Document Document Title
US08025943B2 Medical device balloons containing thermoplastic elastomers
A dilatation balloon and catheter for insertion into a bodily conduit. The catheter (10) includes shaft (12) and a dilatation balloon (24) at the distal end of the shaft. The balloon is inflated via a central lumen (14) in the shaft for delivery of a fluid inflation media. The balloon is fabricated from a combination of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), preferably an engineering thermoplastic elastomer (ETE), with a non-compliant structural polymeric material. The combination may be a blend of the non-compliant structural polymer and the TPE. Alternatively, the combination may be a layered balloon having, for example, a non-compliant structural polymer inner layer and a soft, abrasion resistant, elastomeric outer layer. Methods for fabricating the balloon from the combination of a TPE and a non-compliant structural polymer are also disclosed.
US08025941B2 IG window unit and method of making the same
An insulating glass (IG) window unit, and/or a method of making the same is/are provided. The IG window unit includes two spaced apart substrates that are separated from one another by at least one seal and/or spacer. One of the substrates supports both a solar management coating for blocking significant amounts of infrared (IR) radiation and a coating for blocking amounts of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
US08025932B2 Self-limiting thin film synthesis achieved by pulsed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition
Ta2O5 and Al2O3 thin films were fabricated by pulsed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with simultaneous delivery of O2 and the metal precursor. By appropriately controlling the gas-phase environment self-limiting deposition at controllable rates (˜1 Å/pulse) was obtained. The process was insensitive to substrate temperature, with a constant deposition rate observed from 90-350° C. As-deposited Ta2O5 films under these conditions displayed good dielectric properties. Performance improvements correlate strongly with film density and composition as measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Pulsed PECVD eliminates the need for gas actuation and inert purge steps required by atomic layer deposition.
US08025930B2 Method for fabricating metal-coated organic crystal
A method for fabricating metal-coated organic crystal wherein a reaction of an organic crystal with transition metal salt in alkaline aqueous solution under visible light irradiation, wherein, when energy at the top of valence band of the organic crystal is defined as A (eV) and energy at the bottom of conduction band of the organic crystal is defined as B (eV), redox potential C (V) of transition metal ion or transition metal complex ion, when said transition metal salt is dissolved in the alkaline aqueous solution, these three parameters should satisfy the following relation (1): −A−4.5≧C≧−B−4.5.  (1)
US08025926B2 Varnish compositions for electrical insulation and method of using the same
A varnish composition for producing an electrically insulative thermoset coating is disclosed. The varnish composition includes a functionalized poly(phenylene ether) having at least one aliphatic unsaturated group and exhibiting an intrinsic viscosity in the range of about 0.06 to about 0.25 deciliter per gram, measured in chloroform at 25° C. The varnish composition further includes an unsaturated polyester resin or vinyl ester resin, a reactive liquid monomer, and a compatibilizing agent. When cured, the polymers and reactive liquid monomer form an electrically insulative thermoset.
US08025924B2 Cast-coated papers and processes for preparing thereof
The present invention aims to provide a cast-coated paper having good sheet gloss, printability and productivity and a process for preparing it. Herein disclosed is a cast-coated paper obtained by applying a cast coating layer comprising a pigment and an adhesive on a base paper, and pressing and drying the cast coating layer in the wet state against a heated mirror finishing surface to finish it, characterized in that the cast coating layer contains 50 parts by weight or more of a kaolin having a particle size distribution containing 65% by volume or more of particles in the range of 0.4-4.2 μm per 100 parts by weight of inorganic pigments and further contains a plastic pigment; as well as a process for preparing it.
US08025922B2 Enhanced deposition of noble metals
The invention relates generally to processes for enhancing the deposition of noble metal thin films on a substrate by atomic layer deposition. Treatment with gaseous halides or metalorganic compounds reduces the incubation time for deposition of noble metals on particular surfaces. The methods may be utilized to facilitate selective deposition. For example, selective deposition of noble metals on high-k materials relative to insulators can be enhanced by pretreatment with halide reactants. In addition, halide treatment can be used to avoid deposition on the quartz walls of the reaction chamber.
US08025916B2 Methods for forming a composite stent with regioselective material
A composite stent and a method for making the same are provided.
US08025905B2 Method for reducing allergencity in indoor spaces
According to this invention, allergenicity in an indoor space is reduced by denaturing allergens in allergen reservoirs that are capable of producing respiratory or skin reactions and physically removing the allergens from the allergen reservoirs in the indoor space. The allergen reservoirs may also be treated with pesticides and fungicides/fungistats to prevent reinfestation of house dust mites, molds and cockroaches.
US08025904B2 Method for controlling fire ants
A method for controlling fire ants is described, which includes applying a silver-containing composition to an area infested by fire ants or threatened by an infestation. The composition is applied to the area and reduces or eliminates the colony within a period of about two to four weeks and prevents fire ant re-infestation for a period of about six months to one year.
US08025903B2 Composite bone graft substitute cement and articles produced therefrom
The invention provides a particulate composition adapted for forming a bone graft substitute cement upon mixing with an aqueous solution, including i) a calcium sulfate hemihydrate powder having a bimodal particle distribution and a median particle size of about 5 to about 20 microns, wherein the calcium sulfate hemihydrate is present at a concentration of at least about 70 weight percent based on the total weight of the particulate composition; ii) a monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powder; and iii) a β-tricalcium phosphate powder having a median particle size of less than about 20 microns. Bone graft substitute cements made therefrom, a bone graft substitute kit comprising the particulate composition, methods of making and using the particulate composition, and articles made from the bone graft substitute cement are also provided.
US08025902B2 Low-irritation compositions and methods of making the same
Provided are compositions comprising a low molecular weight, non-crosslinked, linear acrylic copolymer and at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and combinations of two or more thereof, and methods of using such compositions.
US08025901B2 Bifunctional-modified hydrogels
Disclosed are hydrogels wherein a polymer matrix is modified to contain a bifunctional poly(alkylene glycol) molecule covalently bonded to the polymer matrix. The hydrogels can be cross-linked using, for example, glutaraldehyde. The hydrogels may also be crosslinked via an interpenetrating network of a photopolymerizable acrylates. The hydrogels may also be modified to have pharmacologically-active agents covalently bonded to the poly(alkylene glycol) molecules or entrained within the hydrogel. Living cells may also be entrained within the hydrogels.
US08025900B2 Sustained release composition of protein drug
Disclosed is a sustained release composition of a protein drug. The composition comprises a carrier substrate and a protein drug incorporated in the carrier substrate. The carrier substrate is consisting essentially of a hyaluronic acid or its salts, an amino acid, and a polyalkyl oxide.
US08025897B2 Ibuprofen composition
Fumaric acid is added in amounts sufficient to reduce the burn sensation commonly associated with propionic acid derivatives.
US08025893B2 Use of a specific inhibitor of hedgehog/smoothened signaling on hyperpigmented skin to obtain decrease of pigmentation
Cyclopamine or a similarly specific inhibitor of Hedgehog/Smoothened (Hh/Smo) signaling can be used for obtaining decrease of pigmentation of hyperpigmented skin areas.
US08025891B2 Porin B (PorB) as a therapeutic target for prevention and treatment of infection by Chlamydia
The present invention features peptides of a PorB polypeptide, which PorB peptides are useful in production of antibodies that bind the full-length PorB polypeptide and as a therapeutic agent. In specific embodiments the invention features a composition comprising one or more PorB peptides (other than a full-length PorB polypeptide), which peptides contain at least one epitope that can elicit Chlamydia-neutralizing antibodies. The invention also features methods for induction of a protective immune response against infection by Chlamydia and Chlamydophila.
US08025890B2 Nucleic acids and proteins from streptococcus groups A and B
The invention provides proteins from group B streptococcus (Streptococcus agalactiae) and group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes), including amino acid sequences and the corresponding nucleotide sequences. Data are given to show that the proteins are useful antigens for vaccines, immunogenic compositions, and/or diagnostics. The proteins are also targets for antibiotics.
US08025881B2 BMP antibodies and methods of treating kidney disease using the same
When an anti-human BMP antibody was added to cells of an immortalized human mesangial cell line cultured in the presence of human BMP, the anti-human BMP antibody significantly suppressed the production of type IV collagen in mesangial cells. A number of signaling pathways are involved in abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. It was therefore completely unpredictable whether merely blocking the BMP signal would indeed suppress the abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. However, for the first time, the present inventors demonstrated that anti-BMP antibodies are very effective in suppressing the abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. Thus, anti-BMP antibodies can be used as novel therapeutic agents for kidney diseases associated with abnormal proliferation of the mesangial matrix.
US08025875B2 Bacillus isolates and methods of their use to protect against plant pathogens
Methods of inducing systemic acquired resistance to infection in a plant by applying a composition comprising a Bacillus control agent to said plant wherein said plant is capable of producing defense proteins.
US08025873B2 Chimeric antigens for eliciting an immune response
Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for eliciting immune responses against antigens. In particular embodiments, the compounds and methods elicit immune responses against antigens that are otherwise recognized by the host as “self” antigens. The immune response is enhanced by presenting the host immune system with a chimeric antigen comprising an immune response domain and a target binding domain, wherein the target binding domain comprises a xenotypic antibody fragment. By virtue of the target binding domain, antigen presenting cells take up, process, and present the chimeric antigen, eliciting both a humoral and cellular immune response.
US08025871B2 Hair cosmetic composition
Provided is a hair cosmetic composition containing Components (A) to (C), and having a pH (at 25° C.) of from 1 to 5.5 when diluted to 20 times its weight with water: (A) a cationic surfactant, or a tertiary amine represented by the formula (1): (wherein, at least one of R1 to R3 represents a C8-23 aliphatic hydrocarbon and the remainder represents H, C1-6 alkyl or hydroxyalkyl, or benzyl, R4 represents a C1-6 alkylene, A represents —CONH— or —NHCO—, and a stands for 0 or 1), (B) a C8-30 aliphatic alcohol, and (C) toluenesulfonic acid or salt thereof. The hair cosmetic composition is excellent in the effect of restoring the flyaway or waved hair, which has appeared as a result of accumulation of damage due to hair coloring or the like, to its former state before damage and can give the hair good flexibility and smoothness during use of it.
US08025870B2 Vinyl ether silicone polymers
The present invention is directed to a series of vinyl ether based silicone polymers and their use in personal care applications. They are prepared by the hydrosilylation reaction of a vinyl ether and a silanic hydrogen compound. The compounds find use in personal care applications.
US08025869B2 Cosmetic compositions having enhanced wear properties
A cosmetic composition and process which provides enhanced wear and transfer resistance containing: (a) at least one polypropylsilsesquioxane film forming resin; (b) at least one solvent; and (c) optionally, at least one colorant.
US08025864B2 ITQ-34, new crystalline microporous material
ITQ-34 (INSTITUTO DE TECNOLOGÍA QUÍMICA number 34) is a new crystalline microporous material with a framework of tetrahedral atoms connected by atoms capable of bridging the tetrahedral atoms, the tetrahedral atom framework being defined by the interconnections between the tetrahedrally coordinated atoms in its framework. ITQ-34 can be prepared in silicate compositions with an organic structure directing agent. It has a unique X-ray diffraction pattern, which identifies it as a new material. ITQ-34 is stable to calcination in air, absorbs hydrocarbons, and is catalytically active for hydrocarbon conversion.
US08025862B2 Process for producing synthesis gas by steam reforming in a reactor-exchanger
The invention concerns a process for producing synthesis gas, SG, from hydrocarbons and/or recycled compounds. In the process: a stream comprising a first feed F1 supplemented with steam undergoes steam reforming in a multi-tube reactor-exchanger R having a shell and reaction tubes containing a steam reforming catalyst within the shell; the reaction tubes are heated by convection by circulating in the shell, in overall counter-current mode, a heating fluid HF external to the tubes, which fluid comprises a first combustion gas stream of a second feed F2, then fluid HF is mixed, in 1 to 4 complementary combustion zones internal to the shell, with a third feed F3 and a gas comprising oxygen, to increase the temperature of the HF, and then the mixture obtained circulates in R to heat the reaction tubes in a complementary manner; and SG is produced from the steam reforming effluent from F1 and optionally part or all of the HF.
US08025861B2 Making electrocatalyst supports for fuel cells
Titanium oxide (usually titanium dioxide) catalyst support particles are doped for electronic conductivity and formed with surface area-enhancing pores for use, for example, in electro-catalyzed electrodes on proton exchange membrane electrodes in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells. Suitable compounds of titanium and a dopant are dispersed with pore-forming particles in a liquid medium. The compounds are deposited as a precipitate or sol on the pore-forming particles and heated to transform the deposit into crystals of dopant-containing titanium dioxide. If the heating has not decomposed the pore-forming particles, they are chemically removed from the, now pore-enhanced, the titanium dioxide particles.
US08025860B1 Removal of acid mists
Acid mist may be removed efficiently from a gas stream using at least one fiber bed mist eliminator operating at elevated pressure of typically at least 2 bar (0.2 MPa), e.g. at about 4 bar (0.4 MPa) to about 50 bar (5 MPa). The invention has particular application in methods for processing carbon dioxide flue gas in which SO2 and/or NOx contaminants are converted at elevated pressure to sulfuric acid condensate and/or nitric acid condensate respectively.
US08025855B2 Semen container with specialized tip
A semen container fitted with a specialized tip includes a substantially hollow body having a sealable first end adapted for the introduction of biological fluids such as semen and a second end having a nozzle molded thereto. The nozzle terminates in a removable tip that is anchored to the container by way of a tab such that after dispensing the biological liquid from the container the tip and the container may be disposed of simultaneously thereby reducing or eliminating the need to separately collect the removed tips from the ground.
US08025852B2 Lifting and preserving bloody impressions for law enforcement
A fluorogenic lifting strip containing titanium dioxide has been successful in the lifting and enhancement of impressions and bloody impressions from nonporous, semi porous and porous surfaces. The lifting strip is best when activated with an alcohol such as ethanol or methanol. When the lifting strip has dried after application it can easily be removed from the surface lifting the impression onto a contrasting white background. The lifting trip can be subsequently visualized with an ALS or Laser to fluoresce the lifted impression with optimal contrast for visualization and examination. This method is safe, easy, and effective on several surfaces of contrasting colors.
US08025851B2 Specimen sample collection device and test system
A specimen sample collection device and test system includes a handle with a sufficiency indicator and locking teeth, an absorbent pad partially contained within the handle; a pad compression tube with outlet ports and locking holes insertable over the pad and handle; one or more collection tubes attachable to the pad compression tube outlet ports. The apparatus may include a light pipe sufficiency indicator with a spring compressor to force the absorbent pad into contact with the light pipe. The apparatus may include a collector dam. The apparatus may include a secondary seal. The apparatus may include a cylindrically shaped absorbent pad and a wrap-around light pipe sufficiency indicator with vent grooves. The apparatus may include a pad seat with buffer material disposed within the pad compression tube. The apparatus may include an absorbent pad split and divided into two lengths connected at a base. The apparatus may include a bar code identification. The apparatus may include a lock and key securing mechanism. The apparatus may include a handle containing one or more analyte test strips The apparatus may include a first absorbent pad in fluid communication with a sample adequacy indicator, which is in parallel with a second absorbent pad in fluid communication with a lateral flow analyte test strip. The apparatus ma include a first absorbent pad in fluid communication with a sample adequacy indicator, which is in parallel with a second absorbent pad in fluid communication with a lateral flow analyte test strip, with an impermeable membrane separating the first and second absorbent pads.
US08025850B2 Rapid diagnostic device, assay and multifunctional buffer
An improved rapid diagnostic device, assay and multifunctional buffer reagent are provided for the detection of a target analyte in a fluid test sample. The 2-step assay utilizes a dual component flow-through device comprising a test unit and a dried indicator reagent delivery unit capable of receiving the fluid sample and multifunctional buffer, respectively. The test unit comprises a reaction zone containing immobilized capture reagent that can specifically bind to the target analyte, an absorbent zone supporting the reaction zone, and optionally, a blood separation zone in lateral fluid communication with the reaction zone. The dried indicator reagent delivery unit comprises a label zone permeated with a dried indicator reagent which is capable of being placed in transient fluid communication with the reaction zone of the test unit during the assay procedure. The rapid diagnostic assay system reduces the number of assay reagents, method steps and time required for performance compared to other conventional assays.
US08025849B2 Oral fluid collection, transfer and transportation device and method
An oral fluid collection and transfer device comprises a collection device (10) and a test cartridge (100). The collection device includes a frame or chassis (14), and an absorbing pad (12) for absorbing oral fluid and which is secured around part of the frame with part of the frame protruding from the pad. A collapsible cover (16) covers the absorbing means and has apertures (68) for the ingress of oral fluid into contact with the absorbing pad. A cap (18) covers the part of the frame protruding from the absorbing pad. The cap and the cover latch together to surround the frame and the absorbing pad. The device also includes a fluid adequacy indicator (20) in the form of an electrical circuit with an LED (66) which is completed when the absorbing means has absorbed a predetermined volume of oral fluid.
US08025848B2 Apparatus for deactivating a pathogenic chemical agent
Hydrogen peroxide is vaporized (20) and mixed (30) with ammonia gas in a ratio between 1:1 and 1:0.0001. The peroxide and ammonia vapor mixture are conveyed to a treatment area (10) to neutralize V-type, H-type, or G-type chemical agents, pathogens, biotoxins, spores, prions, and the lip-,e. The ammonia provides the primary deactivating agent for G-type agents with the peroxide acting as an accelerator. The peroxide acts as the primary agent for deactivating V-type and H-type agents, pathogens, biotoxins, spores, and prions. The ammonia acts as an accelerator in at least some of these peroxide deactivation reactions.
US08025846B2 Process for introducing a portion withdrawn from at least one production charge of annular coated catalysts K into a reaction tube of a tube bundle reactor
A process for introducing annular coated catalysts K into a reaction tube of a tube bundle reactor, in which adhering pairs of annular coated catalysts K formed in the preparation of the annular coated catalysts K, before the introduction thereof into the reaction tube, are removed at least partly from the annular coated catalysts K.
US08025845B2 Blower type chemical diffusing apparatus with fuel cell power supply
A blower type chemical diffusing apparatus is disclosed which can be of service for an extended period of time and does not give rise to refuse disposal problems. The blower type chemical diffusing apparatus of the invention has an air blower, a chemical retainer and a fuel cell included in the apparatus body whereby powering the air blower to drive it with the fuel cell causes chemical from the chemical retainer to be emitted into an environmental atmosphere.
US08025841B2 Method of sterilizing an orthopaedic implant
A pre-assembled orthopaedic implant adapted for improved gas sterilization. The implant includes a first component adapted for assembly with a second component such that a mating surface of the first component is in close proximity with a mating surface of the second component. At least one gas conduit associated with the mating surface of the first component facilitates a sterilizing gas to penetrate into and dissipate from the interface defined by the mating surfaces.
US08025836B2 Method and plant for the heat treatment of solids containing iron oxide
A plant for the heat treatment of solids containing iron oxide includes a fluidized bed reactor. The reactor includes at least one gas supply tube at least partly surrounded by an annular chamber in which a stationary annular fluidized bed is located, and a mixing chamber being located above the upper orifice region of the at least one gas supply tube. The gas flowing through the at least one gas supply tube entrains solids from the stationary annular fluidized bed-into the mixing chamber when passing through the upper orifice region of the at least one gas supply tube.
US08025834B2 Process and apparatus for molding continuous-fiber composite articles
A process and apparatus for multi-shot, liquid-resin-molding of continuous-fiber composite articles is disclosed. The process involves the step-wise fabrication of an article wherein continuity of the fibers is maintained between the multiple workpieces of the finished composite article.
US08025833B2 Curable composition for nanoimprint, and patterning method
A curable composition for nanoimprints which comprises a polycyclic aromatic structure-having polymerizable monomer and a photopolymerization initiator is excellent in mold releasability, etching resistance and solvent resistance and capable of forming patterns.
US08025832B2 Method for shaping sheet thermoplastic and the like
Processes and apparati for shaping sheet glass or thermoplastic materials use force from a layer of a flowing fluid, such as air, between the sheet and a mandrel at close to the softening temperature of the thermoplastic. The shape is preserved by cooling. The shape of the air bearing mandrel and the pressure distribution of the fluid contribute to the final shape. A process can be conducted on one or two surfaces such that the force from the air layer is on one or two surfaces of the sheet. The gap size between the sheet and mandrel determines the pressure profile in the gap, which also determines the final sheet shape. In general, smaller gaps lead to larger viscous forces. The pressure profile depends on the shape of the mandrel, the size of the fluid gap and the sheet and the fluid supply pressure.
US08025829B2 Die imprint by double side force-balanced press for step-and-repeat imprint lithography
In accordance with the invention, step-and-repeat imprint lithography is effected by applying balanced pressing forces from both sides of a substrate. The pressing forces are substantially equal in amplitude and opposite in direction. With the pressing forces thus balanced, the fixture that steps and holds the substrate does not bear the load of imprinting. The balance allows use of a high resolution aligning stage to carry the substrate and to maintain high accuracy of positioning without being shifted by change of load. With this method, sufficient imprint pressure can be used to obtain high quality patterning, a thin and uniform residual layer, and a high fidelity pattern.
US08025827B2 Method and device for connecting a plastic workpiece to a further workpiece
A method of connecting a plastic workpiece to a further workpiece and a device for carrying out the method are shown and described. The object of providing a method with which a positive-locking connection between a plastic workpiece and a further workpiece can be produced in a short time and without considerable outlay in terms of apparatus is achieved by a method comprising the following steps: providing a plastic workpiece and a further workpiece, placing the further workpiece against the plastic workpiece, providing a connecting element on a surface of the plastic workpiece, this surface being opposite the surface against which the further workpiece bears, producing a recess in the further workpiece, this recess being provided on the surface bearing against the plastic workpiece, heating the connecting element, so that the material of the connecting element is plasticized, and pressing plasticized material into the recess.
US08025824B2 Process for producing refractory particles
To provide a process for producing high-purity highly oxidized refractory particles easily with good productivity by treating a spent refractory containing ZrO2 and Al2O3 to reduce components other than ZrO2 and Al2O3 to levels unproblematic for practical use as raw material for electrofused refractories and to increase the content of the ZrO2 and/or Al2O3 component.A process for producing refractory particles, which comprises introducing to and melting in a melting furnace both a spent refractory which contains, by mass % as chemical components, from 75 to 97% of ZrO2 and/or Al2O3, from 2 to 25% of SiO2, from 0.4 to 7% in total of Na2O, K2O and Li2O(Na2O+K2O+Li2O), at most 2% of CaO and at most 2% of MgO, and carbon particles in an amount of from 1 to 8% by outer mass percentage based on the spent refractory, and after the melting, tapping the melt while blowing compressed air against the melt to form refractory particles having the content of ZrO2 and/or Al2O3 increased.
US08025808B2 Methods for machine ceramics
A method for machining a ceramic substrate containing Al, including providing a solution containing a phosphorus compound on the ceramic substrate; and machining the substrate with an abrasive.
US08025807B2 Method for treating rinse water in decontamination devices
A processor for decontaminating devices is comprised of a chamber for holding devices and a circulation system to circulate a microbial decontamination fluid through the chamber. A water filtration system filters water used in the processor. The water filtration system has a water line connectable to a source of pressurized water. A water decontamination system fluidly communicates with the source of water and the processor. The water decontamination system has a water circulation path and a tank located within the water circulation path. Means are provided to circulate water along the water circulation path through the tank. A gas circulation path fluidly communicates with the tank. Conveying means is provided to convey gas along the gas circulation path through the tank. An ozone producing device is located along the gas circulation path to introduce ozone into gas flowing along the gas circulation path and through the tank.
US08025806B2 Separating sand from fluids produced by a well
A settling system may be used to separate and/or remove solid particles, such as sand, from fluids produced by wells. The container of the settling system may be cleaned without need for manned-entry.
US08025805B2 Device for reducing bitterness and astringency in beverages containing polyphenols and tannins
A method of treating an orally ingestible item having an original taste to be enhanced or reduced without imparting bitterness to the item, includes exposing the item to a magnetic field and oxygen.
US08025803B2 Use of a chromatography substrate for reducing the amount of ADAMTS13 in a solution derived from plasma
An ion-exchange chromatography support for reducing the ADAMTS13 amount present in a plasma-derived solution containing human von Willebrand factor. The support includes a large-pore, vinyl polymer-type resin bearing DEAE groups, and a buffer including trisodium citrate, sodium chloride, calcium chloride, glycine and lysine.
US08025801B2 Radial counterflow inductive desalination
Simultaneous source-sink flow, or radial counterflow, is driven by a centrifugal pump disposed within a casing. Radially outward source flow of brine goes into a shrouding tank and concentrates while a radially inward sink flow of fresh water flows back over the pump to axial extraction. An axial pump drives sink flow and axial extraction. Convergent sink flow passes under an inductor to an axial exhaust port. Induced viscosity and inductive repulsion hinder the passage of brine in sink flow, so only fresh water can reach the axial exhaust port. Crystallization of scale-forming salts is aided by Joule heating from the inductor. Solvent and gases are continuously axially extracted in sink flow, favoring crystallization. Sodium chloride is cooled and crystallized in the shrouding tank. Brine comprising other salts flows out of the tank to treatment by suitable means. Thus brine is separated into fresh water, crystallized salt, and concentrated brine.
US08025796B2 Denitrification system
The disclosed process and system are used for the denitrification of wastewater. The system comprises: an influent concentration analyzer for measuring an influent dissolved oxygen concentration, an influent nitrate concentration, and an influent nitrite concentration; and a feed chemical controller for providing a feed chemical at a controlled rate. The feed chemical controller is responsive to one or more output signals provided by an automated control loop that accepts input signals from the influent concentration analyzer, which input signals relate to at least two of the influent nitrate concentration, the influent nitrite concentration, and the influent dissolved oxygen concentration.
US08025794B2 Systems, methods, and catalysts for producing a crude product
Contact of a crude feed that has a viscosity of at least 10 cSt at 37.8° C. (100° F.) and an API gravity of at least 10 with one or more catalysts produces a total product that includes a crude product. The crude product is a liquid mixture at 25° C. and 0.101 MPa. The crude product has a viscosity of at most 90% of the viscosity of the crude feed and an API gravity of about 70% to about 130% of the API gravity of the crude feed. In some instances, one or more other properties of the crude product may be changed by at least 10% relative to the respective properties of the crude feed.
US08025793B2 Process for using catalyst with rapid formation of iron sulfide in slurry hydrocracking
A process and apparatus is disclosed for converting heavy hydrocarbon feed into lighter hydrocarbon products. The heavy hydrocarbon feed is slurried with a catalyst comprising iron oxide and alumina to form a heavy hydrocarbon slurry and hydrocracked to produce lighter hydrocarbons. The iron oxide in the catalyst converts to catalytically active iron sulfide in the presence of hydrogen and sulfur.
US08025789B2 Anionically-charged polymer detection method
An electrochemical method for measuring the concentration of an anionically-charged and non-electroactive polymer in an aqueous solution is provided. The method comprises immobilizing a cationic dye material on an electrically conductive substrate form a working electrode; contacting the working electrode with the aqueous solution including the anionically-charged and non-electroactive polymer to be measured, and transmitting electrical power to the working electrode; measuring a current of the working electrode under a determined electric potential; and calculating a concentration or quantity of the anionically-charged polymer in the aqueous solution according to the measured current of the working electrode.
US08025787B2 Method and apparatus for generating, applying and neutralizing an electrochemically activated liquid
A method and apparatus are provided for receiving a cleaning liquid having a pH in a range between pH6-pH8 and an oxidation reduction potential (ORP) between ±50 mV. The liquid is converted into an anolyte liquid and a catholyte liquid having respective pHs outside of the range between pH6-pH8 and having respective ORPs outside the range between ±50 mV. The anolyte and catholyte liquids are applied to a surface, wherein the anolyte and catholyte liquids are, for example, in a combined state on the surface and substantially neutralize to a pH between pH6-pH8 and an ORP between ±50 mV within one minute of the time at which the anolyte and catholyte liquids are converted.
US08025786B2 Method of generating sparged, electrochemically activated liquid
A method is provided, which includes generating a cleaning liquid by a combination of a sparging process and an electrochemical process that produces an anolyte and a catholye.
US08025782B2 Process for fabricating a monolayer or multilayer metal structure in LIGA technology, and structure obtained
The invention relates to a process for fabricating a monolayer or multilayer metal structure in LIGA technology, in which a photoresist layer is deposited on a flat metal substrate, a photoresist mold is created by irradiation or electron or ion bombardment, a metal or alloy is electroplated in this mold, the electroformed metal structure is detached from the substrate and the photoresist is separated from this metal structure, wherein the metal substrate is used as an agent involved in the forming of at least one surface of the metal structure other than that formed by the plane surface of the substrate.
US08025780B2 Biosensor, thin film electrode forming method, quantification apparatus, and quantification method
A biosensor is disclosed comprising a support; a conductive layer composed of an electrical conductive material such as noble metal, for example gold or palladium, and carbon; slits parallel to and perpendicular to the side of the support; working, counter, and detecting electrodes; a spacer which covers the working, counter, and detecting electrodes on the support; a rectangular cutout in the spacer forming a specimen supply path; an inlet to the specimen supply path; a reagent layer formed by applying a reagent containing an enzyme to the working, counter, and detecting electrodes, which are exposed through the cutout in the spacer; and a cover over the spacer. The biosensor can be formed by a simple method, and provides a uniform reagent layer on the electrodes regardless of the reagent composition.
US08025777B2 Processes and device for the deposition of films on substrates
It is in the object of the present invention to improve current deposition processes and devices for the fabrication of multilayer systems to better control the energy contribution at different stages of the deposition. This is achieved by depositing films by sputtering in a scheme providing for thermalized particles. One can get thermalized particles by choosing the working gas pressure and the distance between target and substrate to result in a mean free path of particles smaller than the distance between target and substrate or to result in a product of pressure and distance being larger than 2.0 cmPa.
US08025773B2 System for extending the range of hydrocarbon feeds in gas crackers
In a system for thermal cracking gaseous feedstocks, the system including a gas cracker for producing an effluent comprising olefins, at least one transfer line exchanger for the recovery of process energy from the effluent and a water quench tower system, a process for extending the range of system feedstocks to include liquid feedstocks that yield tar is provided. The process includes the steps of injecting a first quench fluid downstream of the at least one transfer line exchanger to quench the process effluent comprising olefins, separating in a separation vessel a cracked product and a first byproduct stream comprising tar from the quenched effluent, directing the separated cracked product to the water quench tower system and quenching the separated cracked product with a second quench fluid to produce a cracked gas effluent for recovery and a second byproduct stream comprising tar. An apparatus for cracking a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock that yield tar is also provided.
US08025772B2 Method for degassing and supplying a fibrous suspension to a headbox or a filter device and degassing device
Degassing device that includes a housing, a rotor having a rotatable interior arranged within the housing, an inlet for adding a liquid to be degassed, the inlet being structured to open into the interior of the rotor, and an outflow for a degassed liquid. A degassing tube is centrally arranged with respect to the interior to remove gas escaping from the liquid. The rotor includes at least one opening structured and arranged to produce an hydraulic connection with the outflow.
US08025770B2 Used paper processing apparatus
A used paper processing apparatus to be place in small shop or general household, capable of holding high secrecy, friendly to the environment, and low in running cost. In a furniture size apparatus case, a pulp manufacturing section for manufacturing used paper pulp by macerating and beating the used paper, a paper making section for manufacturing recycled paper by making the used paper pulp manufactured in the pulp manufacturing section, and a control section for driving and controlling by interlocking the pulp manufacturing section and paper making section are provided, being place in a room producing used paper, and by macerating and processing the used paper by the pulp manufacturing section, leak or disclosure of confidential information or private information written or printed on used paper can be prevented effectively, and further used paper pulp is processed by the paper making section, and recycled paper is manufactured.
US08025769B2 Highly acoustical, wet-formed substrate
This invention is an acoustic fiber-based substrate composed primarily of insulation-type spun fibers or blends of such fibers and wheel spun fibers. The fibers are bound with a water-dispersible latex binder, or an agri-binder such as starch in conjunction with cellulose fiber. The insulation-type spun fibers can be first quality virgin, post-industrial waste-stream or post-consumer waste stream fiber. The substrate is wet-formed from a very dilute aqueous dispersion of ingredients onto a mesh forming screen, as on a Fourdrinier paper machine. By virtue of the insulation-type spun fiber dimensions, morphology and orientation: very low density wet-mats can be formed from a sufficiently dilute suspension. With respect to other wet-formed substrates, the invention is much lower in density and more highly porous, and, thus, the substrate is highly absorbing, exhibiting noise reduction coefficients, NRC values of about 0.80 or greater. Such NRC values have only been achieved with dry-formed, or air-laid processes in which the fiber are bound with formaldehyde emitting reactive resins.
US08025768B2 Latex-treated filler slurries for use in papermaking
A continuous fiIter treatment process in which anionic polymer dispersions (latex) are added to common papermaking filler slurries ai ambient temperature and then mixed with water of temperature higher than the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the latex used. To efficiently fix the latex the temperature of the filler/latex mixture must be 30-60° C. higher than ihe Tg of the latex used. The chemical composition of the resin and the type of surfactant used during the emulsion polymerization process of the polymer latex dispersions are important factors for efficiently fixing the latex onto the filler by adding hot water and improving the properties of paper made with the treated filler. Enhanced fixation of anionic latex onto filler using hot water is done in mixing vessels that can control shear and mixing time. The anionic latexes are totally and irreversibly fixed or bound onto the filler particles and the aggregated filler slurry is stable over time. The latex-treated filler slurry can be added to papermaking furnishes at any point prior to the headbox of the paper machine or stored for later use. It can be added to wood-free or wood-containing furnishes commonly used for making fine papers, mechanical pulp papers, and multi-ply paperboards. Filler retention with only slightly reduce sheot strength and sizing performance are improved. Treated calcium carbonate filler is more acid-resistant and, when used in manufacturing mechanical pulp paper under neutral conditions, less acid is needed to control the pH.
US08025766B2 Boron nitride-based fiber paper and manufacturing process thereof
A boron nitride fiber paper having a very small fiber diameter and exhibiting excellent heat resistance, mechanical properties and heat conductivity. The fiber paper is composed of a fiber assembly which contains boron nitride fibers having a fiber diameter of not more than 1 μm in an amount of not less than 40 wt %.
US08025765B2 Method of manufacturing a multiple layer directionally oriented nonwoven fiber material
Disclosed herein are embodiments of a multi-layer nonwoven fiber material, and related methods of manufacturing the material. In one exemplary embodiment, the fiber material includes a first layer of directionally aligned fibers together with a second layer of randomly dispersed fibers dispersed over the first layer. Consistent with one exemplary method for manufacturing a nonwoven fiber material, the method includes dispersing a first plurality of fibers horizontally in one or more predetermined directions, as well as dispersing a second plurality of fibers horizontally in random directions. In such an embodiment, the second plurality of fibers is dispersed over the first plurality of fibers. Moreover, an exemplary embodiment of a roofing shingle employing a nonwoven fiber material as described herein is as disclosed.
US08025758B2 Heat-sealing compound for sealing aluminium foil and polyethylene terephthalate film to polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene containers
The invention relates to a heat-sealing system consisting of an olefin polymer or olefin copolymer A, a methacrylate copolymer B, a graft polymer AB that is composed of the aforementioned components, a polyester C and an optional polymer D or an optional polymer blend DA, in addition to a solvent or solvent mixture L. The heat-sealing system is characterised by a high heat resistance, excellent barrier properties and short sealing times in relation to various plastics and aluminium foil or PET film.
US08025756B2 Method of bonding materials of construction using nanoscale, superparamagnetic poly(meth)acrylate polymers
The invention relates to a method of bonding different materials of construction using hybrid materials comprising nanoscale, superparamagnetic, ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic or paramagnetic powders enveloped or in part not enveloped by poly(meth)acrylates, and to their use.
US08025754B2 Method of making a reinforcing mat for a pultruded part
A method of preparing a reinforcing structure for use in manufacture a pultruded part where the reinforcing structure is pulled through a pultrusion die in a continuous longitudinal pull direction. The method includes arranging a plurality of first reinforcing fibers in a transverse direction and attaching a permeable transport web of staple fibers to the first reinforcing fibers such that the portion of the first reinforcing fibers oriented in the direction transverse comprises at least 30% of a volume of materials comprising the reinforcing structure.
US08025753B2 Method for manufacturing a vehicle comprising carbon fibre
There is described a method for making a vehicle (2), including a body comprising carbon fibres, preferably a military vehicle. The method consists of the body being wound up over a mandrel with threads (28) wetted in glue. The threads (28) contain carbon fibres. The threads (28) wound around the mandrel (22) are subsequently cured. After the curing, the body is drawn off the mandrel (22), and the ends of the body are cut off at appropriate angles. Then the front end and rear end of the body are closed with closure elements, preferably closure elements containing carbon fibres and armouring materials. During the winding process, one or more layers of lightweight ceramic and/or other armouring materials (26) are laid in, which thereby become integrated in the basic body.
US08025752B2 Method of fabricating conductive composites
A method of fabricating a conductive composite wherein at least one predetermined electrical access area of a conductive material is coated with a maskant. The conductive material is included in a composite ply lay-up which is cured and then the maskant is removed from the conductive material.
US08025751B2 Needlepunched nonwoven with centrally-located binder
The present invention concerns a process for forming a wearable and functional fabric from a composite material comprising a nonwoven face layer containing a plurality of fibers, and at least one thermoplastic binder layer disposed underneath. The fibers are initially arranged in a generally planar web and subsequently needlepunched through at least one binder layer. The fiber layers can also be placed on both sides of one or more centrally-located binder layers, and further reinforced with scrims. In an innovative aspect of the invention, the composite is heated under low and uniform pressure to remove thermal stresses, resulting in at a least one relatively smooth face that can be coated to form a wearable fabric, e.g., artificial leather, odor absorbing fabric, and the like.
US08025750B2 Retreaded tire and method for producing same
A retreaded tire capable of improving unbalance of the tire is efficiently produced.Retread rubber has the largest thickness in a joint part F on the circumference. Such a joint part F is arranged in a minimal location S (corresponding to a light location of static unbalance), in which a rubber gauge G as measured in a radial direction of the tire from a buffed surface K of a base tire D to an outer surface of an outermost belt cord L embedded in an outermost belt layer disposed in a radially outermost side among belt layers constituting a belt is minimal on the circumference in an equatorial plane of the tire in attaching so that the total rubber gauge of the retread rubber T at the joint part F surely approaches total rubber gauges at other locations on the circumference to effectively reduce unbalance.
US08025748B2 Al—Mn based aluminum alloy composition combined with a homogenization treatment
An extrudable aluminum alloy billet includes an aluminum alloy composition including, in weight percent, between 0.90 and 1.30 manganese, between 0.05 and 0.25 iron, between 0.05 and 0.25 silicon, between 0.01 and 0.02 titanium, less than 0.01 copper, less than 0.01 nickel, and less than 0.05 magnesium, the aluminum alloy billet being homogenized at a temperature ranging between 550 and 600° C.
US08025746B2 Turbine casing
A casing is formed from an alloy which contains, by mass, 0.08-0.20% C, 0.05-0.45% Si, 0.10-0.30% Mn, 0.80-1.40% Ni, 1.00-1.40% Cr, 1.20-1.60% Mo, 0.10-0.30% V, 0.06-0.10% Ti, 0.0005-0.0010% B, not more than 0.01% P, not more than 0.01% S, and not more than 0.005% Al, the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurity elements. The casing has excellent high-temperature strength, high toughness and excellent weldability, and is applicable to casings used in high-temperature high-pressure steam environments.
US08025745B2 Device for the thermal deburring of workpieces
A device for the thermal deburring of workpieces. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.
US08025743B2 Safety arrangement for a dishwasher, and associated apparatus
A safety arrangement for a dishwashing appliance and an associated apparatus are provided. The dishwashing appliance has a door covering a forward access opening of a tub in a closed position. A sump assembly about a lower end of the tub receives washing fluid therein, and a lower spray arm is rotatable about an axis about the lower end. The lower spray arm is configured to spray washing fluid from the sump assembly toward the tub. A control device actuates the lower spray arm to spray the washing fluid. A detection device interacts with the lower spray arm, and directs the control device to prevent actuation of the lower spray arm in response to the detection device detecting an abnormal displacement of the lower spray arm and/or a force applied to the lower spray arm, both with respect to the axis, with the door in the closed position.
US08025740B2 Process for conducting cleaning operations in a fluid-receiving device of a foodstuff-processing apparatus, and fluid-receiving device and foodstuff-processing apparatus therefor
A process for conducting cleaning operations at predetermined time intervals in a chamber or container of a fluid-receiving device of a foodstuff-processing apparatus first comprises receiving a first fluid in the chamber or container. Then, first and second degrees of cleaning are determined at first and second moments in time, respectively. Then, a first difference between the first and second degrees of cleaning is determined. In a first case, in which the second degree of cleaning lies below a first limit value, the action duration of the at least one cleaning agent during at least one subsequent cleaning operation is set depending on the first degree of cleaning. In a second case, in which the second degree of cleaning lies above the first limit value, a greater amount of cleaning agent is supplied and/or the time interval between two subsequent, successive cleaning operations is shortened.
US08025738B2 Method of treating a tubular string using a pigtrain
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method of treating a tubular string using a pigtrain. In one embodiment, a method of treating a tubular string includes injecting working fluid between a lead pig and a trail pig of a pigtrain. A bypass pig of the pigtrain is in a first position between the lead pig and trail pig and closer to the lead pig. The method further includes injecting propellant behind the trail pig, thereby driving the pigtrain through the tubular string. The bypass pig gradually moves from the first position to a second position closer to the trail pig, thereby agitating the working fluid.
US08025735B2 Multiple vacuum evaporation coating device and method for controlling the same
A multiple vacuum evaporation coating device and a method for controlling the same. The vacuum evaporation coating device includes a plurality of evaporation sources, a rotating part adapted to rotate the plurality of evaporation sources and a coating block plate adapted to block all but one of said plurality of evaporation sources at any time, each of the plurality of evaporation sources comprise a case, a melting pot arranged within said case, an evaporation material arranged within the melting pot, a heating device arranged outside the melting pot and adapted to heat and evaporate the evaporation material, and a cooling device adapted to block heat generated by the heating device from transferring to an outside.
US08025731B2 Gas injection system for plasma processing
A plasma processing system for plasma processing of substrates such as semiconductor wafers. The system includes a plasma processing chamber, a substrate support for supporting a substrate within the processing chamber, a dielectric member having an interior surface facing the substrate support, the dielectric member forming a wall of the processing chamber, a gas injector fixed to, part of or removably mounted in an opening in the dielectric window, the gas injector including a plurality of gas outlets supplying process gas into the chamber, and an RF energy source such as a planar or non-planar spiral coil which inductively couples RF energy through the dielectric member and into the chamber to energize the process gas into a plasma state. The arrangement permits modification of gas delivery arrangements to meet the needs of a particular processing regime. In addition, compared to consumable showerhead arrangements, the use of a removably mounted gas injector can be replaced more easily and economically.
US08025729B2 Device and process for heating III-V wafers, and annealed III-V semiconductor single crystal wafer
A device for heat treating (annealing) a III-V semiconductor wafer comprises at least one wafer support unit which is dimensioned such that a cover provided above the wafer surface is either spaced without any distance or with a distance of maximally about 2 mm to the wafer surface. A process for heat treating III-V semiconductor wafers having diameters larger than 100 mm and a dislocation density below 1×104 cm−2 is carried out in the device of the invention. SI GaAs wafers produced have an at least 25% increased characteristic fracture strength (Weibull distribution), an improved radial macroscopic and mesoscopic homogeneity and an improved quality of the mechano-chemically polished surface. The characteristic fracture strength is higher than 1900 MPa.
US08025728B2 Method for manufacturing single crystal of nitride
A seed crystal is immersed in a melt containing a flux and a single crystal material in a growth vessel to produce a nitride single crystal on the seed crystal. A difference (TS-TB) of temperatures at a gas-liquid interface of the melt (TS) and at the lowermost part of the melt (TB) is set to 1° C. or larger and 8° C. or lower. Preferably, the substrate of seed crystal is vertically placed.
US08025720B2 Systems and methods for processing methane and other gases
Systems and methods for processing methane and other gases are disclosed. A representative method in accordance with one embodiment includes directing a first portion of a gas stream through a first adsorbent while exchanging heat between a second adsorbent and a third adsorbent. The method can further include directing a second portion of the gas stream through the third adsorbent while exchanging heat between the first and second adsorbents. The method can still further include directing a third portion of the gas stream through the second adsorbent while exchanging heat between the first and third adsorbents. In further particular aspects, the adsorbent can be used to remove carbon dioxide from a flow of methane. In other particular aspects, a heat exchange fluid that is not in direct contact with the adsorbents is used to transfer heat among the adsorbents.
US08025718B2 Fluid inlet device, use, and method of retrofitting
A fluid inlet device (1) suitable for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a vessel (5), which fluid inlet device (1) comprises an inlet flow channel having an inlet end (12) for receiving the mixture of liquid and gas; and a plurality of curved guiding vanes (20), wherein each vane (20) comprises an intercepting part (22) extending towards the inlet end of the inlet flow channel, and an outwardly directed deflecting part (25) defining a generally convex side and a generally concave side of the curved vane, wherein the deflecting parts (25) of two consecutive vanes form an outlet channel of the inlet device and define a main direction of gas flow in the outlet channel, and wherein at least one of the vanes (25) is provided with a liquid catcher (40) oblique to the gas flow direction.
US08025717B2 Process to separate particles from a particles-containing gas stream
Process to separate particles from a particles-containing gas stream, by subjecting the particles-containing gas stream to a centrifugal separation step, wherein the particles-containing gas stream is separated in a gas rich flow and a particles-rich flow and wherein the particles-rich flow is cooled from a temperature in the range from 600 to 800° C. to a temperature in the range from 200 to 450° C. before it is subjected to a second separation step, wherein particles are separated from the particles-rich flow.
US08025715B2 Process for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas using parallel carbon dioxide capture and sweep-based membrane separation steps
A gas separation process for treating flue gases from combustion processes, and combustion processes including such gas separation. The invention involves routing a first portion of the flue gas stream to be treated to a carbon dioxide capture step, while simultaneously flowing a second portion of the flue gas across the feed side of a membrane, flowing a sweep gas stream, usually air, across the permeate side, then passing the permeate/sweep gas to the combustor.
US08025714B2 Dialysis systems and methods having vibration-aided air removal
A dialysis system includes a dialysis fluid disposable configured to hold and transport a dialysis fluid; an air separation chamber in fluid communication with the dialysis fluid disposable; and a dialysis instrument operable to pump dialysis fluid through the dialysis fluid disposable, the instrument including a vibrator configured to vibrate the air separation chamber to separate air from the dialysis fluid traveling through the chamber.
US08025711B2 System and method for producing metallic iron
A battery of stationary hearth furnaces, and method for using, for producing metallic iron nodules having a furnace having a stationary hearth, an inlet and an outlet; a heating chamber beneath the stationary hearth having heated fluids circulated thereto and heating reducible material on the stationary hearth; passageways circulating fluids, through ports from the furnace housing above the reducible material to the heating chamber beneath; burners and air inlets in the furnace and optionally in at least one passageway and a heating chamber for drying and heating the reducible material, driving off and burning volatile material, and forming metallic iron nodules; a loading device for loading reducible material and optionally hearth material onto the stationary hearth through the inlet; and a discharging device capable of discharging metallic iron nodules and optionally related material from the stationary hearth through the outlet.
US08025710B2 Tungsten alloy grains, processing method using the same, and method for manufacturing the same
Provided are an ancillary material, used for shape processing, which is capable of shortening a processing time, avoiding a reduction in quality of a shape provided to a workpiece material, and allowing a relatively low manufacturing cost; a processing method using the ancillary material; and a method of manufacturing the ancillary material. The tungsten alloy grains (1) comprise: tungsten of greater than or equal to 80% by mass and less than or equal to 98% by mass; nickel; at least one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of iron, copper, and cobalt; and an inevitable impurity, a maximum diameter thereof is greater than or equal to 0.1 mm and less than or equal to 5.00 mm, and a specific surface area thereof is less than or equal to 0.02 m2/g. The tungsten alloy grains (1, 10), the workpiece material (30), an abrasive (20) are blended in a container (100) and the container is rotated, thereby processing the shape of the workpiece material (30). In the method of manufacturing the tungsten alloy grains (1), a granulated powder is stirred at a temperature greater than or equal to a softening point of an organic binder and thereafter, is cooled, thereby spheroidizing the granulated powder.
US08025707B2 Air cleaner and engine including the same
A tubular channel is disposed in a path of air that flows from an inlet to a dirty side. The cross sectional area of the tubular channel is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the inlet. A dust outlet is disposed in a wall in a path of the air that flows out of the exit of the tubular channels to the dirty side. The dust outlet extends through the wall of the air cleaner from the inside to the outside. As the air blasts out of the dust outlet, dust in the air cleaner is discharged to the outside.
US08025703B2 Two-part foam hair dye
A two-part foam hair dye having a first agent containing an alkali agent, a second agent containing hydrogen peroxide, and a non-aerosol foamer container, wherein the first agent contains (A), from 0.20 to 2.00 mol/kg of (B), and 0.05 mol/kg or greater of (C1); a total concentration of (C1) and (C2) in the first agent is from 0.16 to 0.50 mol/kg: and a mixture of the first agent and the second agent has a viscosity of from 1 to 300 mPa·s;(A) a water-soluble cationic polymer,(B) an alkali metal ion,(C1) an oxidation dye having a phenolic hydroxyl group, and(C2) an anionic surfactant.
US08025702B2 Two-part hairdye composition
Provided is a two-part hair dye composition, including a first part containing an alkali agent, a second part containing hydrogen peroxide, and a non-aerosol type foamer container for discharging a mixture solution of the first part and the second part as foam, in which the mixture solution contains the following components (A) and (B): (A) 0.1 to 10% by mass of a nonionic surfactant, and (B) 0.1 to 5% by mass of a cationic surfactant, and the mass ratio of the component (A) to the component (B) (content of the component (A)/content of the component (B)) is 1 to 100.
US08025701B2 Use of natural dyes for coloring human hair
The present invention relates to a hair coloring composition containing at least one natural dye, in particular at least one orcein, and at least one particular organic solvent. The invention also relates to a hair coloring method that comprises applying on the fibers a composition containing one or more natural dyes for a duration sufficiently long for obtaining the desired color. The invention thus provides colorings that respect the nature of the hair while offering strong, low-selectivity and resistant nuances.
US08025700B2 Method and system for optically bleaching keratinous fibers
The present invention relates to a method of treating keratinous fibers, especially hair fibers, comprising at least one step of at least partially bleaching the fibers, in which at least one region to be treated is exposed to at least one light pulse, characterized in that this pulse is generated by a diode-pumped laser or by a regenerative amplifier laser.
US08025696B2 Artificial meniscus and process of making thereof
An artificial meniscus, a base material of which is a hydrogel having a semi-interpenetrating network structure or an interpenetrating network structure (e.g., a linear polymer or a network structure composing the hydrogel is a polymer of an electrically charged unsaturated monomer and/or an electrically neutral unsaturated monomer or a crosslinked product thereof or/and a naturally occurring macromolecule or a crosslinked product thereof.), which can maintain moderate mechanical properties even in the case of application for an extended period of time between the joints where the severest mechanical environment is found in an organism, and which has no fear of causing osteoarthritis.
US08025692B2 Stent delivery system
A stent delivery catheter for rapid exchange carries at its distal end a sleeve (12) to surround a self-expanding stent (10) and a tension wire (30) running the length of the catheter to release the stent by proximal withdrawal of the sleeve. A tubular catheter shaft (62) surrounds the tension wire. An inner catheter (44) defines a guidewire lumen (48) with a proximal guidewire exit part (58) at the distal end of the catheter shaft. The inner catheter carries an abutment (32) to restrain the stent from moving proximally when the sleeve is pulled proximally. There is a gap (74) between the abluminal surface of the inner catheter and the luminal surface of the catheter shaft, in which the tension wire is accommodated.
US08025688B2 Apparatus for thermal therapy of prostate gland with ultrasound energy
An apparatus for applying thermal energy to a prostate gland, comprising a support tube having a longitudinal passageway, a power lead channeled through the longitudinal central passageway and an ultrasound crystal disposed around at least part of the support tube. The ultrasound crystal is coupled to the power lead which provides the power to energize the ultrasound crystal and generate ultrasound energy providing thermal therapy to the prostate gland. The ultrasound crystal further includes inactivated portions for reducing ultrasound energy directed to the rectal wall of the patient. A sealant is disposed in contact with the ultrasound crystal allowing vibration necessary for efficient ultrasound energy radiation for the thermal therapy of the prostate gland.
US08025684B2 Instruments and methods for inserting a spinal implant
Instruments of an instrumentation set may be used to prepare a disc space and to insert an implant into the prepared disc space. The instruments may include fixed tip distractors and/or modular tip distractors. The instruments may include a chisel. The chisel may allow simultaneous removal of a desired amount of bone from each of a pair of vertebrae. The instruments may include an implant inserter. The implant inserter may grip sides of an implant. A portion of the implant inserter may fit within grooves of the implant to minimize or eliminate portions of the implant that extend beyond side surfaces of the implant.
US08025678B2 Interspinous process spacer having tight access offset hooks
An interspinous spacer having a pair of hooks that, upon lateral insertion between opposed spinous process, bear upon the opposed spinous processes.
US08025677B2 System and method for stabilizing the human spine with a bone plate
Embodiments disclosed herein provide a spinal plate system and method for fixation of the human spine. In an embodiment, the spinal fixation system includes a plate, a coupling member, a locking system for substantially locking the coupling member in a desired position, and an anchoring system to secure the coupling member in the locking system. The plate may have a hole that allows the coupling member to couple the plate with a bone. At least a portion of the coupling member may swivel in the hole so that a bottom end of the member may extend at a plurality of angles substantially oblique to the plate. The locking system may lock the coupling member in desired positions relative to the plate. The anchoring system may secure the coupling member in the locking system to inhibit the coupling system from detaching from the locking system when stressed.
US08025674B2 Cannula with associated filter and methods of use during cardiac surgery
Devices and methods for filtering blood. The devices generally comprise a mesh for filtering blood flowing within a blood vessel, particularly within an artery such as the aorta, a structure adapted to open and close the mesh within the blood vessel, and a means to actuate the structure. The methods generally include the steps of introducing a mesh into a blood vessel to entrap embolic material, and removing the mesh and the entrapped foreign matter from the blood vessel.
US08025671B2 Surgical threading device and method for using same
Described herein is a threading device that includes an elongated rod having first and second opposite ends, and a suture having first and second opposite ends. The first end of the suture is associated with the rod. The rod is at least partially covered with a coating that secures the first end of the suture to the rod. The second end of the suture extends outside the coating. This provides a threading rod having a suture permanently attached thereto.
US08025670B2 Methods and apparatus for natural orifice vaginal hysterectomy
A transuterine cannula through which an endoscope can be advanced into the peritoneal space to provide visualization of tissue cutting in the peritoneal space pursuant to a vaginal hysterectomy.
US08025663B2 Augments for surgical instruments
A system for establishing a prosthetic gap between first and second bones at a joint comprises an instrument for positioning within the gap between the first and second bones, and an augment for filling the gap when coupled to the instrument. In one embodiment, a resilient coupling member is provided to resiliently and removably couple the augment to the instrument. In another embodiment, the instrument and augment are configured so that the augment can be coupled to the instrument on either one of opposite surfaces of the augment facing the first and second bones.
US08025662B2 Bidirectional reaming cutter
A surgical rotary reamer including a shaft and a cutting head connected to the shaft. The cutting head has a plurality of cutting teeth. At least one cutting tooth has a forward portion, a rearward portion and a mid-portion therebetween. The forward portion has a first cutting edge that cuts in a first rotary direction. The rearward portion has a second cutting edge that cuts in the first rotary direction and/or a second rotary direction. The mid-portion interconnects the forward portion and the rearward portion and includes a recessed portion.
US08025661B2 Coaxial catheter instruments for ablation with radiant energy
A cardiac ablation instrument includes a catheter body and a tear-shaped balloon that is connected to the catheter body. The instrument further includes a radiant energy emitter that is axially movable within a central lumen of the catheter body. A radiant energy transparent body surrounds the energy emitter and includes a plurality of illumination fibers disposed circumferentially about the energy emitter. A detector communicates with a contact sensing element and is configured to determine an amount of at least one color component of the reflected light The amount of the at least one color component being indicative of contact between the balloon and a target tissue site.
US08025660B2 Universal foot switch contact port
A universal contact port for use in an electrosurgical generator is provided and includes a ring gear having a circular rim formed therein and defines a central rotational axis. The rim includes a series of teeth formed therearound. A plurality of spur gears are operatively engaged with the rim of the ring gear, each spur gear defining a longitudinal axis which is at least substantially parallel with the central rotational axis; and a plurality of rollers operatively associated with a respective spur gear, each roller defining a corporal axis. The corporal axis of each roller is parallel to and spaced from the longitudinal axis of the respective spur gear. The rollers define an opening therebetween. The opening is constricted by rotation of the ring gear in a first direction about the central rotational axis and expanded by rotation of the ring gear in a direction opposite to the first direction.
US08025659B2 Laser device and method for machining material using laser radiation
Disclosed is a laser device for machining material, comprising a laser beam source which supplies pulsed laser radiation, and a variable deflection unit that introduces said laser radiation into the material at different, selectable points so as to create optical breakthroughs. The inventive laser device further comprises a pulse-selecting apparatus which modifies selected laser pulses of the pulsed laser radiation regarding at least one optical parameter in such a way that no more optical breakthroughs can be created using the modified laser pulses.
US08025658B2 Adhesive patch systems and methods
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to patches for medical devices. In various embodiments, an adhesive patch of a medical device may have selective areas with adhesive material of varying adhesion strengths. In other embodiments, an adhesive patch of a medical device may include adhesive material that may be activated by a catalyst to increase or decrease the adhesion strength of the adhesive material. In further embodiments, a medical device may include a pierceable membrane containing an agent, the pierceable membrane positioned to be pierced by a needle and to cause some of the agent to be carried to the user-patient.
US08025657B2 Closed loop fat transplantation system
The present invention provides a closed loop fat transplantation system newly designed to aspirate a fat, to handle it without receptacle transfer and to transplant it into the human body, which is composed of a fat transplantation receptacle (hereinafter referred as FT receptacle) and an exterior mechanical pressurization and decompression means. The said FT receptacle includes a vertical hem portion where joining selectively individual syringe needle or cannelae, a cylinder-shaped receptacle into front fat storing space and rear pressurization and decompression space. The said pressurization and decompression means can give positive/negative pressure to the fat storing space through the piston head of the said FT receptacle and it has a structure separable from the said FT receptacle. Accordingly, fat transplantation can be performed without receptacle transfer using the same FT receptacle extracting fat from patient's body giving negative pressure through the piston head to the fat storing space.
US08025649B2 Method for use of attachment device and system for corneal irrigating cannula
A cannula support serves in supporting a cannula relative to a non-contact lens assembly and a positioning mechanism for positioning the non-contact lens assembly. The cannula support includes a cannula holder and a gripper disposed relative to the cannula holder. The cannula holder is provided for receiving at least a portion of the cannula. The gripper is adapted to cooperatively engage a portion of one of the non-contact lens assembly and the positioning mechanism.
US08025647B2 Introduction device for introducing an object into a vessel of a body
An introduction device for introducing an object into a vessel of a body comprises a tubular channel (15) and a dilator (11) carrying the channel. To keep the diameter of the body canal as small as possible, the wall thickness of the channel (15) is max. 0.06 mm. The channel (15) is made of a hard plastic material, such as polyamide or polyester, such that the channel (15) is not deformed by compression when the device is advanced in the body and the dilator (11) is retracted. Further, a tight fit on the dilator also prevents such compressions.
US08025645B2 Guard for flexible tubing clamp and method of using same
A clamp guard (10,110,210, . . . ) for securing to flexible tubing (50) such as catheters and their extension tubes and about a clamp (60) therealong for housing the clamp at least when the clamp is in a tubing-clamping state, to prevent inadvertent contact of the clamp by a foreign body and undesirable unclamping of the clamp. The clamp guard is removable from around the clamp when desired.
US08025643B2 Anchoring system for a medical article
An anchoring system secures a catheter to the body of a patient and arrests axial movement of the catheter without meaningfully impairing fluid flow through the catheter. The anchoring system includes an anchor pad that adheres to the patient's skin and supports a retainer. The retainer includes interacting structure with a cooperating keeper and latch that releasably moves the retainer between an open and a closed position. When in the open position, the retainer can receive a portion of the catheter and be subsequently moved to the closed position. The retainer further includes one or more retention mechanisms that inhibit axial movement of the catheter relative to the retainer when the catheter is secured therein. In one mode, the retainer includes interacting structure with a keeper and latch. The keeper selectively cooperates with the latch to secure the retainer in a closed position where the cover is generally over to the base. In another mode, the anchoring system includes a mount that allows the retainer to rotate 360° relative to the anchor pad.
US08025642B2 Powered variable seal diameter trocar employing a longitudinal displacement mechanism
An apparatus for sealing a passageway through an access assembly includes a variable seal member having an orifice for reception of an instrument therethrough. Each of a pair of compression members has a pressure face for contacting the variable seal member, each pressure face opposing the variable seal member from an opposite longitudinal side, and each compression member moveable with respect to the other compression member in a longitudinal direction transverse to the pressure faces. The compression members may be moved in the longitudinal direction to adjust the degree of compressive force exerted on the portal seal member and thus adjust a diameter of the orifice to effectively interface with the instrument to form a fluid tight relation therewith.
US08025641B2 Powered variable seal diameter trocar employing a winepress mechanism
A surgical access apparatus includes an access member having a longitudinal passageway providing access to a tissue site. An elongated seal member mounted to the access member has an orifice with a variable inner dimension. The elongated seal member establishes a sealing relation about an instrument and is associated with a powered adjustment mechanism for adjusting the variable inner dimension of the orifice. The powered adjustment mechanism includes trailing and leading hubs longitudinally spaced and adapted for relative rotation about an axis defined by the access member. A plurality of spokes extends between the hubs and defines first and second minimum internal dimensions when in first and second conditions respectively upon relative rotation of the hubs. The spokes are arranged about the elongated seal member to adjust the variable inner dimension of the orifice upon relative rotation of the hubs. A powered motion generator effects relative rotation between the hubs.
US08025637B2 Medical balloons and processes for preparing same
A medical device such as a catheter, stent or balloon, is formed by depositing a radiation curable composition on a form made of ice or wax. The deposited composition may be cured by irradiation, suitably with UV light. Complex structures can be built up if the deposition or curing is achieved imagewise. Compositions which photocure to polyester, polyamide or polyimide may be employed. A particular structure is a balloon for a rapid exchange catheter which has a guide wire lumen passing through the balloon cone walls.
US08025634B1 Method and system for controlled infusion of therapeutic substances
Programmable infusion systems and method for controlled infusion of diagnostic or therapeutic substances (e.g., drugs, biologics, fluids, cell preparations, etc.) into the bodies of human or animal subjects.
US08025624B2 System and method for assessing cardiac performance through cardiac vibration monitoring
A system and method for assessing cardiac performance through cardiac vibration monitoring is described. Cardiac vibration measures are directly collected through an implantable medical device. Cardiac events including at least one first heart sound reflected by the cardiac vibration measures are identified. The first heart sound is correlated to cardiac dimensional measures relative to performance of an intrathoracic pressure maneuver. The cardiac dimensional measures are grouped into at least one measures set corresponding to a temporal phase of the intrathoracic pressure maneuver. The at least one cardiac dimensional measures set is evaluated against a cardiac dimensional trend for the corresponding intrathoracic pressure maneuver temporal phase to represent cardiac performance.
US08025622B2 Systems and methods for estimating the size and position of a medical device to be applied within a patient
The field of the invention relates to medical imaging systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for estimating the size and position of a stent or other medical device within a patient. In one embodiment, a medical imaging system includes an elongated tubular member having distal and proximal ends, configured to be inserted into a vessel of a patient, an imaging device coupled to the distal end of the elongated tubular member, and a console electrically coupled to the imaging device, wherein the console includes a computer-usable medium, electrically coupled to the imaging device, having a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes said processor to execute a process including generating an image of the vessel, and overlay one or more shapes onto the image to provide a visual approximation of the size and position of a medical device to be applied within the patient.
US08025619B2 Systems and methods for delivering a medical implant to an anatomical location in a patient
A surgical device for use in a minimally invasive procedure to treat urinary incontinence can include a dilator coupled to a curved needle at one end and a sling at the opposite end. Urinary incontinence can be treated minimally invasively. One treatment includes positioning the sling on an anterior portion of the urethra to provide proper coaptation to the urethra.
US08025617B2 Stretching apparatus
The present invention concerns a stretching apparatus that is useful to apply controlled, gradual muscular stretching, and is particularly useful for controlled stretching of the hamstring muscle.
US08025613B1 Adjustable dumbbell
An adjustable dumbbell includes a handle, a shaft rotatably engaged through the handle, a carrier attached to each end portion of the shaft and having an inner housing and an outer housing and one or more middle housings spaced from each other for forming two or more gaps between the housings and for engaging with weight members, and the inner housing and the middle housing each include a spring-biased projection extendible into the gaps for selectively latching the weight members to the handle and the shaft and the carrier, and a control device is rotatably engaged onto the shaft and coupled to the handle for actuating the spring-biased projections to latch the selected weight members to the handle and the shaft and the carrier.
US08025609B2 Cross trainer exercise apparatus
Apparatus and method for simulating a back and forth leg or foot movement, the apparatus comprising: a pair of pivotable support mechanisms supported on a frame, a pair of foot pedals mounted on the support mechanisms for back and forth movement along an arcuate path of translation movement, the foot pedals being adjustable to a selected segment of an overall arcuate path of translation movement. The apparatus includes handles or arms interconnected or interlinked to the foot pedals for upper body pushing or pulling energy input. The handles or arms pivot together with and in the same back or forth direction as the pedals to which they are interlinked.
US08025604B2 Gear and clutch arrangement for multi-speed transmission
A transmission is provided having an input member, an output member, three planetary gear sets, a plurality of coupling members and a plurality of torque transmitting devices. Each of the planetary gear sets includes a sun gear member, a planet carrier member, and a ring gear member. The torque transmitting devices include five clutches and one brake arranged within a transmission housing.
US08025600B2 Endless belt for power transmission
An endless belt for power transmission is capable of efficiently improving the yawing attitude of the elements in a variable pulley. This endless belt for power transmission includes the elements and an annular band-like member for supporting the elements. The endless belt is winched between a pair of variable pulleys. Groove parts extending from the front surface of the belt in the forward movement direction to a predetermined position not reaching to the rear surface of the belt in the forward movement direction are formed in the side surfaces of the elements contacting with the belt sliding surfaces of the variable pulleys.
US08025599B2 Pivot arm tensioner with sliding ratchet mechanism
An engine chain or belt tensioning system includes a tensioner pivot arm with a ratcheting means that includes backlash in an engine timing system. The tensioner system includes a tensioner pivot arm having a fixed pin, radially projecting ratchet teeth, a tensioner pivot arm biasing device, and a ratchet mechanism that engages the radially projecting ratchet teeth. The ratchet mechanism is oriented such that the tensioner pivot arm freely rotates in one direction, but backdrive is limited in the opposite direction.
US08025595B2 Baseball area protection system and method
This invention relates to an integrally weighted baseball cover and system, method and apparatus for quickly delivering the cover and placing it onto an area of a baseball field, such as one or more of the infield areas, such as home base area, first base area, second base area, third base area, pitcher's mound area and/or bullpen areas.
US08025589B2 Set of golf clubs and method for identification of clubs
A sport set (10) and methods for golf club identification are provided. The sports set (10) includes a plurality of clubs (10 and 12) with each club (10 or 12) or subset of the plurality of clubs (10 or 12) provided with a distinguishing surface configuration on at least a portion of the exterior surface of head (18) to enable a golfer to visually distinguish between each club (10 or 12) or between subsets of clubs (10 or 12).
US08025585B2 Positioning device for a golfer when putting
A positioning device for a golfer when putting has orientation means for orienting the positioning device relative to a target, placement means for predetermining a relative position of the positioning device and a golf ball, and adjustable positioning means for predetermining a standing position of the golfer relative to the positioning device, i.e. relative to the golf ball. The position of the golfer's feet with regard to the golf ball can be reproducibly predetermined or adapted, respectively, using the positioning device.
US08025582B1 System and method for automatically altering a theme associated with a room or similar space
A system and method for changing a theme associated with a given space (e.g., restaurant). A wall system includes a wall panel having multiple themes depicted thereon or multiple wall panels each having a theme depicted thereon. Using a series of winches, chain drives, cables and pulleys or the like, the wall panels are moved to change the theme of the space. A ceiling system includes two ceiling panels movable via a series of winches, chain drives, cables and pulleys. Once separated the ceiling panels expose a theme different than that depicted while closed. Audio and/or visual cues may be provided to alert patrons to a theme change.
US08025581B2 Interactive interface mounting assembly for amusement and theme park rides
A ride vehicle for use in amusement park rides with interactive game or show equipment. A vehicle body is included with a passenger seat and an interactive device operable by a passenger to interact with the interactive game. A mounting assembly is provided in or on vehicle body and is configured for pivotally mounting the interactive device on the vehicle body. The mounting assembly may be adapted such as with a cam or guide plate to rotate or otherwise position the interactive device through a range of positions at varying distances from the seat. Further, A passenger restraint assembly is provided and is used to determine a size of the passenger in the seat. The passenger restraint is linked to the mounting assembly to drive the mounting assembly so as to place the interactive device at a passenger-use position that is selected based on the defined size of the passenger.
US08025580B2 Shaft for transmitting rotational movements and/or forces
A rotary torque shaft including a tube made of a composite material having a plastic matrix and a metallic tubular insert fixedly mounted around a recessed longitudinal outer surface portion of the tube so as to link the tube mechanically to a functional mechanical assembly which is supported by the insert. The insert has in cross section a non-circular inner surface profile which is complementary in shape to a profile of the outer surface of the tube.
US08025576B2 Precision ball joint
The joint comprises a ball (4) held between two seats (5 and 6) of the members (1, 2) to be joined, and it further comprises fittings (7, 8) bound to the members (1, 2) respectively, connected together through an intermediate jointed ring (12). A spring (13) maintains the contact between the ball and the seats. A rim (15) of the ring retains the ball (4) in case of disjunction. The ball (4) provides large accuracy in the position of the centre of rotation and the remainder of the joint maintains cohesion of the assembly.
US08025574B2 Method and apparatus for changing firmware in a gaming printer
Methods and apparatuses for changing firmware in a gaming printer. The printer containing computer memory, internal and/or external to the printer, with the memory divided logically into multiple parts; a first section containing computer codes, a second section containing the data describing the format of gaming vouchers, and a third section containing data describing the format of promotional coupons. A mathematically unique identifier is created as an individual signature for each section of the memory, with each signature being independent of the other signatures, thus allowing for the changing the contents of one or more sections of the memory without affecting the contents of the unchanged sections of the memory.
US08025572B2 Dynamic spectator mode
Methods and systems for broadcasting game sessions to be viewable by spectators are disclosed. After receiving game information from game participant clients, the title server determines whether the broadcast the game session to spectators, analyzes and repackages the received telemetry data, optionally embedding additional data, and rebroadcasts the repackaged telemetry as a spectator feed to non-participant spectator client devices for viewing by users of the spectator client devices. Embedded data may include commentary data, a director's cut specifying camera information, instructional data, etc. Each spectator client device can analyze and manipulate the received telemetry data using a copy of the video game executing on the spectator client device, or may simply playback the feed when the feed includes a complete audiovisual file. Spectator clients may submit feedback to the participant clients through the title server.
US08025571B2 Television interactive gaming having local storage of game portal
The present invention relates to a system and method for interactive gaming comprising: a central broadcast center (10) transmitting signals over a first communications network; a gaming system (25) residing within the central broadcast center (10); a plurality of users who access the gaming system (25) via the first communication network. The gaming system (25) provides a plurality of games that incorporate a scoring protocol that provides real time scoring data transmitting from the plurality of users back to the gaming system via a second communication network. The plurality of users may review the real time scoring data via the first communications network.
US08025568B2 Gaming machine with an overhanging touch screen
A gaming machine controlled by a processor in response to a wager comprises a display and a unitary touch screen. The display includes a video portion and a non-video portion. The unitary touch screen overlaps both the video portion and the non-video portion. The video portion includes player-selectable first indicia selectable via the unitary touch screen. The non-video portion includes player-selectable second indicia selectable via the unitary touch screen.
US08025562B2 Gaming device methods and apparatus employing audio/video programming outcome presentation
In a first aspect, a method (e.g., of operating a gaming device) is provided. The method includes the steps of (i) receiving audio/video content; (ii) associating a plurality of sets of outcome values with the audio/video content; (iii) determining a play session; (iv) determining which of the plurality of sets of outcome values to associate with the audio/video content for a duration of the play session, thereby determining an active set of outcome values; (v) determining a result of a game play during the session; (vi) selecting, based on the result, a value from the active set of outcome values; and (vii) outputting, as an indication of the result, the audio/video content and an indication of the selected value.
US08025558B2 Power sander with novel sanding sheet tension clamping
Portable sander, in particular an orbital sander, having an abrasive sheet carrier (1) and having clamping means (3) for firmly clamping opposite abrasive sheet ends of an abrasive sheet (21) which can be supported on the abrasive sheet carrier (1), wherein first clamping means (3) together with an abrasive sheet end clamped thereon can be moved away from the other abrasive sheet end, clamped by means of second clamping means (3), for tensioning the abrasive sheet (21), and the first clamping means (3) have spring elasticity. Provision is made for the first clamping means (3) to come against a rigid stop element (9) with prestress in an end clamping position.
US08025549B2 Hula-hoop for pressing flesh of waist in vertical direction
Disclosed herein is a hula-hoop, which applies pressing force in a vertical direction as well as in a horizontal direction when the hula-hoop is rotated, thus achieving a good exercise effect, and which performs an acupressure action and a compression action using acupressure protrusions. The hula-hoop includes first and second rings (10, 20). Protruding parts (11, 21) and grooves (12, 22) are alternately provided on the first and second rings (10, 20). Streamlined body pressing space (30) is defined between the grooves (12, 22) by attaching inward protruding parts (11, 21) to each other, so that the waist flesh (h) is pinched between the grooves, thus providing pressing force in a vertical direction.
US08025548B2 External diaphragm game call with manual diaphragm manipulation
A game call having a mouthpiece with an internal latex diaphragm and secured to said mouthpiece is a diaphragm plunger which is operable by pressing an artificial tongue-like pliable section into contacting with the diaphragm, thereby changing the pitch of the sound produced.
US08025546B2 Ducted fan assembly for radio-controlled model
A ducted fan assembly includes a housing unit, a motor, and a propeller. The housing unit includes a duct member, and a hollow seat member disposed in the duct member. The motor is mounted to an exterior of the seat member, and includes a power cord extending through the seat member. The propeller is mounted to the motor and is driven thereby to generate an airflow that flows through the duct member and that acts on the motor.
US08025538B2 Joint connector and wiring harness
A joint connector has a housing (20) and cavities (21) penetrate the housing (20) in forward and backward directions. Female terminals (11) connected to ends of wires (10) are insertable into the cavities (21) from behind and locking lances (22) in the respective cavities (21) retain the female terminals (11). Jig insertion grooves (30) are formed in the front surface of the housing (20) and can receive a jig (80) to displace the locking lance (22) in an unlocking direction. A joint terminal (50) to be mounted in the housing (20) and formed such that a bracket (52) to be mounted on a grounding portion is connected with the rear edge of a male terminal (51) in which male terminals (55) insertable into the respective cavities (21) from front are connected side by side.
US08025536B1 Polarized shell for preventing coaxial connector mis-mating
A polarized shell for preventing mis-mating of a first coaxial connector comprising the polarized shell and a second coaxial connector is provided. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the polarized shell can comprise an external wall, and internal wall, and two or more polarizing members circumferentially spaced apart on one of the external wall and the internal wall. A coaxial connector for preventing mis-mating is also provided. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the coaxial connector can comprise a body and a polarized shell within the body. The polarized shell can comprise an external wall, an internal wall, and two or more polarizing members circumferentially spaced apart on one of the external wall and the internal wall. A system for preventing mis-mating is also provided.
US08025535B1 Audio socket connector and switch module
A socket connector includes an insulating housing, at least one terminal set and a switch module. The insulating housing defines an inserting hole. The terminal set and the switch module are respectively received in the insulating housing. The switch module includes a fixed terminal, a movable terminal and an insulating guider. The insulating guider is connected to the moveable terminal and electronically insulated from the moveable terminal for preventing signal transmitted by the socket connector from influence. Because the movable terminal is molded with the insulating guider, the strength of the switch module of the audio socket connector will be improved. Since, the audio socket connector has strong structure and high reliability.
US08025534B2 System and method for coupling a LTO HH tape device with a serial attached SCSI connection to a SAS-cable
A method, system and apparatus for efficiency coupling a LTO HH tape drive device having a Serial Attached SCSI connector to a SAS-Cable. The method for coupling a LTO HH tape drive device having a Serial Attached SCSI connector to a SAS-Cable includes employing an adapter having a structure featuring an offset between the centerlines of the LTO side and the SAS-Cable side. The method also includes reducing the overmold structure of the adapter on the SAS Cable Side of the adapter to prevent interference from excess structure contained on the connector during the insertion of the SAS Cable as well as enhancing the overmold structure of the adapter on the LTO drive side of the adapter to facilitate a secure grip on the adapter. The method further includes offsetting the centerlines of the LTO side and the SAS-Cable side to enhance the applicability of the adapter to a wide range of SAS-Cables and guiding the insertion of the adapter into a LTO drive via insertion guide pins to prevent the damage to the adapter pins on the LTO drive side of the adapter.
US08025533B2 LED illumination apparatus
Parts exchange or the like is not easy with an LED illumination apparatus that uses an LED attached to a socket of a conventional fluorescent light fixture. Other problems also exist such as unfavorable operability and reliability, and necessitating additional parts. Provided herewith is an LED illumination apparatus including a cap having a terminal electrically coupled to a socket of a fluorescent light fixture and a main body having an end coupled with the cap, where the main body includes an LED and a coupler to electrically couple the terminal to the LED, the terminal being fitted in the coupler.
US08025527B1 Electrical outlet having grounds-out receptacles and method
A method, apparatus and means to address the problem of utilizing two large power plugs with transformers, converters and/or 90 degree plugs simultaneously with one duplex power receptacle. The duplex power receptacle has a ground-up and ground-down configuration, such that two conventional large three prong power plugs with transformers, converters and/or 90 degree plugs can be used simultaneously. This configuration can be utilized while still maintaining many characteristics of conventional duplex power receptacles such as left and right orientation of neutral and hot conducting busses. By maintaining characteristics of the conventional duplex power receptacle one knowledgeable in the art can install this invention without having to be retrained in a method of installation and a conventional wall outlet box and cover plate will accommodate this invention. Additionally, by maintaining these characteristics users of this invention will not have to learn any new method of using the device.
US08025525B2 Connector back shells having a plurality of cable exit angles
A wiring connector back shell having a plurality of cable exit angles is disclosed. The back shell has a single transition element with a number of holes fashioned therein, which allow a cable retaining device to be fastened thereto. The cable retaining device provides strain relief for the cable exiting the back shell, as well as determining the exit angle of the cable. The cable retaining device has integral pins which mate with hole patterns in the transition element, and are locked in place with a retaining collar. Alternatively, cable ties or tie wraps may be utilized to fasten the cable to the transition element. The system provides a high reliability, low mass method for cable back shells wherein cable exit angles are easily changed or chosen in the field.
US08025520B1 Cable immobilizing device and electronic device having the same
A cable immobilizing device for an electronic device. The cable immobilizing device includes a buckle and a sleeve. The buckle is fixed on a shell of the electronic device. The buckle includes two juts facing to each other. The two juts define a slot therebetween to receive a cable of the electronic device. The sleeve is configured to enclose the cable, the outer diameter of the sleeve is lager than the width of the slot.
US08025511B2 Connector
A connector is matable with a mating connector. The connector has a contact, a housing, a sliding shell, at least one engagement portion and at least one disengagement portion. The housing holds the contact. The sliding shell covers, at least in part, the contact and the housing. The sliding shell is held on the housing so as to be movable between a mating position and a protective position. The connector is mated with the mating connector when the sliding shell is positioned at the mating position. The sliding shell is laid, at least in part, beyond a front end of the housing when the sliding shell is positioned at the protective position. The at least one engagement portion is configured to engage with the sliding shell located at the protective position so as to prevent the sliding shell from moving toward the mating position. The at least one disengagement portion is configured to disengage the engagement portion from the sliding shell when the at least one disengagement portion is brought into contact with the mating connector upon a mating process between the connector and the mating connector.
US08025510B2 Tethered port protector for portable electronic devices and kit of port protectors
A port protector for an electronic device that is formed with one or more ports having an access opening. The port protector includes a protective plug having a shape substantially corresponding to a shape of the access opening of the port of the electronic device and being configured to seal the opening of the port when the plug is inserted into the opening. An elastic tether strip has a first end connected to and integrally formed with at least a part of the protective plug. An attachment tab is integrally formed at a second end of said tether strip, opposite and distally from the protective plug. The attachment tab is configured for removable attachment to the surface of the shell body of the electronic device. The tether strip has a length enabling the protective plug to be inserted into and removed from the opening of the port while the attachment tab is attached to the surface of the shell body of the electronic device.
US08025509B2 Apparatus for preventing electrical shock in devices
A device for preventing electrical shock from a device with electrical interfaces. A shutter or other barrier associated with the device that physically prevents access or contact to one of the electrical interfaces while another electrical interface is in use.
US08025507B2 Connector
The present invention provides a connector including: a printed circuit board including a guide hole and a locking hole; a plurality of connection pads provided on a top surface of the printed circuit board; a housing which is mounted on the printed circuit board and including a guide inserted into the guide hole and a locking unit inserted into the locking hole, which are protrudingly formed on a bottom surface of the housing; a plurality of terminals inserted and fixed into the housing so that one ends are positioned inside the housing and the other ends are projected to an outside of the housing; and terminal units in contact with top surfaces of the connection pads by being connected to the one ends of the terminals inside the housing.
US08025500B2 Decompression sprue bush and decompression machine nozzle
The present invention concerns a transfer element (1, 9) for an injection molding system comprising a flow lumen for a plasticised plastic material. To provide a transfer element for an injection molding system, which makes it possible to further increase the material throughput of the injection molding system without having to tolerate increased wear of seals and other system components, it is proposed in accordance with the invention that it has a device for degassing of the flow lumen.
US08025499B2 Multi-segment tool and method for composite formation
A multi-segment tool and tooling system for vacuum forming a composite part. A tool can include a first tool having first and second surfaces. A second tool can have an opening positioned on a first tool in a location other than the first surface or the second surface. The first tool and second tool can receive at least a portion of a preform composite. The first tool can have a vacuum barrier attached to the first surface and to the second surface encapsulating the preform composite and the second tool. A tooling system can include a first tool having a core and a base with a core extending upwards from the base. A second tool can be positioned upon the core where the core extends above the second tool. A vacuum barrier sealed to the base and the core can include a composite, the first tool and the second tool.
US08025498B2 Rotary tableting press
The invention relates to a rotary tableting press comprising a rotor, at least one filling station and at least one pressure station as well as lower and upper ram guides. The rotary tableting press has a modular design, such that individual modules are arranged so they can be removed and/or converted within the rotary tableting press for retooling the rotary tableting press from two-layer operation to single-layer operation or vice-versa.
US08025497B2 Method for manufacturing short fiber oriented rubber or synthetic resine and expansion die for extrusion molding
A method includes steps of extruding rubber or synthetic resin mixed with short fibers from a sectionally annular mold opening, and molding a cylindrical body of rubber or synthetic resin with short fibers oriented in a predetermined direction. The mold opening has an expansion portion 9 whose diameter expands in an extrusion direction, and a flow passage width Wi of an inlet portion 6i of the mold opening, a flow passage width Wo of an outlet portion 6o, and radiuses Ri and Ro of the inlet portion 6i and the outlet portion 6o respectively that are coaxial with the mold opening satisfy a relation of Wo/Wi
US08025495B2 Apparatus and method for making a spider occlusion device
An apparatus and method for making an occlusion device for occluding a body vessel. The apparatus and method include providing a frame and a mandrel. The frame has a hub extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal end to a distal end. A plurality of arcuate legs are attached to the hub and extend distally. The arcuate legs are flexible and have inner surfaces defining an inner profile in an unconstrained state. The mandrel has an outer surface corresponding to the inner profile of the occlusion device. A base layer of a biocompatible material is disposed on the outer surface of the mandrel. The frame is placed on the outer surface with the base layer between the frame and the mandrel. The frame is attached to the base layer such that the biocompatible material forms a membrane extending along and between the arcuate legs.
US08025492B2 Scroll machine
A compressor may include a shell, a compression mechanism, and a seal assembly. The shell may define a first discharge passage. The compression mechanism may be supported within the shell and may include first and second scroll members. The first scroll member may include a second discharge passage. The seal assembly may extend between the first scroll member and the shell and may form a sealed discharge path between the first and second discharge passages. The seal assembly may include a first seal member axially displaceable relative to the shell and the first scroll member. The first seal member may axially abut the first scroll member when in a first position and may be free from axial contact with the first scroll member when in a second position. The seal assembly may maintain the sealed discharge path when the first seal member is in the first position.
US08025489B2 Portable, remote electromagnetic power system
A portable electromagnetic power system used as a remote alternate power source includes a water tank having an oil reservoir mounted on top of the tank with four cylinders extending through the tank and the two outer cylinders denoted the pressure cylinders and the two inner cylinders serving as accumulators with electromagnets mounted at the ends of each pressure cylinder for reciprocating an internal floating piston and each inner cylinder having a permanent magnet mounted at one end for actuating a magnetized floating piston disposed therein and each magnetized floating piston dividing the inner cylinder into an air chamber portion and a fluid chamber portion with the oil reservoir and the cylinders all in fluid flow registration with each other and the inner cylinders connected to a working pressure line that connects to a device, such as a hydraulic motor, so that the outer cylinder develop working pressure concomitant with the flow of oil therein that is directed to the inner (accumulator) cylinders for providing working pressure to power a device such as a hydraulic motor.
US08025484B2 Fan rotor assembly
A fan rotor assembly has an inner rotor, an outer rotor, a central retainer and a central shaft. The inner rotor has multiple first blades. The outer rotor is stacked on the inner rotor and has multiple second blades. The central retainer is mounted through the inner and outer retainers. The central shaft is mounted in the central retainer under the inner rotor. The fan rotor assembly with first and second blades provides excellent airflow.
US08025482B1 Turbine blade with dual serpentine cooling
A turbine rotor blade with a low cooling flow serpentine circuit to provides cooling for the airfoil. The circuit includes a three pass aft flowing serpentine circuit that begins at the airfoil mid-chord region and connects to a series of multiple impingement cooling holes formed within the trailing edge region. A double pass forward flowing serpentine circuit then connects with the triple pass aft flowing serpentine circuit to provide cooling for the leading edge region and is connected to a showerhead arrangement for discharging film cooling air. A blade tip cooling channel connects with the last leg of the double pass forward flowing serpentine to form a 6-pass serpentine flow cooling circuit for the entire blade. Since only the leading edge serpentine channel discharges film cooling air, the serpentine circuit can make use of low cooling flow to provide cooling for the entire blade.
US08025481B2 Kit for decorating ceiling fan blades
A kit for decorating ceiling fan blades is provided. The kit includes a plurality of fan blade covers adapted to readily conform to the shape of a ceiling fan blade. The covers are embellished with interchangeable decorative images or themes selectable by user.
US08025478B2 Centrifugal pump
An impeller plate of an impeller of a centrifugal pump, particularly a channel impeller pump, for pumping liquids with solid or gaseous admixtures, is provided with at least one wide vane that is displaced toward the impeller drive by a distance D so that the impeller chamber is enlarged by a rearward portion thereof. In addition, the impeller comprises at least one auxiliary vane having a center width at between 25%-75% of the width of the wide vane. This arrangement improves particularly the gas transporting ability of the pump.
US08025475B2 Wafer transfer apparatus, wafer transfer method and storage medium
One sensor constituted of a light emission element and a light-receiving element is provided in a path through which a wafer is transferred. The sensor is positioned so that the wafer passes through an area between the light emission element and the light-receiving element. Coordinates of the center of the wafer are calculated based on encoder values obtained when the wafer starts passing through the sensor and when the wafer completes passing through the sensor, position data of wafer transfer arm corresponding to the encoder value, and the diameter of the wafer; and thereby the amount of positional deviation of the center of the wafer from a reference position is calculated.
US08025472B2 Catalyst loading system
Particulate filling devices and methods are disclosed that use a loading system generally including a loading cart, a drive system, and a line assembly. The drive system generally includes a motor, a drive shaft, a driven shaft, a spool, a plurality of cable partitions, and a controller. Each line assembly generally includes cable sections, swivel connectors, one or more spring blocks and a weight.
US08025465B2 Cutting insert, cutting tool and cutting method using the same
A cutting tool comprises: a first cutting insert having a first side surface for interconnecting a first upper surface and a first lower surface, a first cutting edge located at the intersection between the first upper surface and the first side surface, and a first groove section located in the first side surface and extending to the first upper surface so as to divide the first cutting edge; a second cutting insert having a second upper surface, a second side surface, a second cutting edge located at the intersection between the second upper surface and the second side surface, and a cutting edge reinforcing section located on the second upper surface at an end thereof which is positioned on the second cutting edge side; and a holder for mounting thereto the first cutting insert and the second cutting insert. The first cutting insert and the second cutting insert are mounted to the holder in such a manner that the first cutting edge and the second cutting edge are located on the outer peripheral side of the holder, that the first lower surface and the second upper surface are in proximity to each other, and that the rotation trajectories of the cutting edge reinforcing section and the first groove section are partially superposed on each other.
US08025464B2 Severing device with controlled triggering
Device for severing parts of a concrete work, comprising a container in which an over-pressure is generated by a gas produced by a chemical reaction between a chemical compound and an aqueous solution after a predetermined delay. The container includes the aqueous solution and is attached to a case comprising a first recess for storing the chemical compound. A burst disk is arranged between the first recess and the container for ensuring a total sealing between the chemical compound and the aqueous solution. The case includes a second recess enclosing an electronic trigger, an actuator being controlled by the trigger to cause bursting of the burst disk after a predetermined delay, causing said chemical reaction inside the container.
US08025463B2 Offshore foundation system with integral elements for preloading and extracting
The present invention describes an offshore foundation system (10,10a,10b) that is operable for preloading after self-weight installation on a seabed without relying on additional or external ballasts. The foundation system (10,10a,10b) is also operable for extraction by reversing the process of preload operation. In one embodiment, the foundation system (10) comprises a reaction base (20) and suction compartment (60). In another, the foundation system (10a,10b) comprises a plurality of units of reaction base (20) and suction compartments (60), with the units being connected by bridging structures (21). In yet another, the foundation system comprises a reaction base (20) and a plurality of suction compartments (60). A closed-top of the suction compartment (60) projects above the reaction base (20) so that, in use, there is a gap h between a top of a soil plug inside a suction compartment (60) and its closed-top.
US08025452B2 Print medium supplying device and image forming apparatus having the same
A print medium supplying device, includes a frame, a mounting plate to mount a print medium, an elevating unit to move upward and downward the mounting plate within the frame, and an elastic unit which comprises an installation unit disposed to one of the frame and the mounting plate, a coupling unit coupled to an other of the frame and the mounting plate, and a spring unit provided between the installation unit and the coupling unit to elastically weaken a falling motion of the mounting plate.
US08025442B2 Apparatus and method for presenting information on transparent resealable storage bags
An apparatus and method for presenting information on transparent resealable storage bags. Embodiments allow for the presentation of graphic images such as numbers, letters, cartoon characters (such as Disney® characters, e.g., Mickey Mouse®), colors, animals, dinosaurs, flowers, trains, cars, planes, hearts, marketing logos, puzzles (including puzzles that are complete when the sides of the bag are next to one another and incomplete when the sides of the bag are separated) or any other information such as instructional information such as questions and answers or information that changes color based on temperature.
US08025436B2 Whisk
A whisk comprising: a whisk handle, a bushing fixedly attached to the whisk head end of the whisk handle; at least two generally spiral grooves located on the interior surface; a bushing fixedly attached to whisk head end of the whisk handle; an extension member in rotatable and slideable communication with the whisk handle and the bushing, at least two engagement members extending orthogonally from the extension member and slideably engage with one of the grooves; a spring rod, with a whisk head end and a cap end, located within the extension member; an integral cap located on the cap end of the spring rod; a compression spring, in slideable communication with the spring rod, the whisk head end of the compression head pushing against the whisk head base, the cap end of the compression spring pushing against the integral cap.
US08025433B2 Stroller light
A stroller light that can be easily attached to any standard baby stroller. The stroller light is comprised of a hollow housing that holds a battery pack, electric circuit, and on-off switch. A plurality of LEDs are mounted through apertures on the front and sides of the housing and can sequentially turn on and off. A hollow flag pole can be attached to the housing and wires run from the housing, through the flag pole interior to an electroluminescent wire that is sewn onto the perimeter of the flag and to an amiable light that can be used to help navigate during the evening hours. A photovoltaic solar cell is attached to the outside of the housing and can charge the battery pack during daylight hours.
US08025428B2 Assembly of light emitting diodes for lighting applications
An assembly of light emitting diodes for a streetlight or the likes comprises a first board having a first matrix of light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted thereon defining a first light projection plane and at least another board having a second matrix of LEDs mounted thereon defining a second light projection plane. The other boards are mounted to the first board so as to define an angle therebetween. The LEDs can be mounted to the boards so as to independently define and angle therewith. They can also be oriented towards privileged directions. The present assembly allows providing a more uniform light distribution.
US08025425B2 Beaconless adaptive optics system
An improved beaconless adaptive optics system and process. A target is illuminated with a high energy laser beam of a directed energy laser. Wave front measurements are made of high energy laser beam reflections from the target. These wave front measurements are analyzed by a high speed processor to determine both high frequency phase components and low frequency phase components in the wave front data. (Applicants' experiments have shown that there is a direct correlation between beam spot size on the target and the phase variance of the reflected laser beam. The correlation is: the greater the phase variance the smaller the beam spot size.) Applicants have developed a technique for providing special control algorithms that provide very high speed control of the elements of a deformable mirror using this phase variance as a feedback parameter. Applicants have also developed algorithms to correct a limited number of Zernike modes associated with the wave front control.
US08025421B2 Light emitting diode lamp
An LED lamp includes a base, a bracket, a knob pivotably interconnecting the base and the bracket, and a reflector facing the base. The bracket includes two perpendicular arms on which multiple first LED modules and second LED modules are mounted. The first LED modules emit warm light, and the second LED modules emit cold light. The first LED modules and the second LED modules are selective to lighten by manipulating a button attached to the base.
US08025414B2 Projector, projected image adjustment method, and program for projecting an image while correcting the shape of the image
A projector includes a projection section which projects a calibration image onto a projection target through a projection panel, a shape determination section which determines a shape of the projection target, a correction target area setting section which sets a correction target area, an aspect ratio calculation section which calculates an aspect ratio of the correction target area, a determination section which determines whether or not a value which indicates a difference between the aspect ratio of the correction target area and a reference aspect ratio satisfies a set condition, and an image generation section which generates an image having the shape of the correction target area on the projection panel when the set condition is satisfied, and generates an image having the reference aspect ratio on the projection panel when the set condition is not satisfied.
US08025412B2 Pump unit and projector using same
A pump unit includes a pump body for discharging compressed air, a communication pipe including an elastic material and having one end fitted into a discharge port, and a pump fixture for fixing part of the communication pipe except for the one end fitted into the discharge port. The pump body is fixed only by the pump fixture.
US08025411B2 Liquid crystal panel and projector using the same
A liquid crystal panel includes a liquid crystal display element, a micro-lens array, an adjustable lens array, and a lens control unit electrically connected to the adjustable lens array. The liquid crystal display element has a light input surface and a light output surface opposite to the light input surface. The micro-lens array has a plurality of micro-lenses disposed on the light input surface of the liquid crystal display element). The adjustable lens array has a plurality of adjustable lenses disposed on the light output surface of the liquid crystal display element. The lens control unit is capable of controlling focal lengths of the plurality of adjustable lenses.
US08025405B2 Eye tracking illumination
The invention relates to automatic eye tracking, wherein at least one imaging device (150) registers sequential image data (DEYE) representing at least one eye (181; 182) of a subject (180). A processing unit (170) receives the image data (DEYE), and based thereon, produces a position estimate of the at least one eye (181; 182). The processing unit (170) also produces a control signal (DILL)>which is received by at least one light source (140). The at least one light source (140), in turn, emits at least one light beam (L) being variable, such that a spatial location of an illumination area (AILL) towards which at least one light beam (L) is directed depends on the characteristics of the control signal (CILL). Specifically, the processing unit (170) produces the control signal (CILL) so that the illumination area (AILL) includes a position estimate of the at least one eye (181; 182).
US08025402B2 Ophthalmic photographing apparatus
To provide an ophthalmic photographing apparatus capable of checking a measurement (photographing) position of a tomographic (cross-sectional) image of a fundus on a front (surface) image of the fundus.The ophthalmic photographing apparatus has a first optical system for obtaining a tomographic image of a fundus by optical coherence tomography using low coherent light, a second optical system for obtaining a visible front image of the fundus, a third optical system for obtaining an infrared front image of the fundus, a monitor, setting means which sets a line for obtaining a two-dimensional tomographic image of the fundus on the infrared front image displayed on the monitor, and control means which establishes a positional correspondence between the infrared front image on which the line is set and the visible front image, and displays a line on the visible front image displayed on the monitor.
US08025400B2 Pupilometer for pupil center drift and pupil size measurements at differing viewing distances
The present invention generally provides improved devices, systems, and methods for measuring characteristics of at least one eye, and particularly for measuring the physiological changes in eyes under different viewing conditions. An exemplary embodiment provides a pupilometer which measures any changes in location of a pupil center with changes in viewing distances. As the eye often moves significantly during viewing, the pupil center location will often be measured relative to a convenient reference of the eye such as an outer iris boundary. Pupil size may also be recorded, and the measurements from both eyes of a patient may be taken simultaneously. Exemplary embodiments may be configured so as to allow the vergence angle between the eyes to vary with differing viewing distances, regardless of whether one or both eyes are being measured.
US08025397B2 Retainers
Safety equipment includes both a securing apparatus for glasses or eyewear and having incorporated therein hearing protection devices. In particular, the hearing protection devices and the way in which they are connected may vary in numerous ways to provide flexible, simple, and convenient safety equipment.
US08025396B1 Magnetic eyewear latch mechanism
The present eyewear includes a pair of lenses, a pair of releasable connectors connected to respective inner ends of the lenses, a pair of temples pivotally connected to respective outer ends of the lenses and a rigid strap connected between rear ends of the temples. The strap is generally U-shaped having substantially parallel legs connected to an arc-shaped base, the substantially parallel legs being connected to rear ends of the temples and when worn, the arc-shaped base extends along the back of a user's head. A tab is permanently secured to one of the inner ends of the lenses or frames and upon joining the releasable connectors, extends to the other of the inner ends of the lenses or frames in order to stabilize the releasable connectors.
US08025395B2 Industrial safety goggles with frame for ophthalmic micas and impact protection mica
The invention relates to industrial safety goggles provided with permanent ophthalmic micas having a full impact protection mica positioned thereon, wherein said impact protection mica is made from polycarbonate, provides protection against ultraviolet rays and can be removed, thereby enabling the frames to be used as ophthalmic glasses. Said goggles include a ventilation area and the ophthalmic micas have an improved visual field owing to the design of the frame to which they are mounted and fixed using angular incisions in the frame. The frame is provided with an open space at both eyes between the mica and the end of the rim, which provides ventilation and prevents the fogging of the graduated micas. The sidepieces of the goggles are designed to curve at the ends thereof, so that the goggles can be put in place without the user having to remove his/her industrial safety helmet. In addition, said sidepieces are provided with removable pad which are press-fitted and which are joined by a cord that enables the goggles to be hung around the neck when not in use. Said cord takes the form of a resistance cord that can break should the goggles be impeded by any object that could cause an accident.
US08025394B2 Image recording apparatus
An image recording apparatus includes a recording head that records an image on a recording medium, and a conveyor having an adhesive area and a charged area, that is charged by a charging unit. The adhesive area and the charged area are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the conveyor and convey the recording medium supported on the outer circumferential surface of the conveyor in a conveying direction. A medium feeder supplies the recording medium to the conveyor.
US08025392B2 Recording apparatus having a movable blocking plate for trapping foreign substances
A recording apparatus with a conveying mechanism and a blocking member are described. The blocking member reduces foreign substances from soiling a unit or member located adjacent to or below the conveying mechanism. The conveying mechanism may be moved to a position permitting access to remove paper jams while the blocking member is located to permit the conveying mechanism to move to the position while continuing to reduce foreign substances from soiling the unit or member.
US08025391B2 Inkjet recording apparatus
There is disclosed an inkjet recording apparatus including a feeding device, a medium supply device, a remover, and an inkjet head. The feeding device includes a plurality of belt rollers and an endless feeder belt wound around the belt rollers. An outer circumferential surface of the feeder belt functions as a feeding surface on which a recording medium is held while the recording medium is fed. The medium supply device makes the recording medium held on a downward-facing surface of the feeder belt with a recording surface of the recording medium facing downward. The downward-facing surface is a portion of the feeding surface which faces downward. The remover removes foreign matter on the recording surface of the recording medium as being held on the downward-facing surface. The inkjet head has a nozzle from which a droplet of ink is ejected onto the recording surface of the recording medium as being held on an upward-facing surface of the feeder belt. The upward-facing surface is a portion of the feeding surface which faces upward.
US08025386B2 Inkjet recording apparatus
An inkjet recording apparatus having: a recording head including a nozzle row jetting ultraviolet curable ink on a substrate; and an LED light source including a plurality of LEDs disposed in the direction of the nozzle row, being electrically series-connected, and irradiating an ultraviolet light on ink having been jetted onto the substrate, wherein a total illuminance of two adjacent LEDs of the LED light source on a surface of the substrate is larger than an illuminance required for curing of the ink at an entire area of a section between each two adjacent LEDs, and a maximum of the total illuminance is set to be illuminance less than two times of a minimum of the total illuminance in the section between each two adjacent LEDs.
US08025380B2 Pagewidth inkjet printer cartridge with a refill port
A printer cartridge for an inkjet printer includes a body configured for user insertion in, and removal from, a cradle of the inkjet printer; a pagewidth printhead incorporated with the body, the pagewidth printhead having an array of nozzles for ejecting printing fluids onto a media substrate; a flexible membrane attached within the body and defining a plurality of pockets each serving as a printing fluid reservoir, each pocket of the flexible membrane being adapted to expand and contract with a volume of printing fluid stored therein; a cover molding for covering the body and sealing the flexible membrane within the body; and a refill port provided on the cover molding and having a plurality of inlets each respectively in fluid communication with one of the pockets, the refill port being configured to removably receive therein a refill cartridge.
US08025371B1 System and method for creating liquid droplet impact forced collapse of laser nanoparticle nucleated cavities
A device, method and system for causing a controlled collapse of cavities formed within liquid droplets wherein a pressurized jet comprising a liquid and nanoparticle material produces droplets from the breakup of the jet stream. The liquid droplets may be irradiated with energy to produce and expand cavities formed within the droplets by irradiation of the nanoparticles contained within the droplets or alternatively, a volatile fluid with or without a metal nanoparticle may form the cavity. The droplets are collided with a target to collapse the cavities within the droplets. The irradiating (if provided) and colliding are timed to enhance implosion energy resulting from the cavities' collapse. The implosion energy and the fuel in the cavity may be used to activate and sustain a fusion reaction or from any other purposes.
US08025366B2 Inkjet printhead with nozzle layer defining etchant holes
An inkjet printhead for an inkjet printer includes a wafer substrate defining an ink supply channel therethrough; side wall portions extending away from a surface of the wafer substrate; a nozzle layer supported on the side wall portions and extending parallel to the surface of the wafer substrate, the nozzle layer and the side wall portions defining an array of nozzle chambers, the nozzle layer defining ink ejection ports and etchant holes, the etchant holes being of sufficient diameter to retain ink in the nozzle chamber by surface tension; and a plurality of thermal actuators cantilevered on the wafer substrate, each thermal actuator being respectively positioned in a nozzle chambers to partition the nozzle chamber. A portion of each thermal actuator facing away from a respective ink ejection port is hydrophobic to facilitate the forming of an air bubble between the thermal actuator and the wafer substrate.
US08025362B2 Liquid discharge method, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus
A liquid discharge head is arranged in a manner that in the cross-section of a discharge port in a liquid discharge direction, the discharge port includes at least one projection that is convex inside the discharge port; a first area, for holding a liquid surface connecting a pillar-shaped liquid that is elongated outside the discharge port; and second areas where a fluid resistance is lower than that in the first area so as to pull the liquid in the discharge port in a direction opposite to the liquid discharge direction. The first area is formed in the direction in which the projection is convex, and the second areas are formed on both sides of the projection.
US08025357B2 Fluid ejecting apparatus and ejecting head maintenance method
A method for maintaining a fluid ejecting apparatus including an ejecting head that has an ejecting surface in which a plurality of ejecting ports that eject fluid are formed, and a maintenance portion that performs maintenance processing to recover the ejection of fluid from the ejecting ports and that has a cap member and a wiping member. The method includes performing capping processing to put the cap member on the ejecting surface and to suck, and then wiping processing to wipe the ejecting surface with the wiping member, and performing the capping processing again and then waiting a predetermined time without performing the wiping processing.
US08025352B2 Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method
An ink jet printing apparatus is provided which is capable of producing an image with a good balance between image quality and printing speed, without unduly shortening a longevity of a print head, even when an odd-numbered-pass bidirectional printing is performed. To this end, during a bidirectional multi-pass printing with a relatively small number of passes, a stepping mask is used to eliminate image problems caused by a difference in print permitted ratio between forward scan and backward scan. During a bidirectional multi-pass printing with a relatively large number of passes, a flat mask is used to give priority to suppressing density unevenness resulting from nozzle characteristic variations. As a result, the printing apparatus as a whole can produce an image with a good balance between image quality and printing speed, without unduly shortening a longevity of the print head.
US08025351B2 Recording apparatus having carriage guide members for maintainig parallelism between a recording head and recording medium
A recording apparatus includes guide rails that each control the posture of a carriage at an arbitrary recording position by being in contact with the carriage. The guide rails are disposed on respective sides of a guide shaft in a direction in which a recording medium is conveyed. The length of a gap between the recording medium and the carriage is selectable between a case where the carriage is in contact with one of the guide rails and a case where the carriage is in contact with the other guide rail. Such a configuration provides a compact and low-cost recording apparatus capable of performing recording on recording media having various thicknesses by appropriately adjusting the gap between the carriage and any of the recording medium while maintaining the parallelism therebetween.
US08025342B2 Close proximity grinder
A close proximity pavement grinder is utilized for grinding close to a raised structure such as a lower surface of curbs close to the curb wall. The grinding apparatus utilizes a wide grinding head with grinding blades mounted along the length of an arbor to grind the lower surface of the curb in a single pass. The grinder includes a narrow bearing and support at the outer end of the arbor and is driven at the inner end so that the grinding may be conducted within close proximity of the curb wall. The grinder has a pivoting grinding head that can be locked at various angles relative to the grinder to match the relative angles between the pavement and the lower surface of the curb.
US08025338B2 Adjustable head restraint system for an automotive vehicle seat
A support structure of a head restraint system for an automotive vehicle seat includes an actuator configured to be actuated by an occupant. A locking arrangement is disposable within a back of the vehicle seat and is configured to selectively secure the support structure relative to the back of the vehicle seat. At least a portion of the locking arrangement is operatively associated with the actuator.
US08025336B2 Dental chair
A dental chair for supporting a patient during examination and the performance of procedures on the patient includes a patient support having a seat and a back, a base adapted to engage a floor surface, and a lift arm. The lift arm has a first end pivotally coupled to support structure at a first, terminal end of the base for rotation about a pivot axis defined by the support structure. A second end of the lift arm is coupled to the patient support.
US08025331B2 Roof assembly for a storage container
A roof assembly is provided for a storage container having two opposing side walls that together define a length of the storage container. The roof assembly includes a plurality of roof panels arranged atop and between the two opposing side walls along the length of the storage container in side-by-side relationship. Each of the plurality of roof panels has opposite sides and opposite ends. Each of the opposite ends of the plurality of roof panels is configured to be secured to a top of a corresponding one of the two opposing side walls of the storage container. Each of the opposite sides of each of the plurality of roof panels is configured to be attached to the side of an adjacent one of the plurality of roof panels.
US08025329B1 Collapsible airfoil for trucks and trailers
The purpose of the device is to minimize drag and turbulence otherwise occurring at the rear of a semi trailer, in order to reduced the consumption of fuel by a semi tractor. This is accomplished using directionally flexible sheets of composite material, which create contours that taper towards a terminating edge to form a teardrop shape, as established by panels attached to the top and bottom of either door. Along the trailing edge of the main body, another vertical panel known as a wake separator maintains separation between confliction columns of air. An additional wake separator attached to the bottom of the device performs a similar function, and will facilitate collapse in the event of a collision.
US08025325B1 All terrain retrieval vehicle for medical emergencies
A vehicle for fighting fires, retrieving hazardous materials, performing rescues and providing emergency medical services in remote areas comprises an all terrain vehicle suitably equipped for the task it is intended to carry out. As a vehicle for retrieving hazardous materials, it is equipped with a crane (202) to lift a container (204) of waste onto its deck (206). For emergency medical services and searches and rescues, it has a full length protective wire mesh (252) over driver and occupants and a stretcher (254) elevated on cabinetry (258) so that the stretcher extends over the seat back to fit within the confines of the mesh.
US08025321B2 Device for actuating a lock integrated in a door, hatch, or similar, especially in a vehicle
A device for actuating a lock mounted in a door includes a handle with a bearing extension at one end, which can be installed from the exterior of the door in a bracket mounted in the interior of the door. A two-part electrical control unit has one control unit located in the handle and a second control unit in the vehicle. Electrical wiring with two sections, which are connected to each other by an electrical coupling part and a mating coupling part, extends between the two parts of the control unit. A receptacle for the electrical coupling part is provided in the bearing extension of the handle. The mating coupling part at the end of one section of wiring projects out through the opening in the exterior panel of the door and is fitted into the coupling part of the handle before the handle is installed. When the handle is to be installed, a common structural unit is available, composed of the handle, the coupling part, and the mating coupling part. When the handle is actuated as intended after installation, its pivot axis serves simultaneously as the axis of rotation for the coupling part and the mating coupling part, which are connected to each other.
US08025313B2 Suspension subframe structure of vehicle
Disclosed is a suspension subframe structure of a vehicle, which is capable of improving the overall rigidity of a suspension subframe to effectively receive input loads from suspension arms, while reducing the overall weight of the suspension subframe. The suspension subframe structure for supporting a plurality of suspension arms 14, 16 of a multi-link suspension system comprises first and second lateral members 20, 22 each extending in a lateral direction of the vehicle body, a pair of longitudinal members each extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and right and left inclined members 28 each having one end which is located on the side of a respective one of right and left ends of the first lateral member and provided with an upper-arm support portion and a lower-arm support portion, wherein each of the right and left inclined members extends obliquely relative to the lateral direction in top plan view to connect the upper-arm support portion and the lower-arm support portion with a laterally intermediate portion of the second lateral member.
US08025312B1 Agricultural header transport kit
An agricultural header assembly broadly includes a header and a header transport assembly. The header is disposed in a transport orientation when a rigid beam thereof is out of vertical alignment with the header center of gravity. The transport assembly includes first and second pairs of spaced apart wheels shiftably connected to the rigid beam for movement between a transport position and a field position. The first and second pairs of wheels define respective first and second midpoints therebetween when in the transport position. The first and second midpoints are each disposed in general vertical alignment with the header center of gravity when the header is in the transport orientation to substantially balance the header on the transport assembly.
US08025311B2 Air-bag
An air-bag comprising: a circumferential wall including facing wall portions which define a free inflation portion in which a distance between the facing wall portions is not controlled and a distance controlled portion in which a distance between the facing wall portions is controlled; and a tether including two edges on each of which a seam margin is provided, both seam margins has a linear stitch which joins the seam margin with the corresponding facing wall portion and controls a distance between the facing wall portions of the distance controlled portion, and at least one of the seam margins has a curved stitch which is continued from an end of the liner stitch and provided at least at one end of the seam margin. The curved stitch forms a gradually expanding portion between the free inflation portion and the distance controlled portion, which gradually expands in an outward direction perpendicular to the facing wall portions.
US08025310B2 Airbag module
An airbag module for a motor vehicle includes a gas sack that can be inflated with gas to protect an occupant, a gas generator for generating the gas provided for inflating the gas sack, and an additional cooling device comprising an openable reservoir for storing a coolant. The reservoir is opened when the gas sack is inflated, so that the coolant for cooling the gas used to inflate the gas sack can come into contact with the gas. The cooling device comprises a movement generating device that opens the reservoir to release the coolant.
US08025309B2 Curtain airbag
An airbag module for use in a vehicle includes a gas generator and a side airbag coupled to the gas generator and configured to deploy upon receiving gas from the gas generator. The side airbag includes a main body extending along a ceiling of the vehicle configured to restrain a head of a vehicle occupant when the airbag is deployed and an extended portion extending from the main body in a downwards direction and configured to restrain at least a portion of a torso of the vehicle occupant when the airbag is deployed. The extended portion is at least partially tucked into the main body and the airbag is folded in a Z pattern and rolled when the airbag is installed. The tuck of the extended portion and the folds of the main body control the deployment angle of the main body and extended portion.
US08025308B2 Curtain airbag
A curtain airbag assembly comprises an inflatable curtain airbag configured to prevent egress of an occupant out of a window during a collision or rollover event. When the curtain airbag is inflated, a bottom edge of the curtain airbag extends below a window sill in a vehicle. A distance the inflated curtain airbag extends below the window sill is greater than a radius of curvature of the inflated curtain airbag.
US08025304B2 Drive mechanisms for human-powered machines
An improved power transfer mechanism for use on a human-powered machine, adapted to be drivingly connected to a power take-off device of said machines, includes: a housing adapted in use, to be disposed within a frame of said human-powered machine; at least one crankshaft adapted to be disposed within said housing; respective left-side and right-side crank arms each adapted to be drivingly associated with an end of said at least one crankshaft; and drive transfer means adapted to co-operate with said at least one crankshaft and each associated crank arm, the arrangement being such that a first member of the group comprising and left-side and right-side crank arms and said power take-off device is adapted to be attached to said at least one crankshaft, such that each of the second and third of said members is adapted to be rotatable relative to said first of said members, and each other, only to a limited and controlled degree, whilst not be movable axially or in a longitudinal direction relative to said at least one crankshaft.
US08025298B2 Sideways-moving ice skate
An ice skate whose blade is disposed at an angle not parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boot. The blade may be fixed in this position, or it may be switchable between the nonparallel orientation of the present invention and the parallel orientation typical of traditional ice skates. A pair of sideways-moving skates may be propelled by moving them in an oscillating motion.
US08025297B2 Bellows with alternating layers of high and low compliance material for dynamic applications
A bellows has a generally tubular elongated bellows body. The bellows body is defined by a wall generally enclosing a volume. The wall has a generally cylindrical inner surface and a generally cylindrical outer surface. The bellows body is formed by alternating layers of low compliance material and high compliance material. The cross sectional shape and dimension of the bellows body are generally constant between the first and second ends.
US08025294B2 Card shuffler with card rank and value reading capability
A card shuffling device includes a top surface, a card receiving area for receiving an initial set of playing cards, a randomizing or arranging system for the initial set of playing cards, a collection surface in a card collection area for receiving randomized playing cards, the collection surface receiving cards positioned so that all cards collected are below the top surface of the device, and an elevator for raising the collection surface so that at least some randomized cards are elevated above the top surface of the device. An automatic card shuffler includes a microprocessor with memory. An automated calibration system is provided that calibrates the precise position of the card supporting platform on the elevator so that precise insertion of cards can be performed during card handling procedures.
US08025293B1 Air hockey table
Air hockey tables are disclosed herein. An embodiment of an air hockey table comprises a playing surface bounded by at least three sides; a plurality of air paths extending through the playing surface, wherein air is emittable by the plurality of air paths, and wherein a puck is at least partially floatable on air that is emittable by the plurality of air paths; and at least one opening proximate each of three of the sides, the openings being sized to receive the puck.
US08025292B2 Transport apparatus and recording apparatus
A transport apparatus includes: a transport roller unit that includes a drive transport roller and a driven transport roller to transport a transported medium to a downstream side of a transport direction; a driven roller holder that rotatably holds the driven transport roller; a support member that supports the driven roller holder and allows it to swing; a load applying resilient member that applies a load to the driven transport roller by being resiliently deformed in a direction along which the driven transport roller approaches the drive transport roller; and an engaging member that is provided separately from the support member to bear the load by engaging with the load applying resilient member.
US08025290B2 Image forming device and a combination of a fixing device and a sheet jamming determination device
An image forming device including a pair of fixing rollers, a sheet guide unit displaceable to one of first and second positions, a position detector detecting a position of the sheet guide unit, first and second sheet sensors respectively detecting the sheet at a first fixed position upstream of the fixing rollers and at a second fixed position downstream of the fixing rollers, and a control unit including a determination unit and a determination part. The determination unit includes a retrieving part that retrieves first and second threshold time periods when the position detector detects the first and second positions, respectively. The determination part determines whether a first or second time period starting from detecting by the first sheet sensor and ending when detecting by the second sheet sensor are within the first and second threshold time periods, respectively, when the position detector detects the first and second positions, respectively.
US08025289B2 Recording apparatus performing skew correction
A recording apparatus is capable of reliably correcting skew feeding of a recording sheet in an arrangement for conveying the recording sheet absorbed by a belt surface. The recording apparatus includes: a driving roller for driving the conveying belt wound around the driving roller and electrically charging the conveying belt by application of a voltage; and a pinching roller abutting against the driving roller via the conveying belt. A pinching section, which is formed by the driving roller and the pinching roller, corrects skew feeding of the recording sheet fed from the paper feed section and thereafter the voltage is applied to the driving roller to electrically charge the conveying belt.
US08025288B2 Conveying device and image forming apparatus
A conveying device that conveys a recording medium includes an aligning member into which the leading edge of a recording medium bumps and a control unit that changes conveyance speed of the recording medium moving on a conveying path to bump into the aligning member.
US08025286B2 Document feeder flag assembly
An improved document feeder flag assembly is disclosed. The improved document feeder flag assembly allows single handed, on the fly loading of a document sorter. A method for loading a document sorting machine with a single hand, while the method of operating the machine is also disclosed. The document feeder flag assembly includes a baseplate and a pivot post attached to the baseplate. Further, the assembly includes a flag arm having a first side and a second side, the first side of the flag arm is attached to the pivot post. There is also a feeder flag having a first side and a second side, the first side of the feeder flag being attached to a second side of the flag arm. The document feeder flag assembly also includes a resistance device attached between the feeder flag and the flag arm.
US08025281B2 Sheet post-finishing apparatus and image forming apparatus using the same
In a sheet post-finishing apparatus, a stapling device conducts a saddle stitching process on a bundle of sheets, based on an instruction signal; a sheet guide member, mounted on the stapling device, faces a surface of a sheet to be stacked on a sheet stacking section; a stapling device moving section allows the stapling device to move along a line dividing the sheet into two equal portions, perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction; and a control section controls the stapling device to stand by above a lateral center of the sheet to be conveyed to the stapling device, while the sheets are stacked as the bundle of sheets, and after the bundle of sheets is formed, the control section controls the stapling device to sequentially move to predetermined plural positions, whereby said control section sends the instruction signal to the stapling device which was stopped at the predetermined positions.
US08025276B2 Mandrel to facilitate thin sheet fabrication
A mandrel 1 includes a top support 10, a first edge support 20, a bottom support 30, and a second edge support 40. The top support and first edge support make-up a first support section. The bottom support and second edge support make-up a second support section. The first support section and the second support section are disposed relative to one another so as to form an outer circumference. A jack 50 is coupled to the first and second support sections and is configured to move the first and second support sections relative to one another so as to adjust the outer circumference of the mandrel. A locking element 60 removably is coupled to the first and second support sections to selectively prevent relative movement between the first and second support sections.
US08025275B2 Single hand operated ratchet clamp
A single hand operated ratchet clamp comprises a finger ring lever and a typical ratchet clamp having a slide rail, a sliding arm, a fixed arm, and a lever element with pressure plate. The finger ring lever is pivoted to the free end of the lever element so that the ratchet clamp can be operated with one hand only.
US08025274B2 Insert bearing part, elastomeric insert bearing and shock strut bearing assembly
In an insert bearing part for combining with another insert bearing part structured the same or similar to form an elastomeric insert bearing there is provided a surrounding outer shell featuring a radial portion and an axial portion, an elastomeric body surrounded by the outer shell and a rigid core with an axial throughway for securing the insert bearing, said core protruding axially beyond the axial portion such that when locating the insert bearing part on the other insert bearing part structured the same or similar, the insert bearing parts contact each other substantially at the radial level of the core in forming an axial spacing between opposing axial portions of the insert bearing parts so that the elastomeric body is compressed by the insert bearing parts being brought together.
US08025273B2 Liquid-filled anti-vibration mounting device
In a liquid-filled anti-vibration mounting device suitable such as for an engine mount, an accommodation room containing a rubber movable plate is formed inside a partition member partitioning a liquid chamber into a pressure receiving chamber and a balancing chamber. The partition member includes a pair of division walls, one adjoining the pressure receiving chamber and the other adjoining the balancing chamber. Each division wall is formed with a plurality of communication holes. The communication holes are arranged to undulate at least a portion of the movable plate towards the peripheral edge thereof at specified circumferential intervals or greater by the action of the liquid pressure through the communication holes. The movable plate thus deformed, particularly its portion towards the peripheral edge, has a small area to come into contact with the division walls at a time, which effectively disperses and lessens a shock due to contact.
US08025272B2 Air spring and damper unit having a pilot-controlled main valve
An air spring and damper unit for vehicles has, as operating spaces, at least two pressure spaces filled with compressed air and connected to one another via flow channels. The pressure spaces have movable walls in the form of rolling bellows or folding bellows, wherein a pilot-controlled main valve which can be loaded with a control pressure on the low-pressure side is configured at least in one flow direction in a first flow channel.
US08025268B2 Manual valve
A manual valve comprises a valve element, a rod connected to the valve element, and a knob for moving the rod by screw feeding in an opening/closing direction with respect to the valve element. The valve element is moved by rotation of the knob through the rod. The rod includes an external thread portion on an outer periphery thereof and is not connected to the knob and is held against rotation. Further, the manual valve includes a cylindrical sliding nut rotatably held by a body and formed with an internal thread portion to be engaged with the external thread portion of the rod on its inner periphery and a clip fixed to the knob to be elastically deformably engaged with the sliding nut but disengaged when a larger torque than the predetermined value is applied.
US08025264B2 Display support device
A display support device is provided, which is disposed at a rear surface of a display, such that the display is able to be suspended on a main support bracket arranged at a wall. The support bracket disclosed in the present invention is provided with one more hooks, for connecting the support bracket to the support bracket body. Furthermore, a positioning bar having a fastening function is pivoted on the support bracket body, so as to fasten the support bracket to a contact surface of the main support bracket by means of the positioning bar after being connected to the main support bracket, such that the main support bracket can be more firmly positioned, thus preventing the support bracket from releasing from the main support bracket due to vibration, and improving the fastness and safety in use.
US08025261B2 Combination stand and jack for wire spools
A stand used for supporting spools of wire and the like includes a cam which is operable to increase the length of a leg to thereby raise the spool of wire off of the ground. The stand is adjustable to allow its use with different sizes of spools of wire. The stand allows a single person to raise a spool of wire weighing thousands of pounds off of the ground and support the same to allow the spool to rotate freely upon an axle.
US08025260B2 Sample device with turntable
A sample device to be inserted inside an external tube, having a substantially circular cross-section, may carry a substantially circular plate as part of a turntable to be rotated within the external tube around two substantially orthogonal axes. An embodiment of the sample device may include two substantially coaxial tubes, with the turntable being supported by the outer tube, and two meshing gears, with the first gear being connected to the inner tube and the second gear being connected to the turntable. Another embodiment may include a special cable guide being connected with its first end with the turntable and its second end, being substantially perpendicular to the first end, with the supporting means, with the inner tube, the outer tube and/or the cable guide being connected with a driving unit. Preferably, the surface of the plate to be rotated within the external tube is maximized.
US08025258B2 Electrical wire bracket device
An electrical wire bracket including a body having an open loop and at least one mounting foot coupled to the body. The bracket also includes at least one hole through the at least one mounting foot for securing the bracket to a mounting surface. A user can pull electrical wire through the open loop of the body and then allow the body to support the electrical wire.
US08025255B2 Aircraft piloting method and device for picking up a vertical profile of a flight plan
An aircraft piloting method and device for picking up a vertical profile of a flight plan. The device combines a manual piloting device that enables a pilot to control the start of the picking-up of a vertical profile and an automatic piloting device for automatically ending the vertical profile picking-up and following the vertical profile.
US08025251B2 Reinforcing bar binding machine, wire reel, wire, and method of determining kind of wire
A wire reel containing portion 3 of a reinforcing bar binding machine 1 is provided with a rotation detecting lever 8 and a photosensor 7. When a wire reel is rotated in starting to bind a wire, rotation thereof is detected by the rotation detecting lever switched ON/OFF by a projected portion formed at a side face of the wire reel, the photosensor detects a reflection mark of the wire reel to determine a kind of the wire from a number of the marks, and a twist torque or the like is controlled. Wire information is detected not in an initializing operation (in setting wire) of rotating the wire reel at low speed but in a binding operation of rotating at high speed and therefore, an amount of swinging the rotation detecting lever is large and wire information can firmly be detected.
US08025249B2 Bi-directional trimmer head spool with curved trimmer line guide
In an embodiment, a spool for a trimmer head has a structure for guiding the trimmer line around a region for a driveshaft. In an embodiment, a component (e.g., a turn knob or a stop) is attached to the spool so that after determining the orientation in which to install the spool, the user is unlikely to install the spool in another orientation, even though the spool is invertible. In an embodiment, the turn knob also includes a structure that allows the turn knob to be used as a tool (e.g., as a wrench or screw driver) that facilitates disassembling the trimmer head.
US08025246B1 Combined mailbox shredder apparatus
The combined shredder mailbox apparatus provides a single case having a mailbox with downwardly pivoted door positioned above a drawer. The shredder is disposed within the case between the mailbox and the drawer. The apparatus thereby allows a user to shred unwanted mail items rather than carry them elsewhere for disposal. Typical electrical plug, the solar panel and battery, or both can power the apparatus. The heavy duty shredder can shred up to 10 folded sheets or paper at once. The shredder can also shred credit cards and the like and compact discs.
US08025245B2 Material spreader with integrated wetting system
A material spreader having a hopper for containing material and a liquid tank containing liquid adjacent the hopper. The liquid tank has a passage extending from the hopper through the tank with a discharge opening. An auger extends through the hopper and passage for conveying material to the outlet for delivery to a spinner for distributing the material. At least one nozzle is mounted in the passage for spraying liquid onto the material as it is being conveyed through the passage.
US08025241B2 Hollow sleeper
In the case of a hollow sleeper (1) for adjusting devices of switch blades of railway points, movable common crossings or cable crossings in any desired sections of track and points, formed as an upwardly open hollow sleeper profile with a planar sleeper underside (2), for fitting in a track skeleton, wherein the cross-sectional width and height are made to match a normal concrete, wooden or steel sleeper, the positional stability on ballast can be improved if the sleeper underside (2) of the hollow sleeper (1) is formed with at least one sunken, downwardly open chamber (5).
US08025239B2 Multiple image security features for identification documents and methods of making same
An identification document manufacturing method makes an identification document with an optically variable security feature by forming a lens structure in the document's lamination layer along with image information. The method provides image information arranged to include at least two different images. The method uses pressure to form a lens profile in a laminate, including combining the laminate with ink representing the image information to form the document. The document is formed together with the laminate and ink such that the lens profile enables display of the at least two different images when the document is viewed at different predetermined angles. An information bearing document comprises a core layer, an image layer depicting at least two different images, and a laminate layer. The laminate layer is pressed on the core layer such that it forms a lens profile that enables display of the at least two different images when the document is viewed at different predetermined angles.
US08025235B2 Progressively degrading synthetic markers
There is described a synthetic marker encoding data, the synthetic marker comprising an information payload represented by bits encoded along a spectrum, each of the bits having a priority level assigned thereto ranging from high to low, bits having lower priority levels being encoded along an end of the spectrum which is successively lost with progressively degrading marker viewing conditions compared to bits having higher priority levels.
US08025231B2 Tag reader
A hand held electronic detector is provided for detecting the presence/absence and/or nature of a mark on an article (not shown) such as a security mark. The article may comprise a product, such as for example a pack of cigarettes. The detector comprises a case or body of strong rigid plastics material. The case comprises front and rear parts and which are connected together by concealed hinges, at their lower edges, so that the parts and can move hingedly between a closed configuration and a fully open configuration, in which the front and rear parts are angularly spaced by approximately 180°. There is a further defined intermediate open configuration in which the front and rear parts and are angularly spaced by approximately 90° . . . . When opening the case from the closed position the hinges ‘lock’ when the front and rear parts reach this intermediate position. The hinges will only ‘unlock’, so that the case can be opened further or closed, if sufficient force is applied. Relative movement of the case parts and to the fully open configuration shown in FIG. 2 is limited by hinges. In an open configuration the detector presents an article-locating station comprising a mounting surface for receiving an article, and alignment means, located on the mounting surface, which in this case is a marked line on the mounting surface with which the security mark should be aligned.
US08025230B2 System and method for prioritizing visually aimed threats for laser-based countermeasure engagement
The present invention increases the survivability of a helicopter by prioritizing a threat engagement sequence for a laser-based countermeasure system based on the determined relative lethality of each detected visually trained threat (e.g., small arms fire). The system and method defines a plurality of threat effectiveness merit factors, or lethality factors, that are determinable from available helicopter navigation and sensor data, to quantify the danger associated with each detected threat. The system and method then combines the defined lethality factors using a mathematical function, such as a merit function, to numerically quantify the level of threat posed by each threat. The calculated threat values for each of the detected threats are compared to prioritize the threats for engagement by a laser-based countermeasure system, such as a Visual Acquisition Disrupter (VAD) system.
US08025226B1 Enhanced vehicle identification card
A vehicle identification card is provided to an insured that includes proof of automotive insurance information and charge account information. The card may include an insurance policy covering the insured's vehicle, the VIN number of the vehicle, and other information about the vehicle such as the vehicle's make and model. The card may include account information that allows the card to be used like a credit card. The card may further include means for wirelessly updating information and providing a display to the user, which includes, but is not limited to, a housing, a memory module, a processor, one or more displays, and a power source.
US08025225B2 Merchandise registration processing system
When obtaining an ID code from a user who holds out an arm to a corresponding merchandise in a noncontact manner, respective information terminal devices accept a registration input of the corresponding merchandise. When accepting the registration input of the corresponding merchandise, registration merchandise information including obtained user identification information and merchandise identification information for identifying the merchandise corresponding to the information terminal device is transmitted to a server device. The server device stores and manages merchandise sales information for the respective ID codes from the registration merchandise information received from the respective information terminal devices. When the ID code is input from a settlement device, the merchandise sales information corresponding to the ID code is transmitted to the settlement device. The settlement device performs the settlement processing based on the merchandise sales information received from the server device.
US08025220B2 Cardholder localization based on transaction data
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for cardholder localization based on transaction data. In general, a determination of one or more possible base locations of a cardholder of a payment card may be initiated. Transactions of the cardholder may be associated with merchant customer base location profiles, where each of the merchant customer base location profiles models a distribution of base locations of customers with which a merchant has had a transaction. The one or more possible cardholder base locations may be derived from the merchant customer base location profiles. The one or more possible cardholder base locations may be used to determine a home or office location of a cardholder where such information is not otherwise available, to determine whether a cardholder has moved from a stated address, to determine if a cardholder has multiple residences, to detect fraud, and the like.
US08025216B2 System and method for checkless cash advance settlement
A method for conducting a checkless cash advance settlement is provided, including the following steps: (1) a customer initiates a Debit or Credit POS transaction via a gaming machine; (2) the customer receives authorization or denial; (3) the customer provides his identification and the credit/debit card to a cashier/attendant at the gaming station; (4) the cashier or attendant validates the customer's identity, retrieves the transaction information, and completes the cash advance application; (5) the application prints a non-negotiable instrument, such as a transaction receipt; (6) the customer signs the receipt confirming the transaction with a physical receipt or electronic capture; (7) the receipt image is stored electronically for subsequent transmittal to a central server; (8) the transaction information, including the receipt image if applicable, is recorded on the central server; and (9) the central server generates an ACH file and electronically transmits the ACH file to the casino's designated financial institution.
US08025214B1 Cash handling device having integrated controller
A cash recycler or other currency handling device includes an integrated controller located within the cash recycler. The integrated controller provides enhanced security and compatibility in cash recycler or other currency handling devices. For example, by using an integrated controller that is pre-configured according to the components of the cash handling device, no additional configuration may be needed and compatibility issues may be reduced or eliminated altogether. In addition, the controller may include a user interface, such as a touch-sensitive display, for receiving user input regarding cash transactions at the cash handling device.
US08025213B2 Automatic settlement of user account with creditor from transaction kiosk
A transaction kiosk collects cash from a user and then electronically negotiates with the user's creditor to settle a balance on an account with the creditor. The bank recognizes the cash deposited in the transaction kiosk by the user as security for the settlement amount. The cash deposited in the transaction kiosk is considered a cash asset owned by the bank and available to satisfy depositor claims. A transaction processor brokers the transaction between the user of the transaction kiosk, the surety bank, and the creditor.
US08025211B2 Systems and methods of production, distribution, logistics, and printing of tickets
Systems and methods for the production, distribution, logistics and printing of lottery tickets are disclosed. A central server provides a ticket combination and identifying variable data in response to a request from a computing system terminal. The terminal receives combination and variable data and issues commands for the printing of the same on a plurality of tickets. The tickets comprise a substratum capable of being printed upon at high speeds and colors and images. The printing may be performed at a point of sale. Prior to printing, the plurality of tickets may be imprinted with information related to marketing and appearance. Additionally, prior to the printing, the plurality of tickets do not have a combination or identifying variable data serving to identify the plurality of tickets.
US08025208B2 Bulk container for liquid and semi-liquid fluid
A bulk container for storing, shipping and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid fluids comprises a bin having a sidewall, a closed bottom, and an open top. The sidewall comprises a plurality of interconnected sidewall panels extending at an angle with respect to one another. A lid is covering the open top of the bin and having a discharge opening therethrough adjacent one side edge thereof. A fluid-containing bag is supported in the bin and a discharge valve is on an upper end of the bag where the discharge valve is positioned to extend through the discharge opening. Valve support means in an upper end of the bin for supporting and holding the discharge valve in position to extend through the discharge opening, the valve support means having a valve support opening therethrough with an elongate generally keyhole shape that is wide at one end and narrow at the other end, the narrow end being aligned with the discharge opening through the lid, the discharge valve being received through the narrow end of the valve support opening, and locking means engaged with the discharge valve to hold it in the narrow end of the valve support opening.
US08025207B1 Material-saving pizza box
A pizza box and blank having a unique cover-locking structure comprising (a) a tab extending from a front end edge of a panel of a side wall assembly and (b) a tab engaging edge disposed in or on a cover assembly. A main advantage is a cover-locking structure that provides ease of use and secure cover closure, along with possible material savings.
US08025206B2 Bulk container for liquid and semi-liquid fluid
A bulk container for fluid materials comprises a bin having a plurality of interconnected sidewall panels, a closed bottom, and an open top. A rim around the top of the bin defines a downwardly facing shoulder. A lid covers the open top and has elongated depending skirt panels extending downwardly past the shoulder. A clamping band is tightened around the lid skirt below the shoulder to secure the lid to the bin. Notches in an outer surface of the rim receive bendable locking strips on the lid skirt to lock the lid in position on the bin, and locking tongues on a first skirt panel are engageable in respective locking slots in an adjacent second skirt panel to hold the skirt panels in their operative downwardly folded positions. A tray and liner insert may be positioned in the bin, and a fluid-containing bag may be placed in the liner.
US08025205B2 Electronic component mounting method
By an electronic component mounting method for electrically connecting bumps to board electrodes, in a contact process for placing a thermosetting resin in a liquid glob state on the board surface and bringing the lower surface of the electronic component into contact with the thermosetting resin, the bumps are pressurized against the electrodes in positional alignment in a liquid glob distribution state where one portion of the liquid glob is arranged inside an electronic component mounting region and a remaining portion greater in liquid measure than the one portion is arranged outside the electronic component mounting region. The thermosetting resin enters into a gap between the electronic component and the board by capillarity in a thermocompression bonding process. This prevents voids occurring in the sealing resin, reinforces bonded portions of bumps and electrodes with thermally cured thermosetting resin, thereby preventing bonded portion breakage due to thermal stress generated during cooling.
US08025202B2 Method for manufacturing sealed battery
A sealed battery includes an ultrasonic fusion process whereby layers of a positive electrode substrate exposed portion are ultrasonically fused to form a positive electrode fused portion at the positive electrode substrate exposed portion, and layers of a negative electrode substrate exposed portion are ultrasonically fused to form a negative electrode fused portion at the negative electrode substrate exposed portion; and an electrode body formation process whereby a high-energy beam is directed at the positive electrode fused portion to weld a positive electrode collector to the positive electrode fused portion, and a high-energy beam is directed at the negative electrode fused portion to weld a negative electrode collector to the negative electrode fused portion, thus forming an electrode body in which a positive electrode collector is welded to one end of the electrode group and a negative electrode collector is welded to the other end.
US08025200B2 Friction stir welding machine and friction stir welding tool
A friction stir welding machine is provided that is adapted to perform solid phase welding on a welding portion of materials to be welded, by pressing a welding tool against the welding portion of the materials to be welded while rotating the welding tool, and forcing the welding tool to be advanced into a softened portion which is softened by a frictional heat while stirring the softened portion, wherein a coating made of aluminum nitride is formed on at least a region of the welding tool to be in contact with the materials to be welded.
US08025198B2 Anastomosis instrument and method for performing same
A surgical instrument for creating an anastomosis includes a housing, a handle extending from the housing and a fastener support member extending distally from the housing. The fastener support member is configured and dimensioned to releasably support a plurality of surgical fasteners. The instrument further includes a tissue retaining mechanism which is selectively movable from a first position relative to the fastener support member to a second position in closer proximity with the fastener support member such that tissue disposed adjacent to the fastener support member is retained thereagainst. Upon actuation of the handle, a fastener firing mechanism simultaneously deforms the plurality of surgical fasteners to complete the anastomosis.
US08025193B1 Rifle holder device
A rifle holder device for supporting a rifle in a position that is easy to grab for taking a shot is described. The holder device lets a hunter or shooting enthusiast carry a rifle with its weight supported on either his right or left hip. Rifles are rather heavy weapons. Should the hunter or shooting enthusiast carry one in his hands or arms for an extended period of time, his muscles can get fatigued. This makes it more difficult to get off an accurate shot in a timely manner. However, the present holder device puts most of the rifle's weight on the hunter's hip, thereby freeing his hands and arms from having to carry the rifle until it's time to take a shoot. Further, the present holder device is adjustable for carrying rifles of many different sizes.
US08025190B2 Upgraded ironing machine for ironing trousers
Upgraded ironing machine, particularly for ironing trousers, comprising a supporting structure (2) of at least two substantially vertical pressing plates (3), arranged so they are facing each other and moving from a home configuration, wherein the pressing plates are substantially a long way from each other, and a working configuration wherein the pressing plates are substantially close together, at least one ironing plate (4) substantially vertical and interposable between the pressing plates in the working configuration, at least one supporting element of at least one pair of trousers positionable with the legs laid respectively on the opposite sides of the ironing plate and automated positioning means of the trousers with respect to the ironing plate.
US08025188B2 Powder feed system
A fine powder is reliably dispensed from a hopper into containers on a moving conveyor belt with the assistance of a powder feed system. The hopper serves as a powder inlet that dispenses by gravity into a feed chamber that is form fitted to the sweep of a relatively slow rotating feed wheel with two spaced sets of pins. A relatively fast rotating agitator is located below the feed wheel which has a series of agitating blades that rotate between the span of the feed wheel pins, the blades in at least one embodiment resemble a J-shape. The agitator is located directly above a rotary trap chamber wheel, which has recesses that take doses of powder and dispense them into awaiting containers moving on a conveyor belt below.
US08025187B2 In-store combined sample dispenser and merchandising product display
A combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display and related method is provided herein. Included is an elongate tray having a first end and a second end, an upper compartment with open roof for standing a plurality of merchandising unit products each containing a flowable substance, and a lower compartment arranged directly below the upper compartment. A sample dispenser is provided which includes a dispensing unit arranged against the first end of the tray and a reservoir holding sampling amounts of the flowable substance, communicating with the dispensing unit and arranged within the lower compartment.
US08025182B2 Gas cartridge
Fuel gas or some other kind of fluid is stored in a collapsible metallic bag that is attached to a valve and is stored inside a rigid outer container. Between the rigid outer container and the collapsible bag is a space or volume filled with compression gas during use which puts a collapsing pressure evenly upon the bag. In order to reduce bag failures, the outer surface of the collapsible bag has a series of projected streak portions that project outwardly from the vertical length of the collapsing in several locations that prevent the bag from expanding to fill the entire space between the rigid outer container and the bag. These projected streaks form recessed portions in the bag's surface which facilitates the bag collapsing in those predetermined locations evenly which in turn reduces the collapsible bag's failure rate from breaking during operation.
US08025179B2 Circumferential sleeve for holding a food container upright
One aspect of the present invention discloses a circumferential sleeve made from a single pre-cut blank with no additional material (other than adhesive) added to the blank. The circumferential sleeve has a strip that protrudes from the sleeve and one end of the strip is contiguous to a first portion sleeve such as the bottom edge and the other end of the strip is attached to a portion of the sleeve, such as the rear panel. The strip can be arcuate or L-shaped and permits a food container to stand upright.
US08025178B2 Drinking vessel
According to the invention a drinking vessel (10) comprises a generally cylindrical container (11) adapted to contain liquid and a generally cylindrical lid (12) adapted to close the container. The lid comprises a generally cylindrical outer member (20), a generally cylindrical inner member (22) located within the outer member so as to define a generally cylindrical aperture (50) between the outer surface of the inner member and the inner surface of the outer member, and a generally cylindrical sealing element (21) located in the aperture. The sealing element normally forms a seal between the outer surface of the inner member and the inner surface of the outer member but is deformable by suction at the end of the aperture remote from the container so as to cause liquid within the container to flow, from the end of the aperture adjacent to the container, out through the aperture under the action of the suction.
US08025173B2 Collapsible canister liner for medical fluid collection
A collapsible liner for use in a canister of a medical fluid collection system is disclosed. The liner includes a flexible bag extending longitudinally between a top portion opposite a closed bottom portion, and at least one support element connected to the bag and disposed generally laterally relative to a length of the bag. When an interior of the bag is subjected to a vacuum, the at least one support element limits an extent of lateral collapse while permitting longitudinal collapse.
US08025171B2 Fuel tin
The invention relates to a fuel paste tin, comprising a dished tin body (1) and a sealing lid (3), fixed to the tin body (1) with two pre-scored lines (6), along which a partial lid section (7) may be removed from the sealing lid (3) by breaking a material connection to generate a precisely defined opening (4, 10, 11) in the sealing lid (3). The invention permits the production of fuel paste tins with may be employed directly as paste burners with a desired burn capacity and burn duration, which are economic to produce and cause little litter.
US08025170B1 Can cap covering
The present invention is a cap covering for a punch-key tab rotably attached to the top of a preformed can, wherein the punch-key tab is to be utilized by a person to punch out a prepared flap seal in the can top along a predefined scored boundary. The cap covering includes an attachable and detachable hollow casing which can be fitted on-demand onto the handle of a punch-key tab.The invention will distinguish individual ownership among identical cans of beverage; will serve as a closure to aid in keeping the carbonation (if any) in the beverage; will aid in maintaining the beverage at the desired drinking temperature; and will act in minimizing spillage, keep bugs and debris out, and in keeping the beverage in an unadulterated state.
US08025167B2 Crane control, crane and method
The present invention shows a crane control of a crane which includes at least one cable for lifting a load, wherein at least one sensor unit is provided for determining a cable angle relative to the direction of gravitational force. Furthermore, there is shown a crane control for driving the positioners of a crane which includes at least one first and one second strand of cables for lifting the load, with a load oscillation damping for damping spherical pendular oscillations of the load, wherein first and second sensor units are provided, which are associated to the first and second strands of cables, in order to determine the respective cable angles and/or cable angular velocities, and the load oscillation damping includes a control in which the cable angles and/or cable angular velocities determined by the first and second sensor units are considered. Furthermore, a corresponding crane and a method are shown.
US08025163B2 Wall mounted shelving
A wall mounted shelving unit comprises a pair of shelf supporting wall mounting brackets, each including an upright rear segment and an upright front segment with horizontal crosspieces extending between and connected to the rear and front segments of each bracket. Each crosspiece includes a pair of spaced apart upwardly extending loops or a pair of spaced apart downward extending troughs, and a rear segment of each bracket includes loops for attachment to a wall. Wire shelves rest on the crosspieces, and the upwardly extending loops engage wires on the shelves to prevent relative movement between the shelves and the brackets. Alternatively, the shelf includes downwardly extending shelf trusses that rest in the troughs of the crosspieces.
US08025161B2 Laminated glass rack, and/or method of making and/or shipping laminated glass panels using the same
Certain example embodiments relate to glass racks that are suitable for both autoclaving and shipping. In certain example embodiments, a glass rack may include a metal base having a grooved bottom connected thereto and a metal upright support substantially parallel to the base. The upright support may include a plurality of fingers covered in a protective material (e.g., rubber tubing) that extend therefrom. The spaces between the fingers may correspond with grooves of the grooved bottom, thereby cooperating to accommodate a plurality of panels (e.g., assemblies prior to autoclaving, laminated glass panels formed by autoclaving, etc.). The grooved bottom may be connected to the base so as to allow for expansion and/or contraction of the metal base relative to the grooved bottom. The rack, as a whole, may be capable of withstanding the temperature and pressure conditions of an autoclave, while also providing sufficient protection for the panels during shipping.
US08025159B2 Agent for increasing rejection with a permeable membrane, process for increasing the rejection, permeable membrane and process for water treatment
An agent for increasing the rejection with a permeable membrane which comprises an ionic macromolecule having a weight-average molecular weight of 100,000 or greater; a process for increasing the rejection with a permeable membrane which comprises treating a permeable membrane with the agent; a permeable membrane which is treated in accordance with the process; and a process for water treatment which comprises using the permeable membrane are disclosed. By using the above agent, an increased rejection of inorganic electrolytes and organic compounds soluble in water can be maintained for a long time easily and safely at the location of the use of the membrane without extreme decrease in the flux of permeation in the membrane separation using a selective permeable membrane such as a nano filtration membrane and a reverse osmosis membrane.
US08025158B2 High molecular weight poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) and process therefor
A poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) having a high molecular weight and a reduced content of low molecular weight species can be prepared by a method that includes specific conditions for the oxidative polymerization, chelation, and isolation steps. The poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) is particularly useful for the fabrication of fluid separation membranes.
US08025157B2 Power recovery system
A power recovery system is used for reducing the total energy consumption in a process such as an industrial treating process or a fluid refining process including the delivery of a fluid under a high pressure. The power recovery system includes a high-pressure pump for pressuring raw water, a reverse osmosis membrane cartridge for treating high-pressure water discharged from the high-pressure pump with a reverse osmosis membrane to produce treated water, a positive-displacement piston pump for pressuring raw water under the pressure of concentrated water which is discharged from the reverse osmosis membrane cartridge without being treated by the reverse osmosis membrane, and a power recovery pump turbine for boosting the pressurized raw water discharged from the positive-displacement piston pump and adding the boosted water to the high-pressure water discharged from the high-pressure pump. The power recovery pump turbine is actuated by pressurized water generated in the power recovery system.
US08025154B2 Screen panel fastener and fastening arrangement
The invention provides a fastener (10) for a screen panel (20), the fastener including a base section (12) at least two outer engagement means (14) extending from opposite side zones of the base section, the two outer engagement means at least partially opposing one another; and at least one inner engagement means (16) located between the outer engagement means; the inner and outer engagement means including retaining formations (14.2, 16.2) adapted to engage a complementary receiving formation in a screen panel (20) in a snap fit configuration.
US08025152B2 Sieve apparatus and method for use of same
An apparatus and a method of screening a material containing a solid and fluid where the material is placed on an upper side of a screen element and the material is at least being acted on by vibrations produced by at least one acoustic sound source. The at least one acoustic sound source is arranged to transmit pressure waves to at least a portion of an underside of the screen element.
US08025148B2 Stackable roll containers
A stackable roll container, in particular, for transporting foods, cosmetic articles, or other articles in large bundles. The stackable roll container includes a preferably rectangular bottom component, with transport rollers mounted on the underside. The stackable roll container also includes two attachment walls located opposite each other on opposite lateral sides of the bottom component. Each attachment wall extends upwardly from an upper side of the bottom component and has a respective rear vertical end brace which is offset from a vertical base plane of the respective attachment wall. Each attachment wall also includes a lower horizontal base brace adjoining the respective rear vertical end brace for that attachment wall.
US08025146B2 Cooleebob compliant upright drink insulator attachment
Improvements in a compliant upright drink insulator attachment device that is works with a standard drink insulator. The attachment device uses two parts where one part mates with the second part to slip through a standard insulated drink holder. These insulated drink holders are commonly called coolies or koozies and are manufactured with a central hole to allow for draining. A clip connects a compliant cord to one or both of the two parts. The compliant cord is configured as a coiled cord. A weight is connected to the free end of the compliant cord to keep the insulated drink holder in an upright orientation in the water. The compliant cord allows the weight to move semi independent from the insulated drink holder, and further allows the weight to be stored within the insulated drink holder for storage when it is not being used.
US08025142B2 Apparatus and method of transporting food products to a loading head
An apparatus and method of transporting food products (10) to a loading station (12) having a cooling conveyor (14) that selectively drops food product into a distributor (34). The distributor (34) separates product into at least two lanes (48, 50) and drops product onto a conveyor. A balancing and diverting conveyor (46) monitors and counts product in each lane (48, 50) and diverts product selectively based upon the sensed product. An orienter (70, 80) transfers product from a loading conveyor (68) to a buffer conveyor (72). The buffer conveyor (72) transfers product to a main conveyor (76) which transfers product to a loading head (84).
US08025140B2 Material processing apparatus comprising a conveyor
A material processing apparatus comprises a conveyor that is rotatable in vertical direction around a horizontal axis that is situated in an element rotatable in horizontal direction relative to the apparatus. The element is articulated to the apparatus at a main point of articulation, and at a point remote from the main point of articulation, articulated to a variable length element which in turn is articulated to the apparatus, and the element is connected to an actuator causing the horizontal rotational movement of the element together with the conveyor, defined by said main point of articulation.
US08025139B2 Clutch
A clutch having high engaging force and featuring of smooth operation, wherein clutch weights that are biased by return elements are subject to thrusting force caused by constraint sections of a main driving plate that receive and convert torque from an engine into the pressing action against engaging slots defined in the clutch weights so as to gain enhanced engaging force even when the minor difference or error existing on the response time of the clutch weight or the strength of the return elements and also provides anti-reversal function to reduced the oscillation and let the power output more smooth and more stable. Accordingly, slippage of clutch and wear of the clutch wear pad are both reduced and temperature rise of the wear pad is also reduced.
US08025138B2 Multi-plate clutch system
A multi-plate clutch system includes an outer clutch member having a plurality of first clutch plates thereon, a central spool having a plurality of second clutch plates thereon interspaced with the first clutch plates. The clutch system also includes a cam mechanism including a protruding cam and a recessed cam. The protruding cam and the recessed cam respectively include first inclined faces and second inclined faces, which are inclined in the same direction with respect to the circumferential direction. The protruding cam is thus brought into a point contact with the recessed cam during clutch engagement. As such, the multi-plate clutch system can maintain constant variable characteristics of the clutch capacity even when there is a variation in processing accuracy at the time of the production.
US08025136B2 Torque converter damper flange with turbine centering feature
A torque converter including a turbine, an output shaft, and a damper having at least one cover plate radially fixed to the turbine, a flange driven by the damper and non-rotatably connected to the output shaft, the flange having an axially extending surface centering the cover plate.
US08025135B1 Hydraulic damping device for drawer
A hydraulic damping device for drawer includes a cylinder holding a hydraulic fluid, a piston rod moving in and out of the cylinder and having a pin at one end inside the cylinder, a rigid valve block affixed to the inner end of the pin of the piston rod and having equiangularly spaced through holes, a retainer affixed to the outer end of the pin of the piston rod, a piston coupled to the pin of the piston rod and movable along the pin between the rigid valve block and the retainer and having a plurality of axially extending through holes, a number of the through holes of the piston being respectively aimed at the through holes of the rigid valve block for allowing the hydraulic fluid to pass through the piston in one direction at a high speed during outward stroke of the piston rod and to pass through the piston in the other direction at a low speed during inward stroke of the piston and a plurality of spring strips for stopping against the rigid valve block, and a shock absorbing device that buffers the impact of the rigid valve block when the piston rod is extended out of the cylinder.
US08025133B2 Strut swedge tooling
A railroad freight car brake beam strut assembly including an elongated strut having first and second joined walls. Each wall of the strut defines a bore opening to a hollow center portion and to an exterior of the strut. The bores defined by the walls on the strut accommodate a brake lever pivot pin extending through strut thereby connecting the brake lever to the strut and so as to allow pivoting of the brake lever. Each bore defined by the walls of the strut has a closed marginal edge. One brake pin bushing is accommodated in each bore defined by the strut so as to journal a lengthwise portion of the brake lever pivot pin. The closed marginal edge of each strut bore arranged in juxtaposed relation relative to the end of the brake pin bushing disposed a farthest distance from the axis of the strut defines a plurality of radially spaced stops formed as an integral part of the strut for inhibiting inadvertent axial displacement of the bushings away from the longitudinal axis of and relative to the strut thereby fixing the pivot axis of said brake lever relative to the strut. A method of manufacturing a railroad freight car brake beam strut assembly is also disclosed.
US08025132B2 System and method for removing brake dust and other pollutants
Systems and methods for capturing pollutants from braking mechanisms are provided. The systems can include a housing partially surrounding at least a portion of a vehicle brake assembly and disposed to receive brake dust from the brake assembly and a collector disposed to capture the brake dust received in said housing. A method can include providing the a providing a housing partially surrounding at least a portion of a vehicle brake assembly and disposed to receive brake dust from the brake assembly and a collector disposed to capture the brake dust received in said housing, creating a first air flow using the forward motion of the vehicle to move the pollutants from said housing to said collector, and capturing the brake dust in said collector.
US08025131B1 Eddy current braking system for trolley zip line cable with a stationary conductor
A trolley magnetic braking system having a brake block assembly engagable by a trolley, a substantially stationary conductor that is pitch adjustable and a carrier having magnetic members that are driven along the conductive member for braking a trolley. Providing a pitch adjustable conductor allows for modification of how much of the conductor interfaces with the magnets and therein varying the amount of eddy current applied in the braking apparatus.
US08025130B2 Roller disk brake for a winch
A power device includes a motor, a drive shaft, and a roller brake system including a cam mechanism. The motor may put out a driving torque in a first and a second rotary direction. The cam mechanism includes first and second cam members. The first cam member may be in a driven engagement with the motor and the second cam member may be slidably engaged with the first cam member and coupled to the drive shaft. The first cam member includes a circumferentially disposed ramped surface having a stop member at a first end thereof. The said second cam member is axially and rotatably fixed with the drive shaft and includes an axially extending protrusion disposed about a circumference thereof and slidably engaged with the ramped surface.
US08025128B2 Ball screw lubricative sealing device
The invention provides a ball screw lubricative sealing device having a simplified lubrication mechanism. It is attachable to an installed standard ball screw nut, capable of retaining larger amount of lubricant and long supply of lubricant to the contacting screw parts, and further includes a sealing function. It includes: generally cylindrical case members having attachment part to be attached to both ends of a screw nut, respectively; plural thin seal plates made of lubricating oil impregnated felt-like fiber material which is a three-dimensionally crosslinked plastic fiber and resilient rubber members, and having a hole each and fitted inside said case member in such a state that they circumferentially overlap with each other, the hole having a shape corresponding to a lateral cross-sectional shape of a screw groove of ball screw shaft; and a plastic wiper fitted with a space from the thin seal plates inside each of the case member.
US08025127B2 Telescopic table board positioned with resilient pin
A telescopic table board positioned with a resilient pin is provided, which is characterized by the following features: The telescopic table board includes a left table board and a right table board slidely nested with each other; as for the left table board and the right table board, one of them is fixedly provided with a rack, while the other with a corresponding seat bore, in which is a resilient pin positioned, which is mainly composed of a positioning fastener and a spring; the positioning fastener is provided at the head with a tooth head engaged with the corresponding rack, extends at the tail through the seat bore, and is provided at the tail end with a handle; and the spring is sleeved onto the positioning fastener, and functions between the positioning fastener and the seat bore, thus constituting the resilient-pin type telescopic positioning mechanism between the left table board and the right table board. The present utility model endows the operation table board or gangplank with the telescopic function, thus enhancing versatility and satisfying different requirements for length of the table board (gangplank) on various application occasions.
US08025124B2 Broadband passive distributed tuned vibration and acoustic absorber for modally dense structures
A passive distributed vibration absorber that utilizes multiple discrete mass elements and a viscoelastic layer and that effectively attenuates vibration in modally dense structures excited by a broadband input noise excitation. and is tunable to multiple natural frequencies in such modally dense vibrating structures including low frequencies.
US08025123B2 Muffler structure for vehicle
The invention obtains a muffler structure for a vehicle which can suppress an emission sound. In a muffler shell for a muffler for a vehicle, there are formed a peripheral joint in which an upper shell and a lower shell corresponding to a plurality of shell structure portions are joined in respective peripheral joint flanges and, and an inter-isolation chamber joint in which the upper shell and the lower shell are joined in inter-isolation chamber joint flanges and in such a manner as to partition a space positioned in an inner side of the peripheral joint into a plurality of isolation chambers and arranged in parallel in a gas flow direction.
US08025117B2 Power axle for a commercial vehicle
A power axle for assisting an automotive vehicle in ascending and descending steep slopes and grades includes an electromagnetic motor mounted to one floating axle of the vehicle, a junction box mounted to and electrically connected to the electromagnetic motor, a DC/AC power inverter mounted to the cab interposed between and for electrically interconnecting the vehicle's battery to the electromagnetic motor for powering the motor from the battery and control switches mounted on the dashboard and which include an on/off switch and a speed control dial for regulating and controlling the interaction and engagement of the electromagnetic motor with the floating axle of the vehicle.
US08025108B2 Subterranean methods of processing hydrocarbon fluid-containing deposits and hydrocarbon recovery arrangements for recovering hydrocarbon-containing fluid from hydrocarbon-containing deposits
A subterranean method of processing a hydrocarbon fluid-containing deposit includes, from a subterranean room, providing a borehole into a deposit containing formation fluid comprising fluid hydrocarbon. The borehole has a first end at a wall of the subterranean room, and a second end remote from the subterranean room and received within the deposit. The first end is elevationally lower than the second end. A string of pipe is provided within the borehole from the subterranean room. A cuttings removal fluid is injected from the string of pipe into the borehole and against a wall of the borehole in underbalanced pressure conditions. One of drilling, reaming, or jetting is conducted within the borehole during said injecting of the cuttings removal fluid. Formation fluid comprising fluid hydrocarbon is flowed from the deposit into the borehole during said injecting of the cuttings removal fluid. The injected cuttings removal fluid and the formation fluid within the borehole are flowed at least in part by gravity downhole externally of the string of pipe in underbalanced pressure conditions within the borehole and into the subterranean room. Other implementations and aspects are contemplated.
US08025106B2 Method for tightening a screw connection and screw driving tool
Disclosed is a method for screwing in and tightening a screw connection (1) to a predetermined tightened level (2), especially a predetermined torque level (2) or a predetermined pretension level, with the aid of a hand-held screwing tool (3) comprising a regulated drive unit (4) and/or control functionality, particularly an electric nut runner (3). A tightening phase (B-C-D), during which the screw head rests against the supporting surface (6) of the screw connection (1), starts following a screwing phase (A). In order to improve said method, the speed (N) of the screwing tool (3) is increased to an output speed (7) for the tightening phase (B-C-D) within an acceleration time (8) in the tightening phase (B-C-D) and is lowered within a delay time (9) prior to or until reaching the predetermined tightened level (2). The combined acceleration time (8) and delay time (9) represents the predominant part of the entire tightening phase (B-C-D), especially in relation to the traveled angle of twist (W) of the screw connection (1), the acceleration time (8) being shorter than the delay time (9).
US08025105B2 Downhole tool retrieval and setting system
Apparatuses and methods for retrieving a downhole tool from a wellbore are provided. The method includes running a retrieval tool into a wellbore on a conveyance. The retrieval tool configured to automatically manipulate into an engagement position with the downhole tool. Engaging the downhole tool with the retrieval tool and removing the downhole tool from the wellbore.
US08025104B2 Method and apparatus for delayed flow or pressure change in wells
Degradable polylactic or polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers may be used to viscosify aqueous fluids for use in wells, Sand control screen or liner can be coated with a solid degradable polymer during placement in a well. Mechanical changes or flow changes in a well can be caused by solid degradable polymer that changes physical properties after it is placed in a well. Parts of devices or entire devices can be made of solid degradable polymer that converts to a fluid after selected times in an aqueous environment in a well.
US08025102B2 Wellbore delivery apparatus
An apparatus for delivering a material into a wellbore comprises a body adapted to be translated along a conduit within a wellbore, with a cavity formed in the body for containing a material to be delivered. The body defines an outlet adapted to be selectively opened to permit the material to be released from the cavity at the required location within the wellbore. In one arrangement the material includes swellable particles which expand upon contact with an activator.
US08025098B2 Processing hydrocarbons
Systems and methods that include providing, e.g., obtaining or preparing, a material that includes a hydrocarbon carried by an inorganic substrate, and exposing the material to a plurality of energetic particles, such as accelerated charged particles, such as electrons or ions.
US08025094B2 Yttria-based refractory composition
Method for producing a mold for use in casting reactive metals comprising preparing a slurry of a yttria-based refractory composition and a binder, and using said slurry as a mold facecoat by applying said slurry onto a surface of a mold pattern, wherein said yttria-based refractory composition is obtainable by (a) mixing particles of a yttria-based ceramic material and a fluorine containing dopant, and (b) heating the resulting mixture to effect fluorine-doping of said yttria-based ceramic material.
US08025092B2 Process and related plant for producing steel strips with solution of continuity
A process for the manufacturing of steel strips with solution of continuity is described, comprising a continuous casting step for thin stabs with a high “mass flow”, a shearing step and subsequent heating in furnace, followed by a multiple stand rolling step, wherein the average temperature of the product at the inlet of the rolling is higher than the surface temperature, which is equal to at least 1100° C., lower than that measured in the inner central area by about 100° C. A plant is also described for the accomplishment of such process, wherein at the inlet of a furnace (25; 35), possibly of the induction type, combined with a temperature maintaining tunnel (36) a shear (3) is provided for, cutting into pieces (24; 34) a slab (22; 32) coming from continuous casting (21; 31), wherein the distance between the outlet of said continuous casting and the inlet into the finishing rolling mill (29; 39) is not greater than 100 m.
US08025089B2 Mechanism for untangling window cords
A lifting system for a window covering has a movable shaft disposed within a cradle that is held within a head rail. The movable shaft has an end portion and a lift cord wrapping portion. A lift cord is connected to the movable shaft. A transition member is disposed between the end portion and the lift cord wrapping portion. The transition member acts as a ramp to facilitate migration of the lift cord to the lift cord wrapping portion once bird nesting has occurred.
US08025087B2 Ultrasonic vibration welder
The present invention solves the problem that a connecting portion between a horn and a vibration transmission rod has a tendency to get damaged and the problem associated with the structure in which a chip is attached to an end of the vibration transmission rod, which occur with the known ultrasonic vibration welder. A vibration transmission rod has an end surface serving as a vibration-and-pressure application surface, and a polygonal cross section. The vibration transmission rod is disposed at an end of a horn in such a manner that they vibrate together. The vibration transmission rod and a mass are formed separately. The mass applies pressure to a projection formed at a nodal point of the vibration transmission rod.
US08025079B2 Clean out tube check valve
Disclosed is a check valve for preventing liquid from entering an attached tube. The check valve includes a cylindrical housing having an inner surface and a removable plug that is at least partially within the housing. The plus has a side wall with at least part of the sidewall sloping in an inwardly direction from a top surface to a bottom surface towards a central axis. The side wall is operable to contact the inner surface of the housing and form a seal, thereby preventing liquid from passing through the housing, the housing being fixedly attached to an inner surface of a tube.
US08025078B2 Vehicle mountable arm for valve operating machine
A valve operating device includes a mounting for attachment to a vehicle and an elongate arm, the free end of which is only moveable in a plane parallel to the ground. The joints of the arm pivot around vertical axes and the arm is locked into a desired orientation by a brake at each joint. A valve turning machine is at the free end of the arm. The brakes are engaged and released by a control on the valve turning machine.
US08025077B2 Mechanical fuse to seal pipes upon unintended rupture
The present invention relates to a mechanical fuse to seal pipes upon unintended rupture. When a pressure difference between a first pressure and a second pressure in a pipe is below a pressure threshold, a first spring retains a flap in a first position allowing gaseous fuel to flow from a first portion to a second portion and when the pressure difference between the first pressure and the second pressure is not below the pressure threshold the flap moves to a second position preventing the gaseous fuel from flowing from the first portion to the second portion.
US08025071B2 Bases and braces for support poles, such as poles for pavilions and umbrellas
Bases are disclosed that comprise a projecting portion designed to receive over it the hollow end of a pole or other elongate member, which may form part of a structure such as a pavilion or umbrella. The projecting portion of the base comprises wedges that move in response to the end of the pole moving over the projecting portion and in so moving, the wedges increase the effective cross section of the projecting portion to engage the inner surface of the end of the pole and to thereby stabilize the structure on a support surface, such as the ground. Braces are also disclosed that pull together adjacent poles of a pavilion to make the structure more rigid.
US08025069B2 Semiconductor wafer treating apparatus
A semiconductor wafer treating apparatus comprising a housing, holding means rotatably disposed within the housing, rotating means for rotating the holding means, and cleaning means for cleaning a semiconductor wafer held on the holding means. Irradiation means for irradiating the semiconductor wafer held on the holding means with short wavelength ultraviolet radiation is further disposed in the semiconductor wafer treating apparatus.
US08025068B2 Flossing and oral hygiene tool
A detachable device for improved dental hygiene supports and tensions dental floss above and beyond the bristles of the tooth brush so that flossing can occur using the bristle end of the tooth brush and avoid having the bristles interfere with the flossing process. In preferred embodiments the device is mechanically coupled to a sonic toothbrush to transmit sonic energy to the floss for improved cleaning. In other embodiments the device includes a tongue cleaning implement.
US08025064B2 Methods for attenuating pressure waves in a patient's eye
Disclosed herein are methods of treating a patient, comprising providing a compressible attenuation device that is moveable from a first, introduction configuration to a second, implanted configuration. The attenuation device is introduced into a treatment site. In one embodiment, the treatment site is a patient's eye. The volume of the attenuation devices changes in response to pressure changes in the treatment site and attenuates pressure changes in the eye.
US08025063B2 System and method for treatment of upper airway disorders
The present invention provides a system for treating a mammalian patient having obstructive sleep disordered breathing, e.g., sleep apnea. The system has a set of appliances including a first appliance being adapted to displace a mandible of the patient by a first predetermined geometry relative to a maxilla of the patient. The set also includes at least a second appliance adapted to displace the mandible of the patient by a second predetermined geometry relative to the maxilla of the patient. In a specific embodiment, the first predetermined geometry is substantially different from the second predetermined geometry. Preferably, either one of the first appliance or at least the second appliance is worn by the patient based upon a predetermined treatment plan that includes one or more provisions for wearing at least the first and the second appliances.
US08025061B2 Condom packaging
Condom packaging comprises one or more substantially rectangular pieces of packaging material, each piece of packaging material comprising a central portion and edge portions, the edge portions being separated from the central portion by perforated areas configured to allow the edge portions to be removed, and an expansion member adjacent to or within the condom flange. The one or more pieces of packaging material surround substantially all or all of the condom, and the packaging material, when sealed with the condom inside, includes two substantially flat portions having side edges. The condom flange is attached to the packaging material and squeezing the side edges of the packaging material causes the packaging material and an open end of the condom to form a substantially cylindrical cross section, the expansion member providing rigidity and being configured to aid in formation of the substantially cylindrical cross section.
US08025059B2 Respiratory device comprising a double lumen endotracheal tube
Device for ventilation with a double lumen endotracheal tube featuring a connecting piece at the end distal to the patient into which the two lumina of the endotracheal tube are extended, separated within the connecting piece by an axial partition wall, a connector with two nozzles leading to a joint connecting section and separated from each other by another partition wall, the connector being attachable to the connecting piece in a way that brings the partition wall and the other partition wall into a sealing contact, a ventilator and at least one tube connected to a nozzle of the connector at one end and to the ventilator at the other.
US08025058B2 Variable CPAP respiratory interface
The present disclosure relates generally connectors for interconnecting a conduit of a fluid pressure device to an interface configured to deliver a fluid of the fluid pressure device to a patient. A connector includes a body portion configured for fluid connection to the conduit of the fluid pressure device; and a first branch and a second branch each extending from and fluidly connected to the body portion, wherein each branch is configured for fluid connection to the interface. A concavity is formed at an interface between each of the body portions, the first branch and the second branch.
US08025057B2 Ergonomic and adjustable respiratory mask assembly with headgear assembly
A respiratory mask assembly for delivering breathable gas to a patient includes a frame having a main body and a side frame member provided on each lateral side of the main body. Each side frame member includes an integrally formed first connector portion. A headgear assembly is removably attachable to the frame. The headgear assembly has a second connector portion adapted to be removably coupled with the first connector portion provided on the frame. The second connector portion is manually movable to a releasing position to detach the headgear assembly from the frame. The headgear assembly is rotationally adjustable with respect to the frame.
US08025055B1 CPAP enclosure for the treatment of breathing disorders
A CPAP enclosure used in the treatment of breathing disorder comprises a base connected to a bed, a canopy connected to the base, and a sealing member that connects the canopy to the base. The sealing member forms a substantially airtight seal such that the canopy and the base form a substantially airtight enclosure around at least a portion of the bed. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) compressor connects to the enclosure via flexible tubing, and generates a continuous positive airway pressure within the enclosure to treat a patient. A blender blends one or more compressed gasses with the compressed air from the CPAP compressor for delivery to the enclosure.
US08025053B1 Pressure regulator assembly
A pressure demand regulator assembly for use with a breathing apparatus having a valve assembly that includes an inlet for connection to a source of breathing gas, an outlet for connection to a facepiece to provide breathing gas to the user and an actuator for controlling the flow of breathing gas between the inlet and the outlet in response to the user's respiration. The regulator assembly further includes a flexible elastomeric diaphragm in operative connection with the actuator. The diaphragm is exposed to ambient pressure on a first side thereof and exposed to a positive pressure within the facepiece on a second side thereof. The regulator assembly also includes an impermeable and flexible shield that seals the first side of the diaphragm from certain toxic substances in the ambient atmosphere while allowing the first side of the diaphragm to experience ambient pressure, such that the flexible shield moves along with the diaphragm during respiration without dampening the movement of the diaphragm during respiration of the user.
US08025051B2 Delivery device
A delivery device for administering particulate medicaments, such as dry powder. The delivery device comprises a body and a flow path comprising a chamber with an inlet and an outlet for the stream of air. The chamber is rotatable in relation to the body. Dislodging means are arranged in contact with the inner surface of the chamber. The dislodging means and the chamber are relatively rotatable in relation to one another, such that the inside of the chamber is cleaned by the dislodging means when the dislodging means and the chamber are rotated in relation to one another.
US08025047B2 Collapsible locking slingshot
The present invention provides for a collapsible locking slingshot having a quick-release interchangeable band replacement safety system. The present invention also includes a self-centering, open-pocket slingshot pouch and a unique dual-tapered band. The slingshot collapses into a lockable case, improving the slingshot's safety, and enhancing the protection and longevity of the slingshot's components. The slingshot incorporates a unique shoot-over design in which the arms generally are parallel to the shooter's arm during operation.
US08025044B1 Fuel savings device and methods of making the same
An apparatus for enhancing fuel mileage of internal combustion engine consists of a tube inserted into a fuel line between a fuel storage tank and the engine, the tube having a plurality of electrodes protruding into a fuel passage within the tube. The electrodes are provided with an electrical charge for imparting electrical charges to liquid fuel molecules flowing through the fuel passage of the tube.
US08025041B2 Method of removing the fuel contained in the lubricating oil of an internal-combustion engine and engine using same
The present invention relates to a method removing the fuel contained in the lubricating oil of an internal-combustion engine comprising an engine block with an air intake circuit for a fuel mixture, a burnt gas exhaust circuit, an oil sump and means for pumping the oil contained in the sump. According to the invention, the method consists in removing, after pumping the oil, the fuel diluted in the oil by heating intermittently the oil for a time ranging from 1/100 second to 10 second, in order to obtain vaporization of the fuel diluted in the oil.
US08025040B1 Plasma ignition system
To provide a plasma ignition system that can prevent damage on an internal combustion engine due to erroneous ejection of a plasma jet, and further, even when the required voltage of an ignition plug becomes lower, can prevent erroneous ignition by the charged voltage of a PJ capacitor. A plasma power supply circuit of the plasma ignition system includes a voltage-limiting circuit having a first set voltage having an absolute value lower relative to the discharge voltage of the ignition coil, and a second set voltage having an absolute value higher relative to the discharge voltage of the ignition coil, and the first set voltage and the second set voltage are selectively switched according to an operation condition of the internal combustion engine.
US08025036B2 Valve timing control apparatus
A valve timing control apparatus includes a driving rotation member, a driven rotation member, an advance angle chamber displacing a rotation phase of the driven rotation member relative to the driving rotation member in an advance angle direction, a retard angle chamber displacing the relative rotation phase in a retard angle direction, an advance angle oil passage, a retard angle oil passage, an oil pump, a passage switching valve switching a position between first and second positions, and a drain mechanism provided between the passage switching valve and at least one of the advance angle chamber and the retard angle chamber to accelerate discharge of the hydraulic fluid from one of the advance angle chamber and the retard angle chamber when the hydraulic fluid is supplied to the other of the advance angle chamber and the retard angle chamber.
US08025035B2 Mechanical variable camshaft timing device
A device for selectively changing phase relationship between first and second rotating shafts in an internal combustion engine where the first shaft is secured for rotation with a worm carrier assembly and the second shaft is secured for rotation with a worm gear includes first and second worms disposed for rotation within the worm carrier assembly and having torsional preloads with opposite hands of rotation and meshing with the worm gear. An actuator turns the first and second worms in a first direction to advance rotation of the second shaft relative to the first shaft and turns the first and second worms in a second direction to retard rotation of the second shaft relative to the first shaft.
US08025031B1 Aquarium snail collection system
An aquarium snail collection system and method, including a collector that is void of any enclosing structure and having a base and a substantially continuous and substantially permeable sidewall that extends upwardly from a central portion of the base to define an interior bait cavity. An upper portion of the sidewall is left open to permit easy access to the bait cavity and also to provide a structure that does not trap air that might cause the collector to float upwardly from the substrate.
US08025030B1 Bird feeder apparatus
A bird feeder designed for overhead positioning is provided having a dispensing component which protectively holds and controllably dispenses particulate bird feed, and a refilling component liftable by an elongated staff and configured to add bird feed to the dispensing component.
US08025026B2 Installation for spraying a multi-component coating material
An installation for spraying a multi-component coating material composed of at least one robot having a moving portion carrying at least one electrostatic sprayer, the coating material having an electrically-conductive component together with at least one second component that is electrically insulating or poorly conductive. The installation further includes a main tank fitted with a unit for making a temporary connection with a circuit for dispensing the first component, and being raised to a high voltage when the connection unit not connected, and a feed circuit for continuously feeding the at least one second component. The main tank and the at least one second component feed circuit are carried by the moving portion of the robot and connected to feed the sprayer.
US08025019B1 Buoyant bumper apparatus for absorbing water vessel impact against pilings
A bumper apparatus includes a roller rack and rack fasteners for mounting the roller rack vertically along a dock structure; a bumper assembly having a buoyant structure having sufficient buoyancy to cause the bumper assembly to rise and fall with the water surface and thus with the tide and with any adjacent water vessel; and a rack engaging structure slidably interconnecting the roller rack and the bumper assembly so that the bumper assembly is slidable vertically relative to the roller rack. The roller rack preferably includes a spaced apart upright pair of opposing first and second mounting rails; and a longitudinal series of substantially horizontal cylindrical rollers mounted on individual roller axles extending between and connected to the first and second mounting rails so that the rollers protrude forwardly from the mounting rails.
US08025015B1 Vehicle workstation
A vehicle workstation for mounting laptop computers and other equipment inside a vehicle that is easily attached to and removed from the vehicle and prevents vehicle vibrations and jolts from being transmitted to the equipment.
US08025011B1 Stun grenade
A stun grenade includes a housing having at least a portion that is not opaque; a light output section disposed in the housing, the light output section comprising a pyrotechnic material; a fuze coupled to the housing, the fuze including a time delay column inserted into the housing; and a noise output section comprising a lower portion of the time delay column and a pyrotechnic material disposed in the lower portion of the time delay column. The light output section and the noise output section are initiated at different times.
US08025005B2 System and method for protecting vehicle occupants
The present invention is directed to an armor system that protects vehicle occupants from lands mines or improvised explosive devices. In the preferred embodiment, the armor system has an arc member, a membrane, reactive blocks, and a reactive block enclosure. The armor system is designed to dissipate, neutralize, and redirect explosion energy, fragments and shrapnel, thereby ensuring the safety of the vehicle occupants.
US08025003B1 Fluted firearm barrel
A firearm barrel having barrel flutes on the outer surface of the barrel where the barrel flutes are undercut relative to an outward radial vector from the center of the barrel at an arcuate radial distance that exceeds the arcuate radial distance of an undercut produced by a straight walled flute cutter such that the barrel flutes are hyper-undercut.
US08024996B2 Power wrench
The invention relates to a hydraulic power wrench comprising a ratchet lever (16) driven by a hydraulic cylinder. According to the invention, said power wrench is provided with a friction brake (20) which operates continuously between the housing (10) and the output shaft (14). In this way, reversed rotations of the output shaft following the individual working strokes are avoided.
US08024995B2 Systems and methods of a power tool system with interchangeable functional attachments powered by a direct rotational drive
In embodiments of the present invention, a method and system of a power tool system may comprise mounting a functional module to a mounting plate of a power head, the power head configured to mount various functional modules, attaching the power head to a power base for powering the functional module, powering the functional module by directing power from the power base through a direct rotational drive of the power head, and controlling the multi-functional power tool system using a control disposed in the power base.
US08024992B2 Height adjustment device for saddles or handlebars
A bicycle saddle and handlebar height adjustment device comprising a tubular element (5) provided with means (2) for its connection to said saddle (3) and presenting a portion (4) to cooperate with a support element (6, 7) for said tubular element, said support element being associated with locking means (8) for said first tubular element which maintain the tubular element (5) in a determined position relative to the support element (6, 7), in which alignment means (16) are present between said support element (6, 7) and said tubular element (5) to maintain a determined angular position between the tubular element (5) and the support element (6, 7), said locking means (8) comprising a threaded (132A) ring (132) rotatably fixed to one from among the support element (6, 7) and the tubular element (5), the other from among the support element (6, 7) and the tubular element (5) presenting a thread (5A) cooperating with the thread (132A) of said ring (132). rotation of said ring (132) causing continuous movement of one element relative to the other.
US08024991B2 Actuator for seat adjusting devices
An actuator, especially for seat adjusting devices with at least one electrical engine having subordinated reduction gear and a disconnecting device for manual operation. The generic actuator is provided with a disconnecting device that can be used in all operating processes in a large number of different applications and that guarantees reliable functioning of the disconnecting device without being over-dimensioned and thus uneconomical. The disconnecting device has a coupling insertion spring which determines the release force of the disconnecting device and a reset spring is provided which resets an actuating device.
US08024988B2 Drive unit for a motor vehicle
A drive unit for a motor vehicle, comprising an engine, a transmission or gearbox, a clutch aggregate for transmitting torque, the clutch aggregate including at least two friction clutches that are assigned to an input shaft of the transmission or gearbox, wherein at least one of the at least two friction clutches features an energy accumulator operatively arranged to generate a lock-up force required for torque transmission through the clutch aggregate, and a control unit operatively arranged to control an automatic activation of the at least two friction clutches and the transmission or gearbox, wherein in the event of a malfunction of the activation of the friction clutch, the stored energy in the accumulator creates an interruption of torque transmission within a section of the drive unit connected downstream of the clutch aggregate.
US08024986B2 Environmental sensing unit
A duct mounted environmental sensing unit includes a plurality of sensors for detecting respective parameters of a fluid in a duct. The sensing unit enables at least three sensors to make contact with the fluid through a single insertion point in the duct.
US08024981B2 Device for test loading
The present invention provides a device for test loading a fuselage barrel, in particular in the aviation and aerospace industry. The device comprises a first and a second pressure bulkhead for sealing the fuselage barrel at the end faces thereof in a pressure-tight manner. The device further comprises a support device which may be coupled to the first pressure bulkhead, on the one hand, and to the second pressure bulkhead, on the other hand, extending through the fuselage barrel. Moreover, the device comprises a loading device which may be coupled to the support device, on the one hand, and to a portion of the fuselage barrel, on the other hand, for introducing loads into the fuselage barrel. The resulting advantage is that gravitational force and/or acceleration forces acting on the masses arranged in the fuselage barrel, for example cargo, in particular during the flight phase may be simulated by means of components which are exclusively arranged within the fuselage barrel, which is pressurized during the test. Thus a provision of through-holes in the fuselage skin for passing through hydraulic cylinders and the sealing of said holes relative to the fuselage skin, as in the device known to the applicant, are avoided.
US08024975B2 Ultrasonic testing method and ultrasonic testing device using this
An ultrasonic wave is sent from a transmission element to a test element to produce a plate wave in the test element, and the plate wave propagating through the test element is received by a reception element to thereby test the test element on the propagation route of the plate wave. The other probe that is the other reception element or transmission element is disposed between the transmission element and the reception element. A probe holding mechanism that has support legs contacting the surface of the test element and keeps constant an angle of the other probe with respect to the surface of the test element is allowed to support the other probe. And, the other probe is allowed to cross over in non-contact the propagation route of the plate wave extending from the transmission element to the reception element by means of support legs.
US08024970B2 Passive humidity sensors and methods for temperature adjusted humidity sensing
A humidity sensor having temperature sensing includes a substrate and a RLC (damped resonant) circuit formed in or on the substrate. The RLC circuit comprises a capacitor having a first and a second electrically conductive plate and a moisture sensitive dielectric interposed between the first and second plate. An RL network comprising an inductor and a resistor is coupled to the capacitor and comprises a high relative temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) portion formed from a first material which is coupled to a low relative TCR portion formed from a second material different from the first material. The RLC circuit can be a series RLC circuit. In another embodiment, the RLC circuit can comprises a parallel RLC circuit.
US08024962B2 Flow-through apparatus for testing particle laden fluids and methods of making and using same
A method of determining one or more bulk rheological properties of a particle laden fluid comprising providing a system comprising a vessel, a pump coupled to the vessel, and a flow-through apparatus coupled to the pump and the vessel, wherein the flow-through apparatus comprises a flow chamber, a bob rotatably disposed within the chamber, wherein the bob comprises an outer geometry adapted for continuous laminar flow in an axial direction, and a gap between the chamber and the bob, pumping the particle laden fluid into the flow-through apparatus, shearing the particle laden fluid within the gap of the flow-through apparatus, and collecting data from the bob and observing the particle laden fluid to determine one or more bulk rheological properties of the particle laden fluid.
US08024961B2 Simultaneous normal and radial liquid permeameter
A permeameter including a fluid control chamber, a permeability specimen area, and a first outlet from the specimen area measuring fluid as a function of a normal permeability of at least one specimen in the specimen area and a second outlet from the specimen area receiving and measuring further fluid as a function of a radial permeability of the at least one specimen in the specimen area.
US08024957B2 Downhole load cell
A downhole load cell calibrated for enhanced accuracy. The load cell may be a dry load cell calibrated by storage of pre-determined temperature and pressure data relative to the load cell based on known loads applied thereto. Thus, surface equipment employed with the load cell may include a computer program that takes advantage of the stored pre-determined information. The computer program may then be employed for calibration of downhole load cell data based on readings from the load cell along with downhole temperature and pressure information.
US08024950B2 Vertical air compliant hemming head
A hemming apparatus is provided for use with a robot in performing a hemming operation. The hemming apparatus comprises a support housing which mounts to a machine and has a pressurizable interior chamber having forward and rearward portions. A slide member includes a piston which is disposed in the chamber, and a plunger extends outwardly from the piston. Means are provided for attaching the housing to a nose having a central passageway. A bearing shaft is disposed within the central passageway, and means are provided for connecting the bearing shaft to the plunger. A hem roller is attached at the end of the bearing shaft. The rearward and forward portions of the chamber are connectible to a source of fluid pressure such that adjusting the chamber pressures moves the piston, thereby causing the bearing shaft to drive the hem roller into engagement with a work piece.
US08024949B2 Apparatus for decelerating and temporarily accumulating hot rolled product
An apparatus is disclosed for decelerating and temporarily accumulating a hot rolled product moving longitudinally along a first axis at a first velocity V1. The apparatus comprises a curved guide with an entry end aligned with the first axis to receive the product, and with an exit end spaced radially from the first axis and orientated to deliver the product in an exit direction transverse to the first axis. The curved guide is rotatable about the first axis in a direction opposite to the exit direction of the product and at a speed at which its exit end has a second velocity V2 lower than V1 and such that the product is delivered from the exit end as a helical formation of rings and at a third velocity V3 equal to V1−V2. A cylindrical drum is arranged to axially receive the helical formation of rings and to rotate about the first axis in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the curved guide and at a speed such that the product is unwound from the drum at the third velocity V3. A receiver moves to and fro along a path parallel to the first axis to receive the product being unwound from the drum. A shroud is configured to partially encircle the drum, and rotatable interior rollers are circumferentially spaced around the interior of the shroud. The interior rollers are spaced radially from the surface of the drum and extend in parallel relationship with the first axis.
US08024947B2 Front-loading washing machine having liquid distributing paddles
A washing machine paddle includes a plurality of intake openings for collecting liquid at the bottom and rear of a drum of a front loading washing machine. Discharge openings are located on the paddle toward the front of the drum for discharging liquid therethrough. A baffle arrangement in the paddle directs the liquid collected from the intake openings to the discharge openings upon rotation of the drum to place the paddle into a top location. A drum arrangement and washing machine includes at least one such paddle mounted thereon.
US08024944B2 Threadless nut
A glassware forming machine baffle arm assembly that includes a quick-connect/disconnect arrangement mounting a baffle manifold on a baffle arm. The arrangement includes a baffle arm having an aperture, and a baffle manifold having a segment extending through said aperture and permitting rotation of said baffle manifold with respect to said baffle arm. The arrangement also includes a threadless nut, and a bayonet connection between said threadless nut and said baffle manifold segment.
US08024943B2 Method of dividing glass into separate pieces with the aid of a cutting liquid and improved cutting liquid for said method
The method of dividing a glass substrate into separate pieces includes producing a crack along a dividing line on the substrate and acting on the crack with an aqueous cutting liquid during or immediately after producing the crack. The aqueous cutting liquid used in the method has a special composition that reduces the breaking forces applied to the glass substrate in order to divide it. The aqueous liquid contains an ionic organic compound, which has a cation with a positively charged nitrogen atom and a hydroxyl anion. Quaternary ammonium hydroxide compounds are especially preferred as the ionic organic compound.
US08024934B2 System and method for attenuating combustion oscillations in a gas turbine engine
A system and method for modifying the supply of fuel to injectors to attenuate combustion oscillations in a gas turbine engine. The gas turbine engine may comprise a combustor, a plurality of injectors and a manifold. The plurality of injectors may be operable to provide fuel to the combustor. The manifold may be configured to supply fuel to all of the plurality of injectors or to only a portion of the plurality of injectors in reaction to a determination of an existence of combustion oscillations.
US08024932B1 System and method for a combustor nozzle
A nozzle includes a center body and a shroud circumferentially surrounding at least a portion of the center body to define an annular passage between the center body and the shroud. The nozzle further includes a bimetallic guide between the center body and the shroud. A method for supplying fuel to a combustor includes flowing a working fluid through a nozzle, injecting the fuel into the nozzle, and mixing the fuel with the working fluid to create a fuel and working fluid mixture. The method further includes swirling the fuel and working fluid mixture, sensing flame holding in the nozzle, and reducing the swirl in the fuel and working fluid mixture.
US08024925B2 Apparatus, system, and method for controlling a desired torque output
Apparatus, system, and method for controlling a desired torque output on a hydromechanical transmission. Controlling torque output of a hydromechanical transmission provides improved operator feel and control. A control module determines a desired torque output and determines a pressure necessary to influence the displacement of the variable displacement pump to output the desired torque output. A pressure-controlling valve applies that amount of pressure to an actuator, which moves in response thereto, to change the displacement of the variable displacement pump. When the motor speed changes, the control module adjusts the pressure applied to the actuator to provide the desired torque output.
US08024917B2 Multi-functional power supply for a hall thruster
A multi-functional power supply system for a Hall thruster including a thruster assembly for providing a plasma discharge and a cathode assembly for providing electrons. The cathode assembly includes an emitter, a keeper with a current limiting device, and a heater. A magnetic field source is operatively associated with the cathode assembly for generating a magnetic field to control the discharge. A plasma discharge circuit creates a plasma and accelerates the plasma to produce thrust. A power supply is connected to the keeper and the plasma discharge circuit and is connected to the heater through a switching device responsive to a predetermined condition for interrupting the power to the heater and simultaneously enabling the power supply to deliver power to the keeper and the plasma discharge circuit to initiate production of thrust.
US08024914B2 Drag-type cotton harvester operated by an independent driving unit
A drag-type cotton harvester operated by an independent driving unit, which comprises a stripper-type cotton picker platform having a series of fingers that are aligned parallel to the forward direction of the machine, wherein the front ends of the fingers are close to ground level and the back ends thereof are ramped in an upward direction; a cleaning apparatus that receives the picked cotton from the picker platform, which cleaning apparatus comprises a set of rotary dentate cylinders that engage the cotton and remove the heavy masses or impurities therefrom, while a rotary brush that is disposed tangential to the dentate cylinders disengages the clean cotton from the aforementioned fingers; and a trailer that receives the clean cotton from the cleaning apparatus, then stores it and transports it.
US08024913B2 Prepared medication bagging system and method
An apparatus for sealing prepared medications in enclosures includes a tubular sleeve having an open first end, an open second end, and an outer surface. The first end includes at least one first locking member for securely attaching the tubular sleeve to another member. The apparatus also includes a length of a flexible packaging sleeve that is open at one end and has an open interior space. The packaging sleeve is disposed about the outer surface of the tubular sleeve in a compressed form. The open end of the sleeve is sealingly attached to the first end of the tubular sleeve. A tensioner device is disposed about an outer surface of the packaging sleeve and includes a first section that couples the first end of the packaging sleeve to the tubular sleeve and at least two elongated tensioner arms that extend along a length of the tubular sleeve. The compressed packaging sleeve is disposed underneath the tensioner arms such that the tensioner arms apply tension to the packaging sleeve and control the unfurling thereof from the tubular sleeve. The open first end of the tubular sleeve is in communication with the open interior space of the packaging sleeve.
US08024912B2 Methods for preserving pallet units of fresh perishables in modified atmosphere containing bags
Methods and apparatus for enclosing a palletized container of fresh containers of perishables inside a modified atmosphere-containing plastic bag/enclosure stretched over the containers and over upwardly-folded and sealed margins of a plastic sheet placed between the pallet and the containers to seal the containers of perishables inside the bag/enclosure and to facilitate forming and maintaining a modified atmosphere inside the bag/enclosure.
US08024907B2 Insulated panels
A panel comprising: a frame member (70) defining a periphery of said panel; a first wall (77) retained by the frame (70) and a second wall (79) opposing said first wall (77) and together with the first wall (77) defining an internal space (73, 74) of the panel; the panel further comprising at least one intermediate wall (78) disposed in said internal space intermediate the first (77) and second walls (79) and which creates a first space (73) in said internal space between said intermediate wall (78) and said first wall (77) and a second space (74) in said internal space between said intermediate wall (78) and said second wall (79); characterized in that the frame includes respective abutment surfaces (80, 81, 82) which receive and retain respective first, second and intermediate walls wherein; the intermediate wall (78) insulates said first wall (77) from said second wall (79).
US08024904B2 Panel and fastening system for such panel
The invention relates to a fastening system (1) for rectangular, tabular panels (2, 3, 10), especially floor panels. Comprising retaining profiles disposed on the small faces of said panels (2, 3, 10). Opposite retaining profiles match said retaining profiles in such a manner that similar panels (2, 3, 10) can be interlinked. The panels are provided with opposite first retaining profiles that are configured in such a manner that on a panel (2, 3, 10) being in first line a new panel (2) can be locked in second line by attaching the new panel (2) to the installed panel (3) at a temporary angle relative to the installed panel (3) and then swiveling it down into the plane of the installed panel (3). The panel further comprises opposite second retaining elements that comprise corresponding hook elements (6, 7). A hook connection (8) can be established by means of one of the hook elements (6, 7) of the new panel (2) and a hook element (6, 7) of a panel (3) that is already installed in second line by swiveling down the new panel (2). Every hook connection (8) is associated with an additional locking element (13, 22, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36, 40, 46) that prevents, in the hooked state of two panels (2, 3, 10), the book connection (8) from being released in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the installed panels (2, 3 10).
US08024899B2 Apparatus and systems of interior window framing
An interior window framing system comprising a standardized frame having predetermined dimensions proportionate to a standard window.
US08024898B2 Universal fenestration cap system and method
In an exemplary embodiment, a window sill comprises a structural base having a first side and a second side, a fenestration cap attached to the structural base, a window frame mounted on the fenestration cap and finish elements applied to the structural base and adjacent to the fenestration cap. The window frame may be removed from the fenestration cap without disturbing the finish elements. Alternatively, a method of installing a window in a window opening comprises providing a window opening and preparing the window opening for receiving a fenestration cap, installing a fenestration cap by placement within and attachment to the window opening in a primary step, and installing a window within the window opening by placement within and attachment to the fenestration cap in a secondary step.
US08024896B2 Anchor recess former
A device that attaches to the rebar used to manufacture a concrete item and is left in place as the wet concrete is placed within the form for the concrete item and allowed to cure. The device is a hollow, walled, generally cup- or half disc-shaped structure having an outer forming wall and a hollow interior. The device may be a unitary or two part construction having an upper section, a lower section, upper rebar braces, lower rebar braces, and anchor holes. Anchor holes extend through the anchor recess former providing for a passage from the hollow interior to the outside. Upon the curing of the concrete, the present invention becomes an integral part of the concrete item, creating a uniform recess and exposing an anchor that can be used to lift the concrete item.
US08024895B2 Device for raising and lowering a lighting mast
An arrangement for the raising and lowering of a mast, which includes an upper mast portion and base, which upper mast portion is rotatable about a horizontal pivot axis, located in the base of the mast is described. The arrangement includes (i) docking device for restraining the upper mast portion against rotation; (ii) attachment device for attaching a drive device for driving the docking device between a first engaged configuration wherein the upper mast portion is restrained against rotation and a second disengaged configuration wherein the upper mast portion is free to rotate and (iii) locking device selectable via an intermediate unlocked configuration between a first locked configuration wherein the docking device is engaged and a second unlocked configuration wherein the docking device is disengaged and is characterized in that the locking means is controllable remotely to allow automatic operation of the raising and lowering sequence.
US08024894B1 Structural vented roof deck enclosure system
A structural support member for use in a roof deck system that is supported on an upper surface of a roof deck support structure. The primary embodiment comprises a substantially vertical outer segment, a substantially horizontal lower segment connected to the outer segment, a substantially horizontal upper segment connected to the outer segment, a substantially horizontal intermediate segment connected to the outer segment between the upper and lower segments, and a substantially vertical inner segment connected to the intermediate segment and the lower segment. The lower segment is secured to the upper surface of the support structure and supports a metal deck. The upper, intermediate, and outer segments form a C-shaped cavity for receiving the end of a barrier material, such as insulation or concrete, which is supported on the metal deck. The lower, intermediate, inner, and outer segments form an elongated channel that preferably has a plurality of vent holes therethrough.
US08024889B2 Pest control method and apparatus
An apparatus to project toward a tree to disburse a pheromone, comprising: a releaser (20) removably adjacent to a capsule (25) via an extension (120); whereby said releaser (20) and said capsule (25) are disposed adjacent to each other in a deployable state (180), then the releaser (20) separates from the capsule (25) but is still connected via said extension (120) whereby inertia causes said releaser (20) to move away from said capsule (25) into an attachment state (200). A method of applying a pheromone onto a tree branch, comprising: positioning a releaser (20) to a first end (122) of an extension (120); positioning a capsule (110) to a second end (124) of an extension (120); positioning the releaser (20) adjacent to the capsule (110) so that the member (10) is in a deployable state (180); projecting the member (10) in its deployable state (180) whereby inertia causes said releaser (20) to separate from said capsule (110) and form an attachment state (200).
US08024866B2 Height recording system comprising a telescopic rule with two ends cooperating with an optical beam scanning in a horizontal plane
A height recording system includes a telescopic rule formed from a head and a telescopic assembly used to vary a distance between one support end forming a base for the telescopic assembly and an upper end supporting the head. The height recording system comprises: a measurement system that measures the distance; a receiver including photosensitive cell(s) to detect an optical beam output from a laser system; a module starts or validates a height measurement by the measurement system starting the measurement or the validation in response to the module receiving a determined signal from the receiver; the determined signal being representative of the laser beam being detected by one of the photosensitive cells.
US08024864B2 Ratcheting cutting tool for plastic pipes
A ratcheting cutting tool for plastic pipes having first and second, elongated rigid members pivotally mounted to each other. Each rigid member has a handle and the first rigid member additionally has an anvil at an end opposite from its handle. A spring-biased, knife blade member with a cutting edge and with a plurality of ratchet teeth is pivotally mounted to the first member. The tool further includes drive and catch pawls pivotally mounted to the respective rigid members. In operation, the handles of the rigid members can be repeatedly squeezed together to progressively move the cutting edge of the knife blade member in a step-by-step manner toward the anvil to cut through a plastic pipe positioned therebetween. A manually operated release mechanism is also disclosed wherein both the drive and catch pawls can be moved in one motion to release positions spaced from engagement with the ratchet teeth to permit the spring-biased knife blade member to be automatically returned to its open position after each cut.
US08024863B2 Conforming wet shaving razor
A wet shaving razor comprising a cartridge having a length wherein the cartridge comprises an upper frame comprising 1) a blade frame, 2) a shaving blade joined to the blade frame where the blade extends lengthwise along the cartridge, 3) an upper face that surrounds the blade, and 4) one or more serially arranged rear spring elements, each element having a proximate and distal end such that said proximate end is joined adjacent a top edge of the upper face and wherein said distal end is joined to a catch plate; a sub-frame upon which said upper frame is resiliently mounted at its bottom edge near a front edge of said sub-frame wherein said sub-frame further comprises front spring elements; and a catch plate that causes the rear spring elements to foldably engage with a rear edge of said sub-frame to provide removably secured rear spring elements; and wherein the front spring elements and rear spring elements oppose local deformation of the cartridge under shaving forces encountered during shaving.
US08024861B2 External stroke/flow setting method for fuel injectors
A method for externally adjusting the axial length of a solenoid actuated fuel injector includes the step of externally forming a helical scribe mark in a housing component, thereby changing the axial length of the injector. By adjusting the length of the helical scribe mark and the depth of the scribe mark, and by measuring the stroke or the flow rate of the injector, the stroke or the flow rate of injector may be set precisely. The external adjustment of the length of the housing component may be made in cartridge form as well as in final assembly form of the fuel injector complementing the manufacturing process versatility.
US08024860B2 Methods for manufacturing an ink cartridge
A method for manufacturing an ink cartridge includes the step of connecting a film or a pair of films to a frame. The films and the frame define an ink chamber therein, and the ink cartridge includes the films and the frame. The method also includes the step of positioning a patterned member adjacent to the films. The patterned member includes a first pattern, and the first pattern includes a first portion and a second portion which is raised with respect to the first portion. Moreover, the method includes the step of forming a second pattern corresponding to the first pattern on the films by generating a pressure differential between a pressure inside the ink chamber and a pressure outside the ink chamber, in which the pressure differential draws the films into contact with the first pattern.
US08024859B1 Oil pump anti-wear plate for transfer case and method of use
A replacement oil pump plate for attachment to an original equipment manufacture oil pump within a transfer case for elimination of mechanical wear by replacing the abrasive aluminum tabs formed on the oil pump with low-friction plastic tabs is disclosed. The present plastic tab design redistributes the surface-to-surface contact between the magnesium transfer case and the aluminum pump tabs away from the original wear points so that any necessary weld repairs to the transfer case will not be disturbed. The present replacement pump plate is provided in a kit format including a pump plate, machine screws, plastic tabs, and installation instructions. The present invention also describes a method of installing the pump plate kit on the original equipment manufacture oil pump subassembly.
US08024852B1 Bar mounted tool adaptor
A tool mount assembly includes drop down connections to aid in mounting of a tool to a moving base and a fail-safe tool mounting system for preventing installation of a tool in an undesired or incorrect manner. A plurality of tool mount rails are received within mounts and are uniquely tailored to assure proper placement of tools such as grippers or vacuum cups at desired locations specific to the application requirements.
US08024851B2 Method of producing a radially expandable prosthesis
A method for producing a radially expandable prosthesis by cutting a pattern in a tubular member, which member has an outer diameter at least as great as the expanded diameter of the prosthesis.
US08024849B2 Fire extinguisher
The fire extinguisher of the present invention includes a container housing a fire inhibiting material which may automatically discharge its fire inhibiting contents in response to a fire. In one exemplary embodiment, the fire inhibiting material is pressurized within the container and the container is structured and arranged to discharge its fire inhibiting contents in a predetermined direction. Also, a method is provided for constructing a container for holding fire inhibiting contents under pressure and a method and apparatus for effectively and efficiently filling and pressurizing the container with fire inhibiting material, forming a container structured and arranged to expel the fire inhibiting material contained therein in a predefined direction in response to a fire.
US08024848B2 Double-action clinching method
Double-action clinching includes establishing a first layer on a second layer, and securing the layers between a tool's punch and clinching punch. First layer has less ductility than second layer, and clinching punch diameter is smaller than punch diameter. Layers are secured so: a tool support receives a portion of a second layer surface; clinching punch, slidably positioned in the support, is adjacent another portion of the second layer surface; and punch, positioned opposed to clinching punch, is adjacent a portion of a first layer surface. Pressing the punch into the first layer surface portion forms an aperture through the first layer. Pressing the clinching punch, in a direction opposite to the punch pressing, into the other portion of the second layer surface forces portion(s) of the second layer into the aperture, and forms a micro-interlocking flush-back joint between an aperture side wall and the second layer portion(s).
US08024844B2 Clip
A clip is easily usable even by a visually handicapped person and a presbyope. The clip has bend sections, rectilinear sections, and a connection section. The bend sections can be located at positions close to each other with a spacing equal to or less than the diameter of the wire material of the clip held between them. The rectilinear sections are bent upward and some are in contact with each other.
US08024842B2 Hinge and collapsible device utilizing the same
A hinge includes a shaft sleeve, a shaft, and a spring. The shaft sleeve includes a shaft tube, and the shaft includes a fixing rod rotationally received in the shaft tube. The spring is received between the shaft and the shaft tube for guiding lubricant to lubricate the shaft and the shaft tube. The fixing rod is rotatably passed through the spring, and capable of rotating relative to the shaft tube.
US08024841B2 Hinge
A hinge includes a bracket, a shaft rotatably received in the bracket, a engaging member, a pressing member, and a driving member. The bracket includes a casing portion defining a receiving space therein. The receiving space includes a circular part and a slot connecting the circular part. The engaging member is received in the slot of the bracket. The engaging member includes a slope surface and a screw hole. The pressing member is received in the slot of the bracket. The pressing member includes a pressing portion pressing firmly against the shaft, and a driven portion engaged with the slope surface of the engaging member. The driving member includes a screw pole capable of screwing in the screw hole of the engaging member to move the engaging member toward the pressing member, for driving the pressing member to press firmly against the shaft.
US08024840B2 Hinge
A hinge includes a bracket, a shaft, and a first interfering member. The shaft includes a post, and a stopper protruded thereon. The post is secured to the first interfering member. The bracket defines a pivoting hole. The bracket includes a restricting block, and a second interfering member located in the pivoting hole of the bracket opposite to the restricting block. The first interfering member together with the post rotates in the pivoting hole until the restricting block resists against the stopper of the shaft to limit a rotational range of the post. The second interfering member engages with the first interfering member to improve the rotation of the post in the pivoting hole of the bracket.
US08024839B2 Indexing hinge
An indexing hinge comprises a two arm hinge half and an axle hinge half. The two arm hinge half includes two hinge arms, a projecting indexing element disposed therebetween and a first mounting element. The axle hinge half includes two axles, each extending from a toothed indexing element, and a second mounting element. When the axle hinge half is connected to the two arm hinge half by interconnecting each axle with a respective hinge arm, the projecting indexing element abuts the toothed indexing element in such a way as to prevent rotation unless an additional rotational torque is applied. An electronic equipment enclosure installation comprises an electronic equipment enclosure and an indexing hinge.
US08024836B2 Beam blade windshield wiper assembly having an airfoil
A beam blade wiper assembly including a rubber wiping element and an elongated beam having first and second longitudinal ends. The wiper assembly also includes an airfoil having an attachment portion and an upper portion extending between first and second distal ends. The attachment portion includes a flat rib and a pair of legs adapted to operatively engage the rubber wiping element. The upper portion includes a solid base having a leading edge that extends from the base toward the wiping element. The base and the rib define a space that receives the elongated beam. The base and the elongated beam define a cavity that provides flexibility between the upper portion and the attachment portion during wiper operation. The upper portion further includes a spoiler that extends from the base in a manner opposite to the leading edge.
US08024832B1 Aquarium cleaning device with debris collecting net
An aquarium cleaning device structured for use with glass or plastic aquarium walls, enabling a dislodging and freeing of debris from the walls, while also simultaneously enabling a collecting of dislodged and freed debris for subsequent removal. The cleaning device includes a frame providable of a rigid, possibly closed, and flattened loop, and a netting material, each of which are preferably sandwiched between two scrubbing pads. An elongated handle portion is fixable to the rigid loop and scrubbing pads, and arranged for secure grasping by a user such that aquarium wall cleaning activities may be conducted. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope and meaning of the claims.
US08024830B2 Inflatable bed having a built-in electric air pump unit for inflating a mattress assembly
An inflatable bed includes a bedstead assembly, a mattress assembly having at least one air chamber, and an electric air pump unit disposed on the bedstead assembly. The air pump unit includes a centrifugal pump device for performing initial inflation of the air chamber, a diaphragm pump device for performing subsequent inflation of the air chamber, and a control valve operable to allow for and interrupt fluid communication between the centrifugal pump device and the air chamber.
US08024829B2 Weight activated restraining pillow
Weight restraining pillow has a filled outer perimeter area encompassing a central sling area. The sling is defined in part by two generally parallel outer seams adjacent the outer perimeter, and an inner seam located between the outer seams which help hold the fill of the perimeter in place. When a weighted object is placed on the sling, the perimeter is drawn inward toward the object placed therein.
US08024828B2 Air cell
An object of the present invention is to provide an air cell which is capable of detecting that the upper end side and the lower end side of the air bag are nearer than a predetermined distance. This air cell has an air bag, a base member to which the lower end portion of the air bag is attached, an air chamber AR configured by the air bag and the upper surface of the base member, a thin film portion which forms the bottom surface of the air chamber and capable of deforming elastically in the up-and-down direction, an extending member configured to extend upwardly from the upper surface of the thin film portion, detecting means which is provided under the thin film portion and which detects downward deformation of the thin film portion.
US08024825B2 Collapsible crib
The present invention relates to collapsible cribs. The cribs have one or more of the following characteristics: adjustable length and/or, width and/or height, lightweight, easily collapsed, very compact when collapsed and easily carried, stored and transported. Embodiments disclosed relate to pens, cribs, and play yards with and without wheels.
US08024824B1 Person lifting apparatus and method
The present disclosure provides for individuals who may otherwise have trouble lifting themselves from the floor after a fall. Using the teachings of the present disclosure, such individuals may autonomously regain their footing, without the necessity of calling paramedics or others for help. An individual may crawl onto the seat of the device and then, using either a handcrank or an electric motor, lift himself to a sitting/standing position.
US08024823B2 Water conservation system
A water conservation system comprising a reservoir for storing water; a toilet water tank for storing water, the toilet water tank is disposed below the reservoir; and a tube fluidly connecting the reservoir and the tank, wherein the tube is configured such that a first end of the tube reaches near a bottom surface of the reservoir, a second end of the tube reaches near a bottom surface of the tank, and an elevated portion with a crest that is oriented above the first end.
US08028339B2 Network device and method for providing content compatibility between network devices having different respective digital rights management methods
The present invention relates to a network device and a method for providing content compatibility between network devices having different respective digital rights management methods. The method includes exchanging security program lists of the network devices, comparing the security program list of one network device with the security program list of the other network device based on the exchanged security program lists, and installing a security program required for using content of the other network device according to the comparison result. Accordingly, there is an advantage in that the network devices using the different respective DRM-based security programs can exchange content with one another and use the content of the other network device by using the predetermined security program update methods.
US08028337B1 Profile-aware filtering of network traffic
A system and a method for profiling traffic on a computer network. Flows are observed traversing a communication link. Relative uncertainty values are computed for the dimensions of these flows. These relative uncertainty values are used to identify dominant feature values in the various flow dimensions. Flows having these dominant feature values are filtered.
US08028332B2 Verification method of a target device connected to a master device
Example embodiments are directed to a revocation lists management method, namely a verification method of a target device connected to a master device, the master device having means to receive a content transmitted by a broadcast centre via a data stream, the master device and the target device authenticating themselves by the exchange of a certificate having at least one certificate identifier. The method includes transmitting by broadcast a target device verification table containing a certificate identifier list, storing certificate identifier list in the master device, extracting a verification data associated to the content, the verification data including the activation or the deactivation of the verification of the target device. If the verification data includes the activation of the verification, the method includes verifying the certificate of the target device by the master device using at least one list stored to authorize or prohibit the exchanges of data with the target device.
US08028329B2 Proxy authentication network
A Proxy Authentication Network includes a server that stores credentials for subscribers, along with combinations of devices and locations from which individual subscribers want to be authenticated. Data is stored in storage: the storage can be selected by the subscriber. The data stored in the storage, which can be personally identifiable information, can be stored in an encrypted form. The key used to encrypt such data can be divided between the storage and server. In addition, third parties can store portions of the encrypting key. Subscribers can be authenticated using their credentials from recognized device/location combinations; out-of-band authentication supports authenticating subscribers from other locations. Once authenticated, a party can request that the encrypted data be released. The portions of the key are then assembled at the storage. The storage then decrypts the data, generates a new key, and re-encrypts the data for transmission to the requester.
US08028327B1 Method and system for a low-cost-internet-base station (LCIB) granting a client device temporary access
Methods and systems are provided for a low cost Internet base station (LCIB) to grant a client device temporary access to a wireless network. In an embodiment, an LCIB receives a request from a client device. The request includes a feature code, an access code, and a client-device identifier. The feature code in the request indicates that the client device is requesting temporary access to the wireless network. Upon detecting the feature code in the request, the LCIB compares the access code in the request with a stored access code. If the access code from the request matches the stored access code, the LCIB grants the client device access to the wireless network on a temporary basis. Alternatively, if the access code from the request does not match the stored access code, the LCIB denies the client device access to the wireless network.
US08028323B2 Method and system for employing a first device to direct a networked audio device to obtain a media item
A method for playing music includes displaying a list of playlists names, selecting one of the displayed playlists names, sending at least one attribute of a playlist corresponding to the selected playlist name to a playlist server, receiving a playlist from the playlist server wherein the received playlist corresponds to the attribute(s), selecting at least one song from the received playlist, sending information representative of the selected song to a content server, receiving the selected song from the content server, and playing the selected song(s). Requesting a playlist on the first device based on attributes, sending the same attributes to a second device having the second device request the playlist and start playing.
US08028322B2 Method and apparatus for network content download and recording
Methods and apparatus for providing content to users of a network that can be selectively recorded via the user's equipment. In an exemplary embodiment, the network comprises a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network, and on-demand (OD) sessions are used to provide high-speed download of the requested content to the users. The user's equipment (e.g., set-top box) is equipped with a high-density recording device which can both record the content onto a selected medium (e.g., DVD) and optionally provide copyright protection via one or more means such as limiting the number of copies that can be made, and/or digital watermarking. The network operator can also restrict the establishment of the on-demand sessions and/or release of the content to subscribers based on parameters including prior purchase of the content by the user, and the timing of the release of the same content via other distribution channels such as rental and retail.
US08028317B1 Integrated live video production system
Described is a system used in defining and producing a live television broadcast. The system includes one or more control panels, a workstation, a router, and devices. The control panels may be hard control panels or soft control panels. The control panel includes programmable buttons having a display determined in accordance with a show definition. Display and control of a portion of the control panel buttons may vary in response to another control or button selection. Primary and backup communication connections are used to control the live show production.
US08028316B2 Broadcasting system, broadcasting station apparatus, receiving device, and broadcasting method
A receiving device receives a plurality of first and second program information. The first program information is information relating to each of broadcasting scheduled programs within a predetermined time period from the date of transmission of a broadcasting signal by a broadcasting station apparatus. The second program information is information relating to a broadcasting scheduled program in the future after a predetermined time period from the date of transmission of the broadcasting signal. A controller in the receiving device stores, when there is a reservation based on the second program information, the reserved second program information in a reservation information storage. Thereafter, the controller compares the reserved second program information with a plurality of first program information newly received, and determines whether or not there is first program information that coincides with the second program information. The controller updates, when there is first program information that coincides with the second program information, information relating to the reserved program stored in the reservation information storage on the basis of the first program information.
US08028313B2 Linear program guide for media content access systems and methods
In one of many possible embodiments, a system includes a media content processing subsystem configured to provide at least a portion of a linear program guide to a display for presentation to a user. The linear program guide includes a list of media content carriers and associated media content instances, and an endpoint located at one end of the list. The media content carriers and the endpoint are navigable by the user, and the endpoint is associated with at least one selectable navigation tool for navigating within the linear program guide. In certain embodiments, the selectable navigation tool includes a selectable shortcut to a predefined location within the linear program guide.
US08028312B2 Information processing apparatus and content registration method, and program
The present invention registers a content so that its composition can be easily recognized, and promotes the reduction of a load in playing processing on the registered content, and improves convenience of users. Also, it evaluates the value of production of a content more properly. An information processing apparatus includes: a generator for generating meta information including content composition information representing a composition of a content to be registered, and mashed-up-or-not information representing whether a content to be registered is a unitary content or a mashed-up content in which a plurality of contents are combined; and a register for registering the generated meta information as content information.
US08028306B2 Disk storage medium processing apparatus
A disk storage medium processing apparatus includes a disk conveying device for conveying a disk between a disk loading/unloading slot of an apparatus body and a centering position of a traverse unit. The disk conveying device includes a pair of first and second disk guide arms which are pivotably disposed on the apparatus body and which can hold the periphery of the disk to convey the disk. Therefore, the disk storage medium processing apparatus can easily and flexibly conduct the control for conveyance of the disk no matter whether the disk has a small diameter or a large diameter, with keeping protection of the recording surface of the disk and can be formed more compactly.
US08028305B2 Disk storage medium processing apparatus
A disk storage medium processing apparatus includes an apparatus body having a disk loading/unloading slot, a traverse unit which is disposed in the apparatus body to conduct at least one of recording, deletion, and reproduction of information onto or from a disk, and a clamper supporting device for supporting a clamper which clamps the disk to the traverse unit. A disk conveying device conveys the disk into the apparatus body when a part of the disk is inserted through the disk loading/unloading slot and which ejects a part of the disk through the disk loading/unloading slot from a state that the disk is housed in the apparatus body. The disk conveying device includes a pair of first and second disk conveying arms which are pivotably attached to the apparatus body and holding a periphery of the disk to convey the disk.
US08028302B2 Software architecture system with embedded virtual router
The invention relates to a network system of at least two appliances, each appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation on an article, and each appliance having its own software architecture. An embedded virtual router enables communication among appliance components independent of the architecture of the software.
US08028301B2 Restricting recordal of user activity in a processing system
A method/system for restricting recordal of user activity in a processing system. In one form, the method comprises intercepting a kernel API call of the processing system 100, determining if a process initiating the kernel API call is malicious, and in response to a positive determination, terminating the determined process. A table can be updated with request information of the process and it can be determined if a trend of requests exists for the status of the input device, and in response to a positive determination of a trend, the process may be terminated.
US08028294B2 Progress management for projects
Project progress management technology is made more objective by excluding as much human subjectivity as possible. Consideration is given to levels of importance of check items and tasks. A more accurate grasp of the progress of a project is enabled even if a significant change occurs in the middle of the project. An indication of a “complete” or “incomplete” state is used as a progress indicator of the lowest order tasks of the project, and progress of a high order task is based on the progress of the lowest order tasks.
US08028293B2 Optimal policies for load balancing for distributed and strategic agents (more technically, optimal coordination mechanisms for machine scheduling)
Providing for scheduling tasks in a distributed system based on an inefficiency of each task on a particular machine as compared with available networked machines is described herein. By way of example, a distribution component can receive a plurality of tasks at a machine assigned by at least one independent agent. In addition, an ordering component can schedule each task on a machine as a function of non-decreasing inefficiency. Such a policy can be implemented locally at the machine, minimizing inter-device communication, while only marginally increasing completion time for the set of tasks. In such a manner, the subject disclosure provides for load balancing of distributed systems in a manner that utilizes fewer resources than conventional approaches.
US08028291B2 Method and computer program product for job selection and resource allocation of a massively parallel processor
A method for job selection and resource allocation of massively parallel processors, the method includes: providing to a constraint satisfaction problem solver multiple domains, variables, and constraints representative of a massively parallel processor, of queued job requests and of jobs being processed by the massively parallel processor, and generating, by the constraint satisfaction problem solver a result representative of multiple jobs to be executed, at least partially in parallel, by multiple resources of the massively parallel processor.
US08028290B2 Multiple-core processor supporting multiple instruction set architectures
Multiple instruction set architectures are supported in a system that provides a power-efficient and flexible platform for virtual machine environments requiring multiple support for multiple instruction set architectures (ISAs). A processor includes multiple cores having disparate native ISAs and that may be selectively enabled for operation, so that power is conserved when support for a particular ISA is not required of the processor. A hypervisor controls operation of the cores, locates a core and enables it if necessary when a request to instantiate a virtual machine having a specified ISA is received. The ISA may be specified by a particular operating system and/or application program requirements.
US08028287B2 Method and scheduler for performing a scheduling algorithm with minimum resource parameter
A method for performing a scheduling algorithm with minimum resource scheduling in a mobile communication system, comprising the steps of scheduling (10) allocation units for a user or service in a scheduling frame, checking whether (20) the allocation units scheduled for a user or service in a particular scheduling frame meet a resource constraint, and releasing the allocation units (40) scheduled for a user or service for that particular scheduling frame for based on the result of the checking step for resource constraint. The invention also concerns a scheduler in a mobile communication system, a base station and mobile terminal comprising such a scheduler and a mobile communication system.
US08028283B2 Method and system for automated invocation of device functionalities in a network
A method and system that enable an automatic invocation of device functionalities on devices in a network. Invocation mechanisms are provided to support heterogeneous invocation mechanisms including new invocation mechanisms. Invocation mechanisms using scripts can be added without the need for recompilation of support systems such as home-networking middleware systems. This further enables the use of scripts that can coordinate the use of multiple devices in accomplishing a task.
US08028280B2 Compiler optimisation of source code by determination and utilization of the equivalence of algebraic expressions in the source code
A computer program product and computer system for implementing a method of compiler optimisation of source code during compilation of the source code in a computer environment. The compiler optimisation of source code includes: recasting two algebraic expressions into a form of one or more token pairs arranged sequentially in a string, each token pair including an operator followed by an operand; reducing the strings in accordance with a set of predetermined simplifying rules; and comparing the reduced strings by matching to detect an equivalence of the two algebraic expressions.
US08028279B2 System and program product for porting code utilizing a portable execution environment
A system for porting code from a native platform to a non-native platform is provided which utilizes a non-native, platform-specific layer of code and a platform-neutral layer of code. The platform-neutral layer substantially emulates the native platform of ported code and provides a platform-neutral interface to the ported code. Together, the platform-specific layer and the platform-neutral layer provide an execution environment in which the ported code operates as a kernel extension of the non-native platform. The platform-neutral layer of the execution environment is portable to other non-native platforms so that code can be ported to another non-native platform by replacing the platform-specific layer with a customized platform-specific layer, which is adapted to the other non-native platform.
US08028275B2 Control systems and methods with smart blocks
Methods and apparatus for configuring process, environmental, industrial and other control systems generate and/or utilize models representing configurations of control systems and/or the systems controlled by them. Records of changes to the models or the configurations represented by them are maintained, thereby, for example, providing bases for determining current states, prior states and histories of changes. Objects in the model have characteristics, such as an object type characteristic and an area characteristic. Users can have corresponding permissions. A security mechanism apparatus controls access by users to the objects. Composite objects are defined by definition objects and are displayed in encapsulated or expanded formats. Objects can include an edit control type identifier that determines how they are presented for editing. Functionality responds to user commands by transferring characteristics of a first object depicted by the graphical user interface to a second object. Configuration-time formulas contained objects are evaluated to constants prior to downloading to the control system.
US08028272B2 Control system configurator and methods with edit selection
Methods and apparatus for configuring process, environmental, industrial and other control systems generate and/or utilize models representing configurations of control systems and/or the systems controlled by them. Records of changes to the models or the configurations represented by them are maintained, thereby, for example, providing bases for determining current states, prior states and histories of changes. Objects in the model have characteristics, such as an object type characteristic and an area characteristic. Users can have corresponding permissions. A security mechanism apparatus controls access by users to the objects. Composite objects are defined by definition objects and are displayed in encapsulated or expanded formats. Objects can include an edit control type identifier that determines how they are presented for editing. Functionality responds to user commands by transferring characteristics of a first object depicted by the graphical user interface to a second object. Configuration-time formulas contained objects are evaluated to constants prior to downloading to the control system.
US08028267B2 Pattern designing method, pattern designing program and pattern designing apparatus
An embodiment of the invention provides a pattern designing method, including the steps of carrying out transfer simulation calculation and step simulation calculation by using physical layout data produced from circuit design data, and comparing a result of the transfer simulation calculation and the step simulation calculation with a preset standard; and carrying out calculation for electrical characteristics by using parameters obtained from the physical layout when as a result of the comparison, the preset standard is fulfilled, and carrying out calculation for the electrical characteristics by reflecting the result of the transfer simulation calculation and the step simulation calculation in the parameters when as the result of the comparison, the preset standard is not fulfilled, thereby extracting the parameters.
US08028266B2 System and method for automated placement in custom VLSI circuit design with schematic-driven placement
A method for automatically generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements includes receiving a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method selects a subset of circuit elements and receives placement inputs. The method generates a first placed layout configuration comprising adjusted placement parameters, based on the received placement inputs, the first placement parameters, and the design parameters. The method assigns absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placed layout configuration. The method generates an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements based on the absolute placement coordinates.
US08028264B2 Semiconductor device and semiconductor device layout designing method
A semiconductor device including a plurality of cells having an antenna protection element and a cell other than the antenna protection element; and a first dummy pattern and a second dummy pattern arranged in a layer above the plurality of cells. Further, the first dummy pattern overlaps with the antenna protection element, the second dummy pattern overlaps with the cell other than the antenna protection element, and a first layout rule of the first dummy pattern is different from a second layout rule of the second dummy pattern.
US08028261B2 Method of predicting substrate current in high voltage device
A method of predicting a substrate current in a high voltage device that may accurately predict substrate current components in each of a first region, a second region, and a third region. This may be accomplished by modeling a substrate current component in a third region, in which an inconsistency may occur when a substrate current in a high voltage device is calculated, for example using BSIM3-based modeling. According to embodiments, a substrate current for a third region may be modeled by an expression with a ternary operator, and the modeled substrate current may be added to a substrate current obtained through BSIM3-based modeling.
US08028259B2 Automated method and apparatus for very early validation of chip power distribution networks in semiconductor chip designs
Validation of full-chip power distribution networks can be performed very early, and continuously throughout the design cycle, to detect real physical power connection problems and enable early correction of power grid designs using early floor plan and power grid design data. Common power connection and distribution errors are automatically addressed as an integral part of the early chip floor planning and chip power build processes providing efficient solutions requiring no extra wiring resource to be implemented and reducing the runtime of required final full-chip physical design checks, and the overall design cycle.
US08028253B2 Method and apparatus for determining mask layouts for a multiple patterning process
One embodiment provides a method for determining mask layouts. During operation, the system can receive a design intent. Next, the system can determine a set of critical edges in the design layout, and select a first edge and a second edge. The system can then determine a first trench and a second trench using the first edge and the second edge, respectively. Note that an edge of the first trench may substantially overlap with the first edge, and an edge of the second trench may substantially overlap with the second edge. Next, the system may assign the first trench and the second trench to the first mask layout and the second mask layout, respectively. The system can then increase the first trench and the second trench, thereby improving pattern fidelity. The resulting mask layouts may be used in a double patterning process.
US08028247B2 System and method for window navigation in GUI environment
In a GUI environment including a plurality of windows, a user may establish one or more groups of windows such that the windows comprising each group are related. The user may cycle focus successively between the windows in the group in response to a focus cycle command input by the user. The focus may cycle bidirectionally between the windows in the group in response to bi-directional focus cycle command inputs by the user. The user may shift focus to a window outside of the group by entering a focus shift command.
US08028246B2 Concierge—shopping assistant
A method for providing access to information related to a digital image record on a data processing device. The digital image record is displayed with a tab emanating from an edge of the digital image record. The tab includes an access point that allows a user to access a category of information related to content contained within the digital image record.
US08028243B1 Abstraction-aware distributed window configurations in complex graphical user interfaces
A user interface to an application processing complex data of multiple data view abstractions allows selection, placement, size and other configurable characteristics of interface components to be controlled by a user and then associated with the data abstraction and processing task. Multiple configurations may be created to simplify the interface to include only necessary controls given an abstraction level of the data view and the task on that data. The configurations may be stored using symbolic references and subsequently loaded on demand into the interface. Mechanisms may be applied to ensure that similarly referenced configurations in storage are resolved and only the desired configuration is applied.
US08028242B2 Diagram with configurable wires
Configuring wires/icons in a diagram. The diagram may be an executable diagram such as a graphical program or a system diagram. The diagram may include a plurality of icons that are connected by wires, and the icons may visually represent functionality of the diagram. The diagram may be executable to perform the functionality. Displaying the diagram may include displaying a first wire in the diagram, where the first wire connects a first icon and a second icon. Data transfer functionality may be specified for the first wire and/or the first or second icon in the diagram. The data transfer functionality may be visually indicated in the diagram, e.g., by appearances of the first icon, the second icon, the first wire, and/or icons displayed proximate to these components of the diagram.
US08028235B2 Multi-windows color adjustment system and method
The invention provides a multi-windows color adjustment system and method that divides the picture frame of a display screen into three or more windows so that the user can compare the color tones of the windows and then select the preferred window. The multi-windows color adjustment system includes a memory read/write controller coupled to an image data input for temporarily storing an input image data and executing read/write control, a window control unit coupled to the memory read/write controller for executing size, data flow and color tone controls of the windows, a line buffer coupled to the memory read/write controller and the window control unit for storing a line data, and a color adjustment unit coupled to the window control unit and the line buffer for executing the processing of color adjustment of the image data in the windows subject to the control of the window control unit.
US08028234B2 Summarization of sumo video content
Summarization of video content, such as a video that includes sumo, by a method that provides a description of the video, identifies a plurality of segments of the video based upon the provided description, and generates another video based upon the identified segments, having less frames than the original video.
US08028233B1 Interactive graphical interface including a streaming media component and method and system of producing the same
A multiphase interactive advertisement includes a first phase having a first graphical interface and a second phase having a second graphical interface including at least a streaming media component space. In an exemplary embodiment, the second phase has a dimension that is greater than a dimension of the first phase. The multiphase interactive advertisement further includes a streaming media component incorporated into the streaming media component space of the second phase. The multiphase interactive advertisement, and specifically, the streaming media component, is generated using a software player engine that includes a core set of player variables and controls.
US08028230B2 Contextual input method
A input method selects a character from a plurality of characters of a logographic script, and identifies characters proximate the selected character. One or more candidate characters are then selected based on a composition input and the proximate characters.
US08028217B2 Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding high speed shared control channel
A method and apparatus for encoding and decoding high speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH) data are disclosed. For part 1 data encoding, a mask may be generated using a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) identity (ID) and a generator matrix with a maximum minimum Hamming distance. For part 2 data encoding, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits are generated based on part 1 data and part 2 data. The number of CRC bits is less than the WTRU ID. The CRC bits and/or the part 2 data are masked with a mask. The mask may be a WTRU ID or a punctured WTRU ID of length equal to the CRC bits. The mask may be generated using the WTRU ID and a generator matrix with a maximum minimum Hamming distance. The masking may be performed after encoding or rate matching.
US08028213B2 Data transformation method and related device for a testing system
A data transformation method for a testing system includes using a reception end for receiving a test signal comprising a test data and a timing information corresponding to the test data, and using a transformation unit for transforming the test data according to the timing information, so as to generate a test pattern utilized for testing a communication device.
US08028211B1 Look-ahead built-in self tests with temperature elevation of functional elements
A method and apparatus are disclosed for predicting the failure of a functional element of an integrated circuit during operation. The method includes determining whether the functional element of the integrated circuit device is in an idle cycle, elevating the temperature of the functional element above a normal operating temperature, performing a stress test of the functional element while the functional element is in the idle cycle, and indicating that the functional element, if it fails the stress test, is a potential future failing element. The stress test can include simultaneously providing a margining test voltage and a stress clock signal to the functional element while the temperature is elevated or at a normal operating temperature. The stress test is performed in the background, during continuous operation of the integrated circuit device, such that normal operation of the integrated circuit device is not interrupted. Thereby, the method and apparatus of the present invention allows for failure prediction in a device before it happens, allowing for planned outages or workarounds and avoiding system downtime for unplanned repairs.
US08028210B2 Semiconductor device
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device capable of recognizing circuit malfunction in an actual operation and of specifying a point of the circuit malfunction, and the semiconductor device, which does not induce the malfunction in the circuit of a subsequent stage when restoring the malfunction. The present invention is the semiconductor device provided with a plurality of logic circuits and a plurality of judging circuits for judging malfunction based on data from the logic circuits, wherein each of the judging circuits is provided with a first register, delay unit, a second register, a comparator and scanning unit, which makes the second register a shift register to allow to transmit an error signal held in the second register to the subsequent stage, while allowing the comparator to hold a comparison result.
US08028207B1 Early memory test
A PC BIOS can contain an early memory test that can identify a memory slot containing a bad memory. The BIOS can also contain a program module for using a communications port to report the identified memory slot. The communications port used for reporting is one that can be used without using system memory. In fact, the communications port can be used when there is no system memory installed in the PC. The parallel ports, LPT1 and LPT2 are such communications ports, as are the serial ports COM1 and COM2. An indicator can be electrically connected to the communications port to give a visual indication of a memory slot containing bad memory.
US08028206B2 Memory device including memory controller
A memory device includes a semiconductor memory including a plurality of memory cells, and a controller including a buffer which temporarily stores data, a data pattern check circuit which checks a predetermined data pattern of data that are stored in the buffer and are to be stored in a plurality of neighboring ones of the memory cells, and sends an address in accordance with a result of the check, and a data correction circuit which corrects a value of data at the address that is sent, and sends the corrected value to the semiconductor memory.
US08028202B2 Data management device and data managing method for the replication of data
A data management device accessible to a plurality of memories includes a risk unit which determines risk of failure associated with each of the plurality of memories, a selection unit which selects a memory from among the plurality of memories on the basis of the determined risk and a transmitting unit which transmits a replication instruction to another memory of the plurality of memories. The replication instruction causes replication of the data to be replicated that is stored in the selected memory.
US08028191B2 Methods and systems for implementing shared disk array management functions
Multiple Array Management Functions (AMFs) are connected to multiple redundancy groups over a storage area network (SAN), such as a fiber-channel based SAN. The multiple AMFs share management responsibility of the redundancy groups, each of which typically includes multiple resources spread over multiple disks. The AMFs provide concurrent access to the redundancy groups for associated host systems. When a host requests an AMF to perform an operation on a resource, the AMF synchronizes with the other AMFs sharing control of the redundancy group that includes the resource to be operated on, so as to obtain access to the resource. While performing the operation, the AMF send replication data and state information associated with the resource such that if the AMF fails, any of the other AMFs are able to complete the operation and maintain data reliability and coherency.
US08028188B2 System and method for testing an application installed on a wireless communication device
The invention describes a test bed, a method and a computer program product for testing an application installed on a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device communicates with a server over a network through the test bed. Further, the test bed is connected to the server and receives various testing parameters from a user. Furthermore, the test bed establishes a wireless connection between the test bed and the wireless communication device. Thereafter, the test bed emulates various network conditions, based on the testing parameters, and subsequently communicates the emulated network conditions to the wireless communication device. The application installed on the wireless communication device experiences the emulated network conditions. The user then tests the application in the emulated network conditions.
US08028181B2 Processor power consumption control and voltage drop via micro-architectural bandwidth throttling
A method, device, and system are disclosed. In one embodiment the method includes supplying a processor with a first voltage. The method also includes allowing the processor to function within an enhanced processor halt state at the first voltage. The first voltage is a voltage below the lowest compatible voltage for the enhanced processor halt state. The method allows the processor to execute instructions upon waking from the enhanced processor halt state at the first voltage by throttling a maximum throughput rate of instructions being executed in the processor.
US08028178B2 System and method for providing external power on a universal serial bus
A universal serial bus power control circuit including at least one first switch which selectively couples a power source node to an external power node, a comparator which detects when the external power node is charged, a feedback node for enabling voltage regulation, a charge circuit and a controller. The charge circuit charges the external power node from the power source node and selectively couples the feedback node to at least one of the power source node and the external power node. The controller opens the first switch when the external power node is not charged, controls the charge circuit to charge the external power node while coupling the feedback node to the power source node, and closes the first switch and couples the feedback node to the external power node in a host mode when the external power node is charged.
US08028177B2 Method for changing power states of a computer
A method for changing power states of a computer sends a shutdown event to all running applications before the computer goes to sleep to prevent data loss in a sleep state of the computer. Furthermore, the method stores a system memory image into a flash memory before the computer goes to the sleep state. Moreover, the method restores the system memory image from the flash memory to the system memory when the computer exit the sleep state to come back the work state.
US08028175B2 System and method for power sourcing equipment detection of a powered device power failure for power backup
A system and method for power sourcing equipment (PSE) detection of a powered device (PD) power failure for power backup. A PSE can power a PD at a low level of power as a backup power source. Upon a failure in the PDs primary power source, the PSE can detect a transient (e.g., current and/or voltage) on the PD load as a signal that the PD requires additional power. The PSE can then allocate increased power to the port by entering into an active state as compared to a backup state. As the PSE is responsive to the detection of the transient, the PSE need not rely on a real-time communication from the PD.
US08028173B2 Content distribution systems and methods
An electronic device comprises a first interface operable to receive from a user a selection of a first data set and a processor coupled to the first interface. The processor is operable to access the selected first data set, determine if the user is authorized to receive the first data set, and store the first data set on a memory device.
US08028172B2 Systems and methods for updating a secure boot process on a computer with a hardware security module
Systems and methods are provided for maintaining and updating a secure boot process on a computer with a trusted platform module (TPM). A boot process may be maintained by inspecting a log of TPM activity, determining data that prevented a secret to unseal, and returning the data to an original state. In situations where this type of recovery is not workable, techniques for authenticating a user may be used, allowing the authenticated user to bypass the security features of the boot process and reseal the boot secrets to platform configuration register (PCR) values that may have changed. Finally, a secure boot process may be upgraded by migrating TPM sealed secrets to a temporary storage location, updating one or more aspects of a secure boot process, and resealing the secrets to the resulting new platform configuration. Other advantages and features of the invention are described below.
US08028168B2 System and method for verification of personal identity
A system and method for storing identifying information and telephone numbers associated with individuals, and cross-referencing said information so as to link a first individual to other referee individuals capable of identifying the first individual as a result of a telephone conversation. When a relying party wishes to confirm the identity of a contracting party, the system is contacted and, using identifying information pertaining to said contracting party, identifies the set of referee individuals capable of identifying said contracting party, contacts a referee selected at random from the set, and places the contracting party in telephonic communication with the referee. At the conclusion of said telephonic communication, said system invites the referee to state the name of the first individual; by comparing the voice sample with a stored voice sample, the apparatus then provides identity confirmation to said relying party.
US08028167B2 Method and apparatus for certificate roll-over
A method and an electronic apparatus for rolling over from a first to second trusted certificate in the electronic apparatus. Information containing identification data for identifying the second trusted certificate is acquired in the electronic apparatus. Also, the second trusted certificate, which is preinstalled in the electronic apparatus, is activated based on said identification data.
US08028165B2 Trusted platform field upgrade system and method
A trusted platform field upgrade system comprises a trusted platform module (TPM) having a volatile memory, the volatile memory having a flag for verifying physical presence in a non-ownership state of the TPM, the TPM configured to enable a field upgrade to the TPM in an operating system (OS) environment based on assertion of the physical presence flag.
US08028164B2 Practical and secure storage encryption
The present invention relates to an electronic device (301) in which acceleration of data processing operations is provided, the device comprising a secure execution environment to which access is controlled. A basic idea of the present invention is to provide a device (311) for acceleration of data processing operations (an “accelerator”). In particular, the accelerator is used to accelerate cryptographic data operations such that it performs cryptographic operations on data provided to it via a first logical interface. The cryptographic operations are performed by means of encryption/decryption keys provided to the accelerator via a secure second logical interface which may share a same physical interface (312) with the first logical interface or which may use a distinct physical interface (414) from that of a distinct physical interface (412) used as the first logical interface.
US08028161B2 System for negotiating security association on application layer
A first computer sends a list of possible security associations to a second computer in a message according to a protocol of an application layer, a security parameter index being contained in the message for each security association. The second computer selects a security association and transmits it or an indication of the security association selected by it to the first computer.
US08028157B2 On-chip security method and apparatus
A boot method an apparatus are described which reduce the likelihood of a security breach in a mobile device, preferably in a situation where a reset has been initiated. A predetermined security value, or password, is stored, for example in BootROM. A value of a security location within FLASH memory is read and the two values are compared. Polling of the serial port is selectively performed, depending on the result of such comparison. In a presently preferred embodiment, if the value in the security location matches the predetermined security value, then polling of the serial port is not performed. This reduces potential security breaches caused in conventional arrangements where code may be downloaded from the serial port and executed, which allows anyone to access and upload programs and data in the FLASH memory, including confidential and proprietary information.
US08028156B2 Computer initialization data generation that accesses task and initialization databases based on computer ID
An initialization data generator includes a task database in which task descriptions for initializing a computer are specified related with task IDs and an initialization database in which initialization data descriptions for initializing a computer are stored related with initialization data IDs. The initialization data generator takes input of the computer ID of a computer to be initialized and task data, reads task descriptions and initialization data descriptions according to task ordering related with the task data from the task database and the initialization database, based on the task IDs, task ordering, and the initialization data IDs for software modules which are loaded into the computer to be initialized by the tasks corresponding to the task IDs, specified in the task data, and generates and transfers initialization data to the computer to be initialized, thereby initializing the computer to be initialized.
US08028154B2 Method and system for reducing instruction storage space for a processor integrated in a network adapter chip
Certain embodiments for reducing instruction storage space for a processor integrated in a network adapter chip may include generating MIPS instructions from corresponding new instructions. The new instructions may be in patch code instruction (PCI) format. The new instructions may be decoded and the MIPS instructions may be generated by a MIPS processor within a network adapter chip. Decoding the new instructions may also be referred to as interpreting the new instructions. The new instructions may comprise fewer bits than the generated MIPS instructions. The generated MIPS instructions may be executed by the MIPS processor within the network adapter chip.
US08028153B2 Data dependent instruction decode
A circuit arrangement and method support data dependent instruction decoding, whereby instructions are decoded, in part, using decode data that is stored in operand registers identified by such instructions. An instruction may include an opcode and at least one operand that identifies a register. During execution of the instruction, the instruction is first decoded using the opcode, and then decode data stored in the operand register is retrieved and used to further decode the instruction, e.g., to select from among a plurality of operations or instruction types associated with the same opcode.
US08028145B2 Data storage device
A data storage device that performs a process of writing to a memory a plurality of measured data sets received in time series includes: a nonvolatile memory divided in a plurality of blocks to which the measured data is written; and a write control section that performs a processing including successively writing N sets of the measured data to a given block in the nonvolatile memory, and then successively writing next N sets of the measured data to another block, wherein the write control section judges whether or not the N sets of measured data lastly written to the given block of the nonvolatile memory and another N sets of measured data obtained after the N sets of measured data lastly written to the given block contain data with a value outside a predetermined range, writes new measured data to the given block such that the N sets of measured data lastly written to the given block are not overwritten when the data with a value outside the predetermined range is included, and writes new measured data to the given block such that at least one of the N sets of measured data lastly written to the given block is overwritten when the data with a value outside the predetermined range is not included.
US08028143B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting memory pre-fetch commands on a bus
A processing system and method is disclosed wherein a processor may be configured to predict an address of memory from which data will be needed, transmit to a memory controller a pre-fetch command for the data at the predicted address of the memory, and transmit to the memory controller a read request for the data at the predicted address of the memory if the data is needed.
US08028140B2 Save set bundling for staging
Backing up data blocks is disclosed. An indication that a first set of one or more backed up data blocks are related at an application level to one or more other sets of one or more backed up data blocks is received. An associating data that associates the first set of backed up data blocks with the one or more other sets of backed up data blocks is stored. The associating data is used to ensure that the first set and the one or more other sets remain stored together.
US08028139B2 Remote copy method and remote copy system
In a configuration in which it is necessary to transfer data from a first storage system to a third storage system through a storage system between the storage systems, there is a problem that it is inevitable to give an excess logical volume to a second storage system between the storage systems. A remote copy system includes first storage system that sends and receives data to and from an information processing apparatus, a second storage system, and a third storage system. The second storage system virtually has a second storage area in which the data should be written and has a third storage area in which the data written in the second storage area and update information concerning the data are written. Data sent from the first storage system is not written in the second storage area but is written in the third storage area as data and update information. The data and the update information written in the third storage area are read out from the third storage system.
US08028136B2 Retaining disk identification in operating system environment after a hardware-driven snapshot restore from a snapshot-LUN created using software-driven snapshot architecture
A program, method and system are disclosed for managing a snapshot backup restore through a hardware snapshot interface, i.e. a hardware-driven snapshot restore, based upon a software-driven snapshot backup, e.g. created with software such as volume shadow copy service (VSS). When conventional hardware-driven snapshot restores are performed using a snapshot backup that was created using the VSS-based software such as copy services, data access issues can arise, due to the operating system assigning of a new disk signature to the disk being restored. This problem can be overcome by temporarily storing the original disk signature and then overwriting the new, incorrect disk signature after initializing the restore. This can ensure that the operating system identifies the source LUNs (and accordingly, the drive letter and mount points of the disk) using the same disk signature as before the restore.
US08028125B2 Content-addressable memories and state machines for performing three-byte matches and for providing error protection
A method and system for detecting matching strings in a string of characters utilizing content addressable memory is disclosed.
US08028124B2 Fast processing memory array
The illustrative embodiments described herein provide a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for increasing efficiency associated with data access. In one illustrative embodiment a memory chip is presented comprising of a plurality of memory units for storing data; a plurality of processing units for processing the data; and a word line and a bit line external to the plurality of memory units, wherein the plurality of processing units directly access the word line and the bit line in accessing the data.
US08028119B2 Memory module, cache system and address conversion method
A memory system including a non-volatile memory, a cache memory, a control circuit, and a data processing device is configured. The high speed can be achieved by transferring data in the non-volatile memory to the cache memory to retain the same therein. When the data in the non-volatile memory is transferred to the cache memory, error correction is performed so as to improve the reliability. Since the cache memory and the non-volatile memory can be accessed from the data processing device independently, improvement in usability can be achieved. The memory system including the plurality of chips is configured as a memory system module where respective chips are arranged in a stacked manner and wired by a ball grid array (BGA) and wire bonding between chips.
US08028113B2 Methods and systems for deadlock-free allocation of memory
Methods and systems for memory management. A method for memory management includes: maintaining a reference count for at least one first process associated with a portion of memory; maintaining a shared reference count for at least one second process associated with the portion of memory; and freeing the portion of memory when the shared reference count is decremented to zero.
US08028112B2 I/O device, network system with I/O device and communication method in network system with I/O device
An I/O device is provided to accurately synchronize clocks between nodes to have a device driving signal directly made out from the clocks, so that operation timing can be synchronized between the nodes regardless of a processing flicker on a host computer and a delay in a communication channel, and so that sending and receiving of a communication frame between the nodes, updating of contents of the communication frame, etc. can be efficiently performed. The I/O device comprises receiving means for receiving information including at least contents instructing an input and output time to a device, time tag generating means for generating a time tag indicative of the input and output time included in the received signal to output the same to device control means, and clock means for generating a clock signal indicative of the present time, wherein the device control means compares the input and output time indicated by the time tag output from the time tag generating means with the present time indicated by the clock signal output from the clock means to output designated data to a device or input data from the device at the input and output time.
US08028110B1 Non-disruptive data migration among storage devices using integrated virtualization engine of a storage device
Transferring I/O from a first storage device coupled to a storage area network to a second storage device coupled to the storage area network includes blocking I/O operations for a first port of the first storage device coupled to the storage area network, where the first port is associated with an identifier, coupling the second storage device to the storage area network via a port associated with the identifier and reestablishing a connection between the host and the first port to cause I/O operations by the host to be routed to the second storage device. Transferring may also include, following blocking I/O operations for the first port of the first storage device, coupling a second port of the first storage device to the storage area network and migrating data from the first storage device to the second storage device through the second port of the first storage device without host/application disruption.
US08028108B2 Virtual KVM functionality for computer systems
A method, system, and computer program product for implementing virtual keyboard video mouse (KVM) switching functionality using a processing device in communication with a memory device is provided. Keyboard, video, and mouse signals for a first computer are redirected to be carried over a standardized serial bus connecting the first computer to a second computer. Each of the keyboard, video, and mouse signals are carried at predetermined frequencies. The keyboard, video, and mouse signals on the second computer are identified and separated. The keyboard, video, and mouse signals are passed to an operating system on the second computer. The keyboard, video, and mouse signals are used by the operating system to manage the first computer.
US08028106B2 Hardware acceleration of commonality factoring with removable media
Systems and methods for commonality factoring for storing data on removable storage media are described. The systems and methods allow for highly compressed data, e.g., data compressed using archiving or backup methods including de-duplication, to be stored in an efficient manner on portable memory devices such as removable storage cartridges. The methods include breaking data, e.g., data files for backup, into unique chunks and calculating identifiers, e.g., hash identifiers, based on the unique chunks. Redundant chunks can be identified by calculating identifiers and comparing identifiers of other chunks to the identifiers of unique chunks previously calculated. When a redundant chunk is identified, a reference to the existing unique chunk is generated such that the chunk can be reconstituted in relation to other chunks in order to recreate the original data. The method further includes storing one or more of the unique chunks, the identifiers and/or the references on the removable storage medium. The acceleration hardware and/or software can reside in multiple devices, depending on the embodiment. For example, hardware and/or software for the chunking and/or hashing functions can reside in one or more of a host computer, a removable storage device, a removable cartridge holder and the removable storage cartridge.
US08028104B2 Method and system for polling multifunction devices based on performance criteria
A method and system suitable for grouping a plurality of multifunction devices (MFDs), the system including a storage station for storing information gathered from the plurality of MFDs by selectively polling the plurality of MFDs; wherein the information is selectively processed based on static performance data and dynamic performance data relating to the plurality of MFDs.
US08028099B2 Industrial control system with web enabled I/O modules
An industrial control system provides a programmable logic controller communicating with I/O modules which provide an electrical interface to controlled equipment and which support web servers for communication of I/O data directly with the Internet. The programmable logic controller communicates with the I/O modules over a control-network which may be separate from or shared with the Internet communications. A lock-out system prevents collisions between web clients writing to I/O and allows the programmable logic controller to limit web access to critical I/O points.
US08028098B2 Peer to peer broadcast content synchronization
A method and apparatus for synchronizing recorded broadcast content on a peer to peer system, in which portions of the content are synchronized between the peers by referring to program clock reference values.
US08028096B2 Method for using the hand-held device in a multimedia home network
The present invention relates to a hand-held device comprising connection means for supporting an internet data transmission link between the hand-held device and the internet; browser means for fetching internet data from the internet; input means for receiving a user input; and generating means for generating a command script in response to said user input, where said command script is related to said searched internet data; where said command script, when the hand-held device is connected to a multimedia home device, can be processed to initiate a transmission of at least part of said searched internet data and/or other internet data to said multimedia home device.
US08028091B1 System and method for reducing DNS lookup traffic in a computer data network
To reduce Domain Name System (DNS) lookup traffic in a computer data network, a client computer requests a DNS lookup. A router or other means then sends the request for a hostname of a web server to a DNS server and receives a corresponding IP address. Next, the router forwards the request to the web server. In response, the web server sends an HTML document. Upon receiving the HTML document, the router examines the document for URLs and sends one DNS lookup request for each of the distinct hostnames, regardless of how many times that distinct hostname appears in the HTML document. The router receives IP addresses, each of which corresponds to one of each of the distinct hostnames and modifies the HTML document by replacing the each of the distinct hostnames, including recurrences, in the URLs associated with the image elements with their corresponding IP addresses.
US08028089B2 On-deck detection for a web site
Various embodiments of systems, methods, and computer programs for detecting an on-deck user of a web site are provided. One embodiment comprises a method for detecting on-deck users for a web site. One such method comprises: providing a web site having an associated primary URL and at least one secondary URL; associating the at least one secondary URL for use in association with a carrier deck; receiving a request for the web site from the carrier deck on a mobile communication device; and determining that the request is from the carrier deck.
US08028085B2 Optimizing message transmission and delivery in a publisher-subscriber model
Systems and methods for reducing the latency incurred during the publication of a message in a message publication system are provided. In a message publication system wherein the publishing component and the receiving component are located within the same processing space, several of the latency components that are usually unavoidably incurred may be eliminated. In such a system, the messaging queue is not used as a medium between the two components but is instead used as a secondary back-up storage. This results in the elimination of one latency component as the message is directly published from the publishing component to the receiving component. Further time reductions or optimizations occur when the durability, or reliability, of the message publication is not a concern and the messaging queue can be completely disregarded. Yet another optimization occurs when the identity of the subscriber is known in advance by the publisher.
US08028080B2 Method and apparatus for media data transmission
Methods and apparatuses for processing media data transmitted in a data communication medium. A digital processing system is provided with a time related sequence of media data provided to the digital processing system based on a set of data, wherein the set of data indicates a method to transmit the time related sequence of media data according to a transmission protocol. The set of data, itself, is a time related sequence of data associated with the time related sequence of media data. The time related sequence of media data may be presented and/or stored by the digital processing system.
US08028079B2 Efficient transform from XML to javascript objects
This disclosure describes data conversion and techniques for sending and receiving data at a mobile device. In one implementation, a proxy server may receive data from a mobile device. The proxy server may convert the data and send the converted data to a network service. In another implementation, a mobile device may convert data and send that data to a network service. The network service may generate data in response and send that data to the mobile device directly.
US08028075B2 Modified semaphore flags system and method for controlling remote communications
A remote communication system and method are disclosed. An environment is identified defining a plurality of semaphore flags communicated between a first and a second computer as part of a remote session (i.e., the first computer remotely controlling the second computer via the remote session), with each semaphore flag defining an action associated with the remote session. A first application, via a unidirectional communication with the environment, modifies at least one semaphore flag associated with the environment (e.g., modifying commands to open or close files, keyboard scan codes, cursor position, mouse position, clipboard data, screen resolution, or channel administration), wherein the modified semaphore flag is extracted by an interceptor associated with the second computer and, the interceptor, based on a look-up, executes a pre-defined action affecting the remote session, wherein the pre-defined action being different than the modified semaphore flag's associated action.
US08028072B2 Method, apparatus and computer program product implementing session-specific URLs and resources
Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement session-specific URIs for allocating network resources by receiving a request from a user for at least one network resource; assigning a session-specific URI to the at least one network resource for use in identifying the at least one network resource and controlling access to the at least one network resource; updating a network directory service with the session-specific URI; and communicating the session-specific URI to the user. The user communicates the session-specific URI to other participants in the session during which the at least one network resource will be used. After a pre-determined time, the session ends and the at least one network resource is de-allocated by, for example, changing the URI of the at least one network resource. Frequent changes of URIs hinder efforts by unauthorized individuals to gain access to network resources.
US08028068B2 System using a lockbox device for releasing financial information from an information embargo setting
Information is electronically transmitted from an information embargo setting. The latency and/or lag in releasing information from the information embargo setting is reduced to facilitate dissemination of the embargoed information faster than other entities. The entity controlling the release of information in the information embargo setting may include one or more of a governmental agency (e.g., associated with the United States government, associated with the Canadian government, associated with the European Union and/or one or more states included therein, and/or other agencies associated with other governments), and/or other entities.
US08028066B2 System and method for reactive and deliberative service level management (SLM)
Method and apparatus for service level management, wherein business processes are composed of services. A state of the service is defined by one or more service parameters, and the service parameters depend upon performance of network components that support the service, e.g., component parameters. The state of the service may depend, for example, on a collection of service parameter values for availability, reliability, security, integrity and response time. A service level agreement is a contract between a supplier and a customer that identifies services supported by a network, service parameters for the services, and service levels (e.g., acceptable levels) for each service parameter.
US08028063B2 Soliciting data indicating at least one objective occurrence in response to acquisition of data indicating at least one subjective user state
A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: acquiring subjective user state data including data indicating at least one subjective user state associated with a user; soliciting, in response to the acquisition of the subjective user state data, objective occurrence data including data indicating occurrence of at least one objective occurrence; acquiring the objective occurrence data; and correlating the subjective user state data with the objective occurrence data. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.
US08028061B2 Methods, systems, and computer program products extracting network behavioral metrics and tracking network behavioral changes
A network behavioral metric is extracted from a communication network based on a relevancy of the metric to network behavior by identifying a network metric x that is defined as a random variable that represents a quantitative measure of a network behavior accumulated over a period of time, selecting a network feature, generating a metric disintegration model for the network metric x comprising at least one normal behavior probability distribution function for the metric x for each value of the network feature, respectively, and at least one abnormal behavior probability distribution function for the metric x for each value of the network feature, respectively, increasing a number of the values of the metric x that indicates normal network behavior and/or abnormal network behavior based on the metric disintegration model, and selecting a network metric x as a behavioral metric based on a relevancy η of the network metric x to the network behavior. Embodiments for tracking network behavioral changes are also provided.
US08028058B2 Dynamic discovery and reporting of one or more application program topologies in a single or networked distributed computing environment
Dynamic discovery and reporting of one or more application program topologies in a single or networked distributed computing environment allows IT professionals to maintain processes running on the network. In one embodiment, the dynamic discovery is performed by identifying one or more computers in a computer network, identifying one or more processes on each identified computer that are communicating over the network, and displaying a graphical representation of the topology of the processes communicating over the network.
US08028055B2 Optimal combination of sampled measurements
Two regularized estimators that avoid the pathologies associated with variance estimation are disclosed. The regularized variance estimator adds a contribution to estimated variance representing the likely error, and hence ameliorates the pathologies of estimating small variances while at the same time allowing more reliable estimates to be balanced in the convex combination estimator. The bounded variance estimator employs an upper bound to the variance which avoids estimation pathologies when sampling probabilities are very small.
US08028052B2 NMS with multi-server change requests processing
An event processing system performs quickly processing of events in a communication network. The system comprises a client process that controls the sequencing of event processing, a plurality of servers that process the events with the help of a shared object library and a dispatcher that selects an available server so that no two servers process events from the same event queue at any given time. The client time-stamps the events and organizes them into event queues per node, using a node identification. An outstanding queue tracks the current events being processed for a node based on a message ID that is returned by the dispatcher when an event is sent to a server. Also, an overflow queue tracks the sequence of nodes to be serviced after a maximum outstanding limit of events being processed at a given time has been reached.
US08028051B2 Apparatus for adjusting use resources of system and method thereof
The transition of a use resource amount is predicted from the transition of a transaction occurrence amount for each module by using a function that expresses a correlation between a past transaction processing amount and a past use resource amount in a data processing system. After this, an allocation resource amount for each module is automatically fluctuated in accordance with the transition of the predicted use resource amount.
US08028046B2 System and method of configuring a network device
In a particular illustrative embodiment, a method of configuring a network device is disclosed that includes determining network device information at a network device using a boot strapping protocol during an initial set-up process of the network device. The method further includes automatically modifying a configuration profile of the network device to connect to a network in a first device mode using the network device information. The method also includes receiving configuration information transmitted from a configuration server without requesting the configuration information. The configuration information includes routing information and configuration parameters particular to the network device. The method further includes automatically modifying the configuration profile of the network device to operate in a second device mode based on the configuration information. The first device mode is a non-operational mode and the second device mode is an operational mode.
US08028041B2 Dynamic content for online transactions
Various methods and systems provide dynamic content to users of online payment service providers without requiring users to log in or otherwise actively engage the payment service providers. In one example, a method includes providing a client device with access to an online marketplace over a network. The method also includes facilitating transmission of a user identifier stored by the client device to a payment service provider. The method further includes receiving dynamic content from the payment service provider in response to the user identifier. In addition, the method includes serving the dynamic content to the client device over the network.
US08028039B1 System and method for communicating data between wireless mobile hand-held computer and a back-end computer system
An asynchronous, middleware system positioned between a larger computer system and a wireless mobile hand-held computer anticipates the needs of a wireless mobile hand-held computer that is served by the middleware system. The middleware system can anticipate and process needs for a mobile hand-held computer when the hand-held computer is not “synchronized” with a larger computer network. The middleware system can be designed to prepare information for downloading from a larger computer system to a wireless mobile hand-held computer well in advance of a communication link while the hand-held computer is not “synchronized” with the larger computer network. The middleware system can provide a network architecture that is very durable, scaleable, and flexible to serve hundreds and thousands of wireless mobile hand-held computers.
US08028034B2 System and method for automatically learning mailbox configuration conventions
A system and method automatically learns mailbox configuration conventions. The validator module determines a valid set of configuration parameters used for accessing an electronic mailbox of a user within a mail domain after receiving configuration information from the user that is limited in the configuration parameters required for accessing the electronic mailbox. A learner module accepts from the validator module a set of configuration parameters determined to be valid and generates configuration conventions for a mail domain. A database store is the generated configuration conventions. The validator and learner modules can be operative as part of a web server.
US08028029B2 Method and apparatus for context-sensitive exchange of electronic information
A method and apparatus for context-sensitive exchange of electronic information, is provided. One implementation involves maintaining multiple signatures for a sender; associating each signature with a recipient address or communication content pattern described based on a rule; sending an electronic communication to a recipient address by automatically selecting a most appropriate signature among the multiple signatures based on the recipient address or content pattern in the communication; and including the selected signature in the electronic communication.
US08028025B2 Apparatus, system, and method for setting/retrieving header information dynamically into/from service data objects for protocol based technology adapters
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for processing a technology specific message. In one embodiment, a computer program product receives a message having a conventional header and a user-defined header that both conform to a predefined header format, each header comprising a header name and a value; identifies each header in the message based on the predefined header format; generates a header structure to store the header name and the value from each header; stores the header structure in a set of header structures of an extendable message business object; and passes the extendable message business object to an integration broker.
US08028023B2 Extending functionality of instant messaging (IM) systems
Plug-ins for instant messaging (IM) systems are described. By using plug-ins in conjunction with IM systems, the functionality of IM systems may be greatly extended. Specifically, in business applications, such as workflow processes, IM provides a more reliable approach to determining actual delivery of messages.
US08028020B2 Control unit operations in a real-time collaboration server
In a real-time collaboration server, a control unit manages a collaboration mode. The control unit operates a virtual client that maintains a virtual screen reflecting the status of the collaboration (e.g., the contents of a shared desktop or whiteboard). The virtual client renders collaboration data within the virtual screen. New clients are synchronized with an ongoing collaboration by packing and sending them a copy of the virtual screen. The control unit maintains a queue of collaboration data to be sent to participating clients. Each client may have a pointer identifying the queued data it is processing. The queue may be collapsed (e.g., when it reaches a maximum size) by sending a copy of the virtual screen to one or more clients that have not yet consumed old data in the queue; those clients are then updated to skip the queue entries embodied in the virtual screen.
US08028018B2 System, device, and method for cooperative processing
A cooperative processing system includes a first data processing component, existing on a first computer, that generates an output containing object having a function of outputting data contained therein to a stream, a pipeline section that causes the output containing object to output the data contained in the output containing object to a stream addressed to a second computer, and causes the second computer to generate an input containing object that receives the stream and stores data transferred through the stream, and a second data processing component, existing on the second computer, that receives the input containing object to perform a data process.
US08028014B2 Positioning device, method of controlling positioning device, and recording medium
A positioning device, which locates a position based on satellite signals which are signals from positioning satellites, includes a position holding section which holds a reference position P, a stationary condition determination section which determines whether or not the reference position P satisfies stationary conditions B, an average position calculation section which averages the reference position P satisfying the stationary conditions B and a present located position Pg calculated by positioning to calculate an average position Pav, a position output section which outputs the average position Pav, and a position storage section which stores the average position Pav in the position holding section as the reference position P.
US08028013B2 Fast filtering means and filtering and decimation methods
The invention relates to a hardware implemented filtering method including establishing a representation DIS of the derivative of at least a part of a time-quantized input signal IS, and establishing at least one sample of a time- and amplitude-quantized output signal OS by performing filtering on the basis of at least a part of a filter representation IFC1, IFC2, IFC3 and the representation DIS of the derivative of at least a part of the input signal IS. The invention further relates to a hardware implemented decimation method for decimating a time-quantized input signal IS including dividing the time-quantized input signal IS into intervals, for each of the intervals establishing a sample of a time- and amplitude-quantized output signal OS according to the above mentioned filtering method. The invention further relates to a fast filtering means FFM implementing the above-mentioned methods.
US08028011B1 Global UNIX file system cylinder group cache
A global cylinder group (CG) cache is stored in file server memory and shared by a plurality of file systems supported by the file server. The global CG cache comprises a number CG entries which are pre-allocated in memory. As different file systems are accessed, global CG entries in the CG cache are used to store CG block information for the accesses. With such an arrangement, a file server may support multiple file systems using a single global CG cache without starvation and other the adverse performance impacts of the prior art. According to one aspect of the invention, the global CG cache is periodically scanned to reclaim memory. In contrast to the prior art, where multiple scans were periodically performed of multiple CG caches for memory reclamation, the use of a single CG cache minimizes the impact of CG cache maintenance on file server performance.
US08028007B2 Scalable storage and processing of hierarchical documents
Large messages in the form of hierarchically structured documents are processed in a streaming fashion using the ultimate consumer read requests as the driving force for the processing. The messages are partitioned into fixed length segments. The segments are processed in pipeline fashion. This processing chain includes simulating random access of hierarchical documents using stream transformations, mapping streams to a transport's native capabilities, composing streams into chains and using pipeline processing on the chains, staging fragments into a database and routing messages when complete messages have been formed, and providing tools to allow the end user to inspect partial messages.
US08028006B2 Method and apparatus for exchanging sub-hierarchical structures within a hierarchical file system
A method for replacing a first sub-hierarchy of a New Technology File System hierarchical filesystem (NTFS HFS) with a second sub-hierarchy is disclosed. The first sub-hierarchy includes a first root directory having at least one special system file, and a first plurality of files. The second sub-hierarchy includes a second root directory located in a second location of the HFS, a second plurality of files and at least one placeholder file corresponding to the at least one special system file. The method includes the steps of configuring the first plurality of files to branch from the first root directory once the first root directory is accessed through the second location, exchanging the first plurality of files with the second plurality of files, and exchanging at least one directory pointer corresponding to the at least one special system file with at least one directory pointer corresponding to the at least one placeholder file.
US08028004B2 Data recording system, data recording method and data recording program
A data recording system 1 includes: a file generating part 3 for dividing digital data so as to generate a plurality of data files and recording the plurality of the data files sequentially into a recording medium 5; a management file judging part 6 for determining one management file for recording management information of the plurality of the data files; and a management information generating part 4 for recording the management information of the plurality of the data files into the determined management file. The management file judging part 6 determines the management file such that the number of the data files managed by the management file does not exceed a maximum data file number L (L is a natural number) that can be managed by the management file. Thereby, it is possible to record the plurality of the data files that are divided from the digital stream data and are recorded, such that the management of the plurality of the data files is easy.
US08028000B2 Data storage structure
Efficient data storage and retrieval (e.g., in terms of time and space requirements) is facilitated by implementing an indexing structure comprising an indexing array. That is, a functional relationship between elements of a source set and elements of a query result set can be stored in the indexing structure. This allows, for example, a query regarding whether an element is a member of a set (e.g., whether a particular website or Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) has been visited before) as well as a relationship between the member set and the query (e.g., the number of hyperlinks in the website the last time it was visited) to be resolved efficiently.
US08027999B2 Systems, methods and computer program products for indexing, searching and visualizing media content
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method for searching a metadata repository and visualizing the results of the search, wherein the metadata in the metadata repository is associated with a plurality of media content, and wherein each media content including at least one audio track. The method comprises retrieving the media contents used to generate the metadata terms satisfying a search criteria, and generating a ranked list of search results. The method further includes visualizing the ranked list of media contents, and displaying relevant metadata and corresponding associations for the media contents to enable navigation of the at least one audio track included in the media contents.
US08027998B2 Minutes production device, conference information management system and method, computer readable medium, and computer data signal
A minutes production device includes: a producing unit that produces minutes, based on conference information; a recommending unit that searches a database and recommends information, based on the conference information used by the producing unit to produce the minutes; and an editing unit that edits the minutes, based on the information recommended by the recommending unit.
US08027996B2 Commitment control for less than an entire record in an in-memory database in a parallel computer system
In a networked computer system that includes multiple interconnected nodes, a commitment control mechanism allows designating certain portions of a record in an in-memory database as mandatory and other portions of the record as secondary, and performs mandatory commitment control once all the mandatory portions are available even if one or more secondary portions are not yet available. The secondary portions may be under separate commitment control that is asynchronous to the commitment control for the mandatory portions, or may be under no commitment control at all. The result is a commitment control mechanism that performs commitment control for portions of a record that are marked mandatory even when one or more of the portions marked secondary are not available.