| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08118267B2 |
Mounting mechanism for retaining slide rail to chassis
A mounting mechanism is disclosed. The mounting mechanism includes a chassis with an anchor member, a slide rail defining a mounting slot to receive the anchor member, and a retaining member slidably attached to the slide rail. A first end of the retaining member is pivotable attached to the slide rail. The retaining member comprises a stop surface and an inclined surface opposite to the stop surface formed from a second end of the retaining member. The anchor member slides in the mounting slot to drive the inclined surface of the retaining member to rotate the retaining member, when the anchor member rides over the stop portion, the retaining member is restored to make the stop surface of the stop portion retain the anchor member in the mounting slot of the slide rail. |
| US08118266B2 |
Apparatus for generating position signals for rail-bound vehicles, in particular magnetic levitation vehicles
An apparatus generates position signals to indicate the position of a rail-bound vehicle along a travel way throughout which travel way many markings are located. The apparatus includes at least one sensor located on the vehicle for scanning the markings and outputting signals and an evaluation unit that is connected to the sensor for generating the position signals by evaluating the signals generated by the sensor by scanning the markings. When the vehicle passes a marking, the sensor outputs a “marking present” signal and otherwise outputs a “marking absent” signal. The vehicle has a receiver of a navigation system that is connected to the evaluation unit and outputs current location signals. The evaluation unit is connected to a memory device (20) for storing position data associated with the markings, where, upon receiving each “marking present” signal, the evaluation unit outputs a position signal associated with the marking based on a comparison of the current location signal and the memory-stored position data. |
| US08118265B2 |
Devices and methods to improve wing aerodynamics at low airspeeds
Aircraft wings are provided with aerodynamic devices that improve the wing's low airspeed aerodynamics. In preferred embodiments, the aircraft wings include a slat operatively positioned at the wing's leading edge for movement between a retracted position for relatively high airspeed aircraft operations, and a deployed position for relatively low airspeed aircraft operations. An aerodynamic device is positionally fixed to the wing laterally adjacent the leading edge slat, the device having a forward end extending forwardly of the wing leading edge. The device is operable in response to movement of the slat into the deployed position thereof so as to improve the aerodynamics of the wing at low airspeed aircraft operations, but provides substantially no aerodynamic improvement when the slat is in the retracted position thereof during high airspeed aircraft operations. |
| US08118263B2 |
Method of controlling an aircraft in flight, especially to reduce wake vortices
The flight of an aircraft is controlled by controlling the aircraft propulsion thrust and adjusting aerodynamic control elements so that the aircraft flies along a specified flight path. In order to reduce wake vortices generated by and trailing behind the aircraft, a wake vortex parameter is determined as a function of a spoiler deflection, and a spoiler element is adjusted to a spoiler deflection value in an optimum range in which the spoiler influence on the wake vortex parameter is maximized and the spoiler influence on the aircraft performance is at its lowest level for achieving that maximum spoiler influence on the wake vortex parameter. |
| US08118256B2 |
Brake shutoff valve test
A system, apparatus and method of verifying operation of a vehicle fluid brake system shutoff valve is provided, wherein the shutoff valve is adapted to enable or inhibit the transmission of fluid pressure to at least one brake solenoid valve that controls operation of at least one brake actuator so as to effect wheel braking. In verifying operation of the system, the shutoff valve is commanded to inhibit the transmission of fluid pressure to the at least one brake solenoid valve, and the at least one brake solenoid valve is commanded to apply fluid pressure to the at least one brake actuator. An operational status of the shutoff valve is determined based on the absence or presence of wheel braking. |
| US08118253B1 |
Auxiliary power unit (APU) of an aircraft
An Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) includes a power module (1) to be supplied with fuel (2), a gearbox (5), an electric generator (6), and an element selected from a compressor (4), a hydraulic pump and a combination thereof, in order to provide a functioning mode for production of power selected from electric (8), pneumatic (7), hydraulic and a combination thereof; the APU presents the novelty of including an electric motor (9), integrated into the electric generator (6), with the electric motor (9) and the electric generator (6) connected to the power module (1) via the gearbox (5a) and a main clutch (10). Moreover, the compressor (4) and/or the hydraulic pump are also connected to the power module (1) via the gearbox (5a) and the main clutch (10). Also, the compressor (4) and/or hydraulic pump are connected to the power module (1) via the gearbox (5a) and the main clutch (10). This architecture permits the functioning modes of the APU to be extended, increasing its performance and reducing harmful environmental effects. |
| US08118251B2 |
Mounting system for a gas turbine engine
A mounting system for a gas turbine engine includes a thrust ring and a linkage assembly. The linkage assembly is at least partially received by the thrust ring. The linkage assembly reacts at least a side load and a thrust load communicated from the thrust ring. |
| US08118248B2 |
Method for recovering and/or recycling material
A cutting mill for crushing broken polycrystalline needle-shaped silicon material, which contains particles that have an aspect ratio of AI with 5 |
| US08118244B2 |
Internal cutter on submersed mixer
A mixing system for a fluid tank is described herein, the system having a drive motor, an impeller capable of being submersed, a shroud having a sidewall enclosing the impeller, and a cutter mounted on the shroud and cooperating with a blade of the impeller to cut solids within the shroud. The shroud is open at both an inlet end and a discharge end for drawing in and discharging fluid from the tank. A recess is provided on the internal surface of the shroud, wherein the cutter is adjustably positioned within the recess. Additionally, the cutter is also detachable from the recess so that it may be replaced when worn. In use, homogeneity is maintained in a slurry contained within the tank by submerging an impeller into the slurry, the impeller being shrouded in a housing having an inlet opening and a discharge opening, securing a cutter on an internal surface of the housing such that during operation of the impeller the cutter cooperates with a blade of the impeller to cut solids within the slurry, drawing tank contents into the impeller at the inlet opening, cutting solid material in the drawn tank contents between the cutter and an impeller blade, and then discharging the drawn tank contents out the discharge opening back into the tank. |
| US08118243B2 |
Fluidized bed systems and methods including micro-jet flow
Methods and systems for enhancing fluidization of nanoparticle and/or nanoagglomerates are provided. A fluidization chamber is provided with a fluidizing medium directed in a first fluidizing direction, e.g., upward into and through a bed containing a volume of nanoparticles and/or nanopowders. A second source of air/gas flow is provided with respect to the fluidization chamber, the secondary air/gas flow generally being oppositely directed relative to the fluidizing medium. Turbulence created by the secondary gas flow is advantageously effective to aerate the agglomerates and the shear generated by the jet is advantageously effective to break apart nanoagglomerates and/or reduce the tendency for nanoagglomerates to form or reform. A downwardly directed source of secondary gas flow located near the main gas distributor leads to full fluidization of the entire amount of powder in the column. The oppositely directed fluid flow facilitates powder circulation within the fluidization chamber, thereby enhancing fluidization results. |
| US08118238B2 |
User interface for building controller
A user interface for a building appliance controller that may include a control panel and one or more option cards. The user interface may allow a user or technician to program, modify, and/or view one or more parameters of the control panel and/or the one or more option cards. In some cases, the control panel may be configured to send one or more messages to a selected option card that indicate an input at the user interface, and in response, the selected option card may send one or more messages to the control panel that indicate display information for display on the user interface of the control panel. In some embodiments, such as when the user interface includes a segmented display, the display information may include the on/off state of the various segments of the display. |
| US08118234B2 |
Coding pattern comprising translation symbols for aligning cells with tags
A substrate having a coding pattern disposed on a surface thereof. The coding pattern comprises a plurality of target elements defining a target grid. The target grid comprises a plurality of cells, wherein neighboring cells share target elements. A plurality of data elements are contained in each cell. Tags are defined by a plurality of contiguous cells and each tag comprises respective local tag data encoded by a respective set of the data elements. Each cell comprises one or more translation symbols encoded by a respective set of the data elements. The translation symbols identify a translation of the cell relative to a tag containing the cell. |
| US08118230B2 |
Stored-value card with audio capabilities
A stored-value card includes a housing, an audio circuit storing an audio file, and a speaker coupled to the audio circuit. The housing includes a first panel, a second panel spaced from and positioned opposite the first panel, and a side wall extending between the first panel and the second panel. The side wall extends substantially perpendicular to each of the first panel and the second panel such that an open cavity is formed between the first panel and the second panel. The housing further includes an account identifier signifying a financial account or record linked to the stored-value card. The audio circuit and the speaker are substantially enclosed within the open cavity of the housing. Stored-value card assemblies and methods of using a stored-value card are also disclosed. |
| US08118229B2 |
Method of printing marks on an optical article
An optical article with a plurality of optically detectable marks on a first surface of the optical article, wherein a mark of the plurality of marks has a thickness of less than or equal to about 1 micrometer, and wherein the plurality of optically detectable marks have uniform thickness. |
| US08118227B2 |
Multiple camera imaging-based bar code reader with optimized imaging field
A multicamera imaging-based bar code reader wherein for least one camera assembly of the reader, a sensor array of the camera assembly is non-orthogonal with respect to an optical axis of an imaging lens assembly of the camera assembly such that an imaging or scanning volume of the camera assembly more closely conforms to a desired imaging field or region of the reader. In one exemplary embodiment the reader features: a housing supporting first and second transparent presentation windows and defining an interior region; an imaging system including a plurality of camera assemblies within the interior region, at least one camera assembly includes a sensor array and an imaging lens assembly, the sensor array being positioned with respect to the imaging lens assembly at an angle so as to be non-orthogonal with respect to an optical axis of the imaging lens assembly of the camera assembly. |
| US08118226B2 |
High-resolution optical code imaging using a color imager
An optical code or other data reading device includes a color image sensor array positioned to sense light reflected from an object, and to produce image data. In one configuration, the color image sensor array has multiple sets (e.g., first and second sets) of sensor elements that are sensitive to corresponding visible wavelength bands of light (e.g., first and second wavelength bands), the sets also being sensitive to light within an infrared wavelength band. An artificial illumination source is positioned to illuminate the field of view with light that is reflected off an object in the field of view toward the image sensor array, the illumination source being operable to produce infrared light having wavelengths within the infrared wavelength band so that, upon illumination, at least some sensor elements of each of the sets are sensitive to the infrared light and contribute to production of the image data. |
| US08118224B2 |
Handheld electronic book reader with annotation and usage tracking capabilities
A handheld electronic book reader, program product, and method incorporate enhanced annotation and/or usage tracking capabilities. Users may create “contexts” for defined terms in an electronic document. Moreover, annotation data such as contexts, comments and highlighting may be associated with various users, and displayed in connection with the display of an electronic document so as to indicate that different annotation data has been originated by different users. In addition, from the standpoint of usage tracking, usage statistics for an electronic document displayed in a handheld electronic reader may be generated on a page-by-page basis, and/or in association with term definitions. Moreover, usage statistics for multiple users may be combined and analyzed. Through such analysis, the usage statistics may be used in the conduct of various beneficial actions such as revising an electronic document, revising a lesson plan with which an electronic document is associated, determining whether a user has read a selected portion of an electronic document, or determining whether a user needs supplemental assistance. |
| US08118223B2 |
Smart sign mobile transit fare payment
A system and method for facilitating the payment and collection of transit system fares using a mobile device utilizes a smart sign including near field communication (NFC) devices that communicate with a contactless element embedded within a mobile wireless device. Each NFC device is associated with a different transit location. The NFC devices may be included on the same smart sign located at one transit location or on different smart signs located at different transit locations. Alternatively, one NFC device may be included on a smart sign at a departure location and another NFC device may be activated when or after the user enters the transit system to provide proof of fare purchase. The mobile device is positioned proximate the NFC devices to activate the NFC devices and access fare and/or schedule information or purchase a fare. |
| US08118222B2 |
Automated transaction machine
An automated retail terminal in which a plurality of goods and/or services are provided in an integrated system. The integrated system generally avoids duplicating hardware or functions in the course of delivering the goods or services offered, so for example in a combination ATM and Internet kiosk the same credit card or smart card reader is used for both the ATM and the Internet kiosk functions, the same control screen activates the ATM functions and the Internet functions, and etc. |
| US08118213B2 |
Indirect mobile codes with flexible formats
A method of operating a code clearing house is provided. The method comprises receiving an indirect mobile code from a mobile code client. The indirect mobile code comprises a length field, a routing prefix, and an identification code. The method further comprises determining the routing prefix in the indirect mobile code using the length field. |
| US08118207B2 |
Surgical stapling device
A surgical device is disclosed which includes a handle portion, a central body portion and a SULU. The SULU includes a proximal body portion, an intermediate pivot member and a tool assembly. The intermediate pivot member is pivotally secured to the proximal body portion about a first pivot axis and the tool assembly is pivotally secured to the intermediate pivot member about a second pivot axis which is orthogonal to the first pivot axis. The SULU includes a plurality of articulation links which are operably connected to the tool assembly by non-rigid links. The articulation links are adapted to releasably engage articulation links positioned in the central body portion. The body portion articulation links are connected to an articulation actuator which is supported for omni-directional movement to effect articulation of the tool assembly about the first and second axes. The handle portion includes a spindle and barrel assembly drive mechanism for advancing and retracting a drive member positioned in the tool assembly. In one embodiment, the tool assembly includes a cartridge assembly having a plurality of staples and an anvil assembly. |
| US08118201B1 |
Storage and carrier apparatus for patient transport litter
An apparatus for carrying a patient transport litter includes a support mount for releasably mounting a separate litter carrier for carrying a patient transport litter. The support mount includes a mounting panel adapted to be mounted to a supporting structure and a pair of flexible side flaps that wrap around the litter carrier to secure the litter carrier to the support mount in a storage condition. Each side flap includes a fastener or buckle component for releasably joining together the respective side flaps snugly around the litter carrier, to thereby releasably secure the litter carrier to the support mount and the supporting structure. The litter carrier may include carrying straps for facilitating transport to a site of injury, where the litter carrier is opened and the patient transport litter removed from the litter carrier for use in transporting an injured person. |
| US08118200B2 |
Device for removing wrinkles from the sleeve of a garment
A device for removing the wrinkles from the sleeve of a garment. A working surface defines a plurality of openings. Each of first and second sleeve holders are secured proximate an opening at a proximal end of each sleeve holder. First and second air bags are each configured to substantially surround a cooperating sleeve holder. Each sleeve holder and cooperating air bag is adapted to be received within a sleeve of the garment to extend the sleeve from the working surface. In one embodiment, a steam transfer device is configured to selectively transfer steam into each air bag and outwardly through each air bag to an interior surface of the sleeve. In another embodiment, a heated air transfer device is configured to selectively transfer heated air into each air bag and outwardly through each air bag to an interior surface of the sleeve. |
| US08118197B2 |
Method of making aerosol valve mounting cups and resultant cups
Metal discs, preferably circular, are cut to a precise diameter and drawn to a preform with a channel and skirt for an aerosol valve mounting cup. The preform then undergoes further forming operations at stations in a press system. “Bumping” is carried out on the skirt edge at a station, to eliminate non-burr trimming of the cup edge, save material and obtain a carefully controlled skirt height and a substantially even skirt edge with minimized earring. The resultant cup terminating skirt edge is characterized by reformed metal. A further coaxing or pinch-cut operation may be performed on the cup skirt. |
| US08118195B2 |
Fluid product dispensing member and dispenser comprising same
A fluid dispenser member (1) for associating with a fluid reservoir (2) so as to form a fluid dispenser, the member (1) including a body (11) via which the dispenser member is mounted in stationary manner on a mounting part (3), the body (11) defining a housing (113) for receiving another component element (13) of the dispenser member. The housing (113) includes a movable portion (115) that is displaceable from an initial configuration in which the housing is open, to a final configuration in which the housing is closed on the component element (13) while the dispenser member (1) is being mounted in the mounting part (3). |
| US08118193B2 |
Dispensers e.g. for cosmetics
The application describes small hand-held dispensers suitable for use with creamy flowable products such as cosmetics. The dispensers are of a kind having a top plate (4) with a dished pick-up surface (42), and a product discharge opening (43) opening into the pick-up area (42). Specific proposals include positioning the pick-up surface (42) and an actuator (8) side-by-side on the top plate. The actuator (8) operates a pump (6), desirably positioned beneath the actuator and offset from the pick-up surface (42). A corresponding transverse outlet conduit (69) may be provided. The container (1) may be plastics or a metal container. Embodiments using plastic pump springs and resiliently deformable pump chamber walls are also described. Also, embodiments in which actuation is by tilting of the top plate in its entirety, the pick-up area then optionally being central. |
| US08118192B2 |
Methods, systems, and products for marking concealed objects
Methods, systems, apparatuses, and products are disclosed for locating concealed objects by discharging the contents of an aerosol container. A housing encloses an inner volume, and a hollow conduit extends along the housing. An elongate rod slides within the conduit. An actuator of the aerosol container is engaged between a discharge position and a non-discharge position by movement of the elongate rod. |
| US08118191B2 |
Liquid dispensing system with enhanced mixing
A dispense apparatus and system for dispensing suspensions or emulsions. The system ensures uniformity of distribution of the dispersed phase within the continuous-phase liquid by moving the fluid through the dispense cartridge, such as with a continuous or pulsating flow. In one embodiment, peristaltic pumps are positioned upstream and downstream of the dispense cartridge, in fluid communication with and forming a single loop with a fluid source. Circulation between the fluid source and the dispense cartridge is maintained. In a second embodiment, a pump circulates fluid into and out of the dispense cartridge and is also in fluid communication with a fluid source such as with a pinch valve to allow proper filling of the dispense cartridge from the fluid source. In a third embodiment, a reversing pump is placed between the dispense cartridge and fluid source to continually or continuously pump fluid into and out of the dispense cartridge. |
| US08118184B2 |
Container lid with pivoting gate valve and linear actuator
A lid for controlled drinking from a drinking container includes an aperture adjacent a periphery, and a closure device formed as a single continuous piece of material. The closure device has an actuator portion, a web portion and a valve portion. The actuator portion has a distal portion extending outward of the periphery, and a proximal portion attached to a first end of the web portion. A second end of the web is attached to the valve portion. The valve portion can rotate about a pivot point and move from a closed position over the aperture when the actuator portion is in a first position, towards an open position away from the aperture when the actuator portion is moved towards a second position, during which the web winds around a suitably shaped region partially surrounding the pivot point. |
| US08118183B2 |
Delaminatable laminated bottle
A particularly small eyedropper or the like is provided, which has a construction such that, when a body thereof is squeezed, an introduction hole thereof can be easily closed to compress air in a space between an inner layer and an outer layer thereof even in the absence of a check valve in the introduction hole, and defectiveness of the introduction hole can be easily checked. To this end, a test hole (19) communicating with an introduction hole (17) via a space between an outer layer bottle. (1) and an inner layer bag (16) is provided in an outer layer mouth portion (4). The test hole (19) is closed by the inner layer bag (16) and an inside plug (21) fitted in the mouth portion (4). Further, the introduction hole (17) is provided in a middle portion of a body which is pressed by a finger when the bottle is squeezed. The introduction hole (17) is closed by the finger. |
| US08118180B2 |
System for supporting objects
A system (1) for supporting a rollable object (4), such as a cylindrical container. The system comprises at least one elongated rail (2) and at least one supporting part. The rail (2) has a contact surface (6) for bearing on a base, and is furthermore provided, along at least two sides, with an at least partly profiled surface (5) for holding a supporting part (3) in position at least in a longitudinal direction of said elongated rail (2). The supporting part (3) comprises a supporting surface (7) for preventing a movement of the object (4) in a horizontal direction, and, optionally, for supporting the object (4) in a vertical direction, and a contact surface (8) for bearing on the rail (2) and/or the base. The supporting part (3) further comprises a passage (9) for receiving at least a part of the rail (2). This passage (9) is provided with an inner wall which is at least partly provided with a profiled surface (10) complementary to the profiled surface (5) of the two sides of the rail (2), for at least partly transmitting a force, applied to the supporting part in said longitudinal direction, to the rail (2). |
| US08118179B2 |
Adjustable storage rack for cooking utensils
The present invention is directed to a method for providing a storage rack for cooking utensils, such as skillets and the like, that can be adjusted to accommodate cooking utensils having different characteristics. Adjustment of the rack is accomplished by assessing a particular cooking utensil and bending one or more bendable members to define a slot between two of the bendable members that is of a width that potentially accommodates the cooking utensil. In another embodiment, a bendable handle support member is provided that is capable of being moved between two positions, one of which supports an extended handle of a cooking utensil in an elevated position and the other of which does not support the handle in an elevated position. In yet a further embodiment, a bendable positioner is provided that can be bent to engage a surface adjacent to a support surface and prevent the base from moving. |
| US08118177B2 |
Non-woven webs and methods of manufacturing the same
A product including a web and a method of manufacturing such a product. The product may be for use as an industrial absorbent or a thermal or acoustic insulator and includes a web including scrap and/or recycled cellulose, the cellulose being selected from a source of post-industrial cellulose and/or a source of post-consumer cellulose, the cellulose being treated with a fire-retardant, the cellulose being dry before web formation, and opened, individuated bicomponent fibers mixed with the cellulose, at least some of the bicomponent fibers being thermally bonded to at least some of the cellulose. The method may include shredding the cellulose, declumping and sizing the cellulose, metering the cellulose into a spray booth, applying a fire retardant to the cellulose in the spray booth, if the fire retardant is a liquid, drying the cellulose, adding bicomponent fibers to the cellulose, forming a web, and heating the web in an oven. |
| US08118176B2 |
Membrane unit element, semipermeable membrane, filtration device, and processes for manufacturing the same
The object of the invention is a unit element forming a membrane comprising a semi-permeable material able to separate in two compartments a filtration device for extracorporeal treatment of a fluid such as blood or plasma, said material being negatively charged, said element having a first internal face intended to be in direct contact with blood or plasma and a second external face intended to be in contact with filtrate, wherein said second face of said element is treated on the surface by one selected in the group comprising at least a cationic polymer, a mixture of polymers of which at least one polymer is cationic. The unit element can also have said first face treated on the surface by one selected in the group comprising: at least one cationic polymer, a mixture of polymers of which at least one polymer is cationic.The object of the invention is also a semipermeable membrane consisting of such unit elements; a filtration device for extracorporeal treatment of a fluid such as blood or plasma comprising two compartments separated by such a semipermeable membrane.The object of the invention is also the processes for manufacturing such devices. |
| US08118173B2 |
Streamer trap assembly
A streamer trap assembly for collecting streamers from a flow of polymer pellets includes a housing comprising an inlet, an outlet, and an opening bounded by a sealing surface; and a streamer trap positioned in the housing through the opening. The streamer trap comprises a screen sized to collect the streamers at the screen and to allow the polymer pellets to pass through the screen, a guide positioned to guide the flow of polymer pellets from the inlet to the screen and from the screen to the outlet, and a cover adapted to engage the sealing surface and cover the opening. |
| US08118171B2 |
Process and device for aerating suspensions
The disclosure relates to a process and device for aerating suspensions, particularly to flotate them, for example in deinking of pulp suspensions which includes a primary and secondary stage. In order to improve ash removal, a washing process is interposed between the primary and secondary stages. |
| US08118170B2 |
Particulate size classification apparatus and method
Particulates called nanoparticles (principally having a diameter of 10 nm or less) are reliably and easily according to size with high throughput. An impactor includes a particulate size classifying chamber provided with an exhaust port for particulates, a nozzle ejecting to the inside of the particulate size classifying chamber a carrier gas containing particulates to be classified, and a trapping plate as particulate trapping unit provided in the particulate size classifying chamber and selectively trapping particulates ejected from the nozzle. |
| US08118168B2 |
Portable cabinet and storage caddy for holiday, hobbies and crafts
A combination rolling cabinet and storage assembly for storing and transporting collectibles therein, having: a top and bottom compartment; top and bottom walls joined by opposed side walls all joined to an upright rear wall, the cabinet defining an interior compartment accessible through an open upright front side of the door between open and closed positions; a base cabinet including wheels and a retractable/extendible pulling handle for locomoting; at least one additional cabinet connectable on top of the base cabinet; upper storage apparatus connectable on top of the base cabinet; a plurality of removable tote tray drawers or containers, and light holder carried in trunklike housing between top compartment and bottom compartment; can be loaded or unloaded upright or laying on floor or flat surface; and components are made of any suitable materials, preferably plastic. |
| US08118167B2 |
Medical container
The present invention relates to a medical container useful upon transportation of plural syringe barrels. The medical container includes at least a container main body and a holding member arranged inside the container main body. The holding member is provided at least with a plurality of cylindrical holding portions for holding syringe barrels. The container main body has at least a peripheral rim arranged on and along an outer periphery of an opening and a shoulder-shaped portion arranged on an inner wall of the container to arrange the holding member. The shoulder-shaped portion has at least three ribs for supporting the holding member, and has a structure that enables to arrange via the ribs the holding member in a horizontal position relative to a bottom wall of the container main body. According to the present invention, there is provided a medical container of a construction that can be promptly brought into a sterilized state by various methods, can be readily brought into a state capable of maintaining the sterilized state, and during transportation, can fixedly secure, without rattling, syringe barrels held upright by holders. |
| US08118163B2 |
Apparatus for sharps protection
Devices and methods are disclosed for protecting individuals from the sharp ends of medical objects following use on a patient. Such sharp objects include hypodermic needles, scalpel blades, cannulae, trocars, and the like. The invention utilizes a disposable protective cover for the used sharp. The protective cover is designed to surround and embed the sharp in a permanent cover that is blunt and will not permit further puncture or cutting with the sharp. In an embodiment, the protective cover also absorbs any fluids on or in the used sharp and prevents any fluids from escaping the protective cover. The sharp cover is configured to irreversibly lock, once closed. A refillable or replaceable dispenser dispenses the protective covers at points of use. A disposable receptacle receives the used sharp embedded in the protective cover. When the receptacle is full, the entire receptacle may be discarded in a medical waste container. |
| US08118162B1 |
Fastener organizing system
An inexpensive, portable, and convenient organizer for bolts and screws is provided that holds fasteners and gaskets of various types and sizes. Fasteners may be stored in a pattern according to user-preference. Fasteners held may occupy relative positions on the organizer similar to their relative positions on the original assembly to facilitate identification for proper reassembly. The organizer may be preprinted or labeled by the user to further clarify sequence, position, or other useful information about the fasteners being held. |
| US08118161B2 |
Pressurized cigarette packages and methods
A cigarette or other tobacco product package may be constructed with a sealed outer overwrap. The overwrap may be multi-layered and configured to contain an internal pressure higher than an ambient external air pressure. The multilayer overwrap may be assembled to a cigarette or other tobacco product pack in two or more layers adhered together during assembly. |
| US08118159B2 |
Apparatus and method for safely disposing medicines
An apparatus and a method for safely disposing of medicines. The apparatus includes a container assembly and a bag. The container assembly includes a container member capable of storing the medicines, and a lid extending from a top portion of the container member. The bag includes a pair of gloves capable of being worn by a user for allowing hygienic handling of the medicines, one or more funnels capable of being configured in one or more openings of the lid for allowing receiving of the medicines and storing of the medicines in the container member, a first receptacle having a bittering agent capable of denaturing the stored medicines, a second receptacle having a coloring agent capable of providing a characteristic color to the denatured medicines and a third receptacle having a thickening agent capable of converting the denatured medicines into a partially solid disposable mass. |
| US08118154B2 |
Sod handler
A sod handling method and a sod handling apparatus, in one embodiment the sod handling apparatus uses a pressure differential to hold a sod slab during sod transfer, other embodiments include a sod lift member for lifting sod, a sod transport mechanism for moving sod; a sod carriage for transporting sod, a sod bed positioning system for stacking sod, a system and method for checking sod quality as well as an apparatus and method of machine stacking sod to maintain the integrity of a sod stack. |
| US08118153B2 |
Shuttle-type conveying device, microplate feeding and collecting device, pickup device for microplate, cassette for microplate, and shelf for containing microplate
A shuttle-type conveying system to convey an article. The system includes a feeding and collecting device capable of setting a cassette in which articles to be conveyed are stacked as they are on a rotating and feeding table, a pickup device taking out the article and placing it on a receiving/delivery table, and a conveying device feeding the article on the receiving/delivery table to another receiving/delivery table by a shuttle conveying portion traveling on conveying paths below the receiving/delivery table. After the article is lifted up by the shuttle conveying portion and moved to outside the receiving/delivery table, the article is lowered below the receiving/delivery table and made to travel under the receiving/delivery table to another receiving/delivery table. |
| US08118148B2 |
Control method of external control type fan clutch
The invention provides a control method of an external control type fan clutch able to improve engine performance, fuel cost and cooling performance of a capacitor of an air conditioner (A/C) and restrain fan noises due to associative rotation. Namely, in the external control type fan clutch device constructed so as to control the opening and closing of a supply adjusting hole of oil by a valve member operated by an electromagnet, the opening and closing of the supply adjusting hole of the oil is on-off-controlled with the temperature of a cooling liquid of a radiator, a fan rotating speed, the temperature of transmission oil, a vehicle speed, an engine rotating speed, the pressure of a compressor of the air conditioner, etc. as parameters. |
| US08118144B2 |
Hydraulic dampers with pressure regulated control valve
A suspension damper includes a housing bounding a main chamber. A hydraulic fluid is disposed within the main chamber. A piston rod is selectively movable between an advanced position wherein a portion of the piston rod is advanced into the main chamber and a retracted position wherein the portion of the piston rod is retracted from the main chamber, wherein as the piston rod is moved a fluid pressure of the hydraulic fluid within the main chamber progressively increases and a portion of the hydraulic fluid passes through a passage within the housing. A control valve is at least partially disposed within the main chamber, the control valve being moved by the fluid pressure of the hydraulic fluid so as to progressively restrict the flow of the hydraulic fluid through the passage as the fluid pressure of the hydraulic fluid within the main chamber progressively increases. |
| US08118137B2 |
Multiple duty portable pneumatic lubrication device
A portable multiple duty grease gun is permanently housed and operated out of a portable housing. Two grease tubes feeding through a common funnel to a retractable hose with a hand held grease gun on the end. A pressure regulator, a compressor or mechanical pump with an electric motor, a rechargeable battery pack, and a control panel in the housing operate the system. |
| US08118134B2 |
Front resonator for a speaker of a wireless device
A front resonator for a speaker of a wireless device, comprising: an enclosure mounted over the speaker and forming with an upper surface of the speaker a front volume for the front resonator; and, a horizontal or approximately horizontal tube formed or mounted on a surface of the enclosure, the tube coupled to the front volume, and the tube having at least one end to emit sound generated by the speaker and passing through the front volume and tube from the wireless device. |
| US08118132B2 |
Hydraulic hybrid vehicle method of safe operation
A hydraulic hybrid vehicle includes elements such as a hydraulic pump driven by an internal combustion engine and arranged to draw in low pressure fluid and pump the fluid at high pressure to an accumulator. A hydraulic motor is powered by the pressurized fluid. Safety processes are provided for detecting and addressing a number of conditions that may arise in the operation of the hydraulic hybrid vehicle, including an initialization procedure for start-up of the vehicle, a shut-down procedure, and procedures for detecting and responding to failure of the pump or motor, internal and external fluid leaks, and non-responsive actuation and mode control systems. |
| US08118130B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling an actuatable restraining device using XY crush-zone satellite accelerometers
An apparatus is provided for controlling a vehicle actuatable occupant restraining system including a central crash accelerometer sensing crash acceleration at a central vehicle location and providing a first crash acceleration signal indicative thereof. A crush zone crash accelerometer senses transverse crash acceleration at a forward location of the vehicle. A controller actuates the actuatable occupant restraining system in response to the central crash acceleration signal and the transverse crash acceleration signal from the crush zone sensor. |
| US08118129B2 |
Drainage structure in fuel cell motorcycle
A layout for an exhaust pipe which also serves as a drainage pipe which prevents splashing of water generated in a fuel cell toward a passenger or splashing toward a tire. Humid excessive gas supplied from a fuel cell is diluted in a dilution box by off-gas discharged from the fuel cell and is used for humidifying air in the humidifier. An exhaust pipe is connected to the dilution box, and diluted hydrogen gas is discharged via the exhaust pipe. Vapor mixed in hydrogen gas is condensed in the exhaust pipe and turned into water, which is drained through the exhaust pipe that extends rearwardly of a vehicle body through the interior of a power unit. A discharge port of the exhaust pipe (which is also a drainage port for water generated in the fuel cell) is positioned at the widthwise center of the vehicle body. |
| US08118126B2 |
Steering assist system and steering assist method
A steering assist system for applying a steering torque reduces the influence of a time-dependent steering control amount on an assist steering torque when a predetermined driving operation by a driver is detected. Thus, the influence of the time-dependent steering control amount on the applied steering torque, which increases when the period of time over which actual moving state deviates from the target moving state increases is reduced when the driver makes the predetermined driving operation. Thus, it is possible to avoid the problem where steering feel degrades because the steering torque increases over time. |
| US08118123B2 |
Method for the generation of electrical energy, method for operation of an electrically-driven motor vehicle and device for generation of electrical energy and electric vehicle
A process for generation of electrical power comprises the exothermic, possibly catalytic, decomposition of a medium, preferably hydrogen peroxide, with the addition of water and the use of the steam to drive a steam machine, which is connected to an electricity generator. In order to improve the process specifically for use in electrical vehicles, highly concentrated medium, preferably hydrogen peroxide, is decomposed and the steam is condensed after emerging from the steam machine, and is fed back into the process. An electrical vehicle is advantageously operated in such a way that the electrical power is generated as explained above and is fed to at least one rechargeable battery, with the electrical power for at least one electric motor being taken from the rechargeable battery. |
| US08118122B2 |
Method and system for monitoring signal integrity in a distributed controls system
A method to monitor integrity of a signal in a distributed control system for a powertrain system includes communications link transmitting signals between control modules. Integrity of each of the control modules is monitored. The signal is generated and verified in an originating control module and transmitted to a receiving control module whereat it is subsequently verified. |
| US08118121B2 |
Rechargeable automobile electric power system configured to replace the unpowered rear axle of a front wheel drive vehicle
A rechargeable automobile electric power system and method modifying a front-wheel drive automobile through installation of the system is disclosed. The system is designed as a unit meant to replace the rear axle of a front-wheel drive vehicle. The system comprises: an axle assembly configured to replace the existing unpowered rear axle of a front-wheel drive automobile, an electric motor powered by rechargeable batteries which drives the axle assembly. |
| US08118118B2 |
Modular rotary drill head
A modular base assembly for a rotary drill head includes a drive flange assembly having a tubular drive shaft configured to engage at least a lower drive interface. The modular base assembly also includes a gear housing supporting the drive flange assembly. Furthermore, the modular base assembly can also include a plurality of interchangeable gear pinions selectively coupled to the drive flange assembly. |
| US08118115B2 |
Method and system for installing geothermal heat exchangers, micropiles, and anchors using a sonic drill and a removable or retrievable drill bit
There is provided a method for drilling a cased hole and installing a micropile. A sonic drilling apparatus is positioned at a desired location. The sonic drilling apparatus includes a rotating and vibrating apparatus for rotating and vibrating a drill string into the ground. A retrievable drill bit is operatively connected to the drill string. The cased hole is drilled to a desired depth by rotating and vibrating the drill string into the ground. The retrievable drill bit is retrieved from the cased hole following the drilling of the cased hole to the desired depth. A micropile is lowered into the cased hole following the retrieval of the retrievable drill bit. Grouting material may be discharged into the cased hole before or after the drill string is removed from the ground. In another embodiment, a removable drill bit may be used in place of the retrievable drill bit. |
| US08118108B2 |
Combustion process stopper
A fire extinguishing apparatus in which one embodiment comprises of a dome lengthening into an extendable and flexible cylinder which contains a device that can adapt and form a seal with the surface as it is lowered, by means of a lifting device, on to a fire below, encapsulating said fire and extinguishing it by striving it of oxygen. The apparatus can be stretched or collapsed by means of installed winches, to accommodate different sizes of burning materials and to facilitate transportation. |
| US08118106B2 |
Flowback tool
In one embodiment, a flowback tool for running a tubular string into a wellbore includes a tubular housing having a bore therethrough and a tubular mandrel. The mandrel: has a bore therethrough in communication with the housing bore, is longitudinally movable relative to the housing, is torsionally coupled to the housing, and has a threaded coupling for engaging a threaded coupling of the tubular string. The flowback tool further includes a nose: longitudinally coupled to the housing, operable to receive an end of the tubular string, and including a seal operable to engage a surface of the tubular string, thereby providing fluid communication between a bore of the tubular string and the mandrel bore. The flowback tool further includes an actuator operable to move the mandrel and the nose longitudinally relative to the housing for engaging and disengaging the tubular string. |
| US08118102B2 |
Downhole swivel apparatus and method
What is provided is a method and apparatus wherein a swivel can be detachably connected to an annular blowout preventer thereby separating the drilling fluid or mud into upper and lower sections and allowing the fluid to be displaced in two stages, such as while the drill string is being rotated and/or reciprocated. In one embodiment the sleeve or housing can be rotatably and sealably connected to a mandrel. The swivel can be incorporated into a drill or well string and enabling string sections both above and below the sleeve to be rotated in relation to the sleeve. In one embodiment the drill or well string does not move in a longitudinal direction relative to the swivel. In one embodiment, the drill or well string does move longitudinally relative to the sleeve or housing of the swivel. |
| US08118101B2 |
Ball catcher with retention capability
A ball catcher is designed to stop balls that are the same size or different sizes at an inlet on a seat that is connected to a movable biased sleeve. Once the ball or other shaped object lands at the seat the flow around it increases differential pressure on the seat and sleeve and displaces them against the bias. The ball goes into a surrounding annular space and cannot exit. A preferably spiral sleeve guide the movement of the balls in the annular space so that efficient use of the annular space is made to maximize the number of balls that can be captured per unit length of the annular space. As soon as the ball enters the annular space the sleeve shifts back to the original position to stop the next ball at the inlet. Once in the annular space, the balls cannot escape if there is a flow reversal. The central passage remains open to pass other tools and flow. |
| US08118097B2 |
Formation evaluation while drilling
An apparatus comprising a fluid communication device configured to extend from a drill string and establish fluid communication with a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore in which the drill string is positioned, wherein the drill string comprises a passage configured to conduct drilling mud and an opening extending through an outer surface thereof and into a cavity. A sample chamber is coupled within the cavity and is in selectable fluid communication with the formation via the fluid communication device. A retainer is configured to absorb axial loading of the sample chamber within the cavity. |
| US08118095B2 |
In situ combustion processes and configurations using injection and production wells
Methods and systems relate to in situ combustion utilizing configurations of injection and production wells to facilitate the in situ combustion. The wells define vertically deviated lengths that have different orientations from one another. Further, heating processes such as resistive heating and cyclic steam stimulation may take place in one or both of the injection and production wells to precondition a reservoir prior to the in situ combustion. |
| US08118094B2 |
Tracer injector tool for well investigation
A tool system for monitoring a flow of liquid within a borehole. The tool system comprises a plurality of tools disposed on a longitudinal axis of the tool system. The plurality of tools comprises at least a first injector tool for ejecting in the borehole a tracer and a detector tool to detect the ejected tracer. The tool system further comprises a standard digital bus traversing at least a portion of each tool of the plurality of tools. The standard digital bus allows a communication between each tool of the plurality of tools. |
| US08118093B2 |
Threaded retention device for downhole transmission lines
An apparatus for retaining and tensioning an end of a transmission line includes a nut element having internal threads configured to engage an externally threaded transmission line, such as an externally threaded coaxial cable, thereby retaining an end of the transmission line. The internal threads may form a passageway extending from a first end of the nut element to a second end of the nut element. This passageway may allow a transmission line to pass through the nut element. A socket may be incorporated into one end of the nut element to enable a tool to apply torque thereto. A corresponding method is also disclosed. |
| US08118089B2 |
Down hole delivery system
An improved delivery system for pumping fluid from a pay zone to the surface of a well consisting of a pump situated near the pay zone of the well, a drive head at the surface of the well and a rod string connecting the two, wherein a transmission is interposed between the pump and drive head on the rod string and fluid pumped from the pay zone passes through conduits, extending longitudinally in isolation through the transmission. |
| US08118084B2 |
Heat exchanger and method for use in precision cooling systems
An improved precision cooling system for high heat density applications comprises a heat exchanger having more fluid outlet conduits than fluid inlet conduits to optimize the pressure drop across the heat exchanger at a given fluid flow rate. The heat exchanger may be of microchannel or tube fin construction, and the cooling system may utilize single phase or multi-phase pumped or compressed fluids. |
| US08118083B2 |
Circulation-type liquid cooling apparatus and electronic device containing same
A cooling apparatus includes a tank for keeping a coolant liquid therein and including an air layer, a heat receiver in contact with a heat generating part for receiving heat therefrom, a radiator for radiating the heat absorbed by the coolant liquid, and a circulating mechanism for circulating the coolant liquid from the heat receiver through the tank, through the radiator and again to the heat receiver. The tank is mounted on the radiator. The radiator includes a coolant liquid circulating conduit for radiation which includes a width narrower at the middle position of the tank, and is divided by a gap at the middle position of the tank. The radiator includes cavities on both sides of a portion in which the gap in the coolant liquid circulating conduit is formed, each of the cavities having an area covered with the tank mounted on the radiator. |
| US08118081B2 |
Heat dissipation device with locking tabs
A heat dissipation device (100) includes a fin assembly (10) having a plurality of fins (12). Each fin includes a locking tab (126b) with a connecting end (1268), a free end (1269), a hole (1261) adjacent to the connecting end, a hook (1262) adjacent to the free end, and a tongue (1263) between the hole and the hook. A punched hole (127b) in each fin is adjacent to the locking tab, which extends through the punched hole of an adjacent fin. The hook of the locking tab engages the hole in the locking tab of the adjacent fin, locking them together. |
| US08118077B2 |
Retractable arched window covering
A shade for an arched window including an arched track with a movable slide base and a pleated blind attached to the slide base. A cord actuates the slide base to move along the track and pull the blind between retracted and extended positions. A top rail of the blind is removably connected to the slide base by a connector and one or more pleats of the blind include connectors which are received within a groove along an inner wall of the track. |
| US08118068B2 |
Apparatus and methods for storing and dispensing solid material
The invention is directed to a dispensing unit suitable to precisely dispense material in powdery and/or granular form. The dispensing device comprises an gate valve opening sealingly closed by a blend. A control unit, which is interconnected to a scaling device, controls the opening of the gate valve opening by the position of the blend. The precise amount of the material is adjusted in relation to the signal of the scaling device. |
| US08118067B2 |
Sulfur loading apparatus
A chemical loading system is used for loading a molten chemical into a tanker. The chemical loading system includes a source supplying a molten chemical and a tanker for receiving the molten chemical. The chemical loading system has a stationary feed line supplying a chemical from the source. An extendable loader has a feed passage that is in fluid communication with the feed line. The extendable loader has a retracted position and an extended position relative to the feed line. The feed passage is adapted to have at least a portion thereof inside the tanker when in the extendable loader is in the extended position. A hoist assembly selectively extends and retracts the extendable loader assembly between the retracted and extended positions. |
| US08118066B2 |
System for replenishing flowable or pourable washing or cleaning agents
System for replenishing washing or cleaning agents, comprising a spout placeable on the opening of a bottle and having a first collar with a fastener for fastening the spout to a bottle, a second collar with a fastener for fastening a closure and/or metering cap on the spout, a wall extending from the first collar or second collar, a funnel, and an adapter element connectable to the pouring opening of a replenishing container and that comprises a cylinder element and a peripheral collar, a membrane for closing the replenishing container and preventing leakage of washing or cleaning agents out of the replenishing container, wherein the cylinder element of the adapter element has a guide groove configured such that the cylinder element can be detachably placed over the funnel and the web of the spout, whereby the positioning of the adapter element relative to the spout is determined. |
| US08118065B2 |
Sailcloth with high 1% warp and high warp efficiency and method of making same
A woven sailcloth comprising warp yarns and fill yarns and having one or more of (i) a 1% warp of at least about 125 and/or a warp efficiency of at least about 17, (ii) a plain weave in which the ratio of fill yarn count to warp yarn count is about 1.1:1 to about 1.8:1 and the ratio of warp yarn density to fill yarn density is about 1.2:1 to about 1.9:1, and (iii) a weight of at least about 7 and at least one of a 1% warp to 1% fill ratio of at least about 4:1, a 1% fill to 1% bias ratio of less than about 1:1, a 1% warp:1% fill to 1% fill:1% bias ratio of at least about 1:1, a 10 lb. warp to 10 lb. fill ratio of less than about 0.5:1, a 10 lb. fill to 10 lb. bias ratio of at least about 1:1, and a 10 lb. warp:10 lb. fill to 10 lb. fill:10 lb. bias ratio of less than about 0.5:1; a sail comprising panels of sailcloth at least one panel of which is woven sailcloth as described; a method of making such a woven sailcloth comprising weaving warp yarns and fill yarns, which can comprise a reinforcing yarn and can be weaved in a ripstop pattern, in a plain weave in which the ratio of fill yarn count to warp yarn count is about 1.1:1 to about 1.8:1 and the ratio of warp yarn density to fill yarn density is about 1.2:1 to about 1.9:1; and a method of making a sail comprising assembling panels of sailcloth, at least one panel of which is woven sailcloth as described and wherein said at least one panel of woven sailcloth is assembled into the sail with load paths oriented along its warp yarns. |
| US08118062B2 |
Pleated washer spring for fuel pressure regulator
A spring-actuator assembly (10) is provided for a fuel pressure regulator. The assembly includes a housing (30) and a washer spring (10) received in the housing. The washer spring has a body (12) with a top surface (13) and a bottom surface (15). The body includes an opening (14) there-through and a plurality of pleats (16, 16′) therein so that that first faces (20) of the top surface are disposed on a plane that is different from a plane of second faces (22) of the top surface. At least certain first faces define contact points (24). The assembly also includes an actuating member (26) disposed at least partially in the opening and engaging the contact points of the certain first faces such that a fluid flow passage (36) are defined between the washer spring and the actuating ball for dampening. |
| US08118060B2 |
Valve part of a hydraulic control valve for controlling flows of pressurized medium
A valve part of a hydraulic control valve for controlling flows of pressurized medium is provided, wherein the valve part includes a cylindrical valve housing with a first cylinder casing section extending in the axial direction and a first cylinder base section extending perpendicular to the axial direction, with the sections defining a valve housing hollow space that is open on one side. The first cylinder casing section is provided with a first work connection, a second work connection, and a pressure connection, each of which open into the valve housing hollow space. A cylindrical control piston is held in the valve housing hollow space so that it can move in the axial direction, and has a second cylinder casing section extending in the axial direction and a second cylinder base section extending perpendicular to the axial direction, with these sections defining a control piston hollow space that is open on one side. The second cylinder casing section adjacent to the second cylinder base section is provided with a radial discharge connection opening into the control piston hollow space, and the control piston is constructed such that the work connections can be connected selectively in a fluid conducting manner to the pressure connection and to the discharge connection through axial displacement of the control piston. The valve part is distinguished in that the discharge connection of the control piston includes at least one inclined opening, having a wall direction that assumes an angle of less than 90° to the axial direction. |
| US08118059B2 |
Control valve for a camshaft adjuster
A control valve for a hydraulic adjuster for the camshaft of an internal combustion engine is provided, wherein an actuator acts on a pressure part (12) embedded in a control piston (5). In order to prevent the piston (5) from being blocked in the valve housing by the expansion thereof caused by the pressure part embedment, the pressure part (12) and/or the control piston (5) is/are provided with radial recesses (34) in the embedment area (13) which make it possible to limit joining forces and the resulting radial expansion of the piston (5). Alternatively or in addition, the external surface of the control valve (5) has a reduced cross-section in the embedment area (13). |
| US08118057B2 |
Temperature rotational limit stop for a mixing valve
A temperature limit stop assembly for a mixing valve including a stop surface supported by a stem and a hot water stop shoulder supported by a stop member and engagable with the stop surface of the stem to limit rotational movement of a valve plate. |
| US08118055B2 |
Valve component for faucet
A valve component for a faucet includes a substrate comprising a base material and a strengthening layer provided above the substrate in an amount sufficient to improve abrasion resistance of the substrate, the strengthening layer comprising tantalum. A layer including amorphous diamond is provided above the strengthening layer. The amorphous diamond has sp3 bonding of at least about 40%, a hardness of at least about 45 GPa, and an elastic modulus of at least about 400 GPa. |
| US08118053B2 |
Adjustable backflow prevention device
A backflow prevention device is to be installed between various equipment drain lines and a drain cover or drain pipe. The backflow prevention device provides an air gap operable to prevent backflow of sewer waste into the drain lines. The device includes a drainage hub and a tubing mount attached to the drainage hub. The drainage hub defines a liquid flow conduit throw which liquid discharged from the drain lines can flow and can be connected to the drain. The tubing mount supports the drain lines in such a way that the drain line effluent is positioned to be in fluid connectivity with the upper opening of the liquid flow conduit at a vertically displaced position from the drainage hub. |
| US08118051B2 |
Valve for the venting circuit of a liquid tank
Valve for the ventilation circuit of a liquid tank, comprising: a) a chamber comprising a base, a side wall and a cover; b) at least two independent ventilation orifices in the chamber cover connecting the chamber to the venting circuit; c) at least one orifice in the chamber side wall connecting the chamber to the inside of the tank; d) at least two independent concentric floats, each comprising an apex capable of sealing one of the ventilation orifices, each being able to slide vertically inside the chamber depending on the liquid level in the chamber and to rest on the chamber base when the chamber is empty; one of the floats being calibrated so as to seal one of the ventilation orifices at one liquid level L1 in the tank and the other float being calibrated so as to seal the other ventilation orifice at a level L2 above L1. |
| US08118050B1 |
On-line constant flow dilution
A system for providing constant flow on-line dilution comprising a first fluid introduction line carrying a first fluid, a second fluid introduction line carrying a second fluid, a flow path selection assembly coupled to the fluid introduction line and the second fluid introduction line, a mixing assembly suitable for mixing the first fluid, the second fluid and a sample, and a plurality of fluid transport lines coupled to the flow path selection assembly suitable for transporting the first fluid, the second fluid and a sample to the mixing assembly. The flow path selection assembly is suitable for selecting a flow path for each of the first fluid introduction line and second fluid introduction lines and providing changeable coupling of each of the first fluid introduction line and second fluid introduction line to one of the plurality of fluid transport lines through the flow path selection assembly. |
| US08118049B2 |
Safety system for fluid conduit
A safety system for a fluid conduit includes an elongated flexible conduit having a first end and a second end and a central opening running therethrough and capable of transporting a first fluid under pressure. A first valve is located near the first end of the conduit and a second valve is located near the second end of the conduit. Each of the valves is moveable between a closed position and an open position so as to control the flow of the first fluid through the conduit. The central opening of the conduit is surrounded by a conduit wall which extends substantially the entire length of the conduit. A plurality of enclosed channels are located within the conduit wall and extend at least a substantial length of the conduit. A second fluid under pressure is contained in the channels and a sensor is provided for monitoring the pressure of the second fluid within the channels. One or both of the valves are operatively associated with the second fluid and close when the monitored pressure falls below a predetermined level. |
| US08118045B2 |
Outdoor canopy
An outdoor canopy includes a canopy frame, a canopy shelter and a side entrance arrangement. The canopy frame includes a roof frame and a legs frame downwardly extended from the roof frame to form a canopy area. The canopy shelter, which is made of waterproof fabric, is detachably fastening at the canopy frame to define a ceiling wall, a front wall, a rear wall and two sidewalls for enclosing the canopy area therewithin. The side entrance arrangement is formed on one of the sidewalls of the canopy shelter for a user to gain entry to and exit the canopy area without having to pass through the front entrance, wherein the side entrance arrangement contains a side entrance opening formed on the corresponding sidewall of the canopy shelter, and comprise at least one entrance fabric operatively mounted on the corresponding sidewall. |
| US08118043B2 |
Vehicle washing installation with artificial turf covered wash bay
A vehicle washing installation includes a wash bay having a floor for supporting a vehicle to be washed and a washing apparatus for washing a vehicle. An artificial turf covers the floor of the wash bay which functions to pre-filter dirt and debris from the water used to wash the vehicle before the water is passed thru a water filtration system. |
| US08118042B2 |
Apparatus and method for cleaning a liquid handling probe
The present invention concerns an improved apparatus for cleaning the interior of a liquid handling probe to reduce the amount time and the volume of wash fluid required to clean the probe and minimize carryover of material between different samples. In addition to the probe, the apparatus includes one or more wash fluid reservoirs, a compressed gas supply, one or more pumps, two or more valve-controlled probe lines and a controller for opening and closing the valves and actuating the pump(s) at desired time intervals. The invention further concerns a method of cleaning a liquid handling probe using the claimed apparatus and comprising sequential steps of pumping wash fluid and compressed gas through the probe. |
| US08118033B2 |
Apparatus for manufacturing rod-shaped smoking articles
An apparatus for manufacturing rod-shaped smoking articles which includes a forming section (10) for forming a material layer (K) made up of particles of smoking material and delivering the formed material layer (K); a wrapping section (20) disposed downstream of the forming section (10), for forming a rod (KR) by wrapping the material layer (K) in a web (W); a pair of guide blocks (54) disposed in the terminal end portion of the forming section (10), for guiding the material layer (K); a web shield (56) disposed downstream of the guide blocks (54) as viewed in the direction of delivering the material layer (K), for separating the material layer (K) and the web (W) from each other; a tongue (40) disposed in the start end portion of the wrapping section (20); and injection openings (64, 70, 76) provided to the guide blocks (54), the web shield (56) and the tongue (40), for injecting a liquid flavor additive into the material layer (K). |
| US08118031B2 |
Hearing protection device with damped material
The invention provides a hearing protection device having an attenuating body composed of an elastomer with an increased glass transition temperature and a reduced glass-to-rubber transition temperature such that the damping factor of the material peaks at a higher temperature and, resultantly, the damping factor is increased over a range of temperatures and frequencies typically experienced by the device during usage. The increased damping results in higher sound attenuation provided by the hearing protection device. |
| US08118028B2 |
Intrauterine contraceptive device
An intrauterine contraceptive device comprising a carrier body (1) and an active metallic alloy (4), characterized in that the active metallic alloy is of the formula ZnxCuyMnzAuk (I) or ZnxCuyMnzAgk (II), wherein x+y+z+k=100 weight %, x is in the range from approximately 18 to 30 weight %, z is in the range from approximately 0.5 to 3 weight %, and k is in the range from approximately 3 to 12 weight %, y being the balance. |
| US08118024B2 |
Mechanical ventilation system utilizing bias valve
A portable mechanical ventilator having a ROOTS® blower is configured to provide a desired gas flow and pressure to a patient circuit. The mechanical ventilator includes a flow meter operative to measure gas flow produced by the ROOTS® blower and an exhalation control module configured to operate an exhalation valve connected to the patient circuit. A bias valve connected between the ROOTS® blower and the patient circuit is specifically configured to generate a bias pressure relative to the patient circuit pressure at the exhalation control module. The bias valve is further configured to attenuate pulsating gas flow produced by the ROOTS® blower such that gas flowing to the mass flow meter exhibits a substantially constant pressure characteristic. The bias pressure facilitates closing of the exhalation valve at the start of inspiration, regulates positive end expiratory pressure during exhalation, and purges sense lines via a pressure transducer module. |
| US08118019B2 |
Cooking apparatus with charcoal starting device
A barbecue cooking system with moveable charcoal chimney device is provided, the system comprises: a firebowl having an open topside and a bottomside, and the bottomside comprising at least one aperture; and a chimney movable through the aperture of the bottomside of the firebowl, and at least a portion of the chimney is situated within the firebowl during a usage position and at least a portion of the chimney is moveable to a position below the firebowl during a stowage position. |
| US08118014B2 |
Fuel system for multi-fuel engine
An engine system and corresponding control method are described. As one example, the control method includes transferring one type of fuel from one fuel tank to a second fuel tank holding another type of fuel and adjusting an engine operating parameter based on the blended fuel mixture by selective operation of a first and second fuel pump. |
| US08118011B2 |
Marine vessel propulsion device
A marine vessel propulsion device includes an engine, a fuel injection device, an intake system, a vapor separator tank arranged to separate fuel vapor from liquid fuel to be supplied to the engine, a pump unit arranged to transport the fuel from the vapor separator tank to the fuel injection device, a fuel pipe arranged to connect the fuel injection device and the pump unit, a vapor pathway arranged to connect the vapor separator tank and the intake system, a valve disposed in the vapor pathway, and an engine control unit. The engine control unit is arranged to control the opening degree of the valve in accordance with a valve opening speed set based on at least the pressure of the fuel in the fuel pipe when starting the engine. |
| US08118009B2 |
On-board fuel vapor separation for multi-fuel vehicle
A fuel delivery system for a fuel burning engine of a vehicle and a method of operating the fuel delivery system is provided. As one example, the method includes separating a first fuel and a second fuel from a fuel vapor on-board the vehicle, said fuel vapor including at least an alcohol component and a hydrocarbon component and said first fuel including a higher concentration of the alcohol component than the fuel vapor and the second fuel; condensing the separated first fuel from a vapor phase to a liquid phase; delivering the condensed liquid phase of the first fuel to the engine; and combusting at least the condensed liquid phase of the first fuel at the engine. |
| US08118006B2 |
Fuel injector diagnostic for dual fuel engine
Various systems and methods are described for controlling fuel injection of a dual fuel engine which includes first and second fuel rails and first and second fuel pumps. In one example, while pumping is suspended in the second fuel rail, the first fuel is injected to all but one cylinder of the engine and the second fuel is injected to the one cylinder in a predetermined sequence. As such, the fuel injector injecting to the one cylinder is isolated and its performance may be assessed without significantly affecting engine performance. |
| US08118005B2 |
Auxiliary power units for vehicles
Cooperative operation of an auxiliary power unit having a mechanical power output shaft with a transmission coupled power takeoff operation system of a vehicle is provided by allowing the vehicle's main engine to be cranked by the auxiliary power unit through the power takeoff operation system. |
| US08118002B2 |
Continuously variable valve lift system including valve deactivation capability on one of two dual intake valves
In a dual intake valve arrangement for an internal combustion engine, a continuously variable valve lift (CVVL) system controls two intake valves for one or more engine cylinders. In each cylinder, one of the intake valves includes an associated valve deactivation device, and the other intake valve does not. To improve in-cylinder air flow turbulence under low valve lift, one of the intake valves may be deactivated, resulting in mixture intake through only one valve, resulting in strong swirl by unbalanced flow. A CVVL-equipped engine including a valve deactivation device provides the same amount of air flow for the same engine load as a prior art CVVL engine. A method of introducing a swirl to the mixture is also described. |
| US08118001B2 |
Cooling system for an internal combustion engine in a motorcycle
A cooling system for a water-cooled internal combustion engine includes a coolant flow circuit and a coolant return passage. The coolant flow circuit includes a water pump, a water jacket having a plurality of serially connected flow passages, an oil cooler, a radiator, and a pressure-regulating valve for discharging coolant to a reservoir tank when pressure of the coolant in the coolant flow circuit reaches a predetermined target value. The coolant return passage supplies coolant from the reservoir tank to the coolant flow circuit via a check valve, which only allows coolant to flow in one direction from the reservoir tank to the coolant flow circuit. |
| US08117999B2 |
Electrolyte delivery system and method
In a system for providing electrolyte to an electrolysis cell for producing hydrogen gas to inject into the intake of an internal combustion engine, a water store is in communication with a water supply line, for replenishing the level of electrolyte solution used by the electrolysis cell. A valve which may be disposed at a level below the level of the water supply line and is opened, for example upon deactivation of the engine, to drain the water out of the water supply line and prevent freezing in sub-freezing temperatures. |
| US08117993B2 |
Pet enclosure
A pet enclosure includes a cover and a support frame. The cover includes a bottom panel, a top panel opposite the bottom panel, and a plurality of side panels extending between the bottom panel and the top panel to define an interior space of the cover. An aperture is defined in at least one of the top panel and one of the plurality of side panels for accessing the interior space. The support frame is pivotable between a collapsed configuration and an upright configuration and is insertable into the interior space of the cover through the aperture in the collapsed configuration of the support frame. The support frame is also pivotable from the collapsed configuration to the upright configuration while disposed within the interior space of the cover. |
| US08117991B1 |
Refrigerated pet water dispensing and bowl cleaning system
A pet water dispenser having a system of water pumps to circulate water, a water bowl containing a temperature sensor to determine the temperature of the water in the bowl, an ultra violet light and a filter to purify and clean the circulating water, an in-line water heater and a thermoelectric cooling plate to keep the water at a desired temperature, water jets inside the bowl to spray water against the inside of the bowl to clean hair and debris from the bowl, a rotating drain disc in the bowl which periodically opens to permit emptying of old water from the water bowl and closes to permit filling of the bowl with fresh water, a digital controller to permit a pet owner to control the operation of the dispenser and the temperature of the water presented in the bowl to the pet. |
| US08117985B2 |
Laser cladding device with an improved nozzle
A laser cladding device for applying a coating to a part comprising a laser which can generate laser light, which is adapted to heat the coating and the part, a main body defining a laser light channel adapted to transmit the laser light to the part, a coating channel adapted to transmit the coating to the part, and a vacuum channel and a nozzle having an exit. The nozzle comprises a delivery port at one end of the laser light channel, a coating port at one end of the coating channel, and a vacuum port at one end of the vacuum channel, wherein the vacuum port is positioned generally adjacent the delivery port. In operation the vacuum port draws a vacuum, pulling the coating towards the part. |
| US08117984B2 |
Coating abluminal surfaces of stents and other implantable medical devices
A sleeve is positioned over a radially-expandable rod assembly and a stent is positioned over the sleeve. A mandrel is inserted into the rod assembly to thereby press the sleeve against the inner surface of the stent and expand the stent. A coating (such as a solvent, a polymer and/or a therapeutic substance) is then applied to the outer (abluminal) surfaces of the stent, by spraying, for example. The sleeve advantageously prevents the coating material from being applied to inner (luminal) surfaces of the stent and also allows the coating material to be efficiently applied to the abluminal surfaces. |
| US08117983B2 |
Directional extruded bead control
A micro-extrusion printhead assembly utilized in a micro-extrusion system to form parallel extruded lines of material on a substrate includes a material feed system for pushing/drawing materials out of extrusion nozzles defined in the printhead assembly, a Z-axis positioning mechanism, and a base. The micro-extrusion printhead includes a layered nozzle structure sandwiched between back and front plate structures. The layered nozzle structure includes stacked plates including top and bottom nozzle plates sandwiching a nozzle outlet plate. According to various embodiments, at least one of the nozzle structure materials of the printhead assembly, the output geometry of the printhead assembly, and the internal conduit geometry of the printhead assembly are modified to cause the bead traveling through the extrusion nozzle to be reliably directed (biased) toward the target substrate as it leaves the printhead nozzle orifice. |
| US08117980B1 |
Rigid quick connect mooring device
A rigid mooring system that instantly secures pontoons, float planes, boats, and other forms of craft to a variety of dockage types and consists of two identical, yet separately positioned devices which together moor a craft safely away from the dockage. Barrel plate hinges permanently secure the two devices to the dockage allowing both the devices and the attached craft vertical motion but prohibit parallel or lateral movement. Each device has two reinforced arms coming together to form a right triangle shaped rigid body with one arm projecting further, bending into a curved attaching end. This attaching end is integrated with a self closing latch. The latch opens when pressed against the craft's mooring fixture then automatically snaps back into place capturing the craft. Pressing the release button opens the latch, freeing the craft. Each device also provides a place for a separate lock to be installed preventing theft or unauthorized use of the craft. |
| US08117976B2 |
Handicraft needle puncher, handicraft assisting tool and handicraft needle punch set
A handicraft needle punch set includes a needle puncher, and an assisting tool used in performing needle punching to an object. The assisting tool includes a plurality of tubular template portions each having a desired sectional shape. The needle puncher includes a plurality of needles, a grip member supporting the needles in a manner allowing the tips of the needles to protrude to the outside, and a tubular attachment member detachably attached to the grip member. The tubular attachment member is configured to surround the needles in a noncontact manner and have a contact end portion coming into contact with the upper portions of the tubular template portions. |
| US08117974B2 |
Biomass energy recovery apparatus
An apparatus for extracting energy from fiber introduced as a fuel into a vertically elongated combustion chamber having a suspension burner capable of projecting a flame down the axis of the combustion chamber with a heat collection surface located radially from the flame and below the burner, and an exhaust opening located below the flame and below at least a portion of the heat collection surface, in which the combusted fiber yields a mixture containing hot flue gas and molten ash above the exhaust opening and heat transfers therefrom to the heat collection surface prior to any substantial contact of ash to a surface of the combustion chamber, to yield a mixture containing warm flue gas and non-molten ash, that is thereafter cooled to yield a mixture containing cool flue gas and non-molten ash. |
| US08117971B1 |
Table cloth and trash bag combination
A table cloth and trash bag combination having a table cloth upper portion dimensioned to be laid on top of a picnic table or other types of outdoor and indoor tables and made of thin sheet paper, plastic and like material. The upper portion includes decorative designs of toys, animals, birthday cakes, logos, and like festive items for birthdays, anniversary, and other party events. On opposite corners of the upper portion is an outwardly extending first portion of pull strings. A second portion of the pull strings is received through seams disposed along sides of a length and a width of the table cloth upper portion. In the center of the table cloth upper portion and parallel to the length is an elongated opening having sides attached to a top of a folded trash bag lower portion. The opening provides access into the folded trash bag lower portion. The lower portion is made of thin sheet plastic for receiving trash items placed on top of the upper portion and picnic table. |
| US08117967B2 |
Bullet
A projectile (10), where necessary covered with a jacket, possesses a front-side core (1) and a rear-side core (2). The rear-side core (2) here bears positively in a centered manner against the front-side core (1) and this rear-side core (2) fills the entire cylindrical and the frustoconically configured rear region (2) of the projectile (10). A contact zone (11, 12 is respectively configured on the two cores (1, 2), which contact zone allows the projectile (10) to be joined together in a press fit, a perfectly aligned external form (3) of the projectile (10) being obtained and the contact faces (15; 13; 11 to 12) of the cores (1, 2) directly touching one another substantially without a clearance or gap over the whole of the contact face (15; 13; 11 to 12). When the projectile (10) impacts upon a surface oriented in any chosen manner relative to the firing direction (20), the projectile (10) is split into two less dangerous projectile parts. |
| US08117966B1 |
Stun grenade
A stun grenade that provides a flash and an associated loud report without use of pyro-ignition sources. The flash is generated by discharge of a conventional flash bulb. The loud, explosive noise comes from rupturing of an inflatable bag at a predetermined rupture pressure and inflation volume. |
| US08117963B2 |
Printing security features
A printing machine for printing security features onto a web. The machine has a first printing cylinder defining a first circumference and carrying a first number (m) of rows of first image elements, each adjacent row of first image elements having a first circumferential separation. The machine also has a second printing cylinder defining a second circumference, different to the first circumference, and carrying a second number (n) of rows of second image elements, different to the first number (m) of rows, where each adjacent row of second image elements has the same first circumferential separation as adjacent rows of first image elements. The printing cylinders are operable to print the first and second image elements in registration on a web so that composite security features are created on the web from the first and second image elements. |
| US08117953B2 |
Stop rule with hold-down device for circular saw benches
A stop rule for circular saw benches includes a profiled hollow body extending longitudinally with a substantially right-angled cross section, on which means are located for the attachment thereof to a table. One side of the profiled hollow body is designed as a guide member with a coplanar extension extending therefrom, which has a guide rule on the front edge thereof for low workpieces. Such guide rule extends vertically at right angles from the table, on which the guide member lies when the stop rule is in a horizontal position. The extension protruding sideways has a horizontal contact surface in the horizontal position of the stop rule, on which surface a vertically adjustable hold-down device for low work pieces is connected. |
| US08117951B2 |
Double flex wrench
A wrench having a main body defines a first end, an opposite second end, and an axis extending therebetween. A handle body defines a first end, an opposite second end, and an axis extending therebetween, wherein the handle body first end is pivotally coupled to the main body second end. A handle is axially fixed and rotatably coupled to the handle body second end. A tang, having a first end configured to releasably receive a tool, an opposite second end, and an axis extending therebetween, is pivotally coupled to the main body first end. A detent is received in a recesses defined in one of the handle body first end and the main body second end. |
| US08117950B2 |
Extension shaft for holding a tool for rotary driven motion
An extension shaft for holding a tool for rotary motion of the tool includes a first end adapted to cooperate with a chuck of a handheld instrument and a second end including a tool holder for holding the tool for rotary driven motion thereof. The tool holder includes a base portion operatively connected to the extension shaft and a swivel portion capable of holding the tool. The swivel portion is pivotly coupled to the base portion through a pivot assembly, wherein the tool is capable of being rotated about an angle with respect to an axis of the chuck through rotation of the extension shaft in response to rotation of the chuck. |
| US08117947B2 |
Power ratchet assembly
A power ratchet assembly has a handle, a power shaft, a sleeve, a crankshaft, multiple planet gears, multiple pins, two support bearings and a ratchet head device. The crankshaft has an outer surface. The support bearings are securely mounted around the outer surface of the crankshaft. Because the crankshaft is supported by the support bearings, the crankshaft is effectively stabilized so mitigating vibration of the crankshaft and reducing wear of the planet gears and noise and increasing useful life of the power ratchet assembly. |
| US08117944B2 |
Pedal apparatus
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a pedal apparatus is provided. The pedal apparatus comprises a pedal member including a seat and an axle configured to cooperate with the seat to support the pedal member. The pedal apparatus is configured such that a rotation of the pedal member with respect to the axle causes translation of the pedal member with respect to the axle. |
| US08117938B2 |
Shifter with shape memory alloy and safety
A shifter incorporates a shape memory alloy wire (SMA actuator) to control movement of a blocker to selectively prevent moving a shift lever (or pawl) out of its park position until predetermined vehicle conditions are met. A mechanical fuse (i.e., flexible overload spring) prevents damage to the SMA actuator where the shift lever (or pawl) can be frictionally stopped from movement despite the contraction of the SMA actuator. The control circuit for the SMA actuator includes a photo-electric switch for stopping electrical power to the SMA actuator when the shift lever is moved from its park position, and the shift lever includes structure for mechanically continuing to hold the switch open while out of park. Further, the control circuit is operably connected to an ignition key retaining mechanism so that the ignition key cannot be removed when the lever is not in its park position. |
| US08117936B2 |
Gear support structure
A gear support mechanism for supporting two gears and an intermediate gear which meshes with the two gears to transfer rotation of one of the two gears to the other, includes a gear-shaft support member(s) which supports a gear shaft of the intermediate gear; and a spring member installed between the gear-shaft support member and the intermediate gear. The spring member includes a gear contacting portion which is in contact with the intermediate gear, and resilient support legs extend radially from the gear contacting portion and are in contact with the gear-shaft support member, the spring member biasing the intermediate gear in a direction of an axis of the gear shaft. Each of the two gears is positioned in an inter-leg space between adjacent resilient support legs as viewed in a direction along the axis of the gear shaft. |
| US08117934B2 |
Transmission shift mechanism with single-end actuation
A shift mechanism for a transmission having a first and a second combination of gears is disclosed. The shift mechanism has a rod member and a hydraulic actuator operatively connected to an end of the rod member. The hydraulic actuator is configured to move the rod member between a first position at which the first combination of gears is engaged to transmit power, a second position at which the second combination of gears is engaged to transmit power, and a third position at which neither the first nor the second combination of gears is engaged to transmit power. The hydraulic actuator has a first piston slidably connected to the rod member, a second piston fixedly connected to the rod member, and a housing. The housing forms three chambers and has only two fluid conduits in communication with the three chambers. |
| US08117933B2 |
Five speed dual clutch transmission
A transmission includes an input member, an output member, first and second shafts, first and second countershafts, a plurality of co-planar gear sets, and a plurality of torque transmitting devices. The torque transmitting devices include a plurality of synchronizer assemblies and a dual clutch assembly. The transmission is operable to provide at least one reverse speed ratio and a plurality of forward speed ratios between the input member and the output member. |
| US08117931B2 |
Drive for displacing profile parts relative to each other via a flexible material strip, length-adjustable housing and article of furniture
A drive for displacing and positioning at least two profile parts relative to each other, includes: a rotatable drive wheel, a motor coupled to a first profile part and to the drive wheel, a flexible material strip which is rigidly connected on at least one side to a second profile part, which material strip also engages on the drive wheel, and a guide for the flexible material strip connected in at least substantially stationary manner to the first profile part, wherein the distance between the guide and the drive wheel is greater than the distance between the point of engagement of the flexible material strip on the second profile and the drive wheel. The invention also includes a length-adjustable housing provided with the aforementioned drive and to an article of furniture, in the legs of which such drives are accommodated. |
| US08117930B2 |
Cooling bearings, motors and other rotating heat generating components
Cooling apparatus for transferring heat from and cooling one or more heat generating components that support or drive a flywheel or other spinning member. The apparatus may include a first heat transfer element attached to and spinning with the spinning member, a second heat transfer element stationary with respect to the spinning member, wherein the first and second heat transfer elements move relative to one another, and wherein the first and second heat transfer elements are shaped and positioned in close proximity to one another so that substantial heat is transferred from the first heat transfer element to the second heat transfer element. Alternatively, the apparatus may include a set of rotating vanes mounted to rotate with the spinning member, an orifice configured to direct a spray of cooling liquid onto the rotating vanes, wherein the cooling liquid is sprayed onto the rotating vanes at a radially inward location, so that the liquid flows radially outward over the surface of the vanes as a thin film of liquid, and is thrown off the vanes by centrifugal action, and collecting apparatus configured to collect the liquid thrown off of the vanes. |
| US08117929B2 |
Control of the positional relationship between a sample collection instrument and a surface to be analyzed during a sampling procedure using a laser sensor
A system and method utilizes distance-measuring equipment including a laser sensor for controlling the collection instrument-to-surface distance during a sample collection process for use, for example, with mass spectrometric detection. The laser sensor is arranged in a fixed positional relationship with the collection instrument, and a signal is generated by way of the laser sensor which corresponds to the actual distance between the laser sensor and the surface. The actual distance between the laser sensor and the surface is compared to a target distance between the laser sensor and the surface when the collection instrument is arranged at a desired distance from the surface for sample collecting purposes, and adjustments are made, if necessary, so that the actual distance approaches the target distance. |
| US08117926B2 |
Method of and equipment for preparing an analysis sample
The invention relates to a method of and equipment for preparing an analysis sample (2) for a continuous on-line analysis. According to the invention, a sample material (5) is taken by means of a sampling arrangement (4) from a material flow (24) that contains solid matter and liquid, whereby the sample material (5) is fed into a chamber (6); a layer of material (10), which contains coarse solid matter, depositing in the lower part of the chamber, and a layer of material (8), which contains liquid and fine solids, being separated from the sample material in the upper part of the chamber, whereby at least part of the material (8), which contains fine solids, is moved to the lower part (9) of the chamber (6), from where the analysis sample (2) that has a higher solids content than the sample material (5) is removed. |
| US08117916B2 |
Electronic component and method for manufacturing the same
An electronic component is disclosed, and this component includes an element with an electrode section which is formed of upper electrode (74), lower electrode (72), piezoelectric unit (70) placed between upper electrode (74) and lower electrode (72), and adhesive layer (76) layered between upper electrode (74) and piezoelectric unit (70). Piezoelectric unit (70) includes piezoelectric layer (80) made of piezoelectric material containing lead, and adhesive layer (76) includes a tungsten layer made of tungsten-based material. Piezoelectric layer (80) and the tungsten layer are layered together. The structure discussed above allows preventing a piezoelectric constant from lowering and a base-point voltage from varying. The lowering and the varying have been caused by a temperature-rise. |
| US08117911B2 |
Gauge for bulk fuel storage tanks
This invention relates to bulk liquid storage tanks, and in particular to an improved tank gauge for measuring the amount of liquid within the tank and for monitoring the movement or settling of the storage tank. |
| US08117909B1 |
Icing resistant sensor port for a fuel tank environment
A system for an icing resistant sensor port assembly includes shaped and patterned features for resisting the formation and propagation of ice around a sensor port, such as for a pressure sensor in an aircraft fuel tank. Water may be present in fuel tanks due to condensation and other factors. The water, being heavier than fuel, such as jet fuel, sinks to the bottom of the tank and may be present around the sensor port. If the water completely fills the pressure port, it may damage the sensor. In various embodiments, an inlet assembly having a cone-shaped countersink, sharp edges that reduce surface area, anti-wetting coatings, and slots to allow fluid flow within the inlet assembly, among other features, may be used to help resist ice formation and propagation around a sensor port. |
| US08117907B2 |
Caliper logging using circumferentially spaced and/or angled transducer elements
A downhole tool includes circumferentially spaced and/or angled transducer elements. In one embodiment a standoff sensor has at least three piezoelectric transducer elements, at least a first element of which is configured to both transmit and receive ultrasonic energy. At least second and third of the elements are configured to receive ultrasonic energy transmitted by the first element in pitch catch mode. An electronic controller is configured to calculate a standoff distance from the ultrasonic waveforms received at the first, the second, and the third piezoelectric transducer elements. The controller may further be configured to estimate the eccentricity of a measurement tool in the borehole. Exemplary embodiments of the invention may improve borehole coverage and data quality and reliability in LWD caliper logging. In particular, the invention may advantageously reduce or even eliminate blind spots when logging eccentric bore holes. |
| US08117903B2 |
Golf club head comprising a piezoelectric sensor
An apparatus and method for determining the kinematic characteristics of a golf club head are disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one piezoelectric component selectively positioned within or upon a club head. The piezoelectric component is preferably positioned to the rear of the center of gravity, and near the midpoint of the face of the club head. During a golf club swing, the piezoelectric component determines the acceleration and deceleration of the golf club head. When the club head impacts an object such as a golf ball, the piezoelectric component is also operable to determine the velocity of the club head. It may also be desirable for the piezoelectric component to determine the magnitude of vibration during impact. In this manner, the piezoelectric component may function determine the efficiency of a golf club swing. |
| US08117902B2 |
Nanopatterned surfaces and related methods for selective adhesion, sensing and separation
The invention is comprised, in part, of a surface that contains more than one component or construct. Such heterogenous surface compositions and configurations, related systems and methods for sensing particle or analyte interaction therewith can selectively and/or differentially interact with a range of particles/analytes, in lieu of specific molecular sensor-analyte interactions for each particle. These interactions of various analytes or particles can differ sufficiently in strength and range between multiple analyte types or particles to effect a separation of analytes or particles mixtures, in a way that requires no sensing or detection. With incorporation of a sensing mechanism, discrimination/detection of different compounds within an analyte mixture can be accomplished. |
| US08117900B2 |
Systems and methods for monitoring the integrity of a tank
A conduit is connected to the interstice between an outer and inner wall of a storage tank or the liner thereof and may be used to monitor the integrity of the interstice. The conduit comprises a coupling in fluid communication with the interstice, a tube connected at one end to the coupling and having a length sufficient to extend into a riser pipe of the tank. The conduit may also include a bushing holding the tube apart from the tank and providing for the variable positioning of the tube with respect to the tank. A method of monitoring the integrity of the interstice uses monitoring equipment connected to the conduit. |
| US08117899B2 |
Method and device for measuring the gas permeability through films and walls of containers
A device for measuring permeability of a gas sample through a thin film, or a wall, arranged as a membrane between a first chamber and a second chamber of a measurement cell is provided that includes, a pressure regulator, upstream from each inlet to the measurement cell, that are each associated with a respective pressure sensor. A humidifier can be used, if desired. The device further includes that can switch the flows of gas between a starting wash step and a measurement step. Each gas flow is adjusted at the exit of the respective flow regulator. A control unit operates the pressure regulators and flow regulators to keep at predetermined values the total pressure in the first chamber and second chamber with those values maintained equal to each other. |
| US08117894B2 |
Gas sensor
A sensor system issues measurement commands at a predetermined regular rate. If a measurement indicates that a gas of interest is present, then the sensor system is signaled to wake-up thereby pulsing a heater for the sensor element that improves the accuracy of measurements. Measurements of humidity, temperature and gas concentration are made. If the gas of interest is detected then the data is used to indicate a compensated gas measurement. The gas level is classified as to its hazard and an adaptive detection algorithm is used to set an activity mode. If the gas of interest is not detected, the adaptive detection algorithm is used to set a sleep mode that saves power. Measurement rates are kept constant while heater power is controlled to reduce power consumption. Measurement rates are changed to increase concentration sensitivity. |
| US08117892B2 |
Hardness testing instrument and calibration method thereof
Disclosed is a hardness testing instrument which measures a hardness of a specimen, the hardness testing instrument including: a load applying section with the indenter or a flat indenter mounted thereon; a driving section to move the load applying section; a specimen table on which an object to be pressed is placed; a specimen table height adjustment section to adjust a height position; an indentation depth amount storage section to measure the indentation depth amount when the indenter is pressed to a reference block and to store the amount; a deformation amount storage section to measure the deformation amount of a load measuring instrument when the flat indenter is pressed to the load measuring instrument and to store the amount; a height position obtaining section to obtain a height position of the specimen table; and a calibration section to calibrate the load. |
| US08117890B1 |
Automatic optimized calibration for a marine propulsion system with multiple drive units
A method for calibrating the steering configuration for a marine propulsion system provides a procedure by which the steering alignment is changed by a known and symmetrical amount in order to identify and characterize the effect that such a change has on the operating efficiency of the marine vessel. Before the calibrating process is completed, the overall consistency of the vessel operation is measured to determine that the conditions are correct for the calibration procedure to commence. After analyzing the consistency of operation of the marine vessel, known and symmetrical changes, or perturbations, in the steering system are made and the effect of those changes are determined as a function of the fuel usage by the marine vessel. The effects on fuel usage are characterized as being beneficial, harmful, or negligible. In other words, the effect on the marine propulsion system resulting from the change in steering alignment is characterized as improving the fuel usage, degrading the fuel usage, or having a negligible effect on the fuel usage. |
| US08117882B2 |
Multi-layer pipe and method for its manufacture
A method for manufacture of a multi-layer pipe (5) by means of a bending roller with individual material layers (1, 2) to be combined into the multi-layer pipe (5) being placed one upon the other, and the multi-layer material thus formed being shaped into a multi-layer pipe (5) by means of the bending roller, and in the final stage of pipe shaping in the bending roller and/or a subsequently used bending machine a material layer (1) acting as an internal pipe being pressed non-positively into a material layer (2) acting as an external pipe. |
| US08117881B2 |
Press-molding method and press-molding device
A press-molding device (80) press molds a bottom portion of a work piece (9) having a closed-end shape between an, inner die (521) inserted into the work piece (9) and an outer die (551) disposed on an outside of the work piece (9). A chuck position switching mechanism (501) grips the work piece (9) so that the work piece (9) can move in an axial direction. An inner die moving mechanism (522) inserts the inner die (521) into the inside end of the work piece (9). A stopper mechanism (531) supports the inner die (521) in a processing position by restricting movement of the inner die (521). An outer die moving mechanism (552) press-molds the bottom portion of the work piece (9) between the outer die (551) and the inner die (521), thereby press-molding the workpiece (9) smoothly without damaging an inner peripheral surface of the workpiece (9). |
| US08117878B1 |
Method and apparatus for forming and texturing process shields
A textured process shield and similar parts may be formed and textured in the same forming process using a mandrel. The mandrel may have movable portions that may be set into a forming die position to form and texture a workpiece into a process shield and collapsed to allow the process shield to be removed from the mandrel. The movable portions may include several textured shoes supported by movable jaws. The movable portions may also include a contact surface having angled indentations. |
| US08117877B2 |
Method and forming machine for manufacturing a product having various diameters
The invention relates to a method and a forming machine suitable for manufacturing a product having various diameters from a workpiece, such as a metal cylinder or plate, in which the workpiece is clamped down in a clamping device, the workpiece and a first tool are rotated about an axis of rotation relative to each other, the workpiece is deformed by means of said first tool by placing the tool into contact with the workpiece and moving the workpiece and/or the tool in a direction along the axis of rotation. At least a second tool is placed into contact with the workpiece at a position behind the first tool, seen in the working direction, and the workpiece is also deformed by means of said second tool. Thus, parts of the workpiece that have been deformed by the first tool are deformed by one or more subsequent tools practically immediately. |
| US08117875B2 |
Retractable wheel lock
The retractable wheel lock has a wheel axle assembly that includes a hub forming a housing with an opening. The hub is freely rotatable about the axle. A retractable cable including a male locking element is coiled in the hub and can be retractably paid out from the hub, guided through a frame of an attached bicycle, around a bike rack, pole, or the like, and then back into a female lock socket affixed to the hub to conveniently secure the bicycle in a theft resistant manner. Alternative embodiments allow a rim to rotate freely around the hub. |
| US08117869B2 |
Blank mold for an I.S. glass forming machine
A blank mold for an I. S. Machine is made up of a pair of opposed engaged blanks. When closed, these blanks have a top surface with an opening. The blanks have an inner surface defining the side wall of a parison which extends upwardly to a position a defined distance below the top surface of the blanks and a continuous, beveled surface connecting the top of the inner surface defining the side wall of the parison and the top opening of the blanks. A pair of funnels, each having a continuous beveled surface extending from a circular horizontally disposed top opening downwardly to smaller centrally located bottom opening, are interfit with the top of the blanks with the top opening of the blanks and the bottom opening of the funnel being coextensive. |
| US08117867B2 |
Process for producing spherical inorganic particle
A process for producing spherical inorganic particles which have high flowability, can be incorporated in a high proportion, and are useful as a filler for composite substrates such as printed wiring boards and encapsulating materials. Also provided is a process for producing spherical inorganic particles which have high flowability and can be incorporated in a high proportion and which are useful as a filler for encapsulating materials and give an encapsulating material having high electrical insulating properties. One of the processes for producing spherical inorganic particles comprises: (a1) pulverizing a silicate-containing inorganic material to form a pulverization product; (b1) heating the pulverization product in an atomized state to form the pulverization product into spherical particles; (c1) spraying water over the spherical particles to cool them while maintaining the atomized state of the spherical particles; and (d1) collecting the spherical particles. The other process, which is for producing spherical glass particles, comprises: a pulverization step in which a silicate-containing vitreous material is pulverized to form a pulverization product; an acid treatment step in which the pulverization product is contacted with an acid; and a sphering step in which the pulverization product is heated in a suspended state and formed into spherical particles. |
| US08117864B2 |
Compact, modularized air conditioning system that can be mounted upon an airplane ground support equipment cart
A modular and compact air conditioning system is designed to be conveyed by a ground support equipment cart and to occupy minimal space within the cart. The system is constructed within a rectangular frame supporting top, bottom, left side, right side, front side, and back side panels. The top and back side panels contain thin air conditioner condensers. One of the left and right side panels contain an air outlet, and the other contains an air inlet and a duct that may be connected to an airplane to provide cooling air to the airplane. A condenser fan is mounted within the rectangular frame and is arranged to draw outside air in through the condensers and to blow the air out through the air outlet. First and second air conditioners are mounted within the rectangular frame, each including a compressor, an expansion valve, and evaporator coils, with each compressor pumping refrigerant through one of the condensers, through one of the expansion valves, and through one of the evaporator coils and back to the compressor. One of the two evaporator coils is mounted over the air inlet, and the other is mounted over the duct. A variable speed blower is mounted within the rectangular frame adjacent the air inlet, and an enclosed air passage routes air from the air inlet through one of the evaporator coils, the air passage narrowing and routing the air through the blower, the passage then widening and curving around and routing the air through the other of the evaporator coils and through the duct. |
| US08117859B2 |
Methods and systems for controlling air conditioning systems having a cooling mode and a free-cooling mode
An air conditioning system having a cooling mode and a free-cooling mode. The system having a refrigeration circuit having a compressor and a pump; a suction pressure sensor for measuring a suction pressure of the compressor; a discharge pressure sensor for measuring a discharge pressure of the compressor; a controller for selectively operating in the cooling mode by circulating and compressing a refrigerant through the refrigeration circuit via the compressor or operating in the free-cooling mode by circulating the refrigerant through the refrigeration circuit via the pump; and a recover-refrigerant sequence resident on the controller, the recover-refrigerant sequence being configured to pump the refrigerant in a portion of the refrigeration circuit not used in the free-cooling mode to remaining portions of the refrigeration circuit used in the free-cooling mode when the controller switches from the cooling mode to the free-cooling mode. |
| US08117858B2 |
Air conditioner
An air conditioner is switchable between a cooling mode and a heating mode using highly pressurized hot gas in a refrigerant cycle. During the cooling mode, a controller controls an input electric current to a solenoid to operate the control valve based on a lower pressure side pressure of the refrigerant cycle acting on a pressure sensitive mechanism and a quantity of the input electric current to the solenoid. During the heating mode, the controller controls the input electric current to the solenoid to operate the control valve based not on the lower pressure side pressure of the refrigerant cycle acting on the pressure sensitive mechanism, but only on the quantity of the input electric current to the solenoid. |
| US08117854B2 |
System and method for producing and determining cooling capacity of two-phase coolants
The invention provides systems and devices for producing two-phase coolants such as an ice slurry. Also provided are methods for producing two-phase coolants, and methods for using the two-phase coolants to lower the temperature or maintain a low temperature in any subject, system, object, device, or application where particular low temperatures are desired. Also provided are systems for determining the cooling capacity of two-phase coolants. |
| US08117850B2 |
Refrigeration apparatus having warm connection element and cold connection element and heat pipe connected to connection elements
A heat pipe arranged between warm and cold connection elements is intended to be filled at least partially with a refrigerant, which can be circulated in the heat pipe by a thermosiphon effect. The parts of a device, particularly in superconducting technology, which are to be cooled are connected to the warm connection element and a heat sink is connected to the cold connection element. To thermally separate the warm and cold connection elements, the refrigerant can be pumped off through the pipeline connected to the interior of the heat pipe. |
| US08117847B2 |
Hybrid missile propulsion system with reconfigurable multinozzle grid
A propulsion system, such as for use in a missile, includes a multinozzle grid having a pair of plates that are separably mechanically coupled together. When coupled together in a first configuration, the plates provide multiple nozzles in a first nozzle configuration (geometry). Separation of the plates, such as by separating an aft plate from a forward plate that remains with the missile, reconfigures the multinozzle grid to a second configuration that has nozzles in a second nozzle configuration (geometry). The nozzle configurations may be suitable for different types of propulsion mechanisms. The hybrid propulsion system utilizing the multinozzle grid may include a pair of pressurized gas sources, for example a solid rocket fuel and a combustion chamber for a ramjet. |
| US08117846B2 |
Gas turbine burner and method of mixing fuel and air in a swirling area of a gas turbine burner
A gas turbine burner, comprising at least one swirler, the swirler having at least one air inlet opening, at least one air outlet opening positioned downstream to the air inlet opening and at least one swirler air passage extending from the at least one air inlet opening to the at least one air outlet opening which is delimited by swirler air passage walls; a fuel injection system which comprises fuel injection openings arranged in at least one swirler air passage wall so as to inject fuel into the swirler air passage; and an air injection system which comprises air injection openings arranged in at least one swirler air passage wall and positioned downstream of the fuel injection openings for injecting air into the swirler air passage. |
| US08117843B2 |
Ocean thermal energy conversion system
An Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system is disclosed. The OTEC system generates electrical energy based on a difference in the temperatures of the water from a surface region of a body of water and a thermal mass whose temperature is based on the temperature of water from a deep water region of the body of water. The thermal mass attains a desired temperature while it is positioned in the deep water region, with which it is thermally coupled. The present invention uses a bulk transport vessel to carry the thermal mass from the deep water region to a depth where it can be thermally coupled with the OTEC system. |
| US08117840B2 |
Abnormality-determining device and method for turbo-supercharger, and engine control unit
An abnormality-determining device for a turbo-supercharger, which is capable of detecting abnormalities, including response delay of a movable member, with accuracy. A turbo-supercharger provided in an internal combustion engine has variable vanes 8c arranged in an exhaust turbine, for changing an area of a nozzle thereof. An abnormality-determining device stops supply of fuel to the engine, when the engine is in a predetermined operating condition, actuates the variable vanes, after actuating the same toward one of an open side and a closed side, toward the other of the sides, during the stoppage of fuel supply, detects a supercharging parameter indicative of a degree of supercharging by the turbo-supercharger, and determines abnormality of the turbo-supercharger based on a change in the supercharging parameter detected during the actuation of the movable vanes. |
| US08117839B2 |
Propane injection system
A flow regulator valve having multiple stages is described herein. The flow regulator valve provides a base amount of propane when the engine is idling and provides additional propane to the engine based on the engine's requirements. |
| US08117838B2 |
Master brake cylinder arrangement of a motor vehicle brake system
The invention relates to a master brake cylinder arrangement of a motor vehicle brake system with a master brake cylinder housing, a transmission piston disposed in a displaceable manner in the master brake cylinder housing, and a force input member which can be workingly coupled to the transmission piston in order to introduce a braking force. According to the invention, in order to simplify assembly and to reduce the required construction space, an adapter is coupled to the master brake cylinder housing, to which adapter a contact sleeve is fitted, the force input member being supported at the contact sleeve in a non-actuated starting position. |
| US08117836B2 |
Scroll type fluid machine and air suspension apparatus using the same
A pressure keeping mechanism is provided downstream of a discharge port of a compressor. The pressure keeping mechanism is set to a small flow path area having only a bypass orifice until a pressure in a downstream pipe reaches a predetermined pressure after the operation is started, the pressure keeping mechanism is set to a large flow path area of a pressure keeping valve which is opened when the pressure exceeds the predetermined pressure and the bypass orifice, thereby changing the flow path area at least in two stages. The pressure in the upstream pipe which is almost closed by the pressure keeping valve can be thus increased at a dash and the pressure in a compression chamber can also be increased swiftly immediately after the compressor is started. |
| US08117834B2 |
Exhaust purification device of internal combustion engine
In an internal combustion engine, an NOx selective reduction catalyst is arranged in the engine exhaust passage and a urea aqueous solution stored in a urea aqueous solution tank is fed to the NOx selective reduction catalyst where the NOx is selectively reduced. Opening and closing of the urea aqueous solution refill port of the urea aqueous solution tank are detected and it is judged if the urea aqueous solution is refilled in the urea aqueous solution tank. When it is judged that the NOx purification rate has fallen to an allowable level or less at the time of engine operation right after the urea aqueous solution is refilled in the urea aqueous solution tank, it is judged that the refilled urea aqueous solution is abnormal. |
| US08117833B2 |
Method and system using a reduction catalyst to reduce nitrate oxide
A method of controlling a system having an internal combustion engine, a filter in an exhaust passage, a reduction catalyst downstream of said filter capable of reducing nitrate oxide contained in the exhaust gas with reductant supplied thereto is provided. The method may include, in a first mode, combusting a first amount of particulate matter trapped in said filter and supplying a first amount of reductant to said reduction catalyst when an amount of particulate matter trapped in said filter is less than a predetermined trapping amount (α). The method may further include, in a second mode, combusting a second amount of particulate matter that is greater than said first amount of particulate matter and supplying a second amount of reductant to said reduction catalyst when an amount of particulate matter trapped in said filter is equal to or greater than said predetermined trapping amount (α). |
| US08117831B2 |
Diesel exhaust gas temperature reduction
An exhaust system for a vehicle having a diesel engine and a method of operation are disclosed. The exhaust system may include a diesel particulate filter, a pipe located downstream of the diesel particulate filter and an exhaust gas cooling assembly. The exhaust gas cooling assembly may have an air pump and a connecting pipe connected to the pipe and configured to direct air from the air pump into the pipe. During particulate filter regeneration, the air pump may be activated to push air into the exhaust in order to reduce the temperature of exhaust gasses exiting the vehicle. |
| US08117824B1 |
Pollution free engine using hydrogen as a fuel
A pollution-free propulsion engine includes a rotating arm, a hollow axle defining a fuel delivery chamber, and hydrogen and oxygen sources. The rotating arm is formed with a detonation chamber, an opening and two tubular ducts therebetween. The axle is inserted into the opening. A pair of holes is formed in the axle to establish paths of fluid communication from the fuel delivery chamber through the ducts and into the detonation chamber as the rotating arm turns. The hydrogen source comprises a thin palladium binding layer deposited onto an aluminum sheet. Hydrogen molecules that are trapped in the binding layer are released, and the hydrogen is fed into the delivery chamber, through one duct and into the detonation chamber. At the same time, oxygen is delivered into the detonation chamber through the other duct, and the oxygen-hydrogen combination is detonated to release energy, which is converted into mechanical energy. |
| US08117823B2 |
Method and system for increasing modified wobbe index control range
A system and method for controlling the temperature of a fuel gas. The system and method includes mixing an intermediate pressure feedwater stream from the heat recovery steam generator with a high pressure feedwater stream from the heat recovery steam generator, then using that mixture to heat the fuel gas mixture. The system and method may provide for improved control over the Modified Wobbe Index of the fuel gas, which may allow for greater variation in the composition of the fuel gas. |
| US08117821B2 |
Optimization of low-BTU fuel-fired combined-cycle power plant by performance heating
Disclosed is an optimized approach of using bleed-off of compressed air flow from a gas turbine compressor in a combined-cycle power plant and performance heating to augment plant performance. In one embodiment, a diverted portion of a by-product off gas and the bleed-off of compressed air flow are fired heated to produce a high temperature flue gas that is used to performance heat a pressurized mixture of fuel prior to being supplied to the gas turbine combustor. |
| US08117818B2 |
Steel cord, composite of rubber and steel cord, and tire
A steel cord has a multi-twist structure in which N (N=2 to 8) strands 2 are twisted, each strand 2 being formed by twisting a plurality of element wires 1 and having a substantially elliptical cross-section, wherein d1/d2>1.08 is satisfied, where the major diameter of the strand 2 is represented by d1 and the minor diameter is represented by d2, and εe defined by the following equation: εc=√(−b/2+√(b2/4−c))−1 (in the equation, b represents −1+π2(−4R2+d2)/P2, c represents π2d2k(4π2R2+P2)/P4, R represents (D−d)/2, k represents tan2(π/2−π/N), and d represents (d1+d2)/2) satisfies εc>0.005, where the diameter of a circle circumscribing the cord is represented by D (mm) and the twist pitch of the cord is represented by P (mm). |
| US08117815B2 |
Fire retardant compositions and methods and apparatuses for making the same
A method and apparatus for forming yarn provides a feeding component that feeds one or more ribbons of tow starting material, a drafting component that includes at least two pairs of rollers through which the feed materials pass and which stretch-breaks the starting material into a cohesive elongated network of fibers formed from the filaments of the tow material. The stretch-broken intermediate product may be a blended cohesive network formed form multiple feed materials. The intermediate product may be spun directly into yarn in one winding/twisting operation or it may be combined with other simultaneously produced intermediate products. Various yarns may be used as produced or otherwise combined to form various fabrics and other materials used in fire-retardant and heat resistant products. The starting materials may be PAN, para- and meta-aramid fibers, viscose rayon, and stainless steel and other suitable materials. |
| US08117813B2 |
Riding type grass mower having a rear-discharge type mower unit
A riding type grass mower includes a right wheel and a left wheel, a rear-discharge type mower unit disposed forwardly of the right/left wheels, a driver's seat disposed between and upwardly of the right/left wheels, an engine mounted rearwardly of the driver's seat, an engine hood for covering the engine, and a restricting unit disposed rearwardly of the driver's seat and at an area downwardly of the engine hood, the restricting unit having a restricting face (including a mesh face) configured to restrict upward rising of cut grass discharged from the mower unit. |
| US08117812B2 |
Header transport
A swather tractor has ground drive wheels at a first end, castor wheels at a second end and a header lift arms at the first end and can be driven with the first end forward for harvesting and with the first end rearward for towing. A transport for the header includes a longitudinal beam with a plurality of transverse support arms along the beam. The beam is kinked adjacent the front so that a main portion of the beam is offset to one side relative to the hitch assembly and the rear wheels. A yoke engages the lift arms and provides a hitch for towing the header. Either the forward end of the beam is directly attached to the hitch for small headers or for larger headers a steerable front wheel assembly is connected to the hitch and includes a spring coupling which transfers load to the lift arms. |
| US08117811B1 |
Cutter system for a header of a forage harvester
A cutting system for a forage harvester includes a source of rotational movement for each of the pair of substantially planar counterrotating blades and for a pair of substantially planar counterrotating gripping members. Each blade of the pair of blades is configured to rotate about a substantially parallel axis. Each gripping member of the pair of gripping members is configured to rotate about a corresponding rotational axis of one blade of the pair of blades. The source of rotational movement is separated from each blade of the pair of blades by an inner shaft. The source of rotational movement is separated from each gripping member of the pair of gripping members by a tube surrounding the shaft. The tube includes a gripping portion secured to a periphery of the tube between the source of rotational movement and the pair of gripping members. |
| US08117808B2 |
Apparatus and method for transverse sealing of a packaging tube
An apparatus for transverse sealing of a packaging tube, filled with products, in order to form bag packages, has a delivery conveyor for delivering the packaging tube, a removal conveyor for carrying the bag packages away and a transverse sealing unit engaging an interstice between these two conveyors. Means is provided for supporting the bag packages at least in part at the transition through this interstice. This means for supporting the bag packages is a supporting base, which reaches beneath the bag packages from two diametrically opposed sides and both supports the bag packages and transports them onward. |
| US08117807B2 |
Pocket-size container for consumer items
A three-piece pocket-size container for holding a consumer product such as smokeless tobacco product in an interior volume of a perimeter band which has a base locked to a lower rim portion and an openable cover on an upper rim of the perimeter band. When closed, the cover, the perimeter band and the base form a flush exterior sidewall of the container. The base and cover can be metal and the perimeter band can be transparent (clear, tinted or colored) or opaque plastic to provide a container that maintains product freshness, and is easily opened and closed. |
| US08117802B1 |
Prefabricated structural element
A structural element for use in forming a structure, that includes first and second longitudinal members that extend between opposite ends of the element. The longitudinal members have inward and outward faces, and a pair of side faces extending between the inward and outward faces. The element includes first and second lateral members that extend between the first and second longitudinal members. The first and second lateral members each have an outer surface. The outer surface of the first lateral member is substantially flush with a side face of each longitudinal member to form a substantially planar surface extending across substantially an entirety of a first side surface of the element. The outer surface of the second lateral member is substantially flush with a side face of each longitudinal member to form a substantially planar surface extending across substantially an entirety of a first side surface of the element. |
| US08117800B2 |
Method and elements for forming a building facade
A facade is formed on an upright supporting surface using a plurality of facade elements formed of plastic material having a flat rear side and a decorative front side protruding from the rear side. The flat rear side of the elements can be abutted directly against the upright supporting surface with the elements in spaced relation with one another and secured thereon using nails from an air driven nailer. Grouting in the form of mortar repair or caulking can be used to fill the gaps between adjacent elements on the supporting surface to complete the appearance of a natural stone facade on a building wall. |
| US08117796B2 |
System for attaching reinforcing bars
A system of attaching and aligning both parallel and transverse bars for supporting a concrete matrix includes a plurality of substantially identical molded plastic clips for alternatively attaching and holding two parallel reinforcing bars of equal diameter or two transverse reinforcing bars of equal diameter. |
| US08117795B2 |
Floor boards having interlocking tongue and groove connection with pre-applied adhesive layer
Flooring panels having a tongue and groove locking mechanism. The tongue-and-groove configuration principle are provided at the areas being connected. The sides of the groove diverge from the groove base and converge at the end away from the groove base. The opening width of the groove is greater than the foremost area of the tongue in the direction of insertion. The tongue exhibits wedge-shaped areas that diverge from front to back which areas exhibit an undercut in the back area of the tongue that conforms to the groove cross-section. The undercut's borders, adjoining the wedge-shaped areas, converge at the same angle as the groove sides toward a connecting bridge that is part of the component. |
| US08117789B2 |
Door and window sill pan flashing with drain
A window sill pan flashing or a door sill pan flashing with drain. The sill pan flashing has an inclined base, window or door continuous or near continuous sill supports which can be extruded as part of the base unit, and corner elements which can be snapped or otherwise attached to the base. Sill pan flashing offsets provided in the rear sill pan flashing wall and in the front flange create a flow path for water to drain from the sill pan flashing. The base may be solid or hollow with window or door supports extending vertically through the base. The sill pan flashing may be manufactured by extrusion, and corner pieces may be injection molded or otherwise fabricated. The base may be fabricated from fiberglass, metal, or plastic. A window sill support means is provided in a horizontal orientation so that the base can be extruded. |
| US08117786B1 |
Insulation barrier for ceiling hatch openings
A barrier or dam to contain loose insulation from falling through an attic access hatch or scuttle opening is provided. Embodiments include four pieces that can be assembled together around the perimeter of hatches of varying sizes. Two of the pieces may be male pieces and two may be female pieces. Each piece may have a securing tab on its bottom end to attach each piece to joists that define the hatch opening. A kit comprising the barrier pieces may be utilized by homeowners, contractors or insulation installers for quick and easy installation of the containment dam. |
| US08117785B2 |
Gutter system
A gutter system for preventing leaves and other debris from obstructing a gutter is provided, the gutter system including a bracket and a gutter cover. The bracket is removably coupled to a hanger and removably secured to the gutter cover. |
| US08117784B2 |
Mechanism for a sliding glass pane
The present invention relates to a mechanism for a sliding-type glass pane, of those formed by a top guide profile, placed against the wall and provided with a rib on which a rolling element moves; a bottom guide; a suspension device and top retaining stops, in which the suspension device has a larger outer plate and two smaller inner plates, which define a space between them in which the rolling element is housed and in which the top retaining stops are provided with respective horizontal flats so as to retain the cylinders. |
| US08117783B2 |
Gate for marine animal trap
A trigger for a marine animal trap is preferably constructed from two identical, or nearly identical, parts. The two parts are substantially flat as manufactured, and are constructed to have connector sections that fold without breaking away from each substantially flat part. The connector sections overlap and secure to one another, preferably with integral connection facilitators on each connector section. Fingers from each substantially flat part converge towards one another when the connector sections are secured together. Optional excluder bars may be included on each substantially flat part, and may be bent towards one another and secured together. |
| US08117778B2 |
Processes and systems for monitoring environments of projectile weapons
Processes and systems are disclosed for recording data relating to a shot by a projectile weapon. Environment data occurring prior to data indicating the occurrence of a shot by the projectile weapon is retained for subsequent evaluation. Such environment data includes, but is not limited to, ambient audio data, video data produced by a video camera associated with the projectile weapon, GPS data representing locations of the projectile weapon, electronic compass data representing orientations of the projectile weapon and acceleration data representing accelerations of the projectile weapon. |
| US08117770B2 |
Footwear device
A footwear device including a resilient member having first and second ends. The first end can be configured for being connected to a user's foot, and the second end can be configured for being connected to the user's leg above the ankle joint. The resilient member can be configured and positioned for resiliently and rotatably biasing the user's foot about the ankle joint. |
| US08117769B2 |
Cushioned shoe construction including toe and heel plates
A shoe sole construction includes a sole member formed from a synthetic plastic material having a first durometer value of hardness and including toe, ball, arch, and heel portions. Relatively rigid toe and heel plates are secured to bottom surface of the sole member on opposite sides of a relatively soft flex bar member that extends transversely across the ball portion of the sole member. A plurality of toe cushion members are mounted for independent movement within openings contained in the toe plate, and a stabilizing arch cushion member is mounted in the recess defined in the heel plate. These cushion members have an intermediate durometer value that, during use, permits compression of these cushion members in a footprint pattern. |
| US08117768B2 |
Anatomical footwear toepiece and method of manufacturing the same
The present invention is an anatomical toepiece that is adapted for insertion into the footbed of a footwear article to provide increased comfort and control. The toepiece has a molded core comprising an anchoring flange for embedded attachment within the footbed of the footwear article. Additionally, the molded core further has an inter-toe engagement portion which extends upwardly from the anchoring flange for engagement between the great toe and the adjacent digit, and a wing which caps the inter-toe engagement portion and extends outwardly in both directions over a portion of the upper forefoot. The inter-toe engagement portion has arcuate curved sidewalls and an arcuate curved back wall to contour to the curvature of an engage foot thereby providing comfort and dexterity. |
| US08117767B2 |
Rotating anti-slip device for soles for footwear
The present invention relates to the footwear industry. More specifically, the present invention concerns a device that, inserted in soles for footwear, allows the user to equip his or her own footwear, mechanically and easily, with anti-slip serrated nails in the presence of snow or ice or other slippery material on the paved surface. |
| US08117766B2 |
Device for utilization of the energy generated by body weight
The present invention refers to a device for utilization of the energy generated by pressure of body weight on the heal of footwear to be utilized at the moment of the final detachment of the footwear from the ground. |
| US08117763B2 |
Tape rule and end hook therefor
A rule assembly includes a housing, a reel rotatably mounted in the housing, and an elongated blade having an end hook member on a free end thereof. The end hook member includes a mounting portion having a length dimension and a top surface area and a hook portion having a width dimension and a front surface area, where a ratio of the width dimension of the hook portion to the length dimension of the mounting portion is greater than or equal to 1, a ratio of the front surface area of the hook portion to the top surface area of the mounting portion is greater than or equal to 1.1, and at least two-thirds of the mass of the hook portion lies outside a center section that includes one third of the hook portion's width. |
| US08117762B2 |
Tape rule and end hook therefor
A rule assembly includes a housing, a reel rotatably mounted in the housing, and an elongated blade having an end hook member on a free end thereof. The elongated blade is arranged to be wound on the reel and to be extendable through an opening in the housing. The end hook member is formed of sheet metal to include a mounting portion and a hook portion bent at a generally right angle from an end of the mounting portion. The end hook member includes a pair of generally upwardly extending side edges, a generally laterally extending lower edge, and recessed edge portions disposed at corner portions at which the upwardly extending side edges and the laterally extending lower edge intersect. |
| US08117761B2 |
Displacement amplifier
A displacement amplifier 10 comprises first and second longitudinally extending elements 12, 22, each having a free portion 14, 24 and a constrained portion 16, 26. The constrained portions 16, 26 of the first and second elements 12, 22 are constrained to move together such that longitudinal displacement of a free portion 14 of one element with respect to the free portion 24 of the other element results in an amplified displacement of the constrained portions 16, 26 relative to a resting position. |
| US08117758B1 |
Scribe tool
A scribe tool includes a three-dimensional, polygonal block having two opposing ends with a plurality of planar, non-orthogonal surfaces formed therebetween. A bore extends from one of the ends to another and is offset from the block's central, longitudinal axis. Each planar surface is spaced a discrete distance from the central axis that corresponds to one of a plurality of conventional measurements. The tool allows a craftsman to form a trim line along an architectural item that conforms to surface irregularities on an adjacent wall. |
| US08117752B2 |
Method for producing a rotary joint
A method and an assembly device for producing a rotary joint between a drive element and a flange are defined. The drive element and the flange are screwed together by a nut and a bolt of the drive element. The bolt is drawn axially in to a bore in the flange by the rotation of the nut and until the drive element attains a final position in relation to the flange. |
| US08117751B2 |
Method of forming printhead by removing sacrificial material through nozzle apertures
A method of fabricating an inkjet printhead by forming a plurality of actuators on a monolithic substrate, covering the actuators with a sacrificial material, covering the sacrificial material with a printhead surface layer, defining a plurality of nozzle apertures in the printhead surface layer such that each of the actuators corresponds to one of the nozzle apertures and then, removing at least some of the sacrificial material on each of the actuators through the nozzle aperture corresponding to each of the actuators. |
| US08117749B2 |
Process for producing metallic gasket
A process for producing a metallic gasket, which comprises making a thin metallic sheet into a solid figure having an inclined surface, thereby providing a bead region extended upwardly and downwardly over the inclined surface, and forming a sealing part made of a hardened rubber layer on the surface of bead region, characterized by forming a sealing part extended from the apex of the bead region down to an upperward position on the inclined surface, and another sealing part extended from a downward position on the inclined surface down to the flat bottom part, and joining the sealing parts by the rubber material in a solution state extended along the inclined surface from both of the sealing parts, before drying and hardening of the material for making sealing parts. Application of the rubber material in a solution state is carried out preferably by a screen printing process. The rubber sealing parts formed by a silk screen printing process contributes to uniformization of the layer thickness resulting from the drying and hardening. |
| US08117748B2 |
Ballize in tension camshaft assembly process
A method may include locating first and second lobe members of a camshaft on a first shaft. The first shaft may include an annular wall defining a bore. The first lobe member may be located on a first portion of the first shaft and may define a first end of the camshaft. The second lobe member may be located on a second portion of the first shaft and may define a second end of the camshaft. The first shaft may be fixed from axial displacement and a tool may be displaced through the bore of the first shaft to fix the first lobe member to the first shaft. The fixing may include the first shaft being free from axial restraint in a first axial direction extending from the first portion of the first shaft to the second portion of the first shaft. |
| US08117746B1 |
Method and machine for installing electrical box, wiring, and receptacle or switch simultaneously
A machine for installing electrical box, wiring, and receptacles or switch simultaneously, A process that allows electricians to perform all 3 tasks at one time without the need to return to install receptacles or switch after wallboard is installed, Comprised of: Housing with built-in laser guide and attached magnetic spacers for metal studs or wooden studs that allow for correct alignment of receptacle or switch for applicable wallboard thickness used. |
| US08117745B2 |
Method of using a foldable card as a USB contact
The method is for using a foldable card as a USB contact. A foldable flat card has a folding line and a foldable front flap section and foldable rear flap section. The card has contact segments. The front flap section is upwardly folded until the front flap section bears against a top surface of the card. The rear flap section is also upwardly folded until the rear flap section bears against the top surface of the card. A front segment is downwardly folded along the folding line until an underside of a rear segment bears against an underside of the front segment and the contact segment comes into contact with the contact segment to form a USB contact. The USB contact is then inserted into a computer. |
| US08117741B2 |
Method for manufacturing a radiation imaging panel comprising imaging tiles
An automatic or semiautomatic method of assembly of radiation digital imaging tiles to form a one or two dimensional imaging panel whereby the imaging tiles are provided with alignment mark(s), inherent or specific, and a mother board or substrate is also provide with alignment mark(s) and the imaging tiles are mounted on the mother board by means of mechanical pick and place mechanism, whereby the distances of corresponding alignment mark are set to predetermined values, programmed in the automatic machine. |
| US08117737B2 |
Method of manufacturing magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording with shield around main magnetic pole
A manufacturing method for a magnetic head includes the steps of: forming a structure on a lower shield, the structure including a lower gap, a main magnetic pole and first and second side gaps; forming first and second side shields; forming an upper gap; and forming an upper shield. In the step of forming the structure, an initial lower gap layer is formed on the lower shield, the initial lower gap layer including a pre-lower-gap portion, and two to-be-removed portions that are located on opposite sides of the pre-lower-gap portion. Then, a protrusion including the main magnetic pole and the first and second side gaps is formed on the pre-lower-gap portion. With the top surface of the protrusion covered with a mask, the initial lower gap layer is etched in part to thereby form the lower gap. |
| US08117735B2 |
Two piece bi-metal coil terminal and electrical coil assembly incorporating same
An electrical coil assembly utilizing a bi-metallic two-piece terminal construction and a method of manufacturing same are provided. The inner terminal structure utilizes a material that aids in the touchless attachment of the fine gauge magnetic wire to the inner terminal structure. The low mass of the inner terminal structure allows for increased winding speeds during the manufacturing process. The outer terminal structure utilizes a material that provides good corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity. The inner and outer terminal structures are electrically attached after the winding and electrical attachment process of the fine gauge magnetic wire. The coil and two-piece terminal connectors may then be encapsulated to provide a final electrical coil assembly. |
| US08117733B2 |
Apparatus and method for removing a film of a package of objects
An apparatus (1) for removing a film (2) of a package (3) of objects having an elongated shape along a longitudinal axis comprises two pairs of rollers (7 and 12) suitable for pressing on the film (2) externally to hold the package (3) in place in a removal station (8); the two pairs of rollers are operatively connected to respective motor drives so as to apply a mechanical stretching to portions (13 and 14) of the film (2) in order to tear them, thus enabling the first pair (7) of rollers to remove the film (2) and free the objects from the package. Known film removal apparatus require a device for cutting the packaging film longitudinally, so that the speed of the apparatus is limited according to the length of the package and there is a risk of objects being damaged during cutting. |
| US08117730B2 |
Method of manufacturing lazurite-made faucet and apparatus thereof
A method of manufacturing lazurite-made faucet and apparatus thereof makes use of injecting wax into a soft silicone mold to form a wax mold, coating gypsum on the wax mold to form a gypsum body, heating the gypsum body to melt and guide the wax mold thereout to form a hollow gypsum body. Alternatively, a stainless steel body can be coated by gypsum to be placed in a shaping cast, and a heating furnace filled for melting lazurite pellets into liquid lazurite and dripping them into the shaping cast to fill the vacant space between the bodies and the shaping cast. After cooling, the shaping cast is taken out to attain a preliminary lazurite-material faucet body. Lastly, the gypsum body is smashed to shape the lazurite-made faucet body; with a further surface processing procedure and assembling with other parts, a satisfied and worthy lazurite-made faucet is achieved. |
| US08117728B2 |
Method and device for installing open seal
A method of installing an open seal on a flange provided at a door installation opening of a vehicle, the installation being made by pressing the seal against the flange by a roller. A side face of the open seal temporarily installed on the flange is pressed by the tapered outer peripheral surface of a flange formed at one end of the roller body. Then, a back face of the open seal is pressed by the roller towards the flange. The roller is moved along the flange with constant pressing force. |
| US08117722B2 |
Container and closure device employable in association with said container
A container is realisable by folding a laminar element (10), and the laminar element comprises: mutually adjacent principal faces (20), connected to each other by principal folding lines (30), the principal faces extending along a principal axis (20a) and presenting respectively principal sides (20b) parallel to the principal axis and located respectively at a first (20c) and a second distance (20d) from the latter; auxiliary faces (40) emerging from each principal face along respective second axes of extension (40a) orthogonal to the principal axis and connected to the principal faces by auxiliary folding lines (50). For at least one pair of principal sides of at least one principal face, the first and the second distance are different in value, the principal sides of a principal face presenting a respective offset (60), transverse with respect to the principal axis and different, for each principal side, with respect to an ideal mid-line of the principal face to which they belong. |
| US08117721B2 |
Snap hook having pivotal lock
A snap hook includes a channel and an orifice of different height formed in an attaching end of a hook member and a latching cavity formed in a receiving end of the hook member, a pivotal gate having one end attached to the attaching end with an axle, and a latch member attached to the other end for engaging with the latching cavity of the hook member, the axle includes one or more flat surfaces for engaging into the narrower channel of the hook member and for selectively moving the latch member to engage with the latching cavity of the hook member and to lock the pivotal gate to the hook member, and for preventing the pivotal gate from being unlocked or opened inadvertently. |
| US08117717B2 |
Temporary device for spacing an opening element with respect to a fixed element
The invention relates to a temporary device (1, 20) for spacing an opening element (6) with respect to a fixed element (3) of the vehicle body comprising a fixing plate for anchoring the device on the fixed element and a body which is connected to the fixing plate and forms an abutment (4) for supporting the opening element, wherein at least one part of the abutment is elastically deformable by forces produced by the opening element in the longitudinal direction thereof. |
| US08117716B2 |
One-way valve and door check apparatus
A one-way valve having a conduit for allowing liquid to flow therein, a valve element provided in the conduit, a hole portion provided in the conduit on the upstream side of the valve element and configured to be brought into a closed state by being closed by the valve element, and a spring that urges the valve element in the direction to close the hole portion, in which the peripheral surface of the valve element is formed with a first surface and a second surface intersecting the direction of movement of the valve element and generating a component force in the direction to close the hole portion when an urging force of the spring is applied, the first surface and the second surface are formed so as to increase the component force in the direction to close the hole portion as the valve element approaches the hole. |
| US08117713B2 |
Vacuum cleaner with two stage filtration
A canister vacuum cleaner comprises a base, a recovery tank, and a clean solution tank. The vacuum cleaner can be used for dry vacuuming, wet vacuuming, and can distribute cleaning solution to a floor surface and has means for a fluid distribution system and a recovery system. The clean solution tank can be filled with a cleaning solution for distribution to a floor surface and the recovery tank is used for collecting dry or liquid matter recovered from vacuuming. |
| US08117710B2 |
Windscreen wiper device, in particular for a motor vehicle
The invention relates to a windshield wiper device (10), in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a support (12), on which a bearing (18) is arranged, which supports a wiper shaft (22). In this case, a retaining element (20) is provided, which detachably connects the bearing (18) to the support. |
| US08117709B2 |
Buffing system including load absorbing fixture with multiple compression load deflection and replaceable working face
A rotary buffing and finishing system includes a polymeric foam cushioning layer that has a graded compression load deflection which is interposed between a backing plate and a relatively thin performance layer that is removably attached to the foam cushioning layer. The backing plate is flexible but has a compression load deflection greater than the cushioning layer, and the cushioning layer includes two foam layers of graded compression load deflection that decreases from a rear face to a front face. The system provides improved performance over thicker and more expensive performance layers while reducing operator fatigue. |
| US08117700B2 |
Mattress system and method
A mattress system and method according to which a custom mattress is built according to customer-specific parameters. In several exemplary embodiments, the custom mattress includes one or more removable core cartridges and/or one or more removable topper cartridges. |
| US08117697B2 |
Patient-support apparatus with a locking deck section
A patient-support apparatus includes a patient-support deck movable from a use position to a stowed position. The patient-support deck is configured to engage receivers of the patient-support apparatus to support the deck in a cantilevered configuration. The patient-support deck may be secured to the patient-support apparatus by a locking mechanism. A storage structure is configured to support the patient-support deck in a stowed position. The storage structure is configured to deflect under load to prevent damage to the storage structure or patient-support deck. |
| US08117689B2 |
Portable wash basin cart and disposable personal wash basin
A wheeled cart is configured to removably carry a patient's personal wash basin. The cart includes a lid that covers the personal wash basin when the cart is moved from a bathroom to the patient so that liquid in the wash basin cannot splash out onto the floor if the cart strikes an obstruction. A flexible tube is provided for filling the basin from a sink. A drain pipe is provided to empty the wash basin without the need to lift the wash basin. A disposable thin personal wash basin having a funnel-shaped outlet may be used with the cart to minimize potential contamination. |
| US08117687B2 |
Diverter valve with minimum bias forces
A diverter valve including: an inlet port coupled to a refill tube; a first outlet port; a bowl refill tube coupled to the outlet port with its second end adjacent to a toilet tank overflow tube; a second outlet port; a central flow passageway providing a path of fluid communication between the inlet port and the first and second outlet ports, the entrance of the first outlet port and the entrance of the second outlet port being directly opposite one another in the central flow passageway; a poppet in the central flow passageway, the poppet having a raised position obstructing the first outlet port and a lowered position obstructing the second outlet port; an actuating arm, float member and rod coupled to the poppet, wherein movement of the float member translates downward motion of the rod into upward motion of the actuating arm and vice versa. |
| US08117686B2 |
Durable protective cover for preventing spilled liquids from flowing into drains or holes
Durable protective covers for drains and other holes are provided which prevent spills and unwanted liquids from flowing therein. The protective covers include a durable backing layer and a pliable, tacky sealing layer which conforms and adheres to a surface surrounding the drain to reduce or eliminate the flow of liquids into the drain. A low-density bonding layer is provided between the pliable, tacky sealing layer and the durable backing layer in order to provide significantly improved adherence between the layers. |
| US08117681B2 |
Folding device for male child urination
A foldable, hanging urinal includes a back surface, hooks and a receptacle. The foldable hanging urinal folds flat for transportation, inventory and disposal. Hooks on the back of the foldable hanging urinal fold out and the foldable hanging urinal hangs on a toilet fixture. The receptacle folds out to form a cup during use and the cup is positioned at a height lower than the rim of the toilet fixture thereby enabling urination by a person that is too short to reach the rim of the toilet fixture. |
| US08117676B1 |
Hardhat with vent strip and lighting configuration
A hardhat provides ventilation and controlled lighting. A crown of a modified semi-spherical shape terminates downwardly with a generally oval peripheral edge in a horizontal plane, the crown having a plurality of apertures therein arranged in spaced apart sequence, and a flexible venting strip fixed forwardly on the crown and extending over the apertures, the venting strip positionable in each of a plurality of arcs above the crown, wherein each one of the arcs provides a selectable ventilation conductance into the hardhat. A brim is joined integrally to the peripheral edge of the crown extending outwardly. An electrical circuit has components including: a head-lamp mounted forward on the hardhat, a series of individual lights mounted in spaced-apart positions circumventing the crown, and a manual control mounted on the brim, the manual control is enabled for setting the electrical circuit in a standard operating mode wherein the head-lamp and individual lights are activated, and in a distress operating mode wherein the individual lights are red in color and set to blinking, and in an emergency mode wherein a loudspeaker and radio distress beacon are activated. |
| US08117675B2 |
Waterproof panty
A pretty, stylish and comfortable waterproof panty that has a unique design technique of rolled over welded seams. The rolled over welded seam will inhibit the leaking of bodily fluids at the leg openings caused by stitching and wicking. The panty has an outer shell and an inner panty layer. The outer shell a continuous cut formed of a soft blend laminated fabric. It is liquid proof, breathable, hypo-allergenic, stain resistant, and elastic. It is cut to form a waist opening and two leg openings. If desired stretchable lace or elastic side portions can be provided. The inner panty lining is a breathable soft blend fabric and includes a front portion, back portion and a crotch portion. The crotch portion is double layered for added dryness. The inner panty layer is cut to the full design of the panty having a waist opening and two leg openings. This over all design provides the user peace of mind and security with a stylish, lightweight, comfortable, waterproof panty. |
| US08122517B2 |
Mediated access of software dumped data through specialized analysis modules
The present invention can include a method, computer program product, and system for mediating access to content of a software dump. The invention can identify an event occurring within a computing device, which causes data to be dumped to file. A dump file can be created responsive to the event, wherein the dump file includes data defining a state of the computing device. Using an analysis module to analyze the dump file to determine content to be placed in a tailored dump file. In one embodiment, custom analysis modules or custom modifications to existing analysis modules can be added to the computing device at any time, which permits a tailoring of dumps to cover circumstances not originally known in advance of a situation for which they are needed. The tailored dump file can include a subset of the content of the dump file for which access privileges have been granted in accordance with the analysis module. The output file can be created, which comprises the determined content. |
| US08122516B2 |
Method and system for enabling a first party to provide a second party with personalized digital content
A method for enabling a first party to provide a second party with personalized digital content includes at a network unit: in response to receiving a request from a first party, the request including an identifier identifying a second party, retrieving identity credentials of the second party; and transmitting the identity credentials of the second part to a first party or to a content providing system; and in a content providing system: in response to receiving: a) an identifier from the first party, the identifier identifying digital content in a digital content storage, and b) the identity credentials of the second party, personalizing digital content using the identity credentials, the personalizing adapted to enable the second party to reproduce the digital content but to prevent any unauthorized party to reproduce it; and delivering the personalized digital content to the first party. |
| US08122515B2 |
Access control with decomposable values and its application for virtual worlds
An access control method performed by a network server to which a plurality of users are connected is disclosed. In the access control method, upon access from each user to data stored in a network resource, the access control method searches a plurality of access control rules prepared in advance for controlling accesses from the users and each including an access control value which is one of a finite integer number of values, by using at least one of information on the user and information on the data. Then, on the basis of the retrieved access control rule, the access control value is determined. Thereafter, response information from the data or access request information to the data is changed by using the determined access control value. |
| US08122511B2 |
Attribute information providing method
A method for providing attribute data. A request is received from a user device for a virtual ID token relating to attribute information pertaining to a subscriber associated with the user device. Responsive to the request for the virtual ID token, a data record is read from a database. The data record includes L attributes of the subscriber. L is at least 2. The data record is provided to the user device. A selection of M attributes of the L attributes is received from the user device. M is less than L. A virtual record including the M attributes selected from the data record is generated. The virtual record includes a virtual ID (VID) for identifying the virtual record. The generated virtual record is stored in the database. The virtual ID token is provided to the user device. The virtual ID token includes the VID. |
| US08122509B1 |
Method for accelerating hardware emulator used for malware detection and analysis
A method and system for accelerating malware emulator by using an accelerator. The accelerator allows for a potentially malicious component (i.e., process) containing dummy processes to be executed in a real CPU of a computer system using its operating memory. A special memory area is allocated for the process based on the memory requested by the process in the emulator. The state of the CPU and the memory is loaded in the emulator prior to executing the suspicious process. The system can be restored to its initial state in case of malicious actions performed by the process. The dummy instructions of the process are processed by the CPU at its own speed and as soon as the process performs a malicious instruction it is stopped by the emulator. The emulation process is accelerated to a speed of a regular CPU. |
| US08122508B2 |
Analyzing traffic patterns to detect infectious messages
Managing electronic messages comprises receiving a message, forwarding the message, determining that the forwarded message is infectious after the message has been forwarded and preventing the infectious forwarded message from spreading. |
| US08122506B2 |
Method and system for detecting characteristics of a wireless network
Characteristics about one or more wireless access devices in a wireless network, whether known or unknown entities, can be determined using a system and method according to the present invention. An observation is made of the activity over a Wireless Area Network (WLAN). Based on this activity, changes in state of wireless access devices within the WLAN can be observed and monitored. These changes in state could be indicative of normal operation of the WLAN, or they may indicate the presence of an unauthorized user. In the latter case, an alert can be sent so that appropriate action may be taken. Additionally, ad hoc networks can be detected that may be connected to a wireless access point. |
| US08122505B2 |
Method and apparatus for detection of malicious behavior in mobile ad-hoc networks
Systems and methods are provided for detecting malicious behavior in mobile ad-hoc wireless networks. The mobile ad-hoc network contains a plurality of actual nodes and a plurality of decoys that are derived from the actual nodes using duplicate instances of the operational software of the actual nodes in combination with a virtual interconnection topology created to make the decoys appear as actual nodes within the mobile ad-hoc network. The interconnection topology includes routing characteristics indicating that the most efficient path of communication to any given decoy is through at least one actual node in the network. The decoys are used to identify malicious behavior in the network and in particular to identify attempt to communicate directly with decoys in contradiction to the created interconnection topology. When the malicious behavior is associated with an identifiable node, corrective action is taken that includes quarantining that node from the other nodes in the network. |
| US08122502B2 |
Detecting the presence of an installation on a data processing system based on the relative storage locations of one or more files
The presence of an installation on a data processing system may be detected by providing a signature that includes m files having paths associated therewith, respectively. A number n files on the data processing system are determined that match files in the signature and a files found ratio given by n/m is determined. A transformation is applied to the signature by replacing at least a portion of at least one of the paths with a new path. Then, a distance is determined between the n files on the data processing system and the m signature files. The distance corresponds to a sum of a number of path segments associated with the m signature files that cannot be matched to a corresponding path segment associated with files on the data processing system. The presence of the installation on the data processing system is determined based on the files found ratio and the distance. |
| US08122501B2 |
Traitor detection for multilevel assignment
One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for traitor tracing that includes performing an inner code traitor tracing on a recovered pirated digital file, the recovered digital file incorporating an inner code for assigning segments of the digital file and an outer code for assigning inner codes to individual digital files. The method also includes extracting partial information regarding the outer code from the inner code tracing. An outer code tracing procedure may then be performed using the partial information. |
| US08122499B2 |
Network security apparatus and method
A network security system and method performs quantifying and billing for network security consumed during a period of time. Implementations may include billing server configured to calculate the security protection consumed by calculating damages avoided from attacks that were blocked. The network security system also may include a scanner inside the customer network configured to scan devices for vulnerabilities and to quantify assets at risk. The system may further include an intrusion suppression module outside the customer network configured to maintain a list of attacks sustained and blocked during a period of time. The network security system may also include a blocker inside the customer network configured to detect unauthorized disclosures of confidential information and block the disclosures in real time. |
| US08122496B2 |
Secure display method and device
A secure display device is designed to display on a screen a first set of information edited by an open operating system. A secure operating system resident in a dedicated circuit edits a second set of information. A filter allocates, independently of the open operating system, a first zone of the screen to the first set of information and a second zone of the screen to the second set of information. The zones and can have a non-zero intersection and any value. A real video memory is used for transferring the two sets of information to the screen under the sole control of the secure operating system so as to produce a secure display of the second set of information. |
| US08122494B2 |
Apparatus and method of securing network
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of securing a network. In the present invention, a pattern matching engine 210 corresponding to a first security module initially performs a hardware-based filtering process for a static attack of an input network packet and transmits a normal packet determined to be normal as a result of the filtering to a dynamic attack detection module 230 corresponding to a second security module through a PL3 interface. The dynamic attack detection module 230 performs a hardware-based filtering process for a dynamic attack of the normal packet transmitted from the pattern matching engine 210. The dynamic attack detection module 230 transmits the filtering result to a main CPU 400 through a PCI 300 if filtering the dynamic attack is completed. Then, a main CPU 400 transmits a response policy based on the transmitted filtering result to a response engine 220 through the PCI 300 and the dynamic attack detection module 230 to block an abnormal packet. Therefore, the present invention is very effective in that accuracy of detection is enhanced, and weakness in processing speed and performance of a network security solution can be compensated to meet requirements on real-time. |
| US08122490B2 |
Transfer server of a secure system for unattended remote file and message transfer
A method for automatically transferring a data file from a network drive of a client controlled local area network to a transfer server over the Internet comprises using a first workstation to configure event parameters within event tables of the transfer server. An unattended interface module executed by a processor of a second workstation obtains, from the transfer server, the event parameters stored in the event tables. The event parameters comprise a file name and a directory path. The file name identifies the data file to be uploaded. The directory path identifies an upload directory of the network drive. The second workstation periodically searches the upload directory and, upon locating a data file in the upload directory with the file name, transfers the data file to the transfer server over a secure connection established with the transfer server over the internet. |
| US08122486B2 |
Method and system for secure management of co-located customer premises equipment
A method, system, and apparatus for managing customer premise equipment according to one embodiment includes establishing a secure connection between a first transport unit and a second transport unit. The secure connection includes an embedded operations channel and is operable to isolate a management plane from a data plane. The method further includes the first transport unit receiving a request for access to the first transport unit from the second transport unit. The method further includes establishing a secure terminal session between the first transport unit and the second transport unit using the embedded operations channel in response to receiving the request for access. The first transport unit then receives a management command from the second transport unit and the first transport unit performs at least one management function in response to receiving the management command. |
| US08122482B2 |
Cryptographic peer discovery, authentication, and authorization for on-path signaling
A method is disclosed for cryptographic peer discovery, authentication, and authorization. According to one embodiment, a data packet, which is addressed to a destination device other than an intermediary network device, is intercepted at the intermediary network device. The data packet contains a request and a group identifier. A shared secret cryptographic key, which is mapped to the group identifier, is selected. A challenge is sent toward an upstream device from whence the data packet came. A response is received. A verification value is generated based on the cryptographic key and the challenge. It is determined whether the response matches the verification value. If the response matches the verification value, then it is determined whether the request is allowed by an authorization set that is mapped to the group identifier. If the request is allowed, then a policy of the intermediary network device is configured based on the request. |
| US08122479B2 |
Methods and apparatus for providing virtual content over a network
Methods and apparatus for selecting, purchasing and delivering content to users of a network so that the user has “virtual” ownership of and access to the content, thereby obviating the need for physical media (e.g., DVDs or CDs). In an exemplary embodiment, the network comprises a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network, and on-demand (OD) sessions or broadcast modes are used to deliver the virtual content stored at the head-end (or hub site) to the requesting owner. The purchased content is associated with one or more users when stored, thereby providing the owner(s) unlimited access thereto, without the costs and effort associated with renting/purchasing and maintaining DVDs. The content may also comprise new release content, which would otherwise not be available over the network at that time but for the purchase and delivery mechanisms of the invention. Various other complementary features for enhancing the user's virtual ownership experience are also disclosed. |
| US08122473B2 |
Digital broadcasting system and data processing method
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system and a processing data method thereof. The present invention includes acquiring a first ensemble providing service guide information for mobile service data from a broadcast signal in which the mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed, acquiring, from the first ensemble, first program table information including information which indicates that the first ensemble provides service guide information for a second ensemble, and decoding the first program table information and acquiring service guide information for mobile service data included in the second ensemble by using the decoded first program table information. |
| US08122468B2 |
System and method for dynamically constructing audio in a video program
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer readable-media for dynamically constructing audio in a video program. The method includes extracting video metadata from a video program displayed on a playback device to a viewer, extracting component metadata from a plurality of audio components stored in a media object library, extracting viewer preferences from a viewer profile, receiving synchronization information about the video program, identifying a segment of the video program susceptible to inserting an audio component based on extracted video metadata, component metadata, and viewer preferences, transmitting the audio component to the playback device and a set of instructions detailing how to insert the audio component in real time in the segment of the video program, and constructing audio in the video program at the playback device using the audio component and the set of instructions. |
| US08122464B2 |
Methods and apparatus to monitor media content on a consumer network
Example methods and apparatus to monitor media content on a consumer network as described herein. An example metering system includes a metering device to monitor the consumption of media content at a consumer location and a universal plug and play (UPnP) compatible metering helper to collect audience measurement data from UPnP devices in a consumer network. |
| US08122462B2 |
Panel attachment structure for disk tray
A panel attachment structure for a disk tray includes an attachment frame, a decoration panel, a spring body, a restricting mechanism and a positioning mechanism. The attachment frame is non-movably coupled to a front end portion of the disk tray. The disk tray is movable between an ejected position and a retracted position through a tray opening of a cabinet. The decoration panel is movably coupled to the attachment frame. The spring body includes a compression coil spring. The spring body elastically couples the decoration panel to the attachment frame and biases the decoration panel against the attachment frame. The restricting mechanism restricts displacement of the decoration panel relative to the attachment frame. The positioning mechanism selectively positions the decoration panel relative to the attachment frame in a predetermined position and releases the decoration panel from the predetermined position when the disk tray is retracted to the retracted position. |
| US08122460B2 |
Partial dynamic implementation of java interfaces
A system and method for implementing dynamic interfaces in a JAVA program including methods having a common implementation and other methods to be handled independently. The system comprises a first dynamic proxy object implementing an invocation handler for providing default implementations; a separate object providing implementations of any method in a defined interface that requires independent handling; and, a second dynamic proxy object provided for checking a method definition object for an implementation of the method, and in response, one of: invoking the method on the separate object if the implementation exists, and if the implementation does not exist, invoking the method on the first dynamic proxy object. The second dynamic proxy object thus allows for a single implementation for repetitive methods, while allowing special cases to be handled independently. |
| US08122456B2 |
Microcircuit card comprising means for publishing its computer objects
The invention concerns a microcircuit card including at least one computer object and a register (Registry) having a logic identifier (myCalculator) of the object and at least one local reference (A000000000H,0060H) of the object pertaining to the card. The card further includes elements (CardManager) adapted to communicate, upon reception of a first message (look_APDU) including the logic identifier (myCalculator), at least one local code (K(0060H) obtained from the local reference (0060H). |
| US08122451B2 |
Method and apparatus for dispatching tasks in a non-uniform memory access (NUMA) computer system
A dispatcher for a non-uniform memory access computer system dispatches threads from a common ready queue not associated with any CPU, but favors the dispatching of a thread to a CPU having a shorter memory access time. Preferably, the system comprises multiple discrete nodes, each having a local memory and one or more CPUs. System main memory is a distributed memory comprising the union of the local memories. A respective preferred CPU and preferred node may be associated with each thread. When a CPU becomes available, the dispatcher gives at least some relative priority to a thread having a preferred CPU in the same node as the available CPU over a thread having a preferred CPU in a different node. This preference is relative, and does not prevent the dispatch from overriding the preference to avoid starvation or other problems. |
| US08122450B2 |
Method and apparatus for distributing memory in a data processing system
Methods and systems are provided for tuning memory allocated among a plurality of applications in a data processing system. In one implementation, the method includes generating memory benefit data for the plurality of applications, comparing the generated memory benefit data associated with each of the plurality of applications, and dynamically reallocating memory from one or more of the plurality of applications to one or more other of the plurality of applications based on the comparison. A method and system is also provided for tuning memory allocated among a plurality of individual memory consumers for a given application. |
| US08122446B2 |
Method and apparatus for provisioning software on a network of computers
An apparatus and method for provisioning software on a network of heterogeneous computers in a network. The provisioner receives a list of packages and deployment scope of the packages, then checks each node for installed applications and records dependency and potential application conflicts. In addition, the provisioner measures a plurality of network and node metrics. Based on the dependency information, conflict information, and metrics, one or more nodes are selected and software is provisioned and/or removed in accordance with the dependency and conflict information. |
| US08122443B2 |
Dynamic multi-context delta view for merging structured data in a visual merge tool
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for a dynamic multi-context delta view for merging structured data in a visual merge tool. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for providing a dynamic multi-context delta view can include rendering a compare view of a merged state for a selected model to include model controls each corresponding to a different model state for the selected model. The method further can include detecting a transient proximity event in connection with a particular one of the model controls. The method yet further can include identifying a corresponding model state for the particular one of the model controls. Finally, the method can include replacing the merged state with the corresponding model state in the compare view. |
| US08122439B2 |
Method and computer program product for dynamically and precisely discovering deliquent memory operations
A method and computer product for dynamically and precisely discovering delinquent memory operations through integration of compilers, performance monitoring tools, and analysis tools are provided. The method includes compiling an application, and linking the application with a tracing library to generate executable, compiler annotated information and linker mapping information. The application is executed to obtain runtime trace information that includes hardware performance counters and tracing library instrumentation events. The trace information, the compiler annotated information, and the linker mapping information are analyzed to produce a delinquent memory operation file containing delinquent memory operation information. The delinquent memory operation information of the delinquent memory operation file is read by the compiler to perform memory reference mapping to guide static analysis and memory hierarchy optimization. The memory reference mapping maps delinquent memory operations precisely, both externally in a user source code and internally in a compiler intermediate representation. |
| US08122433B2 |
Software documentation manager
A computer-implementable method and system for managing software code documentation is disclosed. The method receives computer software code and documentation selected by a user and inserts one or more association keys in the selected code and one or more association keys in the selected documentation. The association keys are used to identify a portion of computer software documentation that corresponds with the computer software code. When the user wants to see documentation for a section of code, or code that corresponds to a section of documentation, the user selects the relevant text. The method receives the selected text, retrieves the association keys inserted in the selected text, determines whether the selected text is code or documentation, searches for documentation or code with matching association keys and alters the display of the matching documentation or code. |
| US08122431B2 |
Device for processing formally defined data
A data processing device, including a formula editor capable of establishing a formal mathematical formula with variable identifiers, a set on metadata maintaining correspondence between the identifiers and stored data, and a code generator capable of generating a code executing the formula on the stored data. An editor of conditions establishes an expression of condition operable on database tables to provide a data table. The formula editor authorizes a particular notation bearing on a particular operator and a variable identifier, in the presence of which the condition editor is actuated to establish a correspondence with a particular metadata serving as a pointer to an expression of condition and to a standby table, and the code generator produces through the particular metadata of the executable code resolving the condition and fills the standby table with the data derived from the resolution of the condition and applies the operator to the table. |
| US08122430B2 |
Automatic customization of classes
A method and computer readable medium for automatic replacement of object classes in a library with custom classes to improve program efficiency. The method begins with static analysis preformed on a program containing a plurality of objects in order to determine type-correctness constraints and to detect unused functionality in one or more of the objects to be replaced. The plurality of objects is instrumented to detect usage patterns of functionality in one or more objects. Customized classes are generated based upon the static analysis and usage patterns detected. Bytecode is rewritten which is used for generating classes. The present invention provides transparency in the replacement of the objects. |
| US08122429B2 |
Method, system and program product for developing a data model in a data mining system
A database table of predefined data transformations is provided. Each predefined data transformation is associated in the table with a unique identifier, a corresponding description and a validity period. When a data modeler wishes to develop a data model for a desired prediction, he/she will first determine a set of variables that will be used therefor. The set of variables can include any of the predefined data transformations from the database table. The data model will then be developed by applying raw data to the set of variables and determining a mathematical relationship there between. Once the data model has been developed, the data modeler will write a reusable specification for applying the data model operationally. Thereafter, IT personnel or the like can code and deploy the data model using the specification. |
| US08122428B2 |
Methods and apparatus for automation and facilitating design of register maps
In one aspect, a software application for facilitating design of a register specification is provided. The application comprises an interface adapted to receive input from a user indicating information about at least one register in the register specification, the interface generating register information based on the received input, a translator coupled to the interface to receive the register information and adapted to convert the register information to an internal representation, and at least one filter adapted to transform the internal representation into at least one respective output format. |
| US08122423B2 |
Analog circuit testing and test pattern generation
Test vectors for structural testing of an analog circuit are selected by first selecting an initial set of test input vectors for the analog circuit. A set of faults is selected, comprising faults that each correspond to a respective node in the analog circuit and corresponding fault voltage value for that node. A measure of overlap is computed between probability distributions of test output signal values for the analog circuit in response to the test input vectors in the presence and absence of each of the faults from said set of faults respectively, as a function of estimated statistical spread of component and/or process parameter values in the analog circuit. Test input vectors are selected from the initial set of test input vectors for use in testing on the basis of whether the measure of overlap for at least one if the faults is below a threshold value in response to the selected test input vector under control of the test selection computer. |
| US08122420B1 |
Congestion elimination using adaptive cost schedule to route signals within an integrated circuit
A computer-implemented method of routing a circuit design for a target integrated circuit (IC) can include determining a characterization of routing congestion of the circuit design within the target IC and determining a first order cost component of using routing resources of the target IC according to the characterization. The method can include determining a higher order cost component of using routing resources of the target IC according to the characterization and assigning signals of the circuit design to routing resources according to costs calculated using the first order cost component and the higher order cost component. Signal assignments of the circuit design can be output. |
| US08122419B2 |
System and method for three-dimensional variational capacitance calculation
Capacitance extraction techniques are provided. In one aspect, a method for analyzing variational coupling capacitance between conductors in an integrated circuit design is provided. The method comprises the following steps. Coupling capacitance is computed between conductors of interest from the design using a set of floating random walk paths. One or more of the conductors are perturbed. Any of the floating random walk paths affected by the perturbation are modified. The coupling capacitance between the conductors of interest is recomputed to include the modified floating random walk paths. |
| US08122418B2 |
Capacitor arrangement method and layout apparatus
A layout apparatus stores a plurality of capacitor cells which are classifiable into a first classification for identifying capacitor cells having different sizes by frequency characteristic correlating with gate width of a capacitor and a second classification for identifying capacitor cells having different frequency characteristics by cell size. The layout apparatus: recognizes a plurality of combinations of a directed frequency characteristic and arrangement area; selects, for each of the combinations, capacitor cells corresponding to the directed frequency characteristic based on the first classification; reads out the capacitor cells in the descending order of cell size from the selected capacitor cells; arranges the read out capacitor cells to fill the directed arrangement area; checks a violation of capacitor density for all the directed arrangement areas of the plurality of combinations; replaces, when detecting the violation, a capacitor cell having larger gate width out of the arranged capacitor cells with a capacitor cell having smaller gate width besides the same cell size as the capacitor cell having larger gate width in accordance with the second classification; and retries checking the violation of capacitor density after finishing the replacement. |
| US08122414B1 |
Placeholder-based design flow for creating circuit designs for integrated circuits
Within a system comprising a processor and a memory, a method of creating a circuit design for implementation within an integrated circuit can include inserting a placeholder block into the circuit design, wherein the circuit design includes a circuit block comprising circuitry and a circuit block interface, and wherein the placeholder block is devoid of circuitry and, responsive to receiving a user input specifying a coupling between the placeholder block and the circuit block, automatically determining a plurality of attributes of the circuit block interface. The method can include automatically generating, according to the attributes and by the processor, a placeholder interface within the placeholder block, wherein the placeholder interface is complementary to the circuit block interface. The placeholder block can be stored within the memory. |
| US08122411B2 |
Method of performing static timing analysis considering abstracted cell's interconnect parasitics
An abstraction model supporting multiple hierarchical levels is inputted into a generalized static timing analysis of a hierarchical IC chip design to analyze and optimize the design of circuits integral to the chip containing a plurality of macro abstracts. An electrical network, synthesized for an internal abstract interconnect segment, is performed only once per macro and is applied to multiple instances of the macro abstract model in the IC chip design. The synthesized electrical network is a resistive capacitive or a resistive inductive capacitive network or a combination thereof. The synthesized electrical network is then used to match impulse response transfer functions of the network and the abstract interconnect segment's timing model. This network is stitched with the electrical parasitics of external interconnect segments connected to macro primary outputs. Various model order reductions are then performed on the electrical parasitics of external interconnects prior to network stitching. A static timing analysis is performed on the final network. |
| US08122410B2 |
Specifying and validating untimed nets
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, specifying a portion of a circuit design to be treated as untimed by static timing analysis is performed on the RTL design by means of an attribute annotation. The process is operable to map through to the Physical Design by correlating latches and chip-level nets. This allows the testing process to become closed-loop. Design and simulation time is also greatly reduced due to the accessibility of RTL design. |
| US08122400B2 |
Logic difference synthesis
A computer executed method is disclosed which accepts an original circuit with an original logic, accepts a modified circuit, and synthesizes a difference circuit. The difference circuit represents changes that implement the modified circuit's logic for the original circuit. The synthesis may locate an output-side boundary in the original logic in such a manner that the original logic is free of logic changes in between the output-side boundary and the primary output elements of the original circuit. The disclosed synthesis may also locate an input-side boundary in the original logic in such a manner that the original logic is free of logic changes in between the input-side boundary and the primary input elements of the original circuit. A computer program products are also disclosed. The computer program product contains a computer useable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein. The computer readable program code when executed on a computer causes the computer to carry out the methods of finding input and output side boundaries in an original logic, and synthesizing in between those boundaries a difference circuit representing logic changes. |
| US08122394B2 |
Performance-aware logic operations for generating masks
A method for forming masks for manufacturing a circuit includes providing a design of the circuit, wherein the circuit comprises a device; performing a first logic operation to determine a first region for forming a first feature of the device; and performing a second logic operation to expand the first feature to a second region greater than the first region. The pattern of the second region may be used to form the masks. |
| US08122385B2 |
Mask pattern correcting method
In a model-based OPC which makes a suitable mask correction for each mask pattern using an optical image intensity simulator, a mask pattern is divided into subregions and the model of optical image intensity simulation is changed according to the contents of the pattern in each subregion. When the minimum dimensions of the mask pattern are smaller than a specific threshold value set near the exposure wavelength, the region is calculated using a high-accuracy model and the other regions are calculated using a high-speed model. |
| US08122384B2 |
Method and apparatus for selecting an object within a user interface by performing a gesture
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates invoking a command. During operation, the system suggests with a graphic element a gesture to use to invoke a command. The system then receives the gesture from a user at a device. Note that the gesture is received via an input mechanism, and also note that the gesture is a predetermined manipulation of the input mechanism. The system then determines a graphic element within the user interface that is associated with the gesture. Finally, upon determining the object associated with the gesture, the system invokes the command associated with the graphic element. |
| US08122382B2 |
Television broadcast receiver
A television broadcast receiver has an operation section including up, down, left, and right cursor keys and a function of displaying an operation guide composed of contents of a plurality of pages. In the television broadcast receiver, in a state in which contents of an arbitrary page among the contents of the plurality of pages composing the operation guide are displayed, a function as a key for changing a displayed page to a previous page is assigned to a first key which is one of the up, down, left, and right cursor keys, and a function as a key for changing the displayed page to a next page is assigned to a second key which is one of the up, down, left, and right cursor keys and which is other than the first key. |
| US08122380B2 |
Multi-repository display system using separate presentation, adaptation and access layers
In a software object display system, an adaptation layer is used to isolate the presentation layer from expectations of the structure of the software objects displayed. A small set of data can be transferred between the adaptation layer and the presentation layer in order to provide for the display. |
| US08122375B2 |
Electronic device and method for controlling its menu display
An electronic device which displays a function setting menu for managing plural items by a hierarchical structure on a display and sets setting contents of various functions based on the function setting menu displayed on the display, comprising: a display control unit which displays each item in the function setting menu having the hierarchical structure on the display based on the hierarchical structure in accordance with an operation by a user; a function selection unit which selects and displays on the display the content of a desired function based on the items of the function setting menu displayed by the display control unit; and a hierarchical structure changing unit which changes the hierarchical structure of the function setting menu so to have the item, which is selected by the function selection unit and displayed on the display, positioned at the top of the hierarchical structure. |
| US08122370B2 |
Visual bookmarks for home and landscape design
A method includes receiving a request to generate a visual bookmark for a home design product based on a selection of the home design product from a website and extracting information about the home design product from the website. The method also includes categorizing the home design product based on the information and generating the visual bookmark for the home design product, the visual bookmark comprising an image of the home design product and information related to the home design product. |
| US08122369B2 |
System for providing information to a user
The present invention is directed to a system for providing information to a user comprising: a screen for showing the information to the user, wherein the screen is the screen of a portable device or of a personal computer, receiving means for receiving one or more values from a source of values on which values the information shown to the user is based, generating means for generating two or more data lines wherein each of said data lines comprises at least one data set, wherein the data sets comprise data which are based on said values and wherein the data sets are assigned to the at least two data lines by predetermined or changeable criteria and displaying means for simultaneously showing said two or more data lines to the user on said screen. |
| US08122368B2 |
System and method to facilitate progress forking
A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for providing graphical completion status information for the management of serial computer operations that are forked into parallel operations. A first interactive progress bar, comprising a plurality of progress indicator segments, is implemented to show the completion status of a composite application. A second progress bar is implemented for each element of the composite application as it is executed. Elements that are serially executed may require prerequisite or dependent operations. Forking operations are performed to execute elements in parallel. One or more progress indicator segments are selected to display information about their related computer operations. The user interacts with the information to pause, modify, reorder, reverse, retarget, or reverse the selected computer operations. |
| US08122365B2 |
System and method for dynamic creation and customization of a user interface in a web service environment
A method, system, and computer program product for dynamic creation and customization of a user interface in a web service environment, including dynamically generating and customizing a portlet; providing policy based access to the portlet depending on a consumer of the portlet; providing caching or cache refreshing of a feed to the portlet; and providing authentication of a consumer of the portlet. |
| US08122364B2 |
Method and computer-readable medium for navigating between attachments to electronic mail messages
A method and computer-readable medium are provided for navigation between attachments to electronic mail messages. According to the method, a list of e-mail messages is displayed that includes header information associated with each of the messages. When one of the messages in the list is selected, a determination is made as to whether the selected message has attachments. If the selected message has attachments, an identifier is displayed adjacent to the header information for each attachment. The identifier indicates that the attachment is associated with the selected message and may provide other information such as the type and size of the attachment. The identifiers are displayed in a manner to indicate clearly to a user that the attachments are associated with the selected e-mail message. The identifiers may be selected to preview the corresponding attachment. |
| US08122362B2 |
Control and visibility for digital calendar sharing
A digital calendar sharing control and visibility system and method for providing a user with control and visibility of digital calendar sharing. The system and method enhance and improve the sharing capabilities of current digital calendar applications. The system and method include a time-based (or expiration) sharing feature that gives a user control over the expiration date of the calendar sharing. The user can expire the sharing after a certain duration or date. The user also can specify a date range or a time range that a person can view in the user's digital calendar. A sharing audits and history feature allows a user to view who has looked at their calendar and what calendar information has been viewed. A private notes section allows a user to enter information that will not be seen by another person, even if that person has sharing permission to view the user's calendar. |
| US08122360B2 |
Automatic selection of user-oriented web content
A toolbar is provided, which may be downloaded and installed in a user's web browser. The toolbar uploads the user's browsing history to a server. The server determines, based on the browsing history, which sites the user visits frequently. Additionally, the server determines, based on an analysis of web content, which categories of content, and which concepts, the user is interested in based on the concepts and categories that occur frequently in the user's browsing patterns. The server identifies content of interest to the user—where such content may comprise frequently-updated content, such as news or RSS feeds—and provides a custom web page that shows or identifies the selected content. |
| US08122355B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program and recording medium
Disclosed herein is an information processing apparatus including: a display unit; a communication unit for carrying out a communication with an external apparatus; a reproduction unit for reproducing a content; and a control unit for executing control to change a predetermined display screen appearing on the display unit on the basis of whether or not the content being reproduced by the reproduction unit is a content acquired through the communication unit. |
| US08122353B2 |
Composing a message in an online textbox using a non-latin script
A method and an apparatus are provided for composing a message in an online textbox using a non-Latin script. In one example, the method includes receiving a selection of a target language for composing the message in the online textbox, loading a hash table and an integer n that are associated with the target language, adding to a queue a character inputted from a QWERTY keyboard, and applying appropriate parsing and mapping techniques to the queue using the hash table and the integer n to display an appropriate script of the target language. |
| US08122352B2 |
Parts marking system and method
A parts marking system has memory for storing data indicative of at least one algorithm associated with at least one object material and logic configured to display the at least one algorithm to a display device and receive a user input for at least one part in response to the displayed algorithm. |
| US08122349B2 |
Listing and modifying groups of blocks in the editing of a document
Grouping blocks of text according to user-defined contexts, and editing group specific blocks can be used to improve document consistency during editing and revising of electronic documents. A change made in one block often requires appropriate changes to be made in other blocks that are contextually related to the changed block. Such changes are made to ensure this consistency. Commands that deal with block groups (such as, create group, add block to group(s), delete block from group(s), edit group, merge group, etc.) are provided to assist a user in editing documents. |
| US08122333B2 |
Method of detecting and isolating fault in redundant sensors, and method of accommodating fault in redundant sensors using the same
Provided are a method of detecting and isolating fault in sensors and a method of accommodating fault in sensors using the same. In the method of detecting and isolating fault in sensors, a one reduced-order parity vector is obtained by excluding the output of one sensor selected from n sensors, a two reduced-order parity vector is obtained by excluding output of two sensors selected from the n sensors, and when there are a plurality of parity vectors obtained at plural points of time, one reduced-order parity vectors are averaged to obtain an averaged one reduced-order parity vector and likewise, two reduced-order parity vectors are averaged to obtain an averaged two reduced-order parity vector. Therefore, a decrease in fault detection and isolation (FDI) performance can be hindered, and even when double faults occur, sensors to be excluded can be selected. Thus, a system including sensors has high reliability and high accuracy. |
| US08122332B2 |
Method and apparatus for error compensation
Various approaches to recover data are described. An one example, an encoded data stream is processed in a first channel decoder producing a channel decoder output. The channel decoder output and the encoded data stream are processed in an error compensation unit to compensate the channel decoder output for low frequency noise and produce an error compensated data stream. The error compensated data stream is processed in a second channel decoder to produce a recovered data stream, wherein the recovered data stream has a reduction in the number of errors as compared to the encoded data stream. Systems to iteratively recover data from an encoded data stream are also described. |
| US08122327B2 |
Symbol-level soft output viterbi algorithm (SOVA) and a simplification on SOVA
A method and apparatus for processing symbols of a block code is presented. A sequence of symbols is received, e.g., from an inter-symbol interference (ISI) channel. A soft value is determined for each symbol using a binary trellis. |
| US08122321B2 |
Methods of data handling
Methods of data handling include receiving data having a previously-generated error correction code and generating one or more error correction codes for the data, with each error correction code corresponding to the data having one or more particular bits of the data in differing data states. Such methods further include comparing the generated one or more error correction codes to the previously-generated error correction code, and if a particular one of the generated one or more error correction codes matches the previously-generated error correction code, transmitting the data having its one or more particular bits in the data states corresponding to that particular one of the generated one or more error correction codes. Methods of data handling may further include prioritizing the error correction in response to at least locations of known bad or questionable bits of the data. |
| US08122319B2 |
Page-based failure management for flash memory
A page-based failure management system for flash memory includes at least one flash memory device which includes at least one page and at least one operable page. The system also includes an indication of operability of the at least one page in the at least one flash device. |
| US08122310B2 |
Input buffer, test switches and switch control with serial I/O
The peripheral circuitry (350, 360, ESD, BH) of an integrated circuit die on a wafer is tested without physically contacting the bond pads of the die. |
| US08122309B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing failures during semiconductor device testing
Methods and apparatus for processing failures during semiconductor device testing are described. Examples of the invention can relate to testing a device under test (DUT). Fail capture logic can be provided, coupled to test probes and memory, to indicate only first failures of failures detected on output pins of the DUT during a test for storage in the memory. |
| US08122307B1 |
One time programmable memory test structures and methods
One Time Programmable (OTP) memory structures and methods for pretesting the support circuitry are provided. A group of dedicated test cells associated with one or more groups of regular OTP cells are used to test the support circuitry for the regular OTP cells. The dedicated cells are programmed and read. The read values are compared to the programmed values or expected values. As a result of the comparison, failing memories may be designated “Not Usable”, while regular OTP cells of passing memories can be programmed for their purpose resulting in elimination of wasted memories during test. |
| US08122306B2 |
Test circuit for supporting concurrent test mode in a semiconductor memory
A test circuit is capable of simultaneously performing various test modes. The test circuit includes a concurrent test mode controller for providing a plurality of decoding signals by receiving test mode input signals while test modes are being activated, and simultaneously providing the decoding signals if predetermined concurrent test mode signals are received. |
| US08122305B2 |
Standalone data storage device electromagnetic interference test setup and procedure
A system for operating a data storage device having a plurality of sectors and at least one port, each port having a transmitter and a receiver, is disclosed. In one embodiment the system includes coupling at least one of the transmitters to at least one of the receivers, providing power to the data storage device, detecting that the transmitter is coupled to the receiver, and executing code for exercising the data storage device. |
| US08122303B2 |
Data structure for flash memory and data reading/writing method thereof
A data structure for a flash memory and data reading/writing method thereof are disclosed. A 512 bytes data and a redundant code derived from the data encoded with a 6-bit error correcting code scheme are stored in a first sector and a second sector with sequential address in a block of the flash memory respectively. A logic block address information of this block is divided into two parts that are stored in the first sector and the second sector respectively. |
| US08122297B2 |
Method and apparatus for parallel and serial data transfer
A method and apparatus are disclosed for performing maintenance operations in a system using address, data, and controls which are transported through the system, allowing for parallel and serial operations to co-exist without the parallel operations being slowed down by the serial ones. It also provides for use of common shifters, engines, and protocols as well as efficient conversion of ECC to parity and parity to ECC as needed in the system. The invention also provides for error detection and isolation, both locally and in the reported status. The invention provides for large maintenance address and data spaces (typically 64 bits address and 64 bits data per address supported). |
| US08122295B2 |
Memory systems and methods of detecting distribution of unstable memory cells
A circuit is operated to detect unstable memory cells from among a plurality of memory cells in at least one page. A determination is made from an initial status of data stored in a memory cell whether no read error occurs when the data is read at a standard read voltage level, whether a read error occurs and the read error is correctable, and whether a read error occurs and the read error is uncorrectable. Responsive to determining that a read error occurs that is correctable, a further determination is made as to whether the memory cell is correctable by reading the data stored in the memory cell at a correction read voltage level, which has a different voltage level from the standard read voltage level, and by determining whether a read error occurring in the data read at the correction read voltage level is correctable or uncorrectable. |
| US08122294B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for rapid grading of computer storage operating condition
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for rapidly grading the operating condition of computer storage. A storage log module 312 logs error information regarding any error in a storage subsystem 302 that occurs during normal operation. A storage test module 314 performs a cursory check 318 of the storage subsystem 302 as requested by a user. A storage diagnostic module 316 grades the storage subsystem 302 on an operating condition scale based at least in part upon the error information logged and upon results of the cursory check 318. In one embodiment, the storage subsystem 302 is graded as pristine if no error has been logged and no error was detected by the cursory check 318, as potentially failing if any error has been logged but no error was detected by the cursory check 318, and as failing if any error was detected by the cursory check 318. |
| US08122293B2 |
Method for automatically simulating manual testing of a computer, and testing system for performing the method
A method for automatically simulating manual testing of a computer after the computer is powered on includes the steps of: (a) connecting the computer to an external storage device having a script recorded thereon that corresponds to a manual testing operation; and (b) after the computer is powered on, enabling the computer to access the script of the external storage device for performing the manual testing operation. By providing automatic simulation of manual testing of a computer after the computer is powered on, time and labor costs incurred in a conventional method of manually inputting instructions required for the manual testing operation in the computer are saved. |
| US08122292B2 |
Debugging of business flows deployed in production servers
Facilitating debugging of business flows deployed on a production server. An aspect of the present invention processes some service requests (received from a client system) in a normal mode and some other service requests in a debug mode concurrently, all according to a business flow. According to another aspect, the debug mode supports a single step debug operation, in which each step corresponds to a single activity of the business flow. Accordingly, an administrator of the production server is enabled to better determine, the problems in the execution of business flows deployed on a production server at runtime. |
| US08122290B2 |
Error log consolidation
A system for error log consolidation is disclosed herein. A server computer includes a plurality of system processors and error log consolidation logic. The system processors are configurable to form isolated execution partitions. The error log consolidation logic is configured to, based on detection of a fault in the server, retrieve error logs from the system processors, and to consolidate the retrieved logs with server computer information not available to the system processors to generate a consolidated error log. The consolidated error log includes a comprehensive set of server information relevant to identifying a cause of the detected fault. |
| US08122289B2 |
Load balancing and high availability of compute resources
Compute resources of multiple resource cards are assigned to compute resource pools. Each compute resource pool is typically associated with a specific service (e.g., VoIP, video service, deep packet inspection, etc). Compute resource groups are created in each compute resource pool and are allocated one or more compute resources of that compute resource pool. Those compute resources in a given resource pool that are not allocated to a compute resource group are set as backup compute resources. Upon a failure of a compute resource in a compute resource pool that includes backup compute resources, a backup compute resource is selected and takes over the function of the failed compute resource. Upon a failure of a compute resource in a compute resource group of a compute resource pool that does not include a backup compute resource, the traffic is load balanced across the remaining compute resources of that compute resource group. |
| US08122282B2 |
Starting virtual instances within a cloud computing environment
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that leverages the Operational Support System(s) (OSS) and Business Support system(s) (BSS) of a (e.g., public) computing Cloud with a service to automate virtual instance restarts. For example, under embodiments of the present invention, a failed virtual instance is detected within the Cloud computing environment, and a request for a new virtual instance is received in response thereto. Upon receiving the request, an entitlement of a user associated with the failed virtual instance will be tested. Specifically, a set of authentication calls and checks are deployed in accordance herewith to ensure the integrity of the requests, as well as the authorization of the requester for the resource use. Assuming testing is passed, a countdown timer associated with the failed virtual instance will be decreased. When the countdown timer reaches a predetermined threshold (e.g., zero), the new virtual instance will be started, the failed virtual instance will be terminated, and the countdown timer will be reset/restarted by instance. Integration with BSS further allows for monitoring and charging of service usage as well as opening the option for pay-as-you-go charges for the restart service itself. |
| US08122281B2 |
System and method for dependent failure-aware allocation of distributed data-processing systems
A system and method for allocating distributed processing systems includes inputting component descriptions in a distributed processing system and determining importance of each component. Capacity and failure characteristics of resource groups representing units of available processing capacity are also input. Components are assigned to a plurality of resource groups based on the capacity. Each resource group includes components where the failure characteristics permit simultaneous failures, such that in the event of such failures, an output value of the application is maximized. |
| US08122279B2 |
Multiphase clocking systems with ring bus architecture
Systems and methods for transferring data using a ring bus architecture in a system that implements multi-phase clocking. In one embodiment, the system is a multiprocessor having multiple processor cores coupled to the ring bus. The bus may be a bidirectional bus having a first data path on which data is transferred in a clockwise direction and a second data path on which data is transferred in a counterclockwise direction. Controllers within the processor cores provide phase-shifted signals to the latches to clock data into them. Data transfers on the bus may be controlled by an arbiter which is coupled to the processor cores' controllers. The arbiter may schedule data transfers on the bus based on data transfer speeds associated with left-to-right and right-to-left data transfer directions. The arbiter may cause the phases of the clock signals to be selectively varied, or may cause the clock signals to be gated. |
| US08122277B1 |
Clock distribution chip
In one embodiment, a clock distribution chip includes a clock input adapted to receive an input clock signal, clock dividers each adapted to receive a clock signal based on the first input clock signal and to generate a divided clock signal, and programmable clock outputs adapted to provide output clock signals. The clock outputs are configurable to support a number of signaling standards. A programmable switch fabric is coupled between the clock dividers and the clock outputs and is configurable to provide the divided clock signals to the clock outputs. |
| US08122276B2 |
Apparatus and method for dynamic clock control in a pipeline system
An apparatus and method for dynamically controlling a clock signal in a pipeline system are provided. In the apparatus and method, a clock generator outputs the clock signal at every period, a PDR is included with each stage for outputting information about a processing speed of each stage, and a CCU controls the delay of the clock signal using the processing time of each stage received from the PDR and providing the clock signal with the controlled delay to a register between stages. Accordingly, the clock signal is dynamically controlled to provide higher operating speeds. |
| US08122274B2 |
Method, system and computer program product for certifying a timestamp of a data processing system
The disclosed embodiments present a system, method, and computer program product for certifying a timestamp generated by a data processing system. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a request to certify a timestamp generated by a trusted data processing system, analyzing historical data related to a system time of the data processing system, and certifying the timestamp in response to determining that the historical data indicates a trustworthy system time of the data processing system when the timestamp was generated. |
| US08122273B2 |
Structure and method to optimize computational efficiency in low-power environments
A method and structure to optimize computational efficiency in a low-power environment. A design structure is embodied in a machine readable medium used in a design process. The design structure includes a component to determine an optimal point for maximizing computational efficiency in a low-power environment, and a component to selectively control operation of at least one processing unit of a plurality of processing units in accordance with the determined optimal point. The design structure further includes at least one of a component for controlling a frequency of a clock signal transmitted to the at least one processing unit in accordance with the determined optimal point, and a component for determining a present power available. |
| US08122272B2 |
Method and apparatus for power management
An electronic device includes a processor configured to run a plurality of applications, a power supply coupled to the processor, and a database coupled to the processor The database is configured to store information identifying each of the plurality of applications as being in either a first set of applications or a second set of applications. The processor monitors the power level of the power supply and is configured to disable the first set of applications when the power level reaches a predetermined power level. |
| US08122268B2 |
Reducing power consumption of mirrored RAID subsystems
Power consumption reduction of a mirrored RAID storage subsystems is disclosed, wherein data are mirrored to a secondary mirror disk system, the secondary mirror disk system alternates between an operational stage and a power-save stage, wherein data to be mirrored to the secondary mirror disk system is saved in a substantially always operational pre-stage storage if the secondary mirror disk system is in a power save stage and subsequently moved from the pre-stage storage to the secondary mirror disk system when the secondary mirror disk system is operational. |
| US08122260B2 |
Shaping classification boundaries in template protection systems
The invention relates to a method of authentication of a physical object and an apparatus applying said method. The method uses a helper data (W1) and a control value (V1) associated with a reference object to generate a first property set (C1) using the helper data (W1) and a metric (Y) associated with the physical object. It further comprises a step to generate a second property set (S1) using a noise compensating mapping (NCM) on the first property set (C1), as well as a step to establish a sufficient match between the physical object and the reference object using the second property set (S1) and the first control value (V1). The method is characterized by a step that generates an error measure (ERR) by quantifying the noise removed by the noise compensating mapping (NCM) using the first property set (C1) and information derived from the noise compensating mapping (NCM). Error measure (ERR) is subsequently used for generating an authentication decision (D). Also provided is an apparatus configured to carry out the method. |
| US08122255B2 |
Methods and systems for digital authentication using digitally signed images
Various systems, methods, and programs embodied in computer-readable mediums are provided for digital authentication using digitally signed images. In one representative embodiment, a method includes extracting a first image portion from an image selected by a first party, where the first image portion including a first encoded part of an second party digital signature, and obtaining a second image portion associated with the first image portion, where the second image portion including a second encoded part of the second party digital signature. The first and second encoded parts of the second party digital signature are decoded and validity of the second party digital signature is confirmed based upon a second party public key. |
| US08122253B2 |
Data validation using signatures and sampling
Architecture that facilitates validation of a data mapping of data from a data source to a data target. There is included a signature generation component that generates a source signature of all or a portion of the data source and a target signature of all or a corresponding portion of the data target, and a sampling component that obtains a sample of the source data a corresponding sample of the target data. The data signatures and data samples are compared respectively and processed with a processing component to determine the status of the validation process. |
| US08122251B2 |
Method and apparatus for preventing phishing attacks
The invention includes a method and apparatus for preventing phishing attacks. A first method, for informing a user that a remote server is valid, includes receiving a request for information available from the remote server where the request includes an identifier, obtaining a dynamic personal attribute associated with the user using the identifier, and propagating the dynamic personal attribute toward the user, wherein the dynamic personal attribute is adapted for use by the user in validating the remote server. The remote server may be a web server, an authentication server, or any other remote device with which the user may desire to authenticate. A second method, for informing a user that a received message is associated with a valid website, includes obtaining a dynamic personal attribute associated with a user, generating a message for the user where the message is adapted to enable the user to request a website and includes the dynamic personal attribute associated with the user, and propagating the message toward the user. The received message may be any type of message, such as an email message, an instant message, a text message, and the like. |
| US08122245B2 |
Anonymity revocation
Methods and systems for anonymity revocation, enabling a trusted entity to identify a user computer within an anonymous system. A system comprises an attester computer providing attestation value cert from a security module public key and an identifying value. The user computer having a module providing the module public key and a security module attestation value, the user computer providing a user public key, a user attestation-signature value derived from the attestation value cert, and an encryption computable under use of a trusted-entity public key and a module-generated-identifier value, the module-generated-identifier value relating to the identifying value; a verification computer verifying validity of received user attestation-signature value and the encryption; and a trusted entity having a trusted entity secret key, wherein the trusted entity is able to derive the module-generated-identifier value from the encryption, the module-generated-identifier value being usable to identify the user computer with the security module. |
| US08122242B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling the flow of data across a network interface
The present invention performs “flow control” based on the remaining encryption capacity of an encrypted outbound network interface link of a network routing device, such as a router or switch. As the encrypted link begins to run low on encryption key material, this invention begins to discard datagrams queued for transit across that link, in order to signal distant host computers that they should slow down the rate at which they are sending datagrams. The invention, which is particularly useful in cryptographically protected networks that run the TCP/IP protocol stack, allows fine-grained flow control of individual traffic classes because it can determine, for example, how various classes of data traffic (e.g., voice, video, TCP) should be ordered and transmitted through a network. Thus, the invention can be used to implement sophisticated flow control rules so as to give preferential treatment to certain people, departments or computers. |
| US08122238B2 |
Multi-channel algorithm infrastructure for programmable hardware elements
System and method for implementing multi-channel operations in a programmable hardware element (PHE). A hardware configuration program, including a processing function, inputs and outputs of the processing function, a plurality of channels, and channel scanning functionality for the plurality of channels, is specified. A PHE is configured with the hardware configuration program, including implementing the processing function and the channel scanning functionality on the PHE. A respective state and configuration of each of the plurality of channels is stored in a memory of the PHE to enable logic-sharing between each of the plurality of channels. The PHE is operated, including performing channel scanning on the plurality of channels, and updating the configuration of one or more of the channels in the memory of the PHE without interrupting the channel scanning, without taking any of the channels offline, and/or without interrupting a continuity of an output of the PHE. |
| US08122234B1 |
Flash memory backup system for network devices
A device includes a first memory with first and second memory segments. The first memory segment stores a full image file. A second memory segment stores a partial image file, which is a smaller file and has fewer features than the full image file. A second memory stores a boot program. A control module detects an error in the full image file and executes the boot program using the partial image file. |
| US08122232B2 |
Self programming slave device controller
A self programming slave device controller is described which comprises interface circuitry and control circuitry. The interface circuitry is responsive to one or more configuration parameters to communicate data between the slave device controller and a slave device in accordance with the one or more configuration parameters. The control circuitry is responsive to one or more operating parameter signals indicative of one or more operating parameters influencing current performance characteristics of the slave device to set the one or more configuration parameters so as to control an access operation for accessing the slave device to accommodate the current performance characteristics of the slave device. In this way, an access operation can be conducted efficiently and reliably having regard to the current performance characteristics of the slave device. This makes it possible to automatically adjust configuration parameters used to control an access operation in dependence on changes to operating parameters of the slave device which may influence the performance characteristics. |
| US08122231B2 |
Software selectable adjustment of SIMD parallelism
Selective power control of one or more processing elements matches a degree of parallelism to requirements of a task performed in a highly parallel programmable data processor. For example, when program operations require less than the full width of the data path, a software instruction of the program sets a mode of operation requiring a subset of the parallel processing capacity. At least one parallel processing element, that is not needed, can be shut down to conserve power. At a later time, when the added capacity is needed, execution of another software instruction sets the mode of operation to that of the wider data path, typically the full width, and the mode change reactivates the previously shut-down processing element. |
| US08122228B2 |
Broadcasting collective operation contributions throughout a parallel computer
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for broadcasting collective operation contributions throughout a parallel computer. The parallel computer includes a plurality of compute nodes connected together through a data communications network. Each compute node has a plurality of processors for use in collective parallel operations on the parallel computer. Broadcasting collective operation contributions throughout a parallel computer according to embodiments of the present invention includes: transmitting, by each processor on each compute node, that processor's collective operation contribution to the other processors on that compute node using intra-node communications; and transmitting on a designated network link, by each processor on each compute node according to a serial processor transmission sequence, that processor's collective operation contribution to the other processors on the other compute nodes using inter-node communications. |
| US08122227B2 |
SIMD processor for performing data filtering and/or interpolation
A data processing circuit contains an instruction execution circuit that has an instruction set that comprises a SIMD instruction. The instruction execution circuit comprises a plurality of arithmetic circuits, arranged to perform N respective identical operations in parallel in response to the SIMD instruction. The SIMD instruction defines selects a first one and a second one of the registers. The SIMD instruction defines a first and second series of N respective SIMD instruction operands of the SIMD instruction from the addressed registers. Each arithmetic circuit receives a respective first operand and a respective second operand from the first and second series respectively, when executing the SIMD instruction. The instruction execution circuit is arranged for selecting the first and second series so that they partially overlap. Preferably, the position of the operands of at least one the series is under program control, preferably under control of operand data. Preferably the program control selects the start of a series with respect to the start of the first register, the series running on into the second register if the series does not start at the start of the first register. |
| US08122224B2 |
Clearing selected storage translation buffer entries bases on table origin address
An instruction is provided to perform clearing of selected address translation buffer entries (TLB entries) associated with a particular address space, such as segments of storage or regions of storage. The buffer entries related to segment table entries or region table entries or ASCE addresses. The instruction can be implemented by software emulation, hardware, firmware or some combination thereof. |
| US08122219B2 |
Storage allocation
Techniques for storage allocation of a data record are provided. The techniques include attempting to identify a first location for storing a data record, wherein the data record comprises one or more data record attributes, if the first location is identified, selecting the first location for storing the data record, and if the first location is not identified, identifying a second location for storing the data record using a cost penalty function and selecting the second location for storing the data record based on the cost penalty function. |
| US08122218B2 |
Semiconductor memory asynchronous pipeline
An asynchronously pipelined SDRAM has separate pipeline stages that are controlled by asynchronous signals. Rather than using a clock signal to synchronize data at each stage, an asynchronous signal is used to latch data at every stage. The asynchronous control signals are generated within the chip and are optimized to the different latency stages. Longer latency stages require larger delays elements, while shorter latency states require shorter delay elements. The data is synchronized to the clock at the end of the read data path before being read out of the chip. Because the data has been latched at each pipeline stage, it suffers from less skew than would be seen in a conventional wave pipeline architecture. Furthermore, since the stages are independent of the system clock, the read data path can be run at any CAS latency as long as the re-synchronizing output is built to support it. |
| US08122216B2 |
Systems and methods for masking latency of memory reorganization work in a compressed memory system
Computer memory management systems and methods are provided in which data block buffering and priority scheduling protocols are utilized in compressed memory systems to mask the latency associated with memory reorganization work following access to compressed main memory. In particular, data block buffers and priority scheduling protocols are implemented to delay and prioritize memory reorganization work to allow resources to be used for serving new memory access requests and other high priority commands. |
| US08122214B2 |
System managing a plurality of virtual volumes and a virtual volume management method for the system
This invention provides a control technique of a data processing system, in which functions of a highly-functional high-performance storage system are achieved in an inexpensive storage system so as to effectively use the existing system and reduce the cost of its entire system. This system has a RAID system, an external subsystem, a management server, a management client and the like. The management server includes an information management table for storing mapping information of the RAID system and the external subsystem. When performing copy process, the pair creation in which a logical volume of the RAID system is set as a primary volume of copy source and a logical volume of a mapping object of the RAID system mapped from the logical volume of the external subsystem is set as a secondary volume of copy destination is executed from the management client by using the information management table. |
| US08122213B2 |
System and method for migration of data
Systems and methods for data migration are disclosed. A method may include allocating a destination storage resource to receive migration data. The method may also include assigning the destination storage resource a first identifier value equal to an identifier value associated with a source storage resource. The method may additionally include assigning the source storage resource a second identifier value different than the first identifier value. The method may further include migrating data from the source storage resource to the destination storage resource. |
| US08122211B2 |
User interface indicator for mobile device backup status
Systems and methods are provided for performing data backup of a communication device. Data backup can occur automatically or manually. A data backup status indicator is displayed on the communication device indicating the current status of the data backup. The user can select the data backup status indicator to obtain additional information about the status of the data backup service. |
| US08122206B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatus for pixel fetch request interface
Presented herein are system(s) and apparatus for a memory access unit for accessing data for a module. The memory access unit comprises an output port for providing access requests for lists of addresses in a memory over a link to a memory controller. |
| US08122204B2 |
Shadow write and transfer schemes for memory devices
Systems and methods for controlling memory devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a memory system comprises a memory controller for forwarding a command signal and an address signal and for receiving and forwarding a data signal, and a first memory device for receiving the command signal and the address signal from the memory controller, where the first memory device comprises a first command judging circuit for receiving and forwarding the data signal and for decoding the command signal. The memory system further comprises a second memory device for receiving the command signal and the address signal from the memory controller, where the second memory device comprises a second command judging circuit for receiving and generating the data signal and for decoding the command signal. The command signal, the address signal and the data signal are commonly connected to the first memory device and the second memory device. |
| US08122203B2 |
Serviceability level indicator processing for storage alteration
A method, system, and computer program product for implementing Serviceability Level Indicator Processing (SLIPs) for storage alterations in a computer system is provided. A plurality of storage release requests is analyzed to identify an address monitored by a storage alteration slip. Upon identification of the address, the storage alteration slip is disabled and an initialization slip is re-enabled. |
| US08122202B2 |
Reduced pin count interface
An arrangement of memory devices and a controller is based on an interface with a reduced pin count relative to a known memory device and controller arrangement. Facilitating the reduced pin count interface are some operations performed by the controller. The controller determines a width for a Data bus while assigning a target device address to each of the memory devices. |
| US08122201B1 |
Backup work request processing by accessing a work request of a data record stored in global memory
Communicating work requests from a first storage unit of a storage device to a second storage unit of a storage device include providing a data record that contains information indicative of the work request, directly writing the data record from the first unit to the second unit, and writing the data record to a global memory that is accessible by the first unit and by the second unit. Writing the data record to a global memory may include writing the data record to an array in the global memory, where the array may include a plurality of locations that each have space to store a data record. Communicating work requests may also include generating a random number that is used to index the array to determine a location for storing the data record. |
| US08122200B2 |
Modified machine architecture with advanced synchronization
A multiple computer environment is disclosed in which an application program executes simultaneously on a plurality of computers (M1, M2, . . . Mn) interconnected by a communications network (53) and in which the local memory of each computer is maintained substantially the same by updating in due course. A lock mechanism is provided to permit exclusive access to an asset, object, or structure (ie memory location) by acquisition and release of the lock. In particular, before a new lock can be acquired by any other computer on a memory location previously locked by one computer, any re-written content(s) for the previously locked memory location are transmitted to all the other computers and their corresponding memory locations (before the in due course updating). Thus when the new lock is acquired all the corresponding memory locations of all computers have been updated. |
| US08122199B2 |
Multi port memory device with shared memory area using latch type memory cells and driving method
A multiport semiconductor memory device includes; first and second port units respectively coupled to first and second processors, first and second dedicated memory area accessed by first and second processors, respectively and implemented using DRAM cells, a shared memory area commonly accessed by the first and second processors via respective first and second port units and implemented using memory cells different from the DRAM cells implementing the first and second dedicated memory areas, and a port connection control unit controlling data path configuration between the shared memory area and the first and second port units to enable data communication between the first and second processors through the shared memory area. |
| US08122198B2 |
Modified machine architecture with partial memory updating
The updating of only some memory locations in a multiple computer environment in which at least one applications program (50) executes simultaneously on a plurality of computers M1, M2 . . . Mn each of which has a local memory, is disclosed. Memory locations (A, B, D, E, X) in said local memory are categorized into two groups. The first group of memory locations (X1, X2, . . . Xn, A1, A2 . . . An) are each accessible by other computers. The second group of memory locations (B, E) are each accessible only by the computer having the local memory including the memory location. Changes to the values of memory locations in the first group only are transmitted to all other computers. A promotion mechanism is disclosed to promote memory locations in the second group into the first group in the event that application program execution means that a memory location in said second group is referred to by a memory location in the first group (ie the first group location now points to the second group location). |
| US08122195B2 |
Instruction for pre-fetching data and releasing cache lines
A prefetch data machine instruction having an M field performs a function on a cache line of data specifying an address of an operand. The operation comprises either prefetching a cache line of data from memory to a cache or reducing the access ownership of store and fetch or fetch only of the cache line in the cache or a combination thereof. The address of the operand is either based on a register value or the program counter value pointing to the prefetch data machine instruction. |
| US08122194B2 |
Transaction manager and cache for processing agent
A processing agent is used in a system that transfers data of a predetermined data line length during external transactions. The agent may include an internal cache having a plurality of cache entries. Each cache entry may store multiple data line lengths of data. The agent further may include a transaction queue system having queue entries that include a primary entry including an address portion and status portion, the status portion provided for a first external transaction of the agent, and a secondary entry including a status portion provided for a second external transaction. |
| US08122191B2 |
Data protection systems with multiple site replication
Systems and methods for replicating data from a first site to a second site remote from said first site are described. An embodiment includes storing compressed data on a hard disk appliance, reading said data without decompressing said data, sending said data over a wide-area-network (WAN) in a compressed state, and storing said data on a second hard disk appliance remote from said first hard disk appliance in its compressed state without performing an additional compression operation. |
| US08122186B2 |
Memory device, memory system and dual port memory device with self-copy function
A memory device with a self-copy function includes a memory cell array having first and second banks, and a memory interface. The memory interface reads data from a memory area of the first bank corresponding to a source address contained in previously set self-copy information and writes the read data to a memory area of the second bank corresponding to a destination address contained in the self-copy information via a self-copy data path when a self-copy signal is activated by an external self-copy start request. |
| US08122181B2 |
Systems and methods for enhancing a data store for handling semantic information
Systems (100) and methods (300) for enhancing a data store (DS) addressable at a block level and interfaced with a host device (HD) via a memory controller (MC), which may comprise a VMCC (110, 210). The methods involve receiving an access operation (AO) from HD (104) at MC. In response to receiving the AO, plug-ins (232) are invoked. The plug-ins include a pre-processing plug-in (2324) for facilitating an indexing function of MC and/or a post-processing plug-in (2325) for facilitating a monitoring function of MC. The methods also involve accessing DS (106, 206) to read a bock of data therefrom, write the block of data thereto, or erase the block of data therefrom in accordance with the AO. The methods further involve obtaining post-processing information about the AO in response to an invocation of the post-processing plug-in and updating a log-file (224) stored in the DS with the post-processing information. |
| US08122180B2 |
Methods and systems for reconfiguring data memory of embedded controller managed flash memory devices
Methods and systems for reconfiguring data memory of an embedded controller managed flash memory device are disclosed. According to one method, using a controller managed flash memory device reconfiguration module configured to execute on a general purpose computing platform separate from a computing platform in which an embedded controller managed flash memory device is located, reconfiguration data to be written to a data memory of the embedded controller managed flash memory device is received from a user and I/O commands for writing the reconfiguration data to an external device are generated. Flash device commands corresponding to the I/O commands are generated. The reconfiguration data is communicated to the data memory of the embedded controller managed flash memory device by sending the flash device commands and the reconfiguration data over a flash device interface of the embedded controller managed flash memory device. |
| US08122175B2 |
Opportunistic transmission of software state information within a link based computing system
A method is described that involves determining that software state information of program code is to be made visible to a monitoring system. The method also involves initiating the writing of the software state information into a register. The method also involves waiting for the software state information to be placed onto a link within a link based computing system. |
| US08122174B2 |
System and method for provisioning a remote resource for an electronic device
The invention provides a system and method for updating a resource to an electronic device. The method provisions a resource to an electronic device by: (a) maintaining the resource at a remote server from the device; and (b) after a triggering event, providing a data transmission to the device containing access information for the resource. The system incorporates the method and comprises: a resource providing information for the device; a server to maintain the resource; a communication link providing the device with access to the resource; a data transmission module for extracting and transmitting access information about the resource to the device; and a data processing module for processing the received information at the device. In the device, a GUI provides information on a topic retrieved from local storage on the device and additional information about the resource is incorporated into the GUI for that topic. |
| US08122173B2 |
Serial peripheral interface (SPI) circuit having driving circuit with data input and output common pin and display using the same
A serial peripheral interface (SPI) circuit and a display using the same are provided. The SPI circuit includes a mater device and a slave device. A serial data input pin and a serial data output pin of the slave device are both electrically connected to a data input/output pin of the master device. When a read instruction is sent from the master device to the slave device, the master device is set in a read status, and the slave device outputs data to the master device via the serial data output pin in response to the read instruction. When a write instruction is sent from the master device to the slave device, the master device is set in a write status, and writes data to the slave device via the serial data input pin thereof in response to the write instruction. |
| US08122171B2 |
Bus enumeration in a system with multiple buses
Enumerating an expanded bus system in a system. The expanded bus system may include a first bus, a bridge coupled to the first bus, and a second bus coupled to the bridge, where the second bus includes one or more downstream bus ports. One or more of the downstream bus ports may initially be masked. An initial bus enumeration may be performed during system boot, which may not include enumerating the masked bus ports. After the initial bus enumeration, the masked bus ports may be unmasked. An operating system may re-enumerate the bus system, which may include enumerating the no-longer-masked bus ports. |
| US08122169B2 |
Data buffering based on priority tagging of input data
A data buffer device includes: a tag value generation circuit that generates a tag value; a first buffer that stores first priority data; a second buffer that stores second priority data; and a data output circuit that outputs the first priority data or the second priority data, wherein the tag value generation circuit sets a tag value for the following second input data to a second tag value which differs from a first tag value for second preceding input data, and sets a tag value of the following first input data to a fourth tag value that is the same as a third tag value for the first preceding input data, and wherein the data output circuit outputs the first priority data or the second priority data in a first mode based on the tag values and outputs the first priority data earlier in a second mode. |
| US08122166B2 |
Management of redundant physical data paths in a computing system
A redundancy manager manages commands to peripheral devices in a computer system. These peripheral devices have multiple pathways connecting it to the computer system. The redundancy manager determines the number of independent pathways connected to the peripheral device, presents only one logical device to the operating system and any device driver and any other command or device processing logic in the command path before the redundancy manager. For each incoming command, the redundancy manager determines which pathways are properly functioning and selects the best pathway for the command based at least partly upon a penalty model where a path may be temporarily penalized by not including the pathway in the path selection process for a predetermined time. The redundancy manager further reroutes the command to an alternate path and resets the device for an alternate path that is not penalized or has otherwise failed. |
| US08122165B2 |
On-demand power supply current modification system and method for an integrated circuit
A circuit that selectively connects an integrated circuit to elements external to the integrated circuits. The circuit includes an input/output element that selectively connects an input/output pin as a function of a power requirement or a signal bandwidth requirement of the integrated circuit. The input/output element includes one or more switching devices that connect the input/output pin to an external element, such as a power supply or external signal path. The input/output element also includes one or more switching devices that connect the input/output pin to an internal element, such as a power network or internal signal line. |
| US08122157B2 |
Managing read requests from multiple requestors
Techniques are described herein for expanding the range of data targeted in I/O requests made by clients, so that the expanded range results in aligned I/O operations within the file system. Data that is included in the expanded range, but was not actually requested by the client, is trimmed off the data chunk returned by the file system, so that the client receives only the data required by the client. The blocks that contain the partially-read data are cached, so that they can be provided to the clients in response to subsequent I/O requests, without having to retrieve the blocks again from the file system. The I/O requests of multiple clients are handled by a read scheduler that uses a single global queue for all such requests. When appropriate, the read scheduler creates companionship relationships between the requests, and services the “companion” requests based on the data returned for the requests with which the companion requests are associated. |
| US08122156B2 |
Method and computer for processing an operation command in a computer
A method is provided for processing operation command in a computer that has a display and a host which includes a first display processing unit for local displaying and a second display processing unit for remote displaying. The operation command is from a remote data processing terminal. The method includes: receiving a first operation command from the data processing terminal, the first operation command being a power-on command; performing power-on of the computer, shielding the first display processing unit and loading only a driver of the second display processing unit according to first operation command; receiving a second operation command from the data processing terminal, the second operation command being not a power-on command; executing the second operation command to obtain operation results, the operation results being image data processed by the second display processing unit, and sending the operation results to the remote data processing terminal, for remote displaying. |
| US08122151B2 |
Storage system for optimally controlling a plurality of data transfer paths and method therefor
Provided is a storage system, which includes: a storage medium for storing data; a plurality of ports for connection to a network; and a control section, and in which: the network is connected to another storage system; the plurality of ports include a first port; the plurality of ports involve a plurality of data transfer paths extending from the plurality of ports to the another storage system, which include a first data transfer path extending from the first port to the another storage system; and the control section: transmits data to be stored into the another storage system from the plurality of ports; acquires performances of the plurality of data transfer paths; and transmits, if the performance of the first data transfer path is lower than a predetermined threshold value, the data to be stored into the another storage system from the plurality of ports excluding the first port. |
| US08122150B2 |
Maximization of sustained throughput of distributed continuous queries
A system, method, and computer readable medium for optimizing throughput of a stream processing system are disclosed. The method comprises analyzing a set of input streams and creating, based on the analyzing, an input profile for at least one input stream in the set of input streams. The input profile comprises at least a set of processing requirements associated with the input stream. The method also comprises generating a search space, based on an initial configuration, comprising a plurality of configurations associated with the input stream. A configuration in the plurality of configurations is identified that increases throughput more than the other configurations in the plurality of configurations based on at least one of the input profile and system resources. |
| US08122149B2 |
Model-based datacenter management
Computer-readable media, systems, and methods for model-based data center management. In embodiments, a request to perform a management operation on a device in a data center is received and available paths to the device are determined. The paths are determined based on an artifact storing a topology of the data center. Further, a current favored path that is one of the available paths is determined based on a policy and the device is bound for performance of the management operation using the current favored path. In embodiments, the model-based data center management is configured to provide a generic description of the data center architecture and a generic description for one or more devices in the data center. The generic description provides for dynamic runtime data center configuration. |
| US08122148B2 |
Method and apparatus for internet connection of mobile communication terminal
A method and an apparatus for Internet connection of a mobile communication terminal are disclosed. The Internet connection method includes extracting URL (uniform resource locator) information from web sites of the Internet and storing the URL information and connecting to a web site of Internet by using the extracted URL information, wherein extracting URL comprises inputting at least one numeric value representative of the URL information and inputting an designated key for Internet connection after inputting the associated numeric values. According to the present invention, a user may connect to a desired web site by inputting a web site name by using numeric keys and an Internet key. Accordingly, the quantity of key strokes required for connecting to a web site is reduced and user convenience is improved. |
| US08122146B1 |
Intelligent switching of client packets among a group of servers
The content-aware application switch and methods thereof intelligently switch client packets to one server among a group of servers in a server farm. The switch uses Layer 7 or application content parsed from a packet to help select the server and to schedule the transmitting of the packet to the server. This enables refined load-balancing and Quality of-Service control tailored to the application being switched. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method includes maintaining a server load metric for each server in a group of servers; parsing application content from a packet; selecting a destination server from the group of servers, wherein selecting the destination server is dependent on the server load metric for each server, assigning a priority to the packet, the priority being dependent on the application content; and dropping the packet if the priority comprises at least one of a predetermined type. |
| US08122144B2 |
Reliable messaging using redundant message streams in a high speed, low latency data communications environment
Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for reliable messaging using redundant message streams in a high speed, low latency data communications environment that include brokering, by a stream administration server, establishment of an active message stream to a subscribing client device from an active feed adapter, the active message stream capable of communicating active application messages; brokering, by the server, establishment of a backup message stream to the subscribing client device from a backup feed adapter, the backup message stream capable of communicating backup application messages representing duplicates of the active messages; receiving the active messages in messaging middleware of the subscribing client device; receiving, in response to a failover, the backup messages in the messaging middleware; and administering, by the messaging middleware, the backup messages in dependence upon an active stream source identifier, an active stream source sequence number, a backup stream source identifier, and a backup stream source sequence number. |
| US08122143B2 |
System and method for transmission of telescopic advertising
One aspect of the invention is a method for playing a stored content providing a plurality of segments which collectively contains the stored content, each segment has using first terminus and a second terminus with the content having a temporal flow from the first terminus to the second terminus. At least one segment is associated with a plurality of links to other segments. The method includes playing at least one segment with the temporal flow, determining whether a content expansion is desired prior to reaching the second terminus. If the content expansion is desired, then linking to an expansion segment and playing the expansion segment. If the content expansion is not desired, then linking to a continuing segment and playing the continuing segment. The method includes an additional link from the expansion segment to the continuing segment such that the continuing segment is played after the expansion segment has been played. Other aspects of the invention include other methods for playing stored content, for capturing and playing content, capturing segment and linkage descriptions, storage devices of the segment content, storage mechanisms referencing the continuous media content by segments and linkages and apparatus for capturing and playing continuous media content. |
| US08122142B1 |
Obtaining and displaying status updates for presentation during playback of a media content stream based on proximity to the point of capture
Systems and methods are provided for obtaining status updates relevant to a segment of a media content stream for presentation during playback. In general, a status updating service collects status updates sent by users via corresponding mobile devices of the users. A media playback device of a user receives a media content stream and obtains data defining a time of capture and, in some embodiments, a location of capture of a segment of the media content stream. Either prior to or during playback of the media content stream, the media playback device obtains status updates that are relevant to the segment of the media content stream directly or indirectly from the status updating service. The media playback device then presents the relevant status updates, or at least a subset thereof, during playback of the media content stream and preferably during playback of the segment of the media content stream. |
| US08122141B2 |
Streaming media buffering system
Streaming media, such as audio or video files, is sent via the Internet. The media are immediately played on a user's computer. Audio/video data is transmitted from the server more rapidly than it is played out by the user system. The audio/video data in the user buffer accumulates; and interruptions in playback as well as temporary modem delays are avoided. |
| US08122137B2 |
Dynamic location of a subordinate user
Providing location information to a supervisory user includes providing a parental control, using a computer automatically to determine a location of a subordinate user, and storing location information indicative of the location of the subordinate user in a database. A request of the supervisory user to locate the subordinate user is received and a user interface informs the supervisory user of the location of the subordinate user based on the stored location information. At least one of the storing and/or the informing are based on the parental control. |
| US08122132B2 |
Techniques for dynamically assigning jobs to processors in a cluster based on broadcast information
A technique for operating a high performance computing cluster (HPC) having multiple nodes (each of which include multiple processors) includes periodically broadcasting information, related to processor utilization and network utilization at each of the multiple nodes, from each of the multiple nodes to remaining ones of the multiple nodes. Respective local job tables maintained in each of the multiple nodes are updated based on the broadcast information. One or more threads are then moved from one or more of the multiple processors to a different one of the multiple processors (based on the broadcast information in the respective local job tables). |
| US08122128B2 |
System for regulating access to and distributing content in a network
There is provided a system for regulating access and managing distribution of content in a network, such as the Internet. The system includes communication gateways, installed at a subscriber site, internet control points, installed remotely, and various network elements installed throughout the network. The communication gateways and network elements operate in conjunction with the internet control points to restrict or allow access to specified Internet sites and to manage efficient distribution of content such as music, video, games, broadband data, real-time audio and voice applications, and software to subscribers. |
| US08122127B2 |
Automatic aggregation of inter-device ports/links in a virtual device
A virtual device includes multiple devices connected to operate as a single device. A first one of the devices is configured to determine that the first device connects to a second one of the devices via a first link; identify a second link; determine that the second link connects the first device to the second device; and automatically aggregate the first link and the second link to form a link aggregation with the second device based on determining that the first device connects to the second device via both the first and second links. The first device is further configured to transmit packets to the second device via the first and second links of the link aggregation. |
| US08122121B2 |
Event notification over a communications network
One or more users of a present state are notified of at least one property of an entity. A request message is received from a user over a first communications channel, the message containing information indicative of at least one property of an entity in which the user is interested. The present state of the at least one property is determined, as is an identifier of a second communications channel onto which future messages containing information relating to future changes of state of the at least one property of the entity will be transmitted. A reply message is transmitted to the user, the reply message containing information indicative of the present state of the at least one property and of the identifier of the second communications channel. |
| US08122119B1 |
Non-resident metering and billing system for applications and devices
A licensing envelope provides use of an application or device on a metered basis. The licensing envelope can be used with or without a connection to a computer network. In one embodiment, an application is provided with a dynamically linked library for the licensing envelope. The dynamically linked library verifies that access is enabled and calls a local licensing server when the application is opened. The local licensing server connects to and transfers data to a remote licensing server on a periodic basis. The remote licensing server can provide authorization codes for additional use of the application, bill the user, and forward payment to the application vendor. |
| US08122115B2 |
Communication profiles for integrated database messaging system
Systems, methods and media for providing communication profiles for an integrated database messaging system are disclosed. Embodiments of the method may include receiving from a user of the database messaging system a request for one or more profiles and determining one or more profiles associated based on the attributes of each profile request by accessing a profile database. The one or more profiles may include an indication of a user of the database messaging system and an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Embodiments may also include providing the one or more determined profiles to the requesting user. Further embodiments may include receiving an indication of one or more changes to the profile database and modifying the profile database. The user may include a database administrator (DBA) or user of a database. Each profile may contain personal, organizational, contact, group or other types of information. |
| US08122110B1 |
Active configuration templating
There is provided a configuration management system for a network device, said network device including one or more sub-systems for implementing network services, said system comprising a configuration management interface in communication with an external configuration management agent; a sub-system interface in communication with said one or more sub-systems; a control entity for establishing configuration elements based on a previously stored template, said template including a set of defined values; and a subscription sub-system for sending a specification for implementing a service determined by each configuration element to said sub-system interface; wherein when one of said set of defined values is updated, said control entity updates all of said configuration elements based on said previously stored template. |
| US08122108B2 |
Database-less leasing
One embodiment of the present invention comprises determining a cluster leader and using the cluster leader to set up a lease table at an application server of a cluster of application servers. The lease table can be used to maintain at least one lease for a singleton service. |
| US08122105B2 |
Method, system architecture and computer software for communication between devices
A method for communication between a plurality of devices connected to each other through a network. Each device includes at least one service that provides a set of functions for controlling and/or monitoring the device. A service of a first device detects the presence of a second device, detects the presence of a service of the second device, retrieves information about the functions of the service of the second device, and invokes a function of the service of the second device. A system architecture for communication between the devices includes a communication module configured to enable a service of a first device to detect the presence of a second device, to detect the presence of a service of the second device, to retrieve information about the functions of the service of the second device and to invoke a function of the service of the second device. |
| US08122104B2 |
Method and system for providing XML-based asynchronous and interactive feeds for web applications
A system for providing XML-based asynchronous and interactive feeds for Web applications that provides a highly efficient and extensible XML Javascript framework allowing easy insertion of a comment/news feed control into any Web page. The framework allows for reading of any XML format and provides a new and easy way for modifying the look-and-feel of the control via HTML templates with familiar XPath bindings. The rendering performed through the system supports both flat and indented (“threaded”) views for a comment thread. The system improves the parsing speed of incoming XML, and supports a flexible event model for others to develop plug-ins and mashups in the spirit of Web 2.0. |
| US08122102B2 |
Content delivery network (CDN) content server request handling mechanism
To serve content through a content delivery network (CDN), the CDN must have some information about the identity, characteristics and state of its target objects. Such additional information is provided in the form of object metadata, which according to the invention can be located in the request string itself, in the response headers from the origin server, in a metadata configuration file distributed to CDN servers, or in a per-customer metadata configuration file. CDN content servers execute a request identification and parsing process to locate object metadata and to handle the request in accordance therewith. Where different types of metadata exist for a particular object, metadata in a configuration file is overridden by metadata in a response header or request string, with metadata in the request string taking precedence. |
| US08122100B2 |
Multiple object download
According to the invention, a system for downloading a plurality of content objects from the Internet to a computer of a user is disclosed. The system includes first and second web pages, a database and a media server. The first web page allows selection of the number of content objects. The second web page includes a link to an application that includes embedded information that correlates the number of content objects to the application. The database stores the number of content objects. The media server composes an application that includes the embedded information. The number of content objects are selected by a user from the first web page. The media server allows download of the number of content objects after receiving the embedded information from a computer of a user. |
| US08122099B2 |
Image forming device that prepares and transmits formatted order data to web server
When a user inputs a URL character string indicating data for an order document, the CPU receives data for the order document indicated by the URL and reading method data from the web server at the URL destination and prints the order document on a recording unit. The user then fills in circles on the order document to indicate desired content and feeds the order document into the manual-feed paper tray on the facsimile device. At this time, the facsimile device reads a user number and data regarding printing details and scrapbook entry details and transmits order data described as a URL to the web server. |
| US08122098B1 |
Managing content delivery network service providers by a content broker
A system, method, and computer readable medium for managing network storage provider and CDN service providers are provided. A content broker component obtains client computing device requests for content provided by a content provider. The content broker processes the client computing device requests and determines whether a subsequent request for the resource should be directed to a network storage provider or a CDN service provider as a function of the updated or processed by the content broker. |
| US08122084B2 |
Collaborative conversation channels
Systems and techniques to facilitate communications among individuals in an enterprise may use collaborative conversation channels that are associated with specific communities within the enterprise. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes defining communities within an enterprise and providing access to collaborative conversation channels through a user interface. Each collaborative conversation channel is associated with a specific community and has an associated set of message types. A request to send a message of a selected message type within one of the collaborative conversation channels may be received through the user interface. In response to the request, the message may be sent through the collaborative conversation channel. |
| US08122081B2 |
Method and apparatus for a portable information agent
A method and system for providing enhanced intelligent agents that are moveable by a user from a browser application to a desktop. In specific embodiments, agents provide advanced interactive graphics and communications back to a server. |
| US08122079B2 |
Event counter
A counting method and a counter using an integrated circuit memory area, including at least one step of storage of partial values in several words of identical memory sizes, the result of the counting being obtained by arithmetically adding the values contained in the different words. |
| US08122078B2 |
Processor with enhanced combined-arithmetic capability
A method of operation within an integrated-circuit processing device having an enhanced combined-arithmetic capability. In response to an instruction indicating a combined arithmetic operation, the processor generates a dot-product of first and second operands, adds the dot-product to an accumulated value, and then outputs the sum of the accumulated value and the dot-product. |
| US08122077B2 |
Generation of test cases with range constraints for floating point add and subtract instructions
Methods, apparatus and systems are disclosed for the generation of range-constrained test cases for verification of designs of arithmetic floating point units. Given three ranges of floating point numbers Rx, Ry, Rz, a floating point operation (op), and a rounding-mode (round), three floating point numbers x, y, z are generated such that x ε Rx, y ε Ry, z ε Rz, and z=round ( x op y). Solutions are provided for add and subtract operations. Range constraints are imposed on the input operands and on the result operand of floating point add and subtract instructions to target corner cases when generating test cases for use in verification of floating point hardware. |
| US08122075B2 |
Pseudorandom number generator and encryption device using the same
A pseudorandom number generator reduced in size while maintaining high security is disclosed. The generator has a state storage unit of 2 blocks (n bits per block) and a buffer of plurality of blocks, and mixes their contents to obtain a random number sequence. The mixing is done by a nonlinear transformation unit for inputting the stored content of the buffer to output data of the same size as the input data, a first linear transformation unit for inputting the content of the state storage unit and the output of the nonlinear transformation unit to store an output into the state storage unit, and a second linear transformation unit for inputting the stored content of the buffer and the stored content of the state storage unit to store an output into the buffer. The mixed content of the state storage unit is output as a random number sequence. |
| US08122074B2 |
Digital electronic binary rotator and reverser
A binary rotator which includes an array of n cascaded 2-input multiplexer banks and received at an input 2n-bit binary data words can be used not only for rotation but also for selective reversal, without the necessity of the addition of a further multiplex bank dedicated to the reversal. This is achieved by making groups of multiplexers of at least all but one of the n banks of multiplexers separately controllable by words from control logic, rather than feeding the multiplexer banks with single control bits. The control bits are appropriately selected to provide the desired rotation-cum-reversal with just the 2n×n array of multiplexers, and can themselves be generated by appropriate logic gates. |
| US08122073B2 |
Computational systems for biomedical data
Methods, apparatuses, computer program products, devices and systems are described that accepting an input identifying a treatment target in search of an agent, the input associated with at least one query parameter; determining, based on the input, at least one subset of study data for which at least one adverse event profile associated with administration of at least one agent is acceptable within a defined limit relative to a population for which the at least one adverse event profile is unacceptable with respect to the defined limit; and presenting the agent, based on the at least one subset and the at least one query parameter. |
| US08122057B2 |
System and method for the transformation and canonicalization of semantically structured data
A method of transforming and canonicalizing semantically structured data includes obtaining data from a network of computers, applying text patterns to the obtained data and placing the data in a first data file, providing a second data file containing the obtained data in a uniform format, and generating interface specific sentences from the data in the second data file. |
| US08122053B2 |
Method of bibliographic field normalization
A method of normalizing a bibliographic field of a structured field relational database is disclosed. The method includes weighting potential candidate records according to the value in the corresponding field in the records, together with other related fields in the candidate record and other related records in the database. Each of the candidate records is successively evaluated and compared against an acceptable threshold. If the weight exceeds the threshold, the candidate record is returned from the query. Otherwise, a new entry in the database is created. Optionally, before creating such a new entry, the highest weighted candidate record may be compared against a minimally acceptable threshold and if the weight exceeds such a lower threshold, the candidate is returned from the query. |
| US08122050B2 |
Query processing visualization system and method of visualizing query processing
A query processing visualization system comprises a visualization module. The visualization module visualizes logging information of query processing events occurring during processing of a client query requesting data from one or more data sources by analyzing the logging information to identify dependency of the query processing events, formatting visual presentation components representing the logging information in a hierarchy to reflect the dependency of the query processing events, and presenting the visual presentation components in the context of the hierarchy of the visual components as formatted. |
| US08122048B2 |
Context sensitive term expansion with dynamic term expansion
Methods, articles of manufacture and systems for searching collections of data using context sensitive expanded term searching using dynamic term expansion are provided. The collection of data may be a relational database, text document, or any other type of searchable collection of data. In either case, a query including a search condition based on a specified search term may be modified to include additional conditions based on a set of expanded (e.g., conceptually-related) search terms dynamically linked with the query. For some embodiments, a user may be given the ability to choose whether the set of expanded search terms are dynamically linked with the query or not. |
| US08122046B2 |
Method and apparatus for query rewrite with auxiliary attributes in query processing operations
Methods and apparatus are provided for rewriting queries during a database query processing operation to include auxiliary attributes not included in the original query, thus improving processing efficiency. For example, in one aspect of the invention, a technique for rewriting a query in a query processing operation includes the following steps. First, the query is processed in accordance with at least a portion of a data set, producing query results. Second, data attributes from the query results are analyzed. Finally, at least one new predicate from at least one auxiliary data attribute is appended on the query. |
| US08122044B2 |
Generation of business intelligence entities from a dimensional model
The present invention automatically generates an object model from a dimensional model. The object model can then be queried using object oriented expressions. |
| US08122043B2 |
System and method for using an exemplar document to retrieve relevant documents from an inverted index of a large corpus
A system and method for using an exemplar document or search query to retrieve relevant documents from an inverted index of a large corpus of documents. The system and method groups words by synonym and calculates term frequency (TF) and inverse document frequency (IDF) scores for the respective word groups. A composite term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) score is calculated for each word group and the documents of the corpus are ranked based on the TF-IDF scores, utilizing a vector space model incorporating a cosine similarity function. |
| US08122040B2 |
Method of integrating remote databases by automated client scoping of update requests over a communications network
A method for bi-directional data replication between a Web Service application and a relational database are provided. Techniques of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Extract Transform Load (ETL) technology are employed to create a relational database schema, load the schema, synchronize the structure and the content of the schema, and replicate changes in the content of the schema to the web services application. Optional advanced techniques to support reporting, legacy data migration, and integration with other applications are also provided. |
| US08122035B2 |
Method and system for transactional fingerprinting in a database system
Transactions with respect to database operations are fingerprinted by associating transaction identifiers with logged information about those database operations. An SQL query is obtained prior to its evaluation by a database engine. A transaction identifier to be associated with the SQL query is also obtained. The SQL query is then modified to generate a modified SQL query, wherein the modified SQL query includes a WHERE clause that contains an expression that always evaluates to a logical true value, and wherein the expression contains the transaction identifier. The modified SQL query is then sent to the database engine for evaluation within the data processing system. When the processing of the modified SQL query is logged with a copy of the modified SQL query, the logged information contains a copy of the transaction identifier. |
| US08122034B2 |
Method and system for incremental search with reduced text entry where the relevance of results is a dynamically computed function of user input search string character count
A method and system are provided for processing a search request received from a user operating a text input device. The search request is directed at identifying a desired item from a set of items. Each of the items of the set of items has one or more associated terms. The method includes receiving a query input from a user directed at identifying the desired item. The query input comprises one or more characters input by the user on the text input device. As each character of the query input is received from the user, a group of items having one or more terms matching the characters received thus far of the query input is dynamically identified. The items in this group of items are ordered based on relevance values of the terms matching the characters and on the number of characters of the query input used in identifying the group of items. Identification of the group of items as ordered is transmitted to the user to be displayed on a device operated by the user. |
| US08122033B2 |
Database query optimization
A method, system, and computer program product for optimizing database queries in a data processing system. A query optimization (QO) utility maximizes the query coverage of Materialized Query Tables (MQTs) in order to efficiently process various types of incoming queries to a database engine. In particular, the QO utility enables MQT technology for nullable foreign key columns in a number of table joins involving fact tables and dimension tables, in which the fact tables and dimension tables have column data which are not null. The QO utility also enables MQT query matching for a relational database engine for non-additive measures, and improves the performance of existing query-matching capabilities for a relational database engine for additive measures. The QO utility specifies a number of functionally dependent relationships between the columns of a table in order to enhance the query matching abilities of the database engine. |
| US08122032B2 |
Identifying and linking similar passages in a digital text corpus
A corpus contains digital text from multiple documents. A passage mining engine identifies similar passages in the documents and stores data describing the similarities. The passage mining engine groups similar passages into groups based on degree of similarity or other criteria. The passage mining engine ranks the similar passages found in the text corpus based on quality or other criteria. A user interface is presented that includes hypertext links associated with the similar passages that allow a user to navigate the documents. |
| US08122030B1 |
Dual web graph
Scoring a document is disclosed. One or more metrics is determined in a forward direction. One or more backwards metrics is determined. The document is scored based at least in part on a combination of the metrics. |
| US08122029B2 |
Updating an inverted index
Systems and methods for processing an index are described. To insure that the most updated index is available without having to update the index after every change (which can consume enormous resources), a specially marked postings list is generated for a changed item. During retrieval, the specially marked postings list supplements the existing content of an inverted index referencing the changed item. In this manner, the retrieval result for items containing the term under which the changed item was originally indexed is updated in accordance with the specially marked postings list to insure the most accurate retrieval result. |
| US08122026B1 |
Finding and disambiguating references to entities on web pages
A system and method for disambiguating references to entities in a document. In one embodiment, an iterative process is used to disambiguate references to entities in documents. An initial model is used to identify documents referring to an entity based on features contained in those documents. The occurrence of various features in these documents is measured. From the number occurrences of features in these documents, a second model is constructed. The second model is used to identify documents referring to the entity based on features contained in the documents. The process can be repeated, iteratively identifying documents referring to the entity and improving subsequent models based on those identifications. Additional features of the entity can be extracted from documents identified as referring to the entity. |
| US08122025B2 |
Method of managing locations of information and information location management device
A communication log storage section stores a communication log of emails exchanged with an external device over an external network. An acquisition destination-selecting section reads out the communication log and identifies an other-end party with whom a target user has performed transmission and reception of emails not less than a predetermined number of times to select the other-end party as an information acquisition destination. An information location-generating section extracts key information related to a location of information at the information acquisition destination contained in the emails transmitted and received to and from the information acquisition destination, to generate information location information. The information location information is stored in an information location-accumulating section. An information acquisition device acquires the information based on the information location information accumulated in the information location-accumulating section. |
| US08122023B2 |
Data access using multilevel selectors and contextual assistance
A method and system to derive association-explicit metadata, about a target data collection, that is useful to facilitate access and searching of the data collection, regardless of the organizational structure of the collection. The metadata may be generated to comprise DetailSelectors describing lowest level data elements; groups thereof that provide context for member DetailSelectors, plus Boolean properties for queries using such Selectors, and association links to higher-level GlueSelectors that comprise such DetailSelectors, as well as association links to yet higher levels, eventually to Items, which are of a level greater than the highest level GlueSelector, reference a predetermined collection of data in the target collection, and comprise suitable matches for all of the DetailSelectors represented. Such metadata may be used to present choices to a user for terms to add to a query while ensuring suitable match by information in at least one Item. Information about Groups of DetailSelectors and Groups of GlueSelectors, as well as information about content of a GlueSelector, may be presented to a user to reduce in the query and in the data thus located. |
| US08122021B2 |
Domain expertise determination
A user's domain expertise may be estimated through several factors by monitoring different aspects of a user's interaction with a web browser. Based on the user's domain expertise, search results may be presented to the user that is commensurate with their expertise, resulting in a more efficient and productive on line session. A user's expertise in a knowledge domain may be determined from the user's behavior, including analyzing search queries, monitoring how the user navigates between and through websites, and analyzing the specific cites visited. As a user interacts with a browser, the user's estimated domain expertise may be updated and used to provide appropriate and useful search results. In many embodiments, a user may have different expertise levels for different technical domains. |
| US08122019B2 |
Sharing user distributed search results
A universal distributed search system allows users to find and distribute search results (possibly including advertisements) to those with whom they communicate. The search results can be easily distributed by the user via a simple interface that allows the search results to be easily added to the user's content. In one implementation, the search results may be automatically generated by the system based on user input to a content creation application. |
| US08122013B1 |
Title based local search ranking
A method for performing a local search includes receiving a local search request that includes at least a search term and a geographic identification. Business listings matching the received local search request are identified. The business listings are then ranked based on at least a webscore associated with each listing. Each listing's webscore is based on the listing's web popularity. In this manner, local search listings are ranked and presented in a more accurate manner. |
| US08122011B1 |
Identifying sibling queries
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, in which one or more search query suggestions can be identified based upon the intersection of predicate search groups. A first predicate search group can be compared to a second predicate search group to derive a query map value associated with the intersection of the predicate search groups. The query map value can be compared to a threshold to determine whether to identify different search queries as suggestions for one another. |
| US08122004B2 |
Generating and providing rich media presentations optimized for a device over a network
Generating and providing rich media presentations to a requesting device is described. Attributes of the requesting device are determined and used to create optimized code for the requesting device. The attributes may include information relating to the operating system of the requesting device; a media player; a bandwidth parameter; presence or absence of a firewall, permissions related to the requesting device, and the like. A virtual player is created that includes code to play media files. A presentation package is created that sets the presentation attributes for the multimedia experience. A media package is created that instructs the virtual player what multimedia content to play. |
| US08121999B2 |
Methods for searching private social network data
A method for searching a database that includes private social network data includes providing one or more databases including a plurality of database entries, a first portion of the database entries including private social network data and a second portion including non-social network data that is publicly accessible on the World Wide Web. The method further includes receiving a keyword search request from a search request user and searching the one or more databases or a keyword index thereof using one or more keywords and determining a hierarchy for search result items. The method also includes displaying at least a portion of search results items according to the hierarchy. And, determining whether the user has access rights to a particular subset of the private social network data and wherein if the user has access rights to the particular subset of private social network data, using at least a portion of the particular subset of social network data in the step of (i) searching the one or more databases, (ii) determining the hierarchy, and/or (iii) displaying the search result items. |
| US08121992B2 |
Log data store and assembler for large objects in database system
A mechanism works in conjunction with a DB2® Log and an analysis tool, such as BMC's Log Master™, to handle logged data for Large Objects (LOBs) stored in tables of a DB2 database system. A plurality of controls track data logged for the LOBs. The mechanism reads log records from a DB2 Log and uses the controls to determine which of the tracked LOBs is associated with the log records and obtains data from those associated log records. The mechanism builds keys to index the data and stores the keys and the data in a Virtual Storage Access Method store having Key Sequenced Data Sets maintained separate from the log record store for the DB2 Log. When requested by the analysis tool, the data in the store can be reassembled using the keys and map records in the first store that map the logged data for the tracked LOBs. |
| US08121990B1 |
Methods, systems and program products for communicating file modification information
According to one feature of the system, a method for updating a file maintained by first, second and third computers. The method comprises steps of the first computer communicating to the second computer a file modification instruction, the file modification instruction including the file identifier and a modification for the file. The third computer issuing to the second computer a request to notify the third computer of a file modification when the master property identifier does not match the property identifier maintained by the third computer. The second computer receiving the request to notify and, in response to the file modification instruction, implementing the modification of the master file whereby the master property identifier changes, and, upon noting that the master property identifier does not match the property identifier maintained by the third computer, issuing a master update to the third computer, the master update including the file identifier, the master property identifier and the modification for the file. The third computer receiving the master update and responsively modifying the version of the file that it maintains and updating the property identifier that it maintains for the file. |
| US08121989B1 |
Determining differences between documents
Embodiments of a computer system that compares documents are described. During operation, the computer system identifies a set of matching elements and associated locations in a first document and a second document. Next, the computer system repeatedly identifies additional sets of matching elements and associated locations in the first document and the second document until there are no further matches. Note that a given additional set of matching elements may be different than the set of matching elements and other additional sets of matching elements. |
| US08121988B2 |
Autonomic index creation, modification and deletion
An index advice record engine generates and stores index advice records. An index advice policy mechanism allows a user to define an index advice policy that specifies criteria for autonomic index creation, modification and deletion. An autonomic index mechanism reads the index advice records, compares this information with the criteria in the user-defined index advice policies, and determines whether an index should be created, modified or deleted based on the information in the index advice records and the index advice policies. By automating the process of creating, modifying and deleting indexes according to user-defined policies, the preferred embodiments alleviate human users from most of the work of manually creating, modifying and deleting indexes. |
| US08121985B2 |
Delta versioning for learning objects
A method for versioning learning objects comprises identifying learning content, which includes a plurality of learning objects, for storage in a content repository. Each learning object comprises or contains at least one content file. The method then includes comparing first version information of a first of the content files to versioning information obtained from an object version file identifying a prior version of the particular learning object. In response to at least a portion of the first version information of the first content file matching a corresponding portion of the versioning information stored in the object version file, a pointer to a corresponding content file in the prior version of the learning object is stored in a new object version file. |
| US08121983B2 |
Systems and methods for monitoring application data in a data replication system
Performing data management operations on replicated data in a computer network. Log entries are generated for data management operations of an application executing on a source system. Consistency point entries are used to indicate a time of a known good, or recoverable, state of the application. A destination system is configured to process a copy of the log and consistency point entries to replicate data in a replication volume, the replicated data being a copy of the application data on the source system. When the replicated data represents a known good state of the application, as determined by the consistency point entries, the destination system(s) may perform a storage operation (e.g., snapshot, backup) to copy the replicated data and to logically associate the copied data with a time information (e.g., time stamp) indicative of the source system time when the application was in the known good state. |
| US08121981B2 |
Database snapshot management
Technologies are described herein for managing database snapshots. One user interface is provided for managing the automated creation and deletion of database snapshots. Parameters are received through the user interface that define how the database snapshots should be created and deleted. Once the parameters are defined, a timer job is executed that causes a DBMS to create and delete the database snapshots according to the specified parameters. A user interface is also provided for manually managing the creation, deletion, and restoration of database snapshots. A request may be received through this user interface to recover data from a database snapshot. In response to such a request, another user interface is provided for specifying the data that should be recovered. Once the data to be recovered has been specified, the desired data is recovered from the database snapshot. |
| US08121980B2 |
Transactional record manager
Transactional record management methods and systems enabling multiple independent servers (such as database servers) using shared storage to initiate transactions in parallel without inter server communication and without locking the records used by the transaction. The in-flight transactions can be included in a shared transaction log without a final determination of whether the transaction committed. The log updates can be broadcast to each of the servers, which each parse the log, using the same rules of analysis, and therefore each compute server can independently and asynchronously come to the same conclusion as to which transactions aborted and which transactions committed. |
| US08121978B2 |
Database system providing improved methods for data replication
A system providing improved methods for data replication is described. A method for replicating a transaction from a primary database to a replicate database while the replicate database remains available for use comprises: recording information about a transaction being performed at a primary database in a transaction log; synchronously copying the information about the transaction in the transaction log to a mirrored transaction log; generating a reconstructed transaction based on the information about the transaction copied to the mirrored transaction log; and applying the reconstructed transaction at the replicate database while the replicate database remains available for use. |
| US08121977B2 |
Ensuring data persistence and consistency in enterprise storage backup systems
Ensuring data persistence and consistency in enterprise storage backup systems method and apparatus are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes creating a data log structure (e.g., a log file) on a storage device (e.g., a Serial ATA drive, a SCSI drive, a SAS drive, a storage are network, etc.) coupled to an application server to store a backup data generated by a filter module in a continuous backup environment and buffering the backup data generated by the filter module through a memory module that transfers the backup data to the data log structure on the storage device based on an occurrence of an event. The data log structure may be created by configuring a portion of the storage device as a dedicated resource available to the memory module to copy the backup data and the data log structure may be a file on the storage device coupled to the application server having the file system. |
| US08121972B2 |
Reduction of classification error rates and monitoring system using an artificial class
Systems and methods for enhancing the accuracy of classifying a measurement by providing an artificial class. Seizure prediction systems may employ a classification system including an artificial class and a user interface for signaling uncertainty in classification when a measurement is classified in the artificial class. |
| US08121962B2 |
Automated entity identification for efficient profiling in an event probability prediction system
A computer-implemented method and system for automated entity identification for efficient profiling in an event probability prediction system. A first subset of entities belonging to one or more entity classes is defined. At least one historical profile is constructed for each entity in the subset of entities based on a set of possible outcomes of transaction behavior of each entity in the first subset of entities. Based on the historical profiles, a second subset of entities having transaction behavior associated with a transaction is selected, the transaction behavior being predictive of at least one targeted outcome from the set of possible outcomes. The first subset of entities is redefined with the second subset of entities. |
| US08121959B2 |
Methods and systems for cost estimation based on templates
Systems and methods are disclosed for generating cost estimates. In one implementation, a computer-implemented method for producing a cost estimate, comprising selecting at least one cost object included in the cost estimate. The cost object requires evaluation of a first function stored in a cost estimation system. The selected cost object is described by a mapping between the first function and a second function in a costing platform. The mapping indicates a matching of local and remote fieldnames that describe a logical storage location of the cost object within the cost estimation system and the costing platform, respectively. The method further comprises determining whether the selected cost object requires evaluation of the second function, receiving cost data for the cost object from the costing platform, calculating the cost estimate using the cost data and the first function and producing the cost estimate via a user interface. |
| US08121955B2 |
Signing program data payload sequence in program loading
Communicating program data between a first device and a second device comprises disassembling a first program file comprising program data into at least one logical data unit, partitioning each of the at least one logical data unit into at least one protocol data unit and computing a first fingerprint over the payload portion of the at least one protocol data unit of the at least one logical data unit. The format of the at least one protocol data unit is defined by a communication protocol and includes a payload portion. |
| US08121953B1 |
Intelligent meeting planner
One embodiment of the present invention includes a meeting planning tool that contains information about as many different aspects of a meeting as desired, including the cost of the meeting, both in direct expenses and indirect costs to the enterprise or organization, thus allowing a meeting planner to optimize the overall cost of the meeting to the lowest point in a total-cost-of-ownership approach to planning. |
| US08121952B2 |
System, method, and service for delivering multimedia content by means of a permission to decrypt titles on a physical media
Enhanced multimedia content on physical media interacts with the user through a media player and the Internet. Enhanced multimedia utilizes IDs for pieces of content on the media and a media key block. On the enhanced media is a file with a list of URLs. As the enhanced media plays a title requiring an external permission for decryption, the media player accesses the URL for that title and obtains the permission. The permission may be purchased or provided for free. Secure encryption and transmission of permission is accomplished by broadcast encryption using a media key block. Each media has a unique set of keys that allow the media player to process the media key block; however, each media follows a unique path through the media key block. All legitimate media players obtain the media key; circumvention devices cannot decipher the media key block. |
| US08121949B2 |
Computer-based method and system for aiding transactions
A method for providing a warranty relating to a transaction between two parties, each party having a data communications device, in a system which includes an infrastructure composed of a plurality of locations each associated with a respective institution which provides services to clients, each location having a computer system, a database coupled to the computer system and storing information about each client of the institution and a data communications device coupled to the computer system for communication with the data communications device of any one party, each party being a client of at least one of the institutions, the method containing the steps of: transmitting a request for a warranty from one party to the transaction which is a client of the respective institution to a respective location associated with the respective institution, which request includes information identifying the other party to the transaction and information about the nature of the transaction; conducting an exchange of information between the respective location and a location associated with a institution of which the other party is a client; and transmitting a response to the request from the respective location to the one party. |
| US08121947B1 |
Methods and systems for electronic transfer of financial accounts between financial institutions
A method of transferring a financial account from an existing financial institution to a new financial institution includes receiving a customer request for financial account transfer, determining information regarding the existing financial institution using information stored at the new financial institution, receiving, via an aggregation tool, information regarding the financial account, determining financial obligations associated with the financial account using the received information, and populating a database of the new financial institution to reflect the determined financial obligations. |
| US08121946B1 |
System and method for modular electronic signature block
Method and system are directed to capturing consumer agreement to the terms of a transaction conducted online. The method/system uses a modular electronic signature block that may be applied to electronic versions of any standardized form. The electronic signature is implemented in a non-invasive way that does not alter or replace the contents of the electronic forms. The modular nature of the electronic signature block allows a separate electronic signature to be used for each online form, or a single electronic signature for multiple online forms. The online forms themselves are generated by populating a generic template of the standardized forms with consumer-specific data. The electronically-signed forms may thereafter be stored as data for a particular template. Such an arrangement provides a more secure, reproducible, verifiable, and unalterable means of capturing consumer consent, thereby allowing consumer transactions to be conducted entirely online. |
| US08121942B2 |
Systems and methods for secure and transparent cardless transactions
Systems, methods, and apparatus for handling and/or authorizing payment requests by a consumer for a transaction are provided. Payment information can be sent directly from a consumer to a non-merchant, thereby allowing no new entities to obtain the payment information. Transaction identifiers can be used to facilitate communications among the entities. The payment information can be sent to the non-merchant via a merchant application with a submit payment button directed to the non-merchant so little or no deviations from standard practices are required. |
| US08121939B2 |
Method and apparatus for a model assessing debtor behavior
A computer implemented method for assessing different expected payment behavior of a debtor with respect to different creditors. |
| US08121938B1 |
Comprehensive online loan transaction
Method and system for conducting a commercial transaction requiring a monetary loan online to allow a consumer or borrower to access a lending institution over a network connection and apply for a monetary loan online. The loan application is processed in real time and the borrower is notified of the type of loan, loan amount, interest rate, etc., that he/she is qualified for. Upon acceptance of the loan terms, the borrower is provided with a personal identification number (PIN) and a unique lender transaction ID that serves as confirmation of the loan. The lender transaction ID may then be taken to a suitable seller and used to conduct the transaction. The seller simply accesses the lending institution over a network connection, enters the lender transaction ID, the borrower's PIN, and other transaction-related information, and the lending institution automatically sends the appropriate payment to the seller. |
| US08121937B2 |
Gaming industry risk management clearinghouse
Systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means for gathering, organizing and presenting on a real time basis information pertinent to Risks associated with subjects related to the Gaming Industry. Risks associated with the Gaming Industry can be managed by gathering data relevant to the Gaming Industry from multiple sources and aggregating the gathered data according to one or more risk variables. An inquiry relating to a risk subject can be received and portions of the aggregated data can be associated with the risk subject. The associated portions of the aggregated data can be transmitted to an entity placing the inquiry or other designated destination. |
| US08121935B2 |
System and method for assigning responsibility for trade order execution
An embodiment of the present invention provides a system and method for a sponsoring organization to: (1) utilize a rules-based computer system to capture trade orders from sub-advisors (money management firms) in order to implement a pre trade compliance review process, thereby enabling the sponsoring organization to prevent the execution of trade orders by a sub advisor that violates securities laws and/or account restrictions; and (2) determine and assign, based on expected market impact of a trade order to buy or sell securities, whether responsibility (discretion over the decisions related to how, when and with whom a trade order is executed) for executing the trade order is assigned to the money management firm for an investment portfolio or to the sponsoring organization of that portfolio. Trade orders are categorized in real-time as “high touch” (significant effort and market impact) or “low touch” (insignificant effort and market impact). |
| US08121933B1 |
System, method and program for preventing gaming in a trading system
System, method, and program for preventing gaming in a trading system. The systems, methods and programs can receive an order from a trader to trade securities in an alternative trading system, determine if gaming is occurring, set a price collar for the order, and submit the order to the alternative trading system with the price collar. |
| US08121932B2 |
Fuel offering and purchase management system
The present disclosure is directed towards apparatuses, systems and methods to facilitate the pricing, sales and delivery of a commodity fuel to a Customer. In one embodiment, the disclosure teaches a Fuel Offer Generator that facilitates the purchase and management of fuel offerings. The Fuel Offer Generator allows Customers interested in securing fuel to obtain an offer for fuel at lock-in prices for various tenors. Fuel Customers can buy these fuel offers such that they may later exercise the fuel offers so their fuel costs are locked-in at desired levels (e.g., they may be set to strike prices). The Fuel Offer Generator also can establish a Premium Price that will be part of the fuel offer. The Fuel Offer Generator may generate hedges to counteract fuel related risks stemming from fuel offer purchases. Ultimately, a customer that purchases a fuel offering can exercise their fuel offering order at a specified price and redeem any difference between the market price for their purchased fuel and the price specified in their fuel offering order. The Fuel Offer Generator employs a geographical fuel pump location metric as well as consumer redemption to establish the pricing of fuel offerings. |
| US08121929B2 |
Apparatus and methods for automatic trade execution in a trading system
A trading system transitions from a first state to a second state and may award a participant, when one or more criteria and/or a status of trading rights are met, with an exclusive and/or semi-exclusive right in the second state to trade on an incoming contra order. |
| US08121928B2 |
Electronic reimbursement of customs broker
Disclosed herein are methods of automatically reimbursing a customs broker for payments made to a customs agency on behalf of an importer. The methods include procedures for balancing broker payments and for automatically verifying that data provided by the broker coincides with data provided with shipments of imported goods. The methods further include procedures for adjusting broker payments where deviations are detected in the verification processes. |
| US08121921B2 |
Method, apparatus and article-of-manufacture for managing and supporting initial public offerings and other financial issues
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer-assisted business methods, and to system and articles-of-manufacture for implementing such methods. More particularly, the invention relates to computer-based methods, apparatus and articles-of-manufacture for supporting the coordination, communication, record-keeping, accounting, security and scheduling needs for the syndicate associated with an initial public offering (“IPO”) or other new financial issue. While the invention is exemplified and discussed herein with reference to IPO's, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is equally applicable to other types of securities and debt instruments, such as preferred stock, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, etc. |
| US08121918B2 |
Using commercial share of wallet to manage vendors
Commercial size of spending wallet (“CSoSW”) is the total business spend of a business including cash but excluding bartered items. Commercial share of wallet (“CSoW”) is the portion of the spending wallet that is captured by a particular financial company. A modeling approach utilizes various data sources to provide outputs that describe a company's spend capacity. Government agencies, procurement departments, and others that patronize small businesses can use CSoW/CSoSW to determine businesses that should be awarded contracts and businesses that should be denied. CSoW/CSoSW may also be used to manage approved vendor lists. |
| US08121917B2 |
Systems for implementing a loyalty program
A system for implementing a loyalty program includes a personal terminal, an interaction terminal, and a loyalty module. The personal terminal may be associated with a user. The interaction terminal may be associated with a product or service. The interaction terminal and the personal terminal may be operable to establish a communication when in proximity of each other. The loyalty module may be operable to provide a benefit to the user in response to the communication. The benefit may be provided without regard to whether the user obtained or purchased the product or service. |
| US08121916B2 |
Method and system for risk-hedging in project management
A computer program product stored on machine readable media including machine readable instructions for selecting a project portfolio from available projects, the instructions for implementing a method include inputting an investment cost and a return for each available project and user-specified constraints; creating a formulation, the formulation comprising the investment cost and the return for each available project, the constraints and variables, the variables comprising for each available project a threshold probability of success and a selection decision; solving the formulation to select the project portfolio and to determine the threshold probability of success for each available project; and outputting the project portfolio and the threshold probability of success for each available project. |
| US08121912B2 |
Automated method for reconciling asynchronous time attendance records
A method for reconciling asynchronous time attendance records in a time attendance system is provided. The reconciliation method of the present invention can reconcile and synchronize time attendance records from a single time attendance recorder device, or multiple time attendance recorder devices which are independent from one another and not electronically connected to a central processor or each other. Each time attendance event includes a time attendance recorder identifying code, a user identifying code, and is processed according to whether it is determined to be a start activity or a stop activity. A series of completed time records is created for each user as all of the time attendance events from all of the recorder devices are processed. |
| US08121910B2 |
Automatic loaner part replacement to prevent system callback
A system for automatically replacing loaner parts within a loaner system to prevent loaner system callback. In response to selecting a loaner system within loaner inventory data, it is determined whether the selected loaner system is required to be returned based on a target return date for the selected loaner system. In response to determining that the selected loaner system is not required to be returned, a notification is automatically generated and sent to a customer to return expiring loaner parts within the selected loaner system based on loaner part rules. A part replacement order is automatically generated for replacement loaner parts for each of the expiring loaner parts. Then, the replacement loaner parts are automatically shipped to the customer to replace the expiring loaner parts to prevent callback of the selected loaner system. |
| US08121899B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing subscriptions
A subscription system allows a customer to establish a subscription to a product with one or more retailers (e.g., by establishing the subscription through a controller or central system). In one embodiment, a subscription may be established after receiving information that identifies a product. Terms of a subscription for the product are established, such as a frequency and a duration of the subscription. |
| US08121898B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for geographic area selections in pay-per-call advertisement
Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls for geographic area based advertisements. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving an indication of a target geographic area of an advertisement for an advertiser having a telephone number, the advertisement including one of: a telephone number assigned to the advertiser and a reference to the telephone number assigned to the advertiser; and providing the advertisement for delivery to users of interest in the target geographic area, the advertiser billed for the advertisement based on telephonic connections made to the telephone number of the advertiser through the telephone number assigned to the advertiser. |
| US08121896B1 |
System and method for presenting advertisements
A system and method, comprising providing a speech engine running on a computer system supporting an interface selected from the group consisting of one or more of a text-to-speech interface and a speech-to-text interface; presenting to a user through a user interface, an interactive advertisement, the interactive advertisement at least one of: presenting a speech output derived from a text file received from a server to a user; and receiving a speech input which is converted to text in dependence on a data file defining at least one of a vocabulary and a grammar, the speech input converted to text being communicated to an advertisement server. |
| US08121894B2 |
Early-payment discount for e-billing system
An Early Payment Discount (EPD) mechanism that enables customers to automatically receive an early payment discount for paying their invoice electronically, e.g., via electronic funds transfer (EFT), through an e-Billing system within a designated number of days from on-line invoice post date. |
| US08121891B2 |
Personalized product report
A system is disclosed that facilitates creation of a web-based user interface which obtains user profile information from a database, gathers information from one or more users regarding product characteristics, correlates the user responses, performs statistical analysis of the user responses and presents the statistical analysis in a user comprehendible manner. The system also stores statistical ratings in a database correlated to a particular product or service. Ratings are provided to a user from the database based on a particular product or service, and the database can be queried to retrieve one or more user profiles that have rated a product of interest to the current use. |
| US08121889B2 |
Information technology portfolio management
An information technology portfolio is managed using assessments that are based on a set of criteria. Each of the criteria may have one or more attributes, and may be different in priority from one another. The criteria are preferably directed toward evaluating, ensuring, and/or improving acceptance of the products in the portfolio by their target marketplace or market segment. Assessments are performed, using the criteria and attributes, and results of these assessments may be used when making various decisions regarding the products in the portfolio. |
| US08121887B2 |
Method and system for reporting on the quality of a repair process
A method of reporting on the quality of repair work performed on an article such as a vehicle including the steps of: (1) identifying occurrences of quality problems in repair of an article at a repair facility, (2) generating quality data on the occurrences of quality problems of step (a), (3) electronically transferring the quality data to a computer database, (4) sorting the quality data in the database and (5) producing a report of the sorted quality data. A system for practicing this method includes one or more repair shops in communication with a computer. Data on the insurance of quality problems during the repair of vehicles is transmitted from the repair shops to the computer which then sorts the quality data in the database and produces reports of assorted quality data to provide information to repair shops, insurance companies and manufacturers. |
| US08121885B2 |
Plan solver
Systems and methods for supply chain management and identification of feasible plans. Identification of feasible plans includes simultaneous breadth and depth satisfaction of demands. Demands are satisfied using multiple sources of supply, consideration of substitute items, generation of supply, and/or reallocation of supply previously pegged for satisfaction of a lower priority demand. Reallocation optionally includes consideration of items and demands associated with multiple level codes. |
| US08121881B2 |
Project management method and system
The method and system for managing a project with multiple tasks and milestones by defining probabilities of key project events and assessing their performance risk. Each task of the project is described as a waveform propagating from this task to an assigned milestone, and each milestone is described as a coherent superposition of task waveforms. The probability of any milestone is obtained by comparison of probabilities of non-perturbed and perturbed milestone, which caused by delay of a task or combination of tasks. |
| US08121879B1 |
Automatically generating assessments of qualification relevance and qualification issuer credibility
A method, system, and computer-readable medium is described for generating assessments of relevance of qualifications and of credibility of qualification issuers, such as in an automatic manner and for use by users in an electronic marketplace that facilitates interactions between task requesters who have tasks that are available to be performed and task performers who are available to perform tasks. Such assessments may in some situations be provided to users in various manners and for various purposes, such as to allow task requester users to identify appropriate qualifications to associate with their tasks and/or to allow task performer users to identify appropriate qualifications to acquire to assist in future performance of tasks. The assessments may be generated in various manners, including based on analyzing usage data related to the use of qualifications by task performers and task requesters and based on feedback provided by human users. |
| US08121878B2 |
Execution decision support program and device of regulation measures
The present invention calculates a predicted accumulative import amount for each chemical substance for each month by using information on a predicted monthly shipping amount and the amount of a chemical substance contained in the product and specifies the chemical substance whose predicted accumulative import amount exceeds a regulation threshold and the time when the import amount exceeds the regulation threshold. The present invention specifies the product containing the chemical substance, calculates the predicted shipping amount of the product from the threshold excess time of the chemical substance to the end of the year, and calculates the loss amount caused by the loss of sales opportunities from the profit per unit sales amount for each product when any regulation measures are not executed on the chemical substance. The present invention finally calculates the ratio of the expense necessary for the measures and the summed value, and displays the ratio. |
| US08121877B2 |
Dynamic evolution of business performance management solutions using declarative evolution policies
A policy-driven approach to Business Performance Management (BPM) evolution is to capture the mechanism of BPM solution evolutions. These policies are executed by the runtime infrastructure which transforms and interprets evolution policies and allows fine granularity controls on solution evolution. At transformation time, the relationship among the event processing progress and the runtime state is derived based on the observation model. Such relationship information allows verification of freshness of migrating data and parallelization of runtime state validation and event processing. Consistent and efficient evolution of BPM solutions transit while event processing is operational. |
| US08121875B2 |
Comparing taxonomies
A system for comparing a first taxonomy and a second taxonomy. The system may comprise at least one processor having associated cache memory, a cache module and a comparison module. The cache module may be configured to load a portion of a comparison sample to the cache memory. The comparison sample may comprise a part of the first taxonomy and a part of the second taxonomy. The comparison module may be configured to cause the processor to retrieve the portion of the first comparison sample from the cache memory and compare the portion of the first comparison sample. |
| US08121873B1 |
Rapid categorization of data center serviceability characteristics
In one embodiment, a method and apparatus for rapid categorization of data center serviceability characteristics is disclosed. The method includes identifying one or more variables of interest relating to serviceability of data centers, identifying one or more archetypal data center patterns using historical data for the one or more variables of interest, wherein the one or more archetypal data center patterns do not include mythical measurements, collecting data for the one or more variables of interest from a target data center, and determining a best match of the collected data from the target data center to one of the archetypal data center patterns. Other embodiments are also disclosed. |
| US08121870B2 |
Methods, systems, and devices for verifying and approving government required release forms
The disclosure herein provides methods, systems, and devices for managing, transferring, modifying, converting and/or tracking medical files and/or medical system messages. In certain embodiments, the foregoing may generally be based on requesting medical files at a first medical facility, identifying the requested medical files at a second medical facility, initiating a secure network connection between the first and second medical facility, modifying a header portion of the medical files based on patient identification information created by the first medical facility, and other processing steps. |
| US08121868B1 |
Systems and methods for providing an inducement to purchase incident to a physician's prescription of medication
Systems and methods for providing targeted content to a patient who has received a prescription for medication. The systems and methods generally provide the content prior to the Point of Sale (POS) of the actual prescription allow patients to review the content and possibly act on it prior to actually obtaining the medication. Depending on embodiment, the content may be provided by a pharmacy at or around the time of dispensing or by a physician at or around the time of prescribing. |
| US08121860B2 |
Patient care and treatment data structure and processing system
An expected outcome data system stores data representing a plurality of different expected outcomes of patient care and treatment for use in providing healthcare to a patient. An acquisition processor acquires data representing an expected outcome of treatment associated with a medical problem for storage in a repository. A repository, electrically coupled to the acquisition processor, includes data representing a plurality of different expected outcomes; an individual expected outcome has an expected outcome name and is characterized by expected outcome attributes; an individual expected outcome has a plurality of attribute properties determining how an expected outcome attribute is represented. Expected outcome attributes include a focus term indicating a topic of an expected outcome, an expected outcome likelihood term indicating an assessment of likelihood of the associated corresponding expected outcome, and a client term indicating at least one target person for care. The attribute properties include a format attribute property indicating a format constraint of an expected outcome attribute and a content attribute property indicating a content constraint of an expected outcome attribute. A retrieval processor, electrically coupled to the repository, retrieves data representing at least one expected outcome from the repository. |
| US08121858B2 |
Optimizing pharmaceutical treatment plans across multiple dimensions
A computer implemented method for generating optimized pharmaceutical treatment plans for an individual. A set of known treatments to be used by the target individual over a future period of time is generated. An actual use of the treatments in the set of known treatments by the target individual during the future period of time is substantially certain. A set of probable treatments of the target individual is received. The actual use of the treatments in the set of probable treatments by the target individual during the future period of time is uncertain. An optimized pharmaceutical treatment plan for the target individual is generated. The optimized pharmaceutical treatment plan comprises medications and durable medical goods that are likely to be used by the target individual over the future period of time optimized over a set of dimensions associated with the set of known treatments and the set of probable treatments. |
| US08121844B2 |
Dimension measurement system
A dimension measurement system is provided. The dimension measurement system includes a speech I/O device fit in an ear canal of a worker, generating a voice signal from vibration in the air emitted from an eardrum of the worker and propagated inside the ear canal, and outputting the voice signal and an information processing device realizing a speech recognition function recognizing a measurement value of a dimension of an object from the voice signal that the speech I/O device output and a judgment function judging if the measurement value satisfies a reference value of the object. |
| US08121835B2 |
Automatic level control of speech signals
Automatic level control of speech portions of an audio signal is provided. An audio signal is received in the form of a sequence of samples and may contain speech portion and non-speech portions. The sequence of samples is divided into a sequence of sub-frames. Multiple sub-frames adjacent to a present sub-frame are examined to determine a peak value of samples in the sub-frames. A gain factor is computed for the present sub-frame based on the peak value and a desired maximum value for said speech portion, and each sample in the present sub-frame is amplified by the gain factor. In an embodiment, variations in filtered energy values of multiple sub-frames enable determination of whether a sub-frame corresponds to a speech or non-speech/noise portion. |
| US08121832B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding high frequency signal
Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding a high frequency signal by using a low frequency signal. The high frequency signal can be encoded by extracting a coefficient by linear predicting a high frequency signal, and encoding the coefficient, generating a signal by using the extracted coefficient and a low frequency signal, and encoding the high frequency signal by calculating a ratio between the high frequency signal and an energy value of the generated signal. Also, the high frequency signal can be decoded by decoding a coefficient, which is extracted by linear predicting a high frequency signal, and a low frequency signal, and generating a signal by using the decoded coefficient and the decoded low frequency signal, and adjusting the generated signal by decoding a ratio between the generated signal and an energy value of the high frequency signal. |
| US08121830B2 |
Methods and apparatus to extract data encoded in media content
Methods and apparatus to extract data encoded in media content are disclosed. An example method includes receiving a media content signal, sampling the media content signal to generate digital samples, determining a frequency domain representation of the digital samples, determining a first rank of a first frequency in the frequency domain representation, determining a second rank of a second frequency in the frequency domain representation, combining the first rank and the second rank with a set of ranks to create a combined set of ranks, comparing the combined set of ranks to a set of reference sequences, determining a data represented by the combined set of ranks based on the comparison, and storing the data in a tangible memory. |
| US08121828B2 |
Detecting conditions for transfer of execution from one computer instruction stream to another and executing transfer on satisfaction of the conditions
A computer has instruction pipeline circuitry capable of executing two instruction set architectures (ISA's). A binary translator translates at least a selected portion of a computer program from a lower-performance one of the ISA's to a higher-performance one of the ISA's. Hardware initiates a query when about to execute a program region coded in the lower-performance ISA, to determine whether a higher-performance translation exists. If so, the about-to-be-executed instruction is aborted, and control transfers to the higher-performance translation. After execution of the higher-performance translation, execution of the lower-performance region is reestablished at a point downstream from the aborted instruction, in a context logically equivalent to that which would have prevailed had the code of the lower-performance region been allowed to proceed. |
| US08121826B1 |
Graphical user interface for system design
A design tool for designing a system includes a display device with a first visualization pane showing a symbolic representation of a connection between a first port and a second port of the system and a second visualization pane showing an unconnected port of the system. A text entry pane on the display device shows a textual definition of the connection. An optional status pane shows a textual log of user-performed actions relating to construction of the system. |
| US08121825B2 |
Method and apparatus for executing a hardware simulation and verification solution
One embodiment of the present invention provides systems and techniques to execute a hardware simulation and verification solution on a multiprocessor system. The hardware simulation and verification solution can be partitioned into different modules which can include a simulation kernel to simulate changes in signal values, a value change dump module to store the changes in the signal values on a computer-readable storage medium, a functional coverage module to check functionality, a toggle coverage module to check signal toggling, an assertion engine to check complex behaviors, and a testbench module to generate test scenarios. Embodiments of the present invention can execute different modules on different processors, thereby improving performance. |
| US08121824B2 |
Predicate checking for distributed systems
Predicate checking in conjunction with distributed systems can enable an investigating user to check predicates in the context of instance states and/or distributed states of a distributed system. In an example embodiment, a method entails accepting distributed system simulation data and performing a simulation of a distributed system using the distributed system simulation data to create distributed system simulated states. At least a portion of the distributed system simulated states are exposed. The exposed portion of the distributed system simulated states is retrieved and stored as exposed states for the distributed system. The exposed states for the distributed system are compared to predicate states for the distributed system. If an inconsistency is detected between the exposed states and the predicate states based on the comparing, at least one alarm is issued. |
| US08121820B2 |
Program managed design for complex construction projects
A method for generating architectural design requirements for a building structure is disclosed. A schematic drawing file of the building structure is loaded. The building type for the building structure is designated. A topology mask identifying the functional zones demarcated by the schematic drawing is created over the schematic drawing. Architectural design standards that are specific to the building type designated are applied to each of the identified functional zones to generate the architectural design requirements for the building structure. The architectural design standards being stored in a relational database. |
| US08121815B2 |
Noise separating apparatus, noise separating method, probability density function separating apparatus, probability density function separating method, testing apparatus, electronic device, program, and recording medium
There is provided a noise separating apparatus that separates a probability density function of a predetermined noise component from a probability density function of a signal under test. The noise separating apparatus includes a domain transforming section that is supplied with the probability density function of the signal under test and transforms the probability density function into a spectrum in a predetermined variable axis, and a standard deviation computing section that computes standard deviation of a random component of noise contained in the signal under test based on a magnitude of a predetermined variable component in a main lobe of the spectrum. |
| US08121814B2 |
Three-dimensional processor and method for controlling display of three-dimensional data in the three-dimensional processor
A method is provided for controlling display of three-dimensional data in a three-dimensional processor that processes three-dimensional data indicating three-dimensional position coordinates of each point on a surface of an object to be measured, the three-dimensional data being obtained by projecting measurement light onto the object and receiving measurement light reflected from the object. The method includes obtaining reliability data that are an index of reliability of three-dimensional data of said each point, enabling a user to adjust a threshold for defining a range of the reliability, and displaying, on a screen of a display, three-dimensional data corresponding to reliability falling within a range defined by the threshold adjusted by the user with the three-dimensional data displayed distinguishably from different three-dimensional data. |
| US08121807B2 |
Method and system for device reconfiguration for defect amelioration
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to cost-effective defect amelioration in manufactured electronic devices that include nanoscale components. Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to amelioration of defects in electronic devices that contain nanoscale demultiplexers. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the nanoscale-demultiplexer-containing devices include reconfigurable encoders. In one embodiment of the present invention, the table of codes within a reconfigurable encoder is permuted, and a device is configured in accordance with the permuted codes, in order to produce a permuted table of codes that, when input to an appropriately configured nanoscale demultiplexer, produces correct outputs despite defects in the nanoscale demultiplexer. |
| US08121805B2 |
Method and system for determining locations of moving objects with maximum length sequences
A location of an object is determined by arranging a sequence of bits on a substrate. The sequence of bits includes subsequence of bits, and each subsequence of bits is unique for each location along the substrate. When the object is at a particular location along the substrate a sensor detects the subsequence of bits at the particular location, and a decoder associates the location of the subsequence at the particular location with the object. The substrate can be a leaky coaxial cable with slits or not, corresponding to the bits, or lane markings on a road. |
| US08121802B2 |
System and method for determining an expected vehicle drive range
A vehicle may include one or more controllers configured to determine a remaining energy of the vehicle's battery, to determine a series of energy consumption rates of the vehicle, and to select a set of energy consumption rates from the series. The one or more controllers may be further configured to determine an expected drive range for the vehicle based on the remaining energy and the selected set of energy consumption rates. |
| US08121801B2 |
System and method for multi-rate concurrent waveform capture and storage for power quality metering
Systems and methods are provided for use in an IED that perform high resolution waveform capture to generate multi-rate waveform data in real-time. In one embodiment, high-resolution sampled data is dynamically pre-ordered into separate high resolution and low resolution data streams for presentation and storage. This pre-ordering of data is optimized so as to minimize the amount of data manipulation required to prepare the sampled data for eventual presentation and storage in the IED. Pre-ordering of data facilitates minimum performance impact so that continuous real-time data capture can be achieved. |
| US08121799B2 |
Life estimating method for heater wire, heating apparatus, storage medium, and life estimating system for heater wire
A method of estimating the life of a heater wire, including the steps of: detecting a maximum value of electric power supplied to the heater wire during a temperature rising period during which a temperature is elevated to a preset heating temperature, obtaining an index indicative of the amplitude of the electric power, and giving a notice that the heater wire is approaching the end of its life when the electric power and the index indicative of the of amplitude of the electric power exceed threshold values respectively provided thereto. |
| US08121798B2 |
Gas flux determination using airborne DIAL LIDAR and airborne wind measurement
A system for obtaining emission flux of a gas plume, emanating from a source, includes an airborne differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system for determining multiple concentration path length (CPL) values along a flight path; and an airborne wind measuring system (WMS) for determining a wind vector at the aircraft altitude. Also included is a processor for receiving the multiple CPL values determined by the DIAL system and the wind vector determined by the WMS. The processor uses the CPL values to compute either (a) an area-integrated concentration (AIC) value or (b) an average concentration value over a cross-plume extent, defined along the length dimension of the flight path. The processor also scales the wind vector to the near ground altitude level of the gas plume to obtain a scaled wind vector. The emission flux is obtained by multiplying either the AIC value or the average concentration value with a component of the scaled wind vector. The component of the scaled wind vector is defined by a vector perpendicular to the length dimension of the flight path. |
| US08121797B2 |
T-cell epitope prediction
Epitope prediction models are described herein. By way of example, a system for predicting epitope information relating to a epitope can include a classification model (e.g., logistic regression model). The trained classification model can illustratively operatively execute one ore logistic functions on received protein data, and incorporate one or more of hidden binary variables and shift variables that when processed represent the identification (e.g., prediction) of one or more desired epitopes. The classification model can be configured to predict the epitope information by processing data including various features of an epitope, MHC, MHC supertype, and Boolean combinations thereof. |
| US08121791B2 |
Spectral shaping inversion and migration of seismic data
A geophysical model of a subsurface region is generated based on seismic data, e.g., seismic reflection data. Migration and seismic inversion are applied to the seismic data to generate estimates of one or more physical or seismic properties of the subsurface region. Seismic inversion, such as spectral shaping inversion, is applied before or after migrating the seismic data through a variety of techniques that each avoid the amplification of dipping energy while optimizing computational efficiency and/or accuracy. |
| US08121790B2 |
Combining reservoir modeling with downhole sensors and inductive coupling
A method is disclosed of characterizing a well using a series of measurements taken along the sandface of that well in order to optimize a well model. The method may comprise providing a well model with a plurality of adjustable physical parameters, providing a data set made up of a plurality of sandface measurements, and running the well model with different combinations of adjustable physical parameters so that the results of the well model substantially match the results of the sandface measurements. In one embodiment, the method may comprise creating a communication pathway between the surface and the sandface including an inductive coupler. A further step may include pre-processing the plurality of the sandface measurements. In addition, a further step may be to establish or set at least one control device in order to change the flow characteristics of the production fluid in the well. |
| US08121786B2 |
Method and device for preventing collisions on the ground for aircraft
The invention has as its object to determine a risk of collision on the ground between an aircraft and another object. The aircraft comprises at least one proximity detector and a communication system suitable for setting up a communication among several points, at least one of the points being able to be external to the aircraft. After having received at least one indication from the proximity detector relating to the presence of an object, a signal representing an acoustic alarm linked to the detection of the object is generated then transmitted to the warning system. A comparison advantageously is made between the indication received from the proximity detector and certain parameters of the aircraft, the signal representing an acoustic alarm linked to the detection of the object being generated in response to the result of this comparison. |
| US08121784B2 |
GPS triggered narration and recording for drive events
Automatically presenting content to an occupant of a vehicle as the vehicle traverses a route (e.g., during a test drive or other drive event). Content items are associated with GPS coordinates the route. A GPS device on the vehicle identifies the vehicle location as the vehicle traverses the route, and content item associated with particular locations is presented to the occupant of the vehicle. Audio and/or video of the occupant may be captured and stored on a computing device remote from the vehicle. The captured audio and/or video represents feedback from the occupant during the drive event. |
| US08121779B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information providing method, program, and information providing system
There is provided an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with an information management apparatus storing service information including place information, service content information, and start time information; the information processing apparatus including a communication portion; a position measurement portion for generating positional information; a data acquiring portion for acquiring, based on an input search condition, service information satisfying the search condition from the information management apparatus; and a list generating portion for generating a presentation list recorded with information on a service providing place capable of receiving the service at a provision start time based on the positional information, the place information and the start time information of the acquired service information, and time information defining a time the positional information is generated. |
| US08121777B2 |
Wireless broadcasting of drive-times data
Either vehicle traffic or financial markets data is regularly broadcast in a fixed size packet over a wireless network in a push manner to one or more wireless receiver devices located within a particular service coverage region. A data center stores information specific to the particular region including drive-times strings metadata, drive-times data, drive-times route metadata, traffic incident data and financial markets indicators data. The data center decides upon a particular type of information to be placed into a payload of a next packet to be broadcast and pre-formats this information accordingly without receiving any information from the receiver devices. Data structures are provided which contain data representing the drive-times strings metadata, drive-times data, drive-times route metadata, traffic incident data and financial markets indicators data. |
| US08121772B2 |
Headway distance maintenance supporting device and method
A headway distance maintenance supporting system may include a running controller for performing constant headway distance control, a deceleration controller for performing deceleration support control, a transitional state detector for detecting transitional states of said given vehicle based on the running environment of said given vehicle or the operations performed by the driver. The system controller is configured such that when said transitional state detector detects that the transitional state of said given vehicle is a prescribed transitional state, said running controller is controlled such that said constant headway distance control is released, and said deceleration controller is controlled such that said deceleration support control can be performed. |
| US08121770B2 |
Boundary adaptation scheme for spool valve pressure control
A method for adapting a closing boundary for a proportional spool valve includes generating or detecting a pressure command signal. Next a pressure error is obtained by subtracting an actual wheel brake pressure from its pressure command. Then a modified pressure error is calculated a modified pressure error is calculated in such a way that steady state pressure errors resulting from mismatched feedforward term, control deadzone and other factors are subtracted from measured pressure error to leave the only error to be that due to boundary deviation. An estimator is then used to estimate an apply boundary deviation or a release boundary deviation of the spool valve, as appropriate. A boundary table is updated using the resultant boundary deviation estimate. |
| US08121767B2 |
Predicted and immediate output torque control architecture for a hybrid powertrain system
A method for controlling torque in a hybrid powertrain system to selectively transfer mechanical power to an output member includes monitoring operator inputs to an accelerator pedal and to a brake pedal. An immediate accelerator output torque request, a predicted accelerator output torque request, an immediate brake output torque request, a predicted brake output torque request, and an axle torque response type are determined. An output torque command to the output member of the transmission is determined based upon the immediate accelerator output torque request and the immediate brake output torque request. |
| US08121761B2 |
Acceleration sensor arrangement, safing arrangement for an activation system, activation system
An acceleration sensor arrangement comprises, in one package, an acceleration threshold detector for detecting acceleration and for providing an output signal and a processor circuit for receiving the output signal. The acceleration threshold detector provides an output signal having a first value when the acceleration is less than a predetermined threshold and is arranged to switch the output signal from the first value to a second value when the acceleration reaches the predetermined threshold. The processor circuit generates an event signal to trigger an event, such as the closing of a safing transistor switch in an airbag system, in response to the output signal from the acceleration threshold detector switching to the second value. |
| US08121756B2 |
Device and method for driving dynamics control in a vehicle
Disclosed is a device for influencing the driving dynamics of a vehicle with an electronic brake system. The device includes a brake actuator for adjusting a brake torque at least one wheel brake of the vehicle. The brake torque can be determined in a torque distributing device according to a yaw torque requirement. A first control unit can be activated in the presence of a critical driving condition as is used to determine a first yaw torque requirement due to driving dynamics control. A management device (12) has a second control unit, which can be activated in the presence of a subcritical driving condition, and a second yaw torque requirement (R:D_GM) can be determined by the second control unit due to driving dynamics control, and the second yaw torque requirement (R:D_GM) can be sent to the torque distributing device (20), and an activated state of the first control unit a signal (I:EBS_Status; R: D_GM; R:[S1, S2, . . . ]) can be sent from the electronic brake system (2) to the management device (12), which causes deactivation of the second control unit. |
| US08121751B2 |
Method for assisting in error detection for a motor vehicle
In a method for assisting in error detection for a motor vehicle, characteristic data for an accessory device connected to a device in the motor vehicle are stored in a memory unit provided in the motor vehicle. |
| US08121750B2 |
Vehicle load backup circuit
A load backup device includes an abnormality detection part which detects an abnormal operation of a processing part, and a backup driving part which drives a load based on an output from the abnormality detection part when the abnormality detection part detects the abnormal operation of the processing part. |
| US08121744B2 |
Control system and method for oxygen sensor heater control
The present disclosure provides a control system for a heating element used in an oxygen sensor. The control system comprises a rate module that periodically determines a rate of change of current through the heating element and a temperature adjustment module that periodically compares the rate of change and a rate value. The temperature adjustment module selectively adjusts an operating temperature of the oxygen sensor between a normal temperature and a remedial temperature lower than the normal temperature based on the comparison of the rate of change and the rate value. The present disclosure also provides a related control method for the heating element. |
| US08121742B2 |
Methods, circuits, and computer program products for generation following load management
Two water heaters may be installed in series at a customer location, such that an output of a first (or storage) water heater is coupled to the input of a second (or primary) water heater, the output of which provides hot water to the customer location. During normal operation, only the primary water heater may actually heat water for use at the customer location. However, during periods of excess capacity, the electrical service provider may enable the storage water heater to store the excess electrical power that is generated by operating the power plant at higher output (which may be more efficient). Later, during hours of greater demand, the electrical service provider may disable the storage water heater used to store the excess capacity, whereas the primary water heater may operate normally. However, during the time of greater demand, the storage water heaters may provide pre-heated water to the primary water heater, which in-turn, may need to heat the water less or perhaps not at all. |
| US08121739B2 |
Reactive power management for wind power plant internal grid
A wind power plant comprising a plurality of wind turbine converters coupled to a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter via an internal grid and a power plant controller. The power plant controller is configured to monitor a voltage of the internal grid, and allocate responsibility for generating reactive power to the HVDC converter and the wind turbine converters to maintain the voltage of the internal grid at a desired voltage. |
| US08121738B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling wind turbine electric power generation
A method of controlling a wind turbine farm includes programming at least one algorithm within at least one processor. The wind turbine farm has at least one wind turbine that includes a generator. The at least one algorithm is representative of a relationship between at least one electric power grid tolerance range and an electric power generation rating. The method also includes determining the electric power grid tolerance range. The method further includes generating at least one wind turbine farm tolerance adjustment signal representative of a wind turbine farm tolerance range. The method also includes changing the wind turbine farm tolerance range. |
| US08121736B1 |
Air spindle with closed loop speed control
A method and apparatus for controlling an air motor. Speed information is received for an operation using an apparatus comprising the air motor having an inlet and an exhaust, and a valve comprising a body with a first port, a second port, and a third port. The first port is connected to the air motor, the second port is configured for connection to an air supply, and the third port is configured to vent air out of the body. A first flow of air is controlled in the body between the first port and the second port and a second flow of air is controlled out of the body through the third port to control a speed of the operation. |
| US08121734B2 |
Method and system for controlling the climate in a house
The invention provides a method for controlling the climate of an environment, e.g. a house, which exchanges thermal energy with an ambient space. Energy is supplied to the environment e.g. by radiators, floor heating, electrical heating fans etc. According to the method, a numerically expressed comfort criteria, and a numerically expressed weight of importance of compliance with the comfort criterion are defined. Subsequently, a supply of a specific amount of energy is considered, and with respect to that amount, a numerical expression of a degree of compliance with the comfort criterion, and a numerical expression of costs related to the supply of that amount of energy are provided. |
| US08121733B2 |
Kinematic singular point compensation systems
According to an embodiment, a numerically controlled (NC) processing system includes materials processing installation having a multi-axis kinematic linkage operable to position a tip portion of the linkage along a predetermined process path. The system also includes a processor having a compensation system operable to detect a singular point in the process path and to improve the accuracy tip portion positioning near the singular point. |
| US08121725B2 |
Apparatus, system and methods for dispensing products
Products are dispensed from a dispensing apparatus in which products marked with transaction information are received in a two-dimensional array of moveable bins. In response to control information synthesized from transaction information on the products in the bins and a dispense request, the array is operated to place a bin at a dispensing station on the dispensing apparatus. At the dispensing station, a mechanism is operated in response to the control information to provide access to the bin. A product in the bin may then be retrieved. |
| US08121721B2 |
Extrusion of articles
An extrusion control system for use with one or more extruders has a data acquisition module in communication with one or more data acquisition nodes that are associated with an extrusion process. A control module is also in communication with one or more control nodes associated the extrusion process. A synchronization signal to one or more control nodes causes the nodes to adjust to a predetermined setting. |
| US08121718B2 |
Interactive orthodontic care system based on intra-oral scanning of teeth
Interactive, computer based orthodontist treatment planning, appliance design and appliance manufacturing is described. A scanner is described which acquires images of the dentition which are converted to three-dimensional frames of data. The data from the several frames are registered to each other to provide a complete three-dimensional virtual model of the dentition. Individual tooth objects are obtained from the virtual model. A computer-interactive software program provides for treatment planning, diagnosis and appliance from the virtual tooth models. A desired occlusion for the patient is obtained from the treatment planning software. The virtual model of the desired occlusion and the virtual model of the original dentition provide a base of information for custom manufacture of an orthodontic appliance. A variety of possible appliance and appliance manufacturing systems are contemplated, including customized archwires and customized devices for placement of off-the shelf brackets on the archwires, and removable orthodontic appliances. |
| US08121711B2 |
System and method for controlling movement of a measurement machine
Controlling movement of movable arms on motion shafts of a measurement machine is disclosed. Each motion shaft of the measurement machine are divided into different motion ranges. The movable arms move in different motion ranges at different speeds. Motion direction of the movable arms is associated with an operation direction of a joystick. |
| US08121708B1 |
Control system design method
A control system design method and concomitant control system comprising representing a physical apparatus to be controlled as a Hamiltonian system, determining elements of the Hamiltonian system representation which are power generators, power dissipators, and power storage devices, analyzing stability and performance of the Hamiltonian system based on the results of the determining step and determining necessary and sufficient conditions for stability of the Hamiltonian system, creating a stable control system based on the results of the analyzing step, and employing the resulting control system to control the physical apparatus. |
| US08121707B2 |
Method for download of sequential function charts to a triple module redundant control system
Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for an online load of logic to a triple module redundant (TMR) control system using a cascading switch and designated controller. Application code having SFC logic may be first downloaded to a designated controller of the TMR system. After download to the designated controller, the other controllers of TMR system may be updated in a cascading (circular) pattern. After updating the second controller with the updated logic, the designated controller may provide correct state information to the second controller. |
| US08121706B2 |
Information processing device and home network system
There is provided an information processing device capable of dynamically generating and presenting to the user a user interface for remotely controlling at least one other device connected via a network and performing conjunctive operations between the information processing device and the other device, the interface being generated in accordance with the type of the other device. Remote control commands are shared between the networked information processing devices, including commands for controlling devices controlled by different protocols, combinations of commands available for the conjunctive operations are extracted from the remote control commands, and when requested by a terminal device to present remote operations, the type of the terminal device is determined to present the remote operations. |
| US08121701B2 |
System and method for displaying stimulation field generated by electrode array
An implantable pulse generator includes a current steering capability that allows a clinician or patient to quickly determine a desired electrode stimulation pattern, including which electrodes of a group of electrodes within an electrode array should receive a stimulation current, including the amplitude, width and pulse repetition rate of such current. Movement of the selected group of electrodes is facilitated through the use of remotely generated directional signals, generated by a pointing device, such as a joystick. As movement of the selected group of electrodes occurs, current redistribution amongst the various electrode contacts takes place. The redistribution of stimulus amplitudes utilizes re-normalization of amplitudes so that the perceptual level remains fairly constant. This prevents the resulting paresthesia from falling below the perceptual threshold or above the comfort threshold. |
| US08121699B1 |
Sound processing and stimulation systems and methods for use with cochlear implant devices
Sound processing strategies for use with cochlear implant systems utilizing simultaneous stimulation of electrodes are provided. The strategies include computing a frequency spectrum of a signal representative of sound, arranging the spectrum into channels and assigning a subset of electrodes to each channel. Each subset is stimulated so as to stimulate a virtual electrode positioned at a location on the cochlea that corresponds to the frequency at which a spectral peak is located within an assigned channel. The strategies also derive a carrier for a channel having a frequency that may relate to the stimulation frequency so that temporal information is presented. In order to fit these strategies, a group of electrodes is selected and the portion of the current that would otherwise be applied to electrode(s) having a partner electrode in the group is applied to the partner electrode. |
| US08121698B2 |
Outer hair cell stimulation model for the use by an intra-cochlear implant
Contrast between various frequency components of sound is enhanced through a lateral suppression strategy to provide increased speech perception in the electrically stimulated cochlea. A received audio signal is divided into a plurality of input signals, wherein each input signal is associated with a frequency band. A plurality of envelope signals are generated by determining the envelope of each of a plurality of the input signals. At least one of the envelope signals is scaled in accordance with a scaling factor to generate at least one scaled envelope signal. An output signal is generated by combining at least one envelope signal with at least one scaled envelope signal, and the cochlea is stimulated based on the generated output signal. The lateral suppression strategy can be applied to one or more frequency bands using scaled amplitude signals associated with one or more neighboring frequency bands. |
| US08121692B2 |
Method and apparatus for neural stimulation with respiratory feedback
A neural stimulation system controls the delivery of neural stimulation using a respiratory signal as a therapy feedback input. The respiratory signal is used to increase the effectiveness of the neural stimulation, such as vagal nerve stimulation, while decreasing potentially adverse side effects in respiratory functions. In one embodiment, the neural stimulation system synchronizes the delivery of the neural stimulation pulses to the respiratory cycles using a respiratory fiducial point in the respiratory signal and a delay interval. In another embodiment, the neural stimulation system detects a respiratory disorder and, in response, adjusts the delivery of the neural stimulation pulses and/or delivers a respiratory therapy treating the detected respiratory disorder. |
| US08121690B2 |
Treatment of female fertility conditions through modulation of the autonomic nervous system
Methods are provided for treating a subject for a fertility condition. In accordance with the subject methods, at least a portion of a subject's autonomic nervous system is modulated to increase the sympathetic activity/parasympathetic activity ratio in a manner that is effective to treat the subject for the condition. Embodiments of the subject invention include modulating a subject's autonomic nervous system using electrical energy and/or one or more pharmacological agents. The subject methods find use in the treatment of a variety of different fertility conditions. Also provided are kits for use in practicing the subject methods. |
| US08121689B2 |
Proactive interactive limits override for implantable medical device user interface
An external device includes a communication circuit, a programming interface including a display, and a processor. The processor includes a parameter analyzer to apply a rule to a combination of operating parameter values of the IMD to determine operating parameter interaction. The display includes a first warning that is displayed when the parameter analyzer determines that a combination of operating parameter values entered via the programming interface is not allowed, and a second warning that is displayed when the parameter analyzer determines that a combination of operating parameters values entered via the programming interface is allowable but not recommended. The processor is configured to program the operating parameter values associated with the second warning into the IMD only after a user acknowledgement of the second warning is received from a user via the programming interface. |
| US08121688B2 |
Method and system for automatically switching between modes of an implantable medical device
An implantable medical device includes a lead, a pulse generator, an autocapture module, an autothreshold module, a fusion detection module, and a control module. The lead includes electrodes configured to be positioned within a heart. At least one of the electrodes is capable of sensing cardiac signals. The pulse generator delivers a stimulus pulse through at least one of the electrodes. The autocapture module senses an evoked response of the heart after delivery of the stimulus pulse when operating in an autocapture mode. The autothreshold module performs a threshold search when operating in an autothreshold mode. The fusion detection module identifies fusion-based behavior in the heart. The control module automatically switches between the autothreshold and autocapture modes based on a presence of the fusion-based behavior. |