| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US07662129B2 |
Medical device employing liquid crystal block copolymers and method of making the same
A medical device, at least a portion of which is formed from a polymer composition including at least one liquid crystal block copolymer having at least one A block and at least one B block wherein the A block is formed of mesogenic repeat units and the B block is a soft block. |
| US07662128B2 |
Steerable needle
The invention relates to a needle guidance system provided by a needle with a steerable tip. The needle has a cannula and a stylet. The stylet adjacent to its tip has a naturally curved portion. The stylet is movable in two degrees of freedom with respect to the cannula—axial translation and axial rotation with respect to the cannula axis. When extended, the stylet curves off-axis and provides cannula tip steering. Driving and/or steering systems may be provided to the orientation and relatively move the stylet. |
| US07662127B2 |
Breastshield with multi-pressure and expansible chamber construction, related breastpump and method
Inner and outer shield parts of a breastshield are joined to form an enclosure defining a pressurizable chamber. The inner shield part has at least a portion thereof movable relative to the outer shield part when the chamber is subject to a negative or a positive pressure. A first pressure port is in communication respectively with the chamber for connection with a fluid pressure source of a first pressure. A second pressure port is in communication with the interior for connection with a pressure source of a second pressure. The breastshield is thus capable of being subjected to two different pressures, such as a positive pressure to move (expand) the chamber into the interior. The invention takes the form of a variety of different embodiments of breastshields and breastpumps for breastmilk pumping having sundry novel attributes and advantages. |
| US07662124B2 |
System and method for multiple injection procedures on heart vessels
An angiographic injector system and a method of controllably delivering medical fluid to a patient from an angiographic injector system are disclosed. A multiple processor control system is used to actively control the injection process and to monitor sensed functions of the system. The multiple processors provide dual redundancy safety circuits for critical control functions such as syringe motor drive speed and current. A motor/servo-amplifier nested control function is also disclosed. A unique method and apparatus are disclosed for establishing injection parameter default values just prior to an injection procedure that are based on physiological values of the patient to be treated. The injector system uses an interactive display panel that presents sequenced set-up screens to the user and which enables the user to select injection procedures, parameters and other modes of operation directly through the interactive panel. |
| US07662123B2 |
Uveoscleral drainage device
An ophthalmic shunt implantable in an eye having an elongate body and a conduit for conducting aqueous humor from an anterior chamber of the eye to the suprachoroidal space of the eye. The elongate body has a forward end and an insertion head that extends from the forward end. The insertion head defines a shearing edge suitable for cutting eye tissue engage thereby. The forward end and the insertion head of the body define a shoulder surface. The conduit has a first end defined on a portion of a top surface of the insertion head. The conduit also extends through the body from the forward end to a back end thereof. The first end of the conduit is spaced from the shearing edge and, in one example, from the shoulder of the body. |
| US07662120B2 |
Curved guide mechanism and walk-assisting device
A curved guide mechanism includes a guide unit having an arcuate guide track, and a movable body movably engaged with the guide track via a plurality of engagement elements. The guide track is constituted by a guide groove formed in the guide unit. The movable body is provided with at least three engagement elements including inner engagement elements movably engaged with an inner peripheral rail portion formed on the inner peripheral side of the guide groove, and an outer engagement element movably engaged with an outer peripheral rail portion formed on the outer peripheral side of the guide groove. The engagement elements are spaced apart from one another in a longitudinal direction of the guide groove. |
| US07662119B2 |
Multiple function ratcheting orthotic device
An orthotic device for a joint of a human body at which a body appendage pivots includes a first member able to extend along a posterior portion of the appendage on a first side of the joint and a second member able to extend along a posterior portion of the appendage on a second side of the joint opposite the first side. A connection joining the first member and the second member provides a series of defined positions spaced angularly about an axis at which positions the connection can be alternately locked and released, allows pivoting, selective ratcheting and positioning of the second member relative to the first member about the axis, and can restrict pivoting of the second member relative to the first member within a desired angular range of motion. Notably, this orthotic device uniquely combines multiple joint functions into one convenient device which allows it to be used at different stages of therapy without being replaced or requiring additional equipment. |
| US07662116B2 |
Cover for protecting intravenous entry site
A cover for preventing wetness or contamination of an intravenous site is disclosed. The cover is manufactured in a variety of sizes and can fit on any extremity of the human body. |
| US07662115B2 |
Musculoskeletal loading device
A device for non-invasively mechanically stimulating bone or muscle includes a vibrational energy generator for applying vibrational energy to a first end of a length of a tissue which includes bone and/or muscle. The vibrational energy is for inducing strain in at least one region within the length of tissue. A restraint is disposed opposite the first end of the length to resist translation of the length during operation of the device and to provide loading to the bone or muscle. A connecting structure couples the restraint to the vibrational energy generator. The device does not require gravity to operate and as a result is expected to have applications in space, such as with astronauts, with those having bone ailments such as bed-ridden patients, persons with osteoporosis or disuse atrophy, athletes, recovering bone cancer patients, and persons with muscoskeletal disorders. |
| US07662108B2 |
Biopsy holder for a biopsy cannula
A biopsy holding device for a biopsy cannula to perform transcutaneous biopsies, in particular of hard tissue and bone marrow tissue, uses a wire that can be inserted into the proximal end of a biopsy cannula and can be pushed in between the inner wall of the biopsy cannula and the tissue-removing biopsy cylinder. |
| US07662104B2 |
Method for correction of posture dependence on heart sounds
A system to monitor heart sounds. The system comprises an implantable heart sound sensor operable to produce an electrical signal representative of at least one heart sound, a heart sound sensor interface circuit coupled to the heart sound sensor to produce a heart sound signal, an implantable posture sensor operable to produce an electrical signal representative of a patient's posture, and a controller circuit, coupled to the heart sound sensor interface circuit and the posture circuit. The controller circuit is operable to measure at least one heart sound in correspondence with at least one sensed patient posture. |
| US07662101B2 |
Therapy control based on cardiopulmonary status
Methods and systems provide an approach to therapy control based on assessment of a patient's cardiopulmonary status. Conditions sensed via sensors of an external respiratory therapy device are used to assess a patient's cardiopulmonary status. The respiratory therapy device sensors may be utilized alone or in combination with other sensors to determine cardiopulmonary status of a patient. Therapy delivered to the patient is controlled based on the cardiopulmonary status assessment. For example, therapy delivered to the patient may be initiated, terminated, and/or modified based on the assessed cardiopulmonary status of the patient. Cardiopulmonary status assessment, therapy control, or both, are performed by an implantable device. |
| US07662100B2 |
Ultrasonic diagnostic device
An edge detector executes a process to extract a surface of an inner wall of a left ventricle from a binarized image output from a binarization circuit. A telediastolic edge memory stores an intracardial surface image at the end of ventricular diastole from among intracardial surface images for time phases output from the edge detector. A displacement detector unit detects the amount of displacement for each site of the intracardial surface between time phases from the intracardial surface image at the telediastolic which is output from the telediastolic edge memory, a current intracardial surface image which is output from the edge detector, and a center-of-mass coordinate of the intracardial section at the telediastolic point which is stored in a telediastolic center-of-mass memory. A coloring processor unit applies a coloring process to each site of the surface of the current intracardial surface image based on the amount of displacement and outputs the result to an image synthesizer unit. |
| US07662094B2 |
Optical head assembly with dome, and device for use thereof
A device and system including an optical head assembly and a dome, and a method for use thereof. The optical head assembly includes an illumination portion and an imaging portion and is situated behind the dome. The dome may have an optical system integrated therein. |
| US07662091B2 |
Flexible borescope assembly for inspecting internal turbine components at elevated temperatures
A borescope is received within a housing. The borescope includes a flexible end portion carrying the video head and a housing includes a flexible end portion comprised of ball-socket segments and a tip for following the movement of the flexible end portion of the borescope. Cooling air is provided in an annular passage between the borescope and housing for flow about the borescope to maintain the video head temperature below its temperature limitation. Two cables maintain the ball-socket segments and tip in contact with a transition piece and with one another to enable the flexible borescope end portion to follow the movement of the directionally controlled video head. |
| US07662090B2 |
Endoscope system
An endoscope system includes an endoscope switching device 3 to which a plurality of endoscope devices are simultaneously connected, and an endoscope control device which controls the plurality of endoscope devices via the endoscope switching device 3. The endoscope switching device 3 includes an image combining circuit 73 which combines video signals outputted from the plurality of endoscope devices and creates a combined image signal for simultaneously displaying the plurality of endoscope images, and a switching device control unit 75 which controls the image combining circuit 73. The switching device control unit 75 controls the operation for distributing a control command from a remote controller or PC to the corresponding endoscope device based on a character code sent from a system control unit in the endoscope control device. Simultaneously, the switching device control unit 75 controls the image combining circuit 73 via a serial I/F. |
| US07662089B2 |
Endoscope suitable to body cavity
An endoscope for treatment suitable to the treatment in a body cavity comprises an elongated soft observing optical unit having at least an observing optical system; and a unit inserting tool having a unit inserting channel in which the observing optical unit is inserted and a treatment tool inserting channel in which a treatment tool is inserted. The unit inserting channel of the unit inserting tool has a branching portion at which the unit inserting channel is branched into a first inserting channel and a second inserting channel. An observing window which is arranged at the end opening of the first inserting channel is provided in a surface at the distal-end and an observing window which is arranged at the end opening of the second inserting channel is provided in a surface at the halfway portion. The unit inserting tool comprises an optical unit guiding port for guiding the observing optical unit and at least one treatment tool lead-in port in which a treatment tool is inserted at the proximal end portion and a treatment tool lead-out port which is communicated with the treatment tool inserting channel that extends from the treatment tool lead-in port at least in one of the surface at the distal-end and the surface at the halfway portion. |
| US07662085B2 |
Protective sheath apparatus and method for use with a heart wall actuation system for the natural heart
An actuation system for assisting the operation of the natural heart includes a framework for interfacing with a natural heart and which is coupled with tissue of the heart. An actuator element is adapted to be coupled to the framework and is configured for extending along a portion of a heart wall exterior surface. The actuator element is operable for deforming the portion of the heart wall to effect a reduction in the volume of the heart. A protective sheath is configured to extend along the heart wall between the actuator element and the heart wall portion for protecting the heart wall portion from damage by the actuator element. The protective sheath is flexible and operable to transmit, to the heart wall portion, a force thereon by the actuator element for indenting the heart wall portion. |
| US07662083B2 |
Apparatus and method for brachytherapy radiation distribution mapping
An apparatus and method for in vivo and ex vivo control, detection and measurements of radiation in brachytherapy accomplished through scintillating material detection. One example includes scintillating fibers placed along a delivery guide such as a catheter for measuring applied radiation levels during brachytherapy treatments, sensing locations of a radiation source or providing feedback of sensed radiation. The catheter may also be a mammosite type catheter. The scintillating fibers provide light output levels correlating to the levels of radiation striking the fibers. The output may then be used to measure and compute radiation distribution maps using Monte Carlo reconstruction simulation. Adjustments to a radiation treatment may be made as needed based on actual and measured applied dosages. Characteristics of a radiation source may also be measured using scintillating materials. |
| US07662082B2 |
Expandable brachytherapy device
A brachytherapy device for the provision of brachytherapy is disclosed. The brachytherapy device has at least one source lumen located outside a movable surface of the device. The source lumen may be secured to the movable outer surface in a manner whereby relative movement of the source lumen relative to the movable outer surface is permitted. The brachytherapy device is inserted into a body cavity. After insertion, the movable surface is moved to position the at least one source lumen closer to the tissue boundary of the cavity. One or more sources of radiation are then placed within the at least one source lumen to provide a customizable treatment. Also disclosed are methods for providing brachytherapy via body cavities. |
| US07662079B2 |
Motorized roller
A motorized roller is provided, in which processing of the power transmission section thereof can be performed simply and with good productivity, and the processing precision can also be improved. The motorized roller includes a motor and a reducer which are disposed inside a roller body. Rotations of the motor are reduced by the reducer and transmitted to the roller body. In this motorized roller, a rotor connected to the roller body so as to transmit power of the reducer to the roller body is disposed inside the roller body, and the roller body is configured to be divided at a power transmission section thereof between the rotor and the roller body. |
| US07662078B2 |
Method for creating a uniform nip pressure utilizing a compliant pressure roller
The present invention provides a method for creating uniform pressure at a nip comprising the acts of providing a stationary inner core, pivotally mounting a plurality of shoes to the stationary inner core, creating a plurality of annular chambers wherein each of the shoes occupies one of the chambers. In addition, the method further provides filling each of the chambers with a magneto-rheological fluid, surrounding the plurality of chambers, shoes, and stationary inner core with a thin, metal, rotatable shell; detecting a deformation in the shell and changing a magnetic field in at least one of the chambers to change a viscosity of the magneto-rheological fluid to correct the deformation. |
| US07662074B2 |
Exercise machine having rotatable weight selection index
The present invention is a weight exercise machine for use by a user. The machine comprises an exercise member, a plurality of weights, and an index. The user exerts an exercise force against the exercise member when using the machine to exercise. The index is rotated to operably couple the exercise member to at least one of the weight plates such that the displacement of the exercise member causes the at least one of the weight plates to displace. The plurality of weight plates includes a first weight plate type and a second weight plate type having configurations and masses that differ. The index allows selection of different combinations of weight plates for operable coupling to the exercise member. |
| US07662073B1 |
Apparatus and method for lifting weights
A dynamically adjustable weight lifting aid that eliminates hand grip strength as the limiting factor in weight lifting, including a strap and a slidable sleeve encircling the strap. The strap has a wrist loop at one end and an attachment loop at the other end. The attachment loop is suitable for removably attaching the strap to a weight bar or other handle on a weight lifting system or machine. The wrist loop is suitable for receiving a person's wrist. Specifically, the person's hand is inserted through the wrist loop, and the person's palm contacts the slidable sleeve. The wrist loop cradles the person's wrist, and the effective diameter of the wrist loop is dynamically adjustable by the person's hand by sliding the slidable sleeve in either direction along the length of the strap. The person may then lift a weight of the weight lifting system by pulling on the strap. |
| US07662064B2 |
Personal training device using GPS data
A personal training device (10) adapted to assist a user in reaching performance goals, navigating, and accumulating performance statistics. In a preferred embodiment, the device broadly comprises a housing (10); an attachment mechanism (30); a GPS component (40); a user interface (50), including an input portion (52) and an output portion (54); a processor (60), including a timer (62) and a memory element (64); a data interface (70), including an input portion (72) and an output portion (74); an audio component (80); and a power supply (90). The device (10) is adapted to store goal information, monitor performance using GPS-derived data, and communicate performance information. |
| US07662061B2 |
Transmission
The transmission comprises a sun gear fixed to an input shaft, four pinions, and a carrier part connected to an output shaft. Each pinion has a planetary gear engaged with the sun gear, and planetary gears having the number of teeth different from that of that planetary gear. Each internal gear engaged with these planetary gears can perform a independent rotating motion by the rotation of the input shaft. The braking force is selectively applied to the rotating motion of each internal gear by pressing breaking part by the actuator in selecting a gear for gearshift. Here, the braking force is gradually increased to stop the rotating motion. As a result, the a power interrupter becomes unnecessary and the miniaturization of the transmission can be attained. |
| US07662059B2 |
Lubrication of windmilling journal bearings
A support shaft provides lubrication to a journal bearing during windmilling operation of a gear set. A primary oil pump provides oil from an oil supply during driven operation of the fan, and a secondary oil pump provides oil from an internal sump during windmilling operation of the fan. During driven operation of the fan, oil is pumped with the primary oil pump through a primary oil flow path to an outer surface of the support shaft. During windmilling fan operation, oil is pumped from an internal sump with a secondary oil pump through the secondary oil flow path. The secondary oil flow path has a smaller flow capacity, and the secondary oil pump is a smaller capacity pump. |
| US07662058B2 |
Bull-wheel in several parts able to be reassembled on site for a rope transport installation
A bull-wheel for a rope transport installation comprises a hub and a peripheral rim joined to the hub by a metal connecting framework composed of a perforated central disk strengthened by rigidifying arms. The rim is radially subdivided into several circular segments assembled to one another by first fixing members. The hub is fixedly secured to a support enclosure comprising at least one coaxial plate of polygonal cross-section confining at the ends bearing surfaces for the central disk and the radial rigidifying arms assembled by second fixing members. The assembly is arranged so as to distribute the radial forces in the axis of the rope uniformly regardless of the angular position of the bull-wheel when the latter is driven in rotation. |
| US07662055B2 |
Lacrosse head weight training device
The present invention relates to devices for physical training purposes and specifically to training weights for use on a lacrosse head. This weight training device for lacrosse distributes weight uniformly around the entire perimeter of a lacrosse head, is easy to attach to lacrosse heads from multiple manufacturers, is unobtrusive to be used during ball handling, and is available in multiple weight models to address the needs of beginners to professionals. |
| US07662054B2 |
Hockey shooting and return system training devise
Hockey Shooting and Return System Training Devise used by hockey players which provides a very time and space efficient method for practicing ones shot. It is efficient for it returns the shot hockey puck back to the shooter relying only on the speed of the puck and the geometry of the return chute to accomplish this. In addition, the devise records and displays the current shot speed, and stores data of shots, so additional statistical data can be later viewed. The devise can be used for on ice training, and also for off ice training. |
| US07662051B2 |
Golf head
Present invention is relative to a golf head. The golf head includes a main part. The main part that is made of metal includes a body portion and a neck portion. A hitting part, which is made of metal that is harder than the main part, has a face portion and a bottom portion. The bottom portion that extrudes from the bottom of the face portion is modeled with the face portion integral whole. The hitting part connects with the body portion of the main part by the rim. The back of the face portion and the top of the bottom portion, which closes to the face portion, suspend in midair. The connective position of the body portion and the rear of the bottom portion crosses the central line of the bottom of the golf head and is partial to rear. |
| US07662050B2 |
Iron-type golf clubs
A set of iron-type golf clubs includes long irons with channel back configurations and short irons with cavity back configurations. The rear face configurations transition from channel backs through to pure cavity backs for increased performance continuum for the set. Additional design parameters for the set may also be systematically varied through the set, such as groove type and depth, loft angle, cavity volume, hitting face roughness, and sole width. At least one of the clubs of the set includes a sandwich-type construction for the hitting face having a dampening element disposed between a hitting face insert and a lightweight reinforcing core. In one embodiment, at least one club head is oversized. |
| US07662048B2 |
Golf swing training device
The present invention is a golf swing training device which guides the golfer's leading leg in an arc around the trailing heel, maintaining a minimum distance between the leading leg and trailing heel. This device guides the golfer's leg action in a 3-dimensional manner to produce a coiling motion on the backswing, which maintains a consistent spine angle as recommended by modern golf instructors. This device comprises a leg brace with flexible cuff which attaches to a golfer's leading leg above the knee, an adjustable strut, and a heel base for the golfer's trailing foot which tilts slightly in the leading direction. For left-handed golfers, this device substitutes a heel base with opposite swivel placement and tilt. This invention resets automatically to the correct position during practice sessions. The benefit for a golfer of using this invention is increased consistency, accuracy, and power. |
| US07662046B2 |
Clamping fixture for bouncing apparatus
An improved clamping fixture for bouncing apparatus to clamp two ends of a resilient stem of a bouncing apparatus includes two coupling members and two anchor members. The two coupling members are made from plastics and have respectively a first latch member and a second latch member to form a clamping space, and anchor bosses on two outer sides pivotally engageable with the anchor members. The two coupling members have coupling forces to clamp the two ends of the resilient stem, and the two anchor members are coupled on the upper end and lower end of the bouncing apparatus. The resilient stem can be positioned securely at two ends of the bouncing apparatus to facilitate bouncing operation without being scraped, damaged or fractured. Durability is greater. |
| US07662045B2 |
Play set slide
A slide assembly and method of assembling a slide assembly are disclosed for use in conjunction with a recreation structure. The slide assembly includes a pair of side rails with internal grooves along lengths thereof and a slide bed located between the side rails with side margins thereof received within the grooves of the side rails. The slide assembly also includes reinforcements extending between the side rails underneath the slide bed, with ends of each reinforcement received within a recess in each of the side rails. Fasteners, such as screws, selectively secure side margin portions of the slide bed and ends of each reinforcement to each of the side rails. The method of assembling a slide assembly includes inserting each side margin of a slide bed into grooves of the side rails and attaching the slide bed and side rails to a recreation structure. |
| US07662043B2 |
Torsional vibration damper for a hydrodynamic clutch arrangement
The torsional vibration damper acting between a drive and a housing of a hydrodynamic clutch arrangement includes a flywheel mass element, a drive-side damping element having a first side connected nonrotatably to the flywheel mass element, a takeoff-side damping element, the second side of the drive-side damping element being connected by elastic elements to the takeoff-side damping element for rotation in common, the elastic elements also allowing a small rotation of the drive-side damping element relative to the takeoff-side damping element, and an axially flexible drive plate. The takeoff-side damping element can be connected to the housing of the hydrodynamic clutch arrangement nonrotatably but with a certain freedom of axial movement by means of the drive plate. |
| US07662041B2 |
Game system
A game system includes a game machine in which first and second cartridges can be simultaneously inserted. In a ROM of the first cartridge, a first game program is stored. When data is stored in a reserved area in a flash memory of the first cartridge, the first game program can be executed using the data. For example, when both of the cartridges are inserted simultaneously in the game machine, according to an instruction of a player, a writing program stored in the ROM of one of the cartridges is executed, and additional data stored in the ROM of the second cartridge, for example, image data used for generating a game screen is written into the flash memory of the first cartridge. |
| US07662035B1 |
High efficiency solar powered fan
Highly efficient ventilation fans for exhausting air out from underneath roofs, and for being portable in use and application. The fan can include optimized airflow blades having a twisted configuration that can move at a rotational speed operation of up to approximately 500 rpm. The approximately 15 inch diameter twisted blades can be premolded on a hub that together form a single molded unit of plastic. They can also be fabricated using metal. The unit can be mounted in an exhaust outlet having a conical diffuser on or adjacent to a roof. Alternatively, the fan can be portable for use most anywhere there is a need for ventilation and moving of air. The blades can rotate by a solar powered motor, where the blades and motor can generate up to approximately 1040 cfm while using no more than approximately 16 Watts. |
| US07662033B1 |
Poultry breast saw apparatus
A breast saw apparatus (10) is used for cutting a poultry breast having a keel bone. A conveyor (30) moves the poultry breast through the apparatus (10). A bottom member (80) is supported above the conveyor (30). The bottom member (80) is configured for the poultry breast moving along the bottom member's length and supporting the poultry breast on its keel bone. An elongate top member (90) is positioned above the bottom member (30). A blade (70) is utilized to cut the poultry breast and the poultry breast is held straight between the top member (90) and the bottom member (80) as the poultry breast is moved by the conveyor (30) to the blade (70) for cutting. |
| US07662030B2 |
Method for humanely stunning and slaughtering poultry using controlled low atmospheric pressure
The present disclosure generally relates to a method for humanely stunning and slaughtering poultry, and more particularly to a method for stunning and slaughtering poultry using a low atmospheric pressure system. In particular, the birds are placed into a sealed chamber and the pressure in the chamber is reduced at a continuous rate to a target decompression pressure and maintained at the decompression pressure for a period of time until a state of death is obtained. The low atmospheric pressure slaughter is more humane than traditional slaughter techniques and results in excellent meat quality. |
| US07662026B2 |
Valve gasket sealing surface refurbishing methods and systems
In one embodiment, a device to resurface a sealing surface of a fluid connector in a fluid delivery component is provided. The device may include a housing adapted to be reversibly coupled to the fluid connector. Included may be an arbor which is at least partially disposed in the housing, and both rotationally and axially movable within the housing. The arbor may have a first end proximal to the sealing surface and a second distal end adapted to receive rotational actuation. A resurfacing head may be positioned at the first end of the arbor, and may have a resurfacing face that includes a circular resurfacing groove adapted to fit a circular ridge on the sealing surface of the connector. Rotational contact between the groove and the ridge may cause the resurfacing of the sealing surface. The housing may keep the resurfacing head and the sealing surface aligned during the resurfacing. |
| US07662025B2 |
Polishing apparatus including separate retainer rings
A polishing apparatus includes a polishing pad for polishing a wafer and a polishing head for holding the wafer. The polishing head includes a retainer ring, a membrane sheet, and a head body. The retainer ring retains the wafer in a horizontal direction. The membrane sheet depresses the wafer to the polishing pad. The head body supports the retainer ring and the membrane sheet. The retainer ring includes a fixed retainer ring and a released retainer ring. The released retainer ring is interposed between the inner periphery of the fixed retainer ring and the periphery of the wafer to retain the wafer in the horizontal direction. |
| US07662022B2 |
Polishing pad, platen, method of monitoring, method of manufacturing, and method of detecting
A polishing pad, platen, method of monitoring, method of manufacturing, and method of detecting using a pseudo window area, where the pseudo window area has a thickness less than a thickness of a polishing layer and a thickness greater than zero. |
| US07662020B2 |
Method for manufacturing surface-coated cutting insert
This method for manufacturing a surface-coated cutting insert includes clamping and holding a surface-coated cutting insert with a pair of rotary shafts which are rotatable around an axis, and jetting an abrasive fluid to the surface of the surface-coated cutting insert using at least one blasting gun while rotating the surface-coated cutting insert, thereby, conducting wet blasting. |
| US07662012B2 |
Throwable toy having spring assisted motion
A throwable device consisting of a generally tube-shaped body having a baffle defined on one end of the body, wherein the baffle defines an opening therein restricting the flow of air through the tube-shaped body, thereby providing aerodynamic stability to the device. The body of the device also has a spring integral therewith, which allows the compression of the body of the device. The device is propelled away from the thrower by holding the device in a compressed position with both hands and propelling the device away from the body of the thrower in a motion similar to a two-handed basketball pass, with a combination of the throwing force and the decompression of the spring determining the speed, distance and trajectory of the device. |
| US07662010B2 |
Method for fabricating vacuum container and method for fabricating image-forming apparatus using the vacuum container
A method for fabricating an image display apparatus includes disposing a frame member though a first joining material on a main surface of a first substrate on which an electron emitting element is to be disposed, and heating the first joining material to be softened and cooling the first joining material to be solidified, to join the frame member with the first substrate through the first joining material. The method also includes disposing, on the main surface, a spacer provided with an antistatic film on a surface thereof, disposing a second substrate provided with an anode electrode opposed to the main surface, and joining the second substrate with the frame member through a second joining material at a temperature lower than a heating temperature at the joining of the frame member with the first substrate through the first joining material. |
| US07662009B2 |
Organic electronic device, method of producing the same, and method of operating the same
An organic electronic device is provided that utilizes a conductive organic thin film having a conductive network in the channel region. The conductive network comprises an organic molecular group made up of organic molecules each having a light-responsive group or a polar group bonded together by conjugated bonds. Thus, high integration and high-speed response is made possible. In addition, a method of producing a functional organic thin film fixed to a specified portion of a substrate surface by covalent bonds is provided. This method comprises preliminarily treating the substrate by performing an active hydrogen exposure treatment on the specified portion (or an active hydrogen removing treatment on the portion other than the specified portion) and reacting the active hydrogens of the specified portion with organic molecules. Thus, a high precision functional organic thin film, even one formed to the micron pattern level, can be provided. |
| US07662007B2 |
Method of fabricating sealing substrate
A sealing substrate has first and second substrates. A hollow portion is formed in a first surface of the first substrate. The first substrate has a plate portion that forms a bottom surface of a hollow portion and a frame portion that forms an inner wall surface of the hollow portion. The second substrate is affixed to a second surface of the first substrate. The second substrate is formed of a material having a lower specific gravity than that of the first substrate. |
| US07662001B2 |
Electrical connector assembly
An electrical connector assembly including a mounting ring having an interior region, a sealing surface at one axial end for securing to a surface, and a securement rim at an opposite axial end. A connector body having engagement surfaces can engage and seal to the mounting ring. The connector body can include electrical terminals extending into the interior region of the mounting ring for engaging mating electrical terminals. |
| US07662000B2 |
Electric connector
An electric connector has an insulative housing, a plurality of probe contacts and a plurality of terminals. The insulative housing has a plurality of mounting holes and a plurality of mounting slots. The mounting slots communicate respectively with and are perpendicularly to the mounting slots. The probe contacts are mounted respectively in the mounting holes. The terminals are mounted respectively in the mounting slots and respectively hold the probe contacts and each terminal has a fastening portion. The fastening portion is perpendicularly to and securely holds one probe contact. The terminal with the fastening portion is mounted perpendicularly on the probe contact instead of sliding longitudinally along the tubular body. Therefore, the terminal would not wear the probe contact. |
| US07661997B2 |
Pin to CB system
Contacts (16) of a circuit component (12) have contact top regions (30) that extend down close to the upper face of a circuit board, and have contact inboard regions (32) that each lies primarily in a plated circuit board hole (34), wherein each contact is formed of bent sheet metal. The contact has a box-shaped cross-section along most of its length, which includes rear and front walls (40, 41) and first and second side walls (42, 44). Along the inboard region, the first side wall has a forward extension (90) that is bent by 90° to form a front wall with a free edge (94) that lies against the front (52) of the second side wall. Along a lower portion of the top region the side walls have forward projections (64, 66) that form upper shoulders (60, 62) for receiving downward forces to press the inboard portions down into the circuit board holes. |
| US07661996B2 |
Electrical connection terminal for connection hole and engagement structure of electronic component including the same
An electrical connection terminal for a connection hole includes: a base-side end portion (310) having a predetermined width; a retaining portion (313) having an increasing width wider than the predetermined width of the base-side end portion (310), the retaining portion (313) being formed integrally with the base-side end portion (310); and an insertion taper portion (315) having a taper width narrower than the increasing width of the retaining portion (313) to reach a leading end portion, the insertion taper portion (315) being formed integrally with the retaining portion (313); in which the insertion taper portion (315) is composed of a plurality of taper portions taper angles of which change so as to increase along an insertion direction. |
| US07661994B2 |
Universal connector assembly and method of manufacturing
An advanced modular plug connector assembly incorporating an insert assembly disposed in the rear portion of the connector housing. In one embodiment, the connector has a plurality of ports in multi-row configuration, and the insert assembly includes a substrate adapted to receive one or more electronic components such as choke coils, transformers, or other signal conditioning elements or magnetics. The substrate also interfaces with the conductors of two modular ports of the connector, and is removable from the housing such that an insert assembly of a different electronics or terminal configuration can be substituted therefor. In this fashion, the connector can be configured to a plurality of different standards (e.g., Gigabit Ethernet and 10/100). In yet another embodiment, the connector assembly comprises a plurality of light sources (e.g., LEDs) received within the housing. Methods for manufacturing the aforementioned embodiments are also disclosed. |
| US07661992B1 |
Safe power plugging mechanism
A safe power plugging mechanism is configured on a power base with a pivot joint, wherein a male plug with conducting plates at its inside is configured on the pivot joint and is electrically connected with the pivot joint. A half-tile-shaped insulating tile configured outside the pivot joint axis is integral with the enclosure of the male plug, and partly encloses the pivot joint axis. A power connection plate is configured inside the power base to electrically connect the conducting plates of the male plug when the male plug is turned to a specific angle. The safe plugging mechanism also includes a female plug, which is configured at its inside with two conducting poles fitting the conducting plates of the male plug. The safe power plugging mechanism adopts a method of electric connection through a pivot joint axis which maintains connection at a specific angle and insulation at other angles. |
| US07661991B1 |
Electrical connector
An electrical connector mating with a mating connector has an insulating housing. The insulating housing defines a ring-shaped insertion recess in a front surface thereof and a mating portion surrounded by the insertion recess. The mating portion has a plurality of insertion holes passing through the insulating housing. A plurality of terminals is received in the insulating housing. The terminal defines a fixing plate. One end of the fixing plate extends frontward to form two spaced apart connection arms. A soldering portion extending from the other end of the fixing plate extends out of the insulating housing. The connection arms and the fixing plate are restricted in a rear of the insertion hole. |
| US07661989B1 |
Memory card connector
A memory card connector adapted for receiving a memory card includes an insulating housing, a plurality of terminals, a first shielding shell and a second shielding shell. The insulating housing has a bottom wall, a rear wall, two opposite first and second sidewalls, all of which together define a receiving space therebetween for receiving the memory card. Two resisting portions are respectively positioned at two opposite sides of the receiving space adjacent to the first and second sidewalls and spaced from the bottom wall for respectively pressing against two opposite sides of the memory card. Each of the terminals has a contact portion projecting into the receiving space for being electrically connected with the memory card. The first shielding shell is mounted to the first sidewall and the second shielding shell is mounted to the second sidewall to be spaced away from the first shielding shell. |
| US07661988B1 |
Card connector
A card connector adapted for accommodating a memory card includes a dielectric housing, a plurality of terminals received in the dielectric housing, and a shell. The dielectric housing defines a plurality of terminal grooves for receiving the terminals. The shell shielding the dielectric housing has a top board and two sideboards extending downward from two opposite sides of the top board. The junction of the top board and at least one of the two sideboards is depressed inward to form a connecting board of substantially L-shaped cross-section. The top board, the two sideboards and the connecting board of the shell and the dielectric housing define a space therebetween for receiving the memory card therein. |
| US07661983B2 |
Lighting connector
A lighting connector including a terminal enclosure, an adapter circuit board and an insulating layer. Multiple terminals are enclosed in the terminal enclosure. A first side of the adapter circuit board is provided with multiple terminal contacts with which the terminals are respectively soldered. A second side of the adapter circuit board is provided with multiple wire contacts with which multiple signal wires are respectively soldered. The insulating layer encloses the terminal enclosure, the adapter circuit board and the signal wires. The insulating layer is made of a transparent material. At least one light-emitting element is arranged on the adapter circuit board. Two electrode pins of the light-emitting element are connected to a set of printed power circuits of the adapter circuit board. After turned on, the light-emitting element emits light which goes through the transparent insulating layer to outer side. |
| US07661980B2 |
Cable connector assembly with wire termination guide
A cable connector assembly with a wire termination guide facilitating connection of multiple cable connectors to a plug-type connector in a reduced amount of time. |
| US07661979B2 |
Jacket sleeve with grippable tabs for a cable connector
A jacket sleeve with grippable tabs provides protection to exposed portions of cable that are connected to an electrical connection. The jacket sleeve can be made as part of the electrical connector or may be connected subsequent to its creation through the use of glues or other adhesives. The jacket sleeve can be made of a material that is more pliable than the electrical connector, making it easier for a lineperson to place the sleeve over an exposed portion of cable. The jacket sleeve can include holes or slots either in the sleeve or in tabs that are attached to the sleeve. A lineperson can place one or more fingers into each hole or slot in order to get a better grip on the sleeve and pull the sleeve over the exposed portion of cable with less slippage and effort on the part of the lineperson. |
| US07661975B2 |
Electrical socket connector with metal reinforced device between cover and base
An electrical connector socket, comprising an insulating base defining a sector and a surrounding portion surrounding the electric area, a cover slidably mounted on the base, a metal reinforced device with a rectangular frame sandwiched between the base and the cover, and an actuation mechanism is also pivotally sandwiched between the base and the cover. The sector divided into several sections that each has at least one set of edge to form at least one channel thereon, and the metal reinforced device defines a bridge portion corresponding to the channel of the base. When the rotation of actuation mechanism, the metal reinforced device sustain greater forces exert on the base and the cover, the base and cover are resistant to deformation and maintain the effective displacement of the cover respect to the base. |
| US07661972B2 |
Electrical connector
An electrical connector for connecting a flat conductive member includes a plurality of terminals formed of a flat metal plate arranged on a housing in a direction perpendicular to a plate direction. Each of the terminals has a contact portion disposed at a position for receiving the flat conductive member to be inserted into a receptacle portion of the housing. A metal member having an engaging portion is attached to the housing for engaging an engagement portion of the flat conductive member, so that the flat conductive member does not come off backward. A pressing member is supported on at least one of the housing and the terminals to be rotatable. The metal member further includes an attaching portion attached to the housing. The metal member is attached to the housing such that the attaching portion is situated in parallel to a plate surface of the terminals. |
| US07661971B1 |
Card connector
A card connector has a housing, a sliding member that is designed to receive a card, and a latching member that is connected to the housing. The sliding member is slidable relative to the housing. The latching member is designed to engage the card to prevent the card from being removed from the housing. |
| US07661967B2 |
Retractable memory drive
A retractable memory drive in accordance with the present invention comprises a top casing, a middle carrier, an electronic device such as a USB thumb drive, and a bottom casing. A positioning device on the middle carrier has a portion that protrudes outside the casing and operates like a button. The location of the positioning device where the button is located has two key attributes. First, there is a protrusion that acts as a lock with the casing. Second, the area below the button is not rigid and so it gives way when pressure is applied to the button. The top and bottom casings provide a casing structure which includes two detents. One detent is for locking the device with the connector in the extended position, and one detent for locking the device with the connector retracted in the in position. This allows for just one press of the extended portion of the positioning device to unlock it from its present position. When the device reaches its new position it will automatically lock. There are also guide rails that allow the middle carrier to remain in an appropriate position. |
| US07661964B2 |
Connecting parts and multilayer wiring board
A connecting part for ensuring a secure connection includes first connecting terminals that are arranged on one face of a supporting member and second connecting terminals that are arranged on the back face of the supporting member. The supporting member may have an elastic body. The connecting terminals are interconnected by conductive films which are formed on the face of the supporting member. Connecting parts are arranged between circuit boards on which electronic parts are mounted, and the circuit boards are mutually fixed in the state in which the connecting parts are compressed. The first and second connecting terminals are pushed against lands on the circuit boards by restoring force of the connecting parts, and then the circuit boards are electrically interconnected. |
| US07661960B2 |
Electrical contact mechanism
An electrical contact mechanism adapted to be mounted to a retractable mechanism including a supporting mechanism for extending a roof and a rear window and stowing the roof and the rear window in a stowage space, includes a first member rotating in conjunction with the supporting mechanism, a first contact mounted to the first member, a second member connected to the first member and rotating relative to the first member in conjunction with the supporting mechanism, and a second contact mounted to the second member, wherein electric power is supplied to an apparatus mounted to at least one of the roof and the rear window by connecting the first contact with the second contact. |
| US07661956B2 |
Methods for manufacturing dental implant components
A method of manufacturing a rapid prototype overmold for locating a dental implant analog in a modified stone model for use in creating a tooth prosthesis is provided. An impression of a mouth having a first installation site that has a dental implant and a gingival healing abutment with at least one informational marker installed is taken. A stone model based on the impression is prepared. The model is scanned. A three-dimensional computer model of the installation site on a CAD program using data from the scan is created. The at least one informational marker is determined to gather information about the location of the dental implant. Abutment dimensional information based on the three-dimensional image and the at least one informational marker is developed. Overmold rapid prototype dimensional information based on the three-dimensional image is developed. The overmold rapid prototype adapted to fit over the modified stone model is fabricated. |
| US07661955B2 |
Dental appliance
A removable dental appliance having a base adapted for locating inside of an arch of teeth of a wearer and an arch wire coupled to the base, wherein an outer surface of the base is contoured for contact with inner surfaces of the teeth, and wherein when in use the arch wire extends around an outer periphery of a set of the wearer's teeth such that no interconnection between the arch wire and the base exists intermediate the set of teeth. A removable dental appliance having a base adapted for locating inside of an arch of teeth of a wearer and an arch wire coupled to the base, wherein an outer surface of the base is contoured for contact with inner surfaces of a set of teeth on one side of the wearer's jaw, and wherein when in use the arch wire extends around an outer periphery of the set of teeth such that no interconnection between the arch wire and the base exists intermediate the set of teeth. |
| US07661951B2 |
Apparatus for injection molding
An injection molding apparatus for injection molding a component includes a first mold half, a second mold half, an eject pin, a receiving container and a blocking device. The second mold half is placed opposite to the first mold half. The eject pin penetrates through the first mold half. The receiving container is placed below the first mold half and the second half. The receiving container is configured for receiving the molding component. The blocking device is movable relative to the first mold half to face toward the first mold half. The blocking device is configured for blocking the molding component when the eject pin ejects the component out from the first mold half. |
| US07661949B2 |
Means for curving sausage links
A device for creating curved sausage links involves extruding an elongated sausage strand having linear protein fibers therein out of an elongated hollow meat emulsion extrusion tube. The flow of meat emulsion through the tube is partially restricted by a restrictor element within the tube which permits a portion of the meat emulsion to pass thereover in a substantially uninterrupted manner, but which requires a separate layer of meat emulsion to have its movement through the tube inhibited by engaging the restrictor element and having to move thereover to exit the tube. When the sausage strand is subjected to heat, the uninterrupted portion is inclined to have more lengthwise shrinkage in the presence of heat than the other layer, thus causing the sausage link to assume a curved configuration. The device has a stuffing tube with the restrictor element therein as described heretofore. |
| US07661948B2 |
Application device for applying a layer of a building material in powder form in a device for a layerwise manufacturing of a three-dimensional object
An application device (27) for applying a layer of a building material in powder form in a device (1) for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by a layer-wise solidification of a building material at positions in the respective layers that correspond to the object is provided. An application element (61) that applies the building material in powder form in the form of a layer and a drive mechanism (59) that moves the application element (61) across a building plane (11) in order to apply the layer of the building material are provided. The drive mechanism (59) comprises an actuation piston cylinder system (69) and a brake piston cylinder system (70). |
| US07661943B2 |
Mold for vulcanizing an unvulcanized tire blank
A mold for vulcanizing an unvulcanized tire blank comprises: two axial members each carrying a molding surface for molding a sidewall of the tire, at least one of the axial members being movable between a position for molding the sidewall and a position for unmolding the tire; at least one molding member for molding a channel in a tread of the tire, the molding member being movable between a channel-molding position and a channel-unmolding position; and axial movement means for axially moving the channel-molding member between its molding and unmolding positions. The axial movement means include releasable connection means between the channel-molding member and the axial member. |
| US07661942B2 |
Device for molding a keyhole sipe in a tire tread
The present invention provides for an improved device for molding keyhole sipes larger in size, i.e. sipes having a wider passage, than currently being formed in treads that will avoid damaging the tread during formation and removal thereof from a mold. The device includes an elongated deformable body member having a blade extending in a direction away therefrom and substantially along the length thereof. The body member also includes a stiffening member securely fixed in position therein that extends substantially the length thereof. The stiffening member provides a desired rigidity to the deformable body member, thereby limiting flexion along its length under the stress of a rubber formulation when the mold is closed during the molding process. Also, the deformable body member provides low stress on the tread when a slit of the keyhole sipe is pulled around the body member during removal of the tread from a mold. |
| US07661936B2 |
Piston pump with slot-controlled inlet valve
The invention relates to a piston pump for delivering hydraulic fluid, including a cylinder element, a piston that is able to move back and forth in the cylinder element, a piston chamber in which the piston is able to exert pressure on the hydraulic fluid, an outlet valve, and a slot-controlled inlet valve; the inlet valve has at least one slot that is oriented in the movement direction (X-X) of the piston. |
| US07661930B2 |
Central cooling circuit for a moving blade of a turbomachine
A moving blade for a turbomachine with a central portion that is geometrically subdivided into four adjacent pressure-side zones disposed on the pressure side of the blade, and into four adjacent suction-side zones disposed on the suction side of the blade, the pressure-side and suction-side zones being distributed on either side of the skeleton of the blade, and the blade including in its central portion a pressure-side cooling circuit and a suction-side cooling circuit, the pressure-side cooling circuit including three radial cavities occupying three adjacent pressure-side zones, and the suction-side cooling circuit including three radial cavities occupying the four suction-side zones and the remaining pressure-side zone. |
| US07661929B1 |
Ceiling fan scent holder and placement handle
A ceiling fan scent holder and placement handle which allows a user to distribute fragrance or aromatic substances into the air by using ceiling fans is provided. Said scent holder comprises a lune-shaped piece with an interior channel into which is placed a scent packet, vent holes in each side of a scent holder, and a magnet affixed to the holder top or holder bottom. Said scent holder may be removably placed inside a bracket well of a blade mounting bracket or removably attached to other parts of a ceiling fan via said magnets or also using hook and loop fasteners. A placement handle, comprising a telescopic handle with rotatable arm having at least one magnet affixed between or to prong located at the arm's distal end, may be used to easily place or attach a scent holder in a user-determined ceiling fan location. |
| US07661927B2 |
Serial fan with toothed-type connecting elements
A serial fan of the present invention includes a first fan and a second fan, each of which includes a housing and an impeller disposed in the housing. The housings respectively include a plurality of connecting elements, and there are several air-guiding recesses defined on the connecting elements of the first fan or the second fan, which can guide air to smoothly flow out from the housing so as to increase airflow and air pressure and reduce noise. |
| US07661925B2 |
Variable-setting stator blade guidance device in an axial turbomachine
A variable-setting stator blade guidance device of an axial turbomachine is provided. The blade includes an airfoil, a platform and a pivot mounted in the casing of the turbomachine. The device includes a bearing integrated into the platform. In particular, the device includes a bush sandwiched between the platform and the casing, and the integrated bearing is formed between the bush and the platform. In particular, the bush includes a cylindrical surface portion on the side of the platform cooperating with a matching cylindrical surface portion on the platform to form the integrated bearing. |
| US07661920B2 |
System and a method for manipulating a cassette used in storage by means of a transfer device
A method and a storage and manipulation system for manipulating and transferring cassettes used for storage. The system includes a rack for storing cassettes. The rack includes supports on which the cassette rests. A transfer device includes a slide, onto which the cassette can be transferred. The slide includes a lifting and lowering movement. The transfer device also includes grippers that grip the cassette and moving it onto or off the slide. The slide can be placed underneath the front part of the cassette and, by a lifting movement, elevate the front part of the cassette such that the cassette can be transferred along the support onto the slide. A rear part of the cassette is simultaneously supported by the support. The slide can also lower the front part of the cassette onto the support when the rear part of the cassette is transferred onto the support of the rack. |
| US07661919B2 |
Discontinuous conveyor system
The present invention generally comprises a transport system for transporting containers throughout a fabrication facility, and more specifically through a tool bay in the fabrication facility. The present invention generally includes a first container transport system for transporting a container from an interbay conveyor towards the first tool bay, a second container transport system for moving a container away from the first tool bay and a tool loading device to move containers between the first and second container transport systems and a load port. A merged return conveyor for transporting a container between the second container transport system and the interbay conveyor may also be included. |
| US07661913B2 |
Hole saw with depth stop
A hole saw includes a depth stop for limiting the depth of penetration of the hole saw into a workpiece. The blade of the hole saw includes a plurality of slots, one of which is used to receive the depth stop. The depth stop is mounted to the blade by positioning a portion of the depth stop within the slot and sliding the depth stop from an unsecured position to a secured position. Once in the secured position, a locking member is moved within the depth stop to secure the depth stop in place. In use, the blade is advanced through the workpiece until the depth stop contacts the proximal surface of the workpiece. |
| US07661912B2 |
Tool having damper
Disclosed herein is the structure of a damper that is capable of improving the degree of freedom in design to optimize the damping characteristics of the damper and is capable of allowing the damper to be easily optimized and manufactured for a wide variety of dynamic stiffness characteristics of a tool body, and a manufacturing method using the same. A plurality of ring-shaped elastic members are disposed at opposite ends of a weight part. The weight part is connected to the tool body via the elastic members. Consequently, the weight part is moved relative to the tool body. The plurality of elastic members are mounted while spacers are disposed between the elastic members, and the spacers are moved with respect to the weight part in the axial direction thereof. A viscous fluid is filled in the region surrounded by the outer circumferential surfaces of the spacers, the elastic members, and the inner surface of a hollow part of the tool body. Consequently, it is possible to damp the relative movement of the weight part with respect to the tool body. |
| US07661909B2 |
Method and a device for powdering, and a use thereof in a powdering system, in particular in an installation for detecting surface defects by sweating
Gas under pressure is admitted through an orifice formed in the bottom portion of a tank of substance in powder form, and is guided along an internal tube connected to the admission orifice, the tube passes through the powder stored in the tank and entrains powder through openings formed in the wall of the tube, the powder being extracted in the form of a gas-and-powder flow through an outlet at the top portion of the tank. The gas-and-powder mixture traveling along the internal tube is guided to the top portion of the tank where it is directed substantially towards a side wall of the tank so as to set up a gas-and-powder flow traveling through the volume situated in the tank above the powder stored in the tank, prior to the gas-and-powder flow being extracted through the outlet. The gas-and-powder flow can be taken to one or more powdering nozzles, e.g. in a system for powdering a developer in an installation for detecting surface defects by sweating. |
| US07661904B2 |
Water conservation and distribution system
Rainwater collected from roof gutters is poured into the vertical portion of an “ell” shaped perforated drainage pipe. The horizontal leaching pipe portion of the drainage pipe discharges the rainwater into a catch basin. Water from the catch basin flows into another perforated leaching pipe that is set in the bottom of a trench. In turn, the lower part of the trench is filled with crushed rock to a height of about three quarters of the trench depth. A water impermeable barrier of asphalt shingles or thirty pound asphalt roofing felt is placed over the top of the crushed rock and the balance of the trench is filled with soil up to the ground level. |
| US07661901B2 |
Knuckle swivel for servicing wells
A knuckle-swivel (10) is used with well drilling equipment for protecting helical wound line 62, which may be wire rope, cable and/or strand, against torsional forces and also providing for angular displacement of sinker bars or other tools during wireline strip over operations to minimize interference with rig equipment (80) when pulling pipe or tools 64 from a well head. |
| US07661900B2 |
Binder
A binder arrangement that has a plurality of covers hingably connected to a spine that spaces apart each cover such that each cover can carry a binder and be closed one on top of the other without either binder interfering with each other or case closure. Each binder includes a hold down page that is releasably attached by a hold down page latch that accommodates the binder holding contents having different thicknesses. In a preferred embodiment, the hold down page latch comprises a hook and loop fastener that has a loop strip fixed to a latch strap and a hook strip that is fixed to the hold down page. To increase the number of opening and closing cycles the binder arrangement can endure, the binder arrangement has sidewalls joined by a fastening arrangement that is resiliently anchored at one end to the spine, preferably by an elastomeric connector. In one preferred embodiment, the fastening arrangement is a zipper that is resiliently anchored at its zipper bottom stop by a piece of elastic fabric. |
| US07661898B2 |
Soft close ring binder mechanism with reinforced travel bar
A ring binder mechanism includes a housing that supports two hinge plates for loose pivoting motion, moving the ring members apart or together. The mechanism also includes an actuating lever pivotally mounted on the housing. The lever moves a travel bar and its locking elements for controllably pivoting the hinge plates and the ring members mounted thereon between closed and open positions. In particular, the locking elements cam the hinge plates to softly close the ring members. When the ring members are apart, the locking elements register with openings in at least one of the hinge plates. When the ring members are together, the locking elements are substantially out of registration with the openings, blocking the hinge plates from pivoting to separate the ring members. The travel bar is formed with reinforcing structure to resist deforming the travel bar upon repeated operation. |
| US07661896B2 |
Therapeutic writing instrument devices and methods
The invention provides systems and methods for a writing instrument that can be manipulated into an infinite number of shapes and configurations. The invention can be applied to relieve minor stress as well as strengthen hand muscles, rehabilitate finger and joint movement, and improve overall range of hand motion. A textured coating can be applied to the surface of each segment that gives the writing instrument a unique feel, thereby creating a pleasant sensation and feel to the hands and fingers. Segments can operate as a holder for a writing instrument body, and similarly can be arranged to provide a creative sculpture. Segments can be removed as desired by the user. |
| US07661894B2 |
Coating and developing apparatus, and coating and developing method
A processing block S2 includes unit blocks, a BCT layer B3, COT layer B4 and TCT layer B5, for forming coating films, and further includes DEV layers B1, B2 layered with the unit blocks B3, B4, B5 and used as unit blocks for a developing process. Beside the unit blocks B1 to B5, a group G of transfer sections comprising transfer sections adapted to transfer each wafer W with each main arm A1 to A5 of the unit block B1 to B5 and hydrophobicity rendering units adapted to provide a hydrophobicity rendering process to the wafer W is provided. The wafer W is transferred by a transfer arm D between the transfer sections and the hydrophobicity rendering units. In this case, since it is not necessary to transfer the wafer W to the hydrophobicity rendering unit by using, for example, a main arm A4 of a COT layer B4, the load on the arm A4 can be reduced, thereby enhancing the carrying throughput. |
| US07661893B2 |
Lens barrel
A lens barrel includes a light amount adjuster capable of adjusting a light amount of a lens system and which can be moved in the optical axis direction of the lens system, an adjacent member adjacent to the light amount adjuster and which can be moved relatively in the optical axis direction and a flexible wiring board one end of which is fixed to the light amount adjuster and of which the other end is led out through the adjacent member, wherein a fixed portion of one end of the flexible wiring board is fixed to the light amount adjuster in a two-dimensional fashion and an intermediate portion of the flexible wiring board is bent like a U shape at a space portion formed between the light amount adjuster and the adjacent member, inverted approximately 180 degrees and opposed to the fixed portion. |
| US07661889B2 |
Optical multiplexer and transmitter
The present invention provides an apparatus for multiplexing a plurality of light waves with different wavelengths. The apparatus includes a laser sub-assembly, a multiplexer sub-assembly, and a receptacle sub-assembly. The laser sub-assembly includes a plurality of lasers for radiating a plurality of light waves of different wavelengths. The plurality of light waves are multiplexed in the multiplexer sub-assembly. The multiplexed light waves are coupled to an optical fiber by the receptacle sub-assembly. |
| US07661887B2 |
Shutter assembly
According to the shutter assembly of the present invention, since the guide groove for facilitating the insertion of the pivot shaft into the bearing hole of the second bearing part of the shutter member is formed at the opposing end surface of the second bearing part that faces to the first bearing part of the shutter member so that the guide groove is opened to the opposing end surface and is along the direction orthogonal to the axial-line direction of the pivot shaft, it is possible to easily and accurately form the guide groove. |
| US07661886B2 |
Apparatus for electro-optical device connection
An optical fiber connector for releasably coupling an optical fiber to an electro-optical module is disclosed. The optical fiber connector includes a housing, a strain relief, a fiber retention clip, and a pair of latching arms. The housing includes a housing bore defined through at least a portion of the housing and adapted to accommodate the exterior diameter of a typical optical fiber. The optical fiber extending through the strain relief and into the housing bore, terminating at an end of the housing. The optical fiber is retained by the housing by the utilization of the fiber retention clip. The latching arms are arranged to releasable attach the connector to an electro-optical device such that the optical fiber and an optical lens disposed in the electro-optical device are aligned. |
| US07661884B2 |
Roller apparatus
A roller apparatus includes a rotating roller, a bushing frictionally supporting the rotating roller, a frame having a bushing hole into which a bushing is inserted and supporting the bushing, and a grounding member interposed between the bushing and the frame and grounding the bushing by press contacting with the bushing when the bushing is inserted into the bushing hole. Thus, the roller apparatus effectively grounds a bushing. |
| US07661881B2 |
Systems and methods for imaging large field-of-view objects
An imaging apparatus and related method comprising a source that projects a beam of radiation in a first trajectory; a detector located a distance from the source and positioned to receive the beam of radiation in the first trajectory; an imaging area between the source and the detector, the radiation beam from the source passing through a portion of the imaging area before it is received at the detector; a detector positioner that translates the detector to a second position in a first direction that is substantially normal to the first trajectory; and a beam positioner that alters the trajectory of the radiation beam to direct the beam onto the detector located at the second position. The radiation source can be an x-ray cone-beam source, and the detector can be a two-dimensional flat-panel detector array. The invention can be used to image objects larger than the field-of-view of the detector by translating the detector array to multiple positions, and obtaining images at each position, resulting in an effectively large field-of-view using only a single detector array having a relatively small size. A beam positioner permits the trajectory of the beam to follow the path of the translating detector, which permits safer and more efficient dose utilization, as generally only the region of the target object that is within the field-of-view of the detector at any given time will be exposed to potentially harmful radiation. |
| US07661878B1 |
On-chip temperature sensor for an integrated circuit
An on-chip temperature sensor for an integrated circuit includes in one embodiment a voltage/current source circuit that provides a reference voltage and a current. A sense signal circuit receives the current of the voltage/current source circuit and provides a sense signal corresponding to the temperature of the integrated circuit. A reference signal receives the reference voltage of the voltage/current source circuit and provides a reference signal having a selectable value. A comparator compares the sense signal of the sense signal circuit to the selectable reference signal of the reference signal circuit and provides a temperature sensor output signal. |
| US07661877B2 |
Thermal flow detecting apparatus and method for detecting flow using the same
A thermal flow detecting apparatus detects fluid flow in a main flow passage. A bypass passage portion is provided through which some fluid bypasses the main flow passage. A detecting element is provided in the bypass passage portion and arranged at a location eccentrically displaced from the center of a cross section of the bypass passage portion. A throttle portion is provided upstream of the eccentric detecting element in the bypass passage portion for throttling the cross section partially on a side of the detecting element. |
| US07661876B2 |
Infrared target temperature correction system and method
Infrared Ir Thermometer Calibration Systems and Methods are Disclosed in which the temperature of an IR thermometer calibration system is controlled such that radiation emitted by a target at a given input temperature is equal to the radiation emitted by a graybody heated to the input temperature and having an emissivity equal to an emissivity setting of an IR thermometer to be calibrated using the IR thermometer calibration system. |
| US07661875B2 |
Balance for timepiece movement
The balance comprising a felloe (3), arms (4) connecting the felloe (3) to the balance staff and inertia blocks (11) is characterized in that the felloe (3) includes studs (7) in its inner surface, a threaded hole (9) into which said inertia blocks (11) are screwed from the inside, without passing beyond the external surface of the felloe (3), passing through said felloe (3) and said studs (7). |
| US07661873B2 |
Homogeniser for the continuous treatment of fluids at very high pressure
A homogeniser (1) for the continuous treatment of fluids at very high pressure comprises at least one reciprocating plunger (5) in a compression chamber (6) and a guide chamber (11) from a fluid intake position to a delivery position. Said compression chamber (6) opens into a manifold (27), inside a block (26) from which a delivery pipe (32) and an intake pipe (31) branch off. A first seal unit (21) is housed in the guide chamber (11), a second seal unit (24) is located close to the intersection between the compression chamber (6) and the guide chamber (11) and a third seal unit (35) is positioned upstream and downstream of each valve (28, 29) and the intersection between the manifold (27) and the compression chamber (6). |
| US07661871B2 |
Apparatus for storing, mixing, metering, and injecting polymeric slurries into pipelines
The present invention generally comprises a storage vessel for the polymeric slurry chemical, a vapor recirculation system, a chemical recirculation system, a device for chemical temperature control, a device for measuring storage vessel level, a device for metering and pumping chemical, and a device for controlling apparatus. The vapor recirculation system, chemical recirculation system, mechanism for chemical temperature control, mechanism for measuring storage vessel level, mechanism for metering and pumping and mechanism for controlling apparatus are housed in the pumping equipment container and are connected to the storage vessel by control conduits, and piping for vapors and liquid chemicals to make the complete apparatus. The apparatus is used to maintain slurry materials in a usable state and to inject the slurry materials as required for specific applications, such as injecting drag reducing agent into operating pipelines. |
| US07661869B2 |
Backlight assembly and display device having the same
A backlight assembly includes a light-generating unit, a heat-radiation member, a first receiving container, and a second receiving container. The heat-radiation member is disposed under the light-generating unit and radiates heat generated by the light-generating unit. The first receiving container is composed of a bottom portion and side portion extended from the bottom portion. The first receiving container has an opening formed through partial removal of the bottom portion so that the heat-radiation member received inside is exposed. The second receiving container is disposed under the first receiving container. An air layer is formed in between the first and second receiving containers. |
| US07661868B2 |
Diffuser sheet for compensating for chromatic dispersion and illumination apparatus employing the same
A diffuser sheet which compensates for chromatic dispersion generated in a hologram light guide plate, and an illumination apparatus employing the diffuser sheet are provided. The diffuser sheet includes a plate type light-transmissive substrate and a light diffusion layer disposed on a light emission surface of the light-emission substrate. A light-incident surface of the light-transmissive substrate has declined surfaces and flat surfaces which are alternatively and repeatedly formed thereon. The declined surfaces are declined at a predetermined angle. |
| US07661865B2 |
Liquid crystal display backlight and liquid crystal display device
To provide a liquid crystal display backlight and a liquid crystal display device, which can improve the heat dissipating effect, can reduce the thickness and weight of the device. The liquid crystal display backlight includes: an emission light guide plate for emitting illuminating light for a liquid crystal display panel from one face; one and other mixed-color light guides mounted on a same plane of other face of the emission light guide plate via a spacer; a heat-dissipating spatial area provided between the mixed-color light guide plates; light-emitting devices disposed within the heat-dissipating spatial area; and reflectors for guiding output light, propagated inside each mixed-color light guide plate, towards corresponding end faces of the emission light guide plate from outside end face of each mixed-color light guide plate. A holding plate for holding the light-emitting devices is provided, facing each mixed-color light guide plate with an airing gap provided therebetween. |
| US07661861B2 |
Vehicle headlamp
A vehicle headlamp includes a shade having a diagonal edge, an upper horizontal edge, and a lower horizontal edge. The intersection of the diagonal edge and the upper horizontal edge is horizontally deviated from a first reference position, i.e., an elbow point of a conventional shade, or a vertical reference axis to an opposite side with respect to the intersection of the diagonal edge and the lower horizontal edge. |
| US07661857B2 |
Vehicle light unit with shadow casting feature
The light unit includes a lens, shadow-forming surface, and a shadow casting surface. Outside light entering the light unit is at least partially blocked by the shadow casting surface so as to cast a shadow on the shadow-forming surface. The shadow casting surface may be embedded within or on a surface of the lens or otherwise supported above the shadow forming surface. The shadow casting design is preferably spaced from the shadow-forming surface. |
| US07661854B1 |
LED lamp
An LED lamp comprises a heat sink with a plurality of LED modules attached thereon, an envelope receiving the heat sink and the LED modules, and a top cover and a bottom cover mounted at two ends of the heat sink via a plurality of fasteners and shafts with an elastic member coiled therearound. The top cover, the envelope and the bottom cover cooperatively form a sealed space receiving the heat sink and the LED modules. When the fasteners are fastened toward the heat sink, the shafts move upwardly relative to the bottom cover, whereby a distance between the top cover and the heat sink is decreased, so the heat sink makes tight contact with the top cover. |
| US07661849B2 |
Illuminated apparatus
An illuminating device features a light transmitting plate having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface having inward depressions. |
| US07661848B2 |
Installation light
An installation light for a vehicle or aircraft comprises a multitude of lighting elements. These lighting elements may be activated individually or in groups, in a manner such that the radiation direction and/or emittance angle of the light emitted by the installation light may be adjusted. |
| US07661845B2 |
LED lamp
An LED lamp includes a lamp base with a plate-like shape, a bracket mounted on a top side of the lamp base, a heat sink fixed on the bracket, two LED modules respectively attached on two opposite ends of the heat sink, and a housing engaging on the lamp base and enclosing the bracket, the heat sink and the LED modules therein. The bracket includes two horizontal sections coupled to the lamp base, two connecting sections respectively abutting against the two opposite ends of the heat sink and a pair of fixing arms for suspending the heat sink above the lamp holder. Each fixing arm extends upwardly from a corresponding horizontal section and connects with a corresponding connecting section. |
| US07661842B2 |
Structure of a supporting assembly for surface mount device LED and manufacturing method thereof
A structure of a supporting assembly for a surface mount device LED and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The structure of a supporting assembly comprises a plate and a substrate of LEDs. The plate has a plurality of supporting areas and a plurality of lenses each of which is respectively disposed on each supporting area. The substrate of LEDs comprises a metallic plate unit and a plurality of a surface mount device LED units each formed on the metallic plate unit. Moreover, the plate is combined with the metallic plate unit, so that each lens is respectively assembled with the corresponding surface mounting device LED unit. Via the above-mentioned structure, mass produced lenses can be assembled with and positioned on the corresponding LED units at the same time. The processes are modified and the production rate is increased. |
| US07661840B1 |
Lighting device with illuminated front panel
A lighting device generally comprises a housing, including a base portion and a side wall, which defines an interior cavity with an open end; a plurality of light-emitting diodes positioned within said interior cavity, each light-emitting diode emitting a light of a first hue; a plurality of bulbs, each said bulb being associated with and fitting over a respective light-emitting diode, each said bulb converting the light of the first hue emitted from the light-emitting diode into a light of a desired hue, which is then emitted from said bulb; and a front panel positioned at the open end of the housing and receiving light from the plurality of bulbs for illuminating the front panel. |
| US07661838B2 |
Solar powered decorative light system
An improved solar powered decorative light system that can used on cloudy days and does not require the use of individual solar panels associated with each light in a decorative outdoor home holiday display. The improved solar powered decorative light system includes a plurality of decorative outdoor lights each having at least one LED and receiving electrical energy for illumination from a single solar receptor comprised of a double junction amorphous panel set. The decorative outdoor lights may further include replaceable decorative covers. |
| US07661837B1 |
Deck lighting system
A lighting system and method for illuminating a deck area. The wiring for the lighting system is hidden from view, providing a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. Furthermore, the lighting system can be installed simultaneously with the deck itself, or afterwards. The system has several embodiments of illumination including post lights, baluster lights, and stair lights. Embodiments of the lighting system may be optionally be installed by the end user and do not require professional design and installation, thus providing a more cost effective solution. |
| US07661836B1 |
Combined illuminated table and canopy and associated method
A combined illuminated table and canopy includes a free-standing table, a canopy adjustably connected to the table and disposed thereabove at an elevated position, and means for illuminating a perimeter of the table such that a top surface of the table becomes illuminated. Such an illuminating means includes a plurality of light-emitting sources attached to the table, a transformer electrically coupled directly to the light-emitting sources, and releasably engaged male and female shafts have detachably abutted first and second contacts. A solar panel is electrically coupled to the first contact, and a contact mechanism is electrically connected to such first and second contacts as well as the existing external supply source in such a manner that the existing external power supply source is automatically disengaged from the light-emitting sources when the first contact is engaged from the second contact. |
| US07661828B2 |
Adjusting light intensity
In embodiments, an intensity of light is adjusted according to data indicating the states for elements. |
| US07661824B2 |
Light source module air flow cooling
A light source module includes a lamp assembly, at least one temperature sensor for monitoring a temperature of the lamp assembly, and a processor coupled to the temperature sensor and the lamp assembly, the processor being configured to operate the lamp assembly at a reduced power level when the temperature is above a first temperature threshold. |
| US07661817B2 |
Integrated audio eyewear
Eyewear includes a lens supporting frame along with temple pieces extending therefrom with at least one of the temple pieces including an open sided chamber sized for receiving an audio unit having communication socket disposed at one end of the audio unit. The open side enables access to the controls disposed on one side of the audio unit. A cover is provided for moving the audio unit within the chamber in order to engage the socket with a plug and removably affixed the audio unit within the temple piece chamber. |
| US07661815B2 |
Eyeframe with interchangeable lenspieces held by a magnetic closure and interchangeable lens system
An eyeframe system includes a rimwire and an interchangeable lenspiece. A hinged closure on the rimwire fastens the lenspiece to the rimwire. The closure includes a magnetic closure that slides beneath a nose bridge of the rimwire. The closure is held closed by mechanical and magnetic forces. The system can include a plurality of different lenspieces that are interchanged to attach lenses with different qualities. |
| US07661814B2 |
Hand held micro-fluid ejection devices configured to block printing based on printer orientation and method of blocking
A hand-held micro-fluid ejection device for ejecting a fluid onto a substrate surface in a plurality of physical orientations between the ejection device and a substrate surface, and methods for controlling the geometric accuracy of printing using a hand-held printing apparatus. Various spatial and dynamic orientations of the ejection device are measured, such as rotation angle, yaw angle, and velocity and acceleration vectors. Threshold limits are established for the orientations and printing is disabled if the measured values exceed the threshold limits. |
| US07661812B2 |
Printer unit for assembly with image reader unit
A printer unit is provided having a body with a media input assembly for supporting media to be printed, and securing means for releasable engagement with complementary securing means on an image reader unit, and a print engine with a printhead and a control system to control the operation of the printhead. The body is shaped for nesting with the image reader unit such that the securing means are positioned for releasable engagement with the complementary securing means. |
| US07661806B2 |
Fusible reactive media comprising crosslinker-containing layer
An inkjet recording element comprising a support having thereon in order, from top to bottom, an upper fusible, porous layer comprising fusible polymeric particles, which particles comprise a thermoplastic polymer with reactive functional groups, the inkjet recording element further comprising a lower crosslinker-containing layer in which a polyfunctional compound has complementary reactive functional groups capable of crosslinking the reactive functional groups on the thermoplastic polymer under fusing. Optionally, an ink-carrier-liquid receptive layer is present between the fusible, porous layer and the support. Also disclosed is a method of inkjet printing on the element. |
| US07661804B2 |
Ink recharge system and ink recharge method for ink cartridge
An ink cartridge recharge system includes an ink cartridge mount hole in which an ink cartridge is mounted. The ink cartridge mount hole includes an ink injection part in which an ink injection hole connected to a nozzle of the ink cartridge is formed. A magnetostrictive displacement transducer is connected to the ink injection hole through an ink supply tube and determines the charged amount of ink by sensing displacement of magnetic field due to displacement of an internal float. A positive pressure tank stores high pressure air by a compressor. A bulk cartridge is connected to one side of the magnetostrictive displacement transducer to supply ink to be charged. A negative pressure tank is connected to the ink injection hole of the ink cartridge mount hole through a vacuum tube. |
| US07661803B2 |
Inkjet printhead with controlled de-prime
An inkjet printer that has an ink supply, an ink manifold in fluid communication with the ink supply, a printhead IC with and array of ink ejection nozzles mounted to the ink manifold, a pump in fluid communication with the ink manifold and, a gas inlet that can be opened to establish fluid communication between the ink manifold and a supply of gas, and can be closed to form a gas tight seal. The ink manifold can be primed using the pump by closing the gas inlet, and de-primed when the gas inlet is open. This allows the printhead to be deprimed during storage and transport and it allows the printhead IC to be cleaned by a foam formed by air forced through the ink election nozzles. |
| US07661802B2 |
Liquid droplet spraying apparatus
A liquid droplet spraying apparatus includes: a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of pressure chambers respectively connected to the nozzles, the pressure chambers each configured to store liquid to which spraying pressure is selectively applied, a common ink chamber that stores the liquid supplied to the pressure chambers; and narrowing portions coupled between the common liquid chamber and the plurality of pressure chambers to supply the liquid therethrough. The narrowing portions are larger in a pressure loss than the common liquid chamber and the plurality of pressure chambers. A ratio of a length of each of the narrowing portions in a liquid flowing direction with respect to a length of corresponding one of the pressure chambers in the liquid flowing direction is 0.34 or more, wherein the liquid flowing direction corresponds to a direction in which the liquid flows through the narrowing portions. |
| US07661801B2 |
Printer including an ink-jet recording head
An ink-jet recording head having no piezoelectric element in a part where no piezoelectric element is required and including an individual electrode lead-out part having such a cross section that allows smooth power supply is provided.The ink-jet recording head includes an individual electrode having an individual electrode main body formed at a position corresponding to an ink chamber and an individual electrode lead-out part for supplying power, a piezoelectric element formed to contact the individual electrode, and a diaphragm formed to contact the piezoelectric element. The individual electrode lead-out part is connected to the individual electrode main body from a position offset from a face including an electrode face of the individual electrode main body, and the piezoelectric element is formed into a shape corresponding to the individual electrode main body. |
| US07661796B2 |
Nozzle assembly for ejecting small droplets
A nozzle assembly for an inkjet printhead is disclosed. The nozzle assembly includes an inkjet nozzle having an actuator for ejecting an ink droplet having a diameter of less than 20 μm from the inkjet nozzle when a resistive element of the actuator is heated by an electrical current. A drive transistor provides an energy pulse to the resistive element of the actuator, and control logic controls the drive transistor. |
| US07661792B2 |
Thermoelastic inkjet actuator with heat conductive pathways
A thermal inkjet actuator for use in an inkjet printer assembly includes heat conduction means arranged to realize a predetermined negative pressure profile to facilitate droplet formation. In a preferred embodiment the heat conduction means comprises a thin layer (54) of very high thermally conductive material such as Aluminium located in the middle of a non-heat conductive passive bend layer (56). The overall cool-down speed of the actuator, and hence the speed with which the passive bend layer returns to its quiescent position can be controlled by controlling the proximity of the heat conductive layer to the actuator's heater during fabrication. |
| US07661788B2 |
Jetting timing determining method, liquid-droplet jetting method and ink-jet printer
In a liquid-droplet jetting apparatus such as an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzle rows formed therein, an ink is jetted from one of the nozzle rows and the ink is jetted from another nozzle row concurrently while changing delay times by each of which a jetting timing for the nozzle row is delayed with respect to a jetting timing for the another nozzle row. Then, an optimum image is determined among images formed by the ink jetted from these two nozzle rows, and a delay time in the jetting timings is extracted, among the delay times, which correspond to the optimum image. By determining the delay time in the nozzle rows in such a manner, the variation in jetting characteristics is small in the nozzle rows, thereby realizing satisfactory reproducibility of image. |
| US07661786B2 |
Ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording method
An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head including a plurality of recording elements for ejecting ink in accordance with image data, wherein an image is formed by carrying out a recording scan N times for the same image area on a recording material, where N is an integer not less than 1, and a setting unit for setting a value of N in accordance with information relating to a glossiness of the recording material. |
| US07661783B2 |
Inkjet recording apparatus and control method for the same
A controller controls a pressurizing actuator in such a manner that a pressure chamber changes from a first state where a volume of the pressure chamber is V1 to a second state where the volume is V2 larger than V1 and then returns from the second to the first state to cause ink to be ejected from an ejection opening, that a time length Tv1 from a time point at which the pressure chamber starts to change from the first to the second state to a time point at which the pressure chamber is in the second state becomes 33% or more of a characteristic vibration period Td of ink filled in a first ink passage extending from an outlet of the pressure chamber to the ejection opening, and that the time length Tv1 becomes 83% or less of the characteristic vibration period Td. |
| US07661781B2 |
Liquid ejection head and image forming apparatus
The liquid ejection head includes: a liquid flow channel of which at least one wall is constituted by an elastic member; a nozzle which is provided at an end of the liquid flow channel; and a pressure generating device which generates a pressure pulse wave in liquid inside the liquid flow channel. The liquid flow channel and the pressure generating device are composed in such a manner that the pressure pulse wave propagates as a soliton through the liquid in the liquid flow channel. |
| US07661780B2 |
Tuning apparatus for a printhead
A tuning element having a second inclined plane interacts with a pushing element having a first inclined plane to accomplish adjusting the position of a printhead. The tuning element rotates relative to a printhead carrier and produces displacement in a second direction and the second inclined plane of the tuning element then pushes the first inclined plane of the pushing element and produces displacement in a first direction in a linear way corresponding to the rotation of the tuning element. Meanwhile, the printhead closely in contact with the pushing element also produces displacement in the first direction so that the tuning apparatus is endowed with highly accurate and linear adjustability. |
| US07661778B2 |
Fast mounting mechanism for a telescoping slide
A fast mounting mechanism for a telescoping slide, the slide includes an inner rail to receive the mounting of a drawer or the like and an outer rail. The inner rail comprises mounting holes. Each mounting hole contains a vertical channel and a horizontal channel connecting through each other. A positioning member and a release member are provided on the inner. side of the inner rail adjacent to one of the mounting holes. The positioning member has a first end locked to the inner side of the inner rail and a second end provided with a protruding bit facing the horizontal channel of the mounting hole. The release member disposed on the inner rail slides in relation with and pushes against the positioning member for its protruding bit to move away in opposite direction relatively to the inner side of the inner rail. |
| US07661776B2 |
Arrangement for detachably fastening a component to a frame part
A fastening arrangement for detachably fastening a component (2) to a frame part (4). The arrangement comprises a handle means (6) pivoted to the frame part (4) and an arranged to turn about its pivoting axis (12) between a normal position and a release position, and locking means (14, 16) arranged such that when the handle means (6) is in its normal position, inserting the component (2) into its position arranged in the frame part (4) causes the component (2) to be locked into the frame part (4). The arrangement also comprises means (18, 20) for opening the locking and arranged such that turning the handle means (6) to its release position releases the locking of the component (2) in relation to the frame part (4). |
| US07661775B2 |
Positioning apparatus for test fixtures
A positioning apparatus for test fixtures in a chassis of an electronic device includes a pair of fixing members, a first blocking bar, and a second blocking bar. The fixing members are attached to sidewalls of the chassis and each include a fixing hole defined therein. The first blocking bar includes a first extruding tab and a hook formed at opposite ends thereof. The first blocking bar further includes a threaded hole defined therein. The second blocking bar includes a slot defined therein to engage with the hook. The second blocking bar further includes a fastener fixed at one end thereof to engage in the threaded hole of the first blocking bar, and a second extruding bar formed at another end thereof. The first and second extruding tab engage in the fixing hole of the fixing members. |
| US07661774B2 |
Track comprised or internal and external links
In a track with a rotatable bushing which is brought into engagement with a sprocket of a track-type vehicle, it is intended that strength is enhanced rationally by link functionality sharing and by combination of such assigned functional tasks for achieving further improvements in rotatable bushing function. To this end, a first bolt insertion hole provided in a track shoe mount surface of an external link and a second bolt insertion hole provided in a track shoe mount surface of an internal link are arranged on the same straight line, and a straight line connecting the first bolt insertion hole and the second bolt insertion hole is situated at a position more interior than a contact plane of the external link and internal link. |
| US07661773B2 |
Method of braking force distribution and braking force control system for vehicle
A method of braking force distribution and a braking force control system for a vehicle provide a proper control on distribution between braking force between front wheels and rear wheels by controlling braking force on a rear right wheel and a rear left wheel such that an actual wheel speed of each rear wheel follows a target wheel speed thereof. The method includes the steps of calculating a current target wheel speed of each rear wheel to be used based on an actual deceleration speed of at least one of the front wheels and a previous target wheel speed of each rear wheel; and controlling braking force on each of the rear wheels based on the thus calculated current target wheel speed. |
| US07661767B2 |
Quick release bicycle wheel
A wheel quick release system for a bicycle or other wheeled vehicle where the wheel can be easily removed by a manual operation on only one side of the wheel hub but is prevented from unexpected separation at all times while engaged with the wheel. A laterally moving skewer mounted concentrically inside a hollow axle is equipped with a “non-touch” nut on one end and is spring loaded toward a quick release cam on the other end thereby always urging the nut against the adjacent dropout. To remove the wheel, the quick release cam is operated and the quick release side assembly is pushed axially inward and a safety mechanism is operated and held in this position while the wheel is removed from the fork dropouts. When the wheel is again inserted into the wheel fork, the skewer automatically locks onto the dropouts, and subsequently if the quick release cam is inadvertently left open by the user, the wheel will be somewhat loose but will remain safely inserted in the wheel mounts. In this way, if the bicycle or wheeled vehicle looks safe to ride, it is safe to ride. |
| US07661766B2 |
Rim assembly with oscillator
A rim assembly comprises a rim including a peripheral rim portion for the mounting of a wheel; a wheel cover affixed to the rim and configured to rotate about an axis of the rim; and an oscillator attached to the wheel cover and configured to move back and forth between a first position and a second position based on rotation of the wheel cover about the axis. The oscillator is configured to protract axially away from the wheel cover when moving from the second position toward the first position and to retract axially toward the wheel cover when moving from the first position toward the second position. |
| US07661762B2 |
Universal vehicle door armrest
A customizable armrest includes a cushioning pad and a rigid, single support unit being configured to couple the cushioning pad. The rigid, single support unit includes an armrest retention protrusion pivotably coupled to the single support unit. Furthermore, the armrest retention protrusion is configured to be mounted in a window orifice of a vehicle. |
| US07661758B1 |
Head restraint support component for a vehicle seat
A vehicle seat assembly is provided with a seat frame adapted to be mounted within a vehicle. The seat frame has a tubular upper cross member. A bracket member is mounted to the tubular upper cross member of the seat frame. The bracket member has a pair of fulcrum bushings integrally formed therein. The bracket member is attached to onto the tubular upper cross member by an interference fit. At least one support rod is sized to be received within each of the pair of fulcrum bushings. At least one head restraint post is sized to be received within the at least one support rod. An active head restraint is mounted to the at least one head restraint post. |
| US07661753B2 |
Adjustable aerodynamic splitter
An adjustable aerodynamic splitter for a motor vehicle having a rearward flexible segment for attachment to the vehicle body and a forward more rigid segment, wherein the forward segment's leading edge is arranged for selectively attaching thereto an extension strip of a desired width, and at least one pair of adjustable length linkages attaching the splitter to the vehicle body near the leading edge, spaced symmetrically about the vehicle centerline, and arranged to raise or lower the leading edge in response to adjustment of the linkages' length. |
| US07661752B2 |
Under cover
An under cover for covering a base face of a vehicular body, includes: 1) a dent part; and 2) a protruding part. The dent part and the protruding part are formed alternately in series on a lower face of the under cover in at least a forward-rearward direction of a vehicle. The dent part and the protruding part have a cross section formed into a serial curved face. |
| US07661738B2 |
Radiation detection unit for mounting a radiation sensor to a container crane
A radiation detection unit includes a housing and isolators unitarily constructed from mechanical energy absorbent material. The housing is attached rigidly to a structure and its major dimensions are selected to exceed corresponding major dimensions of a radiation sensor. The isolators have a body portion and projections extending outwardly therefrom. The body portion engages the radiation detection sensor proximal a respective one of its radiation collection end and its interface end. The projections are disposed intermediate the body portion and an interior surface of the housing and have a distal end contacting the interior surface to carry the radiation sensor in a three dimensional spaced apart relationship to the interior surface. The length of the projections is selected to attenuate substantially mechanical energy that is induced at the distal end and propagates along the length of each projection prior to the propagated energy being incident upon the body portion. |
| US07661736B2 |
Underpressure surface gripping device
The invention concerns an underpressure surface gripping device with an extruded profile having a hollow chamber, a vacuum plate which is mounted parallel to the extruded profile, at least one flow through opening which connects the extruded profile to the vacuum plate, and with an ejector as a vacuum generator, wherein the ejector is inserted into the hollow chamber of the extruded profile and the suction opening of the ejector communicates with the flow through opening. |
| US07661729B2 |
Apparatus for connecting plastic-lined metallic pipes
A connector used for connecting the plastic metallic pipe includes a body, a cap, and three washers. The body has a section of thread in its outer wall for coupling with the cap which has a section thread in its inner wall. In operation, first insert the pipe into the cap, then insert the rubber washer, the metallic washer, and spring washer into the body, and then screw the cap into the body, such that the pipe is locked with the body. |
| US07661727B2 |
Threaded tubular connection which is resistant to bending stresses
A threaded tubular connection includes a male tubular element including a male threaded portion and a female tubular element including a female threaded portion that cooperates by screwing with the male threaded portion. The threaded connection includes at least one transfer zone that can transfer bending loads between the elements and that is axially spaced from the threaded portions, in which the male and female elements have an undulating surface and a smooth surface facing each other, the undulating surface defining a series of rounded annular ribs that come into contact with the smooth surface with a radial interference fit. The connection may find application to production strings for hydrocarbon wells. |
| US07661726B2 |
Internal release connector and method
A tubing connection release system. The system includes, a male connector having a profile at one end thereof and receptive to a tubular at the other end thereof, a female connector receptive to a tubular at one end thereof and receptive to the male connector at the other end thereof. The system further includes, a sleeve disposed radially inwardly of the female connector, and a collet having at least one deflectable collet finger disposed radially inwardly of the sleeve. The collet is biased to a position within the female connector whereat the at least one collet finger is supported against radially outward deflection. The collet is further movable by the push-in connector against the bias to a position where the at least one collet finger is radially outwardly unsupported such that the profiled end of the male connector is movable into engagement with the at least one collet finger. |
| US07661725B2 |
Coupling and socket thereof
A coupling has a socket and a plug that is inserted into and connected to the socket. The socket has a locking element and a sleeve actuating element that are radially displaceable to lock the plug as inserted into the socket. A sleeve is provided over the outer peripheral surface of the socket. The inner peripheral surface of the sleeve has a locking surface that presses the locking element from the radially outer side into a lock position. Further, the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve has an inclined surface extending in the circumferential direction thereof. As the plug is progressively inserted into the socket, the sleeve actuating element is pushed radially outward by the plug while engaging the inclined surface, causing the sleeve to be displaced in the circumferential direction. Thus, the inclined surface radially aligns with the locking element, and the locking element is pushed radially outward while engaging the inclined surface by the plug inserted progressively. When the plug has been inserted into the socket by a predetermined length, the locking element and the sleeve actuating element are received in a groove provided on the outer surface of the plug, resulting in disengagement from the inclined surface. Consequently, the sleeve is returned to the initial position to hold the locking element from the radially outer side, thereby locking the plug in the socket. |
| US07661723B2 |
Fluid line assembly
A fluid line assembly (20) includes an outer fluid line (24) and an inner fluid line (22). The inner and outer fluid lines (22, 24) each include a slip joint (70, 80). At least one of the slip joints (70, 80) include a variable volume reservoir (86) in communication with the interior of the corresponding fluid line (22, 24). The reservoir (86) is at least partially defined by a first tube section (82), a second tube section (84) having an axially extending portion and radially extending portion, and a radially extending piston (90) connected to the first tube section (82) for movement therewith. The at least one slip joint (70, 80) also includes a resiliently compressible conductive member (98) positioned between and in contact with the piston (90) and the radially extending portion of the second tube section (84) to create an electrical path therebetween. The resiliently compressible conductive member (98) is divided into sections (98a-x), wherein each section (98a-x) is separated from an adjacent section (98a-x) by a spacer member (100) adapted to inhibit contact between the axially extending portion of the second tube section (84) and the resiliently compressible conductive member (98). |
| US07661719B1 |
Pool vacuum port
A fluid port for alternately interfacing a fluid conduit with a fluid container or with a fluid hose. The fluid container is of the type having a container wall. The port comprises a back plate having a back aperture therethrough for receiving the fluid hose therein. The back plate includes a wall attachment mechanism. A front plate is held away from and substantially parallel to the back plate by a plurality of standoffs. The front plate includes a front aperture coaxially aligned with the back aperture of the back plate. The front aperture is adapted to receive the fluid hose therein. The fluid hose may be inserted into the front aperture for substantially connecting the fluid hose to the fluid conduit. With the fluid hose removed from the front aperture the fluid conduit is connected to the fluid container through the front aperture and between each standoff. |
| US07661717B2 |
Hose clamp holding structure
An annular positioning projection integrally has a body portion extending in a circular arc, one end portion projecting from one circumferential end of the body portion toward one raised portion and connected to a radial outer surface of the one raised portion, and the other end portion projecting from the other circumferential end of the body portion toward the other raised portion and connected to a radial outer surface of the other raised portion. An outer surface of one end portion thereof extends in a tangential direction with respect to one circumferential end of an outer surface of the body portion, and an outer surface of the other end portion extends in a tangential direction with respect to the other circumferential end of an outer surface of the body portion. |
| US07661712B2 |
Seat belt retractor
A seat belt retractor including a spool for winding up a seat belt, a locking mechanism having a locking member that is prevented from rotating in a belt withdrawing direction in the event of an emergency, and a seat belt load limiting mechanism for limiting load applied to the seat belt when the spool rotates relative to the locking member. The load limiting mechanism comprises a torsion bar that rotationally connects the spool and the locking member and is torsionally deformable when the spool rotates relative to the locking member, and a shearing member that is disposed to extend both in the spool and the locking member, the shearing member being shear-deformable when the spool rotates relative to the locking member. At least a portion of the area of the shearing member positioned in the spool is fixed to the spool in the axial direction. |
| US07661710B2 |
Blind member for vehicle, and gap-closing structure including blind member
The present invention provides a blind member for a vehicle, which is used in a steering device provided with a tilting structure that can adjust a position of a steering wheel in a vertical direction, and closes a gap between: an opening in an instrument panel provided on a driver's seat side and in which a steering column is inserted; and a column cover which surrounds around the steering column. The blind member includes: a blind main body which is arranged next to the column cover; and a hinge portion which attaches the blind main body to an edge of the opening in the instrument panel such that the blind main body can swing in the vertical direction. |
| US07661705B2 |
Airbag unit
In at least one embodiment of the present invention, an airbag unit is provided. The airbag unit comprises an airbag made of fabric. The unit has fastening devices for attaching the airbag to a motor vehicle. A cover section is proximate to the fastening devices and is fastened to the airbag. The cover section is configured to not completely cover the airbag when the airbag is in an unrolled state and forms a wrapping of the airbag when the airbag is rolled-up with the cover section to define rolled-up state. |
| US07661701B2 |
Curtain airbag device
According to the inflation of the curtain, its tip portion moves away from the first window side and comes to engages with support portions. At the same time, a tether moves from the side of the window side to the support portions and comes to be positioned across the window portion. Thereby, the window portion can be properly covered by the curtain airbag. |
| US07661700B2 |
Knee airbag device
A knee airbag device includes a knee airbag that is disposed in a folded state inside a steering column cover. When the knee airbag receives gas, the knee airbag is inflated and deployed from an inside of the steering column cover toward knees of an occupant. The thickness of outer portions of the knee airbag, which are positioned outside centers of the knees when the knee airbag is deployed, is set to be larger than the thickness of a general portion of the knee airbag, which is positioned in front of the knees when the knee airbag is deployed. |
| US07661698B2 |
Airbag apparatus
An airbag apparatus comprised of a cover for covering an expanding side of an airbag and forming an opening for the airbag. The cover is comprised of a door portion disposed at the expanding side of the airbag, a surrounding portion surrounding the door portion, a tear portion defining the door portion and tearing due to an expansion force of the airbag, an installation portion protruding from the surrounding portion adjacent to the tear portion toward an opposite side of the expanding side, and a hinge portion connecting the door portion and the surrounding portion located outside of the installation portion. |
| US07661696B1 |
Wheeled chair
A wheeled chair for assisting a user in changing a disposition. The chair comprises: a base member, a substantially planar seat member, a leg bracing member, a back bracing member, a bracing motor, and an actuator module. The base member includes a plurality of wheels and a lift device. The seat member is oriented substantially orthogonal to the direction of motion of the lift device. The leg bracing member includes a first mode wherein it extends downwardly from the seat member and a second mode wherein it extends substantially collinearly from the seat member. The back bracing member includes a first mode wherein it extends upwardly from the seat member and a second mode wherein it extends substantially collinearly from the seat member. The bracing motor changes between the two modes. The lift device includes a lift device motor. The actuator module activates the bracing and lift device motors simultaneously. |
| US07661694B2 |
Towing assembly
A towing assembly is provided including a hitch ball receiver having a hitch ball mounting aperture and a recess around the aperture, a hitch ball including a base and a mounting shank where the base is sized and shaped to be received in the recess and a fastener engaging the shank and securing the hitch ball to the hitch ball receiver. |
| US07661682B2 |
Recreational and sporting device for movement over ground
The present invention relates to a recreational and sporting device (10) comprising a foot support (12) that is mounted on a first wheel (26) such that the foot support is located below the axis of rotation of a first wheel (26). The foot cradle (12) is hingedly attached to a leg support (18) which is adapted to be attached to a user's leg. The device (10) may further include a second wheel (56) used for stabilization and to assist in steering. The device (10) provides a recreational and sporting apparatus that is more manoeuvrable and can be used on uneven terrain where conventional skates, such as in-line skates, cannot be used. |
| US07661680B2 |
Ferrofluid magnetic seal
A ferrofluid based magnetic seal, comprising at least one gasket, the at least one gasket comprising a flexible, closed cell material, such as, without limitation, neoprene, polyvinylchloride, or plastic, and a ferrofluid core; a first housing, wherein a first face of the first housing is designed to receive at least a portion of the gasket; a second housing, wherein a first face of the second housing is designed to receive at least a portion of at least one magnet; and wherein the at least one magnet is positioned such that when the first housing and the second housing are in close proximity, the at least one magnet is positioned substantially along the length of the at least one gasket. |
| US07661676B2 |
Card shuffler with reading capability integrated into multiplayer automated gaming table
A gaming system simulates events in a casino table card wagering game where there has traditionally been a dealer, whether or not the dealer is an active player in the game. Two distinct video areas are preferably provided, one providing video images of a virtual dealer, and the second video display providing a simulation of a table top for player cards, and optionally also dealer cards. The players have individual play areas with player input, and these play areas have individual processing intelligence that communicates directly with at least one processor. Delivery order of cards is determined by actual shuffling or randomization of a physical deck of cards, reading the cards, then creating an electronic file of the order of the shuffled or randomized cards, then using an order of cards contained in the electronic file to deliver virtual cards to players, dealer and flop as needed. |
| US07661671B2 |
Sheet stacking apparatus and sheet stacking method
In a sheet stacking apparatus, a pair of side members includes a pair of lower side members which is provided with an approximately same distance therebetween as a width of a planographic printing plate and limits a movement in the planographic printing plate width direction; and a pair of upper side members which are provided above the pair of lower side members, each of which is provided with a movable section movable in the planographic printing plate width direction, and on which tapered surfaces are formed facing each other in a generally V shape. The distance between the pair of upper side members is controlled by driving the movable sections of the pair of upper side members so as to prevent quality degradation caused by a thrown-in sheet scratching a stacked sheet. |
| US07661669B2 |
Sheet post-processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image forming system
A sheet post-processing apparatus includes a sheet stacking unit, an aligning unit, a moving member, a discharging member, and a discharging motor. The discharging motor drives the discharging member for discharging a pile of sheets in an operation pattern that is selected, depending on a predetermined condition, from among a plurality of operation patterns. |
| US07661667B2 |
Conveyor belt, sheet feeding device, and image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding device
A sheet feeding device includes a conveyor belt having a first row of a plurality of convex portions intermittently arranged on an inner circumferential surface of the conveyor belt in a sheet conveying direction. The sheet feeding device further includes a plurality of rollers around which the conveyor belt is spanned such that a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction is parallel to an axial direction of each of the rollers. The rollers include concave portions on outer circumferential surfaces thereof, in which the convex portions of the first row of the conveyor belt are engaged. The concave portion of at least one roller of the plurality of rollers has a width different from a width of each of the plurality of rollers other than the at least one roller. |
| US07661666B2 |
Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing method
A sheet processing apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit for performing a post process such as aligning or binding sheets. The sheet processing apparatus is composed of a tray for supporting a sheet bundle, an auxiliary conveying unit including a first arm for hooking an end of the sheet bundle on the tray for moving the first arm, thereby conveying the sheet bundle to a predetermined position on the tray, and returning the first arm from the predetermined position to a home position, and a main conveying unit having a second arm for taking over the sheet bundle from the first arm at the predetermined position on the tray and hooking an end of the sheet bundle for moving the second arm, conveying the sheet bundle taken over, and discharging it from the tray. |
| US07661665B2 |
Apparatus for trimming print products
An apparatus for processing printed products conveyed along a conveying path includes an adjustable positioning device presenting an adjustable guide curve arranged to adjust a position of the printed products along the conveying path. |
| US07661663B2 |
Vibration damper having a buffer spring
A vibration damper is disclosed which includes a damper tube filled with a damping medium; a piston rod which can move in an oscillating and reciprocal manner in the damper tube and one end of which protrudes into the damper tube and which comprises at this end a piston rod extension and a shoulder. A piston divides the interior of the damper tube into a working chamber remote from the piston rod and a piston rod-side working chamber and which is disposed coaxially with respect to the piston rod extension and comprises restrictor openings and at least one spring washer covering these restrictor openings in each working chamber. A buffer spring is disposed in the piston rod-sideworking chamber. |
| US07661662B2 |
Wastewater evaporation system
The water evaporation apparatus functions to increase the concentration strength of a contaminant solution in wastewater, for more economical disposal. A blower conveys an air stream along an air-conduit, over a nozzle or atomizer. The atomizer converts the incoming dilutely-contaminated water into fine droplets, and injects and distributes the droplets into the airstream. An air-heater is located upstream of the atomizer, and heats the airstream to a temperature of 110° C. at the atomizer. A droplet-collector receives the airstream, and the droplets, and mechanically extracts the liquid droplets from the airstream. The airstream leaves the droplet-collector at 65° C. in a saturated condition. The droplets coalesce, and become the final-water, comprising the strongly concentrated contaminant solution. An exhaust-conduit conveys air that has passed through the droplet-collector to the air-outlet. A heat-exchanger transfers heat from the exhaust airstream into the intake airstream, to supplement the air-heater. |
| US07661659B2 |
Swing-type submersible floating aerator
A swing-type submersible floating aerator, including a gas-ring compressor, a base, a pipe, a support tube, a swing device and a driving device, wherein the base is disposed between the gas-ring compressor and the support tube, the base is disposed at the center of the swing device, and the driving device drives the swing device to rotate. The swing-type submersible floating aerator is capable of rotating 360 degrees in a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction, and push-flow and aeration can be performed in any direction. |
| US07661645B2 |
Fixture for display unit for allowing displayed image to be seen with ease even upon vibrating
A rack has a first shelf and a second shelf disposed upwardly of said first shelf, and a display unit is placed on the first shelf and disposed between the first shelf and the second shelf. The display unit is fixed to the second shelf by a display unit fixture. The display unit fixture has a display unit fixing member fixed to said display unit, i.e., a first fixing member, and a second fixing member having a magnet which can be attracted to a lower surface of the second shelf. The second fixing member can removably be fixed selectively to a desired position on the lower surface of said second shelf. The first fixing member and said second fixing member are connected by shafts to respective opposite ends of a connector for rotation about the shafts and are also rotatable with respect to the connector within a plane or planes perpendicular to the display screen of the display unit and a horizontal plane. |
| US07661644B1 |
Carry bag with edge swing
An edge swing, adapted for hanging a carry bag below a table, includes a retention body for being rested on a top surface of the table, and an supporting arm having a pivot end rotatably coupling with the retention body and a hooking end downwardly extended from the retention body, wherein the supporting arm is adapted to fold between a storage position and a hanging position. At the storage position, the supporting arm is folded to encircle the peripheral edge of the retention body, so as to minimize an overall size of edge swing and to use as a decoration. At the hanging position, the supporting arm is extended at a position that the hooking end of the supporting arm is downwardly extended below a bottom surface of the table for hanging the carrying bag underneath the table. |
| US07661643B2 |
Swivel mount system for a monitor
A mount system supports a monitor against a supporting surface such as a wall. The mount system allows the monitor to swing open adjacent to one of its edge and extends the monitor away from the wall so that the edge of the monitor does not hit the wall. A motor or a linear actuator may be used to move the monitor through a motorized action. |
| US07661639B2 |
Apparatus for displaying ornamental objects
An apparatus for displaying an object on a structure is provided. Generally, the apparatus contains a holding portion that is fabricated so as to allow the apparatus to hold to the structure. The apparatus also contains a hook that is capable of allowing the object to be set thereon, and a central loop that is capable of allowing a second object to be situated therein. |
| US07661634B2 |
Keyed channel strut mounted connector device
A keyed channel strut mounted connector device includes channel engagement structure connected to attachment structure. The channel engagement structure includes a key for engaging the channel, and an octagonal neck connecting the key to a boss surmounting the attachment structure. The neck includes clearance facets permitting the key to pass into the longitudinal channel, and relief facets defining support shoulders on the key for supporting the key on the inwardly turned sidewalls of a channel strut. Two pairs of opposed support shoulders permit installation of the device for supporting a run of cables or pipes parallel with the longitudinal axis of the strut, or rotation of the device 90° for supporting the cables or pipes transverse to the strut. By rotating the device 180° in either direction, the head and tail ends of the attachment structure can be reversed without changing the parallel or transverse orientation of the attachment structure. |
| US07661633B2 |
Clamp for long component
A clamp 1 comprises a band 3, a buckle 5 having a support surface 18 against which a long component wound by the band is held, and a clip 6 extending from the buckle 5 and secured to, e.g., a body panel. The buckle 5 comprises a pawl 15 for engaging ratchet teeth 17 on the band, a first guide 25 and a second guide 26 forming an insertion passage 19 for guiding the band 3 and restraining the band 3 inside the insertion passage 19. The second guide 26 is formed in a shape by which the rear portion 30 of the insertion passage 19 including the outlet is parallel to the support surface 18, and the first guide 25 is formed in a shape by which the front portion 31 of the insertion passage 19 including the inlet is connected to the rear portion 30 at an acute angle of inclination 29 with respect to the rear portion 30. |
| US07661628B2 |
Catalyzed decomposing structural payload foam and method of using same
A high energy, e.g., ultraviolet (UV), catalyzed decomposing foam encapsulating a payload to be boosted in space provides an ultra-light weight, adaptable means to facilitate survival of much lighter, smaller satellites and space hardware under boost environment. The decomposable foam is to contain multiple satellites within a booster payload in lieu of the traditionally heavy and complex structural framework. The catalyzed decomposing foam significantly lowers the weight and structure of all space hardware. This packaging system is especially beneficial where several or even hundreds of satellites are required for a constellation system, thereby significantly benefiting all technologies applied in space, ranging from the telecommunication industry to DOD applications. In addition to weight and cost savings, advantages of this foam are many in that it is adaptable to any payload shape as it may be injected, sprayed, formed, molded, easily cut or manufactured to support any geometry required. |
| US07661627B2 |
Method of controlling the attitude of satellites, particularly agile satellites with a reduced number of gyrodynes
A method of controlling the attitude of a satellite (1) including two gyrodynes (3,4) and a third main actuator (2) which delivers torques at least along the Z axis. The method includes: fixing the gimbal axes, A1 and A2, of the gyrodynes (3, 4) parallel to Z; setting a non-zero bias (α) between the angular momentum vectors (Formula I) of the gyrodynes; using the measurements provided by the sensors on board the satellite to estimate the kinematic and dynamic variables necessary in order to control the attitude of the satellite (1); calculating set variables in order to the objectives assigned to the satellite (1) attitude control system; and using the deviations between the estimated variables and the set variables to calculate control orders and to send same to the main actuators (2, 3, 4). |
| US07661626B2 |
Window assembly retaining system
A window assembly and method for its installation is provided. The window assembly may include multiple transparent panels covering an opening of an aircraft fuselage. One or more retainer members and a flexible clip member may be utilized to secure the window assembly over the opening of the fuselage. |
| US07661623B2 |
Cable storage device
The present invention is an improved cable/cord storage device. The cable management device includes first and second expanded regions, a medial region, and at least one channel with a resealable slit. The first and second expanded regions are respectively wider than the medial region. The at least one channel includes an opening on the first region, an opening on the medial region, and an internal cavity therebetween. The internal cavity may be intentionally exposed via a resealable slit to allow a cable to be routed through the internal cavity between the openings. Upon release, slit automatically reseals, thereby reliably supporting the cable. A second embodiment includes two such channels, one in each expanded region. An improved embodiment features transition zones at the origin and terminus of each channel, a rounded edge to each slit, and transitioning curvature of the medial region. |
| US07661621B2 |
Thread tensioner
The invention relates to a thread tensioner comprising tensioning elements that define a thread tensioning zone. In said tensioner, the first tensioning element rests on a stop and the second tensioning element can be pressed against the first tensioning element by means of an adjustable magnet contact force produced by a magnet armature and a repelling magnet actuator. The stop is located on the opposite side of the thread tensioning zone from the first tensioning element. The first tensioning element is stressed by a spring force in the direction of the second tensioning element against the stop. Said spring force is greater in the thread tensioning zone than the respectively adjusted maximum magnetic contact force. The mass of the first tensioning element is smaller than the mass of the magnet armature. |
| US07661620B2 |
Personal accessory carrying device
The present invention is directed toward a carrying device enabling hands-free transporting of a personal data assistant, cellular telephone, pager, MP3 Player, media player, hand held game, hand held GPS device or any other personal accessory or hand held device that may be attached to the body of a user. The device enables a detachment of the handheld device from a housing while maintaining a secured link of the hand held device to the user's body with and automatic facilitated comfortable adjustment of a secure link of the hand held device, thereby providing hand-free carrying and an elimination of risk of loss from accidental misplacement. |
| US07661616B2 |
Chopper and method of chopping unwound items
A method and apparatus for separating long, unwound items like fiber, fiber strands, yarn, etc. into short lengths is disclosed. The apparatus has a backup roll, a blade roll that uses novel dummy blade slot fillers between each pair of chopping blades on the blade roll to eliminate or substantially reduce vibration normally encountered when making longer chopped lengths of chopped product. |
| US07661614B2 |
Shredder throat safety system
The present invention relates to a shredder that includes a housing having a movable part that forms at least a part of an opening for the insertion of articles to be fed into the shredder. A detector detects motion of the movable part, and in response, a controller performs a predetermined operation, including, for example, stopping cutting elements of the shredder mechanism. |
| US07661608B2 |
Jet regulator
The present invention relates to a jet regulator (1) having a jet fractionating device inside a mounting housing (6). The jet regulator (1) according to the present invention is characterized in that the mounting housing (6) is divided into at least two housing parts (7, 8), and that the housing parts (7, 8) can be connected to one another, and that a housing part (7) at the flow inlet side is connected fixedly and non-releasably with the jet fractionating device (2). The jet regulator (1) according to the present invention is distinguished by a high degree of shape stability and by manufacturing costs that are nonetheless low, even for small housing diameters (see FIG. 1). |
| US07661607B1 |
Showerhead controller assembly
A showerhead in which the basic assembly attaches to a water supply pipe that controls and directs the mixing of solutes of various kinds, such as shampoo, moisturizers, liquid soaps or perfumed water and water itself. These are mixed and dispensed with incoming water that passes into, through and out off the controller assembly. These have a solute containing reservoir or reservoirs with different solutes that easily attach or detach for refilling. When adjusted to go to the showerhead or alternately to the bathtub for both showering and bathing, different amounts of solutes may be added to a reservoir to obtain the amounts most desirable. With such a system the water-solute mixture is able to cover the entire body. By selecting mixtures or adding more or less solutes to the reservoir, the skin is treated in such a way that it becomes softer and not itchy. |
| US07661606B2 |
Automated spray gun fitted with a spray system mounted on a feed foundation
An automated spraygun includes a spray/atomization body mounted on a feed foundation. The spraygun includes tensile locking elements between the spray body and the foundation. |
| US07661605B2 |
Fixing structure for a vertical tap
A fixing structure for a vertical tap includes a vertical tap, a mounting member, a fitting member, a fixing ring, and a decorative loop. The mounting member secured in the ground includes a receiving chamber arranged on the top thereof and has two retaining tabs aft ached on the upper end thereof. The upper end of the fitting member screws with the lower end of the vertical tap. The fitting member includes two opposite fastening projections disposed on the outer periphery at the lower end thereof and extending outwardly therefrom. The fixing ring is fitted onto the external rim of the vertical tap, is then secured in a wooden floor by using a number of wood screws, and is further engaged with the internal rim of the vertical tap by way of a bolt. The decorative loop covers the fixing ring, thereby supporting and securing the vertical tap easily. |
| US07661601B2 |
Object, image data, image data transmission method, card, game mat, card game system, image analysis device, and image analysis method
There is provided a two-dimensional code capable of performing accurate recognition. The two-dimensional code includes: a code data portion (102) where a plurality of square cells (106) are two-dimensionally arranged to constitute code data; and a plurality of corner cells (104) arranged so as to surround the code data portion (102). The corner cells (104) are configured with a greater area than the square cells (106). When the two-dimensional code is imaged by an imaging device, the corner cells (104) can be recognized in a large scale, thereby improving the two-dimensional code read accuracy. |
| US07661595B2 |
Digital image capturing and processing system employing a plurality of area-type illuminating and imaging stations projecting a plurality of coextensive area-type illumination and imaging zones into a 3D imaging volume, and controlling operations therewithin using
An automatic digital image capturing and processing system for use in point of sale (POS) environments. The system comprising a system housing having an imaging window, a plurality of coextensive area-type illumination and imaging stations disposed in the system housing, for projecting a plurality of coextensive area-type illumination and imaging zones through the imaging window and into the 3D imaging volume, for capturing a series of area-type digital images of an object intersecting therewith during system operation. An object motion detection subsystem automatically detects the motion of objects passing through the 3D imaging volume, and generates velocity data in response to the detection of the objects moving through the 3D imaging volume during system operation, while a control subsystem, responsive to the velocity data, generates control data for controlling at least one exposure control parameter associated with the operation of the area-type imaging arrays within the coextensive area-type illumination and imaging stations, and also controlling and/or coordinating other operations of the subsystems during system operation. |
| US07661593B2 |
Moving coil actuator with expandable range of motion
A moving coil actuator contains a magnet assembly that is movable to shift the range of motion of the coil. The magnet assembly moves between two or more positions along a path of travel that is parallel to the path of travel of the reciprocating motion of the coil. With this feature, the width of an area scanned by a scanning head affixed to the coil can be increased by multiples allowing a simple moving coil actuator to be used for any scanning width. |
| US07661592B1 |
Interactive system including interactive apparatus and game
An interactive apparatus that is used in a game. The interactive apparatus is in the form of a stylus and contain a stylus housing and a processor coupled to the stylus housing and a memory unit comprising computer code for playing a game involving a plurality of printed cards and an audio output device and an optical emitter and an optical detector and wherein the audio output device, the memory unit, the optical emitter, and the optical detector are operatively coupled to the processor. The apparatus may scan the cards to enhance an interactive game play. |
| US07661591B2 |
RF point of sale and delivery method and system using communication with remote computer and having features to read a large number of RF tags
A method and system for providing point-of-sale and point-of-delivery and/or distribution of products in a restricted access unit near the customer. The method and system utilize products equipped with radio frequency tags and reduce the effects of energy sharing, shadowing, and nulls. In one embodiment, a plurality of RF tagged products are placed within a refrigerator, cabinet, or other micro-warehouse that has a door or opening that can detect access to the micro-warehouse. In one embodiment, one or more antennas are positioned within the door. Each antenna may have a transmission line of sight and be configured to emit a signal at predefined frequencies. Each antenna generates an electromagnetic field within the micro-warehouse. In one embodiment, the products are positioned in one or more bins, compartments, or similar devices located within the micro-warehouse such that at least two of the plurality of products are spaced a distance from each other to reduce energy sharing. The electromagnetic field is moved or altered within the micro-warehouse through the use of reflectors, devices that move the antennas, or other mechanisms. |
| US07661585B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing transaction history information, account history information, and/or charge-back information
A computer-implemented method, including receiving information regarding a transaction involving an individual and involving an account, wherein the information regarding the transaction is received by a receiver prior to a processing, a completion, a consummation, or a cancellation, of the transaction, processing the information regarding the transact on with a processing device, generating a report or a message in response to the processing of the information regarding the transaction, wherein the report or the message contains information regarding a charge-back regarding a previous transaction involving the individual or involving the account, and transmitting the report or the message to a communication device associated with a merchant, vendor, or provider of a good, product, or service. |
| US07661584B1 |
Enclosure for automated banking machine
Method of assembling components of an automatic banking machine or ATM. The ATM includes a top housing cover having a forward region and an upper fascia having a rearwardly extending portion that selectively overlays the forward region. The ATM includes a lower fascia having first and second side extensions that selectively overlay first and second forward regions of a safe or secure enclosure. The ATM may include a pivotal processor case for ease of installation and/or servicing of banking components. The safe housing may include dual openings for use in either a front-load or rear-load ATM. Banking machine components such as displays, card readers, receipt printers, and keypads may be installed or serviced by extending a rollout mounting tray or by rearwardly sliding the top housing. |
| US07661579B2 |
Packaging container, and method and apparatus for making same
A new and improved packaging container, and a method and apparatus for fabricating the same, comprises a laminated structure comprising a plurality of plies formed from suitable paper or similar materials. The plurality of plies, having a predetermined width dimension, are bonded together in a substantially flattened state by glue which is applied in predetermined, axially extending, laterally staggered patterns. Subsequently, the substantially flat, laminated structure is longitudinally scored or embossed at predetermined lateral or transverse positions so as to effectively predispose, and thereby facilitate, for example, the upward folding of oppositely disposed side members of the laminated structure with respect to a central member of the laminated structure whereby the resulting packaging container not only has a desirable substantially U-shaped cross-sectional configuration, but in addition, has optimized flexural beam strength characteristics within its corner regions due to the fact that the oppositely disposed corner regions preferably comprise the same number of multiple plies as the side wall and bottom wall members of the packaging container. |
| US07661576B2 |
Wire bonding method
A wire bonding method that connects a first bonding point and a second bonding point by a wire, the method including a step that press-bonds a ball formed on a tip end of a wire to a first bonding point, thus forming a press-bonded ball; a step that slightly raises a capillary, moves the capillary toward a second bonding point and then lowers the capillary by an amount that is smaller than an amount in which the capillary was raised, and a step that raises the capillary to allow the wire to be paid out of the capillary and moves the capillary toward a second bonding point, thus connecting the wire to the second bonding point. |
| US07661574B1 |
Orbital tube welding clamping fixture support
A clamping means support for use with orbital tube welding that resists the outward flexure of abutting tubes is provided. The invention generally is comprised of a left clasp and a right clasp, being congruent. The right clasp is generally square cornered J-shaped, having a mounting leg, and an engaging leg, an engagement notch formed between the long leg and the short leg. The right clasp is fastened upright, at the mounting leg, to a right top side of a clamping means. The left clasp is fastened invertible, at the mounting leg, to a left top side of a clamping means. Wherein, in the closed position, the engagement leg of the right clasp interlocks within the engagement notch of the left clasp, effectively preventing outward movement of the right top side and the left top side of the clamping means, relative one to the other. |
| US07661573B2 |
Heating apparatus
The heating apparatus allows an outlet of a heating nozzle to get opposed to an electronic component during detachment of the electronic component from a printed wiring board. Hot air blown out of the outlet of the heating nozzle is utilized to heat the electronic component. Electrically-conductive terminals thus melt between the electronic component and the printed wiring board. An air discharge nozzle is located in the vicinity of the heating nozzle. The air discharge nozzle serve to generate airflow at a location distanced from the heating nozzle. The airflow serves to suppress rise in the temperature in the vicinity of the electronic component. Other electronic component in the vicinity of the electronic component is reliably prevented from rise in temperature. The other electronic component is thus prevented from destruction. |
| US07661572B2 |
Friction stir welding using a superabrasive tool
A probe for friction stir welding MMCs, ferrous alloys, non-ferrous alloys, and superalloys, as well as non-ferrous alloys, the probe including a shank, a shoulder, and a pin disposed through the shoulder and into the shank, wherein the pin and the shoulder at least include a coating comprised of a superabrasive material, the pin and shoulder being designed to reduce stress risers, disposing a collar around a portion of the shoulder and the shank to thereby prevent movement of the shoulder relative to the shank, and incorporating thermal management by providing a thermal flow barrier between the shoulder and the shank, and between the collar and the tool. |
| US07661571B2 |
Desktop stapler
A desktop stapler has a base member including a restricting unit; a magazine including a plunger disposed on the head thereof; two linkage devices; a press member; and a guide member. Each linkage device includes a first hole, a third hole, a second hole formed on a bend between the first and third holes, and a pivot hole. Each pivot hole connects with the base member via the restricting unit. The press member includes a press portion defined on the bottom of an end thereof, a grip portion defined on another end thereof and connecting to the plunger of the magazine, and two pivot holes formed on two sidewalls thereof and connected to the third holes of the linkage devices respectively via a coupler unit. The guide member includes a first end inserted via a coupler unit, a second end defining a press end, and two second pivot holes formed on two sidewalls thereof and opposite to each other. |
| US07661568B2 |
In-can fuel cell metering valve
A combined fuel cell and combustion tool including a combustion tool configured for receiving a fuel cell; the fuel cell having a housing defining an open end enclosed by a closure; a main valve stem having an outlet, disposed in operational relationship to the open end and reciprocating relative to the housing at least between a closed position wherein the stem is relatively extended, and an open position wherein the stem is relatively retracted; a fuel metering valve located within the housing, associated with the main valve stem, including a fuel metering chamber defined in part by a metering chamber seal and configured so that when the stem is in the open position, only a measured amount of fuel is dispensed through the outlet, the stem having a radially variable exterior contour periodically sealingly engaging the seal such that in the closed position a non-sealing relationship is defined between the stem and the seal, and in the open position a sealing relationship is defined between the stem and the seal; and the housing includes a separate fuel container, and the fuel metering valve includes a valve body that has a second end opposite the fuel metering chamber and located within the container, wherein the flow of fluid out the outlet of the fuel cell is solely from the separate fuel container. |
| US07661567B2 |
Stick-on security ring for a hand held device
A button provides an adhesive flat bottom surface for attachment to a cell phone or similar hand held device. A leash extends from the button and terminates with a finger ring. When the device is held in a hand with one finger secured in the ring, the device is secured in the hand so that it is less likely to fall. The ring may be an extension of the leash, both a part of an elastic cord loop where the leash is secured within the button and the ring extends away from the button. The leash may be retractable. |
| US07661565B2 |
Pressure activated self opening container and seal
A multi layered frangible seal is bonded over the pour spout opening of flexible plastic bottles containing pourable products such as motor oil. The seal provides a leak proof closure that is strong enough to remain intact when the filled uncapped container is held in an inverted position, and at the same weak enough to break open and dispense the contents into a fill opening when a consumer squeezes the inverted container. The seal is constructed from a first layer of leak proof frangible sheet material that is bonded to a second layer of strengthening sheet material. The strengthening layer contains a cut out void configuration that forms a breaking pattern which forces the seal to break open only in the weaker single frangible layered configuration of the cut out void forming the breaking pattern when the container is squeezed. |
| US07661563B2 |
Device for packaging and dispensing a product
A device for packaging and dispensing a product such as a cosmetic product. A preferred example of the device includes a container forming a holder for the product, and a dispensing element surmounting the container. A dip tube is provided for supplying product to the dispensing element, with the dip tube being connected to the dispensing element by a first end. In addition, a body is able to slide along the dip tube. Further, the dip tube includes, at a distance from its first end, an element forming a stop piece for the body in such a way as to limit the movement of the body along the dip tube. |
| US07661558B2 |
Sachet including at least two sealed compartments
A sachet may include at least two sealed compartments. The sachet may include first and second opposite main walls, a partition separating an inside of the sachet into two compartments, and first and second foldable side walls situated on respective sides of the partition. |
| US07661556B2 |
Tapping device and container therefor, and method for the manufacture thereof
A tapping device (1) for beverage, including a cooling device and a tapping rod (8) with a tapping cock (14), the tapping rod including a first (50) and a second (52) channel, which channels are in fluid communication with each other adjacent the tapping cock (14), while at least during use a tapping line (48) extends through the second channel, which tapping line is coupled at one end with a container (6) for beverage and at the other end can cooperate with the tapping cock. |
| US07661553B2 |
Apparatus for serially dispensing folder sheet products
A dispenser for dispensing folded sheet products from a stack of folded sheet products, includes: an open-ended body, a front panel provided with a dispensing opening, a rear panel, and a transverse panel located between the front and rear panels. The dispenser further includes a support member for receiving the stack of the folded sheet products and at least one locking mechanism located between the support member and at least one longitudinal wall of the open-ended body. |
| US07661552B2 |
Interfolded dispensing panel
By interfolding or interleaving at least a portion of the dispensing panel of a dispenser with the first sheet in a stack of sheet material such that a leading edge of the first sheet is exposed, it is no longer necessary to reach into the dispenser to dispense the first sheet. To dispense the first sheet, the optional removable panel is torn from the dispenser, and then the already exposed leading edge of the first sheet protruding from the dispensing panel is grasped and pulled to withdraw the first sheet from the dispenser. |
| US07661549B2 |
Mutually engagable twin personal care bottles
A pair of containers, provide complimentary outer surface contours so as to be mutually engagable in intimate nesting contact. Each of the containers provides an outwardly extending embossment and an inwardly extending groove. The embossment of each of containers is positioned and sized for frictional engagement with the groove on the other of the pair of containers for mutual securement of the containers when the containers are nested, thereby enabling the containers to be engaged and handled as a unit while dispensing different materials. |
| US07661547B2 |
Closure cap for a container
The present invention relates to a closure cap for a container, with a hinge and a lid which is intended to be tightened to the rim of a container body, and with a closure element which is movable to a temper-evident position. The closure element 34 is attached to the closure cap 14 and movable to an intermediate position in which the closure cap 14 seals against the rim 18 of the container body 12. Additionally, the closure element 34 is movable from the intermediate position to the temper-evident position in a single stroke. |
| US07661540B2 |
Method of forming spaced pleated filter material and product of same
A unified pleated filter arrangement including a unified method and product wherein successive pleat flanks are spaced by communicably facing increments of spacing material with the pleat flanks being a selectively spaced and uniformly level geometric configuration. |
| US07661535B2 |
Multi-functional storage apparatus
A multi-functional storage apparatus for selectively supporting a capturing device includes a main casing having a receiving cavity and a supporting arrangement. The supporting arrangement is provided on the main casing to operate the main casing between a normal storing mode and an capturing mode, wherein in the normal storing mode, the supporting arrangement is arranged to rest on the main casing so as to allow the main casing to function as a portable carrying device through storing objects within the receiving cavity, wherein in the capturing mode, the supporting arrangement is selectively extended from the main casing to detachably attach to the image capturing device, in such a manner that the image capturing device is securely and suspendedly supported by the main casing as a supporting base for stably capturing image in a predetermined direction. |
| US07661531B2 |
Bend and peel packaging having controllable delamination
A bend and peel child resistant and senior friendly tamper evident package comprising a blister sheet having blister pockets projecting from a front side thereof, a rupturable foil layer being adhered to the blister layer and reinforcing the paperboard material adhered to the foil layer, the paperboard layer having a tear strip formed therein, the tear strip being defined by a cut into the paperboard layer from the side thereof adhered to the foil layer, the cut extending only a certain percentage of the total thickness of the paperboard such that a controlled delamination of the paperboard layer occurs when the tear strip is removed. This provides a precise reinforcement of the foil layer. |
| US07661530B1 |
Pill organizer containing disposable receptacles
A pill organizer assembly and the associated method of organizing and isolating multiple doses of pharmaceuticals using a pill organizer. The pill organizer includes a holding case. A plurality of partition walls extend between the side walls in the holding case. The partition walls define a plurality of compartments. A lid is provided that is selectively positionable into a closed position on the holding case. A plurality of removable receptacles are provided. A removable receptacle is disposed within each of the plurality of compartments. The lid creates a seal against each of the removable receptacles when the removable receptacles are within the plurality of compartments and the lid is in its closed position. The seal created by the lid isolates the contents of the removable receptacles until they are removed from the holding case. |
| US07661528B2 |
Stackable twist-top container system
Food containers formed of sheet plastic are latchably stackable on one another. Each container has base (14) and lid (16) elements, with one of them having an outer rim part with a pair of long handle sections (80, 82) that can be pivoted up to form a handle assembly for carrying the container. The sections that form handles are formed in the lid element (16) rather than in the base element (14), so a person does not have to contend with long bouncing sections if the person eats a meal out of the base. One of the elements has vertically undercut grooves (50) and the other element has horizontal projections (52) that slide into and along the grooves. The grooved element has vertical passages (120) along which the projections can move vertically until they can slide into and along the grooves. |
| US07661526B2 |
Toolbox with pivoted cover
A toolbox includes a shell, a holder and a cover. The shell includes two grooves defined therein and two inclined faces formed thereon near the grooves. The holder is disposed in the shell and formed with a plurality of holes for receiving bits. The cover includes two lugs extended from a side thereof and two blocks each formed on a related one of the lugs and formed with an inclined face. The blocks are movably disposed in the grooves so that the cover can be moved relative to the shell. When the cover is moved away from the shell, the cover can be pivoted relative to the shell so that the inclined faces of the blocks are located against the inclined faces of the shell, thus limiting the pivoting of the cover relative to the shell. |
| US07661524B2 |
Side-flexing conveyor belt
An endless side-flexing conveyor is described comprising a conveyor belt made from a number of rows of hinged interconnected belt links, where each row comprises at least one link, where each link has a front end, a back end, a top surface, a bottom surface and two sides, where hinge parts separated by apertures are arranged along the front end and the back end such that front hinge parts on the front end will fit inside apertures on the back end of an adjacent belt link, and where the front end and back end are substantially parallel to a first axis parallel to the width direction of the link, wherein the hinge parts of each link are defined by a top and bottom which are substantially flush with the top and bottom surfaces respectively, and two side surfaces and a free front surface, and that the front hinge parts on one end of each link are provided with a protrusion on each side surface, where the protrusions fit inside elongated apertures provided in the side surfaces of the rear hinge parts on the opposite end of the link; and further that the protrusions on more than one of the front hinge parts arranged centrally on the link are arranged on an axis parallel to the first axis, and that at least the protrusions on one or more of the outermost front hinge parts on one side of each link are arranged parallel to an axis angled +x° in relation to the first axis and that one or more protrusions on the opposite side of each link are arranged parallel to an axis angled −x° in relation to the first axis. |
| US07661519B2 |
Roller device for a conveyer
A roller device mountable rotatably on a spindle includes a roller body having a tubular wall with two opposite open-end portions. Each open-end portion is provided with a retaining member formed on an inner peripheral surface of the tubular wall. Two covers are inserted respectively into the open-end portions of the tubular wall, and are adapted to be sleeved rotatably around the spindle. Each cover has an annular end wall transverse to the corresponding open-end portion, a surrounding wall extending inwardly and axially from an outer periphery of the end wall and abutting against the inner peripheral surface of the tubular wall, and an engaging member formed on an outer peripheral surface of the surrounding wall and interlocking the retaining member. The retaining and engaging members have recess-and-protrusion interlocking surfaces. |
| US07661509B2 |
Devices for regulating pressure and flow pulses
Devices are provided for regulating the pressure pulses and flow pulses that are emitted in the exhausts of apparatus and equipment such as internal combustion engines, compressors and poppet valves. The pressure pulses are reflected from a reflecting member to their source as expansion waves that create a reduced pressure zone that allows subsequently emitted flow pulses to be more easily emitted, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency of the apparatus and equipment. Flow pulses that contain exhaust products such as the products of combustion from an internal combustion engine are regulated so that the exhaust flow they generate is not unduly restricted within the device and an undesirable back pressure that resists the emission of flow pulses from their source created. In regulating the pressure and flow pulses, the devices attenuate the noise generated by the pressure and flow pulses. |
| US07661508B1 |
Lightweight speaker enclosure
A speaker enclosure having a substantially seamless rigid outer skin, a middle sound absorbing layer, and a substantially seamless inner skin results in a lightweight speaker having sound absorbing characteristics. The speaker enclosure is comprised of two basic parts, a box section and a baffle section where each of these sections include a rigid outer skin, the middle sound absorbing layer and a seamless inner skin and are made according to the same method. The outer skin is formed from a layer of sheet molding compound, the middle sound absorbing layer includes pieces of honeycomb material, and the inner skin is formed from a layer of sheet molding compound. The layers of material are placed into a mold and then cured through vacuum bagging and heating thereby producing a strong, lightweight speaker enclosure made of materials which attenuate the transmission and retransmission of errant sound waves in the enclosure thereby reducing distortion of the sound signal produced by the speaker. |
| US07661507B2 |
Control method for a reaction force device in a power steering device
In a control method for a motor 10 for generating a reaction force when a driver operates a steering wheel, as a behavior of a vehicle increases, a larger reaction force to the behavior is generated. When an anti-lock brake system is operated, the reaction force to the behavior is corrected so as to be large. |
| US07661506B2 |
Motor-driven steering apparatus
In a motor-driven steering apparatus in which a handle stay provided with a steering handle is fixed to a steering shaft, and a motor-driven steering assist unit is interposed between the steering shaft and a tire wheel side steering member, and a taper coupling portion provided in the handle stay is coupled and fixed to a taper support portion provided in the steering shaft. |
| US07661504B2 |
Vehicle seatbelt apparatus
Seatbelt apparatus includes a control device connected with a vehicle-mounted battery for controlling an operational state of a seatbelt on the basis of an opened/closed state of a buckle switch and electric power supplied by the battery. The control device has a first operation mode for operating with low-level electric power, and a second operation mode for operating with higher-level electric power. In the second operation mode, the control device is kept in a state capable of detecting the opened/closed state of the buckle switch. The apparatus also includes a storage section for storing a current state value of the buckle switch when the control device shifts from the second operation mode to the first operation mode. |
| US07661502B2 |
Parking brake system
A parking brake operating lever is arranged to allow a rider to operate the operating lever without leaning forward to a large extent, while securely avoiding an inadvertent operation. An operating mechanism for a parking brake is provided to a position, covered with a front cowl, of a right-side main pipe, below a tank cover. The operating lever is positioned to be partly exposed from a lower end portion of the side surface of the front cowl. Since the operating lever is positioned in a vicinity of the front end portion of a seat, the operating lever is easy to operate. Concurrently, since the most part of the operating lever is covered with the front cowl, an inadvertent operation is avoided. |
| US07661498B2 |
Fluid cushion conveyance system
A fluid-cushion supporting arrangement for horizontal conveyance comprises a supporting platform having a center and a distal portion; a flexible angular sealing element arranged under the platform in the region of the distal portion and forming a sealing piston. The sealing piston has a substantially horizontal leg which extends toward the center and forms together with the supporting platform a fluid chamber, and a substantially vertical leg which forms together with the supporting platform a control pressure chamber. The vertical leg is vertically and adjustably inserted in the control pressure chamber. An inlet valve is provided for supplying fluid into the fluid chamber. A pressure-regulating arrangement in fluid communication with the fluid chamber and the control pressure chamber regulates the fluid pressure. The vertical leg comprises a plurality of reinforcement elements including at least one metallic strip. |
| US07661497B2 |
Upper swing body with minimized rear protrusion in excavator
An upper swing body of an excavator is disclosed wherein a rear protrusion is minimized to reduce an operating radius and a cooling performance is improved even in a narrow engine room. An upper swing body of an excavator according to the present invention comprises a main frame (12) forming a base of the upper swing body; a support (16) including a pair of vertical frames (17, 18) disposed upwardly from an upper surface of a rear portion of the main frame (12) and laterally spaced apart from each other by a certain distance, and a horizontal frame (19) for connecting upper ends of the pair of vertical frames (17, 18) to each other; a cab (80) having a front lower portion supported by the main frame (12), and a rear lower portion supported by the support (16); and an engine (10) disposed in a space formed below the horizontal frame (19) of the support (16). |
| US07661486B2 |
Power tool with battery pack ejector
A power tool has a mechanism for ejecting a battery pack which includes a receiving frame which defines a cavity to receive a battery pack. A receiving member is adjacent the cavity. The receiving member meshes with a member on the battery pack to hold the battery pack in the cavity. A biasing member is in the cavity adjacent the receiving member. The biasing member ejects the battery pack from the ejecting mechanism. A member retains the biasing member in the cavity. The member guides a portion of the battery pack meshing with the receiving member into contact with the biasing member such that when the battery pack is locked onto the frame, the biasing member is in a compressed condition and when the battery pack is an unlocked position, the biasing member ejects the battery pack from the frame. |
| US07661483B2 |
Metal oxide nanoparticles for smoke clearing and fire suppression
Methods of reducing smoke levels in smoke-affected areas, reducing the level of toxic compounds produced by fires, fire suppression, and increasing flame retardancy. In particular, methods according to the present invention comprise dispersing nanocrystalline particles in the areas affected by smoke for sorption of smoke particulates and toxic compounds produced from a fire. The nanocrystalline particles are also effective for use in methods of fire suppression and flame retardancy. |
| US07661480B2 |
Method for hydraulic rupturing of downhole glass disc
A method for rupturing a glass disc in a well completion tool located downhole in a section of production tubing includes providing a wellhead isolation tool, or tree saver, to isolate the wellhead Christmas tree, adding a pressurized fluid to the tubing/casing annulus and pumping a disc rupturing fluid into the production tubing via the tree saver until the disc is ruptured. Following rupture, the pump can be rapidly stopped, or slowed, and started to create a water hammer effect that removes any glass shards remaining in the disc holder. |
| US07661477B2 |
System and method for unsticking a tool stuck in a wellbore
An unsticking assembly for releasing a tool that is stuck in a wellbore including a first anchor actuatable between an engaging position wherein the first anchor engages a wall of the wellbore and a retracted position wherein the first anchor does not engage the wall; a second anchor actuatable between an engaging position wherein the second anchor engages a wall of the wellbore and a retracted position wherein the second anchor does not engage the wall; and a control module in connection with the first and second anchor to selectively actuate each anchor between the engaged and retracted positions. The assembly is adapted for positioning in the wellbore and in connection with the tool when the tool is stuck in the wellbore. The assembly may be a stand-alone assembly that is connectable to the tool after the tool is stuck in the wellbore. The assembly may include the wellbore tool as an interconnected element. |
| US07661476B2 |
Gravel packing methods
A method associated with the production of hydrocarbons is described. The method includes drilling a wellbore using a drilling fluid, conditioning the drilling fluid, running a production string in the wellbore and gravel packing an interval of the wellbore with a carrier fluid. The production string includes a joint assembly comprising a main body portion having primary and secondary fluid flow paths, wherein the main body portion is attached to a load sleeve assembly at one end and a torque sleeve assembly at the opposite end, the load sleeve assembly having at least one transport conduit and at least one packing conduit disposed therethrough. The main body portion may include a sand control device, a packer, or other well tool for use in a downhole environment. The joint assembly also includes a coupling assembly having a manifold region in fluid flow communication with the second fluid flow path of the main body portion and facilitating the make-up of first and second joint assemblies with a single connection. |
| US07661473B2 |
Expansion enhancement device
Nested articulated split rings move relatively to each other to enlarge their outer dimension for a grip on a surrounding tubular or the wellbore. The rings can be articulated to enlarge their outside dimension with relative movement that can be initiated by dimensional expansion from within the tubular or manipulation of the tubular that creates the desired relative movement. The relative movement can be locked in after it is made to secure the grip. Different shape profiles that magnify the radial outer dimension in excess of the percentage dimensional change in the underlying tubular are contemplated. |
| US07661469B1 |
Synchronized thermal management method
A method of cooling a plurality of devices operated in parallel and heated by relatively long duration pulses using a single coolant flow channel to the devices in series that transports the heat from the several devices in a contiguous series of heat pulses to the heat exchanger. |
| US07661467B1 |
Methods to control heat transfer in fluids containing drag-reducing additives
A drag reducing fluid pumped (22) through a heat exchanger (12). |
| US07661465B2 |
Integrated cooling system with multiple condensing passages for cooling electronic components
A cooling system for removing heat from a heat generating component, includes a base (100) and a heat sink (200) mounted on the base. The base includes a lower portion and a higher portion surrounding the lower portion. The lower portion and the higher portion cooperatively define a space (18) receiving working fluid therein. The heat sink defines an evaporating passage (252) and two condensing passages (254) located at two opposite sides of the evaporating passage. These passages are in fluid communication with the space. Cooperatively the space and the passages define a loop for circulating the working fluid therein. The working fluid has a phase change for dissipating heat generated by a heat-generating electronic component. A wick structure (400) is received in the space. |
| US07661463B2 |
Cooling device incorporating boiling chamber
A cooling device includes a boiling chamber containing working fluid therein. The chamber includes a bottom wall for contacting with a heat generating component and a cover hermetically connected with the bottom wall. The cover includes a top wall and a bulge formed at a periphery thereof. The bulge includes a pair of spaced side walls, one of the side walls connecting with the top wall and the other of the side walls connecting with the bottom wall. A buffering region is formed between the side walls, which is capable of absorbing agitation wave generated by boiling fluid to thereby allow the boiling fluid to be capabling of continuously and stably contacting with and exchanging heat from the top wall of the boiling chamber when the fluid boils. A heat sink is arranged on the cover of the boiling chamber for transferring heat from the boiling chamber to environment. |
| US07661460B1 |
Heat exchangers for fluid media
A compact heat exchanger for interchanging thermal energy between at least two fluids, one of which fluids may be a refrigerant in hot or cold form or in a liquid/vapor phase, and another of which fluids is a thermal transfer fluid. The heat exchanger may incorporate an internal heating element. The thermal transfer fluid is transported between two concentric metal tubes, while the refrigerant moves along a tubing helically wrapped about or between the tubes and is in thermal contact therewith. |
| US07661459B2 |
Mobile serving cart and system incorporating same
A mobile cart for serving food and/or beverages is described. According to various implementations, the cart is equipped with a removable mission module. The mission module includes equipment that is used by the cart to perform its designated mission, such as an oven (for a hot food service mission module), a cooling unit (for a cold food service mission module), a beverage dispenser (for a beverage service mission module), a point of sale terminal (for duty-free service mission module), appropriate branding (for a franchising mission), or a custom equipment (for a customized mission). The mission module also includes a processor and a memory. The mission module is removable, and may be one of several mission modules available to the cart. Thus, for each type of mission, there may be a different mission module. This enables the cart to be quickly and easily “customized” for each mission by replacing an unneeded module with a required one. |
| US07661454B2 |
Adhesive tape joining apparatus
An apparatus of this invention includes: a workpiece holding mechanism that holds a ring frame and a wafer; a tape supplying device that supplies a continuous dicing tape or a continuous carrier tape to which a precut dicing tape is joined, to a joining position; a joining unit that joins the continuous dicing tape or the precut dicing tape separated from the carrier tape, to the ring frame and the semiconductor wafer; a tape cutting mechanism that cuts the dicing tape joined to the ring frame along a contour of the ring frame; and a residual tape collecting section that takes up and collects a residual tape after the cutting. |
| US07661441B2 |
Multi-line fluid conduit modules
A modular manifold component for hydronic circulation systems includes a control conduit section adapted and constructed to receive any of a plurality of selectively actuatable fluid control mechanisms. The control conduit section has an inlet and an outlet. A return conduit section is secured to the control conduit section in fluid communication with the inlet of the control conduit section. A supply conduit section is secured to the control conduit section in fluid communication with the inlet of the control conduit section. |
| US07661440B2 |
Device for selectively regulating the flow rate of a fluid
A device for regulating the flow rate of a fluid includes a housing containing a plurality of flow conduits fluidly connecting an inlet and an outlets each of the flow conduits comprising a flow control tube and a resiliently compressive occlusion tube, wherein the flow control tubes are of substantially equal internal diameter. Each of the flow control tubes has a length associated with a different flow rate. A resilient flow-blocking element is operatively associated with each of the occlusion tubes and is movable into a flow-blocking compression against its associated occlusion tube. An actuation mechanism in the housing is operable (a) to selectively engage and move one or more of the flow-blocking elements into the flow-blocking compression against its associated occlusion tube, and (b) to selectively be disengaged from any of the flow-blocking elements. |
| US07661435B2 |
Pump connector for Presta valve
Pump connector for Presta valve is disclosed in which one end of a pump connector valve seal is formed with a hollow chamber, and is disposed inside a space of a cap having a channel. The hollow chamber is assembled with a valve seal insert which includes a through hole. The second end of the through hole is formed with an inner edge corresponding to the shape of the shoulder section of the Presta valve. An end cap is assembled with the cap for preventing the pump connector valve seal from separating from the cap. Accordingly, the Presta valve can be screwed together with a first internal thread of the cap, and at the same time the shoulder section of the Presta valve is tightly fitted to the inner edge of the valve seal insert for direct inflation. |
| US07661434B2 |
Hair-on-hair extension system
The hair-on-hair extension system has hair extensions that include a generally continuous span of natural and/or synthetic attachment hair strands extending from the weft base or edge of the attachment. The attachment hair strands are braided or intertwined directly into braids formed in the native hair of the wearer as those braids are being formed, without the need for additional attachment apparatus. The weft base may include a relatively narrow, linear weft edge having the hair extension and attachment strands extending in the opposite or same direction therefrom, or may include a two-dimensional crown sheet having the hair extension strands extending from a series of wefts from one surface of the sheet and the hair attachment strands extending from the opposite surface. The hair extension may include a separator sheet between the hair extension and hair attachment strands to facilitate manipulation of the hair attachment strands during installation. |
| US07661432B2 |
Cigarette filter containing activated carbon impregnated with sesamol
A cigarette filter is characterized in that sesame lignan (which is at least one selected from the group consisting of sesamin, sesamol, sesaminol, sesamolinol, sesamolin and pinoredinol) is added to the filter. |
| US07661429B2 |
Plunger
A plunger intended for an inserter for an intrauterine device with a T-body, which plunger has a first end and a second end. The plunger's length in its longitudinal direction is substantially larger than the diameter of the cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The plunger's cross-section is substantially circular. An opening (17) has been arranged in the plunger's longitudinal direction so that the opening's longitudinal axis is substantially the same as the plunger's longitudinal axis. The opening at the first end of the plunger is arranged to expand in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal axis to form a tip portion, so that the tip portion has at least one surface (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), which along at least a portion of the tip portion's length turns at least 35° in relation to a first plane in parallel with the longitudinal axis and at least 35° in relation to a plane at an angle in relation to the longitudinal axis. |
| US07661427B2 |
Proportional pressure assist ventilation controlled by a diaphragm electromyographic signal
A closed loop system uses (a) the intensity of the diaphragm electromyogram (EMG) for a given inspiratory volume; (b) the inspiratory volume for a given EMG intensity; or (c) a combination of (a) and (b); in view of controlling the level of gas flow, gas volume or gas pressure delivered by a mechanical (lung) ventilator. The closed loop ventilator system enables for automatic or manual adjustment of the level of inspiratory support in proportion to changes in the neuro-ventilatory efficiency such that the neural drive remains stable at a desired target level. An alarm can also be used to detect changes in neuroventilatory efficiency in view of performing manual adjustments. |
| US07661421B1 |
Wok support ring and devices for imparting a rocking motion to a wok
A wok support ring supports the weight of a wok and food items to be cooked in the wok and imparts a rocking motion to the wok as it is moved in a back and forth motion by the worker. A wok rocking device includes the use of a wok support base which moves in a rocking motion via cam tracks with roller followers. When the worker pulls the wok in a back and forth motion, the rollers follow the cam track to cause the wok to rise rapidly and then rock forward near the end of the stroke. A wok rocking device also can utilize movable linkages attached to a wok support base in order to create the rocking motion needed to mix and fold the food items within the wok. |
| US07661420B2 |
Portable heat transfer apparatus
A portable heat transfer apparatus comprises a mixture forming/supply device for producing a mixture of fuel gas and air, a heating unit including a heat collection casing, and a burner installed in the casing and formed with a combustion chamber having a flat surface. The burner includes a large number of holes formed on an upstream side thereof to extend up to the flat surface to allow the mixture injected into the chamber therethrough to combust in the chamber, and a porous solid radiant-heat conversion component to partly convert heat energy of exhaust gas from the combustion in the chamber into radiant heat energy. The conversion component defines at least a surface region of the chamber located opposite to a flame front produced close to the flat surface. The apparatus includes a heat-driven pump joined to the casing and receiving heat generated by the combustion, through the heat collection casing. |
| US07661418B2 |
Crossbow grip guard
A crossbow having a crossbow grip guard that has a member that extends outwardly in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the crossbow barrel or stock, and wherein the member extends for a length in a direction that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the crossbow barrel or stock. |
| US07661417B2 |
Air pressure boost assist
Disclosed is an electronic module designed to use the locomotive engine's speed sensors to detect such changes in engine speed (rpm), as required by the locomotive operator moving the throttle notch handle. Once a speed change is detected, the module commands an air valve on each of the locomotive's main air reservoir tanks, (designed to handle the normal operating main reservoir air pressure), to open and allow them to discharge into the engine's intake manifolds located on both sides of the diesel engine. |
| US07661414B2 |
Internal combustion engine system
An internal combustion engine system includes a fuel tank containing ethanol, a fuel tank containing at least one of gasoline and GTL naphtha, a reforming device for reforming ethanol to obtain diethyl ether, a heat exchange device for heating a heating medium, an ethanol heater for heating ethanol, and a fuel supply controlling device for controlling a mixture ratio of the fuel. The internal combustion engine system further includes an intake air heater for heating intake air with the heating medium. The internal combustion engine system includes an adiabatic storage container for storing the heating medium during a halt of an internal combustion engine. A flow controlling device is provided for supplying the heating medium to the adiabatic storage container only when a temperature detected by a thermal detector is higher than a temperature detected by a thermal detector during an operation of the internal combustion engine. |
| US07661413B2 |
Fuel supply pump and tappet structure body
Disclosed is a fuel supply pump including a tappet structure body having a roller that contacts a cam and a tappet body disposed with a roller housing portion in which the roller is housed, with a pressure adjusting member for dispersing load force being interposed between the tappet body and a plunger. The pressure adjusting member includes a concave portion in a center portion of a surface that faces the tappet body and contacts the tappet body at the peripheral portion of the concave portion. |
| US07661412B2 |
Method of controlling the start-up of an internal combustion engine
A method of controlling the startup of an engine using a sensor having a reference index, commanding the rotation of the crankshaft, detecting the rotation of the crankshaft, selecting a group of cylinders for which the reference index is detected less than a half-turn of the crankshaft before the piston reaches the top dead center, before the inlet valves of the selected group of cylinders closes, commanding the injectors of the selected group of cylinders, detecting the reference index, and commanding the ignition element. |
| US07661409B2 |
Operating method and device for a gas-operated internal combustion engine
The invention relates to an operating method and to a device for a gas-driven internal combustion engine. According to the invention, the pressure in a gas injection system is adapted to the operational state of the internal combustion engine. A higher pressure is adjusted in the gas injection system during a higher charge of the internal combustion engine. Said higher pressure enables a higher volume flow through the gas injection valves associated with the gas injection system. The power produced by the internal combustion engine can be optimized. A lower pressure in the gas injection system is adjusted in the event of a lower charge or if the internal combustion engine is switched off. The lower pressure emits lower pollutant emissions which are produced by the internal combustion engine. The invention is characterized by a bi-directional interface between a control device and a pressure reducer or pressure controller. |
| US07661400B2 |
Switchable cam follower
A switchable finger lever (1) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine is provided, including an outer lever (3) and an inner lever (4) that extends between the arms thereof. One end of the outer lever (3) is provided with a contact area (6) for a head of a resting element on the bottom side (5) thereof. A smooth-faced longitudinal recess (7) for a coupling means (8) extends above the contact area (6). Some sections of the coupling means (8) can be engaged with the driving area (9) located on a face (10) of the inner lever (4) when the levers (3, 4) are coupled. The coupling means (8) is provided as a circular cylinder which is freely rotatable in the longitudinal recess (7) that is provided as a bore. The driving area (9) is provided on the inner lever (4) so as to be complementary to the outer envelope (14) of the coupling means (8). Durability in the coupling zone is improved as a result of the fact that the coupling means (8) is freely rotatable. |
| US07661398B2 |
Control device and control method of internal combustion engine
An ECU executes a program including steps of estimating an oil temperature based on a water temperature sensed by a water temperature sensor, setting NE(1) to a lower limit value of an engine revolution speed NE when the oil temperature is equal to or higher than a threshold THO(0), setting NE(2) (NE(2) |
| US07661395B2 |
Stroke-variable engine
In a stroke-variable engine, the position of a center of gravity of a subsidiary connecting rod is determined so that a distance between the position of the center of gravity of the subsidiary connecting rod and an axis of a crankpin is smaller than a distance between a point of connection of a main connecting rod to the subsidiary connecting rod and the position of the center of gravity as well as a distance between a point of connection of a control rod to the subsidiary connecting rod and the position of the center of gravity. Thus, 0.5-order vibration generated in the subsidiary connecting rod is lowered, engine vibration is suppressed, and noise generated with the vibration is suppressed. |
| US07661392B2 |
Containment systems and components for animal husbandry: nested cage bases
Provided are animal containment systems and components, including single-use animal containment cages and modular rack units. Also provided are methods for assembling and using components of the animal containment systems. |
| US07661389B2 |
Aquaculture cage with variable buoyancy spars
A buoyancy control system for a fish cage used in fish farming. The buoyancy system comprises spars having first and second sections separated by a bulkhead. The first section is filled with air and hermetically sealed from the second section and from the surrounding environment. The second section is sealable and may be filled with air or water to adjust the buoyancy of the spar. A fish cage having the buoyancy control system can be raised or lowered in accordance to the amount of air and water in the second sections of the spars. A segmented anchor can connected at each spar. |
| US07661388B2 |
Plasma reactor for the treatment of large size substrates
A radiofrequency plasma reactor (1) for the treatment of substantially large sized substrates is disclosed, comprising between the electrodes (3, 5) of the plasma reactor a solid or gaseous dielectric layer (11) having a non planar-shaped surface-profile, said profile being defined for compensating a process non uniformity in the reactor or generating a given distribution profile. |
| US07661384B2 |
Closure cap for a container having time-date indicators
A closure cap for a product container such as a prescription medicine vial, that has a number time and date dials for reminding a user when to take the next dose. The cap's time and date dials are rotatable together or individually with the use of uniquely shaped turning tabs. The dials allow for a user to set the reminder to indicate any hour of the day, any day of the week, and any date of the month. The cap may also have a next and last dose setting. The cap may also have a locking mechanism to prevent inadvertent changes to the set time. |
| US07661382B2 |
Reversible seat for a boat
A reversible seat for a boat or other vehicle includes a base, a seat bottom, and a seat back. The seat bottom, which has a first surface and a second, opposite surface, is pivotally connected to the base such that the seat bottom is capable of rotating at least approximately 180 degrees about the base. The seat back is pivotally connected to the seat bottom on a side of the seat bottom opposite from where the seat bottom is pivotally connected to the base. In a first seat position, the first surface of the seat bottom faces substantially upward and the second surface of the seat bottom faces substantially downward. In a second seat position, the second surface of the seat bottom faces substantially upward and the first surface of the seat bottom faces substantially downward. In each of the first and second seat positions, the seat back extends upward at a predetermined angle relative to the seat bottom. |
| US07661378B2 |
Wastewater ballast system and method
The invention discloses a wastewater ballast method that includes the steps of collecting wastewater, treating the collected wastewater, storing the treated wastewater, and discharging the treated wastewater during ballast operations. |
| US07661376B2 |
System for producing energy at a pulp mill
A spent liquor recovery boiler system including a boiler having a water/steam circulation system with superheaters and a furnace for recovering energy and chemicals from spent liquor combusted therein, the walls of the boiler are formed of a plurality of water-cooled tubes connected to the water/steam circulation system. The system is provided with at least one cavity having walls formed of water-cooled tubes connected to the water/steam circulation system, means for combusting a fuel and at least one outlet for discharging combustion gases to the boiler, the interior of the at least one cavity being provided with heat exchanger means for final superheating of the steam generated in the boiler, said heat exchanger means being connected to the superheaters of the boiler. |
| US07661374B2 |
Expandable table assembly
An expandable table assembly having a table top, a base, a plurality of legs supporting the base, and a plurality of releasably attachable expansion members that can be used to expand the table surface beyond the surface area of the unexpanded table top. The table top is repositionable from a first use position to a second use position by lifting the table top above the base, rotating the table top 90 degrees relative to the base in a substantially horizontal plane, and then lowering the table top back onto the base. The expansion members are attachable to the base only when the table top is in the second use position and, when attached, become part of the total surface area of the table. |
| US07661372B2 |
Mason's adjustable chimney-platform arrangement
An adjustable, articulable platform, changeable to and from a “U” shape to an “H” shape, is attachable to the distal end of an articulable support arm of a transport vehicle. The platform is arranged to adjustably surround an elevated chimney on at least three sides thereof. The platform comprises: a lower anchor plate centrally disposed within an elongated lower support frame; a rear anchor plate connected perpendicularly to the lower anchor plate, the rear anchor plate centrally and connectively disposed within an elongated rear wall frame, comprising bridging portions of the platform. A right sidewall frame and a left sidewall frame is connected to respective end portions of the elongated rear wall frame. A right slidable sidewall is slidably disposed within the right sidewall frame, and a left slidable sidewall is slidably disposed within the left sidewall frame, to permit forward and rearward adjustability to side rail and floor portions thereof around an elevated structure for supporting personnel and equipment therefor. Those side rail and floor panel portions are also adjustable transversely to squeeze closed together or slightly further apart according to the width of any chimney or the like. Such sideways adjustment is accomplished by supportive engagement of the mid portion of the rear wall frame and floor panel of its adjacent wall and floor panels. |
| US07661371B2 |
Manway sealing system
An improved safety collar (10) for a manway system (24) provides a tapered component for guiding the collar into an aperture of a manway lid (28), thus preventing the collar from snagging an edge of the aperture and holding the lid in an open position. The safety collar is defined by an annular wall with a smooth outer surface (12) and a threaded inner surface (14). A chamfered rim (16) of the collar presents an annular sloping surface (18) generally sloping inwardly and upwardly from the outer surface to the inner surface. When the collar is threaded onto a bolt (66) of the bolt assembly, the chamfered rim (16) of the collar guides the collar into an aperture (58) of the manway lid, such as when the lid is lowered into position against a base (26) of the manway system. |
| US07661363B2 |
Impact fuse
An impact fuse includes a body containing a piezoelectric generator positioned on a bracket integral with the body. The piezoelectric generator serving as an anvil. The fuse includes a piston intended to mechanically contact the generator upon impact. The piston receives the impact forces transmitted by a cap. The fuse being characterized in that the piston is slidably fitted within the body and in that it includes plastically deformable means that are interposed between the cap and the body. The means are deformed by cap movement upon impact with a target via piston movement. The plastically deformable means is configured to be deformed in a manner that causes the piston to more gradually exert force on the piezoelectric generator. |
| US07661359B2 |
Printing machine comprising a former
A printing machine includes a printing cylinder that is fitted with plates for printing the width of N pages. A web of material is printed and is then cut longitudinally, by an elongate cutting device, into printed webs. The number N of pages is a whole number that is divisible by three and the total width of N pages is less than the width of the printing cylinder. A width of N+1 pages is greater than the width of the printing cylinder. The elongate cutting device can be arranged, on one boundary, between a Kth and a Kth+1 page, wherein k is one third or two thirds of N. At least one of the resulting partial webs is guided through a former. The former is oriented so that the direction of travel of the web entering the former is transverse to the direction of web travel in the elongated cutting device. The former has a width that is equal to, or greater than two thirds of the width of the printing cylinder, but is less than the entire width of the printing cylinder. |
| US07661357B2 |
Stencil printing machine with a plurality of drum units and method of controlling the same
A controller reads out image data of an area frame that a user has drawn on an original and accurately extracts the area frame by removing noise from the read-out image data to divide image data of an area outside the area frame and image data of an area inside the area frame into separate stencils, according to a separation program. It is therefore possible to execute a separation process desired by the user without increasing costs and man-hours and with easy operations not making the user feel troublesome. |
| US07661356B2 |
Food-cutting device
A food-cutting device includes an upper metal base and a lower metal base respectively formed with recessed areas and shaped mold cavities with a predetermined cavity depth having raised rims outwardly projecting from the recessed areas and having inclined and closed peripheral patterns formed on inner surfaces. Cutters having a height greater than that of the raised rim are provided around the shaped mold cavities of the upper metal base. Moreover, press members respectively have one ends connected to each side of the upper metal base and the other ends connected to each side portion of a handle pivotally connected to a rear sick of the upper metal base. When the upper and lower metal bases are in a closed state to heat foodstuff, the foodstuff is pressed into a predetermined configuration, and a filling is encapsulated within the foodstuff followed by cutting the foodstuff by the cutters. |
| US07661352B2 |
Method and system for in-cup dispensing, mixing and foaming hot and cold beverages from liquid concentrates
Liquid food dispensing device (1) for dispensing hot or cold beverages or other liquid foods without using any mixing or whipping chambers comprising at least one liquid component source (30, 31) and a diluent source (18), a delivery device and at least one diluent nozzle and one food component nozzle wherein the delivery device and diluent and food component nozzles are configured for ejecting at least one stream (6a, 6b) of diluent at a predetermined spatial configuration inside a container (10) and within a velocity range effective to create turbulence and mix the food component so to produce the food product such as the hot or cold beverage. |
| US07661351B2 |
Hydrostatic axial piston machine and use of said machine
The invention relates to a hydrostatic axial piston machine having a cylinder block which can be rotated about a first axis, the cylinder block being provided with a plurality of cylinder bores which extend in the axial direction and which are arranged on a partial circle which is concentric in relation to the first axis, in addition to a plane which can be rotated about a second axis, whereon a number of pistons associated with the bores, can be articulated in a pivotable manner on a second partial circle which is concentric in relation to the second axis and form a ring. Also provided is a device for synchronizing the rotation of the cylinder block about the first axis and the drive shaft about the second axis. The cylinder block and the drive shaft can be adjusted in a continuous manner using both axes, between a first position, wherein both axes are parallel, and a second position, wherein both axes together form a maximum pivoting angle which is different from zero. |
| US07661350B2 |
Module structure for electrical armour plating
The invention relates to the field of the protection of structures such as terrestrial buildings, vehicles or else ships, against attacks operated by means of hollow charges. It applies in particular to the protection of armoured vehicles.The subject of the invention is a module for embodying a lightweight and mobile reactive armour comprising at least one electrically conducting external wall and one electrically conducting internal wall and forming two electrodes between which is applied a very high voltage, the said walls defining an inter-electrode space, as well as an electrically conducting internal tridimensional mechanical structure, of low density, in electrical contact with the internal wall.The module according to the invention is intended to be placed between the object to be protected and the hollow charge, the internal tridimensional mechanical structure being positioned between the electrodes and the object to be protected.The module according to the invention makes it possible to increase the effectiveness the destruction of the jet by lengthening the destruction by fusion and vaporization during the traversal of the internal tridimensional mechanical structure. |
| US07661346B1 |
Guide assembly for power tools and associated method
A guide assembly for power tools includes a rectilinear guide and a rotary guide slidably attached to the rectilinear guide with a post with axially opposed top and bottom ends respectively. The rotary guide further includes a knob provided with a rod with a first end directly attached to a bottom surface of the knob. The assembly further includes a mechanism for slidably attaching the rotary guide to the rectilinear guide and a mechanism for removably securing the rectilinear guide to a support surface. The removable securing mechanism further includes an opening formed in each of the end caps and located in a central region thereof. |
| US07661344B2 |
Method and apparatus for die cutting a web
A method and apparatus for producing shaped articles from a web material is disclosed. The apparatus generally includes a rotary cutting roller, preferably including indicia on an end surface, and an anvil roller operating in cooperating rotational movement with the rotary cutting roller. The apparatus die cuts web material into predetermined shapes. The apparatus further includes at least one sensor for detecting rotational movement of the rotary cutting die by way of the indicia on the end surface of the rotary cutting roller. The information from the at least one sensor and an encoder is processed and translated to drive means to thereby corrects variation in web alignment relative to the rotary cutting roller. The adjustment of the rotary cutting roller of the present invention allows the rotary cutting roller to cut within a high degree of accuracy and precision. |
| US07661343B2 |
Brake mechanism for power equipment
Brake pawls for use in safety systems for power equipment are disclosed. The brake pawls include an energy-absorbing region. The energy absorbing regions may include a deformable or collapsible region made from apertures in the brake pawl or from collapsible members or from materials of differing hardnesses, strengths, or structures. |
| US07661334B2 |
Locking device
A locking device (10) includes an adjustable bracket (7) provided with a recess (16), a stationary contour (9) with a contact surface (12), a pin (8), which is arranged movably in the recess (16) and on which an axial spring force generated by a compression spring (21) acts. A pin head (14) projects from the recess (16) of the bracket (7) and has a contact pair with the contact surface (12). At least one centering device (18) is provided between the pin (8) and the bracket (7). The locking device has a centering device (18), which has an elastically deformable ring (19). The ring (19) is arranged between the pin (8) and the bracket (7) within the recess (16) and is displaceably arranged within the recess (16). The ring (19) has a surface (22) with a cross section tapering against the direction of the force of the compression spring (21). The surface is in contact with a complementary surface (23) at the pin (8). |
| US07661330B2 |
Starter for cranking internal combustion engine
A rotational torque of an electric motor of a starter is transmitted to an output shaft having a pinion gear engaging with a ring gear of an internal combustion engine via a one-way clutch. A tube forming a clutch-inner and the output shaft are spline-coupled to allow the output shaft to reciprocally move in the axial direction while transmitting the rotational torque of the tube to the output shaft. The output shaft is slidably supported by a supporting portion formed at a front end of the tube. To establish air communication between an inside space of the tube and an outside space, an air passage is formed either in the supporting portion or on the output shaft. Pressure changes in the inner space due to reciprocal movement of the output shaft are suppressed by air communication through the air passage, and lubricant in the tube is well retained therein. |
| US07661329B2 |
Pawl drive for coupling torque between two rotatable elements
A method and apparatus for transferring torque from one rotatable element to another rotatable element using at least one pawl. The apparatus comprises a first rotatable element having at least one recess, a second rotatable element and at least one pawl coupled from the second rotatable element to the at least one recess. The method comprises coupling a first rotatable element, wherein the first rotatable element comprises at least one pawl to a second rotatable element, wherein the second rotatable element comprises at least one recess; rotating the first rotatable element; engaging the first rotatable element with the second rotatable element by adapting the at least one pawl to couple with the at least one recess; and transferring torque from the first rotatable element to the second rotatable element. |
| US07661328B2 |
Probe holder system, method for fixing a probe holder system and method for adjusting a probe
A probe holder system for fixing a probe to a housing wall, wherein it is possible to provide a simple structure and position the probe as accurately and easily as possible in relation to a measuring object. According to the invention, a housing bushing provided with an inner thread and a carrier rod for the probe, which can be screwed into the threaded bushing, are provided. The threaded bushing can be placed in a reference position in an associated recess of the housing wall and can be arrested by means of a locking element. |
| US07661327B2 |
Method and system for dynamic sensing, presentation and control of combustion boiler conditions
A method for recording changing boiler conditions over time in three spatial dimensions including: sensing the boiler conditions in real time using sensors which traverse the combustion chamber and gas path generating data from a plurality of positions in one or more supervisory spaces of interest within the boiler system; transmitting the generated data to a computer system; presenting data containing sensor position information and which optionally contains temperature, chemical species information, and other combustor condition information for delivery to a boiler management system to enable said boiler management system to make real time operational adjustments. |
| US07661323B2 |
Method for determining working point of a magneto-inductive flow measuring device
A method for determining the working point of a magneto-inductive flow measuring device for detecting volume- or mass-flow of a medium flowing through a pipeline or measuring tube, wherein an alternating magnetic field produced by a coil arrangement is caused to pass through the pipeline or measuring tube, wherein a sensor-specific rise time (tr) from reversal of the magnetic field up to reaching of an at least approximately constant magnetic field, as dependent on the particular magneto-inductive flow measuring device, is ascertained and stored, wherein a minimum measuring time (tM) for providing a measured value of flow at the at least approximately constant magnetic field is determined, and wherein an optimized measuring period (Topt) is determined as the sum of the sensor-specific rise time (tr) and the minimum measuring time (tM) and made available for operation of the flow measuring device. |
| US07661320B2 |
Deformation sensor bearing comprising at least three strain gauges
The invention relates to a bearing comprising at least one system for determining the amplitude A of the pseudo-sinusoidal deformations of an area of the fixed race that are induced during rotation, the said system comprising at least three strain gauges (7), a device for measuring three signals Vi depending respectively on the temporal variations of the signal emitted by each gauge (8), the said device being able to form two signals SIN and COS respectively of like angle and like amplitude, and a device for calculating the amplitude A of the deformations of the area (7) as a function of time, the said device being designed to calculate the expression SIN2+COS2 so as to deduce the amplitude A therefrom. |
| US07661319B2 |
Micromachined artificial haircell
A micromachined artificial sensor comprises a support coupled to and movable with respect to a substrate. A polymer, high-aspect ratio cilia-like structure is disposed on and extends out-of-plane from the support. A strain detector is disposed with respect to the support to detect movement of the support. |
| US07661317B2 |
High pressure transducer having an H shaped cross-section
A high pressure transducer has an H shaped cross-section with a center arm of the H having a top and bottom surface with the top surface of the H accommodating four strain gauges. Two strain gauges are located at the center of the top portion of the center arm of the H and are positive strain gauges, while two strain gauges are located near the periphery of the center arm of the gauge. The bottom surface of the center arm of the gauge has an active area of a smaller diameter than the circular diameter of the center arm portion of the transducer. The smaller active area is surrounded by a thicker stepped area which surrounds an active area on the pressure side of the H shaped member. The surrounding stepped area enables one to position the two negative strain gauges on the opposite surface of the center arm and near the periphery to thereby cause the negative gauges to respond to a negative stresses and therefore to enable one to provide a full Wheatstone bridge which includes the two positive strain gauges located at the center of the center arm of the H and the two negative peripheral gauges. |
| US07661316B2 |
Method and apparatus for sensing and controlling fan speed
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that determines fan speeds for a set of fans in a computer system. During operation, the system receives time-series data collected by a vibration transducer associated with the computer system, wherein the vibration transducer is configured to record mechanical vibrations from the set of fans. Next, the system performs a spectral analysis on the time-series data to obtain frequency peaks associated with fan speeds for individual fans in the set of fans. The system then identifies fan speeds for the individual fans in the set of fans from the frequency peaks. |
| US07661315B2 |
Method and apparatus for ultrasonic scanning of a fabrication wafer
A method and apparatus for ultrasonic scanning of a wafer assembly is disclosed. The wafer assembly is held in a wafer chuck and rotated. A transducer generates ultrasound in the wafer assembly and the ultrasound emitted from the wafer assembly is sensed. A controller adjusts the relative positions of the wafer and the transducer and controls the transducer to generate ultrasound at a number of scan points. |
| US07661313B2 |
Acceleration strain transducer
An accelerometer is provided including a strain sensor with a substantially linear configuration. The strain sensor is mounted on a transducer such that the strain sensor extends laterally across the transducer. The transducer has a base and a plurality of flaps joined at a first end to the base and supporting the strain sensor at a second end. The flaps translate acceleration in a predefined direction to strain in the strain sensor. Further embodiments have flaps defining an interrupted surface with greater height at the center and flaps that have features for enhancing the strain caused by acceleration. |
| US07661311B2 |
Moulded part for connection to a rim well of a wheel and rim well which is connected to a moulded part
There is described a shaped object adapted for being connected with a rim at a point located inside the rim well (7), having a contact surface (2) intended to rest on the rim well. It is provided according to the invention that the contact surface (2) intersects each of a set of mutually parallel first planes (3) along a curved curve (5), which is not merely an arc of a circle and whose distance from a second plane (6), that subdivides the contact surface (2) and that extends perpendicularly to the first planes (3) increases with a decreasing growth rate, at least in average, at least on one side of the second plane (6). |
| US07661310B2 |
Portion-taker device including a measuring scoop
The present invention provides a portion-taker device for taking a substance, the device including at least one measuring scoop, which scoop comprises: a frame; and a flap mounted to pivot relative to the frame and co-operating with it to define, in a first position, the bottom of a cavity that it used for taking the substance; the frame being arranged in such a manner as to enable a user to exert thrust on the flap on its side opposite from the cavity so as to reduce the volume thereof until the flap reaches a second position in which the volume of the cavity is substantially zero. |
| US07661309B2 |
Angle and force measurement instrument
A portable handheld device (20) for use by a therapist to measure angles and forces associated with a joint of a patient. The device (20) comprises a housing (22) with a contact pad (26) that is arranged to contact a body part associated with the joint and a hand piece (24) for the therapist to grip. A goniometer is mounted within the housing (22) and is arranged to measure the angular position of the body part when it is in contact with the contact pad (26) and generate representative angle data. A force sensor is coupled to the contact pad (26) and is arranged to measure the force applied by the body part to the contact pad (26) and generate representative force data. A control system is also provided and is arranged to operate the goniometer and force sensor simultaneously to capture measurements of angle data and force data simultaneously. |
| US07661304B2 |
Heated H2 sensor
A method and a sensor for detecting a component, in particular H2, in a gaseous fluid containing multiple components. A measuring chamber, which accommodates a heatable measuring element, is implemented in a sensor. The measuring chamber is heated. |
| US07661301B2 |
Fluid analyser systems
The radiation emitted by the various components in a sample of a fluid wherein the radiation emitted by activated molecules within the sample of the fluid is used to determine the nature of and quantities of materials present in the fluid and a fluid analyser system comprising a receptacle(s) and an analysis apparatus containing a consistent light condition compartment containing temperature detection device(s) into which the receptacle containing the fluid sample may be placed and means are provided for activating the molecules within the sample so that the radiation emitted by the sample may be detected and amplified. |
| US07661299B2 |
Wheel state monitoring system and wheel state detecting apparatus
A tire pressure monitoring system, that includes a plurality of the wheel state detection unit, provided at wheel of a vehicle, and that transmits detected wheel state information. A request signal transmitter transmits a request signal to request transmission of the detected wheel state information. When each wheel state detection unit receives the request signal, it transmits the detected wheel state together with the indication information indicating that the wheel state is detected in response to the transmission request signal. The ECU sets a determination threshold value for triggering an alert regarding tire pressure based on the detected wheel state information transmitted from the plurality of wheel state detection units. |
| US07661295B2 |
Method for coupling a gas chromatography device to an NMR spectrometer and associated apparatus
A method for coupling a gas chromatograph (21) to an NMR spectrometer, wherein the carrier gas present at the outlet of a separating column (23) of the gas chromatograph (21) including a sample contained in the carrier gas is supplied via a heated transfer line (1) to a collecting device (2) for the sample contained in the carrier gas, is characterized in that the carrier gas containing the sample is introduced into a collecting liquid (8) in the collecting device (2), and the sample is collected in the collecting liquid (8), wherein the collecting liquid (8) is suitable as an NMR solvent for the sample. The sample loss of the coupling method is reduced. |
| US07661294B2 |
Non-invasive multi-function sensor system
An integrated multi-function sensor system has a head having a slot to accept a tube of a deformable material and a plurality of sensor elements mounted in the walls of the head slot to confront a tube in the slot, each sensor element being for affecting sensing of a condition relating to a liquid in the tube. An integrated electronic circuit including a microprocessor operates to determine the various conditions of a liquid flowing in the tube sensed by the sensor elements, which conditions include detection of air bubbles and/or particles by ultrasonic sensing elements, detection of an occlusion in the liquid flow by sensing the deformation of the tube wall by a force sensing element, determining the temperature of the liquid by an infrared temperature sensing element, and determining the color of the liquid by optical elements. |
| US07661293B2 |
Ultrasonic system for detecting and quantifying of air bubbles/particles in a flowing liquid
A system using ultrasonic energy for detecting and quantifying air bubbles and/or particles in a liquid flowing in a tube by a non-invasive and non-destructive technique has an ultrasonic sensor having piezoelectric transmitter and receiver elements placed opposing on the outside of the tube wall and energy in the ultrasonic frequency range is transmitted from the transmitter element to the receiver element. The received ultrasonic energy is amplified and detected and preferably split into a steady state (DC) component and a varying or transient (AC) component respectively indicative of the absence and the presence of an air bubble or a particle in the liquid. The two components of the signal are applied to an A/D converter whose output is supplied to a microprocessor which uses the digital data that corresponds to the presence of the varying transient component to indicate the presence of an air bubble and/or a particle and to measure its characteristics. The presence of the steady-state component indicates that the system is operating properly to providing a continuous self check against any system malfunction. |
| US07661291B2 |
Accuracy enhancement of a sensor during an anomalous event
A method for enhancing the accuracy of a sensor is provided. The method includes determining a measure of the output of the sensor, determining whether the measure falls outside of an acceptable range for the output of the sensor, and, when the measure falls outside the acceptable range, modifying the measure of the output such that the measure falls within the acceptable range for the sensor. |
| US07661287B1 |
Auto body decrimping tool assembly
An auto body decrimping tool assembly for decrimping a panel from a vehicle frame. The decrimping tool assembly includes a hollow housing body member with a first aperture at one end and a second aperture. A decrimping head member is pivotally mounted near an end thereof on a drive shaft member rotatably secured in the body member's second aperture. The decrimping head member includes a base portion having a protruding contact section and an opposed, protruding blade section having a concave, helical surface facing the contact section. The blade section includes a tapered edge at a side of the concave, helical surface opposite the base portion. The decrimping head member is mounted to the drive shaft member at the contact section.The decrimping head member is positioned at an edge of a panel crimped to the frame with the contact section on an edge of the crimped panel and the tapered edge of the blade section between the crimped panel and the frame. A power source, positioned at the body member's first aperture and operably connected to the drive shaft member, imparts reciprocal rotary motion to the drive shaft. The drive shaft causes the blade section and tapered edge of the decrimping head member to reciprocally pivot relative to the contact section, thereby incrementally decrimping the panel from the frame as the crimped panel and frame move between the blade section and the contact section of the decrimping head member. |
| US07661286B2 |
Method for producing a cup-shaped object
A method for the production of a cup-shaped article, in particular a blank of a screw cap for glass bottles or the like, from an enameled metal sheet, using two tools in a stepwise manner: 1) the blank is stamped from the metal sheet in a first tool by the relative motion between a cutting bell cooperating with a blank holder and a drawing block, and the blank is drawn around the drawing block, the width of a flange forming between the cutting bell and the blank holder being continuously reduced with a progressive degree of deformation until the flange reaches a defined width (R-r), and 2) the blank is deformed in a second tool such that the radially outwardly directed flange is deflected toward a profiling introduced in a wall of the blank. |
| US07661285B2 |
Drawing machine
A drawing machine includes a plate unit, a clamping device, a transmit member, a driving device and a cam. The transmit member includes a following roller. The driving device includes a main linkage inserted through the plate unit and having first and second ends. The cam includes first and second cam paths, with the first cam path disposed between two sides of the second cam path. When the cam is in a first position, the distances between the first cam path and two sides of the second cam path are different. When the cam is in a second position, the distances between the first cam path and two sides of the second cam path are equal. The following roller drives the main linkage to pivot, with the clamping device driven to clamp a rod or pipe. The plate unit is driven by the second cam path and reciprocates along the cam axially. |
| US07661280B1 |
Locking device
One embodiment of a locking device of the type for motorcycle helmets having a cable (50) which is fastened at one end to the device, and which passes though the face of the helmet and is detachably secured in the locking device to releasably secure the helmet. The active locking element of the lock (44), when in locked position, secures the cable (50) and acts to deny access to the fastener (36) securing the device to the motorcycle handlebars, so as to resist removal of the device from the handlebars. The cable (50) is flexible, has permanently formed spiral convolutions and is partially held in place by the concave shape of the device. The device can be used to secure helmets, jackets or other items, and, in various embodiments, it can be used to lock a vehicle or item to a fixed object to deter theft of the vehicle or item. Other embodiments are described and shown. |
| US07661278B1 |
Lock assembly capable of counting the number of times of unlocking operation
A lock assembly includes a housing, a shackle having a pivotal portion, which is disposed in the housing and axially moveable and pivotable, and a free end insertable into a top hole of the housing, and a latch movably disposed in the housing and engagable with the pivotal portion or the free end of the shackle. A key controlled lock unit is disposed in the housing and has a plug rotatable between an unlocked position where the latch can be disengaged from the shackle by a first arm, and a counter can be started by a second arm, and a locked position where the latch is engaged with the shackle. |
| US07661274B2 |
System and method for capacity control in a multiple compressor chiller system
A capacity control algorithm for a multiple compressor liquid chiller system is provided wherein the speed and number of compressors in operation are controlled in order to obtain a leaving liquid temperature setpoint. In response to an increase in the load in the chiller system, the algorithm determines if a compressor should be started and adjusts the operating speed of all operating compressors when an additional compressor is started. In response to a decrease in the load in the chiller system with multiple compressors operating, the algorithm determines if a compressor should be de-energized and adjusts the operating speed of all remaining operating compressors when a compressor is de-energized. |
| US07661266B2 |
Method for braking a vehicle driven by means of a hydrostatic gearbox and also a hydrostatic drive
The invention relates to a method for braking a vehicle, driven by means of a hydrostatic gearbox (28) and a hydrostatic drive. The hydrostatic gearbox (28) comprises at least one adjustable hydrostatic motor (6,6). The vehicle driven by means of the hydrostatic gearbox (28) may be retarded by an operating brake. On recognition of a certain braking process, the hydraulic motor (6,6) is adjusted to a minimal pivot angle. On recognition of a termination of the certain braking process, the hydraulic motor (6,6) is adjusted to a pivot angle which matches the speed achieved after the braking process. |
| US07661263B2 |
Method of operating an internal combustion engine
A method of operating an internal combustion engine includes operating the engine in a first combustion mode. The method also includes switching operation of the engine to a second combustion mode. The method includes directing an exhaust stream of the engine into contact with a NOx adsorber substantially only during the operation in the second combustion mode. |
| US07661260B2 |
Gas turbine engine assembly and method of assembling same
A method for assembling a gas turbine engine assembly includes coupling a fan assembly to a core gas turbine engine such that the fan assembly is upstream from the core gas turbine engine, coupling a low-pressure turbine downstream from the core gas turbine engine such, wherein the low-pressure turbine includes a disk and a plurality of splines formed in the disk, providing a shaft that includes a first end and a second end that includes a plurality of splines, coupling the shaft first end to the fan assembly, and coupling the shaft second end to the low-pressure turbine such that the shaft splines mesh with the disk splines such that torque is transmitted from the low-pressure turbine to the fan assembly via the shaft during engine operation. |
| US07661259B2 |
Device and method for the manufacture of a roving yarn by means of air spinning processes
The invention relates to a slubbing machine, the use of a twist application means, and a method for the manufacture of a roving yarn (9). The roving yarn (9) is manufactured according to the invention from a fiber assembly (3), which undergoes a true twist application (rotation) by mean of one or more air flows. |
| US07661257B2 |
Grass treatment apparatus
Apparatus for treating grass comprising a grass treatment unit 200 configured to be affixed to a grass treatment machine; a cassette 206, the cassette 206 comprising a grass treatment device 207 configured to rotate in response to a rotation of a drive shaft, the drive shaft being connected to a motor located at the grass treatment machine, the grass treatment unit 200 comprising means 211 to releasably mount the cassette 206 on the grass treatment unit 200, wherein the grass treatment device 207 is selected from a set of grass treatment devices, the set including a vibration drum. |
| US07661256B2 |
Hybrid seam for a draper belt in an agricultural harvester
A draper cutting platform for use in an agricultural harvester includes a platform section having an elongate belt. The belt includes opposite ends, a pair of side edges defining a width of the belt therebetween, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced cleats extending crosswise between the side edges. Each cleat has a length which is less than the width of the belt. A seam joins the opposite ends of the belt. The seam includes a splice bar and a pair of lacings. The splice bar has a length which is approximately the same as the cleat length. Each lacing is disposed in an area between a corresponding end of the splice bar and a respective side edge of the belt. |
| US07661255B2 |
Lawn equipment minimal track wheel
A wheel for a piece of lawn equipment specifically designed not to produce tracks in the lawn as the lawn equipment moves over the lawn. The wheel is made of two parallel circular discs spaced apart by a center spacer. The two discs are relatively thin and thereby have minimal contact with the grass blades when rolling over the lawn. The height of the wheel and the diameter of the axle are sufficient so that glass blades on the lawn are not bent downward and extend upward between the two discs. An optional ring structure made of rubber or similar material is attached over the perimeter edge of each disc to provide greater traction and to protect the edge from damage. Located inside the wheel axle is an optional bushing or wheel bearing. |
| US07661252B2 |
Ground surface slide guide of a grass cutter and grass cutter
The present invention relates to a ground surface slide guide having a resin body made of synthetic resin, and a metal hub integrally coupled to the resin body to rotate together. The resin body is composed of a tubular body and a flange extending upward to the outside from the entire periphery of the lower end of the tubular body and covering the lower surface of the rotary blade. A blade retaining ring pressed against the lower surface of the rotary blade is formed on the outer periphery of the hub, and the blade retaining ring is exposed to the upper end surface of the tubular body. The hub is attached to a drive shaft by a fastener, and the rotary blade is clamped between a blade rest and a blade retaining ring. The lower end of the tubular body serves as a ground contact surface. |
| US07661251B1 |
Header float system for use with an agricultural windrower or combine
An agricultural harvester includes a traction unit and a crop harvesting header coupled with the traction unit. The header includes a main frame with a right hand (RH) side and a left hand (LH) side. A RH gauge wheel is movably coupled with the RH side of the main frame, and a RH hydraulic cylinder is coupled between the RH gauge wheel and the main frame. A first hydraulic circuit is coupled with the RH hydraulic cylinder and configured to control an operating height of the RH gauge wheel. A LH gauge wheel is movably coupled with the LH side of the main frame, and a LH hydraulic cylinder is coupled between the LH gauge wheel and the main frame. A second hydraulic circuit is coupled with the LH hydraulic cylinder and configured to control an operating height of the LH gauge wheel. The second hydraulic circuit is independent from the first hydraulic circuit. A third hydraulic circuit is coupled with a vertical position hydraulic cylinder and configured to operate at a predetermined operating pressure, whereby a portion of the weight of the header is carried by the traction unit. The third hydraulic circuit is independent from each of the first hydraulic circuit and the second hydraulic circuit. |
| US07661242B2 |
Hollow structural component made of plural connected parts
A hollow structural component suitable for an aircraft structure includes an inner framework of intersecting longitudinal and transverse ribs, cover sheets covering the top and bottom of the framework, and end closure sheets covering ends of the framework. The transverse ribs have slots to receive the intersecting longitudinal ribs and vice versa, so the ribs intermesh in a grid pattern. Top and bottom edges of the ribs have protruding connector tabs that are fitted into slots provided in the cover sheets. Additional connector tabs at the ends of the transverse ribs are fitted into slots in the end closure sheets. After the parts are assembled by intermeshing the longitudinal and transverse ribs and fitting the connector tabs of the ribs into the slots of the cover sheets and end closure sheets, the resulting plugged-in joints are permanently mechanically secured, e.g. by welding, brazing, soldering or adhesive bonding. |
| US07661239B2 |
Masonry brick
A dry-stackable masonry brick having a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface, a rear surface, and opposing side surfaces. The brick is provided with a plurality of channels, which extend along the top, bottom and one side of the brick. The channels are configured and arranged so that they are able to receive a projection from one or more adjacent bricks in an interlocking relation. The brick may be positioned on either of the opposing sides in a vertical orientation, with the bottom side up, or even with the rear surface facing forwardly. The front and rear surfaces of the brick may be provided with different surface treatments to increase the number of differently configured walls that may be constructed. Moreover, the front and rear surfaces may be provided with marginal areas that are configured so that they are able to receive and retain filler material. Thus, when a plurality of bricks is assembled together into a structure and filler material is applied to the marginal areas, the structure creates the impression that it has been constructed using conventional masonry techniques and technologies. One or more bricks may be operatively connected to a suitable support or substructure by the use of one or more fastening elements, which are configured to engage a brick via one or more of its channels and/or its projection. |
| US07661238B2 |
Floor panels with edge connectors
Floor covering, including hard floor panels which, at least at the edges of two opposite sides, are provided with coupling parts, cooperating which each other, substantially in the form of a tongue and a groove, wherein the coupling parts are provided with integrated mechanical locking elements which prevent the drifting apart of two coupled floor panels in a direction (R) perpendicular to the related edges and parallel to the underside of the coupled floor panels, and provide a snap-action coupling. |
| US07661234B2 |
Reduced friction fastening clip assembly for use with standing seam roof or wall panel systems
A roof or wall panel system that includes a first panel having a first longitudinal seam a second panel having a second longitudinal seam, and a clip assembly that includes a vertical web or webs having a first exterior side and a second exterior side. The t vertical web or webs and is/are provided between the first and second longitudinal seams. Also included is at least one spacer element that is provided between the first and second longitudinal seams. The at least one spacer element has at least one portion having a thickness that is greater than a distance between the first exterior side and the second exterior side of the vertical web or webs. |
| US07661233B2 |
Insulating glass fastener
A device (1) in glass wall claddings for mounting insulating-glass sheets (12), each glass sheet (12) comprising at least two glass slabs (13, 14), which are joined together by means of a jointing substance (16), said device (1) having a first position, wherein said device (1), upon mounting of said insulating-glass sheet (12), allows the insulating-glass sheet to be placed in the desired position, and a second position, wherein the device (1) grips at least one (13) glass slab of said insulating-glass sheet (12). The device (1) comprises a retainer member (3) and an anchoring member (2). A portion of one part (4) of the anchoring member (2), which part upon mounting of an insulating-glass sheet (12), i.e. as the anchoring member (2) of the device is guided from said first position to said second position, is arranged to penetrate into said jointing substance (16) of an insulating-glass sheet (12) in response to the anchoring member (2) being tilted to said second position. |
| US07661230B2 |
Method for constructing log structure having log members with notches filled with plugs
An improved structure, whereby the log structure is comprised of at least two adjacent walls mated to form a corner, with each wall constructed of logs laid horizontally upon each other, the logs alternating between protruding and nonprotruding logs, such that the ends of the protruding logs of the walls are interleaved, with the ends of the protruding logs of the first wall having notches cut from them to facilitate the mating of the first and second walls, and further comprising plugs to be inserted into the notches upon completion of assembly of the log structure, and a method for constructing same. |
| US07661229B2 |
Electrical conductivity in a suspended ceiling system
A ceiling system including a grid framework having a plurality of grid elements arranged in a substantially horizontal plane. A conductive material is embedded in one of the plurality of grid elements. The grid element in which the conductive material is embedded includes at least one slot such that portions of the conductive material are exposed. A tap is attached to the grid element so that it is in alignment with the slot, and, in turn, with the conductive material. The tap includes a housing, a conductor engaging means and a tap conductor. The conductor engaging means forms a connection with the conductive material embedded in the grid element and the tap conductor. |
| US07661228B1 |
Armored building modules and panels
Panels and their modules, such as for walls and roofs, are disclosed that provide armored shelter for protecting people and equipment from ballistic projectiles and mortar attacks. Each module is made from multiple co-parallel plates arranged in a stack, spaced apart, and held together along their sides by side elements. This is done in such a way that, when assembled side-by-side or end-to-end into panels, adjacent modules overlap one another to prevent straight-through seams yet allow any damaged module to be removed and replaced without moving adjacent modules. Space within a module, between plates and sides, can contain energy absorbing material in a variety of shapes. Plates serve as structural flanges, and side elements comprise structural webs, to permit each module to function as a structural beam. |
| US07661224B1 |
Apparatus for staking trees
A system and apparatus for supporting newly planted trees in which a plurality of stakes are positioned adjacent and around a supported tree. In one aspect of the invention, the individual stakes are rigidly secured together by elements which are vertically movable along the stakes and releasably secured to the stakes at desired vertical positions. In another aspect of the invention, flexible tie members interconnect the tree trunk with the stake. The connection between the tie member and its associated stake is such that the connection may be releasably locked to the stake at different vertical positions along the stake. |
| US07661223B2 |
Portable security device for fishing rods and reels
A device is provided for securing against crime-of-opportunity theft at least one fishing rod and reel to be stored or transported in an outdoor, unsecured area or on an open, unsecured portion of a vehicle, such as an open bed of a pick-up truck, trailer, or boat. The device includes: (a) a flexible webbing material, wherein the flexible webbing material has a generally bag-like shape with an open end; (b) a first cable and first lock operatively connected for closing and locking the open end of the flexible webbing material around a forward portion of a fishing rod protruding through the open end when at least the rear portion thereof is positioned inside the flexible webbing material, and (c) a second cable and second lock operatively connected for attaching and locking the flexible webbing material to a fixed structure in the open area or on the vehicle; wherein each of the flexible webbing material, the first cable for closing, and the second cable for attaching is resistant to cutting with a hand-held knife. |
| US07661222B1 |
Fish holding apparatus and method of using same
Fish holding apparatuses and methods of using the same are disclosed. Embodiments of a fish holding apparatus include: a first plate; a second plate coupled to the first plate, the second plate rotatable relative to the first plate about a horizontal rotation axis proximate and substantially parallel to a bottom edge of the first plate; a biasing member configured to bias the fish holding apparatus toward a closed position; and a holding mechanism configured to maintain the fish holding apparatus in an open position. Other embodiments of a fish holding apparatus (a “caliper”) configured to hold open the mouth of a fish include an elongated wire including: two ends having prongs; two arms; and a spring loop configured to provide a spring force. |
| US07661216B1 |
Illuminated picture frame
An illuminated picture frame or similar display device wherein direct illumination of a painting or other object is provided by light emitting diodes (LED's) mounted within the picture frame assembly, the LED's having defined light projection zones with an angle of less than 180 degrees, the frame further having a support assembly to receive the painting. The LED's are mounted in electrical communication in strips or strands facing to the rear of the frame member, with the mounting being at an angle determined by the LED defined light projection zone such that all emitted light is directed rearward or at most parallel to the plane of the painting, such that no direct light emitted by the LED's passes out of the framed area. |
| US07661214B2 |
Retail display article and system
A retail display article based upon an original photograph of a subject including at least one item of clothing and having visible portions of skin. The display article includes a back panel and a display photograph. The back panel defines a flat surface. The display photograph depicts an edited version of the original photograph such that the visible portions of skin depicted in the display photograph is configured to imitate a general appearance of a mannequin. The display photograph is disposed on the flat surface of the back panel. The display photograph and the back panel are collectively cut about the perimeter of the subject. Retail display systems and methods of construction provide additional advantages. |
| US07661212B2 |
Appliance for ironing or steaming linen, comprising a container for additive
The invention relates to an appliance for ironing or steaming linen, comprising a device which is used spread an additive over the linen and a container for said additive (20). The invention is characterized in that the additive container (20) comprises a substrate (22) bearing microcapsules and in that said microcapsules are carried progressively by a flow of fluid discharged by the device in order to spread the additive over the linen, said flow conveying the microcapsules outside of the appliance. |
| US07661211B2 |
Method and apparatus for raising a snow plow
A snowplow assembly includes an adjustment mechanism for use in adjusting the position of a snowplow frame member on a lift frame member into at least two positions: (1) a first position where the snowplow frame member is on the bottom portion of the lift frame member, the snowplow is positioned to plow snow, and the snowplow operation axis is substantially parallel to a ground surface; and, (2) a second position where the snowplow frame member is on the top portion of the lift frame member and the snowplow operation axis is at an angle A1 that is between 10° and 90° with respect to the ground surface. |
| US07661209B2 |
Foundation construction device for producing trenches in the soil
The invention relates to a foundation construction device for producing trenches in the soil comprising a frame, at least one soil-removing device arranged on the frame and a control device for controlling the foundation construction device in the trench, wherein the control device has at least one control body which can be adjusted between an inoperative position and a projecting control position in order to rest on a wall of the trench. Provision is made for the control body to be adjusted into a first projecting control position on a first side of the frame or into a second projecting control position on a second side of the frame that lies opposite the first side of the frame. |
| US07661205B2 |
Automated tightening shoe
An automated tightening shoe with crisscrossed laces and a tightening mechanism which operates in one direction to cause automatic tightening of the crisscrossed laces to tighten the shoe about a wearer's foot, and which can be released easily so that the shoe can be removed from the wearer's foot. |
| US07661194B1 |
Rolling plate assembly attachment for portable power cutting tools
The present invention is an attachable rolling plate assembly which can be attached as a single unit to a portable cutting tool to facilitate the safe rolling movement of the portable cutting tool on the workpiece. The invention comprises a front wheel housing portion, a back wheel housing portion, and two or three metal rods which interconnect the two housings. The housings removably retain a pair of spaced apart wheels and means to retain a cutting tool on the housings so that the cutting tool can be rolled on the workpiece during operation of the tool while the cutting blade portion of the tool extends between a pair of adjacent interconnecting rod members. The front and rear wheel housing assembly receives the cutting blade in between its pins or axles, so that the entire width of the saw plate is supported by the wheels during cutting. |
| US07661186B2 |
Fabrication method of radio frequency identification antenna coil
A fabrication method of a radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna coil is provided. First, a substrate is processed by a surface modified procedure, to form a self-assembly membranes (SAMs) on a surface of the substrate. A catalyst is sprayed on the SAMs of the substrate according to patterning. After that, the first electroless plating procedure is first carried out for the substrate to generate a magnetic metal layer corresponding to the wiring pattern on the catalyst, and the second electroless plating procedure is then carried out for the substrate to generate the metal layer on the magnetic metal layer. |
| US07661184B2 |
Load applying tool
A method and apparatus for setting a desired load applied to a device such as a valve. A tool is applied to the valve. Force applied to the tool is transmitted to the valve packing. A selected load force is applied to the tool. The packing is secured to set the selected load force applied to the packing. The tool may be removed from the valve. |
| US07661181B1 |
Method and apparatus for assembling furniture components
A method and apparatus for fabricating upholstered furniture articles and components is disclosed. The method employs an assembly line with work stations. A selected beginning part such as a wooden frame or skeleton is transported along the assembly line using a specially configured fixture or jig to hold the frame or skeleton. At selected work stations, the fixture can be rotated or tilted depending upon the work to be performed. A locking arrangement secures the fixture to the track at each work station. |
| US07661178B2 |
Fastener adapter
A fastener adapter and fastener strap combination includes a first strap member having first and second ends, an outer surface and an inner surface with hook material; and a second strap member having first and second opposing surfaces of hook material. The second strap member is attached to the inner surface intermediately between the first and second ends of the first strap member. The first surface of the second member and a portion of the inner surface of the first member define a first all-hook opening. The second surface of the second member and a portion of the inner surface of the first member define a second all-hook surface. The combination also includes a continuous fastener strap having first and second end portions, the first end portion frictionally attached to the first all-hook opening and the second end portion frictionally attached to the second all-hook surface. |
| US07661174B2 |
Hair brush for hot curling
A hairbrush for hot curling. A brush body constituting a hairbrush is formed to have a substantially quadrangular sectional shape with rounded corners to thereby shorten a hair drying time and improve hair curling efficiency. A slippage prevention part is formed on the outer surface of each steel wire constituting a core element to increase frictional force between bristles and the steel wire, maintain the firmly fastened state of the bristles for an extended period of time and lengthen the lifetime of the hairbrush. A rounded part is formed on each end of each bristle through grinding to prevent damage to the skin of the head, ensure smooth combing of hair and increase the value of the hairbrush. |
| US07661166B1 |
Adjustable firmness mattress assembly
An adjustable firmness mattress assembly is disclosed which comprises a duvet, a first section of foam material having a top surface and a bottom surface with the surfaces capable of supporting a user, a second section of foam material having a top surface and a bottom surface with the surfaces capable of supporting a user, and a cover for enclosing the first and second sections with the cover having a top surface and the duvet adapted for being positioned on the top surface of the cover. |
| US07661162B2 |
Surgical head clamp
A surgical head clamp is provided including an essentially U-shaped retaining clip (1) with two holder arms (3, 4), running towards the same side in the plane thereof at the ends of a connecting bar (2). The arm ends (5, 6) of the holder arms have mandrel holders (11) mounted adjustably in bearings that are coaxial to one another. The mandrel holders may be provided with one or more said holding mandrels (12), whereby a first mandrel holder is pivotably fastened at a bearing part (15) of the one arm end (6), which bearing part is adjustable around a common bearing shaft (9), and a second mandrel holder (11) can be adjusted by means of a threaded spindle (10) in a bearing bore (7) of the other said arm end (5). The second mandrel holder (11) includes a guide shank (50) that is provided with a socket bore (54) on the front side, which is mounted coaxially to the bearing shaft (9) in a spring-mounted manner in a axial bore (61) of the threaded spindle (10). The threaded spindle (10) is provided with an external thread and is adjustably mounted in a smooth cylindrical bearing bore (7) of the other arm end (3). The external thread is embodied as a ball thread (23), which has an arcuate-segment profile, with which two balls (24, 25) mesh as contact elements. The balls are arranged in a diametrically opposed, axially fixed manner in the wall (28) of the bearing bore (7) and are held in contact with the ball thread (23) by an adjustable locking lever (35) in the locked position thereof, and which can be brought out of contact with the threaded spindle (10) in another position in order to make the threaded spindle (10) freely displaceable in its said bearing bore (7). |
| US07661150B2 |
Grasping glove and method of finger restraining therapy
A grasping glove for fine motor skills therapy of a hand of a user. The grasping glove includes a main covering having a palm side and a back side. The grasping glove includes a little finger covering extending from said main covering. The grasping glove includes a ring finger covering extending from said main covering. The grasping glove includes a palm side to finger covering attachment between said little finger and said palm side of said main covering. The grasping glove includes a palm side to finger covering attachment between said ring finger and said palm side of said main covering. A method of treating deficiencies in finger fine motor skills of hand of a person by restraining a little finger of the hand toward a palm side of the hand and restraining a ring finger of the hand toward the palm side of the hand. |
| US07665146B2 |
Password methods and systems for use on a mobile device
Systems and methods for operation upon a mobile device to handle a duress situation caused by another person. An input password is received from a user. The input password is decoded by the device. Responsive to the input password being a duress indication, a duress operation is performed to protect data on the mobile device. |
| US07665145B2 |
Apparatus and method for moving contents having a restricted number of copies between storage media
A method of managing content, the method being performed by a device including an analyzing unit and a control unit. The method includes judging, via the analyzing unit, whether the content can be moved to an external entity based on moving control information, the moving control information being different from copy control information indicating whether the copy of the content is permitted, determining whether an authentication with the external entity is needed in order to move the content to the external entity, if the judging step judges that the content can be moved, and controlling, via the control unit, a moving operation of the content to the external entity such that the content can be moved to the external entity without the authentication if the determining step determines the authentication is not needed. |
| US07665144B2 |
Apparatus and method for moving contents having a restricted number of copies between storage media
A method of managing content, the method being performed by a device including an analyzing unit and a control unit. The method includes judging, via the analyzing unit, whether the content can be moved to an external entity based on moving control information, the moving control information being different from copy control information indicating whether the copy of the content is permitted, determining whether an authentication with the external entity is needed in order to move the content to the external entity, if the judging step judges that the content can be moved, and controlling, via the control unit, a moving operation of the content to the external entity such that the content can be moved to the external entity without the authentication if the determining step determines the authentication is not needed. |
| US07665135B1 |
Detecting and addressing network attacks
A method and system are provided for preventing network service shutdowns resulting from denial of service (DOS) attacks. First, parameters are monitored corresponding to network elements carrying communication signal traffic in a communications network, and, based on the parameters, if a DOS attack is indicated, performing the following for each instance of communication signal traffic: accessing data structures for data relating to protected communication signal traffic, and, based on the data, determining if the communication signal traffic is designated as protected. Finally; based on the determination, cleaning and forwarding each protected communication signal to its respective destination. |
| US07665134B1 |
Profiling users based on artificially constructed deceptive content
Profiling a user is disclosed. The user's behavior with respect to specially designed content comprised of one or more units of content is monitored. The specially designed content is designed such that one or more characteristics of the user may be inferred based at least in part on the user's behavior with respect to the content. One or more characteristics of the user is/are inferred based at least in part on the user's behavior with respect to the specially designed content. |
| US07665131B2 |
Origination/destination features and lists for spam prevention
The present invention involves a system and method that facilitate extracting data from messages for spam filtering. The extracted data can be in the form of features, which can be employed in connection with machine learning systems to build improved filters. Data associated with origination information as well as other information embedded in the body of the message that allows a recipient of the message to contact and/or respond to the sender of the message can be extracted as features. The features, or a subset thereof, can be normalized and/or deobfuscated prior to being employed as features of the machine learning systems. The (deobfuscated) features can be employed to populate a plurality of feature lists that facilitate spam detection and prevention. Exemplary features include an email address, an IP address, a URL, an embedded image pointing to a URL, and/or portions thereof. |
| US07665128B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing firewall rules
A method and apparatus for reducing obsolete firewall rules are disclosed. The present invention addresses the issue by using existing network routing information as well as firewall rule configuration information to help analyze firewall access logs to identify obsolete and unused firewall rules so that these obsolete firewall rules can be removed. In one embodiment, the present invention is capable of periodically identifying the unused rule set for each external partner network and removing these obsolete rules with no impact to the current operation. |
| US07665124B2 |
Authentication device
An authentication device, an authentication method and an authentication program of the present invention reduce a load occurred when registering digest information of a file in an authentication server and a load occurred when demanding authentication, and thus facilitates the authentication. Address information of a registration object file is received, the file on the basis of the address information is acquired, timestamp information of the file is acquired, digest information of the file acquired by a file acquisition module is generated, the digest information and the timestamp information are registered in a file registration module in a way that associates the digest information and the timestamp information with each other, the file is authenticated in response to a demand for authentication by comparing the digest information of the authentication object file with the digest information registered in said file information registration module, and, when authenticated by said authentication module, the timestamp information of the file is outputted. |
| US07665121B1 |
Multi-policy security auditing system and method
A method includes running a set of policies simultaneously using two levels of optimizations. After selecting the policies to be run, the number of technical controls performed is minimized by coalescing (unioning) the technical controls of the policies in the first level of optimization. Further, the number of queries performed is minimized by coalescing (unioning) the queries of the technical controls in the second level of optimization. The technical controls and queries performed are determined by the set of polices that are to be run, in a policy driven manner. |
| US07665119B2 |
Policy-based selection of remediation
A method, of automatically determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, may include: receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. |
| US07665118B2 |
Server, computer memory, and method to support security policy maintenance and distribution
In a particular embodiment, a server module deployed on a server is disclosed. The server module is connected to a wireless network access node. The server module includes a database containing user information for multiple wireless devices. Each element in the database is attributable to at least one authorized wireless device and contains at least one type of data file from the following group: (i) wireless connectivity permissions, (ii) authorized wireless device identification, and (iii) authorized network access node information. |
| US07665115B2 |
Integration of media playback components with an independent timing specification
A software framework that allows seamless integration of generic media players into a web browser. A media player is a software module that implements specific interfaces; defines a playing state, such as playing, paused, or stopped; and associates with the playing state a current playback time. A generic media player implements interfaces, including timing interfaces and playback synchronization interfaces for exchanging timing and synchronization information with a web browser. A player-hosting peer, which is a software component built into the browser, manages generic player hosting by a web browser. The player-hosting peer negotiates playback state and rendering status between the browser and the media player. Both the media player and the player-hosting peer maintain playing state and current playback time. The relationship between the peer and the player is a master slave relationship, with the peer being the master. The peer issues commands to the player, and the player notifies the peer of any state changes. A proxy layer allows external media players to integrate seamlessly into a browser. |
| US07665112B2 |
Dynamically generating video streams for slideshow presentations
The present invention provides for transferring slideshow presentation information from a host computing device to an electronic device that typically has limited resources. A request to display a slideshow presentation on an electronic device is received, the slideshow presentation including image data corresponding to one or more bitmaps. In response to the request, a session of an application is open on the host computer that provides the slideshow presentation data. A video codec is utilized for dynamically converting the slideshow presentation data into a video data stream that represents the slideshow presentation. The video data stream is then transmitted to the electronic device for rendering the slideshow presentation on a display of the electronic device. |
| US07665110B2 |
System and method for synchronous reproduction of local and remote content in a communication network
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, a reproduction engine for reproducing A/V data stored on an interactive DVD comprises a navigator connected to a temporary data storage unit for loading A/V data from the interactive DVD into a first section of the temporary data storage unit, and for loading enhanced data associated with the A/V data into a second section of the temporary data storage unit; a decoder for decoding the A/V data and the enhanced data loaded into the temporary data storage unit; and a presentation engine for reproducing the decoded A/V data and the enhanced data in accordance with control information stored on the interactive DVD. |
| US07665109B2 |
Electronic program guide with hyperlinks to target resources
An electronic programming guide (EPG) resides in a user interface unit memory and is executable on the processor of the user interface unit to organize programming information that is descriptive of the programs supplied over an interactive entertainment system. The EPG supports a user interface (UI) which visually correlates programs titles to scheduled viewing times. A hyperlink browser also resides in memory and is executable on the processor. One or more hyperlinks, which reference target resources containing interactive content related to the video programs, are integrated as part of the EPG UI. When a viewer activates a hyperlink within the EPG, the user interface unit launches the browser to activate the target resource specified by the hyperlink. The instruction might cause the visual display unit to tune to the program or channel represented by the particular label, or to initiate procedures to record the program when it begins playing, or to jump to a related target resource, such as a Web site. |
| US07665108B2 |
Broadcasting program viewing method using electronic program guide and system thereof
A broadcasting program viewing system using an electronic program guide and a method for the same, includes the steps of storing the EPG for guiding broadcasting programs and a tag for downloading the broadcasting programs guided to the EPG from the corresponding broadcasting program, displaying the stored EPG on the screen according to a request of a viewer and displaying the broadcasting program selected from the corresponding broadcasting station server on a screen on the basis of the tag corresponding to the selected broadcasting program when the viewer selects a specific broadcasting program from the EPG displayed on the screen and therefore, viewers can watch the preferred broadcasting programs by easily selecting them. |
| US07665105B2 |
System and method for computer-created advertisements
The invention relates to a computerized method for a user to create an advertisement by displaying a plurality of advertising formats for selection by a user; displaying a template corresponding to a selected advertising format; displaying a plurality of product references for selection by the user; displaying on the template a selected product reference to create a proposed advertisement; and creating a preview of the proposed advertisement, all of which may be implemented using the Internet. The invention further relates to a computerized system for creating an advertisement that comprises a template database for storing advertising formats; a product database for storing product references; and a computer to access the databases. Preferably, the user has a network interface such as Internet access that permits access via a remote location, software to permit a user to specify specifications such as quantity, printing information, ship date, paper type, pricing information, and payment information, and may be configured to receive images and text for new products. |
| US07665101B2 |
Optical pickup apparatus
An optical pickup apparatus comprises a photo detector that receives light reflected from a medium; and a housing that is mounted with the photo detector. The photo detector is fixed to the housing with the use of an adhesive to mount the photo detector on the housing. The housing is provided with a displacement preventer that prevents displacement of the photo detector or the adhesive relative to the housing. The displacement preventer has fixing portions that extend along a plurality of directions. The photo detector is mounted on the housing by applying the adhesive to the displacement preventer. |
| US07665098B2 |
System and method for monitoring interactions between application programs and data stores
Monitoring interactions between application programs and data stores for analyzing stability of application programs. A method of the invention intercepts interactions from a plurality of application programs to a data store. The method also identifies pre-execution data relating to each of the intercepted interactions and the intercepted interaction is executed. The method identifies post-execution data relating to each of the executed interactions. The identified pre-execution data and the identified post-execution data from each of the interactions are normalized to create normalized interaction data for each of the interactions. The method combines the normalized interaction data for each of the interactions as a function of the application programs associated with each of the interactions. The method further stores the combined interaction data for analysis of the interactions between the application programs and the data store which is indicative of the stability of the application programs. |
| US07665097B2 |
Associating notifications of the status of a data network by use of a topology editor
A method for assigning an event to a device on a network is described by using a topology editor as user-controlled interface. The event is represented as a labeled graphic indication. Other devices on a data network, also represented graphically, are to be assigned to the event by using the user-controlled interface. A rule is then defined and associated with the event. When a condition, as defined by the rule is met by an application or device on the network, all of the devices assigned to the event are notified of the condition met by the rule in accordance with such graphically defined relationships. |
| US07665090B1 |
System, method, and computer program product for group scheduling of computer resources
A system, method and computer program product for managing computer resources in a computer system running an operating system and a plurality of processes grouped into at least two groups. A set of resource limits corresponds to the processes. A scheduler of resource allocation allocates resources to each process such that total resource allocation to a group to which that process belongs remains constant. The resources comprise, e.g., network bandwidth, number of network connections, I/O bandwidth for peripheral devices, number of operations in a period of time for service operation with countable requests for service, number of operations in a period of time for a daemon with countable requests for service, permission for execution of operation, number of security descriptors, and number of terminals. The scheduler reallocates the resources based on a predictive algorithm, or based on process priority, or based on relative weighting of the processes. The scheduler can adjust an increase and a decrease of the resources available to a particular process. The scheduler is capable of increasing a resource allocation restriction to one process by and by waiting for that resource to become available. The scheduler is capable of increasing a resource allocation to one process by reducing allocation restriction to other processes in the same group on a basis proportional to their current use of that resource. The scheduler can reduce a resource allocation to a particular process based on a history of consumption of the resource by that process and a history of consumption of other resources by that process. |
| US07665089B1 |
Facilitating distributed thread migration within an array of computing nodes
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that performs thread migration within an array of computing nodes, wherein computing nodes in the array contain central processing units (CPUs) and/or memories. During operation, the system identifies CPUs within the array of computing nodes that are available to accept a given thread. For each available CPU, the system computes an average communication distance between the CPU and memories which are accessed by the given thread. Next, the system determines whether to move the given thread to an available CPU based on the average communication distance for the available CPU. |
| US07665083B2 |
Method and apparatus for supporting context links for application program text
Methods and apparatus are provided for supporting text-based context links for application programs. In some embodiments, an application executing on a first computer system may receive a request to open a context link to a text element in a document. The application may determine, based on a list of context links, whether more than one data object is associated with the text element. If so, a list of data objects associated with the text element and distinguishing information may be displayed, a selection of a data object from the displayed list may be received, and a selection of an action relating to a context link for the selected data object may be received. In some embodiments, the context link list is created by parsing a document into text elements at the first computer, storing entries representing a plurality of text elements on a list, and transmitting the list to a second computer to determine in the second computer if the text elements are associated with data objects. In some embodiments, before transmitting a data element to a second computer to determine an association with a data object, a software cache is checked to determine if the text element has already been transmitted, with text elements removed from the software cache if the software cache is larger than a threshold amount. |
| US07665082B2 |
Methods and systems for adaptation, diagnosis, optimization, and prescription technology for network-based applications
The present invention adapts, diagnoses, optimizes, and prescribes a network-based application between a client and a host system. Some or all components of the network-based application, including configuration information may be installed on the client. The components and configuration information may be installed as the network-based application is executed. Alternatively, the components and configuration information may be installed in advance of the network-based application. To launch the network-based application, a user via the client sends an application request to the host system. The host system sends program code to the client. Upon executing the program code, the client attempts to establish a session with the host system and determines configuration information for the network-based application. Upon establishing the session and determining the configuration information, the client then launches the network-based application. |
| US07665076B2 |
Method and apparatus for activating/deactivating run-time determined software routines in Java compiled bytecode applications
Provided is a JIT compiler that changes the status of run-time determined software routines between being activated and deactivated in an application program. Conditional statements which are used at run-time to determine whether such a routine has been activated or deactivated are presented as discrete conditions that always evaluate to a known result by using an invariant flag in the compiled bytecode. The JIT compiler optimises an application program by excluding discrete condition checks. Consequently, if the branch of the discrete condition that will never execute includes a run-time determined software routine, then the routine will be excluded from the JIT compilation and will not form part of the JIT compiled native machine code. A run-time class or code replacement facility is used as a means of activating or deactivating a run-time determined software routine at run-time by changing the value of the invariant flag of said routine. |
| US07665075B1 |
Methods for sharing of dynamically compiled code across class loaders by making the compiled code loader reentrant
A method for sharing dynamically compiled code between different class loaders is provided. In this method, loader-reentrant compiled code is produced from bytecodes by generating native code implementing a class initialization barrier when compiling bytecodes that require a class to be initialized, by generating native code implementing a link resolution barrier when compiling bytecodes that require a symbolic link to be resolved, and by generating code to retrieve loader-dependent data from a loader-dependent table when compiling bytecodes that use data computed from a resolved symbolic link. |
| US07665069B2 |
Method and apparatus for establishing a quality of service model
In general, methods and apparatus for implementing a Quality of Service (QoS) model are disclosed. A Quality of Service (QoS) contract with an initiating network device may be satisfied. A request may be received from the initiating network device in a first time less than or equal to an ordinal number times an arrival interval. The ordinal number signifies a position of the request among a group of requests. The request that has been serviced may be returned to the initiator in a second time less than or equal to a constant term plus the ordinal number times a service interval. |
| US07665064B2 |
Systems and methods for web service function, definition, implementation, and/or execution
The present invention relates to systems and methods for defining, implementing, deploying and/or executing Web services. A Web service is defined using a graphical interface that allows the application developer to specify the operation of the Web service through inclusion and configuration of graphical nodes representing particular operations and/or functions. The environment for definition typically includes a user input device, a graphical display device, a system data store and a system processor. The system processor is in communication with the other elements. A graphical definition of the Web service is stored in the system data store. Once defined, the graphical definition is convened into a programmatic implementation executable by a Web services server. This programmatic implementation can then be transmitted to an appropriate Web services server accessible by an intended user community. |
| US07665061B2 |
Code builders
Code builders can be used to generate code segments that are customized in response to user input. An integrated development environment provides links to one or more code builders that are configured for developing specific types of code. Once a code builder is selected or dragged and dropped on a code editor, a code builder interface is launched that prompts the user for input that will be applied to a document object model describing the basic attributes of the code segment. The code builder then generates the customized code and inserts it into a desired location within the integrated development environment. |
| US07665060B2 |
Approximating wafer intensity change to provide fast mask defect scoring
To provide fast mask defect scoring, approximated wafer simulations (e.g. using one convolution) are performed on the defect inspection image and its corresponding reference inspection image. Using the approximated defect wafer image and the approximated reference wafer image generated by these approximated wafer simulations, a defect maximum intensity difference (MID) is computed by subtracting one approximated wafer image from the other approximated wafer image to generate a difference image. After a defect region of the difference image is clearly defined, a simulation at the centroid (i.e. a single point) of the defect region is performed. After the defect MID is computed (represented by an intensity) it can be compared to a prototype MID, which can represent a generic nuisance defect. |
| US07665056B1 |
Method and system for dynamic placement of bond fingers on integrated circuit package
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a method, system, and computer program product for dynamic placement of various bond fingers on an integrated circuit (IC) package. This is achieved by determining the placement of selected bond fingers. Subsequently, bond fingers and bond wires are identified, which have been affected due to the placement of the selected bond fingers. Further, the placement of the selected and the affected bond fingers is determined based on clearance rules and the affected bond fingers and bond wires. This facilitates the dynamic placement of the various bond fingers in interaction with the user. Further, the user is provided with full interactive access and control over the method and system. |
| US07665054B1 |
Optimizing circuit layouts by configuring rooms for placing devices
A computer-readable medium stores a specification for a circuit layout. The specification includes: a configuration of rooms for placing devices, one or more room constraints for the configuration of rooms, one or more groups of devices for the rooms, and one or more device constraints for devices in a same room. The configuration of rooms may include a tree-structure for the rooms. The room constraints may include a common symmetry line for a first room and a second room. The device constraints may include a self-symmetry constraint for a first device about a symmetry line in a first room. The device constraints may include a symmetry constraint for a first device and a second device about a symmetry line in a first room. The devices may include analog or RF (radio frequency) devices. |
| US07665053B2 |
Semiconductor device layout method and layout program
It is an aspect of the embodiments discussed herein to provide a semiconductor device layout method and a semiconductor device layout program that enable the minimum necessary decoupling capacitances to be placed efficiently according to a circuit configuration, placement positions, operation timings, and clock tree of functional circuits. |
| US07665050B2 |
Semiconductor device verification system and semiconductor device fabrication method
A semiconductor device verification system capable of verifying operation with great accuracy. A pattern matching verification system outputs interference pattern information. A physical verification system compiles the interference pattern information and a design rule and extracts a design rule applied to the interference pattern information. The physical verification system then refers to the design rule to verify a compared cell list and the interference pattern information. As a result, the physical verification system can perform physical verification of layout data without skipping data regarding the compared cell list. |
| US07665048B2 |
Method and system for inspection optimization in design and production of integrated circuits
A method and apparatus for inspection optimization is provided. Inspection optimization improves the parametric and functional yield using optimized inspection lists for in-line semiconductor manufacturing metrology and inspection equipment. |
| US07665045B1 |
Method and mechanism for identifying and tracking shape connectivity
A method and mechanism is disclosed for identifying and tracking nets in an electrical design. A hierarchical design does not have to be flattened to perform the operation of identifying and tracking nets. To identify sets of connected shapes, instead of having to unfold the entire design hierarchy, only the specific instances of shapes falling within the geometric bounds of shapes identified as being part of a net needs to be unfolded to perform the search. When composing the list of nets for a hierarchical design, the unfolded shapes at other hierarchical levels of the design can be derived based upon virtual terminal structures that implicitly references nets and objects at other levels. |
| US07665033B2 |
Using a zooming effect to provide additional display space for managing applications
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a zooming effect to provide additional display space to manage applications. In one mode of operation, the system presents an image of a computer desktop to the user on a display device. When the system receives a request from a user to provide additional display space in a display device for application management purposes, the system decreases the size of the computer desktop in the display device to provide an extended display area. The system then facilitates application management by displaying items useful for application management in this extended display area. By providing the extended display area, the system allows the user to access such items easily and efficiently without losing the context of the computer desktop. |
| US07665027B1 |
Financial relationship visualization
A method for visualizing a financial relationship on a document involves displaying a first financial component and a second financial component, where the second financial component and the first financial component are related based on a predetermined relationship, generating a visualization associated with the predetermined relationship between the first financial component and the second financial component, and displaying the visualization on the document, where the visualization signifies the predetermined relationship between the first financial component and the second financial component. |
| US07665026B2 |
System for selection of remediation applications for workspace
A system for marketing applications having a computer processor, a display and a user interface for receiving instructions from a user. The user interface is operably connected to the computer processor. The computer processor is programmed to display an application menu on the display for selection of an application from the application menu by the user and further programmed to maintain a list of user-selected applications and further programmed to display a depiction of a predetermined environment on the display. The depiction includes images of applications included in the list of user-selected applications shown applied in the predetermined environment. The computer processor is further programmed to update the depiction of the predetermined environment by adding an image of the application, as applied in the predetermined environment to the depiction of the predetermined environment on the display, in response to a selection of the application by the user. |
| US07665023B1 |
Electronic telephone directory
A system for providing directory information is disclosed. The system includes a computer and a directory device connected to the computer. The directory device includes a memory storage device for storing directory information and telecommunications information obtained from the computer. The telecommunications services information includes information on establishing telephone service. |
| US07665021B2 |
System and method for script based event timing
An integrated and interactive real-time media creation system and method are disclosed that visually link the order and execution of media events to a scrolling on-screen text script that is spoken. As the user speaks, the on-screen text script scrolls under user control. Adjacent to the script text are visual images which represent associated media events. The visual images maintain a constant relative spatial relationship with the text. When the text reaches a predetermined region of the screen it is spoken out loud by the user and the media events are caused to occur at that time. The invention allows a single user with a single personal computer to easily self-produce a multimedia presentation of undetermined and variable length, featuring media events appropriately inserted in real-time without the assistance of a director or other operator. |
| US07665020B2 |
Method and system for providing multiple levels of help information for a computer program
A method and system for providing help information for a computer program. The help system provides help information based on a schema that specifies the structure of a valid computer program. The schema provides definitions of program element types that are specific instances of a program element type derived from more general program element types. The help system identifies a “derivation” of program element types relating to the selected program element. The help system then displays the derivation to the user. The user can then select to display documentation associated with the displayed program element types. |
| US07665018B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
In an information processing apparatus for dynamically changing a container layout in accordance with inserted contents data, a user is made to understand a change of layout by explicitly displaying a change before and after the layout change, thereby improving the convenience for the user in layout correction. More specifically, when the container layout is changed by inserted contents data, a container having a standard size before the layout change is explicitly displayed. |
| US07665015B2 |
Hardware unit for parsing an XML document
A hardware unit for parsing an XML document includes embedded logic or circuitry for accessing the document, decoding it to change a character set, validating individual characters of the document, extracting tokens, maintaining a symbol table and generating binary token headers to describe the document's structure and convey the document's data to an application. Tokenization, the process of identifying tokens and generating token headers, may be controlled by a finite state machine that recognizes XML delimiters in the document's markup and activates state transitions based on the current state and the recognized delimiter. The parser unit may be implemented within a hardware XML accelerator that includes a processor, a DMA engine, a cryptographic engine, memory (e.g., for storing a document, maintaining a symbol table) and various interfaces (e.g., network, memory, bus). |
| US07665012B2 |
Impulse noise mitigation
In a signal transmission medium such as an ac power line, impulse noise in the line may be dealt with by detecting impulse noise in the transmission medium, determining whether the impulse noise is periodic or complex, and, at least approximately, correlating the time at which periodic impulse noise occurs in the transmission medium to the phase of the ac power line frequency. One or more noise mitigation techniques may be applied with respect to the impulse noise. Methods also include predicting at least the approximate time of the next periodic noise impulse, and at least its approximate occurrence in the phase of the ac power line frequency. Methods also address impulse noise in complex impulse conditions. |
| US07665011B2 |
Method and circuit for reducing SATA transmission data errors by adjusting the period of sending align primitives
A method and circuit for reducing SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) transmission data errors by adjusting the period of sending two consecutive ALIGN Primitives. The method reads a counting value of an 8b/10b coding error counter at a predetermined period and adjusts the period of sending two consecutive ALIGN Primitives according to the counting value. Because the system dynamically adjusts the period of sending two consecutive ALIGN Primitives according to the channel condition, the SATA transmission data errors can be reduced. |
| US07665010B2 |
Blind transport format detection for transmission link
Receiver-side apparatus for a transmission link, the link using different transport formats for blocks of data, and using convolutional coding with additional error detection code information, for transmitting the blocks to the receiver side, the apparatus having a decoder for performing a trellis decode and tracebacks of one of the received coded blocks, to produce decoded data candidates, an error detection element for carrying out one or more speculative error detections on the candidates, assuming part of each candidate is the additional error detection code, and part is the block of data, and a format detector for determining a transport format based on a result of the speculative error detections, the apparatus being arranged to determine a probability of a candidate being valid, and prioritize carrying out the tracebacks or the speculative error detections according to the probabilities. |
| US07665009B2 |
Device, data sector, method of processing data, and signal-bearing medium embodying program of device
A device for processing data read from a memory, the data including a word and a parity element with respect to the word, the device including a data recovery circuit that corrects error data in the word using a correction code generated from the parity element. |
| US07665006B2 |
Block code error correcting system and method
A block code error correcting system is used in a compact disk reading system to increase the decoding capability of the compact disk reading system. The system includes a data slicer, a data bit to channel bit modulation pulse width determinator, a demodulator, an erase address detector and an error correction code (ECC) decoder. A pulse width of an eight-to-sixteen modulation (EFM+) signal is detected to thereby produce an erase control signal when the pulse width of the EFM+ signal is in a predefined window or is an illegal pulse width. A codeword corresponding to the EFM+ signal is set as an erasure, and accordingly an erase address is produced. |
| US07664992B2 |
Supercomputing
A method of operating a supercomputer having a plurality of computing elements each connected to a fast communications link is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: scheduling specified elements to perform computing tasks in specified cycles of a computing operation; in the event of failure of a fast communications link in a given cycle, transferring state from a disabled element no longer able to communicate as a result of the failure to an idle element not scheduled to perform a task in the given cycle; operating the idle element to perform any uncompleted tasks scheduled for the disabled element remaining in the cycle. |
| US07664990B2 |
Method and apparatus for testing web application, and computer product
A computer-readable recording medium that stores therein a web application testing program causing a computer to execute receiving a request including an input value to be given to web application software installed in a web server; executing the web application software by giving the input value to the web application software; obtaining test information to be used in a test of an output item that is obtained by executing the web application software; generating a response to the request, the response in which the test information is embedded in association with the output item; and transmitting the response to a computer that executes the test of the output item. |
| US07664989B2 |
Automated software testing architecture using a multi-level framework
A software testing architecture can comprise a three-level framework. The three-level framework can comprise a first level (comprising a first data source), a second level (comprising a second data source), and a third level (comprising a third data source). The framework can further comprise an intermediate entity data source. The first data source can specify test pages, the second test cases for the test pages, and the third test data for the test cases. Each of the three levels can be associated with respective scripts. A method for testing multi-staged scenarios can select test pages and, for the test pages, determine and execute test cases and save intermediate entities. A method for testing multi-staged scenarios using a three-level framework can execute a first test case for a first test page, save an intermediate entity, and execute a second test case for a second test page using the saved intermediate entity. |
| US07664985B2 |
Watchdog system in a distributed computerized application environment
In a method and a device for monitoring and reestablishment of a number of processes in a distributed application environment, wherein each process is associated with a process group and all processes of a process group are functionally dependent on one another, a process can be automatically excepted from the monitoring and automatically admitted again into the monitoring. All processes of a process group are automatically monitored and, in the event that a termination is identified, all processes in the process group are automatically restarted. |
| US07664984B2 |
Method and system for updating a software image
A method and system for updating or recovering a computer device's software image using a single portable operating system image stored on a bootable, secure partition on local storage (hard drive); a method and system utilizing delta image patching technology to allow the single image to work on a large number of diverse computer device platforms; and a method for distributing software patches and updates via a, secure local partition to ensure patches and updates are applied to well known software images that have not been modified to include malicious software and do not include any other undesirable changes that have been made to the primary, running operating system image. |
| US07664983B2 |
Systems and methods for event driven recovery management
The present invention provides an exemplary system and method for event driven recovery management. One or more data blocks that are generated from a computing device are continually copied. At least one event marker is associated with the copies of the one or more data blocks. Access to the copies of the one or more data blocks according to the at least one event marker is allowed in order to provide event driven recovery. |
| US07664982B2 |
Method and system for storing recovery related information on a computer memory
Methods and systems for storing recovery related information on a computer memory are described. One exemplary method comprises accessing a user input relating to a user selection of applications to be restored upon executing a recovery of the memory and storing on a recovery partition of the memory a recovery image corresponding to a user image on a user partition of the memory. The user image comprises the user selection of applications. Upon executing a recovery, the recovery image is copied to the user partition such that the user image is configured to correspond to the recovery image. The recovery image is derived from a set of applications that includes at least one un-installed application. |
| US07664980B2 |
Method and system for automatic attempted recovery of equipment from transient faults
A method for automatically attempting to recover equipment from a transient fault includes detecting a fault associated with the equipment in a node in a communications network, determining whether the fault associated with the equipment is transient, if the fault is transient automatically attempting to recover the equipment from the transient fault without user intervention, if the recovery attempt is successful monitoring the equipment for a pre-determined period of time to determine if the fault recurs, and if the fault recurs automatically re-attempting to recover the equipment from the fault until the fault does not recur in the pre-determined period of time or until a pre-determined number of attempts to recover the equipment have been performed. |
| US07664978B2 |
Memory interface circuitry with phase detection
Integrated circuits such as programmable logic device integrated circuits with memory interface circuitry are provided. The memory interface circuitry measures the timing characteristics of an associated memory during a series of dummy read operations. A multiplexer and phase detector are used to measure phase shifts of memory group clock signals compared to a system clock signal. The memory interface circuitry uses these measurements to adjust a delay-locked-loop circuit. The delay-locked-loop circuit produces a capture clock that is used to read data from the memory. |
| US07664973B2 |
Integrated circuit and signal processing apparatus using the same
An integrated circuit that operates with application of an external power source supplying a first source voltage, the circuit comprising: a source voltage monitoring unit that monitors the level of the first source voltage supplied from the external power source, and that determines whether the first source voltage is supplied from the external power source; a clock selecting unit that is supplied with a first clock of a first frequency and a second clock of a second frequency lower than the first frequency, and that selects and outputs the first clock when it is determined by the source voltage monitoring unit that the first source voltage is supplied and the second clock when it is determined by the source voltage monitoring unit that the first source voltage is not supplied; and a processor that operates with supply of either one of the first clock and the second clock output by the clock selecting unit and controls the operation of the integrated circuit. |
| US07664971B2 |
Controlling power supply in a multi-core processor
Power may be controlled for a multi-core processor that includes a processor having a first core and a second core. A first power conversion unit independently supplies a supply voltage to the first core, and a second power conversion unit independently supplies a supply voltage to the second core. The first core can be configured to supply a voltage identification signal for the first power conversion unit, and the second core can be configured to supply a voltage identification signal for the second power conversion unit that is different from the voltage identification signal for the first core. |
| US07664968B2 |
System and method for managing power usage of a data processing system subsystem
A power-managed server data processing system comprises a bus configured to communicatively couple a power-managed server with a data processing system resource and a bus controller coupled to the bus. The bus controller comprises bus control logic configured to process a plurality of access requests associated with the bus, and power management logic configured to inhibit processing of a current access request of the plurality of access requests by the bus control logic for a power management delay time period. The power management delay time period is determined utilizing a processing latency time period associated with a prior access request of the plurality of access requests. |
| US07664962B2 |
Multiple-input, automatic recognition method and apparatus
Automatic recognition apparatus (100, 700) includes multiple automatic recognition subsystems (102, 104, 106) that are cable of producing estimates of the probability that a subject matches a particular identity, a probability estimate combiner (108) that receives estimates from the multiple automatic recognition subsystems (102, 104, 106) and produces a combined estimate, and a decayer that (111) that decreases the certainty of the combined estimate over time while avoiding changing estimates to values that would suggest strong information contrary to the initial values of the combined estimates. |
| US07664961B2 |
Wireless handheld device with local biometric authentication
The invention is directed to a wireless handheld device that securely accesses one or more remote devices subject to locally authenticating a user via biometrics. The device may be implemented as a wireless mouse with a biometric sensor incorporated with a scroll wheel that captures a biometric from the user and authenticates the user to the device using the captured biometric. More specifically, the captured biometric is compared to a template stored in memory. The device transmits a wireless signal, such as a command stream including the user's user name and password, to access the remote devices when the captured biometric matches the template. However, the device does not operate when the user is not authenticated. Accordingly, the invention may be particularly useful to log-on and log-off a user who frequently leaves and returns to a personal computer or various remote devices during the course of a day. |
| US07664960B1 |
Password enhancing device
A device strengthens a user password while the password occupies the keyboard input buffer of an authenticating system. The device masquerades to the system as a second keyboard. The device strengthens the user password by sending keyboard scan codes, altering the user password by inserting and deleting characters. The device is small, portable, and self-contained. The device is Operating System neutral, and can be constructed to be used with any system that supports compounding plug-and-play keyboards, such as USB keyboards and Bluetooth keyboards. The device can be embedded into common input devices such as mice to impersonate a second keyboard. Use of the device improves overall system security by enforcing strong system passwords without encouraging users to write down passwords that are difficult to remember. |
| US07664959B2 |
Method, apparatus and article for off-line certification in mobile applications
A tamper-resistant certification device receives a certified digital time stamp from a trusted third party, resets a time function and produces a time stamp receipt in an on-line mode; The tamper-resistant certification device receives a digital file from a mobile computing device, and produces a certified digitally signed digital file including a copy of the digital file, time stamp receipt and temporal offset in an off-line mode to evidence the content of the digital file within a defined tolerance of a day and/or time. A processor may be portioned into tamper and non-tamper resistant portions. |
| US07664958B2 |
Optimization methods for the insertion, protection and detection of digital watermarks in digital data
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for encoding digital watermarks into content signals. Also disclosed are systems and methods for detecting and/or verifying digital watermarks in content signals. According to one embodiment, a system for encoding of digital watermark information includes: a window identifier for identifying a sample window in the signal; an interval calculator for determining a quantization interval of the sample window; and a sampler for normalizing the sample window to provide normalized samples. According to another embodiment, a system for pre-analyzing a digital signal for encoding at least one digital watermark using a digital filter is disclosed. According to another embodiment, a method for pre-analyzing a digital signal for encoding digital watermarks comprises: (1) providing a digital signal; (2) providing a digital filter to be applied to the digital signal; and (3) identifying an area of the digital signal that will be affected by the digital filter based on at least one measurable difference between the digital signal and a counterpart of the digital signal selected from the group consisting of the digital signal as transmitted, the digital signal as stored in a medium, and the digital signal as played backed. According to another embodiment, a method for encoding a watermark in a content signal includes the steps of (1) splitting a watermark bit stream; and (2) encoding at least half of the watermark bit stream in the content signal using inverted instances of the watermark bit stream. Other methods and systems for encoding/decoding digital watermarks are also disclosed. |
| US07664955B2 |
Establishing shared information in a network
A method for establishing shared information is described. The method includes estimating characteristics of a communication channel between two nodes based on signals transmitted between the nodes. The method also includes transmitting a signal from the first node to the second node, the signal being modulated with a first data sequence according to a first estimated characteristic, and transmitting a signal from the second node to the first node, the signal being modulated with a second data sequence according to a second estimated characteristic. Shared information is formed at each of the first and second nodes based on at least a portion of the first data sequence and at least a portion of the second data sequence. |
| US07664953B2 |
Data processing device, method of same, and program of same
A data processing device, in a system performing authentication among a plurality of storage device (IC cards etc.), able to maintain security of authentication at other device even when secrecy of key data held by part of the devices is lost, wherein a key generation unit generates individual key data unique to an IC card based on identification data unique to the IC cards received from the ICs of the IC cards and a card processing unit performs mutual authentication with the IC based on the individual key data. |
| US07664952B2 |
Service verifying system, authentication requesting terminal, service utilizing terminal, and service providing method
An object is to provide a service providing method capable of curbing rise of cost. A service providing method according to the present invention is one for providing services A and B, which authenticates a user of an authentication requesting terminal in order to make service A available to the user and which determines whether service B is available to the user, in a state in which the user is authenticated about service A. When service B is determined to be available, a permission message is stored and a permission response based on the permission message for utilization of service B is transmitted to the authentication requesting terminal. Then the permission message on which a utilization request message from a service utilizing terminal is based, is verified, and, if it is in an available status, the service utilizing terminal is permitted to utilize service B. The use of the authentication result on service A obviates a need for provision of new authentication means for service B, so as to lead to reduction of cost. |
| US07664943B2 |
Managing access to computer components
In one embodiment a computer system comprises a user interface and a component disable module including logic to initiate boot operations, and present, on a user interface, a component disable feature when at least one of an active management technology or an alert standard format are disabled on the computer system. |
| US07664941B2 |
Branch prediction methods and devices capable of predicting first taken branch instruction within plurality of fetched instructions
A branch prediction method, capable of predicting a first taken branch instruction within a plurality of fetched instructions, includes: determining whether one of the fetched instructions is the first taken branch instruction to be predicted according to hint instruction(s) or according to latest statistics of whether respective fetched instructions have been taken. The branch prediction method further includes: if one of the fetched instructions is determined to be the first taken branch instruction, performing branch prediction on the first taken branch instruction. |
| US07664939B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting false operation of computer
A program to be executed by a computer is divided into a plurality of code blocks, and, a unique code block ID is allotted to each code block. At the moment when the execution of the program is started, the code block ID corresponding to the execution start address is written in a memory, and in the case when the control transits from the code block to other code block, by use of code block operation values obtained beforehand from these two code block IDs thereof, the code block ID in the memory is updated, and it is judged whether the updated code block ID in the memory and the code block ID allotted to the code block as the execution objective are identical or not so that a control flow error is detected. |
| US07664938B1 |
Semantic processor systems and methods
A system including a CPU including logic for executing code from a location and at a time determined by an external entity, a data cache and a CPU management entity (CME) including logic for receiving data one unit at a time from an external data feeder. The data unit being arbitrarily defined mutually between the data feeder and the CME. The CME being coupled to the CPU. The CME including logic to provide the received data unit, a corresponding context information and a corresponding code address to the CPU, wherein the CPU includes logic for notifying the CME of a completed execution. |
| US07664936B2 |
Prioritizing thread selection partly based on stall likelihood providing status information of instruction operand register usage at pipeline stages
An apparatus for scheduling dispatch of instructions among a plurality of threads being concurrently executed in a multithreading processor is provided. The apparatus includes an instruction decoder that generate register usage information for an instruction from each of the threads, a priority generator that generates a priority for each instruction based on the register usage information and state information of instructions currently executing in an execution pipeline, and selection logic that dispatches at least one instruction from at least one thread based on the priority of the instructions. The priority indicates the likelihood the instruction will execute in the execution pipeline without stalling. For example, an instruction may have a high priority if it has little or no register dependencies or its data is known to be available; or may have a low priority if it has strong register dependencies or is an uncacheable or synchronized storage space load instruction. |
| US07664930B2 |
Add-subtract coprocessor instruction execution on complex number components with saturation and conditioned on main processor condition flags
Methods and apparatus for calculating Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data (SIMD) complex arithmetic. A coprocessor instruction has a format identifying a multiply and subtract instruction to generate real components for complex multiplication of first operand complex data and corresponding second operand complex data, a cross multiply and add instruction to generate imaginary components for complex multiplication of the first operand complex data and the corresponding second operand complex data, an add-subtract instruction to add real components of the first operand to imaginary components of the second operand and to subtract real components of the second operand from imaginary components of the first operand, and a subtract-add instruction to subtract the imaginary components of the second operand from the real components of the first operand and to add the real components of the second operand to the imaginary components of the first operand. |
| US07664927B2 |
Hash tables
Hash tables comprising load factors of up to and above 97% are disclosed. The hash tables may be associated with three or more hash functions, each hash function being applied to a key to identify a location in a hash table. The load factor of a hash table may be increased, obviating any need to increase the size of the hash table to accommodate more insertions. Such increase in load factor may be accomplished by a combination of increasing the number of cells per bucket in a hash table and increasing the number of hash functions associated with the hash table. |
| US07664924B2 |
System and method to secure a computer system by selective control of write access to a data storage medium
A system and method to securing a computer system from software viruses and other malicious code by intercepting attempts by the malicious code to write data to a storage medium. The invention intercepts the write access requests made by programs and verifies that the program is authorized to write before letting the write proceed. Authorization is determined by using the identity of the program as a query element into a database where permission values are stored. Depending on the presence or value of the permission value, write access is permitted or denied. Permission values can be set by the user, downloaded from a central server, or loaded into the central server by a group of users in order to collectively determine a permission value. The interception code can operate in kernel mode. |
| US07664923B2 |
Method and system for updating software
A method and a system for updating software stored in a flash memory, which enables a user to resume a suspended updating process even when log data stored in a journaling area is lost. According to the present invention, log data indicating the results of implementation of each step of the updating process is stored in a journaling area allocated in a flash memory to update the software. The data stored in the journaling area is copied into a first backup journaling area allocated in the flash memory whenever each step is completed. Concurrently, log data indicating the copying results is stored in a second backup journaling area. |
| US07664922B2 |
Data transfer arbitration apparatus and data transfer arbitration method
When a concentration of access requests on a specific bank occurs, the delay time is caused due to the competition among the accesses, thereby lowering the processing speed of an information processing apparatus as a whole. A data transfer arbitration unit 172 sequentially transfers data to be recorded to a memory controller 160 that records data in memory having a plurality of banks. A selector 174 selects any DMAC 170 from among a plurality of DMACs, irrespective of priority sequence of transfer service for the DMAC. A transmitter 176 transmits, to a control-side transfer unit 114, data requested to be transferred by the selected DMAC 170. The selector 174 selects consecutively the DMAC 170 so that the transfer service for the same DMAC is consecutively executed, and determines the number of consecutive selections so that a transfer across the banks of the DMAC 170 occurs by a plurality of the transfer services. |
| US07664921B2 |
Method for accessing shared memories and multiprocessor system using the method
A method for accessing shared memory cards from each of plural processor cards is disclosed. The shared memory cards are composed of a shared memory card of an operating system and a shared memory card of a standby system in a redundant configuration, and each of plural processor cards individually access the shared memory cards. Each of the plural processor cards is connected to the shared memory card of the operating system and the shared memory card of the standby system in a point-to-point structure via corresponding serial buses and executes data transmission on a one to one basis to/from the shared memory card of the operating system and the shared memory card of the standby system. |
| US07664920B2 |
Microprocessor with improved data stream prefetching
A microprocessor includes a hierarchical memory subsystem, an instruction decoder, and a stream prefetch unit. The decoder decodes an instruction that specifies a locality characteristic parameter. In one embodiment, the parameter specifies a relative urgency with which a data stream specified by the instruction is needed rather than specifying exactly which of the cache memories in the hierarchy to prefetch the data stream into. The prefetch unit selects one of the cache memory levels in the hierarchy for prefetching the data stream into based on the memory subsystem configuration and on the relative urgency. In another embodiment, the prefetch unit instructs the memory subsystem to mark the prefetched cache line for early, late, or normal eviction according to its cache line replacement policy based on the parameter value. |
| US07664919B2 |
Cache system
A cache system includes a data storage which stores the data, which a memory supplies, in memory regions that are identified by identification numbers. A management data storage stores a relation between the identification numbers and the addresses of data items stored or being stored in the data storage and stores validation information indicating whether the data storage stores the data items. A refill-processing unit designates a memory region in which the data of a new address supplied from a processor is to be stored and requests the memory to output the data of the new address. An inspection unit receives the identification number of the memory region designated, determines whether the validation information about the identification number of the memory region designated is valid, and requests the data storage to output the data stored in the memory region designated when the validation information is valid. |
| US07664916B2 |
Global smartcard cache methods and apparatuses
Methods and apparatuses are provided for use with smartcards or other like shared computing resources. A global smartcard cache is maintained on one or more computers to reduce the burden on the smartcard. The global smartcard cache data is associated with a freshness indicator that is compared to the current freshness indicator from the smartcard to verify that the cached item data is current. |
| US07664913B2 |
Query-based spares management technique
A query-based spares management technique enables a storage operating system of a storage system to select disks to be added to one or more RAID groups of a volume. The spares management technique includes an attributes-based disk selection procedure that is performed by the storage operating system in response to an operator-initiated request to add disks to the volume or in response to a demand-driven request resulting from a requirement imposed by the system to add disks to the volume. The disks that are added to the RAID groups of the volume are retrieved from one or more spare pools of disks maintained by the storage system. |
| US07664912B2 |
Data recording apparatus, data recording method, and program
Disclosed herein is a data recording apparatus which may include a recording data acquisition section, a data recording section, a file management section, a recording control section, and a file updating control section. |
| US07664900B2 |
Multiprocessor system and method for processing memory access
When receiving a write message associated with data, an input/output controller issues a write-request message to a home processor node which holds the data in a memory. When receiving the write-request message, a memory controller in the processor node executes a consistency process on the basis of information, regarding the state of the data, stored in a directory, and sends a write-permission message to the input/output controller which has issued the write-request message. In response to the received write-permission message, the input/output controller in an input/output node issues an update message, serving as a write message, to the home processor node. In response to the received update message, the memory controller in the process node updates the data in the main memory. In the above process, when receiving a plurality of write messages from input/output devices, the input/output controller issues write-request messages irrespective of the progress of a preceding write message. After the preceding write message is issued, the input/output controller issues the write messages. |
| US07664898B2 |
Method and system for efficient framing on addressed buses
A framing mechanism may be provided that enables passing of messages over an addressed bus. This creates a form of information hiding, which passes information by converting an addressed bus interface to a message-based bus interface. Address-based information in a transaction may be replaced with additional information that specifies framing details comprising, for example, a check pattern and length information. The check pattern provides a mechanism for determining whether frame information may be valid. An end device may utilize this length information to determine an actual length of an incoming frame. The combination of the check pattern and the length information may provide a pattern for resynchronizing a data stream when errors are detected. The framing mechanism may operate over existing addressed buses without requiring host side controller hardware modifications and additional host side software driver may be utilized to add the framing information. |
| US07664889B2 |
DMA descriptor management mechanism
A storage device is disclosed. The storage device includes a storage controller. The storage controller includes a direct memory access (DMA) Descriptor Manager (DM) to generate DMA descriptors by monitoring user data and a data integrity field (DIF) transferred between a host memory and a local memory based upon a function being performed. |
| US07664883B2 |
Network interface device that fast-path processes solicited session layer read commands
A network interface device connected to a host provides hardware and processing mechanisms for accelerating data transfers between the host and a network. Some data transfers are processed using a dedicated fast-path whereby the protocol stack of the host performs no network layer or transport layer processing. Other data transfers are, however, handled in a slow-path by the host protocol stack. In one embodiment, the host protocol stack has an ISCSI layer, but a response to a solicited ISCSI read request command is nevertheless processed by the network interface device in fast-path. In another embodiment, an initial portion of a response to a solicited command is handled using the dedicated fast-path and then after an error condition occurs a subsequent portion of the response is handled using the slow-path. The interface device uses a command status message to communicate status to the host. |
| US07664879B2 |
Caching content and state data at a network element
Methods are disclosed for caching content and state data at a network element. In one embodiment, data packets are intercepted at a network element. An application layer message, which specifies a request for specified data from a server application, is determined from the data packets. A first portion of the specified data contained in the network element's cache is determined. A message that requests a second portion of the data not contained in the cache is sent toward a server application. A first response that contains the second portion, but not the first portion, is received. A second response, which contains the first and second portions, is sent toward a client application.In one embodiment, data packets are intercepted at the network element. An application layer message, which specifies session or database connection state information, is determined from the data packets. The state information is cached at the network element. |
| US07664876B2 |
System and method for directing clients to optimal servers in computer networks
A communication protocol includes one or more messages passed between Web routers over a reliable transmission protocol used for inter-Web router communication. These messages include information that allows the Web routers to dynamically update mappings of client addresses or address ranges to information object repository addresses based on client-to-server distance and server load. The mappings are preferably optimal mappings of the client addresses or address ranges to the information object repository addresses and the messages report updated distances from these information object repository addresses to the client addresses or address ranges. For example, the messages may report, for each updated distance, an associated client address or address range and/or an associated anchor address of a Web router co-located with an information object repository that is the subject of the message. |
| US07664870B2 |
Method and system for providing users a lower fidelity alternative until a higher fidelity experience is available
A method for providing a low fidelity alternative until a high fidelity experience becomes available is provided. Upon detecting a need to download data, a download manager determines a download priority for downloading the data. The download priority specifies an amount of a low fidelity representation of data to download prior to downloading a high fidelity representation of the same data and any remaining low fidelity representation of the data simultaneously. The download manager then downloads, for example, from a content server, the low fidelity representation of the data and the high fidelity representation of the data according to the determined download priority, thus allowing the low fidelity representation of the data to be used until the high fidelity representation of the data is downloaded and becomes available. |
| US07664865B2 |
Securely hosting a webbrowser control in a managed code environment
Described is a technology by which a managed web browser control hosts an unmanaged web OLE control to control navigation requests by the unmanaged web OLE control on behalf of partially trusted code. Site locking may be performed to constrain a site to navigation only to other pages within its site, thereby preventing navigation to an undesirable location. In one example, the unmanaged web OLE control communicates information corresponding to a navigation request to the managed web browser control, and the managed web browser control processes the information to establish whether the navigation is to be allowed or blocked. The benefits of site-locking with respect to privacy are also described, as is z-order management to protect against site spoofing. |
| US07664864B2 |
Meta content distribution network
A method for responding to a request for a file, comprising receiving a request for a file at a selection server for the selection server to select one of a plurality of content distribution networks based upon predetermined selection criteria, the request by a client system to a file server, the selection server, file server client system, and content distribution networks all connected to an Internet; and responding to the request by providing the file from the selected content distribution network to the client system. |
| US07664863B2 |
Data transferring method
The data transfer between an initiator and a target, interconnected over an IEEE1394 interface, is to be improved in efficiency. At the time of login, the buffer information of the targets 11 to 14 is acquired by an initiator 10. Based on the buffer information, acquired by the initiator 10, a data transfer table, at least including the node ID information of the targets 11 to 14, address information of the buffer memory and the data transmission/receipt specifying information for specifying the transmission or receipt of the data, is formulated. The data transfer table, formulated by the initiator, is supplied to each target. When a signal instructing the transfer of the data is input, handshaking is performed between the initiator 10 and the targets 11 to 14, based on the predetermined information appended to the transfer protocol of the interface, to effect the data transfer based on the data transfer table. |
| US07664859B2 |
Resource assigning management apparatus and resource assigning method
In a system which divides requests to an application, into computers on which the application is operating, computers are managed so as to prevent the lowering of the service level of each application. The resource assigning management apparatus 1 subtracts a total number of request counts (receive request count) received per unit tame by each server computer which is assigned to the application, from the total number of requests processible per unit time by each server computer 3 which is assigned to the application (request processible count), and calculates a resource amount available from the application to another application. Then, allocation of at least one server computer 3 that is assigned to the resource-excessive application is changed to an application which is lacking resources. |
| US07664857B2 |
Systems and methods of using an IP ID field for automatic WAN/LAN detection
The solution of the present invention provides systems and methods for encoding information into an Internet Protocol identification field (IPID) of an IP layer header of a network packet in a manner acceptable to many or all of the network devices that encounter the encoded packet. In one embodiment, the solution described herein encodes the IP identification field of the IPID header with information to be communicated between devices. Appliances may use the encoded IP field as a signal or a means for a low-bandwidth subcarrier of data between the appliances that is transparent to any intervening network equipment. For example, the encoded field may be used to announce or probe the presence of a device, a functionality or capability of device or to indicate a type or speed of a network connection of a port on a device. |
| US07664854B2 |
Relay apparatus, system and method, and storage medium
A system enables information transmission between a server which serves information by its own communication format and a client which receives service on a general network, with an efficient and simple structure. A conversion server 101 receives a video transmission request message from a client 103 in the HTTP protocol, the conversion server 101 converts the message into a message of a format of a server 102, and transmits the converted message to the server 102. Then, the conversion server 101 returns video data transferred from the server 102 to the client 103 in the HTTP protocol. |
| US07664851B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer products for an event-driven network service switching utility
Systems, methods, and computer products for event driven and timer-driven network service switching. Exemplary embodiments include a network-switching method, including establishing a connection with a network via a network adapter, monitoring the adapter for a connection status with the network, generating a first block of network traffic over the network adapter and blocking a second block of network traffic over the network adapter. |
| US07664847B2 |
Managing workload by service
Approaches for manage and measuring workload on computer resources by measuring workload in ways that are independent of physical hardware and that correlate to ways in which it is desirable to measure and manage workload for applications and clients. Specifically, logical abstractions of workload, referred to as services, are defined for a cluster of nodes running a multi-node database server of a database. A service is a category of work hosted on a subset of multi-node database servers, such as work that is performed for an online order entry application. The workload is measured and demarcated by the service no matter which node in a single or multi-node system performs the service, providing a global view of performance realized by the system. |
| US07664846B2 |
System and method for distributed modeling of real time systems
A system for modeling real time systems includes a plurality of modules for modeling components of a system. Each module represents a single component of the system or other systems that compete for system resources. In one embodiment, each module is XML-based. Each module can also include instructions to log appropriate transactions. The system creates the loads and delays which are then logged for later analysis. |
| US07664844B2 |
Managing network errors communicated in a message transaction with error information using a troubleshooting agent
A method, system, and program for managing network errors communicated in a message transaction with error information using a troubleshooting agent. A network facilitates message transactions between a requester and a responder for facilitating web services. When a non-application specific error occurs in relation to a particular message transaction, such as a network error, a protocol layer assigns an error code and either the requester or responder encodes the error code in the body of an envelope added to the particular message transaction. In particular, the message transaction is an XML message with a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) envelope encoded with the error code to which the XML message is then attached. The error encoded message transaction is forwarded to a troubleshooting agent. The troubleshooting agent facilitates resolution of the non-application specific error and returns a descriptive message indicating the resolution of the non-application specific error to at least one of the requester and the responder. |
| US07664838B2 |
System and method for translating application program network service requests into actions and performing those actions through the management and/or control plane responsive to previously defined policies and previous requests by the same or another application program
Application program network service requests are translated into specific actions that are then performed through the management plane and/or control plane. The translations and resulting actions are responsive to previously defined policies for the communication network, and may further reflect processing of previous service requests by the same or another application program. The amount of resources available for use by a given application program may be predefined based on a globally defined network policy. Each service request obtained from an application program may be translated into multiple actions performed using various specific protocols and/or interfaces provided by either the management plane, the control plane, or both the management and control planes. Reports of network activity, status and/or faults for a requesting application program may be tailored to the requesting program's view of the network, and passed directly and exclusively to the requesting program. |
| US07664836B2 |
Device and method for booting an operation system for a computer from a passive directly attached network device
System, device, method, computer, computer program and computer program product for computer booting devices not coupled to an internal local bus of the computer to be booted. Boot device may be network-attached device directly coupled to computer over network and not through another computer or server process. Method for redirecting booting process to look away from storage devices coupled to internal computer bus, and to look for external devices on network. Method of booting computer with operating system from storage device including executing a boot block loader program in the processor and memory of computer to be booted that before loading an operating system, loads device driver for accessing storage device; loading the operating system from storage device that is not directly coupled to internal local bus of computer using the device driver, to processor accessible memory; and booting computer from loaded operating system. Computer program and computer program product. |
| US07664831B2 |
Determining alternative textual identifiers, such as for registered domain names
A method, system, and computer-readable medium is described that determines alternatives to a specified textual identifier, such as a domain name, by identifying and using words and phrases that are related to the identifier. A variety of types of related words can be used, such as synonyms and translations, and the related words can be determined in a variety of ways. One situation in which alternatives can be generated is after a user has requested to use or acquire an unavailable textual identifier, such as a request to register an already registered domain name, and the determined alternatives can then be presented to the user as possibilities for use or acquisition. When multiple alternatives are presented to the user, they can also be ranked as to relevance and ordered in a variety of ways. |
| US07664830B2 |
Method and system for utilizing embedded MPEG-7 content descriptions
An apparatus for selecting digital material objects containing MPEG-7 content descriptions in response to MPEG-7 content description queries. The apparatus comprises an MPEG-7 content description query generation tool coupled with a search engine configured for searching and comparing embedded MPEG-7 META tag information within file headers, or database information thereof, to the MPEG-7 content description query. The query tool and search engine may be implemented separately or in combination. By way of example, the MPEG-7 query generation tool is implemented within an application program such as a browser, or web site, to allow the user to readily and accurately define the content being sought. The content query being sent to a search engine configured for performing MPEG-7 content searches that return hits based on content related matches. |
| US07664829B2 |
Document managing system, document managing apparatus and document managing method
A document managing system is provided with a plurality of document managing apparatuses each configured to retrieve a document stored in a storage according to a document ID and to judge whether or not an operation with respect to the retrieved document is possible according to a user ID that is generated with respect to each document managing apparatus, and a user ID generating apparatus provided externally to the document managing apparatuses and configured to generate a common user ID that is used in common among each of the document managing apparatuses. Each document managing apparatus has an export and import part configured to export and import data of an arbitrary document and an access control list (ACL). |
| US07664828B2 |
Invalid policy detection
Implementations are described and claimed herein to detect an invalid policy that may reside in a cache at a client. An expired policy is removed from cache and a current policy is requested. Otherwise the cached policy may be used. The client indicates which policy it is using by generating a policy digest, including, in compressed form, one or more assertions. If the host determines the policy digest is invalid, the host issues an invalid digest fault. If the policy digest is valid, but the assertions included in the policy digest are invalid, the host issues an invalid policy fault. In either case, the client is notified that the cached policy is no longer valid and that a current policy should be requested. |
| US07664825B2 |
System and method of managing documents using bookmarks
A system and method for managing documents within a shared peripheral includes a network-based document management system. A document management module of defines a bookmark or symbolic link to a document stored inside or outside a document management module repository. The symbolic link is treated analogously to other documents managed by the document management module. Upon linking to a document networked, the system enables users to download a document stored in the repository to devices including a local machine or network hard drive. |
| US07664823B1 |
Partitioned packet processing in a multiprocessor environment
A packet processing system includes multiple processors and a set of code partitions that implement a feature set for packet processing. Each of the processors is capable of loading and executing one or more of the code partitions. A context manager enables packet processing operations to migrate between code partitions executing on one or more of the processors. |
| US07664821B1 |
Systems and methods for determining communication chains based on messages
A pool of messages, e.g., e-mails and/or other electronic documents that each correspond to a communication from a sender to a recipient, is analyzed to identify communication chains between a source and a target. Sender and recipient identifiers extracted from the messages are used to detect communication links between pairs of entities. Indirect chains of any desired length can be found by iteratively tracing a communication path one step forward from the source, then one step backward from the target, and so on; at each new step, entities at end points of the forward paths and backward paths are compared to detect any entities that complete a communication chain from source to target. Information related to the identified communication chains can be presented to a user via an interactive report that supports iterative analysis of the communication-chain data. |
| US07664820B2 |
RFID wireless control of instant messaging
A remote control instant messaging method and system for automatically activating an instant messaging session based upon remote detection of a user approaching a processor capable of executing an instant message system. The method and system also automatically deactivate the instant messaging session based upon remote detection of the user's absence from such processor and automatically re-activate the instant messaging session based upon remote detection of the user's return to the processor. A second instant messaging session can also be remotely activated on a second processor operated by another user_id by detecting the first user's approach to such second processor. The first user is automatically disengaged from this second instant messaging session when the user leaves the location of the second processor. |
| US07664818B2 |
Message-oriented middleware provider having multiple server instances integrated into a clustered application server infrastructure
A method, apparatus, and system are provided for a Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) provider having multiple logical MOM server instances. In an embodiment, a number of application servers are communicatively coupled on an enterprise network. In an embodiment, the MOM provider includes an MOM server instance implemented on each of the plurality of application servers. Each MOM server instance may include a session container to manage one or more sessions and a destination container to provide one or more destinations. In an embodiment, each destination is identified by a globally unique identifier. |
| US07664817B2 |
Information distribution method and device
Network information-distribution method and device for transmitting information utilizing information-exchange relationships among users. Information is transmitted from user 1 to all or a portion of user 1's buddies, e.g., users 12 and 13. Next, having received the information, users 12 and 13 then forward the information to their respective buddies. The information is forwarded, for example, to users 211 and 212 registered on user 12's buddy list 21. Likewise, the information is also transmitted to the user group registered on user 13's buddy list 22. By repeating this, buddy lists expressing information-exchange relationships among users are utilized to distribute the information to great numbers of persons. |
| US07664816B2 |
Multi-participant online activities
Multi-participant online activities are described. In one or more implementations, a protocol is described which ties an online activity (e.g., an online game) to an instant messaging infrastructure. For example, an online game may leverage the instant messaging infrastructure to form rosters of participants for participation in the online game, Once the roster is formed, the instant messaging infrastructure may further manage the presence of the participants in the online activity, such as which users join and cease participation in the online activity and notify other users of these changes. Further, the state of participation in the online activity may be stored such that the users may continue between sessions. |
| US07664814B2 |
Presence-based seamless messaging
Subject matter includes systems and methods for presence-based messaging. In one implementation an engine detects the real-time presence of a potential message recipient who can be reached via a communications medium that a sender composing a message is not currently using. The engine can either transition to an environment for composing and sending the message using the detected presence-based communications medium or offer the sender a choice of switching to the presence-based communication medium. |
| US07664809B2 |
Method and device for calculating modulo operations
A method for calculating a modulo operation a mod p uses a table (1) containing the values n*p for n=1, 2, . . . . In this case, a and p are positive integers where a mod p=a−n*p. An integral hypothesis nH is calculated for the unknown value n. Afterwards, the values nH*p and also at least one adjacent value (nH+1)*p and/or (nH−1)*p are looked up in the table (1). The expressions a−nH*p and also a−(nH+1)*p and/or a−(nH−1)*p are calculated and at least one of these expressions is compared with the value 0. n is thereupon determined. |
| US07664807B2 |
Apparatus for providing a random bit stream
An apparatus for providing a random bit stream includings a first provider for providing a clock signal, a second provider for providing a sample signal, an activator for activating the first and second providers such that a sampling edge of the sample signal is aligned to an edge of the clock signal. The apparatus further includes a sampler for sampling the clock signal responsive to the sampling edge of the sample signal and for generating a random bit dependent on the sampled state of the clock signal. Further, the apparatus includes a deactivator for deactivating the first and second providers. Successive random bits form a random bit stream. |
| US07664792B2 |
System and method for recovering databases on a mainframe computer
A system and method for performing database recovery operations. A mainframe computer may include multiple databases stored on a storage unit. A processing unit may be configured to receive and schedule jobs submitted for execution. An electronic display may be in communication with the processing unit. A software program may be executed by the processing unit and be configured to cause the processing unit to (i) display a menu of selectable database recovery operations on the electronic display, (ii) receive a selection of a database of the databases on which to perform a database recovery operation, (iii) display a list of valid database recovery timestamps, (iv) display a database recovery parameter entry screen in response to receiving a database recovery operation selection, and (v) generate information including parameters entered in the database recovery parameter entry screen for use in performing the selected database recovery operation on the selected database. |
| US07664786B2 |
Apparatus and method for managing application context
An apparatus and method for managing application context is provided. A first one of a plurality of terminals, each including at least one application, collects and transmits context information of the application to a migration server so that it is stored and managed in the migration server. The migration server transmits the stored and managed context information to a second terminal corresponding to the first terminal in response to a request of the second terminal. The second terminal restores context based on the context information received from the migration server. This can reproduce the same application and desktop environments as those previously set to be suitable for each work situation, thereby increasing user convenience. |
| US07664785B2 |
Method and apparatus of WAFS backup managed in centralized center
A system including a plurality of servers each executing an application, a plurality of Wide Area File System (WAFS) clients which are correspondingly connected to the servers, a WAFS server which is connected to each WAFS client, a storage system or network attached storage (NAS), connected to the WAFS server, which stores data in a plurality of volumes or filesystem forming a consistency group, and a backup server for controlling backup of the consistency group. Each WAFS client includes a cache for temporarily storing data, and a cache manager for managing the cache. The WAFS server includes a backup agent that responds to the backup server, and a consistency manager that maintains consistency among the caches. The system is implemented to bring to a state of consistency the caches in the WAFS clients and the corresponding volumes in the WAFS server. |
| US07664784B2 |
High-performance, scalable, adaptive and multi-dimensional event repository
A High-Performance, Scalable, Adaptive and Multi-dimensional Event Repository is described and utilized in a method for publishing an event in a database. The present method includes transparently intercepting a request to a database to publish an event. A messaging system operable with the database intercepts the request. The present method further includes examining an event repository for a template of the event. The event repository is operable with the database and the messaging system. The present method additionally includes retrieving the event template from the event repository. The present method also includes marshalling the event template to create the event. The present method also includes publishing the event in an event queue. |
| US07664783B2 |
File management program, data structure, and file management device
A file management program for managing a file or a directory by means of a long filename of a file system that corresponds to a long filename for retrieval and a short filename of the file system that corresponds to a short filename for retrieval, includes having a computer perform a naming function for naming the short filename including at least one part of file management information in the file system that corresponds to the long filename for retrieval. |
| US07664782B2 |
Associating a set of related web services having different input data structures with a common identification name
A device overloading a web service identification name so that multiple services with a common name can be stored in a Web service directory is disclosed. Each of the services identified by the common name can have a different and unique (for the set of commonly named services) structure for input data. The data structure of the input data can be used to discern which of the set of commonly name Web services a requestor desires. |
| US07664779B1 |
Processing of a generalized directed object graph for storage in a relational database
A method, computer program product, and system for creating transaction instructions. A description of a set of objects is received. For each of at least a subset of objects in the set of objects, a description of one or more associated relationships is received. The description of the set of objects and the descriptions of the one or more associated relationships for each object in the at least a subset of the set of objects are processed to create an ordered list of transaction instructions for storing the set of objects and the one or more associated relationships for each object in the at least a subset of the set of objects. |
| US07664775B2 |
Multimedia search system
A database search system that retrieves multimedia information in a flexible, user friendly system. The search system uses a multimedia database consisting of text, picture, audio and animated data. That database is searched through multiple graphical and textual entry paths. Those entry paths include an idea search, a title finder search, a topic tree search, a picture explorer search, a history timeline search, a world atlas search, a researcher's assistant search, and a feature articles search. |
| US07664774B2 |
Sequence based physical design tuning
The subject disclosure pertains to exploitation of sequence information in a workload for the purpose of performance tuning. An optimal or exhaustive approach to tune sequences by mapping to a shortest path problem is provided as well as powerful techniques that result in optimal or nearly optimal solutions. Also disclosed is greedy approach that is much more efficient than the optimal approach and yet also generates solutions of comparable quality. Further yet, systems and methods are provided that facilitate extraction of sequence information and implementation of recommendations. |
| US07664773B2 |
Structured data storage method, structured data storage apparatus, and retrieval method
a structured data storage apparatus inputs a given number of structured data items each including respective hierarchical structures of element data items, stores structured data items in first memory, extracts common hierarchical structure of first group of element data items, which is included in and common to structured data items, from the structured data items, based on frequencies of occurrence of first group in structured data items, inputs structured data item to be stored, which includes common hierarchical structure of first group, assigns element IDs corresponding to respective element data items of first group to storage areas allocated to respective element data items of first group in memory location of first memory, the memory location being allocated to structured data item to be stored, stores first group included in structured data item to be stored in respective storage areas in memory location. |
| US07664770B2 |
Smart browser panes
An article of manufacture and method includes displaying content associated with a universal resource locator (URL) on a graphical user interface (GUI), receiving a first search parameter for a first search engine, displaying a first search result in a first pane of the GUI, the first search result associated with a first search parameter, determining a second search parameter associated with a URL from the first search parameter for a second search engine, displaying a second search result in a second pane of the GUI, the second search result associated with a second search parameter. |
| US07664766B2 |
System, method and computer program product for managing data
A method and computer readable product for managing data, the method includes: providing a first data structure representative of insert or update operations to entries identified by keys and providing a second data structure representative of branch creation operations wherein the second data structure stores branch identifiers and branch timing information; receiving a request to lookup a version of data at a read timestamp; scanning the first and the second data structures to locate that version of data; and receiving a request to create a branch that starts by a version of data at a requested timestamp and updating the second data structure accordingly. |
| US07664765B2 |
Method for accelerating the computational speed of a computer algorithm
A new technique for accelerating the computational speed of a computer algorithm is provided. The inventive technique can be applied to an encryption algorithm, such as an RSA algorithm, for example. A method and system for effecting secure information communications utilizing an accelerated information encryption algorithm is also contemplated. |
| US07664764B2 |
Method and system for storage and fast retrieval of digital terrain model elevations for use in positioning systems
Methods and apparatuses to generate and to access compressed and indexed elevations of Digital Elevation Models. In one aspect of the invention, a method to store elevation data includes: compressing elevation data of a first portion of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to generate first compressed elevation data; storing the first compressed elevation data in a storage location pointed to by a first index; and storing the first index. In another aspect of the invention, a method to retrieve elevation data includes: locating a first compressed portion of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using a first index; and decompressing the first compressed portion to retrieve first elevation data for at least one sample point in the Digital Elevation Model. The Digital Elevation Model has a plurality of compressed portions which includes the first compressed portion; and the first index points to a storage location where the first compressed portion is stored. |
| US07664763B1 |
System and method for determining whether performing a particular process on a file will be useful
A method involves: performing a first process on a unit of data, where the first process belongs to a class of processes; storing information that identifies a result of performing the first process on the unit of data; and, based on the information, determining whether to subsequently perform a process belonging to the class of processes on the unit of data. For example, the first process can be a compression process used to compress a file before the file is transferred across a network. The information can identify a compression ratio obtained by performing the first process on the file and can be used to determine whether the same compression process (or any compression process in a class of compression processes) should be used to compress the file the next time that the file is to be transferred. |
| US07664761B2 |
Apparatus and method for searching data for a similar article
An apparatus and method for quickly retrieving and outputting assemblies or subassemblies similar to a target assembly or subassembly for similar determination are provided. Data concerning assemblies, and the subassemblies and parts contained in the assemblies is retrieved from a product structure data storage device; hierarchical structures of the assemblies and subassemblies are detected; similarity is calculated for all the combinations of the assemblies and subassemblies based on the detected hierarchical structures; and the hierarchical structures of the assemblies and subassemblies and similarity for each combination of assemblies and subassemblies are stored in a similar data storage device. When a target assembly or subassembly for similarity determination is inputted via an input device, assemblies or subassemblies similar to the target assembly or subassembly are retrieved from the similar data storage device, and the retrieved assemblies and subassemblies are displayed on a display device. |
| US07664760B2 |
Inferred relationships from user tagged content
A tagged content inference system and method is provided. The system facilitates browsing of content with a pseudo-hierarchical feel using algorithmically-deduced relationships between items based on user applied tags. Based, at least in part, upon tagged content, an inference component can infer relationships between items (e.g., creating a pseudo-hierarchy) in order to facilitate browsing of the items.The system can further include a relationship display component that can provide a visual representation of tagged items based on relationship(s) inferred by the inference component. The visual representation can further be based, at least in part, upon user input (e.g., threshold quantity of tags to be displayed, threshold strength of relationship, color setting(s), etc.) |
| US07664759B2 |
Method and system for storing self-descriptive tabular data with alphanumeric and binary values
A method and system for storing and retrieving alphanumeric (83) and binary data values (78) includes storing in a tabular data archive (60) an open tabular format XML file (62) containing a plurality of alphanumeric data values (83) and meta-information (84). Meta-information (84 and 80) describes a predetermined set of characteristics of the alphanumeric data values (83) and binary data values (78). The method and system store in the tabular data archive (60) a plurality of individual binary files (64) each comprising exactly one binary data value (163, 164, 165, 166) and further describe the binary files (64) using the predetermined set of characteristics (80). The method further includes storing in the open tabular format XML file (62) a plurality of references (90) to the individual binary files (64). Thereafter, the open tabular format XML file (62) may be parsed for selectably retrieving at least one predetermined subset of the plurality of alphanumeric data values (83) and of the plurality of binary data values stored in individual binary files (64). |
| US07664756B1 |
Configuration management database implementation with end-to-end cross-checking system and method
A system for end-to-end configuration management is provided. The system includes, a server component, a network component, an application component, a resources component, and a services component each operable to identify servers, communication network hardware, applications, human resources, and services, respectively, of the enterprise. The system further includes a management component operable to identify an end-to-end relationship between at least some of the communication network hardware to at least some of the servers, and from at least some of the servers to at least some of the applications, and from at least some of the applications to at least some of the human resources, and from at least some of the applications to at least some of the services. |
| US07664755B2 |
User prompt for loading sound in a computer resource
A method, apparatus and computer-usable medium for transmitting a computer resource to a computing device, wherein the computer resource includes at least one audio content. A visual display is presented, on the computing device, that offers options to accept and receive the computer resource with or without the at least one audio content. |
| US07664748B2 |
Systems and methods for changing symbol sequences in documents
A computer-readable medium includes instructions for causing at least one processor to perform a method. The method may include receiving a symbol sequence into a document, identifying another symbol sequence in the document whose probability of matching the received symbol sequence is above a threshold, and replacing the received symbol sequence with the other symbol sequence. |
| US07664745B2 |
Information retrieval system and method for retrieving information
An information retrieval system and method are provided. The system includes a retrieval unit for combining query type of searches and browsing type of searches. A user forms a query by selecting predefined queries, predefined data categories and entering data. The system indicates which combinations are allowed given the available stored data. Results are displayed as a result set. Data from the result can be clicked upon for insertion into a new query. |
| US07664742B2 |
Index data structure for a peer-to-peer network
An index data structure has a plurality of index keys for uniquely identifying potential data object context nodes. Each index key is, in turn, associated with one or more potential context nodes. Moreover, the index key has a label that provides semantic content to a user. The index data structure further includes one or more routing tables associated with each index key that generally include a plurality of path references. |
| US07664740B2 |
Automatically displaying keywords and other supplemental information
Various embodiments can utilize information that is displayed for a user to automatically generate a list of keywords and use that list as a means to display supplemental information that is relevant to the keywords. In at least some embodiments, the displayed information is analyzed using an extraction algorithm to identify words or, more generally, character strings of interest. If these words or character strings of interest are determined to constitute relevant search terms or “keywords”, then a special user interface portion can be used to display this supplemental information along with the information that is already displayed for the user. This supplemental information can include the search terms themselves, ads that pertain to the search terms, and/or search results that have been ascertained from a web search engine. |
| US07664738B2 |
Search system, information processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program
In a search system in which a plurality of first devices which store multimedia contents, a plurality of second devices which store attribute information on multimedia contents and have a search function of searching for the multimedia contents on the basis of the attribute information, and a third device which stores information on the respective second devices and selects, from the plurality of second devices, a device caused to execute search based on a search instruction received from the user terminal are connected to each other via a network, the third device receives a search instruction from the user terminal, and selects, from the plurality of second devices on the basis of the search instruction, a device caused to execute search based on the search instruction. The third device collects and integrates search results based on the search instruction, from the selected second device. The third device transmits the integrated search result to the user terminal. |
| US07664736B2 |
Obtaining user assistance
An apparatus, device, method, computer program product, and system that searches a plurality of end user assistances respectively corresponding to a plurality of items for an end user assistance correlating with a user-selected item. Each end user assistance of the plurality of end user assistances respectively having been obtained in response to the prior presence within a geographic locale of the corresponding item. |
| US07664734B2 |
Systems and methods for generating multiple implicit search queries
Systems and methods for generating multiple implicit search queries are described. In one described system, a query system receives a user context attribute and generates a plurality of implicit search queries based at least in part on the user context attribute. The query system then receives result sets associated with each of the plurality of implicit search queries and combines the results for display to a user. |
| US07664730B2 |
Method and system for implementing a SQL profile
A method, apparatus, and computer program product with a persistent data structure for storing a profile of tuning information for a query statement separately from the query statement. The profile in the persistent data structure includes a statement signature to identify the query statement, and an action to tune the statement. |
| US07664728B2 |
Systems and methods for parallel evaluation of multiple queries
Implementations described herein relate to evaluating multiple queries represented in an opcode tree having opcode nodes and branch nodes. Each opcode node comprises an opcode that is a part of an opcode block derived from compilation of a query, the opcode block consisting of a linear sequence of opcodes. Opcode nodes are arranged in the tree according to location of its corresponding opcode in the opcode block with opcodes that occur earlier in the opcode block being represented at a higher tree level than subsequent opcodes. Only one opcode node corresponds to a common opcode block segment that is included in multiple queries. Executing the opcode tree against an input evaluates each of the multiple queries represented in the opcode tree. |
| US07664726B2 |
Influence based rewards for word-of-mouth advertising ecosystems
Systems and/or methods are presented that facilitate determining the contextual influence of a user in referrals of products or services, and determining an amount of compensation for successful referrals based on the contextual influence of the user. A central service component can track activity and receive data associated with referrals, including data related to the number and type of referrals, and the number of successful referrals. An evaluation component can analyze referral data associated with the user and can determine a conversion ratio as the number of successful referrals compared to the total number of referrals. The evaluation component can utilize the conversion ratio to facilitate determining an amount of compensation that can be awarded and distributed to the user based on the influence of the user within the context of the product or service referred by the user. |
| US07664725B2 |
Method and apparatus for transparently mapping a request to open a data file
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that transparently maps a request to open a data file. First, the system receives a request from a user or client application to open the data file. Next, the system determines from file meta information that the file is a relational data file, and proceeds to transparently map the file open operation to a corresponding relational database operation by discovering a database service configured to manage the relational data file and then sending a request to open the relational data file to this database service. By transparently mapping the file open operation to the corresponding relational database operation, the system allows an underlying data file to be changed to a relational data file without changing the way the user interacts with the client application and/or data file. |
| US07664724B2 |
Schema-based services for identity-based data access
A schema-based service for Internet access to per-user services data, wherein access to data is based on each user's identity. The service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The services schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. The user manipulates (e.g., reads or writes) data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods. In one implementation, the services schemas are arranged as XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role. In this way, data can be accessed by its owner, and shared to an extent determined by the owner. |
| US07664723B2 |
Symbolic computation using an inverted match
The transformation of a symbolic representation using an inverted match that represents an inverted form of a specific kind of non-linear match. The match is inverted around a particular reaction variable and merged on that variable after determining that the match represents a specific kind of non-linear identity that has at least one associative commutative operator, and in which each variable has one instance, except for the reaction variable, which has multiple instances in the match, at least one of the instances not being a direct argument of an associative commutative operator. The inverted match may then be applied to the symbolic expression to thereby transform the symbolic expression. |
| US07664721B1 |
Moving an agent from a first execution environment to a second execution environment using supplied and resident rules
A method for moving an agent that utilizes a merged set of supplied and environment resident canonical rules in a first execution environment to a second execution environment that includes a different set of environment resident rules comprising discarding the merged rule set in the first execution environment, sending the agent including a supplied rule set from the first execution environment to the second execution environment and retrieving an environment resident canonical rule set in the second execution environment. |
| US07664714B2 |
Neural network element with reinforcement/attenuation learning
A neural network element, outputting an output signal in response to a plurality of input signals, comprises a history memory for accumulating and storing the plurality of input signals in a temporal order as history values. It also includes an output module for outputting the output signal when an internal state exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the internal state being based on a sum of the product of a plurality of input signals and corresponding coupling coefficients. The history values depend on change of the internal state. The neural network element is configured to subtract a predetermined value from the internal state immediately after the output module fires and performs learning for reinforcing or attenuating the coupling coefficient according to the history values after the output module fires. |
| US07664712B1 |
Method and system for impact analysis using a data model
Systems and methods for determining the impact of an asset on an enterprise architecture using a data model are disclosed. These systems and methods may determine the impact of a particular asset on the enterprise architecture represented by the data model, where determination of the impact of any particular asset takes into account not only assets that depend directly on that particular asset, but assets that depend indirectly on that asset as well. Using the data model of the enterprise architecture, dependency chains for one or more components of the data model can be discovered and a dependency map created. Using impact ratings associated with relationships between components in the dependency chains of a particular component, the impact of that particular component both on another individual component, and aggregately on an environment, can be determined. These systems and methods may also allow the determination of the risk of a particular component. |
| US07664709B2 |
Method and system for securely distributing computer software products
A product distribution and payment system for limited use or otherwise restricted digital software products. Digital content data comprising a software product to be rented is made available to customers through a detachable local storage medium, such as a DVD or CD-ROM disc, or over a network connection. The product digital content is capable of being accessed and played back through a computer or game console at the customer site. The software product may comprise a limited use product that is restricted in the number of plays or duration of use. The customer is allowed to download and purchase the product using his computer or playback console. The product purchase information is encoded and transmitted to the content distributor. When the preset time or number of plays has elapsed the software program is frozen and access to the program is not allowed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a two-way, public key/private key encryption system is implemented to transmit the product and usage information between the server providing the software product and the customer computer system. |
| US07664707B2 |
System and method for handling peripheral connections to mobile devices
Systems and methods for establishing a data connection between a mobile device and a peripheral. The mobile device is configured to determine whether to handle user approval of the data connection between the mobile device and the peripheral. Through the mobile device, an input mechanism is provided for the user to provide input. The input is used in determining whether to approve the data connection between the mobile device and the peripheral. |
| US07664702B2 |
Method of conducting an EMV payment process using IRFM
The present invention relates to a method of conducting an EMV (Europay Master Visa) payment process optimally using IrFM (Infrared Financial Messaging) between a mobile terminal and a POS (Point Of Sale) terminal. In the present method, if a buyer is authenticated based on information written in a card chip installed in a mobile terminal, information for transaction approval is transmitted to a POS terminal, and if an approval is responded from the POS terminal, a digital receipt for this transaction is transmitted to the POS terminal. Then, if transaction end is requested from the POS terminal, a connected session is released. |