Document	Document Title
US09166409B2	System and method to perform automatic phase reversal detection A system and method to perform automatic phase reversal detection are described. The system includes a first subsystem and a second subsystem configured to be synchronized with the first subsystem. A controller is configured to receive a first input from the first subsystem or the second subsystem and a second input from the first subsystem or the second subsystem and perform phase reversal detection based on the first input and the second input.
US09166408B2	Demand response management system and method with VAR support A method for providing VAR support in a power distribution network having a demand response management system can include querying the demand response management system for an inductive device on the power distribution network and power cycling the inductive device to effect reactive power in the power distribution network.
US09166403B2	Serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module device A serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module device includes first and second electronic switches, a voltage detecting circuit, a power circuit, and an edge connector. The edge connector includes first to third power pins and first and second notches. The first power pins are connected to an input terminal of the voltage detecting circuit. An output terminal of the voltage detecting circuit is connected to first terminals of the first and second electronic switches. The second power pins are connected to the second terminal of the first electronic switch. The third power pins are connected to the second terminal of the second electronic switch. The third terminals of the first and second electronic switches are connected together and also connected to the power circuit.
US09166398B2	Controller providing protection function and frequency-reduction function using a single pin and system using same A controller providing protection function and frequency-reduction function for a power conversion application, including: a voltage sense pin; a current source; a switch having a first end coupled to the current source, a second end coupled to the voltage sense pin, and a control end coupled with a control signal; and a sampling unit having a first node coupled to the voltage sense pin, a second node for providing the control signal, a third node for receiving a PWM signal, a fourth node for providing a first sampled voltage for a protection function, and a fifth node for providing a second sampled voltage for a frequency-reduction function.
US09166388B2	Electrical device cover An electrical device cover configured for mounting over an electrical device comprises a frame including a frame channel and an frame opening. The frame opening is defined by at least four sides and is large enough to receive at least one electrical device. A sliding tab comprising a screw channel is provided, the sliding tab is slidably coupled with the frame channel and is slidable to a closed position in which the screw channel at least partially surrounds a box mounting screw of the at least one electrical device.
US09166381B2	Ignition device with ignition coil An ignition device includes an ignition coil with a primary coil and a secondary coil, a spark plug with center and ground electrodes for discharge therebetween, and a voltage limiting circuit. The voltage limiting circuit limits voltage applied between the electrodes of the spark plug such that the voltage has an absolute value limited within a predetermined voltage limiting value. The voltage limiting value is differentiated from each other in first and second stages. The first stage is defined as a period in which an initial discharge peak ends, the initial discharge peak being initially generated by electric energy. The second stage is defined as a period after the end of the initial discharge peak. The voltage limiting value in the first stage is lower than the voltage limiting value in the second stage.
US09166380B2	Spark plug electrode material and spark plug A spark plug electrode material containing nickel, silicon, and copper, the electrode material, in the case of proper use, forming a nickel oxide layer made of nickel oxide grains on at least a part of its surface, the grain boundary phase of the nickel oxide grains including silicon and/or silicon oxide.
US09166379B2	Spark plug A spark plug includes an insulating insulator and a metal shell. The metal shell includes a caulking portion, a seat portion with a tapering surface, a thread portion with a thread size equal to or less than M12, and a protrusion. The insulating insulator includes a lock portion locked to the protrusion, and is secured to the metal shell in a state held between the caulking portion and the protrusion.
US09166368B2	High power semiconductor laser with phase-matching optical element A semiconductor laser that includes a single mode semiconductor laser coupled to a flared power amplifier is provided, the device including an internal or an external optical element that reinforces the curved wave front of the flared section of the device through phase-matching. By reinforcing the curved wave front via phase-matching, the device is less susceptible to thermal and gain-index coupled perturbations, even at high output powers, resulting in higher beam quality. Exemplary phase-matching optical elements include a grating integrated into the flared amplifier section; an intra-cavity, externally positioned binary optical element; and an intra-cavity, externally positioned cylindrically curved optical element.
US09166364B2	Semiconductor laser mounting with intact diffusion barrier layer A first contact surface of a semiconductor laser chip can be formed to a target surface roughness selected to have a maximum peak to valley height that is substantially smaller than a barrier layer thickness. A barrier layer that includes a non-metallic, electrically-conducting compound and that has the barrier layer thickness can be applied to the first contact surface, and the semiconductor laser chip can be soldered to a carrier mounting along the first contact surface using a solder composition by heating the soldering composition to less than a threshold temperature at which dissolution of the barrier layer into the soldering composition occurs. Related systems, methods, articles of manufacture, and the like are also described.
US09166347B2	Percutaneous power delivery system for permanently implanted medical devices and manufacturing method The invention relates to a permanent percutaneous electric connection device intended to be fixed in an osseous structure of a patient to electrically connect an internal entity (150) located inside the body of the patient to an entity external to said body. The device encloses electric connection means running from a first connector to be connected to the external entity to a second connector to be connected to the internal entity. The device has an extension member (120) extending from a socket of the first connector. The extension member is designed for full osseous burial into the osseous structure with its free end (121) being substantially flush with the surface of said osseous structure. The device also comprises an electric connection member (130) comprising the second connector securely fastened to the free end of the extension member (120).
US09166346B2	Retractable interconnect device configured to switch between electrical paths A retractable interconnect device is configurable to operate in an extended mode or a retracted mode. The retractable interconnect device includes a first (e.g., short) electrical path and a second (e.g., long) electrical path. The retractable interconnect device also includes a connector that is electrically coupled to the first electrical path in the retracted mode and that is electrically coupled to the second electrical path in the extended mode.
US09166344B2	High speed high density connector assembly An electrical connector (10; 20; 50; 60; 70; 80; 90; 91) includes a conductive body (11, 12; 21; 32; 502; 61; 71; 822; 920), and a plurality of contact modules mounted on the body, each of the contact modules comprising a plurality of contacts (121; 220; 321; 420; 551; 620; 921), a shielding member (123; 222; 323; 422; 53; 68; 720; 900) and an insulator (122; 221; 322; 421; 550; 621) for fixing the contacts. The conductive body electrically connects with the shielding member and is insulated with the contacts.
US09166340B2	Connector A connector for disconnecting electrical lines from a module or connecting them to the module includes a first housing part formed as a flap and a second housing part second housing part formed as a base part with an inner and outer sides, and a coding element receptacle for accepting a coding element, which interacts with a mating coding element disposed in the module, wherein the coding element receptacle is integrated into the base part and, looking towards the inner side, bears a first label field, and the base part is formed on the outer side in the area of the coding element receptacle with an opening and a second label field assigned to the opening, and in addition to numbers/letters, the label fields have marking lines disposed such that, when the coding element is plugged in, the markings match markings disposed on the coding element.
US09166335B1	Connector mechanism with a guide hole structure, connector mechanism with a guide pin structure and related electronic device assembly A connector mechanism is utilized to connect with a portable electronic device with a receptacle connector and a guide pin structure. The guide pin structure includes a first portion and a second portion. The connector mechanism includes a base, a plug connector and a guide hole structure. The plug connector and the guide hole structure are disposed on the base. A length of the guide hole structure is greater than a length of the plug connector. The guide hole structure includes a first area and a second area. A width of the first area is greater than a width of the second area. Width difference between the plug connector and the receptacle connector is greater than width difference between the second portion and the second area, and is greater than width difference between the first portion and the second area and between the second portion and the first area.
US09166332B2	Connector The present invention provides a connector that has a function of enabling and facilitating a secure connection of an inserted substrate. A connector includes a housing, a contact point member, and a position determining member. The housing includes an insertion recessed portion into which a substrate is inserted. The contact point member includes a contact point portion connected electrically to a conductive portion of the substrate. The position determining member determines a position of the contact point member. The position is determined to connect the contact point portion to the conductive portion of the substrate and is driven by moving the contact point member to retract the contact point portion from the insertion recessed portion and inserting the substrate into the insertion recessed portion.
US09166321B2	Thin profile stacked layer contact A connector is described herein that includes a plurality of layers patterned in two dimensions and joined in a stack with a bore there through. At least a subset of the plurality of layers are contact layers that include deflectable members (e.g., springs) that deflect in plane or out of plane upon insertion of a lead into the bore through the connector. The deflectable members form redundant electrical connections with the lead when the lead is inserted into the bore. For example, the connector can be incorporated into an implantable medical device (e.g., IPG). Moreover, methods of manufacturing a connector are set forth herein.
US09166319B2	Flexible circuit board connector A flexible circuit board connector includes a contact having a separable mating interface mounted to a contact pad of a flexible circuit board and a terminating end terminated to a wire. A housing holds the contact and has a main body including a wire barrel configured to receive the wire. A clip is coupled to the housing with an intermediate space between the clip and the main body. The clip is movable between an open position and a closed position. The intermediate space is configured to receive the flexible circuit board when the clip is in the open position, and the clip and housing are configured to capture the flexible circuit board when the clip is in the closed position. The spring beam is configured to be electrically connected to the contact pad when the clip is in the closed position.
US09166314B2	Electrcial connector and assemble method of the same An electrical connector includes an insulating housing including a base, a mating tongue and a positioning portion, terminals and a first positioning board. The positioning portion defines first positioning grooves along a bottom face thereof. Each conductive terminal comprises retained portion interfered with the base, mating portions vertical leg portion and connecting portion connecting with the retained portion and the leg portion. The connecting portion comprises a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. The first positioning board is sandwiched between the horizontal portions. The first positioning board defines second positioning grooves, the horizontal portions of first terminals are limited in the first positioning grooves while the horizontal portions of second terminals are limited in the second positioning grooves.
US09166313B2	Power supply contact for installation of printed circuit board A power supply contact is mountable on a base of a device having a geometry for receiving a power supply and for surface installation of a printed circuit board. The power supply contact includes a base plate mountable on the base of the device, a rail extends upwardly from the base plate, a power supply terminal and an adaptor connecting the rail to the power supply terminal. The rail is in electrical contact with the printed circuit board and the power supply terminal is in electrical contact with the power supply when the printed circuit board and the power supply are installed in the device.
US09166310B2	Press-in contact having a base, a contact pin and a second pin A press-in contact having a base, a contact pin and a second pin which extends parallel to the contact pin. The second pin projects beyond the contact pin and has a greatest circumference at the same level as a tip of the contact pin. Simple and accurate positioning between a circuit board and a contact pin disposed in a housing is made possible by the second pin which acts as a pre-centering pin.
US09166306B2	Method of terminating a coaxial cable Passive intermodulation (PIM) and impedance management in coaxial cable terminations. In one example embodiment, a method for terminating a coaxial cable is provided. The coaxial cable includes an inner conductor, an insulating layer, an outer conductor, and a jacket. First, a diameter of the outer conductor that surrounds a cored-out section of the insulating layer is increased so as to create an increased-diameter cylindrical section of the outer conductor. Next, an internal connector structure is inserted into the cored-out section so as to be surrounded by the increased-diameter cylindrical section. Finally, an external connector structure is clamped around the increased-diameter cylindrical section so as to radially compress the increased-diameter cylindrical section between the external connector structure and the internal connector structure, and via a single action, a contact force between the inner conductor and a conductive pin is increased.
US09166301B2	Travelling wave antenna feed structures Techniques for implementing series-fed antenna arrays with a variable dielectric waveguide. In one implementation, coupling elements with optional controlled phase shifters are placed adjacent each radiating element of the array. To avoid frequency sensitivity of the resulting array, one or more waveguides have a variable propagation constant. The variable waveguide may use certain materials exhibiting this phenomenon, or may have configurable gaps between layers. Plated-through holes and pins can control the gaps; and/or a 2-D circular or a rectangular travelling wave array of scattering elements can be used as well.
US09166297B2	Smooth-walled feedhorn A device for at least one of receiving and transmitting electromagnetic radiation includes a feedhorn having a substantially smooth, electrically conducting inner surface extending from an open end to a feed end, the inner surface being substantially rotationally symmetrical about a longitudinal axis, wherein an orthogonal distance from a point on the longitudinal axis to the substantially smooth, electrically conducting inner surface increases monotonically as the point on the longitudinal axis is selected at successively greater distances from the feed end of the feedhorn towards the open end of the feedhorn such that a profile of the substantially smooth, electrically conducting inner surface of the feedhorn is monotonically increasing. The feedhorn has an operating bandwidth and the feedhorn provides a maximum of −30 dB cross polarization response over at least 15% of the operating bandwidth.
US09166289B2	Apparatus and method for determining relative direction of a wireless peer device from another device Systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods for wireless communications. An antenna in which nulls or directions of reduced performance can be selectively introduced is provided, and the performance of a communication link to a wireless communication device is monitored. By correlating the selectively reduced sensitivity of the antenna with reductions in the communication link performance, the direction of the wireless communication device may be estimated. Embodiments of the present invention may be used in numerous applications, such as cell phones, PDA's, and laptops.
US09166282B2	Wearable device assembly having antenna A wrist-worn device monitors movements of a user. A sensor assembly of the wrist-worn device is configured to detect movement of the user and generate sensor data based on the movement detected. A controller connected to the sensor assembly obtains movement data based on the sensor data. An antenna connected to the controller is configured to operate at a desired frequency when a wrist of the user is received by the device such that the movement data is wirelessly transmittable from the wrist-worn device to an electronic device. The antenna may exhibit a different design and configuration depending on the size of the wrist-worn device.
US09166278B2	Communication apparatus The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the cost of a product while ensuring reliability of the product as a wireless transmission/reception apparatus. Provided is communication apparatus (ODU) (1) installed outside, which includes a case that houses a transmission unit for transmitting a signal and a reception unit for receiving the signal, and a waveguide connected to an external antenna and configured to receive/transmit a signal. In the apparatus, the waveguide is formed integrally with the case, and taper (16) is formed in a part of the tube hole of the waveguide.
US09166273B2	Configurations for antennas Embodiments are provided for antenna configurations. An example playback device includes a housing having a metallic face, the metallic face including an opening; a first antenna oriented in a first direction on a plate, the plate forming a ground plane for the first antenna, the first antenna having a first slot aligned with the opening, the first antenna being associated with a first frequency; and a second antenna positioned proximate to the first antenna on the plate and oriented in a second direction opposing the first direction, the second antenna having a second slot aligned with the opening, the second antenna being associated with at least the first frequency, and the second antenna having at least a first portion located at a distance from at least a second portion of the first antenna of one quarter wavelength of the first frequency.
US09166259B2	Battery cooling apparatus for electric vehicle A battery pack apparatus has a plurality of battery cell units that are stacked together in generally parallel relation. The battery cell units are configured to define converging air flow spaces therebetween. An air inlet header provides a converging air inlet plenum that is situated adjacent one side of the battery cell units and an air outlet header provides a diverging air outlet plenum that is situated adjacent an opposite side of the battery cell units. A blower or fan forces air into the air inlet plenum. The air flows through the air flow spaces between the battery cell units to cool the battery cell units. The speed of the air increases as it advances through the air inlet plenum and the plurality of air flow spaces.
US09166258B2	Cooling apparatus for vehicle-mountable battery packs A battery pack 10 has a built-in cooling fan to suction outside air through an air cleaner 16 and an air suction port. The battery pack 10 has a combination of the air suction port and a service plug 25 and a combination of the air cleaner 16 and a 12V terminal set 23 arranged at an upside. The air suction port and the service plug 25 are arrayed along a longer side of the battery pack 10, the air cleaner 16, a filter member in the air cleaner 16, and the 12V terminal set 23 being arrayed parallel thereto.
US09166257B2	Method for charging and method for determining an end-of-charge criterion of a nickel-based battery The method for charging an electrochemical nickel-based battery having a predetermined nominal capacity, including at least one measurement of the voltage of the battery and one measurement of the temperature representative of the battery. The battery is connected to an intermittent source of energy. The charging of the battery is stopped when the voltage measured at the terminals of the battery reaches a voltage threshold, depending on the measured temperature and representative of a capacity charged in the battery corresponding to a charging efficiency equal to or higher than 90% of the maximum charging efficiency.
US09166256B2	Rechargeable battery A rechargeable battery including a case in which an electrode assembly is accommodated; a cap plate coupled with the case; a protection circuit board coupled with the cap plate, the protection circuit board being electrically connected with a first electrode of the electrode assembly; and a protection element coupled with the cap plate, the protection element electrically coupling a second electrode of the electrode assembly with the protection circuit board.
US09166254B2	Gel polymer electrolyte and lithium polymer battery The application relates to a gel polymer electrolyte and/or polymer modified electrode materials for lithium batteries. The gel polymer electrolyte or the polymer modified electrode material includes at least a polymer represented by the following formula (I):
US09166251B2	Battery separator and nonaqueous electrolyte battery A nonaqueous electrolyte battery of the present invention includes a positive electrode having a positive active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating a lithium ion, a negative electrode having a negative active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating a lithium ion, a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolyte. The heat generation starting temperature of the positive electrode is 180° C. or higher. The separator includes heat-resistant fine particles and a thermoplastic resin. The proportion of particles with a particle size of 0.2 μm or less in the heat-resistant fine particles is 10 vol % or less and the proportion of particles with a particle size of 2 μm or more in the heat-resistant fine particles is 10 vol % or less. The separator effects a shutdown in the range of 100° C. to 150° C.
US09166244B2	Fuel cell A fuel cell includes separators. A second plate of the separator includes a second circular disk section, a second elongated plate section, and a second rectangular section. A fuel gas supply passage extends through the second circular disk section. The second rectangular section has a fuel gas inlet for supplying a fuel gas to a fuel gas channel, an outer ridge, and a fuel gas outlet for discharging the fuel gas, and a detour path forming wall bent in a V-shape toward the fuel gas inlet. A fuel gas inlet is formed in the V-shaped inner area of the detour path forming wall.
US09166236B2	Electrochemical cell An electrochemical cell includes a flow chamber disposed between two plate elements and having a flow inlet and a flow outlet for a flow medium permeating the flow chamber and defining a main flow direction of the flow medium between the flow inlet and the flow outlet. One of the plate elements has protrusions for supporting the plate element on the other plate element in a regular grid structure, between which a network of flow channels passing through the flow chamber runs in at least one flow channel direction. The regular grid structure is configured in such a way that the grid of the flow channels has two or more flow channel directions each enclosing an angle differing from zero degrees relative to the main flow direction of the flow medium.
US09166235B2	Fuel cell system A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell stack in which end plates are respectively disposed at two ends of a unit-cell stack of unit cells in the stacking direction, and in which a fuel gas channel for conveying a fuel gas along surfaces of one of the end plates in a direction parallel to the surfaces of the one end plate is formed within the one end plate; an injector that is integrally provided in one of the surfaces of the one end plate and that injects the fuel gas into the fuel gas channel; and a relief valve that is integrally provided in the other of the surfaces of the one end plate and that prevents overpressure in the fuel gas channel. The relief valve is disposed at a position offset from an injection axis of the injector.
US09166231B2	Lead acid battery electrode comprising a porous carbon material layer and a lead acid battery Disclosed is an electrode for a lead storage battery that has good initial output characteristics and causes little or no reduction in output characteristics after charge-discharge cycle. The electrode comprises an electrode active material layer and a current collector. The electrode active material layer comprises a layer containing a lead-containing material as an electrode active material and a layer containing a porous carbonaceous material as an electrode active material. The electrode satisfies a requirement represented by the following equation: B/(A+B)×100=1.0 to 90.0% wherein A represents the weight of lead atoms contained in the electrode active material layer; and B represents the weight of the porous carbonaceous material contained in the electrode active material layer. The density of the layer containing the porous carbonaceous material is 0.40 to 0.80 g/cm3. Also disclosed is a lead storage battery using the electrode in at least one of a positive electrode and a negative electrode.
US09166230B1	Three-dimensional battery having current-reducing devices corresponding to electrodes Various three-dimensional battery structures are disclosed, in certain embodiments comprising a battery enclosure and a first plurality of electrodes within the enclosure. The first plurality of electrodes includes a plurality of cathodes and a plurality of anodes. The first plurality of electrodes includes a second plurality of electrodes selected from the first plurality of electrodes. The three-dimensional battery includes a first structural layer within the battery enclosure. Each of the second plurality of electrodes protrudes from the first structural layer. The three-dimensional battery includes a plurality of electrical current-reducing devices within the enclosure. Each of the second plurality of electrodes is coupled to one of the plurality of current-reducing devices.
US09166226B2	Positive electrode for lithium rechargeable battery and lithium rechargeable battery including the same A positive electrode for a lithium rechargeable battery, the positive electrode including a positive electrode active material; a binder; and a positive electrode additive represented by the following Formula 1: wherein R is a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C10 alkyl group or a substituted or unsubstituted C5 to C30 aryl group and n is 0 or 1.
US09166221B2	Anode and battery with improved charge-discharge efficiency and method manufacturing the same An anode in which an anode active material layer is arranged on an anode current collector. The anode active material layer includes anode active material particles made of an anode active material including at least one of silicon and tin as an element. An oxide-containing film including an oxide of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium and tin is formed in a region in contact with an electrolytic solution of the surface of each anode active material particle by a liquid-phase method such as a liquid-phase deposition method. The region in contact with the electrolytic solution of the surface of each anode active material particle is covered with the oxide-containing film, to thereby improve the chemical stability of the anode and the charge-discharge efficiency. The thickness of the oxide-containing film is preferably within a range from 0.1 nm to 500 nm both inclusive.
US09166218B2	Electrolyte replenishing system and method A battery system includes a battery including an anode, a cathode, and a liquid electrolyte; and a conduit communicating to the battery an electrolyte liquid having an electrolyte salt density lower than an electrolyte salt density of the liquid electrolyte. The electrolyte may be non-aqueous. The electrolyte may be volatile.
US09166212B2	Metal-resin complex and process for production thereof A metal-resin composite having high gas sealing properties is provided. An aluminum alloy structure having a shape surrounding the copper 63 is firstly formed, and the attached aluminum alloy is made closely contact with the copper electrode 63 and further made engaged into the copper electrode 63 by pressing or forging. It is then machined into a predetermined shape so as to prepare the copper alloy 63 attached with an aluminum alloy part 61a. Subsequently, the surface treatment of the NMT or NMT 2 is given to three members of an aluminum electrode 62, the copper electrode 63 attached with the aluminum alloy part 61a and an aluminum alloy lid 61. These three members are inserted into an injection mold, and a thermoplastic resin composition 64 of PPS resin is injected. The lithium-ion battery lid 60 having a structure as shown in FIG. 11 is thus obtained.
US09166207B2	Secondary battery module with water cooling jacket A secondary battery module includes a plurality of plate shaped secondary cells; and a casing that is formed with a plurality of grooves extending in its depth direction, with at least one of the secondary cells being housed in a space defined between neighboring grooves, wherein: the plurality of grooves each extends from a lower portion of the casing towards an upper portion of the casing; and the plurality of secondary cells are electrically connected together in a space defined above the grooves and internal to the casing.
US09166202B2	Light emitting device and manufacturing method thereof Disclosed is a light emission element including, on a substrate having an insulative surface, a first electrode connected with a thin film transistor and an insulator covering the end of the first electrode, a layer containing an organic compound in contact with the first electrode, a second electrode in contact with the layer containing the organic compound. The first electrode has an inclined surface and the inclined surface reflects emitted light from the layer containing the organic compound. Further, a light absorbing multi-layered film absorbing external light is disposed on the portion of the first electrode covered with the insulator. The light absorbing multi-layered film comprising at least has a three-layered structure comprising a light transmitting film, a film partially absorbing light and a light transmitting film.
US09166201B2	Method for manufacturing organic light emitting diode display and method for manufacturing touch panel A manufacturing method of an organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display includes: forming a contact pattern on a panel region of a surface of a board glass, where the board glass includes the panel region, and a peripheral area which surrounds the panel region; contacting the paper glass with a surface of the contact pattern corresponding to the panel region and the surface of the board glass corresponding to the peripheral area; adhering the surface of the board glass corresponding to the peripheral area to a surface of the paper glass; forming an organic light emitting element on the paper glass corresponding to the panel region; and separating the paper glass from the board glass by cutting the paper glass at a position corresponding to an end portion of the panel region adjacent to the peripheral area.
US09166192B2	Display device having plural sealants at periphery of pixel portion A highly reliable display device is provided. Alternatively, a display device with a narrow frame is provided. The display device includes: a first substrate and a second substrate facing each other; a pixel portion including a display element, between the first substrate and the second substrate; a first sealant provided around a periphery of the pixel portion; a second sealant which is in contact with at least one of a side surface of the first substrate and a side surface of the second substrate and with which a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate is filled; and a third sealant overlapping with a side surface of the first sealant and at least one of the side surface of the first substrate and the side surface of the second substrate with the second sealant interposed therebetween.
US09166190B2	Display device It is an object to provide a highly reliable display device. It is a feature an IC is over a substrate and a material layer having the same height is thereover. An IC is provided on one side of the substrate, and a material layer having the same height as the IC is provided on at least another side. Further, an IC is provided on one side of the substrate, and material layers having the same height as the IC are provided on the other sides. Further, an IC is provided on one side of the substrate, and a material layer having the same height as the IC is provided at a corner of the substrate.
US09166184B2	Organic light emitting device having three successive light emitting sub-layers with mixture matrix material for the second light emitting sub-layer and method of preparing same and display device thereof Disclosed is an organic light-emitting device comprising a substrate (1), an anode layer (2), a cathode layer (10) and an organic functional layer comprising a light-emitting layer (6); the light-emitting layer (6) comprises three successive light-emitting sub-layers, i.e., a first light-emitting sub-layer (61) close to the anode layer, a second light-emitting sub-layer (62), and a third light-emitting sub-layer (63) close to the cathode layer. This organic light-emitting device can effectively improve the carrier utilization ratio and thereby improving the light-emitting efficiency of the organic light-emitting device.
US09166183B2	Organic solar cell and method for producing the same An organic solar cell which includes an anode and a cathode that are arranged to face each other, a photoactive layer that is disposed between the anode and the cathode and contains a hole acceptor and an electron acceptor in mixture, and a metal oxide nano thin film layer that is disposed between the cathode and the photoactive layer and contains a metal oxide having an average particle size of 10 nm or less and having a particle size distribution such that 90% by number or more of the particles relative to the total number of the metal oxide particles has a particle size in the range of ±4 nm with respect to the average particle size, and a method for producing an organic solar cell. The organic solar cell has improved efficiency, and increased service life.
US09166179B2	Aromatic amine derivative, and organic electroluminescent element comprising the same An aromatic amine derivative represented by the following formula (1)wherein at least one of Ar1 to Ar4 is a heterocyclic group represented by the following formula (2) wherein X1 is an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom.
US09166176B2	Polycyclic aromatic compound The invention provides a polycyclic aromatic compound or a salt thereof having a partial structure represented by the following general formula (I): wherein X, ring A, ring B, ring C, and ring D are as defined in the specification.
US09166172B2	Multiwall carbon nanotube opto-electronic devices A high-sensitivity detector for opto-electronic detection using multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is provided. More specifically, multiwall carbon nanotube films demonstrate an infrared bolometric photoresponse higher than SWCNT films at room temperature. The observed D* exceeding 3.3×106 cm Hz1/2/W with MWCNT-film bolometers and can be further improved to over 1×107 cm Hz1/2/W by adding graphene flakes. The response time of about 1-2 milliseconds with MWCNT bolometers is more than an order of magnitude shorter than that of SWCNT bolometers. For individual MWCNTs with specially designed asymmetric Schottky contacts, one on the sidewall and the other covering the end, the photocurrent has been efficiently harvested and provides a higher detectivity of 6.2×109 cm·Hz1/2/W at room temperature, which is one order of magnitude higher than the convectional VOx detector and makes MWCNT competitive for practical optoelectronic detections over infrared and even longer wavelength range.
US09166170B1	Apparatus for producing carbon-coated nanoparticles and carbon nanospheres An apparatus for producing carbon-coated nano- or micron-scale particles comprising a container for entraining particles in an aerosol gas, providing an inlet for carbon-containing gas, providing an inlet for plasma gas, a proximate torch for mixing the aerosol gas, the carbon-containing gas, and the plasma gas, bombarding the mixed gases with microwaves, and providing a collection device for gathering the resulting carbon-coated nano- or micron-scale particles. Also disclosed is a method and apparatus for making hollow carbon nano- or micro-scale spheres.
US09166169B2	Charge injection and transport layers Compositions for use in hole transporting layers (HTLs) or hole injection layers (HILs) are provided, as well as methods of making the compositions and devices fabricated from the compositions. OLED devices can be made. The compositions comprise at least one conductive conjugated polymer, at least one semiconducting matrix component that is different from the conductive conjugated polymer, and an optional dopant, and are substantially free of an insulating matrix component.
US09166168B2	Organic semiconductor polymer, organic thin film transistor, and electronic device An organic semiconductor polymer includes a moiety represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 and a heteroaromatic moiety having at least one of sulfur (S) and selenium (Se). In the Chemical Formula 1, R1, R2, R3a, R3b, R4a, R4b, R5a, and R5b, a1, a2, b1, and b2 are the same as described in the detailed description.
US09166167B2	P-type materials and organic electronic devices There is presently provided compounds of formula (I), which are useful as p-type semiconductor materials and in devices comprising such p-type semiconductor materials.
US09166164B2	Method for manufacturing nonvolatile semiconductor storage device and nonvolatile semiconductor storage device A method for manufacturing a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device according to an embodiment includes laminating a first wire extending in a first direction, and a film made into a variable resistance element made of a metallic material, which are laminated in order on a semiconductor substrate, dividing, into a plurality of pieces, the film made into the variable resistance element, in the first direction and a second direction, forming an interlayer insulating film between the plurality of pieces formed by dividing the film made into the variable resistance element in the second direction, and oxidizing the metallic material of the film made into the variable resistance element, and laminating an upper electrode and a second wire extending in the second direction, which are laminated in order on the film made into the variable resistance element and the interlayer insulating film.
US09166157B2	Conductive bridging memory device and method for manufacturing same According to one embodiment, a conductive bridging memory device includes a first wiring layer having a plurality of first wiring portions extending in a first direction, a second wiring layer having a plurality of second wiring portions extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, and a resistance change layer provided continuously along a plane having the first direction and the second direction between the first wiring layer and the second wiring layer. Each of the first wiring portions includes a first wiring extending in the first direction. Each of the second wiring portions includes a second wiring extending in the second direction, and an ion metal layer provided between the second wiring and the resistance change layer and extending in the second direction.
US09166155B2	Method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device A method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device having magnetic material layers formed between a first electrically conductive layer and a second electrically conductive layer, the magnetic materials layers including a tunnel barrier layer formed between a first magnetic materials layer and a second magnetic materials layer, including removing the first electrically conductive layer and the first magnetic materials layer unprotected by a first hard mask, to form a first electrode and a first magnetic materials, respectively; and removing the tunnel barrier layer, second magnetic materials layer, and second electrically conductive layer unprotected by the second hard mask to form a tunnel barrier, second magnetic materials, and a second electrode.
US09166153B2	System and process to remove film from semiconductor devices Embodiments of the present disclosure are a method of forming a semiconductor device, a method of forming a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device, and a process tool. An embodiment is a process tool comprising an ion beam etch (IBE) chamber, an encapsulation chamber, a transfer module interconnecting the IBE chamber and the encapsulation chamber, the transfer module being capable of transferring a workpiece from the IBE chamber to the encapsulation chamber without exposing the workpiece to an external environment.
US09166151B2	Magnetoresistive element and manufacturing method of the same A magnetoresistive element has a magnetic layer, an insulating layer and a magnetic layer, which are laminated on a base electrode, and side walls of the magnetic layers that are formed when the magnetic layers are processed. At least one element selected from the group of consisting He, C, N, O, F, Ne, Ti, V, Cu, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, Ge, As, Kr, Zr, In, Sn, Sb, Pb and Bi is injected into the side walls and edge portions of the magnetic layers to improve the magnetic characteristics of the first and second magnetic layers.
US09166146B2	Electric field assisted MRAM and method for using the same The present invention is directed to a spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) device having a plurality of memory elements. Each of the plurality of memory elements comprises a magnetic reference layer with a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer plane thereof; a magnetic free layer separated from the magnetic reference layer by an insulating tunnel junction layer with the magnetic free layer having a variable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer plane thereof; a dielectric layer formed in contact with the magnetic free layer opposite the insulating tunnel junction layer; and a first conductive layer formed in contact with the dielectric layer opposite the magnetic free layer.
US09166136B1	Nanostructured thermoelectric laminates and a method to enhance the power factor and aerial power density of such thermoelectric laminates based on vertically oriented and densly arrayed nanowires Nanostructured elements and a method for fabricating such nanostructured elements with an enhanced power and aerial power density are disclosed. A hierarchical template with ordered and arrayed nanopores is produced on either a mating part or a support material that is pre-shaped so as to be conformable to the mating part. At least one compound can be optionally layered within the nanopores to reduce the diameter thereof. The template is supplied with filling material having selected electrical or thermoelectric properties. Selective removal of the template produces freestanding nanostructure arrays which are then backfilled with thermoelectric material or the like to form a nanostructure array comprised of nanowires supported by the backfilled material on the substrate.
US09166131B2	Composite LED package and its application to light tubes A light emitting diode package includes a first lead frame, a second lead frame and an encapsulant. The first lead frame has a die deposition area on the top thereof for disposing LED die. The second lead frame has a contacting face on the top thereof for wire bonding. The die deposition area of the first lead frame has a first adhesion area such that the encapsulant is held by the first adhesion area when enclosing the top and bottom of the first and second lead frames. The light is emitted in all directions.
US09166127B2	Light source module Disclosed is a light source module which does not require rigorous adjustments of the light direction and is free from luminance unevenness. Specifically disclosed is a light source module (1) which comprises a light-emitting element (40), and a light direction changing element (10) which is composed of a transparent resin and discharges the light emitted from the light-emitting element (40) toward the lateral direction. The light direction changing element (10) contains not less than 0.01% by weight but not more than 0.1% by weight of a light-diffusing agent (14) per 100% by weight of the transparent resin.
US09166122B2	Light emitting device A light emitting device includes: a support substrate; at least one light emitting laminate having a structure in which semiconductor layers are laminated and formed on the support substrate; a wall unit formed on the support substrate and surrounding the at least one light emitting laminate; and a wavelength conversion layer disposed above the at least one light emitting laminate.
US09166118B2	Semiconductor light emitting apparatus A light emitting apparatus with a combination of a plurality of LED chips and a phosphor layer is provided and can be configured to significantly reduce variations in chromaticity and luminance. The plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices (LED chips) are disposed with a gap therebetween, and the phosphor layer is formed on the upper surface thereof to bridge over the gaps between the LED chips. The phosphor layer may be uniform in thickness, but can be less in thickness over the gaps between the LED chips than on the upper surface of the LED chips. The phosphor layer can be continuously formed on the upper surface of the array of the chips with no phosphor layer present in between the chips. This configuration allows for reducing variations in luminance and chromaticity which may result from the gaps or the phosphor layer present in between the gaps.
US09166110B2	Light-emitting diode and method of manufacturing the same A light-emitting diode and method of manufacturing the same, including a flat portion and a mesa structure including an inclined side surface formed by wet etching and a top surface. A protective film and an electrode film sequentially cover a part of the flat portion and at least a part of the mesa structure, the protective film including an electrical conduction window arranged around a light emission hole and from which a compound semiconductor layer is exposed. The electrode film is a continuous film that contacts the surface of the exposed compound semiconductor layer, covers a portion of the protective film formed on the flat portion, and has the light emission hole on the top surface. A transparent film is formed between a reflecting layer and a compound semiconductor layer. A through-electrode is provided in a range of the transparent film which overlaps the light emission hole.
US09166109B2	Semiconductor light emitting element, and light emitting device having conductive vias of first electrode structure disposed below second pad electrode of second electrode structure A semiconductor light emitting element includes a light emitting structure including a first conductivity type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity type semiconductor layer. A first electrode structure includes a conductive via connected to the first conductivity type semiconductor layer. A second electrode structure is connected to the second conductivity type semiconductor layer. An insulating part having an open region exposes part of the first and second electrode structures while covering the first and second electrode structures. First and second pad electrodes are formed on the first and second electrode structures exposed by the open region and are connected to the first and second electrode structures.
US09166103B2	Single-chip twin light source light emitting device Disclosed is a single-chip twin light source light emitting device including a first epitaxial layer, a substrate, and a second epitaxial layer. The first epitaxial layer includes a first n-type semiconductor layer with a n-type conducting structure, a first light emitting layer with a multi-quantum well structure, and a first p-type semiconductor layer with a p-type conducting structure. The second epitaxial layer includes a second n-type semiconductor layer with a n-type conducting structure, a second light emitting layer with a multi-quantum well structure, and a second p-type semiconductor layer with a p-type conducting structure. Therefore, the light emitting device can emit one-color or two-color light by controlling the first epitaxial layer and the second epitaxial layer respectively.
US09166088B2	Solar module A solar module is provided with improved photoelectric conversion efficiency. A first electrode and a second electrode (21, 22) each contain a plated film. Each plated film has a feed point (50). The feed points (50) are positioned in bus bar portions (21b, 22b). A wiring member (30) is connected electrically to the first electrode or the second electrode (21, 22) in the finger portions (21a, 22a).
US09166084B2	Interband cascade (IC) photovoltaic (PV) architecture for PV devices A photovoltaic (PV) device, comprising a PV interband cascade (IC) stage, wherein the IC PV stage comprises an absorption region with a band gap, the absorption region configured to absorb photons, an intraband transport region configured to act as a hole barrier, and an interband tunneling region configured to act as an electron barrier. An IC PV architecture for a photovoltaic device, the IC PV architecture comprising an absorption region, an intraband transport region coupled to the absorption region, and an interband tunneling region coupled to the intraband transport region and to the adjacent absorption region, wherein the absorption region, the intraband transport region, and the interband tunneling region are positioned such that electrons will flow from the absorption region to the intraband transport region to the interband tunneling region.
US09166078B2	Solar cell apparatus and method for manufacturing the same Disclosed are a solar cell apparatus and a method for manufacturing the same. The solar cell apparatus includes a substrate including a cell region and an outer peripheral region surrounding the cell region, a cell in the cell region, and a connection electrode connected to the cell and provided in the outer peripheral region. The cell includes a back electrode on the substrate, a light absorbing part on the back electrode, and a front electrode on the light absorbing part. The connection electrode extends from the back electrode.
US09166076B2	Solar cell panel A solar cell panel is discussed. The solar cell panel includes a plurality of solar cells, each solar cell including a substrate, an emitter layer, and a plurality of front electrodes extending in a first direction, an interconnector that is positioned in a second direction crossing the plurality of front electrodes, and a conductive adhesive film including a resin and a plurality of conductive particles dispersed in the resin. The conductive adhesive film is positioned between the plurality of front electrodes and the interconnector in the second direction crossing the plurality of front electrodes and electrically connects the plurality of front electrodes to the interconnector. The plurality of front electrodes respectively have areas that overlap with areas of the conductive adhesive film, and the areas of the respective plurality of front electrodes are also in contact with the areas of the conductive adhesive film.
US09166075B2	Solar cell A solar cell includes a silicon substrate, an aluminum electrode that collects electricity from the rear surface of the silicon substrate, and a silver electrode that extracts output from the aluminum electrode. The aluminum electrode includes an opening formed on the rear surface of the silicon substrate. On a side of the opening is formed a notch that recesses parallel to the direction in which principal stress acts in a plane of the silicon substrate. The silver electrode covers at least the opening and the notch of the aluminum electrode.
US09166073B2	Method for producing conjugated polymer, conjugated polymer, photoelectric conversion element, solar cell, and solar cell module The invention addresses a problem of obtaining a conjugated polymer having a higher molecular weight through coupling reaction of monomers using a transition metal catalyst. The invention relates to a method for producing a conjugated polymer, which comprises polymerizing one or more monomers through a coupling reaction, wherein the coupling reaction of the monomer is carried out by using one or more kinds of homogeneous transition metal complex catalysts and one or more kinds of heterogeneous transition metal complex catalysts in combination.
US09166072B2	Field-effect localized emitter photovoltaic device Photovoltaic structures are provided with field-effect inversion/accumulation layers as emitter layers induced by work-function differences between gate conductor layers and substrates thereof. Localized contact regions are in electrical communication with the gate conductors of such structures for repelling minority carriers. Such localized contact regions may include doped crystalline or polycrystalline silicon regions between the gate conductor and silicon absorption layers. Fabrication of the structures can be conducted without alignment between metal contacts and the localized contact regions or high temperature processing.
US09166069B2	Light receiving circuit According to an embodiment, a light-receiving circuit includes a MOSFET, a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element. The first light-receiving element controls a state of the MOSFET between ON state and OFF state by applying a voltage induced by a light signal between a gate of the MOSFET and a source of the MOSFET; and a second light-receiving element controls a threshold voltage of the MOSFET.
US09166067B2	Device layout for reference and sensor circuits A band gap reference circuit includes an error-amplifier-based current mirror coupled between a first supply node and a pair of intermediate voltage nodes, and a matched diode pair for providing a proportional-to-absolute temperature (PTAT) current. The matched diode pair includes a first diode connected between a first intermediate voltage node from the pair of intermediate voltage nodes and a second supply node, and a second diode connected in series with a resistor between a second intermediate voltage node from the pair of intermediate voltage nodes and the second supply node. Each diode has a P-N diode junction that is a homojunction.
US09166051B2	RAM memory cell comprising a transistor The invention relates to a memory cell consisting of an isolated MOS transistor having a drain (8), a source (7) and a body region covered with an insulated gate (12), in which the body region is divided through its thickness into two separate regions (13, 14) of opposite conductivity types extending parallel to the plane of the gate, the body region closest to the gate having the opposite conductivity type to that of the drain/source.
US09166035B2	Delta doping layer in MOSFET source/drain region A transistor includes a gate terminal, a source terminal and a drain terminal. At least one of the source and drain terminals has a layered configuration that includes a terminal layer and an intervening layer. The terminal layer has a top surface and a bottom surface. The intervening layer is located within the terminal layer, between and spaced from the top and bottom surfaces, is oriented to be perpendicular to current flow, and is less than one tenth the thickness of the terminal layer. The terminal layer and the intervening layer include a common semiconductive compound and a common dopant, with a concentration of the dopant in the intervening layer being over ten times an average concentration of the dopant in the terminal layer.
US09166030B2	Compound semiconductor device and method for fabricating A first GaN layer, a first AlGaN layer, a second GaN layer and a third GaN layer are formed in layers on a substrate. A second AlGaN layer is formed on the sidewall of an opening formed in the multilayer structure. A gate electrode is formed to fill an electrode trench in an insulating film. A portion of the insulating film between the gate electrode and the second AlGaN layer functions as a gate insulating film. A source electrode is formed above the gate electrode and a drain electrode is formed below the gate electrode. This configuration enables implementation of a miniatuarizable, reliable vertical HEMT that has a sufficiently high withstand voltage and high output power and is capable of a normally-off operation without problems that could otherwise result from the use of a p-type compound semiconductor.
US09166027B2	IGBT with reduced feedback capacitance An IGBT includes at least one first type transistor cell, including a base region, a first emitter region, a body region, and a second emitter region. The body region is arranged between the first emitter region and the base region. The base region is arranged between the body region and the second emitter region. The IGBT further includes a gate electrode adjacent the body region and dielectrically insulated from the body region by a gate dielectric, and a base electrode adjacent the base region and dielectrically insulated from the base region by a base electrode dielectric. The base region has a first base region section adjoining the base electrode dielectric and a second base region section arranged between the second emitter region and the first base region section. A doping concentration of the first base region section is higher than a doping concentration of the second base region section.
US09166026B2	Manufacturing method of semiconductor device A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a gate electrode over a substrate; forming a gate insulating film over the gate electrode; forming an oxide semiconductor film; performing heat treatment to form a second oxide semiconductor film after the step of forming the first oxide semiconductor film; forming a first conductive film; forming a first resist mask including regions whose thicknesses are different; etching the second oxide semiconductor film and the first conductive film using the first resist mask to form a third oxide semiconductor film and a second conductive film; reducing the size of the first resist mask to form a second resist mask; selectively etching the second conductive film using the second resist mask to remove a part of the second conductive film so that a source electrode and a drain electrode are formed.
US09166018B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device When forming a p+ area and n+ area on the same surface of an n− semiconductor wafer, a first ion implantation forms the p+ area on the entire rear surface of the n− semiconductor wafer. Next, a resist mask selectively covering the rear surface of the n− semiconductor wafer is formed. With this resist mask as the mask, an n-type impurity is injected into the rear surface of the n− semiconductor wafer through a second ion implantation to form the n+ area on a portion deeper from the rear surface of the n− semiconductor wafer than the p+ type area. Thereafter, the n− semiconductor wafer is exposed to an oxygen (O2) gas atmosphere with fluorine (F) gas added to remove the resist mask and a silicon part between the rear surface of the n− semiconductor wafer in an FWD area not covered by the resist mask and the n+ area.
US09166010B2	FinFET device with epitaxial structure A FinFET device includes a substrate, a fin, and isolation regions on either side of the fin. The device also includes sidewall spacers above the isolation regions and formed along the fin structure. A recessing trench is formed by the sidewall spacers and the fin, and an epitaxially-grown semiconductor material is formed in and above the recessing trench, forming an epitaxial structure.
US09166004B2	Semiconductor device contacts Techniques are disclosed for forming contacts in silicon semiconductor devices. In some embodiments, a transition layer forms a non-reactive interface with the silicon semiconductor contact surface. In some such cases, a conductive material provides the contacts and the material forming a non-reactive interface with the silicon surface. In other cases, a thin semiconducting or insulating layer provides the non-reactive interface with the silicon surface and is coupled to conductive material of the contacts. The techniques can be embodied, for instance, in planar or non-planar (e.g., double-gate and tri-gate FinFETs) transistor devices.
US09165996B2	Organic light emitting display device and manufacturing method thereof An organic light emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same are proposed. The organic light emitting display device includes a display unit having a plurality of sub-pixels, each of which includes a pixel electrode and a counter electrode facing each other and a light emitting layer interposed therebetween; an encapsulation substrate, which covers the display unit; and an auxiliary electrode, which is formed on a surface of the encapsulation substrate, which faces the display unit, and is connected to the counter electrode. Using the structure, voltage drop may be effectively reduced by connecting an auxiliary electrode formed on an encapsulation substrate to a counter electrode, thereby improving reliability of an organic light emitting display device employing the same.
US09165978B2	Light emitting apparatus and method for fabricating the same A light emitting apparatus includes a substrate having a first substrate portion, a second substrate portion arranged parallel to the first substrate portion, and a connection portion connecting the first substrate portion and the second substrate portion to each other. A plurality of first light emitting elements is formed on the first substrate portion; and a plurality of second light emitting elements is formed on the second substrate portion.
US09165976B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device Provided is a semiconductor device having improved performance and an improved manufacturing yield. Over photodiodes formed in a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of first to third embedded insulating films are stacked to form a waveguide for light incident on each of the photodiodes. The first embedded insulating film is formed simultaneously with plugs when the plugs are formed. The second embedded insulating film is formed simultaneously with first wires when the first wires are formed. The third embedded insulating film is formed simultaneously with second wires when the second wires are formed.
US09165972B2	Semiconductor structure, method of operating same, and production method A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a photosensitive zone configured such that photogenerated charges may be accumulated in a first potential well, a region of the first conductivity type, formed in the semiconductor layer, for temporarily storing the photogenerated charges in a second potential well, a transfer gate between the region of the second conductivity type and the photosensitive zone for defining a potential barrier between the first and second potential wells during a non-transfer phase, and for eliminating the potential barrier between the first and second potential wells during a transfer phase, and a readout structure for reading out the temporarily stored photogenerated charges, which includes a JFET, the gate of which is formed by the region of the second conductivity type.
US09165965B2	Image sensing apparatus Each microlens exhibits a distortion aberration characteristic in which the ratio of a range where a light beam having passed through the microlens forms an image on a predetermined number of pixels associated with the microlens when the imaging optical system takes the second f-number, to a range where a light beam having passed through the microlens forms an image when the imaging optical system takes the first f-number is higher than the ratio of the first f-number to the second f-number.
US09165962B2	Solid state imaging device A solid state imaging device includes a semiconductor layer, and a light shielding portion. The semiconductor layer has multiple photoelectric conversion elements. The light shielding portion is provided in the semiconductor layer, and has a light shielding member whose interface with the semiconductor layer is covered by an insulating film. The light shielding portion includes a light shielding region and an element isolation region. The light shielding region is provided in the semiconductor layer on the side close to the light receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion element for shielding light incident on the photoelectric conversion element from a specific direction. The element isolation region is formed to project in the depth direction of the semiconductor layer from the light shielding region toward a portion between the multiple photoelectric conversion elements in order to electrically and optically isolate the multiple photoelectric conversion elements from one another.
US09165960B2	Pixel circuit, active sensing array, sensing device and driving method thereof A pixel circuit, an active sensing array, a sensing device, and a driving method thereof are provided. The pixel circuit includes a sensing transistor, a reset transistor, and a storage capacitor. The sensing transistor is electrically connected to a sensing element and a data line. The reset transistor is electrically connected to a first scan line and the sensing transistor. The storage capacitor is electrically connected to the sensing transistor and a second scan line. During a compensation period, the reset transistor is turned on in response to a first scanning pulse from the first scan line, so that the sensing transistor is connected into a diode configuration, and the storage capacitor charges and discharges to a threshold voltage of the sensing transistor through the sensing transistor having the diode configuration in response to switching of a level of the data line.
US09165956B2	Array substrate and manufacturing method thereof Embodiments of the present invention relate to an array substrate and a manufacturing method thereof. The manufacturing method comprises: step 1: forming a gate line, a gate electrode, a first insulating layer, an active layer and ohmic contact layers on a base substrate by a first patterning process using a gray-tone or half-tone mask, in which the active layer between the ohmic contact layers corresponds to a channel region; step 2: forming a second insulating layer and a pixel electrode film on the base substrate obtained after the step 1 by a second patterning process using a gray-tone or half-tone mask; and step 3: forming a drain electrode, a source electrode, a data line and a passivation layer on the base substrate obtained after the step 2 by a third patterning process using a gray-tone or half-tone mask.
US09165951B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device capable of maintaining data during instantaneous power reduction or interruption. The semiconductor device includes first to sixth transistors. The first and fourth transistors are p-channel transistors. The second and fifth transistors are n-channel transistors. In the third and sixth transistors, an oxide semiconductor layer includes a channel formation region. A high voltage is applied to one of a source and a drain of the first transistor and one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor. A low voltage is applied to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor and one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor.
US09165950B2	Anti-static structure of array substrate The present invention provides an anti-static structure of an array substrate, which comprises: an effective region 20 of the array substrate, a gate line shorting bar 30 and a data line shorting bar 40, the effective region 20 of the array substrate is provided with a plurality of parallel gate lines 22 and data lines 24, the gate line shorting bar 30 is electrically connected with one side of the plurality of gate lines 22, the data line shorting bar 40 is electrically connected with one side of the plurality of data lines 24. The present invention only utilizes a gate line shorting bar to short all gate lines and utilizes a data line shorting bar to short all data lines, in order to greatly avoid the abnormal discharge of the plasma generated when the hole is formed cause static damage to the metal overlapping traces of the shorting bar.
US09165937B2	Semiconductor devices including stair step structures, and related methods Semiconductor devices, such as three-dimensional memory devices, include a memory array including a stack of conductive tiers and a stair step structure. The stair step structure is positioned between first and second portions of the memory array and includes contact regions for respective conductive tiers of the stack of conductive tiers. The first portion of the memory array includes a first plurality of select gates extending in a particular direction over the stack. The second portion of the memory array includes a second plurality of select gates also extending in the particular direction over the stack of conductive tiers. Methods of forming and methods of operating such semiconductor devices, including vertical memory devices, are also disclosed.
US09165929B2	Complementarily strained FinFET structure A complementary fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) includes a p-type device having a p-channel fin. The p-channel fin may include a first material that is lattice mismatched relative to a semiconductor substrate. The first material may have a compressive strain. The FinFET device also includes an n-type device having an re-channel fin. The n-channel fin may include a second material having a tensile strain that is lattice mismatched relative to the semiconductor substrate. The p-type device and the n-type device cooperate to form the complementary FinFET device.
US09165928B2	Methods of forming gate structures for CMOS based integrated circuit products and the resulting devices One illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming gate insulation layers and a first metal layer for NMOS and PMOS devices from the same material, selectively forming a first metal layer only for the PMOS device, and forming different shaped metal silicide regions within the NMOS and PMOS gate cavities. A novel integrated circuit product disclosed herein includes an NMOS transistor with an NMOS gate insulation layer, an NMOS metal silicide having a generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration and an NMOS metal layer positioned on the NMOS metal silicide region. The product also includes a PMOS transistor with the same gate insulation material, a first PMOS metal and a PMOS metal silicide region, wherein the NMOS and PMOS metal silicide regions are comprised of the same metal silicide.
US09165925B2	Structures and methods for ring oscillator fabrication Structures and methods are provided for fabricating a ring oscillator including a plurality of stages. An example multi-layer structure includes a first device layer, a second device layer, and an inter-level connection structure. The first device layer includes a first transistor structure associated with a first stage of a ring oscillator. The second device layer is formed on the first device layer and includes a second transistor structure associated with a second stage of the ring oscillator. Further, the first inter-level connection structure includes one or more first conductive materials and is configured to electrically connect to the first transistor structure and the second transistor structure.
US09165921B2	Transistor cell array including semiconductor diode One embodiment of a semiconductor device includes a dense trench transistor cell array. The dense trench transistor cell array includes a plurality of transistor cells in a semiconductor body. A width w3 of a transistor mesa region of each of the plurality of transistor cells and a width w1 of a first trench of each of the plurality of transistor cells satisfy the following relationship: w3<1.5×w1. The semiconductor device further includes semiconductor diodes. At least one of the semiconductor diodes is arranged between first and second parts of the plurality of transistor cells and includes a diode mesa region adjoining opposing walls of second trenches. A depth d1 of the first trench and a depth d2 of the second trenches differ by at least 20%.
US09165920B2	Tunable protection system for integrated circuits A tunable protection system including forming a tunable trigger device providing an adjustable protection activation level, forming a circuit protection device providing protection for integrated circuits, and electrically connecting the tunable trigger device and the circuit protection device to an input/output pad.
US09165917B2	In-line stacking of transistors for soft error rate hardening Each one of a pair of CMOS transistors is formed in its own island and a gate terminal for each transistor is formed by a single, in-line conductor connecting both gate terminals together. This type of “in-line” connection achieves nearly a five-time improvement in the reduction of the ability of ionizing radiation particles to strike both transistors at the same time as compared to prior art “side-by-side” transistor stacking through use of a relatively smaller solid angle spanning the two transistors. This results in “hardening” of the transistors and improving their resistance to single event upsets and, thus, improving the soft error rate (SER) of the transistors.
US09165915B2	Flip-chip hybridization of microelectronic components using suspended fusible resistive connection elements A method of forming a hybridized device comprising forming a first microelectronic component provided, on a surface, with metal balls, and a second microelectronic component provided, on a surface, with connection elements corresponding to said metal balls, and hybridizing the first and second components to attach the metal balls of the first component to the connection elements of the second component. The manufacturing of the second microelectronic component comprises forming a substrate provided with cavities at the locations provided for the connection elements, and forming resistive elements made of fusible metal respectively suspended above the cavities. The hybridizing of the first and second components comprises transferring the first component onto the second component to have the metal balls rest on the suspended resistive elements, and circulating an electric current through the resistive elements to melt said elements.
US09165908B2	On-SOI integrated circuit comprising a triac for protection against electrostatic discharges An integrated circuit includes four electronic components, a buried UTBOX layer under and plumb with the electronic components, and two pairs of oppositely doped ground planes plumb with corresponding components under the layer. A first isolation trench mutually isolates the ground planes from corresponding wells made plumb and in contact with the ground planes and exhibiting the first doping type. Bias electrodes contact respective wells and ground planes. One pair of electrodes is for connecting to a first bias voltage and the other pair is for connecting to a second bias voltage. Also included are a semiconductor substrate exhibiting the first type of doping and a deeply buried well exhibiting the second type of doping. The deeply buried well contacts the other wells and separates them from the substrate. Finally, a control electrode couples to the deeply buried well.
US09165904B1	Insulated wire bonding with EFO before second bond A method of attaching a bond wire to first and second electrical contact pads includes holding the bond wire in a capillary, wherein a first end of the bond wire extends out of an opening in the capillary, attaching the first end of the bond wire to the first electrical contact pad using a ball bonding technique, moving a second end of the bond wire toward the second electrical contact pad after the attachment of the first end of the bond wire, performing an electric flame off on the second end of the bond wire without forming a free air ball, and attaching the second end of the bond wire to the second electrical contact pad after the EFO on the second end of the bond wire.
US09165902B2	Methods of operating bonding machines for bonding semiconductor elements, and bonding machines A method of operating a bonding machine for bonding semiconductor elements is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) measuring a time based z-axis height measurement characteristic of a bond head assembly during a model bonding process; (b) determining a z-axis adjustment profile for a subsequent bonding process based on the measured time based z-axis height measurement characteristic; and (c) adjusting a z-axis position of the bond head assembly with a z-axis motion system during the subsequent bonding process using the z-axis adjustment profile.
US09165901B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a header, a semiconductor chip fixed to the header constituting a MOSFET, and a sealing body of insulating resin which covers the semiconductor chip, the header and the like, and further includes a drain lead contiguously formed with the header and projects from one side surface of the sealing body, and a source lead and a gate lead which project in parallel from one side surface of the sealing body, and wires which are positioned in the inside of the sealing body and connect electrodes on an upper surface of the semiconductor chip and the source lead and the gate lead, with a gate electrode pad arranged at a position from the gate lead and the source lead farther than a source electrode pad.
US09165899B2	Stacked package and method for manufacturing the same The disclosure relates to a stacked package and a method for manufacturing the same. The stacked package includes: a lower package including a substrate formed with ball lands in a periphery of an upper surface thereof, a semiconductor chip mounted over the upper surface, first solder balls formed over the ball lands and each having a side surface cut along an edge of the substrate and a polished upper surface, and a mold part for molding the upper surface including the semiconductor chip and the first solder balls, the cutted side surfaces and polished upper surfaces being exposed by the mold part; and an upper package stacked over the lower package and provided with second solder balls bonded to the first solder balls.
US09165896B2	GaN transistor with improved bonding pad structure and method of fabricating the same The present invention relates to a GaN transistor, and a method of fabricating the same, in which a structure of a bonding pad is improved by forming an ohmic metal layer at edges of the bonding pad of a source, a drain, and a gate so as to be appropriate to wire-bonding or a back-side via-hole forming process. Accordingly, adhesive force between a metal layer of the bonding pad and a GaN substrate is enhanced by forming the ohmic metal at the edges of the bonding pad during manufacturing of the GaN transistor, thereby minimizing a separation phenomenon of a pad layer during the wire-bonding or back-side via-hole forming process, and improving reliability of a device.
US09165891B2	ESD protection circuit One embodiment of the disclosure provides an electrostatic discharge protection circuit. The electrostatic discharge protection circuit includes a p-type field effect transistor, a capacitance device and an n-type field effect transistor. The p-type field effect transistor has a source coupled to an input/output terminal, a gate coupled to a first node and a drain coupled to a second node. The capacitance device has a first terminal coupled to a first rail and a second terminal coupled to the first node. The n-type field effect transistor has a source coupled to the first rail, a gate coupled to the second node and a drain coupled to the first node.
US09165888B2	Interconnect structures for stacked dies, including penetrating structures for through-silicon vias, and associated systems and methods Interconnect structures for stacked dies, including penetrating structures for through-silicon vias, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A system in accordance with a particular embodiment includes a first semiconductor substrate having a first substrate material, and a penetrating structure carried by the first semiconductor substrate. The system further includes a second semiconductor substrate having a second substrate material with a preformed recess. The penetrating structure of the first semiconductor substrate is received in the recess of the second semiconductor substrate and is mechanically engaged with the recess and secured to the second semiconductor substrate.
US09165885B2	Staggered via redistribution layer (RDL) for a package and a method for forming the same An embodiment staggered via redistribution layer (RDL) for a package includes a first polymer layer supported by a metal via. The first polymer layer has a first polymer via. A first redistribution layer is disposed on the first polymer layer and within the first polymer via. The first redistribution layer is electrically coupled to the metal via. A second polymer layer is disposed on the first redistribution layer. The second polymer layer has a second polymer via laterally offset from the first polymer via. A second redistribution layer is disposed on the second polymer layer and within the second polymer via. The second redistribution layer is electrically coupled to the first redistribution layer.
US09165878B2	Semiconductor packages and methods of packaging semiconductor devices Semiconductor packages and methods for forming a semiconductor package are presented. The method includes providing a package substrate having first and second major surfaces. The package substrate includes at least one substrate layer having at least one cavity. Interconnect structure is formed. At least one conductive stud is formed within the cavity and a conductive trace and a connection pad are formed over the first major surface of the package substrate and are coupled to top surface of the conductive stud. A package pad is formed and is directly coupled to the conductive stud. A die having conductive contacts on its first or second surface is provided. The conductive contacts of the die are electrically coupled to the interconnect structure. A cap is formed over the package substrate to encapsulate the die.
US09165877B2	Fan-out semiconductor package with copper pillar bumps A system-in-package includes a package carrier; a first semiconductor die having a die face and a die edge, the first semiconductor die being assembled face-down to a chip side of the package carrier, wherein a plurality of contact pads are situated on the die face; a second semiconductor die mounted on the package carrier and adjacent to the first semiconductor die; a rewiring laminate structure between the first semiconductor die and the package carrier, the rewiring laminate structure comprising a re-routed metal layer, wherein at least a portion of the re-routed metal layer projects beyond the die edge; and a plurality of copper pillar bumps arranged on the rewiring laminate structure for electrically connecting the first semiconductor die with the package carrier.
US09165863B2	Systems and methods for lead frame locking design features Systems and methods for lead frame locking design features are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises: fabricating a lead frame for a chip package, the lead frame having a paddle comprising a step-out bottom locking feature profile across at least a first segment of an edge of the paddle that provides an interface with a mold compound; etching the paddle to have at least a second segment of the edge having either an extended-step-out bottom locking feature profile or an overhanging top locking feature profile; and alternating first and second segments along the edge of the paddle.
US09165858B2	Liquid-cooled arrangement having modular power semiconductor modules and at least one capacitor device, and power semiconductor module therefor An arrangement having a cooling circulation, a plurality of modular power semiconductor modules and at least one capacitor, wherein a power semiconductor module has a power electronics switch and a cooling device, which is capable of carrying a flow of a cooling fluid, for cooling the switch, the cooling device having at least one cooling face, and four connection devices for the cooling fluid. The connection devices are arranged in pairs on main sides of the power semiconductor module. The power semiconductor modules have their main sides strung together modularly by connecting corresponding connection devices on successive power semiconductor modules. To this end, at least two successive power semiconductor modules have a capacitor arranged between them which, for its part, is cooled by means of the cooling circulation of the cooling fluid as provided by the arrangement.
US09165855B1	Semiconductor device with die attached heat spreader A packaged semiconductor device has an integrated circuit (IC) die and a heat spreader. The heat spreader has a first portion with holes formed entirely therethrough. The first portion is attached to the die using thermally-conductive adhesive that fills the holes. The holes enable the heat spreader to be attached to the die without placing excess pressure on the IC die that could cause the die to crack.
US09165854B2	Heat dissipation features, electronic devices incorporating heat dissipation features, and methods of making heat dissipation features Electronic devices incorporating a heat dissipation feature include an enclosure, and at least one heat-generating component positioned within the enclosure. The heat dissipation feature is sufficiently coupled to the at least one heat-generating component to facilitate conductive heat transfer from the heat-generating component. The heat dissipation feature includes a plurality of protrusions exposed externally to the enclosure. A thermally insulating material may be disposed on at least a tip portion of at least some of the protrusions. The thermally insulating material is selected to provide a touch temperature that is below a predetermined threshold. In some instances, the thermally insulating material can provide such a touch temperature by selecting the material to include properties for thermal conductivity (k), density (ρ), and specific heat (Cp) such that the product of kρCp results in a value less than a product of kρCp for human skin.
US09165846B2	Process condition sensing wafer and data analysis system A measuring device incorporating a substrate with sensors that measure the processing conditions that a wafer may undergo during manufacturing. The substrate can be inserted into a processing chamber by a robot head and the measuring device can transmit the conditions in real time or store the conditions for subsequent analysis. Sensitive electronic components of the device can be distanced or isolated from the most deleterious processing conditions in order increase the accuracy, operating range, and reliability of the device.
US09165844B2	Examination of a silicon substrate for a solar cell The invention relates to a method for examining a wire-sawn silicon substrate for a solar cell. The method includes irradiating the silicon substrate with an infrared radiation, detecting the infrared radiation transmitted through the silicon substrate, and analyzing the detected infrared radiation for characterizing the crystal orientation of the silicon substrate. The invention in addition relates to a device for carrying out such a method, and a method for manufacturing a solar cell.
US09165832B1	Method of die singulation using laser ablation and induction of internal defects with a laser A method and system of hybrid laser dicing are described. In one embodiment, a method includes focusing a laser beam inside a substrate in regions between integrated circuits, inducing defects inside the substrate in the regions. The method involves patterning a surface of the substrate with a laser scribing process in the regions after inducing the defects in the substrate. The method further involves singulating the integrated circuits at the regions with the induced defects. In another embodiment, a system includes a first laser module configured to focus a laser beam inside a substrate in regions between integrated circuits, inducing defects inside the substrate in the regions. A second laser module is configured to pattern a surface of the substrate with a laser scribing process in the regions after inducing the defects. A tape extender is configured to stretch tape over which the substrate is mounted, singulating the integrated circuits.
US09165825B2	Interconnection structure made of redirected carbon nanotubes The invention relates to an electronic device including electric connections extending along at least two different directions, said connections being essentially formed by means of bundles of carbon nanotubes (CNT) (8), Where at least two CNT bundles comprise a portion (8a) having its axis directed along a first direction and a portion (8b) having its axis redirected along a second direction, the connections between CNT bundles being achieved by overlapping of the portions (8b) of said at least two bundles to form a connection line (4).
US09165821B2	Method for providing a self-aligned pad protection in a semiconductor device According to one embodiment, a method for processing a semiconductor device is provided including forming a final metal layer forming a passivation layer over the final metal layer and structuring the passivation layer and the final metal layer to form a patterned metal layer and a patterned passivation layer, wherein the patterned metal layer includes a pad region covered by the patterned passivation layer.
US09165813B2	Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus member In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus member, paths that may become a discharge path between a wafer and a cooling device are a first path and a second path. The first path is the shortest path from a hole to a hole across a plug. The length of the first path is larger than the thickness of the plug. The second path is the shortest path that extends from one of holes to an outer peripheral surface of the plug along an adhesive layer, and the shortest path from a hole in a bonding sheet to the outer peripheral surface of the plug along the bonding sheet. The sum of the lengths of these respective paths is larger than the thickness of the plug.
US09165794B1	Partial glob-top encapsulation technique A electronic device includes: a circuit board; a semiconductor device, disposed on the circuit board; a cover material, disposed above the semiconductor device; a plurality of bonding wires, respectively connected between a plurality of first contact pads of the semiconductor device and a plurality of second contact pads of the circuit board; a first encapsulant, formed by a first material, arranged to encapsulate a plurality of second bonds formed by electrically connecting the bonding wires to the second contact pads; and a second encapsulant, formed by a second material that is different from the first material, arranged to encapsulate a plurality of first bonds formed by electrically connecting the bonding wires to the first contact pads.
US09165789B2	Fabrication method of packaging substrate A fabrication method of a packaging substrate includes: providing a metal board having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, wherein the first surface has a plurality of first openings for defining a first core circuit layer therebetween, the second surface has a plurality of second openings for defining a second core circuit layer therebetween, each of the first and second openings has a wide outer portion and a narrow inner portion, and the inner portion of each of the second openings is in communication with the inner portion of a corresponding one of the first openings; forming a first encapsulant in the first openings; forming a second encapsulant in the second openings; and forming a surface circuit layer on the first encapsulant and the first core circuit layer.
US09165779B2	Flat SiC semiconductor substrate Methods for manufacturing silicon carbide wafers having superior specifications for bow, warp, total thickness variation (TTV), local thickness variation (LTV), and site front side least squares focal plane range (SFQR). The resulting SiC wafer has a mirror-like surface that is fit for epitaxial deposition of SiC. The specifications for bow, warp, total thickness variation (TTV), local thickness variation (LTV), and site front side least squares focal plane range (SFQR) of the wafer are preserved following the addition of the epitaxy layer.
US09165776B2	Dry etching method There is provided according to the present invention a dry etching method for a laminated film, the laminated film being formed on a substrate and having a laminated structure in which silicon layers and insulating layers are laminated together with a hole or groove defined therein in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate, the dry etching method comprising etching, with an etching gas, parts of the silicon layers appearing on an inner surface of the hole or groove, characterized in that the etching gas comprises: at least one kind of gas selected from the group consisting of ClF3, BrF5, BrF3, IF7 and IF5; and F2. It is possible by such a dry etching method to prevent non-uniformity of etching depth between the silicon layers.
US09165773B2	Aluminum dopant compositions, delivery package and method of use A novel method and system for using aluminum dopant compositions is provided. A composition of the aluminum dopant compositions is selected with sufficient vapor pressure and minimal carbon content, thereby enabling ease of delivery to an ion implant process and substantial reduction of carbon deposition during Al ion implantation. The source material is preferably stored and delivered from a sub-atmospheric storage and delivery device to enhance safety and reliability during the Al ion implantation process.
US09165760B2	Cleaning composition and cleaning method using the same A cleaning composition is provided. The cleaning composition includes at least one polyamino-polycarboxylic acid or at least one salt thereof, at least one solvent, at least one substituted or non-substituted phenethylamine and water. The solvent is selected from a group consisting of glycols.
US09165755B2	Methods for predictive automatic gain control for hybrid mass spectrometers A method for mass analyzing ions comprising a restricted range mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios comprising (i) performing a survey mass analysis, using a first mass analyzer employing indirect detection of ions by image current detection, to measure a flux of ions having m/z ratios within said range and (ii) performing a dependent mass analysis, using a second mass analyzer, of an optimal quantity of ions having m/z ratios within said range, said optimal quantity collected for a time period determined by the measured ion flux, the method characterized in that: the time period is determined using a corrected ion flux that includes a correction that comprises an estimate of the quantity of ions that are undetected by the first mass analyzer.
US09165746B2	Electron beam drift detection device and method for detecting electron beam drift An electron beam drift detection device and a method for detecting electron beam drift are provided in which the method includes placing a predetermined characteristic identification pattern on a surface of a workpiece; emitting an electron beam, and focusing and deflecting the electron beam such that the focused and deflected electron beam scans the surface of the workpiece and the characteristic identification pattern; detecting backscattered electrons and secondary electrons; and receiving detection signals and performing an image process on the detection signals to obtain an electronic image of the characteristic identification pattern, and measuring a drift degree by comparing the electronic image with the predetermined shape of the characteristic identification pattern.
US09165741B2	Charged particle beam device, method for adjusting charged particle beam device, and method for inspecting or observing sample A charged particle beam device capable of observing a sample in an air atmosphere or gas atmosphere has a thin film for separating the atmospheric pressure space from the decompressed space. A vacuum evacuation pump evacuates a first housing; and a detector detects a charged particle beam (obtained by irradiation of the sample) in the first housing. A thin film is provided to separate the inside of the first housing and the inside of a second housing at least along part of the interface between the first and second housings. An opening part is formed in the thin film so that its opening area on a charged particle irradiation unit's side is larger than its opening area on the sample side; and the thin film which covers the sample side of the opening part transmits or allows through the primary charged particle beam and the charged particle beam.
US09165732B2	Gas circuit breaker A gas circuit breaker includes a sealed tank that includes first and second conductor containers with an insulating tube therebetween and is filled with insulating gas; a fixed arcing contact on the first conductor container side; a movable arcing contact that is provided on the second conductor container side and moves to be able to contact and separate from the fixed arcing contact; a fixed conductive contact on the first conductor container side; a movable conductive contact that moves in accordance with contact and separation of the movable arcing contact and contacts and separates from the fixed conductive contact; and a puffer unit that is provided on the second conductor container side and has a mechanical puffer chamber accommodating the movable conductive contact formed therein, wherein the puffer unit is arranged between the insulating tube and the second conductor container and is exposed to the periphery of the sealed tank.
US09165731B2	Protective door assembly for electrical devices A protective door having push switches, access to racking unit and viewing windows is assembled with the electrical device such that the protective door encloses the electrical device with a flame proof sealing. The push switches and cutout to access racking unit are made aligned with the electrical device such that the switches of the electrical device are actuated through the push switches, racking in and out the device is possible through the cutout to access racking unit and it allows reading the rating plate, display of the electrical device through the viewing windows in the protective door even if the protective door is closed. The push switch has a push rod and a spring loaded push button assembled inside a cylinder and the push button is clamped from the front of the protective door. The push switches are arranged such that a reset switch contact with the position reset switch of the electrical device, push switches to respectively switch ON and Switch OFF the electrical device.
US09165724B2	Change-over structure between moving contact and static contact of tap selector A change-over structure disposed between a moving contact and a static contact of a tap selector includes an insulation changer base plate, static contacts which are fixed on the insulation changer base plate in at least one column at intervals, the inner ends of the static contacts are electrically connected to respective tap windings of a transformer, rotation shafts, each comprising moving contacts that are evenly distributed on each of the rotation shafts and are electrically connected to each other, and arc-shaped conductors corresponding to the static contacts in at least one column. Each of the arc-shaped conductors and outer ends of the static contacts are disposed at the same circumference with a center of one of the rotation shafts as a circle center. When one of the moving contacts is changed over between the two static contacts, another moving contact is electrically connected to the arc-shaped conductor.
US09165718B2	Wet electrolytic capacitor containing a hydrogen protection layer A wet electrolytic capacitor that contains a casing within which is positioned an anode formed from an anodically oxidized sintered porous body and a fluidic working electrolyte is provided. The casing contains a metal substrate over which is disposed a hydrogen protection layer that contains a plurality of sintered agglomerates formed from a valve metal composition. The present inventors have discovered that through careful selection of the relative particle size and distribution of the agglomerates, the resulting protection layer can effectively absorb and dissipate hydrogen radicals generated during use and/or production of the capacitor, which could otherwise lead to embrittlement and cracking of the metal substrate.
US09165714B2	Electronic component An electronic component, preferably in the form of a laminated ceramic capacitor, which suppresses the growth of whiskers and has excellent solderability, includes an electronic component element in the shape of, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped. External electrodes of terminal electrodes are located on first and second end surfaces of the electronic component element. First plated films including plated Ni are located on the surfaces of the external electrodes. Second plated films are located on the surfaces of the first plated films. The second plated films have stacked structures including first plated layers and second plated layers. The second plated layers have lower degrees of densification than the first plated layers.
US09165713B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component and board for mounting the same A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic main body including dielectric layers and satisfying T/W>1.0 when W and T are width and thickness, respectively; and first and second internal electrodes stacked in the ceramic main body and facing each other with the dielectric layer interposed therebetween, the ceramic main body including an active layer corresponding to a capacitance forming portion contributing to capacitance formation and a cover layer corresponding to a non-capacitance forming portion provided on at least one of uppermost and lowermost surfaces of the active layer, and when the active layer is divided into three regions in a direction in which the first and second internal electrodes are stacked, an average width of internal electrodes in a central region of the three regions is Wa, and an average width of internal electrodes in upper and lower regions of the three regions is Wb, 0.920≦Wb/Wa≦0.998 is satisfied.
US09165712B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component and fabrication method thereof There is provided a multilayer ceramic electronic component including: a ceramic main body; a plurality of internal electrodes; and external electrodes formed on outer surfaces of the ceramic main body and electrically connected to the internal electrodes, wherein an average thickness of the external electrodes is 10 μm or less, and when a thickness of the external electrodes in a central portion of the ceramic main body in a thickness direction is Tc and a thickness of the external electrodes at a point spaced apart from a central portion of a capacitance formation region in a thickness direction by a distance equal to 25% of a thickness (S) of the capacitance formation region is T1, 0.8≦\|T1/Tc\|≦1.0 is satisfied.
US09165711B2	Method of manufacturing a multilayered chip power inductor Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a multilayered chip power inductor by forming a laminate body having upper and lower sides by laminating magnetic sheets, forming an inner hollow by punching out a middle part of said laminate body, inserting a magnetic core into the inner hollow, where an electrical conductive coil is wound into said inner hollow, laminating a first copper clad magnetic sheet onto the upper and lower sides of said laminate body having the magnetic core in the inner hollow as a land layer having upper and lower sides, forming a land by etching said land layer, forming a hole by drilling the land, plating the hole formed in the land, laminating a second copper clad magnetic sheet as a terminal layer onto upper and lower sides of the land layer having the land, forming a terminal by etching the terminal layer, forming a hole by drilling the terminal, and plating the hole.
US09165708B2	Thin film coil and electronic device having the same A thin film coil and an electronic device having the same. The thin film coil includes a substrate; and a coil pattern including a first coil strand and a second coil strand formed respectively on opposite surfaces of the substrate, wherein the first coil strand formed on one surface of the substrate includes at least one path that passes through the other surface of the substrate.
US09165706B2	Coil component A coil component is provided with a first magnetic substrate, a laminate body, and a second magnetic substrate. A coil is formed inside the laminate body. In the coil, a plurality of coil patterns provided on one surface of an insulation layer and a plurality of coil patterns provided on the other surface of the insulation layer are connected at multiple locations through vias. The coil patterns are configured in such a manner that a portion which is in contact with each via has a wider width widened with equal size from the center of a coil pattern to both sides thereof in the width direction, and a portion which is adjacent to the portion having the wider width across a gap has a narrower width(s) narrowed with equal size from the center of the coil pattern to both sides thereof in the width direction.
US09165699B2	Electromagnetic shielding tube and structure of shielded cable, method for bending electromagnetic shielding tube, method for manufacturing electromagnetic shielding tube, and method for processing terminal of shielded cable A shielded cable is mainly configured by an electromagnetic shielding tube, a terminal, and an electric wire or the like. An electric wire is inserted into an inside of the electromagnetic shielding tube. The terminal is connected to both end portions of the electric wire that serves as a covered wire. In the present invention, a structure in which the terminal is connected to the electric wire is called a structure of a shielded cable. The electromagnetic shielding tube is configured by an inner layer made of plastic, a metal layer made of metal, and an outer layer made of plastic. The electromagnetic shielding tube is configured such that the inner layer is formed on an innermost layer, the outer layer is formed on an outermost layer, and the metal layer is formed between the inner layer and the outer layer.
US09165696B2	Transparent electrode laminate According to one embodiment, the transparent electrode laminate includes a transparent substrate and an electrode layer which is formed on the transparent substrate and includes a three-dimensional network of metal nanowires. The electrode layer includes a first conductive region and a second conductive region adjacent to the first conductive region. Surfaces of the metal nanowires in the first conductive region are reacted to form reaction products. Surfaces of the metal nanowires in the second conductive region are unreacted. The second region has conductivity higher than that of the first conductive region and an optical transparency.
US09165680B2	Memory integrated circuit with a page register/status memory capable of storing only a subset of row blocks of main column blocks An integrated circuit includes an array of memory cells that is arranged into rows, main columns, and redundant columns that perform repairs in the array. The main columns and the redundant columns are divided into row blocks. Bit lines couple the main columns to status memory indicating repair statuses of the repairs by the redundant columns. The integrated circuit receives a command, and performs an update on the status memory with the repair statuses specific to particular ones of the row blocks in a portion of the memory accessed by the command. Alternatively or in combination, the status memory has insufficient size to store the repair statuses of multiple ones of the row blocks of the main columns.
US09165672B2	Nonvolatile memory device comprising page buffer and operation method thereof A nonvolatile memory device is provided which includes a cell array including a plurality of memory cells; a page buffer unit including a plurality of page buffers and configured to sense whether programming of selected memory cells is completed, at a program verification operation; and a control logic configured to provide a set pulse for setting data latches of each of the page buffers to a program inhibit state according to the sensing result, wherein the control logic provides the set pulse to at least two different page buffers such that data latches of the at least two different page buffers are set.
US09165670B2	Data retention detection techniques for a data storage device A data storage device includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. A method includes writing an indication of a first error rate of a first set of bits to the non-volatile memory. The first set of bits is sensed from a word line of the non-volatile memory. The word line is sensed to generate a second set of bits in response to a first power-on event being initiated at the data storage device after writing the indication of the first error rate to the non-volatile memory. The method further includes setting a data retention flag in response to a difference between the first error rate and a second error rate associated with the second set of bits satisfying a threshold.
US09165665B2	Memory system According to one embodiment, there is provided a memory system including a non-volatile memory device, a monitoring unit, and a changing unit. The non-volatile memory device stores data. The monitoring unit monitors a characteristic of the non-volatile memory device when writing and erasing processes are performed to write and erase the data to and from the non-volatile memory device. The changing unit changes at least one of a value of a writing start voltage and an increase width of a writing voltage in the writing process in accordance with the monitored characteristic so that a time for the writing process is substantially identical to a target value. The writing process is a process in which a writing operation and a verification operation are alternately repeated.
US09165656B2	Non-volatile storage with shared bit lines and flat memory cells A non-volatile storage system is disclosed that includes pairs (or another number) of NAND strings (or other groupings of memory cells) in the same block being connected to and sharing a common bit line. By sharing bit lines, less bit lines are needed in the storage system. Using less bit lines reduces the space needed to implement the storage system. Each NAND string will have two drain side select gates. The non-volatile storage system will have two drain side selection lines each connected to one of the two drain side select gates so that the NAND strings sharing a bit line can be individually selected. To allow proper selection of a NAND string using the select gates, the select gates will be subjected to non-volatile programming in order to set the threshold voltage of the select gates to an appropriate level.
US09165647B1	Multistage memory cell read A multistage read can dynamically change wordline capacitance as a function of threshold voltage of a memory cell being read. The multistage read can reduce current spikes and reduce the heating up of a memory cell during a read. A memory device includes a global wordline driver to connect a wordline of a selected memory cell to the sensing circuit, and a local wordline driver local to the memory cell. After the wordline is charged to a read voltage, control logic can selectively enable and disable a portion or all of the global wordline driver and the local wordline driver in conjunction with applying different discrete voltage levels to the bitline to perform a multistage read.
US09165645B2	High-reliability high-speed memristor A memristor has a first electrode, a second electrode parallel to the first electrode, and a switching layer disposing between the first and second electrodes. The switching layer contains a conduction channel and a reservoir zone. The conduction channel has a Fermi glass material with a variable concentration of mobile ions. The reservoir zone is laterally disposed relative to the conduction channel, and functions as a source/sink of mobile ions for the conduction channel. In the switching operation, under the cooperative driving force of both electric field and thermal effects, the mobile ions are moved into or out of the laterally disposed reservoir zone to vary the concentration of the mobile ions in the conduction channel to change the conductivity of the Fermi glass material.
US09165640B1	Method of using a PMOS pass gate A method that includes using a PMOS pass gate to couple a first line to a second line, where a gate terminal of the PMOS pass gate is coupled to an output terminal of a memory cell, is described. In one implementation, the PMOS pass gate has a negative threshold voltage. In one implementation, the first line and the second line are respectively first and second interconnect lines of an IC.
US09165628B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes: a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction; first to third bit lines extending in a second direction that intersects with the first direction; a plurality of variable resistance elements each having a first terminal connected to either one of the first and third bit lines; a plurality of active areas extending in a direction oblique to the first direction while intersecting with the first to third bit lines; a plurality of select transistors provided on the active areas and each having a gate connected to a corresponding one of the word lines, and a current path whose one end is connected to a second terminal of a corresponding one of the variable resistance elements; and a plurality of contact plugs each connecting the other end of the current path of a corresponding one of the select transistors to the second bit line, wherein each of the active areas includes two select transistors sharing a diffusion region, the variable resistance elements includes a first variable resistance element group and a second variable resistance element group, the first variable resistance element group including variable resistance elements aligned in the second direction below the first bit line, and each disposed between adjacent two of the word lines, the second variable resistance element group including variable resistance elements aligned in the second direction below the third bit line, and each disposed between adjacent two of the word lines, and the contact plugs are aligned in the second direction below the second bit line, and are each disposed between adjacent two of the word lines.
US09165625B2	ST-RAM cells with perpendicular anisotropy Magnetic spin-torque memory cells, often referred to as magnetic tunnel junction cells, which have magnetic anisotropies (i.e., magnetization orientation at zero field and zero current) of the associated ferromagnetic layers aligned perpendicular to the wafer plane, or “out-of-plane”. A memory cell may have a ferromagnetic free layer, a first pinned reference layer and a second pinned reference layer, each having a magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the substrate. The free layer has a magnetization orientation perpendicular to the substrate that is switchable by spin torque from a first orientation to an opposite second orientation.
US09165622B2	Address detection circuit and memory device including the same An address detection circuit may include one or more address storage units, an initialization unit suitable for deleting an address stored in an address storage unit having a value greater than N, wherein the value is obtained by dividing a respective total input number that addresses have been inputted after the corresponding address is stored by a respective input number corresponding to the stored address, a detection unit suitable for detecting an address having an input number that is a reference number or more from the addresses stored in the one or more address storage units, and a selection unit suitable for selecting an address storage unit in which an address is not stored and storing an input address in the selected address storage unit.
US09165616B2	Integrated circuit for storing information An integrated circuit includes a variable resistance unit including at least one transistor that receives a control signal and changes a resistance through the transistor in response to the control signal in a programming operation mode and an information detection unit configured to detect programming information in response to an output voltage of the variable resistance unit in a normal operation mode.
US09165612B2	Memory and memory system including the same A memory including a first cell block comprising a plurality of first word line groups, and one or more first redundancy word line groups each corresponding to one hit signal of a plurality of hit signals; a second cell block comprising a plurality of second word line groups, and one or more second redundancy word line groups each corresponding to one hit signal of the plurality of hit signals; and a control unit suitable for selecting a cell block and a word line in response to a first input address and refreshing a selected word line based on an input address inputted after the first input address, while refreshing one or more adjacent word lines adjacent to a first selected word line, which is selected by the first input address, in response to the first input address and the hit signals when the first selected word line is adjacent to a redundancy word line, wherein the first input address is first inputted in a target refresh section.
US09165607B2	Mounting structure for component of electronic device A portable electronic device having an outer housing, a component, and a shock-absorption assembly is disclosed. A shock-absorption assembly located within the outer housing and coupled to the component can include one or more elements adapted to dampen a mechanical shock to the component. The shock-absorption assembly elements can be mounted to corners and/or edges of the component. Shock-absorption assembly elements can include a first portion comprising protrusions that provide initial damping of the mechanical shock and a second portion comprising an elastic block that provides final damping of the mechanical shock.
US09165606B2	Electronic device An electronic device includes a housing with a carrier therein. The carrier includes a recess with a restricting portion therein. An access unit is disposed in the recess. An elastic member is connected to the access unit and engaged with the restricting portion to restrict the access unit in the recess. A fixed member is connected to the access unit. A movable member is movably disposed on the carrier, including a first contact portion and a second contact portion. When an external force is exerted on the movable member along a first direction, the first contact portion pushes the elastic member along the first direction to deform and separate from the restricting portion, and the second contact portion pushes the fixed member to move along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, such that the access unit can be removed from the housing.
US09165601B2	Method and apparatus for decoding and correcting a first byte based on a status of a second byte adjacent to the first byte and in response to a failure to decode the first byte A decoder including a decode module, a matrix module, and a marking module. The decode module receives data and performs a first decoding iteration to decode the data. The first decoding iteration includes generating a first matrix having a first byte. The matrix module generates a second matrix based on the first matrix. The second matrix includes the first and second bytes. The second byte is adjacent and sequentially prior or subsequent to the first byte. The marking module: determines whether the first byte has been correctly decoded; based on determining whether the first byte has been correctly decoded, determines a status of the second byte; and based on the status of the second byte, marks the first byte as an erasure. The decode module, based on the second byte being marked as an erasure, corrects the second byte during the second decoding iteration.
US09165591B2	Grating based laser and power monitor for a heat-assisted magnetic recording device A head assembly includes a submount, a body with a first surface, an optical path, a near field transducer (NFT), a sensor, and a laser. The optical path is disposed in the body and is adapted to receive light and convey the light to a distal end of the waveguide. The near field transducer (NFT) is disposed adjacent the distal end of the waveguide and has an output end proximate the first surface of the body. The sensor interfaces with the submount and the laser is attached to the submount along a non-primary lasing surface. The laser is adapted to inject light into the waveguide and includes a grating adapted to diffract a portion of the light through the non-primary lasing surface to the sensor.
US09165586B2	Magnetic recording medium The magnetic recording medium of the present invention comprises: a non-magnetic substrate; a non-magnetic layer formed on one of principal surfaces of the non-magnetic substrate; and a magnetic layer formed on a principal surface of the non-magnetic layer opposite to the non-magnetic substrate. Mr and t satisfy 0.0020 μT·m≦Mr·t≦0.0150 μT·m, where Mr is the residual magnetic flux density of the magnetic layer, and t is the average thickness of the magnetic layer, L1 satisfies 2 nm≦L1≦6 nm, where L1 is the average thickness of a first mixed layer that is formed on the surface of the magnetic layer opposite to the non-magnetic layer, and L2 satisfies 0.1≦L2/t≦0.45, where L2 is the average thickness of a second mixed layer that is formed on the surface of the magnetic layer facing the non-magnetic layer.
US09165584B2	Air bearing surface having temperature/humidity compensation feature A slider for a head to read data from or write data to a magnetic media is disclosed. The slider includes an air bearing surface including raised bearing surface(s) elevated above recessed bearing surface(s) to pressurize air flow along the air bearing surface to provide a fly height for the slider above the media. The raised bearing surfaces are formed along one or more raised substrate structures etched from a substrate body. The slider includes one or more insets inset into the one or more raised substrate structures formed of an inset material having a different coefficient of expansion than a substrate material of the slider to compensate for temperature and/or humidity changes.
US09165580B2	Disk drive head suspension tail with stiffened edge alignment features A head gimbal assembly for a disk drive includes a flexure tail terminal region having flexure bond pads in electrical communication with the head. Each of the flexure bond pads includes a widened region of a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical traces in a conductive layer, and a discontinuous bond pad backing island in a structural layer that overlaps the widened region. The flexure tail terminal region also includes a plurality of discontinuous edge stiffener islands in the structural layer that do not overlap the widened region of any flexure bond pad, and that are disposed no more than 50 microns from one of the two opposing longitudinal outer edges of the flexure tail terminal region. At least one of the plurality of discontinuous bond pad backing islands is disposed no more than 50 microns from one of the two opposing longitudinal outer edges.
US09165574B2	Magnetic element with dual magnetic moments An apparatus and associated method may be used to provide a data sensing element capable of detecting changes in magnetic states. Various embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to a magnetically responsive lamination of layers and means for generating a high magnetic moment region proximal to an air bearing surface (ABS) and a low magnetic moment region proximal to a hard magnet.
US09165565B2	Sound mixture recognition A sound mixture may be received that includes a plurality of sources. A model may be received that includes a dictionary of spectral basis vectors for the plurality of sources. A weight may be estimated for each of the plurality of sources in the sound mixture based on the model. In some examples, such weight estimation may be performed using a source separation technique without actually separating the sources.
US09165558B2	System for dynamically creating and rendering audio objects Embodiments of systems and methods are described for providing backwards compatibility for legacy devices that are unable to natively render non-channel based audio objects. These systems and methods can also be beneficially used to produce a reduced set of audio objects for compatible object-based decoders with low computing resources.
US09165556B1	Methods and systems related to audio data processing to provide key phrase notification and potential cost associated with the key phrase Methods and systems related to analyzing audio data and performing quantitative analysis and reporting related to the audio data. Audio data may be investigated and phrases of the audio data identified. In some implementations, phrases are identified based on the likelihood of an occurrence or non-occurrence of the phrase. In some implementations, phrases are identified based on a cost associated with a search phrase.
US09165554B2	System and method for robust access and entry to large structured data using voice form-filling A method, apparatus and machine-readable medium are provided. A phonotactic grammar is utilized to perform speech recognition on received speech and to generate a phoneme lattice. A document shortlist is generated based on using the phoneme lattice to query an index. A grammar is generated from the document shortlist. Data for each of at least one input field is identified based on the received speech and the generated grammar.
US09165553B2	Information processing device, large vocabulary continuous speech recognition method and program including hypothesis ranking System and method for performing speech recognition using acoustic invariant structure for large vocabulary continuous speech. An information processing device receives sound as input and performs speech recognition. The information processing device includes: a speech recognition processing unit for outputting a speech recognition score, a structure score calculation unit for calculation of a structure score that is a score that, with respect for each hypothesis concerning all phoneme pairs comprising the hypothesis, is found by applying phoneme pair-by-pair weighting to phoneme pair inter-distribution distance likelihood and then performing summation, and a ranking unit for ranking the multiple hypotheses based on a sum value of speech recognition score and structure score.
US09165545B2	Pickup for stringed instrument A pickup for engagement to the body of an instrument having metal strings, such as a guitar in position proximate to the strings. The pickup features a coil having loops of wire wound around a recess having a magnetic member therein which projects a magnetic field to magnetize the strings. The electrical current in said coil wire induced by a movement the strings generates a first electrical signal from said first end of the coil wire and corresponding AC second electric signal from said second end of the coil wire. One or a plurality of tap wires engaged to the coil wire at tap points, provide additional individual electronic signals which may be mixed, or may be communicated individually to an amplifier or mixing component.
US09165542B2	System and method that facilitates customizing media The present invention relates to systems and methods for customizing media (e.g., songs, text, books, stories, video, audio . . . ) via a computer network, such as the Internet. In particular, the systems and methods provide for construction of on-line social communities where orders for customized media or representative material associated with a performer's repertoire are received, performers associated with the on-line social communities are thereafter assigned to work on the orders for customized media based on their repertoire. On completion of the customization phase by the performers assigned to work on the orders and associated with the on-line social communities, the customized media is distributed to the users who initiated the order.
US09165541B2	Percussion instrument A percussion instrument is provided. The percussion instrument having: a seat; a pair of sidewalls extending downwardly from the seat towards a bottom of the percussion instrument, each of the pair of sidewalls providing a first tone when contacted; a forward surface extending from the seat and located between the pair of sidewalls, the forward surface providing a second tone when contacted, the second tone being higher than the first tone.
US09165540B1	Device for removing moisture from a woodwind instrument Device for removing moisture from a woodwind instrument are disclosed. The woodwind cleaner is comprised of a semi-rigid inner wire, encased in absorbent material, then enclosed in a soft, absorbent outer covering. When not in use, the device can be coiled or wrapped around itself for easy storage, then easily returns to full length for use. The device can be used to clean the moisture from an instrument without disassembling it. The device is intended to be stored outside the case and to be easily portable.
US09165539B2	Multiple contiguous closed-chambered monolithic structure guitar body A chambered electric guitar body according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention includes at least five contiguous closed chambers enclosed in the assembled monolithic top and bottom parts comprised of a generally solid material such as a metal. The autonomous dimensions of the chambers, cubic volumes, and thickness as well as the density of the material, allow customization of shape and guitar performance. This is accomplished by using the method provided to produce the monolithic structures using digital technology, CAD and CNC machining to achieve desired specifications.
US09165537B2	Method and apparatus for performing burst refresh of a self-refreshing display device A method and apparatus for performing display image refresh in bursts to a display device. A buffered refresh controller includes capabilities to drive the display based on video signals generated from a local frame buffer at a first rate. The graphics controller may optimally be configured to burst a new frame of pixel data to the buffered refresh controller at a second rate to replace the previous frame of pixel data in the local frame buffer. The second rate is different than the first rate. Additionally, the graphics controller may send frames only when they contain new pixel data. By enabling the graphics controller to selectively transmit the new frame of pixel data at the second rate, higher than the first rate, the graphics controller may be placed in a power-saving state during at least a portion of each frame update.
US09165534B2	Information processing apparatus, method for controlling information processing apparatus, and storage medium An information processing apparatus for improving operability when a content is scroll-displayed by an operation for scrolling such as a flick operation. The information processing apparatus displays a plurality of contents in a predetermined display area, and scroll-displays the contents according to an instruction to perform the scroll display. When a press of a button displayed outside the display area has been detected, processing corresponding to the pressed button is performed if the scroll display is not being performed, and is not performed if the scroll display is being performed.
US09165529B2	Stereoscopic image display apparatus and a stereoscopic image display system having the same A stereoscopic image display system includes a three-dimensional (3D) image signal generator, a display panel, a timing controller, a data driver, and a gate driver. The 3D image signal generator generates left-eye data and right-eye data on the basis of an image signal outputs the left-eye data and the right-eye data to the timing controller. The timing controller outputs the left-eye data and the right-eye data having a first frequency to the data driver in a first mode and outputs left-eye frame data and right-eye frame data having a second frequency to the data driver in a second mode. Two pixels, which are respectively connected to an i-th gate line and an (i+1)th gate line among the gate lines and to a same data line among the data lines, are operated with the same driving time in the first and second modes.
US09165515B2	Liquid crystal display device and driving method thereof A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and method of driving an LCD device are provided. The LCD device includes: a panel, including: a plurality of gate lines, and a plurality of data lines, an image-sticking removal apparatus configured to, when an interlaced input video is received from an external system: generate an FRC pattern to be added into the input video and a polarity pattern used to output the input video to form one group, and generate at least two or more the groups formed in parallel to the gate lines during one frame, and a data driver configured to: convert image data inputted from the image-sticking removal apparatus into data voltages, invert a polarity of each of the data voltages on the basis of the polarity pattern, and output the polarity-inverted data voltages to the respective data lines.
US09165508B2	Display apparatus using reference voltage line for parasitic capacitance, electronic apparatus using the display apparatus and driving method of the display apparatus A display apparatus includes: a plurality of pixel circuits 6; a reference voltage source for supplying a reference voltage to a reference voltage line 4; a first switch for connecting the reference voltage source to the reference voltage line 4; a data line 5 for supplying a data voltage to the pixel circuit, wherein the pixel circuit 6 includes a light emitting element, a driving transistor M1 having a source connected to an anode of the light emitting element, a holding capacitor CS having one end connected to a gate of the driving transistor M1 and having the other end connected to the source of the driving transistor M1, a second switch for connecting the gate of the driving transistor M1 to the data line 5, and a third switch for connecting the source of the driving transistor M1 to the reference voltage line 4.
US09165507B2	Lighting system having interlaced driving mechanism A lighting system includes a first lighting unit for generating output light according to a first current, a second lighting unit for generating output light according to a second current, a third lighting unit for generating output light according to a third current, a fourth lighting unit for generating output light according to a fourth current, a first power driving unit electrically connected to the first and third lighting units, and a second power driving unit electrically connected to the second and fourth lighting units. The second lighting unit is disposed between the first and third lighting units. The third lighting unit is disposed between the second and fourth lighting units. The first power driving unit is employed to drive the first and third currents. The second power driving unit is employed to drive the second and fourth currents.
US09165505B2	Display device and electoric device having the same It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device where power consumption can be suppressed and the number of gray scales can be increased without a scanning line driver circuit on both sides of a pixel portion. In a display device having a scanning line driver circuit, a shift register included in the scanning line driver circuit has 4m-stage (m is a natural number) flip-flop circuits in every m scanning lines, and a signal which selects the scanning line in a first half period of one scanning line selection period and a signal which selects the scanning line in a second half period of the one scanning line selection period are output to the scanning line by another start pulse.
US09165502B2	Display device and electronic device including display device Objects are to provide a display device the power consumption of which is reduced, to provide a self-luminous display device the power consumption of which is reduced and which is capable of long-term use in a dark place. A circuit is formed using a thin film transistor in which a highly-purified oxide semiconductor is used and a pixel can keep a certain state (a state in which a video signal has been written). As a result, even in the case of displaying a still image, stable operation is easily performed. In addition, an operation interval of a driver circuit can be extended, which results in a reduction in power consumption of a display device. Moreover, a light-storing material is used in a pixel portion of a self-luminous display device to store light, whereby the display device can be used in a dark place for a long time.
US09165487B2	LED backlight system for cabinet sign A backlighting system for a cabinet sign may include a plurality of panels. Each panel includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (“LEDs”) attached to the panel. The diode has a box sign depth factor of less than about 1.4. An integrated circuit may also be located on the panel. A wire physically connects adjacent panels.
US09165482B2	Display device and method for manufacturing the same A flexible display device includes a wire embedded layer that has flexibility and has a first principal surface, a thick wire embedded in the wire embedded layer so as to be substantially flush with the first principal surface of the wire embedded layer, an extraction lower electrode electrically connected to the thick wire and disposed on the first principal surface of the wire embedded layer, an emitting layer disposed on the extraction lower electrode, and an upper electrode disposed on the emitting layer. The flexible display device is suitable for large-screen devices and offers high productivity.
US09165478B2	System and method to enable blind people to have access to information printed on a physical document A method and system for use in a user system, for accessing information related to a physical document. An electronic copy of an existing physical document is identified and located. The electronic copy of the physical document is an exact replica of the physical document. One or more pages of the physical document are identified. A selected part of the physical document is identified using the position of points on the identified one or more pages of the physical document and in response, data related to the selected part of the physical document is retrieved from the electronic copy of the physical document. The retrieved data is presented visually to a visually impaired person or orally to a blind person on the user system, which enables the visually impaired person to see or hear, respectively, the retrieved data.
US09165477B2	Systems and methods for building road models, driver models, and vehicle models and making predictions therefrom Systems and methods for building road models, driver models, and vehicle models and making predictions may use driving data received from a plurality of vehicles being driving along a path by a driver. The driving data including a minimum of vehicle location preferably supplemented by data related to the time of observations, vehicle dynamics, and various vehicle sensors. The received data may be categorized into a plurality of maneuvers and a plurality of variables that describe the maneuvers and the received driving data may be identified. A road model may then be built for the path based on the identified variables and maneuvers and the behaviors of a particular driver compared to the road model to assess their driving and intervene as appropriate.
US09165470B2	Autonomous convoying technique for vehicles A method of autonomously convoying vehicles traveling along a route with a leader vehicle being in communication with at least one follower vehicle. The at least one follower vehicle receives a communication relating to a target offset position and route data. Tracking data is generated and derived from on-board sensing devices of the at least one follower vehicle that includes a traveled path of the leader vehicle sensed by the at least one follower vehicle. The route data is compared to the tracking data for identifying accuracy between the route data relative to the tracking data. An adjusted target offset position and a set of trajectory points that provides a trajectory path of travel from a current position of the at least one follower vehicle to the adjusted target offset position are determined based on the accuracy between the route data and the tracking data.
US09165469B2	Systems and methods for coordinating sensor operation for collision detection A collision detection system of a land vehicle may be configured to coordinate sensor operation with one or more other sensing systems of one or more other land vehicles. The coordination may comprise configuring the other sensing systems. In some embodiments, the coordination comprises forming a multistatic sensor comprising one or more emitters and/or one or more receivers. The collision detection system may be configured to receive detection signal(s) emitted by one or more of the other sensing systems. The coordination may further comprise directing detection signals of the multistatic sensor. The collision detection system may use sensor data acquired by use of the coordinated sensing system(s) to generate a collision detection model.
US09165466B2	Method of speeding call flow A system and method for communicating between a vehicle and a central facility includes initiating at a vehicle a request for turn-by-turn directions; establishing a packet-switched call between the vehicle and a central facility using a wireless carrier system and a mobile dialed number (MDN) associated with the vehicle; receiving determined route information at the vehicle from the central facility via the packet-switched call; offering a vehicle occupant a service option that uses a circuit-switched call; and if the vehicle occupant accepts the service option, directing the wireless carrier system to establish the circuit-switched call using the MDN while maintaining the packet-switched call in a dormant state.
US09165460B2	Pedestrian warning light system for vehicles with illumination in different directions A pedestrian-warning light system for a vehicle is disclosed herein. The pedestrian-warning light system includes a sensing device mountable with respect to a vehicle and operable to detect a pedestrian within a zone adjacent to the front of the vehicle. The zone extends along a first axis. The sensing device is operable to emit a detection signal in response to the pedestrian being in the zone. The pedestrian-warning light system also includes a lighting arrangement mountable within the vehicle and operable to concurrently emit light into the vehicle and away from the vehicle in a first direction toward the zone and away from the vehicle in a second direction at least partially opposite to the first direction away from the zone. The pedestrian-warning light system also includes a controller mountable with respect to the vehicle and operable to receive the detection signal from the sensing device and in response actuate the lighting arrangement for warning the pedestrian, and a driver of the vehicle, and drivers of other vehicles.
US09165459B2	Radio control transmitter A transmitter for controlling a target to be controlled having a motor, the transmitter includes: a start-up manipulation member to control starting and stopping of the motor; a rotational speed control manipulation member to control a rotational speed of the motor according to an operation amount; a control unit to generate the steering signal such that the motor is rotated according to the operation amount of the rotational speed control manipulation member when the operation amount of the rotational speed control manipulation member is equal to or greater than a preset start position while the start-up manipulation member is in a start-up state; and a transmitting unit to transmit the steering signal.
US09165452B2	Driver drowsiness prediction system and method thereof A driver drowsiness prediction system includes a vital signal detection unit, a control unit and a network bridge module. The vital signal detection unit detects vital signals of a driver. The control unit receives the driver's vital signs, and stores at least a feature signal. The feature signal represents the vital signal pattern of losing consciousness. The control unit continuously compares the detected vital signal with the feature signal. When the vital signal is similar to the feature signal, the control unit issues a pre-alarming command. The network bridge module receives the pre-alarming command and is triggered to perform a network connection process. The network bridge module logs into a pre-determined social website according to a login script, and then sends a pre-alarming message thereon, wherein the pre-alarming message includes an event indicating the driver is near unconsciousness.
US09165444B2	Light socket cameras Security systems can be used to detect a visitor. The security system can include a camera that is configured to take a video of the visitor. As well, the security system can be configured to transmit the video of the visitor to a remote computing device. The video of the visitor can be displayed on the remote computing device. The security system can be attached to a light socket.
US09165443B2	Detector A detector includes a housing with at least one window for allowing radiation to enter, at least one sensor for sensing entered radiation, a unit for processing sensor signals, and mirrors that are shaped and mounted in the housing for reflecting radiation from outside detection zones better than radiation from elsewhere, onto the sensor. Linked mirrors reflect radiation from a detection zone consecutively and each mirror in at least one linked pair is shaped and mounted in the housing so as to prevent it from reflecting radiation from another detection zone in sequence with other mirrors onto the sensor, thus optically isolating the pair from other mirrors.
US09165437B2	Method for recognizing attempts at manipulating a self-service terminal, and data processing unit therefor A method (100) is proposed for recognizing attempts at manipulating a self-service terminal, specifically a cash dispenser, in which a control panel with elements arranged therein, such as a keypad, cash-dispensing slot, etc. is provided, wherein a camera is directed onto at least one of the elements and wherein the image data generated by the camera are evaluated. Using edge detection, at least one edge image is created from the image data generated (step sequence 120). The edge image is evaluated using a reference edge image (step sequence 130). To generate the reference edge image, several individual images are used (step sequence 110). Fully automated evaluation and recognition of manipulation attempts is possible using edge detection.
US09165427B2	Wagering game with multiple bonus triggering feature and bonus accrual feature In one aspect, there is provided a method of conducting a wagering game which includes the steps of conducting a plurality of basic wagering games and enabling a bonus game in response to a bonus triggering outcome achieved in any of the basic wagering games. The method also includes deferring the enabled bonus game to permit play after completion of play of the plurality of basic wagering games.
US09165421B2	System and method for augmented maintenance of a gaming system Disclosed is a method for enabling a user in an augmented reality gaming venue to use an augmented reality system and a mobile device to display augmented reality by overlaying a virtual 3D object over a physical 3D object. The method includes: enabling a user to capture a live camera image of a 3D object via camera on the mobile device; determining if there are image tags on the 3D object in the live camera image; using the one or more image tags to access information used by the augmented reality system; and overlaying virtual 3D objects onto a live camera image of the virtual 3D object on a display of the mobile device to produce augmented reality effects, wherein the virtual 3D objects deliver targeted content a user that assist in performing maintenance on the 3D object.
US09165416B2	Digital over-the-air keying system A system for providing operational access to equipment or vehicles is disclosed wherein digital access codes are assigned and transported over-the-air governing a vehicle's or equipment's use. The access codes can be generated in connection with comparison of entered and stored biometric data and/or entered code from a keypad. Various security protocols can be used to ensure the secure dispatch and delivery of code information.
US09165413B2	Diagnostic assistance Embodiments of techniques or systems for customization of, diagnostic assistance, and driving analytics related to snapshot data of a vehicle are provided herein. For example, a snapshot can be taken. The snapshot can be based on a snapshot package customized according to symptoms experienced by a driver of a vehicle, and analyzed individually or in conjunction with other snapshots to determine a trend. Additionally, the snapshot can be based on a configuration of a vehicle. In this scenario, the snapshot and the configuration of the vehicle can be used to provide an enhanced troubleshooting guide by removing non-suspect areas from consideration, thereby mitigating troubleshooting time. The snapshot can be setup to record parameters related to wear and tear on components of the vehicle. Suggestions can be made to a driver of the vehicle to reduce or mitigate actions that negatively impact wear and tear.
US09165408B2	Method and system for browsing visual content displayed in a virtual three-dimensional space The invention provides a method for constructing a zoom path between a predetermined viewing point Pn+1 in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual space and a target point P0 in the 3D space, and for zooming in or zooming out along the zoom path. The target point is assigned control points in the 3D space, and the zoom path of the invention is nonlinear and passes through at least one of the control points. During zooming, the viewing direction is continuously selected to provide an aesthetically acceptable zooming effect.
US09165406B1	Providing overlays based on text in a live camera view Approaches are described for rendering augmented reality overlays on an interface displaying the active field of view of a camera. The interface can display to a user an image or video, for example, and the overlay can be rendered over, near, or otherwise positioned with respect to any text or other such elements represented in the image. The overlay can have associated therewith at least one function or information, and when an input associated with the overlay is selected, the function can be performed (or caused to be performed) by the portable computing device.
US09165404B2	Method, apparatus, and system for processing virtual world An apparatus and method for processing a virtual world. The apparatus for controlling a facial expression of an avatar in a virtual world using a facial expression of a user in a real world may include a receiving unit to receive sensed information that is sensed by an intelligent camera, the sensed information relating to a facial expression basis of the user, and a processing unit to generate facial expression data of the user for controlling the facial expression of the avatar, using initialization information representing a parameter for initializing the facial expression basis of the user, a 2-dimensional/3-dimensional (2D/3D) model defining a coding method for a face object of the avatar, and the sensed information.
US09165401B1	Multi-perspective stereoscopy from light fields Methods and systems for generating stereoscopic content with granular control over binocular disparity based on multi-perspective imaging from representations of light fields are provided. A reference image, a three-dimensional (“3D”) representation of a light field corresponding to the reference image, and a goal disparity image that indicates a goal binocular disparity for one or more pixels of the reference image may be received. For each pixel of an output image corresponding to the reference image, a point within the light field that is a closest match for the goal binocular disparity of a corresponding pixel of the goal disparity image may be determined. A stereoscopic image pair including the reference image and the output image may be generated.
US09165400B2	Image generation apparatus, image generation method, image generation program, and integrated circuit for rendering a target pixel in a target scene by using Z-buffering An image generation apparatus that renders a target pixel in a target scene by using Z-buffering, comprising: a unit that calculates a statistical value indicating distribution characteristics of Z depth values in a predetermined scene; a unit that, by using the statistical value, converts a Z depth value for the target pixel into a converted Z depth value; a unit that generates a first Z depth value for the target pixel by using the converted Z depth value and generates a second Z depth value for the target pixel by using the converted Z depth value or the Z depth value for the target pixel; and a unit that performs a first comparison using the first Z depth value as one comparison subject and, only when the first comparison cannot be successfully performed, performs a second comparison using the second Z depth value as one comparison subject.
US09165395B2	Image processing apparatus and method Provided is an image processing apparatus including: an image selection unit selectively extracting one image data from a plurality of input image data; an image generation unit generating a computer graphics image based on computer graphics description data; a surface designation unit designating a surface of a predetermined polygon using surfaces of polygons among the computer graphics description data as a selection; and an image mapping unit texture-mapping an image according to the image data extracted by the image selection unit onto the surface of the polygon designated by the surface designation unit.
US09165388B2	Method of automatic cropping A method for rectangular cropping including the steps of: (i) providing a sequence of images on a graphical interface device; (ii) analyzing each pixel in the first image included in the sequence of images; (iii) locating a boundary between the background of the first image and the border of the first image; (iv) determining the degree off true horizontal of the first image; (v) rotating the first image based on the determining step; (vi) applying a cropping operation to the first image; and (vii) automatically applying the cropping operation to each other image in the sequence of images.
US09165374B2	Image processing device that performs tracking control An image processing device which performs a tracking control with respect to a moving object which is travelling forward, based on the controlled variable of the own vehicle includes, an image processing unit which specifies an area of a moving object from an input image, sets the specified area of the moving object as a reference image area after starting tracking control, and sets an area of the moving object after a predetermined time as a comparison image area; a comparison unit which compares the set reference image area and the comparison image area with each other, and calculates travelling information relating to the moving object; and a controlled variable calculation unit which calculates a controlled variable of the own vehicle from travelling information which is calculated in the comparison unit.
US09165372B2	Improvements relating to event detection A method of event detection for detecting the occurrence of an event in a crowd is disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing video footage of the crowd, which video footage includes a series of image frames; calculating a series of values representative of the crowd dynamics, which series of values is calculated in dependence on the series of image frames; analyzing the series of values to identify any discrepancies occurring in the series of values; and, in response to identifying a discrepancy, providing an output signal to alert an operator that an event has been detected. In preferred embodiments, the series of values are related to the complexity of the crowd dynamics. Apparatus suitable for carrying out such a method is also disclosed.
US09165371B2	User location system A user location system (ULS) can use images, such as video or still images, captured from at least one camera of an electronic device, such as a mobile device, to determine, via at least edge detection and image uniformity analysis, location of a user in an environment, such as in a cabin of a vehicle. The determined location of the user can then be used as an input to control at least one aspect of the environment. In the case of a vehicle, such input may be used to facilitate control of speed, safety features, climate, and/or audio playback, for example.
US09165369B1	Multi-object detection and recognition using exclusive non-maximum suppression (eNMS) and classification in cluttered scenes Described is a system for multi-object detection and recognition in cluttered scenes. The system receives an image patch containing multiple objects of interest as input. The system evaluates a likelihood of existence of an object of interest in each sub-window of a set of overlapping sub-windows. A confidence map having confidence values corresponding to the sub-windows is generated. A non-maxima suppression technique is applied to the confidence map to eliminate sub-windows having confidence values below a local maximum confidence value. A global maximum confidence value is determined for a sub-window corresponding to a location of an instance of an object of interest in the image patch. The sub-window corresponding to the location of the instance of the object of interest is removed from the confidence map. The system iterates until a predetermined stopping criteria is met. Finally, detection information related to multiple instances of the object of interest is output.
US09165361B1	Video tracking with jitter, slewing, or zoom Generally discussed herein are systems and apparatuses that are configured to and techniques for tracking an object in video data. According to an example, a technique can include (1) obtaining first and second video frames, the first video frame captured at a time before the second video frame was captured and the first and second video frame including a first and second image of a common geo-location, respectively, (2) projecting, using a computer processor, the first video frame and the second video to their respective ground planes, or (3) projecting the first and second ground projected video frames to a space in a center video frame captured at a time between the first and second video frames, the center video frame including a third image of the common geo-location.
US09165359B2	High-throughput single-cell imaging, sorting, and isolation The invention provides a method and apparatus for isolating individual target cells. The apparatus includes a body structure comprising a main channel, a collection channel, and a waste channel fluidly coupled at a first fluid junction. A plurality of trapping channels intersect the collection channel, each trapping channel having a diameter at a location adjacent to the intersection of the trapping channel with the collection channel that is less than a diameter of an individual target cell. The apparatus also includes an imaging system configured to image individual target and non-target cells within the main channel, thereby producing imaging data; a processor configured to perform real-time, multivariate analyses of the imaging data; and a directing system configured to direct the individual target cells. A pressure source is in fluid communication with one or more of the collection channel, the waste channel, the first side channel, and the second side channel.
US09165351B1	Method and apparatus for game animal vision A method and apparatus for obtaining a digital image of a selected scene and analyzing the image, utilizing an image processor, for selected frequencies of light in the image. The selected frequencies are converted, utilizing the image processor, to different selected frequencies to obtain an image representative of how a game animal sees the selected scene. The converted or representative image then is displayed.
US09165350B2	Image sharpening method and image processing device An image sharpening method and an image processing device are provided. The method includes: obtaining a plurality of pixels in an image; calculating a first weight of a high pass filter and a second weight of a first filter according to the pixels, and the first filter is a convolution of the high pass filter and a low pass filter; generating a sharpening filter according to the high pass filter, the first weight, the first filter and the second weight; and executing a sharpening operation on the pixels according to the sharpening filter. Accordingly, a sharpened image has better vision effects.
US09165348B2	Stochastic rasterization with selective culling Depth of field may be rasterized by culling half-space regions on a lens from which a triangle to be rendered is not visible. Then, inside tests are only performed on the remaining unculled half-space regions. Separating planes between the triangle to be rendered and the tile being processed can be used to define the half-space regions.
US09165343B2	Image processing apparatus and image processing method An image processing apparatus includes a calculation section configured to calculate filtering coefficients of a filter with a first area in an image that is partitioned into multiple first areas including the first area, the image being partitioned differently into multiple second areas, each one of which being covered by several first areas, to calculate a convoluted image of a second area using the filtering coefficients calculated with the first areas covering a part of the second area, the calculation being executed for the several first areas covering distinct parts of the second area, respectively; and an interpolation section configured to interpolate a pixel in the second area using pixels at the same position in the convoluted images of the second area which are convoluted with the respective filtering coefficients.
US09165342B2	Image data processing apparatus and method for writing an image data into a memory An image data processing including a storage unit for storing a first pixel block and a second pixel block taken from image data in which pixels are arranged in a first direction and a second direction, and a writing module for writing the first pixel block and the second pixel block stored in the storage unit into a memory, wherein the first pixel block and the second pixel block are arranged one adjacent to the other along the first direction, and the number of pixels arranged in the first direction in each block is equal to an access unit data length of the memory multiplied by a natural number m1, and the writing module writes pixel data equal in length to the access unit data length, and representing pixels contiguously arranged along the first direction across the first and second pixel blocks, into the memory in a single access operation.
US09165331B2	Methods, apparatus and systems for generating searchable electronic records of underground facility locate and/or marking operations and assessing aspects of same A method is disclosed for assessing an aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the operation. The operation includes locating and/or identifying, using a physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of an underground facility within a dig area. A portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The method includes digitally representing, on a display device, the facility and/or the physical locate mark to generate an electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes determining a length associated with a portion of the digitally represented facility and/or physical locate mark in the electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes, based on the determined length, automatically assessing the aspect relating to the operation.
US09165325B2	System and method for detecting anomaly associated with driving of a vehicle Disclosed are a device, system and methods for detecting an anomaly associated with driving of a vehicle. Z-axis acceleration data is determined at the device. Based on the Z-axis acceleration data, jerk energies are computed and transmitted to the system for analysis. Further, the jerk energies are received for a plurality of trips at the system. Further, at the system, statistical analysis is performed on the jerk energies for determining a hazard rate for each trip of the plurality of trips. Then based on the hazard rate determined for each of the plurality of trips, a trend analysis is performed. Based on the trend analysis, any anomaly associated with the driving of the vehicle is detected. Further, the anomaly detected may be notified to a person associated with the device or with a monitoring terminal.
US09165323B1	Biometric transaction system and method A system for enabling identity verification of an individual in a transaction between the individual and an entity that utilizes a data processing system, an entity device, and an individual device. The individual registers with the data processing system biometric data taken from the individual and data pertaining to an individual device. The entity registers with the data processing system entity identifying information. Once the individual and entity agree on a transaction, the entity notifies the data processing system of the pending transaction and requests verification of the individual's identity. The individual communicates to the data processing system individual biometric data. The data processing system compares the biometric data from the individual with registered biometric data. The data processing system forwards a result of the comparison to the entity and upon a successful comparison, may forward any requested information regarding the individual to the entity.
US09165321B1	Optimistic receipt flow An online electronic wallet system and method provide secure storage and transmission of payment instrument information for use in completing online purchases initiated from a client device. A payment instrument's verification code is stored in an encrypted form in local storage on a client device and retrieved and re-encrypted along with other payment instrument information stored on the system using a merchant-specific key. An API library is used to integrate the online electronic wallet system with a registered merchant's purchase flow, including the ability to ensure receipt of an electronic receipt prior to communicating payment instrument information to a merchant server.
US09165319B1	Vehicle information delivery and management system and method A technique and method for vehicle information delivery and management includes: receiving, by a management module of a service provider manager associated with a service provider, a notification from an application executing on a client device of an end user that vehicle data corresponding to a vehicle being viewed by the end user on a premises of the service provider has been displayed to the end user; storing, by the management module, the vehicle data corresponding to the viewed vehicle; and storing, by the management module, a time that the vehicle was viewed by the end user.
US09165311B1	Navigation-based AD units in street view Systems, methods, and computer storage mediums for directing a user to an image of an advertiser's geolocation are provided. An exemplary method includes retrieving a first image associated with a geolocation, where the geolocation is based on a user action. At least one advertising unit is also selected based on at least the geolocation associated with the first image. Each advertising unit includes at least one geolocation associated with an advertiser. At least one advertising unit is then placed on the first image. Finally, a second image is retrieved when a placed advertising unit is selected by the user. The second image is retrieved based on the geolocation associated with the placed advertising unit.
US09165303B2	Fresh product system A method is used for enabling fresh products related information to be sent to potential customers, where fresh products become available at one or more locations at different times during the day. The method comprises receiving at a server from said locations information regarding freshness of the fresh products that are or will become available at said locations; and presenting the information and said locations on a webpage by means of a server. A storage may be used to store information regarding one or more locations where fresh products are or will become available, and regarding freshness of the fresh products at the locations. A processor may be used to present the webpage that displays the stored information. Fresh products may include cookies, fresh produce and flowers.
US09165298B2	Remote synchronization of pin-pad records with a central transactions database A method of remotely synchronizing pin-pad terminals involves a gateway receiving from an acquirer server an authorization code for a transaction authorized using one of a plurality of pin-pad terminals, and saving in a database particulars of the authorized transaction. Each terminal has a memory storing particulars of at least one authorized transaction authorized using the terminal, and a running total value of all transactions authorized using the pin-pad terminal. The gateway receives a request to close out all the saved transactions and receives from one of the terminals an authorization request message requesting authorization for an additional transaction. In response, the gateway closes in the database all the saved transactions authorized using the one terminal, and responds to the authorization request message by providing the one terminal with a remote synchronization command commanding the one terminal to clear the running total from the memory.
US09165293B2	Systems and methods for waveform transmission of transaction card data A device and method for waveform transmission of transaction card data to a merchant point-of-sale device are provided. The device includes a memory device for storing data, a processor, and a transmitter. The device is programmed to receive transaction card data that mimics data stored within a magnetic stripe associated with a transaction card, convert the transaction card data to a first data file for storage within the memory device, transmit the first data file to the transmitter, and transmit a first waveform from the transmitter to the POS device, wherein the first waveform includes changes in a magnetic field that represent the transaction card data.
US09165290B2	Sharing notes in online meetings Notes may be shared in an online meeting with online meeting attendees through a software application associated with organizing an online meeting, for example, online meeting software, calendaring software, note-taking software, or the like. Notes may be created and/or shared before, during, and/or after the online meeting by meeting attendees. Meeting attendees may be notified when notes are shared for the online meeting. Notes may be shared with items of the software application associated with organizing the online meeting. For example, notes may be shared in online meeting software with the online meeting. Notes may be shared among items of different software applications, for example, notes shared in the online meeting software may be automatically shared with a calendar item in a calendaring software application.
US09165269B2	Dynamic method for collecting, tracking, storing, and reporting of development event efforts A live dynamic real time method for collecting, tracking, storing, and reporting development event efforts embodied as a method for tracking Element Efforts resulting in end products, at least including art, industry, and nature products, and reporting Development Event Efforts by their virtual Points in Phasetime (PiPT) within designated Past, Present, and Future Project Development Phases. Dynamically generated Phasetime Reports display audited Element Project Efforts within a live Phasetime Matrix per their Phase of Development and PiPT. Development Events occur within Project Development Phases, whose number and kind are end product dependent. Development Events include Project Production Elements, Element Efforts, duration of the Efforts, and Efforts' PiPT. Tracked by Phasetime Project Development Event Instances, Element Efforts are reported in edited Storyboard Beats in Phasetime Macro, Micro, and Nano Views depicting the Efforts' effect on the end Product's Storyline. Effortology keys allow browsers to alter Storyboard Storyline Reports.
US09165234B2	Radio frequency identification tag assembly with a first tag identity and a second tag identity that are stored in a second tag memory portion According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for determining the location of a subject is provided. The method includes receiving, by a first set of receivers out of a plurality of receivers, a first signal from a radio frequency identification tag being assigned to the subject, wherein the radio frequency identification tag has assigned a radio frequency identification tag identity; receiving, by a second set of receivers out of a plurality of receivers, a second signal from the radio frequency identification tag, the second signal being different from the first signal, wherein the second set of receivers is different from the first set of receivers; computing a location score based on an information about the first signal, wherein the information about the first signal is included in the first signal and on the first set of receivers, and further based on an information about the second signal, wherein the information about the second signal is included in the second signal and on the second set of receivers; and determining the location of the subject based on the location score. A system for determining the location of a subject is also provided. A radio frequency identification tag assembly is also provided.
US09165231B2	Image recognition in passive RFID devices Passive RFID devices are disclosed that perform image recognition. The device includes an antenna, circuitry, and a camera. The antenna receives a radio frequency (RF) signal from a RFID reader. The circuitry stores image data for objects that is used for image recognition. To operate, the circuitry derives power from the RF signal. With the power derived from the RF signal, the camera captures an image. The circuitry then identifies an object in the captured image based on the image data for the objects, and outputs information for the identified object, such as to the RFID reader.
US09165227B2	Color image forming apparatus The color image forming apparatus includes a CPU configured to correct a result of detecting a toner patch by a density sensor based on a result of detecting a first white reference plate by the density sensor, and to control a density or chromaticity of a toner image based on a result of detecting the toner patch by the density sensor corrected by the CPU. The CPU is configured to further correct the result of detecting the first white reference plate by the density sensor based on a result of detecting, by the density sensor, a second white reference plate for correcting the first white reference plate. With this configuration, a correction of a sensor output is performed with high accuracy, and detection accuracy of the density or the chromaticity by the sensor is enhanced.
US09165225B2	Program and information processing apparatus There is provided a computer-readable medium having a computer program for causing a computer to perform operations including: acquiring a printing condition for print data to be printed by a printing apparatus; generating the print data based on the printing condition; determining, based on the printing condition, whether to generate a plurality of log data, each including an image corresponding to the print data; if it is determined to generate the plurality of log data for the print data, generating and storing in a storage device first log data which is log data according to the acquired printing condition, and second log data which is log data according to another printing condition different from the acquired printing condition; if it is determined not to generate the plurality of log data for the print data, generating and storing in the storage device only the first log data.
US09165211B2	Image processing apparatus and method Provided is an image processing apparatus for extracting a three-dimensional (3D) feature point from a depth image. An input processing unit may receive a depth image and may receive, via a user interface, selection information of at least one region that is selected as a target region in the depth image. A geometry information analyzer of the image processing apparatus may analyze geometry information of the target region within the input depth image, and a feature point extractor may extract at least one feature point from the target region based on the geometry information of the target region.
US09165208B1	Robust ground-plane homography estimation using adaptive feature selection Described is system and method for robust ground-plane homography estimation using adaptive feature selection. The system determines feature correspondences of an image that correspond with at least one moving object in each image in a set of images. Additionally, feature correspondences of the image that correspond with at least one above-ground object are determined in each image. Feature correspondences that correspond with each moving object in each image are excluded, and feature correspondences that correspond with each above-ground object in each image are excluded. Each image is divided into a plurality of sub-regions comprising features correspondences. The number of feature correspondences in each sub-region is limited to a predetermined threshold to ensure that feature correspondences are evenly distributed over each image. Finally, a ground-plane homography estimation between the set of images is generated.
US09165207B2	Screenshot orientation detection A method and/or system for screenshot orientation detection may include performing an initial optical character recognition (OCR) and/or an initial face recognition technique on a screenshot of an application. A determination of whether the screenshot orientation is correct may be made based on, for example, the initial OCR and/or the initial face recognition technique. In an event when the screenshot orientation is not correct, a determination of a correct screenshot orientation may be made. In this regard, the screenshot may be rotated (e.g., by a predetermined number of degrees). A subsequent OCR and/or a subsequent face recognition technique may be performed on the rotated screenshot. A determination may be made whether the screenshot orientation of the rotated screenshot is correct based on, for example, the subsequent OCR and/or the subsequent face recognition technique.
US09165204B2	Methods and systems for semantic label propagation A method (100) and system (300) is described for processing video data comprising a plurality of images. The method and apparatus is for obtaining for labeling of a plurality of objects or regions in an image of a sequence of images followed by label propagation to other images in the sequence based on an inference step and a model.
US09165190B2	3D human pose and shape modeling Methods, devices and systems for performing video content analysis to detect humans or other objects of interest a video image is disclosed. The detection of humans may be used to count a number of humans, to determine a location of each human and/or perform crowd analyses of monitored areas.
US09165189B2	Seed holding device and seed classification system with seed holding device A seed classification system is provided. The seed classification system includes a seed holding device and a seed spectral analysis system. The seed holding device includes a top surface and a plurality of wells disposed in the top surface. The plurality of wells are configured to hold a plurality of seeds. Each well is defined by at least one wall extending transverse to the top surface. The seed spectral analysis system is configured to obtain image data for one or more of the seeds held in one or more of the wells of the seed holding device and configured to classify the one or more seeds based on the obtained image data.
US09165187B2	Systems and methods for mobile image capture and processing In various embodiments, methods, systems, and computer program products for processing digital images captured by a mobile device are disclosed. Myriad features enable and/or facilitate processing of such digital images using a mobile device that would otherwise be technically impossible or impractical, and furthermore address unique challenges presented by images captured using a camera rather than a traditional flat-bed scanner, paper-feed scanner or multifunction peripheral.
US09165183B2	Estimating apparatus, method thereof, and computer program product therefor An estimating apparatus configured to estimate a correct attribute value is provided. The estimating apparatus extracts feature quantities from an image including a person, calculates a first likelihood of the feature quantity for respective attribute classes; calculating second likelihoods for the respective attribute classes from the first likelihoods for the respective attribute classes; specifies the attribute class having the highest second likelihood; calculates an estimated attribute value of the specific attribute class and estimated attribute values of selected classes by using the feature quantity; and applies the second likelihood on the estimated attribute value of the specific attribute class as a weight, applies the second likelihoods on the estimated attribute values of the selected classes as a weight and add the same, and calculates a corrected attribute value of the specific attribute class.
US09165179B1	Feature reduction based on local densities for bundle adjustment of images Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for determining camera parameters and three dimensional locations of features from a plurality of images of a geographic area. These include, detecting features in the plurality of images where each of the images cover at least a portion of the geographic area, comparing the detected features between respective ones of the images to determine a plurality of matched features, selecting a subset of the plurality of matched features and determining the camera parameters and the three dimensional positions of one or more of the detected features using the selected subset. The respective matched features are selected depending on a quantity of other matched features in proximity to the respective matched features.
US09165178B2	Determination device, fingerprint input device, determination method and determination program for detecting the forgery of a finger A device is not able to detect the forgery of a finger with high accuracy by the comparison of a reflected light image and a transmitted light image that are obtained from the same finger. A determination device is provided with an input means for receiving the reflected light image obtained by photographing a fingerprint of a finger with light reflected from the surface of the finger and the transmitted light image obtained by photographing the fingerprint of the finger with light transmitted through the finger, and a determination means for comparing the reflected light image and the transmitted light image, and outputting a real-forgery determination result of the fingerprint of the finger.
US09165177B2	Contactless fingerprint acquisition and processing A contactless fingerprint acquisition and processing method, includes detecting and acquiring an object image, converting the object image into a fingerprint image and at least one of identifying and verifying the fingerprint image.
US09165167B1	Acoustic decoy system to conceal shooter location An acoustic system is disclosed to help conceal the location of a shooter. The system comprises one or more acoustic decoys and an activating module for sending one or more triggering signals from a weapon to the acoustic decoys. The acoustic decoy comprises a processor, a sound generating module capable of producing a weapon discharge sound, and a receiver connected to an antenna. The decoy processor causes the sound generating module to produce a weapon discharge sound when the receiver receives a triggering signal through the antenna. The activation module comprises an activation processor, an imminent discharge sensor for sensing motion indicative of an imminent weapon discharge, a signal generator, and a transmitter. The activation processor causes the signal generator to generate a triggering signal when the imminent discharge sensor senses an imminent weapon discharge and causes the transmitter to send the triggering signal to the acoustic decoy.
US09165159B1	Encryption based on touch gesture Some of the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising receiving an input from a touch input device. The input corresponds to a gesture produced by a user swiping a pattern on a surface of the touch input device. The method further comprises decomposing the gesture into segments, using a look-up table to determine alphanumeric elements that correspond to each of the segments, and assembling the alphanumeric elements into an encryption password.
US09165158B2	Encryption key management using distributed storage of encryption-key fragments An encryption key fragment is divided into a number of encryption key fragments. Requests to store different ones of the encryption key fragments are transmitted to different computer memory storage systems. An individual request to store an encryption key fragment includes one of the encryption key fragments and bears an access control hallmark for regulating access to the encryption key fragment.
US09165157B2	Methods and apparatus facilitating access to storage among multiple computers Multiple computers in a cluster maintain respective sets of identifiers of neighbor computers in the cluster for each of multiple named resource. A combination of the respective sets of identifiers define a respective tree formed by the respective sets of identifiers for a respective named resource in the set of named resources. Upon origination and detection of a request at a given computer in the cluster, a given computer forwards the request from the given computer over a network to successive computers in the hierarchical tree leading to the computers relevant in handling the request based on use of identifiers of neighbor computers. Thus, a combination of identifiers of neighbor computers identify potential paths to related computers in the tree.
US09165154B2	Trusted cloud computing and services framework A digital escrow pattern is provided for network data services including searchable encryption techniques for data stored in a cloud, distributing trust across multiple entities to avoid a single point of data compromise. In one embodiment, a key generator, a cryptographic technology provider and a cloud services provider are each provided as separate entities, enabling a publisher of data to publish data confidentially (encrypted) to a cloud services provider, and then expose the encrypted data selectively to subscribers requesting that data based on subscriber identity information encoded in key information generated in response to the subscriber requests, e.g., a role of the subscriber.
US09165150B2	Application and device control in a virtualized environment A data loss prevention (DLP) manager running on a security virtual machine manages DLP policies for a plurality of guest virtual machines. The DLP manager identifies a source associated with a file open or create event. The source is at least one of an application or a device being used by a guest virtual machine (GVM). The DLP manager enforces a first response rule associated with the GVM when the source is a non-approved source per a source control policy. The DLP manager enforces a second response rule when the file violates a DLP policy.
US09165131B1	Vehicle connector lockout for in-vehicle diagnostic link connector (DLC) interface port A vehicle connector lockout prevents tampering with digital data stored on a vehicle's Controlled Area Network (CAN), that is accessed via the in-vehicle Diagnostic Link Connector (DLC) interface port, by verifying in pre-crash, crash and post-crash real time when the DLC is secure and un-secure using Near Frequency Communications (NFC) technologies embedded in the vehicle connector lockout that is capable of communicating with the Internet. In one implementation, when a specific area of the vehicle connector lockout is touched by an NFC enabled cell device the time, date and NFC UIP number is recorded in the NFC cell application URL landing page and saved to a Cloud vault. In another implementation, when the vehicle connector lockout key is touched by an NFC enabled cell device the user confirms in real-time the lockout sealed/unsealed status of the DLC thus establishing chain of custody.
US09165123B1	System for integrating a plurality of access control systems having partitionable resources In setting where a number of entities share a common resource and where those entities wish to exclude unauthorized individuals yet desire partitioned access for a set of individuals from each entity, a system integrates a plurality of sets of authorized credentials from a plurality of entities using networking techniques to allow partitioned access to common resources shared by those entities.
US09165119B2	Power injector with keep vein open functionality Disclosed are systems and methods for power injectors incorporating a keep vein open functionality that is operable when an injection protocol (112) is suspended. The injector includes control logic (110) configured to include the injection protocol (112), and a separate drip mode injection protocol (114) executable only during a suspension of the injection protocol (112). In one embodiment, the drip mode injection protocol (114) is automatically or manually initiated immediately after and in response to the suspension of the injection protocol (112). In another embodiment, the drip mode injection protocol (114) is automatically initiated after a predetermined delay from start of the suspension of the injection protocol (112). The configuration parameters for the drip mode injection protocol (114) may be programmable prior to the initiation of an injection procedure, immediately prior to the execution of the drip mode injection protocol (114), or hard-coded into the injector.
US09165102B1	Routing standard cell-based integrated circuits This disclosure describes a multi-height routing cell and utilization of the multi-height routing in an integrated circuit to reduce routing congestion in a standard cell design floorplan. The multi-height routing cell includes a bypass connection, or “tunnel,” that routes a signal through a non-routing layer and under an impeding power rail. The multi-height routing cell includes bypass connectors on both sides of the bypass connection that provide connection points for which to connect standard cells on opposite sides of the impeding power rail. As such, the multi-height routing cell provides a route underneath the impeding power rail and, in turn, reducing routing congestion in the standard cell design floorplan.
US09165092B2	Wind farm layout in consideration of three-dimensional wake Methods and arrangements for determining a layout and dimensions of a wind farm. A three-dimensional wake model for a wind farm is generated, and a positioning and dimensioning model for turbines of the wind farm is developed based on the three-dimensional wake model.
US09165089B2	Presenting unique search result contexts Presenting unique search result contexts, including: receiving, by a search result presentation module, a plurality of search results generated in response to a search query, wherein each search result includes context information associated with the search result; identifying, by the search result presentation module for each search result, a displayable portion of the context information associated with the search result; determining, by the search result presentation module for each search result, whether the displayable portion of the context information is a duplicate of the displayable portion of the context information for another search result; and responsive to determining that the displayable portion of the context information is a duplicate of the displayable portion of the context information for another search result, updating, by the search result presentation module, the displayable portion of the context information for the search result.
US09165087B2	Validity path node pattern for structure evaluation of time-dependent acyclic graphs Systems and processes may access data using a generic graph framework or other graph interface upon request from a business application. Some data retrieved by the interface may be organized as an acyclic graph structure that includes some temporal, time-based, or otherwise time-dependent nodes. In some cases, the acyclic graph may include one or more time-dependent relations. As the datasets are time-dependent, the parents/children can be processed based on their identifiers in combination with the corresponding validities. Additionally, the actual validities during evaluation of the graph may yet to be computed for each element out of the validities of its predecessors. This accessed data, with at least some time-dependent data, can be compared to a validity period provided by the business application to generate a graph valid for the validity period.
US09165074B2	Systems and methods for performing geo-search and retrieval of electronic point-of-interest records using a big index Methods and systems for providing a geo-search engine capability for large point-of-interest record datasets are disclosed. These methods and systems employ a Partition-by-Query index containing key-values pairs corresponding to keys reflecting concept-ordered geo-search phrases and values reflecting ordered lists of point-of-interest record references that are responsive to the concept-ordered geo-search phrase in a corresponding key. A large Partition-by-Query index may be partitioned across multiple servers depending on the size of the index, or the size of the index may be reduced by compressing query-references pairs into clusters. The methods and systems described herein may provide suggestions and spelling corrections to the user, thereby improving the user's geo-search engine experience while meeting user expectations for geo-search quality and responsiveness.
US09165070B2	System and method for visual search in a video media player There is provided a system and method for visual search in a video media player. There is provided a computing device for performing a visual search in video files comprising a display, a memory, a video media player application in the memory, and a processor configured to store into the memory search terms by allowing a user to visually select objects as search terms using a user interface on the display, initiate a search using the search terms, obtain search results comprising time offsets and play durations within the video files, each play duration containing at least one frame corresponding to the search terms, and display navigational controls in the user interface for presenting the search results, including selectable graphical thumbnail images or preview videos. A user can select objects via outlined, highlighted, or otherwise visually identified objects in a video frame, the selecting enabled by associated search metadata.
US09165058B2	Apparatus and method for searching for personalized content based on user's comment An apparatus and a method for searching for personalized content based on a user's comment are provided and designed to search for and provide the personalized content based on a user's preference using a user comment-based search technique, thereby raising user's satisfaction with search results and enhancing search accuracy.
US09165047B2	Data synchronization system and method A method and system for synchronizing data between a network server and a mobile device is provided. In an embodiment, a plurality of object instances may be received from the network server, and at least one object instance may be selected. For each selected object instance, the plurality of object instances may be recursively searched to identify related object instances, the related object instances may be sorted, and the sorted object instances may be sent to the mobile device, followed by the selected object instance. In this manner, data synchronization between the network server and the mobile device may advantageously include only those object instances that are needed by the mobile device, thereby preventing redundant, or omitted, data transfers.
US09165041B2	Products information management assistance apparatus The disclosed invention provides a technique that assists in selecting a proper standard part independently of production achievements of parts and information which is arbitrarily input by a user regarding specification items to decide on a similarity between parts. Disclosed is a products information management assistance apparatus that decides on standard part information based on past products information records. The apparatus includes a products information storing unit that stores information on parts registered in records such as required specifications in the past, parts organization, parts specifications, and cost; a similarity-between-parts calculating unit that calculates a similarity between parts registered in records from parts specifications, a parts standardization effect calculating unit that calculates an effect if the above parts have been standardized in a scope in which they are grouped by similarity; and a standardization analysis result display unit that displays the parts standardization scope and standardization effect together.
US09165040B1	Producing a ranking for pages using distances in a web-link graph Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for producing a ranking for pages on the web. In one aspect, a system receives a set of pages to be ranked, wherein the set of pages are interconnected with links. The system also receives a set of seed pages which include outgoing links to the set of pages. The system then assigns lengths to the links based on properties of the links and properties of the pages attached to the links. The system next computes shortest distances from the set of seed pages to each page in the set of pages based on the lengths of the links between the pages. Next, the system determines a ranking score for each page in the set of pages based on the computed shortest distances. The system then produces a ranking for the set of pages based on the ranking scores for the set of pages.
US09165020B2	String substitution apparatus, string substitution method and storage medium A method includes: unifying plural types of substitution tables in each of which a substitution source string and a substitution destination string are mapped to each other into a single substitution table; constructing a prefix tree to incorporate the substitution source string registered in the single substitution table, a string in the prefix tree represented by characters of a label assigned to plural branches on route from a root node to a certain node is identical to the substitution source string mapped to the substitution source string; performing addition of a link failure directing from a first node to a second node for all nodes included in the prefix tree under a certain condition; and searching the substitution source string included in the target string by repeating migration between nodes in the prefix tree based on a certain condition to record identification information assigned to a node before migration.
US09165014B1	Methods and apparatus for multi-resolution replication of files in a parallel computing system using semantic information Techniques are provided for storing files in a parallel computing system using different resolutions. A method is provided for storing at least one file generated by a distributed application in a parallel computing system. The file comprises one or more of a complete file and a sub-file. The method comprises the steps of obtaining semantic information related to the file; generating a plurality of replicas of the file with different resolutions based on the semantic information; and storing the file and the plurality of replicas of the file in one or more storage nodes of the parallel computing system. The different resolutions comprise, for example, a variable number of bits and/or a different sub-set of data elements from the file. A plurality of the sub-files can be merged to reproduce the file.
US09165005B2	Method and apparatus utilizing non-uniform hash functions for placing records in non-uniform access memory Method and apparatus for storing records in non-uniform access memory. In various embodiments, the placement of records is localized in one or more regions of the memory. This can be accomplished utilizing different ordered lists of hash functions to preferentially map records to different regions of the memory to achieve one or more performance characteristics or to account for differences in the underlying memory technologies. For example, one ordered list of hash functions may localize the data for more rapid access. Another list of hash functions may localize the data that is expected to have a relatively short lifetime. Localizing such data may significantly improve the erasure performance and/or memory lifetime, e.g., by concentrating the obsolete data elements in one location. Thus, the two or more lists of ordered hash functions may improve one or more of access latency, memory lifetime, and/or operation rate.
US09165002B1	Inexpensive deletion in a data storage system Systems and methods are provided herein for storing data to enable inexpensive and/or guaranteed deletion of data. In various embodiments, a customer specifies a data deletion indication associated with a data object to be stored, specifying when and/or how to delete the data object. Such a data deletion indication may be based, for example, on a regulatory compliance requirement. Based at least in part on the data deletion indication, the storage system may select, from a plurality of storage devices, a storage device to store the data object. Data objects with similar data deletion indications may be stored in the same storage device. In some embodiments, a data object stored in a storage device using the methods described herein may be deleted as part of the deletion of all or a portion of the storage device near a time specified by the data deletion indication of the data object.
US09164996B2	Rules based playlist generation A playlist can be generated based on a chart or list including ranked media items, e.g. songs, videos, etc., by automatically including the highest ranked media items to the playlist, but only adding some of the lower ranked media items to the playlist. A particular lower-ranked media item can be pseudo-randomly excluded from the playlist if that media item has a ranking in a current version of the chart that is lower than its ranking in a previous version. Once the desired number of media items has been added to an intermediate list, the intermediate list can be inverted, and station identifiers can be interspersed between the media items.
US09164987B2	Translating a search query into multiple languages A computer-implemented method can include translating a search query from a first language to a second language, comparing the translated query with content in the second language, and identifying content in the second language relevant to the translated query based on the comparing. Also, a computer-implemented method can include translating content in a second language at one or more network locations into a first language, comparing the translated content with a search query written in the first language, and identifying, from the translated content, content relevant to the query based on the comparing.
US09164984B2	Delay in video for language translation Disclosed are various embodiments for translation of speech in a video messaging application. At least one computing device is employed to access a data stream received from a transmitting computing device, where the data stream comprises an audio signal embodying a first language and a video signal. The at least one computing device performs a translation of the audio signal embodying the first language to a translation output embodying a second language and determines a delay indicative of a time needed to perform the translation. The translation output is associated with the video signal after the delay. The at least one computing device determines whether a predefined amount of the audio signal embodying the first language has been translated to the translation output embodying the second language and causes the video signal and the translation output to be communicated to a receiving computing device in association with the delay in response to the predefined amount of the audio signal embodying the first language being translated.
US09164982B1	Methods and apparatus for automatically generating text Some embodiments relate to identifying grammatical errors in text that has been automatically generated from a template. The text may be scanned to identify, for example, errors in punctuation, spacing, and capitalization. When an error in the text is identified, it may be corrected. Some embodiments relate to automatically formatting lists in text that is generated from a template. For example, a template may include a tag that specifies a list of elements. A formatting parameter may be determined that specifies whether to format the list as an enumerated list or a textual sentence. Output text may then be generated that includes the list in the proper format.
US09164981B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program An information processing apparatus performs topic analysis on one or more collected documents to calculate a probability indicating the degree of fitness of each sentence constituting the collected document for each item of a local topic, performs linguistic analysis on the collected document to detect a unique expression pattern in each item of the local topic, sets topic usefulness for each sentence constituting the collected document on the basis of evaluation of the sentence by an evaluator, sets a total evaluation value with respect to each item of the local topic on the basis of the topic analysis result and the topic usefulness, selects an item of the local topic on the basis of the total evaluation values, and extracts an appropriate sentence for a unique expression pattern in the selected item of the local topic from the collected document as a profound text candidate.
US09164979B1	Implicit ratings Disclosed are various embodiments for generating implicit user ratings for a media item. A ratings analyzer tracks user interaction with a network content server configured to present a media item to a plurality of users and then generates an interaction history for each user based at least upon corresponding user interaction with the media item presented by the network content server. A user interaction metric may be generated based at least upon each interaction history associated with the plurality of users and a user interface may be encoded for display where the user interface comprises the user interaction metric.
US09164964B2	Context-aware text document analysis An analysis device for analyzing a text document is provided. The analysis device includes a context storage unit configured to store context information that shows a position of a character set of a predetermined context in the text document. The analysis device also includes an index storage unit configured to store index information that shows a position of a word in the text document, for each word of a plurality of words contained in the text document. An input unit is configured to input a target word. A position detection unit is configured to detect from the index information a position of the target word contained in the text document. A frequency detection unit is configured to detect an appearance frequency of the target word per each type of context in the text document based on the position of the target word and on the context information.
US09164960B2	Matrix storage for system identification A sparse matrix used in the least-squares method is divided into small matrices in accordance with the number of elements of observation. An observation ID is assigned to each element of observation, a parameter ID is assigned to each parameter, and the IDs are associated with parameters of elements as ID mapping. A system determines positions of nonzero elements in accordance with whether or not ID mapping exists, the correspondence between observation IDs and parameter IDs, and the positions of the small matrices, and selects a storage scheme for each small matrix based thereon. The system selects a storage scheme in accordance with conditions, such as whether or not a target element is a diagonal element, whether or not a term decided without ID mapping exists, and whether or not the same ID mapping is referred to.
US09164957B2	Systems and methods for telematics monitoring and communications Certain example embodiments of the disclosed technology may include systems and methods for telematics monitoring. An example method is provided that includes receiving, at a mobile computing device, and from a Vehicle Identification Unit (VIU), identification (ID) data representing a first vehicle. The method further includes receiving, by the mobile computing device, sensor data from one or more sensors associated with the mobile computing device. Certain embodiments may further include receiving, at an Operational Measurement Unit (OMU), an operation indication associated with the first vehicle. The OMU may include an operational measurement component configured to advance an operational count in response to receiving the operation indication. Certain example embodiments may include transmitting telematics data by the mobile computing device. In certain embodiments, the telematics data may include least a portion of one or more of the ID data, the sensor data, and/or the operational count data.
US09164956B2	Vehicle control apparatus and method using private medical information, and mobile terminal A vehicle control apparatus and method using private medical information, and a mobile terminal are provided. An optimized driving environment is provided by searching controllable vehicle control nodes in a vehicle, upon reception of a driver's private medical information; determining if there is vehicle control information for controlling the searched vehicle control node; and controlling the vehicle control nodes using vehicle control information that corresponds to the received driver's private medical information if there is the vehicle control information for controlling the searched control nodes.
US09164952B2	Adaptive integrated circuitry with heterogeneous and reconfigurable matrices of diverse and adaptive computational units having fixed, application specific computational elements The present invention concerns a new category of integrated circuitry and a new methodology for adaptive or reconfigurable computing. The preferred IC embodiment includes a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to an interconnection network. The plurality of heterogeneous computational elements include corresponding computational elements having fixed and differing architectures, such as fixed architectures for different functions such as memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability. In response to configuration information, the interconnection network is operative in real-time to configure and reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a plurality of different functional modes, including linear algorithmic operations, non-linear algorithmic operations, finite state machine operations, memory operations, and bit-level manipulations. The various fixed architectures are selected to comparatively minimize power consumption and increase performance of the adaptive computing integrated circuit, particularly suitable for mobile, hand-held or other battery-powered computing applications.
US09164947B1	Method and system for inserting cookies in I/O commands A system having an initiator adapter coupled to a computing system and communicating with a target adapter coupled to a target controller managing a plurality of storage devices is provided. The initiator adapter initiates an input/output (I/O) request for the target adapter; assigns an exchange identifier for processing the I/O request and embeds a cookie in the exchange identifier for performing a function. The target adapter then sends a response to the I/O request to the initiator adapter with the exchange identifier and the cookie; and the initiator adapter extracts the cookie from the exchange identifier received from the target adapter.
US09164946B2	Data storage raid architecture system and method A data storage RAID architecture system and method that daisy-chains multiple SATA disk drive storage elements to allow a single host bus adapter (HBA) to view the daisy-chain as one logical SATA disk drive is disclosed. The system/method may be broadly described as comprising a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC) further comprising a pass-thru input (PTI) port, disk drive interface (DDI) port, and pass-thru output (PTO) port. The PTDDC intercepts and translates PTI port input to the requirements of a SATA disk drive connected to the DDI. Each PTDDC may be daisy-chained to other PTDDCs to permit a plethora of SATA drives to be associated with a given HBA, with the first PTDDC providing a presentation interface to the HBA integrating all SATA disk drive storage connected to the PTDDCs. Rack mounting of PTDDC-enabled SATA disk drives enables creation of inexpensive dynamically expandable petabyte-class RAID storage arrays.
US09164945B2	Devices, systems, and methods to synchronize parallel processing of a single data stream Disclosed are methods and devices, among which is a system that includes one or more pattern-recognition processors, such as in a pattern-recognition cluster. The pattern-recognition processors may be activated to perform a search of a data stream individually using a chip select or in parallel using a universal select signal. In this manner, the plurality of pattern-recognition processors may be enabled concurrently for synchronized processing of the data stream.
US09164939B2	Circuitry and techniques for updating configuration data in an integrated circuit A method of operating an integrated circuit may include receiving an update request via an input-output protocol, such as the Peripheral Interconnect Component Express (PCIe) protocol. The integrated circuit is placed in an update mode when the update request is received. State information is stored in predefined registers on the integrated circuit and configuration data on the integrated circuit may be subsequently updated. An asserted update mode signal is stored in a status register on the integrated circuit to indicate that the integrated circuit is in the update mode. The configuration data may include a core configuration portion and a peripheral configuration portion. When the integrated circuit is in the update mode, only the core configuration is updated while the peripheral configuration portion may be preserved.
US09164922B2	Technique for passive cache compaction using a least recently used cache algorithm An example method for passive compaction of a cache includes determining first metadata associated with first data and second metadata associated with second data. The first metadata includes a first retrieval time, and the second metadata includes a second retrieval time. The example method further includes obtaining a first metadata key including a first unique identifier and obtaining a second metadata key including a second unique identifier. The example method also includes generating a first data key and generating a second data key. The example method further includes writing, at a client device, the first and second data to the cache. Each of the first and second data occupy one or more contiguous blocks of physical memory in the cache, and the first and second data are stored in the cache in an order based on the relative values of the first and second retrieval times.
US09164915B2	Reserving fixed page areas in real storage increments Embodiments of the disclosure include a method for reserving large pages in a large frame area (LFAREA) of a main memory. The method includes pre-scanning a plurality of storage increments and counting a number of available large pages that are online and issuing a message that indicates the number of available large pages. The method also includes receiving and parsing an LFAREA request including a target number of large pages to be reserved. The method further includes calculating an optimal number of large pages to be reserved, based upon the target number of available pages and a system limit. The method includes determining if the LFAREA request is valid and if the LFAREA request can be satisfied and scanning the plurality of the storage increments and reserving the optimal number of pages in the LFAREA.
US09164893B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory strings each of which includes a series of memory cells that each store data having n bits (n≧3), word lines, each connected in common to memory cells of different memory strings, and a control circuit which controls a first write operation and a second write operation. The first write operation includes a first step where a middle threshold voltage distribution is formed in memory cells and a second step following the first step where threshold voltages of some of the memory cells are increased, and the second write operation includes a step where threshold voltage distributions which correspond to the data having n bits is formed in the memory cells, wherein a write verify operation is performed after the first step but not after the second step of the first write operation.
US09164891B2	Managing the write performance of an asymmetric memory system Some implementations include a method of managing a hosted non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) based storage subsystem that includes NVRAM devices. The method includes: receiving, at a device driver on the host computing device, write requests each requesting to write a respective unit of data to the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; categorizing the write requests into subgroups of write requests, where write requests within respective subgroups are mutually exclusive; ascertaining a load condition of each of several of the NVRAM devices of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; identifying a target location on at least one NVRAM device to service a particular subgroup of write requests according to the ascertained load conditions of the NVRAM devices of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; and servicing the particular subgroup of write requests by writing the corresponding units of data to the identified target location on the at least one NVRAM device of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem.
US09164889B2	Memory system to select program operation method and method thereof A memory system includes a nonvolatile memory device having a first data area storing M-bit data using a buffer program operation and a second data area storing N-bit data (N being an integer larger than M) using a main program operation and a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory device. When a main program operation using data stored at the first and second data areas is required, the memory controller calculates values indicating a performance of the required main program operation to be executed according to a plurality of main program manners, selects one of the plurality of main program manners based on the calculated values, and controls the nonvolatile memory device to perform the required main program operation according to the selected main program manner.
US09164882B2	Chaining move specification blocks An abstraction for storage class memory is provided that hides the details of the implementation of storage class memory from a program, and provides a standard channel programming interface for performing certain actions, such as controlling movement of data between main storage and storage class memory or managing storage class memory.
US09164865B2	Image processing apparatus, method, program, and computer readable recording medium for controlling operation switching and displaying at occurrence of error conditions An apparatus has a display for an operation operated by an application program. The apparatus includes an operation screen displayer that displays an operation screen in the display. The application program is an object to be operated in the operation screen. The apparatus also includes a rule violation displayer that displays that a rule violation has occurred in the display, the rule violation occurring when a processing request from the application program exceeds a predetermined allowable range of an operation condition. A manager switches the display, by the rule violation displayer, from the operation screen to a screen showing a rule violation notice that the rule violation has occurred, in response to the processing request, if it is determined that the processing request is the rule violation based on information as to an operation authority permitted to the application program.
US09164859B2	Computing device for enabling concurrent testing A method for enabling concurrent testing is described. The method includes generating a plurality of test objects on a computing device. The plurality of test objects is generated using derived classes that are based on a base test class and each of the plurality of test objects corresponds to a separate block in a Device Under Test (DUT). The method also includes adding the plurality of test objects to a queue and sending information based on the plurality of test objects to an Automated Test Equipment (ATE). The method also includes causing the ATE to concurrently test the separate blocks in the DUT using the plurality of test objects.
US09164858B2	System and method for optimized board test and configuration The present invention, system and method for optimized board test and configuration, comprises a method for splitting test data into dynamic and static parts, a system for optimized test access using variable-length shift register (VLSR) that uses the latter method, a system for optimized test application using VLSR with accumulating buffer (VLSRB) and a method for switching between BS-based test and VLSR/VLSRB-based test.
US09164850B2	System and method for archiving objects in an information store The invention relates generally to archiving data items in an information store. More particularly, the invention provides a computerized method for identifying, in a first information store, a first data item satisfying retention criteria; copying the first data item to a second information store; creating, in the first information store, a second data item containing a subset of the data of the first data item selected based on the data type of the first data item; and replacing the first data item, in the first information store, with the second data item.
US09164844B2	Method and apparatus for detecting anomalies within indoor information Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for detection of anomalies within indoor map information are presented. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a digital map. The method may further include identifying one or more anomalies within the digital map using a software-based anomaly detection tool. The method may also include displaying one or more suggested corrections to a user based on the one or more identified anomalies. The method may additionally include correcting the one or more identified anomalies within the digital map.
US09164836B2	Cycling endurance extending for memory cells of a non-volatile memory array Examples are disclosed for cycling endurance extending for memory cells of a non-volatile memory array. The examples include implementing one or more endurance extending schemes based on program/erase cycle counts or a failure trigger. The one or more endurance extending schemes may include a gradual read window expansion, a gradual read window shift, an erase blank check algorithm, a dynamic soft-program or a dynamic pre-program.
US09164834B2	Semiconductor memory devices, memory systems including the same and method of writing data in the same In one embodiment, the semiconductor device includes a memory array and a control architecture configured to control reading data from and writing data to the memory array. The control architecture is configured to receive data and a codeword location in the memory array, select one or more data units in the received data based on a data mask, read a codeword currently stored at the codeword location in the memory array, error correct the read codeword to generate a corrected read codeword, form a new codeword from the selected data units of the received data and data units in the corrected read codeword that do not correspond to the selected data units, and write the new codeword to the memory array.
US09164824B2	Information processing apparatus and operation status monitoring method An information processing apparatus includes a plurality of controller modules capable of performing communications with each other, and a memory included in each controller module to be stored with status information reflecting a status of an error occurring during the communications with other controller modules with respect to the controller module of a communication partner apparatus and/or the controller module of the self-apparatus, wherein, when determining whether or not a fault occurs in a certain controller module in the plurality of controller modules, the controller module different from a determination target controller module determines, based on status information of the determination target controller module that is stored on the memories of two or more controller modules different from the determination target controller module, whether the fault occurs in the determination target controller module.
US09164813B2	Using a debug engine to identify threads that wait for a mutex In an embodiment, a first thread of a plurality of threads of a program is halted. A subset of the plurality of threads are determined that are waiting for a mutex that is locked by the first thread while the first thread is halted. Identifiers of the subset of the plurality of threads are presented. The subset of the plurality of threads may have their execution directly blocked and/or indirectly blocked by a lock on the mutex by the first thread. In embodiment, the first thread is halted in response to the first thread encountering a breakpoint, and the subset of the plurality of threads do not halt in response to the first thread encountering the breakpoint.
US09164806B2	Processing pattern framework for dispatching and executing tasks in a distributed computing grid A processing pattern is described for dispatching and executing tasks in a distributed computing grid, such as a cluster network. The grid includes a plurality of computer nodes that store a set of data and perform operations on that data. The grid provides an interface that allows clients to submit tasks to the cluster for processing. The interface can be used to establish a session between the client and the cluster, which will be used to submit a task for processing by the plurality of computer nodes of the cluster. A dispatcher receives a submission of the task over the interface and routes the task to at least one node in the cluster that is designated to process the task. A task processor then processes the task on the designated node(s), generates a submission outcome and indicates to the client that the submission outcome is available.
US09164805B2	Managing workload distribution to reduce acoustic levels A computer-implemented method obtains a correlation between percent utilization and noise level for a plurality of compute node types, and obtains an inventory of a plurality of compute nodes in a cluster, wherein the inventory identifies each compute node by a compute node type, and wherein the plurality of compute nodes includes two or more compute node types. The method further includes determining a percent utilization of each compute node, and, for each compute node of an identified compute node type, determining a noise level using the determined percent utilization for the compute node as input into the correlation between percent utilization and noise level for the identified compute node type. An overall noise level in the cluster is calculated using the noise level determined for each compute node, and workload is distributed among the plurality of compute nodes to reduce the calculated overall noise level in the cluster.
US09164803B2	Background task resource control Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for controlling resource access for background tasks. For example, a background task created by an application may utilize a resource (e.g., CPU cycles, bandwidth usage, etc.) by consuming resource allotment units from an application resource pool. Once the application resource pool is exhausted, the background task is generally restricted from utilizing the resource. However, the background task may also utilize global resource allotment units from a global resource pool shared by a plurality of applications to access the resource. Once the global resource pool is exhausted, unless the background task is a guaranteed background task which can consume resources regardless of resource allotment states of resource pools, the background task may be restricted from utilizing the resource until global resource allotment units within the global resource pool and/or resource allotment units within the application resource pool are replenished.
US09164802B2	System, method and program product for allocating resources and services A shared resource system, method of sharing resources and services and a computer program product therefor. Client computers communicate with at least one provider computer that selectively makes resource capacity available to the client computers. The client computers and provider computer pass messages to each other negotiating access to provider resources and services. The provider computer(s) notifies each requesting client computer of any potential conflicts with any portion of the requested capacity in confirmation qualification messages.
US09164796B2	Robust system control method with short execution deadlines A method of controlling a system includes the steps of launching a task having associated therewith a worst case execution time, and monitoring the end of the task after the end of a time slot allocated to the execution of the task, wherein the time slot is shorter than the worst case execution time. The task may be launched periodically according to a fixed period of time, and when the execution of the task ends before the allocated time slot, the method may further include outputting a value calculated based on a current input value but when the execution of the task does not end before the allocated time slot, the method may further include outputting a value calculated based on a previous input value and stopping the task and launching the task again at the next period of time with a next input value.
US09164794B2	Hardware prefix reduction circuit A hardware prefix reduction circuit includes a plurality of levels. Each level includes an input conductor, an output conductor, and a plurality of nodes. Each node includes a buffer and a storage device that stores a digital logic level. One node further includes an inverter. Another node further includes an AND gate with two non-inverting inputs. Another node further includes an AND gate with an inverting input and a non-inverting input. One bit of an input value, such as an internet protocol address, is communicated on the input conductor. The first level of the prefix reduction circuit includes two nodes and each subsequent level includes twice as many nodes as is included in the preceding level. A digital logic level is individually programmed into each storage device. The digital logic levels stored in the storage devices determines the prefix reduction algorithm implemented by the hardware prefix reduction circuit.
US09164785B2	Predicting performance of a consolidated virtualized computing environment Implementations of the present disclosure provide computer-implemented methods for predicting a performance of a consolidated virtualized computing environment. Methods include processing benchmark workloads using a plurality of virtual machines to generate a plurality of traces, each trace including data corresponding to requests issued by a respective virtual machine operating in an isolated environment, storing the plurality of traces in one or more trace repositories, each trace repository provided as a computer-readable storage medium, selecting a trace from the plurality of traces stored in the one or more trace repositories, parameterizing a queuing model based on the trace, the queuing model representing request queuing in the consolidated virtualized computing environment, and processing the queuing model using one or more processors to generate one or more response time estimates for the consolidated virtualized computing environment.
US09164783B2	Load time resolution for dynamic binding languages Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to load time resolutions and provide a method, system and computer program product for load time resolution of AOT compiled class references in a dynamic binding executing environment. In one embodiment of the invention, a method of resolving class references in AOT compiled code can be provided. The method can include updating AOT code at loading time for already resolved class references in the AOT code, and executing the updated AOT code to resolve remaining unresolved class references in the updated AOT code.
US09164779B2	Apparatus and method for providing for remote user interaction An apparatus, method, and computer program product are described that provide for a replicated user interface, including a replicated active display area and a replicated boundary area, such that the replicated user interface can recognize the same types of user inputs that are recognized by a remote user interface, and the same operations may be executed upon receipt of such inputs. The apparatus can establish a communications link with the remote user interface and determine whether the remote user interface is configured to detect a user input at least partially received in a boundary area outside an active display area of the remote user interface. A replicated active display area and a replicated boundary area may then be provided for in response to a determination that the remote user interface is configured to detect a user input at least partially received in the boundary area of the remote user interface.
US09164777B2	Determining the display of equal spacing guides between diagram shapes Technologies are described herein for determining the display of equal spacing guides between diagram shapes. The nearest neighbors of each shape in a diagram are determined, and the distances between each shape and its nearest neighbors are calculated. When an active shape in the diagram is positioned or moved, spacing guides are displayed between shapes having equidistant spacing when the calculated distances between shapes become equal to a distance between the active shape and one of its nearest neighbors.
US09164772B2	Hybrid queue for storing instructions from fetch queue directly in out-of-order queue or temporarily in in-order queue until space is available A queuing apparatus having a hierarchy of queues, in one of a number of aspects, is configured to control backpressure between processors in a multiprocessor system. A fetch queue is coupled to an instruction cache and configured to store first instructions for a first processor and second instructions for a second processor in an order fetched from the instruction cache. An in-order queue is coupled to the fetch queue and configured to store the second instructions accepted from the fetch queue in response to a write indication. An out-of-order queue is coupled to the fetch queue and to the in-order queue and configured to store the second instructions accepted from the fetch queue in response to an indication that space is available in the out-of-order queue, wherein the second instructions may be accessed out-of-order with respect to other second instructions executing on different execution pipelines.
US09164768B2	Executing an instruction set using a prefix to interpret an operator field as either a first or a second operator field A method of executing an instruction set having a first instruction and a second instruction, includes: reading the first instruction; determining whether the first instruction is integral with the second instruction; reading the second instruction; when the first instruction is integral with the second instruction, interpreting a first operator field of the second instruction to represent a first operator; and when the first instruction is not integral with the second instruction, interpreting the first operator field of the second instruction to represent a second operator, wherein the first operator is different to the second operator.
US09164761B2	Obtaining data in a pipelined processor A pipelined processor including one or more units having storage locations not directly accessible by software instructions. The processor includes a load-store unit (LSU) in direct communication with the one or more units for accessing the storage locations in response to special instructions. The processor also includes a requesting unit for receiving a special instruction from a requestor and a mechanism for performing a method. The method includes broadcasting storage location information from the special instruction to one or more of the units to determine a corresponding unit having the storage location specified by the special instruction. Execution of the special instruction is initiated at the corresponding unit. If the unit executing the special instruction is not the LSU, the data is sent to the LSU. The data is received from the LSU as a result of the execution of the special instruction. The data is provided to the requester.
US09164759B2	Test management domain asset discovery and analysis Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for automated discovery and analysis of test management domain assets. A method for automated discovery of test management domain assets includes crawling different, remotely disposed repositories of test management artifacts and locating test management artifacts in the different, remotely disposed repositories of test management artifacts. The method also includes selecting for each located test management artifact an analyzer configured to process test management artifacts of a type consistent with a type of the located test management artifact. Finally, the unified repository can be queried to produce a result based upon test management artifact data stored in the unified repository, though the test management artifact data had been located in the different, remotely disposed repositories of test management artifacts.
US09164742B2	Method and a system for searching for parts of a computer program which affects a given symbol The present invention relates to a method and system for searching for parts of a computer program which affects a given symbol. The system comprises a first data storage area (1) for storing a symbol database including information on names of symbols, such as variables and functions, used in the computer program, and including, in connection to each symbol, a reference list including references to locations in the computer program where the symbol is used, a second data storage area (2) for storing a result list, and a search module (6) configured to in response to a request for information on which parts of the computer program affect a given symbol: a) retrieve the list of references for the symbol from the data-base, and store at least some of the references in the result list, b) analyze the program code or a representation of the program code on the location pointed out by the stored references, and based thereon determine whether the value of the symbol depends on any other symbol or symbols, and if the analysis discovers that the value of the symbol depends on any other symbol or symbols the steps a-b are repeated in a recursive manner for the discovered symbol or symbols until the analysis reveals that the value of the symbol does not depend on any further symbol, and to produce information on which parts of the computer program affects the symbol based on the references stored in the result list.
US09164728B1	Ternary DSP block Backwards compatible architecture for improving the arithmetic capability of existing processing blocks for relatively low cost is disclosed. The architecture includes a processing block on an integrated circuit device. The processing block includes a first, a second, and a third configurable multiplier and a configurable adder network. The processing block also includes a configurable interconnect within the processing block for routing signals between each of the multipliers and the adder network in accordance with a mode of operation. One or more of the processing blocks may be used to perform compute various calculations such as complex number multiplication and/or real number multiplication. The calculations may be performed on input values contain various numbers of bits, such as 36 bit numbers, 54 bit numbers, or 72 bit numbers.
US09164727B2	FPGA-based high-speed low-latency floating point accumulator and implementation method therefor This invention discloses a FPGA based high-speed low-latency floating-point accumulation and its implementation method. Floating accumulation of this invention comprises a floating-point adder unit, numerous intermediate result buffers, an input control unit and an output control unit. The floating-point accumulation implementation method of this invention is used for gradation of the whole accumulation calculation process to ensure cross execution of accumulation calculation processes and graded storage of intermediate results of accumulation calculation at different levels; meanwhile, the operation in the mode of pure flow line can significantly improve utilization rate of internal floating-point adder, and maintain relatively low latency to output of final results of floating-point accumulation calculation. This invention is expected to improve utilization rate of floating-point adder through dynamic allocation of input data in internal floating-point adder unit, and thereby maintains higher arithmetic speed and relatively low latency while ensuring minimized consumption of logic or DSP resources as required.
US09164722B2	Modular display panels with different pitches An embodiment method of manufacturing modular panels includes manufacturing a group of modular display panels, including a first and second modular display panel that have the same size and shape. The first modular display panel includes a first pixel array arranged at a first pitch, and the second modular display panel includes a second pixel array that is arranged at a second pitch that is different than the first pitch. Any two modular display panels in the group are capable of being attached to each other in an integrated display system.
US09164714B2	Information processing apparatus, method, and program for controlling a user interface An information processing apparatus which operates an operating system providing a first user interface environment appropriate for a touch panel and a conventional desktop user interface environment automatically executes processing by using information set as a default value, if an operation by a user on a pop-up dialog, which is displayed in the desktop user interface environment and is related to functions including a secure print function provided by a printer driver, is not performed for a predetermined period of time.
US09164711B2	Network printing system and network printing program adapted to execute printing from a mobile terminal to a printer by using wireless communication A desired printer can be reliably selected and the setting of which printer is permitted to communicate with which mobile terminal can be easily altered. A mobile terminal acquires printer identification information from a printer by NFC communication, and transmits the printer identification information and mobile terminal identification information to a server, thereby requesting an authentication. The mobile terminal transmits print data to the printer to instruct a printing execution when the authentication is successful. Therefore, the desired printer can be reliably selected by placing the mobile terminal close to the desired printer. Any stolen mobile terminal can be disabled for any printer only by rewriting the centrally managed information on the server.
US09164703B2	Solid state drive interface controller and method selectively activating and deactivating interfaces and allocating storage capacity to the interfaces A solid state drive (SSD) interface controller includes a host interface, first and second command interfaces, and an interface information storage unit. The interface information storage unit is configured to store information for determining activation or deactivation of each of the first and second command interfaces, and a capacity allocated to each of the first and second command interfaces. The interface information storage unit may comprise first and second registers storing interface information, which may be changed in response to an extension ROM BIOS executed during a booting operation. The command interfaces may be configured to communicate using interface protocols such as SATA, SATA express, or nonvolatile express. An interface power management unit may cut power to an interface when deactivated based on the stored interface information.
US09164693B2	Remote copy system and remote copy control method A first storage system comprises a first RAID group comprising multiple first storage devices, which constitute the basis of a first logical volume. A second storage system comprises a second RAID group comprising multiple second storage devices, which constitute the basis of a second logical volume. The RAID configuration of the first RAID group and the RAID configuration of the second RAID group are the same, and the type of a compression/decompression function of the respective first storage devices and the type of a compression/decompression function of the respective second storage devices are the same. Compressed data is read from a first storage device without being decompressed with respect to the data inside a first logical volume, and the read compressed data is written to a second storage device, which is in the same location in RAID in the second RAID group as the location in RAID of this first storage device.
US09164686B2	Virtual storage space with cyclical wrapping grid function Apparatus and method for arranging a virtual storage space with a cyclical wrapping grid function. The virtual storage space is formed from a physical memory and comprises a plurality of larger grains of selected storage capacity, each divided into a power of two number of smaller grains. Each of the larger grains are distributed across a non-power of two number of storage elements so that each of the storage elements receives the same number of smaller grains.
US09164677B2	Systems and methods for DMA controller for checking the status of metadata prior to or simultaneously when transferring data to host A memory controller is provided which includes a host interface configured to provide an interface for communication with a host; a buffer memory configured to store user data and metadata of the user data; and a DMA controller configured to access the buffer memory to check the metadata and to provide user data corresponding to a logical block address requested from a host to the host interface according to the checking result. The metadata includes status information of the user data stored at the buffer memory. Before providing the host interface with user data corresponding to a first logical block address requested from the host, the DMA controller checks metadata of user data corresponding to a second logical block address requested from the host.
US09164674B2	Three-dimensional gesture recognition system, circuit, and method for a touch screen A touch controller is coupled to a touch screen and detects a first gesture at a first point on the touch screen. The first gesture includes physical contact of the touch screen by a user device at the first point. The touch controller detects a second gesture that is associated with movement of the user device from the first point to a second point on the touch screen. The second gesture includes detecting movement of the user device within a sensing range from the first point to the second point. The sensing range corresponds to an orthogonal distance from a surface of the touch screen. The touch controller detects a third gesture at the second touch point. The third gesture includes physical contact of the touch screen at the second touch point. Upon detecting the first, second and third gestures the touch controller performs a corresponding action.
US09164659B2	Simultaneous input across multiple applications One or more users may interact simultaneously with different applications on the same device through an input system such as a touch-sensitive display screen. Simultaneous user input may be detected by a multiple input system and subsequently transmitted to an application using a single transmission frame. An application corresponding to the user input is determined based on an input location of the user input and a location and size of a corresponding application. Simultaneous user inputs are rendered simultaneously by each corresponding application. Each application may further include a secondary event processing thread that runs in parallel to traditional operating system event threads. The secondary event processing thread bypasses sequential processing limits of an operating system event thread, providing substantially simultaneous processing of input.
US09164652B2	Energy management assistance device, energy management assistance system, and program An object is to allow intuitively understand whether display information displayed on a display device indicates favorable state or unfavorable state for a user. An acquisition unit 11 acquires energy-related information. A communication unit 13 is connected to a display device 3 and an operation device 4. Display information to be displayed on the display device 3 has a stratum structure including first display information as a top tier and second display information, the first display information including at least two categories which express the favorability about the energy-related information, the second display information including plural kinds of information so that the lower tier includes more detailed information. An information generation unit 14 transmits second display information to the display device 3 upon receiving a request from the operation device 4 when first display information is displayed on the display device 3.
US09164648B2	Method and apparatus for establishing user-specific windows on a multi-user interactive table The present invention is directed toward a method and apparatus in which one or more user specific windows may be launched within a single computing session executed and displayed on the display of an interactive table. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward detecting the position of one or more users around an interactive table and generating one or more user-specific windows proximate to one or more user/s on the display of the interactive table within a single session.
US09164618B2	Noise reduction in digitizer system A method for noise reduction in a digitizer includes determining a location of a stylus with a known frequency of emission over a first sampling period, sampling output from a plurality of detecting elements over a second sampling period, identifying detecting elements with sampled output in the second sampling period above a defined threshold in a selected frequency, the selected frequency being close to but different than the known frequency of the stylus, selecting as a candidate carrier of mere noise a detecting element from the detecting elements identified that is spaced away from the determined location of the stylus, and reducing values of output sampled over the second sampling period from at least one other detecting element, in accordance with the output sampled over the second sampling period from the detecting element selected as the candidate carrier of mere noise.
US09164614B2	Electronic device that invalidates touch input when relative movement between display screens is detected An electronic device includes a plurality of display screens, a joining part configured to join the display screens relatively movably, touch panels provided on the display screens, a touch panel control module configured to receive signals from the touch panels, a movement sensing sensor configured to sense relative movement between the display screens, and a control module to which signals from the touch panel control module are inputted, the control module being configured to invalidate the input of the signals from the touch panel control module, when the relative movement between the display screens is sensed by the movement sensing sensor.
US09164612B2	Flexible touch display panel The spread of nascent cracks through a flexible electrodes layer is blocked or impeded by patterning at least one of the electrodes to have crack-spread blocking boundaries and/or crack-spread impeding choke points, where the crack-spread blocking boundaries are placed to block linear growth of cracks and the crack-spread impeding choke points are placed and sized to serve as bottlenecks that impede linear growth of cracks through the corresponding electrode. Additionally, greater flexibility is provided by including a pattern of elongated strips of narrow width electrode material longitudinally extending in different directions, where the provided flexibility is greater than what it would be if a pattern of elongated narrow width electrode strips longitudinally extending in different directions was not provided. One example of crack-spread blocking boundaries and flexibility enhancing patterning is that of shaping each electrode to have serpentine fingers extending longitudinally in different directions. One example of crack-spread impeding choke points is that of shaping each electrode to have dose but spaced apart openings for example in a grid pattern.
US09164607B2	Complementary touch panel electrodes A multi-layer touch panel having an upper and a lower electrode that cross over one another. The electrode pattern for either electrode at the cross over area is complementary to the other electrode at the cross over area.
US09164606B2	Dynamic voltage generation for touch-enabled displays The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that provides power for a touch-enabled display, wherein the touch-enabled display cycles between a display mode and a touch mode. During the display mode, the system drives a display-mode voltage to the touch-enabled display through a power output, wherein the power output is coupled through a display-mode capacitor CD to ground. Next, during a transition from the display mode to the touch mode, the system couples the power output through a touch-mode capacitor CT to ground, wherein CT was previously charged to a touch-mode voltage, which causes the power output to rapidly transition to the touch-mode voltage. Then, during the touch mode, the system drives the touch-mode voltage through the power output.
US09164603B2	Executing gestures with active stylus In one embodiment, a stylus has one or more sensors that detect the movement of the stylus, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer. The stylus wirelessly transmits signals to a device based on the movement of the stylus.
US09164599B2	Multifunctional stylus One exemplary embodiment involves receiving an input on a device, the input comprising at least one of an amount of pressure applied to the device against a computing device, a click of a physical button associated with the device, or a movement of the device against the computing device. The embodiment also includes transmitting the received input to the computing device via a wireless transceiver associated with the device. Additionally, the embodiment includes causing a plurality of actions to be performed on the computing device based at least in part on the received input.
US09164592B2	Keypad The invention provides a keypad comprising at least consonant keys and vowel keys such that the vowel keys are arranged in a column between two edge columns of consonant keys, or in a row between two edge rows of consonant keys, wherein the consonant keys other than Z follow an alphabetic progression.
US09164590B2	System and method for automated capture and compaction of instructional performances The system comprises functionality for instructors to record their lessons in an easy method while allowing them to capture their teaching techniques with a tool which improves the effectiveness of the playback, by reverse scripting of the teachers motions and use of educational tools including blackboards, whiteboards, and tablet computers among others and automating highlight of the relevant multiple media channels for best emphasis during presentation. Access to the centralized lesson database will permit students to learn from the best teachers and instructors and can execute the system right on their desktops or portable computers or access it through a dedicated website. Playback may be personalized to the needs and preferences of each student and the conceptual content is essentially highlighted in video and audio to maximize didactic effectiveness of presentation.
US09164589B2	Dynamic gesture based short-range human-machine interaction Systems, devices and methods are described including starting a gesture recognition engine in response to detecting an initiation gesture and using the gesture recognition engine to determine a hand posture and a hand trajectory in various depth images. The gesture recognition engine may then use the hand posture and the hand trajectory to recognize a dynamic hand gesture and provide corresponding user interface command.
US09164572B2	Method and apparatus for mitigating effects of memory scrub operations on idle time power savings mode An approach for saving power in a memory subsystem that uses memory access idle timer to enable low power mode and memory scrub operation within computing system has been provided. The computing system determines that a memory subsystem is switched out of low power operation mode due to a memory scrub operation. In addition, the computing system bypasses the low power operation mode of an idle timer of the memory subsystem such that the memory subsystem is returned to the low power operation mode upon completion of the memory scrub operation. The computing system further sets a scrub flag of the memory subsystem to a high state, and clears the scrub flag to a low state to track if the idle timer should be bypassed.
US09164570B2	Dynamic re-configuration for low power in a data processor A data processor includes an execution unit having a multiple number of redundant resources, and a configuration circuit having first and second modes, wherein in the first mode, the configuration circuit enables the multiple number of redundant resources, and in the second mode, the configuration circuit disables the multiple number of redundant resources.
US09164566B2	Apparatus and method for efficient estimation of the energy dissipation of processor based systems A system and method of scheduling tasks, comprising receiving activity and performance data from registers or storage locations maintained by hardware and an operating system; storing calibration coefficients associated with the activity and performance data; computing an energy dissipation rate based on at least the activity and performance data; and scheduling tasks under the operating system based on the computed energy dissipation rate.
US09164565B2	Apparatus and method to manage energy usage of a processor In an embodiment, a processor includes at least one processor core and power control logic having energy usage logic to predict an energy usage of the processor and a voltage regulator coupled to the processor, during a low power period according to a first voltage regulator control mode and a second voltage regulator control mode, and to control the voltage regulator based at least in part on the predicted energy usage. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09164564B2	Method and apparatus for optimizing power consumption in a multiprocessor environment A method and apparatus for reducing net power consumption in a computer system includes identifying a plurality of processing states operable to execute a task. A processing state and current drain pattern is selected that is most power efficient. A selected processing state may include one or more processing elements of the computer system such as one or more processors or accelerators and indicates the manner in which one or more portions of the received task may be distributed among the processing elements of the computer system. The current drain pattern selected may be a constant current drain pattern or a pulsed current drain pattern and may be selected to optimize power consumption when executing the task among the one or more processing elements.
US09164557B1	Managing power pooled from multiple shelves of a rack A method of managing power to electrical systems in a rack includes pooling power from power supply mechanisms in two or more slots of a rack. Power is supplied from the pooled power to electrical systems in one or more slots in the rack. Power supply mechanisms are activated or deactivated from the pooled power based on conditions of the power supply mechanisms or the electrical systems receiving power from the pooled power supply system.
US09164546B2	Gallery operations for a device in landscape mode Methods and devices for selectively presenting a user interface in a dual screen device. More particularly, the method includes providing a gallery for the dual screen device. The gallery can present one or more images in a user interface. The gallery user interface can adapt to changes in the device configuration. Further, the gallery can display images or videos in the various configurations.
US09164544B2	Unified desktop: laptop dock, hardware configuration A multi-display device can interface with two or more different types of docking stations. The device can determine the type of dock and change the pin outs for a connector to interface with that dock. Once docked, the device can determine a charge status for the device and the dock to present the status to the user. Further, the dock can enter one of several modes, including a call receipt mode and an entertainment mode. The modes allow for expanded functionality for the device while docked. Two particular docks, the laptop dock and the smart dock, provide special functionality with the device.
US09164541B2	Notebook computer with slidable and rotatable screen panel A notebook computer is provided. The notebook computer includes a screen panel, a main body, two connecting members, and two shafts. The connecting members connect the screen panel to the main body. The screen panel rotates relative to the main body. The main body defines two slide channels and a receiving space. A depth of the receiving space is greater than a depth of the slide channel, a pair of guiding grooves is defined in two opposite inner sidewalls of each slide channel, and a hole is defined in each inner sidewall of each slide channel at an end of corresponding guiding groove adjacent to a bottom of the receiving space and communicating with the corresponding guiding groove. The screen panel is slidable relative to the main body on and along the slide channels.
US09164538B2	Graphics and monitor controller assemblies in multi-screen display systems A multi-monitor display system is described having an arm adapted for supporting a plurality of monitors containing display screens. The system also includes a column for supporting the arm, a monitor controller assembly for electronically controlling images displayed on the screens, and a graphics assembly for sending signals to the monitor controller assembly to produce the images. The system is used in conjunction with a central processor located in a computer housing. The monitor controller assembly is disposed outside of the monitors and/or the graphics assembly is disposed outside the computer housing.
US09164535B2	Multi-protocol I/O interconnect time synchronization Described are embodiments of methods, apparatuses, and systems for time synchronization of a multi-protocol I/O interconnect of computer apparatus. A method for synchronizing time across the multi-protocol I/O interconnect may include providing a first local time of a first switch of a switching fabric of a multi-protocol interconnect to a second switch of the switching fabric, and adjusting a second local time of the second switch to the first local time. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09164533B2	Method and apparatus for obtaining audio content and providing the audio content to a plurality of audio devices in a multi-zone system An audio processing device comprising: a network interface configured to receive audio information from a network; a user interface module that includes a display configured to display a plurality of audio information sources available via the network; a control module configured to receive control input from the user interface module indicating a selection of one of the plurality of audio information sources; an audio information channelization device connected to the network interface configured (i) to receive a list of audio tracks to be played, (ii) to request the audio information from the selected one of the plurality of audio information sources according to the list, and (iii) to transmit the audio information in packet form via the network interface to two or more audio playback devices.
US09164519B2	Smart environmental control system for an enclosure with diagnostics Environmental conditions within an enclosure containing critical equipment and devices are monitored and when outside of acceptable parameters corrective action is taken to modify these environmental conditions so as to bring them within acceptable limits. Unless an environmental condition is outside of an acceptable limit, no energy expenditure is made by the environmental conditioning equipment since it does not need to be in use. When the environmental conditioning equipment is called into operation, its environmental modification influence is monitored to determine if the expected environmental modification is occurring within an expected time period(s). If the expected environmental modification does not occur within the expected time period, and/or does not occur at an expected time rate of change, then an alarm is generated to indicate that maintenance may be required for the environmental conditioning equipment.
US09164516B2	Method and apparatus for controlling a fluid operated actuator A positioner (102) for controlling a fluid operated actuator (101) including a first fluid chamber (109) and a second fluid chamber (110) is provided. The positioner (102) comprises a first fluid conduit (105) coupled to the first fluid chamber (109). The positioner (102) also comprises a second fluid conduit (106) coupled to the second fluid chamber (110). A differential pressure controller (240) provided in the positioner (102) is adapted to control a fluid supply to the first and second fluid conduits (105, 106) based on a differential pressure between the first and second fluid chamber (109, 110).
US09164505B1	Automatic rejected takeoff system A method for automatic rejection takeoff (RTO) of an aircraft monitors a plurality of sensors for an RTO event. Signals are sent to control systems of the aircraft to perform an RTO when the RTO event occurs.
US09164502B2	Control device and control method of five-axis control machine tool, program, and mold A five-axis control machine tool stores rotation-axis data indicating the inclination or runouts of each of a rotation axis A of a tilting table and a rotation axis C of a rotating table in association with rotation angles determined based on NC data, and calculates a correction rotation angle of each of the rotation angles A and C to correct the erroneous attitude of a tool. Five-axis control is performed based on the NC data by rotating the tilting table and the rotating table about the rotation axes A and C at the correction rotation angles, so that a workpiece is machined while eliminating the erroneous attitude of the tool.
US09164498B2	Method and system for managing and operating a plurality of farm houses A system for monitoring, managing, and/or operating a plurality of farm houses on a plurality of farms is disclosed. The system includes a controller and/or a monitor box in the farm house and a computer in communication with the controller for controlling and adjusting various parameters of the farm house or with the monitor box for monitoring the farm house. The system also includes a computer at an integrator's office that is operable to monitor and/or control various parameters from the farm house remotely. These parameters enable the integrator to coordinate operations with processing plants, feed mills, field service and hatcheries. It also enables the integrator to prepare various data reports for use by the integrator or others.
US09164495B2	Motor controller controlling two motors for driving single driven object In a motor controller according to the present invention, a speed control unit 24m includes an integrator calculating an integrated value Sm of a speed error ωm-ωm′ between a speed command value ωm and a rotation speed ωm′ and generates a torque command value Tm based on ωm-ωm′, a predetermined value, a proportional gain and an integration gain. A speed control unit 24s includes an integrator calculating an integrated value Ss of a speed error ωs-ωs′ between a speed command value ωs and a rotation speed ωs′ and generates a torque command value Ts based on ωs-ωs′, the predetermined value, a proportional gain and an integration gain. An integrated value selecting unit 28 selects any one of Sm and Ss as the predetermined value, depending on a drive status of a main motor 6m and a sub motor 6s.
US09164493B2	Time dependent-temperature independent color changing label A timing device for indicating a passage of a duration of time is disclosed. The timing device in accordance with the embodiments of the invention has a grid array architecture. The grid array architecture includes an electrode structure with an anode layer, a cathode layer and a thermistor layer. The anode layer and the thermistor layer are electrically coupled through a plurality of cathode trace structures. In operation the timing device is actuated through a suitable mechanism to initiate depletion of the anode layer and, thereby, indicate a passage of a duration time. As the anode layer depletes, sequential cathode trace structures are exposed and the thermistor layer acts as a temperature dependent resistor through a plurality of exposed cathode trace structures.
US09164486B2	Operation stabilization mechanism, movement, and mechanical timepiece An operation stabilization mechanism has a first carriage to which a rotational drive force of a train wheel is transmitted and which is rotatably supported with respect to a main plate, and a second carriage rotatably supported with respect to the first carriage. A constant-force spring is provided between the first carriage and the second carriage and is configured to impart a rotational force to the second carriage so that the second carriage undergoes rotation with respect to the first carriage. An escapement/governor mechanism is mounted in the second carriage and is configured to be driven by a rotational torque generated through rotation of the second carriage and transmitted to the escapement/governor mechanism. A stopper lever is mounted to undergo rotational movement relative to the first carriage for suppressing fluctuations in the rotational torque transmitted to the escapement/governor mechanism.
US09164483B2	Escapement mechanism An escapement mechanism for a timepiece, includes an escapement wheel (1), an escapement anchor (2) including a body (2a), and a fork (5), the body (2a) including pallets (3, 3′, 4, 4′) that engage with the escapement wheel (1), the body (2a) having a shape that makes it possible to delimit an internal space (11) for arranging the escapement wheel (1), the pallets (3, 3′, 4, 4′) including two rest pallets (3, 3′) and two impulse pallets (4, 4′), protruding in the internal space (11). The mechanism includes a pin (7) of a roller (6) that is secured to a regulating device, characterized in that the roller (6) and the fork (5) are arranged with respect to one another such as to impart an alternating translation movement with respect to the escapement wheel (1) to the anchor (2) when the pin (7) engages with the fork (5).
US09164481B2	Generating and displaying holograms Techniques for generating 3-D holographic images of a 3-D real or synthetic object scene are presented. A holographic generator component (HGC) can obtain a real or synthetic 3-D object scene. The HGC generates a high-resolution grating, and generates a low-resolution mask based on the 3-D object scene. The HGC overlays the mask on the grating to generate the hologram, which can be a digital mask programmable hologram. The HGC can use the grating as an encryption key, if desired, wherein the mask can be encrypted based on the encryption key. The display component receives the hologram and can generate holographic images, based on the hologram, and display the holographic images using one or more low-resolution displays. The grating and display can be arranged in various formations in relation to each other. A single display can be partitioned into a tile structure for displaying holographic images in the respective tiles.
US09164479B2	Systems and methods of dual-plane digital holographic microscopy An embodiment of the disclosed DHM system includes a light source configured to emit coherent optical waves, a first optical Fourier element configured to Fourier transform the optical waves from the object area, wherein the Fourier transform occurs at a Fourier plane and the optical waves from the object area includes directly transmitted waves and diffracted waves, a phase modulator at the Fourier plane configured to introduce a phase delay between the directly transmitted waves and the diffracted waves, a second optical Fourier element configured to receive the directly transmitted waves and the diffracted waves from the phase modulator and to inversely Fourier transform the directly transmitted waves and the diffracted waves to provide interfered optical waves, and at least one imaging device configured to record the interfered optical waves at two image planes to generate a first interferogram and a second interferogram.
US09164471B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes, an upper cabinet disposed openably and closably on a main cabinet, reader cover disposed openably and closably on the upper cabinet and covering the image reader when the reader cover is closed and restriction mechanism preventing the reader cover from opening relative to the upper cabinet when the upper cabinet is open relative to the main cabinet. The restriction mechanism includes a first engagement member disposed at the upper cabinet and a second engagement member disposed at the reader cover and engageable with the first engagement member. The reader cover is prevented from opening relative to the upper cabinet when the first engagement member engages with the second engagement member. The second engagement member is urged to project from the reader cover towards the upper cabinet and movable from the upper cabinet to the reader cover.
US09164470B2	Transfer device and attachment of the transfer device to a cover of an image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus, includes: a main body; a cover configured to be provided so as to be capable of being opened and closed with respect to the main body; an attachment unit configured to be provided on the cover; a unit configured to be attached to the attachment unit; a positioning member configured to, on closing of the cover, position the unit with respect to a member attached to the main body or the main body; a guiding member configured to guide the unit to the positioning member; and a protrusion configured to be provided at the guiding member to protrude in an attaching direction of the unit.
US09164463B2	Image forming apparatus including plurality of paper output trays An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, a first paper output tray, and a second paper output tray. The image forming portion forms toner images and fixes toner images on sheets. The first paper output tray includes a first receiving portion positioned on its upper surface and configured to receive a sheet with a fixed toner image thereon. The second paper output tray is positioned over the first receiving portion. The second paper output tray includes a second receiving portion positioned on its upper surface and configured to receive a sheet thereon. The second paper output tray includes an accommodation space therein. The accommodation space accommodates cooling air for cooling the sheets.
US09164458B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, an image forming unit, a density sensor, a gradation characteristic data generator, and a gradation corrector. The density sensor includes a low-pass filter to remove a high-frequency component of an output of the image density sensor. The gradation characteristic data generator forms a gradation correction pattern on the image carrier. The gradation correction pattern is a continuous gradation pattern including first and second patterns. The gradation characteristic data generator continuously detects image density of the continuous gradation pattern and background areas adjacent to the continuous gradation pattern to generate the gradation characteristic data. The gradation characteristic data generator forms a compensation pattern on the image carrier next to and continuous with a leading end of the first pattern in an image carrier rotational direction, to compensate for a response delay of the output of the density sensor due to the low-pass filter.
US09164456B2	Image forming apparatus The image forming apparatus includes an image forming section that forms a patch image T on a recording material P, a fixing unit that fixes the patch image, a spectral color measurement device that irradiates light onto the patch image T that was fixed by the fixing unit, and measures reflected light from the patch image, a white reference plate disposed facing the spectral color measurement device; and a control unit that controls a density or a chromaticity of an image based on a result obtained by measuring the patch image and a result obtained by measuring the white reference plate by means of the spectral color measurement device. It is thereby possible to improve the color measurement accuracy of a color measurement device.
US09164451B2	Fixing device, and image forming apparatus Provided is a fixing device including a fixing member that fixes toner onto a recording material, a pressurizing member that forms a nip portion, through which the recording material passes, between the fixing member and the pressurizing member, a moving member that is disposed to be movable in response to passage of the recording material in a transport path of the recording material which passes through the nip portion, a detection unit that detects a presence or absence of the moving member, a displacement mechanism that changes a position of the pressurizing member with respect to the fixing member, and an attachment/detachment member that is disposed in a detachable manner at a facing position facing the displacement mechanism and comes into contact with the moving member.
US09164445B2	Fixing device and image forming apparatus A fixing device includes an endless belt rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation and an opposed rotator contacting an outer circumferential surface of the endless belt. A nip formation pad, disposed opposite an inner circumferential surface of the endless belt, presses against the opposed rotator via the endless belt to form a fixing nip between the endless belt and the opposed rotator, through which a recording medium is conveyed. A belt holder contacts and rotatably supports a lateral end of the endless belt in an axial direction thereof. A ring is interposed between the belt holder and a lateral edge face of the endless belt. A restraint disposed opposite the ring contacts the ring to restrict movement of the ring in a radial direction of the endless belt within a trajectory of the lateral end of the rotating endless belt.
US09164439B2	Fuser control device and image forming apparatus A fuser control device includes a fuser device that a holding member holds configured to fuse a developing image to a priming medium, a fuser heater that is installed at the holding member configured to generate heat for at least a central part and side parts of a heat application roller, a first temperature detection part configured to detect a temperature of the fuser device and configured to transmit the temperature of the fuser device as a first detecting temperature, a second temperature detection part configured to detect a temperature of the holding member and configured to transmit the temperature of the holding member as a second detecting temperature, and a heat application control unit configured to control the temperature of the fuser device with changing a targeting temperature for the fuser device based on a controlling condition.
US09164438B2	Fixing device temperature control method, fixing device, and image forming apparatus A fixing device temperature control method includes selectively energizing at least one of a plurality of heaters that heats a fixing rotary body according to an image area on a recording medium where a toner image is formed on the recording medium, detecting a temperature of a pressing rotary body pressed against the fixing rotary body, and controlling the energized, at least one of the plurality of heaters based on the detected temperature of the pressing rotary body so as to heat the fixing rotary body to a target temperature. The image area on the recording medium corresponds to a plurality of axial heating spans on the fixing rotary body.
US09164428B2	Toner case and image forming apparatus A toner case includes a case main body, an attachment member and a conveying member. The case main body has a discharge port configured to discharge a toner. The attachment member is provided at the case main body to be rotatable in normal and reverse rotation directions around a rotation axis. The conveying member is rotatable in the normal and reverse rotation direction around the rotation axis to convey the toner from/to the inside of the case main body to/from a side of the discharge port. When the attachment member is reversely rotated, the conveying member is moved in a direction of the rotation axis between a first position in which the conveying member is reversely rotated together with the attachment member and a second position in which the attachment member runs idle.
US09164425B2	Toner cartridge having loading and latching features A toner cartridge according to one example embodiment includes a housing having a front, rear, first side, second side, top and bottom forming a toner reservoir. An outlet port is positioned on the front of the housing proximate the first side for transferring toner out of the reservoir. A drive gear is positioned on the front of the housing and has a center proximate the second side for receiving rotational power. A cavity is formed in the bottom of the housing. A latch catch is positioned in the cavity on an inner side of the front of the housing for receiving a latch for securing the toner cartridge in an image forming device. The latch catch is positioned closer to the bottom of the housing than the outlet port and the drive gear and between the center of the drive gear and the outlet port in the side-to-side direction.
US09164422B2	Developer storage body, developing device and image forming apparatus having swing member A developer storage body includes a storage portion for storing a developer, an agitation member for agitating the developer stored in the storage portion, and a swing member that swings in the storage portion by contact with the agitation member. A contact portion is provided at a first end portion of the swing member. The contact portion contacts the agitation member. A fixed portion and a swing portion are provided at a second end portion of the swing member. The fixed portion is fixed to the storage portion. The swing portion swings in the storage portion.
US09164418B2	Developing device, and image forming apparatus using the same There is provided a developing device including a toner holding member that is rotatably provided to face an image holding member and holds and transports a nonmagnetic single-component toner toward a development region to develop an electrostatic latent image on the image holding member, a supplying member that is rotatably provided in elastic contact with the toner holding member to supply the toner from a contact region therebetween to the toner holding member, a toner replenishing unit that faces a replenishment region at a portion apart from the contact region to replenish a new toner, and a regulating member that is provided on a downstream side of the contact region in a rotation direction thereof and on an upstream side of the development region to triboelectrically charge the toner held on the toner holding member and regulate the amount of toner provided for the development.
US09164415B2	Image forming apparatus and method of forming an image which can prevent a development memory from occurring An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming section including a light exposure section configured to expose an image bearing member to light to form an electrostatic latent image, the image forming section being configured to form a toner image on the image bearing member, and to form an image on a recording sheet by transferring the toner image onto the recording sheet; an estimation section configured to estimate a density lowering position on the basis of image data of an image formed by the image forming section, the density lowering position being a position where decrease in image density relative to a predetermined image density is caused in the image; and a control section configured to increase a light exposure amount at the density lowering position estimated by the estimation section on the image bearing member to an amount greater than a predetermined light exposure amount.
US09164414B2	Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling optical writing device An optical writing control device includes a light emission control unit that controls light emission of a light source to exposes a photosensitive element. The light emission control unit is configured to draw two patterns as patterns for correction used to correct a transfer position of a developer image obtained by developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive element, the two patterns including a narrow width pattern where a width of the pattern corresponds to a width of a detection area of a sensor that detects the patterns, in the main-scanning direction, and a wide width pattern having a wider width than the narrow width pattern, and control the light emission, after calculation of a correction value based on a detection signal of the wide width pattern is properly completed, in a manner where the narrow width pattern is drawn upon the calculation of the correction value.
US09164408B2	Electrophotographic toner An electrophotographic toner contains an electron donating color developable agent, an electron accepting color developing agent, and a polyester resin binder which is a polyester resin obtained by polycondensation of a carboxylic acid component and an alcohol component and has a crosslinked structure formed of a crosslinking component including at least either one of a trivalent or higher valent carboxylic acid and a trihydric or higher hydric alcohol, and is decolorized by heating.
US09164407B2	Electrostatic latent image developer An electrostatic latent image developer of the present invention includes a resin, a colorant and a colorant dispersant, wherein the colorant dispersant contains a first polymer compound containing a constitutional unit derived from a monomer A, a constitutional unit derived from a monomer B and a constitutional unit derived from a monomer C, the monomer A is 4-vinylpyridine, the monomer B is CH2═CR1—COOR2 (where R1 represents hydrogen or a methyl group; and R2 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms), and the monomer C is CH2═CR3—COOR4 (where R3 represents hydrogen or a methyl group; R4 represents (CH2CH2O)nCH3 or (CH2CH2O)nCH2CH3; and n represents an integer of 12 to 18).
US09164406B2	Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge and electrophotographic apparatus The charge transporting layer as the surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a charge transporting substances represented by any one of formulae (1) to (5), a specific compound, and a specific resin (binder resin). The specific compound is hexanol, heptanol, cyclohexanol, benzyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, diethylene glycol, diethylene glycol ethyl methyl ether, ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, nitrobenzene, pyrrolidone, N-methylpyrrolidone, methyl benzoate, ethyl benzoate, benzyl acetate, ethyl 3-ethoxypropionate, acetophenone, methyl salicylate, dimethyl phthalate, or sulfolane.
US09164405B2	Measurement apparatus for calculation of substrate tilt, exposure apparatus, and device fabrication method The present invention provides a measurement apparatus which measures a height of a test surface, the apparatus including an image sensing device including a plurality of detection units configured to detect interfering light formed by measurement light from the test surface and reference light from a reference surface, and an optical system configured to guide measurement light beams, reflected at a plurality of measurement points on the test surface, and reference light beams, reflected at a plurality of reference points on the reference surface, to the plurality of detection units, respectively, wherein the reference surface generates differences among optical path differences between the measurement light beams and the reference light beams which enter the plurality of detection units, respectively.
US09164402B2	Method of operating a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus and projection objective of such an apparatus A projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus has a wavefront correction device including a first refractive optical element and a second refractive optical element. The first refractive optical element includes a first optical material having, for an operating wavelength of the apparatus, an index of refraction that decreases with increasing temperature. The second refractive optical element includes a second optical material having, for an operating wavelength of the apparatus, an index of refraction that increases with increasing temperature. In a correction mode of the correction device, a first heating device produces a non-uniform and variable first temperature distribution in the first optical material, and a second heating device produces a non-uniform and variable second temperature distribution in the second optical material.
US09164393B2	Exposure method and apparatus, and method for fabricating device with light amount distribution having light larger in four areas An exposure method and apparatus for illuminating a pattern with an illumination system to expose a substrate through a projection system. The pattern is illuminated with illumination light with a light amount distribution in which an amount of light is larger in a pair of first areas and a pair of second areas than in an area other than the first and second areas on a pupil plane of the illumination system. The pair of the first areas being arranged outside an optical axis, the pair of the second areas being arranged on the same straight line as the pair of the first areas are arranged on, and the pair of the second areas being arranged outside the pair of the first areas.
US09164383B2	Resist composition and patterning process A resist composition comprising a salt of a mono- to tetrafunctional carboxylic acid with a metal selected from magnesium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, silver, cadmium, indium, tin, antimony, cesium, zirconium, and hafnium, and a solvent is improved in film uniformity when coated, and exhibits a high resolution, high sensitivity, and minimal LER when processed by the EB or EUV lithography.
US09164375B2	Dual zone template chuck A template chuck includes multiple zones to provide 1) an imprint bend optimized to provide high curvature and provide contact at middle radius of substrate and/or, 2) separation bend zone with an increased free span zone and high crack angle.
US09164371B2	Method of correcting defects in a reflection-type mask and mask-defect correction apparatus According to one embodiment, a method of correcting defects in a reflection-type mask is provided, which comprises acquiring a mask-pattern image of the mask, by using a mask-defect correction apparatus includes a mechanism configured to detect a defect in the mask and a mechanism configured to correct the defect, acquiring a simulated wafer-transfer optical image for the mask, by using an AIMS configured to simulate a wafer-transfer optical image, thereby to determine whether the mask is defective, locating a mask defect, in a mask-pattern image acquired by the mask-defect correction apparatus, by referring to the simulated pattern image acquired by the AIMS, and correcting the defect by the mask-defect correction apparatus, on the basis of the position of the mask defect, thus detected.
US09164367B2	Visible and infrared light source for illumination system and projection device comprising the same The projection device includes an image-forming system and the illumination system. The illumination system includes a first light source device, a second light source device and a first light guiding device. The first light source device generates a visible light, while the second light source device directly generates a substantially pure infrared light. The light guiding device is adapted to guide the visible light and the infrared light to the image-forming system for processing to make the visible light form a visible light image and make the infrared light form an infrared light image.
US09164353B2	Quantum rod light-emitting display device A quantum rod light-emitting display device according to an embodiment of the invention includes a display panel including a first substrate, a second substrate opposite to the first substrate, and a quantum rod layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein a plurality of quantum rods are arranged in the quantum rod layer in one direction; and a polarizer disposed on the display panel and including a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer and a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) layer, wherein the PVA layer transmits only light linearly polarized in a first direction, and wherein the QWP layer is disposed under the PVA layer, and the QWP layer circularly polarizes the light linearly polarized in the first direction or linearly polarizes light reflected by the display panel in a second direction.
US09164350B2	Multi-port optical circulator system An optical circulator includes a first optical isolator including a first port and a second port and a plurality of optical isolators coupled to the second port of the first optical isolator. Each of the plurality of optical isolators comprise a first port and a second port.
US09164346B2	Electrochromic devices Conventional electrochromic devices frequently suffer from poor reliability and poor performance. Improvements are made using entirely solid and inorganic materials. Electrochromic devices are fabricated by forming an ion conducting electronically insulating interfacial region that serves as an IC layer. In some methods, the interfacial region is formed after formation of an electrochromic and a counter electrode layer, which are in direct contact with one another. The interfacial region contains an ion conducting electronically insulating material along with components of the electrochromic and/or the counter electrode layer. Materials and microstructure of the electrochromic devices provide improvements in performance and reliability over conventional devices. In addition to the improved electrochromic devices and methods for fabrication, integrated deposition systems for forming such improved devices are also disclosed.
US09164336B2	Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus A liquid crystal device includes a first dummy pixel and a second dummy pixel adjacent to each other in an X direction, in which width of a first portion of a scanning line between a first transistor of the first dummy pixel and a second transistor of the second dummy pixel is larger than width of a second portion of the scanning line between the second transistor and a third transistor of a pixel.
US09164333B2	Liquid crystal display device According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display device includes a first common electrode including a first sub-common electrode extending along a gate line on a first interlayer insulation film, a pixel electrode which includes a first main pixel electrode extending in a second direction on a second interlayer insulation film, and a second common electrode which includes a second sub-common electrode extending in parallel to the first sub-common electrode on the second interlayer insulation film and has the same potential as the first common electrode. The first sub-common electrode is located on the pixel electrode side of a position overlapping the gate line. The second sub-common electrode is opposed to the gate line.
US09164329B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display includes first and second substrates facing each other, a liquid crystal layer between the substrates, first and second thin film transistors on the first substrate, and first and second pixel electrodes connected to the first and second thin film transistors, respectively, on the first substrate. A transverse center line bisects the first and second pixel electrodes into upper and lower portions. The first and second pixel electrodes include a plurality of branches which alternate. First and second regions include first and second intervals between adjacent branches of the first and second pixel electrodes, respectively, the first interval being larger then the second interval. At least one of the branches includes a first portion forming a first angle with the transverse center line, and a second portion forming a second angle with the transverse center line different from the first angle.
US09164324B2	Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. An alignment layer and a seal pattern are formed to overlap to reduce a width of a bezel, and one or more alignment layer spreading preventing means are formed to prevent a degradation of adhesive strength between the seal pattern and a substrate due to the characteristics of the alignment layer.
US09164313B2	Display device To provide a display device having a high contrast ratio by a simple and easy method and to manufacture a high-performance display device at low cost, in a display device having a display element between a pair of light-transmitting substrates, layers each including a polarizer having different wavelength distribution of extinction coefficient from each other with respect to the absorption axes are stacked and provided on an outer side of the light-transmitting substrates. Further, a retardation plate may be provided between the stacked polarizers.
US09164312B2	Polarizing adhesive element, method of manufacturing the same and display apparatus having the same A polarizing adhesive element includes a pressure sensitive adhesive (“PSA”), a compensating film, a polarizing film, a supporting film and an optical clear adhesive (“OCA”). The PSA has adhesion. The compensating film is disposed on the PSA. The compensating film is configured to compensate a phase difference of a light. The polarizing film is disposed on the compensating film. The polarizing film is configured to polarize the light. The supporting film is disposed on the polarizing film. The supporting film supports the polarizing film. The OCA is disposed on the supporting film. The OCA has adhesion.
US09164311B2	Color filter substrate for liquid crystal display device and liquid crystal display device A color filter substrate for a liquid crystal display device, includes a transparent substrate, a black matrix formed on the transparent substrate and having an opening for division into a plurality of pixels, a transparent conducting film, and a color layer formed on the pixel, wherein a linear projection is formed in a center of the pixel and a recess is formed above the black matrix.
US09164303B2	Display device There is provided a display device including a display panel and a background panel which are arranged opposite to each other, and a light source which is disposed on a side surface of the background panel. The background panel is in a transmissive state where no voltage is applied thereto, is in a light-scattering state where a direct-current (DC) voltage is applied thereto, and is in a transflective state where a high-frequency alternating-current (AC) voltage is applied thereto.
US09164299B2	Ophthalmic lens dispensing method and system A method (100) of dispensing an ophthalmic lens for a wearer is disclosed. The method (100) includes measuring (104) the relative location of, and/or relationship between, selected anatomical features of a wearer's head or face to obtain one or more measurement values and processing (106) the one or more measurement values to design and/or select an ophthalmic lens having a shape that depends on the measured values. The ophthalmic lens element is then dispensed to the wearer. A dispensing system (200) is also disclosed.
US09164281B2	Volumetric heads-up display with dynamic focal plane A heads-up display device for displaying graphic elements in view of a user while the user views an environment through a display screen. The heads-up display device includes at least one projector that projects a graphic element on a frontal focal plane in view of the user while the user views the environment through the display screen, and at least one projector that projects a graphic element on a ground-parallel focal plane in view of the user while the user views the environment through the display screen. The projector that projects the graphic element on the frontal focal plane is mounted on an actuator that linearly moves the projector so as to cause the frontal focal plane to move in a direction of a line-of-sight of the user. The projector that projects the ground-parallel focal plane is fixedly arranged such that the ground-parallel focal plane is static.
US09164280B1	Dust-proof assembly for lens driving device A dust-proof assembly for the lens driving device is disclosed, including at least a ring-shaped element and at least a flexible element. The at least a ring-shaped element is disposed with a tiny gap surrounding a lens assembly. The at least a flexible element fixes the at least a ring-shaped element to a bottom. The dust-proof assembly is able to prevent external foreign objects, such as particles or dusts, from falling onto a sensor element.
US09164277B2	Micromechanical device The force on the electrodes of an electrostatic field is used so that lateral tensile or compressive forces result which can deform a deformable element or can strongly deflect a deflectable structure. For this, a micromechanical device includes, apart from an electrode and a deformable element, an insulating spacer layer via which the electrode is fixed to the deformable element, wherein the insulating spacer layer is structured into several spaced-apart segments along a lateral direction, so that by applying an electric voltage between the electrode and the deformable element lateral tensile or compressive forces bending the deformable element along the lateral direction result. Thereby, the problem that normally accompanies electrostatic drives, namely the problem of the pull-in effect, is overcome. The deflection of the deformable element can be much larger than the gaps of the two electrodes, i.e. the above-mentioned electrode and the deformable element. A usage as a sensor is also possible.
US09164275B2	Display device A display device includes: a plurality of pixels each having a shutter plate formed and an actuator portion, wherein the actuator portion has a beam portion connected to the shutter plate, a drive electrode causing the beam portion to bend to drive the shutter plate, a first supporting portion supporting the drive electrode and fixed on a substrate, and a second supporting portion supporting the beam portion and fixed on the substrate, at least one of the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion has a planar portion, and a recessed portion formed to be concaved from the planar portion and connected to the substrate, and the recessed portion has a vertically formed portion formed to be inclined substantially vertically from the planar portion, and a portion starting from the vertically formed portion and formed such that the inclination of the portion becomes gentle toward the substrate.
US09164274B2	Wavelength conversion wheel module and illumination system A wavelength conversion wheel module and an illumination system are provided. The wavelength conversion wheel module includes a wavelength conversion wheel and a first actuator. The wavelength conversion wheel includes a plurality of annular areas. Each of the annular areas includes at least one wavelength conversion area and at least one light passing area. The wavelength conversion area converts an original light beam incident on the wavelength conversion area into a converted light beam. The wavelength of the converted light beam is different from the wavelength of the original light beam. The annular areas are arranged along the radial direction of the wavelength conversion wheel, and different annular areas have different optical parameters. The optical parameters of the annular areas are related to the wavelength conversion area and the light passing area. The first actuator is connected to the wavelength conversion wheel, and drives the wavelength conversion wheel to rotate.
US09164269B1	Telescopic gun sight with rotating optical adjustment mechanism This invention teaches an optical method for adjusting the point of aim in telescopic gun sights. In one embodiment, a pair of prisms are placed behind the objective lens of a telescopic gun sight such that they can be rotated in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The sight's point of aim is adjusted by rotating the two prisms in opposite direction.
US09164266B2	Complex modular afocal variator with spherical and chromatic aberration correction The present invention provides a complex modular afocal variator in which a modular afocal variator is supplemented with additional optics to form a more complex, but still modular afocal variator system, that can impart internal focusing as well as active spherical and chromatic aberration corrective improvement.
US09164258B1	Imaging lens, and electronic apparatus including the same An imaging lens comprises a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, an aperture stop, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element and a sixth lens element arranged in order from an object side to an image side along an optical axis of said imaging lens. Through designs of surfaces of the lens elements and relevant optical parameters, a short system length of the imaging lens may be achieved while maintaining good optical performance.
US09164252B2	Apparatus and a method for jointing a first and a second optical fibre of a composite cable An apparatus and a method for jointing a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber, the apparatus includes a composite cable, where the composite cable includes an electric power cable, a first optical fiber cable including the first optical fiber, and a second optical fiber cable including the second optical fiber, wherein the apparatus includes a first routing device and a second routing device, each routing device being arranged to change the direction of a fiber optic path from a first axis to a second axis and including a first optical fiber portion aligned with the first axis, a second optical fiber portion aligned with the second axis, and an intermediate optical fiber portion integral with the first and second optical fiber portions and extending through an arc between the first and second optical fiber portions, the intermediate optical fiber portion in the region of the arc having a reduced diameter in relation to the diameter of the first and second optical fiber portions, wherein the first optical fiber is optically connected to the first optical fiber portion of the first routing device, wherein the second optical fiber is optically connected to the first optical fiber portion of the second routing device, and wherein the second optical fiber portion of the first routing device is optically connected to the second optical fiber portion of the second routing device.
US09164250B2	Replaceable modular optical connection assembly Connectors of a first removable modular optical connection assembly, having a first predefined arrangement of optical signal conduits, are connected to respective connectors on a support structure that are optically connected to corresponding devices. The first modular optical connection assembly is replaceable with a second modular optical connection assembly having a second, different predefined arrangement of optical signal conduits, to change a topology of a network.
US09164243B2	Optical coupling lens and method for testing same An optical coupling lens includes a main portion and two reference portions. The main portion includes a first surface having at least one first converging lens formed thereon, a second surface having at least one second converging lenses formed thereon, and a reflecting surface. The second surface is substantially perpendicular to the first surface. An angle between the reflecting surface and the first surface is about 45 degrees. An optical axis of the first converging lens is substantially perpendicular to the first surface, and an optical axis of the second converging lens is substantially perpendicular to the second surface. Each reference portion includes a reference member. The reference member includes a reference point. A connecting line of the reference points of the reference portions is substantially parallel to the first surface and the second surface, and the connecting line is in a surface substantially coplanar with the reflecting surface.
US09164240B2	Optical buffering methods, apparatus, and systems for increasing the repetition rate of tunable light sources In one embodiment, the invention relates to an apparatus for increasing the repetition rate in a light source. The apparatus includes a first optical coupler comprising a first arm, a second arm and a third arm; a first mirror in optical communication with the second arm of the first optical coupler; and a first optical delay line having a first end in optical communication with the third arm of the first optical coupler and a second end in optical communication with a second mirror, wherein light entering the first arm of the first optical coupler leaves the first arm of the first optical coupler either delayed by an amount (τ) or substantially undelayed.
US09164234B2	Splicing twisted multiple core optical fibers A method of coupling optical fibers containing cores or other structures that twist about the axis of one or both fibers. The fiber end faces are aligned axially to confront one another, and side view images of end regions of the fibers including the contained cores or structures are produced. For each fiber, a brightness profile of a side view image is obtained at an axially offset position from the fiber end face. One or both fibers are rotated about their axes until the brightness profiles for each fiber indicate certain cores or structures in the fibers are aligned. For each fiber, an additional amount of twist from the offset position to the fiber end face is determined. One or both fibers are rotated again to compensate for the additional twist in each fiber, so that the fibers are aligned optimally when coupled.
US09164233B2	Field installable cable splice system A combination of an inner crimp tube and a crimp sleeve provide a basis for securing a connection between respective first and second cables through which optical fibers extend and can be spliced together for signal transmission. The combination of the inner crimp tube and the crimp sleeve includes the inner crimp tube receiving at least one strength member from each respective cable, wherein the inner crimp tube is positioned along lengths of the strength members such that the strength members extend through the inner crimp tube. Loose ends of respective strength members fold back over opposite ends of the inner crimp tube to join strength members of each cable to a common structure. At least one crimp sleeve secures the respective loose ends of the strength members to the inner crimp tube.
US09164227B2	LED backlight module The present invention relates to an LED backlight module, which includes an LGP, an LED light bar, a backplane, and a heat sink. The LED light bar is mounted on the heat sink at a location close to a light incidence side of the LGP. The heat sink forms upward-extending LGP positioning columns that are fixed with respect thereto. The LGP positioning columns extend upward and through the LGP so as to fix the LGP with respect to the heat sink. The heat sink is arranged on the backplane in a manner of being movable in a light incidence direction. The heat sink is movable with expansion or contraction of the LGP so as to maintain light coupling distance between the LGP and the LED light bar. The LED backlight module prevents the LGP from waving resulting from heat or mechanical interference.
US09164223B2	Light guides This invention relates to light guide devices and methods of manufacture. The light guide device is suitable for use in a range of applications, particularly in connection with the backlighting of displays, for example, liquid crystal displays.
US09164219B2	Frontlight unit for reflective displays The frontlight unit is intended for enhancing illumination of a reflective display having pixels arranged in a matrix pattern and using monochromatic laser lights as light sources. The unit contains a network of light-distribution planar ridge waveguides with holograms arranged in a matrix pattern that corresponds to the matrix pattern of the reflective display when it is applied onto this display and emits light in the downward direction in the form of diverging beams that fall onto the pixels of the reflective display and in the upward direction onto mirrors wherefrom light is reflected also in the form of diverging beams onto the reflective display. Thus, all of the light reflected from the holograms of the light-distribution planar ridge waveguides is not lost and is used entirely for illumination of the reflective display. The mirrors occupy no more than 5% of the display surface area.
US09164212B2	High luminance polarizing plate, method of manufacturing the same, and display using the polarizing plate Provided are a high luminance polarizing plate including a polarizing plate, a λ/2 retardation film having an in-plane retardation value ranging from 250 nm to 280 nm in a wavelength range of 450 nm to 650 nm that is laminated on one side of the polarizing plate, and a brightness enhancement film laminated on the λ/2 retardation film, a method of manufacturing the same, and a display device using the high luminance polarizing plate.
US09164211B2	Display apparatus capable of controlling light transmittance A display apparatus includes a transparent display device with a first region displaying images, a second region transmitting external light, the first and second regions being adjacent to each other and alternating in a first direction, a first polarizer on an optical path emitted by the transparent display device and configured to linearly polarize the external light, a first retarder between the first polarizer and the transparent display device to delay a phase of the external light, a second polarizer on the transparent display device to linearly polarize the external light, and a pattern retarder between the second polarizer and the transparent display device, the pattern retarder including a second retarder to delay a wavelength of the external light by a first phase and a third retarder to delay the wavelength by a second phase, the second and third retarders being alternately arranged in the first direction.
US09164203B2	Anti-glare film, manufacturing method for same, polarizing plate and image display device Provided is an anti-glare film having excellent anti-glare property, and suppressing white muddiness and scintillation, generation of cracks when attaching the films to polarizing elements and a fabrication process of liquid crystal cells, and changes of an anti-glare property over time. An anti-glare film comprises a light-transmitting substrate; and a diffusion layer having a surface roughness and provided on at least one surface of the light-transmitting substrate, in which the diffusion layer is obtainable by applying, on the at least one surface of the light-transmitting substrate, a coating composition including organic fine particles and a radiation curable binder that includes a (meth)acrylate monomer as an essential component, drying the composition to form a coating, and curing it, the organic fine particles in the diffusion layer have an impregnation layer being impregnated with the radiation curable binder, and the impregnation layer has an average thickness of 0.01 to 1.0 μm.
US09164200B2	Optical element and imaging apparatus including the same A lens includes a first optical surface including an optical axis X, and a first cut end surface at an outer circumference of the first optical surface. The first optical surface has a first SWS configured to reduce reflection of light. The first cut end surface has a second SWS configured to reduce reflection of light. A reflectance of the second SWS with respect to light having a predetermined wavelength is higher than the reflectance of the first SWS with respect to the light having the predetermined wavelength.
US09164194B2	Method for modeling deformation in subsurface strata A method for modeling deformation in subsurface strata, including defining physical boundaries for a geomechanical system. The method also includes acquiring one or more mechanical properties of the subsurface strata within the physical boundaries, and acquiring one or more thermal properties of the subsurface strata within the physical boundaries. The method also includes creating a computer-implemented finite element analysis program representing the geomechanical system and defining a plurality of nodes representing points in space, with each node being populated with at least one of each of the mechanical properties and the thermal properties. The program solves for in situ stress at selected nodes within the mesh.
US09164187B2	Electrical energy accumulator The invention is an electric power accumulator used with an electric sweep type seismic vibrator source of the type used in seismic prospecting for hydrocarbons. The source uses an engine and generator combination to create electric power to drive a frame of linear electric motors that direct a rod or piston to contact the ground in a recurring fashion. The source may also be designed to use electric power to drive the source from location to location through a survey area. A large electric power accumulator is provided to store electric power when the generator is able to produce excess power and the accumulator may deliver power along with the generator to drive the rods and deliver acoustic energy. With a large electric power accumulator, such as a battery or capacitor, the engine and generator combination may be engineered to be somewhat smaller, less costly and more efficient than a system where the engine and generator were sized to provide the electric power at times of maximum electric draw.
US09164185B2	Near-simultaneous acquisition for borehole seismic A technique facilitates performance of seismic profiling, such as three-dimensional vertical seismic profiling. A downhole acquisition system is provided with acoustic receivers designed to receive acoustic source signals. The firing of acoustic source signals is synchronized with the downhole acquisition system. Additionally, the firing of two or more acoustic source signals is controlled to provide simultaneous or nearly simultaneous timing of one acoustic source signal with respect to another acoustic source signal. A processing system is used to acquire and process a data stream of the initial shot and a data stream of the additional shot occurring simultaneously or nearly simultaneously.
US09164166B1	Display of radar signal detection alerts A device includes a radar signal detector configured to detect a police radar signal and determine a frequency of the police radar signal and a display in communication with the radar signal detector and configured to provide a first display portion associated with a first range of frequencies. In particular, the display is further configured to provide a visual indicator associated with the police radar signal, the visual indicator having a first position within the first display portion which varies based on the frequency of the police radar signal and the visual indicator having a first visual appearance when the frequency is within a predetermined subset of the first range of frequencies and a second visual appearance when the frequency is outside the predetermined subset of the first range of frequencies.
US09164161B2	Augmenting location data at a mobile device Mobile devices are able to determine their location based radio transmitters that are visible at the device to provide geographic location services. A knowledge of the location of the transmitters is required for the mobile device to determine a location estimate, however this can be difficult in network environments where the transmitters are temporary and their locations are not identified in location databases. Locations of temporary transmitters can be provided to mobile devices in order to augment the available location data used in determining the mobile device location. 3rd parties can provide temporal location data on transmitters that are set up for short period of time, as well as better control the distribution of the location data.
US09164157B2	Magnetoresistive device and method for manufacturing the same A magnetoresistive device includes a carrier, an xMR-sensor, a magnetic layer formed above an active xMR-region of the xMR-sensor and an insulating layer arranged between the xMR-sensor and the magnetic layer.
US09164155B2	Systems and methods for offset reduction in sensor devices and systems Embodiments relate to systems and methods for reducing errors in sensor devices and systems. In embodiments, the sensor devices comprise magnetic field sensor devices, such as ordinary or vertical Hall sensor devices, and the error to be reduced is a residual offset error, though in other embodiments other sensor devices can be used and/or other types of errors can be targeted for reduction or elimination. In one embodiment, at least two such sensor devices not electrically coupled with one another are sequentially operated in a spinning current-type mode such that an individual output signal from each of the at least two sensor devices is obtained. A total output signal can then be calculated, such as by averaging or otherwise combining the individual output signals from each sensor device.
US09164154B2	Electro permanent magnetic system with magnetic state indicator An electro permanent magnetic system (10) for anchoring ferromagnetic material, with magnetic state indicator (14), comprising: an electro permanent magnetic module (12), a control unit (11) for said electro permanent magnetic module (12), an electrical connection system (13) between said control unit (11) and said electro permanent magnetic module (12); a magnetization indicator (14) for said electro permanent magnetic module (12) associated with the electro permanent magnetic module (12); characterized in that said magnetization indicator (14) is a bistable indicator having two stable states; said magnetization indicator (14) not requiring electrical power to remain in one of said stable states; said magnetization indicator (14) being electrically fed only in association with the magnetization or demagnetization of said electro permanent magnetic module (12), to pass from one stable state to the other of said two stable states.
US09164153B2	Methods and apparatuses for low-noise magnetic sensors Magnetic sensors are disclosed, as well as methods for fabricating and using the same. In some embodiments, an EMR effect sensor includes a semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a conductive layer substantially coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a first voltage lead coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the first voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a second voltage lead coupled to the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the second voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. Embodiments of a Hall effect sensor having the same or similar structure are also disclosed.
US09164148B2	Systems and methods for detecting over/under excitation faults System, methods, and computer-readable storage media that may be used to detect excitation faults for electrical devices, such as generators and/or condensers, connected in a parallel configuration are provided. A method includes determining a change in a terminal voltage of one of the electrical devices with respect to a steady state terminal voltage. The method further includes determining a change in a reactive power of the electrical device with respect to a steady state reactive power. The method further includes determining whether an excitation fault condition exists based on the determined changes in terminal voltage and reactive power.
US09164143B2	Method and device for detecting state of overcurrent protector for battery The disclosure discloses a method and device for detecting a state of an overcurrent protector for a battery, wherein a voltage Uout of a power supply and a voltage Ubat of a battery connected to the power supply via an overcurrent protector is acquired, and U=\|Uout−Ubat\| is calculated; when UL≦U≦UH and \|Ibat\|≦Imin, the voltage of the power supply is adjusted to be U′out, wherein UL and UH are the minimum value and maximum value of a difference between the voltage of the power supply and the voltage of the battery, respectively, Ibat is a current of the battery, and Imin is a current detecting precision for detecting a current equipment of the battery; the voltage of the battery U′bat after adjusting the voltage of the power supply is acquired, and U′=\|U′out−U′bat\| is calculated; and a state of the overcurrent protector for the battery is determined. With the disclosure, in the case that the difference between the voltage of the battery and the supply voltage is small, by regulating the supply voltage and comparing the voltage difference across the overcurrent protector again, accurate detection of the state of the overcurrent protector for the battery as well as reduction of detecting costs is enabled.
US09164142B2	Testing electronic components on electronic assemblies with large thermal mass An approach is provided in which a system under test is subjected to thermal cycling that include transferring the system under test between two different environments that generate two different ambient temperatures. In turn, a test system tests the electronic assembly in response to the electronic assembly being subjected to the thermal cycles.
US09164141B2	Gel probe photocurrent measurement device and methods of use thereof Apparatus and methods of use thereof for the measurement of photocurrents are provided. More specifically, methods for measuring the external quantum efficiency of a sample are provided wherein the method comprises contacting a sample with an electrolyte gel; contacting the electrolyte gel with a probe; directing light on the sample through the probe; measuring the resultant photocurrent; and determining the external quantum efficiency based on the light input power and the measured photocurrent.
US09164133B2	Switched averaging error amplifier A signal averaging circuit includes a plurality of switched weighted current sources to generate a total amount of charge. The total amount of charge is representative of a weighted sum of a plurality of input signal samples during an active period of a read enable signal. A timing control signal generator is coupled to receive an input signal and the read enable signal and sequentially switch the plurality of switched weighted current sources to adjust the total amount of charge in response to the input signal during the active period of the read enable signal. A storage circuit is coupled to the plurality of switched weighted current sources to convert the total amount of charge into a voltage representative of an output signal.
US09164131B2	Signal recognition and triggering using computer vision techniques A test and measurement instrument processes digital data that represents an input signal to produce a target image, and then uses a computer vision technique to recognize a signal depicted within the target image. In some embodiments, the location of the signal within the target image is identified on a display device. In other embodiments, the location of the signal within the target image is used to perform a measurement. In other embodiments, when the signal is recognized, a trigger signal is generated that causes digital data that represents the input signal to be stored in a memory.
US09164121B2	Motion sensing Technologies are generally described for detecting acceleration by sensing a movement of a liquid contained in at least one liquid flow path arranged in a film-type material. An example device may be configured to detect acceleration based at least in part on an output signal from at least one strain sensor formed on at least one surface of a film layer. The film layer may include at least one liquid flow path containing a liquid and arranged in the film layer. The strain sensor may be formed on the at least one surface of the film layer in the vicinity of the least one liquid flow path, and may be configured to detect deformation on the at least one surface of the film layer.
US09164120B2	Method of and device for capturing 3D data of one or more airborne particles Disclosed is a method of capturing 3D data of one or more airborne. At least one image of the one or more airborne particles is taken by a plenoptic camera of which the geometry and the optical properties of its optics are known, and the distance of a plane of focus with at least one selected particle of the one or more airborne particles from a defined reference location is determined by use of the captured image together with the known optical properties and the known geometry of the optics of the plenoptic camera.
US09164117B2	Stress reduction components for sensors An accelerometer device for reducing stress on the sensor resulting from temperature extremes and multiple coefficients of thermal expansion. An exemplary accelerometer device includes upper and lower stators and a reed. The reed includes a support ring and a paddle that is flexibly connected to the support ring. The support ring includes a ring section and at least two mounting devices. The mounting devices are at least partially mechanically isolated from the ring section. The ring section flexibly receives the paddle. The mounting devices include a pad area and a neck area that connect the pad area to the ring section. The neck area includes a width dimension that is narrower than a diameter dimension of the pad area.
US09164105B2	Pancreatic cancer biomarker using the characteristics of pancreatic cancer stem cells, and use thereof The present invention relates to a novel molecular marker for pancreatic cancer stem cells and pancreatic cancer, to a marker detection method, and to a screening method. The present invention is a marker discovered from the cell lines of pancreatic cancer, wherein the marker may detect pancreatic cancer, in particular early pancreatic cancer, through the detection of a pancreatic cancer stem cell marker. In addition, the marker of the present invention may enable an accurate diagnosis and prognosis analysis of pancreatic cancer.
US09164103B2	Monitoring and inhibiting human immunodeficiency virus infection by modulating HMGB1 dependent triggering of HIV-1 replication and persistence Compositions and methods for modulating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection involving substances that inhibit the ability of high mobility box 1 (HMGB1) protein to interact with natural killer (NK) cells. Therapeutic compositions comprising antibodies and drugs, such as glycyrrhizin, which bind to HMGB1. Methods of detecting or monitoring HIV infection involving detection or quantitation of HMGB1 or antibodies specific for HMGB1 in a biological sample.
US09164096B2	Monoclonal antibody against necrosis marker PRDX4 and use thereof [PROBLEM] To provide a monoclonal antibody against a biomarker which shows high specificity and can be effectively used in detection and diagnosis of various lesions relevant to various kinds of carcinomas and foci of necrosis, and so forth.[MEANS] A monoclonal antibody against a necrosis marker consisting the following amino acid sequence: (1) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, or (2) an amino acid sequence having substitution, deletion and/or insertion of one or several amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of (1) or sharing a homology of 90% or more with the amino acid sequence of (1), and showing the same function, activity or property as that of the amino acid sequence of (1) as a protein.
US09164093B2	Cardiomyocyte marker The present invention provides a method for production or detection of a cardiomyocyte(s) and/or cardiac progenitor cell(s), comprises extracting a cardiomyocyte(s) and/or cardiac progenitor cell(s) from a cell population comprising cardiomyocytes and/or cardiac progenitor cells using as an index VCAM1 positivity.
US09164088B2	Detecting complement activation Methods of detecting complement activation including steps of detecting in a sample from a subject a level of iC3b wherein the detecting involves specific interaction between the iC3b and a non-cross-reactive antibody thereto, comparing the detected level with a reference level, which reference level is within a range of about 10 ng/ml to about 5,000 ng/ml, wherein determination that the detected level is above the reference level indicates that the subject is suffering from or susceptible to undesirable and/or pathologic complement activation, and administering treatment to treat undesired complement activation if the detected level is above the reference level. Other methods of detecting complement activation with or without measuring iC3b are also provided.
US09164084B2	Methods for determining aggressiveness of a cancer and treatment thereof The invention generally relates to methods for determining aggressiveness of a cancer and treatment thereof. Certain aspects of the invention provide methods that involve conducting an assay on a lipid droplet in order to detect an amount of a biomarker within the lipid droplet, and determining aggressiveness of a cancer based upon the amount of the biomarker within the lipid droplet. Other aspects of the invention provide methods for treating a cancer that involve administering an agent that blocks storage of cholesteryl ester in a lipid droplet.
US09164081B2	Method and device for determining greenhouse gas, in particular methane, emitted by a ruminant, in particular a dairy animal A method and a device for determining the emission of greenhouse gas, in particular methane, by ruminants, in particular dairy animals includes counting eructations (“belches”) of the animal. This is done by measuring a signal linked to the eructations, for example sound with a microphone. Given that the methane content of an eructation of this type is more or less constant, the total methane emission can be derived therefrom by counting.
US09164080B2	System and method for sensing NO An NO sensing system includes an inlet for receiving an original sample, a humidifier, fluidly communicating with the inlet, and a first sensor. The original sample is fluidly transmitted through the humidifier and exits the humidifier as a humidified sample having a humidity above a predetermined level. The first sensor generates a potential difference in response to presence of NO in the humidified sample. The potential difference is indicative of a level of NO within the original sample.
US09164077B2	Biological detection device and method utilizing LCPCF film for testing liquid form samples containing triglyceride/HDL disposed thereon The present invention discloses a biological detection device and a detecting method. The biological detection device comprises a substrate, an electric field unit, a liquid crystal/polymer composite film (LCPCF), a power supply, a processing unit, and an image sensor. Because of the electrically tunable orientations of the liquid crystal (LC) director anchored among the polymer grains, the wettability of the LCPCF changes with an applied electric field. As a result, we can manipulate a blood droplet on the LCPCF by a wettability gradient owing to the distribution of LC directors on the LCPCF. The motion states of the blood droplet can be related to the various qualities of the blood, and finally determines the health of the test sample. The change of contact angle of blood on LCPCF and the blood droplet motion on LCPCF indicate the concentration of TG and the concentration of HDL.
US09164075B2	Glutathione alkylester isotopologue and method for detecting reactive metabolite [Problem] To provide a novel isotope-labeled compound that can be used as a trapping agent and that is useful for picking out drug-candidate compounds that produce reactive metabolites.[Solution] Provided is a glutathione alkylester isotopologue represented by general formula (1). In formula (1), R1 represents a linear or branched alkoxy group in which at least one of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms contained therein is isotope-labeled and which has 1 to 8 carbon atoms or a cycloalkoxy group in which at least one of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms contained therein is isotope-labeled and which has 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
US09164073B1	Multi-functional, discrete determination of concentrations of gases in a gaseous mixture Method and device for detection and quantitative and qualitative analysis of components in a gaseous mixture distinguished by high selectivity and high resolution. Method allows to distinguish the influence of individual gases, by themselves or in a mixture, on the microstructure of a sensor's sensitive layer and utilizing the variations of measured parameters to analyze and derive the characteristics of gases, for example, the concentration of a gas or multiple gases in a mixture. As an example, the method could be utilized in medicine for non-invasive detection of the blood glucose level in diabetics. Device realizing the method is described.
US09164063B2	Sensing device, sensing system, and sensing method A sensing device is to be connected to a piezoelectric resonator for sensing a target substance in a sample fluid based on oscillation frequency of the piezoelectric resonator. The sensing device includes an oscillator circuit, a voltage supply unit, an information obtaining unit, and a voltage adjusting unit. The oscillator circuit is commonalized for a plurality kinds of piezoelectric resonators. The voltage supply unit is configured to supply a DC drive voltage to the oscillator circuit. The information obtaining unit is configured to obtain type information of a piezoelectric resonator which is connected to the oscillator circuit. The voltage adjusting unit is configured to adjust the DC drive voltage to a voltage corresponding to the connected piezoelectric resonator based on the type information obtained by the information obtaining unit.
US09164051B2	Electrically responsive device In some aspects, an electrically responsive device can include a composite structure having spatially modulated structural properties that includes a substrate material having a surface and defining a plane; an electrically responsive material layer formed over at least a portion of the surface of the substrate material; an electrode material over portions of the electrically responsive material; and a stiffening material disposed along the electrode material, where the stiffening material has a thickness that varies and has regions of increased thickness that correspond with the regions of the composite structure along which the electrode material is disposed. The spatially modulated structural properties can include the regions of the composite structure along which the electrode material is disposed having the increased material stiffness, exclusive of the electrode material, relative to regions of the composite structure that do not include the electrode material.
US09164048B2	Method and device for identifying a material of an object The invention relates to a device for identifying a material of an object having a source of X-Ray photons and a spectrometric detector, the source irradiating the object with an incident beam and the detector measuring a magnitude of a backscattered beam from the incident beam after scattering in a volume (δV) of the material and an energy of the X-Ray photons of the backscattered beam. The incident and backscattered beams forming a scattering angle (θ). An adjusting device adjusts the position between the source, the detector and the object in order for the volume to be at different depths with a constant angle. A processing device processes the two magnitudes in two positions and the energy in one position and calculates an attenuation coefficient (μmaterial (E0, E1, ε)). An estimating device estimates the density (ρ) of the material.
US09164047B2	Apparatus and method for supporting a liquid sample for measuring scattering of electromagnetic radiation An apparatus for supporting a liquid sample for measuring an intensity of X-ray radiation scattered by the liquid sample is configured such as to allow the X-ray radiation to impinge along a first direction (117, 217, 317, 417, 517, 617) through the first support member onto the liquid sample and to leave the liquid sample through the second member along a second direction (119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 619) different from the first direction to be detected by a detector. Further, a system for measuring an intensity of X-ray radiation scattered by a liquid sample and corresponding methods are provided.
US09164037B2	Method and system for evaluation of signals received from spatially modulated excitation and emission to accurately determine particle positions and distances A method is provided for extracting the position of a particle, e.g., a moving or stationary particle that is excited or is emitting light. The method includes, among other steps, detecting and recording a signal based on, for example, the movement of the particle, a correlation step to eliminate noise and to create a transformed signal, a matching or fitting step to match the transformed signal to a fit function and an extracting or determining step to determine the position of the particle from the fit function. In one form, at least two particle positions are detected so that the distance between the subject particles can be determined.
US09164034B2	Device and method for optical localized plasmon sensing A device is presented comprising a multi-layer structure with a plurality of metal islands on the surface of a solid transparent substrate. The islands are coated by an ultrathin sol-gel derived silica film via self-assembled monolayer.
US09164029B2	Method of classifying and discerning wooden materials A score of each of multiple pieces of reflection spectrum information included in a population is calculated using a first second principal component loading acquired by a principal component analysis, and a first group is classified based on the calculated score. Then, a score of each of multiple pieces of reflection spectrum information included in the population is calculated using a second second principal component loading acquired by a principal component analysis on a second population in which the reflection spectrum information of the first group is not included, and a second group is classified based on the calculated score. By performing a second principal component analysis using the second population, the second group can be accurately classified based on minute characteristics of each type of material included in the reflection spectrum information and the classification can be performed with a high accuracy.
US09164021B2	Reagent preparing device, specimen processing system and reagent preparing method A reagent preparing device capable of supplying a mixed solution, including a first liquid and a second liquid, to a measurement section for measuring a specimen using the mixed solution as a reagent, the reagent preparing device comprising: a first mixed solution container for accommodating the mixed solution; a second mixed solution container for accommodating the mixed solution; and a controller for controlling supply of the first liquid and the second liquid to supply the first liquid and the second liquid to the first mixed solution container, and to supply the first liquid and the second liquid to the second mixed solution container, is disclosed. A specimen processing system, and a reagent preparing method are also disclosed.
US09164015B2	Systems and methods for processing and imaging of biological samples A method for processing and imaging a first and second plurality of samples, comprising processing at least one sample from the first plurality of samples, imaging the at least one sample from the first plurality of samples, while being capable of simultaneously processing at least one sample from the second plurality of samples; and imaging the at least one processed sample from the second plurality of samples.
US09164014B2	Thin section fabrication apparatus and method of fabricating thin section A thin section fabrication apparatus includes an epi-imaging data acquisition unit that performs imaging by radiating epi-illumination and acquires imaging data, a diffusion imaging data acquisition unit that performs imaging by radiating diffusion illumination and acquires imaging data, an exposed shape extraction unit that extracts an exposed shape of an exposure portion of the biological sample which is exposed to a surface of the embedding block, based on the imaging data acquired by the epi-imaging data acquisition unit, an embedded shape extraction unit that extracts an embedded shape of an embedding portion of the biological sample which is embedded in the embedding block, based on the imaging data acquired by the diffusion imaging data acquisition unit, and a control unit that determines ending of the preliminary cutting by comparing the exposed shape extracted by the exposed shape extraction unit and the embedded shape extracted by the embedded shape extraction unit.
US09164011B2	Estimation device for cylinder intake air amount and internal EGR rate in internal combustion engine An estimation device for a cylinder intake air amount and an internal EGR rate in an internal combustion engine is provided which is capable of making an estimation with a high degree of accuracy in a small number of adaptation constants. The estimation device calculates a volumetric efficiency corresponding value and the internal EGR rate based on an exhaust efficiency (a linear function of intake pipe internal pressure) which is an index indicating an amount of residual gas which is an exhaust gas after combustion remaining in the cylinder without being discharged from the cylinder to an exhaust pipe, and an intake efficiency (a linear function of intake pipe internal pressure) which is an index indicating an amount of air coming into the cylinder from the intake pipe excluding the residual gas.
US09164006B2	Rotation table with clamp torque measurement unit A rotation instruction is transmitted to a motor in a state where a workpiece placement table connected to a rotation shaft of the motor is clamped by a clamp mechanism provided in a rotation table, and a clamp torque is measured based on motor torque information in accordance with the rotation instruction and a change in rotation shaft state (a rotation position, a rotation speed, and the like).
US09164004B2	Hermetic weighing cell having overload protection A load cell has a longitudinal body including a bending beam axially between a force input element and a force output element, strain gages applied on strainable measuring parts of the bending beam, a hermetically sealed enclosure outside around the strain gages and the strainable measuring parts, an O-ring and centering pins. An end face of the force input or output element is to be connected to a weighing scale part in an aligned, force-transmitting, hermetically-sealed manner, for which the end face has centering holes receiving the centering pins, a circular groove receiving the O-ring, and a threaded hole receiving a connecting bolt. Further embodiments involve an overload protection integrated in the bending beam, or the enclosure including a stiff pipe sleeve and ring elements with flexible membranes connecting the sleeve to the longitudinal body.
US09164001B2	Using an LED die to measure temperature inside silicone that encapsulates an LED array A light-emitting diode (LED) device includes first and second LED dies with the same structure and that are both encapsulated by the same silicone layer. The first LED is supplied with sufficient drive current to illuminate the LED. Control circuitry supplies the second LED with a constant current, determines the voltage across the second LED, and calculates the temperature of the second LED based on the voltage across the second LED. The constant current has a maximum magnitude that never exceeds the maximum magnitude of the drive current. The LED device is able to calculate the temperature of a diode with a gallium-nitride layer (GaN or GaInN) that is receiving a large drive current and emitting blue light by determining the voltage across an adjacent similar diode with a gallium-nitride layer through which a small constant current is flowing. Preferably, the band gap of the LEDs exceeds two electron volts.
US09163997B2	Terahertz detection cell According to a first aspect of the invention, the invention relates to a terahertz detection cell for detecting radiations having frequencies within a given spectral detection band, said cell comprising: a polar semi-conductor crystal structured such that it forms at least one slab of crystal, said crystal (330) having a Reststrahlen band covering said spectral detection band, and comprising at least one interface with a dielectric means; coupling means obtained by the slab structure (330), each slab forming an optical antenna, enabling the resonant coupling of an interface phonon polariton (IPhP) supported by said interface and an incident radiation having a frequency within the spectral detection band; and at least one first and one second connection terminal (301, 302) that are in electrical contact respectively with a first and a second end of the interface, said ends opposing each other, and said connection terminals to be connected to an electrical reading circuit for measuring the variation of the impedance of the crystal between the opposing ends of the interface.
US09163993B2	Thermal detector, thermal detection device, and electronic instrument A thermal detector includes a substrate, a support member, a spacer member, a thermal detection element, a detection circuit and a wiring part. The spacer member supports the support member over the substrate with a cavity part being formed therebetween. The thermal detection element is supported on the support member. The wiring part connects between the detection circuit and the thermal detection element, and has first through third conductive layer parts and a plurality of plugs. The first conductive layer part includes at least one layer disposed in the substrate. The second conductive layer part includes at least one layer disposed in the spacer member. The third conductive layer part includes at least one layer supported by the support member. The plugs respectively connect adjacent layers of the first conductive layer part, the second conductive layer part and the third conductive layer part, in a thickness direction of the substrate.
US09163987B2	Defect inspection and photoluminescence measurement system A system for defect detection and photoluminescence measurement of a sample may include a radiation source configured to target radiation to the sample. The system may also include an optics assembly positioned above the sample to receive a sample radiation. The system may also include a filter module configured to receive the sample radiation collected by the optics assembly. The filter module may separate the sample radiation collected by the optics assembly into a first radiation portion and a second radiation portion. The system may also include a defect detection module configured to receive the first radiation portion from the filter module. The system may further include a photoluminescence measurement module configured to receive the second radiation portion from the filter module. The defect detection module and the photoluminescence measurement module may be configured to receive the respective first radiation portion and the second radiation portion substantially simultaneously.
US09163986B2	Method and system for enhancing spectrometer function A method and system for enhancing spectrometer function may include initially exposing an array of photosensors of the spectrometer to spectral radiation and recording a first data set of photosensor counts within a predetermined measurement range; making a plurality of successive exposures of the photosensors to the radiation, and for each, progressively increasing an intensity of the radiation from the previous exposure, recording counts from the photosensors within the predetermined measurement range, disregarding counts from photosensors that already have recorded counts within the measurement range from a previous exposure to the radiation to make a data set of measured counts, and rescaling the data set of measured counts to adjust for the increasing an intensity of the spectral radiation to form a rescaled data set; and stitching together the first data set and each rescaled data set of measured counts to form a resultant data set of spectral irradiance.
US09163983B2	Light therapy monitoring A light-monitoring apparatus includes a power source, a light detector, a computer processor coupled with the power source and in communication with the light detector and configured to receive and record light exposure detected by the light detector, an output device coupled with the computer processor, and a computer-readable medium coupled with the computer processor and storing instruction code for summing the recorded light exposure from the computer processor over time and communicating a signal to the output device to generate and communicate a signal indicating that a cumulative threshold light exposure for achieving a health benefit has been reached. The apparatus can accordingly be used by an individual to monitor cumulative light exposure from both natural and artificial sources, e.g., in the treatment of seasonal or non-seasonal depression.
US09163979B2	Method for using a ribbon scale for adjusting the amount of french fries in a bag in a restaurant A transportable and repositionable portion control system 10 has an integral portion weight sensing system 90 configured for use with an optional fry ribbon bridge assembly 190 in a portion control method. The portion 14 is held in a portion indexing area, or corral 20 on an upper surface 22 of the scale 10. A portion indexing area 20 is defined between spaced, upstanding container supports 24 and 26 which diverge from one another in a “V” shape and the spacing between the rails is selected to allow a selected variety of known containers such as a cup to be placed on surface 22 between the rails to ensure that the carton is properly located for the weight measurement that is to be carried out by the scale 10.
US09163977B2	Alert system for detecting rising water levels A portable, self-contained flood alarm which alleviates the shortcomings of the alarms of the prior art and offers an easy-to-use and reliable flood and water level alarm which will adequately warn users of potential flood conditions and possibly save their personal belongings, equipment and lives.
US09163975B2	System and method for monitoring the remaining capacity and operational state of multiple shred bins The bins are situated in locations at one or more sites. A monitoring station located remotely from the bins is operably connected to each of the bins. Each bin includes an internal compartment having a given capacity for retaining paper to be shredded. An IR-LED distance measuring sensor is mounted within each bin for generating an output which is a function of the level of paper present in the compartment. The bin electronics monitors the status of the sensor and the power input to the bin. Signals are transmitted the monitoring station when the output of the sensor indicates that bin is filled to a pre-set percentage of its capacity and when a sensor or power failure are detected. At the monitoring station, information as to the remaining capacity and operational state of each bin is displayed and stored.
US09163969B2	Flow rate measurement device and flow rate measurement method for flow rate controller for gas supply device A flow rate measurement device includes a branched pipe passage having an inlet side end portion detachably joined in a branched manner to an upstream portion of on-off valve V0 provided on an outlet end portion of a gas supply line, and an outlet side end portion of the branched pipe passage joined to a gas flow-out side, an on-off valve V provided on the outlet side of the branched pipe passage, a pressure detector and a temperature detector that detect gas pressure and temperature on the upstream side of the on-off valve V, and an arithmetic operation control device receiving detection signals as input from the pressure detector and the temperature detector, and which arithmetically calculates gas flow rate of gas flowing in the branched pipe passage, and the flow rate measurement device is detachably joined in a branched manner to the upstream portion of the on-off valve V0.
US09163965B2	Microflowmeter and method for making same A flowmeter includes a first chamber and a second chamber connected through a channel. The first chamber is provided with a first deformable membrane and with first and second gauges. The second chamber is provided with a second deformable membrane and with third and fourth gauges. The four gauges form a Wheatstone bridge.
US09163964B2	Device for detecting at least one flow characteristic of a fluid medium A device for detecting at least one flow characteristic of a fluid medium, in particular for detecting an air mass flow in the intake air of a motor vehicle, includes at least one flow channel, through which the fluid medium may flow, and at least one sensor element, which is situated in the flow channel, for detecting the flow characteristic. The sensor element has at least one heating element. The device includes at least one bidirectional electrical interface. The device is configured to receive information and transmit information via the bidirectional electrical interface.
US09163951B2	Optional re-routing Disclosed herein are tools and techniques for providing optional re-routing. In one exemplary embodiment disclosed herein, a determination is made that a location of a computing device is not on a predetermined route between a start location and an end location. Based on the determining, a re-route option is provided. Also, while the re-route option is available, a determination is made that a subsequent location of the computing device is on the predetermined route, or a re-route is performed responsive to receiving a touch-anywhere input event on a touchscreen display.
US09163947B2	Navigation system and method for controlling vehicle navigation The present invention relates to a navigation system and to a method for controlling vehicle navigation. The vehicle navigation includes a storage that saves map data, a communication part that receives, from a vehicle black box installed in the vehicle, visual data captured by the black box, and a control part that acquires location data from the map data and saves the data after mapping the captured visual data with the location data.
US09163942B2	Device for locating a vehicle and method of generating vehicle location information A device for locating a vehicle and a method of generating location information are provided. The location device includes or is associated with a satellite-positioning location interface and a dead-reckoning location module. The satellite-positioning location interface and the dead-reckoning location module allow the location device to generate vehicle location information. The vehicle location information is generated by the dead-reckoning location module when the vehicle is detected as being in an area of poor satellite signal reception. A calibration of the dead-reckoning location module is provided when the vehicle is detected as being in an extended area with good satellite signal reception.
US09163936B1	Three-dimensional profilometer Profilometers for industrial metrology and other applications are described. A line is projected on a surface to be profiled. The line is scanned to build a three dimensional point cloud allowing the three-dimensional (3D) profile of the surface to be determined. In some embodiments, the line is projected by a laser system. In other embodiments, the line is projected by a digital micromirror device (DMD). In still further embodiments, multiple lines, or other patterns are projected.
US09163919B2	Golf club gauge A golf club gauge includes a frame, a clamping means, and a hand-held electronic level which can be zeroed to establish a reference plane. The level is positioned relative to a reference surface of the frame and relative to a surface to be measured, and using information obtained in these two positions, the level is used to square a head in the frame and also to measure the head's loft, lie, and face angles. An attachment is provided for the level which improves accuracy when it is used on heads with arcuate faces.
US09163917B2	Lever head A stylus support member extends in a first direction. A first and second elastic body attaching members are spaced aside from each other in a second direction are arranged spaced aside from the stylus support member in the first direction, and are connected to each other by first and second members. A first elastic body is arranged between a holder and the first elastic body attaching member. A second elastic body is arranged between a first member and the first elastic body attaching member. A third elastic body is arranged between a second member and the second elastic body attaching member. A fourth elastic body is arranged between the holder and the second elastic body attaching member. A detector detects displacement in the second direction of the stylus support member. The first to fourth elastic members perform lever motion of a single degree of freedom.
US09163916B2	Electro-mechanical fuze for a projectile The present invention describes an electronic fuze (200) operable to complement a mechanical point impact fuze (101). The electronic fuze (200) includes a voltage generator circuit (210), micro-controller (220), a piezo-electric sensor (262), a firing circuit (280) and a safety lockout circuit (290). When a projectile (50) strikes a target at an optimum angle, the mechanical point impact fuze (101) is activated; when the strike angle is oblique, the mechanical point impact fuze may be ineffective but the piezo-electric sensor (262) is operable to trigger the firing circuit (280). The safety lockout circuit (290) ensures the firing circuit (280) is operative only after a predetermined delay time when an n-channel FET (292) is turned OFF. The micro-controller (220) also generates a TIME-OUT signal, which provides for self-destruction of a projectile that has failed to explode.
US09163915B2	Projectile with steerable control surfaces and control method of the control surfaces of such a projectile The subject-matter of the invention is a method for controlling the control surfaces of a projectile and the associated projectile comprising incidence steerable control surfaces and comprising at least two control surfaces, each one being rotatable with respect to the projectile around a pivot axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the projectile, wherein the projectile comprises central means for controlling the control surfaces having at least a spherical shape, a control arm secured to the spherical shape and adapted to rotate the spherical shape, for each control surface a transmission member cooperating with the spherical shape and adapted to transmit to the control surface the rotation movements of the spherical shape, and means for positioning the arm.
US09163907B2	Adaptive camouflage In a system for the adaptive camouflage of objects, particularly of vehicles, at least one panel-like layer (5) is provided, which is at least partially air-permeable. The air suctioned in from the surroundings can be controlled, before or while it is fed into the layer, to a temperature that is determined at least almost from the background of the object.
US09163900B2	Open chamber ammunition Aspects described herein relate to an ammunition round for an open chamber gun mechanism is provided, the round comprising a housing having a triangular shaped cross section and a central longitudinal axis, the housing including at least one projectile positioned along the central longitudinal axis, a propellant positioned behind the at least one projectile along the central longitudinal axis, a first sealed end located at a first end of the housing nearest the propellant, and a second sealed end positioned at a second end of the housing in front of the projectile, wherein the second sealed end is configured to become unsealed after firing of the projectile.
US09163896B2	Sling bracket devices and methods of use with archery bow In one embodiment of the present invention, a bracket for use with an archery bow, including a main body having a length extending between a first end and a second end, at least one throughbore through which a portion of a sling can be positioned, at least one passageway intersecting the throughbore, and at least one securing element positionable through the passageway and into at least a portion of the throughbore, the securing element adapted to releasably secure the portion of the sling within the throughbore. The bracket can also include at least one vibration dampener.
US09163889B2	Receiver assembly for firearm A receiver assembly includes a bolt, a receiver having a threaded portion receiving a barrel, a barrel having a threaded portion engaged with the threaded portion of the receiver, and a crush washer positioned over the threaded portions between the barrel and the receiver to permit adjustment of the barrel relative to the receiver to achieve a proper headspacing.
US09163885B2	Cooler and refrigerating apparatus including the same A cooler includes a circular pipe member through which a heating medium circulates, and being in thermal contact with a power module to cool the power module with the heating medium flowing through an interior of the circular pipe member. An axially extending channel formation member between which and an inner circumferential surface of the circular pipe member a narrow channel for the heating medium is formed is provided in the circular pipe member.
US09163884B2	Heat dissipating apparatus with vortex generator A heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator includes a heat conducting base, a heat pipe, and a plurality of heat dissipating fins. Each heat dissipating fin has a pair of vortex generators installed with an interval apart and disposed adjacent to a side of the heat pipe, and each vortex generator has two guiding oblique surfaces protruding from a surface of the heat dissipating fin, and the two guiding oblique surfaces protrude in a tapered form. A through hole is formed at a wide position of the tapered form and penetrates through the heat dissipating fin, such that the vortex generators of each heat dissipating fin induce a stack effect at corresponding upper and lower part of the heat dissipating fin to improve the heat dissipating efficiency.
US09163883B2	Flexible thermal ground plane and manufacturing the same Methods, apparatuses, and systems are disclosed for flexible thermal ground planes. A flexible thermal ground plane may include a support member. The flexible thermal ground plane may include an evaporator region or multiple evaporator regions configured to couple with the support member. The flexible thermal ground plane may include a condenser region or multiple condenser regions configured to couple with the support member. The evaporator and condenser region may include a microwicking structure. The evaporator and condenser region may include a nanowicking structure coupled with the micro-wicking structure, where the nanowicking structure includes nanorods. The evaporator and condenser region may include a nanomesh coupled with the nanorods and/or the microwicking structure. Some embodiments may include a micromesh coupled with the nanorods and/or the microwicking structure.
US09163881B2	Heat exchanger Each of front and rear side walls of a first member of a tank main body of each header tank of an evaporator has protrusions provided at longitudinal opposite ends thereof and projecting outward in the vertical direction. Front and rear outward projecting walls of a third member are cut away at the longitudinal opposite ends. The third member has protrusions provided at the longitudinal opposite ends of each of the front and rear side walls. Each protrusion is overlappingly located on the inner side of the corresponding protrusion of the first member, and is brazed thereto. Each engagement claw of each end member has a first portion brazed to the outer surface of the corresponding protrusion of the first member, and a second portion bent inward in the front-rear direction such that it engages with the corresponding protrusion, and its distal end is located inward of the outer surface.
US09163879B2	Partially-reduced iron producing apparatus A partially-reduced iron producing apparatus includes: an exhaust gas circulating device which supplies an oxygen-containing gas to raw-material pellets to be heated by a heat of ignition raw-material pellets, the oxygen-containing gas made by circulating part of an exhaust gas discharged from the raw-material pellets by use of the heat of the ignition raw-material pellets heated in a heating furnace and mixing the discharged exhaust gas with air; and a liquid-tar separating device which is provided in the exhaust gas circulating device and which separates a tar component in the exhaust gas from the exhaust gas as a liquid tar.
US09163878B2	Device and a method for transporting blanks made from an initially plastic, especially ceramic, material to and from a dryer and a kiln A device and method for transporting blanks is provided. The blanks are made from an initially plastic, subsequently dried and finally fired material. A transport tray transports the blanks through both a dryer and a kiln. The blanks can be stacked on a drying trolley or a firing trolley. A first transfer device transfers the blanks onto the drying trolley when the blanks are stacked on the transport tray and are plastic. The drying trolley transports the blanks and the transport tray in the dryer for drying the blanks. A second transfer device transfers the blanks and the transport tray onto the firing trolley after the blanks have been dried. The firing trolley transports the blanks and the transport tray in the kiln for firing the blanks.
US09163877B2	Conveyor oven A conveyor oven is described. The conveyor oven includes a frame made of load-bearing structural members. The conveyor oven has a modular construction, with the structural members defining a rectangular prism. Blocks of insulation are placed in the frame openings, and a flexible insulating material, such as a multi-layer insulating textile, is used to cover joints between adjacent modules. Along the length of the conveyor oven, idler rollers that support the conveyor belt have ends that penetrate the sides of the oven and are supported such that the rollers can shift as the oven expands and contracts without creating openings for heat or air leakage. Air flow within the oven is managed using sets of adjustable baffle plates above and below the conveyor belt.
US09163876B2	Drying device and image forming apparatus There is provided a drying device including: an airflow path extending in a direction intersecting with a conveyance path of a recording medium; an external air intake section that introduces external air into the airflow path; and a heating and blowing section provided to the airflow path that heats external air introduced into the airflow path and blows drying air onto a front face of the recording medium being conveyed on the conveyance path.
US09163870B2	Refrigerator A refrigerator in which a rotating bar installed to one of a pair of doors is rotated when the other door is opened or closed. The refrigerator includes a rotating bar to seal a gap between doors, and a guide device to guide rotation of the rotating bar. The guide device includes a base having a receptacle, a rotating unit mounted in the receptacle and rotated by a rotating shaft, a ramp structure fixed in the receptacle and having a ramp, a linkage unit linearly movably secured to the rotating unit and connected to the rotating bar so as to be linearly moved on the ramp and rotated along with the rotating unit about the rotating shaft, and an elastic unit supported by the rotating unit and adapted to transmit elastic force to the linkage unit to allow the linkage unit to move on the ramp.
US09163869B2	Tube picking mechanisms with an ultra-low temperature or cryogenic picking compartment A tube picking mechanism is designed for use in an automated, ultra-low temperature (e.g. −80° C. or −135° C.) or cryogenic (e.g., about −140° C. to −196° C.) storage and retrieval system that stores biological or chemical samples. The samples are contained in storage tubes held in SBS footprint storage racks that are normally stored within an ultra-low temperature or cryogenic freezer compartment. The tube picking mechanism includes a tube picking chamber that is maintained at about −80° C., about −135° C. or at cryogenic temperatures in cryogenic applications. Active electrical and mechanical components are maintained in a compartment above and separate from the refrigerated, ultra-low temperature or cryogenic compartment. Thermal stratification inhibits heat transfer into the lower, ultra-low temperature or cryogenic compartment in which tube picking occurs from the upper compartment in which active electrical and mechanical components are located, and also inhibits heat transfer into the lower, ultra-low temperature or cryogenic compartment via an access door for tube storage racks.
US09163868B2	Methods and components for thermal energy storage A method is provided for storing thermal energy or increasing the thermal energy of a heat pump using reversible chemical reactions in which inorganic oxoacid compounds and/or their salts are hydrolysed and condensed or polymerized in order to release and capture heat.The method allows thermal energy to be stored at ambient circumstances in a transportable medium and allows converting a continuous heat generation process into a discontinuous and even dislocated consumption.
US09163867B2	Ice cube shape manipulation via heat An ice making device includes heating and cooling elements that control the formation of ice within a cavity. The ice making device may include one or more fluid inlets that supply liquid water to the cavity, and one or more fluid outlets that drain water from the cavity after formation of ice having a desired shape.
US09163857B2	Spray stations for temperature control in solar boilers A boiler for a solar receiver includes a plurality of solar receiver panels. The panels are fluidly connected to one another by way of a steam circuit. At least one spray station is in fluid communication with the steam circuit and is configured and adapted to provide temperature cooling spray into the steam circuit to control the temperatures of the panels.
US09163854B2	Window support and method for room air conditioner installation A bracket for mounting an air conditioning unit in a window has a base plate having a front edge and a rear edge and a pair of support legs connected to the base plate and extending from the rear edge, each support leg having an end face that faces in a same direction as the front edge and a support trough connected to the front edge. There are adjustable arms connected to the support trough. These arms are slidable in opposite directions to increase the width of the bracket and fit it exactly to the width of the window frame. When the bracket is positioned in a window frame of a structure, the support trough fits within the window frame and the end faces of the each support leg rest against an exterior of the structure.

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