be coupled to a support surface. A tubular rod is removably coupled to the suction cup so the tubular rod is spaced from the support surface. A coupler is slidably coupled to the tubular rod so the coupler is movable between a first end and a second end of the tubular rod. A drape is selectively coupled to the coupler so the drape extends downwardly from the tubular rod.
US08997828B2	Shield system A shield system adapted for use in an air cooler structure (100). The shield system includes at least one flexible sheet (304) and at least one arrangement (106) for fixing, in use, the at least one flexible sheet to an air cooler structure.
US08997824B2	Solar shutter A window covering specially designed and attached to indoor residential shutters is disclosed. The window cover is removably attached by various means in various embodiments and provides a user with more control over light transmission, solar transmission and view through properties, as desired. In a preferred embodiment, holes are drilled into as shutter at respective corner. Subsequently, circular magnets are provided to each of the holes to mate with ferromagnetic material configured to the window covering. A variety of fabrics and color options are additionally provided to the window covering.
US08997815B2	Ultrasonic bonding apparatus According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic bonding apparatus includes an ultrasonic transducer, a distal-end tool, an ultrasonic horn and an ultrasonic oscillator. The ultrasonic oscillator includes an oscillation circuit and a control device. The ultrasonic oscillator applies the voltage oscillated by the oscillation circuit to the ultrasonic transducer. The control device is configured to detect a voltage reflection ratio from the voltage and current supplied from the oscillation circuit and to control the frequency of the voltage generated by the oscillation circuit, thereby to minimize the voltage reflection ratio.
US08997805B2	Pneumatic tire and method of manufacturing the same Provided is a pneumatic tire in which the adhesion of a noise absorbing member formed of a porous material is improved. A pneumatic tire according to the present invention includes a resin layer, a noise absorbing member and a locking member. The resin layer is formed of any one of a thermoplastic resin and a thermoplastic elastomeric composition obtained by dispersing an elastomer in a thermoplastic resin, and is formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the tire. The noise absorbing member is formed of a porous material, and is disposed on the resin layer. The locking member is formed of a thermoplastic resin, and is bonded to the resin layer through the noise absorbing member by thermal fusion.
US08997803B2	Dispensing system and method of controlling the system A dispensing system is provided that includes a vessel having a base portion with an aperture, and a dispenser containing a control system. The dispensing system controls the flow of a liquid into the vessel to provide for a rapid fill.
US08997796B2	Durable semi-rigid single-layer flexible duct A durable, semi-rigid, single-layered flexible duct having a sleeve made of a single aluminum layer and a resilient wound element disposed at the mid-point of the overlap region of the aluminum layer. The wound element imparts corrugations to the sleeve, such that the duct is extendible between a compacted configuration suitable for storage and for shipping and an extended configuration suitable for installation in a gas transport arrangement. Closely and evenly-spaced ridges that are situated in between the corrugations, add rigidity and durability to the duct. The inward-facing surface of the aluminum ribbon is substantially smooth and featureless except for the helical corrugations imparted by wire winding and the closely and evenly-spaced ridges. The aluminum sleeve is of a predetermined thickness rendering the duct substantially rigid when in an extended configuration and enabling the duct to maintain its substantial rigidity upon extension from a compacted configuration.
US08997788B2	Differential pressure metering device A metering end cap provided to the neck of a flexible container containing a fluid and intended to transfer, at will, an amount of fluid from an upstream space towards a downstream space, this end cap including a chamber in which is disposed a movable valve normally biased towards a rest position and operationally moved towards an end position. The valve isolates the upstream space and the downstream space from each other in its end position and only in this position, and the outlet of the chamber communicates with the upstream space for any position of the valve other that its end position.
US08997786B2	Work vehicle having hydraulic apparatus Disclosed is a work vehicle having a hydraulic apparatus which can reliably prevent erroneous operation of the valve of the hydraulic apparatus even when the operating lever is moved inadvertently. With this hydraulic apparatus, with operations of a single operating lever in two directions, two valves are operated respectively. Two valve operating links for operating the two valves respectively are pivotally supported to a support shaft provided to a pair of frame plates and a lock pin is provided to the frame plates. The two valve operating links form pin holes. When the two valves are at the neutral positions, the lock pin is inserted into the pin holes with a locking operation of a lock operating tool, thus fixing the valve operating links and locking the valves.
US08997782B2	Inlet control valves for use with fuel delivery systems Inlet control valves for use with fuel delivery systems are described. An example inlet control valve includes a first body portion having a first coupling to define an inlet of the control valve and one of a plurality of fasteners or a plurality of slots opposite the inlet. A second body portion coupled to the first body portion to define a fluid flow passageway, where the second body portion has a second coupling to define an outlet of the control valve and the other one of the plurality of fasteners or the plurality of slots opposite the outlet. The first plurality of slots receives the first plurality of fasteners when the first body portion is coupled to the second body portion. A valve is pivotally coupled relative to the first and second body portions to control fluid flow through the passageway.
US08997781B2	Vacuum pump The invention relates to a vacuum pump, in particular a vane pump, having a pump housing in which an intake chamber is provided, and a pump housing opening which feeds into the intake chamber, wherein an intake check valve is arranged in the pump housing opening and communicates with the atmosphere or feeds into an external vacuum chamber, with the intake check valve being accommodated in a pot-shaped valve housing, and with the pot-shaped valve housing having a housing bottom and a housing jacket, wherein the housing bottom is connectable to the housing jacket and the housing bottom can be snapped onto the housing jacket.
US08997778B2	Conduit and a method of cleaning a conduit The invention relates to a conduit for transferring milk. The conduit is provided with at least one flexible wall, which divides the conduit into at least one milk duct and at least one secondary duct. The milk duct and the at least one secondary duct extend along a longitudinal axis of the conduit, it being possible for the at least one milk duct to be substantially emptied by pressing through filling the at least one secondary duct.
US08997768B1	Retractable canopy assembly A retractable canopy assembly includes a recoiling member that has a first end, a second end and a perimeter wall extending between the first and second ends. A mount is attached to the recoiling member and is configured to engage a dwelling surface. A canopy has an attached end, a free end, a top surface, a bottom surface, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge. The attached end extends through the canopy aperture and is attached to the spindle of the recoiling member. The recoiling member retracts the canopy into the recoiling member when the spindle rotates in the first direction. A pair of legs each is pivotally attached to the canopy adjacent to the free end. A pair of side panels each has a fixable end and a hanging end. Each of the first and second lateral edges has one of the fixable ends removably coupled thereto.
US08997764B2	Method and apparatus for liquid treatment of wafer shaped articles An apparatus for treating a wafer-shaped article, comprises a spin chuck for holding a wafer-shaped article in a predetermined orientation, at least one upper nozzle for dispensing a treatment fluid onto an upwardly facing surface of a wafer-shaped article when positioned on the spin chuck, and at least one lower nozzle arm comprising a series of lower nozzles extending from a central region of the spin chuck to a peripheral region of the spin chuck. The series of nozzles comprises a smaller nozzle in a central region of the spin chuck and a larger nozzle in a peripheral region of the spin chuck. In the method according to the invention, a heated liquid is supplied through the series of nozzles so as to supply more heat to peripheral regions of a wafer than to central regions.
US08997761B1	Mini-toothbrush with flosser A disposable mini-toothbrush comprises a brush and flosser head positioned at a first and second end of a handle portion. The brush head is comprised of a plurality of bristles that extend in opposite directions from a bristle supporting element. The plurality of bristles which extend in opposite directions facilitate cleaning of the upper and lower teeth without having to readjust grip by a user. The mini-toothbrush also comprises a first and second flat grip element to facilitate manipulation of the brush and flosser head while using only a thumb and at least one finger by the user. In its preferred embodiment, the plurality of bristles will be coated with dentifrice for cleaning is of the user's teeth and gums. A thin plastic cover surrounds and seals the toothbrush and provides a seal which maintains sterility during shipping and storage.
US08997759B2	Applicator with tubular, overmolded core element The invention relates to a cosmetics applicator having a handle section, an applicator element and a shaft section connecting the applicator element and the handle section, wherein the applicator element includes a core element of a first material and a bristle element which at least partially envelops the core element and includes a second material preferably different from the first material with regard to its hardness and/or flexibility.
US08997753B2	Electronic smoking article An electronic smoking article comprising an aerosol generator and a mechanical aerosol converter insert having the capacity to improve characteristics of aerosol produced by the aerosol generator, including sensory attributes.
US08997751B2	Surgical instrument A surgical instrument has a gas-delivery device to supply a noble gas or other inert gas to a tissue-treatment region and a rinsing device for rinsing a target region, in particular a tissue-treatment region. In the instrument the rinsing pressure is generated by the inert gas supplied by the gas-delivery device.
US08997748B2	Dilator assembly, a device for facilitating tracheostomy and methods of making a percutaneous tracheostoma A dilator assembly for percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy includes a dilator element having a wall and a proximal end part extending into a distal tip part via an intermediate part. The wall has a substantially U-shaped cross section defining a dilator opening. The assembly extends towards the distal tip part. The dilator assembly is part of a tracheostomy device. The device has a first branch for arranging inside the trachea, and a second branch co-operative with the first branch. The first branch has a first end and a receiving member while the opposing second end has a first coupling part. The second branch has a first end with a guide for a neck penetration member and an opposing second end with a second coupling part for coupling with the first coupling part of the first branch. The first and second branches are detachably coupled together at their respective second ends.
US08997742B2	Ergonomic and adjustable respiratory mask assembly with cushion A respiratory mask assembly for delivering breathable gas to a patient includes a frame having a front surface and a rear surface adapted in use to face the patient. A cushion having a side wall is removably attachable to the frame. The cushion has a rim extending away from the side wall, and a membrane provided to substantially surround the rim. An inner edge of the membrane defines an aperture, the aperture having a generally trapezoidal shape.
US08997738B2	Delivering diluted oxygen to a patient A device for delivering diluted oxygen to a patient is provided. The device comprises a configurable oxygen delivery unit and multiple orifices in the configurable oxygen delivery unit. Each of the orifices has a size which pertains to a particular oxygen concentration. The configurable oxygen delivery unit is structured to enable selectively altering the oxygen concentration without requiring replacement of any components in a respiratory circuit.
US08997737B2	Inhaler An inhaler is disclosed. It comprises a housing to receive a strip of blisters each having a puncturable lid and containing a dose of medicament for inhalation by a user, a mouthpiece through which a dose of medicament is inhaled by a user and, an actuator operable to sequentially move each blister into alignment with a blister piercing member. The actuator is also operable to cause the blister piercing element to puncture the lid of a blister such that, when a user inhales through the mouthpiece, an airflow through the blister is generated to entrain the dose contained therein and carry it out of the blister and via the mouthpiece into the user's airway.
US08997731B2	Gas cooking appliance The invention relates to a gas burner for a gas cooking appliance with at least one gas hob and/or one gas oven, wherein the gas burner (10) comprises a heat source (18) and an electric ignition system (24), and wherein an electric or electronic control circuit (38) is provided for controlling the electric ignition system (24). According to the invention the gas burner (10) includes a photovoltaic generator (20) for generating the electric power for the electric ignition system (24).
US08997726B2	Method for diagnosing a liquid-cooled exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine A method is provided for checking the functional capacity of a liquid-cooled exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine, having an exhaust line connected to the exhaust manifold, in the course of which an exhaust gas sensor having an electrical heater is arranged. During the operation of the internal combustion engine, the electrical resistance of the exhaust gas sensor is determined, on the basis of which the current value of the exhaust gas temperature is evaluated, and compared to a target value of the exhaust gas temperature, which is expected at this point in the operation of the internal combustion engine. Depending on the result of the comparison, the functional capacity of the liquid-cooling of the exhaust manifold is estimated.
US08997725B2	Methods and systems for reducing the formation of oxides of nitrogen during combustion of engines The present disclosure is directed to various embodiments of systems and methods for reducing the production of harmful emissions in combustion engines. One method includes correlating combustion chamber temperature to acceleration of a power train component, such as a crankshaft. Once the relationship between acceleration/deceleration of the component and combustion temperature are known, an engine control module can be configured to adjust combustion parameters to reduce combustion temperature when acceleration data indicates peak combustion temperature is approaching a harmful level, such as a level conducive to the formation of undesirable oxides of nitrogen. Various embodiments of the methods and systems disclosed herein can employ injectors with integrated igniters providing efficient injection, ignition, and complete combustion of various types of fuels.
US08997723B2	Method and system for pre-ignition control Methods and systems are provided for reducing late burn induced cylinder pre-ignition events. In response to a late burn combustion event in a cylinder, ignition coil dwell time is extended in the cylinder to reduce unintended combustion delays. In addition, pre-ignition mitigating actions are performed in a neighboring cylinder that may be prone to pre-ignition induced by the late combustion event.
US08997718B2	Fuel injector actuator assemblies and associated methods of use and manufacture The present disclosure is directed to integrated injector/igniters providing efficient injection, ignition, and complete combustion of various types of fuels. One such injector/igniter can include a body having a base portion opposite a nozzle portion. The base portion receives fuel into the body and the nozzle portion can be positioned adjacent the combustion chamber. The injector further includes a valve carried by the nozzle portion that is movable between a closed position and an open position to inject the fuel into the combustion chamber. An actuator is coupled to the valve and extends longitudinally through the body towards the base portion, and a driver is carried by the body and is movable between a first position and a second position. In the first position the driver does not move the actuator and in the second position the driver moves the actuator to move the valve to the open position.
US08997716B2	Controlled nozzle injection method and apparatus A nozzle injection apparatus for use in internal combustion engines includes a fuel pump for intermittently pressurizing fuel, an injection conduit in fluid communication with the fuel pump, the injection conduit permitting the pressurized fuel to be communicated to a fuel injection nozzle a control valve in fluid communication with the nozzle, wherein the control valve dynamically and selectively controls a pressure of said pressurized fuel within the injection conduit.
US08997714B2	Method for operating a direct fuel injector A method, comprising: operating an engine cylinder with fuel from a first injector and not a second injector and activating the second injector in response to a rail pressure increase of a fuel rail, the fuel rail coupled to the second injector. In this way, degradation of the second injector may be reduced by activating the second injector and allowing fuel flow through the second injector to reduce the pressure and temperature of the fuel rail.
US08997708B2	Intake manifold An intake manifold capable of discharging oil or water in a liquid reservoir in a stable manner includes an introduction section for introducing air to a combustion chamber of an engine, a liquid reservoir provided under the introduction section for retaining a liquid medium, a differential pressure tank including a first chamber, a second chamber, and a differential pressure valve for regulating flow from the second chamber to the first chamber, a return passage for allowing the liquid medium accumulated in the liquid reservoir to return to the first chamber from the liquid reservoir when the pressure in the second chamber is higher than the pressure in the first chamber, and an exhaust passage for discharging the liquid medium having flown into the second chamber from the first chamber to the instruction section when the pressure in the second chamber is lower than the pressure in the first chamber.
US08997706B2	Internal combustion engine valve actuation control arrangement In an internal combustion engine a valve actuation control arrangement is provided, which has at least three independently axially displaceable cam elements and a switch gate which has at least one continuous gate track for displacing the at least three cam elements sequentially one after the other.
US08997703B2	Internal combustion engine, with a system for variable actuation of the intake valves provided with improved solenoid valves, and solenoid valve for this engine An internal combustion engine for motor-vehicles, includes a system for variable actuation of the intake valves of the engine having a solenoid valve controllable between a closed condition and an open condition wherein it places a pressurized fluid chamber in communication with an exhaust chamber, with the aim of decoupling the intake valve from the respective tappet and causing the quick closing of the intake valve due to the respective return spring. The solenoid valve has a valve element with a cylindrical body having a first conical surface portion and a second conical surface portion. The conical surface portions are defined by the axially opposite ends of a circumferential groove formed on the valve element. The first conical surface portion cooperates with the valve seat. The other conical surface portion has an outer diameter substantially identical to the diameter of the annular edge defining the valve seat.
US08997701B2	Rotary synchronous charge trapping An exemplary two-stroke internal combustion engine can comprise one or more cylinders comprising exhaust ports, one or more pistons configured to cyclically cover and uncover the exhaust ports during reciprocation of the pistons within the cylinders, and one or more rotary exhaust valves associated with each exhaust port. The exhaust valves can be configured to rotate around a valve axis that is substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of a crank shaft of the engine. Each exhaust valve at least partially obstructs the associated exhaust port during a portion of the exhaust valve's rotation about the valve axis while the associated exhaust port is at least partially uncovered by the associated piston, thereby trapping fresh charge within the combustion chamber.
US08997696B1	Pet deterrent A deterrent device which discourages pets from climbing on furniture, or stealing food from countertops or tables, is set using a spring release arm connected to a large trip plate. Once the deterrent device is tripped, a large padded arm will swing up and over the trip plate. The force of the padded arm is very low and will not cause damage or pain. The deterrent device can be reset upon tripping and is preferably used to train an animal to avoid certain areas.
US08997694B2	Microbial mediated chemical sequestering of phosphate in a closed-loop recirculating aquaculture system A system and method for removal of phosphates from a closed loop estuarine or marine recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), involving denitrification in the presence of a media substrate for: 1) anaerobic nitrate, nitrite and ammonia removal and 2) sequestering of excess phosphate in the RAS. Phosphate is precipitated in or on the denitrifying biofilm formed on the media substrate as phosphate salts. The phosphate salt-containing media substrate can be removed from the RAS, the phosphates can be removed, and both the substrate and the phosphates can be reused or recycled.
US08997689B2	Treat dispenser One embodiment of a treat dispenser for an animal comprises a first and second chamber separated at a junction of the chambers by a dividing wall, wherein each chamber is formed from a skeletal framework, wherein the skeletal framework of the first chamber is substantially open and the skeletal framework of the second chamber is substantially closed, and further comprising a sound device disposed within the second chamber.
US08997687B2	Apparatus and method for plasma arc coating A system for coating a side surface of a moving substrate. The system includes an array of plasma sources, a first plurality of orifices located upstream of the array and a second plurality of orifices located downstream of the array. A coating reagent is injected from each orifice into a plasma jet issuing from plasma source associated with that orifice. A controller modulates the flow of coating reagent and the flow flush gas to the orifices according to the contours of the substrate and to the position of the substrate relative to the array. An additional plasma array and set of orifices may be employed to coat the opposite side surface of the substrate.
US08997686B2	System for and method of fast pulse gas delivery A system for and method of delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a tool is described. A system for delivering pulses of a desired mass of gas to a process chamber or tool, comprising: a gas delivery chamber; a first valve arranged so as to control the flow of gas into the gas delivery chamber; a second valve arranged so as control the flow of gas leaving the gas delivery chamber so that the gas can leave the gas delivery chamber in pulses, each of a selected mass as a function of the initial pressure of the gas in the gas delivery chamber and the duration of the respective pulse; and a pressure control arrangement configured and arranged so as to control the flow of gas into the gas delivery chamber so as to precharge the gas in the gas delivery chamber to an initial pressure set point prior to delivering the pulses of gas such that the variance of the starting pressure of the gas in the gas delivery chamber is controlled prior to delivering the pulses of gas, and the repeatability of the mass delivery is improved as a function of the duration of each of the pulses.
US08997680B2	Detachable animal alert device and method of use thereof An animal alert device comprising a sound emitting device, the sound emitting device having an internal geometry configured to emit sound while a vehicle is in motion, an attachment portion having a first portion, a second portion, and a transition portion, wherein the attachment portion is configured to engage a window of the vehicle when in a first position, and an extension portion operably connecting the sound emitting device and the attachment portion, wherein the animal alert device is movable from the first position to a second position from a position within the vehicle is provided. Furthermore, an associated method is also provided.
US08997678B2	Underwater load-carrier An underwater load-carrier is disclosed that includes an underwater-balloon detachably attached to a container that is loaded with ballast. The underwater load-carrier is lowered into the water of an ocean and allowed to descend to the ocean bottom and there connected a mining-vehicle. The mining-vehicle loads mined nodules into the container while the container ejects ballast to maintain the container at a specified altitude above the ocean bottom. When nodule loading is complete, nodules and/or ballast is ejected to allow underwater load-carrier to rise to the ocean surface where mined nodules is unloaded from the container.
US08997675B2	Paravane increased lift, towing system and method A method and a marine towing system for towing streamers or sources. The towing system includes a connecting line; a first paravane connected to the connecting line, wherein the connecting line is configured to connect the first paravane to a vessel; a spur line connected to the first paravane and configured to provide a tension to maintain streamers apart from each other; and a second paravane connected to the connecting line, between the first paravane and the vessel. The second paravane is configured to increase an angle (α4) between the connecting line and the spur line.
US08997672B2	Surface topographies for non-toxic bioadhesion control An article has a surface topography for resisting bioadhesion of organisms and includes a base article having a surface. A composition of the surface includes a polymer. The surface has a topography comprising a pattern defined by a plurality of spaced apart features attached to or projected into the base article. The plurality of features each have at least one microscale dimension and at least one neighboring feature having a substantially different geometry. An average feature spacing between adjacent ones of the features is between 10 μm and 100 μm in at least a portion of the surface. The surface topography can be numerically represented using at least one sinusoidal function. In one embodiment, the surface can comprise a coating layer disposed on the base article.
US08997669B1	Thread tensioner for a sewing machine Thread tensioner for a sewing machine. In one example embodiment, a thread tensioner for a sewing machine includes a first disk, a second disk, a spring, a knob, and a sensor. The second disk is positioned next to the first disk. The spring is configured to apply tension to a thread positioned between the first disk and the second disk by exerting a force against the second disk. The spring defines a length between a first end and a second end. The knob is configured, when rotated in one direction, to travel along a threaded shaft toward the spring and thereby cause the length of the spring to shorten. The knob is configured, when rotated in another direction, to travel along the threaded shaft away from the spring and thereby allow the length of the spring to lengthen. The sensor is configured to track a current length of the spring.
US08997666B2	Elevated fixed-grate apparatus for use with multi-fuel furnaces A combustion device in the form of an elevated fixed-grate that includes arcuately shaped solid refractory brick with ribs placed thereunder so as to allow horizontal air flow for fuel combustion. The brick are arranged atop one another in a stacked concentric configuration that forms a central fuel passageway and allows cascading of a fuel pile throughout the combustion stages. The device provides the benefit of proper de-ashing online while distributing the underfire air radially around the fuel pile. The elevated design of the bricks allows the air to be evenly distributed throughout the fuel pile and further allows the isolation of overfire and underfire air. Segregating overfire and underfire air in an evenly distributed manner allows the burner to combust a wide range of fuel moisture contents without modifying the mechanical components of the burner.
US08997661B1	Table top extension and method for increasing the table top surface area of an existing table top A table top extension and method for increasing the table top surface area of an existing table. The table top extension includes at least first and second planar panel sections each having a first, inner peripheral edge and a second, outer peripheral edge. The first, inner peripheral edges include interlocking tongue and groove structure such that the first, inner peripheral edges can be locked together to form the table top extension having a combined table top area defined by at least the first and second planar panel sections. The second, outer peripheral edges of the first and second planar panel sections align to form an outer peripheral edge of the table top extension when the first and second panel sections are locked together with the interlocking tongue and groove structure. The table top extension is configured as a planar panel including at least the first and second planar panel sections, and may be placed on the existing table to increase the table top surface area by placement of the outer peripheral edge of the table top extension radially outside of an outer peripheral edge of the existing table, relative to a center point of the table.
US08997660B2	Deployable table assembly A table assembly is provided. The table assembly includes a lower table portion, and an upper table portion operationally engaging the lower table portion. The upper and lower table portions are slidably movable relative to each other between a generally parallel configuration wherein the lower and upper table portions are vertically stacked and a generally co-planar configuration wherein the lower and upper table portions are generally horizontally aligned.
US08997650B2	Ink supply method and ink supply apparatus An ink supply method in an ink supply apparatus including an ink fountain, a plurality of ink fountain keys, an ink fountain roller, an ink ductor roller, and an ink roller group. An ink film thickness distribution corresponding to an image on a printing plate is formed in the ink roller group. The ink roller group is divided into a plurality of roller subgroups. After or before division, a throw-on operation is performed for at least one of the plurality of roller subgroups, and a plate cylinder on which the printing plate to be used for printing of the next job is mounted. Ink in at least one of the plurality of roller subgroups is supplied to the printing plate mounted on the plate cylinder by rotating the plate cylinder and at least one of the plurality of roller subgroups. An ink supply apparatus is also disclosed.
US08997644B2	Punching device, paper processing apparatus, and image forming apparatus A punching device includes a punching unit that punches a hole in a sheet of paper; a container that receives a chad of paper generated upon punching by the punching unit; a dispersing member that is provided within the container and that is configured to disperse the chad of paper; and a guiding member configured to guide the chad of paper that is generated upon punching by the punching unit and fallen into the container to the dispersing member.
US08997640B2	Temperature controlled food display system The present disclosure provides a system, apparatus, and method for a modular food tray system having a plurality of food trays that can be used for heating, cooling, or a combination thereof. The system can include a first food tray for heating and a second food tray for cooling, generally mounted at a different elevation from the first food tray. Alternatively, one or both of the food trays can be designed for cooling through temperature elements coupled thereto and the tray can be heated by overhead radiant heating elements for dual temperature capabilities. The first food tray can be mounted above the second food tray. The first food tray can include a thermal shield between a heating element in the first food tray and the second food tray. In other embodiments, the second food tray can be mounted above the first food tray with a thermal shield therebetween.
US08997625B2	Hydraulic feed-rate control apparatus A hydraulic feed-rate control apparatus pushes out a fluid by a main piston to a reservoir chamber via feed-rate adjustment mechanisms and flow passages and adjusts a feed rate of a reciprocating body; the adjustment mechanisms comprises first and second throttle valves arranged at front ends of a cylinder and adjusting flow rates of the fluid flowing into the flow passages; the main piston comprises an auxiliary piston integrally moving, and opening and closing the second throttle valve; and the auxiliary piston comprises an outer peripheral portion fitted in the second throttle valve and closed, a concave portion formed between a front portion and rear portion of the outer peripheral portion, a circulation hole formed in an inner peripheral portion of the auxiliary piston, rear-portion escape holes communicating the rear portion and the circulation hole, and concave-portion escape holes communicating the concave portion with the circulation hole.
US08997621B1	Quick mount adapter for firearm suppressor A quick mount adapter for a firearm that includes a cylindrical adapter base having a first portion, a second portion, and a central bore. The central bore includes a first bore having a smaller diameter and a second bore having a larger diameter. A portion of the second bore is threaded and an exterior portion of the housing includes threads. The quick mount adapter includes a biasing mechanism and a washer being positioned within the second bore of the adapter base. A collar having a central bore and an internal locking profile in the central bore is threaded into the adapter base to retain the washer and biasing mechanism within the second bore. The quick mount adapter includes a spacer comprising a hollow cylindrical housing having a top surface, a central opening in the top surface, and a plurality of annular openings positioned around the central opening.
US08997620B2	Handle assembly for charging a direct gas impingement firearm A firearm includes a receiver. A bolt carrier is moveable relative to the receiver between a firing position and a rearward position. A hand guard is coupled to the receiver. A gas tube is disposed at least partially within and fixed relative to the hand guard. A handle assembly is at least partially disposed in the hand guard and is moveable between a forward position and a charging position. The handle assembly has a body and an elongated member extending from the body toward the bolt carrier. The elongated member is disposed about the gas tube and is movable relative to the gas tube between the forward and charging positions. The elongated member engages the bolt carrier to move the bolt carrier from the firing position to the rearward position when the handle assembly moves from the forward position to the charging position.
US08997617B2	Punch assembly with quick attach punch point and stripper plate removably secure thereon A punch assembly for a turret punch press having a two piece reciprocally movable punch member that has a punch point insert removably attached to a punch driver that allows replacement of the punch point insert without the need to extract the punch member from its punch guide. A locking assembly having four vertical guideways containing slider strips for coupling the punch point insert to the punch driver ensures precision registration of the punch point insert with its driver.
US08997614B2	Method and device for separating products A method and a device for separating food products, including to permit a straight cut at high cycle rates, the food product is conveyed by a conveying device in the direction of transport. The food product is cut through, where a cutting element is moved in the direction of transport and transverse to the direction of transport, wherein the motion of the cutting element transverse to the direction of transport is controlled independently of its motion in the direction of transport and the food product does not rest on the cutting area on the conveying means.
US08997605B2	Pedal assembly with heel/leg point crash shock absorption A pedal assembly having crash absorption features. The pedal assembly includes a pedal arm having a lower end. A slider bracket is provided connected to the rear surface of the pedal arm. A slider mounted within the slider bracket is connected to a housing of the pedal assembly. The slider bracket includes at least one shear tab breakable by the slider. A crush block is provided mounted within the housing of the pedal assembly. The crush block is further connected to the pedal arm. An absorption block is provided mounted adjacent to and forward of the crush block. In the event of a front end crash, a forward force is applied on the pedal pad. As this happens, the slider moves downwards within the slider bracket thereby breaking the shear tabs and allowing further rotation of the pedal arm.
US08997603B2	Steering column assembly with improved attachment to a vehicle structure A steering column assembly comprises an upper column jacket, a collar assembly, a position lock bracket, and a guide clamp. A guide shaft extends from a guide end of the collar assembly, and a cam shaft extends from a cam end of the collar assembly. The guide shaft extends through an adjustment channel defined in the position lock bracket, and the cam shaft extends through an adjustment channel defined in the position lock bracket. A guide clamp is disposed along the guide shaft between the upper column jacket and the position lock bracket, and a guide retainer is fixed to the guide shaft such that, when the steering column assembly is in a locked mode, the guide clamp is placed in compression between the upper column jacket and the position lock bracket, which is placed in compression between the guide clamp and the guide retainer.
US08997601B2	Steering column comprising a steering bearing, and a steering bearing of a steering column A steering column with a steering-column tube, a steering spindle and at least one steering bearing for the rotatable mounting of the steering spindle in the steering-column tube, the steering bearing having an outer ring sitting in the steering-column tube, an inner ring and rolling bodies arranged between the outer ring and a track section of the inner ring, wherein the inner ring bears against the steering spindle at only two points and, for this purpose, has a first section which axially adjoins the track section and bears under prestress against the steering spindle at the first point, and a second section which is axially spaced apart from the first section, which axially adjoins the track section, and which has a first end of the inner ring in interaction with the steering spindle at the second point.
US08997591B1	Control knob return/detent mechanism An encoder assembly including control knob return mechanisms and encoder elements. Each control knob return mechanism includes a frame assembly including return spring locators. A return rotor assembly, includes a rotor having a plurality of rotor located spring stops. A return mechanism rotatable shaft is operably positioned within the return rotor assembly and operably connectable to an encoder element. The rotor and the shaft are rotatably stationary relative to each other. A return spring is positioned about the rotatable shaft and operably positioned relative to the return spring locators and the rotor located spring stops to bias the return mechanism rotatable shaft and the rotor in a normally centered position. Each encoder element is connected to an associated return mechanism rotatable shaft of an associated control knob return mechanism, wherein the return mechanism rotatable shafts of the control knob return mechanisms are concentrically positioned relative to each other.
US08997589B2	Automatic analysis apparatus and automatic analysis method A rack buffer unit 8 serving as a sample-container switching unit is provided between a rack conveying module 4 and a rack conveying module 5 which convey racks 2 on which the sample containers 1 are mounted, and an urgent-sample loading module 7 installing a rack 2 on which a sample container 1 storing a sample desired to be preferentially analyzed is mounted is provided. The rack 2 which is in the process of sample dispensing and the rack 2 desired to be preferentially analyzed are switched from each other by the rack buffer unit 8, and the sample container 1 mounted on the rack 2 desired to be preferentially analyzed is moved to a sample dispensing position in a short period of time.
US08997588B2	Force detecting mat with multiple sensor types A flexible force or pressure sensing mat includes a first sheet of electrically conductive first paths, a second sheet of electrically conductive second paths, and a sensing layer positioned between the first and second sheets. The first and second conductive paths are oriented transversely to each other, and the locations of their intersections define individual sensing areas or sensors. The sensing layer is made from materials that have first and second electrical characteristics—such as capacitance and resistance—that vary in response to physical forces exerted thereon. A controller repetitively measures the multiple electrical characteristics of each sensor in order to produce a near real time pressure distribution map of the forces sensed by the mat. The mat can be used on a patient support surface—such as a bed, cot, stretcher, recliner, operating table, etc.—to monitor and help reduce the likelihood of a patient developing pressure ulcers.
US08997572B2	Multi-focus optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy with ultrasonic array detection A probe for use with an imaging system, including a scanning device configured to receive a first light beam from a light source, a beam-divider configured to split the first light beam into a plurality of second light beams, and a focusing device configured to focus each of the second light beams on respective locations in an object of interest.
US08997560B2	Method for synchronising measurements A method for synchronizing the measurements obtained, over a given period, from a number of measurement acquisition means for acquiring measurements of characteristics associated with the stresses withstood by a tire fitted on a running vehicle. The measurement acquisition means are brought into operation independently of one another and at least one indexing at a given instant of the measurements from each of said means is created relative to a time-measuring reference means.
US08997556B2	Apparatus for determining and/or monitoring a process variable An apparatus for determining and/or monitoring at least one process variable of a medium. The apparatus includes: at least one mechanically oscillatable unit, which comes in contact at least partially with the medium; at least one transducer unit, which excites the mechanically oscillatable unit to execute mechanical oscillations and which receives mechanical oscillations from the mechanically oscillatable unit; and at least one housing. At least one limiting element is provided. The limiting element is embodied and arranged in such a manner that the limiting element at least partially surrounds the mechanically oscillatable unit and the therefrom resulting reduction of volume surrounding the mechanically oscillatable unit increases the measuring sensitivity of the apparatus. Furthermore, the invention relates to a limiting element.
US08997555B2	System and method for generating a change in pressure proportional to fluid viscosity A system and method for generating a change in pressure proportional to fluid viscosity is disclosed herein. The system can comprise a first pilot stream, a second pilot stream, and a pressure sensing device that reads a differential pressure across a first junction on the first pilot stream and a second junction on the second pilot stream. The first junction is between a first section having a first predominant pressure loss characteristic, and a second section having a second predominant pressure loss characteristic. Similarly, the second junction can be between a third section having a third predominant pressure loss characteristic and a fourth section having a fourth pressure loss characteristic.
US08997550B2	Method and system for correcting for temperature variations in ultrasonic testing systems A method and system for correcting for temperature variation in ultrasonic testing systems is disclosed. In one embodiment, an offset is determined for correcting a time of flight measurement, wherein the offset is based on the pulse delays at first and second calibration temperatures. In another embodiment, a factor is determined for correcting a time of flight measurement, wherein the factor is based on clock signal errors at first and second calibration temperatures.
US08997547B2	Gauge with visual calibration confirmation and related method A device for taking pressure readings on a HVAC system includes a first needle connectable in communication with the HVAC system for taking a first pressure reading thereof. The first needle is mounted within a first gauge and configured to self-calibrate. The device further includes a second needle connectable in communication with the HVAC system for taking a second pressure reading thereof that is independent of the first pressure reading. The second needle is mounted within a second gauge and configured to self-calibrate. A first stepper motor actuates the first needle and a second stepper motor actuates the second needle. A microcontroller controls the first and second stepper motors to move the needles to a plurality of respective positions and thereby visually confirm calibration.
US08997546B2	Method for detecting the failure of a frequency sensor, and circuit for implementing said method A method of detecting a fault of a frequency sensor having a bias resistor and associated with a rotary member. The following steps are performed while the rotary member is stationary: injecting into the bias resistor of the sensor inverted alternating signals (S1, S2) comprising at least one first alternation (A1) and at least one second alternation (A2), the first alternation being of amplitude greater than the amplitude of the second alternation; and detecting a frequency of an output signal (S″) from the sensor. A measurement circuit implementing the method is also provided.
US08997545B1	Method and apparatus for impacting metal parts for aerospace applications An apparatus and method are provided for changing physical characteristics of a workpiece which may have been pre-loaded before being further processed. The workpiece is supported in a fixed position during processing. A driven member applies multiple impacts to one surface of the workpiece. The driven member is operated within adjustable parameters. A controller, having the adjustable parameters, is operatively connected to the driven member for causing the driven member to apply multiple impacts against a surface of the workpiece while under the control of the pre-adjustable parameters for changing physical characteristics of the workpiece.
US08997539B2	Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus includes a plurality of sensors located along a width of a moving material. Each of the plurality of sensors corresponds to a respective one of a plurality of longitudinal zones located along a width of the moving material. The apparatus also includes a material condition monitor configured to determine the condition of the moving material, and a feedback unit coupled to the material condition monitor and configured to be coupled to a plurality of different types of material conditioners. The feedback unit is configured to map each of the plurality of sensors to at least a respective one of a plurality of adjustable backup bearings based on being coupled to any one of the material conditioners.
US08997538B2	Magnetically repelling lock assembly A lock assembly (10) including a plug (12) having a keyway (14) for inserting therein a key (16), and a movable element (18) movingly disposed in the plug (12), the movable element (18) being divided into at least two separate magnetic portions (20, 22) arranged to move relative to one another and having identical magnetic polarity, wherein the magnetic portions (20, 22) are sufficiently near one another such that one of the magnetic portions (20, 22) applies a magnetic repelling force on the other magnetic portion (20, 22).
US08997536B2	Lockout device A lockout device for a handle assembly includes first and second lockout members each including an outward facing base wall and outward extending first and second projections. The first and second projections of the first base member are spaced apart to receive the handle therebetween, and the first and second projections of the second base member are spaced apart to receive the handle latch therebetween. The first and second lockout members are pivotable with respect to each other to a lockout position for engagement of the base walls of the first and second lockout members with facing surfaces of a handle and a handle latch of the handle assembly. When the first and second lockout members are secured between the handle and the handle latch in the lockout position, the first and second lockout members block movement of the handle latch to prevent rotational movement of the handle assembly.
US08997531B2	Expandable/collapsible enclosure for a clothes refresher An expandable and collapsible enclosure is provided for a garment refreshing appliance. The appliance has at least either a top or a bottom rigid housing structure. The enclosure comprises a wall structure extending substantially an entire height of the enclosure. The wall structure is made of a flexible material. An opening is provided in the wall structure through which garments can be introduced into or removed from the enclosure. A zipper is attached at the opening to selectively open and close the opening. A snap attachment mechanism is located at either or both of the top and a bottom of the wall structure for securing the wall structure to the top and/or bottom rigid housing structures.
US08997511B2	Heating or cooling system featuring a split buffer tank This invention relates to a heating/cooling system operating on the basis of a novel SPLIT BUFFER TANK; representing an efficiency improvement alternative to HVAC systems functioning with existing commercial buffer tanks. Currently, commercial buffers have the heat source provider (HSP)-return and system-return discharging to a common buffer/vessel. Novel SPLIT BUFFER is provided with a SEPARATION DISK placed inside the tank as mechanical way of separating the hot water inflow from the HSP from the warmer water inflow from system return. The disk moves up and down along the tank driven by demanded water supply and return. Pump-1 circulates hot water from the hot section of the buffer to the secondary system claiming for heat. Pump-2 circulates warmer water from the warmer section of the buffer through the HSP where it is reheated, and subsequently stored in the hot section of the buffer to reinitiate this cycle again.
US08997508B2	Refrigerating apparatus An object of the present invention is to keep an appropriate high pressure side pressure in a refrigerant circuit while reducing noises of an operation of a blower in a refrigerating apparatus which obtains a critical pressure on a high pressure side. The refrigerating apparatus in which the refrigerant circuit is constituted of a compressor, a gas cooler, a reducing element and an evaporator to obtain a supercritical pressure on the high pressure side includes a blower which air-cools the gas cooler and a control device which controls this blower. This control device controls a revolution speed of the blower based on an outdoor temperature and an evaporation temperature of a refrigerant in the evaporator.
US08997496B2	Hybrid exhaust component An exhaust includes a wall that has a first composite material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and a second composite material having a second coefficient of the thermal expansion that is less than the first coefficient of thermal expansion.
US08997494B2	Gas turbine engine fan blade airfoil profile A fan blade for a gas turbine engine includes an airfoil that includes leading and trailing edges joined by pressure and suction sides to provide an exterior airfoil surface that extends in a radial direction to a tip. The external airfoil surface is formed in substantial conformance with multiple cross-sectional profiles of the airfoil described by a set of Cartesian coordinates set forth in Table 1. The Cartesian coordinates are provided by an axial coordinate scaled by a local axial chord. A circumferential coordinate is scaled by the local axial chord, and a span location. The local axial chord corresponds to a width of the airfoil between the leading and trailing edges at the span location.
US08997490B2	Heat utilization in ORC systems Apparatus, systems and methods are provided for the improved use of waste heat recovery systems which utilize the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) to generate mechanical and/or electric power from waste heat of large industrial machines (prime movers) generating power from biofuel such as biogas produced during the anaerobic digestion process. Waste heat energy obtained from prime mover(s) is provided to one or more ORC system(s) which are operatively coupled to separate electrical generator(s). The ORC system includes a heat coupling subsystem which provides the requisite condensation of ORC working fluid by transferring heat from ORC working fluid to another process or system, such as anaerobic digester tank(s), to provide heat energy that enhances the production of fuel for the prime mover(s) without requiring the consumption of additional energy for that purpose.
US08997486B2	Compressor wheel A compressor wheel for use with turbochargers or superchargers for forced air induction of internal combustion engines includes a base having a hub portion, and a plurality of blades extending from the base, each blade having a length defined by the distance between opposite axial extremities of the blade, the plurality of blades including at least three different types of blades, each having a substantially different length.
US08997472B2	Abnormality detecting device for construction machine Provided is an abnormality detecting device for a construction machine that can estimate an abnormality occurring to a component (engine, pump, etc.) of the construction machine based on the relationship among a plurality of pieces of sensor information and thereby prevent machine failure. A correlation coefficient calculation unit 102 calculates correlation coefficients between time-series sensor values acquired by a plurality of sensors 101. A correlation coefficient comparison unit 103 compares the correlation coefficients and calculates the degree of difference between each correlation coefficient and other correlation coefficients. An abnormality judgment unit 104 judges that an abnormality has occurred to a part related to a sensor when the degree of difference calculated in regard to the sensor exceeds a preset value.
US08997469B2	Engine with exhaust treatment device and attachment method for exhaust treatment device An engine with an exhaust treatment device (2) wherein a rotation moment of a side support stay (12) is generated by a load of a side portion (50) received by side support stay fastening tool (13) via an edge portion (21) of a cutout groove (20). As a result, a load of the side portion (50) of the exhaust treatment device (2) can be supported by the side support stay (12). A one-side temporary mount portions (22) is provided in a one-side support stay (10). The one-side support stay (10) can be temporarily mounted on the one-side temporary mount portions (22).
US08997462B2	Method and apparatus for injecting hydrogen within an engine An engine system comprising: an exhaust gas system for removing exhaust gas from the engine; a turbocharger comprising a compressor for inducing air towards the engine and a turbine provided along the exhaust gas system and driven by removed exhaust gas for powering the compressor; a hydrogen delivery apparatus adapted to deliver hydrogen to the exhaust gas system such that the hydrogen can combust and expand, thereby increasing the speed of the turbine. The increased speed of the turbine operation decreases turbo lag and increases engine responsiveness.
US08997456B2	Compression ignition engine with low load rapid warm up strategy An electronically controlled compression ignition engine includes an electronic engine controller in control communication with fuel injectors, a high pressure exhaust recirculation system and a variable geometry turbocharger. The controller is configured to execute a low load rapid warm up algorithm that generates control signals to reduce turbine efficiency, set an air fuel ratio in a predetermined range, set the exhaust gas recirculation in a predetermine range and supply fuel in a split injection in each engine cycle that includes a main injection initiated before top dead center and a post injection initiated after top dead center. These settings allow for rapid warm up to the aftertreatment inlet in excess of 300° C.
US08997455B2	Device and method for treating exhaust gas containing particles and motor vehicle having the device and performing the method A method and a device for treating exhaust gas containing particles, include a particle separator and at least one particle agglomeration device positioned upstream of the particle separator in exhaust gas flow direction. The particle agglomeration device includes at least one apparatus for forming an electrical field and a particle buffer storage device, through which the exhaust gas can flow. The particles are stored on top of each other at the particle buffer storage device in such a way that particle agglomerates are formed, which are removed from the particle buffer storage device again after a short period of time and supplied to the particle separator for conversion. A motor vehicle having the device and performing the method is also provided.
US08997443B2	Apparatus and a method for removing a wrapping film from a pack of objects An apparatus for removing a plastic wrapping film from a pack of objects, comprising an opening station of the wrapping film. The opening station in turn comprising housing means of the pack identifying a housing seating of the pack. The opening station comprises weakening means of a part of the film. The weakening means comprising heating means of a fluid and a first outlet mouth and a second outlet mouth of the heated fluid, said first mouth and said second mouth being, at least in a configuration thereof: operatively connected to said heating means of a fluid; facing towards said housing seating; facing towards an imaginary plane interposed there-between.
US08997441B2	Medicine packaging apparatus and method of packaging medicine There is provided a medicine packaging method, which is capable of rapidly coping with errors occurring during processes. The medicine packaging method includes the following steps: a medicine supplying step for supplying a relevant medicine according to a prescription data; a medicine standby step for allowing the supplied medicine to temporarily stand by; a medicine detecting step for detecting the standing by medicine; a printing step for printing a packaging paper when the medicine based on the prescription data is detected; a conveying step for conveying the packaging paper; and a packaging step for supplying the temporarily standing by medicine to a printed portion of the packaging paper and packaging the medicine. The steps are performed in sequence.
US08997438B1	Case packing system having robotic pick and place mechanism and dual dump bins A robotic case packing system loads articles from one conveyor into containers on another conveyor using a robotic pick and place mechanism and a set of pivoting bins. A controller moves the robotic mechanism in first picking movements to pick and place articles from the conveyor into the first bin. Once the first bin is full, the controller pivots the first bin to allow the articles stacked in the first bin to be loaded into a container held below. While the first bin is pivoting, the controller moves the robotic mechanism to pick and place articles from the conveyor into the second bin. The process repeats with the controller pivoting the second bin during the picking movements used to fill the first bin and vice versa.
US08997435B2	Self-elevating platform employing actuators A method including arranging a plurality of actuators into an operating position, arranging a first upper frame and a second upper frame proximate the actuators, attaching a support to the first upper frame and the second upper frame, wherein the support is located above the actuators, and extending the actuators to engage the support. The method also includes extending the actuators to raise the support, the first upper frame, and the second upper frame to a first position, arranging a first middle frame below the first upper frame and a second middle frame below the second upper frame, retracting the actuators to lower the support, the first upper frame, and the second upper frame to a second position, and attaching the first upper frame to the first middle frame and attaching the second upper frame to the second middle frame.
US08997426B1	Ceiling panel clip A ceiling panel clip to engage the grid structure of a drop ceiling and thereby hold panels of a drop ceiling in place.
US08997423B2	Panel veneer system with cage-type embedded rail Provided are stone-like or brick-like veneer systems for covering walls. Specifically provided in embodiments are facade panels comprising: (i) a molded brick-like or stone-like panel; and (ii) a suspension rail partially embedded in the panel comprising: a first four-sided frame with horizontally and vertically disposed sides; one or more cross bar joining two or more sides of the first frame; a plurality of posts extending perpendicularly from the first frame or cross bars; a second four-sided frame in communication with the plurality of posts; a tab in communication with the frame for connecting the suspension rail to a surface.
US08997418B2	Load supporting blocking member for use in a metal stud wall The present invention is directed to a load supporting blocking member for use in a metal stud wall having a plurality of parallel spaced apart metal studs, each of the studs having an aligned opening and horizontal bridging member passing through the aligned openings and tying the studs together. The load supporting blocking member comprises a base for overlying and being attached to the bridging member and an upstanding flange extending from one edge of the base the depth of the base being sufficient to overly the bridging member and position the upstanding flange in line with the edges of the studs in the metal stud wall.
US08997411B2	Safe room system for folding attic stair assembly A system and method for establishing a safe room environment within an attic space utilizing a typical folding attic stair and door assembly. The system includes components that retrofit to an existing folding attic stair in a manner that allows the user to draw the attic stair up behind them and to secure the attic door panel closed and locked while the user is within the attic space. The components include a retractable lift cord attached to a middle section of the attic stair, and a lift rod attached to the attic door. Brackets and frames positioned on the attic door and door frame allow the user to pull up to fold and raise the stair into the attic space. A lock may then secure the attic stair closed preventing access from below. Methods for installing the system and using the system are provided.
US08997408B2	Roof provided with an anchor system Aspects of the invention relate to a roof comprising at least an inclined surface and a rim marking a transition to another surface extending horizontally or at a different inclination, the inclined surface and the rim being covered by roof elements. The roof further comprising at least one anchor for attaching an anchor rope to. The anchor is secured to the roof beneath the roof element or elements covering the rim and the roof elements covering the rim are spaced apart from the roof elements covering the inclined surface so as to allow access to the anchor from outside the roof.
US08997406B2	Modular living unit An unfoldable modular living unit includes one or more folding modules having a bottom, pitched roof elements forming the roof and the side walls, and two opposing facades, front and back. Each one of the modules includes a folding and collapsible structure having two adjacent rigid sides or walls hinged to each other through a hinge or a fixed knot, a third foldable side or wall hinged to the first two rigid sides or walls, and at least one intermediate plane hinged to one of the pitched roof elements and suited to be constrained to the other pitched roof element.
US08997404B1	Hide-away closet door hardware A closet door support mechanism that provides rotation and translation of a door used to close the entry to a room such as a closet is disclosed. An example of the mechanism includes a first track that is generally straight and is connected to a first track retraction section by a curved section. The track sections are mounted a distance from the floor, and allow movement of a closet door through translation and rotation to close the entry of the closet.
US08997403B1	Covered rain gutter assembly A rain gutter assembly including an overlying cover. A gutter trough is in the form of a channel having an upwardly-facing opening. The cover overlies the channel opening and includes a front edge that is spaced from the front edge of the gutter channel to define a gap therebetween to allow roof runoff to flow around the convex front edge of the cover and into the channel. A series of longitudinally-spaced support brackets are positioned within the gutter channel and support the gutter trough and the cover to provide a rigid gutter assembly. An end cap is provided at each longitudinal end of the gutter channel and overlies both the gutter channel cross section and the space between the gutter channel cross section and the cover, to prevent entry of leaves, twigs, and debris into the channel through the ends of the gutter trough.
US08997398B2	Automated high-throughput seed sampler and methods of sampling, testing and bulking seeds An automated method for analyzing seeds generally includes collecting image data from individual seeds using a seed sampling system, determining at least one characteristic of each of the individual seeds based on the collected image data, and removing tissue from each of the individual seeds using the seed sampling system. The method also includes, prior to removing the tissue sample from each of the individual seeds, adjusting at least one operational parameter of the seed sampling system based on the at least one characteristic of the seed from which the tissue is to be removed to thereby allow for generally consistent removal of tissue from each of the individual seeds. In some aspects, the method further includes analyzing the tissue removed from the seeds for presence or absence of at least one characteristic, and selecting seeds based on presence or absence of the at least one characteristic.
US08997396B2	Weighted rodent bait stations and related methods Rodent bait station assemblies and methods for assembly and bundling.
US08997394B2	Waterfowl decoy with lifelike feeding movement A motorized decoy provides lifelike feeding motion by rotating a weighted head through a full 360 degrees. As the head passes the upper apex of rotation, a drive cam located on the drive shaft disengages from a cam located on the decoy head, thereby allowing the head to accelerate and plunge quickly into the water. This action simultaneously causes the rear of the decoy to rotate to a vertical orientation. The head pauses under water until the drive cam re-engages the head cam at the bottom point of the rotation and continues to rotate the head through a channel in the body. This redistribution of weight causes the body to return to a horizontal position. The head rotation continues to the apex and the cycle repeats. This motion also disturbs the surface of the water surrounding the decoy, which can impart motion to adjacent static waterfowl decoys.
US08997392B1	Dot-sighting device A dot-sighting device includes a light source, a beam splitter and a reflective element. The light source emits light. The beam splitter includes a surface that reflects at least a portion of a first light component of the light and transmits at least a portion of a second light component. The reflective element reflects at least a portion of the first light component reflected by the surface of the beam splitter toward the beam splitter. The light reflected by the reflective element includes the second light component.
US08997384B2	Wear assembly for machinery Wear assembly for machinery includes wear and support elements and a retaining pin for attaching them to each other. The retaining pin has protrusions and the wear element has cavities such that the protrusions can be passed therethrough. The support element has a recess for receiving one of the protrusions. In a first position the retaining pin can be inserted into the wear and support elements. In a second position one protrusion is snap fitted in one cavity so the retaining pin cannot be rotated to the wear and support elements and the other protrusion is received into the recess abutting an inner surface of the wear element such that the retaining pin cannot be displaced axially to the wear and support elements.
US08997381B2	Interchangeable cleat system for footwear An interchangeable cleat system for an article of footwear includes an outer sole member with a plurality of fixed cleat members and a plurality of removable cleat members. The spacing between the removable cleat members and the fixed cleat members may be approximately constant in at least one portion of the article of footwear. The differences in height between the removable cleat members and the fixed cleat members may be approximately constant within a portion of the outer sole member. The cleat system can include at least three sets of cleat members that can be interchanged over different portions of the outer sole member.
US08997373B1	Skate blade dryer A skate blade dryer is provided for removing moisture from a skate blade after use to prevent rust, discoloration, pitting, and premature dulling of the skate blade. The dryer includes a housing having an interior, a top, and a front face. A blower is positioned in the interior of the housing. A conduit extends from the housing. The conduit includes a slot configured for receiving a skate blade coupled to a skate boot. The blower has an output port in fluid communication with the conduit for directing air flow through the conduit.
US08997365B2	Shaft alignment tools and methods The present disclosure is directed to a shaft alignment tool including a base, a rotational body mounted on the base for relative rotation with respect to the base, and an alignment meter coupled to the rotational body.
US08997353B2	Apparatus, system, and method for shaping a valve orifice An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for optimizing a valve orifice shape. According to one representative embodiment, a method includes determining a specified relationship between a valve position and an output characteristic, and determining an orifice profile. The method also includes determining a relationship of an orifice area to the output characteristic. Further, the method includes shaping an orifice in a valve based on the orifice profile and the specified relationship between the valve position and the output characteristic. According to the method, the valve should approximately exhibit the specified relationship.
US08997351B2	Non-metallic cover for a fixture An assembly used in performing a manufacturing process on a turbine engine component includes a turbine engine component and a fixture including an opening shaped to receive a portion of the turbine engine component. The assembly includes a non-metallic cover placed over at least a portion of an external surface of the fixture. The non-metallic cover is visible when positioned over the at least a portion of the external surface of the fixture and is visible when the turbine engine component is received in the fixture opening of the fixture.
US08997345B2	EMI-preventing socket and manufacturing method thereof A manufacturing method for an EMI-preventing socket comprises the following steps of providing an EMI-preventing element and a plurality of pins, wherein at least one of the pins is a ground pin; connecting the EMI-preventing element to the ground pin via a direct physical connection; providing a mold; placing the EMI-preventing element, the ground pin and the remaining pins of the plurality of pins in the mold, wherein the EMI-preventing element surrounds the pins in the mold; and providing a molding material into the mold to cover the plurality of pins and to cover a joint of the EMI-preventing element and the ground pin to form a socket body of the EMI-preventing socket. Parts of the EMI-preventing element and one end of each of the plurality of pins is exposed out of the socket body of the EMI-preventing socket.
US08997342B2	Method of fabrication, a multilayer electronic structure and structures in accordance with the method A method of fabricating a multilayer electronic support structure comprising electroplating copper substructures, laying a dielectric pre-preg comprising a polymer resin over the copper substructures, and pressing to pressures of 200 to 600 PSI against a release film having a higher hardness than the resin of the prepreg but a lower hardness than the cured resin, and heating through a curing cycle while maintaining pressure.
US08997339B2	Method for fabricating thin touch sensor panels A method for fabricating thin DITO or SITO touch sensor panels with a thickness less than a minimum thickness tolerance of existing manufacturing equipment. In one embodiment, a sandwich of two thin glass sheets is formed such that the combined thickness of the glass sheets does not drop below the minimum thickness tolerance of existing manufacturing equipment when thin film process is performed on the surfaces of the sandwich during fabrication. The sandwich may eventually be separated to form two thin SITO/DITO panels. In another embodiment, the fabrication process involves laminating two patterned thick substrates, each having at least the minimum thickness tolerance of existing manufacturing equipment. One or both of the sides of the laminated substrates are then thinned so that when the substrates are separated, each is a thin DITO/SITO panel having a thickness less than the minimum thickness tolerance of existing manufacturing equipment.
US08997337B2	Manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method for an electronic component A manufacturing apparatus for an electronic component includes a plurality of press members provided with a pair of arm sections extending in one direction intersecting with a direction of the pressing, the plurality of press members contacting a housing of a connector and pressing a plurality of pins held by the housing toward a plurality of holes in a substrate, a drive unit pressing the press members and press-fitting the plurality of pins into the holes in the substrate, a stress measurement unit coupled with the pair of arm sections and adapted to measure a stress generated at the pair of arm sections when the pins are pressed toward the holes in the substrate, and a drive control unit controlling a press force of the drive unit in accordance with a measurement result of the stress measurement unit.
US08997336B2	Air-tight and water-tight electrical bonding device A bonding device electrically bonds metallic surfaces through serrated metal teeth which embed into each metal surface as a fastener is tightened. A sealing material circumferentially outward and inward from the teeth create an air-tight and water-tight seal around the teeth, protecting the bonding location. The device can have an extended central collar extending axially from the through-hole in the center of the device, which will allow it to be installed in holes, or on a stud without the use of adhesives or other retaining methods.
US08997334B2	Auxiliary tool for assembling voice coil motor An auxiliary tool for assembling a number of voice coil motors includes a number of trays, a rod member, and two limiting members. Each tray defines a through hole. The rod member passes through the through holes of the trays. The two limiting members are sleeved over the rod member at two ends of the rod member, the trays being between the two limiting members, each two neighboring trays being configured for clamping a respective one of the voice coil motors.
US08997330B2	Layered sensor for determining an analyte concentration An implantable sensor is provide which can be used for determining a concentration of at least one analyte in a medium, in particular a body tissue and/or a body fluid. The implantable sensor has a layered construction with at least one insulating carrier substrate and at least two electrodes which are arranged in at least two different layer planes of the implantable sensor and are electrically isolated from one another by the at least one insulating carrier substrate. The electrodes have electrode areas which face the medium when the sensor has been implanted, and are in contact with the medium over a large area and substantially uniformly, directly or via a generally analyte-permeable membrane layer.
US08997323B1	Tool for removal and replacement of sprinkler heads A hand manipulatable tool for removing and replacing sprinkler heads threadably connected to an underground watering system employs a straight metal pipe component having outwardly flared portions at both extremities adapted to grip the sprinkler heads. A straight handle rod interactive with the pipe component facilitates unscrewing and lifting of the gripped sprinkler head.
US08997322B1	Compact and portable hydraulic extracting and installing apparatus and associated method A compact and portable hydraulic apparatus for extracting and installing a tight fitting vehicle component may include a main hydraulic cylinder having an open proximal end, a cover attached to the open proximal end of the main hydraulic cylinder, a grip holder attached to the main hydraulic cylinder, a plurality of grip members affixed to the grip holder and spaced from the main hydraulic cylinder, and an actuating member statically mated to the main hydraulic cylinder. In this manner, the actuating member is capable of being engaged with an existing shaft of an existing pulley. Advantageously, the actuating member is axially reciprocated through the open proximal end of the main hydraulic cylinder, relative to a stationary position of the grip holder and the grip member respectively.
US08997320B2	Method for manufacturing acoustic wave device Provided is a method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device that has an excellent temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) and high accuracy of IDT pattern forming and is capable of resisting high temperature processing of 200 degrees or more. The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to the present invention includes forming an IDT (2) on a principal surface (1a) of a piezoelectric substrate (1), and forming a film by thermal spraying a material (3) having a smaller linear thermal expansion coefficient than the piezoelectric substrate onto an opposite principal surface (1b) of the piezoelectric substrate (1) where the IDT (2) is formed.
US08997316B2	Adapter, assembly unit comprising an adapter as well as a method of installing such an assembly unit An adapter for the vehicle-side installation of a component, in particular of a lining part, has a first fastening element to which a component-side holding piece can be attached, and a second fastening element to which a vehicle-side retaining element can be attached. The first and second fastening elements are coupled to each other via at least one spring element so as to be movable to a limited extent.
US08997310B2	Vacuum cleaner cyclone with helical cyclone expansion region A vacuum cleaner dirt collection assembly having a housing, an air inlet and air outlet connected to the housing and a cyclone chamber inside the housing. The cyclone chamber has top and bottom walls, and an outer wall joining the top and bottom walls to form a generally enclosed space. The outer wall has a helical guide channel extending radially outward from the adjacent portion of the outer wall. An inner wall, located inside the enclosed space, has a generally cylindrical or frustroconical surface having one or more openings fluidly connecting the enclosed space to the air outlet. A separator plate is located inside the enclosed space at a location between the top and bottom walls. The separator plate extends towards the outer wall and is spaced from the outer wall by a gap.
US08997300B2	Cushioning toothbrush Provided is a toothbrush having a handle, a tuft block, multiple lateral cushioning gels and a rear cushioning gel. The handle has a head and a fore linking member protruding from the head. The tuft block has a fore end linked to the fore linking member. A gap is formed between the head and the tuft block. Multiple bristle tufts are planted on the tuft block. The multiple lateral cushioning gels connect the head and the tuft block. The rear cushioning gel connects a rear end of the tuft block and the handle.
US08997293B2	Apparatus for cleaning a submerged surface with a disconnectable dirty circuit The invention relates to a device for cleaning an immersed surface including a body and members for driving the body over the immersed surface; a filtration chamber which is provided in the body and which has: a liquid inlet; a liquid outlet; a hydraulic circuit for the flow of liquid between the inlet and the outlet through a filtering device, wherein the filtering device includes a filtering casing which is removably mounted in the filtration chamber and which can be inserted into and removed from the filtration chamber in one piece, and the filtering casing has at least a lower end which opens at the base of the body and which constitutes a liquid inlet into the body of the device.
US08997292B2	Extended-span and alternatively-shaped arch bridge and construction method therefor A large-span and special-shaped arch bridge, comprising a main girder (2), a center abutment (11) served as a central bearing point and two auxiliary abutments (12,13) served as bearing points at two ends, wherein further comprising an arch-axis combination (3) and two arch-axis bending beams (4,5) presented as arcs projected upwards, the arch-axis combination being built on the center abutment (11) with two ends connected to the inner ends of the two arch-axis bending beams (4,5), the outer ends of the two arch-axis bending beams (4,5) being built on the two auxiliary abutments (12,13), the two arch-axis bending beams (4,5) being connected to the main girder (2) via a plurality of inhaul cables. A method for constructing said arch bridge is also disclosed. Through the dual-arch axis of two arch-axis bending beams, the bending strength of the cross-section of the arch bridge is significantly increased, the bending moment of the cross-section of the arch at the central bearing point is decreased, the vertical displacement at the haunch of the arch is lesser, and the deformation of the main girder is reduced, thus the force of the entire bridge is more reasonable, the construction cost can effectively be reduced and the construction period can be shortened.
US08997287B2	Method and apparatus for removing moisture from a mattress topper A patient support apparatus includes a pressurized air source, a dehumidifier, and a support surface including a topper having a vapor-permeable surface. The dehumidifier is configured to selectively treat pressurized air communicated to the dehumidifier from the pressurized air source and communicate the treated pressurized air to the vapor-permeable surface.
US08997280B1	Bed foundation cover and method of fabrication A foundation or box spring cover for use in conjunction with a box spring comprising four panels configured to fit over edges of the box spring, at least two of the panels being adjacent panels of exposed, continuous, non-stretch fabric, and at least one stretchable panel positioned at a corner of the cover and configured to be oriented at an underside of the box spring. In one aspect the cover includes a hem configured to extend under the edges of the box spring, and where the triangular panel is off-set from the edges of the box spring. The hem is configured to have a concealed edge that operates to catch upon a bottom edge of the foundation to secure the sides of the cover into position so as to withstand a housekeeping action applied to the bedding such as tucking in bedding between a mattress and the foundation. A method of manufacture includes stretching the stretchable panel prior to sewing onto adjacent hems.
US08997274B2	Adjustable furniture apparatus An adjustable furniture apparatus is disclosed. The furniture apparatus includes a frame, an internal support structure, an incline assembly having a first and a second inclinable section, a plurality of lifting devices configured to selectively incline and support the first and second inclinable sections, and a cover disposed over portions of the incline assembly to form a comfortable seating intimate activity surface.
US08997270B2	Automatic faucet Provided is an automatic faucet using a radio wave sensor, which is capable of preventing erroneous stop of water spouting, with a simple configuration. The automatic faucet (1) has a radio wave propagation space, a radio wave emitting port (27), and directivity setting device. The directivity setting device is configured to direct a radio wave being emitted from the radio wave emitting port (27), in such a manner that, during a water stopping state, the emitted radio wave lies along a spouting direction (A) along which washing water is to be spouted from a spout port (26), and, during a water spouting state, a part of the radio wave emitted disposed offset in a direction C, with respect to the spout port (26) interferes with a region of a peripheral surface of a stream (W) facing in the direction C.
US09003549B2	Analysis of an analog property of a signal A third party provides an analysis of an analog signal property derived from an electronic device. A data set describing an analog signal property is obtained. The data set is derived from at least one measurement on the signal. A permission set based on data received from a supplier entity is maintained. A consumer entity having permissions are permitted access to information computed from the data set. A consumer input from the consumer entity is received. The consumer input represents a request for the analysis result. A determination is made based on permissions that the consumer entity is permitted access to the computed information. An analysis result from the data set is computed after receiving the consumer input. The analysis result is provided to the consumer entity. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US09003548B2	Method and system for digital rights management of documents A method and system of encrypting and decrypting documents and recipient rights.
US09003546B2	Secured deletion of information Secure deletion of a storage device includes monitoring the storage device, determining whether a predetermined condition occurs, and accessing the storage device when it is determined that the predetermined condition occurs. Further, deleted information to be securely wiped is identified in accordance with a predetermined unified policy for a virtual environment comprising the storage device. Alternatively, information being deleted is intercepted when it is determined that the information being deleted satisfies a predetermined condition. The identified or intercepted deleted information is securely wiped from the storage device by filling a portion of the storage device associated with the deleted information with zero bytes before the deleted information is marked as deleted. The secured wiping of deleted information may occur in accordance with a predetermined enterprise-wide policy.
US09003539B2	Multi virtual machine architecture for media devices A software computing based environment for providing secured authentication of media downloaded from a network or loaded from a media player includes two peer-mode operating virtual machines. The low-level virtual machine provides decoding and decryption functions whereas the high-level virtual machine provides application level functions such as user interface, input/output.
US09003536B2	Content-checking of embedded content in digitally encoded documents Methods and apparatus for network security content-checking, in particular simplifying the critical element of a content-checker so that it can be trusted and implemented in hardware logic. A method comprises determining whether a digitally encoded document contains any embedded documents; content-checking, by means of at least one hard-ware-implemented content-checker, at least one of the embedded documents separately from those parts of the digitally encoded document within which it was embedded; and releasing a version of the digitally encoded document responsive to the content-checking.
US09003531B2	Comprehensive password management arrangment facilitating security Computer-implemented process and apparatus for screening data for malware. Received data stored in at least one data store includes at least: (i) a first protected item of data containing contents that are generally inaccessible without specific access credential information, and (ii) specific access credential information corresponding to the first protected item of data. The received data is analyzed to detect any protected items of data therein based on predetermined protected data item identification criteria and to detect any access credential information contained therein based on predetermined access credential identification criteria. In response to a detection of the specific access credential information in the at least one data store, the specific access credential information is stored in the at least one data store in a grouping arrangement with other access credential information. In response to a detection of the first protected item of data, use the specific access credential information is stored in the grouping arrangement to facilitate access to the first protected item of data by a malware screening process to extract its content. The malware screening process is executed to scan the content extracted from the first protected data item to detect a presence of malware.
US09003527B2	Automated method and system for monitoring local area computer networks for unauthorized wireless access The wireless activity in a geographic area containing LAN connection ports is monitored using one or more sensor devices, called sniffers. By analyzing said wireless activity, one or more APs that are operating in said geographic area are identified. The active APs so identified are classified into three categories, namely “authorized” APs (those that are allowed by network administrator), “unauthorized” APs (those that are not allowed by the network administrator, but are still connected to the LAN of interest) and “external” APs (those that are not allowed by network administrator but are not connected to the LAN of interest, for example APs connected to the neighbor's LAN) by conducting one or more tests. The sniffers detect any wireless station attempting to connect to or communicating with the one or more identified unauthorized APs. Upon identifying unauthorized AP and/or intruding wireless station an indication is transferred to the prevention process.
US09003526B2	Detecting malicious behaviour on a network An intrusion detection device (61) for monitoring one or more target devices and detecting malicious software operating on one of the one or more target devices. The intrusion detection device has an interface arrangement (61, 10) comprising one or more interfaces (6110) for receiving inward bound traffic destined for the one or more target devices and outward bound traffic originating from the one or more target devices. The intrusion detection device (61) also includes categorization means (6140) for categorizing incoming service requests destined for one of the one or more target devices as either harmless or potentially suspicious; monitoring means (6150) operable, in respect of each incoming service request identified as being potentially suspicious, to monitor the behavior of the associated target device for behavior indicative of the target device operating as a proxy server; and a notifier (6160) for generating a notification in the event that the monitored behavior is indicative of the device acting as a proxy server.
US09003513B1	Trusted platform module compliance station Aspects of the subject technology relate to a compliance station including a test breakout board coupled to a computing device and a trusted platform module, wherein the test breakout board is configured to allow signaling to pass between the computing device and the trusted platform module and a test controller interface coupled to the test breakout board. In certain aspects, the test controller interface is configured to provide signaling to the trusted platform module and to receive signaling from the trusted platform module. A method and computer-readable medium are also provided.
US09003504B2	Remote login arrangement for heterogeneous systems using centralized authentication Methods and systems for authenticating a remote user across heterogeneous authentication systems are disclosed. One method includes receiving domain user credentials at a first heterogeneous authentication system, and transmitting the domain user credentials from the first heterogeneous authentication system to an authentication interface associated with a second heterogeneous authentication system. The method also includes transmitting the domain user credentials from the second heterogeneous authentication system to a centralized authentication system, and receiving at the authentication interface a validation message from the centralized authentication system, thereby authenticating the user. The method further includes determining a local username at the authentication interface based on the domain user credentials. The method includes using the local username to authenticate the user within the first heterogeneous authentication system.
US09003500B2	Method and system for facilitating synchronizing media content between a vehicle device and a user device A user uploads content such as files containing audio, video, graphical, data, points of interest, and other information from a user device such as a personal computer to a central server over the internet. Upon determining that a trigger event has occurred, communication and processing circuitry in a vehicle device automatically download the previously uploaded content over the interne and a short-range wireless network and store the content for use by a device such as an audio/visual/navigation unit. Examples of a trigger event include proximity to a short-range wireless communication network coupled to the internet, presence within a geofence, turning off a vehicle's engine, or detecting an SMS wake-up message while the vehicle device's main processor, transceivers not used for SMS, and auxiliary circuitry are in sleep mode. The short-range wireless network can be a vehicle owner's home network, or a commercial wi-fi hot spot, or subscription wireless service.
US09003499B2	System and method for conveying event information based on varying levels of administrative privilege under multiple levels of access controls An improved system and method for defining an event based upon an object location and a user-defined zone and managing the conveyance of object location event information among computing devices where object location events are defined in terms of a condition based upon a relationship between user-defined zone information and object location information. One or more location information sources are associated with an object to provide the object location information. One or more user-defined zones are defined on a map and one or more object location events are defined. The occurrence of an object location event produces object location event information that is conveyed to users based on user identification codes. Accessibility to object location information, zone information, and object location event information is based upon an object location information access code, a zone information access code, and an object location event information access code, respectively.
US09003495B2	Authorised data recording To facilitate recording of data received from a non-trusted source entity, a trusted source entity, for example a user terminal or a user interface, sends to an operational center an authorization message authorizing the non-trusted source entity to send specific information messages. In response to the authorization message, the operational center creates an automatically verifiable authorization condition. When an information message arrives to the operational center, it checks, whether the message fulfills the condition, and if yes, records the data.
US09003490B2	Using entitlement certificates to manage product assets A server receives a consumer request from a client to access a product repository that is coupled to the server. The consumer request comprises an entitlement certificate and a uniform resource locator (URL). The server identifies at least one extended attribute object identifier in the entitlement certificate to determine whether the client is authorized to access the product repository. The at least one extended attribute object identifier has a corresponding URL in the entitlement certificate that specifies a location of the product repository that the client is authorized to access. The server grants the client access to the product repository based on a determination that the URL in the consumer request matches a URL in the entitlement certificate.
US09003489B2	System and method for providing virtual user groups in a network environment A method is provided in one example and includes communicating an access request to a network element, the access request is associated with network authentication relating to a subscriber. The method also includes receiving an access response that includes a profile associated with the subscriber. The profile can include a group attribute that defines the subscriber as being part of a group of subscribers sharing a network data plan, which defines a data allotment assigned to the group over a specified time interval. In more detailed embodiments, a unique data string sent by an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting element is received, where the unique data string identifies a full set of subscribers belonging to the group. Data underutilization of a first subscriber is offset by data overutilization of a second subscriber, where a summation of the data underutilization and the data overutilization do not exceed the data allotment assigned.
US09003487B2	Methods and apparatus for maintaining permissions for client/server processing in a communication device A communication device has memory for storing a client application module, a server application module, and an operating system module which are executable by one or more processors. The client application module submits a request and, in response, the server application module causes the request to be processed with use of the operating system module. One or more client process handles of a client stack of the client application module are provided in a current process base of the operating system module. For the request, one or more permission settings associated with the one or more client process handles as well as one or more permission settings associated with the one or more server process handles are checked.
US09003482B2	Receiving device, transmitting device, broadcasting system, receiving method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium A receiving device includes: an output unit configured to output content broadcast from a transmitting device; an application execution unit configured to execute an application; a security policy acquiring unit configured to acquire security policy level data sent from the transmitting device with respect to the application, the security policy level data indicating a sorted level of the application; a policy level acquiring unit configured to acquire policy level data sent from the transmitting device with respect to currently broadcast content, the policy level data indicating a sorted level of the currently broadcast content; a determining unit configured to determine whether or not the application is an application to be controlled, based on the policy level data acquired by the policy level acquiring unit and the security policy data of the application acquired by the security policy acquiring unit; and an application control unit configured to instruct the application execution unit to control the application determined to be the application to be controlled.
US09003480B2	Classifying files on a mobile computer device A client computer extracts contextual information associated with a file that is created. The client computer generates scores for the file by utilizing the contextual information that is extracted. The client computer assigns a value to the file, based on an aggregation of the scores that are generated. The client computer monitors activities on the client computer, wherein the activities trigger an event on the client computer. The client computer determines whether the event is in violation of one or more computer security policies on a server computer, wherein the one or more computer security policies require work-related files to be deleted or encrypted. The client computer classifies the file as personal data or work-related business data. The client computer secures the file, if the file is classified as work-related business data.
US09003478B2	Enforcement of conditional policy attachments Framework for conditionally attaching web service policies to a policy subject (e.g., a web service client or service endpoint) at subject runtime. In one set of embodiments, a constraint expression can be defined that specifies one or more runtime conditions under which a policy should be attached to a policy subject. The constraint expression can be associated with the policy and the policy subject via policy attachment metadata. The constraint expression can then be evaluated at runtime of the policy subject to determine whether attachment of the policy to the policy subject should occur. If the evaluation indicates that the policy should be attached, the attached policy can be processed at the policy subject (e.g., enforced or advertised) as appropriate. Using these techniques, the policy subject can be configured to dynamically exhibit different behaviors based on its runtime context.
US09003468B2	Automatic performance device An automatic performance device includes a performance data receiving unit that receives performance data transmitted from a storage device without passing through a moving image distribution server, the storage device configured to store the performance data having a combination of performance information and time information, the time information indicating the time when the performance indicated by the performance information was carried out; a synchronization signal receiving unit that receives a synchronization signal by using an audio signal transmission path for an audio via the moving image distribution server; and a reproducing unit that reproduces the performance information of the performance data in synchronization with a video distributed at the time when the synchronization signal is distributed, at the timing corresponding to the time indicated by the time information and the time indicated by the synchronization signal.
US09003467B2	Supporting functions for quality-assured P2P VoD services The present invention relates to a method for controlling downloading of video segments or segmented video stream to a subscriber client unit, and a subscriber client unit adapted to perform said method. One object of the invention is to guarantee seamless playback and the optimal server load. Said object is by a method and a subscriber client unit that is controlled by a segment selector (SSA) and a server bandwidth control (SBC) algorithm.
US09003463B2	Program storage, retrieval and management based on segmentation messages Segmentation messages indicative of locations of upcoming events, such as the start and end of programs and program portions, and/or rights related to the programs and program portions, are used by cable systems and the like to store programs and program portions for later retrieval and transmission to customers on request. Storage, retrieval and management of programming is thereby facilitated. Methods and systems are disclosed.
US09003455B2	Hospitality media system employing virtual set top boxes Methods and apparatus are described for providing digital content to televisions or other devices having media playback capabilities over a network infrastructure using virtual set top boxes (VSTBs).
US09003447B2	System and method for customizing communication in a social television framework A system and method for customizing communication in a social television framework is described. The method includes retrieving a current context data set corresponding to multiple users, wherein the current context data set includes a user profile component and a media content component. A customized mark set is determined based on an analysis of the current context data set, and at least one of the marks in the customized mark set is sent to a client end device to be experienced by at least one of the users.
US09003444B2	Virtual channel table for a broadcast protocol and method of broadcasting and receiving broadcast signals using the same A virtual channel table for broadcasting protocol and a method for broadcasting by using the virtual channel table includes identification information identifying and permitting discrimination of active and inactive channels contained in the virtual channel table. At a receiver, the virtual channel table transmitted from the transmitting side is parsed, thereby determining whether the current received channel is an active or inactive channel.
US09003430B2	Dynamic transfer of selected business process instance state Business processes that may be affected by events, conditions or circumstances that were unforeseen or undefined at modeling time (referred to as unforeseen events) are modeled and/or executed. Responsive to an indication of such an event during process execution, a transfer is performed from the process, in which selected data is stored and the process is terminated. The selected data may then be used by a target process. The target process may be, for instance, a new version of the same process, the same process or a different process. The target process may or may not have existed at the time the process was deployed.
US09003427B2	Methods for managing authority designation of graphical user interfaces According to one aspect, a graphics management system receives a first message from a first process for granting one or more rights to a second process for accessing a GUI element owned by the first process. In response, the graphics management system transmits a second message to the second process, the second message offering the one or more rights to the second process. The graphics management system receives a third message from the second process indicating an acceptance of the offer. Thereafter, the graphics management system restricts access of the GUI element by the second process based on the one or more rights accepted by the second process.
US09003425B2	Optimizing workflow engines Techniques for implementing a workflow are provided. The techniques include merging a workflow to create a virtual graph, wherein the workflow comprises two or more directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), mapping each of one or more nodes of the virtual graph to one or more physical nodes, and using a message passing scheme to implement a computation via the one or more physical nodes.
US09003421B2	Acceleration threads on idle OS-visible thread execution units Disclosed are embodiments of a system, methods and mechanism for using idle thread units to perform acceleration threads that are transparent to the operating system. When the operating system scheduler has no work to schedule on the idle thread units, the operating system may issue a halt or monitor/mwait or other instruction to place the thread unit into an idle state. While the thread unit is idle, from the operating system perspective, the thread unit may be utilized to perform speculative acceleration threads in order to accelerate threads running on non-idle thread units. The context of the idle thread unit is saved prior to execution of the acceleration thread and is restored when the operating system requires use of the thread unit. The acceleration threads are transparent to the operating system. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09003420B2	Resolving RCU-scheduler deadlocks A technique for resolving deadlocks between an RCU subsystem and an operating system scheduler. An RCU reader manipulates a counter when entering and exiting an RCU read-side critical section. At the entry, the counter is incremented. At the exit, the counter is manipulated differently depending on the counter value. A first counter manipulation path is taken when the counter indicates a task-context RCU reader is exiting an outermost RCU read-side critical section. This path includes condition-based processing that may result in invocation of the operating system scheduler. The first path further includes a deadlock protection operation that manipulates the counter to prevent an intervening RCU reader from taking the same path. The second manipulation path is taken when the counter value indicates a task-context RCU reader is exiting a non-outermost RCU read-side critical section, or an RCU reader is nested within the first path. This path bypasses the condition-based processing.
US09003416B2	Predicting resource requirements for a computer application A resource consumption model is created for a software application, making it possible to predict the resource requirements of the application in different states. The model has a structure corresponding to that of the application itself, and is interpreted to some degree in parallel with the application, but each part of the model is interpreted in less time than it takes to complete the corresponding part of the application, so that resource requirement predictions are available in advance. The model may be interpreted in a look-ahead mode, wherein different possible branches of the model are interpreted so as to obtain resource requirement predictions for the application after completion of the present step. The model may be derived automatically from the application at design or compilation, and populated by measuring the requirements of the application in response to test scenarios in a controlled environment.
US09003415B2	Method and apparatus having resistance to forced termination attack on monitoring program for monitoring a predetermined resource Exemplary embodiments include a method and system having resistance to a forced termination attack on a monitoring program for monitoring a predetermined resource. Aspects of the exemplary embodiment include a device that executes a predetermined process including a monitoring program that monitors a predetermined resource, wherein the predetermined process is a process for which the predetermined resource becomes unavailable in response to termination of the predetermined process; a program starting unit for starting the monitoring program in response to an execution of the predetermined process; and a terminator for terminating the predetermined process in the case where the monitoring program is forcibly terminated from the outside.
US09003409B2	Common contiguous memory region optimized long distance virtual machine migration Embodiments relate to migrating a virtual machine (VM) between work groups. A first machine in a first work group generates a migration request that identifies one or more contiguous memory regions used by the VM for operation. The first machine transmits the migration request to a plurality of work groups. The first machine receives a score from each of the plurality of work groups indicating a number of contiguous memory regions identified in the migration request that are available at the respective work group. A second work group in the plurality of work groups is identified as a destination for the VM based on the scores and a distance of the second work group from the first machine. A migration of the VM from the first machine to a second machine in the second work group is caused based on the identification of the second work group as the destination.
US09003406B1	Environment-driven application deployment in a virtual infrastructure A system for recipe and blueprint-driven automated application deployment comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to receive an environment, receive an application configuration, and deploy an application using the environment and the application configuration. The environment is provisioned using an environment template, and wherein the environment template is built using a blueprint. The application configuration comprises one or more application endpoints. The memory is coupled to the processor and is configured to provide the processor with instructions.
US09003400B2	Tracking computing systems utilizing software repositories A software repository can capture and record an identifier associated with a software package manager accessing the software repository.
US09003398B2	Stochastic method for program security using deferred linking A method to install software by receiving a partially linked version of the software including a plurality of code modules, randomly ordering the code modules, assigning non-volatile memory addresses for the software and generating an executable image of the software. A system to install a software application having a partially linked object code version of the software application including a plurality of code modules and an installation program configured to randomly order the code modules, assign non-volatile memory addresses for the software, and generate an executable image of the software, wherein the installation program performs the ordering, assigning, and generating on a target computing device that is different from a development computing device that partially linked the software application.
US09003397B2	System and method for supporting automatically deploying/undeploying application components in a transactional middleware machine environment A system and method can support automatically deploying application components in a transactional middleware machine environment. A deployment center can receive one or more application packages, each of which contains binary files for one or more transactional servers and configuration information that describes relationship and parameters of the one or more transactional servers in the application package. The deployment center can further generate one or more distribution packages for each transactional middleware machine in the transactional middleware machine environment based on the one or more application packages. Then, the deployment center can deploy the one or more distribution packages to the plurality of transactional middleware machines in the transactional middleware machine environment.
US09003395B2	Directing plug-in updates for a software application to a target audience using manifest parameters Techniques for directing plug-in updates for software applications to a target audience using manifest parameters are disclosed. In some embodiments, directing plug-in updates for software applications to a target audience using manifest parameters includes processing a manifest to determine that a plug-in is available for a software application on a device; determining whether a plurality of attributes associated with the plug-in match corresponding attributes associated with the device or the software application, in which the plurality of attributes are identified in the manifest; and automatically installing the plug-in if the plurality of attributes are determined to match.
US09003391B2	Apparatus and method for providing application service based on area The present invention relates to a short range wireless communication device for providing an application service based on an area. In particular, an apparatus for providing an application service based on an area in a small cell including a femtocell base station or a WiFi Access Point, the apparatus including a communication unit to receive a list of application services from an Application Service Provisioning Server, select and download at least one application service from the received list, an application service database to store the at least one downloaded application service, a service controller to install the at least one downloaded application service, or uninstall an installed application service, a user equipment access detector to detect a user equipment entering or exiting a service area, and a user equipment database to store an identifier and information of the user equipment entering or exiting the service area.
US09003385B2	Software release Some embodiments of a method and an apparatus to conduct software release have been presented. In one embodiment, a user submits a request to conduct software release on a set of servers. Each of the servers has a distinct platform. In response to the request, a set of commands in a cross-platform language is sent to the servers via remote procedure calls (RPCs) in a transactional format.
US09003373B2	Identification of performance bottlenecks Embodiments are directed to identifying, by an apparatus comprising a processing device, a pattern in a graph that has a support value greater than a threshold, wherein: the graph comprises a plurality of weighted nodes coupled to one another by one or more weighted edges, and each of the plurality of nodes is associated with at least one weighted attribute.
US09003372B2	System and method for replacing software components with corresponding known-good software components without regard to whether the software components have been compromised or potentially compromised Approaches for replacing software components executing in a runtime environment with corresponding known-good software components are disclosed. In some implementations, at least a first event indicating that at least a first software component executing in the runtime environment should be replaced may be determined. The first event may be determined without respect to whether the first software component has been compromised or potentially compromised. At least a second software component corresponding to the first software component may be obtained from a component repository that is separate from the runtime environment. The first software component may be replaced with the second software component based on the first event such that the second software component is available for use in the runtime environment after the first event and the first software component is no longer available for use in the runtime environment after the first event.
US09003368B2	Program for test case generation based on use case diagram and method for test case generation using the same In the program for generating a test case based on a use case diagram and the method for generating a test case using the same according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, since a use case specification specifying a procedure or method scenario performed in a use case diagram is used to complement insufficient information of a use case diagram used to extract a test case, a layer, although he is not a specialist or an expert, can easily generate a certain level of a test case to effectively perform a test. Thus, requirements can be verified in advance by generating a test case from a use case program, reducing the costs for a system development.
US09003366B2	Detecting plagiarism in computer source code Plagiarism is detected by comparing statements within source code of a first program to comments within source code of a second program.
US09003354B2	Optimizing memory usage and system performance in a file system requiring entire blocks to be erased for rewriting data A file system which ensures that some of the (desired) files (“linear files”) are stored in corresponding exclusive blocks (i.e., a block that stores data corresponding to one file only). Due to such a feature, rewriting of data corresponding to other files would not cause data corresponding to linear files to be relocated/rewritten. Such a feature may provide reliable and steady retrieval of data of the corresponding file from a flash memory organized as sectors. According to another aspect, some of the files (“non-linear files”) are stored in non-exclusive blocks (i.e., multiple files can share the same block or the same file can span multiple blocks without contiguity).
US09003335B2	Mobile terminal and method for providing user interface thereof The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal capable of displaying a plurality of objects on a wallpaper, and a method for providing a user interface thereof. The mobile terminal includes a display unit to display a plurality of objects on a wallpaper, a sensing unit to detect a touch input on the display unit, and a controller to control the plurality of objects to be invisible in response to the touch input such that portions of the wallpaper obscured by the plurality of objects are visible.
US09003330B2	User interface for selecting a photo tag There is disclosed a user interface for selecting a photo tag. In an embodiment, the user interface embodies a method of selecting a photo tag for a tagged photo, comprising: providing a tag entry field for entering a photo tag; in dependence upon a string entered by a user, displaying in a matching tag list any tags from one or more selected tag sources matching the entered string. The method may further comprise displaying a tag type for each tag appearing in the matching tag list. The method may further comprise allowing user selection of a tag in the matching tag list to complete the tag entry field.
US09003327B2	Proactive user interface A system may include a computing device configured to provide a proactive user interface, the proactive user interface configured to selectively propose suggested actions when a user of the computing device is determined to be in a passive mode. The computing device may include a proactive user interface module configured to: wait for at least one event, determine whether trigger criteria are met based on the at least one event, and when the trigger criteria are met, propose a suggested action to the user based on the at least one event.
US09003325B2	Stackable workspaces on an electronic device Systems and methods for providing stackable workspaces on an electronic device are provided. A system includes a navigation module configured to display a first workspace of workspaces stacked along a stacking axis, and to display a navigation menu when the first workspace is displayed. The navigation menu comprises access points, each of which is associated with an application. The system includes a workspace module configured to open at least one of the applications in a second workspace stacked on the first workspace. The system includes a detection module configured to detect a second workspace scrolling command. The navigation module is configured to display the second workspace in response to the second workspace scrolling command. Displaying the second workspace comprises traversing the stack from the first workspace to the second workspace along the stacking axis. The navigation module is configured to display the navigation menu when the second workspace is displayed.
US09003324B2	Control device and control method thereof A control device which controls a device is disclosed. The control device can be connected to at least one external device, and includes a display unit which generates and displays a frame; and a control unit which controls the display unit to add at least one frame corresponding to each of the at least one external device or to pre-installed applications. The control unit further controls the display unit to display corresponding content in each frame.
US09003317B2	Method of sorting articles for treatment according to a cycle of operation implemented by an appliance A method of sorting articles for subsequent treatment in an appliance. The method may sort the articles on a mobile device and the sorted articles may be treated according to a cycle of operation implemented by the appliance.
US09003310B2	Modifying running of plug-in on hidden tab of browser Various example embodiments are disclosed. According to an example embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may include computer-executable instructions stored thereon. When executed by at least one processor, the instructions may be configured to cause a computing system to receive, by a web browser, a file from a web server, the file including an instruction to launch a plug-in of the browser, launch the plug-in in an active state based on the instruction, provide a message to the plug-in indicating that the plug-in is hidden and is not displayed as visible by the web browser, and modify running of the plug-in from the active state based on the message.
US09003306B2	Doodle-in-chat-context Solutions for providing integrated media services, e.g., in the context of communications services offered through a user supersystem configured as an interactive graphical communications hub. For example, interactions with a messaging interface may provide access to media creation functionality, including doodle functionality, in the context of the messaging and/or in the context of other media. In one implementation, the communications interface allows a user to doodle in the context of an image file (e.g., a photo) while in the context of a chat application.
US09003299B2	Extensible application state preservation architecture The preservation of the user interface state of first application on a first device allows, in one embodiment, a user to resume use of at least a portion of the user interface state on a second application on second devices. The first and second applications can be the same or different (with some common user interface UI features or elements and other UI features that are different).
US09003298B2	Web page application controls A web page behavior control (WPBC) menu is provided on a rendered web page for enabling a user to perform actions on a portion of the web page content such as customizing, editing, sharing, analyzing, exporting, and/or annotating the content. The user may automatically activate the menu by performing a unique gesture on the rendered web page and/or by selecting a portion of the web page content. The WPBC menu may provide a list of applications which may be selected for modifying and managing the portion of selected web page content. The application may provide full functionality for managing the web page content in a separate user interface and/or directly on the rendered web page. Furthermore, manipulation of data presentation on the rendered web page such as table properties of a spreadsheet may be enabled through natural gestures.
US09003290B2	Image-derived user interface enhancements A device configured to select a portion of an image, the selecting being based at least on parameters associated with a user interface element of the device, is disclosed herein. The device is further configured to apply the selected portion of the image to the user interface element.
US09003278B2	Efficient event delegation in browser scripts Event handlers associated with markup language documents represented in a web browser are identified efficiently in response to an event. The markup language document is represented as a hierarchical structure comprising nodes and edges. Nodes are associated with node types, each node type defining how descendants of the node respond to events. The markup language document provides mappings of sets of node types to sets of handlers. In response to an event associated with a node, the types of nodes encountered in a path connecting the node with the root node are identified. Handler sets of the node types encountered in the path connecting a node with the root node are used to determine the handlers to be executed in response to the event. Data is associated with nodes to allow handler code to distinguish between nodes of the same node type.
US09003274B2	Scheduling start-up and shut-down of mainframe applications using topographical relationships The illustrative embodiments provide for a system and recordable type medium for representing actions in a data processing system. A table is generated. The table comprises a plurality of rows and columns. Ones of the columns represent corresponding ones of computer applications that can start or stop in parallel with each other in a data processing system. Ones of the rows represent corresponding ones of sequences of actions within a corresponding column. Additionally, the table represents a definition of relationships among memory address spaces, wherein the table represents when each particular address space is started or stopped during one of a start-up process, a recovery process, and a shut-down process. The resulting table is stored.
US09003266B1	Pipelined turbo convolution code decoder In one embodiment, a method of block decoding is provided. For each of a plurality of data blocks input to a memory arrangement, a plurality of decoding iterations are performed using a circular pipeline of processing stages. For each decoding iteration, one processing stage of the circular pipeline performs a first set and a second set of soft-input-soft-output (SISO) decoding operations on a block of data. The first set of SISO decoding operations produces an intermediate block of data. The second set of SISO decoding operations is performed on the intermediate data block to complete the one decoding iteration. The next decoding iteration of the plurality of decoding iterations is performed using the next processing stage following the one processing stage of the circular pipeline of processing stages.
US09003263B2	Encoder and decoder generation by state-splitting of directed graph A method of generating a hardware encoder includes generating a first directed graph characterizing a constraint set for a constrained system, identifying a scaling factor for an approximate eigenvector for the first directed graph, applying the scaling factor to the approximate eigenvector for the first directed graph to yield a scaled approximate eigenvector, partitioning arcs between each pair of states in the first directed graph, performing a state splitting operation on the first directed graph according to the partitioning of the arcs to yield a second directed graph, and generating the hardware encoder based on the second directed graph.
US09003260B2	Partial-writes to ECC (error check code) enabled memories A memory system includes a memory and a memory controller coupled to the memory. The memory controller includes a data buffer configured to store a full data word as a result of a partial write operation, wherein for a subsequent partial write operation, data is read from the data buffer.
US09003253B2	Method for testing data packet signal transceiver using coordinated transmitted data packet signal power A method for testing a data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT) that minimizes time lost due to waiting for respective power levels of data packets transmitted by the DUT to settle at the desired nominal value for transmit signal testing. In accordance with exemplary embodiments, signals transmitted by the DUT during receive signal testing, e.g., as acknowledgement data packets, are transmitted at the nominal value for transmit signal testing, thereby allowing sufficient time for individual data packet signal power levels to settle and remain consistent at the nominal value by the time receive signal testing is completed and transmit signal testing is to begin.
US09003247B2	Remapping data with pointer Embodiments herein relate to a method for remapping data. In an embodiment, it is determined if a first memory block is faulty. A pointer is stored to the first memory block and a pointer flag of the first memory block is set when the first memory block is faulty. Data previously stored at the first memory block is written to a second memory block, where the pointer points to a location of the second memory block.
US09003246B2	Functional memory array testing with a transaction-level test engine A memory subsystem includes a test engine coupled to a memory controller that can provide memory access transactions to the memory controller, bypassing a memory address decoder. The test engine hardware is configurable for different tests. The test engine identifies a range of addresses through which to iterate a test sequence in response to receiving a software instruction indicating a test to perform. For each iteration of the test, the test engine, via the selected hardware, generates a memory access transaction, selects an address from the range, and sends the transaction to the memory controller. The memory controller schedules memory device commands in response to the transaction, which causes the memory device to execute operations to carry out the transaction.
US09003231B1	System for instantiating service instances for testing in a known state It is frequently difficult to generate multiple separate instances of a complex system. It is also difficult to restore the data state of these instances to a known state. Embodiments simplify the process by classifying the complex system under test in terms of its state components and service, by creating a new instance for testing, and by using copy-on write approaches to restore that new instance to the desired known state.
US09003224B2	Managing unreliable memory in data storage systems A data storage system configured to manage unreliable memory units is disclosed. In one embodiment, the data storage system maintains an unreliable memory unit list designating memory units in a non-volatile memory array as reliable or unreliable. The unreliable memory unit list facilitates management of unreliable memory at a granularity level finer than the granularity of a block of memory. The data storage system can add entries to the unreliable memory unit list as unreliable memory units are discovered. Further, the data storage system can continue to perform memory access operations directed to reliable memory units in blocks containing other memory units determined to be unreliable. As a result, the operational life of the data storage system is extended.
US09003213B2	Battery discharging method A battery discharging method for a computer system is disclosed. The battery discharging method is to detect a first detection value relative to a first status of a battery of the computer system and a second detection value relative to a second status of the battery, then to determine a clock adjustment parameter according to the first detection value and the second detection value, and at last to adjust an operation clock rate of a processor of the computer system according to the clock adjustment parameter. Therein, the statuses of the battery can be discharging temperature, discharging current, discharging voltage, residual capacity, or other statuses of the battery. Therefore, the invention can adjust the operation clock rate of the processor under the consideration to the statuses of the battery, so as to extend the discharging period of the battery and utilize the stored energy in the battery efficiently.
US09003212B2	Information processing device, non-transitory, computer readable storage medium, and method of controlling information processing device An information processing device has a storage unit configured to store correlation information in which a control rule for an operating frequency of a central processing unit of the information processing device is correlated with a combination of a state change of a first element of the information processing device, and a state of a second element of the information processing device which is different from the first element, a detecting unit configured to detect the state change of the first element, a determining unit configured to determine the state of the second element in the event that state change of the first element has been detected by the detecting unit, a searching unit configured to search for, a control rule corresponding to a combination of the state change and the state, and a control unit configured to control the operating frequency of the central processing unit.
US09003211B2	Method and apparatus for holistic power management to dynamically and automatically turn servers, network equipment and facility components on and off inside and across multiple data centers based on a variety of parameters without violating existing service levels The present invention provides a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HOLISTIC POWER MANAGEMENT TO DYNAMICALLY AND AUTOMATICALLY TURN SERVERS, NETWORK EQUIPMENT AND FACILITY COMPONENTS ON AND OFF INSIDE AND ACROSS MULTIPLE DATA CENTERS BASED ON A VARIETY OF PARAMETERS WITHOUT VIOLATING EXISTING SERVICE LEVELS. This method and apparatus pertains specifically to a method and apparatus for power management in data centers and large server environments.Until today all servers running a specific application or virtualized environment are kept turned on to support various levels of application demand. With the invention of Holistic Power Management this invention completely automates the tasks required to shutdown and turn off servers not needed and to turn them on and start them up independent of their physical location. Furthermore this invention makes such changes dynamically based on application load, environmental conditions and energy pricing and availability and can adjust cooling services accordingly.
US09003205B2	Method to lower the operating cost of wireless network by enforcing low power infrastructure operation A system and techniques for managing power utilization in a wireless local area network are disclosed. The system can utilize an infrastructure power management module that is configured to identify and power down one or more unused wireless devices and/or dynamically reconfigure the wireless operation of one or more wireless devices to consume lower power while still operating according to network requirements.
US09003201B2	Hardware protection for encrypted strings and protection of security parameters In one embodiment, a disk drive is provided that is adapted for security authentication. The disk drive includes: a non-volatile memory storing object code; a processor for retrieving the stored object code; a decryption engine for decrypting a retrieved shared secret from the object code; and a first memory for storing the decrypted retrieved shared secret; wherein the processor is configured to overwrite the written decrypted retrieved shared secret after it has been used in an authentication procedure.
US09003194B2	Systems and methods for data compression and decompression By way of example only, in various embodiments, the present system and system is designed to reduce the size of data on a computer through compression, to improve hash, message digest, and checksum technology and their application to information and data storage, to improve uniqueness by using mutual exclusion in hash and checksum tests, to improve checksum tests providing better computer security, to create an XML compression format and to move binary compression formats to XML or other markup language, to utilize variable length hashes and message digests, and to create an XML based checksum that can be used to verify the integrity of files.
US09003186B2	HTTP authentication and authorization management Systems, methods and apparatus for a distributed security that provides authentication and authorization management. The system can include an epoch manager that is used to generate authentication and authorization data that remain valid only for an epoch. The epoch manager can generate an epoch key pair that can be used to encrypt and decrypt the authentication and authorization data during the epoch that the key is valid. The epoch manager can also associate the contents of the data with the epoch in which it was created, so that at decrypting the epoch that the data was generated in can be identified.
US09003185B2	Client computer, remote control system, and remote control method A client computer that is connectable to a host computer by a network, includes a communication part to communicate with the host computer; a user input part; a system part to perform a function depending on an application; and a controller to control the system part to be put into a locking state to stop performing operations input by a user from the user input part if a locking signal is received from the host computer through the communication part, and to control the communication part to unlock the locking state if an unlocking signal is received from the host computer through the communication part.
US09003171B2	Page fault prediction for processing vector instructions A system including a processor that handles a TLB miss while executing a vector read instruction in a processor is described herein. During operation, the processor performs a lookup in a TLB for addresses in active elements in the vector read instruction. The processor then determines that a TLB miss occurred for the address from an active element other than a first active element. Upon predicting that a page table walk for the vector read instruction will result in a page fault, the processor sets a bit in a corresponding bit position in an FSR. A set bit in a bit position in FSR indicates that data in a corresponding element of the vector read instruction is invalid. The processor then immediately performs memory reads for at least one of the first active element and other active elements for which TLB misses did not occur.
US09003168B1	Control system for resource selection between or among conjoined-cores A processing system is provided for processing signals in a processor system including first and second conjoined-cores, and sharing a single floating point unit or a single memory interconnection network port by the first and second conjoined-cores.
US09003166B2	Generating hardware accelerators and processor offloads System and method for generating hardware accelerators and processor offloads. System for hardware acceleration. System and method for implementing an asynchronous offload. Method of automatically creating a hardware accelerator. Computerized method for automatically creating a test harness for a hardware accelerator from a software program. System and method for interconnecting hardware accelerators and processors. System and method for interconnecting a processor and a hardware accelerator. Computer implemented method of generating a hardware circuit logic block design for a hardware accelerator automatically from software. Computer program and computer program product stored on tangible media implementing the methods and procedures of the invention.
US09003160B2	Active buffered memory According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a memory device that includes memory and a processing element includes receiving, in the processing element, a command from a requestor, loading, in the processing element, a program based on the command, the program comprising a load instruction loaded from a first memory location in the memory, and performing, by the processing element, the program, the performing including loading data in the processing element from a second memory location in the memory. The method also includes generating, by the processing element, a virtual address of the second memory location based on the load instruction and translating, by the processing element, the virtual address into a real address.
US09003157B1	Techniques for dynamic data storage configuration in accordance with an allocation policy Described are techniques for partitioning storage of a data storage system. A plurality of storage groups is selected. Each of the plurality of storage groups includes one or more devices and is associated with an allocation policy including a first threshold specifying one of a minimum or a maximum amount of storage of a first of a plurality of storage tiers. Workload data for the plurality of storage groups is analyzed. Storage of a plurality of storage tiers is partitioned for use by the plurality of storage groups in accordance with criteria. The criteria includes workloads of the plurality of storage groups and the allocation policy associated with each of the plurality of storage groups.
US09003153B2	Method of storing blocks of data in a plurality of memory devices in a redundant manner, a memory controller and a memory system A memory controller, system and method for storing data blocks in a plurality of physically distinct non-volatile memory devices, each being independently written to or read from. The method includes generating one or more error checking data blocks based upon the plurality of data blocks; and storing the plurality of data blocks and the error checking data block(s) in the distinct physical non-volatile memory devices, with each data block in a different physical memory device. The method links the addresses of the data blocks and the error checking data block(s) in a cyclical link so that any entry to one of the data blocks will result in a link to all of the other data blocks. The memory controller has a processor and a memory for storing programming code for performing the foregoing method.
US09003147B2	Electronic device and save data recording method A virtual capacity acquisition unit acquires a size of virtual capacity of a save data area from an application. A storage capacity acquisition unit acquires a size of save data of the application. A writing control unit prohibits the application from writing the save data exceeding the virtual capacity in a recording device. A free space acquisition unit acquires a size of free space of the recoding device, and the writing control unit prohibits the writing of save data whose size is larger than that of the free space.
US09003141B2	Enhanced software application platform A system includes information for generating a first appliance based on first appliance information, information for generating a second appliance based on second appliance information, and information for configuring communication between the first appliance and the second appliance. The system further includes at least one processor configured to generate a first volume by copying the first appliance information using a first set of parameters associated with an environment in which the first volume is situated, and generate a second volume by copying the second appliance information using a second set of parameters associated with an environment in which the second volume is situated. The system also includes at least one processor configured to initiate a first appliance instance by executing code from the first volume using information in the third volume, and initiate a second appliance instance by executing code in the second volume using information in a fourth volume.
US09003130B2	Multi-core processing device with invalidation cache tags and methods A data processing device is provided that facilitates cache coherence policies. In one embodiment, a data processing device utilizes invalidation tags in connection with a cache that is associated with a processing engine. In some embodiments, the cache is configured to store a plurality of cache entries where each cache entry includes a cache line configured to store data and a corresponding cache tag configured to store address information associated with data stored in the cache line. Such address information includes invalidation flags with respect to addresses stored in the cache tags. Each cache tag is associated with an invalidation tag configured to store information related to invalidation commands of addresses stored in the cache tag. In such embodiment, the cache is configured to set invalidation flags of cache tags based upon information stored in respective invalidation tags.
US09003125B2	Cache coherency protocol for allowing parallel data fetches and eviction to the same addressable index A technique for cache coherency is provided. A cache controller selects a first set from multiple sets in a congruence class based on a cache miss for a first transaction, and places a lock on the entire congruence class in which the lock prevents other transactions from accessing the congruence class. The cache controller designates in a cache directory the first set with a marked bit indicating that the first transaction is working on the first set, and the marked bit for the first set prevents the other transactions from accessing the first set within the congruence class. The cache controller removes the lock on the congruence class based on the marked bit being designated for the first set, and resets the marked bit for the first set to an unmarked bit based on the first transaction completing work on the first set in the congruence class.
US09003119B2	Control apparatus and method, and storage apparatus In a storage apparatus, in the case where a data block to be written to a storage medium is a zero data block containing only zero data, a zero data information memory stores zero data identification information indicating that the data block is a zero data block. A control apparatus receives a data block from an access requesting apparatus in association with a write request issued by the access requesting apparatus for writing the data block a specified number of times to a predetermined storage area of the storage medium, and when determining that the data block is a zero data block containing only zero data, sets zero data identification information in the zero data information memory, and when completing the setting of the zero data identification information, sends the access requesting apparatus a completion notice of the writing to the storage medium.
US09003118B2	Systems and methods for non-volatile cache control In some embodiments, a method for controlling a cache having a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory during a power up sequence is provided. The method includes receiving, at a controller configured to control the cache and a storage device associated with the cache, a signal indicating whether the non-volatile memory includes dirty data copied from the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory during a power down sequence, the dirty data including data that has not been stored in the storage device. In response to the received signal, the dirty data is restored from the non-volatile memory to the volatile memory, and flushed from the volatile memory to the storage device.
US09003115B2	Method and system for governing an enterprise level green storage system drive technique A method and system for manipulating a spin state of each disk in a drive array is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes monitoring input/output (I/O) requests to each disk drive in a disk array and identifying any disk drive as an inactive disk drive based on a number of I/O requests directed to said any disk drive for a given time interval. The method further includes moving data from the inactive disk drive to an active disk drive having a free disk space to store the data and updating metadata associated with the data using a log-structured file system for the disk array. Further, the method includes manipulating a spin state of the inactive disk drive by spinning down the inactive disk drive to conserve power. Furthermore, the method includes redirecting subsequent I/O requests for the inactive disk drive to the active disk drive by accessing the metadata of the log-structured file system.
US09003107B2	Method for adjusting storage space of partition of embedded multimedia card and terminal A method is provided for adjusting a storage space of a partition of an embedded multimedia card and a terminal. The method includes: determining a current external SD card mode of a terminal, where the external SD card mode includes an external SD card installed mode or an external SD card uninstalled mode; receiving instruction information, where the instruction information is used for instructing the terminal to switch from the external SD card uninstalled mode to the external SD card installed mode, or used for instructing the terminal to switch from the external SD card installed mode to the external SD card uninstalled mode; and adjusting a size of a storage space of a partition of an embedded multimedia card according to the instruction information.
US09003105B2	Semiconductor memory device and method for writing therein According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of blocks in a memory cell, each of the blocks acting as an erasure unit of data, the block including a plurality of pages, each of the pages including a plurality of memory cell transistors, each of the memory cell transistors being configured to be an erasure state or a first retention state based on a threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor, and a controller searching data in the block with respect to, writing a first flag denoting effective into a prescribed page of the block with the erasure state, and writing the first flag denoting non-effective into a prescribed page of the block with the first retention state, reading out the prescribed page of the block with the first retention state, and determining that the block is writable when the first flag denotes effective.
US09003104B2	Systems and methods for a file-level cache A multi-level cache comprises a plurality of cache levels, each configured to cache I/O request data pertaining to I/O requests of a different respective type and/or granularity. The multi-level cache may comprise a file-level cache that is configured to cache I/O request data at a file-level of granularity. A file-level cache policy may comprise file selection criteria to distinguish cacheable files from non-cacheable files. The file-level cache may monitor I/O requests within a storage stage, and may service I/O requests from a cache device.
US09003095B2	Automation control component Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward an automation control device including a base having a module slot, a functional module including communication and control circuitry configured to communicatively couple with the base via the module slot, a terminal block configured to communicatively couple the base and the first functional module with field wiring, a first power bus configured to transmit a first power to the functional module, and a second power bus configured to transmit a second power to the functional module.
US09003093B2	Connector apparatus and associated method for bridging data between data sources and data targets A connector apparatus and the associated method are provided for bridging data between entities, such as between data source(s) and data target(s). In a method, first and second data bridge connections are established between a connector apparatus and a data source and between a connector apparatus and a data target, respectively. Each data bridge connection includes a data pipe having one or more data flows with each data flow dedicated to a particular data type. The method includes sending a polling request from the connector apparatus to the data source via the first data bridge connection and receiving data from the data source over the first data pipe in response to the polling request. The method includes sending the received data to the data target over the second data pipe when the data target has subscribed to the data received from the data source over the first data pipe.
US09003092B2	System on chip bus system and a method of operating the bus system A bus system of a system on chip (SoC) includes a first and a second masters, a first slave, and a first and a second control modules. The control modules generates a first and a second access control state signals in response to a first locking access preparation request signal from a corresponding master. The access control signals are broadcasted between the first and the second control modules through a communication channel.A method of operating a bus system in a locked access mode includes allowing one of masters to access one of slaves through a control module and restricting other masters from accessing the one of slaves through other control modules connecting the other masters and the one of slaves in accordance with a control state signal.
US09003086B1	Dynamic distribution of replicated data A system and method for data storage. The method can include: identifying, by a computer processor, a cluster map representing a set of storage resources; for each storage resource of the set of storage resources: traversing, by the computer processor, the cluster map to map the storage resource to a candidate resource set including at least one other storage resource of the set of storage resources; identifying a first data object associated with a storage request; identifying a first candidate resource set based on the first data object; and selecting a first final resource set based at least on the first candidate resource set, where the first data object is sent to storage resources of the first final resource set for storage.
US09003082B2	Information processing apparatus, arithmetic device, and information transferring method An information processing apparatus including a plurality of nodes. The each of the nodes comprises a processor, a storage device, and a storing unit that stores therein multiple pointer sets in each of which a write pointer indicating an address used when data received from another node is stored in the storage device is associated with a read pointer indicating an address used when the data is read from the storage device. The each of the nodes comprises a notifying unit that notifies a node corresponding to a transmission source of the data of a pointer identifier that indicates a pointer set. The each of the nodes comprises a retaining unit that retains the received data in the storage device in accordance with an address indicated by a write pointer in a pointer set indicated by the pointer identifier.
US09003077B2	Sharing IOMMU mappings across devices in a DMA group A method that includes creating a DMA group, adding a first I/O device to the DMA group, and adding a second I/O device to the DMA group. The method further includes instructing an I/O MMU to create a shared virtual DMA address, mapping a memory location to the shared virtual DMA address in the DMA group translation table, and providing the shared virtual DMA address to the device drivers. The method further includes determining that the first I/O device has received DMA group data, instructing a first DMA controller to transfer the DMA group data from the first I/O device to the shared virtual DMA address, determining that the shared virtual DMA address has received the DMA group data, and instructing a second DMA controller to transfer the DMA group data from the memory location corresponding to the shared virtual DMA address to the second I/O device.
US09003075B2	Transmission device and transmission method A transmission device includes a temporary storage unit that is provided for each port receiving input data, stores the data temporarily, and outputs the temporarily stored data in response to a read enable signal, a storage unit that performs time-division multiplexing on the data output from the temporary storage unit in response to the read enable signal and stores the data, a flow monitoring unit that monitors a data flow for each of the ports, and a control unit that selects a temporary storage unit that is a read enable target from the temporary storage units corresponding to the ports to which the data is input, by a weighted round robin system in accordance with the data flow for each of the ports, and outputs the read enable signal to the selected temporary storage unit.
US09003073B2	Communication connector enabling communication status thereof to be determined independently and communication apparatus comprising the same Disclosed is a communication connector enabling the communication status thereof to be determined independently which makes it possible to determine the communication status of the communication connector by the communication connector itself independently without the involvement of a processor for controlling the communication connector through wired data communication and a communication apparatus comprising the communication connector.
US09003071B2	Namespace access control in NVM express PCIe NVM with SR-IOV A method implemented by a non-volatile memory (NVM) controller comprising obtaining a NVM express (NVMe) command comprising a namespace identifier (NSID) from a host memory via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) function, determining a mapping between the PCIe function and a namespace identified by the NSID based on a data structure stored in a PCIe memory address space, and accessing the namespace based on the mapping between the PCIe function and the namespace.
US09003068B2	Service channel for connecting a host computer to peripheral devices A computer system having a host adapter is provided. The host adapter includes a primary port that follows a primary communication protocol. The primary port is connectable to at least one peripheral device. The host adapter includes a service port that follows a service communication protocol to monitor and send recovery commands to the peripheral device. The service port is decoupled and separate from the primary port and connectable to the at least one peripheral device.
US09003065B2	De-duplicating of packets in flows at layer 3 Embodiments are directed towards receiving packets communicated over at least one network, determining layer 3 header information for the received packets, normalizing the determined layer 3 header information for each received packet, employing a determined value based on the normalized layer 3 header information to detect each received packet that is a duplicate, disregarding duplicate packets, and enabling monitoring and analysis of at least selected flows that include packets that are determined to be non-duplicated. Also, if the determined layer 3 header information indicates that the received packet is fragmented, that packet is de-fragmented at least in accordance with a fragment offset. Additionally, normalization may include at least one of masking at least one value in the layer 3 header information, or rolling back changes in the layer 3 header information.
US09003062B1	Framework for exchanging large B2B transactional in-order messages using distributed file system (DFS) and associated method Certain example embodiments relate to a framework that helps address dynamic scalability and in-order processing of payloads, e.g., pertaining to B2B and/or other transactions. A receiver and/or sender is/are able to dynamically and/or statically provide an executable to an intermediary entity (e.g., a central payload processor or CPP) to process and/or otherwise transform payloads, en-route. This arrangement advantageously provides a very efficient way of delivering ordered content, especially when the content is extremely large. Cloud processing and/or storage facilities may be implemented in certain example instances, parallel sending and/or receiving may be provided, etc., in addressing issues relating to how to send large amounts of data over large distances to possibly multiple recipients.
US09003059B2	Running applications in an online or offline mode based on the availability of the connection to the remote web server Systems and methods for implementing online and offline applications are described. Such systems and methods may in some cases provide the same programming interface, regardless of whether the application is online or offline. Such systems and methods may also or instead in some cases provide additional or other possible capabilities, including installation without elevated privileges, simplified data synchronization, sharing of applications and application data, access to data from other applications, and richer client functionality than may be provided by an application such as a web browser.
US09003058B2	Method, system, user equipment and program for dynamically selecting proxies for communication with servers using known paths Method, User equipment, system and program for limiting an amount of information transmitted between a plurality of user equipments and a server. The method comprising establishing communication links between a plurality of user equipments based upon a proximity of the plurality of user equipments, determining a tactical common mission group selected from the linked plurality of user equipments using a mission profile stored in each of the plurality of user equipments; and selecting a proxy for the tactical common mission group. The proxy communicates with a server on behalf of the tactical common mission group. A proxy is selected based upon a ranking.
US09003048B2	Network zones A computer assigns networks to network zones based on predefined properties for each zone and/or the properties of the networks. An application program installed on the computer provides the computer with preference information that indicates the network zone whose network policies or properties are best suited for the application program. Thereafter, when executing the application program, the computer limits network contact for the application program to the network(s) that is assigned to the network zone(s) identified as a preferred network zone(s) or identified by a preferred network property or properties by the preference information from the application program.
US09003039B2	Method and apparatus of resource allocation or resource release A method of resource allocation by a resource controlling device includes receiving, from a sending device, a list of resource devices requested by a resource requesting device. Allocation of a first resource device on the list of resource devices is performed. A list of remaining resource devices is sent to a next resource controlling device if the first resource device on the list of resource devices is successfully allocated for the resource requesting device and the first resource device is not a last resource device on the list of resource devices. An allocation failure message is sent to the sending device if the first resource device on the list of resource devices is not successfully allocated for the resource requesting device.
US09003034B2	Method for operating a local area data network A method for operating a local area data network with a plurality of network nodes is disclosed, wherein the network nodes send requests to the data network using request values and each of the network nodes has an associated explicit identifier from a key space. A plurality of network nodes respectively has an associated one or more table entries in a value table distributed over the network nodes. In this case each table entry includes a request value having data associated with the key space and with the request value, the network node being responsible for a request value whose identifier is less than or equal to the request value. For the plurality of network nodes, the frequency with which requests for the request values associated with a respective network node are sent to the respective network node is respectively monitored. If it occurs that the frequency of the requests for one or more request values to a respective network node exceeds a predetermined threshold value then at least the table entry or entries for this or these request values are assigned to at least one other network node which is situated in a request path for the request.
US09003019B1	Methods and systems for utilization tracking and notification of cloud resources Through an online process, a user in an organization may request a reservation of some of the organization's cloud computing resources. Usage of the allocated resources is monitored. If usage falls below a configurable threshold level, an alert may be generated to provide notification of inefficient resource use. The allocated resources or a portion of the allocated resources may be reclaimed so that the resource can be made available to other users in the organization.
US09003017B2	Methods, devices, and computer program products for providing a computing application rating A rating is provided for a computing application. Traffic data, power data, and/or network signaling load data is collected for a computing application and compared with other similar data. A rating for the computing application is provided based on the comparison.
US09003006B2	Intercloud application virtualization A method and a system for providing an application to be executed on a plurality of computer systems. The method includes: providing an interface for each computer system, wherein the interface includes at least one application container; and migrating a script of the application into each of the plurality of the computer systems through the corresponding interface, wherein for each interface, the script is executable in the at least one application container of the interface.
US09003005B2	Monitoring apparatus, monitoring system, and information setting method A monitoring apparatus includes a storage and a processor. The storage stores collecting apparatus information for identifying one of a plurality of collecting apparatuses collecting status information of a network. The processor acquires status information of the network from a network apparatus connected to the network. The processor acquires, from a database, collecting apparatus information for identifying each of the plurality of collecting apparatuses. The processor acquires, based on the acquired collecting apparatus information, load information indicating a load on each of the plurality of collecting apparatuses. The processor selects, based on the acquired load information, one collecting apparatus among the plurality of collecting apparatuses, to which the monitoring apparatus transmits the acquired status information. The processor stores collecting apparatus information for identifying the selected collecting apparatus in the storage. The processor notifies the selected collecting apparatus of monitoring apparatus information for identifying the monitoring apparatus.
US09003004B2	Group-based control method and apparatus for MTC devices in mobile communication system A group-based control method and a group-based control apparatus for Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices in a mobile communication system are provided. The method includes sending, when an attach request from an MTC device is received by a Mobility Management Entity (MME), an attach report to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), starting, upon reception of the attach report by the HSS, a timer lasting for a preset time duration, counting the number of MTC devices requesting attachment and the number of already attached MTC devices during the preset time duration, determining, upon expiration of the timer, by the HSS, an Access Point Name-Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (APN-AMBR) in consideration of a sum of the counted number of MTC devices requesting attachment during the preset time duration and the counted number of already attached MTC devices, and sending, by the HSS, the determined APN-ABMR to the MME.
US09002988B2	Systems, methods and apparatuses for providing applications style functionality to a user Systems configured to provide applications style functionality to at least one user, the systems comprising: at least one user device that includes at least one receiver for receiving data comprising a series of linked states plus additional data associated with each state, the additional data comprising, storage instructions and display instructions; and at least one decoder to decode the received data and cache each state and its corresponding display instructions in accordance with the storage instructions. The systems may also comprise: at least one server configured to communicate with the at least one user device that includes a processor for interpreting the execution of an application or rendering of a state and expressing it as a series of states through which the at least one user device may navigate to create the appearance of executing an application or browsing web content.
US09002987B2	Method and apparatus for reproducing content in multimedia data providing system A content reproducing method is provided for continuously reproducing content being reproduced by a client device in another client device in a multimedia data providing system including a server for providing content and a plurality of client devices for reproducing the content provided by the server. The method includes reproducing, by a first device, multimedia content being streamed by a content server; and transmitting, by the first device, a first request message for continuously reproducing content being reproduced by the first device in another device and an IDentification (ID) of the first device to another device using local area communication in order to continuously reproduce the content being reproduced by the first device in another device.
US09002985B2	Branded and comarketed domain-based thick client system Systems and methods of the present invention allow for a thick client which may be provided with a domain name in a partnership between a hosting provider, an ISP and/or a thick client retailer. The client may be used to access a remote computer or server in the hosting provider's data center.
US09002980B2	Establishing a virtual tunnel between two computer programs A system transfers data via a communication session between a client application and a server application, where the client application runs on a first network and the server application runs on a second network. The system includes a proxy having a socket to the client application. The proxy converts data between a local protocol run on the first network to a non-local protocol. An agent creates a socket to the server application. The agent converts data between a local protocol run on the second network and the non-local protocol. A server is in communication with the proxy and the agent. The server contains a message queue dedicated to the communication session. The message queue stores data transmitted during the communication session.
US09002979B2	Sports timing system (STS) event and participant announcement communication system (EPACS) and method Systems and methods for communicating real-time sporting event and participant announcement information received from a sport timing system (STS). The system comprising an announcement interface system having a processor, a memory, a first data interface communicating over the a stateless packet data communication network with the sport timing system, and a second interface communicating with an announcement system. The first data interface receives a multicast datagram ANNC message including an identification of the sport timing system and participant data including a participant identifier for uniquely identifying each participant in the sporting event and participant timing data. The announcement interface system formats the received portion of the participant data into an announcement system message and transmitting the announcement system message including the participant data, the participant identifier and participant timing data.
US09002965B1	Distribution of messages in nodes connected by a grid architecture A method, system, and a computer program product for transferring a message from a source node to recipient nodes connected by a grid architecture. According to an aspect, a source node stores a message in a message grid. An identifier and a message-type of the message are then received in a message manager node. If the type of message to be sent to the recipient nodes is the same as the message-type of the message stored in the message grid, the message manager node sends the identifier to the recipient nodes. The recipient nodes then retrieve the message from the message grid using the message identifier. Recipient nodes register with a registration grid specifying the type of message desired to be received.
US09002956B1	Self-regulating social news feed A system and method for self-regulating social news feeds includes a user interface module, data storage, a loudness controller, a quality engine, and an output or news feed module. The user interface module is adapted to receive input from the user including a loudness value associated with a particular message. The loudness value is associated with an originally generated message or a response (reply) to an existing message. The messages and their associated loudness values are provided to the loudness controller. The loudness controller sorts the messages in order of loudness. The loudness values are also modified based upon input from the quality engine. The quality engine modifies the loudness values based upon a quality rating associated with the user. The output of the loudness controller is provided for presentation to the user via the output or news feed module. The present disclosure also describes a number of methods including a method for posting a message with loudness points, a method for replying with loudness points, a method for modifying the point value for message, and a method for modifying a point total of the user.
US09002955B2	Carrier-grade Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network, system and method A computing network, including: a plurality of peer computing devices including code, which when executed by a peer computing device causes the executing peer computing device to cooperate with at least one other of the peer computing devices; at least one server including code, which when executed by the at least one server locates at least one of the peer computing devices; and at least one mediator including code, which when executed by the at least on mediator collects charging information from at least some of the peer computing devices; wherein, the peer computing devices, at least one sever and at least one mediator are communicatively coupled via an at least carrier-grade telecommunications network being suitable for enhancing cooperation among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices relative to best-efforts communications among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices.
US09002933B1	User interaction-based data sharing via cloud-based remote servers Methods, apparatus and systems for sharing data based on user interactions. User interactions with data, such as creating a file, opening a file, or modifying a file, are monitored by a user computing device. When the user interactions satisfy a data-interaction condition defined by a set of rules, information associated with the user interaction is communicated to a remote server for subsequent sharing with the user or another recipient. The information associated with the user interaction may include data, metadata, and or contextual data.
US09002926B2	Methods for suggesting domain names from a geographic location data Systems and methods of the present invention provide for displaying, suggesting and registering available domain names on a client computer based on selected geographical locations from online mapping service software or a geo-location software. Any combination of an online mapping software and a domain name registration software may receive a selection of one or more geographical locations within a displayed geographical area. Alternatively, a location of a client computer may be detected using the geo-location software. One or more available domain names may be parsed for keywords related to the selected geographical area, and one or more available domain names may be suggested based on the selected keywords.
US09002924B2	Contextual based information aggregation system A system automatically and continuously finds and aggregates the most relevant and current information about the people and things that a user cares about. The information gathering is based on current context (e.g., where the user is, what the user is doing, what the user is saying/typing, etc.). The result of the context based information gathering is presented ubiquitously on user interfaces of any of the various physical devices operated by the user.
US09002922B2	Question server to facilitate communication between participants Systems and methods are provided for facilitating contact or communication between users or participants. A profile matching process is performed to match a user profile of a first user to a user profile of a second user. A number of questions to ask the second user are automatically selected. In addition, an answer to one or more of the questions may be suggested to the second user. The questions and any suggested answers are then sent to the second user at an associated user device. A reward to be revealed to the second user in response to answering the questions may also be provided. A summary of the answers given by the second user may be provided to the first user. In response, the first user may choose to share his or her full or partial user profile, contact information, or the like with the second user.
US09002915B1	Circuits for shifting bussed data A circuit for shifting bussed data includes a first column of shift blocks, a compare block, and a second column of multiplexer blocks. The first column shifts the bussed data by a number of bits specified by first bits of a shift control input. The compare block determines the value of a second bit of the shift control input and creates an output reflecting that value. The second column has a control input coupled to the output of the compare block, shifts the data by one byte when the second bit of the shift control input has a first value, and does not shift the data when the second bit has a second value. The shift, compare, and multiplexer blocks can be substantially similar logic blocks programmable to perform any of these functions, can include N-bit data inputs and outputs, and can operate on the bussed data as an N-bit bus.
US09002914B2	Method, apparatus and instructions for parallel data conversions Method, apparatus, and program means for performing a conversion. In one embodiment, a disclosed apparatus includes a destination storage location corresponding to a first architectural register. A functional unit operates responsive to a control signal, to convert a first packed first format value selected from a set of packed first format values into a plurality of second format values. Each of the first format values has a plurality of sub elements having a first number of bits. The second format values have a greater number of bits. The functional unit stores the plurality of second format values into an architectural register.
US09002909B2	Tracking marked documents When data is stored on a computer, or subsequently, originator preferences relating to the data are stored in a database, for example in a network. When another user subsequently makes a request for processing of the received data, or a modified copy of the data, it is determined whether the requested processing is consistent with any stored originator preferences, and the requested processing is permitted only if it is consistent with the stored originator preferences. The preferences may relate to saving, copying or retransmitting the data. The originator may be notified of any processing operations that are carried out.
US09002907B2	Method and system for storing binary large objects (BLObs) in a distributed key-value storage system A technique for storing binary large objects (BLObs) in a distributed key-value storage system is disclosed. In an embodiment, the storage of BLObs involves dividing the BLObs into smaller “BLOb chunks” and storing the BLOb chunks in storage nodes of the distributed key-value storage system. A BLOb is first associated with a key, referred to as a “BLOb key,” and each subsequent BLOb chunk is associated with a different unique key, referred to as a “BLOb chunk key.” A list of the BLOb chunks keys is maintained and all of the BLOb chunks of the BLOb can be retrieved from the distributed key-value storage system using the BLOb chunks key list.
US09002906B1	System and method for handling large transactions in a storage virtualization system The present invention provides a system and method for handling large transactions by a storage virtualization system. Current storage virtualization systems can only manage a limited number of data objects stored on an associated NAS system because of the cost or hardware constraints of physical main memory. The present invention will enable a storage virtualization system to increase the number of data objects managed by a factor of five or more by using an associated secondary memory store, such as a disk, to store information or metadata about data objects stored on associated NAS systems. The invention also provides a method for moving metadata from the storage virtualization system memory to the secondary store and back, and recovering metadata if corrupted. The invention thereby increases the number of data objects handled by the storage virtualization system with negligible loss of performance as perceived by clients of the storage virtualization system.
US09002900B2	Machine-implemented activity management system using asynchronously shared activity data objects and journal data items Machine-assisted methods and apparatus are disclosed for allowing individual users to develop and organize respective activity descriptions and supporting journal items according to their respective preferences. Cross-referencing mappings may be created between activity descriptions and journal items in order to find, filter and organize disparate data. Cross-referencing mappings may also be created between the developed activity descriptions of different users so they can better understand each others perspectives and possibly overlapping goals. Different users' activity descriptions can be presented to a user even while the user may be disconnected from communication networks. Hierarchical relationships between activity descriptions may be provided. Machine-assisted means may be provided for creating work-sharing, work-delegating and/or informational sharing agreements between different users. Further machine-implemented means may be provided for automatically and asynchronously updating users on shared activities by other users even though all users are not necessarily connected to one or more respective communication networks at same time.
US09002899B2	Method of merging and incremental construction of minimal finite state machines A method of merging at least two state machines includes: mapping a first node from a first state machine to a second node of a second state machine to generate an input pair; performing a depth-first recursive analysis of transitions and nodes in the first state machine and the second state machine based on the input pair to construct an output node; and mapping the output node to a third state machine.
US09002897B2	Aspected interfaces and methods for synchronized containers and other data structures The subject disclosure is directed towards an object (e.g., an aspected vector, queue, map, stack and so forth) container having an exclusive interface, a shared-read-only interface and a shared-write (and read) interface to a common set of data. Use cases during runtime determine the appropriate interface to use. No locking is needed with methods of the exclusive interface or the read-only interface. The shared-write interface is configured to have only concurrency safe methods. Also described is blocking the use of other interfaces while one interface is in use, and the use of reference counter tracking to know when no concurrent readers and/or writers remain, to allow transitioning to use a different interface.
US09002890B2	Rule-based access control list management Access control list entries are managed as a function of access control list entry metadata for the object and the requesting user, and of an access control list rule applicable to the requesting user and the requested object. The access control list entry metadata for the object and the user is updated in response to request authorizations and denials. The access control list entry metadata for the object and the user is linked to the object and the user. Updating of the access control list entry metadata for the object and the user does not overwrite metadata for another access control list entry that is associated with the object and with another user that is different from the user.
US09002887B1	Advertisement generator based on external traffic An external traffic advertisement system is provided that generates advertisement sets based on analysis of visits to a web site that were referred by an external source. The advertisement system aggregates the referral information for each referral type. A referral type may be defined by one or more of keyword text derived from the query text of the referrals, landing page type, external source, product identifier, and so on. The advertisement system may, for each referral type, aggregate the total revenue from the visits of that referral type and may generate a count of the number of converting visits for that referral type. The advertisement system then identifies those referral types whose aggregated information satisfies an advertisement criterion and generates an advertisement set for each identified referral type with a keyword derived from keyword text and with a link based on the landing page type of the referral type.
US09002885B2	Media playback in a virtual environment A framework is provided for selecting media files for playback in a computer game. In one embodiment, user actions in the computer game are monitored. Further, user characterizations of media files may also be retrieved. The user characterizations may be input by a plurality of users via a media player application. A media file may be then selected for playback based on the monitored user actions and retrieved user characterizations. The selected media file may better suit an emotional experience of a user playing the computer game.
US09002884B2	Database manager and method and computer program for managing a database A database manager comprises: a detector detecting a connection of an external database which comprises media files, a database file system comprising a media identifier comprising a file or directory path name and an identification on the location of the media file on the external database, and metadata for each of the media files; a database synchronizer reading and storing, as a first step, part of the database file system and, as a second step, part of the metadata when the at least a portion of the database file system is read; and a search request processor processing a search request for a media file in parallel with the second step, wherein the search request processor provides a search result based on the media identifier from the database file system, even when the metadata for the media file is not yet read and stored in the second step.
US09002883B1	Providing aggregated starting point information Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for providing aggregated starting point information. One example method includes identifying a location associated with an entity, identifying, from navigation information query logs, starting points for navigation information that includes an ending point in a predefined vicinity of the location associated with the entity, aggregating information associated with the starting points, and providing aggregated starting point information to the entity.
US09002878B2	Roadside apparatus, control method and program A roadside device is provided with a corresponding table where an item of a new version of a taste data table assumed user taste information from an item of an old version of the taste data table. Item numbers “52”, “53”, “62” and “63” in the old version of the taste table, for example, are made to correspond to item numbers “52”, “53” and “63” in the new version of the taste table. An ITS vehicle-mounted device sets user taste data in the updated item numbers to default values of the items in the new version for a transmitting-destination user of the taste data table of the new version and transmits the default data to an ITS vehicle-mounted device of the transmitting-destination user. Thereby, a proper default value is set for a version change of the taste data table in the roadside apparatus, reducing user's input trouble.
US09002868B2	Systems and methods for secure access of data In one embodiment the present invention includes a computer-implemented method comprising receiving a first query in a local computer system to access data stored on a remote computer system the local computer system. Data elements of the remote data are associated with data elements of the local data. The query is transformed into multiple queries. A second query is sent to the remote computer system to retrieve remote data. A first data result is received and stored on the local computer system and incorporated into a third query. The third query is executed against the local data and the first data result to produce a result. Sensitive data may be stored locally in a dimension table of a star schema and non-sensitive data may be stored remotely in a fact table and another dimension table of the star schema, for example.
US09002867B1	Modifying ranking data based on document changes Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media for determining a weighted overall quality of result statistic for a document. One method includes receiving quality of result data for a query and a plurality of versions of a document, determining a weighted overall quality of result statistic for the document with respect to the query including weighting each version specific quality of result statistic and combining the weighted version-specific quality of result statistics, wherein each quality of result statistic is weighted by a weight determined from at least a difference between content of a reference version of the document and content of the version of the document corresponding to the version specific quality of result statistic, and storing the weighted overall quality of result statistic and data associating the query and the document with the weighted overall quality of result statistic.
US09002863B2	Method, apparatus and computer program product for providing a rational range test for data translation A method for providing a data translation may include receiving an input string comprising a free text response indicative of a physiologic condition, and applying a selected transform to the input string to transform the input string into a translated value indicative of a value associated with the physiologic condition for storage in a fact repository. The selected transform may be selected from a library of potential transforms based on results of the selected transform relative to a rational range associated with the physiologic condition. A corresponding computer program product and apparatus are also provided.
US09002862B2	Enumeration of trees from finite number of nodes Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and/or systems for manipulating hierarchical sets of data are disclosed.
US09002860B1	Associating summaries with pointers in persistent data structures Methods for organizing and retrieving data values in a persistent data structure are provided. Data values are grouped into data blocks and pointers are obtained for each data block. In addition, one or more summaries, related to a properties of the data block, are created and associated with the data block's pointer. The summaries allow for a more efficient retrieval of data values from the data structure by preventing unnecessary retrieval calls to persistent storage when the summaries do not match query criteria.
US09002855B2	Tag valuation within a collaborative tagging system A method of assessing the value of tags in a collaborative tagging system can include monitoring user interaction with each of a plurality of tags and/or artifacts associated with tags, wherein each of the plurality of tags has been previously associated with at least one artifact of the collaborative tagging system. For each of the plurality of tags, a measure of value for the tag can be determined according to user interaction with the tag. A list comprising at least one tag and an indication of the measure of value of the tag can be output.
US09002849B2	Method and system for grouping multimedia files from plural vendors' servers in media store's catalog A media store server provides customers' digital information devices with a catalog of multimedia content available from servers of multiple vendors. To provide a unified catalog for the store, the multimedia contents are grouped according to descriptive texts. A descriptive text for a multimedia content item or file is obtained from a vendor's catalog, and the descriptive text is standardized to generate a token for that particular multimedia content item. The multimedia content is classified in an existing catalog group corresponding to an already existent token, if the generated token matches an existent token in the catalog of the media store server. A new group for multimedia content is generated and the particular multimedia content is assigned to the new group, if the generated token does not yet exist in the catalog of the multimedia store server.
US09002848B1	Automatic incremental labeling of document clusters Methods and systems for use in labeling documents within a cluster are provided. One example method includes assembling a set of documents including a first plurality of previously clustered documents and a second plurality of documents. Each of the first plurality of previously clustered documents has at least one label identifying a topic to which content of the document relates. The method includes partitioning documents from the set of documents into multiple clusters, determining if a dominant topic exists within one of the multiple clusters, determining a metric value for one of the multiple clusters based on the number of documents within the one of the multiple clusters having a label identifying the determined dominant topic, and labeling at least documents from the second plurality of documents within the one of the multiple clusters with the label identifying the dominant topic when the metric value exceeds a predetermined threshold.
US09002844B2	Generating method, generating system, and recording medium A computer-readable recording medium stores a program for causing an apparatus to execute a procedure. The procedure includes: regarding each data in a data set having a key and a value corresponding to the key, calculating a key characteristic value of the data as an index value indicating an existence of the key in the data and another key included in the value based on the value of the key and the value of the other key included in the value; generating a segment in which data blocks of which the calculated key characteristic values are similar to each other are grouped in one group; and setting a storage destination of the data in the generated segment.
US09002842B2	System and method for computerized batching of huge populations of electronic documents A method for computerized batching of huge populations of electronic documents, including computerized assignment of electronic documents into at least one sequence of electronic document batches such that each document is assigned to a batch in the sequence of batches and such that there is no conflict between batching requirements, the following batching requirements being maintained by a suitably programmed processor: a. pre-defined subsets of documents are always kept together in the same batch, b. batches are equal in size, c. the population is partitioned into clusters, and all documents in any given batch belong to a single cluster rather than to two or more clusters.
US09002836B2	System for managing electronic assets of a software service delivery organization An asset management system (AMS) facilitates management of electronic assets of a software service delivery organization. The AMS may facilitate classification of the electronic assets according to delivery phases in which each electronic asset is usable and accordingly enables users to identify and download the suitable assets usable in a desired delivery phase. The AMS also may receive from the users, usage data for (representing an extent of use of) the downloaded electronic assets and generate a set of utilization characteristics of the electronic asset based on the usage data. In addition, the AMS may facilitate classification of the assets according to a set of technology areas in which each electronic asset is applicable. On identifying that a new user is expected to operate in a specific technology area, the AMS may determine and provide suitable assets applicable to the specific technology area.
US09002831B1	Query image search In general, in one aspect, a method includes receiving, by one or more processors, a query image, obtaining, by the one or more processors, search results responsive to the query image, each search result identifying a corresponding web page containing an image that is determined to be responsive to the query image, the search results being ordered in a first arrangement, obtaining, by the one or more processors, text labels associated with the query image, and generating, by the one or more processors a second arrangement of the search results by ordering the search results based on a presence in the respective corresponding web pages of one or more of the text labels associated with the query image. This and other implementations of this aspect can include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products.
US09002828B2	Predictive content delivery A system and method for predictive retrieval of content is described. Prior to selection and delivery of content to a mobile device by a personal computer, content is predictively retrieved from storage at the computing device. By predictively retrieving content, the content is available for immediate computing device to mobile device transfer.
US09002818B2	Calculating a content subset A method for calculating a content subset can include crawling a number of webpages for content, determining a relevance to a particular domain of the content, determining a penalty value for each of the number of webpages; and calculating, utilizing a data tree-based model, a subset of the content to analyze based on the relevance and the penalty value.
US09002817B2	Interleaving search results Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for interleaving search results. A method includes presenting multiple first search results received from a first search engine. The first search results satisfy a search query directed to the first search engine and are presented in an order. A second search result from a second search engine is inserted at a position between two otherwise adjacent first search results. The second search result is received from a second search engine in response to the search query.
US09002806B1	Compression of data transmitted over a network A system, method, and apparatus are directed towards identifying adaptive length segments of redundant data for encoding a data structure. Initial boundaries are identified for an input matching segment within input data and for a candidate store matching segment in a synchronized store. The data prior to and after the boundaries are compared to identify matching data. As matching data is identified, at least one of the boundaries of the matching segments is revised. An encoded representation of the resulting input matching segment is then generated based in part on pointers and offsets into the synchronized store. A data structure is generated based on the encoded representation and unmatched portion, which is sent to a receiver. The receiver uses the data structure to extract matching data from the synchronized store, and together with the unmatched input data in the data structure, reconstruct the input data.
US09002802B2	High throughput, reliable replication of transformed data in information systems Provided are techniques for, in response to a source object being changed by a local transaction, generating log records, wherein each of the log records includes a sequence identifier, a source system entity modification timestamp, a target key, a target partition identifier, and values of source properties, wherein the source properties are identified using a target key indicator. The log records to process are selected based on a phase value of each log record, wherein the phase value is one of submitted, in-flight, and source system entity state change complete. One or more disjoint partitions are assigned to each of multiple processing instances. Under control of each of the multiple processing instances, it is determined whether to transmit a log record in the one or more disjoint partitions assigned to said processing instance and, in response to determining that the log record is to be transmitted, the log record is transmitted.
US09002798B1	Systems and methods for remedying corrupt backup images of host devices A computer-implemented method for remedying corrupt backup images of host devices may include (1) identifying a backup image that represents a computing state of a host device at a specific point in time, (2) performing a data-corruption analysis on the backup image that represents the computing state of the host device to determine whether the backup image is corrupt, (3) determining that at least a portion of the backup image is corrupt based at least in part on the data-corruption analysis, and then (4) performing at least one remedial action to initiate remedying the corrupt portion of the backup image in response to determining that the portion of the backup image is corrupt. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09002797B2	Data mining systems and methods for heterogeneous data sources Systems and methods integrate disparate backup devices with a unified interface. In certain examples, a management console manages data from various backup devices, while retaining such data in its native format. The management console can display a hierarchical view the client devices and/or their data and can further provide utilities for processing the various data formats. A data structure including fields for storing both metadata common to the client device data and value-added metadata can be used to mine or process the data of the disparate client devices. The unified single platform and interface reduces the need for multiple data management products and/or customized data utilities for each individual client device and provides a single pane of glass view into data management operations. Integrating the various types of storage formats and media allows a user to retain existing storage infrastructures and further facilitates scaling to meet long-term management needs.
US09002787B2	Method and apparatus for tracking device management data changes A method and apparatus for tracking device management data changes comprising storing information related to modification to device management data wherein the device management data is stored in an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) compliant device management tree of Managed Objects (MO).
US09002773B2	Decision-support application and system for problem solving using a question-answering system A decision-support system for problem solving comprises software modules embodied on a computer readable medium, and the software modules comprise an input/output module and a question-answering module. The method receives problem case information using the input/output module, generates a query based on the problem case information, and generates a plurality of answers for the query using the question-answering module. The method also calculates numerical values for multiple evidence dimensions from evidence sources for each of the answers using the question-answering module and calculates a corresponding confidence value for each of the answers based on the numerical value of each evidence dimension using the question-answering module. Further, the method outputs the answers, the corresponding confidence values, and the numerical values of each evidence dimension for one or more selected answers using the input/output module.
US09002771B2	System, method, and computer program product for applying a rule to associated events A system, method, and computer program product are provided for applying a rule to associated events. In use, a plurality of events is associated based on at least one identifier. Additionally, at least one rule is applied to the associated events. Further, a reaction is performed based on the application of the at least one rule.
US09002766B2	System and method for determining a value of information metric from a posterior distribution generated through stochastic inversion A system and a computer implemented method for determining a value of information are described herein. The method includes drawing a plurality of synthetic prior earth models from one or more prior distributions for a plurality of well locations and generate from each prior distribution synthetic data; and drawing a plurality of posterior earth models from a posterior distribution for the plurality of well locations, the posterior distribution being generated through stochastic inversion from the synthetic data and the plurality of posterior models are drawn from each of the plurality of prior earth models. The method further includes calculating a difference or a ratio between a weighted value prior and a weighted value posterior and calculating a sum over a plurality of well locations of the difference or the ratio to obtain the value of information.
US09002761B2	Method and system for automatically adapting end user power usage A system, method and apparatus for automatically adapting power grid usage by controlling internal and/or external power-related assets of one or more users in response to power regulation and/or frequency regulation functions in a manner beneficial to both the power grid itself and the users of the power grid.
US09002759B2	Data mining technique with maintenance of fitness history Roughly described, a data mining system includes a candidate gene database in which each candidate individual has a respective fitness estimate. A gene pool processor tests individuals from the candidate gene pool on training data and updates the fitness estimate of the individuals. A gene harvesting module deploys selected individuals from the gene pool. The gene pool processor includes a competition module which selects individuals for discarding in dependence upon their updated fitness estimate. The system maintains a fitness training history for each of the candidate individuals, identifying the data samples on which the individual has been tested. The historical information can be used to assist in any one or more of the following: competition among the individuals, avoiding re-testing of an individual on the same data sample, removing duplicate test data before merging fitness evaluations, improving gene pool diversity, and selecting individuals for deployment.
US09002755B2	System and method for culture mapping Systems and methods for culture mapping and intelligence include software tools to collect, analyze, and categorize data based on behavior archetypes to produce information visualizations from the data. In one embodiment, a user query relative to a topic of interest may include a word, a combination of words, or a set of words for a particular field, such as a byline or hashtag of an online or networked community. One or more data sources, which may include social media and other websites are selected by the user or the system and a list of accounts ordered by one or more selected criteria, such as frequency of occurrence of the query words, for example, is produced. One or more weighting factors may then be associated with each account. A matrix is generated with accounts positioned to illustrate the account relative to behavior attributes along selected continuums.
US09002749B1	Virtual check Methods and systems for virtual checking are described. A virtual check is created by a payor's device and then sent to the payee's device. The payee can be another mobile device. The virtual check has many of the same features as a regular, paper check plus additional features only available in digital form. In an example, the data can be encrypted by either the banks key or the payor's key. Further encryption can occur between the payor's device and the payee's device, which can connect on a peer-to-peer network. The check can be an image with tag data. In an example, data can be encoded into the image itself. The virtual check can include populated data that cannot be changed by the payee. In an example, the virtual check application of the payee can automatically perform a funds availability check.
US09002739B2	Method and system for signature capture Advanced internet-connected devices, such as smart TVs, can be used for conducting online transactions. Online transactions often lack an effective mechanism to prevent repudiation of the transaction. Signature data, representative of a consumer's signature motion, may be captured by a signature capture device. The signature capture device can be the smart TV or a device associated with the smart TV (e.g., a remote controller). The signature device can also be a security token. The signature data may be processed, stored, and/or transmitted for later use. The representation of the consumer's signature provides a non-repudiation mechanism similar in function to that of a consumer's actual handwritten signature on a credit card or debit card receipt.
US09002732B2	Keeping popular advertisements active A computerized method and system for keeping popular advertisements active are provided. Example embodiments may include identifying one or more expiring online content from a plurality of online contents. A popularity of the one or more expiring online content may be determined; and an expiration date of the one or more expiring online content may be extended based on the popularity.
US09002728B2	Systems and methods for campaign offers and rewards with offer serving engine based on digitized receipt data A campaign offers and rewards system includes an offer serving engine, and an analytics engine with data intelligence. The analytics engine compares information about similar goods or services sold by different entities, manufacturers or service providers to create product and service categories. A redemption engine is included.
US09002727B2	Identifier-based coupon distribution A client device detects a QR code (or NFC tag). The client device decodes the QR code. The client device determines that the data encoded within the QR code includes a URL. Based on the URL, the client device sends a first request to a first server identified by the URL. In response to the first request, the client device receives from the first server data configured to cause the client device to display, to a user of the client device, at least one of: a video or an interactive web page. Responsive to the data encoded in the QR code, the client device sends to a coupon server: identification data associated with a user of the client device, and a request for the coupon server to distribute a digital coupon for an offer associated with an identifier encoded within the QR code to an account associated with the user.
US09002725B1	System and method for targeting information based on message content A method of serving an electronic document in response to a client request includes identifying an electronic document requested by a client. At least one information entity matching at least one predetermined information entity type is extracted from the electronic document. One or more links are then generated for each extracted information entity and are served to the requesting client in connection with other information corresponding to the at least one information entity and the electronic document. In some embodiments the electronic document is an email message, SMS message, transcribed voice message, or a combination of such messages. In some embodiments the extracted information entity is a physical address, an email address, a phone number, an object identification number, a product name, a company name, a stock symbol, a movie title, a book title, a calendar entry, an individual's name, a city name, a URL, or event information.
US09002724B2	Incentive provision system An incentive provision system that contributes to expanded sales of a content service and includes a user terminal and a provision device. The provision device receives, from the user terminal, request information for requesting incentive information relating to the content service. If the request information is valid, then the provision device provides the incentive information to the user terminal. A user of the user terminal enjoys using the incentive information provided from the provision device, which, in turn, motivates the user to receive the content service.
US09002722B2	Lifecycle obsolescence forecasting tool A lifecycle obsolescence forecasting system. The system may include a data integrator configured to receive part information for a plurality of parts. The system may include a sustainability optimizer configured to receive one or more sustainability requirements for a part in the plurality of parts. The system may include a forecaster coupled to the data integrator and the sustainability optimizer, wherein the forecaster may be configured to analyze the part information and the one or more sustainability requirements to establish a component stock-out date for the part, wherein the component stock-out date may comprise a date when a last spare of the part is forecast to be removed from stock, and wherein the component stock-out date may be established as a function of at least the part usage rate and a corresponding failure rate of the part.
US09002714B2	Method for controlling electronic apparatus based on voice recognition and motion recognition, and electronic apparatus applying the same A method for controlling an electronic apparatus which uses voice recognition and motion recognition, and an electronic apparatus applying the same are provided. In a voice task mode, in which voice tasks are performed according to recognized voice commands, the electronic apparatus displays voice assistance information to assist in performing the voice tasks. In a motion task mode, in which motion tasks are performed according to recognized motion gestures, the electronic apparatus displays motion assistance information to aid in performing the motion tasks.
US09002713B2	System and method for speech personalization by need Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and tangible computer-readable storage media for speaker recognition personalization. The method recognizes speech received from a speaker interacting with a speech interface using a set of allocated resources, the set of allocated resources including bandwidth, processor time, memory, and storage. The method records metrics associated with the recognized speech, and after recording the metrics, modifies at least one of the allocated resources in the set of allocated resources commensurate with the recorded metrics. The method recognizes additional speech from the speaker using the modified set of allocated resources. Metrics can include a speech recognition confidence score, processing speed, dialog behavior, requests for repeats, negative responses to confirmations, and task completions. The method can further store a speaker personalization profile having information for the modified set of allocated resources and recognize speech associated with the speaker based on the speaker personalization profile.
US09002712B2	Voice-interactive marketplace providing promotion and promotion tracking, loyalty reward and redemption, and other features The invention provides a system, method, and business model for an information system and service having business self-promotion, promotion and promotion tracking, loyalty or frequent participant rewards and redemption, audio coupon, ratings, and other features. A business or organization in which consumers call into a service using ordinary telephone, PC, PDA, or other information appliance, and make requests in plain speech for information on goods and/or services, and the service provides responses to the request in plain speech in real-time. Provides operating model for a telephone-based audio-interfaced goods and services information and referral service having merchant self-promotion features, including database provider storing merchant information; an interface for inputting merchant information into the database and for retrieving and editing the information; and an interface for inputting voice commands and data and for receiving merchant information and processed information from the database in response to the input voice commands and data.
US09002709B2	Voice recognition system and voice recognition method Provided is a voice recognition system capable of, while suppressing negative influences from sound not to be recognized, correctly estimating utterance sections that are to be recognized. A voice segmenting means calculates voice feature values, and segments voice sections or non-voice sections by comparing the voice feature values with a threshold value. Then, the voice segmenting means determines, to be first voice sections, those segmented sections or sections obtained by adding a margin to the front and rear of each of those segmented sections. On the basis of voice and non-voice likelihoods, a search means determines, to be second voice sections, sections to which voice recognition is to be applied. A parameter updating means updates the threshold value and the margin. The voice segmenting means determines the first voice sections by using the one of the threshold value and the margin which has been updated by the parameter updating means.
US09002708B2	Speech recognition system and method based on word-level candidate generation A speech recognition system and method based on word-level candidate generation are provided. The speech recognition system may include a speech recognition result verifying unit to verify a word sequence and a candidate word for at least one word included in the word sequence when the word sequence and the candidate word are provided as a result of speech recognition. A word sequence displaying unit may display the word sequence in which the at least one word is visually distinguishable from other words of the word sequence. The word sequence displaying unit may display the word sequence by replacing the at least one word with the candidate word when the at least one word is selected by a user.
US09002703B1	Community audio narration generation The community-based generation of audio narrations for a text-based work leverages collaboration of a community of people to provide human-voiced audio readings. During the community-based generation, a collection of audio recordings for the text-based work may be collected from multiple human readers in a community. An audio recording for each section in the text-based work may be selected from the collection of audio recordings. The selected audio recordings may be then combined to produce an audio reading of at least a portion of the text-based work.
US09002697B2	Message translations Systems for translating text messages in an instant messaging system comprise a translation engine for translating text messages into a preferred language of a recipient of the text messages. The systems are preferably configured to send and receive the text messages and to determine whether the text messages that are received in a source language are in the preferred language of the recipients so that the text messages are displayed in the preferred language of the recipients of the text messages. Other systems and methods are also provided.
US09002695B2	Machine translation device, method of processing data, and program Provided are two types of translation engines. One of the translation engines translates a text written in a source language X into an intermediate language C, and the other translates the intermediate language C into a target language Y. The X-C translation engine translates an original text written in the source language X into a text in a predetermined intermediate language C as well as acquires and adds annotations obtained by this translation to the translated text written in the intermediate language C. The C-Y translation engine references annotations, which are obtained by the X-C translation engine and added to the text in the intermediate language C, and translates the text in the intermediate language into a text in the target language Y sentence.
US09002685B2	Computer simulation of electromagnetic fields A method and system is provided for solving for electromagnetic fields by approximating an electromagnetic function as a sum of basis functions multiplied by coefficients to be determined. The set of equations used to determine the coefficients results from taking derivatives of the action integral with respect to the coefficients (and/or other parameters) and setting the derivative equal to zero, thereby extremizing the action integral.
US09002681B2	Computer-assisted method for optimising surfaces of composite-material structures Computer-assisted method for optimizing surfaces of composite-material structures as part of a design process that includes the following stages: a) Providing a multi-cell surface (11) of the structure obtained using aerodynamic calculations; b) Transforming said multi-cell surface (11) into an optimized surface (13) with fewer cells, concatenating contiguous cells and maintaining point and tangent continuity between them; c) Using said optimized surface (13) as geometric master when designing the components of the structure. The method is particularly applicable to the design of structures with a plurality of components and in particular fuselages of aircraft made of composite material. The invention also relates to a computer program for performing the method.
US09002678B1	Unified approach to detection and isolation of parametric faults using a kalman filter residual-based approach A unified method to detection and isolation of parametric faults in a physical system resulting from variations in the parameters of its constituting subsystems, termed herein as diagnostic parameters, uses Kalman filter residuals. Rather than using the feature vector made of the coefficients of the numerator and denominator of the system transfer function, which is known to be a non-linear function of the diagnostic parameter variations, the method first shows and then exploits, for fault detection purposes, the fact that the Kalman filter residual is a multi-linear function of the deviations in the diagnostic parameters, i.e. the residual is separately linear in each parameter. A fault is then isolated using a Bayesian multiple composite hypotheses testing approach. A reliable map relating the diagnostic parameters to the residual is obtained off-line using fault emulators. The unified fault detection and isolation method is successfully evaluated on both simulated data as well as on real data obtained from a benchmarked laboratory-scale coupled-tank system used to exemplify an industrial two-tank process.
US09002669B2	Electricity consumption measurement apparatus, electricity consumption measurement method, and non-transitory tangible machine-readable medium thereof An electricity consumption measurement apparatus, an electricity consumption measurement method, and a non-transitory tangible machine-readable medium thereof are provided. The electricity consumption measurement apparatus comprises a detector and a processor electrically connected to the detector. The detector is configured to detect an electricity consumption value and a voltage value. The processor is configured to calculate a variation rate according to the voltage value and a base voltage value. The processor adjusts the electricity consumption value according to the variation rate. The electricity consumption measurement method is able to perform the same operations as those performed by the electricity consumption measurement apparatus.
US09002665B2	Multi-channel flow sensing A multi-channel flow sensing system typically includes first and second flow-sensing transducers arranged in each channel. A data acquisition system is coupled to the first and second transducers of each of the channels. The data acquisition system is arranged to transmit and/or receive a sensing signal from at least one of the first and second transducers of each of the channels. The received sensing signals are sequentially converted and accumulated as data for billing in accordance with the measured flow within each channel. Using common components within the data acquisition system for measuring the various channels reduces costs and increases affordability in cost-sensitive areas.
US09002659B2	Precious metal testing apparatus with calibration system A digital precious metal testing apparatus utilizes a probe that generates a galvanic voltage when an electrical circuit is completed with the object being tested being placed between the probe and the meter test pad formed of a copper pour with a gold coating. A microprocessor signals the percentage of precious metal through an indicator bar of LEDs. A calibration system is provided to enhance the accuracy of the testing apparatus by comparing a test reading from a known test specimen with a corresponding theoretical reading for that specimen. The calibration procedure establishes a recalibration curve from the test reading against which all subsequent readings will be compared to determine the content of precious metal. Calibration of the testing apparatus is initiated with the depression of a calibration switch and is undertaken with each power-up of the meter, with each probe replacement and with any substantial change in environmental conditions.
US09002648B2	Method and apparatus for precise positioning of a borehole measurement instrument A system and method for use in a downhole tool having distance measurement, feature detection, and primary measurement devices positioned therein are provided. In one example, the method includes recording a first plurality of features and corresponding positions in a first log using the feature detection device and the distance measurement device, respectively. A first feature of the first plurality of features is selected and the position corresponding to the first feature is identified. The feature detection device is aligned relative to the first feature based on the identified position. A first primary measurement is taken using the primary measurement device while the feature detection device is aligned relative to the first feature. The steps of recording, selecting, moving, and taking are repeated to obtain a second primary measurement while the feature detection device is aligned relative to a second feature of a second plurality of features.
US09002625B2	Control device for internal combustion engine equipped with supercharger Provided is a control device for an internal combustion engine equipped with a supercharger, including: operation state detection means for detecting an operation state of the internal combustion engine; overlap read means for reading a valve overlap period; collector pressure detection means for detecting a collector pressure; exhaust gas pressure estimation means for estimating an exhaust gas pressure on an upstream side of the supercharger; and scavenging amount estimation means for estimating a scavenging amount based on the operation state, the valve overlap period, the collector pressure, and the exhaust gas pressure.
US09002615B2	Methods and systems for managing power of an engine A method and system for online power management of a turbine engine is provided. The method includes operating an engine control system on a first bandwidth, filtering at least one data input from the engine control system to a second bandwidth, and receiving, by a power management system operating on the second bandwidth, the at least one filtered data input. The method also includes predicting an engine operating condition using the at least one filtered data input using a closed-loop engine model, determining an optimal engine power management based on the prediction, solving a constrained optimization for a desired optimization objective, and outputting the optimal engine power management to the engine control system.
US09002613B2	System and method for vehicle speed monitoring using historical speed data A target (not-to-exceed) speed for a vehicle over a road segment ahead of the vehicle is established based on a desired relationship with a speed profile of the segment. The speed profile is generated by analyzing a statistical distribution of historical speed data over the segment collected by probe vehicles. A driver alert is activated if the vehicle is likely to exceed the target speed based on at least one measured vehicle dynamic property. The target speed may be established by identifying a baseline road segment over which the vehicle has previously travelled and which is similar to the approaching road segment, comparing a past speed of the vehicle over the baseline segment with a speed profile of the baseline segment to determine a speed differential, and applying the speed differential to the speed profile of the approaching segment.
US09002611B2	Vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus Pitching is reduced even when strong braking operation is performed during low speed running. A vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus includes control section that performs pitching reducing control for reducing occurrence of pitching by controlling each control valve unit to switch brake hydraulic pressure between pressure increasing state, pressure decreasing state, and holding state. The control section performs pitching reducing control based on weight distribution ratio between front wheels and rear wheels during deceleration, and includes distribution ratio calculating section for calculating the weight distribution ratio from deceleration of vehicle, vehicle speed calculating section for calculating vehicle speed, and determining section for determining whether or not to perform pitching reducing control, wherein the determining section determines to perform pitching reducing control if conditions are satisfied, the conditions including at least that the calculated vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined speed and that braking operation is being operated.
US09002610B2	Relay valve control arrangement to provide variable response timing on full applications A brake system and related components including a metering device are configured to regulate a control signal received from a brake control device such that a control valve delays the supply of a level of requested braking pressure for a prescribed amount of time. The metering device can be an inversion valve and orificed check valve in a control circuit adapted to allow relatively unrestricted flow until a threshold pressure is reached, after which pressure the inversion valve closes and the flow is metered through an orifice. This has the effect of allowing rapid brake actuation to a first level, and then slowing further application of the brake until full requested braking is achieved. An electronic control unit can also be configured to regulate a control signal to delay development of the requested brake pressure.
US09002609B2	Vehicle brake control system A vehicle brake control system includes a regenerative braking control component, a frictional braking control component, a calculating component and a controlling component. The regenerative braking control component controls a regenerative braking device to provide a regenerative braking torque. The frictional braking control component controls a frictional braking device to provide a frictional braking torque. The calculating component calculates a regenerative braking torque filter processing value based on a fluctuation frequency of the regenerative braking torque. The controlling component, during a first condition, operates a motorized power assist control device based on the regenerative braking torque filter processing value, instead of the regenerative braking torque, to moderate the frictional braking torque, such that the regenerative braking torque and the moderated frictional braking torque provide a target braking torque based on a braking operation.
US09002607B2	Lock-up clutch control device In a lock-up clutch control device, base hydraulic pressure calculation device calculates base hydraulic pressure Pb for engaging a lock-up clutch based on input torque from an engine, correction factor calculation device calculates correction factor α, which is greater than 0 but less than 1, for correcting the base hydraulic pressure Pb based on an input rotational speed Ni of a transmission and a cylinder cut-off state of the engine. Commanded hydraulic pressure calculation device calculates a commanded hydraulic pressure Pc from the base hydraulic pressure Pb and the correction factor α by means of: current value of commanded hydraulic pressure Pc←previous value of commanded hydraulic pressure Pc+(base hydraulic pressure Pb−previous value of commanded hydraulic pressure Pc)×α, and the commanded hydraulic pressure Pc is made to converge to the base hydraulic pressure Pb by repeating this a predetermined number of times.
US09002606B1	System and method for controlling a dry dual clutch transmission of a vehicle A system and method can control the dry dual clutch transmission (dDCT) of a vehicle. The method includes modifying a recorded torque-to-position (TTP) table based on a calculated clutch torque difference between a calculated clutch torque and a commanded clutch torque. The commanded clutch torque is provided by a transmission control module and is defined as a clutch torque sufficient to move the vehicle without applying the accelerator applier after the brake applier has been released. The calculated clutch torque is a function of the actual engine torque value, the engine inertia, and the engine acceleration.
US09002594B2	Agricultural working machine having at least one control unit An agricultural working machine has a one control/regulating unit designed to adjust and monitor working parameters, quality parameters or both of the agricultural working machine that influence a harvesting process. The adjusting and monitoring are carried out in an automatable manner by the control/regulating unit using stored families of characteristics. The agricultural working machine also has at least one display device for depicting setpoint values and actual values of the working parameters, quality parameters or both. The control/regulating unit actuates defined measurement points in the stored families of characteristics and the specifically actuated measurement points are located in the boundary regions of the family of characteristics or outside the active working region of the particular family of characteristics.
US09002589B2	Optical measuring device for a vehicle and corresponding vehicle An optical measuring device for a vehicle includes an optical transmitter that generates transmitter radiation and radiates it into a monitoring region, and a receiver that receives resulting receiver radiation from the region. An evaluation and control unit evaluates the receiver radiation for object recognition. A first transmitter generates a first light field on a surface in the region by emitting directed first transmitter radiation and a second transmitter generates a second light field in the adjacent surroundings of the first field by emitting directed second transmitter radiation. The unit receives and evaluates first receiver radiation reflected by the first field and second receiver radiation reflected by the second field via the receiver, wherein the unit generates an output signal when it detects change in the reflected second receiver radiation caused by a trigger object detected in the region and reflected first receiver radiation unchanged by the object.
US09002585B2	Control system for grounds maintenance vehicle, and grounds maintenance vehicle including same A control system for electronically controlling engine speed and PTO clutch mechanism engagement of a grounds maintenance vehicle such as a lawn mower. In one embodiment, an electronic controller (electronic control unit or ECU) may receive operator inputs from a speed setting switch and an on/off PTO clutch engagement switch. The ECU may take these inputs and make intelligent decisions as to when to engage/disengage the clutch mechanism and may change engine speed automatically prior to, during, and/or after clutch mechanism engagement/disengagement. In one or more of these speed setting switch positions, the switch may set a speed of the engine to a first speed when the clutch mechanism is disengaged, and a second speed (different than the first speed) when the clutch mechanism is engaged.
US09002575B2	Vehicle security system and method A method and apparatus for validating a vehicle operator. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises an input device for allowing entry of vehicle operator identification information, a transceiver for transmitting a message and receiving a response to the message, an interface for allowing a processor to communication with a vehicle sub-system, and a processor connected to the input device, the transceiver, and the interface, the processor for receiving the vehicle operator identification information from the input device, for generating the message comprising the vehicle operation identification information and providing the message to the transceiver, for receiving the response from the transceiver and for controlling the vehicle sub-system, via the interface, based on the response.
US09002570B2	Remote monitoring terminal device for mobile work vehicle or vessel Disclosed is a remote monitoring terminal device including: connection terminals (T, . . . ); a data storage control section for storing, in a first data storage section at predetermined intervals, only a predetermined number of latest data sets fed via the connection terminals (T, . . . ); a sampling data storage control section for storing in a second data storage section sampling data obtained by sampling the data stored in the first data storage section at sampling intervals (TC); and a communications section, wherein the sampling data storage control section transmits the sampling data stored in the second data storage section to the remote monitoring device via the communications section in response to a request from the remote monitoring device or in response to an end of a work.
US09002569B2	Vehicle shut-down functionality for PEPS-equipped vehicles A vehicle comprises a plurality of control module structures. A first control module structure is configured for determining a current motive mode of the vehicle. A second control module structure is configured for determining information indicating that a driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in a motive-enabled mode. A third control module structure is configured for causing a secure idle mode to be implemented as a function of determining the information indicating that the driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in the motive-enabled mode. Implementing the secure idle mode can include inhibiting the vehicle from being driveable until a driver access code is successfully received and authenticated by the vehicle.
US09002567B2	Course-based place searching Course-based place searching systems and methods are described. In an embodiment, a system for performing a course-based place search may include a navigation device, a processing device, and a display. The navigation device may be configured to track a location and a course of the vehicle. The processing device may be communicatively coupled to the navigation device and may be configured to request places from a resource based at least in part on the location of the vehicle and the search criterion and to return a first one or more places received from the resource to an occupant of the vehicle. The first one or more places may be based at least in part on the course of the vehicle. The display may be communicatively coupled to the processing device. The first one or more places may be displayed on the display.
US09002566B2	Visual, GNSS and gyro autosteering control A visual, GNSS and INS (gyro) system for autosteering control uses crop row and furrow row edge visual detection in an agricultural application in order to closely track the actual crop rows. Alternatively, previous vehicle tracks can be visually detected and followed in a tramline following operating mode. GNSS and inertial (gyroscopic) input subsystems are also provided for supplementing the video input subsystem, for example when visual references are lost. Crop damage is avoided or at least minimized by avoiding overdriving the existing crops. Other applications include equipment control in logistics operations.
US09002564B2	Enhanced park assist wheel speed compensation technique A method of parking a vehicle includes calibrating a wheel speed count of the vehicle based on a measured length that is external to the vehicle, and parking the vehicle based on the calibrated wheel speed count.
US09002559B2	Method and apparatus for controlling a multi-mode powertrain system A method for operating a powertrain system to transfer torque among an engine, torque machines, and a driveline in response to an output torque request includes executing a selection scheme to evaluate operating in a plurality of candidate powertrain states including a pseudo-electric vehicle (EV) range responsive to the output torque request. A respective minimum cost for operating the powertrain system in each of the candidate powertrain states including the pseudo-EV range is determined. A preferred powertrain state is selected, and is one of the candidate powertrain states including the pseudo-EV range associated with a minimum of the respective minimum costs. The powertrain system is controlled in the preferred powertrain state responsive to the output torque request.
US09002556B2	Torque response control apparatus for electric motor of vehicle A torque response control apparatus for an electric motor of a vehicle comprises a motor torque response control means that is configured to carry out finding a difference between a required acceleration that is variable in accordance with a change of a vehicle driving condition and an actual acceleration that is obtained, at the time of the change of the vehicle driving condition, with the aid of a torque characteristic of the electric motor, the difference being caused by the torque characteristic of the electric motor in which the maximum torque is varied in accordance with a rotation speed of the electric motor; and controlling the torque response of the electric motor in a manner to cause a driver to feel the difference of the actual acceleration from the required acceleration to be small by compensating the difference between the required acceleration and the actual acceleration.
US09002555B2	Electric bicycle driving apparatus An electric-bicycle driving apparatus includes a speed change mode operator to output a low-speed mode signal or a high-speed mode signal, a controller to receive the low-speed mode signal or high-speed mode signal outputted from the speed change mode operator and to output a first control signal corresponding to the low-speed mode signal or a second control signal corresponding to the high-speed mode signal, a generation-signal provider to provide a generation signal outputted from a generator, and a stepping operation load booster to boost a load of the generation signal outputted from the generation-signal provider by receiving the first control signal or second control signal when the speed change mode operator outputs the low-speed mode signal or high-speed mode signal, and to send a stepping operation provider a resulting signal of the boost in a stepping operation signal corresponding to the low-speed mode signal or high-speed mode.
US09002552B2	Compact electric range extender for an electric vehicle An electric vehicle includes a transmission, motor, rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), auxiliary power unit (APU), and a controller. The APU has a pair of rings, at least one of which rotates with respect to the other. One ring is coaxial with and radially within the other. Ring rotation generates current in windings. A gear element is in driving connection with the rotatable ring. The APU includes an engine disposed radially within the inner ring, and a power takeoff mechanism coupled to the gear element. The controller energizes the APU to rotate a ring. A method includes positioning the APU in a vehicle body compartment, affixing an outer ring of windings to a compartment wall, and positioning a rotatable inner ring having permanent magnets radially within and coaxial with the outer ring. The engine is positioned radially within the inner ring. A power takeoff mechanism connects to the inner ring.
US09002548B2	System and method for determining a mismatch between a model for a powered system and the actual behavior of the powered system A system is provided for determining a mismatch between a model for a powered system and the actual behavior of the powered system. The system includes a coupler positioned between adjacent cars of the powered system. The coupler is positioned in a stretched slack state or a bunched slack state based upon the separation of the adjacent cars. The system further includes a controller positioned within the powered system. The controller is configured to determine a mismatch of the model. A method is also provided for determining a mismatch between a model for a powered system and the actual behavior of the powered system.
US09002547B2	System and method for determining dynamically changing distributions of vehicles in a vehicle system A system and method for determining dynamically changing distributions of vehicles in a vehicle system are disclosed. The system and method determine handling parameters of the vehicle system. The handling parameters are determined for different distributions of the vehicles among different groups at different potential change points along a route. The system and method also determine whether to change the distributions at potential change points based on the handling parameters. Based on determining that the distributions are to change, a selected sequence of changes to the distributions is determined at one or more of the potential change points along the route. Change indices are generated based on the selected sequence. The change indices designate times and/or the one or more potential change points at which the distributions changes. The vehicles included in a common group have common designated operational settings while the vehicles are in the common group.
US09002537B2	Managed electric vehicle traction battery system Described embodiments include an electric vehicle battery system and a method. The electric vehicle battery system includes a rechargeable traction battery pack configured to supply electric power to a propulsion system of a vehicle. The system includes a data-gathering module configured to monitor or test an aspect of the traction battery pack and in response to generate a traction battery pack status report. The system includes a gatekeeper module configured to permit or deny the rechargeable traction battery pack (i) supplying electric power to the propulsion system or (ii) receiving a recharge, the permit or deny in response to a management instruction issued by a remote battery manager system. The system includes a communication system configured to communicate with the remote battery manager. In an embodiment, the system includes an on-board charging system configured to recharge the rechargeable traction battery pack.
US09002536B2	Key fob security copy to a mobile phone A mobile device enabling one or more processors to receive vehicle key security codes from a vehicle key. The mobile device may receive a signal from a transmitter associated with a vehicle key, the signal being indicative of one or more security codes associated with the vehicle key. The mobile device may store the one or more security codes in memory and configure a mobile device application to implement one or more vehicle control functions using the security codes. The mobile device may wirelessly transmit commands for implementing the one or more vehicle control functions using the security codes to a vehicle associated with the key. The wireless transmission of commands may include short range wireless communication.
US09002532B2	Systems and methods for controlling a chiller plant for a building A computerized method for controlling a chiller plant for cooling a building is provided. The chiller plant has a chiller plant load. The method includes estimating an optimal combination of chiller plant equipment for meeting the chiller plant load. Estimating the optimal combination of chiller plant equipment includes using binary optimization to determine at least two potential combinations of chiller plant equipment. Estimating the optimal combination of chiller plant equipment also includes using nonlinear optimization to determine a potential power consumption minimum for each of the at least two potential combinations. The method also includes controlling the chiller plant according to the estimated optimal combination of chiller plant equipment.
US09002527B2	Valve positioner with current allocating device A coil of an electro-pneumatic converting portion is connected in parallel with a constant voltage circuit. An electric current regulating portion is provided in a supply line for an electric current to the coil. The regulating value for the electric current in this electric current regulating portion is controlled by an instruction from a CPU. The CPU detects, as a present supply electric current, an actual value for the supply electric current from a higher-level system, and evaluates whether or not there is, in the present supply electric current, a surplus electric current that can be directed to the electro-pneumatic converting portion. The supply electric current can be in excess of 4 mA and is the surplus electric current, and if there is a surplus electric current, then a command is sent to the electric current regulating portion so as to allocate that surplus electric current to the coil.
US09002526B2	Intelligent controller for an environmental control system The current application is directed to intelligent controllers that continuously, periodically, or intermittently monitor progress towards one or more control goals under one or more constraints in order to achieve control that satisfies potentially conflicting goals. An intelligent controller may alter aspects of control, dynamically, while the control is being carried out, in order to ensure that goals are obtained and a balance is achieved between potentially conflicting goals. The intelligent controller uses various types of information to determine an initial control strategy as well as to dynamically adjust the control strategy as the control is being carried out.
US09002518B2	Maximum torque driving of robotic surgical tools in robotic surgical systems In one embodiment of the invention, a control system for a robotic surgical instrument is provided including a torque saturation limiter, a torque to current converter coupled to the torque saturation limiter, and a motor coupled to the torque to current converter. The torque saturation limiter receives a desired torque signal for one or more end effectors and limits the desired torque to a range between an upper torque limit and a lower torque limit generating a bounded torque signal. The torque to current converter transforms a torque signal into a current signal. The motor drives an end effector of one or more end effectors to the bounded torque signal in response to the first current signal.
US09002517B2	Telematic interface with directional translation Method and system for telematic control of a slave device. Displacement of a user interface control is sensed with respect to a control direction. A first directional translation is performed to convert data specifying the control direction to data specifying a slave direction. The slave direction will generally be different from the control direction and defines a direction that the slave device should move in response to the physical displacement of the user interface. A second directional translation is performed to convert data specifying haptic sensor data to a haptic feedback direction. The haptic feedback direction will generally be different from the sensed direction and can define a direction of force to be generated by at least one component of the user interface. The first and second directional translation are determined based on a point-of-view of an imaging sensor.
US09002502B2	Method and program for calculating correction value for machine tool The present invention provides a method and the like that are capable of calculating a correction value for a rotational axis and make it possible to correct an error in position or position and posture of a tool, which results from a geometric error, correct an error in posture of the tool, and also enhance the accuracy in machining by preventing a translational axis from operating in an infinitesimal manner due to a correction command. In a machine tool having two or more translational axes and one or more rotational axes, a correction value for each of the translational axes is calculated using a command position of each of the rotational axes, a coordinate value of a correction reference point as one point designated in advance in a command position space of each of the translational axes, and a geometric parameter representing the geometrical error.
US09002501B1	Rapid production turnkey system and related method A system and related method providing a turnkey arrangement for the rapid production of parts using one or more CNC machines. The system includes a set of functions arranged to generate a rapid production technical data package that may be used by the manufacturer to fabricate a part quickly, efficiently and accurately. The package includes a First Article inspection certificate, a three-dimensional solid model, setup and process instructions, G and M Post codes, holding fixtures, cutting tools and revision control. The method includes steps leading to the creation of the rapid production technical data package. The steps include the gathering of part information, populating a database with CNC machine information, including Post codes, designing manufacturing instructions using a single CAD/CAM platform, integrating model and fixture information to generate a Smart Part model for any CNC machine, establishing Post codes for all CNC machines in the database, and proving out the model.
US09002497B2	Methods and systems for inspection of wafers and reticles using designer intent data Methods and systems for inspection of wafers and reticles using designer intent data are provided. One computer-implemented method includes identifying nuisance defects on a wafer based on inspection data produced by inspection of a reticle, which is used to form a pattern on the wafer prior to inspection of the wafer. Another computer-implemented method includes detecting defects on a wafer by analyzing data generated by inspection of the wafer in combination with data representative of a reticle, which includes designations identifying different types of portions of the reticle. An additional computer-implemented method includes determining a property of a manufacturing process used to process a wafer based on defects that alter a characteristic of a device formed on the wafer. Further computer-implemented methods include altering or simulating one or more characteristics of a design of an integrated circuit based on data generated by inspection of a wafer.
US09002495B2	Optimized crowning in bevel gear wheels of a bevel gear transmission The invention relates to a method for producing a bevel gear wheel, in particular for rudder propellers, the teeth of which have a macro geometry specific to the gear wheels, the teeth of which can be described by flank and profile lines, the flanks of which have a tooth flank micro topography and the bearing surface of which represents the contact region of the inter-meshing teeth. The crown of a tooth flank corresponds to the elevation of the tooth flank center with respect to the tooth flank edge, wherein the course of the height and width crowns of the flank surface is substantially shaped like a circular arc. By means of precise material removal, the micro topography of the tooth flank and thus the bearing surface is optimized firstly in that the material removal is carried out such that the end relief on the tooth flank surface is reduced toward the tooth heel side and the tooth toe side, an area having a greater length and width comes into engagement on the flank and thus an enlarged bearing surface is present, and secondly in that the course of the crown the crown of a tooth flank follows an approximately logarithmic, elliptical and/or an exponential curve shape, which runs through the point of contact, when the ease-off is viewed with no load, in a longitudinal section in the flank sectional surface and/or in a profile section in the profile sectional surface.
US09002493B2	Endpoint detector for a semiconductor processing station and associated methods A semiconductor processing apparatus includes a semiconductor processing station for a semiconductor wafer, and an endpoint detector associated with the semiconductor processing station. The endpoint detector includes a non-contact probe configured to probe the semiconductor wafer, an optical transmitter configured to transmit an optical signal to the non-contact probe, and an optical receiver configured to receive a reflected optical signal from the non-contact probe. The controller controls the semiconductor processing station based on the reflected optical signal.
US09002476B2	Lead body with inner and outer co-axial coils A biomedical conductor assembly adapted for at least partial insertion in a living body. The conductor assembly includes a plurality of the first electrical conductors each covered with an insulator and helically wound in a first direction to form an inner coil with a lumen. A plurality of second electrical conductors each including a plurality of un-insulated wires twisted in a ropelike configuration around a central axis to form a plurality of cables. Each cable is covered with an insulator and helically wound in a second opposite direction forming an outer coil in direct physical contact with the inner coil. The inner and outer coils are covered by an insulator. A method of making the conductor assembly and implanting a neurostimulation system is also disclosed.
US09002466B2	Diversity antennas for neurostimulator programming devices The present disclosure involves a programmer configured to program an implanted medical device. The programmer includes a circuit board and first and second wireless communication devices located on the circuit board. The first wireless communication device is configured to operate in a first frequency band. The second wireless communication device is configured to operate in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. The first and second wireless communication devices are each configured to communicate wirelessly with the implanted medical device. The programmer includes a first group of antennas coupled to the first wireless communication device. The antennas in the first group have first different positions on the circuit board. The programmer includes a second group of antennas coupled to the second wireless communication device. The antennas in the second group have second different positions on the circuit board.
US09002465B2	Verifying correct operation of an implantable neurostimulator device using current distribution circuitry Monitoring circuitry for an implantable stimulator device is disclosed. A switching matrix allows current from a current source to be distributed to any of a plurality of electrodes. A voltage drop across the active switches in the switch matrix is monitored and is compared to an expected voltage based upon the amplitude of the current and the known on resistance of the switch. If the monitored and expected voltages differ significantly, then a failure condition can be inferred, and an appropriate action can be taken, such shutting down stimulation. Using the already-existing switches in the switching matrix in this fashion is beneficial because it allows the current through the electrodes to be monitored without providing additional structures in the therapeutic current path, which would increase complexity and add unwanted resistance.
US09002464B1	Methods and systems for registering and identifying a cochlear implant emulation device and managing data associated therewith An exemplary method includes a fitting subsystem 1) receiving a request to register a cochlear implant emulation device with the fitting subsystem, 2) initiating, in response to the request, a registration process, 3) obtaining, during the registration process, a unique identifier for the cochlear implant emulation device, and 4) registering, during the registration process, the cochlear implant emulation device with the fitting subsystem, the registering including storing the unique identifier in registration data maintained by the fitting subsystem. Corresponding systems and methods are also described.
US09002458B2	Transdermal electrical stimulation devices for modifying or inducing cognitive state Portable transdermal electrical stimulation (TES) applicators for modifying a subject's cognitive state. In general, the portable applicators described are specifically configured and adapted to be lightweight and may be wearable, and to deliver a high-intensity TES able to evoke or enhance a predetermined cognitive effect. These TES applicators may include a pair of electrodes and a TES control module comprising a processor, a timer and a waveform generator. TES control module is adapted to deliver a biphasic electrical stimulation signal of 10 seconds or longer between the first and second electrodes having a frequency of 400 Hz or greater, a duty cycle of greater than 10 percent, an intensity of 3 mA or greater, with a DC offset.
US09002455B2	Systems and methods for assessing and exploiting concurrent cathodal and anodal capture using an implantable medical device Techniques are provided for use by an implantable medical device for assessing and controlling concurrent anodal/cathodal capture. In one example, the device delivers bipolar pacing stimulus while sensing a bipolar intracardiac electrogram (IEGM) and while adjusting a magnitude of the pacing stimulus. The device analyzes the bipolar IEGM signals to detect an indication of activation representative of concurrent anodal and cathodal capture. Preferably, the pulse magnitude is set relative to the anodal/cathodal capture threshold based upon clinician programming in response to the needs of the patient. In this manner, concurrent anodal and cathodal capture can be selectively activated or deactivated based on clinician instructions received from a device programmer or other external programming device. Techniques exploiting both bipolar and unipolar IEGM signals to assess and control concurrent anodal/cathodal capture are also described. Techniques for use with quad-pole leads to achieve dual-site or quad-site capture are also set forth.
US09002453B2	Devices, systems and methods to perform arrhythmia discrimination based on R-R interval stability corresponding to a plurality of ventricular regions Described herein are implantable systems and devices, and methods for use therewith, that can be used to perform arrhythmia discrimination. A plurality of different sensing vectors are used to obtain a plurality of different IEGMs, each of which is indicative of cardiac electrical activity at a different ventricular region. The plurality of different IEGMs can include, e.g., an IEGM indicative of cardiac electrical activity at a first region of the patient's left ventricular (LV) chamber and an IEGM indicative of cardiac electrical activity at a second region of the patient's LV chamber. Additionally, the plurality of different IEGMs can further include an IEGM indicative of cardiac electrical activity at a region of a patient's right ventricular (RV) chamber. For each of the IEGMs, there is a determination of a corresponding localized R-R interval stability metric indicative of the R-R interval stability at the corresponding ventricular region. This can include, e.g., determining, for each of the IEGMs, a plurality of R-R intervals corresponding to a plurality of consecutive cardiac cycles of the IEGM. For each IEGM, a measure of variation (e.g., standard deviation, range or variance, but not limited thereto) can then be determined for the plurality of R-R intervals to thereby determine the localized R-R interval stability metric for the IEGM. Arrhythmia discrimination is then performed using the plurality of determined localized R-R interval stability metrics.
US09002452B2	Electrical therapy for diastolic dysfunction Pacing pulses are delivered to one or more cardiac regions to improve diastolic performance in patients having diastolic dysfunction and/or heart failure. A cardiac pacing system executes a pacing algorithm using a parameter indicative of the diastolic performance as an input. The pacing pulses excite the one or more cardiac regions to redistribute the loading on the ventricular wall during diastole, thereby improving the diastolic performance by lowering the degree of cardiac wall motion dyssynchrony associated with diastolic dysfunction.
US09002451B2	Implantable electrode array assembly with extraction sleeve/tether An implantable electrode array including a carrier on which plural electrodes are disposed. Also disposed on the carrier is an array antenna over which signals are wirelessly received. A tether is connected to the carrier. A tether antenna is attached to the tether. After the electrode array is implanted, during a trial period instructions and power are transmitted to the array antenna over the tether antenna. If the trial is successful, the tether is disconnected from the electrode array. If the trial is not successful and extraction of the array is necessary, extraction is accomplished by pulling on the tether. Electrode array removal may be facilitated by the pulling of the array into an extraction tube disposed over the tether.
US09002445B2	Charger with orthogonal PCB for implantable medical device An external charger for an implantable medical device, comprises a housing, an alternating current (AC) coil and substrate contained within the housing, and one or more electronic components mounted to the substrate. The AC coil is configured for wirelessly transmitting magnetic charging energy to the implantable medical device. The AC coil is disposed in a first plane, with the magnetic charging energy having a field directed perpendicular to the first plane. At least a portion of the substrate has a surface extending along a second plane that is substantially perpendicular to the first plane.
US09002440B2	System and method for characterizing circulatory blood flow A computer-implemented method for characterizing circulatory blood volume and autoregulatory compensatory mechanisms to maintain circulatory blood volume is disclosed. A biological signal that emulates the arterial pulse wave is collected from a sensor. Three derived parameters are extrapolated from the biological signal. The first parameter, circulatory stress, reflects of the changes of the heart rate frequency. The second, circulatory blood volume, reflects the changes in the frequency strength of the heart rate frequency. The third, Pulse Volume Alteration (PVA) Index is a ratio of the sum of the strengths of the heart rate frequency harmonics to the strength of the heart rate frequency of the unprocessed biological signal. Each parameter is compared to a threshold value and assessed to determine an adequacy of circulatory blood volume and an appropriateness of the autoregulatory mechanisms used to maintain circulatory blood volume adequacy.
US09002437B2	Method and system for position orientation correction in navigation A method performed in a medical navigation system includes driving a transmitter at a first frequency and a second frequency to generate first and second electromagnetic fields, wherein the first and second frequencies are sufficiently low such that the first and second electromagnetic fields are frequency independent; receiving first and second distorted fields corresponding to the first and second electromagnetic fields, respectively, with each of at least two electromagnetic (EM) sensors attached to a surgical device; generating first and second signals in response to receiving the first and second distorted fields, respectively, using each of the at least two EM sensors; and determining a distortion in the first and second signals based at least on a distance between the at least two EM sensors and a difference between the first and second signals generated by each of the at least two EM sensors.
US09002436B2	Method and system for ablation catheter and circumferential mapping catheter tracking in fluoroscopic images A method and system for tracking an ablation catheter and a circumferential mapping catheter in a fluoroscopic image sequence is disclosed. Catheter electrode models for the ablation catheter and the circumferential mapping catheter are initialized in a first frame of a fluoroscopic image sequence based on user inputs. The catheter electrode models for the ablation catheter and the circumferential mapping catheter are then tracked in each remaining frame of the fluoroscopic image sequence. In each remaining frame, candidates of catheter landmarks such as the catheter tip, electrodes and body points are detected for the ablation catheter and the circumferential mapping catheter, tracking hypotheses for the catheter electrode models are generated, and for each of the ablation catheter and the circumferential mapping catheter, the catheter electrode model having the highest probability score is selected from the generated tracking hypotheses.
US09002434B2	Medical device position detecting system, medical device guiding system, and position detecting method for medical device Position detection of a medical device is prevented from being impossible even when the frequency characteristic of a magnetic induction coil is varied in accordance with the state of an external magnetic field for guiding the medical device. A medical device position detecting system is a medical device position detecting system which is inserted into the body of a subject and guided by an external magnetic field, and it is equipped with a resonance circuit that is mounted in the medical device, contains a magnetic induction coil having a magnetic material inside and generates an alternate magnetic field, an alternate magnetic field detecting device that is disposed at the outside of an operation region of the medical device and detects the alternate magnetic field generated by the magnetic induction coil, a position information calculator for calculating position information of the medical device on the basis of the detected alternate magnetic field, and a frequency setting unit for setting at least one of the frequency of the alternate magnetic field detected by the alternate magnetic field detecting device and the frequency of the alternate magnetic field generated by the magnetic induction coil on the basis of at least one of the intensity and direction of an external magnetic field at the position of the magnetic induction coil.
US09002427B2	Apparatus and method for continuous noninvasive measurement of respiratory function and events An apparatus and method for non-invasive and continuous measurement of respiratory chamber volume and associated parameters including respiratory rate, respiratory rhythm, tidal volume, dielectric variability and respiratory congestion. In particular, a non-invasive apparatus and method for determining dynamic and structural physiologic data from a living subject including a change in the spatial configuration of a respiratory chamber, a lung or a lobe of a lung to determine overall respiratory health comprising an ultra wide-band radar system having at least one transmitting and receiving antenna for applying ultra wide-band radio signals to a target area of the subject's anatomy wherein the receiving antenna collects and transmits signal returns from the target area.
US09002424B2	Superconducting film-forming substrate, superconducting wire, and superconducting wire manufacturing method A tape-shaped superconducting film-forming substrate is disclosed, which includes a film-forming face for forming a laminate including a superconducting layer thereon, a rear face that is a face at a side opposite to the film-forming face, a pair of end faces connected to the film-forming face and the rear face, and a pair of side faces connected to the film-forming face, the rear face, and the pair of end faces, in which each of the pair of side faces includes a spreading face that spreads toward an outer side in an in-plane direction of the film-forming face from an edge part of the film-forming face toward the rear face side. A superconducting wire and a superconducting wire manufacturing method are also disclosed.
US09002417B2	Electronic device An electronic device that can suppress galvanic corrosion from occurring on a metal constituent member and a metal screw member is provided. The electronic device according to the present invention includes a first constituent member in which a first screw hole is provided, a second constituent member through which a second screw hole is provided at a position facing the first screw hole, and a screw member that penetrates through the second screw hole to the first screw hole. A first seal member that surrounds edges of the first screw hole and the second screw hole is arranged on the first constituent member and the second constituent member, a second seal member that covers the screw member and an edge thereof is arranged on the second constituent member, and a third constituent member that covers the second seal member is fitted on the second constituent member.
US09002416B2	Wireless communication device responsive to orientation and movement A wireless communication device responsive to orientation and movement comprising a housing, a cellular transceiver capable of communicating with a cellular communication network, a WLAN transceiver capable of communicating with a remote device via an ad hoc network, a sensor and a processor. The sensor detects a substantially vertical orientation of the wireless communication device. The sensor also detects a movement of the wireless communication device subsequent to detecting the substantially vertical orientation of the wireless communication device. The processor performs a function of the wireless communication device in coordination with the remove device via the WLAN transceiver. The processor performs this function in response to detecting the substantially vertical orientation and the movement of the wireless communication device.
US09002415B2	Power management for wireless direct link Disclosed herein are exemplary techniques for managing power in a direct wireless link between two wireless devices. The present disclosure provides at least three direct link power management techniques: Fast Resumption Mode (FRM) wherein the direct link is resumed automatically at a specified timing synchronization function (TSF); Slow Resumption Mode (SRM) wherein the direct link may be resumed by sending a Resume-Request via the access point; and Reverse Polling (RP), wherein one peer station of the direct link is continually awake and the other peer station uses reverse polling to start a service period. Thus, a method for power management of a direct wireless link between two wireless devices is disclosed. The method comprising the steps of establishing a direct wireless link between the first wireless device and the second wireless device; transmitting, from a first wireless device, a frame having a time value; receiving, at the second wireless device, the frame from the first wireless device; suspending the direct wireless link a duration determined based on the time value; and resuming the direct wireless link at a time determined based on the time value.
US09002413B2	Battery cell phone combination A battery cell phone combination for use in a cell phone or other electronic device having a case or housing is provided. The battery cell phone combination has a primary battery and a secondary battery each being shaped so as to be able to be received in the case. When the primary battery is drained the user can enable the secondary battery in a rapid manner and for a fee or for free. The primary and secondary batteries are isolated from each other such that there is no current seepage between the two. The cell phone is continuously powered when switching from the primary battery to the secondary battery such that calls are not dropped during the switching process.
US09002407B2	Expedited communication graphical user interface system and method A method for managing expedited communication functions for a mobile device having a processing subsystem, a memory subsystem, a display subsystem, a communication subsystem, and a keyboard subsystem includes displaying a graphical key representation of mobile device keyboard subsystem keys, arranging the graphical keys in similar disposition to the mobile device keyboard subsystem keys, and displaying visual indicia to indicate mobile device keyboard subsystem keys associated with expedited communication functions.
US09002406B2	Portable communication device with three dimensional display The present invention relates to a portable communication device (10) comprising: a display unit (12) for displaying a multi-dimensional image (13) having at least three dimensions; a multi-dimensional image control unit (15) controlling and providing said image (13) to be displayed in more than one plane (13a, b) depending on a selection of a user; a detector element (16) for detecting a selection of the user.
US09002401B2	Terminal and method for recognizing communication target A terminal and method for recognizing a communication target within a visible range. The method of a terminal to recognize a communication target includes obtaining location information of a communication target whose identification information is unknown within a visible range of a terminal user; and recognizing a relative location of the communication target with respect to the terminal based on the obtained location information and displaying the recognized relative location of the communication target.
US09002394B2	Method, mobile and base station for direct mobile to mobile communication According to the present invention, a source MS, determining initiation of M2M communication or receiving a request for initiating M2M communication from a BS, receives a reference signal for channel quality measurement of a neighboring MS, and the channel quality of the source MS and the neighboring MS is measured by using the reference signal; and information representing the channel quality is transmitted to the BS. Or, the neighboring MS receives a reference signal for channel quality measurement transmitted by the source MS, a channel quality of the source MS and the neighboring MS is measured by using the reference signal, and information representing the channel quality is transmitted to the BS. The BS determines a partner MS for M2M communication with the MS on the basis of a channel quality between the source MS and the neighboring MS.
US09002393B2	Desynchronized network access in M2M networks Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are disclosed to desynchronize transmissions in group-based operations. A group user equipment (UE), e.g., a UE that is a member of a group of UEs, may be in an inactive mode. The group UE may receive a multicast message indicating that the group UE may enter an active mode. For example, the group UE may use the active mode for periodic reporting of its monitoring activity to the network. The multicast message may indicate a mechanism for the group UE to use to send an uplink transmission to the network. The group UE may send the uplink transmission to the network at a transmission time indicated by the mechanism. The transmission time may be desynchronized from other UEs in the group.
US09002389B2	Method, apparatus, and terminal for determining transmission mode Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a terminal for determining a transmission mode, which relate to the field of communications technologies and are invented to enable a selection of a transmission mode with lower power consumption for a terminal to reduce the power consumption of the terminal. The method includes: selecting a transmission mode for a terminal according to a network resource condition; judging whether the selected transmission mode matches according to capability information reported by the terminal and if the selected transmission mode matches, setting the transmission mode as a current transmission mode of the terminal. The embodiments of the present invention are mainly applicable to a Long Term Evolution Advance (LTE-A) system.
US09002388B2	Radio wave arrival status estimating system, its method and program A radio wave arrival status estimating system characterized by having an estimating means that estimates whether the physical characteristic of a radio wave received at the reception point of a radio system to be evaluated has reached the minimum allowable level for determining the characteristic of the radio system; that estimates an arrival status of the radio wave at the reception point by applying a first radio wave propagation status estimating technique to the reception point when estimating that the physical characteristic has reached the minimum allowable level; and that estimates an arrival status of the radio wave at the reception point by applying a second radio wave propagation status estimating technique to the reception point when estimating that the physical characteristic has not reached the minimum allowable level.
US09002385B2	Method and arrangement in a telecommunication system There is provided a method for use in a user equipment when the user equipment is in idle mode or any other low activity state, and when the user equipment bandwidth is smaller than the cell transmission bandwidth. The method comprises the steps of determining a paging position of the user equipment in the frequency domain; receiving, from the network, paging information within the user equipment reception bandwidth; and changing, if indicated by the network, the paging position of the user equipment within the cell transmission bandwidth.
US09002384B1	Dual position display A dual position display is disclosed. Embodiments of the invention include simultaneously displaying at least two geographic locations for a single device. In some embodiments, a received position of the device is displayed, the received position being received from the on-line, real-time mapping system and being indicated on a map display by a first icon. In at least some embodiments, the current position of the device as indicated by the positioning receiver is also displayed, the current position of the device being indicated on the map display by a second icon displayed simultaneously with the first icon. In at least some embodiments, the map display continues to display the received position as a previous position that corresponds to a loss of communication of the positioning data between the device and the mapping system.
US09002383B2	Information processing system, mobile information terminal, server, and information processing method A task management system includes a game terminal and a server. The game terminal acknowledges user designation of whether positional information indicating a position arbitrarily designated by a user on a map of a scale displayed on the terminal or positional information indicating the current position of the terminal should be added to data that should be stored in the server along with the positional information. The game terminal transmits the data to which user designated positional information is added to the server. The server stores the data transmitted from the game terminal along with the positional information.
US09002382B2	Method and apparatus for identifying neighboring device A method and apparatus for identifying a neighboring device are provided. The method of identifying a neighboring device, which is performed in a user terminal, includes: obtaining identification information and location information of a plurality of neighboring devices that can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal; extracting the identification information of one of the neighboring devices, the neighboring device being in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and using the extracted identification information to request that the neighboring device perform wireless communication with the user terminal. According to the method and apparatus, identification information of a neighboring device with which a user terminal desires to perform wireless communication can be obtained using a viewfinder or liquid crystal display of the user terminal.
US09002377B2	Method for improving discovery of preferred mobile computing locations A method for improving discovery of preferred mobile computing locations includes monitoring sensor data corresponding to a mobile computing device (MCD) and monitoring non-GPS network data implemented by the mobile computing device. Additionally, the method determines whether sensor data and non-GPS network data indicate that the mobile computing device is stationary within a cell site as well as scanning any network that the mobile computing device is electronically linked to. In short, the method discovers an improved preferred mobile computing location based on the sensor data and non-GPS network data that provide reliable information that the mobile computing device is stationary within the cell site. The sensor data and non-GPS network data are converged when several corresponding scans produce overlapping results.
US09002376B2	Systems and methods for gathering information about discrete wireless terminals The present invention is broadly directed to systems and methods for gathering information about wireless transceiver devices in a defined boundary region. To this end, the disclosure is more particularly directed to gathering movement information (e.g., via detection and location) about two-way end-user wireless terminals within three-dimensional boundaries of defined local space (“DLS”) to allow for selective control of the terminals and other subsystems, as desired. Additionally, the data collected can be used to improve accuracy and precision regarding the prediction of behavior characteristics and tendencies of populations based on a sampling of observed terminals.
US09002369B2	Management device, management method, communication device, communication method, relay device, relay method, program, and communication system A management device includes a management table generation section that generates a management table in which location information showing the present location of a relay device is held in each relay device that relays the connection to a first network, a first receiving section that receives a location information showing the present location of a communication device from the communication device via a second network different from the first network, the communication device being connected to the first network via a relay device, a list generation section that generates a candidate list showing relay device candidates that relay a connection to the first network by communicating with the communication device with reference to the management table based on the location information of the communication device, and a transmission section that transmits the candidate list to the communication device via a second network.
US09002368B2	Locating method The invention relates to a method for locating a first mobile terminal within a radio network. Said method comprises the following steps: a first locating process is carried out to determine an initial position of the first terminal; the first locating process is deactivated; a second locating process is carried out to at least approximately determine the current position of the first terminal relative to the initial position; and the first locating process is activated and carried out again to determine a new initial position of the first terminal when the current position reaches a minimum distance from the initial position. The invention also relates to a method for determining cliques of mobile terminals in a radio network encompassing a plurality of mobile terminals. Said method comprises the following steps: one or more independent numbers of terminals is determined, each couple of terminals of each of the independent numbers being located at a distance from each other that is greater than a predetermined threshold value; and at least one clique of terminals is determined, the couples of which are located at a shorter distance from each other than a predetermined threshold value, each independent number containing a maximum of one terminal of the clique.
US09002363B2	Base station, method and computer program product A base station, a method and a computer program product are disclosed. The base station is operable, in concert with other base stations within a group, to support wireless communications with user equipment. The base station comprises: transmission logic operable to generate a cell having a coverage area supporting wireless communications with user equipment; reception logic operable to receive load information indicative of a user equipment communications load experienced by base stations within said group; and coverage area adjustment logic operable to determine changes required to said coverage area to change a user equipment communications load experienced by at least one base station within said group. In this way, it can be seen that each base station within the group may receive information about the user loading on other base stations within that group and is able to adjust its coverage area to cause that communications loading to be rebalanced to enable efficient use of resources and optimize the overall performance of each of the base stations within the group. The group of base stations with co-ordinated and optimized coverage can achieve higher end user data rates and improved quality of service than would otherwise be possible.
US09002354B2	Interference control, SINR optimization and signaling enhancements to improve the performance of OTDOA measurements A wireless terminal receives signaling information, pertaining to a reference signal transmission in at least one specifically designated sub frame, the signaling information including a list, the list including base station identities. The terminal determines, from at least one of the base station identities in the list, the time-frequency resources associated with a reference signal transmission intended for observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements from a transmitting base station associated with said one base station identity. The time of arrival of a transmission from the transmitting base station, relative to reference timing, is measured. The wireless terminal can receive a command from a serving cell to start performing inter-frequency OTDOA measurement on a frequency layer containing reference signals, the frequency layer distinct from the serving frequency layer, the serving frequency layer not containing positioning reference signals. The wireless terminal can perform OTDOA measurements subsequent to the reception of the command on a carrier frequency different from the serving cell carrier frequency. A base station transmitter can jointly schedule a reference signal transmission from a plurality of base station transmitters for the purpose of OTD estimation enhancement, and transmit identical reference signals from the plurality of base station transmitters, the reference signals being identical both in the signal sequence and time-frequency resources used for transmission.
US09002346B2	Technique for managing measurements for multiple subscriptions in a mobile terminal A technique for managing measurements for at least two subscriptions in a mobile terminal is described. A method implementation of this technique performed in the mobile terminal comprises the steps of determining a common carrier set being an intersection between the first carrier set associated with a first subscription and the second carrier set associated with at least one second subscription, performing a first measurement on the first carrier set, and the second measurement on the second carrier set excluding the common carrier set, and mapping results associated with the first measurement of the first subscription relating to the common carrier set to the at least one second subscription.
US09002345B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving feedback information in a mobile communication system A method and apparatus for transmitting feedback information by a User Equipment (UE) in a mobile communication system are provided. The method includes receiving information about at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS); performing channel estimation based on the information about at least one CSI-RS; receiving information about at least one feedback; and transmitting at least one feedback including a channel estimation result using the information about at least one feedback, wherein the information about at least one feedback includes information about a transmission timing and a feedback mode for at least one feedback.
US09002344B2	Phone content service A phone content service is described. In embodiment(s), content that is associated with a mobile phone can be stored by a phone content service that is accessible by a computer via a data communication network. An update to the content that is associated with the mobile phone can be received and updated at the phone content service. Updated content can then be synchronized with the mobile phone via a mobile communication network.
US09002343B2	Disabling a mobile phone suspected of being a trigger for a bomb Methods, systems, and computer program products for disabling a mobile phone suspected of being a trigger for a bomb are provided. Embodiments include tracking, by one or more data communications servers of the data communications network, location, motion, and usage of a mobile phone; determining, by the one or more data communications servers, whether the location, the motion, and the usage of the mobile phone matches a suspect pattern of location, motion, and usage; and disabling, by the one or more data communications servers, the mobile phone only from receiving messages if the location, the motion, and the usage of the mobile phone matches a suspect pattern of location, motion, and usage.

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