最新美国发明专利第2013-10-01期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US08545176B2	Wobble plate motor A wobble plate motor comprises a rotatable shaft having a bent end rigid with the shaft and an inclined plate journalled on the bent end. When only one side of the inclined plate is directly subjected to high pressure, the plate rolls on a base in the manner of a spinning coin as it decays, i.e. as its spin rate falls to a value where the coin is inclined to the axis of rotation. As the plate rotates, torque is generated on the rotatable shaft so the shaft may drive a work consumer such as a generator, pump or compressor.
US08545171B2	Rotor for a gas turbine A rotor of a thermal fluid flow machine, especially a gas turbine, is provided. The rotor includes a plurality of rotor components that are held together by a common tie-bolt that extends through the center of the rotor components. The tie-bolt is fixed in at least one of the rotor components using at least one star spring that surrounds the tie-bolt in a circumferential direction.
US08545170B2	Turbo machine efficiency equalizer system A system for a turbo machine is provided, including one or more channels that redirect steam that leaks through the root and/or the tip regions of a stage of the turbine to mix with the high efficiency main steam flow at the pitch region of the turbine where efficiency is the highest. This redirection of the steam results in a significant performance improvement that evens out the efficiency profile resulting in higher average efficiencies.
US08545168B2	Two-dimensional array of turbines Arrangements of turbines are described. The turbines are staggered or aligned in the downwind direction.
US08545166B2	System and method for controlling leak steam to steam seal header for improving steam turbine performance A turbine system is provided wherein during self-sealing operating conditions, excess leakoff steam is restricted from being dumped to a steam seal header and is diverted into the working steam flow path, hence increasing net output and efficiency for the turbine system. A related method is also provided.
US08545164B2	Systems and methods for repositioning row bars used for manufacturing magnetic heads A system for repositioning row bars includes a base support including a top surface, and a support arm positioned on the top surface and configured to rotate from a first position to a second position, a tray assembly coupled to the support arm, the tray assembly including a first tray including a plurality of first channels, each configured to retain one of the row bars in an initial position, a transfer substrate including a plurality of transfer channels, each configured to receive one of the row bars from the first tray as the support arm moves from the first position to the second position, and a second tray including a plurality of second channels, each configured to retain the one of the row bars in a final position, where the row bars in the final position are rotated by a preselected number of degrees from the initial position.
US08545162B2	Material handling apparatus and method for operating A material handling apparatus is described including a vehicle having a front end, a rear end, a left side, a right side, a chassis, and a ground engagement device attached to the chassis for providing movement of the vehicle across ground; an engine constructed for propelling the vehicle; a loader assembly; a hydraulic system constructed for driving the loader assembly; and operator area including a cage for protecting an operator located within the operator area, and controls for controlling movement of the vehicle and for controlling operation of the loader assembly; and a forward tools area extending from the operator seating area to the front end of the vehicle. The material handling apparatus can include an entrance to the operator area through the rear end of the vehicle, a loader assembly that includes a tower that rotates relative to the chassis, and a dump box or work platform provided in the forward tools area. A method for operating a material handling apparatus is provided.
US08545158B2	Loading unit and processing system A loading unit avoiding the need to enhance the performance of a lifting elevator mechanism, thus preventing an increase in the cost of the lifting elevator mechanism. The loading unit is configured to vertically move a substrate holder, holding a plurality of substrates, into and out of a cylindrical processing container upon heat treatment of the substrates. The loading unit includes: a lifting elevator mechanism for holding and vertically moving the substrate holder and a cap; and a pressing mechanism, having a piezoelectric actuator, for upwardly pressing against the cap lying at a bottom opening of the processing container.
US08545155B2	Attachment fastener with a sealing washer The invention relates to an attachment fastener that comprises a body (1) extending in an axial direction, with a head (2), a leg (3) and a skirt-shaped flexible collar (4) provided between the head (2) and the leg (3), and annular sealing washer (5) for sealing the length of a peripheral edge (42) of the collar (4), said sealing washer (5) having a lower surface (57) directed towards the opposite side of the collar (4) having at least one annular bead defining a first sealing line on the lower surface (57) of the washer (5). The sealing washer (5) is adapted to be removably attached onto said peripheral edge (32) of the collar (4), and comprises an upper surface opposite the lower surface (57), which defines an annular shoulder protruding on the side of the collar (4) and on which bears said peripheral edge (42) of the collar (4), said annular shoulder defining another sealing line on the upper surface of the washer (5).
US08545154B2	License plate fastener A license plate fastener assembly includes a female collar including an internally threaded cylinder and a radially outboard flared shoulder. A bumper is mounted on the shoulder. A bolt is compatibly received in the threaded cylinder. The bolt presents a bolt head to define a selectively adjustable distance between the bolt head and the bumper. One or more washers made or synthetic resin may be mounted on the cylinder for selective depth adjustment of the distance.
US08545152B2	Screw which can be screwed into a component The invention relates to a screw which can be screwed into a component and which will resist further screwing into an internal thread within said component once a maximum torque has been reached. For this purpose, a screw body having an external thread is combined with a screw drive element which projects into a bore within said screw body and, within said bore, is connected to the screw body via static friction. At least part of this combination is made of a plastic material, with the static friction having the effect of a slipping clutch when a maximum torque acts on the screw drive element. The screw drive element is connected to the screw body via a ratchet in such a way that when the screw body is unscrewed from the internal thread within said component, turning said screw drive element will cause the ratchet to engage, thereby entraining the screw body.
US08545139B2	Magnetic drilling stand with holding force monitoring A magnetic drilling stand is disclosed having a drilling unit (20), having an electromagnet (14) for fixing the magnetic drilling stand (10) on a component (12), having a voltage source which can be coupled to the electromagnet (14), and having a controller (28) for monitoring the holding force of the electromagnet (14), with the controller (28) having a device for monitoring the current level of the electromagnet (14), in order to identify a fault state or an adequate magnetic holding force, with a signal for an adequate magnetic holding force being produced only if, within a test phase, the current level of the electromagnet is below a respectively predetermined threshold value at at least two predetermined times after the start of the test phase.
US08545134B2	Tool comprising a fastening unit A milling or boring tool has a main tool body rotatable about a tool axis and a cutting element which can be fastened to the main tool body and which has a cutting portion or a cutting insert seat for receiving a cutting insert. To provide a fastening system for fastening the cutting element to the main tool body, which is to be easily implemented at low cost, which allows highly accurate positioning of the cutting element on the main tool body, and which permits very rapid exchange of the cutting element, a centering pin is arranged parallel to the boring axis with an axis that does not coincide with the tool axis and is connected on one part, the main tool body or the cutting element, and a corresponding centering opening is provided on the other part, the cutting element or the main tool body.
US08545132B2	Method and apparatus for insulating a component of a low-temperature or cryogenic storage tank A process for insulating the void in a thermal distance piece in a low-temperature or cryogenic storage tank uses a vacuum source to draw insulation into the TDP. Two remotely spaced openings to the void are provided. A strainer is temporarily mounted in one of the openings. The other opening is connected to a suction wand. The wand has an inner cylinder that extends through an outer cylinder and projects outwardly from a proximal end of the outer cylinder. Distal air vents are provided on the inner cylinder, near a distal cap that connects distal ends of the cylinders. Proximal air vents are provided on a proximal cap that connects a portion of the inner cylinder to a proximal end of the outer cylinder. The distal end of the wand is inserted into a container of insulation.
US08545129B2	Cofferdam modules A cofferdam module can include first and second side panels, outer support members that are each coupled to the outer side of one of the side panels, and two different types of inner support members that are each coupled to the inner side of each of the side panels.
US08545128B2	Configurable desegregation apparatus A desegregation apparatus that desegregates a stream of HMA that includes particles of varying size includes a desegregation hopper, which houses an auger assembly. A series of counter-handed augers is mounted on a shaft disposed within the hopper. Open sections are disposed between adjacent auger sections and above openings in the bottom surface of the hopper.
US08545123B2	Ring binder A ring binder, with a fixed bar (1), bearing hooks (2) and a moving bar (3), wherein the fixed bar (1) is immovably fixed on a spine plate of a folder; the bearing hooks (2) are fixed on the upper surface of the fixed bar (1); the moving bar (3) is movably lapped over one side of the fixed bar (1); the lower surface of the moving bar (3) and the lower surface of the fixed bar (1) are clamped and connected with each other; the moving bar (3) can rotate relative to the fixed bar (1) and slide along the length direction of the fixed bar (1); a spring (4) connected between the moving bar (3) and the fixed bar (1); and moving shackles (5) fixed on the upper surface of the moving bar (3). As the ring binder lacks a base plate, a housing, etc., both the opening and the closing of the binder are convenient and the cost of the ring binder is reduced.
US08545121B2	Dispensing mechanism assembly A dispensing apparatus is provided, which, when filled with product and assembled, substantially reduces product leakage from an orifice of an applicator thereof during extended periods of non-use. The dispensing apparatus includes a barrel defining an interior chamber for holding a product, the barrel having an open bottom at one end thereof and an applicator tip having one or more orifices therethrough at the other end. The barrel also includes two or more passages located along the length of the barrel between the bottom of the barrel and a predetermined fill-level.
US08545119B2	Substrate cleaning apparatus, coating and developing apparatus having the same and substrate cleaning method A substrate cleaning apparatus includes a substrate holding and rotating unit for holding a center of a rear surface of a substrate and rotating the substrate; a cleaning unit including a first cleaning member, a second cleaning member provided around the first cleaning member and a base to which the first and second cleaning members are secured; an elevating unit for moving the substrate holding and rotating unit and the cleaning unit relative to each other so as to allow the first and second cleaning members to come into contact with the rear surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding and rotating unit; and a driving unit for driving the substrate and the cleaning unit relative to each other in a direction along the rear surface of the substrate so as to allow part of the second cleaning member to be exposed to the outside of the substrate.
US08545117B2	Conversion adaptor apparatus and interchangeable lens system A conversion adapter apparatus is provided that connects a camera body and an interchangeable lens. The conversion adapter apparatus includes a camera body side installation portion to receive a camera body, a lens side installation portion to receive an interchangeable lens, and a first communication contact group provided on the camera body side installation portion and connected to a communication contact group. The conversion adapter apparatus additionally includes a second communication contact group provided on the lens side installation portion and connected to the communication contact group and a conductive member that electrically connects the first communication contact group and the second communication contact group. A position of the first communication contact group around a camera optical axis and a position of the second communication contact group around the camera optical axis are different from each other.
US08545115B2	Focal plane shutter for cameras A blade room for a second blade group is formed between a shutter base plate and a middle plate and a blade room for a first blade group is formed between the middle plate and an auxiliary base plate, by separating a space between the shutter base plate and the auxiliary base plate by the middle plate. A push pin which is planted on the shutter base plate pushes a portion on the lower area of the middle plate toward the auxiliary base plate so that the middle plate bends in the shape of an arc. Also, the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture has the narrowest width in the portion which is pushed by the push pin and the pushed portion of the middle plate has a shape by which the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture is easy to bend.
US08545113B2	Networked freezer stocking management A system for an ice merchandiser having a compressor in a compressor enclosure to cool the ice merchandiser includes a sensor disposed within the ice merchandiser, and a communications component disposed within the compressor enclosure and coupled to the sensor to receive signals from the sensor representative of the amount of ice in the ice merchandiser, wherein the communications component is configured to convert the received signals to a digital format and publish the signals via a network connection.
US08545108B1	Flexible fiber to wafer interface A fiber to wafer interface system includes an interface device comprising a flexible substrate portion, a flexible cladding portion arranged on the substrate portion, a flexible single-mode waveguide portion arranged on the cladding portion including a substantially optically transparent material, a connector portion engaging a first distal end of the flexible substrate portion, the connector portion operative to engage a portion of an optical fiber ferrule, a wafer portion comprising a single mode waveguide portion arranged on a portion of the wafer, an adhesive disposed between a portion of the single mode waveguide portion of the body portion and the single mode waveguide portion of the wafer portion, the adhesive securing the body portion to the wafer portion.
US08545106B2	System and method for isolating a rolling-element bearing Lubrication fluid is discharged through an axial gap between a outer bearing race and a bearing housing from a cavity bounded in part by a forward surface of the outer bearing race that is axially slideable within the bearing housing so as to provide for changing the axial gap. The pressure in the cavity is automatically controlled responsive to an axial force on outer bearing race by an axial position of the outer bearing race that determines a size of the axial gap, so as to provide for increasing the pressure responsive to increasing axial force over at least a portion of an operating range. The lubrication fluid in the axial gap provides for isolating axial vibrations of the outer bearing race relative to the bearing housing.
US08545104B2	Tilting pad bearing apparatuses and motor assemblies using the same Embodiments of the invention relate to tilting pad bearing assemblies and apparatuses. The disclosed tilting pad bearing assemblies and apparatuses may be employed in downhole motors of a subterranean drilling system or other mechanical systems. In an embodiment, a bearing assembly or apparatus includes a support ring and a plurality of tilting pads. Each tilting pad is tilted and/or tiltably secured relative to the support ring. In some embodiments, one or more of the tilting pads include a plurality of superhard bearing segments assembled to form a superhard bearing surface. One or more seams may be positioned between adjacent superhard bearing segments of the superhard bearing segments. In other embodiments, one or more of the tilting pads may include at least one or only one superhard bearing segment, such as a polycrystalline diamond bearing segment.
US08545099B2	Flexible packaging structure with built-in tamper-evidence features and method for making same A flexible packaging laminate formed by an outer structure joined to an inner structure. Score lines are formed in both structures to form a flap that is lifted to open the package. The score line through the outer structure defines a larger opening than the score line through the inner structure, such that a marginal region of the outer structure extends beyond the edge of the opening portion of the inner structure. A pressure-sensitive adhesive is used to re-adhere the marginal region to an underlying surface of the inner structure adjacent the opening through the laminate. The outer score line includes at least one tab having one end integrally joined to an outer edge of the flap and an opposite end anchored to a portion of the outer structure spaced from the outer edge, the tab being torn through upon initial creation of the opening through the flexible packaging laminate.
US08545098B2	X-ray cassette cover An X-ray cover for enveloping an X-ray cassette. The cover comprises a first sheet, a second sheet and band. The first sheet and second sheet are sized and shaped to accept the X-ray cassette and the band is sized and shaped to isolate the X-ray cassette during a radiographic procedure.
US08545094B2	Detecting a mineral within a material The invention exposes rock fragments of a material to electromagnetic radiation, such as microwave radiation, and detects the thermal response of the material of the rock fragments during or immediately after exposure to detect a mineral within the material.
US08545089B2	Back frame, mold for back frame and bracing piece, method for manufacturing back frame, and backlight system A back frame of a flat panel display device includes first and second primary assembling pieces. The first primary assembling piece has an end forming at least two joint sections each of which has a structure mating an end of the second primary assembling piece to selectively joint the two primary assembling pieces. The back frame includeds a bracing piece fixed to the primary assembling pieces and forming at least two sets of mounting structures. A mold for making a back frame and bracing piece of a flat panel display device, a method for manufacturing a back frame of a flat panel display device, and a backlight system are also provide and they have a simple back frame mold to reduce cost of the back frame mold, and save material for the back frame to lower down cost of the flat panel display device.
US08545083B2	Light-emitting device, light source and method of manufacturing the same A light-emitting device includes a light source including an element mounting substrate, an LED element mounted thereon by flip-chip connection and a sealing portion for sealing the LED element on the element mounting substrate, and a light guide plate including a housing hole for housing the light source. The housing hole extends from one surface side to another surface side of the light guide plate and an area of an inner surface thereof on which light is incident from the light source is parallel to a thickness direction of the light guide plate. The light source is housed in the housing hole so that the element mounting substrate is located on the other surface side of the light guide plate, emits light toward the one surface side of the light guide plate in the housing hole and the inner surface side of the housing hole, and has an optical axis parallel to the thickness direction of the light guide plate. A solid angle of the inner surface of the housing hole with respect to the center of an upper surface of the light source is not less than 4.44 steradians.
US08545082B2	Light emitting apparatus and lighting system A light emitting apparatus including a body including a first cavity; a first electrode and a second electrode on the body; a light emitting device disposed in the first cavity and being electrically connected with the first and the second electrodes; and a first molding member disposed in the first cavity, and including a fluorescent material. Further, a height ‘a’ of the light emitting device and a depth ‘y’ of the first cavity satisfy a relation 1.5a≦y≦3.0a, and the height ‘a’ and a horizontal distance ‘x’ from an upper outer edge of the light emitting device to an inner surface of the body forming the first cavity satisfy a relation 0.5a≦x≦1.5a.
US08545075B2	Backlight unit and liquid crystal display apparatus including the same Provided are a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display apparatus including the same. The backlight unit comprises: a housing comprising an opening part; a module substrate in the opening part of the housing; a light emitting diode on the module substrate; and a reflection sheet in which the light emitting diode inserted thereto.
US08545066B2	Rotating LED light on a magnetic base A light includes a magnetic base; a light housing having a plurality of LEDs and a DC power source; and a frictional pivot connection between the magnetic base and the light housing.
US08545060B2	High intensity replaceable light emitting diode module and array A light fixture, comprising a matrix, a plurality of electrical sockets fixedly secured to the matrix and forming a rigid matrix of electrical sockets electrically interconnected in two dimensions. One or more light emitting diode modules are individually removable and replaceable within any individual electrical socket within the matrix. Each individual light emitting diode module includes a base and a light emitting diode, wherein the base is configured and arranged for fitted electrical engagement within the electrical socket.
US08545055B2	LED lamp with adjustable light field An LED lamp includes a holder with a base, a first light module and a second light module. The first light module includes a first light cover and a first set of LEDs. The first light cover has a hollow conical configuration with a wide top end tapering to a small bottom end. The small bottom end of the first light cover is connected to the base. The first set of LEDs is received in a hollow space of the first light cover. The second light module includes a second light cover and a second set of LEDs received in the second light cover. The second light cover is capable of rotating relative to the first light module.
US08545052B2	High illumination LED bulb with 360-degree full emission angle A high illumination LED bulb with a 360-degree full emission angle includes a transparent lamp seat, a transparent lampshade coupled to lamp seat, a support board disposed in a chamber defined by transparent lamp seat and transparent lampshade, a heat dissipating body supported by support board, and first and second light emitting modules. The first light emitting module includes a first substrate disposed on a face of heat dissipating body and at least one LED disposed on the first substrate. The second light emitting module includes a second substrate disposed on another face of the heat dissipating body and at least one LED disposed on the second substrate. The LEDs on first and second substrates can project upper and lower projection lights respectively, and a reflected halo formed by projection of the upper projection light on the transparent lampshade can form a side projected halo. Thereby, a 360-degree full emission angle projected halo can be formed.
US08545048B2	LED illumination structure without light guide plate An LED illumination structure without a light guide plate (LGP) includes an optical bottom plate, a plurality of LED illumination components arranged at least along one side edge of the optical bottom plate and a plurality of reflecting structures parallel to the LED illumination components formed on the optical bottom plate from two opposite side edges of the optical bottom plate to a center of the optical bottom plate. The reflecting structures are in a shape of tapered embossment and include a first side facing the center of the optical bottom plate and a second side facing the side edges of the optical bottom plate. An optical film is arranged in a raising direction of the reflecting structures of the optical bottom plate. The present invention is applicable to an illumination lamp for generating a uniform light emitting or may further be an illumination structure for projecting a light source of a bare-eyed 3D image.
US08545047B2	LED obstruction light A light emitting diode (LED) light with a corrugated reflective surface is disclosed. The corrugated reflective surface reflects and diffuses light beams emitting from a light source having at least one LED. The corrugated reflective surface can be concavely curved. The curvature and the corrugations of the reflective surface can be designed by an equation to achieve a specified beam spread.
US08545046B2	Multi-color indicator lighting A light for multi-color indication, for example, as navigation light, has a light source with a plurality of LEDs on a common substrate, within a common package and a common package lens. The LEDs may be of different colors. A reflector may be mounted opposite the light source to direct “mixed-color” light through differently colored portions of a casing lens. A reflective surface of the reflector may be shaped substantially as a surface of rotation. A reflective material such as a film may be positioned on the casing lens to extend over at least part of an angular range of any of the lens portion(s) corresponding to an unneeded light color, so as to reflect incident light towards a selected one of the lens portions corresponding to a needed light color.
US08545042B2	Self-illuminating battery A self-illuminating battery including one or more film light-emitting diodes positioned adjacent an inner surface of a battery casing. The diodes are connect to positive and negative poles through conductor. The battery may also include one or more miniature light-emitting diode mounted at the end of the battery, connecting the positive pole and negative pole through conductor.
US08545039B2	Lamp base with upgradeable recharging port and method A lamp base having an electrical device recharging receptacle configured to receive a plug from a recharging device for a portable rechargeable electronic device. The receptacle is configured as a standard automobile cigarette lighter receptacle. The receptacle includes standard cigarette lighter receptacle electrical contacts that are connected to a voltage and current conversion circuit for receiving standard household voltage and converting it into standard automotive voltage and current. An adapter receptacle is provided in the lamp base with securable replacement electrical and mechanical connection mechanism, wherein the conversion circuit provides a voltage and current to the adapter receptacle. A replaceably securable USB adapter plug comprising a second conversion circuit for converting the voltage and current provided to the adapter receptacle into a standard USB voltage and current. The replaceably securable USB adapter plug may be electrically and mechanically disconnected and replaced with an upgraded replaceably securable USB adapter plug having a third conversion circuit to convert the voltage and current provided to a different USB voltage and current.
US08545037B2	Lightguides having light extraction structures providing regional control of light output Lightguides, devices incorporating lightguides, and processes for making lightguides are described. A lightguide includes light extractors arranged in a pattern on a surface of the lightguide. The pattern of light extractors is arranged to enhance uniformity of light output across a surface of the lightguide and to provide enhanced defect hiding. The efficiency of the light extractors is controlled by a shape factor. The areal density of the light extractors across the surface of the lightguide may be substantially constant or may decrease along the direction of propagation of light from the light source.
US08545035B1	Color-patterned front lights The color patterned front light (CPFL) may be implemented by shining light through a side of a CPFL panel that is situated adjacent to and in front of a monochromic reflective display (MRD). The CPFL may direct one of red, green, blue, or white light through a rear surface of the panel and onto each of the pixels in the MRD. The pixels may be grouped in blocks, such as n-by-m or n-by-n blocks of pixels. The pixels in the block may be selectively activated by the MRD to either absorb the light or reflect the light shone on the respective pixel. By adjusting the representation of the pixels in the MRD, the block may appear to change color based on the colored light from the CPFL that is reflected outward from the display.
US08545028B2	Projector system for animation of image cells An image animation system having a plurality of individual image projectors focused onto a single focal area on a projection surface or medium. Angled optics, or a prism, may be used to direct the projections onto the single focal area. Individual still images are projected in a sequence to create a projected motion animation.
US08545023B2	Ophthalmic surgery measurement system An ophthalmic apparatus for measuring spatial distances within a patient's eye is disclosed. The apparatus can be used to measure, for example, the capsular bag depth in an aphakic eye. The spatial measurement system can direct laser light into a patient's eye so that a portion of the light is scattered by the capsular bag. The scattered light can be directed to a detector where spots can be formed corresponding to the locations on the capsular bag from which the light was scattered. The distance from the cornea to the capsular bag can be determined based, for example, at least in part on the distance between the spots formed on the detector. In some embodiments, the apparatus can include a surgical microscope and/or a wavefront aberrometer. In some embodiments, an alignment system can be used to precisely position the apparatus relative to the patient's eye. The ophthalmic apparatus can be used for variety of ophthalmic procedures, such as predicting the postoperative position of an intraocular lens (IOL) and determining appropriate optical power for the IOL.
US08545022B2	Ophthalmoscope including therapy beam pulse information storage An ophthalmoscope includes a therapy beam source configured to apply therapy beam pulses onto an eye and a drive unit configured to store information about the therapy beam pulses applied onto the eye.
US08545021B2	Ophthalmoscope including virtual position patterning for therapy beam application An ophthalmoscope includes a display, a therapy beam source, and a drive unit. The display is configured to display a live image of a patient's eye. The therapy beam source is configured to apply therapy beam pulses onto the eye. The drive unit is configured to superimpose onto the live image of the eye a virtual pattern of positions intended for the application of therapy beam pulses.
US08545018B2	Ophthalmic photography apparatus Positioning control relating to a two-aperture stop necessary for stereoscopic photography can be performed accurately and securely using a simple, inexpensive, compact, and lightweight structure. The apparatus comprises a two-aperture stop (28) provided with two stop apertures (28a, 28b), and a shutter plate (302) for opening and closing one of the two stop apertures. The two-aperture stop (28) is moved so as to intersect with an optical axis so that in monocular photography the two-aperture stop is positioned in a first position in which the stop aperture (28b) is disposed substantially at the center of the optical axis and so that in stereoscopic photography it is positioned in a second position in which the two stop apertures (28a, 28b) are disposed off-center from the optical axis. A drive mechanism comprising a cam plate (303), a spring (304), and a rotary solenoid (301) is used to move the shutter plate (302) so as to close the stop opening (28a) of the two stop apertures in the first position and to open both of the two stop apertures (28a, 28b) in the second position.
US08545014B2	Optical lens with antistatic coating The present invention relates to an optical lens, in particular for use as a spectacle lens, having a lens element and a coating for producing an antistatic effect, said coating being applied onto the lens element and having a plurality of layers. Further, the antistatic effect is provided by two layers adjoining one another, wherein at least one of the two layers adjoining one another is formed in a non-stoichiometric fashion. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for producing a corresponding optical lens.
US08545009B2	Apparatus capable of handling code, method for controlling the same, and program therefor An apparatus includes a printing unit to print, when printing a plurality of pages to an output page, a first page and a second page respectively on both sides across a boundary line in the output page. The printing unit prints a two-dimensional code on a boundary line side in the first page. Further, the printing unit prints a two-dimensional code on a side opposite to the boundary line in the second page.
US08545005B2	Contactless ink leveling method and appartus A method of leveling ink that is printed on a substrate includes establishing a thermal gradient across a thickness of the substrate, the thermal gradient characterized in that it is less than a viscosity threshold temperature of the ink across most of the substrate.
US08545001B2	Ink composition, ink set and image forming method The invention provides an inkjet ink composition including a pigment and colloidal silica, the pigment being covered with a water-insoluble resin including a constituent unit having an acidic group, with which rub resistance of images formed and ink discharge reliability are excellent and deterioration of liquid repellency of an inkjet head member is suppressed.
US08544997B2	Liquid ejection head and manufacturing method thereof Provided is a liquid ejection head, including: an ejection orifice forming member having an ejection orifice for ejecting liquid; a substrate having a supply port for supplying the liquid to the ejection orifice; and a filter disposed at a position upstream of the ejection orifice when the liquid is supplied to the ejection orifice, in which the filter includes an opening having a diameter smaller than or equal to a diameter of the ejection orifice, and a tapered shape structure disposed at a position upstream of the opening when the liquid is supplied to the ejection orifice, the tapered shape structure having a distal end directed toward an upstream side.
US08544988B1	Recyclable and remanufacturable microprocessor-based postal evidencing module and method of recycling and remanufacturing The present invention relates to postal evidencing modules that can be recycled in a non-destructive fashion for reuse and remanufacturing. The modules comprise a cartridge-receiving portion and a lid, which can be manually disengaged from one another by the user in order to assist in reuse and remanufacturing. The modules further comprise flex circuits with one or more microprocessors to electrically engage the ink cartridges and a postage evidencing system. The present invention is designed to use commercially available ink cartridges and microprocessors.
US08544987B2	Thermally stable oleophobic low adhesion coating for inkjet printhead front face A coating for an ink jet printhead front face, wherein the coating comprises a oleophobic low adhesion coating. When the oleophobic low adhesion coating is disposed on an ink jet printhead front face surface, jetted drops of ultra-violet gel ink or jetted drops of solid ink exhibit a contact angle greater than 45° and a low sliding angle of less than about 30°. In embodiments, the oleophobic low adhesion coating is thermally stable wherein the surface contact angle and sliding angle show little degradation after the coating is subjected to high temperatures in a range between 180° and 320° or thereabout and high pressures in a range between 100 psi and 400 psi or thereabout during printhead fabrication and manufacturing.
US08544984B2	Inkjet printer An inkjet printer has a nozzle cap that keeps the nozzle surface of the inkjet head moisturized, and can keep the nozzle cap moist by means of a simple mechanism. A check processing device incorporating the inkjet printer has an inkjet head, a nozzle cap that covers the nozzle surface of the inkjet head and keeps the nozzle surface moist, and a shutter that closes the open part of the nozzle cap to keep the inside of the nozzle cap moist. When the nozzle surface of the inkjet head is not capped, a moisture retention state in which moisture inside the nozzle cap is prevented from evaporating can be held by the shutter covering the open part of the nozzle cap.
US08544983B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus including: a recording head having a nozzle surface in which nozzles to eject liquid droplets in a horizontal direction or a direction slanted from the horizontal direction are formed, the nozzle surface being disposed in a vertical direction or a direction slanted from the vertical direction; a head tank to supply liquid to the recording head; a suction cap to cap the nozzle surface of the recording head; a suction member connected to the suction cap to suck out liquid from the nozzles by the suction cap; a valve member to open or close a sealed space formed by capping the nozzle surface with the suction cap to atmosphere; a liquid supplier to supply the liquid to the head tank and return the liquid from the head tank; and a control unit to control servicing of the recording head.
US08544982B2	Liquid jet head, liquid jet recorder and method for filling liquid jet head with liquid A liquid jet head has a nozzle plate with nozzle holes for ejecting a liquid. A wall portion surrounding the nozzle plate has an opening opposed to the nozzle holes. An opening and closing mechanism is configured in an open state to open the opening of the wall portion to expose the nozzle holes to an exterior of the head, and in a closed state to close the opening of the wall portion to form a closed space between the wall portion and the nozzle plate. A suction flow path has on one end side a suction port opening below the nozzle holes, and another end side is connected to a suction portion that evacuates the closed space to convert the closed space to a negative pressure chamber, thereby supplying the liquid to the nozzle holes. An atmosphere release portion switches between the open and closed states of the mechanism.
US08544981B2	Sealing tape for ink jet recording head and ink jet recording head using the same A sealing tape for an ink jet recording head, detachably adhered to the surface of a chip which is provided on an ink jet recording head and on which a discharge port for discharging ink is formed, includes: a base layer; and an adhesive layer on the base layer, the adhesive layer consisting of: (1) 70 to 100 wt % of (A)-(B)-(A) block copolymers which have no unsaturated carbon bond and consist of (a) vinyl aromatic compound units and (b) olefinic hydrocarbon units where (A) is a polymer block consisting of the (a) units and (B) is a polymer block consisting of the (b) units; and (2) 0 to 30 wt % of polyolefin, wherein the content of the (a) vinyl aromatic compound units in the (1) (A)-(B)-(A) block copolymers is 10 to 30 wt %.
US08544979B2	Ejection inspecting device, printer and ejection inspecting method An ejection inspecting device is operable to inspect an ejection state of a fluid ejection device operable to eject a fluid. The ejection inspecting device includes: at least one pair of electrodes, disposed so that the fluid can pass; an oscillation executing unit, connected to the electrodes, and operable to electrically oscillates; an oscillation detecting unit, operable to detect an oscillation state oscillated by the oscillation executing unit by counting the number of oscillations during a predetermined period; and a control unit, operable to detect whether the fluid has been ejected from the fluid ejection device based on the number of oscillations detected during the predetermined period during which the fluid has not been ejected, and based on the number of oscillations detected during the predetermined period during which the fluid ejected therefrom has passed near the electrodes.
US08544976B2	Focus-activated acoustic ejection To ejecting a droplet from a reservoir, the reservoir holding a fluid is moved with respect to an acoustic ejector. As the reservoir and ejector move closer together, the acoustic ejector sends one or more interrogation pulses towards the reservoir. Based on the interrogation pulses, the system determines when the movement of the reservoir has placed a free surface of the fluid in a position where a droplet can be ejected.
US08544973B2	Refrigerator A refrigerator is disclosed. The refrigerator includes a cabinet configured to define an exterior boundary of the refrigerator. The refrigerator also includes a first storage chamber defined by interior walls of the cabinet and configured to store food stuffs. The refrigerator further includes a first door configured to open and close the first storage chamber by rotating about a rotational axis. In addition, the refrigerator includes a second storage chamber that is smaller than the first storage chamber defined at a side of the first door, and that is configured to enable access to food stuffs while the first door remains closed and a second door, located in a predetermined portion of the first door, configured to open and close the second storage chamber by rotating the rotational axis, wherein a rotation direction of the second door is identical to the rotation direction of the first door.
US08544972B2	Refrigerator, refrigerator door handle, and assembling method of the refrigerator door handle A door handle for a refrigerator is provided. The door handle includes a graspable handle main body, a receiving member coupled to the handle main body and provided with a receiving portion, one or more decorations received in the receiving portion, and a handle cover coupled to the handle main body and supporting at least a portion of the decoration. As the decorations are stably installed on the door handle, the exterior beauty of the refrigerator can be improved. This satisfies the user.
US08544968B2	Cabinet with a shelf that has a removable shelf liner and end cap A cabinet includes one or more shelves that each include a substrate, a removable shelf liner, and a removable end cap. When the removable shelf liner or removable end cap needs to be replaced, either one or both of the removable shelf liner and removable end cap can be easily removed and replaced without removing or replacing the shelf. In addition, the sides and back of the cabinet preferably contain a dado joint so that the shelf substrate is captivated within the sides and back of the cabinet. The cabinet may also include metal rods to support each shelf substrate. The sides of the cabinet are attached by screws passing through the sides into the metal rods so there is a direct metal-to-metal connection. The combination of the metal rods and captivated shelves provides a cabinet that is very strong and durable, and can be repaired very easily and economically.
US08544966B2	Brake controller for vehicle and brake control method for vehicle A brake controller for a vehicle is disclosed. The brake controller is mounted on the vehicle to control the drive of the brake device. The brake controller comprises a rough road index calculating section for calculating a rough road index in a predetermined cycle, wherein the rough road index indicates an unevenness degree of the road on which the vehicle travels; and a controlling section for controlling the drive of the brake device to provide the driving force to the brake pad when the current rough road index calculated by the rough road index calculating section is smaller than a previous rough road index calculated by the rough road index calculating section.
US08544965B2	Brake system Provided is a brake system capable of preventing fuel efficiency of a vehicle from being lowered. After a brake pedal is released, a pump is driven under a state in which opening/closure of valves included in an ABS/VDC actuator are regulated so that pressure-reduction control for returning a brake fluid in wheel cylinders to a master cylinder is performed. Therefore, the brake fluid remaining in the wheel cylinders is returned to the master cylinder via the pump to increase a hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder. As a result, return characteristics of an electric actuation unit are improved. Therefore, for example, even if viscosity of grease applied onto a rotary-to-linear motion converting mechanism is increased at a low temperature or the like, pistons of the master cylinder can be appropriately returned to initial positions.
US08544961B2	Fabricated vehicle axle A fabricated vehicle axle is provided with a main body defined by the combination of a channel having an inverted U-shaped configuration and a bottom plate. The ends of the main body are curved upwardly to define a pair of gooseneck portions. Axle head sections are formed at the ends of the axle and are closed off by end extensions extending from the front and rear walls of the channel and a cover flap extension extending from the top wall of the channel. A head plate is inserted within the space between the cover flap and the top edges of the end extensions. King pin bolt holes are machined at each axle head section into the cover flaps, head plates and each end of the bottom plate to permit a king pin to be installed therein.
US08544960B2	Chain guide for a driving chain of a mining machine A chain guide for a driving chain of a winning plow or the like, the chain guide being provided with a chain guide element which is arranged in spatial proximity to the sprockets at a driving or return station and is against the chain transversely to the direction of movement of the latter, provision is made according to the invention for the chain guide element to have at least one pressure roller which can be adjusted against the chain links of the driving chain, as a result of which the wear on the chain guide element is considerably reduced.
US08544953B2	Lumbar support assembly and corresponding seat structure A lumbar support assembly (2) comprises a support arrangement (3) which may have the form of a wire framework with two side wires (4) and a plurality of transverse wires (6). A Bowden cable arrangement (10) with a single Bowden cable is attached by two plate clips (15, 17) to the two side wires (4). A first end portion (13) of the wire (12) of the Bowden cable arrangement (10) is anchored to a front edge of a seat frame (1), while a second end portion (14) of the wire (12) is coupled to an actuator (20) for adjusting the tension of the Bowden cable. The lumbar support assembly (2) thus requires only one single Bowden cable to arch the lumbar support assembly at least in a lumbar region and to adjust the degree of lumbar support accordingly.
US08544950B2	Airplane seat A seat having a seat surface and a backrest also includes a reboard seat frame which is pivotably mounted in the lower region of the backrest and/or in the connecting/transition region of backrest and seat surface. At least one part of the cushion of the backrest is connected to the reboard seat frame and can pivot with this reboard seat frame. The reboard seat frame in a stowed position is arranged essentially parallel to the backrest and can pivot from the stowed position into a reboard in-use position in which it occupies an angular position between the planes of the backrest and of the seat surface. In the reboard in-use position, the part of the cushion of the backrest which is connected to the reboard seat frame forms the seat surface of a reboard child seat.
US08544940B2	Rear floor for an automobile and automobile including such a floor A rear floor for an automobile, including a series of ribs punched into the metal sheet of the floor and extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. At least one of the punched-in ribs is connected to an adjacent rib by a rib portion that is inclined relative to the longitudinal direction.
US08544936B2	Device for connecting functional elements to a supply source A device for connecting functional elements is indicated which are arranged in a sliding door of a motor vehicle, with at least one supply source present in the body of the motor vehicle through lines which extend between the functional elements and the supply source. The sliding door is mounted on a carriage which is moveable back and forth in the bottom area of the motor vehicle essentially over the entire width of a door opening (3). Lines connected to a connection point (14) of the supply source are arranged in a guide chain (16) which is composed of mechanically stable chain links which are moveably connected to each other, wherein the guide chain is pivotally fastened with a first end to the sliding door and with a second end in the area of the connection point (14) to the body of the vehicle. An elbow (19) is arranged along the length of the guide chain (16) in the vicinity of the connection point (14) through which the guide chain (16) is raised with its second end to a level located above the upper edge of the carriage, while on the other side of the elbow (19) with the sliding door being in the closed position the guide chain is arranged below the bottom edge of the carriage.
US08544934B2	Roll up pick-up truck box cover with lock down slats A roll up cover for a box of a pick-up truck includes a plurality of substantially rigid slats connected by hinge joints. A flexible sheet of material is attached to the top surface of the slats. The hinge joints include a stop which allows pivoting of adjacent slats only in a direction moving the top surfaces of the slats towards each other, to allow the cover to be rolled up with flexible sheet facing inwardly, and with bottom surfaces of the slats facing outwardly, and not vice versa. Side rails are attached to the box of the pick-up truck. A roll rod in each side rail pivots into closed position when the cover is unrolled, with the roll rods engaging the end fittings on the slats, to hold the cover down onto the side rails.
US08544933B1	Vehicle sun visor system A vehicle sun visor system provides shade by blocking sunlight passing into a vehicle cabin. The system includes a base plate configured for coupling to a vehicle sun shade. A plurality of protrusions is coupled to the base plate. The protrusions are positioned on a side of the base plate opposite the vehicle sun shade. A cover plate is detachably coupled to the base plate. A plurality of indentions extending into the cover plate, the indentations is complimentary to the protrusions. The cover plate is removable from and repositionable on the base plate.
US08544931B2	Latch assembly for vehicle seat A latch assembly for vehicle seat is provided. The latch assembly includes a base with a receiving pocket for accommodating a striker of a vehicle body part, a catch rotatably coupled to the base to rotate between a locking position where the catch supports the striker and an unlocking position where the catch allows the striker to escape, a damping plate rotatably coupled to the base to elastically press the catch to rotate to the unlocking position and having a damping surface which elastically presses and supports the striker accommodated in the receiving pocket, a pawl plate rotatably coupled to the base and having a pressing surface which presses the catch rotated to the locking position, and a pawl rotatably coupled to the base with the same rotating axis as the pawl plate and can prevent a further rotation of the catch due to an outer impact.
US08544930B2	Tailgate damping systems A tailgate damping system for controlling movement of a tailgate assembly of a vehicle includes a speed sensor that provides rotational speed information of the tailgate assembly. A controller receives the rotational speed information from the speed sensor. A damping control assembly receives a tailgate shaft of the tailgate assembly. The damping control assembly includes a housing comprising a rotor chamber including a rotor member located therein. The rotor member is connected to a rotor shaft that is coupled to the tailgate shaft. A valve chamber includes a control valve located therein. The controller closes the control valve to inhibit exit of a damping fluid from the rotor chamber based on the speed information received from the speed sensor.
US08544929B2	Adjustable package tray for reclining/folding rear seats A vehicle package tray having a horizontal member extending across a back portion of a vehicle. A tray cover is operably coupled with and slidable relative to the horizontal member. The tray cover includes a rear substrate that extends over the horizontal member. A front substrate is slidably engaged with the rear substrate and adapted for abutment with a seat back. A spring-biased member is disposed between the horizontal member and the front substrate.
US08544927B2	Vehicle equipment for a mobile appliance Assembly including a vehicle equipment designed to detachably hold an electrically powered electronic appliance (3) provided with a display screen (5) and manually activatable function keys (7), is characterized in that the equipment has a cavity (11) in which the appliance (3) is held and which for that purpose is open at the front where the cavity (11) is bordered by a part (13a) made of soft material connected to a plate (15) mounted so that it can rotate about an axis (15a) that is transverse to the back of the cavity (11), the appliance (3) being pressed up behind and/or against this part made of soft material (13a) under the effect of first and second thrusting elements.
US08544926B2	Shaft extraction The shaft removal devices described herein include an elongated gripping portion that allows a shaft, e.g., the shaft of an arrow, to be securely gripped and a force applied in a direction parallel to the long axis of the shaft to be distributed over at least part of the length of the shaft.
US08544925B2	Sling element and combination consisting of a sling element and a fastening means A sling element and a combination for coupling sling gear, to a goods item to be transported, wherein the sling element has a fastening section, into which an oblong-shaped opening is formed which leads from the upper side of the fastening section to a contact area formed on the underside of the fastening section. The combination enables the sling element to be fastened in a durably secure way even with adverse loads. This is achieved by a wedge area aligned in the longitudinal direction of the opening of the fastening section being formed on the fastening section, which wedge area runs in a plane which intersects the longitudinal axis of the opening at an acute angle and is designed as a support for a fastening member which is provided to brace the sling element on the goods item to be transported.
US08544921B2	Gripping element of a bag for pharmaceutical products A gripping element of a bag for pharmaceutical products is provided with two gripping devices adapted to withhold two opposite edges of the bag itself.
US08544920B2	Robot arm for delivering a wafer and wafer-operating machine A robot arm for delivering a wafer is disclosed which comprises a carrier plate, an inner ring, a driving device and at least a contact pad. The inner ring is disposed on the carrier plate and defines at least a through-hole. The driving device is connected to the carrier plate to move the carrier plate. The contact pad is disposed at the through-hole of the inner ring and comprises a first protrusion portion and a second protrusion portion. The first protrusion portion protrudes from a first surface of the inner ring and is used for being in contact with the wafer to prevent it from being in contact with the first surface. The second protrusion portion is lodged in the through-hole to fix the contact pad at the inner ring.
US08544916B2	Cable placement and retrieval device A cable placement and retrieval device includes a main shaft forming a hook opening defined by a generally inverted U-shaped bend terminating at a spherical bead, a rigid push rod radiating up and away from the main shaft in the opposite direction of the hook opening and terminating in a second spherical bead and a hollow proximal portion meant to receive extension arms and other complementary attachments.
US08544908B1	Electromagnetic pick-and-place device for use with processing apparatus An electromagnetic pick-and-place device for use with a processing apparatus is provided. The electromagnetic pick-and-place device essentially includes a fixing base, a fixing axle penetratingly disposed at the fixing base, and an electric magnet disposed at the fixing axle, which move together in operation so as to be positioned right above a workpiece. Then, the workpiece is gripped by suction with electromagnetic pick-and-place device under a magnetic force generated from the electric magnet. Afterward, the electromagnetic pick-and-place device and the workpiece move together to a processing position. Eventually, the magnetic force of the electric magnet is disabled in order to free the workpiece; at this point in time, the processing apparatus can start processing the workpiece.
US08544898B2	Damping mechanism for hinged doors In a damping mechanism for a pivot door arranged in a door frame, comprising a door fixture arranged in or on the door panel, a frame fixture arranged in or on the door frame, a damper arrangement arranged in the door fixture or the frame fixture and a damper arrangement counter part mounted in the frame fixture or in the door fixture, a damper arrangement with a brake catcher provided with a damper member includes a spring element which pulls the brake catcher into the fixture and the damper arrangement counter part includes at least one trigger element which is abutted by the brake catcher during closing of the door, so that the damper arrangement begins to dampen the pivot movement of the door as soon as a fixture part of the door comes into contact with a fixture part of the door frame.
US08544897B2	Stop device for door lock for panic exit door A stop device (400) for a door lock includes an anchor (430) pivotable relative to a connecting seat (402). When the anchor (430) is in an alignment position, a through-hole (446) of the anchor (430) is aligned with a positioning groove (420) of the connecting seat (402), and a notch (441) of the anchor (430) is aligned with a slot (414) in the connecting seat (402). When the anchor (430) is in an anchoring position, the through-hole (446) is misaligned from the positioning groove (420), the notch (441) is misaligned from the slot (414), and a stop portion (440) of the anchor (430) is received in and blocks the slot (414). A positioning member (452) is received in the through-hole (446) and the positioning groove (420) to retain the anchor (430) in the alignment position. When the positioning member (452) melts due to heat of a fire, the anchor (430) pivots to the anchoring position under action of gravity, preventing movement of a latch (38) from moving to an unlatching position.
US08544895B2	Strike door keeper assembly An strike door keeper assembly having first and second bodies matable to form an assembly body, a keeper subassembly disposed within said assembly body, and an actuator member such as an electric solenoid disposed within said assembly body the actuating member terminating in a blocker, wherein said keeper subassembly includes an axle journaled in at least one of said first and second interlocking bodies, a keeper flange pivotable on an axis of said axle and protruding through an opening in one of said first and second interlocking bodies, and a tang extending into interfering relationship with said blocker to fix said keeper flange in a locking position when said solenoid is in one of an energized and a de-energized state. In one aspect of the invention, the assembly includes a faceplate assembly having flanges and keys for mounting and preventing rotation of the door keeper assembly.
US08544894B1	Recreational vehicle waste hose coupling assembly A recreational vehicle waste hose coupling assembly includes a coupler including a sleeve that has a first end wall, a second end wall, an inner wall and an outer wall. An inflation space is defined between the inner and outer walls. A tube has a receiving end and an insertion end and the tube is fixedly positioned within the sleeve. An air pump is fluidly coupled to an air line. The air pump is actuated to inflate the sleeve to frictionally engage the outer wall with an inner surface of a sewer pipe. A feed pipe has an inflow end, an outflow end and a bend between the inflow and outflow ends. The inflow end is removably positionable within a recreational vehicle waste hose. The outflow end is removably positionable within the receiving end.
US08544893B2	Security element comprising magnetic materials having the same remanence and a different coercive field intensity The invention relates to a security element for protecting documents of value, which has magnetic material. Furthermore, the invention relates to a document of value, a transfer material and method for producing such security elements and documents of value as well as a method and an apparatus for checking such a security element or document of value.According to the invention the security element has at least two magnetic materials, wherein the magnetic materials have different coercive field strengths and are applied onto and/or incorporated in the security element in such a manner that their remanence is equally high.
US08544890B2	Apparatus and system for regaining or maintaining balance in snow An apparatus that receives a pole tip and assists a user to achieve a standing position in snow is disclosed. The apparatus includes a pole tip receiving member having a base and a pole tip engagement. The pole tip engagement engages a tip of a pole limits lateral movement of the pole with respect to the pole tip receiving member. a coupling secures the pole tip receiving member to the snow traversal device. Engagement of the pole by the pole tip receiving member transfers a pressure applied by the pole to a supporting substrate of the snow traversal device. The transfer of the pressure applied by the pole increases the effective surface area of the pole.
US08544887B2	Steering column support apparatus and assembly method Construction of a steering column support apparatus is achieved that is capable of simplifying tuning for stabilizing the forward displacement of the steering wheel 1 during a secondary collision, and lowering and stabilizing the break away load of the steering column 6c. A connecting bracket 30 is used that comprises an installation plate section 31 that connects and fastens to the portion on the top surface of the top plate section 23 of a bracket 12b on the column side which is exposed on the inside of a locking notch 28, a raised section 32 that rises upward from the installation plate section 31, and a restraining plate section 33 that is bent and extends outward from the edge on the top end of the raised section 32. With the installation plate section 31 connected and fastened to the top plate section 23, the portion of a bracket on the vehicle side 11 that surrounds the locking cutout section 28 is elastically held between the top surface of the top plate section 23 and the bottom surface of the restraining plate section 33, and the bracket 12 b on the column side is supported by the bracket 11 on the vehicle side so as to be able to displace in the forward direction during a secondary collision.
US08544886B2	Electrical power-assisted steering The invention relates to a steering system for a motor vehicle with electrical power assistance comprising: a steering-spindle bearing unit, in which the steering shaft is mounted rotatably and is guided in a slide, which can be connected to the vehicle body, wherein the steering-spindle bearing unit is adjustable at least in its inclination, an electric motor, which is coupled rotatably via reduction gearing to a steering spindle, wherein the reduction gearing is enclosed and mounted in a housing, wherein the housing has means for forming a swivelling axis, about which the steering-spindle bearing unit is adjustable in its inclination, wherein the steering system further comprises a retaining clamp for fastening the steering system to the motor vehicle, wherein the retaining clamp has a guideway that interacts with a counterstay arranged on the slide, wherein the slide is movable along the guideway after it overcomes a presettable releasing force, and in the case of displacement of the slide along the guideway, the swivelling axis is moved upwards relative to the retaining clamp.
US08544883B2	Tear stitching for inflatable vehicle occupant protection devices Tear stitching (100) for interconnecting portions (130, 140) of an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) includes first and second end portions (102, 104) having curled configurations and a central portion (110) extending between the end portions. The central portion (110) includes leg portions (112, 114) that converge at an angle and intersect a break point (116). The tear stitching (100) exhibits a comparatively high rupture strength in response to tension forces applied to the interconnected portions (130, 140) that act on the end portions (102, 104) of the tear stitching (100). The tear stitching (100) exhibits a comparatively low rupture strength in response to tension forces applied to the interconnected portions (130, 140) that act on the break point (116) of the tear stitching (100).
US08544880B2	Active bolster An active bolster for a vehicle is provided, wherein the bolster comprises an expansible hollow interior that is inflatable and is self-supporting in both an inflated and in an uninflated position. The bolster has an inflator module for inflating the expansible hollow interior. The bolster has an inner wall for projecting inwardly into the vehicle and away from the side of the vehicle on inflation of the expansible hollow interior. The bolster may have a relatively non-expansible component located between a first expansible chamber and a second expansible chamber. The bolster may comprise an outer wall having an attachment portion for attaching the outer wall to a portion of the side of the vehicle.
US08544878B1	Active bolster with cross-connected pleats An active bolster for automotive crash protection has front and back walls with their outer peripheral edges sealed together to provide a bladder chamber therebetween. A gas source supplies an expansion gas to inflate the bladder chamber during a crash. The back wall has a pleated section comprising a plurality of generally-parallel rows of generally-circumferential pleats that unfold during inflation. The unfolding of the pleats controls a deployment trajectory of the front wall, and the pleats have an undulating transverse curve length corresponding to a maximum trajectory of the front wall. The pleated section further comprises a plurality of transverse ribs joining adjacent pleats in selected locations to reduced the unfolding during inflation to provide a modified deployment trajectory.
US08544874B2	Transport device frame assembly A transport device cart having a frame assembly having one or more arms corresponding to and capable of engaging a removable bucket; one or more movement mechanisms; and a latching post. It also includes a latching assembly rotatably coupled to the frame assembly having a hooking latch capable of engaging and disengaging the latching post. A handle assembly is coupled to the latching assembly, wherein the handle assembly can be rotated back and used to push the removable bucket into a substantially inverted position.
US08544868B2	Universal pull cart attachment device and method to enhance golf play This disclosure generally relates to a universal pull cart attachment device and method to enhance golf play. In some cases, a universal pull cart attachment device having a displaceable member is coupled to a motorized golf cart to allow users to displace the member to interchangeably receive a handle of a conventional golf bag pull cart. A method of playing golf using such a universal pull cart attachment device is also provided.
US08544867B1	Tow bar balance system An apparatus and method is described for offsetting a lifting or lowering weight of a tow bar attached to a trailer. The apparatus includes nitrogen accumulators coupled in series to a hydraulic cylinder. The accumulators include volumes of hydraulic fluid and a gas, such as nitrogen, which are preset to have differing nitrogen pressures to accommodate a full range of motion. After initial system pressurization, no separate power source is needed to provide hydraulic support at static conditions, oscillation of the tow bar below horizontal, and lift support from horizontal to a positive angle, allowing the user to lift and position a heavy tow bar several feet with minor user force.
US08544866B2	Convertible wheelchairs with movable carriages for transferring patients to/from the wheelchairs Exemplary embodiments are provided of wheelchairs. In an exemplary embodiment, a wheelchair generally includes a seat and a carriage coupled to the seat. The carriage and seat are laterally moveable together in a transverse direction relative to a forward direction of the wheelchair. In use, lateral movement of the carriage and seat outside of a wheelbase of the wheelchair enables lateral transfer of a patient to and/or from the wheelchair.
US08544859B2	Dolly A dolly has a frame with a pair of risers connected thereto. Connecting bolts extend partially through the risers and through the frame to connect the risers and casters to the frame. The risers have an outer riser body with a core disposed therein. The outer riser body may be a thermoplastic injection molded riser body that is molded around a riser core which may be a metal riser plate core.
US08544858B2	Stack comprising a number of identical shopping carts pushed one inside the other A stack comprising a number of identical shopping carts pushed one inside the other, which stack can be transported with the aid of transportation means such as trucks, containers, and the like and is kept ready for removal and for use of the individual shopping carts after being transported to a collection point, which is constructed by self-service shops, wherein the shopping carts are pushed one inside the other by means of the chassis and the baskets thereof both during transport and at the collection point in such a way that a stack distance is formed between each shopping cart, wherein a stack distance is greater than a stack distance and the length of the stack having the stack distances is greater than the length of the same stack having the stack distances, and wherein the stack having the length is intended for transport and the stack having the length is intended to be provided at a collection point.
US08544857B2	Foldable wheeled container A foldable wheeled container having a frame; at least two wheels connected to the frame; a tensioning cable housed within the frame; a plurality of hinge points, wherein when the frame rotates around the hinge point the tensioning cable is aligned; and a locking mechanism which tighten and locks the tensioning cable in its tightened position to form a rigid structure. A stroller having a similar structure including a frame; at least four wheels connected to the frame; a tensioning cable integrally connected to the frame; a plurality of hinge points, wherein when the frame rotates around the hinge point the tensioning cable is aligned; and a locking mechanism which tightens and locks the tensioning cable in its tightened position.
US08544851B2	Gasket for parabolic ramp self restraining bell joint Gaskets for use with a bell and spigot coupling system are disclosed herein. The gasket comprises an elastomeric member having a front edge, a first section, and a second section. Axial forces generated by the insertion of the spigot to the first section of the elastomeric member displace the first section of the elastomeric member in an axial and radial direction.
US08544850B2	Seal assemblies for movable and static shafts Seal assemblies for sealing around a moveable shaft, such as rotary or reciprocating, or static, are described. The seal assemblies prevent the passage of lubricant or fluid from a relatively high pressure area on a first side of the seal to a relatively low pressure area on a second side of the seal. In some embodiments, these seals are energized by energizers, such as circular springs or canted springs, to keep the seal in contact with the moveable shaft. The seals have primary and secondary seals. The secondary seal provides initial moderate sealing against abrasive particles or contaminants to reduce the exposure and wear of the primary seal.
US08544849B2	Three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle The invention relates to a three-dimensional, self-supporting jigsaw puzzle, having a multiplicity of puzzle pieces resulting in a hollow body in the assembled state, each puzzle piece having an upper face associated with the exterior of the hollow body, a lower face associated with the interior of the hollow body, an edge extending between the upper face and the lower face, and at least one connecting region extending from the edge in the form of a recess or an extension.
US08544847B2	Card shoe apparatus accurately identifying card information of card The following members are included: a storage unit 2 which stores a card 50; a guide path 10 which guides the card 50 drawn out from the storage unit 2 to a card discharging edge 18 while keeping one surface of the card 50 to contact the guide path 10; an opening 13 which is formed in the guide path 10; an inspection light applicator 31 which applies inspection light to the drawn card via the opening 13; a photo acceptance portion 32 which receives the inspection light reflected from the drawn card 50; a control unit 151 which identifies card information based on the inspection light received by the photo acceptance portion 32; and a filter 34 which is provided between the opening 13 and the photo acceptance portion 32 to block the disturbance light.
US08544844B2	Image forming system and control method therefor, and control unit for image forming apparatus An image forming system including an image forming apparatus and a sheet feeding apparatus. The system includes: a first conveying unit conveying to the image forming apparatus a recording material; a second conveying unit conveying to an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus the recording material; a detector detecting a recording material type while the second conveying unit halts conveying the recording material; a first controller, based on detection by the detector, determining a speed for conveying the recording material to the image forming unit, and conveying the recording material at the conveying speed; and a second controller controlling recording material conveying speeds of the first conveying unit. Before the recording material reaches the second conveying unit, the second controller maintains a first conveying speed, and after the recording material reaches the second convey unit, maintains a second conveying speed determined by the first control unit.
US08544843B2	Paper transport device, document reading apparatus provided with the same, and image forming apparatus provided with the same A first resist roller (72) and a second resist roller (75) are disposed in a transport path of paper on an upstream side and a downstream side in the transport direction of the paper, and the rotational speeds of the first resist roller (72) and the second resist roller (75) are controlled so that the leading edge of the paper butts against and stops at the first resist roller (72) and the second resist roller (75), after which the paper is transported by the first and second resist rollers (72, 75) and the angled travel of the paper is corrected. An angled travel detection unit (81, 82) that detects angled travel in the paper is disposed upstream from the first resist roller (72) in the transport direction of the paper.
US08544836B2	Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing method A sheet processing apparatus includes a punch motor, an actuator which rotates by driving of the punch motor, a punching blade which punches a sheet by driving of the actuator, and a controller which controls the driving of the punch motor so that approach run is gained, if a thickness of the sheet exceeds a threshold, in a rotating direction of the actuator in which the punching blade does not move at the beginning of the driving of the punch motor.
US08544834B2	Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus A finisher deforms a fold end portion of a sheet bundle with a lower pressing plate and an upper pressing plate. A pressing unit holds a sheet bundle so that the fold end portion is positioned between the lower pressing plate and the upper pressing plate. A third pressing roller includes a third pressing surface that presses the fold end portion of the sheet bundle between the lower pressing plate and the upper pressing plate. The third pressing roller moves in between the lower pressing plate and the upper pressing plate. The third pressing roller or the pressing unit moves so that the third pressing surface of the third pressing roller presses the fold end portion at a predetermined position based on a tip of the fold end portion. The fold end portion projects after the sheet bundle is held between the lower pressing plate and the upper pressing plate.
US08544831B2	Clamp and method for producing a clamp A clamp is provided, having a slide rail, a fixed arm fastened to the slide rail and on which a first abutment surface for a workpiece is arranged, a sliding arm displaceable on the slide rail, and a housing arrangement, on which are held a first bearing device and a second bearing device, by means of which the housing arrangement is guided on the slide rail. The sliding arm is positioned between the first and second bearing devices. A second abutment surface for a workpiece is arranged on the housing arrangement and faces the first abutment surface. A force application device is held on the sliding arm and acts on a pressure piece held on the housing arrangement. The housing arrangement has a first housing part with a housing interior having an opening. The sliding arm is brought into the housing interior through the opening during production of the clamp.
US08544828B2	Liquid material vaporization apparatus An object of this invention is to provide a liquid material vaporization apparatus that is capable of increasing the flow rate of a carrier gas without changing the shape of a nozzle. The liquid material vaporization apparatus comprises a gas-liquid mixing chamber in which a liquid material and the carrier gas are mixed, a liquid material introduction path that introduces the liquid material into the gas-liquid mixing chamber, a carrier gas introduction path that introduces the carrier gas into the gas-liquid mixing chamber, a vaporization nozzle section that is communicated with the gas-liquid mixing chamber to subject a mixture of the liquid material and the carrier gas to flash boiling, and a mixed gas derivation path that is communicated with the vaporization nozzle section to derive the mixed gas vaporized by the vaporization nozzle section.
US08544826B2	Ultrasonic humidifier An ultrasonic humidifier is disclosed including a chamber, an ultrasonic transducer positioned at the bottom of the chamber, a passage in fluid communication with the chamber, a duct having an inlet and an outlet, the duct being in fluid communication with the passage by way of a passage outlet, a fan positioned in the duct and disposed between the duct inlet and the passage outlet. The fan is configured to propel air through the duct and over the passage outlet such that vapors in the chamber may be drawn into the duct.
US08544825B2	Humidifier A humidifier with an in-water discharging apparatus is provided. The humidifier is hygienically safe because it discharges sterilized, clean water into an indoor environment. Also, because a floor around where the humidifier is installed is not dampened, the formation of mold and the risk of a user suffering an accident can be prevented.
US08544824B2	Foldable table lift assist apparatus A lift-assist apparatus, including an arm having a medial portion, a distal end, and a proximal end. One or more pulleys are attached to a surface of the medial portion. An upright support includes an upper horizontal bar and a lower horizontal bar, and a hinge point is formed medially on the upper horizontal bar. A turnbuckle has a fixed end and a connecting end, the fixed end attached to the lower horizontal bar, the connecting end adapted to attach to the medial portion. The hinge point is configured as a pair of opposing tabs defining a space in which the medial portion resides, wherein a pin can be inserted through each tab and through the medial portion to pivotally fix the arm on the upright support such that the arm can pivot in an upward and downward direction and be locked into a fixed position using the turnbuckle.
US08544820B2	Biasing apparatus for use with actuators Biasing apparatus for use with actuators are described. A biasing apparatus for use with a piston actuator includes a first sleeve at least partially surrounded by and movably coupled to a second sleeve. Additionally, the biasing apparatus includes a stop to limit an amount of movement of the first sleeve relative to the second sleeve and a biasing element positioned between first and second ends of the respective first and second sleeves to urge the first sleeve away from the second sleeve.
US08544816B2	Valve with lip seal The invention relates to a valve having a movably arranged valve body for selectively opening and closing a valve passage, with a sealing element, for example a lip seal, being arranged on the valve body in such a way that the sealing element comes to bear against a valve seat if the valve body is moved in a closing direction, and with at least one outer peripheral section of the sealing element being resiliently movable or elastically and/or flexibly deformable substantially in the movement direction of the valve body, and with a protective collar being arranged radially outside the outer peripheral section of the sealing element, which protective collar is fixed to the valve body in order to protect the sealing element from damage and/or from excessive deformation.
US08544813B2	Vehicle seat, in particular commercial vehicle seat A vehicle seat, particularly a commercial-vehicle seat is provided with a scissor-type stand (3) which is able to vibrate and which is provided with a top frame (7), two first rocker arms (8a) and two second rocker arms (8b), which intersect in pairs at a scissor axis (10) extending in a transverse seat direction (y). The first two rocker arms (8a) are connected with one another at one end via a transverse tube (18) which extends in the transverse seat direction (y) and are pivotably mounted on the top frame (7) and able to vibrate in the longitudinal seat direction (x) via a bearing mechanism (20). The transverse tube (18) can be locked with the top frame (7) via at least one locking device (31).
US08544812B2	Motorcycle restraint device A motorcycle restraint device is provided. The motorcycle restraint device comprises a base assembly, a catch assembly and a catch pin assembly. The base assembly comprises at least one base mounting box, at least one front ramp and at least one rear ramp. The catch assembly is mounted to a top portion of the base assembly comprising at least one catch arm, at least one catch arm keeper, at least one bolt traversing the base assembly, at least one front plate, at least one top plate located perpendicular to a front portion of the top plate, at least base side plates, at least two springs vertically mounted between at least one locking rod and at least one spring backup rod. The catch pin assembly is secured to a frame of a motorcycle.
US08544809B1	Method and apparatus for swivel device A swivel device on which a chair can be secured, and which is configured to allow the easy elimination or reduction of accumulated dirt and/or sand. The swivel device may include a mounting device, and a base, wherein the mounting device is connected to the base so that the mounting device can rotate with respect to the base. The swivel device may further include a device for keeping a chair stationary on the mounting device, a first cavity located between the mounting device and the base, and a device for aiding rotation of the mounting device with respect to the base located in the first cavity. There may be a first opening of the mounting device leading to the first cavity, leading to a first opening of the base, which leads to an area outside of the swivel device. The swivel device accommodates all straight and lounge chairs.
US08544803B2	Appliance strapping system and method A method and system to stabilize an appliance against sudden or continuous movement embodiments including one or more straps coupled to an appliance of interest and a target mounting surface. At least one spacer is located between the appliance and mounting surface. In one embodiment a plurality of straps with grommets located at the relative terminus of one end is affixed by a fastener passing through the grommet to a target mounting surface, and at least one spacer is affixed preferably to a wall stud within the target wall. A second strap end is affixed to a target appliance and tightened to provide snug contact between the appliance and wall.
US08544798B2	Window replacement for filling a window frame A window replacement for filling a window frame in an aircraft is provided, in particular a passenger aircraft, the window replacement being fixable by a retainer in the window frame in place of the window assembly when the window assembly is removed. The window replacement comprises a panel-shaped element with at least a single curvature, the panel-shaped element being made of a synthetic material. The window replacement is formed by a monolithic panel-shaped element. The panel-shaped element of the window replacement may also be formed by a sandwich panel. This allows a weight reduction in comparison with a window replacement of a metallic material.
US08544796B2	Passenger seat assembly with associated floor panel and aircraft sidewall attachment, and method An aircraft passenger seat assembly includes a seat frame on which is mounted at least one seat back, a seat pan and a plurality of seat legs and at least one seat floor panel having integrated floor panel seat tracks mounted therein and adapted for being mounted onto an aircraft deck. A mounting rail is mounted onto an aircraft fuselage sidewall, and leg track fasteners detachably secure the seat legs to the floor panel seat tracks and frame seat fasteners for mounting the seat frame to the sidewall mounted rail.
US08544793B1	Adjustable angle inlet for turbojet engines The adjustable angle inlet for turbojet engines provides for the adjustment of the nacelle inlet as the angle of attack of the aircraft changes. The adjustable inlet system thus assures that the nacelle inlet is always oriented directly into the relative wind as the angle of attack of the aircraft changes, e.g., during takeoff, landing, and high-G maneuvers where the aircraft reaches relatively high angles of attack. The adjustable angle inlet is adaptable to most turbojet-powered airplanes, but is particularly well suited for use with aircraft having their engines mounted on lateral pylons on the rear of the fuselage. The system operates according to signals received from an angle of attack sensor. The sensor controls an actuator, which rotates a shaft that is connected to the pivotally mounted inlet of the engine nacelle.
US08544789B2	Device for attaching a lift member to the fuselage of an aircraft The disclosed embodiments relate to an aircraft equipped with at least one device for attaching a lift member to the fuselage which includes elastic articulations whose rigidity in translation and in rotation can be adjusted axially, vertically, and transversely. An airfoil may be connected to the body of the fuselage by these elastic articulations.
US08544787B2	High performance tilt rotor aircraft in which nacelle tilt angle and flaperon angle mechanically interwork with each other Provided is a high performance tilt rotor aircraft in which a nacelle tilt angle and a flaperon angle mechanically interlock with each other. In the tilt rotor aircraft having nacelles in which rotors are mounted in left and right main wings and configured so that the nacelles rotate according to whether the tilt rotor aircraft conducts forward flight or vertical take-off and landing flight, each of the main wings is provided with a flaperon, and the nacelle and the flaperon are connected to each other by a power transfer unit, such that the flaperon also rotates together with the nacelle at the time of rotation of the nacelle, thereby allowing a change in a nacelle tilt angle to lead to a change in a flaperon angle.
US08544779B2	Delivery of agents to the cutting mechanism of paper shredders Devices for application of lubricant to the cutting mechanism of paper shredders. Maintenance and lubrication can be performed by applying lubrication agents to the cutting mechanism of a paper shredder without requiring disassembly of the paper shredder. The agents can also include scented agents and decomposing agents or a combination thereof. Lubrication sheets are configured to apply agents to the cutting mechanism of paper shredders. A holder can be positioned on a housing of a paper shredder for retaining one or more lubrication sheets within proximity of the shredding mechanism of the paper shredder. Paper shredders may include means for identifying when lubrication is needed and/or when the cutting mechanism of the paper shredder has been lubricated by a lubrication sheet.
US08544776B2	Device and method for dissociating feed material occurring in mixed form A device and method for dissociating feed material occurring as mixed materials is provided. The device includes a rotor/stator system arranged within a housing, a rotor of the rotor/stator system being equipped around its circumference with processing tools which are radially opposed by stator tools that are arranged stationary relative to the housing while maintaining a working gap; a first circumferential section for supply of the feed material and wherein the processing of the feed material takes place along a second circumferential section, the second circumferential section being divided in a direction of rotation of the rotor into a first subsection and at least one additional second subsection; and a stator tool followed by a processing path being provided at a start of each subsection with respect to the direction of rotation of the rotor.
US08544774B1	Roller crusher, and method of protecting a roller crusher from uncrushable objects A method of protecting a roller crusher, having two rollers separated by a gap, from uncrushable objects is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: detecting an uncrushable object in an in-feed stream of material, opening a gap between the rollers to a by-pass width, which is significantly larger than an operational width, such that the uncrushable object is permitted to pass through the gap, restricting an in-feed to the gap, such that material is fed to the gap at a restricted in-feed rate, determining that the uncrushable object has passed through the gap, reducing the gap to the operational width, and opening the in-feed to the gap, such that material is fed to the gap at an operational in-feed rate. A roller crusher having a protective system for protecting the roller crusher from uncrushable objects is also disclosed.
US08544767B2	Fuel injection device A fuel injection device has therein a recovery channel provided in a first valve body, and a fuel channel provided in the first valve body and a second valve body. The fuel channel is opened by openings at a first end surface of the first valve body and a second end surface of the second valve body. One of the first end surface and the second end surface is provided with an end surface groove connected to the recovery channel. In the fuel injection device, the end surface groove is provided to enclose at least a part of the opening and is separated from the opening by a clearance, and one of the first valve body and the second valve body has a side surface groove extending in a circumferential direction at an outer periphery of the one of the first valve body and the second valve body.
US08544763B2	Prefabricated plinth for supporting a railway track A precast plinth for supporting an associated object, such as a rail of a railway track, includes an elongated body made of a material including concrete. The plinth includes an upper face, a lower face, a first side face, a second side face and first and second end faces. The first and second side faces taper away from each other from the upper face to the lower face. A leveling hole can extend from the upper face to the lower face with a threaded leveling insert located in the leveling hole. A grout hole can extend from the upper face to a lower face in a spaced manner from the leveling hole.
US08544762B1	Thermo-element and thermostat A thermo-element having an excellent response and durability is provided. The thermo-element includes a casing having a bottom, a thermally expandable material filled in the casing and capable of expanding and contracting due to temperature changes, a piston movable in an axial direction thereof, a guide member for slidably holding the piston, and a liquid chamber defined between the thermally expandable material and the piston to receive therein a deformable, incompressible fluid. A check valve is provided between the liquid chamber and an outside of the thermo-element, and operable to permit a flow of the fluid in a direction from the outside of the thermo-element to the liquid chamber, and inhibit a flow of the fluid in a direction from the liquid chamber to the outside of the thermo-element.
US08544756B2	Method of receiving a module in a smart card body The smart card comprises a module having a microcircuit and a body including a cavity for receiving the module, wherein the cavity defines at least one surface area for fastening the module in the cavity, the body being formed by a stack of at least first and second layers respectively presenting weak adhesion and strong adhesion with the module. The area extends in the weak adhesion layer and includes at least one hole leading to the strong adhesion layer so as to form an anchor point for the module directly with said layer.
US08544754B2	Wireless IC device and wireless IC device composite component A wireless IC device includes a wireless IC chip, a feed circuit board having the wireless IC chip mounted thereon and including a feed circuit including inductance elements, and a radiation plate electromagnetically coupled to the inductance elements in the feed circuit. A high-permeability magnetic body made of a high-permeability magnetic material is provided in the feed circuit board and a portion of the inductance elements is provided in the high-permeability magnetic body.
US08544753B2	Card for interaction with a computer A smart card comprising: a memory for storing information; at least one transmitting or receiving antenna; and a low frequency circuit, for handling information associated with said antenna and said memory, which information is modulated at a modulation frequency of between 5 kHz and 100 kHz. Preferably the antenna is an acoustic antenna.
US08544744B2	Method for a more efficient use of an interface between a smart card and a device, associated smart card and device The invention relates to a method for a more efficient use of an interface between a smart card and a device, the interface comprising contacts and being adapted to allow data transfer between the smart card and the device characterized in that it comprises a step of allocating functions to the contacts within the interface so as to have a more efficient use of the contacts in the interface. The invention also relates to a smart card and a device in which the method is carried out.
US08544742B2	Device and method for operating a read/write device In an apparatus for operating a read/writer, including an antenna and a read/write unit, for communication with an identification medium via a communication link, a read/writer supply and a read/writer have a breakable connection arranged between them. When there is a contactless (operative) interconnection between the external power supply and the read/writer, the connection between the read/writer supply and the read/writer is open and the read/writer can be operated with the identification medium.
US08544739B2	Methods and apparatus for storing and retrieving information relating to edible objects A method of marking an egg is disclosed and comprises applying radiant energy to the shell of an egg so as to cause discoloration of the eggshell, thereby forming a marking comprising at least a traceability code and a freshness date. Apparatus is also disclosed for applying markings on eggs being processed by an egg-handling machine that is designed and configured to transport a plurality of eggs therethrough, wherein the apparatus comprises a radiant energy source located in proximity to the egg-handling machine, the radiant energy source being configured to apply radiant energy to the eggs as the eggs are transported past the radiant energy source to selectively discolor the shell of the eggs and form markings on the shell, including a freshness date and a traceability code.
US08544738B2	Onboard computer ticketing terminal The present invention relates to an onboard ticketing terminal notably aboard a public transport vehicle. The ticketing terminal (30) comprises a body (39) equipped with at least a card reader, a swiveling customer interface (36, 37), a printer, incorporated into said body (39), paper output (40) from the printer being performed through a swiveling slot made in the body (39), and a swiveling driver interface. The ticketing terminal (30) makes it possible notably to implement transport ticket sales applications by virtue of an interface with an onboard central unit (21).
US08544736B2	Item scanning system The present invention provides an item scanning system in which an appearance of an item is received (e.g., at checkout). The appearance is captured with an image capture device (e.g., still frame camera, video camera, etc.) that can be collocated with a barcode scanner. In being collocated, the image capture device can be positioned proximate (e.g., near, attached to, etc.) the bar code scanner, integrated within a common housing/unit with the barcode scanner, etc. In any event, a search engine will then search a database of items based on the appearance to identify a set of items that potentially match the item. When one of the set of items is selected (e.g., by the checkout clerk), the selection will be received and stored for future investigation/auditing.
US08544735B2	Combicard transaction method and system having an application parameter update mechanism Systems, methods and IC card devices are described for updating parameters such as unblocking or blocking or re-blocking an application on an IC card device whereby an integrated circuit card device gets issued with one or more active applications and optionally one or more dormant applications. Post issuance, triggered by a cardholder action when using a primary application, the issuer will send a command, e.g. in the form of a script to the card that will update parameters of another application, e.g. to ‘wake up’ the or each dormant application. An on-card mechanism is provided for the deblocking of the dormant application while the primary application is active. For any further transactions performed with the card, the cardholder will be offered a choice between the unblocked applications on the card. Optionally the oncard mechanism can also block or re-block an application or perform other actions.
US08544726B1	Method and system for providing an automated and integrated R and D tax credit tool In accordance with one embodiment, one or more R&D project/activity survey tools are generated and used to obtain employee R&D activity data. Payroll data is automatically obtained and the employee R&D activity data and employee payroll data is used to determine a R&D cost data indicating a total cost to a business of all employee time devoted to qualified R&D. R&D tax credit qualification data for the business is also automatically obtained and the R&D cost data and R&D tax credit qualification data for the business is used to automatically calculate the R&D tax credit for the business. Any evidentiary data supporting the calculated R&D tax credit data is then automatically correlated and stored.
US08544723B2	Automatic analyzer with the function of rendering reagent information unreadable The invention provides an automatic analyzer suitable for efficient reagent management. The analyzer allows continued use of existing reagent information storage media because reagent ID information that is no longer needed is overwritten so that it is unrecognizable to any analyzer. The invention relates to a method for automatically analyzing particular properties of an analyte by putting the analyte and a reagent into a vessel and measuring the reacted analyte-reagent mixture. The analyzer of the invention comprises: an information reader/writer for reading or writing regent information to/from storage media attached to reagent vessels; means for managing reagent information read from the storage media; means for processing reagents based on the managed information; and means for overwriting reagent information that has been judged unnecessary based on the managed information so that the unnecessary information is unrecognizable to any analyzer.
US08544719B2	Clear clasp reusable envelope A resealable envelope is composed of a front panel and a rear panel attached to the front panel forming an interior pouch between the front panel and rear panel. A flap extends from the rear panel, the flap having an opening having an elongated width with two circular protrusions emanating from the top and bottom of the elongated width; the opening having a width greater than its height. A first adhesive has an adhesive layer on one side and a releasable surface layer an opposite side. The first adhesive is located at the top portion of the front panel such that the opening is in contact with the first adhesive when the flap is closed. A second adhesive strip is located on the outside of the flap over the opening such that the envelope is sealed when the flap is pressed against the resealable surface layer of the first adhesive.
US08544718B2	Paper container for liquid The aim is to provide a paper container for liquid that has a strength to prevent breakage or leakage due to a shock in a long-distance transportation and also has no problems in opening the container when used.This invention is a paper container for liquid which comprises a laminated body which comprises a paper as base material thereof and a heat-sealant layer which is placed inner side of the container than the paper and which comprises a reinforcement layer and a liquid-contacting layer which is the side of contacting the liquid, wherein the reinforcement layer is a layer made of linear low-density polyethylene and the liquid-contacting layer is a layer made of low-density polyethylene and thickness ratio of the reinforcement layer and the liquid-contacting layer (thickness of reinforcement layer 5/thickness of liquid-contacting layer 6) that form the heat-sealant layer is in the range of 0.2-5. Moreover, it is characterized in that the density of the linear low-density polyethylene is in a range of 0.900-0.945 g/cm3. Furthermore, it is characterized in that the linear low-density polyethylene and the low-density polyethylene are additive-free resins to which no additives have been added.
US08544713B2	Apparatus and method of coating flux An apparatus coats flux on a projection of a part mounted on a printed circuit board. The projection passes through the printed circuit board and projects from the printed circuit board. The apparatus contains a printed-circuit-board-holding member that holds the printed circuit board, a nozzle having an opening through which the projection comes in the nozzle and comes off the nozzle, a nozzle-moving member that moves the nozzle to a predetermined position, and a flux-supplying member that supplies the flux to the nozzle. The flux is coated on at least the projection by dipping the projection in the flux contained in the nozzle through the opening.
US08544708B2	Folding pick-up truck tool box A tool box can be unfolded for use in holding tools or other items, and then folded up, to avoid taking up space in a pick-up truck cargo box when the tool box is not in use. The toolbox may have a folding panel assembly including a first panel, a second panel pivotally attached to the first panel, and a third panel pivotally attached to the second panel. The folding panel assembly is foldable into an open position and into a closed position. In the open position, one or more of the panels may be supported on left and right side end frames attached to the inner sidewalls of the pick-up truck cargo box.
US08544707B2	Resilient infill The invention relates to a resilient infill for positioning in a channel in a crossbar of a roof rack or load carrier. The infill comprises a flexible upper portion and a base comprising a bottom. A pair of flexible, opposing side walls extend from the bottom and curve upwardly and outwardly to meet with outer edges of the flexible upper portion. The width of the upper portion is greater than the width of the bottom and the infill has a substantially hollow interior. The infill is compressible and makes minimal wind noise when positioned in the crossbar of a roof rack located on a moving vehicle.
US08544701B1	Pressurized fluid distribution system for beverage dispensing A system for storing and monitoring a pressurized fluid includes a pressurized fluid source and a plurality of fluid lines in communication with the supply line of a beverage dispensing system. The fluid lines are configured to selectively permit the passage of the pressurized fluid when the pressure of the source (e.g., a tank) reaches a predetermined threshold value. Specifically, the tank includes a high pressure line, an intermediate pressure line, and a low pressure or reserve line.
US08544700B2	Epoxy injection controller An epoxy injection controller including a housing having a housing body and a handle, the housing body having a front wall, opposing side walls, a bottom wall, and a rear wall, and the handle having a front wall. A cartridge holder configured to receive a cartridge of material is disposed within the housing. A trigger having a first end and a second end is rotatable between a locked position and an unlocked position. A rotatable link member having a first end and a second end is disposed within the housing, and is in engagement with the trigger. An actuator for dispensing material from the cartridge is selectively engaged with the link member. The actuator dispenses material from the cartridge when the trigger is unlocked, and the actuator is retracted from the cartridge and prevented from dispensing material from the cartridge when the trigger is locked.
US08544699B2	Non-rotating single post ram for inductor pump An inductor pump system comprises a pump system, a ram system and a bearing assembly. The pump system includes a platen configured to engage a container. The ram system comprises a cylinder configured to support the pump system, and a piston extendable from the cylinder to vary axial positioning of the platen with respect to the container. The bearing assembly links the piston to the cylinder and is configured to prevent rotation of the pump system with respect to the ram system.
US08544684B2	Visual, bi-audible, and bi-tactile metered-dose transdermal medicament applicator A bi-audible, bi-tactile, and visual transdermal delivery apparatus for delivering specific desired quantities of cream-base medicament or any flowable composition; comprising: a revolving platform with equispaced side tabs stemming from an outer and inner base rim responsible for yielding said bi-audible and bi-tactile sensations upon interaction with ticker tabs projecting form the bottom exterior wall of the house; a threaded screw-complex that interacts with an elevator to transport the medicament upwards; a house that confines an inner chamber to store the medicament; an applicator pad with a center outlet where the composition exits the chamber; and a safety cap. Equispaced digit tabs on the outer side wall of the rotatable platform indicate the amount to be delivered. The platform rotates 18° clockwise per actuation against equispaced line demarcations on the house delivering roughly a 1/20th of a milliliter of composition.
US08544683B2	Multiple component dispensing cartridge and method with side-by-side fluid chambers A fluid cartridge for storing and dispensing first and second fluids includes a first tubular cartridge wall and a second tubular cartridge wall in side-by-side relation. First and second pistons are coupled for movement by a coupling portion and are respectively disposed within the first and second tubular cartridge walls to define first and second side-by-side fluid chambers. A fixed wall is disposed between the first and second fluid chambers. A force is applied to the first piston along the first central longitudinal axis of the first tubular cartridge wall and moves both the first and second pistons along and within the first and second fluid chambers as the coupling portion between the first and second pistons travels within an opening in the fixed wall. The opening may be a preformed slot or may be formed by a cutting element attached with the pistons as the pistons move during the dispensing operation.
US08544681B2	Bag dispensing machine for upward dispensing The present invention relates to a device for dispensing plastic bags from a stack of bags, one at a time, for use in stores and shopping areas. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device includes at least one conveyor belt mounted about at least two rollers and is adapted and configured to engage a plastic bag from the stack of bags, a pressure mechanism for pressing at least one bag against the belt so as to cause the belt to engage the bag, means for rotating one of the rollers so as to cause it to drag an engaged plastic bag upwards to a dispensing area, and means for automatically stopping rotation of said belt after a single bag has been dispensed. If desired, the rate at which the bags are dispensed can also be set and controlled.
US08544677B2	One-piece lock-back lid A drink-through plastic lid is injection molded in one piece to define a rim structure which snaps onto the rim of a cup and an asymmetric crown having a drink-through opening formed at the high point of an outer deck. An integral hinged flap with a C-shaped seal lip on the inside surface can lock by means of said lip into the drink-through opening when in one condition. The flexible outer edges of the flap latch into a lock-back recess which interrupts an intermediate inner deck formed between the outer crown deck and the floor of a well in the interior area of the lid.
US08544676B2	System for use with a consumable beverage One aspect of the invention provides a system including a container defining a chamber for holding a beverage, a lid for engaging the container, a drinking straw located on the lid, and a fluid router detachable from the lid to facilitate the withdrawal of the beverage from the container. The fluid router includes a base adapted for placement in the proximity to an opening of the container, and a conduit having a first and a second ends disposed on the base. The fluid router can further include a connector disposed on the base and adapted to engage a thermal energy storage member located in the chamber. The first conduit end is adapted to engage the drinking straw. The system can further include a second straw engaged with the second conduit end and positioned in the chamber.
US08544675B1	Fluid reservoir assembly A fluid reservoir assembly includes a base assembly defining an interior cavity that is adapted to receive a fluid. A cover assembly is engaged to the base assembly. The cover assembly includes a first end and an oppositely disposed second end. A first plurality of fasteners engages the first end of the cover assembly to the base assembly. The first plurality of fasteners has a first strength. A second plurality of fasteners engages the second end of the cover assembly to the base assembly. The second plurality of fasteners has a second strength. The first strength is less than the second strength.
US08544674B2	Combined lid and sieve for a shaker A shaker has a container body, lid and sieve, with the lid and sieve detachably securable to one another, separate and apart from the lid and container body being detachably securable together. A substantially U-shaped track is situated around an internal surface of the lid to receive a mating projection of the sieve so that the sieve and lid can be snapped together in complementary fashion and detachably secured together by a snap fit.
US08544664B2	Child resistant container with inverting cap bottom lift A child resistant container with inverting cap bottom lift features has a container main body adapted to receive a sprayer container with a top-positioned spray activator, and has at least one lift rod slot on its bottom; an inner cap for permanent connection to the open top of the container after a spray container is placed therein; and an outer cap with at least one downwardly projecting lift rod. The inner cap has a spray activator orifice large enough to permit a spray activator of a spray container to pass therethrough and small enough to prevent a spray container connected to the spray activator from passing therethrough. A user removes the outer cap, inverts it and pushes up through the bottom to raise up the spray container enough to expose the spray activator and its nozzle for spray use.
US08544662B2	Central datum feature on railroad coupler body and corresponding gauges A coupler body for a railcar coupler, said coupler body comprising at least one central datum feature that does not wear during coupler use.
US08544659B2	Greeting card display fixture A greeting card display includes an upper tier and a lower tier positioned below the upper tier. The upper and lower tiers include multiple rows of pockets for displaying greeting cards. Some of the pockets of the upper tier and/or the bottom tier, typically the pockets of the bottom rows, can present greeting cards in a full-facing manner to display all or substantially all of the full face of each greeting card. The upper tier can include a card highlighter, positioned along one of the rows, configured with pockets to present and highlight cards placed therein.
US08544658B2	Functionalized thin film polyamide membranes The present invention relates to a method of preparing RAFT, ATRP or NMRP functionalized thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes on a microporous substrate. A further aspect of the invention is the subsequent modification of the thin film composite polyamide membrane by controlled free radical polymerization (CFRP) to yield membranes having new chemical and physical properties, e.g. antifouling and/or antibacterial properties. Further aspects of the invention are the functionalized thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes on the microporous substrate itself and the membranes modified by controlled free radical polymerization.
US08544657B2	Apparatus and method for removing contaminants from industrial fluids A filter system for removing contaminants from oil based industrial liquids and the like includes a support tube with a permeable sidewall through which the industrial liquid flows in an inside out direction. A multilayer coalescence media surrounds the support tube, and includes at least one layer of a non-woven fibrous material that is partially wettable by the dispersed water in the industrial liquid, and commences coalescence of the same to form small primary water droplets, and at least one sheet of a precisely woven monofilament fabric stacked on the downstream side of the non-woven material. The woven fabric is substantially wettable by the dispersed water, and has a fixed open mesh with uniformly sized and spaced apart pore openings which continue to coalesce the primary water droplets into large water drops which fall from the filter for collection along the bottom of the apparatus.
US08544656B2	Currency bill processing device and method A currency bill processing system includes a transport mechanism that is configured to transport bills from an input receptacle along a transport path that extends generally horizontally past at least one detector. The transport path transitions generally-vertically upward between a first and a second output receptacle. The transport mechanism is configured to deliver some of the bills toward a first end of the system into the first output receptacle and some of the bills toward a second end of the system into the second output receptacle. The system provides access openings in a front side of the system that are proximate the first and the second output receptacles thereby permitting operator access into the first and the second output receptacles from the front side.
US08544655B2	Screen module for vibratory screening apparatus A vibratory screening apparatus includes a screen module. The screen module includes: a panel frame having opposed side portions joined by opposed end portions, the end portions configured to locate the panel frame between spaced panel support rails; at least one intermediate portion extending between the opposed side portions and/or opposed end portions and dividing the panel frame into panel portions; the side portions and the at least one intermediate portion having engagement formations provided on upper surfaces thereof; and at least one pair of screen panels, the screen panels overlying respective panel portions of the panel frame and including complementary engagement formations on an underside periphery thereof for engagement with the peripheral panel engagement formations, defined by the engagement formations of the panel frame and panel support rails.
US08544654B2	Magnetic separator A magnetic separator comprising a vibratory conveyor for vibratorily flowing non-ferrous articles and articles containing ferrous material within the magnetic field of a transverse extending magnet to magnetically capture the articles containing the ferrous material while allowing the non-ferrous articles to flow therepast. The magnet is periodically retractable to remove ferrous articles magnetically adhered thereto. The use of a set of transverse extending magnets enables a continuous on-the-go separation of articles containing ferrous material from non-ferrous articles without having to shut down the vibratory conveyor.
US08544649B2	Stackable containers and methods of manufacturing, stacking, and shipping the same Stackable containers that, in various embodiments, are adapted to be vertically and/or horizontally interlocked with other, like, containers to, for example, increase the stability of stacks of the containers. In one embodiment, a stackable container comprises: (A) a top surface comprising a shoulder portion that extends upwardly from the top surface and that is substantially disposed within a perimeter defined by the top surface; (B) a bottom surface defining a stacking recess; (C) a plurality of substantially vertical side surfaces that extend between the top surface and the bottom surface. In various embodiments, a recessed portion of the bottom surface adjacent the stacking recess is adapted to substantially mate with at least a portion of a shoulder portion of a like container.
US08544644B2	Cradle for hand held electronic device A cradle device adapted to receive personal electronic devices or hand held electronic devices. The cradle is formed of a silica gel compound and configured and sized to receive a hand held personal electronic device. In one aspect the cradle has a four sided frame which stretches and slips over and clips on electronic device allowing for the encasement of the electronic device on all four sides. Openings are strategically positioned in the frame to allow for access to functional buttons and ports on the electronic device. The cradle includes gripping structures extending between the frame for grasping or holding the cradle and electronic device.
US08544643B2	Waterproof camera case with a lock mechanism A waterproof camera case includes first and second case members and a lock mechanism for locking the first and second case members together. The lock mechanism includes a side flip hingedly connected to a side of the rear case member and moveable between a flip open position and a flip closed position where an inner surface of the side flip abuts against a side of the front case member. A press member is pivotable about a first shaft mounted on the inner surface of the side flip and moveable between a non-pressing position and a pressing position. A free distal side of the press member is configured to press against a ledge projected from the side of the front case member on a surface oppositely facing the rear case member. A lock member is slidable along a second shaft mounted on the inner surface of the side flip and moveable between an unlocked position and a locked position. The lock member has a latch portion adapted to insert into a slot defined by a catch portion formed on the side of the front case member. A torsion spring is used to bias the press member in the non-pressing position, and a compression spring is used to bias the lock member in the locked position.
US08544640B1	Assembly for carrying, protecting and supporting a tablet computer or similar sized item A carrying assembly for a tablet computer or similar object. A bag structure is provided that has an internal pocket. Padding areas exist around the internal pocket between the internal pocket and the bag structure. The padding areas are at least partially filled with padding material. The ends of a handle structure are attached to the bag structure. A fabric panel extends from the handle structure to the bag structure. The object is stored in the internal pocket. When needed, the object is removed. The bag structure is laid on one side so that the fabric panel lay flat on a surface. In this orientation, the handle structure and the bag structure combine to create a holding trough. The object is placed within the holding trough, wherein the object leans against the bag structure in an inclined orientation.
US08544636B2	Chuck A chuck for actuating plastic material containers, in particular performs, along a conveying line, includes a structure, fixable to a link of a conveying chain, a body, defining a longitudinal axis, inserted into a longitudinal through-hole of the structure and adapted to axially slide and/or rotate about the longitudinal axis, provided with gripping means at a first end for gripping a container neck. The structure is provided with locking elements for locking the body in a predetermined angular position, with the body being provided with at least one indication element of the predetermined angular position.
US08544634B2	Reverse meter belt conveyor A conveyor and a method for metering articles on a conveyor belt advancing in a direction of belt travel. Article-supporting rollers in the belt are actuated by a stationary bearing surface defining an upstream acceleration zone to accelerate articles forward along the conveyor belt. An activation belt advancing in the direction of belt travel at a speed faster than the conveyor belt provides a mobile bearing surface that actuates the belt rollers to rotate opposite to the direction of belt travel in a downstream deceleration zone. The conveyor belt also has regularly spaced retractable flights, which are retracted by contact with the stationary bearing surface in the acceleration zone and extended into a blocking position by contact with the mobile bearing surface in the deceleration zone. Articles in the deceleration zone are pushed rearward atop the rollers into metered positions against the leading faces of the flights.
US08544623B1	Cord organizing system for hair shears An organizing system for an electrical clipper having a housing with side walls, a top and bottom surface, and an inner cavity, the top surface is removably attached to a side wall via an attachment means, a spring-loaded cord spool in the inner cavity having an axle around which a cord of a clipper can be wrapped and rotates to wind or unwind the cord, a bottom end of the axle removably engages a spool mounting component in the bottom surface of the housing, a cord slot allowing a cord of a clipper to penetrate the housing in a side wall, a release button on a top end of the axle protrudes through a hole in the top surface and is pressed to wind the cord of the clipper, and a power strip in the inner cavity of the housing has a cord that protrudes through the housing.
US08544617B2	Railroad and industrial vehicle disk brake pad A railroad and industrial vehicle disk brake pad having a supporting plate and a number of friction members. Each friction member is elongated in shape, with two curved parallel long sides, and is fixed to the supporting plate so that the curves of the long sides form a substantially 0° angle with respective concentric circles of a disk to which the pad fitted. To prevent displacement of the friction members, these are fixed to the supporting plate with the interposition of antirotation means.
US08544616B2	Brake disc for bicycles A brake disk for bicycles has an inner disk, two outer disks and multiple brake units. The brake units, rather than the outer disks, are used to rub with the disk brake pads. As each brake unit is a small lump, the brake units can be easily made of material with high abrasion resistance, high temperature resistance, and low heat conduction, and the brake units still can sustain sufficient strength. With those features of material, the brake disk for bicycles does not deform easily by the heat, and the glue between the outer disks and the inner disk does not melt easily by the heat from the outer disks. Because each brake unit, which is used to rub, is independent from the outer disks, the outer disks can be made of light material, and the whole weight reduces as well.
US08544603B1	Fall restriction device for climbers of wood poles A fall restriction apparatus for climbers of wooden poles having a connecting component with at least a first bight portion adapted for connection to and retention within a center opening of a three slot-opening D-ring. The connecting component is sized so that when inserted within the central opening, it is restrained from rotating. The connecting component may have outwardly directed protrusions on at least its spine region. The affixed D-ring shape typically lies in a major plane orthogonal to a plane in which the remainder of the connecting component lies. Alternately, connecting component may be attached to other openings of the three-opening D-ring. The fall restriction apparatus also contains a buckle assembly which may have one or more cleats disposed on a rear surface to facilitate gripping a wooden pole.
US08544601B2	Sound-absorbing noise barrier A sound-absorbing noise barrier, more specifically to one comprising: a main body which has a front surface and a rear surface and extends horizontally and in which a space is formed between the front surface and the rear surface; and a sound-absorbing material which is accommodated in the space of the main body and is disposed at a distance away from the front surface and the rear surface respectively, wherein the front surface of the main body is formed with vertically oriented alternating projections and recesses and is formed with a plurality of sound-absorbing holes, and the overall cross-sectional area of the sound-absorbing holes is at least 20% of the cross-sectional area of the front surface. The sound-absorbing noise barrier of the present invention can be variously employed in construction and industrial products, has good sound-absorbing characteristics across a wide frequency range, and can present an aesthetically appealing external effect.
US08544598B2	Soundproofing panel for turbomachine and turbomachine comprising such a panel A one-piece soundproofing panel which is attached within an circumferential air blower casing of a turbomachine, with an axis, in which circulates an airflow from upstream to downstream, is disclosed. The panel includes a circumferential rigid seat with a longitudinal cylindrical part, arranged to axially extend with respect to the axis A of the turbomachine, having an outside surface, intended to come to extend facing with an internal surface of the air blower casing, and an internal surface to which is applied a soundproofing coating; and an annular fastening flange, formed at the upstream end of the longitudinal cylindrical part, radially outwardly extending, the fastening flange being arranged to cooperate with a fastening flange of the air blower casing.
US08544597B1	Tuned damper member A method of making a damper member includes forming a lattice network of a first material using an additive powder forming technique. The lattice network includes interconnected pores. A matrix of a second, different material is then deposited within the interconnected pores to form a damper member having an acoustic attenuation that is tuned to dampen a target vibrational mode.
US08544595B2	Carbonaceous acoustic diaphragm and method for manufacturing the same A carbonaceous acoustic diaphragm whose density is reduced while retaining the required stiffness is provided. Carbon nanofibers and spherical particles of PMMA are mixed into a carbon-containing resin such as a polyvinyl chloride resin, and the mixture is carbonized to vaporize the spherical particles of PMMA, thereby forming a porous structure having pores with the carbon nanofibers in a powdered form uniformly dispersed through amorphous carbon. By forming a multilayer structure by combining the porous layer with a layer that does not use PMMA, the density can be further reduced while retaining the stiffness.
US08544593B2	Motor drive apparatus and electric power steering system using the same When an inverter or a coil set of one system in a motor drive apparatus having two systems fails, a power supply relay of a failing system interrupts power supply and a control circuit gradually reduces a current supply limitation value of a normal system to zero. Then when a steering torque becomes greater than a predetermined threshold value, the control circuit increases the current supply limitation value by a predetermined amount. By reducing the current supply limitation value to zero once and then gradually increasing the current supply limitation value to generate steering assist torque, a driver will be caused to sense changes in the steering torque and surely notice occurrence of failure.
US08544590B2	Active hinge with reset mechanism An active hinge with a reset mechanism that disables an additional degree of freedom in the hinge's movement to permit the trailing edge of a vehicle hood to lift is disclosed. The active hinge includes a deployment bracket on which a reset clip is mounted, a hood bracket for attachment to the vehicle's hood, and a body bracket for attachment to the vehicle's body. To re-lock the movement between the deployment bracket and the hood bracket resulting from the hood bracket rotating around a degree of freedom pivot, an engagement tab on the reset clip enters a notch in the hood bracket so that reset clip rotates until a locking tab on the clip engages a hole in the deployment bracket. The locking tab engaging the hole prevents further rotation of the hood bracket in either direction, to thereby maintain the active hinge in a reset position.
US08544585B2	Reinforced foam vehicle chassis A light-weight vehicle component such as a vehicle chassis (100) formed from an internally reinforced rigid closed-cell foam (12). The reinforced closed-cell foam vehicle chassis (100) includes an outer layer of rigid closed-cell foam (108a), an inner layer of rigid closed-cell foam (108c), and one or more layers of reinforcing structural material (114) disposed between the inner and outer layers of foam. The reinforced closed-cell foam vehicle chassis incorporates reinforced attachment points (114a) for receiving and supporting vehicle components, such as suspension elements, steering components, a drive motor, and passenger accommodations.
US08544584B2	Construction vehicle A construction vehicle includes a cooling device. The cooling device includes a radiator disposed on a vehicle body frame, an oil cooler disposed adjacent to the radiator with a rear surface side thereof being arranged to face in roughly parallel to a lower part of a front surface of the radiator, and an opening/closing mechanism including a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft is obliquely disposed with a top end portion thereof being arranged closer to the front surface of the radiator than a bottom end portion thereof is. The opening/closing mechanism is configured to pivot the oil cooler about the rotary shaft and simultaneously move the oil cooler with respect to the radiator. Either a counterweight mounted on a rear part of the vehicle body frame or a part of the vehicle body frame is disposed on a line horizontally extended from a bottom end portion of the oil cooler.
US08544580B2	In-wheel switched reluctance motor drive A switched reluctance motor includes an inner stator having a plurality of stator poles with coil windings, the inner stator having a plurality of stator phases, an outer rotor configured to rotate around the inner stator, the outer rotor having a plurality of rotor poles, at least one position sensor configured to detect a position of the outer rotor, and a DC supply configured to sequentially supply current to excite the stator phases.
US08544578B2	System and method for extracting propulsion energy from motor vehicle exhaust Engine exhaust is sent to a reformer, which produces hydrogen from fuel remaining in the exhaust. The hydrogen may be stored in a hydrogen tank, and may be used by a fuel cell to produce electricity to recharge a vehicle battery and/or to supply propulsion current to an electric propulsion system.
US08544577B2	Control system for hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle comprises an engine 2, a motor generator 4, a torque converter 6 with a lock-up clutch 5, and a ratio-change mechanism 7. A control system for the hybrid vehicle comprises a rotational sensor 22, which detects the slip ratio of the torque converter, and a hydraulic control valve 12, which controls the engagement of the lock-up clutch. While the vehicle is moving along with the accelerator pedal being released from its stepped down condition, a driving force from the wheels is transmitted to the motor generator 4 for energy regeneration. If the slip ratio of the torque converter is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value, then only the lock-up clutch is controlled into engagement. However, if the slip ratio is between the first threshold value and a second threshold value, then additionally the motor generator is controlled in cooperative operation.
US08544572B2	Car, walking apparatus, and method of determining shape of wheel A car having a rotatable wheel, the car being able to run by rotating the wheel, the car having a leg used by the car for walking, and an attitude stabilization section for stabilizing an attitude of the car.
US08544569B2	Offset rock bit with pull back adapter An offset rock bit (12) has a steering face (28) and a shoe (30) provided by a recess formed into the steering face (28). A slot (66) formed into the shoe (30) for receiving a pull back adapter (50) in a centrally located position in the forward end of the offset rock bit (12). The pull back 5 adapter (50) has a pull back eye (52) with a central axis (62) which is aligned with a centrally disposed longitudinal axis (20) of the offset rock bit (12) and the tool string (10). This aligns the pull back eye (52) of the pull back adapter (50) with a borehole formed using the offset rock bit (12). The pull back adapter (50) also includes side edges (54, 56) which are configured for centering the pull back adapter (50) and pull back conduit within the borehole.
US08544565B2	Lost circulation control fluids for naturally fractured carbonate formations Compositions including relatively low reactivity acids and having a pH of from about 2 to about 5, mixed with viscoelastic surfactants (VESs) and internal breakers may serve as fluids, in a non-limiting embodiment as drilling fluids, to open underground hydrocarbon reservoirs with carbonate contents of 10 wt % or above. The fluids initially have low viscosities. After the fluid flows out of the drill bit, the acids react with carbonates in the formation thereby increasing the pH of the fluids causing the VES to gel the fluid at the bottom of the hole and within the formation rock. Even when the subterranean formation contains naturally-occurring fractures, the viscosified fluid will reduce fluid loss into the formation. After drilling through the targeted formation, internal breakers in the viscosified fluids will break down the fluids to permit their removal, and production of the well with very little or no near well bore damage.
US08544563B2	Oil well perforators An oil and gas well shaped charge perforator capable of providing an exothermic reaction after detonation is provided, having a housing, a high explosive, and a reactive liner where the high explosive is positioned between the reactive liner and the housing. The reactive liner is produced from a composition which is capable of sustaining an exothermic reaction during the formation of the cutting jet.
US08544560B2	Drive mechanism A drive mechanism is described for moving/controlling objects/mechanisms/systems coupled with a drillstring and/or pipe. The drive mechanism may be axially arranged on a drillstring or pipe, compact, capable of fine control and delivering high torque or the like and may be electrically and/or hydraulically powered. The drive mechanism may comprising a driving member comprising a plurality of drivers linearly translatable with respect to the driving member, each driving member having at their ends a male engaging portion and an associated driven member, comprising a plurality of female receiving portions adapted to receive a male engaging portion, the arrangement being such that linear translation of a driver causes its engaging portion to engage with a female receiving portion and the action of the engaging portion produces a reaction in the receiving portion causing displacement of the driven member in a direction other than that of the translatable driver.
US08544557B2	Frame section pivot limiting device A pivot limiting device for an agricultural implement is disclosed. The agricultural implement includes a first frame section pivotally coupled to second frame section at a pivot location. The device includes a compression structure having a spring compressed to a preset load. The compression structure is coupled to the first frame section. A plunger includes a first portion positioned adjacent the second frame section and a second portion positioned adjacent the compression structure to move relative thereto between a first position placing no additional compression on the spring when the second frame section pivots in a first direction and contacts the plunger with a first force less than or equal to the preset load, and a second position further compressing the spring when the second frame section pivots in the first direction and contacts the plunger with a second force greater than the preset load.
US08544555B2	Method and apparatus for utilizing a catalyst occurring naturally in an oil field A system and method for cracking, hydrogenating and extracting oil from underground deposits is presented. A method includes injecting syngas into the oil deposit for processing the oil to produce upgraded oil with a reduced density and viscosity. A natural catalytic bed of the oil deposit is utilized to aid a rate of processing the oil into upgraded oil. The upgraded oil with reduced density and viscosity is extracted from the underground oil deposit by transporting the upgraded oil aboveground.
US08544553B2	Sealing apparatus and method for a downhole tool An apparatus and a method to seal and prevent leakage within a downhole tool are disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a first body portion having a first fluid flow path formed therethrough and a second body portion having a second fluid flow path formed therethrough. The second body portion is movable between a first position and a second position with respect to the first body portion. The apparatus further includes a stopper connected to the second body portion and disposed within the first body portion. When the second body portion is in the first position, the stopper sealingly engages the first fluid flow path, and when the second body portion is in the second position, the stopper sealingly disengages from the first fluid flow path.
US08544552B2	System for pulse-injecting fluid into a borehole For injecting e.g. water into ground formation around a borehole, and for superimposing pulses onto the outflow of the injected water, it is important that the pulses have a rapid rise-time. A piston is connected to a pulse-valve of the tool. A bias spring urges the piston towards its closed position. The piston is urged towards the open position by a differential PDAF between the supplied accumulator-pressure and the in-ground formation-pressure. When the pulse-valve is open, the PDAF is falling, until the force of the spring closes the pulse-valve. Then the PDAF rises, but now the PDAF acts over only a small area of the piston. When the PDAF is high enough to ease the pulse-valve open, suddenly the whole area of the piston is exposed to the PDAF, whereby the pulse-valve opens violently.
US08544551B2	Methods and devices for isolating wellhead pressure A wellhead is provided. In one embodiment, the wellhead includes a plug for sealing a side passage of the wellhead. The plug may include an outer member, an inner member extending through the outer member and coupled to the outer member with at least one degree of freedom of movement relative to the outer member, and a moveable seal disposed around the outer member. In some embodiments, the moveable seal is configured to seal against the side passage in response to being moved on the outer member by the inner member.
US08544547B2	FRAC system split ring device A wellhead system, in an embodiment, includes a first wellhead component with an internal bore, and a second wellhead component with a lower end disposed within the first wellhead component internal bore and an upper end disposed outside of the first wellhead component internal bore. The upper end of the second wellhead component has a groove disposed on an outer surface thereof. The wellhead system also includes a retaining member with a plurality of sections, wherein a portion of the retaining member is at least partially disposed in the groove on the second wellhead component, the retaining member is coupled to the first wellhead component, and an anti-rotation mechanism engages both the retaining member and the second wellhead component.
US08544546B2	Delivering water-soluble polysaccharides for well treatments A method including the steps of: (a) providing a dispersion comprising: a water-soluble polysaccharide and a carrier fluid, wherein the carrier fluid comprises: (i) glycerol, and (ii) a mono-hydroxylic alcohol having 1-3 carbons, wherein the mono-hydroxylic alcohol is present in at least 0.1% by weight of the glycerol, wherein the polysaccharide is insoluble in the carrier fluid; (b) mixing the dispersion with at least water to form an aqueous well treatment fluid, wherein the polysaccharide is soluble in the aqueous phase of the aqueous wellbore treatment fluid; and (c) introducing the aqueous treatment fluid into a subterranean formation.
US08544541B2	Packer supported on bonded connection to a surrounding tubular A packer or bridge plug has slips that bind to the surrounding tubular with an adhesive bond. The tubular wall is not penetrated but a roughening of the target location in the tubular can help the bond material to adhere to support the packer or bridge plug. A removable cover can overlay the surface to be bonded to the tubular and the cover can come off in a variety of techniques before the members to be bonded are radially extended. An acrylic adhesive can be the bonding agent. The packer or bridge plug can be made of mostly or entirely non-metallic materials to facilitate mill out.
US08544530B2	Heat dissipation device and method for manufacturing the same A heat dissipation device includes a plurality of fins, a plurality of heat pipes connected to the fins in a thermal conductive relationship and a plurality of electric conductors extending through the fins. The fins are stacked together and spaced from each other. The heat pipes are extended through the fins. The electric conductors are electrically connected to the fins to enable consistent metal oxide films to be formed all over surfaces of the fins when anodizing the fins.
US08544528B2	Heat exchanger equipped with partitioning members for use in a vehicular air conditioning apparatus In a vehicular air conditioning apparatus, a first blower unit is connected by a connection duct to a side portion of a casing having respective air passages defined therein, and a second blower unit separate from the first blower unit is connected to a lower portion of the casing. In addition, air is supplied to the interior of the casing from the first blower unit and is cooled by a first cooling section of an evaporator, whereas air that is supplied from the second blower unit is cooled by passing through a second cooling section in the evaporator, which is separated from the first cooling section by a pair of first and second partitioning members.
US08544526B2	Energy recovery in a steel mill Energy is recovered from steel products produced in a steel mill where the products are transported into a storage area by first extracting heat from the steel products prior to or after transport into the storage area by heat exchangers for a predetermined period in which residual heat of the steel products is transferred by the heat exchangers into a heat-transfer medium to heat same. The heated transfer medium is then transferred via heat-transfer transport lines for power generation or for direct use of the process heat in other heat consumers. This transport of the heat-transfer medium from the heat exchangers to the power-generating plant in the heat-transfer transport lines is carried out only at pump feed pressure or using as a heat-transfer medium liquid mineral or synthetic thermal oil or a salt melt so as not to build up a steam pressure above 2 bar.
US08544524B2	Leading end assemblies for movable partitions including sensor assemblies, movable partition systems including sensor assemblies and related methods Leading end assemblies for movable partitions may include at least one sensor assembly configured to detect a force applied to a leading surface of a leading structure of the leading end assembly. Movable partition systems may include a plurality of hingedly coupled panels and a leading end assembly. The leading end assembly may include a trolley movably coupled to a track and at least one sensor assembly configured to detect movement of the leading structure relative to the trolley when the movable partition is moved from a retracted position to an extended position. Methods of operating a movable partition may include monitoring a displacement of a leading structure of a leading end assembly of the movable partition relative to another portion of the leading end assembly with a sensor assembly and ceasing movement of the movable partition in response to a signal from the sensor assembly.
US08544521B2	Mobile tarping system A mobile tarping system has a framework with a base section and a height adjustable main section connected to a cradle support. A rolled up tarp within the cradle support, can be unrolled and retracted by a spring-loaded roll-out and retraction assembly or a manual crank for covering the open container. The system is separate and independent from the container. Wheels extending from the base section permit the mobile tarping system to be transported between various containers, when a given container is filled with loose debris and must be covered.
US08544520B2	Automatic rim centering system for a tyre changing machine The invention concerns vehicle wheel service machines, in particular automatic tire changers, having a wheel or rim mounting device (2) which is mounted rotatably about an axis (11) and to which a wheel (1) is to be fixed. The vehicle wheel service machine comprises first and second detectors (6, 7) and a controller to detect the rotational speeds of the rim mounting device (2) and the wheel (1) respectively. Furthermore, a method for controlling the rotational speed of the rim mounting device (2) is provided. If the detected rotational speeds are different, slipping is determined and eliminated by approximating the rotational speed of the rim mounting device (2) to that of the wheel (1). A rim mounting device (2) can comprise a rim mounting plate (23) having a rim support surface (24) with a high-friction lining adapted to increase friction between the rim mounting plate (23) and the wheel (1).
US08544518B2	Supply group of a packing band from reels, with an automatic change of the reel, for object-packing machines A supply group of a packing band from reels, with an automatic change of the reel for an object-packing machine, includes a supply conveyor along which the packing band runs, a device for transversally cutting the band located at a start of the supply conveyor, a device for supporting one reel of the band of slim packing material and a device for supporting a second reel of band of slim packing material. The group includes a first entry conveyor of the first band from the first reel to the supply conveyor, a second entrance conveyor of the second band from the second reel to the supply conveyor, a device for advancing for introducing or extracting the front end of the first band to or from the supply conveyor, and a device for advancing for introducing or extracting a front end of the second band into or from the supply conveyor.
US08544517B2	Multi-layered air permeation preventing layer of pneumatic tires The present invention provides a multi layered air permeation preventive layer of pneumatic tires having −50 to −10i É of the steep decreasing range of the elastic modulus includes inner liner layer of a non-drawn film formed from a polymer composition including 60 to 90 wt. % of a thermoplastic resin and 10 to 40 wt. % of an elastomer, and carcass layer coated on the inside and outside of the inner liner layer, the tire thus manufacture has no fracture under a severe deformation during the tire shaping process, facilitating the tire manufacture, and exhibits an air permeation preventive property as an excellent air permeation preventive layer.
US08544515B2	Ultralightweight runflat tires based upon negative poisson ratio (NPR) auxetic structures Negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) or auxetic are used to make lightweight wheels and runflat tires. The NPR tires can be tailored and functionally-designed to optimally meet the runflat requirements for both military and commercial vehicles. NPR-runflat tires may be fabricated using standard materials and simple manufacturing processes, resulting in low-cost and high-volume production. In preferred embodiments the runflat tire designs are fully compatible with Central Tire Inflation Systems (CTIS), while providing a performance equivalent to current military vehicle solutions but at half the weight. An auxetic wheel according to the invention comprises a line defining an axis of rotation; and a plurality of concentric rings of unit cells surrounding the axis, each unit cell being constructed of a plurality of members defining a Negative Poisson's Ratio (NPR) structure. The outermost ring of unit cells is arranged to facilitate rolling terrain contact, such that the stiffness of the structure in the localized region of loading due to terrain contact increases as the wheel rotates. A layer of material may be disposed between the concentric rings of unit cells which in preferred embodiments comprise a plurality of nested-V shapes. A cover may be provided over the outermost ring of unit cells forming a tire which may, or may not, be inflated.
US08544514B2	Spoked wheel rim, mounted assembly incorporating it and its method of assembly A spoked wheel rim for a wheeled vehicle, a mounted assembly incorporating this rim for such a vehicle and a method for assembling this mounted assembly is provided. This rim has two rim edges and a rim bottom covered by an annular ribbon that is flexible and sealed against the inflation gas that is intended to receive a tire and that is fitted with an inflation valve for inflating this tire. The ribbon includes a central portion conforming to the shape of this rim bottom and two lateral portions protruding axially from these rim edges. The lateral portions are capable of having a portion of their axial width cut off by the detachment of two respective peripheral sections of these lateral portions, so that this ribbon extends from one of the said edges to the other following this detachment.
US08544511B2	Tire with apertured shoulder block for improved temperature control A tire is provided having a plurality of shoulder blocks separated by axial grooves and located along at least one side of the tire. Apertures extend through the shoulder blocks to connect with a circumferential groove. The apertures are located within a certain radial position relative to the axial grooves. Each aperture has a bottom positioned at a radial depth HB relative to the shoulder block and extends completely through the shoulder block along the axial direction. Each aperture has a radial overlap HL with the axial grooves. The ratio HL/Ho is about 0.15 or less and the ratio of HB/H is in the range of about 1.0 to about 1.1.
US08544508B2	Telescoping tube for transferring fuel A telescoping tube for fuel transfer operations has a fixed part and a moving part, the moving part further having a dynamic sealing system which guarantees the sealing of the moving part against the fixed part, a cushioning system which absorbs the energy of the impact of the moving part against the fixed part in operations for extending and retracting the tube and protection systems against electrical discharges which ground the moving part to the fixed part, the aforementioned dynamic sealing, cushioning and protection systems all being incorporated in a single unit in the moving part of the telescoping tube. Additionally, the invention relates to an in-flight refuelling system for a tanker aeroplane, to carry out in-flight fuel transfer operations to a receiving aircraft, having a telescoping tube with the abovementioned characteristics.
US08544506B2	Method for making a rivet and rivet obtained by said method The invention relates to a method for making a rivet (R), of the type comprising, by deformation of the material of a substantially cylindrical metal segment, the operations of preforming a milled head (100) at the end of a rod (200), characterised in that it comprises, by deformation of the material (cold stamping) the following operations: creating a portion with a lower diameter (210) from the free end; creating a substantially cylindrical hollow core (220) for forming a tubular portion; preforming the hollow core (220) as a truncated cone; performing the lower diameter outer surface as a truncated cone. The invention also relates to the rivet obtained by said method.
US08544504B2	Flexible and extendable spiral wound hose and method therefor An expandable hose is provided which will expand to an extended length from a collapsed length and back again. The hose has a sidewall formed of a spirally wound flexible member which defines an axial passageway surrounding a center axis of said hose. Both side edges of the flexible member in the spirally wound position are engaged to a cap member which provides a skeletal structure to maintain the axial passageway open and to bias the hose back to a collapsed length from the extended length. A fold formed in the spirally wound flexible member allows for increased distance between the two side edges and an increased maximum extended length.
US08544503B2	Fluid conduit with self-healing protective sleeve A fluid conduit having a self-healing sleeve in a spaced relationship from the conduit to provide protection against leaks due to ballistic projectiles, such as small arms fire.
US08544498B2	Manifold and distribution manifold assembly for air-entrained material A manifold and distribution manifold assembly is described for use in dividing the flow of an air-entrained material from a primary distribution line into a plurality of secondary distribution lines. The manifold is formed of a single molded piece thereby reducing the overall tooling cost. One application of such a distribution manifold assembly is in an air seeder.
US08544494B2	System and method for controlling shutoff valves of compressed natural gas fuel tanks in a vehicle A control system for a vehicle includes a fuel tank selection module, a fuel depletion determination module, and a fuel pressure balancing module. The fuel tank selection module closes (N−M) of N shutoff valves of N compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel tanks, respectively, when an enable condition is met and the N shutoff valves have been open for a first predetermined period, wherein N is an integer greater than one and M is an integer less than N. The fuel depletion determination module determines whether the M CNG fuel tanks have provided a predetermined amount of fuel based a fuel parameter. The fuel pressure balancing module opens the N shutoff valves for the first predetermined period when the M CNG fuel tanks have provided the predetermined amount of fuel.
US08544493B2	Water hammer proof and silent check valve A water-hammer proof and silent check valve comprises a shell (1), a spring (9), a flow guide body (10) and a cowl (11). The flow guide body (10) is provided with flow blocking boards (4, 6) which project from the outer surface of the flow guide body (10) and are capable of rotating around installation shafts (3, 7). A plurality of flow blocking boards are arranged in the flow passage in the axial direction of the valve, so that most part of pressure energy and kinetic energy are undertaken by the flow blocking boards by grading when liquid flows back to the valve, thus ensuring that the water hammer with large energy is divided into multiple water hammers with relatively smaller energy so as to greatly reduce the inner stress of valve bearing parts.
US08544491B2	Compressed air supply system for a commercial vehicle, and method for operating a compressed air supply system A compressed air supply system for a commercial vehicle includes a compressed air inlet that can be coupled to a compressor, a filter unit that is coupled to the compressed air inlet via a delivery line, a discharge valve unit that is coupled to a discharge outlet and the delivery line, an energy saving control output that can be coupled to a control input of the compressor, a first valve unit and a second valve unit, wherein the discharge value unit, the energy saving control output, and the regeneration of the filter unit can be controlled via the value units. A first control input of the discharge value unit, the energy saving control output and the regeneration of the filter unit can be controlled via the first value unit. A second control input of the discharge value unit can be controlled via the second value unit. A method is provided for operating the compressed air supply system.
US08544481B1	Brush and toss A disposable tooth care system including: a toothbrush and floss assembly having a toothbrush having a proximate end and a distal end; a handle; a pouch located in the inner volume, the pouch is flexible and contains toothpaste; a floss spool comprising a wound-length of dental floss; and an axle. The handle includes; an outer surface; an inner volume; and a forked end; a neck; a head with at least one dispensing aperture; bristles; and a button. The toothbrush and floss assembly comprises the toothbrush; the pouch located in the inner volume of the handle of the toothbrush; the floss spool carried by the axle rotatable in the forked end, the axle fixed to the handle within the forked end, the forked end located at the proximate end of the toothbrush.
US08544479B2	Hairclip device A hairclip device includes a clip body having a hair clipping space through which a portion of hair of a user is adapted to pass. The hairclip device further includes a fixing member having a detaining portion and a pyramidal coupling portion. The detaining portion of the fixing member is connected with an end portion of the clip body. The coupling portion of the fixing member is detachably engaged in the other end portion of the clip body for positioning the clip body on the head of the user. The hairclip device can maintain a hairdo stably and can be easily removed from the user's head in order that the user can arrange different hairdos conveniently.
US08544476B1	Hair styling apparatus In the specification and drawings a hair styling apparatus is described and shown with a first barrel half, a second barrel half, and a handle, the handle being releasably attached to the first barrel half and releasably attached to the second barrel half.
US08544473B2	Methods for treating eye conditions with low-level light therapy Architectures and techniques for treating conditions of the eye, such as presbyopia, utilize sources of treatment energy, such as electromagnetic energy emitting devices, to implement non-corneal and other manipulations. According to these devices and methods, the sources of treatment energy are activated to direct energy onto parts of the eye, such as the conjunctiva and sclera, to treat presbyopia. The treatments can affect at least one property of the eye and enhance an accommodation of the eye.
US08544472B2	Dental device A fastener suitable for connecting two parts of a dental splint together in a prearranged or predetermined spatial relationship to treat a person suffering from a sleep disorder is described. In one form the fastener comprises a base member and a cover member arranged to define a cavity therebetween. A movable connector is located within the cavity, the movable connector interconnecting the two parts of the dental splint. The fastener has an adjustor movably connected to the connector such that the position of the connector is moved in response to movement of the adjustor by adjusting the position of the adjustor, the connector in the form of a hook moves the other part of the dental splint so as to reposition the jaws of a person being treated for the sleep disorder.
US08544471B2	Apparatus and method for radiolucent anatomic positioning An apparatus and method includes a first anatomic positioner for migrating a first anatomic part. The first anatomic positioner includes a first tapered arm for applying a motive force and a first arch at a distal end of the first tapered arm for contacting the first anatomic part. The first arch includes a varying width and a varying density where the first arch is asymmetrically offset from the first tapered arm such that a longitudinal axis of the first tapered arm extends through a lower portion of the first arch.
US08544469B2	Low profile filter respirator A respiratory protective device in which a face piece (11) is located within the volume of a filter canister (10). The filter canister (10) can be in the form of a hollow section or sections which fit around all or part of the face piece (11) or on either side thereof. Contaminated air that has been purified in the filter canister (10) is ducted in an airtight manner through a hollow assembly (18) into the face piece (11).
US08544467B2	Determining suitable ventilator settings for patients with alveolar hypoventilation during sleep A method and apparatus for determining suitable settings for a servo-ventilator to be used during sleep. Respiratory characteristics of a patient are measured during an awake learning period. With these measured characteristics, a target ventilation setting may be calculated by alternative methods. The calculated setting may then be used for enforcing a minimum ventilation during a treatment period where ventilatory support is provided with a servo-controlled ventilator.
US08544466B2	Method and apparatus for detecting and quantifying intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure The present invention describes a method and apparatus for detecting and quantifying intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi) of a respiratory patient breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. A processing device receives respiratory airway data from one or more sensors adapted to non-invasively monitor a respiratory patient, calculates from the respiratory airway data two or more parameters that are indicative of or quantify intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure of the patient, and generates a predicted quantitative value for intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure based on the two or more parameters. The respiratory airway data is transformed into a predicted quantitative value for intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi).
US08544463B2	Overmolded manifold O-ring A respiratory access assembly includes a distal plate having one port and cuff and an axially aligned proximal plate including a first port and first cuff and a second port and second cuff. The distal plate is configured to move relative to the proximal plate. The respiratory access assembly includes an actuator, which has a plurality of predetermined positions. The actuator includes a blocking portion that controls the movement of the plates. The blocking portion moves slidably within an O-ring that prevents loss of pressure from the artificial airway system. The O-ring may be molded in place using an injection molding process, thus ensuring good adhesion to the disk.
US08544460B2	Apparatus and method for heating ground An apparatus and method is provided for preparing frozen ground for construction-type work includes using arrays of heat sources placed over the surface to be heated. The apparatus can warm the surface in preparation for the construction activity with energy penetrating into the ground affording efficient thawing of materials below 20 centimeters of depth. Heat sources used in the array can include emitted infrared radiation.
US08544459B2	Portable grill assembly A portable grill assembly having a frame and a plurality of legs that are pivotally attached to the frame. A removable tray is matingly received within the frame and a screen is removably nested within the tray in spaced relation to the bottom of the removable tray to provide room for charcoal to be burned. At least one wind screen is detachably secured in the frame adjacent the grill to block wind from blowing on the grill. At least one wing is attached to the frame.
US08544454B2	Heat exchanger for a motor vehicle The invention relates to a heat exchanger (or a motor vehicle, comprising a first flow path (1) with a number of flow conduits (6) for conducting a fluid to be cooled, a deflection region (13), situated downstream of the first flow path (1) and a second flow path (2), situated downstream ol the deflection region (13). According to the invention, the flow conduits (6) of the first flow path (1) continue in the deflection region (13) and the second (low path (2) as continuous separate flow conduits (6). The invention also relates to a flow conduit (41, 41′, 61, 61′, 71, 71′, 81, 81′, 91, 91′) for a heat exchanger (30,40) for exchanging heat between a first fluid (31) and a second fluid (33). The aim of the invention is to guarantee an improved transfer of heat with a simultaneous acceptable pressure drop, whilst reducing the blocking risk.
US08544452B1	Combination air pressure system and plasma ion gas generator system for turbocharged diesel engine A combination air pressure system and a plasma ion gas generator system adapted for mounting next to an intake manifold of a turbocharged diesel engine. The system includes a water holding tank for supplying water to a plasma ion gas generator. The gas generator includes a housing with a plurality anode and cathode electrode plates. The system also includes an on/off switch and amp meter. The on/off switch is connected to the vehicle's battery. When the system is turned “on”, power is supplied to the gas generator for generating combustible gases. The air pressure system includes an air line connected to a vehicle's high pressure air line. The system's air line is connected to the water holding tank for pressurizing the gas mixture before it's introduced in the intake manifold.
US08544449B2	Fuel supply device A device for feeding fuel from a fuel tank (33) to a multi-fuel engine (12) that uses fuel in which alcohol and gasoline are mixed in an arbitrary ratio. The internal volume of a connecting line (84) provided between a fuel pressure governor (85) and a fuel injection device (50) is a volume equal to or greater than the amount of fuel consumed from startup of the engine until an oxygen sensor (88) reaches a measurement-enabling temperature.
US08544447B2	Throttle response modification device and method for vehicles equipped with electronic throttle control One aspect is an electronic throttle control system including an electronic control unit configured to receive actuation signals indicative of a user action and to generate an actuation signal indicative of the user action. A throttle plate motor is configured to receive the actuation signal from the electronic control unit and to move a throttle plate in response thereto. A throttle position sensor is configured to sense the actual position of the throttle plate and to generate an actual position signal indicative of the throttle plate position. A throttle modifier is coupled between the throttle position sensor and the electronic control unit and configured to modify the actual position signal into a modified position signal, and to send the modified position signal to the electronic control unit.
US08544446B2	Fluid injection pressurization system A system including, an internal combustion engine including a combustion chamber, a first injector to provide a first injection fluid to the combustion chamber, and a heated pressurization system to heat the first injection fluid in a pressure vessel to achieve a sufficient injection pressure. By heating the injection fluid in a pressure vessel, pressure in the vessel can be increased to a specified injection pressure.
US08544445B2	Over-compressed engine A system and method are disclosed for fabricating and running an engine in two modes. The first mode is an efficiency mode having a high compression ratio and efficiency for low to medium loads. The second mode is a power mode having high power density for higher loads. The system may use a lean mixture in the efficiency mode, which mixture is made richer for more power in the power mode. The system may also use ignition timing to allow the efficiency mode and the high power mode to be at the same mixture.
US08544439B2	Air intake tract having a flexible sump An engine air intake tract includes a flexible air intake duct having a flexible tubular body. A plurality of radially extending convolutes are formed in and spaced apart on an axially extending outer wall of the tubular body. Each convolute has a circumferential ring-shaped inwardly extending peak bordered by outwardly extending troughs. A liquid sump is formed into a lower portion of the tubular body and includes a plurality of spaced sump chambers with each chamber formed between and connected to at least two adjacent ones of the convolutes and extending radially outwardly from the convolutes.
US08544437B2	Starter mechanism having a multi-stage plunger relay A plunger relay includes a movable actuating element on which a first solenoid actuator is acting in force-transmitting manner. The plunger relay has at least one second solenoid actuator, which is acting on the same movable actuating element in force-transmitting manner, and whose magnetic force is able to be set independently of the magnetic force of the first solenoid actuator.
US08544429B2	Valve control apparatus for internal combustion engine A valve control apparatus includes a variable mechanism configured to vary operating states of two intake valves by varying a swing range of a single swing cam; a primary swing arm configured to receive swinging force from the swing cam by becoming in contact with the swing cam, and configured to open/close one of the two intake valves; a secondary swing arm configured to open/close another of the two intake valves; and a connection changeover mechanism configured to connect/disconnect the primary swing arm with/from the secondary swing arm in accordance with an operating state of engine. The connection changeover mechanism disconnects the primary swing arm from the secondary swing arm to maintain the another of the two intake valves in a non-lifted state, when the variable mechanism controls a swing amount of the primary swing arm within a range below a predetermined amount. The connection changeover mechanism connects the primary swing arm with the secondary swing arm to open and close both of the two intake valves together, when the variable mechanism controls the swing amount of the primary swing arm within a range greater than or equal to the predetermined amount.
US08544426B2	Coolant passage apparatus for internal combustion engine A coolant passage apparatus 10 is formed by joining a plurality of resin moldings 31 and 32 which are each individually molded. A pair of coolant receiving pipes 11 and 12 for respectively receiving a coolant from a pair of engine heads and riser pipes 17 and 18 adjoining the coolant receiving pipes are provided, a central passage 19 is formed between the riser pipes, and a communicating tube 21 which is towards a radiator is formed to communicate with the central passage. Assuming that a line passing through the center of the central passage 19 is (indicated by) A and lines passing through the centers of the above-mentioned riser pipes are (indicated by) B respectively, each of the lines B is outwardly and obtusely angled with respect to the line A, and the riser pipes are respectively molded on both sides of the central passage to incline outwardly.
US08544425B2	Engine driven generator that is cooled by a first electrical fan and a second electrical fan Some embodiments relate to an engine driven generator that includes a first electrical fan and a second electrical fan. The engine driven generator further includes a power source and a circuit connecting the power source to the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan. The circuit is configured to selectively connect the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan in series or in parallel. The circuit may operate the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan at full speed when the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan are electrically connected in parallel. The circuit may operate the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan at less than full speed when the first electrical fan and the second electrical fan are electrically connected in series.
US08544419B1	Livestock insect-removal systems and related methods Livestock insect-removal systems and methods. According to one embodiment, the system may comprise a structure with a defined path for passage of livestock. The system may comprise a container removably attached to the structure and a vacuum device within the container configured to generate a change in pressure within the container. The system may comprise a first duct to expel air from the container and direct air across the path and displace or dislodge insects. The first duct may further comprise a vent to expel bypass air from the first duct. The system may comprise a second duct, positioned along the path to draw air and dislodged insects into the container.
US08544418B2	Intelligent doghouse An intelligent doghouse full-automatic processor includes a cage bracket module, and an automatic excrement treating device, a feeding module, a water feeding module, a snack feeding module, a disinfection and heat preservation device and a video/audio module which are arranged on the cage bracket module as well as an automatic door control module, a host computer control module, a network communication module, a background control service module, a terminal use program and the like. With the modules, an owner can remotely monitor an intelligent doghouse, perform video/audio conversation with a pet dog and control and manage the eating and drinking, defecation and entering and exiting cage of the pet dog, disinfection of the cage and temperature regulation of air inside the cage by a computer or a mobile phone through a network browser. Moreover, parameters of the intelligent doghouse can be set through network.
US08544413B1	Animal waste bag dispenser and collection station An animal waste bag dispenser and collection apparatus may include an upright pole member, a dispenser housing and a receptacle. The dispenser housing may include a spindle, a mounting member, and a cover. The receptacle may include a receiving bin covered by a lid. The receiving bin may have a grooved sidewall configured to receive and mount the upright pole therein. The lid may removably cover the receiving bin, have a slotted wall configured to receive the upright pole therein, and have an opening configured to receive bags containing animal waste.
US08544412B1	Pet food holder A holder for frictionally holding a container of pre-packaged pet food has a bowl into which the container of pre-packaged pet food in placed and an anchor arm extending radially outwardly from the bowl. A plurality of ribs protrude inwardly from the inside walls of the bowl. The ribs terminate in edges having a compound curvature which frictionally engage the outside walls of the prepackaged container of pet food to the extent that it cannot easily be dislodged by the efforts of a pet to consume the food that is in the container. The pet food holder is provided with a slip resistant bottom surface and is manufactured from a material that has sufficient elastomeric properties that the cavity can accommodate pre-packaged containers of various sizes and shapes and sufficient frictional properties as to promote frictional interaction with the surface upon which the pet feeder is placed. The anchor arm can be engaged by the pet's paw or wedged under fixed objects to further prevent it from moving about as the pet consumes its contents.
US08544410B2	Immobilization apparatus The invention is an immobilization apparatus comprising: a container (1) having a nozzle (4) formed for exhausting a solution; a charging means (PS, 5, 4) for charging the sample solution within the container; and an airflow generating means for generating airflow (Af) crashing into the sample solution. The immobilization apparatus is configured to operate the charging means and the airflow generating means simultaneously, atomize the solution into microparticulate substances charged while maintaining its activity and functionality by the electrostatic force due to the charge of the sample solution charged by the charging means and the crash energy due to the crash of the airflow generated by the airflow generating means into the sample solution, and exhaust it from the exhaust outlet (4), and the charged microparticulate substances are deposited on a substrate (7) by the electrostatic force.
US08544402B2	Offshore buoyant drilling, production, storage and offloading structure An offshore structure having a vertically symmetric hull, an upper vertical wall, an upper inwardly-tapered wall disposed below the upper vertical wall, a lower outwardly-tapered wall disposed below the upper sloped wall, and a lower vertical wall disposed below the lower sloped wall. The upper and lower sloped walls produce significant heave damping in response to heavy wave action. A heavy slurry of hematite and water ballast is added to the lower and outermost portions of the hull to lower the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy. The offshore structure includes one or more movable hawser connections that allow a vessel to be moored directly to the offshore structure during offloading. The movable hawser connection includes an arcuate rail with a movable trolley that provides a hawser connection point that allows vessel weathervaning.
US08544397B2	Row unit for agricultural implement An agricultural row unit for use with a towing frame hitched to a tractor includes an attachment frame adapted to be rigidly connected to the towing frame, a linkage pivotably coupled to the attachment frame, and a row unit frame having a leading end pivotably coupled to the linkage to permit vertical pivoting movement of the row unit frame relative to the attachment frame. A hydraulic cylinder coupled to the attachment frame and the linkage, for urging the row unit frame downwardly toward the soil, includes a movable ram extending into the cylinder, and a hydraulic-fluid cavity within the cylinder for receiving pressurized hydraulic fluid for advancing the ram in a direction that pivots the linkage and the row unit frame downwardly toward the soil. An accumulator positioned adjacent to the hydraulic cylinder has a fluid chamber containing a diaphragm, with the portion of the chamber on one side of the diaphragm being connected to the hydraulic-fluid cavity in the hydraulic cylinder, and the portion of the chamber on the other side of the diaphragm containing a pressurized gas.
US08544396B1	Seed dispersing assembly A seed dispersing assembly includes a housing configured to receive and disperse seeds. The housing includes a seed wing and a sealer plate attached together. The sealer plate has a top side, a bottom side, a front edge, a back edge, a first side edge and a second side edge. The seed wing has an upper surface, a lower surface, forward edge, a rearward edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge. The seed wing is abutted against and coupled to a seeding apparatus. The housing has a lumen therein that is in fluid communication with a seed inlet tube of the seeding apparatus. The sealer plate is attached to the lower surface. The seed wing and the sealer plate form a pair of ejection ports of the lumen at a juncture of the rearward edge and the back edge to eject seeds received by the lumen.
US08544395B2	Slurry fertilizer applicator An applicator unit for applying slurry fertilizer beneath the soil with reduced soil displacement includes a spring-cushioned main mounting shank and a forward spring-biased coulter. A narrow applicator shank, mounted to the main mounting shank just above the surface of the soil, is oriented generally upright and includes a leading nose portion having a small low angle forward protruding tip and a tapered leading edge for forming a furrow without tilling the soil. The furrow is formed in four stages: by the small low angle forward protruding tip, the upright tapered leading edge of the sweep shank, by a bulge on each side of the casting near the soil surface, a slurry tube widens the slot further, facilitating the delivery of the slurry in the vertical slot. Swept back wings gently lift the soil to allow horizontal distribution of the slurry.
US08544391B2	Variable height support A variable height support with a platform and a base supporting the platform and reconfigurable to selectively change a height of a support surface on the platform relative to a subjacent surface. A control assembly is operable to selectively: a) maintain the support surface at a selected height; and b) release the platform to allow the base to be reconfigured to change the height of the support surface. The control assembly has a ratchet subassembly that, with the control assembly in a first state, allows the base to be reconfigured by exerting a continuous upward force upon the platform that causes the platform to elevate and be blocked within a range at a plurality of different vertical locations against downward movement. The control assembly further has an actuator that is repositionable to change the control assembly into a second state wherein the platform can be lowered over the range.
US08544389B2	Guide rail A guide rail that is provided in a track and is brought into contact with a guide wheel of a vehicle to restrict a rolling direction of a running wheel of the vehicle, to thereby guide the vehicle along the track, includes: a rail that comprises a guide portion formed with a guide rail surface with which the guide wheel is brought into contact; and a vibration-isolating member that is provided so as to be in contact with a back surface of the guide rail surface of the guide portion.
US08544387B2	Progressive propellant charge with high charge density A method for producing propellant charges with progressive combustion characteristic and a higher charge density than previously considered possible to achieve, intended in the first instance for direct-firing barrel weapons such as tank cannons. Combined in the charge are at least two radially perforated propellant tubes, which are arranged in their entirety inside or after one another, and which have at an e-dimension selected in relation to the actual type of propellant and its desired combustion characteristic, combustion or ignition channels, and which have circular outer and inner boundary surfaces, in conjunction with which, before initiation of the charge, at least one of the total number of outer surfaces of these propellant tubes that are available for initiation has been treated with an inhibition, surface treatment or surface intended to delay the propagation of ignition to that surface so that the combustion of the propellant tubes is partially mutually overlapping.
US08544386B2	Interposer having decurler Embodiments herein comprise an apparatus that includes a printing engine and an interposer adapted to receive printed sheets from the printing engine. The interposer adds insert sheets between printed sheets. The interposer includes a decurler positioned within the interposer so as to decurl the printed sheets after the interposer adds the insert sheets. The printing engine adds a curl to the printed sheets and the decurler removes the curl from the printed sheets. The decurler can comprise a roller-based decurler, a heated decurler, a pressure based decurler, and/or a moisture-vacuum based decurler.
US08544382B2	Heat distributing cooking grate The present invention relates to cooking grates for use in connection with grills, ovens and/or range tops. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a cooking grate that is designed to be used in conjunction with a barbecue grill, where the cooking grate is designed to evenly distribute heat across the entire surface of the grate in order to eliminate, and/or reduce, any “hot” or “cold” spots thereon. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a cooking grate that contains one or more heat transmitting members positioned in such a manner that heat is transmitted from the central portion of the cooking grate to the edge portions thereof, thereby facilitating a more even heat distribution across the entire cooking surface of the cooking grate.
US08544379B2	Cylinder block and method for the production of a cylinder block A cylinder block has functional surfaces machined by cutting and with at least one cylinder (5) with a coating. To simplify the production of the cylinder block, the cylinder block (1) has an inwardly projecting collar (25, 26) at the end of the cylinder (5) to delimit the cylinder (5) in the axial direction. The side of the collar (25, 26) facing away the from the cylinder (5) constitutes a stop for a suction extraction device (46) that serves for extracting excess coating material by suction.
US08544378B2	Hydraulic system for construction equipment having float function A hydraulic system for construction equipment having a float function is provided. The hydraulic system can perform ground leveling as making a boom descend due to its own weight without using hydraulic fluid that is discharged from a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic system includes a holding logic poppet mounted in the float valve to prevent an abrupt descending of the boom due to leakage of the hydraulic fluid through a flow path between the main control valve and the float valve during the operation of the boom cylinders.
US08544377B2	Mount for a motorcycle, a heavy weapon, or a motorcycle equipped with a heavy weapon The present invention relates to a stand (100) for a motorcycle, a heavy weapon (70) or a motorcycle (1) equipped with the heavy weapon (70). The stand (100) includes a propping unit (101, 102 and 105) as well as pivoting means (103, 104) for enabling the propping unit (101, 102 and 105) to be swiveled between a working position and a storage position. The propping unit (101, 102 and 105) includes two propping elements (101 and 102). The pivoting means (103, 104) include a pivoting element (103), which allows a simultaneous swiveling and outward spreading motion of the propping elements (101 and 102) from the storage position in the proximity of the chassis of a motorcycle, the heavy weapon (70) or a motorcycle equipped with the heavy weapon (70) to the working position, and locking means (108, 109 and 110) for securing the propping elements (101 and 102) in the working position and in the storage position.
US08544375B2	System and method for providing a cooperative network for applying countermeasures to airborne threats A system and method capable of providing a cooperative network for applying countermeasures to airborne threats is provided. The system contains at least one aircraft having an airborne countermeasures system (ACS) capable of controlling deployment of countermeasures located on the aircraft. The system also contains a central countermeasures management system (CCMS) capable of communicating with the ACS to control the ACS in deployment of the countermeasures located on the aircraft. The aircraft may be one of a series of aircrafts, where each aircraft within the series of aircrafts has a separate ACS thereon, and where each separate ACS is capable of controlling deployment of countermeasures located on an aircraft within the series of aircrafts on which the separate ACS is located. When multiple aircrafts are within the network, the CCMS is capable of communicating with each separate ACS in response to the airborne threat, to control deployment of the countermeasures.
US08544373B2	Spline arbor guided saw blade A saw blade includes a saw blade body having a first face, a second face opposing the first face, and an axis of rotation extending between the first face and the second face. The saw blade includes a cutting element disposed about an outer periphery of the saw blade body. The saw blade includes a spline arbor interface portion disposed about an inner periphery of the saw blade body and having a peripheral face defining an eye disposed substantially collinearly with the axis of rotation of the saw blade body. The saw blade body defines a relief portion extending along at least a portion of an edge between the peripheral face of the spline arbor interface portion and at least one of the first face and the second face.
US08544370B2	Handle-operated tool with a multi-function tool tip employable for one or more purposes on different irrigation-related products A tool incorporating a multi-function tool tip on an elongated shaft is disclosed for adjusting and maintaining different irrigation-related products of one or more manufacturers, having a handle configured at one shaft-end, and formed at an opposite shaft-end a multi-function tool-tip with a screw adjustment member located between two outwardly-extended generally planar members. In one tool function mode leading-edge portions of the planar members are sized and shaped to align and rotate within a conical recess of a first irrigation-related product and facilitate engagement of the screw adjustment member with an upper end of an adjustment screw centered within the conical recess. In other functional modes, the planar members are sized and shaped for insertion through an adjustment port of a spring-loaded slidably-positionable member of a second irrigation-related product to pull the member outward to a desired degree and/or make water emitting adjustments interiorly within the product.
US08544365B2	Ratchet tool The ratchet tool has a housing, a ratchet mechanism and a locking plate. The housing includes a chamber and multiple locking grooves. The ratchet mechanism is mounted rotatably through the housing. The locking plate is mounted in the chamber of the housing and has multiple wings. The wings correspond to and engage the locking grooves of the housing in order to lock the ratchet mechanism and the housing. Therefore, users can easily assemble and disassemble the ratchet mechanism and the housing by taking out the locking plate when a broken component needs to be repaired or changed.
US08544363B2	Clamp device for rotation indexing apparatus for machine tool Intended is to unitize a clamp device for a rotation indexing apparatus for a machine tool, thereby facilitating the maintenance of the clamp device and the assembly of the indexing apparatus including the clamp device. The rotation indexing apparatus (1) for the machine tool comprises the clamp device (2) for clamping a clamp disc (11) by causing a clamp element (6) to exert a pressing force on the clamp disc (11), thereby to bring a rotary drive target member (4) such as a circular table into a clamped state. Of the individual members constituting the clamp device (2), the individual major members excepting the clamp device (11) to be mounted on a rotating shaft (5) are unitized.
US08544356B2	Ball screw unit and electric power steering apparatus A fitting recess portion that connects fitting holes to each other is formed in a peripheral face of a ball screw nut. A circulation member includes a pair of fitted portions that are fitted in the fitting holes, and a connecting portion that provides communication between the fitted portions. A communication groove that has an opening on the fitted end side of the connecting portion and that extends in the axial direction is formed in the connecting portion. When the connecting portion is fitted in the fitting recess portion and the opening of the communication groove formed in the connecting portion is blocked by a bottom portion of the fitting recess portion, a second path that forms a return path together with first paths formed in the fitted portions is formed.
US08544352B2	Sensor arrangement including a bracket for mounting a probe A sensor arrangement including a probe and a bracket that are provided for a calorimetric mass flow meter for measuring the mass flow in a measuring tube. The probe is mounted in the bracket in such a manner that the probe is guided essentially without contact with a radial spacing through a probe recess a wall of the measuring tube and is positioned in a cross section of a flow-through area of the flow of the measuring tube. The bracket is designed in such a manner that the probe is thermally de-coupled from the measuring tube. The sensor arrangement for the calorimetric mass flow meter is capable of increasing the measuring accuracy and increasing the flexibility during operation.
US08544342B1	Vortex flowmeter A vortex flowmeter has a flow conditioning structure entirely inside a flow tube and an externally mounted pair of ultrasonic transducers for detecting vortices generated by vortex shedding structures within the flow tube. The flow conditioning structure can be installed within a short flow tube section retaining the shedder and providing a flow passage having a desired shape. The use of external transducers, coupled with a selectable flow conditioning structure allows many calibration and maintenance tasks to be performed without having to shut down flow and access the passive components inside the tube.
US08544341B2	Device including an accelerometer in a watertight container for sensing a urine stream A device for estimating a stream of urine entering a toilet or urinal includes a measuring unit configured to estimate an amount of the stream of urine, and an indicator to provide an indication to an individual of the amount of the stream of urine.
US08544340B1	Device for testing thin specimens in pure bending An improved test fixture to evaluate thin composite laminates commonly used in deployable space structures. The fixture is designed to impart a pure moment into the coupon, a necessary improvement to prior test methods where results are obtained by fitting material properties in a nonlinear structural analysis of the test. Fixture mechanics allow for direct calculation of the coupon flexural modulus and allowable flexural strain based on two key measurements, fixture displacement and applied load.
US08544339B2	Life monitor for a well access line A well access line monitor. The monitor may be employed to directly interface and establish the current yield strength of a plastically deformable line such as coiled tubing or slickline. Such interfacing may take place in advance of, or during an application. Thus, the fitness of the line for the application may be established in real-time. Further, with comparison to a reference log of projected yield strength for the line over the course of multiple bend cycles, the remaining life of the line may also be established.
US08544334B2	Systems, methods, and apparatus for compensating atmospheric pressure measurements in fired equipment Certain embodiments of the invention may include systems, methods, and apparatus for providing compensating atmospheric pressure measurements in fired equipment. According to an example embodiment of the invention, a method is provided compensating pressure measurements. The method includes providing a wind compensating ring tube having three or more apertures to equalize pressure inside the compensating ring tube, installing the wind compensating ring tube adjacent to a furnace, connecting a pressure transmission tube from the wind compensating ring tube to one or more pressure sensors, and transmitting pressure from inside the wind compensating ring tube to the one or more pressure sensors by the pressure transmission tube.
US08544333B2	Air pressure sensor for impact recognition An air pressure sensor (100) for impact recognition is provided, having a chamber (R), and a sensor element (S) for generating a signal as a function of the air pressure being situated in the chamber (R). The chamber (R) is sealed off by a pressure compensation element (M, MV). The pressure compensation element (M, MV) is designed in such a way that penetration of interfering substances into the chamber (R) is prevented. However, transmission of pressure into the chamber (R) from the outside is possible.
US08544330B2	Method and system for cooling an ultrasound probe The embodiments of the probe or the probe handle additionally include an integrally formed cooling structure with at least one dividing wall that is connected to an outer wall and an inner wall of the probe. The outer wall and the inner wall of the probe together form a medium flow space inside the probe, and the dividing wall divides the medium flow space into a continuous medium flow path where a predetermined medium travels to carry undesirable heat away from the probe handle. The undesirable heat is generated from electronic components and or an array of transducer elements in the probe handle.
US08544329B2	Ultrasonic testing method and equipment therefor An ultrasonic testing equipment includes an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of transducers arranged along a predetermined annular curved surface, a transmission/reception control unit that causes at least two transducers of the plurality of transducers to transmit the ultrasonic waves to and receive the same from a tubular test object and a ultrasonic testing waveform display unit which displays ultrasonic testing waveforms received by the selected transducers radially corresponding to the propagation directions of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from and received by the selected transducers. The waveform display unit displays the waveforms radially with a point of time corresponding to an echo on an incident point of the ultrasonic wave to the test object contained in the waveform as a beginning point and displays circles indicating points of time corresponding to the echo on the internal surface and/or the external surface of the test object around the beginning point.
US08544327B2	Acoustic impedance sensor designed to measure the input acoustic impedance of a waveguide The present invention concerns an acoustic impedance sensor designed to measure the input acoustic impedance of a waveguide. This sensor is characterized in that the source is a piezoelectric pellet that makes it possible for the determination of the acoustic impedance of a passive acoustic element to remain coherent for low frequencies while preserving an inexpensive implementation of the sensor.
US08544324B2	Quantum tunnelling sensor device and method A sensor device, method of fabricating the same, and a method of sensing a physical quantity. The sensor device comprises a substrate; a flexure member, one end of the flexure member being attached to the substrate, and a free end of the flexure member having an edge surface; a counter surface formed on the substrate such that the counter surface faces the edge surface of the flexure member and such that a separation distance between the counter surface and the edge surface remains substantially constant for movement of the edge surface as a result of flexure of the flexure member, each of the edge surface and the counter surface including one or more conductor layers disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to a flexure direction of the flexure member; and means for applying an electrical potential difference between the conductors of the edge surface and the conductors of the counter surface for detecting a quantum tunnelling current therebetween.
US08544322B2	Jaw motion measuring system There is provided a jaw motion measuring system that can attach a simple detector and can accurately carry out measurement of jaw motion. The jaw motion measuring system includes: an acceleration detector having at least an acceleration sensor that senses accelerations of three-axis directions, a flexible wire whose one end is connected to the acceleration sensor, an output terminal that is connected to another end of the flexible wire and outputs acceleration data of the three-axis directions, and an attachment portion that attaches the acceleration sensor to a chin portion of a lower jaw; and a jaw motion measuring device that acquires acceleration data corresponding to jaw motion from the acceleration detector, and carries out correction, with respect to the acquired acceleration data, of errors due to the acceleration sensor, and measures jaw motion expressed by acceleration waveforms.
US08544314B2	Carbon dioxide sensor with functionalized resonating beams A carbon dioxide sensor comprising a first beam that includes a functionalized surface and a second beam that includes a functionalized surface such that reduced-drift differential sensing of carbon dioxide may be performed by monitoring changes in the resonant frequency of the first beam relative to the resonant frequency of second beam.
US08544311B2	Pipe end shape correcting apparatus for UOE metal pipe [Problem] There is provided a pipe end shape correcting apparatus capable of improving the roundness without loss of work efficiency and the mechanical damage to a weld bead even in the case where the pipe ends of UOE metal pipes having various outside diameters are worked.[Solution] In a pipe end shape correcting apparatus for a UOE metal pipe for correcting the roundness of a pipe end portion by applying a pressure to the pipe end portion held between an inner surface-side die and an outer surface-side die, the inner surface-side die having an upper surface having a circular arc-shaped cross section and being fixed to an upper part of a base on the inner surface side, and the outer surface-side die having a lower surface having a circular arc-shaped cross section and being fixed to a lower part of a base on the outer surface side, each of the inner surface-side die and the outer surface-side die is split into a plurality of parts, and is fixed so that a space between the split die parts is located in a respective central portion of the split inner surface-side dies and the split outer surface-side dies.
US08544310B2	Method of molding forged product from roughly shaped material A forged product having thick end parts, and a thin part between the thick parts, is formed by extruding a forging stock such that the cross section of the forging stock varies along the direction of extrusion, wherein in any cross section in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extrusion, the forging stock has two thick end parts, a thin part intermediate the end parts and transitional parts with varying thickness between the thin part and each of the thick end parts; cutting the forging stock in the direction perpendicular to the direction of extrusion to form cut portions; and forging each of the cut portions such that the thick end parts of the cut portions form the thick end parts of the forged product and the thin part of the cut portions forms the thin part of the forged product.
US08544309B2	Ostial stent flaring apparatus Apparatus, kits and methods for flaring an end of a stent that can then be placed within the ostium of a vessel are disclosed. Areas in which ostial stents with flared ends could be used may include, e.g., the left main artery, renal arteries, sub-clavian artery, right coronary artery, circumflex artery, et al.
US08544308B2	Roll stand The invention relates to a roll stand comprising at least one roll (1) having a rotation axis (a), said roll being supported in two installed parts (2, 3) disposed in the axial end regions of the roll (1) and each having a center plane (M), wherein the roll (1) can be positioned in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction (F) of the product to be rolled by means of at least one positioning element (4). In order to be able to introduce a bending moment acting counter to the roll bending moment into the roller in a simple manner and without additional elements, according to the invention, each installed part (2, 3) is connected to a bending lever (5, 6) and the positioning element (4) is disposed such that the positioning force thereof is introduced into the bending lever (5, 6) at a location (G) removed from the center plane (M) of the installed part (2, 3), and thereby into the installed part (2, 3).
US08544305B2	Conveying jig, method of manufacturing conveying jig, and method of heat-treating metal rings using conveying jig Provided are a conveying jig, a method of manufacturing the conveying jig, and a method of heat-treating metal rings using the conveying jig. The conveying jig is provided with a base and ten holding shafts raised from the base. Ridges and grooves are alternatively provided in the side wall of each holding shaft. The metal rings are held in position by being engaged in the grooves in the holding shafts. The space enclosed within the holding shafts is communicated with the atmosphere, and this allows, when the metal rings held by the conveying jig are subjected to heat treatment in a heat treatment furnace, an atmospheric gas to circulate in the space enclosed within the holding shafts.
US08544300B2	Sock To provide a functional area partially within the toe area on the sole side of the sock. Providing a needle-lowering area 1a which is knit by needle-lowering knitting and a needle-raising area 2 which is knit by needle-raising knitting at a specified position within the toe area 4 on the sole side of sock S, these being aligned in the course direction, and providing a first functional area 1 in which the needle-lowering area 1a and/or the needle-raising area 2 is knit with a functional yarn which differs from the yarn used in knitting the other areas 11 within the toe area 4 on the sole side. A first functional member 1 can be provided within a specified portion of the toe area 4 on the sole side. If the first functional member 1 is knit with a functional yarn having high frictional resistance, it becomes possible to increase the gripping force only of that specified portion.
US08544297B2	Apparatus and process to enhance the uniform formation of hollow glass microspheres A process and apparatus is provided for enhancing the formation of a uniform population of hollow glass microspheres. A burner head is used which directs incoming glass particles away from the cooler perimeter of the flame cone of the gas burner and distributes the glass particles in a uniform manner throughout the more evenly heated portions of the flame zone. As a result, as the glass particles are softened and expand by a released nucleating gas so as to form a hollow glass microsphere, the resulting hollow glass microspheres have a more uniform size and property distribution as a result of experiencing a more homogenous heat treatment process.
US08544293B2	Vacuum sorption apparatus A vacuum sorption apparatus includes a first volume region (1) in which a sorber (2) which periodically sorbs or desorbs a refrigerant and a condenser (3) are located, and a second volume region (4) located below the first, in which an evaporator (5) is located, wherein a separating body (6) is located above the evaporator (5) to minimize a free surface area of the liquid refrigerant. The separating body (6) is configured to be vertically movable to compensate for different filling level heights of the refrigerant.
US08544291B2	Refrigerator The present invention relates to refrigerators. More specifically, the present invention relates to a refrigerator which has a residue tray for holding residue of water or ice from a dispenser when the dispenser is pushed in the door, thereby permitting to make simple and effective disposing of the residue of water or ice from the dispenser in the door.
US08544288B2	Dehumidification enhancement via blower control The present invention provides a method for enhancing dehumidification of a conditioned space, while optimizing the effectiveness of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) devices that are present in the HVAC system. After the system compressor is shut off, the actual space humidity is compared to the desired humidity. If the actual humidity is very close to or lower than the desired level the indoor blower (air handler) is allowed to continue running. However, if the actual humidity is greater than the desired level by a specified amount, the blower is forced off for a period of time proportional to the difference between the actual and desired humidity. At the next compressor activation, the blower is allowed to run as normal.
US08544284B2	Method and apparatus for waste heat recovery and absorption gases used as working fluid therein A method provides for waste heat power generation or heat recovery and for a driving power with an absorption process using low grade heat sources. An apparatus also provides for such waste heat recovery in absorption process and to the used vapor-salt working fluid. A low temperature heat source is used as a heating working medium to heat in a regenerator by heat exchange the absorption liquid working fluid from the absorber and consisting of a salt absorbent and ammonia or carbon dioxide as an absorbed agent to form the absorbent and the superheated high pressure absorbed agent. The superheated and vaporized absorbed agent enters into a turbine to provide energy and generate power via turbine expansion step. After heat release, the resultant low pressure absorbed agent is discharged from the turbine and returns to the absorption step and contacts with the absorbent from the regeneration step to form the absorption liquid which can enter into the next thermodynamic cycle process.
US08544282B2	Tank flow center for closed loop geothermal system A closed loop geothermal system has a fluid circulation loop that includes in series: a heat pump, a ground loop heat exchanger, a tank flow center and a circulation pump. The tank flow center includes a tank, a first valve, a second valve and a tank bypass line all mounted in a common housing. The tank may include a refill inlet that opens through a top surface of the housing. A cap may be attached to close the refill inlet. The tank flow center has the regular geothermal operation configuration, a system flush configuration, and a refill configuration. The tank flow center may be elevated above the circulation pump a distance to produce a water column that is greater than a minimum cavitation avoidance head pressure for the circulation pump.
US08544281B2	Cooling system and method for superconducting magnets A method for cooling a superconducting magnet enclosed in a cryostat includes introducing a gas into a cooling path in the cryostat from an input portion into a cooling path cooled by a refrigerator outside the cryostat. A heat exchanger inside the cryostat above the magnet cools the gas. The cooled gas flows through a magnet cooling tube contacting the magnet. The cooled gas removes heat from the magnet, and to the heat exchanger to re-cool and return to the superconducting magnet, thereby cooling and/or maintaining the magnet at a superconducting temperature.
US08544280B2	Continuous detonation wave engine with quenching structure A continuous detonation wave engine (CDWE) is disclosed. An example embodiment includes a generally annular combustion chamber dimensioned to allow a fuel mixture to detonate, a mixing chamber, and a fuel mixture channel that provides for fluid communication between the mixing chamber and the combustion chamber. At least part of the fuel mixture channel features a quenching structure dimensioned to substantially prevent detonation from spreading from the combustion chamber via the fuel mixture channel to the mixing chamber. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08544279B2	Method and apparatus for spectroscopic measurements in the combustion zone of a gas turbine engine A method for measuring combustion parameters within a combustion zone of a gas turbine engine, the combustion zone being defined between an inner and outer casing. The method includes transmitting a beam from a transmit optic optically coupled to a bore in the outer casing off a portion of the inner casing and receiving a portion of the beam reflected off the inner casing with a receiving optic optically coupled to a bore in the outer casing. An apparatus for practicing the method includes a laser generating a beam and a transmitting/receiving optics pair, the transmitting/receiving optics pair being configured for operative association with a port in an outer casing of a gas turbine engine, whereby the transmitting/receiving optics are in optical communication by reflecting the beam off a portion of an inner casing.
US08544276B2	Gas turbine combustor having a dual fuel supply system An object is to provide a low cost gas turbine combustor. The gas turbine combustor has a plurality of main nozzles annularly supported on a nozzle pipe base (11), and the main nozzles each have an oil fuel path for supplying oil fuel and a gas fuel path for supplying gas fuel. A plurality of the oil fuel paths are provided to penetrate the nozzle pipe base (11), and a plurality of lengths of upright piping (21) are provided to be connected to the oil fuel paths, respectively, and be erected on the nozzle pipe base (11). A plurality of lengths of connection piping (22) for interconnecting the lengths of the upright piping (21) in a polygonal shape at a minimum distance are provided outside the nozzle pipe base (11). An oil fuel supply section (14) is connected to one of the lengths of the connection piping (22) to distribute oil fuel to each of the oil fuel paths.
US08544275B2	Apparatus and method for storing heat energy Method and apparatus for storing heat in industrial systems where large sources of stored energy are called upon to meet a work load, storing the heat content of a hot working fluid by using the hot working fluid as a heat transfer fluid in vapor form and depositing its heat content on a heat storage medium and then removing the cooled and condensed liquid phase of that heat transfer fluid, and when hot working fluid again is needed, the liquid heat transfer fluid is returned to the heated storage medium and is reheated as it passes through the hot storage medium and then is returned to the working system to be used as a hot working fluid.
US08544272B2	Solar receiver A method for generating steam for a turbine electric power plant uses solar radiation. Solar radiation is directed onto a solar receiver. The solar receiver includes a first section, which receives feedwater input and is arranged to heat the feedwater input to generate steam using the directed solar radiation. Feedwater flows through a feedwater vessel to serve as feedwater input to an inlet of the first section of the receiver. Water is separated from the steam in steam separation vessel, which is in fluid communication with an outlet of the first section of the receiver. The feedwater input may be selectively preheated by a source of preheat other than solar energy in response to system operating conditions, predicted insolation schedule, or an electrical energy tariff schedule.
US08544266B2	Exhaust-gas aftertreatment system upstream of a turbocharger, method for purifying exhaust gas and vehicle having the system An exhaust-gas aftertreatment system for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle includes at least one exhaust line, at least one turbocharger and at least one exhaust-gas converter. The at least one exhaust-gas converter is provided between the internal combustion engine and the at least one turbocharger and has a first volume of at least 0.6 liters. A method for purifying exhaust gas and a vehicle having the system, are also provided.
US08544253B2	Device for inserting and extracting chain link pivot pins A device (10) for the on-site fitting and extraction of pivot pins of large chain links, which include an alternating sequence of external links and internal links, each internal link including two parallel side pieces pierced at their ends, joined together at the ends by a tubular spacer, and articulated at the ends of the side pieces of the internal links on the pierced ends of the parallel side pieces of two consecutive external links via pivot pins, of the type which includes at least one cylinder (44) which is intended to selectively stress a pivot pin or a side piece of an external link in order to insert the pin or extract the pin, characterized in that it includes a pair of portable cylinder supports (46), supporting two pivoting cylinders (44), synchronized in displacement, and a control device (48) common to both cylinders (44).
US08544245B2	Packaging machine for multilayer lid foil A deep-drawing packaging machine (1) includes a forming station (2) for forming containers (14) in a first web-like material (8), an insertion section (15) for inserting products (16) which reach at least one sealing level (28) or project over it, and a sealing station (3) arranged downstream thereof in a working direction (R) which is embodied to seal a second web-like material (10) onto the containers (14). The packaging machine further includes a means (11) for changing a distance (12) of layers (10a, 10b) of the second, at least two-layered web-like material (10). In another embodiment, a packaging machine includes an insertion section (15) and a sealing station (3) arranged downstream thereof in the working direction (R), in which at least one contact (25) is provided for thermal transfer via heat conduction between a sealing plate (22) and a heating plate (23) for heating a lid foil (10).
US08544239B2	Roof panel spacer Devices, methods, and systems are provided herein for spacing an outer skin of a roof from the supporting structure of the roof such that the roof shields against weather elements, admits light, and allows advantageous air circulation. In one embodiment, a wedge-shaped device for spacing panels on a roof includes a bottom surface, a top surface inclined at an angle relative to the bottom surface, and an integral support structure connecting the top surface and the bottom surface, the support structure including a plurality of ribs and a plurality of nail boxes.
US08544236B2	Fascia bracket with quarter turn locking nut A system for coupling a trim component to a body component having two generally perpendicular surfaces. A rotatable fastener is coupled to the trim component. The rotatable fastener has a plurality of force transmitting surfaces.
US08544234B2	Mechanical locking of floor panels with vertical snap folding Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system on long and short edges allowing installation with vertical snap folding that could be accomplished automatically without tools and where the short edge locking system has a tongue made in one piece with the panel.
US08544231B2	Plastic panel having a hook-type profile The invention relates to a floor panel (1) which is designed as a multi-ply laminate and comprises at least one plastic support (30), a décor layer (31) applied to a top face of the plastic support, a transparent covering (32) applied to the décor layer, and a backing layer (33) applied to the lower face of the elastic support, the panel having pairs of opposite lateral edges (3, 4; 5, 6) comprising complementary holding profiles. The holding profiles of at least one of the two lateral edge pairs are designed as form-locking complementary hook-type profiles and comprise a receiving hook (9) which faces the top face (2) of the floor panel, and a locking hook (10) arranged on the opposite lateral edge, which faces the lower face (7) of the floor panel. The locking hook (10) comprises a snap-in element (12, 13, 14) on a distal lateral face (11), said snap-in element being associated with a complementary snap-in element (22, 23, 21) on a proximal lateral face (20) of the hook profile having the receiving hook.
US08544229B2	Decking system with hidden dovetail fastener This present invention relates generally to deck fasteners for securing deck boards together and to a supporting member, and more particularly with a deck fastener which does not protrude from the deck surface.
US08544224B1	Thermally efficient frames for use in construction of structures using insulated concrete forms (ICF) and methods for making and using same A thermally efficient frame for use in a wall structure formed using an insulated concrete form comprising an exterior frame assembly having an exterior flange for locating said exterior frame assembly against an exterior portion of the insulated concrete form, an interior frame assembly having an interior flange for locating the interior frame assembly against an interior portion of the insulated concrete form, wherein the exterior frame assembly and the interior frame assembly cooperated to define an opening in said wall structure, and a thermal break thermally separating the exterior frame assembly from the interior frame assembly and methods for using same.
US08544219B1	Airtight trench drain system A system adapted to remove radon gas and drainage liquid from a subterranean chamber or basement having a floor and an ambient environment. The system has a drainage channel forming a drainage portion and a venting portion. A valve is located between the drainage portion and the venting portion. Drainage liquid flows into the drainage portion and from the drainage portion through the valve into the venting portion. A pressure gradient is between the drainage portion and the venting portion. The valve substantially prevents the ambient environment from entering the venting portion while allowing drainage liquid to flow from the drainage portion into the venting portion.
US08544217B2	Glass building panel and building made therefrom A building panel and a building formed therefrom, where the building includes a plurality of building panels arranged to form a cylindrical shape, where each panel comprises a single, or monolithic, glass piece, where each glass piece is substantially rectangular and includes two opposing long sides extending in a height direction and two opposing short sides extending substantially in a width direction, and where each glass piece forms an identical circular arc when viewed from either of the two opposing short sides.
US08544213B2	Transforming structure with tower shuttle A transportable, transformable structure utilizing a tower shuttle apparatus for converting the structure from a closed, transportable unit to an open, stationary unit. The tower shuttle includes a connection post, including a socket joint, connected to a shuttle cart on casters. The socket joint is capable of receiving a ball connection at the base of a structural tower affixed to the transformable structure. This connection allows a single operator to fully assemble a mobile performance stage or other transportable, transformable structure with ease and with no damage to the stage deck. The tower shuttle allows the towers to be moved into position no matter the required direction.
US08544211B2	Door sash The invention relates to a door sash having a cross-sectional shape including a design portion and a hollow portion formed on an inboard side with respect to the design portion and connected to the design portion, and is intended to provide a door sash which achieves weight reduction. The hollow portion is an extrusion mold of light metal, the design portion is a product having a variable cross-sectional shape in which the shape in the direction of the width of a vehicle is increased in length as it gets close to a waist line of a door, and the hollow portion is integrated with the design portion. The door sash further includes: a glass run holder positioned on an outboard side with respect to the hollow portion and configured to hold a glass run which a window glass comes into abutment with, the glass run holder being adjacent to the design portion, and a bracket which connects the glass run holder and the hollow portion.
US08544210B2	Mounting structure for frame garnish A mounting structure for mounting a frame garnish on a door window frame of a vehicle is disclosed. The door window frame includes a vertical portion extending in a generally vertical direction so as to overlap a center pillar of the vehicle. The door window frame is formed to surround a door window glass of the vehicle. The vertical portion includes a hooking hole formed in an upper part of the vertical portion and an insertion hole formed in a lower part of the vertical portion. The frame garnish includes a main portion, a hooking portion, and an insertion portion. The insertion portion is inserted into the insertion hole in the vertically downward direction, and the hooking portion is inserted into and hooked to the hooking hole.
US08544207B2	Hydroponic plant growth systems with activated carbon and/or carbonized fiber substrates A method and apparatus for growing plants (P) hydroponically includes a plant substrate material (52, 54, 56) comprising activated carbon and/or carbonized fibers with or without additional, non-carbonated, non-activated cellulosic fibers. The activated carbon and/or carbonized fibers with or without the additional, non-carbonated, non-activated cellulosic fibers are usable in bulk or manufactured into slabs (56) or other configurations by any of a variety of non-woven, woven, molding, or other techniques. The activated carbon and/or carbonized fibers are made from cellulosic or synthetic carbon fibers, for example, bamboo fibers.
US08544206B2	Compressed growing medium A growing medium includes a bulking agent and a water-retentive polymer blended together and compressed at a volume-to-volume ratio ranging from about 2:1 to about 10:1, being substantially free of a water-soluble binder material.
US08544204B2	Wacky worm The present invention is directed to an improved, modifiable wacky worm fishing lure.
US08544203B2	Laser aimed small arms ammunition A projectile cartridge device designed with internal sighting and aiming system, which incorporates and leverages electromagnetic radiation as the means for aiming the projectile.
US08544202B2	Shooting rest assembly A shooting rest assembly is engageable with a stand for supporting a weapon in the stand. The shooting rest assembly includes a base having at least one clamp for coupling to the stand. A platform is rotatably coupled to the base and has a platform frame and a telescoping member telescopically coupled to the platform frame. The telescoping member is configured to move along a longitudinal axis relative to the platform frame between a retracted position and an extended position. A front rest and a rear rest are spaced along the longitudinal axis and are mounted to the telescoping member in fixed positions so that each of the front rest and the rear rest move with the telescoping member as the telescoping member moves along the longitudinal axis between the retracted and extended positions relative to the longitudinal axis.
US08544194B2	Length-adjustable snowshoe A length-adjustable snowshoe includes a frame and a carrier fixed to the frame. A connecting member mounted to the frame includes two receiving holes. A pivotal portion is formed on a top side of the connecting member. A compartment extends from the pivotal portion through one of the receiving holes. An extension member includes legs slideably received in the receiving holes and is slideable between first and second positions. A sliding member is mounted on the extension member to move therewith. A positioning member is received in the compartment and pivotable between a stop position and a releasing position. The positioning member in the stop position retains the extension member in any location including and intermediate the first and second positions. The extension member can slide between the first and second positions when the positioning member is in the releasing position.
US08544189B2	Modular footwear system A modular sole assembly system for footwear and components thereof.
US08544183B2	Thermal shielding to optimize lyophilization process for pre-filled syringes or vials A device for supporting at least one vessel containing a target material to be lyophilized generally includes a support panel, a central region, a perimeter region, a thermal shield, and at least one shielding cavity. The support panel has a support surface. The central region is defined by the support panel for supporting the at least one vessel. The perimeter region is also defined by the support panel and surrounding the central region. The thermal shield is positioned about the perimeter region and extends transverse to the support surface of the support panel such that the thermal shield and the support panel define a storage space for accommodating the at least one vessel. The at least one shielding cavity is defined by the thermal shield and contains a shielding material during a lyophilization process. The shielding material is distinct from the target material.
US08544182B2	Assembly for leveling new concrete and sub-grade The assembly for leveling new concrete includes a driver that has a guide that is placed in a mounting structure so that the driver may be used to drive the mounting structure into the ground. The driver has both a removable rebar marker and conduit marker so that depending on whether an individual wants to use a screed pipe conduit or rebar as a support structure in their concrete the support structures are properly aligned.
US08544179B2	Inspection method of gauge for a self-locking threading of a tubular connection used in the oil industry A method and a gauge for inspecting a self-locking threading provided close to one end of a tubular component used for exploration or operation of hydrocarbon wells, the threading including a lead with a constant width and thread root widths that increase in the direction of a distal surface of the tubular component. The gauge can be displaced in the self-locking threading to a locking position, the locking position then being marked and compared with a reference locking position.
US08544172B2	Clamping apparatus for a crimping machine and method for producing a crimped connection with a crimping machine and the clamping apparatus according to the invention A clamping apparatus, for a crimping machine (1), which comprises a crimping tool head (2) with an end wall (9), in a cable feed direction, a crimping tool base body (3) with an anvil (4) and a front knife (21), an insulation stripping apparatus (5); a contact element feed apparatus (6); and a coupling part (7) for coupling the crimping machine (1) to the crimping tool head (2). The clamping apparatus (10) clamping the electric cable (8) to be processed both during the insulation stripping and crimping processes. The clamping apparatus (10) is connected to the crimping tool head (2) via its end wall (9) and is movable vertically with the crimping tool head (2). At least one of the clamping apparatus (10) and the crimping tool head (2) is arranged centrally in a longitudinal direction of the cable path (8′) above the anvil (4) and the front knife (21).
US08544171B2	Method of terminating a fiber optic cable A method for terminating a fiber optic cable includes removing an end portion of an outer jacket of a fiber optic cable to expose a strength member and at least one optical fiber. A binder material of the strength member of the fiber optic cable is heated using a heat source to expose strength elements of the strength member. The strength elements are secured to a fiber optic connector assembly using an adhesive.
US08544169B2	Method of manufacturing a through-hole electrode substrate A method of manufacturing a through-hole electrode substrate includes forming a plurality of through-holes in a substrate, forming a plurality of through-hole electrodes by filling a conductive material into the plurality of through-holes, forming a first insulation layer on one surface of the substrate, forming a plurality of first openings which expose the plurality of through-hole electrodes corresponding to each of the plurality of through-hole electrodes, on the first insulation layer and correcting a position of the plurality of first openings using the relationship between a misalignment amount of a measured distance value of an open position of a leaning through-hole among the plurality of through-holes and of a design distance value of the open position of the leaning through-hole among the plurality of through-holes with respect to a center position of the substrate.
US08544162B2	Tissue marker for multimodality radiographic imaging An implantable tissue marker incorporates a contrast agent sealed within a chamber in a container formed from a solid material. The contrast agent is selected to produce a change, such as an increase, in signal intensity under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An additional contrast agent may also be sealed within the chamber to provide visibility under another imaging modality, such as computed tomographic (CT) imaging or ultrasound imaging.
US08544160B2	Stent crimping system and method A stent crimping assembly is provided for crimping a stent from a first diameter to a reduced second diameter. The crimping assembly includes a plurality of movable wedges disposed about a rotational axis to form a wedge assembly. Each wedge includes a respective first side and a second side converging to form a tip portion. The tip portions are arranged to collectively form an iris about the rotational axis thereof. The iris defines a crimp aperture about which the movable wedges are disposed. A control unit is electronically programmed to control the mechanical components. A method of calibrating the control unit includes inserting a quill of known diameter into the iris and reducing the diameter of the iris onto the quill.
US08544154B2	Clamp assembly A clamp assembly selectively grips material. The clamp assembly is connectable to an object, and includes a housing and a gripping assembly. The housing has a first end, a second end, a first portion and a second portion. The first and second portions cooperate to define a material receiving slot. The first portion of the housing has an angular disposed channel and an angular disposed recessed portion. The second portion of the housing has a gripping surface. The gripping assembly is slidably disposed within the channel such that the recessed portion cooperates with the channel to define a travel path so that the gripping assembly can be selectively movable between a biased first position and a second position. In the biased first position, the gripping assembly extends into the material receiving slot. In the second position the gripping assembly is withdrawn from the material receiving slot.
US08544153B2	Lockable snap-clip fastener A lockable snap-clip fastener with two spring-biased jaw members and a slidable locking bar. The locking bar is held in position by the same spring that biases the jaws. As the bar is held in either the locked or unlocked position, it must be positively actuated in order to transition from one configuration to the other.
US08544149B1	Gate stabilizer A gate stabilizer for reducing sag-inducing stress on a gate comprising a support member and a stabilizer assembly, said stabilizer assembly including a rotating member having a first end portion adapted to engage said support member and a fixed member. The present invention further relates to a fence system incorporating said gate stabilizer.
US08544144B2	Vacuum cleaner and dust separation apparatus thereof Provided is a dust separation apparatus of a vacuum cleaner. The apparatus includes a dust-collecting body defining a dust-storing part, a compressing member configured to compress dust stored in the dust-collecting body, and a lower cover on a lower side of the dust-collecting body, the lower cover opening and closing the dust-storing part.
US08544136B2	Automobile windshield wiper blade An automobile windshield wiper blade has an elongated belt-shaped, flexible resilient support element, on the lower belt surface which faces the windshield and has an elastic rubber wiper strip extending along the windshield parallel to the longitudinal axis. A wind deflection strip on the upper belt surface has an incident surface facing the direction of driving wind. The deflection strip extends longitudinally, and has two sides that diverge from a common base point as seen in cross section, such that the incident surface is located at one exterior side and the wind deflection strip has a constant cross section along its entire length. The support element has outer edges, and the sides of the wind deflection strip have respective free ends that have respective claw-like extensions that grip the outer edges of the support element, wherein the wind deflection strip can be snapped or slid longitudinally onto the outer edges.
US08544133B2	Mopping device with a multi-turn actuator A mopping device includes a mopping head having at least one of a mopping cloth, a mopping cover, a mopping bundle, and a mopping pad. The mopping device further includes a handle and a multi-turn actuator.
US08544130B2	Curved transition plates for pivotal dock leveler decks Example dock levelers at a truck-loading platform include a stationary curved transition plate extending between a rear edge of the leveler's pivotal deck and a rear edge of a pit at which the leveler is installed. The transition plate has a curved portion that extends underneath the deck's rear edge. The plate provides a smooth transition for forklifts traveling between the platform and the deck, thus reducing and/or minimizing the jarring of the forklift and its driver. To prevent debris and obstructions from getting trapped within the deck's rear hinge, the rear edge of the deck rises up and over the transition plate as the deck pivots upward, thereby providing a self-cleaning effect. With the rear edge of an inclined deck being above the transition plate, water runoff from the deck drains onto the transition plate rather than through the hinge gap to a generally inaccessible area underneath the deck.
US08544126B2	Patient support with improved control A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a patient support surface supported in the frame, and a plurality of functional components associated with the patient support surface or the frame. The apparatus further includes a control system, with a controller, incorporated into the patient support surface or the frame and in operative communication with at least one of the functional components for controlling the component. The control system further includes a touch-screen in communication with the controller for controlling the functional component, which is positioned in the barrier around the patient support surface, and accessible at the exterior or interior surface of the barrier for access by a user. The touch-screen is configured to allow the user to select one or more of the functional components and control a parameter associated with the selected functional component. In addition, an icon is generated at the touch-screen representative of the parameter associated with the selected functional component, and with icon changing in response to the user adjusting the parameter associated with the selected functional component wherein the change in the icon gives the user feedback on the degree of change made by the user to the parameter associated with the selected functional component.
US08544124B2	Turning apparatus for multipurpose space utilization furniture The present invention relates to multipurpose furniture which combines a bed and a desk, and is positioned between furniture facing each other. Since a turning apparatus for the multipurpose furniture is simplified, there is a reduction in all kinds of work processes and the work load required for turning of a turning member, of which a table surface and a mattress respectively used as a desk and a bed are formed on top and bottom, and manufacturing cost is decreased. In addition, when the multipurpose furniture is used as a bed, stability during sleep is increased and sleeping in comfort is doubled through minimization of the height from the surface.
US08544122B2	Plunger device An improved toilet plunger for unclogging drains, such as those typically associated with a toilet, preferably comprised of a stem, a bell with a generally oblong opening, and a plurality of baffles attached to said bell. The unique shape of the bell and bell opening, combined with the presence and function of the baffles, make the improved plunger device particularly effective for unclogging modern trough-like toilet drains.
US08544120B1	Device for thermal signature reduction A device for reducing a thermal signature of a person includes: a hood sized and configured to cover a head of a person, having an inner substantially waterproof layer, an outer water wicking layer, and at least one tube having a plurality of openings therethrough attached to the inner layer; and a pump in fluid communication with the tubes to urge water into the tubes and cause the tubes to dispense water to the outer water wicking layer via the openings.
US08544118B2	Sport helmet A helmet padding consists of sets of tubes. An armature and tubes are connected and mounted within the shell. A fastener fastens a cage to the shell allowing sides of the cage to be mounted directly against the shell. The shell is molded with recessed portions receiving two branches of the chin bar on each side where they will be fastened to the shell to provide a smooth transition and reduce weight. An adjustment device includes a star wheel on each side of the helmet attached to an arcuate flexible strip extending rearwardly around the occipital area of the skull. A sliding mechanism attached to the strip allows the strip to be moved forward and backward to allow it to be tightened or loosened, respectively, with respect to the player's head. A ratcheting lateral adjustment device is also disclosed.
US08544113B1	Outfit for simulating pregnancy In one aspect the pregnancy simulation outfit comprises (i) a vest, (ii) a pair of protuberances configured and arranged on an upper portion of a frontal area of the vest for depicting the enlarged breasts of a pregnant woman when the vest is worn, (iii) a weighted element, and (iv) a pouch in a lower portion of the frontal area of the vest accessible from the outside surface of the vest for accommodating insertion and removal of the weighted element into and out from the pouch while the vest is worn without doffing the vest. In a second aspect, the pregnancy simulation outfit comprises (a) a vest configured and arranged to bestow a frontal profile depicting a pregnant woman upon a wearer, (b) a pair of firm objects, and (c) a laterally elongated constriction belt configured and arranged to be worn around the midsection and having a pair of laterally spaced pockets configured and arranged for accommodating one of the firm objects into each of the pockets and pressing the firm object retained within each pocket against the diaphragm when the constriction belt is worn.
US08549660B2	Cantilever-based optical fiber probe interfacial force microscope for partial immersion in liquid An apparatus may comprise an optical detector configured to detect an optical beam reflected from a cantilever. The apparatus may further comprise an optical fiber probe suspended from the cantilever and a piezotube configured to move a sample substance in proximity to the optical fiber probe. The cantilever may be configured to deflect in response to an interfacial force between the sample substance and the optical fiber probe. The apparatus may further comprise a feedback controller communicatively coupled to the optical detector and a semiconductive circuit element abutting the cantilever. In response to detecting movement of the optical beam reflected from the cantilever, the feedback controller may apply a voltage to the semiconductive circuit element, which may reduce deflection of the cantilever. The voltage applied by the feedback controller may indicate a strength of the interfacial force between the sample substance and the optical fiber probe.
US08549657B2	Owner privacy in a shared mobile device Systems and methods that regulate range of access to personal information of a mobile unit's owner. The access control component can designate granularity for access levels and/or a spectrum of access modes—(as opposed to a binary choice of full access or no access at all). Such access can be based on a spectrum and/or discrete trust relationship between the owner and user of the mobile unit. A profile definition component can exploit an owner's trust relationships to designate levels of security. The profile definition component can further define a profile based on a set of applications, such as entertainment mode, browser mode, and the like.
US08549655B2	Unit and method for secure processing of access controlled audio/video data Unit for secure processing access controlled audio/video data capable of receiving control messages (ECM) comprising at least one first control word (CW1) and first right execution parameters (C1), at least one second control word (CW2) and second right execution parameters (C2), said processing unit being connected to a first access control device (CA1), said processing unit is characterized in that it comprises: —means for verifying and applying the first right execution parameters (C1) in relation to the contents of a memory (M1) of said first access control device (CA1) and means for obtaining the first control word CW1, —a second access control device (CA2) integrated into the processing unit UT including means for verifying and applying the second right execution parameters (C2) in relation to the contents of a memory (M2) associated to said second access control device (CA2) and means for obtaining the second control word (CW2), —a deciphering module (MD) capable of deciphering, sequentially with the first and the second control word (CW1) and (CW2), the access controlled audio/video data, said control words (CW1) and (CW2) being provided by the first and second access control devices (CA1, CA2) and stored in said deciphering module (MD). A method for secure processing digital access controlled audio/video data carried out by said unit is also an object of the present invention.
US08549654B2	System and method for policy based control of NAS storage devices A system and method for providing policy-based data management and control on a NAS device deployed on a network and having event enabling framework software. When a user makes a request to store, read, or manipulate data on the NAS device, the NAS device provides an indication of this request to a management tool running on a remote system through the event enabling framework software. The management tool reviews the request in light of its previously established policy-based data storage management configuration and subsequently informs the NAS device, via the event enabling framework software, to either accept or not accept the user's request to store, read or modify data on the NAS device.
US08549652B1	Document origin designator A document rights management system (DRM) defines an unrenderable origin designator in a media item that does not display or alter the physically rendered version of an instantiation of the media item. The unrenderable designator does not appear as an obscured or occluded feature in a printed or displayed versions. The rendered version is unaffected by the unrenderable designator because it does not result in any displayable features. The unrenderable designator is stored in a display list of the media item and appears as an attribute of objects such that the function to cause the display object to be undisplayable, or unrenderable, are not immediately apparent. The DRM system encodes a designator in an attribute of a display object for rendering according to a media rendering format such as PDF, such that the designator causes the display object to be unrenderable and indicates the origin of the media item.
US08549645B2	System and method for detection of denial of service attacks Systems and methods for detecting a denial of service attack are disclosed. These may include receiving a plurality of web log traces from one of a plurality of web servers; extracting a first set of features from the plurality of web log traces; applying a first machine learning technique to the first set of features; producing a first plurality of user classifications for communication to the web server; extracting a second set of features from the plurality of web log traces; applying a second machine learning technique to the second set of features; producing a second plurality of user classification for communication to the web server; communicating the first plurality of user classifications to the web server based at least on the plurality of web log traces; and communicating the second plurality of user classifications to the web server based at least on the plurality of web log traces.
US08549644B2	Systems and method for regulating software access to security-sensitive processor resources A method for protecting an electronic device against malware includes consulting one or more security rules to determine a processor resource to protect, in a module below the level of all operating systems of the electronic device, intercepting an attempted access of the processor resource, accessing a processor resource control structure to determine a criteria by which the attempted access will be trapped, trapping the attempted access if the criteria is met, and consulting the one or more security rules to determine whether the attempted access is indicative of malware. The attempted access originates from the operational level of one of one or more operating systems of the electronic device.
US08549642B2	Method and system for using spam e-mail honeypots to identify potential malware containing e-mails A method and apparatus for employing honeypot systems to identify potential malware containing messages whereby a decoy system to receive illegitimate e-mails is established. E-mails sent to the spam e-mail honeypot decoy are initially scanned/filtered and e-mails that are not considered possible malware containing e-mails are filtered out while the remaining e-mails sent to the spam e-mail honeypot decoy are identified as potential malware containing e-mails. One or more features, and/or feature values, of the identified e-mails are then identified, extracted and ranked. Once a given feature, and/or feature value, occurs more than a burst threshold number of times, the status of the given feature, and/or feature value, is transformed to that of suspicious e-mail parameter.
US08549641B2	Pattern-based application classification Embodiments of present disclosure provide a method and system for remotely auditing a security posture of a client machine at a centralized server. The system receives an integrity-protected report from the client machine, or other devices related to the client machine, the report comprising entries associated with security events or security states or both related to the client machine. The report entries comprise characteristics of the security events or security states to facilitate identification of a probable security attack at the client machine. The system also detects a pattern among one or more reports. Finally, the system classifies the security posture of the client machine based on the detected pattern, which could indicate a probable security attack at the client machine.
US08549638B2	System and method of containing computer worms A computer worm containment system comprises a detection system and a blocking system. The detection system orchestrates a sequence of network activities in a decoy computer network and monitors that network to identify anomalous behavior and determine whether the anomalous behavior is caused by a computer worm. The detection system can then determine an identifier of the computer worm based on the anomalous behavior. The detection system can also generate a recovery script for disabling the computer worm or repairing damage caused by the computer worm. The blocking system is configured to use the computer worm identifier to protect another computer network. The blocking system can also use the recovery script to disable a computer worm within the other network and to repair damage caused to the network by the worm.
US08549634B2	Method and apparatus for detecting a rogue access point in a communication network A method and apparatus for detecting a rogue access point in a communication network is described herein. The method includes a probing unit sending a pre-detection message to an associated access point in the communication network. The pre-detection message indicates a start of rogue access point detection mode and informs the associated access point not to respond to probe requests following the pre-detection message. The method further includes the probing unit broadcasting probe requests in the communication network. The probing unit detect that one or more of the plurality of access points is the rogue access point based on receiving a probe response in reply to the broadcasted probe request from the rogue access point. A method for detecting a rogue access point includes broadcasting a probe request with a proprietary information bit and detecting the rogue access point based on receiving a probe response for the broadcasted probe request.
US08549632B2	Method for supporting attack detection in a distributed system A method for supporting attack detection in a distributed system, wherein a message being sent within the distributed system from a source entity to one or more target entities is transmitted via one or more intermediate entities, and wherein at least one of the one or more intermediate entities—tagging entity—appends an attack information tag to the message indicating whether the message constitutes or is part of an attack, is characterized in that a reputation system is provided, the reputation system being configured to receive the attack information tag generated by the tagging entity, and to generate a rating of the attack information tag.
US08549631B2	Internet site security system and method thereto The present invention discloses an internet site security system and method thereof. That is, the present invention comprises a browser execution module which executes the browser for providing a work-performing environment on the internet site according to the selection of a user; a memory protection module which, according to the execution of the browser, prevents an external module from accessing a memory area allocated to the browser and detects whether the memory area is tampered or not and whether the executing code is tampered or not; and a browser protection module which prevents another process or module from debugging the browser execution module according to the execution of the browser, and distinguishing several modules loaded to the memory area into acceptable modules and unacceptable modules, and thereby is able to provide a secure electronic transaction based environment against a malicious attack.
US08549625B2	Classification of unwanted or malicious software through the identification of encrypted data communication A method for identifying malware or unauthorized software communications implemented within a computer infrastructure, the method including detecting an encrypted communication and determining identification data for the encrypted communication. Additionally, the method includes comparing the detected encrypted communication to at least one of a list of applications authorized for encrypted communications using the identification data and a list of authorized destinations of encrypted communications using the identification data. Furthermore, the method includes identifying the detected encrypted communication as an unauthorized encrypted communication in response to a determination that at least one of the detected encrypted communication is from an unauthorized application, which is not on the list of applications authorized for encrypted communications, based on the comparing and the detected encrypted communication is to an unauthorized destination, which is not on the list of authorized destinations.
US08549619B2	Removable hard disk with embedded security card A system and method is disclosed for authenticating a removable data storage device (RDSD) by implementing a removable trusted information module (TIM) comprising a non-volatile storage medium operable to securely store passwords, digital keys, digital certificates and other security credentials (“security credentials”). An RDSD enclosure comprising a disk storage drive, one or more interfaces, one or more connectors, and a TIM is implemented to be connected, disconnected and reconnected to a plurality of predetermined information handling systems. The RDSD is authenticated by the TIM initiating comparison and cryptographic operations between its contents and the contents of authentication files comprising the RDSD. Once the RDSD has been authenticated, the TIM performs similar operations to authorize access and usage of its contents by the information handling system. Other cryptographic operations are performed to determine whether the integrity of data files has been compromised. Removal of the TIM prevents an information handling system from accessing the contents of the RDSD.
US08549618B2	Client computer, remote control system, and remote control method A client computer that is connectable to a host computer by a network, includes a communication part to communicate with the host computer; a user input part; a system part to perform a function depending on an application; and a controller to control the system part to be put into a locking state to stop performing operations input by a user from the user input part if a locking signal is received from the host computer through the communication part, and to control the communication part to unlock the locking state if an unlocking signal is received from the host computer through the communication part.
US08549616B2	Methods and apparatus to dynamically control access from virtual private networks to network-based shared resources Methods and apparatus to dynamically control access from VPNs to shared resources are disclosed. A disclosed example route reflector comprises a memory to implement a database, a user interface module to receive a request to permit access for a VPN to a shared resource, a BGP engine to process BGP advertisements, a network interface to receive a first BGP advertisement from a PE router associated with the VPN that includes a first RT associated with the VPN, and a shared resource access controller to update the database based on the request, to query the database to determine whether the VPN has access to the shared resource in response to the first BGP advertisement, and to direct the BGP engine to form a second BGP advertisement based on the first BGP advertisement that includes a second RT associated with the shared resource when the VPN has access to the shared resource.
US08549613B2	Reverse VPN over SSH A system and method for enabling access to a computer server operating within a private network, in which the computer server is isolated by access restrictions that prevent incoming connections from a public network. In one embodiment, the method includes identifying a remote client operating in a public network outside the private network, initiating a secure communication channel with the remote client, and instructing the remote client to initiate a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session with the computer server via the secure communication channel.
US08549612B2	System and method for incorporating quality-of-service and reputation in an intrusion detection and prevention system An intrusion prevention system includes a processor, processing engines, buffers that are associated with a different range of reputation scores, and a storage device having a database and an application. The processor executes the application to determine that a firewall has admitted a packet, determine a reputation score for the packet from the database, provide the packet to a buffer that has a reputation score range that includes the reputation score of the packet, provide the packet from the buffer to a processing engine, process the packet by in the processing engine to determine if the packet includes an exploit, and forward the packet to the protected network if the first packet does not include the exploit.
US08549608B2	Implement method and device of terminal call firewall An implement method and device of a terminal call firewall is disclosed. According to the method, a call number is added into a blacklist list when it is determined that the call number is not in the blacklist list stored and an address list and it is determined that a call duration is less than a set call duration threshold. A device is disclosed for automatically blocking incoming calls to the terminal according to the method.
US08549607B2	System and method for initializing and maintaining a series of virtual local area networks contained in a clustered computer system A system and method for sharing network resources; the system comprising at least one network switch, at least one computing device comprising at least one network connection and at least one storage device containing software capable of initializing and maintaining: (i) a management local area network (MLAN) comprising a virtual or physical firewall; and (ii) a plurality of client virtual local area networks (VLANs), wherein each client VLAN comprises a virtual firewall and a plurality of network resources.
US08549605B2	System and method for automatically establishing new session with interactive service after previous session expiration A system includes a video display and a processor controlling the display. The processor accesses computer readable instructions to cause the processor to access a server associated with the service over a network responsive to viewer selection of a service. The processor then, without any viewer interaction, executes authentication with the server. Thereafter, responsive to successful authentication, the processor provides the service to a viewer at least in part by presenting an image associated with the service on the display. Responsive to the server indicating that a session for which the authentication is valid is expired, the processor automatically and without viewer input executes authentication with the server to establish a new session.
US08549601B2	Method for secure user and site authentication User authentication is achieved by creating a window on the user's PC that is in communication with a security server, where this communication channel is separate from the communication channel between the user's browser and whichever web site they are at. A legitimate web site embeds code in the web page which communicates to the security server from the user's desktop. The security server signals both the web page on the user's browser and the window to which it has a separate channel. If user authentication is requested by the web site, the security server computes a one time password based on a secret which it shares with the web site, but not with the user, and which is not associated with any particular user, and the web site can re-compute the one time password to authenticate the user.
US08549600B2	Systems, methods and analyzers for establishing a secure wireless network in point of care testing A system and method for initiating and maintaining a secure wireless communication between a wireless analyzer and a target network (e.g., a hospital network connected to a LIS and/or HIS). The present disclosure provides novel processes and systems for securely networking a wireless analyzer with a Wi-Fi network without the need for an operator or user to engage in manual initiation steps on, or through, the wireless analyzer.
US08549598B2	Multifunction apparatus, authentication server, and multifunction apparatus control system A multifunction apparatus 21 of the present invention communicates with an information processing apparatus 51 via a communication network 50. The multifunction apparatus 21 includes an apparatus control section 7, a second web server section 8, and a web browser section 5 which communicates with a first web server section 53 or the second web server section 8. The apparatus control section 7 transmits login information entered by a user to an authentication server 91. The web browser section 5 (i) accepts, from the first web server section 53, control information for informing the second web server section 8 of a control instruction to obtain user related information from the authentication server 91 and (ii) carries out an informing process in which the second web server section 8 is informed of the control instruction. The apparatus control section 7 obtains the user related information from the authentication server 91 in accordance with the control instruction received by the second web server section 8. The web browser section 5 transmits the user related information obtained by the apparatus control section 7 to the first web server section 53.
US08549597B1	Temporary virtual identities in a social networking system Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating temporary virtual identities in a social networking system. An identity associated with a user is authenticated. A time period, location or other parameter associated with the user is authenticated. The temporary virtual identity is registered in the social networking system. Content generated by the user is published in the social networking system under the temporary virtual identity.
US08549595B1	Counting distinct occurrences of a fact using moving statistics window An improved adaptive authentication technique involves defining a window array which stores the number of distinct fact values per time unit over a predetermined number of time units. Each element of the window array has a value set to the number of distinct fact values over a time unit. The window array is stored in a database. Under the improved technique, upon a user initiating an authorization request, the risk engine extracts the request and the window array from the database into a cache on the authorization server. The risk engine uses the request which contains a value of the fact to adjust values of the elements of the window array and, once the adjusting is completed, computing the fact velocity which is used in the determination of a risk score for the request.
US08549593B2	Network access control system and method A network access control system includes an information device that has access to a relay device which relays communication in a communication network, by the use of access information, and performs communication via the relay device, and a management unit that finds information devices, wherein when the found information device has no access to the relay device and is a second information device which is allowed to have access to the relay device by a first information device, the management unit transmits the access information to the second information device without a request for authentication.
US08549592B2	Establishing virtual endorsement credentials for dynamically generated endorsement keys in a trusted computing platform A method and apparatus are disclosed in a data processing system for establishing virtual endorsement credentials. The data processing system includes a hardware trusted platform module (TPM). Logical partitions are generated in the system. A different virtual TPM is generated for each one of the logical partitions. For each one of the logical partitions, the virtual TPM that was generated for the logical partition then dynamically generates a virtual endorsement key, which is stored only within a corresponding virtual TPM. Using the virtual endorsement key, each virtual TPM also generates a virtual endorsement credential for use by the logical partition that includes the virtual TPM. The virtual endorsement credential is generated within the data processing system without the data processing system or its devices accessing a trusted third party that is external to the data processing system.
US08549591B2	System, device, and method of accessing electronic mail using multiple passwords Device, system, and method of accessing electronic mail. For example, a computerized method includes: receiving an identifier of an email account, and a password; if the password matches a first reference password previously stored in association with said email account, then authorizing a substantially full access to said email account; if the password matches a second reference password previously stored in association with said email account, then authorizing a restricted access to said email account.
US08549588B2	Systems and methods for obtaining network access Exemplary systems and methods for providing a network credential in order to access a communication network are provided. In exemplary embodiments, a digital device attempting to access the communication network receives an authentication request from the network device. An authentication record based on the authentication request is retrieved from a credential server. The network credential is then provided within the authentication record and transmitted as an authentication response to the network device. Upon authentication by the network device, the digital device is provided access to the communication network.
US08549585B2	Method and apparatus to implement secured, layered logout from a computer system A secure, layered logout of a user session is implemented in a web-based management tool, such as a middleware appliance. A logout strategy is provided to include a set of security levels of varying sensitivity, with each security level having a set of permissions associated therewith and that are enforced upon a timeout. Preferably, each succeeding security level in the set of security levels is reached as time increases from an idle time associated with the user session. Upon expiration of a timeout associated with a security level, the set of permissions associated with the security level are then enforced against at least one managed object while the user session continues. As each next security level is reached, the set of permissions associated with the security level are then enforced (with respect to the managed object or against one or more other managed objects), once again while the user session continues. Each of the objects preferably is managed independently of at least one other object; thus, the layered logout may enforce different permissions with respect to different managed objects while at the time maintaining the user session. If the user takes no action, eventually a timeout associated with a final security level of the set of security levels will occur, at which point the user session is finally terminated.
US08549583B2	Apparatus, systems and methods for media content delivery A media content delivery system and method is operable to communicate an authorized single media content stream generated by a local programming provider (LPP) in a domestic market area (DMA) to a client facility, wherein the authorized single media content stream is multiplexed into a multi-media content stream with a plurality of other single media content streams generated by a plurality of other LPPS in the DMA. An exemplary embodiment identifies an authorized single media content stream of interest to a client; accesses the multi-media content stream communicated from a communication network at the client facility, unbundles the authorized single media content stream from the received multi-media content stream, and communicates the authorized single media content stream to a program content generation system operated by the client.
US08549582B1	Methods for handling a multi-protocol content name and systems thereof A method, computer readable medium, and system that handles a multi-protocol name in a virtualization environment includes determining and predicting with a virtualization management computing device when a name collision occurs between content names of different content accessible by two or more protocols. The virtualization management computing device restricts access to the different content in one or more network attached storage devices when the name collision is determined to occur to one or more of the protocols which can distinguish the different content. It preserves access to the different content in certain cases where the collision can be predicted.
US08549581B1	Distributed network security system deploying guard tables Guard tables including absence information are used in a security system to limit the processing of negative queries. A key corresponding to a request to access a network resource is hashed and the output of the hash is a bit position in a guard table. The bit value at the bit position in the guard table is checked to determine if the information to which the key corresponds is absent from a datastore. Further processing of the request can be based on the indicated presence or absence information.
US08549576B2	Dynamic application insertion for MPEG stream switching Disclosed herein are methods and systems for dynamically creating and inserting an application into an MPEG program transport stream. The application may be subsequently run on a customer premises equipment (CPE) device to effect switching between content streams for presentation to viewers based on other available data, such as targeting information.
US08549573B2	Media quality monitoring A content processing device is configured to receive a media stream via a network. The media stream may be analyzed to detect whether an anomaly is present in the media stream indicative of a potential quality defect in playback of the media stream. Data relating to a detected anomaly may be provided to a destination via the network.
US08549567B2	Media content sharing over a home network A master device interactively distributes a television signal to a remote device for remote display with low latency between a user input and a television signal change.
US08549560B2	Viewing and purchasing programming in other formats A method according to the present disclosure comprises displaying a program in a first format on a first television channel to a user and automatically displaying a message to the user indicating that the program is available in a second format on a second television channel. The message may be displayed on the first television channel while the program in the first format is being displayed. Additionally, the automatic displaying of the message may be unprompted by the user. In certain embodiments, the user may be provided the option to purchase the program in the second format if the second format is not within the user's subscription.
US08549559B2	Information processing apparatus and information processing method, and program A playlist generating section generates a playlist by grouping a plurality of pieces of program information based on meta information stored in a database. Also, the playlist generating section generates the playlist by further including, in the playlist, current status information indicating a reproduction status of the playlist and changed status information indicating an update status of the plurality of pieces of the program information corresponding to the playlist. A display unit displays an image based on the playlist such that information representing the current status and the changed status is further included in the image based on the playlist for allowing selection of the playlist. As a result, it is possible to select a program desired by a user by a simple operation.
US08549553B2	Customizing DVR functionality Techniques described herein enable parents to establish a child-protective “kids zone” on a DVR. According to one technique, a DVR receives, from a parent, identities of content items that the parent does not want children to view. The DVR maps the identities to a kids zone. During times that the DVR is set to operate in the kids zone operational mode, the DVR prevents itself from presenting any content items that are associated with the identities. However, during these times, the DVR still may obtain and store these content items. At other times, during which the DVR is not set to operate in the kids zone operational mode, the DVR may allow itself to present the content items that are associated with the identities, including content items that the DVR obtained and stored during times that the DVR was set to operate in the kids zone operational mode.
US08549546B2	Method and system for containment of usage of language interfaces Client software is modified by a translator to use unique variant of linguistic interface of a service. An interceptor pre-processes subsequent client service requests from translated unique linguistic interface to standard linguistic interface implemented by service. Usage of linguistic interfaces of service is contained, rendering service incapable of executing arbitrary input, even if such input is crafted specifically for the service interface.
US08549545B2	Abstraction of computer disk image cloning capabilities from bootable media A computer system and computer program product for implementing a method for configuring an improved computing system containing a first computing device. The method includes: creating a logical layer and a physical layer within the first computing device; installing a software operating system (OS) in the logical layer of the first computing device; configuring a first basic input/output system (BIOS) based on installation in the physical layer of the first computing device; relocating all first hardware device drivers for the first hardware devices from an OS image in the logical layer to a first Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) in the physical layer of the first computing device; installing the first BIOS in the physical layer of the first computing device; and loading the first hardware device drivers from the first EEPROM into the first BIOS during a boot phase for the first computing device.
US08549544B1	System, method and computer program product for preventing the execution of unwanted code A system, method and computer program product are provided for preventing the execution of unwanted code. In use, it is determined whether an object is associated with a class having diamond inheritance. If it is determined that the object is associated with a class having diamond inheritance, an exploit of the object is prevented.
US08549543B2	Virtualize, checkpoint, and restart POSIX IPC objects during checkpointing and restarting of a software partition A WPAR is migrated. Responsive to starting a checkpoint process, data and control information is collected and stored for IPC objects in the WPAR. Responsive to receiving a request to restart the WPAR, a type of IPC object is determined. Responsive to a determination that the IPC object is not an IPC shared memory object, a kernel handle that a process wants to be used for a new IPC object is registered. A request to create a new IPC object comprising a name uniquely associated with the IPC object and a WPAR identifier is issued. An entry that matches the name and WPAR identifier is identified and a virtual kernel handle is retrieved. The new IPC object is created. The virtual kernel handle is mapped to a real kernel handle and returned to the process. Data and control information is retrieved and overlaid onto the new IPC object.
US08549539B2	Programmatic modification of a message flow during runtime A message flow within a message broker can be identified. The message flow can include nodes and connections. The nodes can include a reflective node, a pre-defined node and a user-defined node. The message broker can be an intermediary computer program code able to translate a message from a first formal messaging protocol to a second formal messaging protocol. The code can be stored within a computer readable medium. The reflective node within the message flow can be selected. The reflective node can be associated with an external resource which can be an executable code. The external resource can be executed which can result in the modifying of the structure of the message flow. The modification can occur during runtime. The modification can include node and/or connection adding, altering, and deleting.
US08549534B2	Managing assignment of partition services to virtual input/output adapters Automated management of partition service assignment to a virtual input/output (VIO) adapter is provided. Responsive to creation of a new partition service in a data processing system, a partition priority number is determined for the new partition service, and, for each VIO adapter, the partition priority numbers of the partition services currently assigned to that VIO adapter are summed. For a VIO adapter with a lowest sum of partition priority numbers, logic determines whether assigning the new partition service to that VIO adapter results in its summed partition priority number being above a predefined threshold, and the new partition service is assigned to a VIO adapter based, at least in part, on whether assigning the new partition service to the VIO adapter with the lowest sum of partition priority numbers results in that VIO adapter's summed partition priority number exceeding the predefined threshold.
US08549533B2	Ranking service units to provide and protect highly available services using N+M redundancy models Among other things, embodiments described herein enable systems, e.g., Availability Management Forum (AMF) systems, having service units to operate with balanced loads both before and after the failure of one of the service units. A method for balancing standby workload assignments and active workload assignments for a group of service units in a system which employs an N+M redundancy model, wherein N service units are active service units and M service units are standby service units is described. An active workload that the N active service units need to handle is calculated and each of the N active service units in the group is provided with an active workload assignment based on the calculated active workload. Standby workload assignments are distributed among the M standby service units substantially equally.
US08549529B1	System and method for executing multiple functions execution by generating multiple execution graphs using determined available resources, selecting one of the multiple execution graphs based on estimated cost and compiling the selected execution graph Various embodiments herein provide one or more systems, methods, software, and data structures for executing multiple functions using more than one resource within a computing system. Examples of functions comprise data processing filters and effects. Resources include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU). Based on an input graph received from a user, one or more execution graphs may be generated to indicate the resources to be used and data conversions to be performed.
US08549527B2	Work plan prioritization for application development and maintenance using pooled resources in a factory A computer implemented method, system and/or computer program product schedule execution of work requests through work plan prioritization. One or more work packets are mapped to and assigned to each work request from a group of work requests. A complexity level is derived for and assigned to each work packet, and priority levels of various work requests are determined for each entity from a group of entities. A global priority for the group of work requests is then determined. The global priority and the complexity levels combine to create a priority function, which is used to schedule execution of the work requests.
US08549522B1	Automated testing environment framework for testing data storage systems Technologies for an automated testing environment (ATE) framework can support the creation and execution of various automated tests on data storage systems. The ATE framework can support various configurations of multiple client systems exercising multiple storage target systems. A connectionless communication model can be supported among elements within the ATE. Complex tests can be subdivided into smaller jobs that can be executed sequentially, in parallel, or any combination thereof. Sophisticated scheduling mechanisms can include dependency relationships that can require one job to finish before another job begins. Multiple storage targets and multiple initiators can be involved in various configurations and combinations for specific testing tasks. The ATE framework can support extensibility, test tracking, reporting of test results, and fault injection.
US08549520B2	Distributed task handling Various embodiments described herein provide systems, methods, software, and data structures that may be used in distributed task handling. Some embodiments include a generic architecture for loosely coupled associations of globally managed tasks and artifacts within user defined task descriptions. As a result, such embodiments provide a flexible and adaptable task model.
US08549519B2	Method and apparatus to improve efficiency in the use of resources in data center A method of managing use of resources in data center comprises: determining whether first storage subsystem includes a virtual volume or a storage pool that uses a physical volume of second storage subsystem and, if yes, migrating the physical volume to first storage subsystem; determining whether any storage subsystem includes a virtual volume created directly from a physical volume and, if yes, migrating the virtual volume to another virtual volume provisioned from the storage pool of the storage subsystem; and determining whether all virtual volumes satisfy a preset service level objective and, if no, then selecting a virtual machine which has a smallest virtual machine disk file and selecting a storage pool having a largest free space, and then selecting a virtual volume of the storage subsystem which has the selected storage pool and migrating the virtual machine disk file of the selected virtual machine to the selected virtual volume.
US08549518B1	Method and system for implementing a maintenanece service for managing I/O and storage for virtualization environment Disclosed is an approach for overseeing the overall state of a virtual storage system, and for taking actions as necessary to manage the health and efficient performance of that system. A curator entity is provided on a distributed basis to manage and perform these functions. A master curator manages this workload that is performed by multiple slave curators. MapReduce operations are performed to implement the curator workload. Periodically, the master curator coordinates a full scan of all the metadata in the system using three MapReduce operations. Partial scans may also be run using a single MapReduce operation.
US08549515B2	System and method for collaborative hosting of applications, virtual machines, and data objects To provide collaborative hosting of applications, the present invention first generates a virtual operating system image consisting of operating system code, application code, runtime code and supporting data repositories. The virtual operating system image may then be sent to and deploying on a physical computer or computer terminal at another location.
US08549514B2	Distributing customized software products A solution for distributing software products in a data processing system is disclosed. A set of models of each software product is to be distributed (for example, of the UML type) is provided; each model includes an indication of relationships among a plurality of available logical items (representing functions provided by the software product, such as use cases) and a plurality of available distribution artifacts (used to distribute the software product). A set of logical items is then selected among the available ones. The process continues by identifying a set of distribution artifacts required to implement the selected logical items (among the available distribution artifacts); the required distribution artifacts are identified according to the corresponding relationships in the models. A software package is built including the required distribution artifacts. The software package is then distributed to a set of data processing entities of the system (i.e., endpoints), so as to cause each entity to install the required distribution artifacts on the entity.
US08549513B2	Model-based virtual system provisioning Model-based virtual system provisioning includes accessing a model of a workload to be installed on a virtual machine of a system as well as a model of the system. A workload refers to some computing that is to be performed, and includes an application to be executed to perform the computing, and optionally includes the operating system on which the application is to be installed. The workload model identifies a source of the application and operating system of the workload, as well as constraints of the workload, such as resources and/or other capabilities that the virtual machine(s) on which the workload is to be installed must have. An installation specification for the application is also generated, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the model of the workload and the model of the virtual system.
US08549512B1	Self-service terminal firmware visibility A server that remotely monitors an Automated Teller Machine (“ATM”) is provided. The server includes a memory module for maintaining information including identification of software applications resident on the self-service device, identification of firmware applications resident on the self-service device, and identification of the hardware resident on the self-service device. The server also includes a communications module for receiving updates of the identification of software applications resident on the self-service device, updates of the identification of firmware applications resident on the self-service device, and updates of identification of the hardware resident on the self-service device. The server may also include a processing module for storing in the memory module the updates of the identification of software applications resident on the self-service device, the updates of identification of firmware applications resident on the self-service device, and the updates of identification of the hardware resident on the self-service device.
US08549511B2	Information processing apparatus, executability determining method, and computer program for the same An information processing apparatus is described which includes a list fetching section for fetching, from outside, a list of disabled contents information indicating disabling execution of an application program, when the contents data is subjected to a contents data reproducing/copying process for at least reproducing or copying the contents data. When it is determined that a type and/or a version of the application program identified by referring to the starting file corresponds to a type and/or a version of any disabled application program described in the list of disabled contents information, the starting file is not distributed to the application program.
US08549509B2	Modifying an information technology architecture framework A computer-based analysis of an enterprise computer system is utilized to identify pain points that cause the enterprise computer system to operate in a non-optimal or risky manner. Upon identifying the pain points, the enterprise computer system is simulated, and simulations of replacement components that the computer-based analysis has deemed appropriate for curing the pain points are installed in the simulated system. If the computer simulation with the replacement components cures the pain points and causes no new problems for the enterprise computer system, then corresponding actual replacement components are installed in the enterprise computer system.
US08549506B2	Resumable methods APIs are provided, that are external to a programming language but that provide functionality that can be plugged into a language compiler. The provided APIs tailor functionality associated with asynchronous programming, iterators or writing symmetric co-routines using a generalized pattern-based approach. Several types of resumable methods are provided in the APIs which can be applied to method bodies written in traditional program code. Syntactically distinguishable control points in method bodies written in traditional program code invoke transformation of the code by the compiler using the external APIs. The transformed code enables the pausing and resumption of the code sandwiched between control points in the transformed code. The source code contained within a method having control points in it is transformed so that code within the method can be executed in discrete parts, each part starting and ending at a control point in the transformed code.
US08549505B2	Profiling method, system, and recording medium having a profiling program A profiling method executed by a computer and system including generating a source code by adding a call instruction for a profile acquisition function to a source program of an application, generating an execution form of a profiling target program by linking a library of profile acquisition functions to the source code, executing the profiling target program in an operating system of a target system, calling a profile acquisition driver by executing the call instruction of the profile acquisition function via the library of the profile acquisition functions, and acquiring sampling information on an execution status of the profiling target program based on an interrupt occurrence by the profile acquisition driver.
US08549504B2	Apparatus, method, and system for providing a decision mechanism for conditional commits in an atomic region An apparatus and method is described herein for conditionally committing and/or speculative checkpointing transactions, which potentially results in dynamic resizing of transactions. During dynamic optimization of binary code, transactions are inserted to provide memory ordering safeguards, which enables a dynamic optimizer to more aggressively optimize code. And the conditional commit enables efficient execution of the dynamic optimization code, while attempting to prevent transactions from running out of hardware resources. While the speculative checkpoints enable quick and efficient recovery upon abort of a transaction. Processor hardware is adapted to support dynamic resizing of the transactions, such as including decoders that recognize a conditional commit instruction, a speculative checkpoint instruction, or both. And processor hardware is further adapted to perform operations to support conditional commit or speculative checkpointing in response to decoding such instructions.
US08549500B2	Saving and loading graphical processing unit (GPU) arrays providing high computational capabilities in a computing environment A device receives, via a technical computing environment, a program that includes a parallel construct and a command to be executed by graphical processing units, and analyzes the program. The device also creates, based on the parallel construct and the analysis, one or more instances of the command to be executed in parallel by the graphical processing units, and transforms, via the technical computing environment, the one or more command instances into one or more command instances that are executable by the graphical processing units. The device further allocates the one or more transformed command instances to the graphical processing units for parallel execution, and receives, from the graphical processing units, one or more results associated with parallel execution of the one or more transformed command instances by the graphical processing units.
US08549499B1	Parallel programming using possible parallel regions and its language profiling compiler, run-time system and debugging support A method of dynamic parallelization for programs in systems having at least two processors includes examining computer code of a program to be performed by the system, determining a largest possible parallel region in the computer code, classifying data to be used by the program based on a usage pattern and initiating multiple, concurrent processes to perform the program. The multiple, concurrent processes ensure a baseline performance that is at least as efficient as a sequential performance of the computer code.
US08549494B2	Techniques for parsing electronic files Techniques for parsing electronic files are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus for parsing electronic files comprising an input module operable to read one or more electronic files, a syntax element store, associated with one or more syntax elements, a mutation module operable to mutate one or more of the one or more syntax elements and parse the one or more electronic files read from the input module, and an output module operable to create one or more normalized electronic files from the one or more parsed electronic files.
US08549488B2	Validating a variable data item in a software routine An apparatus for validating a value of a variable data item in a software routine in execution includes a profile set generator that generates a profile set of typical values of the variable data item, a profile rule generator that generates a profile rule representing the profile set, and a profile checker that determines if a value of the variable data item satisfies the profile rule.
US08549486B2	Active property checking An exemplary method includes providing software for testing; during execution of the software, performing a symbolic execution of the software to produce path constraints; injecting issue constraints into the software where each issue constraint comprises a coded formula; solving the constraints using a constraint solver; based at least in part on the solving, generating input for testing the software; and testing the software using the generated input to check for violations of the injected issue constraints. Such a method can actively check properties of the software. Checking can be performed on a path for a given input using a constraint solver where, if the check fails for the given input, the constraint solver can also generate an alternative input for further testing of the software. Various exemplary methods, devices, systems, etc., are disclosed.
US08549484B2	Configuration information verification apparatus and configuration information verification method A configuration information verification apparatus includes an alive monitoring information collecting unit for collecting alive monitoring information from a plurality of configuration items constituting a network, a logical formula creating unit for referring to configuration information that represents information about connection relationships between the configuration items and creating a logical formula with respect to each configuration item by performing an AND operation on configuration items positioned on a route leading to corresponding configuration item, and assigning a “true” value to the logical formula if the alive monitoring information indicates that the corresponding configuration item is operating normally and assigning a “false” to the logical formula if the alive monitoring information indicates that the corresponding configuration item is not operating normally; and a logical formula verifying unit for verifying, from a plurality of logical formulae, whether an inconsistent logical formula is present.
US08549483B1	Engine for scalable software testing Embodiments of a system (such as a computer system), a method, and a computer-program product (e.g., software) for use with the computer system are described. These embodiments may be used to test software that includes instructions for a graphical user interface with objects that receive values in associated fields. In particular, during testing, the system identifies the objects and associated expected values in the software, tests the software based on the identified objects and the expected values, and generates a flow file which includes the testing operations and corresponding results. Moreover, during the testing, the system may generate a compliance document which includes the testing operations and the results. Additionally, the system compares differences between the flow file and a previous flow file (associated with previous testing), and presents differences to a quality-assurance analyst who evaluates whether or not the differences are consistent with design changes between the software and a previous version of the software.
US08549479B2	Test automation tool for domain registration systems The present subject matter is directed to systems and methods for automating the testing of multi-function systems, such as naming registration systems and the like. A method of testing a registry, and the like, may include providing a command phrase including an add command and at least one function that includes an artificial attribute for a domain added by the add command. The command phrase may specify an operation, a protocol, and an object. The operation may include at least one of add, delete, or update domain. The protocol may include at least one of RRP and EPP. One or more parameters associated with the command phrase may be provided and may include an expected response code and/or a variable. One or more additional parameters that are associated with the command phrase may be determined and a database may be accessed to provide the one or more additional parameters. The command phrase, the one or more additional parameters, and/or the one or more additional parameters may be translated into an XML command and the XML command transmitted to the registry, or the like. A response from the registry may be evaluated to determine potential problems with database.
US08549477B2	Mapping usage patterns using code features A usage pattern detector includes a determining module configured to determine that a monitored code feature of a software application has been executed on a first computer. The usage pattern detector also includes a recording module configured to record an indication that the monitored code feature has been used and an indication providing module configured to provide the indication that the monitored code feature has been used to a second computer.
US08549475B1	System and method for simplifying object-oriented programming A method of improving an object-oriented programming environment by creating objects that automatically test themselves to determine if the object is being used properly. Each programming object in a library of programming objects includes an initialization routine for testing the programming object. If the initialization routine detects an programmer errors in the use of the programming object, the initialization routine will display a message describing the detected error.
US08549473B2	Configuration management system for software product line development environment A system that includes: a configuration management system configured to receive resource updates submitted by developers of a product line; an update monitor configured, in manual monitoring, to mark each submitted resource update with respective variability data specified as relevant to the update submission, by the developer; and a tracer configured, in automatic monitoring, to trace portions of the updated resource into respective features or products of the product line, to determine variability data relevant to the update submission, wherein when an update request is initiated by the developer, the configuration management system is configured to associate the submitted resource updates with the update request based on common variability data, to provide resource updates on demand, based on variability data, wherein in automatic update, the configuration management system is configured to notify developers on resource updates, based on variability data common to the updated resource and the notified developers.
US08549471B2	Method and apparatus for providing API service and making API mash-up, and computer readable recording medium thereof The present invention provides an open application program interface (API) service. A method of providing the API service includes generating meta-data for executing an API, generating resource data for generating a mash-up of the API, generating description data corresponding to the API, the meta-data, and the resource data, and generating an API package comprising the API, the meta-data, the resource data, and the description data. Accordingly, mash-up contents can be easily generated from various types of APIs.
US08549470B2	Multi-threaded subgraph execution control in a graphical modeling environment Exemplary embodiments support multi-threaded subgraph execution control within a graphical modeling or graphical programming environment. In an embodiment, a subgraph may be identified as a subset of blocks within a graphical model, or graphical program, or both. A subgraph initiator may explicitly execute the subgraph while maintaining data dependencies within the subgraph. Explicit signatures may be defined for the subgraph initiator and the subgraph either graphically or textually. Execution control may be branched wherein the data dependencies within the subgraph are maintained. Execution control may be joined together wherein the data dependencies within the subgraph are maintained. Exemplary embodiments may allow subgraphs to execute on different threads within a graphical modeling or programming environment.
US08549466B2	Tiered register allocation A method of register allocation in complier using a computer instruction set having tiered instructions that accesses differing numbers of registers makes a first preliminary register allocation attempt using an initially specified register set for each instruction. If this fails, the method identifies instructions having an initially specified limited register having a variable not register allocatable. The method makes a second preliminary register allocation attempt except using a less restrictive register set for the identified instructions. This method employs a next less restrictive register set and re-attempts preliminary register allocations for instructions with more than two levels of register restriction.
US08549462B2	Thermal coupling determination and representation Thermal coupling effects are represented as current into a thermal node of an initial design structure. The current is determined using a thermal coupling coefficient, and thermal resistance and thermal capacitance of a self-heating network of the initial design structure. By using another design structure with devices substantially identical to those of the initial design structure at known locations, operating a device as a heater while operating another device as a heat sensor, and measuring thermal response of the heater and the heat sensor, a thermal coupling coefficient may be determined.
US08549461B2	Generation of independent logical and physical hierarchy A logically hierarchical netlist may be split along physical partition boundaries while retaining information on the logical hierarchy. Nets can be driven to higher levels of hierarchy in order to maintain connectivity and enable the original logical function. A mapping of nets can be created. During the design process merging of physical partitions may result in a new logically hierarchical netlist which retains the hierarchy of the original logically hierarchical netlist. The lowest common hierarchical ancestor (LCA) is identified and then the appropriate cells and nets are included during the merging process.
US08549452B2	Method for supporting multiple libraries characterized at different process, voltage and temperature points A method for accurately performing a timing, power, and noise analysis by pre-processing the characterization points of the available libraries, storing time consuming parts of the analysis and utilizing the pre-processed information during active runs to calculate the attributes at a desired PVT point. The PVT space is preferably sub-divided into triangular or rectangular regions, preferably obtained using Delaunay triangulation. In one embodiment, the invention performs an up-front pre-processing step on the characterized libraries to compute the static portion of the interpolation function that is independent of the specific instance; and a coefficient matrix that allows for interpolation of specific instances.
US08549451B2	Verification apparatus A design verification apparatus for a semiconductor device includes: a storage for storing layout information of the semiconductor device, the layout information including information of interconnection regions and a via regions; and a controller for dividing the interconnection regions into wire regions and cross regions, the cross regions corresponding to the via regions, respectively, the wire regions extending between the cross regions, respectively, and extracting at least one of the wire regions as a candidate having a potential risk of future disconnection defect on the basis of the length of the wire regions.
US08549448B2	Delay optimization during circuit design at layout level Aspect of the technology are a method of designing a circuit layout and corresponding computer systems and nontransitory computer media. The circuit layout is for use in forming a lithographic mask set for use in fabricating an integrated circuit. In the method the computer system divides a synthesized circuit design into cell partitions along critical paths of the synthesized circuit design. The computer system associates pins of the plurality of cell partitions with normalized pin timing values. The normalized pin timing values store magnitude differences between a reference timing slack and timing slacks of the plurality of pins. After optimizing the synthesized circuit design, the computer system repeats the method, and then the computer system determines whether to further optimize the plurality of cell partitions by comparing: (i) the pre-optimization normalized pin timing values of the plurality of cell partitions with (ii) the post-optimization normalized pin timing values of the plurality of cell partitions.
US08549447B2	Integrated circuits with multiple I/O regions Methods and/or associated devices and/or systems for creating integrated circuits (IC's) that have multiple connected I/O regions that can be designed and implemented using commonly available standard I/O libraries in conjunction with standard IC design flows and tools and in combination with one or more novel standardized I/O region interconnect cells for interconnecting between or through otherwise separated I/O regions. Specific embodiments support a wide variety of IC's that can be developed using standard libraries and design flows including: application specific integrated circuits (ASIC's), programmable logic devices (PLDs), custom IC's, analog IC's, CPU's, GPU's, and other IC's that require large numbers of input/ouput (IO) circuits while having relatively small core circuitry areas. Specific embodiments may involve innovative I/O cell functions, innovative IC topologies, and innovative IC packaging solutions for single die packages and multiple die packages.
US08549444B2	Controlling impedance and thickness variations for multilayer electronic structures Impedance control, and the uniformity of electrical and mechanical characteristics in electronic packaging are becoming more important as chip and bus speeds increase and manufacturing processes evolve. Current state of the art design and manufacture processes inherently introduce physical dielectric thickness variations into multilayer cross sections. These thickness variations between the ground reference plane(s) and the signal layer(s) inject undesirable characteristic impedance variations and undesirable mechanical variations in thickness and surface topology. Therefore a multilayer structure and a method of manufacture are presented.
US08549443B2	Zeroclick A GUI interface, a method of programming a GUI interface, and an apparatus which enables functions of controls in the GUI to be activated by a movement to a control and then another subsequent movement related to that control. It may be defined more precisely below. A GUI in which, when a pointer 0 is immediately adjacent or passes over a control area 1, a procedure is initiated whereby subsequent movement of the pointer over a predetermined path area 3 generates a ‘click’ event which simulates direct clicking of the control 1 and moving outside the predetermined path area 3 prior to completion of the path 3 resets the control to as if the pointer has never started along the predetermined path area 3.
US08549442B2	Voice and video control of interactive electronically simulated environment A method of moving objects in a graphical user interface, includes obtaining a video image of a user of the interface; displaying the video image on a display such that the video image is superposed with one or more objects displayed on the display; and moving one or more objects displayed on the display based on recognition of motions of the video image of the user. Recognition of motions of the video image may include recognition of motions of an image of the user's hand.
US08549441B2	Presenting and navigating content having varying properties Technologies are described herein for presenting and navigating content having varying properties. One or more local or networked providers are searched for content objects. Content objects include associated metadata and may be stored within a content container. Each content object is displayed separately from its associated content container. Displayed content objects may be grouped and filtered based upon the associated metadata. Displayed content objects may also be grouped and filtered based upon the provider from which they were retrieved. Selection of a content object causes the content container associated with the selected content object to be displayed. Alternately, selection of a content object may cause a preview of the selected content object and the metadata associated with the selected content object to be displayed.
US08549439B2	Viewport overlays to expose alternate data representations A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture provide the ability to display (using a 3D graphics application) an overlayed window containing an alternate data representation in a three-dimensional system. A first 3D view of a real world scene (that includes a first set of data layers) is displayed on a display device. The user selects a set of entities that together define an alternate representation of the first 3D view. The alternate representation is a second set of data layers that is different than the first set of data layers. An overlayed window is displayed on top of the first 3D view and displays the alternate representation.
US08549435B1	Displaying thumbnails for one or more files to be imported A piece of data is selected from a collection of one or more pieces of data to be inserted. A thumbnail is generated that includes at least some content associated with the selected piece of data. The thumbnail is displayed in place of or with a cursor, where the cursor is associated with specifying an insertion location in a document.
US08549434B2	Method for graphical representation of a content collection A method use on a computer having a graphical operating environment is provided for displaying the content items of a container. The method includes enumerating the items that exist within the container or folder and determining whether a graphical preview can be generated for the item. If so, the item is added to a list of candidates as preview items for the container or folder. The items are then evaluated, and a desired number are chosen for display based upon a sort criteria. Prior to being displayed, the graphical preview for each item is sized and is located on the background image. The above method results in a container having graphical or pictorial indicia of the container contents on the outside thereof. These indicia allow a computer user to more readily determine the contents of the container or folder without having to open the container or folder.
US08549432B2	Radial menus Some embodiments of the invention provide several novel techniques for manipulating radial menus in graphical user interfaces of an application. In some embodiments, radial menus include multiple selectable items arranged about an internal location (e.g., a center of the radial menu). The novel radial menu techniques of some embodiments include (i) non-uniform spacing of menu items, (ii) the use of shading or highlighting within a region associated with an item to indicate the present selectability of the item, and (iii) the use of radial gestures for opening sub-menus and the subsequent display of the sub-menu.
US08549428B2	Portable IR thermometer having graphical user display and interface A portable noncontact thermometer comprising a hand-held housing defining an aperture for ingress of incident thermal energy from a target location. A thermometer module includes a noncontact thermal energy detector impinged by the incident thermal energy. The thermometer module further includes a microcontroller operative to interpret electrical signals derived from an output of the noncontact thermal energy detector so as to determine temperature at the target location. A graphical display device, such as an LCD dot matrix display device, is fixed with respect to the housing. The display device is capable of providing a graphical user interface having multiple screens variously showing numbers, text and functional icons. Preferably, the screens will display function tabs located adjacent to corresponding buttons on the housing. The tabs will change depending on the varying function that may be implemented by pressing a respective button. The thermometer also includes circuitry, which include the microcontroller, in electrical communication with the graphical display device so as to produce the graphical user interface.
US08549427B2	Article producing terminal apparatus, article producing method and program An article producing terminal apparatus communicatable with an external apparatus holding article-producing job data including image data, production information for producing an article using the image data and terminal designation information is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a communication unit communicating with the external apparatus; an article producing unit producing an article using the image data; a job acquiring unit acquiring that article-producing job data in the article-producing job data held in the external apparatus which designates the local article producing terminal apparatus with the terminal designation information by causing the communication unit to communicate with the external apparatus; and a job execution control unit causing the article producing unit to execute article production based on the image data and the production information in the article-producing job data acquired by the job acquiring unit.
US08549423B2	Linking and managing mathematical objects A method for creating a second mathematical object based on a first mathematical object in a computing apparatus having a graphical user interface includes selecting a first mathematical object in response to an instruction received from a user; creating a second mathematical object using data of said first mathematical object; linking said first mathematical object to said second mathematical object; and creating a visual link between said first mathematical object and said second mathematical object.
US08549421B2	Apparatus and method for managing content A content management apparatus displays, on a display unit, a first display object representing a content item, at least one area for including the first display object, and a second display object used for setting a condition regarding movement of the first display object into the area or from the area. When the first display object is moved into the area, the first object is contained in the area and, when the second display object is moved into the area, a condition regarding movement of the first display object into the area or from the area displayed on the display unit is set.
US08549420B1	Method and apparatus for displaying a graphical object within a grid of a graphical user interface A method and apparatus for displaying a graphical object in a grid located within in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method for displaying a graphical object in a grid located in a GUI environment comprises positioning the graphical object in a cell of the grid, where a dimension of the graphical object is larger than a corresponding dimension of the cell, and repositioning the graphical object depending upon a position of a pointer of the GUI environment within the cell along the corresponding dimension.
US08549417B2	System, method and computer program product for editing an on-demand database service graphical user interface In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for editing an on-demand database service graphical user interface. These mechanisms and methods for editing an on-demand database service graphical user interface can enable embodiments to edit desired portions of the interface, in a more flexible manner. The ability of embodiments to provide such additional flexibility may lead to more efficient and effective interface editing.
US08549415B2	Automatically adjusting media display in a personal display system A personal display system with which a user may adjust the configuration of displayed media is provided. The personal display system may include an electronic device operative to provide media to a personal display device operative to display the received media. Using one or more optical and digital components, the personal display device may adjust displayed media to overlay features of a theater, thus giving the user of the personal display device the impression of being in the theater. In some embodiments, the personal display device may detect the user's movements using one or more sensors and may adjust the displayed image based on the user's movements. For example, the device may detect a user's head movement and cause the portion of media displayed to reflect the head movement.
US08549409B2	Customizable web application navigation A method for customizing display preferences for a web application. Ease of interaction with web content may be improved by customizing display preferences that affect the way content is rendered by a server and provided to a user. Elements of menus for navigation among web pages for various functions, for example, may be added, removed, reordered, renamed, rearranged in a hierarchy, hidden, or shown to help users tailor the functions to their needs and thus better aid them in using the web pages.
US08549406B2	Management system and method for wireless communication network and associated graphic user interface A management system and method for a wireless communication network and an associated interface is provided. The management system provides a structure of data layers and a visualization design to upgrade the efficiency of network management. The management system includes a data generation module and a display module. The data module generates a plurality of data layers, which comprise at least a map layer, a network configuration layer, and an operation index layer. The network configuration layer comprises a configuration of the wireless communication network on the map layer. The operation index layer includes statistic values of an operation index of the wireless communication network under the configuration. The display module performs an overlap display of a plurality of selected layers from the data layers to show operation status of the wireless communication network.
US08549405B2	System and method for displaying a graphical representation of a network to identify nodes and node segments on the network that are not operating normally A GUI, system, and method for displaying operating performance of a packet network may include displaying first graphical representations illustrative of network communications devices operating on a packet network, where the first graphical representations may be displayed in a first mode if respective network communications devices are operating normally to communicate data packets including real-time content and non-real-time content and in a second mode if respective network communications devices are not operating normally to communicate data packets including real-time content and non-real-time content. Second graphical representations illustrative of node segments connecting respective network communications devices may be displayed, where the second graphical representations may be displayed in a third mode if respective node segments are operating normally to communicate data packets including real-time content and non-real-time content and a fourth mode if respective node segments are not operating normally to communicate data packets including real-time content and non-real-time content.
US08549404B2	Auditioning tools for a media editing application Some embodiments provide a media editing application. The application places several committed media clips in a composite display area to specify a description of a composite presentation. In response to receiving a request to create a new version for a first media clip placed at a particular location in the composite display area, the application creates an audition set at the particular location in the composite display area. The application creates a second media clip from the first media clip. The application adds the first and second media clips to the audition set. At least one of the first and second media clips is a candidate media clip that is insertable at the location in the composite display area but is not a media clip that has been committed for inclusion in the description of the composite presentation.
US08549401B1	Systems and methods for automatically generating computer-assistance videos Computer-implemented methods, systems, and computer-readable media for automatically generating computer-assistance videos based on remote interactive-guidance sessions are disclosed. In one example, an exemplary method for performing such a task may comprise: 1) detecting initiation of a remote interactive-guidance session between a local computing device and a remote computing device, 2) recording the remote interactive-guidance session, 3) storing the recorded interactive-guidance session in a media file, and then 4) providing access to the media file.
US08549399B2	Identifying a selection of content in a structured document For a document with content that has been structured into a set primitive areas, a novel method for performing contiguous selection of document content across different primitive areas in the document is disclosed. The method defines a contiguous section in the ordered list by identifying the first and last primitive elements of the contiguous selection. The first primitive element is identified as the primitive element that is closest in reading flow to a start selection point on the page, while the last primitive element is identified as the primitive element that is closest in reading flow to an end selection point on the page.
US08549397B2	Hierarchical bit stream markup compilation and rendering Video content in an original markup language is processed and distributed for presentation such that the presentation preserves static and dynamic aspects of the video content in the original markup language. The video content in the original markup language may be processed into a binary format using a client-specific routine that is specific to a predetermined client. The distributed video content may be presented in a way that preserves the static and dynamic aspects of the video content in the original markup language.
US08549395B2	Method and system for transforming an integrated webpage A method and system for transforming an integrated webpage into native text and image representations. A webpage containing an embedded object is loaded into a browser. A portable text representation of an image of the embedded object is captured by invoking the embedded object to rasterize itself. The portable text representation is then streamed to a web server and converted to a native image representation. A URL is generated for the native image representation and the embedded object on the integrated webpage is replaced with its native image representation.
US08549385B2	Soft decoding for quantizied channel Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with soft decoding for a quantized channel are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a soft decoder configured to decode a signal received from a quantized channel based, at least in part, on one or more log likelihood ratios (LLRs). The apparatus may also include a reliability memory configured to store one or more known LLRs, and a controller configured to repetitively and selectively provide the soft decoder with known LLRs chosen from the reliability memory, to control the soft decoder to decode the signal, and to selectively update the reliability memory upon determining that the soft decoder successfully decoded the signal.
US08549378B2	RAIM system using decoding of virtual ECC Error correction and detection in a redundant memory system including a a computer implemented method that includes receiving data including error correction code (ECC) bits, the receiving from a plurality of channels, each channel comprising a plurality of memory devices at memory device locations. The method also includes computing syndromes of the data; receiving a channel identifier of one of the channels; and removing a contribution of data received on the channel from the computed syndromes, the removing resulting in channel adjusted syndromes. The channel adjusted syndromes are decoded resulting in channel adjusted memory device locations of failing memory devices, the channel adjusted memory device locations corresponding to memory device locations.
US08549377B1	Efficient decoders for LDPC codes An LDPC decoder, applicable to LDPC codes including codes where check nodes within the same group are connected to a common bit node, successively processes groups of check nodes in a particular iteration, including updating bit nodes in that same iteration responsive to messages generated in response to processing a group of check nodes. Within an iteration, the LDPC decoder may also track the number of unresolved parity check equations, and cease iterating or output to an outer block decoder if that number reaches a local minima or standard minimum, falls below a predetermined threshold, or its rate of change falls below a predetermined threshold, indicating a lack of convergence or false convergence condition. The LDPC decoder may also provide a feedback assist to a demodulator. Also, a novel memory configuration may store messages generated by the decoder in the course of check node processing. The decoder may also employ a novel method for generating check node to bit node messages through a prescribed series of pair-wise computations.
US08549374B2	Dual Reed-Muller (RM) code segmentation for uplink control information (UCI) A method for reporting uplink control information (UCI) on a user equipment (UE) is described. It is determined a number of bits in a sequence of bits for transmission is greater than 11 and less than or equal to 21. The sequence of bits for transmission is segmented into a first segment and a second segment using a floor function. The first segment is encoded using a first Reed-Muller encoder. The second segment is encoded using a second Reed-Muller encoder.
US08549373B2	Method and device for retransmission Embodiments related to retransmission in a communication system are described and depicted. In one embodiment, a retransmission entity repeats a transmission of a data transfer unit by the device after a predetermined number of other transmitted data transfer units has been transmitted. The retransmission entity may also determine whether a measure for a time period since the first transmission of the data transfer unit by the device has exceeded a predetermined threshold and to provide a final transmission of the data transfer unit based on the determining that the measure for the time period has exceeded the predetermined threshold.
US08549372B2	ATPG and compression by using majority gates A method to increase automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) effectiveness and compression identifies instances of “majority gates” and modifies test generation to exploit their behavior so that fewer care bit are needed. This method can increase test coverage and reduce CPU time as previously aborted faults are now tested. The majority gate enhanced ATPG requires no hardware support and can be applied to any ATPG system.
US08549371B1	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a test mode signal generation circuit configured to generate test mode signals which are selectively enabled, in response to a test enable signal which is enabled upon entry into a test mode; and a test mode signal output circuit configured to store the test mode signals in response to an input control signal and output the test mode signals in response to an output control signal, wherein the input control signal is enabled when a test write signal is generated according to a combination of commands, and the output control signal is a signal which is generated by delaying a test read signal a preset amount of time, where the test read signal is generated according to a combination of the commands.
US08549370B2	On-chip functional debugger and a method of providing on-chip functional debugging An on-chip functional debugger includes one or more functional blocks each providing one or more functional outputs. A hierarchical selection tree is formed by one or more selectors having the output of one of the selectors as a final output and individual selector inputs coupled either to a functional output from the functional blocks or to an output of another selector. A selection signal coupled to the select input of each of the selectors to enable a selected one of its output. An output node coupled to the final output. A method of providing on-chip functional debugging is also provided. A desired functional output from one or more available functional outputs is selected and then the selected functional output is coupled to an output node.
US08549368B1	Memory built-in-self testing in multi-core integrated circuit A multi-core integrated circuit includes first and second sets of processor cores and corresponding first and second test access ports (TAPs). The first and second TAPs are connected to corresponding first and second debug ports by way of corresponding first and second TAP controllers. The first and second sets of processor cores include first and second memory blocks and corresponding first and second built-in-self-testing (BIST) engines of different architectures. A control circuit configures the first and second TAP controllers and the connection between the first and second sets of processor cores and the first and second debug ports, for initiating the first and second BIST engines for testing the memory blocks using a predetermined test mode. A debug access module provides secure access to the first and second debug ports.
US08549367B1	Method and system for accelerating memory randomization A method and system for randomizing memory in a functional verification test of a user design is disclosed. A random number is generated during the functional verification test. The data stored in the memory of the user design is stored. Encryption keys unique for each memory address of the memory are generated. Each encryption key for each memory address is a function of the random number and the memory address. Data in each memory address of the memory is encrypted with the encryption keys unique for each memory address. After exiting a low-power or power-off state, data in each memory address is read and decrypted using the same encryption keys. Data before and after the low-power or power-off state are compared to test memory loss.
US08549363B2	Reliability and performance of a system-on-a-chip by predictive wear-out based activation of functional components A processor-implemented method for determining aging of a processing unit in a processor the method comprising: calculating an effective aging profile for the processing unit wherein the effective aging profile quantifies the effects of aging on the processing unit; combining the effective aging profile with process variation data, actual workload data and operating conditions data for the processing unit; and determining aging through an aging sensor of the processing unit using the effective aging profile, the process variation data, the actual workload data, architectural characteristics and redundancy data, and the operating conditions data for the processing unit.
US08549359B2	Method and system for identifying errors in code A method for identifying errors in code is provided. The method may include rebuilding object dependencies from a heap dump, calculating memory usage of each object, identifying top consumers of memory by object class, analyzing how much memory each class consumes with respect to how much other classes consume, building a corpus of data that may be used in a progressive machine learning algorithm, and identifying suspect classes. Additionally, the suspect classes and the memory usage statistics of the suspect classes may then be used as an identifying signature of the associated out of memory error. The identifying signature of the associated out of memory error may then be used to compare with the signatures of other out of memory occurrences for identifying duplicate error occurrences.
US08549357B2	Computer-implemented methods and systems for testing online systems and content Computer-implemented methods and systems are provided for scanning web sites and/or parsing web content, including for testing online opt-out systems and/or cookies used by online systems. In accordance with one implementation, a computer-implemented method is provided for testing an opt-out system associated with at least one advertising system that uses cookies. The method includes transmitting a first request to an opt-out system, wherein the first request corresponds to a first test for testing at least one of the opt-out system and an advertising system; receiving a first stream sent in response to the first request; determining a first outcome of the first test based on the first stream; and generating a report based on the first outcome.
US08549355B2	Method, system, and apparatus for providing alert synthesis in a data protection system A method for diagnosing problems with protection of a data source and recovery of the same. The method includes diagnosing a copy of data located at the storage location and diagnosing a temporal version of the copy of data. Based on the diagnosis it is determined whether an error or a warning was detected. If either were detected a response is provided with a suggested solution.
US08549353B2	Batch processing error handling modes A method and apparatus for programming a computer to execute a batch data processing procedure using a computing device having at least a processor, a memory, a display device and an input device. The memory stores a plurality of functions arranged to process individual data messages or batches of data messages. A function is selected from the plurality of functions and retrieved from the memory. A data flow diagram is arranged on the display, in response to developer input, to specify a process. The data flow diagram includes a function icon corresponding to the selected function, at least one data icon corresponding to a data object, and at least one link connecting the function icon to the data icon. The function is arranged to perform one of disassociating a batch of data messages into individual data messages and associating data messages into a batch of data messages.
US08549352B2	Integrated microprocessor system for safety-critical control systems including a main program and a monitoring program stored in a memory device An integrated microprocessor system for safety-critical control systems, comprising at least two microprocessor system modules each comprising at least one processor core, a read/write memory and a memory protection unit, and a read-only memory which is jointly assigned to the processor cores of the microprocessor system modules. Each of the microprocessor system modules executes a main program and a monitoring program which may comprise a plurality of subprograms. If the memory protection unit detects unauthorized operations by one of the programs for accessing a separate address area (A, B) of another program, then the respective memory protection unit assigns a separate address area (A, B) of the read/write memory to the main program and to the monitoring program.
US08549351B2	Pessimistic data reading in a dispersed storage network A method begins by a processing module receiving a data retrieval request and determining a read threshold number of dispersed storage (DS). The method continues with the processing module sending read request messages to DS units and receiving encoded data slices to produce received encoded data slices. The method continues with the processing module determining an incremental number of encoded data slices based on the number of received encoded data slices, determining an incremental number of DS units, and sending a read request message to each of the incremental number of DS units when the number of received encoded data slices compares unfavorably to a decode threshold number. The method continues with the processing module dispersed storage error decoding the received encoded data slices to produce data when the number of received encoded data slices compares favorably to the decode threshold number of encoded data slices.
US08549347B1	Techniques for network replication In response to a request to duplicate a network, the network is duplicated. The duplicate network includes one or more virtual devices that correspond to one or more devices in the network being duplicated. The devices of the duplicate network are communicatively arranged in a manner consistent with a topology of the network being duplicated. Once the duplicate network is created, access to the duplicate network is provided.
US08549346B2	Router synchronization Example systems and methods associated with router synchronization are described. One example method includes reducing a likelihood that a first network device will be favored over a peer device as a router. This likelihood may be increased after the first network device has received a threshold amount of routing information from the peer device. This may allow the first network device to begin performing non-routing related tasks after it starts up without causing interruption of data streams for which the first network device does not have current routing information.
US08549344B2	Method for reducing electromagnetic emissions in a multiple micro-controller device A method for reducing electromagnetic emissions in an electronic device having a multiple micro-controllers includes identifying the number of micro-controllers installed in the electronic device. An operating frequency range of the electronic device is determined based on the operating frequency range of each micro-controller. A frequency spacing for each micro-controller within the operating frequency range of the electronic device is then calculated, and an operating frequency is assigned to each micro-controller. The operating frequency of each micro-controller is separated from the operating frequency of each other micro-controller by at least the frequency spacing. Then, the operating frequency of each micro-controller is set at the assigned operating frequency.
US08549343B2	Timing recovery apparatus and method thereof A multimedia processing system for processing a program stream containing a program clock reference information. The system comprises a clock generator, a timer, a modifier, a processing unit, a parser and a compensator. The clock generator generates a clock signal. The timer receives the clock signal and generates a time information. The modifier incorporates a timing reference information into the program stream, wherein the timing reference information is provided according to the time information and the program clock reference information. The processing unit processes the program stream to generate a data stream incorporated with the timing reference information. The parser extracts the timing reference information from the data stream. And, the compensator generates a control signal according to the timing reference information. Wherein the clock generator receives the control signal and adjusts the clock signal.
US08549335B2	Secondary power utilization during peak power times Systems and methods for selectively utilizing secondary power sources during peak power times are provided for. The method includes receiving a notification of a peak power time, and discontinuing use of a primary power supply and beginning use of a secondary power supply based upon the notification.
US08549329B2	System power management using memory throttle signal According to some embodiments, power information associated with a computing system may be monitored. Based on the monitored power information, it may be determined whether a hardware memory throttling signal will be asserted and/or that a processor power control signal will be asserted.
US08549326B2	Method and system for extending encrypting file system Users can share encrypted files without having access to other users' public key certificates, by specifying only the other users' identity information. A client agent interacts with a trusted service account to transparently add user encryption certificates to encrypted files after it was created. A header of each encrypted file includes signed encrypted data blocks, file system metadata, and a digital signature. When a user attempting to open an encrypted file is denied access, the client agent transmits the header data and the encryption certificate of the user to the trusted service account, with a request that the user encryption certificate be added to modify the encrypting file system metadata. After the trusted service account determines tampering has not occurred enroute and the user is authorized to access the file, the modified header data are returned to the client agent to enable the user to open the file.
US08549321B2	IC chip, board, information processing equipment and storage medium An IC chip, a board, information processing equipment, and a storage medium are provided that can prevent, even when information is transferred between a plurality of programs, leaking of the right protection algorithm of information in connection with the transfer. A security board is included an IC chip having a secure module. The secure module receives an encryption key request signal, and generates a communication encryption key every time when the encryption key request signal is received, the communication encryption key being used to encrypt information to be transferred between a plurality of programs. The number of times the communication encryption key is supplied is counted. If the counted number is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the communication encryption key is supplied to outside. If the counted number exceeds the predetermined number, the supply of the generated communication encryption key to outside is stopped.
US08549319B2	Systems and algorithms for stateless biometric recognition A system and algorithms to authenticate a person where a system only has some standard personal text data about the person, and cannot have a real biometric template obtained using an enrollment procedure. The authentication allows access to restricted resources by the person. This method is especially useful when it is used as an auxiliary authentication service with other methods such as password or Callback that dramatically lower the chances for an imposter.
US08549314B2	Password generation methods and systems Password generation and extraction is described. In one aspect, a user inputs multiple characters, including a user password, variable characters, and multiple terminator characters. Locations of the terminator characters are identified and used to extract the user password from the multiple characters input by the user.
US08549311B2	Electronic device, password deletion method, and program An electronic device that can automatically unlock an external storage device with a password without adding a function to the external storage device is provided. An electronic device 100B has memory card connection means 108 for connecting a memory card 200 that can be locked with a password, password holding means 101 for holding card unique ID and a password, card unique ID acquisition means 104 for acquiring connection identification information indicating the card unique ID of the memory card 20 connected to the memory card connection means 108, and password deletion means 109 for deleting connection identification information and the password corresponding to the connection identification information stored in the password holding means 101 if the connection identification information is contained in the password holding means 101.
US08549309B1	Asymmetric content fingerprinting with adaptive window sizing Processes for fingerprinting a document file and for preventing information leakage are disclosed. Computer apparatus for implementing said processes are also disclosed. For fingerprinting a document, the document is provided and may be normalized. A sequence of hash values are generated for the document. A window size is adaptively determined depending upon the document. Fingerprints for the document are selected from amongst the hash values using the adaptively-sized window. The fingerprints for the document are added to a fingerprint set for content being protected by the information leakage prevention system. For information leakage prevention, suspect documents are processed at the deployment points by extracting fingerprints from the suspect documents and matching the extracted fingerprints against the fingerprints in the fingerprint set. Different fingerprint extraction methods are used at the server and the deployment points. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.
US08549308B2	Data certification method and system A data certification system and method for signing electronic data with a digital signature in which a central server comprises a signature server and an authentication server. The signature server securely stores the private cryptographic keys of a number of users. The user contacts the central server using a workstation through the secure tunnel which is set up for the purpose. The user supplies a password or other token based on information previously supplied to the user by the authentication server through a separate authentication channel. The authentication server provides the signature server with a derived version of the same information through a permanent secure tunnel between the servers, which is compared with the one supplied by the user. If they match, data received from the user is signed with the user's private key.
US08549306B2	Image managing method and image managing system An image managing method includes dividing the original moving image into a header and a body and generating the group hash value of the header portion, generating the hash value of each item of still image data, connecting the group hash value of the header portion and the hash value of each item of still image data to generate connected hash values, generating a group of the connected hash values as a hash value list, generating the hash value of a Huffman table on the basis of cutting out one still image, and signing to generate signature information of the original moving image, using the group hash value of the header portion, the hash value of the Huffman table, and the hash list as verification data of the original moving image, by adding a digital signature of a video recording terminal to it.
US08549305B2	Steganographic method and device An apparatus and method for encoding and decoding additional information into a stream of digitized samples in an integral manner. The information is encoded using special keys. The information is contained in the samples, not prepended or appended to the sample stream. The method makes it extremely difficult to find the information in the samples if the proper keys are not possessed by the decoder. The method does not cause a significant degradation to the sample stream. The method is used to establish ownership of copyrighted digital multimedia content and provide a disincentive to piracy of such material.
US08549303B2	Apparatus, system and method for electronically signing electronic transcripts A method for electronically signing an electronic transcript. The method includes obtaining an image of a court reporter's signature which may be incorporated into an electronic transcript. A hash operation performed on the electronic transcript to generate a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript. The representation of the contents of the electronic transcript is recorded/time stamped by a digital notary service, from which a notary record of the time stamping is obtained from the digital notary service. The notary record is digitally signed, and an electronically signed electronic transcript is formed by bundling the digitally signed notary record with the electronic transcript and with the data identifying the user. In this manner, an electronic transcript with an electronic signature is created. The electronic transcript may be viewed, with the image displayed in the viewer having an image of the court reporter's signature.
US08549301B2	Method and computer system for ensuring authenticity of an electronic transaction At least one embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for ensuring authenticity of an electronic transaction performed during a transaction session. The method includes receiving, over a first network, a request from a user for the completion of an electronic transaction; receiving, over the first network, an authentication code from the user which has been provided to the user over a second network separated from the first network, thereby authenticating the user, completing the electronic transaction; and storing information associated with the electronic transaction and the transaction session. The method further includes generating a one-way hash value based on information comprised in the electronic transaction and information associated with the transaction session, and providing the one-way hash value to the user, wherein the one-way hash value is usable for ensuring the authenticity of the electronic transaction. The procedure enables authentication, integrity, non-repudiation, and time stamping in a cost efficient way. An enhanced security level can be achieved as the network used for providing the authentication code to the user is separate from the network where the user returns the authentication code. At least one embodiment of the present invention also relates to a corresponding computer system adapted for ensuring the authenticity of an electronic transaction.
US08549300B1	Virtual single sign-on for certificate-protected resources In general, the invention is directed to techniques for enabling single sign-on (SSO) for a client seeking access to multiple resources protected by a certificate-based authentication scheme. For example, as described herein, a secure gateway comprises a certificate repository to store a digital certificate as well as a policy that includes one or more policy rules. A network interface of the secure gateway receives a message from a client device, wherein the message comprises a request to access a protected resource and an identifier for the requesting agent. The secure gateway also comprises a resource authentication module to map the identifier and the protected resource to the digital certificate based on the policy. The resource authentication module retrieves the digital certificate from the certificate repository and sends the digital certificate to the protected resource to authenticate the secure gateway to the protected resource.
US08549292B2	Authentication agent apparatus, authentication agent method, and authentication agent program storage medium An authentication agent apparatus includes a communication request reception unit that receives a communication request to a client B of an authentication server from a client A of the authentication server, a data reception unit that receives data to be transmitted to the client B from the client A, an authentication request unit that issues to the authentication server an authentication request on the client A, a communication enabling request unit that requests the authentication server to enable communication between the client A and the client B, an enabling data acquisition unit that acquires enabling data to enable the communication with the client B from the authentication server, and a generation unit that generates transmission data to be transmitted to the client B on the basis of the enabling data and the data to be transmitted.
US08549291B2	Wireless network apparatus storing authentication information in multiple formats and areas and authentication method of the same A wireless network apparatus including an authentication information storage unit to store first authentication information for network communication, an authentication information converting unit to generate second authentication information by converting the stored first authentication information according to an predetermined authentication method, a nonvolatile storage unit to store the generated second authentication information, and an authentication processing unit to conduct an authentication based on the second authentication information.
US08549289B2	Scope model for role-based access control administration Architecture that provides centrally located role-based administration where role assignments that are used to calculate scopes for each operation and create a filtered request that only returns objects that the user is allowed to manage. No access checks are needed. The architecture addresses the proliferation of scope definitions by at least creating a set of relative scopes such as that can generically apply to multiple users at once. More specifically, self-relative scopes and absolute scopes are provided.
US08549286B2	Method and system for forwarding data between private networks In the field of communications technology, a method and a system for forwarding data between private networks are provided, which can enable terminals in different private networks to securely communicate with each other by using private network addresses. The method includes the following steps. A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) tunnel to an SSL Virtual Private Network (VPN) device in another private network is established. Address allocation information of the another private network is received through the SSL tunnel. The address allocation information and a mapping relation between the address allocation information and a public network IP address of the SSL VPN device transmitting the address allocation information and a session ID of the SSL tunnel transmitting the address allocation information are saved. A data packet whose destination address belongs to the another private network is forwarded to the SSL VPN device of the private network to which the destination address belongs, according to the address allocation information and the mapping relation. Through the method, the SSL VPN device can resolve private network addresses of other private networks.
US08549283B2	System and method of transmitting/receiving security data There are provided a security server for intermediating transmission/reception of security data between a service providing server and a user terminal, a security data transmission/reception system and a method. In order to intermediate the transmission/reception of security data between the service providing server and the user terminal, the security server may generate a session key corresponding to a secret key provided from a user terminal, receive security data together with the session key from a security data transmitter, encode the security data with the secret key corresponding to the session key, store the encoded security data, provide a data encryption key to the security data transmitter, decode the encoded security data with the secret key corresponding to the session key when the session key is received together with a security data request key from a security data receiver, and provide the decoded security data to the security data receiver.
US08549282B2	Method and system for monitoring encrypted data transmissions A method for efficiently decrypting asymmetric SSL pre-master keys is divided into a key agent component that runs in user mode, and an SSL driver running in kernel mode. The key agent can take advantage of multiple threads for decoding keys in a multi-processor environment, while the SSL driver handles the task of symmetric decryption of the SSL encrypted data stream. The method is of advantage in applications such as firewalls with deep packet inspection in which all encrypted data traffic passing through the firewall must be decrypted for inspection.
US08549281B2	System and methods for enabling customer network control in third-party computing environments The present invention relates to a system and methods for enabling a user control in third-party computing environments or cloud computing via a virtual private network created by a control module, which contains parameters defined by the user. The system and methods are used to create a fault tolerant virtual private network that allows user control over addressing, security encryption, routing, and the enablement of multicast protocols, regardless of the prohibition set by the third-party computing environment.
US08549276B2	Universal operating system to hardware platform interface for gaming machines Gaming machines and systems having a universal interface layer linking a gaming platform to a hardware platform are disclosed. In particular, the universal interface layer is configured such that the gaming platform is hardware platform independent and such that the hardware platform is gaming platform independent. Platform independence can facilitate the interchangeability of one platform without a corresponding need to modify the other platform. The gaming platform can include various gaming modules and an operating system, while the universal interface layer can include firmware, various additional gaming modules, hardware specific drivers and various APIs to facilitate communication between the gaming platform and other universal interface layer components. A safe storage manager can be included to utilize a non-volatile storage component to store data regarding a gaming machine state, with the state being recoverable after a substantial interruption to the machine.
US08549274B2	Distributive cache accessing device and method for accelerating to boot remote diskless computers A distributive cache accessing device for accelerating booting remote diskless computers mounted in a diskless computer equipped with WAN-bootable hardware, such as an iSCSI host bus adapter (HBA), allows to access data required to boot the diskless computers or run application programs thereon from an iSCSI target or other diskless computers having the distributive cache accessing device via a network. The retrieved iSCSI data blocks are temporarily stored in the local distributive cache accessing device. If any other diskless computer requests for the iSCSI data blocks, the temporarily stored iSCSI data blocks can be accessible to the diskless computer. Given installation of a large number of diskless computers, the network traffic of the iSCSI target is alleviated, and booting remote diskless computer is accelerated.
US08549270B2	Self-restoring on-board information system This invention relates to an on-board information system, including a central processing unit; a first non-rewritable memory containing a boot program; a volatile memory; and a second non-rewritable memory containing an operating system as well as a set of executable files. The boot program is configured to load the operating system and at least a portion of the executable files into the volatile memory when the on-board information system is initialized.
US08549269B2	Method, apparatus or software for processing exceptions produced by an application program A method, apparatus and software is disclosed in which original exceptions issued by an application program are encoded as substitute exceptions with associated metadata identifying the original exception so as to enable to enable a first application program receiving the exception but not arranged to process the original exception to process the substitute exception and to enable a second application program receiving the exception and arranged to process the original exception to extract and process that original exception.
US08549261B2	Parallel computing apparatus and parallel computing method Computational unit area selecting units, each of which is provided in individual multiple cores, sequentially select uncomputed computational unit areas in a computational area. Computing units, each of which is provided in the individual multiple cores, perform computation for the selected computational unit areas. In addition, the computing units write computational results in a memory device which is accessible from each of the multiple cores. Computational result transmitting unit of the core performs computational result acquisition and transmission processing in a different time period with respect to each of multiple computational result transmission areas. The computational result acquisition processing is for acquiring, from the memory device, computational results related to the computational result transmission areas.
US08549253B2	Integrated storage virtualization and switch system A system integrates an intelligent storage switch with a flexible virtualization system to enable the intelligent storage switch to provide efficient service of file and block protocol data access requests for information stored on the system. A storage operating system executing on a storage system coupled to the switch implements the virtualization system to provide a unified view of storage to clients by logically organizing the information as named files, directories and logical unit numbers. The virtualization system may be embodied as a file system having a write allocator configured to provide a flexible block numbering policy to the storage switch that addresses volume management capabilities, such as storage virtualization.
US08549251B1	Methods and apparatus for efficient modification of values within computing registers In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a register having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion of the register has multiple bits and the second portion of the register has multiple bits. Each bit from the multiple bits of the first portion of the register is associated with a bit from the multiple bits of the second portion of the register such that a bit from the multiple bits of the first portion of the register is set for its associated bit from the multiple bits of the second portion of the register to be written.
US08549245B2	De-duplication in a virtualized storage environment A data de-duplication application de-duplicates redundant data in the pooled storage capacity of a virtualized storage environment. The virtualized storage environment includes a plurality of storage devices and a virtualization or abstraction layer that aggregates all or a portion of the storage capacity of each storage device into a single pool of storage capacity, all or portions of which can be allocated to one or more host systems. For each host system, the virtualization layer presents a representation of at least a portion of the pooled storage capacity wherein the corresponding host system can read and write data. The data de-duplication application identifies redundant data in the pooled storage capacity and replaces it with one or more pointers pointing to a single instance of the data. The de-duplication application can operate on fixed or variable size blocks of data and can de-duplicate data either post-process or in-line.
US08549244B2	Device and method of copying data between disks having equal or different rotational rates A data copying device that copies data stored in a first data storage device to a second data storage device is disclosed. The data copying device includes a data reading unit that reads data that has an amount determined based on a number of a plurality of logical volumes included in the first data storage device storing the data to be copied and an amount of data to be transferred from each of the logical volumes, a storage unit that stores the data read by the data reading unit, and a data transfer unit that transfers the data stored in the storage unit to the second storage device.
US08549243B2	Regeneration of deleted data To prevent loss of a data volume by unintended deletion, including various versions of the data volume, the data is preserved, and, when needed, is regenerated at a different volume address than that of the deleted volume. In a computer-implemented data storage system, a method responds to a received command to delete a volume of data identified by a volume address, preserving data of the volume prior to deletion, and generates a unique token associated with the volume and version of the volume as of the deletion. The unique token is communicated as associated with the received delete command. The method responds to a received command to regenerate the data of the deleted volume, generating a command to find the data identified by the unique token, and creating a new, different, volume address for the data of the preserved deleted volume, thereby keeping both volume versions.
US08549236B2	Storage subsystem with multiple non-volatile memory arrays to protect against data losses A storage subsystem contains multiple non-volatile memory arrays that are accessible to a host system when the storage subsystem is connected thereto. The storage subsystem implements commands and/or modes for enabling the host system to create and use backup copies of files, such that the host system can recover when files become corrupted or otherwise lost. In one embodiment, the storage subsystem presents the non-volatile memory arrays to the host's operating system as distinct storage devices (e.g., ATA device 0 and 1), and implements special commands for copying data between these storage devices. The subsystem may alternatively present the memory arrays to the host operating system as a single storage device. The storage subsystem may have a standard form factor, such as a form factor commonly used for memory cards.
US08549234B2	Memory controller and methods A memory controller that allows shared access to a memory device via a plurality of write ports and read ports.A write port includes a data buffer that allows data to be written to a first number of its storage locations at a pre-determined time. A write arbiter is able to read data from a second number of storage locations of a data buffer of a write port at a pre-determined time and write the read data to a memory device.A read port is configured to respond to requests to read data and includes a data buffer. A read arbiter is able to read, at a pre-determined time, data from the memory device on behalf of one of the read ports, and to write the read data into a second number of storage locations of the data buffer of the read port on whose behalf the data was read.
US08549232B2	Information processing device and cache memory control device An information processor includes processing units each processes an out-of-order memory access and includes a cache memory, an instruction port that holds instructions for accessing data in the cache memory, a first determinator that validates a first flag when a request for invalidating cache data is received after a target data of a load instruction is transferred from the cache memory and a load instruction having a cache index identical to that of a target address of the received invalidating instruction exists, a second determinator that validates a second flag when the target data of the load instruction in the instruction port is transferred after a cache miss of the target data occurred, and a re-execution determinator that instructs to re-execute an instruction that follows the load instruction if the first and the second flags are valid when a load instruction in the instruction port has been completed.
US08549229B2	Systems and methods for managing an upload of files in a shared cache storage system Systems and methods for managing a storage device are disclosed. Generally, in a host to which a storage device is operatively coupled, wherein the storage device includes a cache for storing one or more discardable files, a file is identified to be uploaded to an external location. A determination is made whether sufficient free space exists in the cache to pre-stage the file for upload to the external location and the file is stored in the cache upon determining that sufficient free space exists in the cache to pre-stage the file for upload to the external location, wherein pre-stating prepares a file for opportunistically uploading such file in accordance with an uploading policy.

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