| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08297783B2 |
Light emitting device and system providing white light with various color temperatures
In a light emitting device and system providing white light with various color temperatures are provided, a light emitting device includes a light emitting element (LED) that is operated by a driving bias and emits first light, and a phosphor layer including a phosphor that partially wavelength-converts first light and emits second light, thereby emitting white light using the first light and the second light, wherein the phosphor has a maximum conversion efficiency at a first level of the driving bias, and the LED has a maximum conversion efficiency at a second level of the driving bias, the first level being different from the first level. |
| US08297781B2 |
Multi-color illuminating back light structure
In an embodiment, the invention provides a multi-color illuminating back light structure comprising a light guide, a reflector, at least one LED and a wavelength converter material. Micro-structures are formed on a first surface of the light guide. The reflector is attached to the first surface of the light guide. A wavelength converter material is deposited on a second surface of the light guide. At least one LED is optically coupled to at least one side of the light guide. A portion of light reflected from the micro-structures and the reflector is converted into light having at least one wavelength different from the wavelength of the reflected light. The light leaving the wavelength converter material comprises light with at least first and second wavelengths. |
| US08297775B2 |
Motion activated utility light
A utility light is provided. The utility light comprises a first array of light sources having a first color facing in a first direction, a second array of light sources having a second color facing in a second direction that substantially opposes the first direction, a motion sensor, and an electronic controller to determine a first state based on an input received from the motion sensor, to operate the first array of light sources in the first state, to determine a second state based on the input received from the motion sensor, and to operate the second array of light sources in the second state. |
| US08297774B2 |
Booklight with adjustable light-radiating sources
The present invention relates to a booklight which is free-standing or attaches to a book cover, a bed frame or other supporting object to facilitate the reading of a book. Attached to each arm is at least one light-radiating source which may be housed within a shade. The light-radiating source may be an incandescent, fluorescent or LED bulb, or the like, as is known in the art. The angle and direction of each light-radiating source can be manually and separately adjusted by the user to focus light on different areas of the book simultaneously. |
| US08297773B2 |
Lighting device, display device and television receiver
The backlight device 12 of the present invention includes a plurality of tubular light sources 17 provided in a parallel arrangement and a light reflecting member 20 arranged on a opposite side from an illuminating side that is illuminated with light from the light sources 17. The arrangement of the tubular includes a narrow pitch area 17a in which an arrangement interval is relatively small and a wide pitch area 17b in which an arrangement interval is relatively large. A dot pattern including a plurality of dots 22 is formed on the light reflecting member 20. Light reflectivity of the dots 22 is different from that of the light reflecting member 20. Light reflectivity of a light reflecting surface including surfaces of the light reflecting member and the dot pattern is low in the narrow pitch area 17a than in the wide pitch area 17b. |
| US08297766B2 |
Color tunable light source
A lighting module includes a light output window, at least one side wall that defines a cavity and a mounting plate, and at least one light source, and at least one reflector that is within the cavity. The light output window may be one of the side walls in a side-emitting configuration. The spectral distribution of the light coming out of the light output window may be changed by manipulating the relative position of the side wall to the at least one reflector that is within the cavity. |
| US08297761B2 |
Retroreflective articles comprising olefinic seal films
Microstructured articles, such as a retroreflective articles, having a plurality of (e.g. cube-corner) microstructured elements and a seal film layer adhered to portions of the cube-corner elements and/or portions of a (e.g., flexible) body layer. The seal film is a thermoplastic polymeric material comprising reaction products of alkylene in an amount of at least about 50% and reaction products of at least one non-acidic polar monomer. |
| US08297755B2 |
Laser projector with alerting light
A projector with a laser light source projects an image. In order to reduce the risk for a person to be exposed to harmful levels of laser light, the projector also projects a time-variant alerting image into an alerting region. Alerting region is arranged outside of the projection region. The alerting image is of a wave length visible to the human eye, and of an intensity of eye-safe level. |
| US08297754B2 |
Apparatus and method of controlling camera work based on direction rule
Provided are an apparatus and method of controlling camerawork based on direction rule. A camerawork controlling apparatus includes a direction deciding unit configured to receive dialogs extracted from a scenario, to divide at least one of the received dialogs into sub-elements according to a set of circumstances, and to determine a camerawork based on a direction rule to be applied to each sub-element and each of any remaining non-divided dialogs. |
| US08297753B2 |
Method for determining correction characteristics for a vision aid
A method for determining correction characteristics for a vision aid for at least one eye of a person wherein: a vision impression of the person is determined in a first usage condition after which a vision impression of the person is determined in a second usage condition after which the wavefront of the person is optimized by determining the correction characteristics for the vision aid until the vision impression of the person in the second usage condition at least approximately matches the vision impression of the person in the first usage condition. |
| US08297747B2 |
Seal for inkjet ink tank
A seal for at least one outlet port of an ink tank, the seal includes a seal member; and a seal retainer further includes a housing for the seal member; a first attachment member on a first side of the housing; a second attachment member on a second side of the housing, the second side being opposite the first side; a handle including a free end and a hinged end opposite the free end; and a hinge member disposed between the housing and the hinged end of the handle. |
| US08297746B2 |
Ink cartridge accommodating device
An ink cartridge accommodating device is provided. The ink cartridge accommodating device includes: an accommodating portion which is configured to accommodate a plurality of ink cartridges arranged in an arrangement direction; and a plurality of sensors which are provided correspondingly to the plurality of ink cartridges, and which optically detect information related to the plurality of ink cartridges, respectively. Each of the sensors includes a light-emitting element which emits light and a light-receiving element which receives light. The light-emitting elements or the light-receiving elements of adjacent sensors are arranged adjacent to each other. |
| US08297745B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus including a body, a print head including a nozzle part having a length corresponding to a width of a printing medium, and a regulator provided separately from the print head and mounted to the body, the regulator serves to adjust a negative pressure of ink which is to be supplied into the print head. |
| US08297740B2 |
Head chip usable with inkjet image forming apparatus and manufacturing method of the same
A head chip for an inkjet image forming apparatus. The head chip can include a heater formed on a substrate to generate heat, a chamber layer formed on the heater and provided with an ink chamber that receives inks, a nozzle layer formed on the chamber layer and provided with a nozzle in correspondence with the ink chamber, and a heat transfer layer transferring a part of the heat from the heater to the nozzle. According to the head chip, the inks sprayed through the nozzle are heated by the heat transferred through the heat transfer layer. Thus, the viscosity of the inks is reduced, so that the inks can be easily cut into ink droplets having a substantially spherical shape. |
| US08297731B2 |
Recording apparatus capable of checking positions of ink containers, and method for checking the positions
A recording apparatus includes a carriage, ink containers mounted in the carriage and including respective light emitters, a driving unit for moving the ink tanks, a light receiver receiving light from the light emitters, a light control unit controlling lighting the light emitter of a predetermined ink container, and a determining unit for determining whether the predetermined ink container is mounted at a correct position, based on the light emitted from the light emitter of the predetermined ink container at positions. When the driving unit does not move the carriage to a position where at least one of the ink containers is facing the light receiver, the determining unit determines whether the at least one of the ink containers is mounted at the correct position, based on the light received from the light emitters at a position adjacent to the facing position. |
| US08297729B2 |
Printing device and printing method
A printing device includes heads that eject electromagnetic wave hardened inks toward a medium and irradiation sections respectively corresponding to the heads. The irradiation sections irradiate the electromagnetic wave hardened inks. A controller controls the heads and the irradiation sections. The controller, when printing, sequentially performs a method that includes the following operations. One head ejects a first ink in a first ejecting operation. An irradiation section corresponding to the head irradiates first electromagnetic ink in a first irradiation operation. A different head ejects another ink toward a pixel on the medium such that the other ink overlaps the first ink, in a second ejecting operation. An irradiation section corresponding to the other head irradiates the other ink in a second irradiation operation. The controller performs the operations such that a contact angle of the other ink relative to the first ink is greater than 90 degrees. |
| US08297727B2 |
Recording apparatus and recording method using the same, with an extended stop position of the recording unit
A recording apparatus includes a transport unit that transports a recording medium, a recording unit that performs recording on the recording medium based on record data, a moving unit that moves the recording unit in a direction intersecting a transport direction of the recording medium, a control unit that controls the recording unit, the transport unit and the moving unit, a stop position obtaining unit that calculates a present stop position, which reaches a present recording end position during present deceleration of the recording unit and which reaches a next recording start position during next acceleration of the recording unit, based on present and next record data, a determining unit that determines whether a standby time of the recording unit in a stop state occurs until a transport position. |
| US08297726B2 |
Mechanism for moving shelves of a refrigeration appliance and refrigeration appliance
A mechanism, and refrigeration appliance containing a mechanism, for providing displacement of a shelf of a refrigeration appliance, which has at least one refrigeratable cabinet with a base and two side walls substantially perpendicular to the base. The mechanism has at least one supporting device associated to the side wall of the refrigeratable cabinet by a side bar having a longitudinal portion that is substantially parallel to the base. The association between the supporting device and the side bar is able to provide mechanical support to the shelf. The mechanism also comprises a pivoting arm provided with at least one first end which is connected articulatedly to the shelf and a second end connected articulatedly to the supporting device, which associates the shelf to the supporting device. The pivoting arm is able to move angularly so as to allow the displacement of the shelf in relation to the supporting device. |
| US08297724B2 |
Drawer frame with a fastening device for a front panel
A drawer frame includes a fastening device for fastening a front panel to the drawer frame in a releasable and preferably adjustable manner. A fitting part is premounted on the front panel, and a spring-loaded catch part is arranged in the drawer frame. When the fitting part is inserted, the catch part automatically draws the fitting part towards the drawer frame. A locking apparatus is provided for the catch part, and the locking apparatus is in the form of a clamping apparatus. |
| US08297722B2 |
Soft close drawer assembly and bracket
A cabinet slide assembly permits the soft-close action and/or a soft-open action of a drawer. The cabinet slide assembly includes a cabinet, a drawer, and at least one slide mechanism coupling the drawer to the cabinet to permit movement of the drawer between a fully open position and a fully closed position. A gas spring is also included in the assembly having a first end coupled to a portion of the cabinet assembly and a second end coupled to a portion of the drawer assembly. The gas spring is permitted to swing through an arc along a vertical plane as the drawer moves between the fully open position and the fully closed position. An adjustable bracket can also be included in the assembly and is configured for a top mount drawer assembly having a concealed drawer slide mechanism. The bracket is also configured for face frame or frameless cabinet construction. |
| US08297721B2 |
Slide rail
A slide rail includes an outer rail, an intermediate rail slidably received in the outer rail, a first inner rail slidably received in the intermediate rail opposite to the outer rail, a second inner rail slidably received in the intermediate rail opposite to the outer rail, a protuberance disposed on the first inner rail, a latch member connected to the second inner rail, and a releasing member connected to the outer rail. The first and second inner rails are arranged adjacent to opposite first and second ends of the outer rail. The latch member is capable of engaging with or disengaging from the protuberance. When the first inner rail slides out of the outer rail from the first end, the releasing member is configured to abut against the latch member and urge the latch member to disengage from the protuberance. |
| US08297717B2 |
Vehicle line-locking braking system and method
The present disclosure relates to various computer-implemented methods of line-locking a hydraulic vehicle braking system. A method includes performing a preliminary system check and controlling the distribution of fluid between a hydraulic module and an individual wheel-end brake component when the preliminary check is satisfied. The system continues to monitor predetermined vehicle inputs during activation. |
| US08297715B2 |
Braking system
A braking system includes first pressure sensors 35, 35 which are provided to braking pipes 41, 41 which constitute first input-side pressure sensors for detecting a liquid pressure on a front-wheel-master-cylinder-25 side and a rear-wheel-master-cylinder-82 side, and second pressure sensors 36, 36 which are provided at positions closer to a stroke-simulator-28 side than second solenoid-operated valves 31, 31 of braking pipes 27,27 which constitute second input-side pressure sensors for detecting a liquid pressure on the stroke-simulator-28 side. |
| US08297711B2 |
Circular bicycle rim
A circular bicycle rim is provided with a rim body, an annular tire engagement portion and first and second outer peripheral edges. The rim body includes a first annular side wall portion and a second annular side wall portion. The annular tire engagement portion extends between the first and second annular side wall portions to engage a tire thereon. The first and second outer peripheral edges are located between the rim body and the annular tire engagement portion. Each of the first and second outer peripheral edges has an uneven edge surface that repeatedly rises and falls with respect to a radial direction of the bicycle rim. |
| US08297707B2 |
Movable support leg
A movable support leg contains a base, a column disposed on the base, a holding surface fixed on the column. The holding surface is fixed and capable of adjusting its height and angle by using first and second rods and the column. A top end of each of the first and the second rods is axially connected with the holding surface by using one screw, and a bottom end of each of the first and the second rods adjusts its height to be fixed on the column. |
| US08297706B2 |
Ergonomic chair
An ergonomic desk system and chair for promoting hip flexibility and strength and reducing lower back pain. The ergonomic desk system broadly comprises a variably positioned, raised platform, mounting assemblies for office peripherals, a recessed storage unit mounted on an underside of the platform, a lumbar support coupled to the platform, and a stool. Use of the desk system allows a user to sit on the platform in numerous positions while still performing routine office work. The ergonomic chair broadly comprises a base, a first, lower platform, and a second, upper platform spaced above the first, lower platform. The user sits on the second platform and rests their legs on the first platform in various positions. Use of the ergonomic chair results in the user rotating their pelvis to a position that is comfortable and properly aligned. |
| US08297705B2 |
Adjustable head restraint for an automotive vehicle seat
A head restraint system for an automotive vehicle seat includes a post having first and second end portions, a support member fixedly attached to the second end portion of the post, and a head rest assembly. The support member includes a locking feature. The head rest assembly includes a housing supported by the support member, a locking member, and an actuator configured to move the locking member from a locked position with the locking feature to an unlocked position from the locking feature to permit the headrest assembly to move relative to the post and support member. |
| US08297704B2 |
Connector for vehicle seat
A connector for a vehicle seat includes a ratchet, a guide, and engagement pieces. The engagement pieces are supported so as to be movable only in the radial direction of the guide, and prevent relative rotation between the ratchet and the guide when engaged with an inner peripheral toothed face of the ratchet. The inner peripheral toothed face is formed in the inner peripheral face of an annular wall that extends from the outer peripheral portion of a disc portion of the ratchet in its axial direction. The inner peripheral face is in contact with and supported by outer peripheral faces of guide walls that project in the axial direction from the inner disc face of the guide. Thus, the ratchet and the guide are coaxially fitted together so as to be rotatable relative to each other. |
| US08297703B2 |
Fold-down vehicle seat
A fold-down vehicle seat is provided having a seat part and a foldable backrest. The seat part is mounted so it is pivotable on the vehicle floor via a front rocker and the backrest is mounted so it is pivotable on a seat framework section using a lower end section. In such a vehicle seat, the seat part and the backrest are transferable into a first and a second folded position to enlarge a cargo area of the vehicle adjoining the vehicle seat, the seat part being coupled using a rear rocker to the backrest, and the seat framework section supporting the backrest situated so it is displaceable on the vehicle floor in the vehicle longitudinal direction.In this way, a fold-down driver seat is provided, which has a high degree of user friendliness and is universally adaptable to various cargo space configurations. |
| US08297696B2 |
Bicycle saddle
A bicycle saddle includes front and rear portions; an elastic member disposed between the front and rear portions; and a valve assembly installed to the bottom of the saddle between the front and middle portions and including an air pump and an air escape valve communicating with the elastic member. |
| US08297695B1 |
Portable cooling device
A cooling system which having a body section which includes a flexible material; at least two mist dispensing fans connected to the body section; and control circuitry having at least a first switch controlling fan speed and a second switch controlling mist dispensing. |
| US08297691B2 |
Roof liner stiffener for a vehicle
A roof liner stiffener includes a rail and a first guide member. The rail is configured for attachment to a roof liner of a vehicle and includes a web and a plurality of ribs integral with the web. The first guide member is configured to support a first portion of an electrical wiring harness of a vehicle. The rail and the first guide member are integrally formed from a thermoplastic material as a unitary structure. The first guide member includes a first base and an elongate arm integral with, and extending away from, the first base. The elongate arm of the first guide member is bendable relative to the first base of the first guide member. Roof liner assemblies and vehicles are also provided. |
| US08297690B2 |
Motor vehicle body
A motor vehicle body has at least two sills running laterally in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. An auxiliary frame is provided in a region of a front axle and at least one strut is provided, the strut running between the auxiliary frame of the front axle and one of the two lateral sills. This makes it possible in particular to increase the natural frequency of a vehicle front end by structurally simple and also cost-effective measures. |
| US08297689B2 |
Indexing door latch striker enabling complex door articulation
A door of a vehicle is moveable between a closed position, an intermediate position and an open position. When moving between the closed position and the intermediate position, a first vertical edge of the door moves parallel with a body of the vehicle and a second rearward vertical edge of the door moves laterally away from the body of the vehicle. A striker assembly for the door is attached to the body and includes a striker that is moveable between a first position and a second position. A latch mechanism selectively engages the striker when the door is disposed in or moving between the closed position and the intermediate position, with the striker moving with the first edge of the door between the closed position and the intermediate position to prevent lateral movement of the door. |
| US08297685B2 |
Air guiding device
The air guiding device has one or more air guiding bodies. Each air guiding body has an elongate attachment that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle that bulges in a convex manner, is composed of a flexible or soft-elastic material and is embodied in the form of a half shell having a lateral elongate opening and can be adjusted automatically in the driving condition from a rest position into an operative position, in which it can be lowered in the direction of the roadway. In the rest position, the air guiding body is arranged close to the undersurface and, in the operative position, the air guiding body is held in a lowered position relative to the undersurface. |
| US08297683B2 |
Mounting frame member for motor vehicle tailgate having frameless window pane
A mounting frame member is provided for framing and sealing a frameless window pane of an after-market motor vehicle tailgate intended to replace a tailgate having a different structure. The mounting frame member includes a mounting frame body mounted to the motor vehicle, the mounting frame body including an integrally formed sealing weatherstrip at an inner peripheral region thereof. A supplemental sealing weatherstrip may be provided adjacent the sealing weatherstrip of the mounting frame body and over the frameless window pane. Accordingly, a single, unitary BIW structure may be utilized when effectuating after-market structural changes or replacements to an existing tailgate. |
| US08297678B2 |
Retractable seat for vehicle
A retractable seat for a vehicle includes: a first leg with a proximal end that is rotatably attached to a seat cushion and a distal end that is rotatably attached to a floor; a second leg that is rotatably attached to the seat cushion; and an interlocking member that couples the first leg to the second leg so that the second leg is move in accordance with movement of the first leg. Rotating the first leg with respect to the floor moves the seat cushion from a use position to a retracted position. The rotation of the second leg through the interlocking member, from a position at which a second leg stands upright with respect to the seat cushion to a position which the second leg extends along the seat cushion. |
| US08297677B2 |
Vehicle cargo bed extender
An improved truck bed extender particularly adapted for ease of installation and removal. When not being used to extend the truck bed, the extender is advantageously adapted to quickly and easily create a secondary storage area. In one embodiment, the extender includes a first side wall, a second side wall, a connecting wall, a first mount and a second mount. The connecting wall extends between the first side wall and the second side wall, and cooperates with the first side wall and second side wall to form a frame. The first mount is secured to the first side wall and includes a first interlocking member. The second mount is secured to the second side wall and comprises a second interlocking member. The first interlocking member and a first mounting station on the vehicle and the second interlocking member and a second mounting station on the vehicle cooperate to secure the truck bed extender to the vehicle. |
| US08297676B2 |
Vehicle interior trim panel
A vehicle interior trim panel is provided with a main trim body and a tab extending from the bottom end of the main trim body. The main trim body is configured to releasably cover at least a portion of a pillar of a vehicle, and includes a pillar facing surface, a passenger compartment facing surface, a top end and a bottom end. The tab extends from the bottom end of the main trim body to a free end that is configured to be received in a vehicle component. The tab includes a first face, a second face and a peripheral edge surrounding the first and second faces, and further includes a retention member protruding from the first face of the tab, with the retention member being configured to retain the tab to the vehicle component while the main trim body is released from the pillar. |
| US08297675B2 |
Interior trim part for a passenger compartment of a vehicle, and method for producing an interior trim part
An interior trim part for a passenger compartment of a vehicle has a shaped part which has a front side which forms a decorative wear layer of the interior trim part, and having at least one carrier layer which forms a rear side of the interior trim part, at least one part region of the interior trim part being provided with at least one supporting structure which provides a pleasant tactile sensation at the surface of the part region, the shaped part having at least one connecting element which is attached to the carrier layer of the rear side of the internal trim part, and the supporting structure being formed as a separate supporting element and being held by the connecting element of the shaped part. Moreover, a method for producing an interior trim part for a passenger compartment of a vehicle is also provided. |
| US08297671B2 |
Claw for a container transporting system
A clamp grip for a container transport system including rare earth permanent magnets encapsulated in non-magnetic material such as high quality steel. Flexible positioning of the magnets allow for adapting to varied design specifications. A rotatable control cam or cams may be used to adjust grip arms between a grip and a release position. Air gap distances between permanent magnets may be designed to maximize repelling force to assist in the functioning of clamp grip mechanism. |
| US08297670B2 |
Implements
An implement comprises a first member, at least a second member secured at one end of the first member; and at least one piece of material overlapping a junction between the first member and the second member. The implement is made by securing the second member at one end of the first member; and overlapping the junction between the first member and the second member with a piece of material smoothing a surface at the junction. |
| US08297664B2 |
Fastening flange
A flange for fastening a line to a pump casing, includes: a pump casing passage; and a plurality of stop members protruding in the passage and angularly distributed around the passage, the position of the flange being angularly adjustable by the stop members. A pump may include the fastening flange. A method for adjusting the position of the flange in relation to the pump is also disclosed. This method makes it possible to avoid the position of the pump casing being imposed by the orientation of the fastening flange of the pump casing. |
| US08297663B2 |
Rotatable fire sprinkler fitting with elongated gasket
A pipe fitting, useable in the installation of a sprinkler head, includes (a) a body having an open upstream end and an open downstream end, the downstream end having internal threads capable of accepting a threaded male fitting, the body defining a gasket retention area located upstream of the internal threads; and (b) an gasket disposed within the gasket retention area. The gasket retention area and the gasket are chosen so that a threaded male fitting threadedly disposed within the downstream end of the body can be rotated within the downstream end of the body 360° while remaining liquid tight for pressures in excess of 300 psig. |
| US08297659B2 |
Quick connector assembly
The quick connector assembly includes an insertion member that is inserted along a longitudinal axis into a receiving member. A retaining member is disposed in the receiving member for movement in a direction of insertion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. A positioning member is disposed in the receiving member and includes a biasing portion that extends angularly from a base portion to a pair of blocking portions. The blocking portions move between an extended position and a retracted position and are oriented opposite the direction of insertion of the retaining member to block the retaining member from moving into a fully inserted position when the biasing portion is in the extended position. An annular collar of the insertion member engages the blocking portions when the insertion member is axially inserted in the receiving member to move the blocking portions into the retracted position. As a result, the retaining member is free to be moved into the fully inserted position to secure the insertion member relative to receiving member. |
| US08297658B2 |
Coupling device fitted with instantaneous or quasi-instantaneous anchor means
A coupling device comprising a tubular body defining a channel and axially subdivided into an anchor section provided on the outside with an anchor member associated with a cover mounted on the body to have both an actuator end for actuating the anchor member and a drive end, and so as to be movable between an inactivation position and an activation position, a resilient return member urging the cover towards the activation position being mounted in a chamber defined by the cover and the body, the cover having a holder device for holding it in the inactivation position, which holder device is arranged to be declutchable when the cover is moved into a declutching position beyond its inactivation position in a direction away from the activation position, and the device including a passage for putting the chamber into communication with the well. |
| US08297653B2 |
Pyrotechnic inflator with composite overwrap
A pyrotechnic inflator assembly including a shell member and an end cap joinable with the shell member to form a subassembly. The subassembly containing a quantity of pyrotechnic material and at least in part defining a combustion chamber wherein at least a portion of the quantity of pyrotechnic material is reactable to form product gas for inflation of an associated airbag cushion and to generate pressure within the combustion chamber. The inflator assembly further including an overwrap about at least a portion of the subassembly to form a pyrotechnic inflator assembly that withstands the pressure generated within the combustion chamber upon reaction of the pyrotechnic material. |
| US08297651B2 |
Pre-crash side air bag device
A pre-crash side airbag device includes a side collision detection sensor, a pre-crash sensor, a main airbag, an auxiliary airbag, and a control unit. The side collision detection sensor detects a collision occurring at the side of a vehicle. The pre-crash sensor detects physical quantities related to the speed of an approaching object. The main airbag is deployed when a control signal is input. The auxiliary airbag is coupled to one side of the main airbag. The control unit controls the deployment of the main airbag and the auxiliary airbag depending on a pre-crash case where a high-speed side collision is expected and a normal case where a low-speed side collision is expected or the measurement value is erroneous. |
| US08297644B2 |
Trash bin with detachable cart
The present invention is directed to a trash cart, namely an enclosed trash cart having a top and front doors that swing open on a hinged system. The enclosed trash cart is connected to at least one wheel axle having wheels that allow the cart to be transported from a storage area to the curb for garbage pickup. The trash cart can also have an attachment system that gives the owner the option of overlaying a number of different external decorative panels to the trash cart making the cart both functional and decorative. The trash cart of the present invention enables a homeowner to store daily garbage outside the home or garage in a decorative enclosure that keeps the garbage protected from animals and makes it easy to transport garbage to the curb on pick-up day. |
| US08297640B2 |
Snow-ski board
Snow-ski board, especially a ski, having at least one trimming mechanism with at least one trimming rod with its axis oriented in the longitudinal direction of the snow-ski board, including at least one damping element and at least one adjusting or tensioning mechanism for supporting the trimming rod on both ends by adjustable mechanical tension. |
| US08297637B2 |
Watercraft trailer
A watercraft trailer has a watercraft receiving portion and a lower frame adapted to support a watercraft in the watercraft receiving portion. The lower frame has at least one longitudinally extending lower frame member. The trailer also has a hitch coupler connected to a front of the lower frame, a first wheel and a second wheel operatively connected to the lower frame, and a walk board connected to the lower frame. |
| US08297634B2 |
Suspension system for an agricultural vehicle
An agricultural vehicle comprises separate wheel suspension assemblies corresponding to each wheel of the vehicle. Each wheel suspension assembly includes a strut assembly wherein the strut assembly is connected to the chassis at a pivot and to a respective wheel, and a dual action hydraulic cylinder that is connected to both the strut assembly at a point distal from the pivot and the chassis of the vehicle. Motion of the strut assembly around the pivot is affected by action of the hydraulic cylinder. In some embodiments, the dual action hydraulic cylinders are in fluid communication with the diagonally opposite hydraulic cylinder such that when one cylinder moves into an extended or retracted position the other diagonally opposite cylinder is urged into the same position. In some embodiments, the wheel suspension assemblies are attached to slidable drawer assemblies on each side of the vehicle. These drawer assemblies can be moved relative to the centerline of the vehicle to change the spacing between the wheels on each side of the vehicle. |
| US08297633B2 |
Support bearing for a vehicle
A support bearing for a vehicle is provided that includes, but is not limited to a rubber bearing that encloses one end of a strut element and introduces the lateral and longitudinal forces of the strut into a vehicle body. A ball bearing allows rotational movements between a spring element and the car body. For this purpose, the ball bearing of the support bearing is supported on the car body with a ball bearing race that features a first ball track. A second ball track of the ball bearing is arranged on a rubber bearing housing together with one end of the spring element. |
| US08297632B2 |
Steering knuckle and method of forming same
A steering knuckle for a vehicle includes a metal body having a first portion defining a bore therethrough and a second portion extending longitudinally from said first portion. The steering knuckle also includes a ceramic insert disposed with the first portion and the second portion and surrounding the bore. A method of forming the steering knuckle includes disposing the ceramic insert within a cavity of a mold, sufficiently filling the cavity with a molten metal to contact and envelop the ceramic insert with the molten metal, and solidifying the molten metal so as to surround the ceramic insert with the metal body to thereby form the steering knuckle. |
| US08297630B2 |
Bi-directional propulsion caster
A bidirectional propulsion caster assembly is disclosed for enabling a rider to generate bi-directional motion from a ride-on device. A mounting bracket is attachable to the bottom of the device and defines a pivot axis extending in a generally transverse direction across the bottom of the device. A rocker bracket and caster shaft having a caster shaft axis are attached to the mounting bracket and pivot about the pivot axis along an arc between first and second positions. A wheel bracket is mounted to and rotates about the caster shaft. A wheel is mounted to the wheel bracket for rotation about a wheel axis angularly offset from the caster shaft axis. One or more changeable pivot stops may be attached to the rocker bracket or the mounting bracket and effective to further define the available arc of rotation. |
| US08297629B2 |
Stackable shopping basket
The invention relates to a shopping basket in self service stores and/or supermarkets, of the type of those which can be stacked and incorporate rolling means (5) at their base and a drive handle (4) for transporting them in an inclined manner on the floor in which said drive handle (4) is located on a plane different from the load application plane, and further having its corners reinforced by means of bends (3) defining a plane (6) on which the side branches (7) of said handle (4) slide with the aid of guide means. |
| US08297627B2 |
Skate with an accessible runner securing system and methods thereof
A blade for a skate includes a holder, a runner, and an attachment device. The holder includes a front section and a rear section where at least one of the front section and the rear section includes at least two, separate hollow regions and an aperture. The aperture extends through the holder between the at least two, separate hollow regions. The attachment device extends through a substantially solid portion of the holder between the two, separate hollow regions into the aperture and secures the runner to the holder. At least a portion of the attachment device used to secure the runner to the holder is accessible in the aperture. |
| US08297626B2 |
Pressure seal
A seal is provided that restricts movement of adjacent parts when in a high pressure environment while allowing relative movement of adjacent parts when in non-high pressure environment. |
| US08297625B2 |
Two-lip rubber seal with reinforcement
A seal for sealing a cardan shaft housing, particularly at a contact surface between an outer ring and a housing lid, has a first sealing element that at least partially covers the contact surface plane to be sealed, as well as a first shape-stabilizing element that is at least partially firmly connected with the first sealing element. A second sealing element is at least partially firmly connected on the shape-stabilizing element. |
| US08297623B2 |
Swivel device
The invention relates to a sealing device for a swivel, an improved attachment device and a method for improving a seal in a swivel, where a sealing medium is composed according to the viscosity and chemical composition of the application concerned and has a viscosity substantially over 500 cst and where the sealing medium is pressurized by a pressure transmission unit. |
| US08297622B2 |
Image processing program and image processing apparatus
A game apparatus 3 moves an arrow object 72 in a virtual space, and then determines whether or not a hitting determination area 74 set for the arrow object 72 is in contact with a hitting determination area 73 set for a player character 71. When the two hitting determination areas 74, 73 are determined to be in contact with each other, the game apparatus 3 calculates a moving direction of the arrow object 72. The game apparatus 3 further causes the player character 71 to perform a motion such that at least a part of the player character 71 turns to a designated direction, which is an opposite direction to the moving direction of the arrow object 72. A display apparatus displays how the player character 71 performs the motion. |
| US08297620B1 |
Marble board game
A marble board game which may be played by two to four players. In one embodiment, the game board includes an orange player's station, a red player's station, a blue player's station and a white player's station. The object of the game is to move a player's marbles from their colored box into a start position and then across the board to the opponent's station. In another embodiment, the game board includes only two player's stations. |
| US08297618B2 |
Puzzle with problem-solution features aligning puzzle pieces with a corresponding support board location
A puzzle is described that enhances the educational and enjoyment aspect of assembling the puzzle by providing a plurality of problem-solution pairs that serve to direct and/or confirm that puzzle pieces are positioned correctly. One half of the problem-solution pairs may be placed on the back of individual puzzle pieces with the other half on intended adjacent pieces or other they may be placed on a base board with the complementary half on the back of the pieces intended to be placed above the corresponding problem-solution pair. The puzzle is so designed that it may be configured as a 2-dimensional puzzle or a 3-dimensional puzzle and may be provided in electronic form if so desired. |
| US08297614B2 |
Recording apparatus
A recording apparatus includes a cassette having a stacking region for stacking recording materials mounted to main assembly of the recording apparatus; a feeder for feeding the recording material stacked to the cassette; a sheet discharge portion for sheet discharging the recording material having been subjected to a recording operation; a tray movable between a first position where the recording material is incapable of being discharged from the sheet discharge portion and a second position where the recording material is capable of being discharged from a main assembly of the recording apparatus; a holding portion, disposed on the tray, for holding the recording material discharged when the tray is at the second position; an auxiliary portion disposed on the tray and capable of stacking the recording material with the stacking region when the tray is at the second position. |
| US08297613B2 |
Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus
A packing material for distribution is formed in such a shape that, when the packing material attached in a deck unit fails to be removed, a control unit determines that no sheet is present on a tray based on detection signals from a sheet surface detection sensor and a sheet presence detection sensor. When a user checks the deck unit when the absence of sheets is displayed, the user can notice a failure to remove the packing material, thus preventing damage to a sheet feeding apparatus caused by the failure to remove the packing material for distribution. |
| US08297612B2 |
Apparatus for detecting media edges in a media input tray
A media picking device for an image forming apparatus having a sensing mechanism for detecting the leading and trailing edge of a sheet of media being picked from a media input tray. The device includes a pick mechanism for picking the top-most media sheet; and a sensing mechanism including a sensor and a flag positioned adjacent the pick tire and moveable between at least two positions, the flag having a first end contacting the surface of a picked sheet; the flag moving from a first position to a second position when the leading edge of the picked sheet passes by and moving from the second position to the first position when the trailing edge of the picked sheet passes by. The sensing mechanism providing an output signal corresponding to the movement of the flag. The sensor is one of a photointerrupter, a proximity sensor, a potentiometer, and a switch. |
| US08297609B2 |
Equipment for making an album core automatically
The present utility model relates to an equipment for making an album core automatically, which comprises automatic feeding mechanisms for feeding an album paper and an interlayer, a creasing mechanism for creasing the middle of the album paper to form a crease, a folding mechanism for folding the album paper along the crease and a pasting mechanism for pasting the album or the interlayer by coating glue, wherein the automatic feeding mechanisms include an album paper feeding mechanism, an interlayer feeding mechanism and a control mechanism connected to the two feeding mechanisms. The equipment in the utility model has higher automaticity and can select the kinds of album papers freely. |
| US08297608B2 |
Electrodynamic propulsion system for conveying sheet material
A transport system for conveying sheet material along a feed path. The transport system includes an electro-dynamic propulsion system for moving sheet material, or a stacked collation of sheet material, along a support deck which defines the feed path. More specifically, the electro-dynamic propulsion system includes at least one guideway and a ferromagnetic element disposed internally of the guideway. The guideway includes a magnetic coil to produce a variable magnetic field. By varying the flux density and polarity of the magnetic field the ferromagnetic element may be propelled within the guideway. An abutment member is coupled to the ferromagnetic element, extends through the elongate opening of the support deck and engages an edge of sheet material. A processor is operative to control the electro-dynamic propulsion system and, accordingly, the rate of travel and position of the sheet material along the feed path. |
| US08297603B2 |
Spring retainer and spring system
A spring retainer is made from an iron-based material to improve the strength and abrasion resistance of the spring retainer and reduce the thickness and weight thereof. The spring retainer includes a retainer body having a tapered support hole to be supported with a valve stem and a flange-like spring seat circumferentially formed on a periphery at a first side of the retainer body to receive and support a valve spring. The retainer body and spring seat are integrally formed from resilient steel with grain flows continuously formed from the retainer body to the spring seat. |
| US08297602B2 |
Vibration isolator
A vibration isolator having a pair of pressure receiving fluid chambers between an outer cylinder and a mounting member, at two end sides along a main amplitude direction. A rubber elastic body changes the internal volumes of the pair of pressure receiving fluid chambers in directions opposite to each other, and fluid flows from the pressure receiving fluid chambers to an auxiliary fluid chamber through one of two orifices and flows from the auxiliary fluid chamber to the pressure receiving fluid chambers through the other orifice. Since a fluid pressure in the auxiliary fluid chamber is kept approximately constant, the fluid in the pair of pressure receiving fluid chambers smoothly flows, with a low resistance, into the auxiliary fluid chamber through the orifices. Therefore, any rise of the fluid pressure in the pressure receiving fluid chambers may be suppressed, such that rise of the dynamic spring constant may be suppressed. |
| US08297601B2 |
Vibration dampening material and method of making same
The present invention is directed to a material adapted to reduce vibration and, more specifically, to a material adapted to dissipate and evenly distribute transmitted vibrations. The material is particularly suited for impact and/or heavy load vibration resistance. |
| US08297596B2 |
Manually operated prying tool
A manually operated prying tool includes a prying head and a handle. The head is defined at its end with an assembling hole in which are disposed a head portion of a handle of the prying tool, a ratchet wheel, a C-shaped ring, a central shaft, a spring and a stopping piece. By pushing the central shaft, the prying tool can be switched into a fixing mode, an adjustment mode, or a rotation operation mode, which allows the user to unidirectionally rotate the tool to perform a micro-angle adjustment between the prying head and the handle of the prying tool, making it convenient to use the tool. |
| US08297595B2 |
Adjustable hydraulic horizontal jack
An adjustable hydraulic horizontal jack including a frame, a hydraulic unit, a jib unit, link rods, and a handle. Here, the structures of the jib and the link rod(s) are improved according to an embodiment. With the improved structures, the jack has rational structures and can act reliably. In addition, under the parameters equivalent to those of conventional hydraulic horizontal jacks, the jack of an embodiment of the present invention can change the height of the lowest position and the load by adjusting the length of the jib and link rods. Therefore, the jack is adapted to jacking up not only a light automobile with a low chassis but also a heavy automobile with a high chassis, thus having a wider scope of application. |
| US08297594B1 |
Utility tool for use with a motor vehicle
A tool for disconnecting the air and electrical connections between a motor vehicle and a trailer or a utility hookup station includes a handle and a forked member. The trailer connection includes an electrical socket with pins covered by a hinged cover plate; the motor vehicle connection includes a plug member. The forked member of the tool includes a pair of parallel hooks, one at the end of each of two linear elements of the forked member. A sloped interface portion on the forked member of the tool lifts the hinged cover plate away from the trailer's socket. The forked member is placed around the electrical connection adjacent the plug member and is pushed forward to lift the hinged cover plate. Once the hinged cover plate is lifted, the handle is pushed towards the motor vehicle, where the hooks engage lugs on the plug member, thus causing the plug member to separate from the electrical socket. Gripping grooves on the linear elements help to facilitate engagement between the tool and the lugs. Projections extending from the forked portion of the tool can be used to engage the air line connectors between a motor vehicle and a trailer or a utility hookup station to separate the air lines. A kingpin pulling slot may also be included on the tool. |
| US08297585B2 |
Load suspension stand and microscopy system
A load suspension stand includes a first stand member, a second stand member, a joint pivotably connecting the first with the second stand member, a cam plate rotatably fixed to the first stand member, a load transmission lever, an abutment pivotably supporting the load transmission lever at the second stand member, a load reservoir, acting on the second stand member and on the load transmission lever in order to exert a force F1 on the cam plate by means of the load transmission lever, and a drive for displacing the abutment relative to the load transmission lever. |
| US08297582B2 |
Vehicle seat sliding apparatus
A vehicle seat sliding apparatus having a lower rail adapted to be fixed to a vehicle floor and an upper rail adapted to be fixed to a seat and connected to the lower rail so as to be movable with respect to the lower rail includes: a lock lever adapted to be connected rotatably to the upper rail and engaged with the lower rail for selectively the movement of the upper rail with respect to the lower rail; an operating lever adapted to be connected rotatably to a supporting bracket adapted to support the seat in the direction of rotation different from the direction of rotation of the lock lever above the lock lever; and a connecting rod adapted to be connected at one end and the other end directly to the lock lever and the operating lever respectively, and adapted to transmit an operating force to release restriction of the movement with respect to the lock lever by a pressing operation in association with the rotation of the operating lever. |
| US08297576B2 |
Fixture mounting bracket assembly
A fixture mounting bracket assembly is strong, easy to install, self-leveling, adjustable in multiple directions, and removable so that it results in little or no visible damage when removed from the wall. The fixture mounting bracket assembly includes a base assembly, an elbow, and a fixture support assembly. |
| US08297573B1 |
Work bench support and attachment assembly
A support and attachment assembly configured for attachment to a substrate structure. The assembly includes a rigid body comprising a front surface, a back surface, and a bottom surface. A hinge flange extends from the front surface, a boss member extends from the bottom surface, and a latching member is coupled to the body. The support and attachment assembly is attached to the substrate structure by insertion of the hinge flange into a hinge aperture in the substrate structure. The body is rotated while the hinge flange remains in the hinge aperture to insert the boss member into a boss aperture through the substrate structure and to bring the bottom surface into facing relation with a top surface of the substrate structure. The latching member then contactingly engages the substrate structure to lockingly secure the assembly to the substrate structure. |
| US08297571B2 |
Display hanging structure
A display hanging structure hangs a display on the wall. The display has a rear portion, and the display hanging structure includes at least two hangers, a shaft and at least one fixing block. The hangers are disposed at the rear portion, and each hanger has a hole disposed at an identical altitude comparative to the other hole. The shaft is axial shaped and is disposed in the holes. The fixing block is disposed on the wall and contains a slot for receiving the shaft. Whereby, the display may be firmly stuck on the wall by placing the shaft in the slots. |
| US08297567B1 |
Stabilizing device, along with modular configurations incorporating the same
A stabilization device is provided that includes a resilient body that has an upper surface and a lower surface. The body includes a first set of teeth located on the upper surface and distributed about a first axis. The teeth are spaced apart from one another by a selected pitch. The body also includes a second set of teeth located on the upper surface and distributed about a second axis. Like the first set the second set of teeth are spaced apart a selected second pitch. The first and second sets of teeth are offset from each other along either the first or second axis. The lower surface of the body preferably includes a similar arrangement of teeth. |
| US08297564B2 |
Fluid control system for use with a patient support apparatus
A fluid control system for use with a patient support apparatus is moveable from a first height to a second height. The system includes a lift arm and a substantially upright cylinder. A first end of the lift arm is pivotably coupled to a base member and a second end of the lift arm is coupled to a chair structure. The cylinder assembly has a base portion and an extendable member configured to contact and support the lift arm. The cylinder assembly includes a bypass valve having a first end in fluid contact with an upper reservoir and a second end in fluid contact with a lower reservoir. |
| US08297563B2 |
Lifting device for chair including force distributing pressing and locking sleeves
A lifting device for a chair includes an upright support post, a tapered locking sleeve adjustably mounted on the support post, a tapered pressing sleeve mounted on the locking sleeve, a stepping ring having a mounting tube which is mounted on the pressing sleeve, and a dustproof cover abutting a top of the mounting tube of the stepping ring and secured on a top of the pressing sleeve. Thus, the pressing sleeve surrounds the locking sleeve to distribute the pressing force evenly, and the locking sleeve surrounds the support post to distribute the pressing force evenly so as to prevent the pressing sleeve and the locking sleeve from being worn out or broken due to a stress concentration and to enhance the lifetime of the lifting device. |
| US08297557B1 |
Railroad crossing gate height adjustment assembly and method
A railroad crossing gate height adjustment assembly and method for reestablishing a height of the crossing gate of a railroad crossing gate apparatus. An elongated externally threaded pipe has a reducer threadably engageable at a lower, smaller end thereof onto, and is adjustably positionable along a length of the threaded pipe. A larger, upper end of the reducer is threadably lockable with a coupling previously secured at a lower end of a wiring conduit of the gate apparatus whereby the length of the wiring conduit is adjustably increased by an exposed length of the threaded pipe. A bushing having an external thread is lockably engageable onto a top surface of a gate base of the gate apparatus after the coupling and connected wiring conduit are removed, the bushing also having an external thread thereon for supportively receiving a lower end of the threaded pipe. |
| US08297556B2 |
Window element for insertion in a window cutout in an outer skin of an aircraft
A window element for insertion in a window cutout in an outer skin of an aircraft, with a window frame for accommodating a window package and a press-on frame. The window frame can be attached to the inside of the outer skin in the region of the window cutout and can be riveted to the external skin, wherein for attaching the press-on frame at least one press-on frame fitting is connected to the window frame and to the outer skin, in particular is riveted to the window frame and to the outer skin, and the window frame comprises an essentially L-shaped or rectangular cross-sectional geometric shape. |
| US08297555B2 |
Systems and methods for reducing noise in aircraft fuselages and other structures
Systems and methods for reducing noise in aircraft fuselages and other structures are described herein. A noise reduction system configured in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes an auxetic core, a damping layer, and a constraining layer. A method for manufacturing a structural assembly in accordance with another embodiment of the invention includes forming a stiffener by positioning a first ply of composite material against a first tool surface, positioning damping material against the first ply, and positioning a second ply of composite material against the damping material to sandwich the damping material between the first and second plies. The method can further include forming a skin by positioning a third ply of composite material against a second tool surface offset from the first tool surface, and attaching the stiffener to the skin by co-curing the first, second and third plies of composite material. |
| US08297552B2 |
Helicopter landing pad
A mobile helicopter landing pad comprises a platform with one or more elongate, concave guiding channels for aligning a helicopter on the landing pad by forcing the helicopter's skates into a specific alignment upon landing. The guiding channels may have laterally disposed rollers or else be made of slick material to allow the helicopter to slide towards the base of the guiding channel under the helicopter's own weight. Additional crosswise rollers at the bottom of the guiding channel(s) may be provided to allow the helicopter to be moved forward or backward after landing. A blade locking arm swings upward and secures the top rotor. The pad may include a foldable enclosure that protects the helicopter after landing, and an electronic guidance system that assists the pilot during landing by providing instructions to the pilot or visual indications of the prevailing wind direction and velocity, through illuminated signals on the platform. |
| US08297551B2 |
Movable main undercarriage for an aircraft
The airplane comprises a fuselage having frames, and at least two undercarriages each comprising a support and at least one wheel, the support being carried directly by the fuselage and being hinged to the fuselage about an axis that lies outside the frames.The undercarriage is movable between an operational position in which the or each wheel is vertical, and a rest position.The support and the wheel have a configuration such that, in the rest position, the undercarriage extends circumferentially relative to the fuselage and outside the frames. |
| US08297549B2 |
Helicopter rotor
A rotor for a helicopter, having a drive shaft rotating about a first axis; a hub angularly integral with the drive shaft about the first axis; and at least two blades projecting from the hub, on the opposite side to the first axis, and extending along respective second axes crosswise to the first axis; each blade is movable with respect to the hub and the other blades about a respective fourth axis parallel to the first axis, about the respective second axis, and about a respective third axis crosswise to the first and respective second axis; the rotor also has a number of first dampers for damping vibration associated with at least oscillation of the relative blades about the respective fourth axes; the first dampers are connected to one another and each to a relative blade; and, in a radial direction with respect to the first axis, at least one first damper is located between the first axis and the fourth axis of the relative blade. |
| US08297543B2 |
Methods for individualizing trichomes
A method for individualizing a trichome from an epidermis of a non-seed portion of a trichome-bearing plant in the Stachys genus to form a fibrous structure is provided. The method comprises contacting the plant with a device to separate the trichome from the epidermis and incorporating the separated trichome into a fibrous structure. |
| US08297541B2 |
Dust reduction in delivery of particulate commodities
Apparatus for reducing dust emissions from particulate commodities such as wheat or coal using a curved loading spoon connected to the discharge from a loading spout. The curved loading spoon turns particulate commodities delivered at a rate above a predetermined delivery velocity against a curved outer wall causing dust arising from the particulate commodities to be re-entrained within the commodities as they are diverted from a straight path by the curvature. Also described are an optional flap designed to rest just above the surface of the commodities stream adjacent the outlet, and a converging duct located upstream of the curve loading spoon and arranged to direct commodities against the curved outer wall adjacent the inlet. |
| US08297540B1 |
Reverse-flow nozzle for generating cavitating or pulsed jets
A reverse-flow nozzle generates a cavitating and/or pulsed jet of pressurized liquid. The nozzle includes a body having an inlet for receiving a stream of liquid and a main channel through the body extending from the inlet to an outlet. A flow-reversing channel in the nozzle diverts a portion of the liquid from the main channel to a point downstream of a mixing chamber. The channel returns the diverted liquid back into the mixing chamber as a reverse-flow jet relative to a main stream of liquid flowing toward the outlet. This reverse-flow jet interacts with the main stream to generate the cavitating jet that discharges from the outlet. By angling the reverse-flow jet relative to the main stream, a naturally pulsed jet may be generated. |
| US08297539B2 |
Leakproof perfume bottle spray head assembly with positioning sound indication
A leak-proof perfume bottle spray head assembly includes a bottle cap having a tubular holder block and a rotating shaft rotatably mounted in said tubular holder block, a positioning block having a base coupled to the rotating shaft and a sound-making unit extending along the periphery of the base, the sound-making unit having a positioning face and a retaining rib, and a spray head coupled to the rotating shaft and having a deformable rail which will be rubbed against the sound-making unit to make click sound during rotation of the rotating shaft with the spray head from the open position to the close position and a retaining portion for engagement with the retaining rib when the rotating shaft is rotated to the close position. |
| US08297538B2 |
Shower switch with adjustable device
The present invention pertains to a shower switch with adjustable device comprising a main body, a water divided device, a cover, a driving device and a handle. Particularly, the water divided device contains a water divided plate with water divided holes for operating with a sealing plate, which is further positioned inside the main body, and the driving device has one end thereof connecting to the sealing plate and the other end thereof pivoted to the handle. In this manner, the driving device pivoted to the main body and the handle synchronically rotates the sealing plate against the water divided plate by one hand so as to conduct the water from the sealing plate into different water divided holes for the purpose of water switching and of preventing from wetting the hands, hence increasing the convenience. |
| US08297531B2 |
Automatic solvent injection for plural component spray gun
A solvent piston 22 shuttles between first and second positions. In the first position, high pressure air applied to the rear 22a of the solvent piston 22 closes a solvent bore 24 around the solvent piston 22 and prevents passage of solvent into the mix chamber 26. In the second position, high pressure air is applied to the front 22b of the solvent piston 22 causing it to retract slightly thereby uncovering the solvent bore 24, closing off the solvent inlet 28 and allowing a slug of solvent to mix with the purge air 32 and pass from the solvent outlet 30 into the mix chamber 26. The solvent is either self contained in the applicator or plumbed eternally to the gun. |
| US08297530B2 |
Ultrasonic atomizing nozzle with variable fan-spray feature
A spray nozzle assembly that utilizes ultrasonic atomization techniques to atomize a liquid into a cloud of small or fine droplets is disclosed. The nozzle assembly also can use various air or gas atomizing technologies to propel the generally directionless droplet cloud toward a surface or substrate to be coated. The propelled droplet cloud may at this state have a conical or cone-shaped spray pattern. Additional air or gas atomizing technologies can be utilized to shape the propelled droplet cloud into a flattened fan-shaped spray pattern that can be usable in various industrial applications. The shape of the spray pattern and the distribution of droplets within the pattern can be adjusted by manipulation of the gas pressure used in gas atomization. |
| US08297528B2 |
Spring-type rail mount for track system
A rail mount secures a longitudinally extending rail having a foot to a sleeper of a track system. The mount has a rail base plate on the sleeper underneath the rail foot and unitarily formed with a pair of upwardly projecting holders transversely flanking the rail and each formed with at least one vertically throughgoing bore. Respective anchor bolts engaged vertically downward through the bores have heads bearing downward at least indirectly on the respective holders and are seated in the sleeper to hold the base plate down on the sleeper. Respective elastically deformable clips fitted to the holders below the respective anchor-bolt heads bear upwardly on the holders and downwardly on the rail foot to press the rail downwardly toward the sleeper. |
| US08297521B2 |
Two part code
A code system for associating data with articles having codes each code having a uniquely created, non-informational first part and a second part wherein each code is associated with an article and the first part may be transformed and thereby uniquely associated with an individual article and a second part may be associated with the first part, such that a relationship between the parts, or lack thereof may be discerned by reading both parts of the code, in order to verify the authenticity of the code. |
| US08297519B2 |
Privacy protection packet for holding free floating security devices with deactivation assisted by perforations in the packet only
The present invention relates to a flexible packaging arrangement for use with security devices. The flexible packaging may include an packet or sleeve in which a plurality of overlapping perforations or cuts may be used to break or render the security device inoperable after repeated bends or application of force to the flexible package to thereby protect the privacy of the consumer and to prevent inadvertent triggering of an alarm system after a legitimate purchase of the device. |
| US08297513B2 |
Method and system for identifying a game piece
A method and system for determining the presence and identity of a game piece placed at a sensing location by attaching one or more conductive rings at fixed concentric locations on the bottom of the game piece and sensing the presence or absence of the conductive rings by means of sensors that are insensitive to the rotational orientation of the game piece. |
| US08297512B2 |
Industrial scanner
A scanner module is constructed for use in a high impact, high usage environment. The industrial scanner employs a substantially box-like enclosure with an integral handle extending from a bottom portion forming an elongated slot. A scanner window is located in one panel of the enclosure and cushioning materials disposed in the enclosure for providing heavy-duty impact resistance. An externally accessible keyboard display window and a display assembly is employed at a frontal portion of the enclosure. |
| US08297509B2 |
User interface feedback using scanner light source
An image forming apparatus includes a scanning region and a user interface region adjacent to the scanning region. In the user interface, a first illuminated indicator corresponds to a function of the image forming apparatus. A light source is operable to illuminate an object in the scanning region. A first light conveying member is coupled to the illuminated indicator and operable to receive light from the light source. |
| US08297505B2 |
Product management apparatus, product management method, and storage medium storing product management program
A product management apparatus includes a tag information receiver that receives first tag information identifying a first wireless tag attached to a first product, and second tag information identifying a second wireless tag attached to a second product, a group determiner that determines whether a sensor related to the received first tag information is present, a group generator that generates group information including the first tag information and the second tag information and if a difference between the time of reception of the first tag information and the time of reception of the second tag information falls within a specific range, a sensor information receiver that retrieves environment information of an environment surrounding the sensor and a product management unit that associates the retrieved environment information with the first tag information and the second tag information, included in the group information. |
| US08297500B2 |
Fitting room terminal, job supporting system, and information acquiring method
A display unit displays information in a fitting room. An operation input unit receives operation input of information in the fitting room. An RFID reader writer performs radio communication with an RFID tag, which is attached to a commodity and stores data of a commodity ID for identifying the commodity, and sets a radio communication range in the inside of the fitting room. A control unit that (i) acquires data of a commodity ID from an RFID tag attached to a commodity in the fitting room via the RFID reader writer, (ii) acquires, according to the acquisition of the data of the commodity ID, data of questionnaire information including a question and plural answers to the question from a questionnaire information file that stores the data of the questionnaire information, and (iii) causes the display unit to display the acquired questionnaire information, waits for selection of one or two or more answers, which are included in the questionnaire information displayed by the display unit, by operation input in the operation input unit, and causes a storage area to store the answers selected by the operation input in the operation input unit. |
| US08297494B1 |
Alarm and indicating system for preventing burglary and theft
Apparatus that includes alarms with indicators to prevent burglary and theft includes a depository (10) operative to receive deposit containers (20) from authorized persons who open a lock (24). The apparatus includes a depository head (12) and a chest (14). A security curtain assembly (36) comprising a plurality of movable plate members is operative to selectively block an opening in the top of the chest that communicates with the head in response to an actuator. The actuator operates responsive to at least one circuit to cause the security curtain to close responsive to sensing conditions that may correspond to an attack through one or more sensors. Alarms are given locally or remotely when the at least one circuit senses conditions that may correspond to an attack. |
| US08297489B2 |
Packaging container
A packaging container includes a body plate defined into front and back faces by a first folding line. The front face includes second and third folding lines. The second and third folding lines define two connection portions. The body plate further includes an enclosing plate. A fourth folding line is located between the front face and the enclosing plate. The back face is folded upwards along the first folding line, and the connection portions are folded inwards along the second and third folding lines. The connection portions are stuck to the back face. A first pre-folding line and a second pre-folding line are located between the second and third folding lines. A fifth pre-folding line and a sixth pre-folding line are located on the back face. Two seventh pre-folding lines and two eighth pre-folding lines are defined. |
| US08297488B2 |
Bump forming method using self-assembling resin and a wall surface
A method for forming bumps 19 on electrodes 32 of a wiring board 31 includes the steps of: (a) supplying a fluid 14 containing conductive particles 16 and a gas bubble generating agent onto a first region 17 including the electrodes 32 on the wiring board 31; (b) disposing a substrate 40 having a wall surface 45 formed near the electrodes 32 for forming a meniscus 55 of the fluid 14, so that the substrate 40 faces the wiring board 31; and (c) heating the fluid 14 to generate gas bubbles 30 from the gas bubble generating agent contained in the fluid 14. |
| US08297483B2 |
Liquid dispenser
Liquid dispenser for dispensing a carbonated liquid from a container, the liquid dispenser including a compartment, a container sealing region, a compartment sealing region, and a valve, the compartment extending upwardly from a neck portion of the container, the neck portion and the compartment defining an opening to the atmosphere between the compartment and the neck portion, the container sealing region being located between the neck portion and the opening, the compartment sealing region being located between the compartment and the opening, the valve being movable within the compartment, from a closed position pressed toward the neck portion, to an open position away from the neck portion, the valve including a first surface facing the compartment, a second surface facing the opening, a first valve sealing region, a second valve sealing region, and a channel extending from the neck portion to the compartment, the first valve sealing region matching the container sealing region, for preventing passage of fluids between the neck portion and the opening, when the valve is in the closed position, the second valve sealing region matching the compartment sealing region, for preventing passage of fluids between the compartment and the opening, when the valve is in the closed position, the channel enabling passage of fluid from the neck portion to the compartment. |
| US08297482B2 |
Manifold and nozzle closure/seal system
A combination manifold and nozzle closure system is disclosed. The closure system limits exposure of the nozzle outlets to air between dispenses or between uses. Manifold accommodates a plurality of nozzles. Each nozzle includes a nozzle outlet extending beyond an end of the manifold. An actuator shaft passes through the manifold and is connected to a plate at its distal end with a film disposed between the plate and the nozzle outlets. An actuator moves the actuator shaft from a closed position where the film engages the nozzle outlets and the plate is disposed just below the nozzles to an open position where the film and plate have been pulled upward beyond the nozzle outlets. The plate includes a plurality of openings and the film includes a plurality of valves each opening in the plate is in alignment with a valve and each valve is in alignment with one of the nozzle outlets. By moving the plate and film upward past the nozzle outlets, the valves and the film open and the nozzle outlets extend through the openings in the plate and are therefore free to dispense. To close the system, the actuator moves the shaft, plate and film downward where the valves and the film close and engage the nozzle outlets to keep the nozzle outlets relatively isolated from air between dispenses. |
| US08297473B2 |
Cutlery dispenser and method of dispensing cutlery
A cutlery dispenser comprises a storage chamber adapted to retain a plurality of cutlery therein; an ejector for sequentially ejecting the plurality of cutlery from the storage chamber; an actuator for driving the ejector; and a sensor for triggering the actuator in response to an event. |
| US08297471B2 |
Interactive manual cup dispenser
A use-activated cup dispenser capable of sensing the manual removal of individual cups therefrom is provided. Manual removal is understood to include physical contact between a hand and a cup and extraction of the cup from the cup dispenser by the user. The invention includes a decorative cover including a housing disposed between first and second covers, at least one switch mechanism, a control circuit, and at least one active element including light elements, motor elements, scent dispensers, and/or audio elements. The decorative cover further includes an opening along one end. One or more switch mechanisms are provided along the first cover adjacent to the opening. The functionality of switch mechanisms includes direct contact, indirect contact, and non-contact between the cup and an optical or mechanical switch. The control circuit could be disposed on a circuit board and controls the functionality of the active elements. Active elements are attached to the decorative cover and are actuated when a cup interacts with at least one switch mechanism. Active elements enhance the entertainment and interactive properties of the cup dispenser. |
| US08297468B1 |
Fuel tank for liquefied natural gas
A storage tank is provided for storing liquefied natural gas on, for example, a motor vehicle such as a bus or truck. The storage tank includes a metal liner vessel encapsulated by a resin-fiber composite layer. A foam insulating layer, including an outer protective layer of epoxy or of a truck liner material, covers the composite layer. A non-conducting protective coating may be painted on the vessel between the composite layer and the vessel so as to inhibit galvanic corrosion. |
| US08297463B2 |
Closure for an equipment sub
A closure is shown for an equipment sub. A closure door is carried by a sub body and movable thereto between open and closed positions for providing access to a pressure vessel. Various improvements are disclosed including a new mechanism for positioning wedge shaped arcuate segments between the door and the sub body, a retainer mechanism for guiding movement of cross bars, a split hinge adjustment mechanism for adjusting planarity and concentricity between the closure door and the sub body, an increased annular wall body thickness region surrounding the sealing surface for reducing warpage during welding, a pressure lock rod member which also engages a combination of cross bars and a crank for driving the cross bars, and a pry bar that can facilitate better manually operated leveraging of the closure door. |
| US08297462B1 |
Normally-closed dispensing closure with operative handle
An apparatus and method for allowing a user to use the same mechanism to connect a container to another object and to open a normally-closed opening in the container. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises a closure body having an opening therein; a stopper that closes the opening; and a carabiner that comprises a spine that is fixed to said body and a gate that is operably connected to said stopper. In use, this embodiment of the invention is operated by moving the gate to a full open position, which causes the stopper to move away from the opening. |
| US08297460B2 |
Vapor barrier for flammable liquid storage tanks
The vapor barrier for flammable liquid storage tanks provides a gas impermeable layer for covering the surface of a flammable liquid stored within a conventional flammable liquid storage tank, a tanker, a vessel or the like. The vapor barrier is formed from a plurality of spherical buoyant members. Each spherical buoyant member has a heat-resistant core or shell, a heat-reactive intumescent or flame retardant layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-resistant core, and an antistatic and oil-phobic layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-reactive intumescent layer. The vapor barrier may further be used with liquid storage tanks in which separation between the liquid and vapor phases is beneficial to prevent oxidation or other undesirable reactions. |
| US08297459B2 |
Tank container
The present invention relates to a tank container (1) having a tank (2) and a framework which receives the tank (2) via end frames (3). Here, the end frames (3) are connected to one another in the lower region via a longitudinal frame structure (5), wherein at least two lateral longitudinal carriers (12) are provided which, in their end regions, have in each case one lateral diagonal member (14) which extends between the longitudinal carrier (12) and a corner support (18) and one base diagonal member (16) which extends between the longitudinal carrier (12) and a lower transverse spar (26, 26′), wherein the base diagonal member (16) and/or the lateral diagonal member (14) have/has an open cross-sectional profile. |
| US08297452B2 |
Parts container with adjustable rack
A parts container having adjustable racks that are adjustable in both a vertical and horizontal direction. |
| US08297444B2 |
Separation of carbon nanotubes using magnetic particles
The present disclosure generally describes techniques for separating semiconducting carbon nanotubes from metallic carbon nanotubes in a carbon nanotube dispersion. The semiconducting carbon nanotubes and metallic carbon nanotubes may be provided and dispersed in a fluid. Once the semiconducting carbon nanotubes attach to the amine-coated magnetic particles, a magnetic field may be applied to the amine coated magnetic particles and attached semiconducting carbon nanotubes to attract and hold at least a portion of the semiconducting carbon nanotubes, so that the semiconducting carbon nanotubes may be separated from the fluid and/or metallic carbon nanotubes. |
| US08297438B2 |
Multipack carrier for packaging containers
A multipack carrier for packaging containers is an apparatus that is used to hold, bundle, and transport packaging containers together. The packaging containers is any kind of bottle, can, or jar that is used to store consumer goods. The apparatus comprises of a plurality of plastic braces, a paper board carrier, a grasping mechanism, and a printed graphic. The plastic braces allows the apparatus to clutch each individual packing containers, and the paper board carrier allows the apparatus to simultaneous support all of the plastic braces. In the preferred embodiment, the plastic braces are created by injecting recyclable resin into a plastic injection mold and onto the paper board carrier. The printed graphic can be illustrated on the apparatus because of the material of the paper board carrier. The grasping mechanism allows a person to pick up and carry the apparatus with the packing containers. |
| US08297437B2 |
Carrier for containers
A carrier for holding a plurality of containers. The carrier comprises at least one bottom panel, a front panel, a back panel, and at least two side panels. The interior of the carrier is divided into a front portion and a back portion by a first and second central panel. A first divider flap is foldably attached to the first central panel and extends to the front panel to divide the front portion into at least two container-receiving spaces. A second divider flap is foldably attached to the second central panel and extends to the back panel to divide the back portion into at least two container-receiving spaces. The first central panel has features for facilitating positioning of the second divider flap relative to the second central panel. The second central panel has features for facilitating positioning of the first divider flap relative to the first central panel. |
| US08297426B2 |
Piston apparatus of automatic transmission
In an embodiment of the present invention, a piston apparatus of an automatic transmission includes a piston member capable of moving in the axial direction of the rotation shaft, and a hydraulic chamber, and has been configured so that the piston member moves in the axial direction due to pressure in the hydraulic chamber. The piston member includes a cylinder part that extends in the axial direction and to which pressure in the hydraulic chamber is transmitted, a pressing part that extends in the radial direction and presses against a friction engaging element of the automatic transmission, and a connecting part that connects the cylinder part and the pressing part and, with respect to the axial direction, is offset from the pressing part in a direction of separation from the friction engaging element. Also, the axial direction offset amount of the connecting part from the pressing part of the piston member has been set larger than the stroke amount of the piston member. |
| US08297424B2 |
Single actuator self-adjusting dry dual clutch
A self-adjusting twin or dual dry clutch assembly for a dual clutch transmission includes a single actuator. The clutch assembly includes one center and two outer clutch drive plates or discs which independently engage a pair of interleaved driven clutch plates or discs which are coupled to and drive a respective pair of transmission countershafts or layshafts. The single actuator translates an internal clutch carrier which acts upon the outer clutch plates through respective pluralities of linear one way clutches. Self-adjustment of the dual clutch assembly is achieved by additional linear one way clutches acting through pairs of spring biased control rods. |
| US08297421B2 |
Active materials actuated one-way clutch
A one-way clutch for assisting the rotation of a rotary fluid motor includes a ratchet and a hub rotatable about a longitudinal axis relative to the ratchet. The ratchet includes a plurality of teeth, and the hub includes a pawl for engaging the teeth to rotate the ratchet in a single direction of rotation. A control device including an active material interconnects the pawl and the hub. The active material of the control device contracts in response to a control signal to move the pawl. An actuator including an active material is spirally wound around an outer periphery of the hub. The active material of the actuator contracts to spin the hub and thereby drive the ratchet. |
| US08297420B2 |
Method for manufacturing an overrunning clutch
Rollers and springs are installed in notch portions of a clutch outer (S104), an inscribed circle diameter of the rollers is measured in a state in which the rollers are placed in contact with stopping portions by pressure from the springs (S105), and an outside diameter of a cylindrical portion is determined from the inscribed circle diameter measured value such that a predetermined amount of roller bite is achieved (S106). Then, the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion is finished so as to have the determined value of the outside diameter (S108). An overrunning clutch is assembled by pairing together the clutch outer, rollers, and springs and the clutch inner (S110). |
| US08297411B2 |
Brake device for use in an elevator using a target pattern when a hoist is not driven
In an elevator device, movement of a car is braked by a brake device in a state in which driving of a hoist is stopped. While the drive of the hoist is stopped, braking force of the brake device is controlled by a brake control device based on a signal from a movement detector that generates a signal corresponding to movement of the car. The brake control device generates a target pattern for at least one of speed and acceleration of the car and controls braking force of the brake device such that the movement of the car follows the target pattern. |
| US08297410B2 |
Elevating workshop pit platform
A pit platform (10) within a pit (11) located in a floor, having a deck (12) that can be raised and lowered by a lifting means (14) between a raised position in which the deck is substantially level with the floor and a second position in which the deck is beneath the level of the floor. The deck is supported by a plurality of cables (18) controlled by the lifting means to effect substantially vertical movement of the deck within the pit. A method of moving the deck between the raised and second positions is also described. The pit platform has particular application to a workshop, enabling workers standing on the platform to position themselves at a comfortable height below a vehicle that is being worked upon. In the raised position the platform provides a safety cover for the pit. |
| US08297409B2 |
Coordination of multiple elevator cars in a hoistway
The movement of a plurality of elevator cars (12, 14) in an elevator hoistway (16) is coordinated for situations in which the regions of the hoistway that are serviceable by the cars (12, 14) at any given time are configured to overlap. A car stop plan for each elevator car (12, 14) is generated that includes a sequence of stops for servicing demand assigned to the elevator car (12, 14). Operation of the elevator cars (12, 14) is then coordinated based on the car stop plans such that each elevator car (12, 14) services its assigned demand without interfering with the car stop plans of any other of the plurality of elevator cars (12, 14). |
| US08297408B2 |
Magnetic stabilizer for material handling equipment
A stabilizer for material handling equipment, includes a base mount for mounting to the material handling equipment, a main frame pivotally attached to the base mount, and a release lever and magnet housing pivotally mounted to the main frame. A biasing element holds the main frame in a disengaged position away from a metallic floor surface. The release lever can be addressed by a user to overcome the biasing element and rotate the magnet housing to an engaged position, so that magnets in the magnet housing engage the metallic floor surface, holding or anchoring the material handling equipment in place. In order to disengage the magnets from the metallic floor surface, the user forces the release lever in an opposite direction, prying the magnets from the floor surface, upon which the biasing element further rotates the main frame, removing the magnet housing from the proximity of the floor. |
| US08297406B2 |
Device capable of extending a foot end of a ladder
A device capable of extending a foot end of a ladder includes a box tube section with an elongated hole, a long engaging plate with an elongated hole and a plurality of inserting teeth, a short engaging plate with a central fixing hole, two pairs of engaging slots and an engaging nut, and a knob head bolt. The knob head bolt passes through the elongated holes, and the central fixing hole to be tightened to the engaging bolt via a rail of the ladder. The long and short engaging plates are disposed in the box tube section to face to each other. The knob head bolt is loosened or tightened to cause two pairs of the inserting teeth disengaging or inserting into the engaging slots for the box tube section being operated to extend a distance outward the rail stably and safely. |
| US08297405B2 |
Adjustable work platform for pipe and casing stabbing operations
A stabbing basket, for a rig and for supporting a worker while stabbing joints of tubular members together during running operations, comprises a frame member for mounting the stabbing basket to the rig, a platform to support the worker, a carriage to slidably mount the platform to the frame member, vertical power means for moving the carriage vertically with respect to the frame member, an articulating boom, interconnecting the platform with the carriage, said articulating boom comprising a first segment and a second segment, and at least one pivoting actuator positioned between the first segment and the second segment. |
| US08297404B2 |
Soundproof exhaust pipe for a turbine engine
The soundproofed exhaust duct for a turbine engine comprises a perforated inner shell defining a flow passage, and a solid outer shell, the inner and outer shells defining between them a space that is closed at the upstream and downstream ends of said space. A core extends between the inner and outer shells at a distance therefrom, and contains at least one sound energy dissipating layer made up of hollow beads that are held against one another. A frame with upstream and downstream portions connected together by longitudinal members supports the core and partitions it into a plurality of boxes that are filled with hollow beads that are held between perforated textures, the frame being secured to the outer shell and/or to the inner shell via at least one of its upstream and downstream portions. |
| US08297401B1 |
Vehicle steering system transmission
A vehicle steering system transmission comprising a housing, an input shaft journalled to the housing, an electric motor connected to the housing and coupled to the input shaft, an output shaft journalled to the housing, the input shaft and the output shaft coupled by a first pair of sprockets having a first belt trained therebetween and having a first ratio, the first belt and first pair of sprockets comprising a helical tooth configuration, the input shaft and the output shaft coupled by a second pair of sprockets having a second belt trained therebetween and having a second ratio, and the input shaft and the output shaft coupled by a third pair of sprockets having a third belt trained therebetween and having a third ratio. |
| US08297398B2 |
Two-wheeled motor vehicle
A two-wheeled motor vehicle provided with a drive shaft (32) rotatably supported by a swing arm (28) rockable on a pivot shaft (27). The longitudinal center axis (32J) of the drive shaft (32) is located below a line (28C) interconnecting the pivot shaft (27) and an axle (40). The drive shaft (32) is surrounded by the swing arm (28). |
| US08297391B2 |
Power supply system, vehicle provided with the same, power supply system control method and computer-readable recording medium bearing program for causing computer to control the power supply system
First and second converters are connected in parallel to positive and negative lines, respectively. When a required power is smaller than a reference value, an ECU controls the first and second converters such that one of the first and second converters operates and the other stops. When the required power is equal to or larger than the reference value, the ECU controls the first and second converters such that both the first and second converters operate. |
| US08297386B2 |
Work vehicle
A work vehicle including: a body frame; an engine supported by the body frame through an elastic body; a belt transmission mechanism connected to an output shaft of the engine in a power transmissive manner; and a power takeoff (PTO) mechanism connected to the belt transmission mechanism in a power transmissive manner to take out power from the engine. A PTO support bracket configured to support the PTO mechanism is attached to the engine. |
| US08297385B2 |
Dual wheelend for a vehicle
A dual wheelend for an axle assembly having a rotatable axle shaft. The wheelend comprises a spindle defining a first axis. An intermediate hub is supported on the spindle for rotation about the first axis during rotation of the axle shaft. An inner wheel hub and an outer wheel hub are adjacent one another and are each supported on the intermediate hub for rotation about the first axis. A differential mechanism interconnects the inner and outer wheel hubs. A pin is disposed through a pinion along a second axis and couples the differential mechanism to the intermediate hub for driving the wheel hubs during rotation of the intermediate hub and permitting relative rotation between the wheel hubs relative to the intermediate hub. The pin includes proximal end with a head disposed on the proximal end for engaging the pinion and sandwiching the pinion between the head and the intermediate hub. |
| US08297384B2 |
Methods and apparatus for utilizing electrically powered vehicles
Methods and apparatus may augment the utility of an electrically powered vehicle. A first electric motor (110a or 111a) may be provided with a first effective gear ratio, a second electric motor (110b or 111b) may be provided with a second effective gear ratio, and additional electric motors may be provided additional effective gear ratios. An electrically powered vehicle may be differentially powered by said electric motors at said different effective gear ratios. A transdisciplinary electrical diagnostic processor (440) may process electrically recondite operation parameters of one or more electrical components to provide transdisciplinary diagnostic output to a user. A standardized modular interface (540) supported on a trailer chassis (510) may be configured to accept multipurposed modular interchangeable trailer tops (560) at an interchange position (550) of said trailer chassis (510). A hand actuated accessory mount may be provided with a quick release interface (322). |
| US08297379B2 |
Systems and methods for providing a gearless drilling turbine
A drilling sub assembly adapted to be coupled between a drill bit of a drilling rig and a drill pipe, the drilling sub assembling including a turbine unit directly coupled to the drill bit via a mandrel, such that passage of a drilling fluid through the drilling sub assembly rotates the turbine unit which in turn directly rotates the drill bit coupled thereto. The present invention further relates to a baffle for controlling and reducing debris present within a drilling fluid used in combination with the drilling sub assembly. |
| US08297371B1 |
System and methods for fire protection
A fire protection system for helping to prevent an area from catching fire comprising a large fire-resistant tarp for draping over the area; cables slidably attached along the side edges of the tarp via eyelets; a guide rope near the bottom of the tarp for helping to help spread the tarp over the area; a plurality of attachment components at the bottom of the tarp for attaching to a structure in the area to secure the tarp; a weighted component disposed near the bottom edge of the tarp to help guide the tarp to a particular position over the area or help prevent the tarp from being blown by drafts; and a flap disposed at the bottom edge of the tarp, the flap remains unrestrained when the tarp is secured over the area, wherein an individual can take shelter beneath the flap. |
| US08297370B2 |
Releasing control unit for a residential fire protection system
A releasing control panel (RCP) for use with residential fire protection systems and methods. The RCP provides a primary communication between a liquid supply source and a network of pipes and sprinklers using a series of three control valves. The RCP also encloses a pressure source providing pressurized gas to an auxiliary line that is isolated from the pipe network and sprinklers, with pressurized gas being provided in response to a pressure in the isolated auxiliary line. The RCP also encloses a secondary communication between the series of the control valves and a drain without the use of a bypass system for the primary communication. The RCP further encloses a power supply and a controller that communications with a fire detector disposed in a dwelling at a defined spacing to a sprinkler. |
| US08297369B2 |
Fire-extinguishing system with servo motor-driven foam pump
Embodiments of the invention provide a fire-extinguishing system for injecting foamant into a stream of water. The system can include a flow meter determining a flow rate of the stream of water and a foam pump having an inlet coupled to a supply of foamant and an outlet coupled to the stream of water. The system includes a servo motor driving the foam pump. The servo motor includes a sensor used to determine a rotor shaft speed and/or a rotor shaft torque. A controller can control an operating speed of the servo motor using closed-loop control depending on the flow rate and the rotor shaft speed and/or the rotor shaft torque. |
| US08297368B2 |
Systems and methods for initiating annular obstruction in a subsurface well
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for initiating annular obstructions in wells used in, or in support of, enhanced oil recovery operations—particularly enhanced oil recovery (EOR) efforts involving steam injection (e.g., steam flooding). In at least some instances, system and method embodiments of the present invention utilize one or more passively-activated annular obstruction devices (and/or hybrid active/passive devices) for inducing annular obstruction, wherein the associated passive or hybrid activation is at least partially controlled by thermal means such that it can be deemed to be thermally-directed or thermally-controlled. Such thermally-directed passive activation can afford considerably more control over the annular obstruction process and, correspondingly, over the overall steam injection into the formation and associated reservoir—thereby providing more efficient recovery of hydrocarbons. |
| US08297367B2 |
Mechanism for activating a plurality of downhole devices
A mechanism for selectively activating a plurality of downhole pathways including a) a valve having: i) a sleeve coupled for movement between an open and normally closed position; and ii) a valve magnet set mounted to the sleeve; and b) a dart for pumping in hole including a dart magnet set matched to the valve magnet set such that the dart couples to the valve when in close proximity and, in turn, the sleeve moves from the closed position to the open position. |
| US08297366B2 |
Installable load shoulder for a wellhead
A system for supporting tubing with an installable load shoulder. The system includes a wellhead formed with an enlarged first circumferential groove in the wall of the vertical bore of the wellhead, and a second circumferential groove extending upwardly or downwardly from the first circumferential groove. At least one opening is formed in communication with the second circumferential groove. An annular load shoulder is received within the first circumferential groove, and has an inner surface adapted to support a tubing hanger. The load shoulder is formed from at least three arc-shaped shoulder segments adapted to be received within the first circumferential groove. At least one of the shoulder segments has an engagement member configured to pass through the opening to be received within the second circumferential groove. Rotating the load shoulder such that the engagement member is out of alignment with the opening secures the load shoulder within the wellhead. |
| US08297358B2 |
Auto-production frac tool
Fracturing tools for use in oil and gas wells comprise an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve, a run-in position, and two operational positions. The inner sleeve comprises two ports and two positions. The first port is aligned with a first port of the housing when the tool and sleeve are in the first operational position and is closed when the tool and sleeve are in the run-in position. After performing the first operation, the inner sleeve is returned to its initial position and the outer sleeve is moved placing the tool in the second operational position in which the second port in the inner sleeve is in fluid communication with a second port in the housing. Movement of the tool from the first operational position to the second operational position so that a second operation can be performed is done without the need for an additional well intervention step. |
| US08297353B2 |
Use of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) in well treatments
A method of servicing a wellbore, comprising placing a plurality of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) sensors in at least a portion of a sealant composition, placing the sealant composition in an annular space formed between a casing and the wellbore wall, and monitoring, via the MEMS sensors, the sealant composition and/or the annular space for a presence of gas, water, or both. A method of servicing a wellbore, comprising placing a plurality of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) sensors in a wellbore composition, placing the wellbore composition in the wellbore, and monitoring, via the MEMS sensors, the wellbore and/or the surrounding formation for movement. |
| US08297344B2 |
Modular air-cooled condenser apparatus and method
An air-cooled condenser for receiving and condensing steam has at least one first, corner module and at least one second, intermediate module. The first module has a four-sided profile in plan view and a respective vertical tube bundle panel located on each of two adjacent sides of the first module. The second module has a four-sided profile in plan view and a vertical tube bundle panel on one of its sides, and an internal tube bundle panel disposed inside of the second module. Steam is supplied to all of the tube bundle panels. |
| US08297341B2 |
Heat dissipating structure and method of forming the same
A forming method for a heat dissipating structure is provided. According to the method, an extrudate is formed by extrution molding, wherein the extrudate includes protruding bending portions extending in parallel. Fins are extruded monolithically on the bending portions. One or more cut channels are formed by cutting the fins and the extrudate with a cutting tool. The cutting tool cuts the fins for forming a notch on each fin at first, and then cuts the bending portions for forming a cut-through slot on each bending portion, wherein each cut-through slot is formed for cooling air flowing through two side of the extrudate. By cutting the bending portions and the fins by the cutting tool at the same time, a large number of cut-through slots are formed in despite of the existence of the fins, and the performance of heat dissipation is enhanced. |
| US08297340B2 |
Method of producing ductile iron
Process for producing ductile iron by treating liquid iron with an initializer which is a ferrosilicon alloy comprising an effective amount of barium sufficient to inactivate the oxygen activity of the liquid iron. This is followed at a predetermined time thereafter by treating the liquid iron with a magnesium containing nodularizer, followed by treating the liquid iron with a eutectic graphite nucleation-inducing inoculant, and casting the iron. |
| US08297336B2 |
Barrier means
Barrier means are provided having a frame including a plurality of frame members, movable between a first substantially erect condition and a second substantially folded condition. At least one of the frame members including two or more telescopically mounted portions capable of relative movement to allow expansion and/or contraction of the length of the frame member. Locking means are associated with one or more of said frame portions to allow the portion or portions to be locked at a required length. The locking means are movable between the locked and/or unlocked position by relative movement of the frame portion or portions with which the locking means are associated. |
| US08297335B2 |
Interchangeable window treatment system
An interchangeable window treatment system has a plurality of independent fabric components including, but not limited to, a base drape panel, a valance, strap members and at least one overlay drape panel. The strap members are positioned at spaced intervals along a top of the base drape panel, forming loops to support the window treatment system on a horizontal rod. In one embodiment, the valance, one or more overlay panels and strap members are removably secured to the base drape panel with dumbbell shaped button links having enlarged button heads on opposite ends that fit through openings in the fabric (eyelets, buttonholes, etc.) on each of the attached fabric components. Any of the fabric components can be removed, reversed, interchanged and replaced to change the overall appearance of the window treatment system according to a desired style, color scheme, or theme. Medallions or other decorative elements are removably attachable at spaced intervals along the valance, button links or strap members. In another embodiment, the straps and valance are sewn to the base panel, as one piece, and the overlay drape panels and decorative elements are attached by snaps, magnets or other releasable fastening devices. |
| US08297334B2 |
Sliding panel
A sliding panel includes multiple connecting/adjacent carrier tracks such as two/three/four carrier tracks while connectors of each carrier track are disposed in opposite directions or at intervals. Thus the multiple connecting/adjacent carrier tracks slide in parallel under the same channel. Moreover, the positions of each connector on top surface of respective carrier track are in alternating arrangement so as to allow runners of multiple connecting/adjacent carrier tracks being mounted inside the same channel simultaneously. The runners of the connecting/adjacent carrier tracks move inside the channel of a rail at the same time and the connecting/adjacent carrier tracks slide in parallel under the same channel. Therefore, the number of channels of the rail is decreased and the amount of material used for producing the rail is reduced. Furthermore, the rail can be designed to have two-step inner and outer rails for adjusting length of the rail. Moreover, each rail is disposed only with one channel and then a plurality of rails such as one/two/three rails are arranged in parallel to form a rail set for easy assembling. |
| US08297331B2 |
Separating apparatus and separating method
A separating apparatus includes a sucking plate for sticking to a support plate by suction. The sucking plate has sucking holes for expelling gas from a space between the sucking plate and the support plate. Each of the sucking holes has a diameter of not less than 0.3 mm and not more than an outer diameter of the support plate. This makes it possible to separate a supporting plate from a wafer without breaking the wafer. |
| US08297330B2 |
Welded knot end effector
An apparatus for forming an end effector includes a welding device having a welder positioned adjacent to a base, and a die coupled to one end of the welder. The base and the welder are movable relative to each other. The welder, base or die includes a source of heat that is applied to a portion of the suture disposed between the welder and the base. |
| US08297329B2 |
Coating film transfer tool
An arm rotation shaft of a tape base is disposed so as to be in a position on the substantially opposite side to a winding bobbin across a feeding bobbin, one end of a first arm closer than the outer peripheral face of the transfer tape wound around the feeding bobbin is fixed to an arm rotation shaft, and a tape head is provided on the other end of the first arm. By rotation of the first arm taking the arm rotation shaft as a fulcrum, the tape head is rotated. |
| US08297328B2 |
Coating film transfer tool
To provide a coating film transfer tool in which a transfer head is loaded within a case in such a manner as to come out of and go back into the case, and in which the excessive pressure on the transfer head which is projected outside the case is absorbed so as to improve the operability of the coating film transfer tool, the coating film transfer tool includes a coating film transfer section which is disposed in an interior of an accommodation case, and the coating film transfer section includes a supply bobbin, a take-up bobbin and a rotation transmitting device for transmitting the rotation of the supply bobbin to the take-up bobbin, and the coating film transfer section also includes a transfer head in such a state that the transfer head is projected from the coating film transfer section around which an unwound transfer tape from the supply bobbin is made to be suspended, a knocking member projected from the rear end of the accommodation case, a rotary member and a rotary support member disposed between the coating film transfer section and the knocking member, and an elastic member for biasing the coating film transfer section to the rearward, wherein the rotary support member has flexible support arms so that the coating film transfer section can be slightly moved back and forth within the accommodation case. |
| US08297327B2 |
Hand held dual sided tape dispensing machine
A hand held adhesive tape dispensing machine for joining tape strips originating from two tape rolls to form one tape strip of a desired length with partially exposed adhesive on both sides, which has an offset frame structure supporting guide members to maintain tape positions; roller that tape strips join on; spools that can accommodate varying widths of tape; cutting blade for severing tape; and handle for grasping. |
| US08297324B2 |
Pneumatic tire for motorcycle
The present invention provides a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle, in which tire durability at a relatively high speed in running straight is enhanced with maintaining good gripping performances in cornering situation by optimizing the distribution of loss tangent in tread rubbers constituting a tread portion. The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle includes a pair of bead portions 1 having bead cores embedded therein, a pair of sidewalls 2 extending on the outer side in the tire radial direction from the bead portions 1, and a tread portion 3 extending over the respective sidewall portions 2, wherein the tread portion 3 is constituted of at least four tread regions such that, when the tread regions are viewed in a section in the tire widthwise direction, loss tangent values of rubbers constituting the adjacent tread regions are different from each other, and a loss tangent value of a rubber constituting a center tread region 5 as a tread region including the tire equatorial plane 4, of the tread regions, is smaller than a loss tangent value of each of rubbers constituting other tread regions 6. |
| US08297322B2 |
Beverage filling plant for filling beverage containers with a beverage having a device for the feeding and removal of beverage containers
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material having a device for the feeding and removal of containers, in particular for the feeding of upright kegs, barrels, cans, bottles and similar containers from a conveyor belt to a linear conveyor or revolving carousel turntable or also for the return of said containers to a removal conveyor belt with a star wheel, the star pockets of which or the arms of which can be brought at least partly in contact with the container and which are realized so that they can be adjusted to accommodate different containers The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner. |
| US08297313B1 |
Pressure abatement emergency shut down assembly with a collapsible member retained valve member
A fluid control assembly configured to isolate a pressurized fluid, including an under pressure abatement assembly having a collapsible member and an energy storage member for exerting a collapsing force on the collapsible member while contactingly engaging a pivotal valve member. A conduit path directs pressurized fluid to exert a force in opposition to the collapsing force so that when the fluid pressure falls below a low pressure threshold, the collapsing force will collapse the collapsible member and release the valve member. An over pressure abatement assembly can be included having a second collapsible member and a second valve member, a conduit path directing pressurized fluid to exert a force in a direction to collapse the second collapsible member and release the second valve member when the fluid pressure exceeds an upper pressure threshold. |
| US08297311B2 |
Controlling gas partial pressures for process optimization
Apparatus for establishing and controlling a low pressure gas mixture in a vacuum enclosure (8) comprises at least one secondary pump (9) of the molecular, turbomolecular, or hybrid type, followed by at least one primary pump (10), with first control and adjustment means (22) such as a regulation valve (24) for controlling and adjusting the total gas pressure of the mixture of gases in the vacuum enclosure (8) as a function of a total pressure setpoint (27). The apparatus further comprises second control and adjustment means (28) such as a second regulation valve (29a) downstream from the secondary pump (9). The second regulation valve (29a) is controlled as a function of a delivery pressure setpoint (32) to modify the delivery pressure of the secondary pump (9) and thus to adapt its pumping capacity in selective manner. This makes it possible to adjust the proportions of the gases in the mixture of gases in the vacuum enclosure, independently of the total pressure which is controlled by the first regulation valve (24). |
| US08297308B2 |
Cartridge
The invention relates to a cartridge (1) for insertion into a receptacle of a motor vehicle handling facility having an interior chamber (2) which receives a liquid or pasty medium, an outlet (7), that can be opened so that the cartridge (1) can be used, and a data carrier (8) set up for touch-free electromagnetic signal transmission and positioned at a distance (5) to the interior chamber (2) of the cartridge (1) that is greater than a wall-thickness of the cartridge (1). Conventional cartridges of this kind are not sufficiently secure against confusion and resistant to outside influences. The task of making a cartridge available that cannot be confused, is reliable, space saving and resistant to outside influences, especially when in motor vehicle handling facilities, is solved by running an interior chamber floor (4) parallel and at a distance (5) to the floor of the cartridge (6) to which the data carrier (8) is allocated, or that the interior floor of the chamber (4) runs partially inclined to the floor of the cartridge (6) and the data carrier (8) is situated in the area of the greatest distance (11) between the interior floor of the chamber (4) and the cartridge floor (6). |
| US08297306B2 |
Fluid regulator
A fluid regulator that has excellent flow-rate-control response for not only pressure fluctuations at the primary side but also pressure fluctuations at the secondary side and that realizes highly accurate flow-rate control is provided. A fluid regulator 10 includes a first diaphragm chamber 16 in which a working force obtained from a gas, such as air, is received by a first diaphragm 14 to generate a force for adjusting a valve opening, a second diaphragm chamber 17 in which pressure fluctuations of a fluid introduced from a secondary side are received by a second diaphragm 15 to generate a force for adjusting the valve opening, a shaft 12 that receives the adjusting forces generated in the first diaphragm chamber 16 and the second diaphragm chamber 17 and slides in the shaft direction, a valve 13 that operates together with the shaft 12 to adjust the valve opening, a partition wall 11a that isolates the first diaphragm chamber 16 from the second diaphragm chamber 17 so as not to interfere with each other, and a bellows 22 that blocks the circulation of the fluid between the first diaphragm chamber 16 and the second diaphragm chamber 17. |
| US08297305B2 |
Valve assembly having an improved flow path
A valve assembly is disclosed providing a disk valve, a retaining clip configuration, and a bonnet nut. The disk valve comprises a moveable disk having a pair of recesses that is rotatable relative to a stationary disk to regulate the flow of a fluid through two ports in communication with the disks. The retaining clip configuration comprises a hose clip engaging a retaining segment on a valve housing and two hoses to connect the two hoses to two ports on the valve housing. The bonnet nut provides a tactile resistance to an applied torque when a portion of the valve cartridge assembly is rotated in relation to the valve housing. |
| US08297304B2 |
Storage container for liquid chlorosilane and closing lid therefor
The storage container for a liquid chlorosilane of the present invention comprises, a tank which stores the liquid chlorosilane, a valve which is connected to the tank and to which an external pipe can be connected detachably, and a closing lid which seals the valve when the external pipe is detached from the valve. The valve comprises a housing and a valve body provided in the housing. The closing lid has a lid body having a sealing surface contacting the connecting surface of the connecting flange, a supply pipe which supplies an inert gas to a space between the closing lid and the valve body in the housing, a supply valve which opens or closes the supply pipe, a discharge pipe which discharges a gas in the space, and a discharge valve which opens or closes the discharge pipe. |
| US08297302B2 |
Flow cell spray ring
A flow cell device for observing a fluid includes a housing defining an inlet and an outlet, a first viewing member, and a second viewing member. The first viewing member, which is disposed in and coupled to the housing, includes a first window and a spray ring. The spray ring includes cleaning ports in fluid communication with a cleaning fluid inlet port. The second viewing member includes a second window and is disposed in and coupled to the housing opposite the first viewing member such that an aperture that is in fluid communication with the inlet and the outlet is defined between the first window and the second window. The spray ring does not extend past a surface of the first window facing the aperture and each of the cleaning ports is oriented such that a fluid provided under pressure to the cleaning ports is ejected toward the second window. |
| US08297301B2 |
Nozzle device for pump
A nozzle device includes a body, a controller and a core set. The controller is pivotally mounted on the body and is pivotable with respect to the body between a first position and a second position. The core set is slideably received in the body. While the controller is in the first position, the core set is slideable in the chamber and is adapted for coupling with a French type valve. While the controller is in the second position, the core set is fixed and is adapted for coupling with an American type valve. |
| US08297300B2 |
Anti-backflow vacuum breaker valve
An anti-back flow vacuum breaker valve that includes a valve body having a cylindrical internal chamber having an upper portion and a reduced diameter lower portion forming a horizontal valve seat, and having an inlet communicating with the chamber on the underside of the valve seat, and having an outlet communicating with the chamber on the over side of the valve seat. A ball is positioned within the internal chamber for sealing the inlet of the valve body. A valve cap having a lower portion mating with the upper portion of the valve body sealed and securely attached to the valve body, and having an internal conical chamber having a central vertical journal therein, forming a journal vent with a vent seat at the lower end thereof aligned with the valve seat of the body. A buoyant vent plug having an upper stem slidably engaged within the journal vent of the cap, and the vent plug engagable with the vent seat, wherein the vent plug for elevation by the ball upon fluid flow through the inlet to seal the vent, and wherein the vent plug for elevation by backflow of fluid through the outlet to seal the vent. |
| US08297293B2 |
Substrate support unit, and substrate treating apparatus and method using the same
Provided are a substrate support unit and a substrate treating apparatus and method using the same. The substrate support unit includes a first support part and a second support part. The first support part is movable in a first direction. The first support part supports a first portion of a substrate in which a processing fluid is supplied in a direction corresponding to the first direction. The second support part is movable in a second direction. The second support part supports a second portion of the substrate. At least one of the first support part and the second support part supports the substrate while the processing fluid is supplied. |
| US08297290B2 |
Multi-angled dental floss holder
A dental floss holder includes a shank (11), an adjusting member (12) pivotally mounted on the shank and a cleaning unit (20) detachably mounted on the adjusting member. Thus, the rotation portion (111) of the shank is rotated relative to the mounting portion (122) of the adjusting member to adjust the inclined angle between the shank and the adjusting member so that the inclined angle between the shank and the cleaning unit is adjusted according to a user's requirement so as to facilitate the user clearing the teeth in different inclined angles. |
| US08297283B2 |
Respiratory masks with gusseted cushions
Cushions for respiratory face masks have a frame-connecting portion, a face-contacting portion, and a gusset portion disposed between and joining the frame-connecting and face-contacting portions. The gusset portion preferably includes at least one perimetrical region which having a laterally projecting exterior gusset section and a laterally projecting interior gusset section. According to one aspect, the laterally projecting exterior and interior gusset sections are disposed about the entire perimeter to the gusset portion so as to establish a substantially constant widthwise dimension thereof about the gusset's entire perimeter. |
| US08297279B2 |
Portable ventilator system
A portable ventilator uses a ROOTS-type blower as a compressor to reduce both the size and power consumption of the ventilator. Various functional aspects of the ventilator are delegated to multiple subassemblies having dedicated controllers and software that interact with a ventilator processor to provide user interface functions, exhalation control and flow control servos, and monitoring of patient status. The ventilator overcomes noise problems through the use of noise reducing pressure compensating orifices on the ROOTS-type blower housing and multiple baffling chambers. The ventilator is configured with a highly portable form factor, and may be used as a stand-alone device or as a docked device having a docking cradle with enhanced interface and monitoring capabilities. |
| US08297276B2 |
Dry snorkels and methods
Methods are disclosed for improving the performance and design of snorkels (20) that are arranged to reduce splashes of water from entering the snorkel (20) during use. Methods including providing a non-floating active portion (72) and a spring member (54) to move active portion (72) to a closed position (68). Methods are provided for using weighted members (94) and, or floats (44) in conjunction with biasing members (54) exerted with torque across pivoting arms (42) and along longitudinal directions of motion (100). Methods are provided for enabling dry top snorkel devices (38) to automatically achieve, maintain or reestablish a closed position (68) at depth even if little or no pressure differential exists between the inside and outside of the snorkel (20) or if the sealed connection is disengaged at depth, such as can occur during a firm exhale at depth. Other methods are providing for moving the sealing member (46) to a closed position (68) even if no float (44) is used or if no spring member (54) is used. |
| US08297275B2 |
Adjustable oral airway devices, and adjustable oral airway kits
Some embodiments include adjustable oral airway devices. The devices may contain a bite block, a tongue deflector extending through the bite block, and at least one locking mechanism configured for releasably retaining the tongue deflector in one of two or more predetermined positions within the bite block. Some embodiments include adjustable oral airway kits. Such kits may contain a bite block, a tongue deflector configured to extend within an opening in the bite block, and at least one locking mechanism configured for releasably retaining the tongue deflector in one of two or more predetermined positions within the bite block. |
| US08297273B2 |
Controlling apparatus for a concentration photovoltaic system
Disclosed is a controlling apparatus for use in a photovoltaic system. The photovoltaic system includes a solar cell array, an inverter and a solar tracker. The solar tracker includes a solar position sensor, a controller connected to the solar position sensor, a first motor connected to the controller for rotating the solar cell array according to the azimuth of the sun and a second motor connected to the controller for tilting the solar cell array according to the elevation of the sun. The controlling apparatus includes a central unit, a basic unit, a diagnosis unit, a maintenance unit, a security unit and a check unit. |
| US08297268B2 |
Apparatus for launching subcaliber projectiles at propellant operating pressures including the range of operating pressures that may be supplied by human breath
A blowgun for efficiently and accurately launching subcaliber projectiles comprises: an elongate barrel; a detent comprising a magnet affixed near the proximal end of the barrel and a protrusion partially obstructing the bore breech; an associated conical shell discarding sabot; and an associated subcaliber projectile having a magnetically attractable foreshaft and a lightweight elongate shaft. The magnet and the protrusion cooperate antagonistically to hold the projectile abuttingly seated against the sabot in loaded disposition pending launch. The projectile shaft serves in-flight as an aerodynamic stabilizer. Alternatively a subcaliber steel BB-shot is launched with a foam sabot. Another alternative embodiment operates without a detent. An additional alternative embodiment utilizes a blowgun comprising a barrel having a longitudinal straight-line groove in the inner surface of the bore. During launch, the groove guides a cooperating portion of an optional projectile, selectively subcaliber or full-caliber. |
| US08297267B2 |
Unit for fastening of the bowstring throwing devices (variants)
A unit for fastening a bowstring of a throwing device the containing a first pulley mounted with a possibility of rotation about the axis of rotation of the first pulley and having the first and the second peripheral surfaces, the second pulley mounted with a possibility of rotation about the axis of rotation of the second pulley, spaced apart from the axis of rotation of the first pulley and having the first and the second peripheral surfaces, a bowstring for throwing a projectile having one end fixed to the first pulley, and other end fixed to the second pulley so the bowstring for throwing a projectile is, at least, partly wrapping the first peripheral surfaces of the first and the second pulleys, the first tension bowstring having one end fixed to the axis of rotation of the first pulley, and other end fixed to the second pulley so the first tension bowstring is, at least, partly wrapping the second peripheral surface of the second pulley, the second tension bowstring having one end fixed to the axis of rotation of the second pulley, and the other end fixed to the first pulley, so the second tension bowstring is, at least, partly wrapping the second peripheral surface of the first pulley and intersects the first tension bowstring, thus when rendering the throwing device in the cocked position the bowstring for throwing a projectile intersects the first and the second tension bowstrings. |
| US08297266B2 |
Control apparatus for an internal combustion engine
Provided is a control apparatus for an internal combustion engine which is capable of estimating a single composition concentration based on an air-fuel ratio correction amount obtained by using an output of an air-fuel ratio sensor in exhaust gas and optimizing a fuel injection amount by using a concentration estimation value. When fueling is performed again during alcohol concentration change after the fueling, an alcohol concentration estimation period or a start determination period for the alcohol concentration change is extended by an integrated fuel injection amount from initial fueling until refueling, whereby alcohol concentration estimation accuracy is improved with respect to the alcohol concentration change due to the initial fueling and the refueling. |
| US08297263B2 |
Vacuum supply system
A method of operating a boosted engine system is described in which an ejector coupled with a fuel vapor purging system can generate vacuum during both purging and non-purging conditions, and during both boosted and non-boosted conditions. The vacuum can therefore be used to power vacuum actuated brakes, and/or other vacuum actuators, irrespective of the purging conditions, and irrespective of boost levels. |
| US08297260B2 |
Fuel supply system
A fuel supply system includes a covering member, a subtank, a first housing on the covering member to project toward the subtank, terminals in the first housing, a second housing fitted to the first housing, and lead wires in the second housing connected respectively to the terminals. The first housing includes a fitting recess opening toward the subtank, and a partition wall dividing the recess into spaces, each of which receives a corresponding terminal. The second housing includes a fitting projection fitted into the recess, a slit dividing the projection into blocks, each of which receives a corresponding terminal, the partition wall being inserted in the slit, and axial holes, each of which accommodates a corresponding wire. Each wire includes a corresponding one of elastic seal members. Each seal member seals a gap between a corresponding wire and a wall surface of a corresponding axial hole. |
| US08297258B2 |
Method and device for operating an internal combustion engine
A method for operating an internal combustion engine (2) having multiple cylinders (3); fuel may be injected into the multiple cylinders (3) via corresponding injectors, and air may be let in via corresponding intake valves (9) in order to form an air-fuel mixture in the cylinders (3) for providing a drive torque, and combustion exhaust gas may be discharged from the cylinders (3) via a catalytic converter (6); having the following steps: operating the internal combustion engine (2) in a first engine operating mode in which no fuel is injected into at least one first cylinder (3), so that the at least one first cylinder (3) does not contribute to the drive torque, and fuel is only injected into at least one second cylinder (3) in order to provide the drive torque; and switching to a second engine operating mode in which fuel is injected into the at least one first cylinder (3) and into the at least one second cylinder (3), so that the at least one first cylinder (3) and the at least one second cylinder (3) contribute to providing the drive torque; wherein in switching to the second engine operating mode the combustion is carried out using excess air in the at least one second cylinder (3), so that a portion of the air let into the at least one second cylinder (3), together with the combustion exhaust gas, passes into the catalytic converter (6). |
| US08297254B2 |
Multifuel storage, metering and ignition system
A system for safe storage and efficient utilization of a variety of fuel selections that range in composition and phase from cryogenic mixtures of solids and liquids to elevated temperature gases is provided for unique applications with various types of heat engines and fuel cells including hybridized combinations. |
| US08297253B2 |
Rotary piston engine
A rotary piston engine with a frame, a cylinder liner mounted rotatably therein, a rotor mounted coaxially in the cylinder liner and a gear mechanism connecting the frame, the liner and the rotor, where the gear mechanism is outside a working space arranged between liner and rotor and where the gear mechanism couples the cylinder liner and the rotor for a relative movement periodically oscillating between positive and negative rotational speed. The gear mechanism and the liner form with the rotor a transmission with five rotational joints with a degree of freedom of one and one rotational/prismatic joint, where the gear mechanism has a rotational element mounted rotatably by a first rotational joint on the frame and a connecting rod connected rotatably by a second rotational joint to the rotational element and rotatably by a third rotational joint to the cylinder liner and by the rotational/prismatic joint to the rotor. |
| US08297250B2 |
Recoil starter
A recoil starter includes a case; a reel pivot formed on the case; a rope reel rotatably supported on the reel pivot; a recoil spring; a cam; a power storage spring interposed between the rope reel and the cam; and a power storage ratchet mechanism disposed between facing surfaces of the rope reel and the cam and. The power storage ratchet mechanism is configured to disengage the rope reel and the cam when the rope reel rotates in an engine-starting direction, and engage the rope reel and the cam when the rope reel rotates in an opposite direction to the engine-starting direction. |
| US08297246B2 |
Adjustable camshaft sprocket assembly and tool for same
An adjustable camshaft sprocket assembly includes a hub and a sprocket body secured to the hub. A stud-receiving opening is defined in one of the hub flange and the sprocket body, and a tool-receiving opening is defined in the other of the hub flange and the sprocket body. The tool-receiving opening is aligned with the stud-receiving opening and is adapted to receive a body portion of an adjustment tool, and the stud-receiving opening is adapted to receive an eccentric stud of the adjustment tool. Either the stud-receiving opening or the tool-receiving opening is elongated. Rotation of the adjustment tool when its body is located in the tool-receiving opening and its eccentric stud is located in the stud-receiving opening causes relative angular movement between the hub and the sprocket body. One or more fasteners are used to immovably secure the sprocket body to the hub after adjustment. A tool includes cylindrical base, a driving head, and an eccentric stud. The stud comprises a spring pin press-fit into a bore. |
| US08297245B2 |
Valve timing adjuster
A valve timing adjuster includes a first rotor, a second rotor, a control valve, and a lock mechanism. The lock mechanism includes a retard limitation pin and an advance limitation pin, each of which is provided to the second rotor. The lock mechanism includes a retard limitation groove and an advance limitation groove, each of which is formed to the first rotor. The retard limitation groove and the advance limitation groove are designed to limit the displacement of the retard limitation pin in the retard direction and simultaneously limit the displacement of the advance limitation pin in the advance direction in order to lock the first rotor and the second rotor. The valve timing adjuster alternately increases the oil pressure in the retard chamber and the oil pressure in the advance chamber when the lock of the first and second rotors is released. |
| US08297237B2 |
High inertance liquid piston engine-compressor and method of use thereof
A high inertance liquid piston engine-compressor that is lightweight, portable and for use with pneumatically actuated devices that may have periods of inactivity between periods of pneumatic use. The engine-compressor provides a power generation system that is for use with mobile or portable devices which need a portable long lasting energy source. |
| US08297234B2 |
Modular leash system
A modular leash system including a flexible lead having a first and second rigid end portion. A first end cap is removably attachable to the first rigid end portion via set screw configured to be received through cooperating holes in the first end cap and the first rigid end portion. The first end cap includes a loop for coupling the first end cap to a collar connector. A second end cap is removably attachable to the second rigid end portion via a set screw configured to be received through cooperating holes in the second end cap and the second rigid end portion. The second end cap configured to be coupled to a handle portion. |
| US08297231B2 |
System and methods for health monitoring of anonymous animals in livestock groups
A system and method for tracking the health of a group of livestock. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the vital signs of a small number of sentinel animals is tracked and used to assess the existence and/or progress of a disease in the group. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the vital signs are assessed using a vitality sensor, for example, an accelerometer which provides signals indicating the type and/or other properties of movements made by the sentinel animals. |
| US08297230B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for isolating and venting a litter box
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for isolating and venting a litter box. The apparatus includes an enclosure for a litter box, an access door and a pet door in the enclosure, at least one vent between an interior and an exterior of the enclosure, and an exit duct between the interior and the exterior of the enclosure. The system includes a pet enclosure having an enclosure door, a pet door, at least one vent, and at least one exhaust duct, a litter box adapted for placement in the enclosure, a motor and fan in fluid communication with the exit duct, and a conduit from the exit duct adapted for fluid connection to an exterior of a house. The method includes enclosing a litter box in a pet container, drawing outside air through at least one vent in the pet container into an interior of the pet container and exhausting air from the pet container out through an exit duct. |
| US08297229B1 |
Feed container with retention system
A feed container for storing hardened livestock feed is disclosed. The feed container has a storage area defined by a bottom wall and a sidewall for retaining animal feed within the storage area when the feed is in a solid phase and the feed container is in a non-upward resting position or is on its sidewall. Also disclosed is a method for utilizing a feed container, having said storage area, for retaining animal feed within the storage area when the feed is in a solid phase and the feed container is in a non-upward resting position or is on its sidewall. |
| US08297226B2 |
Deposition box for silicon-based thin film solar cell
A movable deposition box (02) for silicon-based thin film solar cell comprises an electrode array composed of at least a group of cathode plates (203) and a piece of anode plate (208) which are set in movable chamber, wherein a feeding socket (203-1) is positioned on a circular or semicircular concave surface in the center area on the backside of the cathode plates (203), a circular or semicircular end face (201-1) of a feeding component (201) which has a flat middle part contacts the signal feeding socket (203-1) and feeds in RF/VHF power signal, the anode plate (208) is grounded, and a shield cover (204) of the cathode plate has through-hole (204-1) and is insulated from the cathode plate (203). |
| US08297225B2 |
Capacitive CVD reactor and methods for plasma CVD process
A decoupled capacitive CVD reactor is described, which provides improved CVD capabilities, including processing at lower temperatures, performing alternating deposition and etching steps, and performing in situ cleaning of the chamber, without the need for a remote plasma source. Two RF frequencies are coupled to the susceptor, while the anode is grounded. The high frequency RF source is operated so as to control the plasma density, while the low frequency RF source is operated to control species bombardment on the substrate, so as to control the properties of the film being deposited. Additionally, both RF sources may be controlled, together with selection of gasses supplied to the chamber, to operate the chamber either in deposition mode, partial etch mode, etching mode, or cleaning mode. |
| US08297221B2 |
Apparatus for slot die setup and control during coating
The invention relates generally to an apparatus and method that enables a very accurate initial setup of the coating gap for slot die coater and subsequent control of the coating gap during coating operations such that web splices and web defects do not interrupt the coating process. An highly accurate initial set up is achieved via the use of a tapered or wedge-shaped adjustment member mounted perpendicular to the axis of travel of the coating head where the movement of this tapered or wedge-shaped adjustment member in a direction perpendicular to the axis of travel of the slot die housing adjusts the coating gap in increments on the order of ten microns. Substrate splices and defects are detected prior to reaching the coating position such that a feed-forward controller is able to momentarily retract the coating head both avoiding slot die damage and avoiding interruption of the coating process, yet the apparatus is able to return the coating head, with high precision, to its prior position once the splice or defect has passed. |
| US08297219B2 |
Spray apparatus and coating system using same
An exemplary spray apparatus includes a first nozzle assembly and a second nozzle assembly, which are parallel to each other. The first nozzle assembly includes a plurality of feed inlets and a feed outlet in communication with the feed inlets. The first nozzle assembly configured for spraying a liquid coating material on a substrate. The feed inlets are aligned along a first imaginary straight line. The second nozzle assembly includes a plurality of air inlets and an air outlet in communication with the air inlets. The second nozzle assembly is configured for spraying air with uniform air toward the liquid coating material applied on the substrate. The air inlets are aligned along a second imaginary straight line parallel with the first imaginary straight line. |
| US08297212B2 |
Travel beginning/end adjusting positioning structure for a sewing machine motor drive mechanism
A travel beginning/end adjusting positioning structure for a sewing machine motor drive mechanism comprises a fixed holder, a positioning holder and an adjusting apparatus. By adjusting the relative position of the center of the rotating element of the motor and the control shaft using the adjusting apparatus, the control element on one end of the control shaft will rotate synchronously, and a mechanism connected to the other end of the control shaft will also rotate to a beginning and an end points of a different travel. By such arrangements, when the control element is driven by the motor, the mechanism connected to the control shaft will operate according to different travels, thus achieving the objective of adjusting travel. |
| US08297204B1 |
Adjustable table system
An adjustable table system featuring a table, a brace slidably attached to the bottom of the table, and a pedestal extending downwardly from the brace. A wall plate for attaching to a wall is slidably attached to a side edge of the table such that the table can slide in a with respect to the wall. A portion of the wall plate with protrusions extends downwardly below the bottom of the table. A shaft mounted to the table via a mount can move between a first position wherein the first end of the shaft is inserted into a protrusion and a second position wherein the first end of the shaft is out of the protrusion. The spring-loaded mount biases the shaft in the first position. When the first end of the shaft is out of the protrusions the table can slide side to side with respect to the wall. |
| US08297202B2 |
Body frame structure of railway vehicle
To join vertically and horizontally arranged frame members to the interior face of an outer panel, the horizontal frame members are disposed on the outer panel so as to take precedence over the vertical frame members and are weld-joined to the outer panel. The vertical frame members are placed on the horizontal frame members from the interior side and are weld-joined to the horizontal frame members. The vertical frame member includes a standard-width frame member and a wide-width frame member having a width greater than the width of the standard-width frame member. The vertical frame members are joined to and in contact with the outer panel at a reduced number of points, so that the appearance of the outer panel is maintained in a good condition. With this configuration, a low cost vertical and horizontal frame structure is achieved, which has sufficiently high joint strength that provides the required strength of the outer panel. |
| US08297201B2 |
Method to high availability control for railway doors systems, on board system and application to accessories and surroundings of doors
The invention aims at increasing the availability of doors systems without affecting the reliability of control systems. For this purpose, the invention provides to take advantage of the alternating operation of door systems positioned on either side of the same car.An on-board panel system according to the invention includes associated control panels control means for transmitting authorization signals for the exclusive opening of side doors. The control means combine a low speed signal and a validation side selection signal to carry out, in each environment, opening/closing authorizations of the motor control of its environment and the motor control of the associated environment.Applications to the accessories and the mechanical part of the railway door systems (motors, latch fittings, loudspeakers, etc) as well as their door environment (interface with the communication network). |
| US08297198B2 |
Hydraulic-electric regenerative energy storage system
A hydraulic energy storage system (comprising a hydraulic pump/motor, a high pressure hydraulic accumulator, a low pressure hydraulic accumulator/reservoir, and interconnecting hydraulic lines) is incorporated into a EV, HEV, or PHEV to provide hydraulic regenerative braking and propulsive assistance for the vehicle. Implementation of the low cost and long-lasting hydraulic energy storage system in the vehicle, together with the electric energy storage system (comprising a motor/generator and battery pack) of the vehicle, allows significantly reduced demands and higher operating efficiencies for the battery pack, thereby facilitating a more cost-effective, efficient and/or durable overall energy storage system for the vehicle. |
| US08297196B2 |
Apparatus for transferring substrates
An apparatus for transferring substrates includes a carrier to which substrates are loaded, an upper transfer unit transferring the carrier horizontally by applying thrust to the carrier, a lower transfer unit maintaining the lower body of the carrier at the horizontal in a non-contact status, a magnetic levitation module levitating the carrier magnetically, and a lower damper unit maintaining the lower center of gravity of the carrier levitated by the magnetic levitation module. |
| US08297192B2 |
Insensitive munitions warhead explosive venting system
A venting system for a casing containing an explosive material includes a base plug having one or more venting ports. A ring-shaped failure mechanism mounted to the base plug seals the venting ports. The failure mechanism has a selected melting temperature such that raising the temperature of the failure mechanism to its melting temperature causes the failure mechanism to unseal the venting port to allow controlled burning of the explosive material. An insert ring formed of a durable material to protect the failure mechanism from being damaged may be mounted on an outer surface of the failure mechanism. An adhesive may be used to seal gaps between the failure mechanism, the insert ring and the base plug. The failure mechanism may have a peripheral tab formed to fit within a corresponding groove in the base plug to mount the failure mechanism securely to the base plug. |
| US08297191B2 |
Pressure seal
A seal is provided that restricts movement of adjacent parts when in a high pressure environment while allowing relative movement of adjacent parts when in non-high pressure environment. |
| US08297187B2 |
Impact locating day and night marker for a projectile
A marking projectile comprises separate compartments that break during launch due to rotation of the projectile as it leaves the barrel of a weapon. Metal pellets contained within the compartments are pressed outward and pierce the compartment walls. This allows for mixing of chemical materials contained within the compartments, so that the materials substantially react by the time the projectile strikes a target. The chemical materials may be a pair of chemi-luminescent components, or components that create heat for thermal marking. |
| US08297185B2 |
Duplex printing apparatus with a storage section for storing a plurality of sheets
A duplex printing apparatus is equipped with: a first printing section for printing on first sides of sheets; a storage section for storing a plurality of the sheets, the first sides of which have been printed on; a second printing section for printing on second sides of the sheets; a first conveying section for sequentially conveying the sheets, the first sides of which have been printed on, to the storage section; and a second conveying second for sequentially conveying the plurality of sheets which are stored at the storage section to the second printing section. The storage section is equipped with a holding mechanism that holds the plurality of sheets, the first sides of which have been printed on, in an overlapped state with predetermined intervals therebetween. |
| US08297180B2 |
Liquid flow control and beverage preparation apparatuses, methods and systems
Apparatuses, methods and systems for liquid flow control and beverage preparation are disclosed. The apparatuses, methods and systems of the present invention include liquid flow control and beverage preparation capsules, pods, cartridges, pouches, systems, and modules for controlling and directing flow streams of liquid through a beverage preparation process. The apparatuses, methods and systems of the present invention may be used in combination with or included as an integral assembly of any apparatus, method or system for liquid dispension. |
| US08297179B2 |
Process for hardening an annular groove of a piston head by means of laser beams and a piston produced by the process
A process for hardening an annular groove of a piston head of a piston of an internal combustion engine by means of laser beams, in which, at least the annular groove to be hardened is provided before or directly during the hardening process with a coating which absorbs the energy of laser beams. The coating is subsequently irradiated by the laser beams. The absorbing layer can be a manganese phosphate coating or is formed in situ by treating the component surface with a process gas comprising oxygen and inert gas. Furthermore, the laser beams are directed at the piston during hardening at an oblique angle to the direction of rotation. The advantages achieved are avoidance of reflections and undesirable hardening of the bottom of the groove, an increased degree of absorption and reduced distortion of the piston. |
| US08297176B2 |
Semiautomatic firearm having lighter cocking action
An improved semiautomatic firearm is provided comprising as assembly which reduces the effort of cocking the firearm or loading a first cartridge. A spring tube contains an inner recoil spring which is employed only during cycling of the firearm when firing. For initial cocking purposes, the inner recoil spring is bypassed in favor of a lighter outer spring which is selectively engaged by the user. When the inner recoil spring is engaged, both inner and outer springs are employed without adversely affecting the recoil dynamics of the firearm. |
| US08297174B1 |
Apparatus and method for gun recoil mitigation
A weapon may include a translatable recoil mass and two translatable counterweights disposed on opposite sides of the recoil mass. Each counterweight may have a mass that is substantially one-half a mass of the recoil mass. A pair of racks may be fixed to respective ones of the counterweights and a second pair of racks may be fixed to opposites sides of the recoil mass. Pinions may engage the counterweight and recoil mass racks. A receiver may be fixed with respect to the recoil mass and the pair of counterweights. The directions of translation of the recoil mass are substantially opposite directions of translation of the two counterweights. |
| US08297173B1 |
Modular weapon video display system
An improved modular video display system for a weapon having a video display module that can accommodate multiple camera inputs. The video display module contains a video control panel and human-viewable display screen, which enables the operator to switch between viewing and controlling a thermal sight and a left and right rotating camera. The video display module and cameras are powered by a power supply, which is electrically coupled to the weapons accessory devices, once each device is mounted on the modular rails. The cameras are connected to the video display module and the weapons operator may select either a thermal display using the thermal sight or an image display of the left or right using the left and right rotating camera. The control panel enables the operator to personalize the display screen in order to best suit their current situational needs with controls for camera select, reticle style, reticle color, reticle intensity, bore sight keys, black hot/white hot image select, digital zoom, and display brightness. In conjunction with the modular video display system additional accessory devices may be used, such as laser sights, spotting scopes, and handgrip units. |
| US08297171B2 |
Torque limiter for a gun turret
Improvements in a torque limiter that uses a plurality of ball bearings that are retained in a cage. The ball bearings are compressed to create frictional drag on opposing flat plate surfaces. In some military vehicles the gun turret is rotated by personnel turning a crank that rotates the turret. The crank rotates a pinion or chain that turns the rack of the turret. When the turret does not move freely the personnel will typically apply more force that results in damaging the pinion, chain and or the rack. The torque limiter for a gun turret in this application connects between the crank and the drive train to allow the crank to turn without applying excessive torque forces on the pinion, chain and or the rack. |
| US08297170B2 |
Modular, adaptable ballistic protective construction in particular for a weapons turret
The invention embodies the turret (10) as a protected cell (1) with its own protective plates (7) and then provides this with an additional casing of protective plates (9) so that both together implement a modular protective construction with different levels of protection. Outside the protected cell (1), assemblies (2) can be arranged that do not need to be within the direct reach of the operator. This can be in addition to the ammunition, the electronics for the ammunition feed, and also the electronics of the turret control or the like. These assemblies (2) are again encased by a lattice structure (8) that serves as an accommodation possibility for other protective elements (9) that form the outer skin of the turret (10). |
| US08297162B2 |
Method and a device for identifying and neutralizing an undersea mine
A method of identifying and optionally neutralizing an undersea object (1, 1′) that might be an undersea mine and that is of known geographical position, in which an undersea intervention robot (4, 4′) is used suspended under an aircraft capable of stationary flight, such as a helicopter (7) or a drone, serving to bring the robot (4, 4′) into register with the object (1, 1′) for identification and possibly for being neutralized, the object is identified, and optionally it is neutralized. |
| US08297159B2 |
Table saw with dropping blade
A power tool in one embodiment is a table saw which includes a latch hold mechanism, a swing arm movable along a swing arm path between a first position adjacent the latch hold mechanism and a second position spaced apart from the latch hold mechanism, a latch movable between a first position whereat the swing arm is maintained at the first position and a second position whereat the swing arm is not maintained at the first position, an actuating device configured to transfer a force to the swing arm when the swing arm is maintained at the first position, and a control system configured to control the actuating device to transfer a force to the swing arm when the swing arm is maintained at the first position sufficient to move the latch from the first position to the second position. |
| US08297149B2 |
Friction drive actuator
A friction drive actuator, comprising: a vibration member which is configured to be driven to vibrate by expansion and contraction of a piezoelectric displacement portion which is included in the vibration member and driven by a driving signal; a sliding member which is in contact with the vibration member and is driven by the vibration member in a first direction with respect to the vibration member; a pressing member which causes the vibration member and the sliding member to come into a pressure contact therebetween; and a control member which is provided on each of the vibration member and the sliding member at a contact portion therebetween for controlling a relative movement of the sliding member with respect to the vibration member in a direction perpendicular to the first direction when the vibration member and the sliding member are pressedly contacted with each other by the pressing member. |
| US08297148B1 |
Modular adjustable handlebar kit
The Modular Adjustable Handlebar Kit contains a center mounting segment and linking units of varying degrees of angles, curves and/or segments with differing shapes both radius and straight and/or compounded curves with straights. Each of the linking units have a male and female end and are attached to adjoining linking units and center mounting segment via means of a plurality of aligning openings spaced about the circumference of each end of the linking units and a securing mechanism. The openings on the male end of the linking units form inner and outer rows, in which the openings are offset from each other. The female ends of the linking units have front and rear openings which are generally parallel to each other. The securing mechanism may be a clamping device and may utilize a dowel which extends through the aligned openings on the adjoined linking units. The clamping device is then secured to prevent disengagement of the pin. |
| US08297144B2 |
Operating device for manual transmission apparatus
An operating device for a manual transmission apparatus, comprising a plurality of operation shafts, a shift-and-select shaft having an engagement groove extending in a circumferential direction thereof, selecting one of a plurality of operation shafts by rotating and moving the selected operation shaft in an axial direction thereof by moving in an axial direction of the shift-and-select shaft, an operating portion for manually operating the shift-and-select shaft, an inertia unit including an engagement pin, positioned within the engagement groove and pivoting in response to a movement of the shift-and-select shaft in the axial direction thereof, and a swing-and-contact member provided at the engagement pin of the inertia unit so as to swing when being pressed by one of first and second inner surfaces of the engagement groove in accordance with the movement of the shift-and-select shaft and contacting the first and second inner surfaces of the engagement groove. |
| US08297143B2 |
Electrical bicycle shift control device
An electrical bicycle shift control device is provided with a base member, a first shift operating member and a second shift operating member. The handlebar mounting portion is configured to be fixedly mounted to a free end of a bicycle handlebar. The base member includes a handlebar mounting portion that is configured to be fixedly mounted a handlebar. The first shift operating member is pivotally coupled the base member from a rest position to a shift position in a first shift operating direction. The second shift operating member is mounted on the first shift operating member to move with the first shift operating member with respect to the base member. The second shift operating member is independently movable relative the first shift operating member from a rest position to a shift position in a second shift operating direction that is different to the first shift operating direction. |
| US08297142B2 |
Actuator
Since centers of a second gear, a fourth gear and a sixth gear coincide with each other and are disposed rotatably round a circumference of the same long shaft, a compact configuration can be realized while using a gear train of five gears to obtain a reduction gear ratio of a high gear ratio. The configuration in which the three gears have the same rotational center shaft in the way described above in an actuator which incorporates a plurality of gears is advantageous in that the number of center shafts is reduced and that the number of supporting holes in a housing which support center shafts is reduced. |
| US08297141B2 |
Transmission for a road vehicle with hybrid propulsion
Transmission for a road vehicle with hybrid propulsion; the transmission having: a gearbox provided with one primary shaft, one secondary shaft and at least one pump actuated by an activating shaft; at least one clutch connected to the primary shaft and having a part which is normally conductive and can be connected to a drive shaft of a thermal engine; a reversible electric machine having a shaft mechanically connectable to the primary shaft; a first mechanical transmission which transmits the motion from the normally conductive part of the clutch to the activating shaft; and a second mechanical transmission which transmits the motion from the shaft of the electric machine to the activating shaft. |
| US08297137B2 |
Hollow plastic body which is used, in particular, to line steering wheel columns in motor vehicles
A hollow body of plastics material for placing around a motor vehicle steering column, the body including two half-bodies (2, 4) assembled to each other by tabs (22) and snap-fastener elements (24), each tab (22) including a portion in relief (28) provided with a first catch bearing surface. The snap-fastener elements (24) include a housing for each tab, the housing presenting at least one constriction, the portions in relief (28) being retained in the housings by the constrictions, the bearing surfaces of the tabs coming into contact with the complementary bearing surfaces of the constrictions on planes inclined at an angle (α) selected to enable the portions in relief (28) to go past the constrictions by elastic deformation when the two half-bodies (2, 4) are pulled apart from each other with a predetermined force. |
| US08297135B2 |
Analysis of substance mixtures
The invention relates to a method for substance mixtures, particularly complex chemical and/or biochemical substance mixtures. According to said method, a substance mixture that is to be analyzed is fed to a separating device, the substances of the substance mixture that is to be analyzed are separated from each other in the separating device by means of a chemically and/or physically induced conveying process, and the separated substances are detected in an evaluation unit. The invention further relates to methods and devices for producing pulsed substance mixtures, particularly complex chemical and/or biochemical substance mixtures. In order to improve the analysis of substance mixtures especially regarding the duration of the analysis, the throughput, and the resolution, the substance mixture that is to be analyzed is fed to the separating device in pulses having an unique binary sequence. |
| US08297133B2 |
Pressure sensor
A pressure sensor has a multiplicity of piezoelectric converter elements which are arranged such that they are essentially parallel to a force-applying or pressure-applying direction. The converter elements can be arranged at a distance from one another by an insulating material and/or are at least partially embedded in the material.A support material having greater mechanical rigidity than the converter elements, in particular in the force-applying or pressure-applying direction, is assigned to at least a number of piezoelectric converter elements, or the piezoelectric converter element is applied, in the form of a layer, to a supporting body made from this support material and is electrically contact-connected, for example, by a bottom electrode, which is arranged between the converter element layer and the supporting body, and a cover electrode which is applied to an outer side of the converter element layer. |
| US08297132B2 |
Device for recognizing a mechanical defect in a wire of an overhead line
A device for recognizing a mechanical defect in a wire of an overhead line. A device for determining the tension in the wire is connected to the wire and a support. The device is connected to an analytical device for comparing the tension with a set value and for indicating a mechanical defect when the value drops below the set value. |
| US08297130B2 |
Microtesting rig with variable compliance loading fibers for measuring mechanical properties of small specimens
The present invention provides a microtesting rig for measuring mechanical properties of small specimens. The rig includes a microsized specimen positioned on a mounting block, an interchangeable contact tip connected with an actuator and configured for contact with the microsized specimen, and a magnifying imaging system for imaging the microsized specimen. The contact tip may be a fiber platen for compression testing or a fiber grip for tension testing. |
| US08297127B2 |
Pressure sensor with low cost packaging
A pressure sensor is disclosed that may include a minimum amount of fluid coupling packaging. In one illustrative embodiment, a pressure sensor assembly may include a pressure sensor die having a front side and a back side, and a pressure sensing diaphragm. The pressure sensor assembly may further include a housing having a mounting side and a sensing side. The sensing side may define a pressure port. The pressure sensor die may be secured to the housing such that the pressure sensing diaphragm is exposed to the pressure port, and such that front side of the pressure sense die is accessible from outside of the housing. |
| US08297126B2 |
Integration of strain gauges at inner- and outer liner of a high pressure tank to indicate discharge limit point
A high pressure tank that has particular application for storing hydrogen gas on a vehicle for a fuel cell system. The tank includes a gas tight inner liner layer and a fiber bundle outer composite structural layer. A first strain gauge is provided in the outer layer and a second strain gauge is provided in the inner liner layer both proximate a transition between the layers. The strain gauges are calibrated relative to each other to identify the pressure where the inner liner layer begins to shrink and separate from the outer composite layer. |
| US08297124B2 |
Pressure sensor
A pressure sensor includes: a housing; a pressure receiver which seals an opening of the housing and transmits pressure from outside the housing to the inside of the housing; and a pressure sensing element having a pressure sensing portion and a pair of base portions which are respectively coupled to both ends of the pressure sensing portion. In the pressure sensor, a force detecting direction is set to be a detection axis, a line connecting the pair of base portions and a displacement direction of the pressure receiver are arranged in parallel, one of the base portions is coupled to a central region, which is displaced by the pressure, of the pressure receiver, and the other of the base portions is coupled to a marginal region, which is at a fixing side, of the pressure receiver through a connecting member. |
| US08297120B2 |
Angular velocity signal detection circuit and angular velocity signal detection method
An angular velocity signal detection circuit includes: a first current-voltage conversion circuit that converts, into a voltage, a current outputted from a first detection electrode of a gyroscope, and amplifies the voltage, thereby outputs a first conversion signal; a second current-voltage conversion circuit that converts, into a voltage, a current outputted from a second detection electrode of the gyroscope, and amplifies the voltage, thereby outputs a second conversion signal; an arithmetic operation unit that performs arithmetic operations by using the first conversion signal and the second conversion signal, and outputs a first processing signal and a second processing signal; and a third difference arithmetic operation circuit that amplifies a difference between the first processing signal and the second processing signal. |
| US08297117B2 |
Apparatus, method, and program for detecting decrease in tire air pressure
An apparatus includes an acceleration calculation means for calculating, based on rotation speed information obtained from a rotation speed detection means, accelerations of the respective tires; an acceleration variation calculation means for calculating acceleration variations of the tires; a comparison means for comparing the acceleration variations; a presumption means for presuming a pressure decrease of a tire; an examination means for identifying, based on the tire rotation speed information, a tire having a rotation speed that is higher than the rotation speeds of the other tires or that is lower than a predetermined criterion; and a determination means for determining, when a tire identified by the presumption means is identical with a tire identified by the examination means, a pressure decrease of the tire. |
| US08297110B2 |
Fluid probe
A device for measuring the properties of a fluid, a method of manufacture, and a method of operation is described. The device includes a body region, a first flexible element and a second flexible element. Each flexible element has a first end and a second end, the first end being fixedly located on the body region. Each flexible element is moveable from at least a first respective configuration to a second respective configuration via bending of the element. The first flexible element includes an actuating portion arranged to move the flexible element between the first configuration and the second configuration. The second flexible element includes an integral movement sensor for sensing movement of the flexible element. The first flexible element is coupled to the second flexible element at a position distant from the body region. Only the actuating portion of the first flexible element is operable to move the first and second flexible elements. |
| US08297108B2 |
Mesh leak detection system for a medical device
The present invention provides a surgical device including an elongate body defining a fluid flow path therethrough. An expandable element may be coupled to the elongate body and placed in fluid communication with the fluid flow path. Moreover, the surgical device may include a first leak detection element at least partially surrounding a portion of the expandable element, and a second leak detection element may be provided in fluid communication with the fluid flow path. In addition, a console may be provided, where the console may be in communication with the first and second leak detection elements. Further, a supply of cryogenic fluid as well as a vacuum source may be provided in fluid communication with the fluid flow path. |
| US08297106B2 |
Gas chromatography system and method
The invention relates to a gas chromatography system for the direct coupling of liquid chromatography and gas chromatography or for the introduction of large sample volumes, which is configured to operate selectively in a retention mode. The inventive system includes a tube (2) having a first inlet part (21), a second inlet part (22) and a retention part (3) between said two inlet parts. The system also includes two gas delivery subsystems (6, 7) and a sample introduction conduit (101) which is connected to the first inlet part (21). The system further includes a discharge conduit (9) and a gas chromatography column (300), both of which are connected to the second inlet part (22). The invention also relates to a gas chromatography method. |
| US08297103B2 |
Method and apparatus for measurement and/or calibration of position of an object in space
The invention concerns a method of and apparatus for measurement and/or calibration of the position of an object in space in such embodiment where the apparatus contains at least one moving arm fitted to the frame on one end and on the other end fitted to a platform, where the platform can be attached to the object to be measured or calibrated; during the motion of the object with the platform attached the relative positions of individual members of at least one moving arm, frame and platform are read and the measured data is used for determination of the position of the object or for its calibration. Upon attaching the platform of the measurement and/or calibration apparatus to the measured or calibrated object, these joined parts perform an arbitrary motion within object's operating space actuated by the drives of the object, while the quantities corresponding to relative positions of individual members of the apparatus are collected and used for determination or calibration of position of the object in space. The number of measured quantities during the motion of the platform with the measured or calibrated object is higher than the number of degrees of freedom of the apparatus by at least one. |
| US08297102B1 |
Apparatus and method for testing sensors
A system, apparatus, and method for testing a pressure-based sensor within a test chamber that can include a lock mechanism that is separate from the pressure release mechanism. |
| US08297101B2 |
Apparatus and method for forming wire loops for a dynamoelectric machine
An apparatus and method for forming at least one end turn and one slot segment of a coil for a stator of a dynamoelectric machine includes the utilization of a plurality of forming dies. Each forming die includes two lateral surfaces extending from a base and an end turn surface disposed substantially between and connecting the two lateral surfaces. Each forming die is disposed and pivotable into an arrangement where at least one lateral surface of a first forming die is substantially adjacent and parallel to at least one lateral surface of a second forming die, a slot segment thereby formable between lateral surfaces of adjacent forming dies and an end turn is at least partially formable between an end turn surface and a base of adjacent forming dies. |
| US08297100B2 |
Method and apparatus for making metallic casing
An exemplary apparatus for making metallic casing, the apparatus includes a first mold and a second mold, the first mold is opposite and movable relative to the second mold, the first mold defines a rectangular depression opposite to the second mold. The rectangular depression forms a plurality of side surfaces interconnecting to each other. Each side surface has a sharp edge. The second mold includes a plurality of cutting edges corresponding to the sharp edges respectively, one of the cutting edges has a secondary-cutting edge. |
| US08297099B2 |
Method and apparatus for roller lubrication
The roll gap in a rolling stand for rolled strips is lubricated by feeding water via at least a first feed line and oil via at least a second feed line to at least one mixer, mixing the water and the oil in the mixer, feeding the mixture of water and oil to a sprayer, and spraying the mixture from the sprayer onto at least one work roll or backup roll of the rolling stand. To clean the roll gap hot water or steam is fed via at least one third feed line to one of the first and second feed lines or to the mixer at defined time intervals or as a function of a status of the rolling process while a roll of the rolling stand is being changed. |
| US08297097B2 |
Closing method and closing machine
A closing machine includes left and right chuck spindles (20) for driving a work piece (9) to rotate, a chuck spindle moving device (30) which moves the respective chuck spindles (20) in a horizontal direction orthogonal to a rotary axis O20 thereof, and left and right slide stoppers (34) for restricting the movement of the chuck spindles (20). The work piece (9) is introduced into each chuck spindle (20), and the chuck spindle moving device (30) moves the respective chuck spindles (20) until the movement of the respective chuck spindles (20) is stopped by the respective slide stoppers (34). During a closing operation, the rotary axis O20 of the chuck spindle (20) and a rotary axis O4 of a die (4) are offset in the horizontal direction by an offset S. |
| US08297096B2 |
Method for hydroforming and hydroformed product
The object is to raise the yield by greatly eliminating the disposed amounts of the tube ends, prevent wrinkles due to closing the mold while applying internal pressure, cutting the plurality of steps of hydroforming and pre-processing of the tube ends, cutting the mold costs by simplifying the mold mechanism, and obtaining a hydroformed product formed with a flange along its entire length.For this reason, the present invention provides a hydroforming method which places a metal tube to a lower mold in the state with the tube ends sticking out from it and injects a pressurizing fluid into the metal tube through the inside of a seal punch and gradually presses seal punches against tube ends of the metal tube to apply a predetermined pressing force and fill the inside of the metal tube with the pressurizing fluid to apply a predetermined internal pressure, next, in the state with the internal pressure and pressing force applied, lowers the upper mold and closes the mold so as to deform the tube and end the processing in the state with the tube ends sticking out from the mold, and, further, boosting the internal pressure in the metal tube after closing the mold and ending the forming operation and a hydroformed product processed using these methods and having a flange across the entire length in the longitudinal direction. |
| US08297093B2 |
Tip tool guide apparatus
A tip tool guide apparatus 1 includes a swivel supporting unit 20 that is supported in a water chamber 100 of a steam generator by being stretched while pressing a stationary structural member provided in the water chamber 100 and that swivels around a pivot TL, a tip tool that is connected to the swivel supporting unit 20 with a slide table 30, i.e., a movable member, and a manipulator mounted on the slide table 30 interposed therebetween and that performs processing on a surface to be processed, and a pressing member 10A that reinforces the swivel supporting unit so as to withstand the force applied to the swivel supporting unit 20 in the swiveling direction of the swivel supporting unit 20, and that is provided in the water chamber 100. |
| US08297092B2 |
Reflection member for shot peening and shot peening method having the same
The reflection portion of the reflection member is moved along the inner surface in the hole of the pipe from the entrance opening of the hole of the pipe to the exit opening of the hole thereof. In this case, the reflection portion is guided by the guide portion provided at both sides of the reflection portion. The shots, which are projected toward the inner surface in the hole of the pipe, reach the reflection portion through the holes of the guide portion of the entrance side, and they are reflected toward the inner surface in the hole of the pipe. Since the shots can be reflected toward the inner surface inside in the hole of the pipe, the tendency that shots may be moved toward the inner surface outside in the hole of the curved portion can be small. |
| US08297090B2 |
Theft prevention device
A theft prevention device includes a base having body with a pair of side walls; a base protrusion protruding from an edge of the body, the base protrusion having a base protrusion opening; and a fastener opening configured to receive a fastener for coupling the base to an external device; and a sleeve adapted to mate with the base, the sleeve having a bottom wall; a pair of side walls extending from the bottom wall; an end wall extending from the bottom wall and between the side walls, the end wall having an end wall slot adapted to receive the base protrusion; and a sleeve protrusion protruding from an edge of the sleeve and having a sleeve protrusion opening configured to be substantially aligned with the base protrusion opening when the base protrusion is inserted through the end wall slot. |
| US08297084B2 |
Drum washing machine
A drum washing machine is provided. The drum washing machine includes a tub that stores wash water therein, a drum rotatably mounted within the tub, a motor mounted in a rear of the tub, the motor having a shaft to rotate the drum, a bearing housing inserted into the tub having a hollow portion, which allows the shaft of the motor to pass therethrough, formed in a center thereof, a bearing secured to the hollow of the bearing housing, and an outlet hole that discharges gas or moisture generated in the bearing and a portion adjacent to the bearing outside of the bearing housing. The drum washing machine so constructed has enhanced durability, because it includes the outlet hole provided in the bearing housing where the shaft rotates that prevents moisture or water from remaining in the bearing housing. |
| US08297083B2 |
Washing machine having ball balancers
Disclosed is a washing machine having ball balancers, which adjust a relation between a gap, between the inner wall of a racer of each of the ball balancers and balls, and viscous oil, so as to reduce the vibration and noise of the washing machine. Each of the ball balancers of the washing machine includes balls and viscous oil accommodated in a racer, and the viscosity of the viscous oil is varied in proportion to a gap between the racer and the balls. When the viscosity of the viscous oil is 1˜100 cSt, the gap is set to 0.5˜1.0 mm, when the viscosity of the viscous oil is 100˜380 cSt, the gap is set to 1.0˜2.0 mm, and when the viscosity of the viscous oil is 380˜1,000 cSt, the gap is set to 2.0˜3.0 mm. Thereby, the relation between the gap and the viscous oil is optimized, and the ball balancers effectively exhibit a balancing function and thus minimize the vibration and noise of the washing machine. |
| US08297082B2 |
Laundry machine
A laundry machine includes a first laundry treatment space configured to receive laundry therein, a second laundry treatment space configured to receive laundry therein and an air supply unit configured to supply air to the second laundry treatment space, the air supply unit comprising a fan, a heater and a housing, and wherein the housing accommodates the fan, the heater, an inlet and an outlet. |
| US08297079B2 |
Method of manufacturing porous glass base material used for optical fibers, and glass base material
The method of manufacturing porous glass base material for optical fiber includes that flame-hydrolyzing raw materials for glass in oxyhydrogen flame, depositing the generated glass fine particles on a rotating target to form porous glass base material, dehydrating and sintering the porous glass base material to transform into clear glass. The method features, in terms of the surface temperature of said porous glass base material, which changes as the burner used for depositing glass fine particle is moved relatively to said target, the temperature difference between the surface temperature of the porous glass base material touching the burner flame Ta and the surface temperature of the porous glass base material before touching the flame Tb, that is Ta−Tb, is adjusted to be within the range from 200 to 700 degrees centigrade. |
| US08297070B2 |
Race car cooler
A portable, self-contained race car cooler comprises an enclosure divided interiorly by vented baffles into separate cooling and fan compartments. A removable top covers the enclosure. Air is drawn through the enclosure and between adjacent cooling compartments by an electric fan. A plurality of removable canisters, frictionally fitted through orifices in the top, store “dry ice” for cooling. Each canister is peripherally restrained by a plurality of radially spaced-apart J-hooks emanating from the top that are biased inwardly by an elastic band. The J-hooks peripherally grasp the canisters and provide a detent for snappingly engaging or releasing the canisters. A heat-exchange standoff is secured beneath each canister upon the enclosure floor and comprises a plurality of spaced-apart, parallel rails with air passageways defined between them. Cooler lids removably coupled to the canisters are externally serviceable. Carbon dioxide venting is provided. |
| US08297062B2 |
Heat-dissipating device for supplying cold airflow
A heat-dissipating device (1) including a casing (10), a thermal insulation plate (20), a thermoelectric cooling chip (30), a heat-dissipating body (40), super heat pipes (52), a cooler (53), a first fan (54) and a second fan (60). The thermal insulation plate (20) divides the interior of the casing (10) into a hot air zone (ZH) and a cold air zone (ZC). The thermoelectric cooling chip (30) is disposed on the thermal insulation plate (20) with its hot-end surface (32) facing the hot air zone (ZH). The heat-dissipating body (40) is disposed in the hot air zone (ZH) to contact the hot-end surface (32). The super heat pipes (52) and the cooler (53) thermally contact a cold-end surface (31) of the thermoelectric cooling chip (30). Thus, the cold generated by the cold-end surface (31) can be rapidly and uniformly conducted to other places to form a cold airflow. |
| US08297060B2 |
Apparatus, system and method for observing combustion conditions in a gas turbine engine
A method of stabilizing combustion in a gas turbine engine includes the steps of observing a combustor flame from a location upstream from said flame to detect spectral characteristics indicative of a condition affecting combustion stability, and tuning the engine to stabilize combustion based upon an indicated condition affecting combustion stability. |
| US08297059B2 |
Nozzle for a turbomachine
A turbomachine includes a compressor, a combustor operatively connected to the compressor, and an injection nozzle operatively connected to the combustor. The injection nozzle includes a main body having a first end section that extends to a second end section to define an inner flow path. The injection nozzle further includes an outlet arranged at the second end section of the main body, at least one passage that extends within the main body and is fluidly connected to the outlet, and at least one conduit extending between the inner flow path and the at least one passage. |
| US08297057B2 |
Fuel injector
A fuel injector head for a gas turbine engine the head having a pilot injector and a main injector located radially outwardly of the pilot injector. A concentric splitter separates the pilot injector from the main injector and has a toroid chamber which is supplied with air in use to generate a toroidal flow which delays mixing of the pilot and main air flows. |
| US08297052B2 |
Hydraulic electricity generator
A hydraulic electricity generator has a drive device, a hydro-generator and a recovering tank. The drive device has at least one compressing unit, and each compressing unit has a storage tube and a compressor. The storage tube has a chamber, an inlet pipe, an outlet pipe and a nozzle. The pipes are connected to the storage tube. The compressor is connected to the storage tube. The hydro-generator is connected to the at least one compressing unit and has a casing, a hydraulic turbine, a windmill and a draining pipe. The hydraulic turbine is rotatably mounted in the casing and has a spindle and multiple blades. The spindle has an outer end extended out of the casing. The windmill is mounted on the outer end of the spindle. The recovering tank is connected to the draining pipe of the hydro-generator and the inlet pipe of the drive device. |
| US08297051B2 |
Hydrodynamic machine and method for minimizing the drag power of such a machine
The invention relates to a hydrodynamic machine, in particular a retarder, having an external working medium circuit, comprising: a bladed primary wheel and a bladed secondary wheel which together form a toroidal working chamber which can be filled with working medium from the external working medium circuit, which is fed back into the external working medium circuit; an annular channel disposed outside the working chamber, which is connected in a working-medium conducting manner to the working chamber via outlet holes in the primary wheel or secondary wheel, and is in flow-conducting communication with the external working medium circuit in order to collect working medium leaving the working chamber through the outlet holes and supply this to the external working medium circuit. The invention is characterized by the following features: having at least one tapping opening disposed on or outside the working chamber which is in flow-conducting communication with the working chamber of the hydrodynamic machine and at least one filling channel which opens into a region of relatively low working medium pressure inside the hydrodynamic machine and which is in flow-conducting communication with the working chamber; wherein the at least one tapping opening and the filling channel are interconnected in a working-medium conducting manner by means of a return line outside the external working medium circuit in such a manner that working medium flows from the at least one tapping opening into the filling channel and from there back into the working chamber. |
| US08297045B2 |
Exhaust gas treating apparatus and treating method
An exhaust gas treating apparatus includes an adsorption tower (20) that has an adsorption layer filled with an adsorbent and a heat transfer path through which heat is transferred to the adsorption layer. The apparatus performs switching among the following processes: an adsorption process of introducing an exhaust gas from an engine (10) into the adsorption layer of the adsorption tower so that target components to be treated, including NOX, in the exhaust gas are adsorbed by the adsorbent; a desorption process of introducing the exhaust gas into the heat transfer path of the adsorption tower to heat the adsorption layer and introducing a desorption gas into the heated adsorption layer so that the target components are desorbed from the adsorbent, and a cooling process of introducing a cooling gas into the adsorption layer of the adsorption tower to cool the adsorption layer and introducing the cooling gas that has passed through the adsorption layer into an inlet of the engine. Thus, the apparatus can treat the exhaust gas with a small amount of energy consumption and without performing a wet treatment. |
| US08297044B2 |
Exhaust purification device of an internal combustion engine
In an internal combustion engine, a pair of NOx storing catalysts are arranged in series in an engine exhaust passage. When causing the upstream NOx storing catalyst to release NOx and store the released NOx in the downstream NOx storing catalyst, the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas is temporarily reduced in a state where the exhaust gas is maintained at a lean air-fuel ratio. As opposed to this, when releasing NOx from the upstream NOx storing catalyst and the downstream NOx storing catalyst and reducing the NOx, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is temporarily switched from lean to rich. |
| US08297042B2 |
Exhaust purification device of internal combustion engine
In an exhaust purification system of an internal combustion engine comprising an exhaust purification device which receives a bad influence from SOX in the exhaust gas and a S trap device arranged upstream of the exhaust purification device, which can store SOX in the exhaust gas, an amount of SOX passing through the S trap device is integrated as an integrated value, each allowance value of the integrated value for each elapsed period from the start time of the use of the S trap device is set, and when the current integrated value exceeds the corresponding allowance value and between a first set period ago and the current time, fuel has been supplied into the fuel tank and engine oil has not been exchanged, it is determined that fuel with a high concentration of sulfur has been supplied into the fuel tank. |
| US08297040B2 |
Diagnostic method and device for operating an internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine has an exhaust gas catalyst, a first exhaust gas sensor that is arranged in such a manner that it can be used in lambda control, and a second exhaust gas sensor that is arranged in such a manner that it can be used in trim control. A HC quality value (EFF_CAT_HC) which is representative of an oxygen storage capacity of the exhaust gas catalyst is determined depending on a measuring signal (VLS_DOWN) of the second exhaust gas sensor. A NOx correction factor (COR_NOX) is determined depending on the measuring signal (VLS_DOWN) of the second exhaust gas sensor, namely depending on signal portions that are representative of the residual oxygen. A NOx quality value (EFF_CAT_DIAL_NOX) is determined depending on the HC quality value (EFF_CAT_HC) and the NOx correction factor (COR_NOX). |
| US08297037B2 |
Gas turbine and method of forming combustor insertion hole of gas turbine
A gas turbine includes a combustor, a combustor casing formed in a cylindrical shape to house the combustor therein, and a combustor insertion hole, which is a hole formed on a side periphery of the combustor casing, where a size thereof in a direction orthogonal to a circumferential direction of the combustor casing is formed larger than that in the circumferential direction of the combustor casing, and when the combustor inserted into the hole, a member moved together with the combustor, and the hole are viewed from a moving direction of the combustor, the hole includes an entire external form of the combustor and the member moved together with the combustor. |
| US08297035B2 |
Normal pressure cationic dyeable polyester and fiber
It is a problem of the present invention to provide a normal pressure cationic dyeable polyester being cationic dyeable under normal pressure, and having high strength. The problem can be solved by a normal pressure cationic dyeable polyester, characterized by being a copolymerized polyester having a main repeating unit including ethylene terephthalate, and including, in an acid component forming the copolymerized polyester, a metal salt of sulfoisophthalic acid (A) and a compound (B) which is a phosphonium salt of sulfoisophthalic acid or the like in such a state as to simultaneously satisfy the two mathematical expressions. Preferably, the glass transition temperature of the copolymerized polyester is within the range of 70 to 85° C., and the intrinsic viscosity of the copolymerized polyester is within the range of 0.55 to 1.00 dL/g. Further, by melt spinning the copolymerized polyester, it is possible to provide a polyester fiber. |
| US08297034B1 |
Rolling leaf removal device
A hand-operated, rolling leaf-rake that is rolled over leaves or other debris to collect the leaves or debris for disposal. It employs rolling drums with retractable spikes that puncture and collect leaves or debris as the tool is pushed along the ground. The drums are comprised of an inner assembly covered with spikes that rise and protrude through holes in the outer drum as it is rolled, and alternately retract through the holes and drop back down to rest again on the inner cylinder. As the spikes retract, the leaves/debris are left deposited on the ground and can be removed. The spikes are under control of a lock mechanism. |
| US08297032B2 |
Walk-behind lawnmower
A walk-behind lawnmower is provided with a height-adjusting mechanism for adjusting the height of a housing above the ground. The walk-behind lawnmower further comprises an operating button for switching an adjustment operation of the height-adjusting mechanism from a restricted state to a permissive state; and a height-adjusting grip capable of being grasped by a hand so as to raise or lower the housing when the operating button is operated, and the adjustment operation of the height-adjusting mechanism is thereby permitted. The height-adjusting grip is provided to the housing in the vicinity of a left or right lateral part. The operating button is positioned in an area allowing operation by a finger of the hand grasping the height-adjusting grip. |
| US08297030B2 |
Methods for manufacturing packaged systems for implanting markers in a patient
Packaged systems for implanting a marker in a patient and methods for manufacturing and using such systems. In one embodiment, a packaged system comprises an introducer having a cannula and a stylet configured to be received in the cannula, a marker in the cannula, and a package having a sterile compartment. The marker can have a casing configured to be implanted in a patient and a resonating circuit in the casing. The resonating circuit can comprise a coil configured to wirelessly transmit a target signal in response to a wirelessly transmitted excitation signal. The introducer is contained within the sterile compartment. In another embodiment, the marker is not loaded in the introducer within the compartment of the package. |
| US08297026B1 |
Construction system and method having integrated plank and framing members
A system and method of manufacturing synthetic construction elements that replaces lumber. A synthetic composition is provided containing cementitious material, synthetic fibers, and low-density particulate material. At least one polymer may be added to improve performance. The density of the synthetic composition is controlled by varying the volume of the low-density particulate material in the mix. Reinforcement elements are provided. The reinforcement elements are preferably pre-stressed or post-stressed in tension. The synthetic compound is molded around the reinforcement elements to form a construction element of a particular shape. The molding of the synthetic material around the reinforcement elements can be a two-step process. In the first step, a first synthetic compound of a high density is molded into a rough form around the reinforcement elements. A second synthetic compound of a lower density and strength is then molded around the rough form to complete the construction element. |
| US08297025B2 |
Method of building a hybrid tower for a wind generator
In the method of building a hybrid tower, a metal mast is erected and connected to a foundation and a concrete structure having a plurality of superimposed concrete segments is built around the metal mast by using the metal mast as a support. Afterwards, the metal mast is disconnected from the foundation and lifted by telescoping and guiding the metal mast along concrete structure. Finally, the lifted metal mast is connected to the concrete structure. Building of the concrete structure comprises: (a) installing at least one first segment of the concrete structure; (b) lifting the installed segment(s) of the concrete structure along the metal mast by guiding the lifted segments of the concrete structure using the metal mast, so as to clear a space having a sufficient height to receive a next segment of the concrete structure; (c) installing the next segment of the concrete structure in said space; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until a last segment of the concrete structure is installed at a bottom part of the concrete structure. |
| US08297020B1 |
Top down trap lock two-ply shingle system for roofs
A top down trap lock shingle system that includes a plurality of identical shingles, each shingle having a bottom layer and a top layer permanently attached to said top edge of said bottom layer forming an extended area along the top of the shingle that includes strips of adhesive and said bottom layer having an enlarged nailing or stapling zone that extends beyond the bottom edge of the top layer. The shingles are trapped locked together by inserting the top tab portion of the top area in a top down manner onto an above shingle row staggered to protect the seams and fastening the bottom edge of the shingle to the plywood roof thus trap locking each of the shingle rows in place. The laminated shingle system is especially durable and provides protection against high winds preventing wind damage and water intrusion. |
| US08297019B2 |
Mounting bracket for wall insulation
Disclosed is a mounting bracket for mounting wall insulation to an exterior wall. The mounting bracket is a unitary piece constructed of plastic, having a vertical wall plate, a horizontal support plate that extends orthogonal to the wall plate, and a vertical reinforcing plate that extends orthogonal to the vertical wall plate and the horizontal support plate. A bore is provided in the wall plate, for fastening the mounting bracket to the exterior wall. The reinforcing plate extends beyond the length of the horizontal support plate, to provide a mounting flange that may be fastened to a vertical wall support, such as a roof batten. The area formed by the horizontal support plate and an upper portion of the wall plate provides an unobstructed support area for supporting the wall insulation. |
| US08297017B2 |
Precast composite structural floor system
A composite floor panel includes a frame assembly having a base plate, a plurality of first lateral supports secured to the base plate, and a plurality of second lateral supports secured to the base plate. The first lateral supports lie in a first plane and the second lateral supports lie in a second plane. The first plane and the second plane each intersect the base plate and the first plane is disposed at an angle relative to the second plane. The composite floor panel also includes a concrete portion coupled to and supported by the first lateral supports and the second lateral supports. |
| US08297015B2 |
Built-in interior wall cavity drying and filtration system
A permanently installed wall cavity and filtration system provides molded base dry block members that install along the base of a wall between the floor and a bottom edge of drywall, gypsum board or other conventional interior wall construction material. The base block members have connection ports at opposite ends that communicate with an interior airflow channel on an inner facing side of the block members. The air flow channel communicates with the wall interior. A forced flow of dry air is directed through one of the ports, thereby allowing the forced dry air to circulate into the interior wall cavities in order to remove moisture and dampness. The damp, contaminated air can also be pulled out through any one of the connection ports by vacuum force, and filtered to avoid contamination of the surrounding interior living environment. |
| US08297001B2 |
Wall assembly, wall assembly with display screen, and architecture
A wall assembly of AV-device integrated type comprises: two columnar members; a holding member bridged between the columnar members so as to hold an AV device; and a front base board and a rear base board for covering a part between the columnar members. The holding member has: a plate member whose horizontal side portions are connected to the columnar members; a rectangular opening which is formed in the plate member and into which the AV device is to be fitted; and clamping members provided in an upper side portion and a lower side portion of the opening so as to clamp the AV device from up and down directions. |
| US08297000B1 |
Rain gutter cover
A rain gutter cover comprising an elongate cover member adapted to be situated over an open trough of a rain gutter. The cover member has a first cover portion integrally extending into a second water directing portion following a rounded nose portion. An outer surface of the elongate cover member is adapted to substantially cause water passing thereover to adhere to its surface even under light rainfall conditions. The first portion includes ribs forming multiple channels configured to converge water on the first portion and facilitate initial water adherence to the nose area and to the surface of the second portion. |
| US08296997B2 |
Upright planting apparatus
An upright planting apparatus includes a row of juxtaposed mesh pipe units disposed uprightly and a fixing unit. Each of the mesh pipe units includes an outer mesh pipe, and a liquid supply pipe. The outer mesh pipe has an upright tubular wall formed with a plurality of mesh holes extending through inner and outer surfaces of the upright tubular wall, and a groove that extends around said outer surface of the upright tubular wall to receive a plant culture medium. The liquid supply pipe is disposed axially inside the outer mesh pipe and has a plurality of liquid-seeping holes. The fixing unit fixes together the outer mesh pipes of the mesh pipe units. |
| US08296996B2 |
Water and nutrient delivery device
A device for delivery of water and at least one further compound which comprises at least one first part containing at least one first compound; at least one second part substantially surrounding said first part, the or each second part being at least partially permeable to water and to the or at least one first compound; and at least one third part substantially surrounding said second part, the or each third part including a water absorbent material. |
| US08296993B2 |
Ultrasonic humidifier for repelling insects
The present invention is directed to an ultrasonic repellent humidifier for dispersing insect repellant into the air as a micro fine repellent vapor. A repellent tank provides rhodinol and cedarwood oil based repellent to a repellent well. An ultrasonic transducer is positioned in the well beneath the level of the repellent. It vibrates, forming a repellant vapor that is drawn into a vapor duct by a forced air system and out of the unit, dispersing the repellent vapor into the surrounding air. The vibrating portion of the ultrasonic transducer that is exposed to the oil-based repellent is a ceramic material that inhibits residue from forming on the transducer that reduces its efficiency. The ceramic material may be formed on the metal case of the transducer or on the piezoelectric oscillation crystal, or it may be a separately replaceable disc. |
| US08296987B1 |
Shotgun improvements
A shotgun includes a first barrel having a first barrel muzzle end and a second barrel having a second barrel muzzle end. The shotgun includes an expansion joint provided adjacent the first barrel muzzle end and the second barrel muzzle end to connect together the first barrel muzzle end to the second barrel muzzle end. The expansion joint is operative to allow movement of one of the first and second barrels relative to the other one of the first and second barrels to prevent bowing thereof. |
| US08296984B2 |
Spring enhanced buffer for a firearm
A buffer for a firearm having a sleeve member having an open end and a closed end. A mass is contained within the sleeve member. This mass is chosen to meet the demands of the particular firearm. A bumper secures and seals the open end of said sleeve. A spring within the sleeve maintains the mass at a predetermined location when the buffer is in an at-rest position. |
| US08296982B2 |
Form for wristband with adjacent labels
An improved identification band such as a wristband is provided with preprinted adhesive labels having a correlated unique identification code on the identification band and each of the labels. A label portion is separable from the wristband portion such that the wristband may be applied to a person or object to be identified. The label portion may be affixed to a specimen vial or other object to be identified as having a correlation with the person or object wearing the wristband. Individual labels are separable from the label portion, and the band portion in certain embodiments, so as to be applicable to other objects to be correlated to the person or object. |
| US08296980B2 |
Adjustable display board system
An adjustable display board system comprises a display board, first and second grippers, first and second racks, and a handle. The first and second grippers are coupled to the display and include a plurality of teeth. The first and second racks are mounted to a rigid structure and include a plurality of teeth generally greater than the number of teeth of the first and second grippers. The teeth of the first and second grippers mesh with the teeth of the first and second racks to maintain the vertical position of the display board. The handle is pushed to disengage the grippers from the racks and allow vertical motion of the display board. |
| US08296976B2 |
Method for communicating performance attributes
A method of using color or color schemes to simplify the communication to consumers of complex information regarding the combinations and interactions of technically oriented performance attributes that describe the degree of comfort as found in mattresses, mattress foundations, upholstered furniture articles and other articles filled with cushioning materials. Additionally the selected method of using color as a communication tool may be of further benefit in the interaction with consumers by developing strong emotional ties to the consumers purchase decision. |
| US08296970B2 |
Waterproof breathable footwear having hybrid upper construction
An article of footwear that exhibits enhanced whole boot breathability and reduced wet pickup is provided. The footwear article includes an upper having an inferior and superior compartment; a mechanism for joining the superior and inferior compartments together; a protective cover; and an outer sole. |
| US08296969B2 |
Triple density gel heel cups
A triple density heel cup is disclosed which comprises a generally heel-shaped substrate having a length extending from a heel portion of an integral wall to a front border, which front border in use is adapted to underlie a portion of the arch area of a human foot. The heel-shaped substrate comprises a structural gel layer having a foot receiving surface and a shoe side surface. A generally flat portion of the foot receiving surface will lie adjacent the bottom of a wearer's foot in use and the integral wall which is adapted to lie adjacent the back of wearer's heel and portion of the side of a wearer's heel in use, said integral wall having an apex of maximum height, said wall tapering down in height from said apex toward said front border; The shoe side surface defines a channel formed in said structural gel adapted to receive a reinforcing component which is secured to said structural gel in said channel and is made of a denser material than said structural gel. This provides support to the heel cup and the foot A heel cushion is secured to said structural gel in a heel cushion area defined by the structural gel on the bottom surface of the heel cup. In a preferred embodiment, the heel cushion utilizes honeycomb technology to provide increased cushioning and energy return. |
| US08296968B2 |
Surface drying apparatus and method
An apparatus and method for quickly and effectively drying ground surfaces are disclosed and claimed. The invention has particular utility in the drying of a race track surface. The invention consists of a means for blowing air upon the surface, a means for heating the air and a means for moving the apparatus with respect to the surface to provide flexibility and control in the degree of drying/heating performed. The apparatus and method may be applied to a variety of surfaces including earthen (dirt) surfaces, concrete and asphalt. One of the objectives of the device is to enable the drying of a track surface such that the surface will not be damaged by overheating which can otherwise occur with other track drying devices applied to an asphalt surface in particular. The design of the invention makes specific use of enhanced turbulent air flow at the surface in order to improve performance over a purely laminar air flow. |
| US08296959B1 |
Self-retaining pipe cutting template
Pipe cutting templates for marking cutting lines on pipes for subsequent connection to another pipe. A template includes a flexible magnetic sheet having a front surface and a rear magnetized surface for retaining the sheet on the pipe. The sheet has a pair of straight side edges parallel to each other and defining a width of the sheet, the width of the sheet corresponding to the diameter of the pipe such that, during use when the sheet is wrapped around the pipe, the side edges abut. The sheet additionally has a pair of opposed end edges. At least one of the end edges is contoured to serve as a guide for marking the pipe with a cutting line corresponding to the pipe diameter, at least one particular connection type, and at least one particular angle of connection. |
| US08296955B2 |
Electric shaver
An electric shaver in which a blade frame part is attached to an upper portion of a body part, the blade frame part including an outer blade, an outer blade frame to fix the outer blade thereto, a holding frame to hold the outer blade frame vertically movable, and an outer peripheral frame connected to the holding frame, the upper portion including an inner blade. The holding frame is detachably attached to the outer peripheral frame from an under side thereof, and the outer peripheral frame entirely covers an outer periphery of the holding frame. |
| US08296954B2 |
Shaver having spaces for collecting cut-off hairs
A shaver includes a shaving unit having e.g., three shaving elements. Each shaving element accommodates a cutter member for cutting off hairs. Each shaving element further accommodates a gear wheel which is part of a transmission for coupling a drive shaft for driving the cutter member to an output shaft of a motor of the shaver. A top side of a space where the gear wheel is located is covered by a partition, where only the drive shaft extends through this partition. Each shaving element can be individually opened by removing a top portion of the shaving element, including the cutter member, from a base portion of the shaving element where the gear wheel, the drive shaft and the partition are located. An opening system may be provided to open all the shaving elements in one action by reversal of the direction of rotation of the output shaft, for example. |
| US08296952B2 |
Orthodontic treatment aligners based on CT data
A system and method for orthodontic alignment includes a radiographic template. The radiographic template has a plurality of metallic markers. A negative impression of a patient's dental arch is made. At least one orthodontic treatment aligner is produced. The aligner is manufactured based in part on a computed axial tomography (CT) scan of a patient wearing the radiographic template and a separate scan of the radiographic template, wherein the data is processed by superimposition of the orthodontic aligner on the CT images of the patient including a jaw in axial and panoramic views. In this manner, the tooth above the gum line, represented by the negative impression as well as the tooth below the gum line, represented by the CT data is used to design the orthodontic aligner. |
| US08296944B2 |
Method for manufacturing a printed circuit board
A method for manufacturing a printed circuit board includes the steps of: providing a base board having a first surface layer; performing a first patterning process to the base board to form a bottom circuit on the first surface layer; forming a metal protection layer on the bottom circuit; performing a second patterning process to the metal protection layer to form a patterned metal protection layer; performing a build-up process to the base board to form a first built-up layer on the bottom circuit and the patterned metal protection layer; performing a third patterning process to the first built-up layer to form a first built-up layer circuit; performing a laser manufacturing process to the first built-up layer to form a cavity structure; and clearing the patterned metal protection layer. |
| US08296943B2 |
Method for making surveillance devices with multiple capacitors
The present invention relates to surveillance and/or identification devices having capacitors connected in parallel or in series, and methods of making and using such devices. Devices with capacitors connected in parallel, where one capacitor is fabricated with a relatively thick capacitor dielectric and another is fabricated with a relatively thin capacitor dielectric achieve both a high-precision capacitance and a low breakdown voltage for relatively easy surveillance tag deactivation. Devices with capacitors connected in series result in increased lateral dimensions of a small capacitor. This makes the capacitor easier to fabricate using techniques that may have relatively limited resolution capabilities. |
| US08296941B2 |
Conformal shielding employing segment buildup
A meta-module having circuitry for two or more modules is formed on a substrate, which is preferably a laminated substrate. The circuitry for the different modules is initially formed on the single meta-module. Each module will have one or more component areas in which the circuitry is formed. A metallic structure is formed on or in the substrate for each component area to be shielded. A single body, such as an overmold body, is then formed over all of the modules on the meta-module. At least a portion of the metallic structure for each component area to be shielded is then exposed through the body by a cutting, drilling, or like operation. Next, an electromagnetic shield material is applied to the exterior surface of the body of each of the component areas to be shielded and in contact with the exposed portion of the metallic structures. |
| US08296940B2 |
Method of forming a micro pin hybrid interconnect array
A micro pin hybrid interconnect array includes a crystal anode array and a ceramic substrate. The array and substrate are joined together using an interconnect geometry having a large aspect ratio of height to width. The joint affixing the interconnect to the crystal anode array is devoid of solder. |
| US08296937B2 |
Wafer positioning system
The invention provides an assembler for constructing a pagewidth inkjet printhead by assembling inkjet ICs on a carrier having tortuous ink supply paths to each IC. The assembler supports and positions a diced wafer having the inkjet ICs, and picks and conveys a predetermined plurality of the ICs from the wafer to be sequentially placed across the carrier thereby constructing the pagewidth printhead. A die placement assembly of the assembler receives a clamp assembly's elongate body which has a pair or elongate retaining plates, an insert below the plates, and a diaphragm which receives the carrier and is pneumatically displaceable to urge the insert against the plates. A base/plate of the assembler's wafer positioning assembly has stages, one of which rotatably mounts a support plate which receives the wafer and has a motor which rotates the support plate underneath the assembler's die picker under control of the assembler's controller. |
| US08296936B2 |
Phone cable crimping tool
A phone cable crimping tool is disclosed. The phone cable crimping tool comprises a body part, a first crimping head, a second crimping head, and a rotary unit. The body part comprises a first end and a second end; the first crimping head is connected to the first end of the body part; the second crimping head is connected to the second end of the body part; the rotary unit is pivotally connected to the body part, and the rotary unit is located externally to either the first crimping head or the second crimping head through rotary movements. |
| US08296934B2 |
Bonding apparatus
A bonding apparatus includes a frame, a first feeding mechanism, a second feeding mechanism, and a bonding mechanism. The first feeding mechanism is mounted on the frame and includes a turntable capable of rotating relative to the frame. A plurality of workpiece seats are arranged on the turntable. Each workpiece seat defines a plurality of first air holes. The second feeding mechanism is mounted on the frame and includes a first carrier and a second carrier. The first carrier includes a plurality of holding seats and the second carrier including a plurality of temporary holding seats. The first carrier is capable of rotating to stack on the second carrier. Each of the holding seats defines a plurality of second air holes. The bonding mechanism is movably mounted on the frame to correspond to the workpiece seats or the second carrier. |
| US08296933B2 |
Fastening apparatus with authentication system
The present invention relates to a fastening apparatus for fastening a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) to a printhead assembly. The printhead assembly includes a printhead carrier and an ink ejection printhead carried by the carrier. The fastening apparatus includes a support assembly. An authentication system is arranged on the support assembly and is configured to authenticate the printhead assembly. At least one bonding assembly is configured to bond the PCB to the printhead assembly. A controller is configured to control the bonding assembly to bond the PCB to the printhead assembly subsequent to the authentication of the printhead assembly. |
| US08296931B2 |
Method for manufacturing storage medium
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method for manufacturing a storage medium includes providing a medium plate member for forming the storage medium and a guide member; and aligning the medium plate member and the guide member so that the medium plate member and the guide member are placed adjacently and the surfaces of the medium plate member and the guide member form a substantially common plane. The method further includes guiding a burnishing member for burnishing the medium plate member onto the surface of the guide member; and sliding the burnishing member on the guide member onto the medium plate member so as to burnish the surface of the medium plate member. |
| US08296930B2 |
Method for manufacturing a magnetoresistive sensor having a flat shield
A method for manufacturing a magnetoresistive sensor that results in the sensor having a very flat top magnetic shield. The process involves depositing a plurality of sensor layers and then depositing a thin high density carbon CMP stop layer over the sensor layers and forming a mask over the CMP stop layer. An ion milling is performed to define the sensor. Then a thin insulating layer and magnetic hard bias layer are deposited. A chemical mechanical polishing is performed to remove the mask and a reactive ion etching is performed to remove the remaining carbon CMP stop layer. Because the CMP stop layer is very dense and hard, it can be made very thin. This means that when it is removed by reactive ion etching, there is very little notching over the sensor, thereby allowing the upper shield to be very thin. |
| US08296929B2 |
Method for manufacturing an integrated lead suspension
Multi-layer ground plane structures and methods of manufacture for integrated lead suspension flexures. A flexure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes an insulating layer, a plurality of traces on the insulating layer and a stainless steel base layer on the side of the insulating layer opposite the traces. The stainless steel base layer includes one or more void portions with voids in the base layer opposite the insulating layer from the traces and one or more backed portions with the base layer backing the traces. A plurality of patterned and transversely-spaced first conductive ground planes are located opposite the insulating layer from the traces at the void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. A continuous gold second conductive ground plane is located opposite the insulating layer and the first ground planes from the side of the insulating layer adjacent to the traces at the void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. The gold ground plane can be used as an etch stop during formation of the voids in the base layer. |
| US08296928B2 |
Method of manufacturing superconducting wire
A method of manufacturing a superconducting wire includes the step of drawing a wire formed by coating raw material powder for a superconductor with a metal (S6), the step of first rolling (S8) rolling a multifilamentary wire after the step of drawing (S6), and the step of first sintering (S10) sintering the multifilamentary wire 1 after the step of the first rolling (S8). At least one of an interval between the step of drawing (S6) and the step of the first rolling (S8) and an interval between the step of the first rolling (S8) and the step of the first sintering (S10) is less than seven days. With this method, a superconducting wire having high and uniform performance can be obtained. |
| US08296923B2 |
Modular numerically controlled system
A reconfigurable system having at least one detachable component and at least one detachable head assembly. The reconfigurable system may be a numerically controlled (NC) machine for manufacturing processes, such as milling or automatic fiber placement (AFP). The reconfigurable system may further comprise a gantry structure comprised of movably attached beams on which detachable components may be movably attached. The detachable components may include a concave component and a convex component. At least one detachable head assembly may be movably attached to at least one of the detachable components. The detachable components and head assemblies may be at least one of physically, electrically, and pneumatically connected to a connecting assembly attached to the gantry structure. |
| US08296920B2 |
Method for making a hand tool
A hand tool includes a plate-like body having a connection end from which a handle is integrally connected there which includes a first section and a second section. A grip is connected to the second section. The first section extends from the connection end by an upward angle and the second section integrally extends from the first section by an angle and toward opposite to the connection end. Each of the first and second sections includes a wall which is a curved wall and faces downward. The hand tool is punched from a metal board and includes a plate-like body and an extension portion which is then bent to form the handle and a grip is connected to the handle. |
| US08296919B2 |
Increased process damping via mass reduction for high performance milling
A cutting tool incorporates a body terminating in cutting edges distal from a chuck mount and having an axial bore for reduced mass to raise the natural frequency of the tool. In certain of the embodiments, the body is preformed from a steel or carbide blank into a cylindrical pipe forming the hollow bore prior to grinding of the cutting edges. Filling of the bore with a light weight polymer to further absorb vibration can also be employed. |
| US08296918B2 |
Method of manufacturing a fluid sampling device with improved analyte detecting member configuration
An assembly is described that combines blood chemical analysis with lancing in a single multiple-test disposable cartridge. The penetrating members can be assembled and sterilized without damaging the analytical chemistry, and the functioning of the present radical disc cartridge mechanism is not substantially modified. |
| US08296916B2 |
Repair method for electric aircraft brake
A method for enabling removal and replacement of a failed actuator module of a brake assembly that includes multiple actuators (27) for compressing a brake disk stack (12), wherein the failed actuator has failed in an extended position applying compressive force to the brake disk stack and at least one of the other actuators remains operative. The method comprises the steps of causing one or more of the operative actuators to apply to the brake disk stack a compressive force greater than the compressive force exerted by the failed actuator whereby the reactionary force acting on the failed actuator will be reduced, and removing the failed actuator after the reactionary load on the failed actuator has been reduced. |
| US08296913B2 |
Thermally switched ferromagnetic latching support system
A ferromagnetic latching support system for positioning a surface is disclosed. The latching support system includes a mechanical support and a ferromagnetic device. |
| US08296909B2 |
Mobile power generator apparatus
Mobile power generator apparatus includes: upper and lower pivoting links vertically pivotably connected at their one end portions to a frame; and a handle mounted to the frame for pulling the generator apparatus and connected at its proximal end portion to other end portions of the links. The handle is expandable, in a direction where a grip moves away from the links, in interlocked relation to upward pivotal movement of the links responsive to a pulling force, and is collapsable, in a direction where the grip moves toward the links, in interlocked relation to downward pivotal movement of the links responsive to a pushing force. |
| US08296908B2 |
Lightweight grip and method of making same
A light flexible hand grip and method of making with an inner tubular core of flexible rubber with apertures formed therein and an outer tubular cover disposed over the core with a lighter weight annular flexible foam spacer between the core and outer cover. The spacer may be formed by injecting curable material through the apertures. The apertures may be formed by inserting a mandrel in the core, punching the holes and removing the mandrel. |
| US08296906B2 |
Four bar hinge
A four bar hinge for mounting a door on an enclosure, the hinge including a first mounting bracket adapted to secure the hinge to the enclosure, a second mounting bracket adapted to secure the hinge to the door, a first link rotationally connected to the first mounting bracket at a first location and rotationally connected to the second mounting bracket at a second location, a second link rotationally connected to the first mounting bracket at a third location and rotationally connected to the second mounting bracket at a fourth location, a first shield fixedly connected at the second and the fourth locations and a second shield slidably connected to the first link and rotationally connected at the third location, wherein throughout an entire range of motion of the first mounting bracket relative to the second mounting bracket at least a portion of one of the first or second shields overlaps at least a portion of the other of the first and second shields whereby access to a volume formed between the first and second links is precluded. |
| US08296905B2 |
Hinge mechanism
A hinge mechanism includes a first rotation assembly, a second rotation assembly substantially parallel to the first rotation assembly, a brace member, a connection shaft partially received in the sliding slot, a first connection member, and a second connection member. The first rotation assembly includes a first pivoting shaft and a first bracket sleeved on the first pivoting shaft. The first bracket includes a mounting portion eccentrically formed on one end of the first bracket. The second rotation assembly includes a second pivoting shaft and a second bracket sleeved on the second pivoting shaft. The second bracket includes a mounting portion eccentrically formed on the second bracket. The brace member defines a sliding slot. An end of the first connection member is eccentrically connected to the first pivoting shaft, and the other end of the first connection member is connected to the connection shaft. |
| US08296902B1 |
Self-aligning door stop
A self-aligning door stop is taught that consists of a resilient cone shaped body having an apex, a rebated base with a major diameter selected to exceed spacing between a door and a floor upon which the door moves. The rebated base is configured to permit the door stop body to roll into a horizontal position when dropped in proximity of the door. When the door stop is on the floor in any orientation and the door is opened the door stop automatically rolls in the space between the door and the floor thereby self-aligning the door stop. Increasing the door movement retains the door in the desired open position. |
| US08296895B2 |
Disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad for a hand held cleaning implement having an elongated handle
A disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad for a hand held cleaning implement having an elongated handle includes a layer of sponge material, a layer of flexible open cell foam material made from melamine resin fixedly attached to the layer of sponge material and attachment structure fixedly secured to the layer of sponge material for removably attaching the cleaning pad to the cleaning implement. In one embodiment of the invention the attachment structure includes a backing plate which is fixedly mounted onto the layer of sponge material and a pair of wing screw assemblies which are removably and slidably mounted on the backing plate for removably attaching the cleaning pad to the cleaning implement. In using the hand held cleaning implement the layer of flexible open cell foam material made from melamine resin is the layer that contacts the surface to be cleaned. |
| US08296894B2 |
Apparatus for automated launching of multiple pipeline pigs
A pipeline pig and pig launching apparatus which allow the automatic launching of multiple pigs into a pipeline are claimed. The pipeline pig comprises an elongate body having first and second ends and a fluid passage defined therein. The fluid passage has an inlet at the first end of the body and an outlet at the second end of the body. At least two support members project radially outwardly from the body and are spaced longitudinally from one another along the body. A valve means is located within the passage and adapted to selectively move between a first position in which fluid is free to flow through the outlet and a second position in which fluid cannot flow through the outlet. A projecting member extends longitudinally from the first end of the body. |
| US08296893B2 |
Apparatus for cleaning female electrical terminals
An apparatus for cleaning cylindrical female electrical terminals comprises a cylindrical shaft portion, a first cleaning extension, and a second cleaning extension. The first cleaning extension extends outward from the cylindrical shaft portion and comprises a first curved and knurled surface region. Likewise, the second cleaning extension extends outward from the cylindrical shaft portion in a direction substantially parallel to the first cleaning extension and comprises a second curved and knurled surface region. The first cleaning extension and the second cleaning extension define a gap therebetween. |
| US08296892B2 |
Inside boat thruhole fitting clearing
A kit for cleaning clogged conduits and thruhole fitting valves in water intake systems of pleasure boats, fishing boats and yacht marine craft includes a hollow, substantially cylindrical male hose coupler connected to a nipple or elbow joined with the valve, and an open-end cap having a flexible, resilient press-fitted inner gasket configured with a central orifice to receive a shaft of larger diameter able to be force-fitted through the cap, the coupler and the valve when opened, and of a strength sufficient to force-free any matter clogging the input hose to the valve from acceptable performance usage. |
| US08296889B2 |
Laundry treatment appliance control system
A control system for a fabric treatment appliance configured to control the operation of the fabric treatment appliance as a function of a user-selected system input weighting. |
| US08296888B2 |
Laundry treating machine and control method of the same
The present disclosure generally relates to a cloth treating apparatus, such as a laundry treating machine, and methods of control and operation which sanitize the machine. The laundry treating machine can include an accommodating space which supplies air and moisture in order to remove unpleasant odors, wrinkles, or dampness from the laundry. The laundry treating machine may further include a circulation duct to circulate, dehumidify, or heat air inside the accommodating space. Operation of the laundry treating machine can use steam-sanitizing to remove odors, moisture, bacteria from the accommodating space and circulation duct. Steam-sanitizing can be performed based on a user's selection or the occurrence of a condition, such as unloading of laundry from the accommodating space after treatment. |
| US08296886B2 |
Adjustable support
An adjustable support in the form of a headrest comprises a flexible arm (2) carrying a bifurcated branches (3a). The arm (82) is made up of identical segments (20) that can pivot in relation to each other. A wire (5) holds the arm (2) together and may be loosened by an adjusting mechanism (6) controlled by a knob (9). Partially cylindric surfaces (27, 29) on opposing ends (21, 22) of segments (20) have teeth-like projections extending transversely of the partially cylindric faces (27, 29) for mutual engagement and securing mutual position of adjacent segments (20). The adjustable support is thus able to carry greater loads than prior art adjustable supports. |
| US08296880B1 |
Hammock
A hammock having a self-closing bottom entrance slit is constructed with the slit substantially offset to one side of the center line of the hammock. This improves comfort by enabling one to lie in the hammock out of contact with the slit, and facilitates the addition of an insulating panel to the hammock. |
| US08296876B2 |
Sink organizer
A sink organizer includes a section defining a compartment having an extendable, collapsible and/or expandable base that provides a deeper holding section with an extended base to support a long slender shaped item, such as a long-handle brush. The expandable base has a telescopic structure, which may be in the form of an accordion-like structure having annular folding sections or other form of axially collapsible or telescopic structure (e.g., a concentric coupling of a series of nested and axially interlocking cylindrical collars of gradually reducing dimensions). Suction cups provide mounting of the sink organizer onto a sink wall. A bracket is attached to the side of the sink organizer where the suction cup mounting is also provided. The bracket has a handle, which is configured to rest against the top edge of the sink, thus providing additional support for stabilizing the sink organizer after it is attached to the sink wall by the suction cups. |
| US08296872B2 |
Apparatus for washing anuses
An anus-washing apparatus includes a valve housing, a valve, a raising unit, and a sprayer. The valve housing includes a hot water inlet pipe, a cold water inlet pipe and an outlet pipe. The valve is inserted in the valve housing for opening and closing the hot and cold water inlet pipes. The raising unit is connected to the outlet pipe. The sprayer includes a hollow axle pivotally connected to the raising unit, a pivotal pipe extending from the hollow axle, and an extensible pipe with an end telescopically inserted in the pivotal pipe and another end defining apertures. The valve is operable to let water into the raising unit to raise the pivotal pipe and extend the extensible pipe to move the apertures from the pivotal pipe to spray water. |
| US08296870B2 |
Toilet seat
The invention concerns a toilet seat consisting of a seat (1) and a lid (2) capable of being hinge-mounted on it or actually hinge-mounted on it, whereby this lid (2) has a top cover (3) that may consist of sheets of veneer shaped along two axes and a bottom frame (4) consisting of a veneer bundle curved along one axis (FIG. 1e). |
| US08296869B2 |
Apparatus for teaching batters, and method
The disclosure presents an innovative apparatus for use in instructing hitters how to focus one's field of vision into a preselected angular field; the invention is also a method of providing this instruction. The apparatus includes a helmet and a shroud configured to engage the helmet. An elongate opening is formed on the shroud to restrict a wearer's field of vision to a preselected angle. |
| US08296865B2 |
Apparatus for stiffening a shirt collar
An apparatus for stiffening the folded collar of a dress or collared shirt is provided. A collared shirt includes a placket and a folded collar including an interior fold. The apparatus includes a circular, semi-rigid element for surrounding the interior fold of the folded collar, wherein the semi-rigid element is coextensive with the folded collar and includes a gap located at a placket of the shirt. The apparatus further includes a first elongated element that projects downwards at an acute angle from a left side of the semi-rigid element such that a tip of the first elongated element contacts a left shoulder of the shirt. The apparatus further includes a second elongated element that projects downwards at an acute angle from a right side of the semi-rigid element such that a tip of the second elongated element contacts a right shoulder of the shirt, wherein the semi-rigid element and the first and second elongated elements are integrally formed of a single piece of material. |
| US08296864B2 |
Garment with enhanced knee support
The present invention relates to a garment with enhanced knee support. |
| US08302211B1 |
Domain-based application functionality
Systems and methods of enabling or disabling functionality in a web browser or browser-based application are disclosed. An example method of controlling the functionality of an application program can include: contacting a server to request content; receiving a response from the server including the requested content and a token that is a text string embedded in the response; decrypting said token; interpreting information contained in said token to determine which features of the application program are available for displaying the requested content; and invoking a level of functionality in said application program in accordance with said token to make the features for displaying the requested content available. The token can be a digital certificate based on the server's domain name or an encrypted hash of the server's domain name. |
| US08302209B2 |
Data processing methods and devices for reading from and writing to external storage devices
A data processing device includes a data storage section that stores data; an authentication information storage section that stores first authentication information registered by a user; an input section that allows the user to input second authentication information; a first judgment section that permits reading of the data stored in the data storage section when the first authentication information matches the second authentication information, and does not permit reading of the data stored in the data storage section when the first authentication information does not match the second authentication information; a slot into which an external storage device can be inserted; and a writing admission section that permits writing of the data stored in an external storage device into the data storage section without input of the second authentication information when the external storage device is inserted into the slot. |
| US08302208B1 |
Compliance validator for restricted network access control
A method, system, and computer program product for detecting and enforcing compliance with access requirements for a computer system in a restricted computer network. A compliance validation configuration file is created for the computer system. A maintenance service utility is configured to launch a compliance validation executable file at a specified time during operation of the computer system. A digital hash is generated for the compliance validation executable file and for the compliance validation configuration file. A determination is made if the computer system or a computer system user is a member of a configured restricted group. If the computer system or the computer system user is a member of a configured restricted group, a determination is made if a directory site code for a subnet of the restricted computer network to which the computer system is connected corresponds to a configured and allowed site. If the directory site code does not correspond to a configured and allowed site, compliance with access requirements are enforced. Enforcement actions can include a forced logoff of the computer system user, and/or a forced shutdown of the computer system. |
| US08302206B2 |
Appropriate control of access right to access a document within set number of accessible times
An access right management system is provided, which appropriately controls an access right, to access a document, when the number of executable times is set for each kind of processing on the document managed by a policy server. The management system includes the policy server which saves the access right showing permission or inhibition of access to the document in a first file and a document management server which saves the number of accessible times in a second file. When a predetermined condition is satisfied, the document management server instructs the policy server to update the access right, and the policy server which receives the instructions executes an update of the access right such as changing a permission of access to an inhibition of access. |
| US08302205B2 |
Access control decision system, access control enforcing system, and security policy
An access control enforcing system, method, and computer-readable storage medium, the system including an access control enforcing part enforcing an access control for subject information based on access control information, the access control information indicating a control of an access to the subject information in accordance with a security policy. The security policy regulates an access permit to the subject information, a requirement enforced when the access is allowed, and supplement information indicating character information or image information used to enforce the requirement. The access control enforcing part further includes a requirement capability determining part determining whether or not the requirement to execute the access can be executed, the requirement indicated by the access control information. The access control is enforced for the subject information based on a determination result by the requirement capability determining part to satisfy the requirement, by using the supplement information. |
| US08302202B2 |
Transportable computing environment apparatus system and method
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed that provides a user-specific transportable computing environment. The apparatus, system, and method facilitate users configuring their own personal computing environment on a properly configured computing host. Users can insert a personal environment key into the computing host and automatically activate and configure any software they are licensed to use. The personal environment key may include all the data, licenses, and keys necessary to activate software that the user has rights to use. |
| US08302200B2 |
Protected intra-system interconnect for digital rights management in electrical computers and digital data processing systems
Embodiments including protected paths for digital rights management of digital objects are disclosed. Some embodiments disclosed herein may comprise processes or apparatus for transferring data from one or more peripherals to one or more computers or digital data processing systems for the latter to process, store, and/or further transfer and/or for transferring data from the computers or digital data processing systems to the peripherals. Some embodiments disclosed herein may comprise processes or apparatus for interconnecting or communicating between two or more components connected to an interconnection medium a within a single computer or digital data processing system. |
| US08302195B2 |
Sample analyzer, sample analyzing method, and computer program product
A sample analyzer comprising: a measuring unit for measuring a sample and outputting measurement data; and a measurement controller configured for carrying out operations comprising: obtaining analysis results of measurement data output from the measuring unit; detecting a malicious program; and restricting the output of the obtained analysis results when a malicious program has been detected, is disclosed. A sample analyzing method and a computer program product are also disclosed. |
| US08302194B2 |
Using file prevalence to inform aggressiveness of behavioral heuristics
The prevalence rate of a file to be subject to behavior based heuristics analysis is determined, and the aggressiveness level to use in the analysis is adjusted, responsive to the prevalence rate. The aggressiveness is set to higher levels for lower prevalence files and to lower levels for higher prevalence files. Behavior based heuristics analysis is applied to the file, using the set aggressiveness level. In addition to setting the aggressiveness level, the heuristic analysis can also comprise dynamically weighing lower prevalence files as being more likely to be malicious and higher prevalence files as being less likely. Based on the applied behavior based heuristics analysis, it is determined whether or not the file comprises malware. If it is determined that the file comprises malware, appropriate steps can be taken, such as blocking, deleting, quarantining and/or disinfecting the file. |
| US08302190B2 |
Method and apparatus for defending against ARP spoofing attacks
A method and an apparatus for defending against Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) spoofing attacks are disclosed. When a network device receives an ARP message, the network judges whether the MAC address of the received ARP message is the same as the MAC address in an ARP entry, if the MAC addresses are different, the network device determines the received ARP message as an ambiguous ARP message and starts an ARP verification process, and makes further process according to the result of the ARP verification process. In this way, when no address spoofing attacks occur, no verification messages are generated, and thus reducing signaling interactions and saving network resources; besides, spoofing attacks possibly happening at any time are avoided, which effectively prevents address spoofing attacks via random scanning and protects the normal application of the real host. |
| US08302189B2 |
Methods, devices, systems, and computer program products for edge driven communications network security monitoring
An edge monitoring approach can be utilized to detect an attack which includes a plurality of relatively low bandwidth attacks, which are aggregated at a victim sub-network. The aggregated low bandwidth attacks can generate a relatively high bandwidth attack including un-solicited data traffic directed to the victim' so that the aggregated attack becomes more detectable at an edge monitor circuit located proximate to the victim. Related systems, devices, and computer program products are also disclosed. |
| US08302187B1 |
System and method for preventing large-scale account lockout
Various embodiments of a system and method for preventing large-scale account lockout are described. The system and method for preventing large-scale account lockout may include an account access control component configured to prevent fraudulent individuals from locking access to user accounts. The account access control component may lock access to an account after a lockout threshold is tripped. To prevent an account from being locked by fraudulent individuals, the account access control component may utilize a warning threshold. When the account access control component detects a number of incorrect authorization attempts equal to the warning threshold, the control component may perform various actions to prevent a fraudulent individual from locking an account holder's account, including, but not limited to, contacting the account holder through a registered communication channel to inform the user that the warning threshold has been reached or placing the account holder's account in a particular hold state. |
| US08302185B2 |
System and method of owner control of electronic devices
A system and method of owner control of an electronic device are provided. Owner identification information, such as data integrity and source authentication information, is stored on the electronic device. Received owner control information is stored on the electronic device where the integrity of the received owner control information is verified and/or the source is authenticated using the owner identification information. In one embodiment, owner identification information comprises an owner signature private key. |
| US08302177B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing control method and computer readable medium
An image processing apparatus includes: an image processing unit; a processing unit that performs predetermined processing under the control of the information processing unit; a reading unit that performs an operation of reading authentication information at intervals of a predetermined time under the control of the information processing unit; an authentication unit that authenticates a user based on the authentication information read by the reading unit under the control of the information processing unit; a permission unit that permits the predetermined processing to be performed by the processing unit on the condition that the authentication is completed by the authentication unit; and a change unit that changes the time interval for the reading unit to perform the reading operation in accordance with the status of processing to be executed. |
| US08302176B2 |
Validity checking system, validity checking method, information processing card, checking device, and authentication apparatus
OBJECTIVEA user is prevented from inadvertently inputting authentication information to an unauthorized authentication system. In this manner, authentication information leakage is certainly avoided.SOLUTIONA validity checking system includes an information processing card, an authentication system that performs mutual authentication with the information processing card, and a checking device. The information processing card includes a validity authenticating means that authenticates the validity of the authentication system, and an impersonation preventing means that carries out an impersonation preventing process on the result of the authentication performed by the validity authenticating means. The checking device includes a verifying means that verifies the authentication result subjected to the impersonation preventing process and is output from the information processing card, and a verification result output means that outputs the result of the verification performed by the verifying means to a user in a perceptible manner. The verifying means may not be provided in the checking device, and an independent verification device may be provided. |
| US08302168B2 |
Push artifact binding for communication in a federated identity system
A data processing system implements push artifact binding for communication in a federated identity system. A federated identity system in the data processing system comprises an initiator that handles a federated action by determining that a user is to be conveyed to a recipient, constructing an appropriate message request or assertion to be sent to the recipient, and sending the message as a push message over a back-channel communication pathway directed to the recipient's location. The federated identity system further comprises a recipient that handles the federated action by responding to the message by forming a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to which the user can be directed. The initiator redirects the user to the URL specified in the recipient response. |
| US08302166B2 |
Associating network devices with users
Systems, devices, and methods for associating network devices with users are described, which can facilitate establishing a secure user to network device association. In various embodiments, the disclosed subject matter facilitates devices providing indication of location and device identity to a user and recognizing the user is in the proximity of the device. The disclosed subject matter provides efficient and secure device to user association and can facilitate performing customized actions based on the nature of the association. |
| US08302163B2 |
System and method for secure communication
A secure communication module is provided for securing communication between a client application and a network service. The secure communication module comprises an authentication identifier provider for providing the client application a pool of authentication identifiers for use in subsequent communication with the network service, and an authentication identifier validator for checking the validity of an authentication identifiers from the pool of authentication identifiers sent with the subsequent communication. |
| US08302161B2 |
Techniques for anonymous internet access
Techniques are presented for anonymous Internet access. Internet requests are intercepted within a firewalled environment before being routed over the Internet to destination sites. Each Internet requests is evaluated in view of policy and one or more anonymizers are selected in response to that evaluation. The Internet requests are then routed through the appropriate anonymizers for processing to the destination sites. A relationship between an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the firewalled environment and IP addresses of the destination sites is masked and hidden via the anonymizers from Internet observers. Moreover, a secure communication between the firewalled environment and the anonymizers is maintained. |
| US08302157B2 |
Method and system for generating user group identifiers
A method and apparatus for generating user group identifiers using a permissions matrix is disclosed. The permissions matrix includes an entry that is associated with a row and a column of the permissions matrix. The row of the permissions matrix is indexed with a first role and the column of the permissions matrix is indexed with a second role. A data structure implementing such a method can include, for example, a user group identifier matrix. Alternatively, a method is disclosed in which the expiration of a user group identifier is detected. In such a case, the user group identifier is updated by accessing a user group identifier matrix. |
| US08302153B1 |
Systems and methods for securing extranet transactions
The systems and methods described herein relate to secure extranets which utilize certificate authentication to mediate access, transactions, and user tracking. Such extranets may be employed to provide an interface accessible over a network, such as the Internet, capable of authenticating and recording transactions for business, medical, or other purposes. |
| US08302151B2 |
Improving comprehension of information in a security enhanced environment by representing the information in audio form
In a software environment wherein one or more subjects respectively seek to access one or more objects, and wherein a security policy having rules is associated with the environment, a method is provided for use in connection with an effort by a particular subject to access a particular object. The method comprises identifying a domain to which the particular subject belongs, and identifying a type that includes or characterizes the particular object. One or more rules of the security policy are then used to decide whether to permit the particular subject to access the particular object. The method further comprises providing one or more distinct audible sounds for a user associated with the particular subject, wherein each audible sound represents specified information pertaining to the decision of whether or not to permit access to the particular object. |
| US08302147B2 |
System and method for processing a common cable signal using a low-pass filter tap
A method for processing an input signal is disclosed. The method includes receiving an input signal. The method also includes applying a first transfer function to the input signal to produce a first signal, wherein the first transfer function exhibits a high pass characteristic. The method further includes applying a second transfer function to the input signal to produce a second signal, the second transfer function exhibiting a low pass characteristic. |
| US08302145B2 |
System and method to manage a content stream
A method of managing bandwidth usage at a customer premises includes receiving a content stream at a set-top box device coupled to a display device. The method also includes receiving a signal at the set-top box device from an external power interface. The signal indicates that a low power state has been detected at a power outlet of the external power interface, the power outlet associated with the display device. Further, the method includes sending a signal to a source of the content stream in response to receiving the signal indicating the low power state. The signal indicates that the source is to cease sending the content stream to the set-top box device. |
| US08302144B2 |
Distribution of content in an information distribution system
A network personal video recorder (nPvR) supporting PVR functionality in a server-centric environment. |
| US08302143B2 |
Watermarked media content in IPTV or iTV networks
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller to manage a library of pointers to altered media content, and enable a network element of an interactive media network to access additional media content responsive to detecting a selection of the watermark at the network element. The altered media content is created by embedding a watermark in media content presentable at the network element. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08302139B2 |
Video-on-demand and targeted advertising
A method and apparatus for aggregating the data for a plurality of individualized programs into a single channel, and allocating the channel bandwidth as-needed for provision of short video programs on an “on demand” basis, so that the total bandwidth required to provide the individualized channels and associated video clips is substantially reduced. Also provided is a real-time, single-user-targeted individualized advertising associated with the viewer selection that personalizes the user's iTV experience. The advertisements are targeted in real-time based on an immediate interest revealed by the user in a search request for content. Short duration videos are provided so as not to over-tax the individualized “on demand” channel's limited bandwidth. |
| US08302138B2 |
Method of reducing the number of real-time video transcodings with adaptive sourcing
An apparatus comprising a video transcoding engine (VTE), a video source storage (VSS) coupled to the VTE, a network engine (NE) coupled to the VTE and in communications with a plurality of user devices, and a media management system (MMS) coupled to the VTE, the VSS, and the NE, and in communications with the user devices, wherein the VSS comprises an original video source (OVS) and an adaptive video source (AVS) that corresponds to the same video content, and wherein the AVS comprises a content format that is more frequently delivered to the user devices than a plurality of other delivered content formats of the video content other than the OVS. |
| US08302135B2 |
Digital broadcast receiver
[Object] To provide a digital broadcast receiver capable of performing a channel scan in a relatively short time.[Means for Solution] The digital broadcast receiver is designed for installation in an automobile for example, and identifies a current location using a GPS function. The receiver has a channel list per region containing physical channel information of broadcast stations which potentially exist in each region, and performs a channel scan based on broadcast data obtained from receiving means for physical channels listed on the channel list in a region identified. |
| US08302133B2 |
Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data in the digital broadcasting system
A digital broadcasting system and a data processing method are disclosed. A receiving system of the digital broadcast system includes a mobile service data processor, a main service data processor, a controller, and a display module. The mobile service data processor receives mobile service data through a mobile service data path. Herein, the mobile service data configures an RS frame, and the RS frame includes mobile service data including a mobile A/V broadcast signal and at least one channel configuration information on the mobile service data. The main service data processor receives main service data through a main service data path. Herein, the main service data includes a main A/V broadcast signal and a program guide information of the main A/V broadcast. The controller extracts a link information for the program guide service of the mobile A/V broadcast signal from the channel configuration information, and acquires a corresponding program guide information from the main service data processor by using the extracted link information. And, the display module outputs the program guide information acquired from the controller to a display screen. |
| US08302131B2 |
Method of processing non-real time service and broadcast receiver
A method of receiving and processing a Non-Real Time (NRT) service and a broadcast receiver are disclosed herein. A method of processing a Non-Real Time (NRT) service in a broadcast receiver includes receiving a first signaling information table including signaling information of the NRT service and a second signaling information table including announcement information of the NRT service, detecting a duplicate of the signaling information included in the first signaling information table and a duplicate of the announcement information included in the second signaling information table, acquiring the signaling information after processing the first signaling information table if the signaling information included in the first signaling information table is not a duplicate and acquiring the announcement information after processing the second signaling information table if the announcement information included in the second signaling information table is not a duplicate, and receiving and processing NRT service data based on the acquired signaling information and announcement information. |
| US08302130B2 |
Digital TV scanning optimization
Optimized scanning for EPG data in the streams is provided by performing interim scans based on user data. The user data is gathered based on services accessed by one or more users of the device. The streams are then ranked according to the data and a scan threshold of a subset of streams to scan is defined. A interim scan occurs on a subset of streams up to the threshold streams after a first time interval after which scanning may end. |
| US08302129B2 |
Non-real time services
In certain embodiments, a digital television broadcast method involves generating a digital television signal having one or more transport streams; where data in at least one of the one or more transport streams that supports non-real time (NRT) services, where such data comprises an Internet protocol (IP) stream of packets containing NRT content including a FLUTE file description table (FDT), a NRT information table (NRT-IT), and a Service Map Table (SMT); where the NRT-IT contains a content ID that relates the NRT-IT to the FLUTE FDT, and where the SMT contains a service ID that relates the SMT to the NRT-IT table; and outputting the one or more transport streams for broadcast as a digital television signal. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. |
| US08302127B2 |
System and method for personalized TV
A Personal TV System receives a plurality of video segments constituting a TV program and information describing each segment, and controls the display of the segments to a viewer in accordance with preferences of the viewer and with the description of each segment. Segments may be omitted or replaced with substitute segments. The viewer may review his preferences and edit or replace them. In a multi-viewer household, the system may prompt a viewer to confirm her preferences. A TV program may contain interactive segments, and when the viewer chooses to interact with a particular segment, the system automatically stores all subsequently received segments for later viewing while the viewer interacts with the selected segment. The system may present TV program choices to the viewer selected and arranged in accordance with her preferences. |
| US08302126B2 |
Interactive program guide navigator menu system
An interactive program guide system is provided. The program guide system has a logically flat navigator menu structure made up of program guide categories and selectable program guide options. Program guide categories correspond to fairly broad groups of program guide features. Selectable program guide options correspond to more specific program guide features. Each program guide category has associated selectable program guide options. Program guide categories may be displayed in a row across the top of the display screen. Selectable program guide options may be displayed in the same column as the program guide category with which they are associated. A highlight region may be positioned on one of the selectable program guide options. The selectable program guide options may be scrolled using a pair of vertical cursors. Pressing a horizontal cursor while the highlight region is on one of the selectable program guide options causes a new program guide category and associated column of selectable program guide options to be displayed in place of the originally displayed program guide category and associated selectable program guide options. |
| US08302118B2 |
Optical disc drive having a balancer mounted on a deck
An optical disc drive includes a traverse deck having left and right sides to be balanced. The optical disc drive includes a main deck, a tray, a turntable, an optical pickup, a traverse deck, and a balancer. The optical pickup is mounted movably in the back-and-forth direction to emit light to an optical disc placed on the turntable to read and write information from and to the optical disc. On the traverse deck, the turntable is mounted at the front side of the traverse deck and the optical pickup is mounted movably in the back-and-forth direction. The balancer is mounted on the traverse deck to balance the weights of the left and right sides of the traverse deck. |
| US08302117B2 |
Casing assembling structure of optical disc drive
A casing assembling structure of an optical disc drive is provided to comprise a bottom cover; a top cover combined with the bottom cover to form a space, wherein the top cover has a first side wall and a fixing portion, which is extended from the first side wall and is positioned under the bottom cover; and a first screw screwed on the fixing portion, wherein the top cover, the first side wall and the fixing portion are formed as a integral. |
| US08302116B2 |
Optical disc drive and flexible cable assembly therein
An optical disc drive including a chassis, a circuit board and a traverse is provided. The traverse includes a carrier, a pick-up head module, a spindle motor module and a flexible flat cable. The carrier has an opening. The pick-up head module is movably disposed in the opening. The spindle motor module disposed on the carrier is located at one side of the pick-up head module. The flexible flat cable disposed in the opening has two connection ends respectively connected to the pick-up head module and the circuit board. The pick-up head module located at a first position enables the flexible flat cable to have a bending portion protruding towards a direction opposite to the position of the spindle motor module. The pick-up head module located at a second position extends the bending portion. The first position is closer to the spindle motor module than the second position is. |
| US08302115B2 |
Slim optical disk drive capable of reducing noise of signals
A slim optical disk drive includes a lower housing, a tray, a protection plate, a flexible cable and an isolated part. The tray is supported by two slide rails for sliding in or sliding out of an opening of the lower housing. The protection plate is for covering a bottom of the tray. The flexible cable includes a plurality of wires. The flexible cable extends toward the opening and is stuck on the lower housing. A curved area is formed by bending the flexible cable near the opening. The flexible cable is accommodated between the protection plate and the lower housing when the tray is slid inside the lower housing. The isolated part is disposed on the protection plate. The isolated part is for shielding predetermined wires of the plurality of the wires to reduce noise of signals. |
| US08302113B2 |
Disk drive mechanism and electronic device using the same
A disk drive mechanism includes a bracket and a tray slidably received in the bracket. The bracket includes a bottom wall, two sidewalls protruding from the bottom wall, two guiding rails fixed to the sidewalls respectively, and two sliding rails slidably coupled to the guiding rails respectively. The bottom wall and the sidewalls cooperatively define an entrance. Each guiding rail includes an end maintaining a distance from the entrance. The tray is slidably coupled to the sliding rails and is capable of being inserted into and ejected out of the bracket from the entrance via the sliding rails. A supporting member is arranged between the end of each guiding rail and the entrance. The supporting member is used to support the sliding rails in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the tray inserted into the bracket. An electronic device using the disk drive mechanism is also provided. |
| US08302112B2 |
Optical disc player with decelerating member for stopping rotating disc
An optical disc player includes a case, a tray received in the case, and a decelerating member. The tray is adapted to hold an optical disc. The decelerating member integrates with the case, and is capable of stopping the rotating optical disc by friction generated between the decelerating member and edge of the rotating optical disc. |
| US08302111B2 |
Methods and apparatus for hardware registration in a network device
Methods and apparatus for control of a client device (e.g., consumer premises equipment in a cable network) using applications. In one aspect, an improved hardware registry is provided within the device with which the application(s) can interface to both identify and control available hardware resources. In one exemplary embodiment, the client device comprises a digital set-top box having digital video recording (DVR) capability. An application downloaded to the device discovers the registry and software interfaces associated therewith, and then utilizes the interfaces to automatically control the requisite hardware capability. Improved client device, network and head end configurations, as well as methods of operating these systems, are also disclosed. |
| US08302107B2 |
Discovering object definition information in an integrated application environment
Provided is a method, system, and program for providing an object discovery agent (ODA) client. There is one object discovery agent (ODA) client and at least one ODA, wherein each ODA is associated with one application and includes: (i) application programming interfaces (APIs) to communicate with the associated application to discover definition information on objects maintained by the application and (ii) code to communicate with the ODA client. The ODA client communicates with one of the at least one ODA to cause the ODA to gather definition information on at least one object used by one application. The gathered object definition information is provided to an integration server to integrate the object in an environment including heterogeneous objects from different applications. |
| US08302105B2 |
Bulk synchronization in transactional memory systems
A method and system for acquiring multiple software locks in bulk is disclosed. When multiple locks need to be acquired, such as for atomic transactions in transactional memory systems, the disclosed techniques may be applied to consolidate computationally expensive memory barrier operations across the lock acquisitions. A system may acquire multiple locks in bulk, at least in part, by modifying values in one or more fields of multiple locks and by then performing a memory barrier operation to ensure that the modified values in the multiple locks are visible to other application threads. The technique may be repeated for locks that the system fails to acquire during earlier iterations until all required locks are acquired. The described technique may be applied to various scenarios including static and/or dynamic transactional locking protocols. |
| US08302103B2 |
System and method for managing resources of applications and threads performed on java virtual machine
A method of managing resources related to a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and an application executed in the JVM is provided. The method includes defining a resource identifier uniquely identifying an arbitrary resource to be; generating a resource consumer for each thread, wherein the resource consumer uses a resource; generating at least one resource manager per resource identifier, wherein the resource manager manages a resource, and storing the at least one resource manager in a resource manager registry; calculating a quantity of resource usage by resource managers generated for all applications and threads in the applications, and storing the calculated quantity of resource usage, wherein the calculating and storing of the quantity are performed by each of the resource managers; and informing about the quantity of resource usage. |
| US08302102B2 |
System utilization through dedicated uncapped partitions
Improving system resource utilization in a data processing system is provided. A determination is made as to whether there is at least one ceded virtual processor in a plurality of virtual processors in a shared resource pool. Responsive to existence of the at least one ceded virtual processor, a determination is made as to whether there is at least one dedicated logical partition configured for a hybrid mode. Responsive to identifying at least one hybrid configured dedicated logical partition, a determination is made as to whether the at least one hybrid configured dedicated logical partition requires additional virtual processor cycles. If the at least one hybrid configured dedicated logical partition requiring additional virtual processor cycles, the at least one ceded virtual processor is deallocated from the plurality of virtual processors and allocated to a surrogate resource pool for use by the at least one hybrid configured dedicated logical partition. |
| US08302101B2 |
Methods and systems for accessing, by application programs, resources provided by an operating system
In a method for accessing, by application programs, resources provided by an operating system, a process receives a request for a resource and an identifier associated with the resource. It is determined that the requested resource resides in a location outside the application isolation environment. The request for the resource and the identifier associated with the resource is redirected to the determined location. The request for the resource is responded to using an instance of the resource residing in the determined location. |
| US08302100B2 |
System for balance distribution of requests across multiple servers using dynamic metrics
A system for distributing incoming client requests across multiple servers in a networked client-server computer environment processes all requests as a set that occur within a given time interval and collects information on the attributes of the requests and the resource capability of the servers to dynamically allocate requests in a set to the appropriate servers upon completion of the time interval. Preferably, a request table collects at least two requests incoming within a predetermined time interval, a request examiner routine analyzes each collected request with respect to at least one attribute, a system status monitor collects resource capability information of each server in a resource table and an optimization and allocation process distributes collected requests in the request table across the multiple servers upon completion of said time interval based on an optimization of potential pairings of the requests in the request table with servers in the resource table. |
| US08302097B2 |
Scheduling resources in a penalty-based environment
The present invention relates to the problem of scheduling work for employees and/or other resources in a help desk or similar environment. The employees have different levels of training and availabilities. The jobs, which occur as a result of dynamically occurring events, consist of multiple tasks ordered by chain precedence. Each job and/or task carries with it a penalty which is a step function of the time taken to complete it, the deadlines and penalties having been negotiated as part of one or more service level agreement contracts. The goal is to minimize the total amount of penalties paid. The invention consists of a pair of heuristic schemes for this difficult scheduling problem, one greedy and one randomized. The greedy scheme is used to provide a quick initial solution, while the greedy and randomized schemes are combined in order to think more deeply about particular problem instances. The invention also includes a scheme for determining how much time to allocate to thinking about each of several potential problem instance variants. |
| US08302096B2 |
Methods and systems to perform individual tasks as a composite task
A method and system to manage tasks are described. The method may comprise providing a graphical user interface to a user, receiving user input via the graphical user interface to identify a composite task and at least two individual tasks, and associating the at least two individual tasks with the composite or virtual task. An operation performed on the composite task may be automatically performed on the individual tasks. |
| US08302095B2 |
Workflow processing method and apparatus for determining the existence of data in the storage location and changing the setting information and name of storage location
The present invention allows for storing new document data immediately after the details of processing associated with a box are changed. The present invention provides a workflow processing apparatus executing processing procedures in sequence for data existing in a storage location based on setting information, where the workflow processing apparatus includes a data registration unit changing the setting information, a data acquisition unit determining whether or not data exists in the first storage location when the setting information is changed, and a box operation unit that changes the original name of the first storage location to a new name and that generates the second storage location having the original name when it is determined that the data exists in the first storage location. |
| US08302092B2 |
Extensible data driven deployment system
Systems and methods that facilitate deployment of server applications via employing a deployment system that declaratively defines deployment actions. Such system is extensible to enable user customization, and includes a deployment document that declaratively defines deployment terms. The deployment document can further describe what the tasks accomplish, and also what tasks are to be forwarded to the task handler at execution time. |
| US08302090B2 |
Configurable indicating device and method for monitoring and control in fluid systems
An apparatus for monitoring and/or controlling a fluid system includes a housing having at least one display mounted thereon and a sensor interface that includes at least one sensor configured to output signals corresponding to a sensed fluid characteristic. A computer readable memory is disposed within the housing and stores user configurable program parameters in a stored menu configuration partitioning the program parameters among a plurality of discrete menus. The apparatus further includes a user interface having an input device configured via outputting a menu reconfiguration command to adjust the stored menu configuration, and a processor disposed within the housing and configured to display the program parameters in the plurality of discrete menus according to the stored menu configuration. In an exemplary application, the apparatus is a differential pressure indicator having optional control/output features, internally or externally sourced 4-20 mA current output and infrared communication for uploading and/or downloading programming and data. |
| US08302089B2 |
Rebootless display driver upgrades
Systems and methods for rebootless updating of a IHV display driver are disclosed. According to such a method, first, the operating system stops the driver from running Second, the system switches over to an interim or temporary display driver, which be a default driver provided with the operating system. Third, the new hardware-specific driver is started. Thus, a hardware-specific display driver may be updated without rebooting. |
| US08302088B2 |
Analysis of effects of a software maintenance patch on configuration items of a CMDB
Embodiments of the invention provide a method, a system and a computer program product for analyzing the effect of a software maintenance patch on configuration items of a CMDB. One embodiment, directed to a method, is associated with a CMDB containing information that relates to configuration items (CIs) included in one or more managed configurable systems. The method includes the step of generating a manifest that defines a target system, and contains a description of a maintenance patch disposed to update one or more specified software components. The method further includes using information contained in the manifest to search the CMDB, in order to detect each configurable system in the CMDB that corresponds to the definition of the target system, and contains at least one CI that includes at least one of the specified software components. For a given CI that includes at least one of the specified software components, an identification is made of every other CI in the CMDB that would be affected, if the maintenance patch was used to update each specified software component of the given CI. |
| US08302084B2 |
Using compiler commentary for configuring an integrated development environment
A technique is disclosed for correcting inconsistent language model parameters associated with a compiled computer readable project. One or more compiled units are analyzed to identify compiler commentary therein. Based on the debugging information, it is determined whether inconsistent language model parameters exist. If so, a user is allowed to apply a correction strategy to correct the one or more inconsistent parameters. |
| US08302082B2 |
Methods and apparatus to provide a managed runtime environment in a sequestered partition
Apparatus and methods of managed runtime in an embedded partition are disclosed. An example processor system has a general partition having a central processing unit (CPU) to run a first operating system. An embedded partition has a second central processing unit (CPU) to run a second operating system. An inter-partition bridge exchanges an instruction between the general partition and the embedded partition. The first operating system includes a managed runtime environment filter to evaluate the instruction and determine whether the embedded partition can process the instruction. |
| US08302079B2 |
Programmatic root cause analysis for application performance management
Programmatic root cause analysis of application performance problems is provided in accordance with various embodiments. Transactions having multiple components can be monitored to determine if they are exceeding a threshold for their execution time. Monitoring the transactions can include instrumenting one or more applications to gather component level information. For transactions exceeding a threshold, the data collected for the individual components can be analyzed to automatically diagnose the potential cause of the performance problem. Time-series analytical techniques are employed to determine normal values for transaction and component execution times. The values can be dynamic or static. Deviations from these normal values can be detected and reported as a possible cause. Other filters in addition to or in place of execution times for transactions and components can also be used. |
| US08302078B2 |
Lazy evaluation of geometric definitions of objects within procedural programming environments
This description provides tools for lazy evaluation of geometric definitions of objects within procedural programming environments. Computer-based methods provided by these tools may parse input program code that includes statements that are syntactically consistent with a procedural programming language. These statements may also include defined functions that are not syntactically consistent with the procedural programming language. The defined functions may be associated with a given function that is defined according to the procedural programming language. The given function may relate to a geometric design of an object. The methods may identify inputs and outputs to this given function, and may build a dependency graph that relates this given function to other functions, based on the inputs and/or outputs of the given function. The methods may delay evaluating the given function until a triggering event occurs, at which time the methods may evaluate the given function to produce the output. |
| US08302077B2 |
Method and system for configuring software modules to execute in an execution environment
A method for configuring software modules that includes accessing a properties repository that includes a plurality of properties of the execution environment of the computer system. The method further includes generating a configuration file for each software module. Generating a configuration file includes obtaining a generator module defined for the software module, and executing the generator module to instantiate the configuration file for the software module. The generator module is configured to identify a property required for the configuration file, obtain the value for the property from the properties repository, and store the value for the property in the configuration file in accordance with a customized format required by the software module. The method further includes storing the configuration file for each of the software modules. |
| US08302073B2 |
Moving and copying dependencies along with source code
Moving dependencies along with source code is provided. A set of dependencies are identified for the source code in response to a user moving the source code from an origin project to a destination project. A determination is made whether a number of dependencies from the set of dependencies are present in the destination project. The number of dependencies are added to the destination project in response to the number of dependencies being absent in the destination project. |
| US08302072B2 |
System and method for programmatically generating a graphical program based on a sequence of motion control, machine vision, and data acquisition (DAQ) operations
A user may utilize a prototyping environment to create a sequence of motion control, machine vision, and/or data acquisition (DAQ) operations, e.g., without needing to write or construct code in any programming language. For example, the environment may provide a graphical user interface (GUI) enabling the user to develop/prototype the sequence at a high level, by selecting from and configuring a sequence of operations using the GUI. The prototyping environment application may then be operable to automatically, i.e., programmatically, generate graphical program code implementing the sequence. For example, the environment may generate a standalone graphical program operable to perform the sequence of operations. |
| US08302068B2 |
Leakage aware design post-processing
The present invention provides a method and computer program product for designing an on-wafer target for use by a model-based design tool such as OPC or OPC verification. The on-wafer target is modified by modifying a critical dimension so as to improve or optimize an electrical characteristic, while also ensuring that one or more yield constraints are satisfied. The use of an electrically optimized target can result in cost-effective mask designs that better meet the designers' intent. |
| US08302067B2 |
Pin-out designation method for package-board codesign
A pin out designation method for package board codesign has steps of defining pin characteristics and requirements, generating multiple pin patterns, pin blocks construction and grouping and pin blocks floorplanning. Designers may use an EDA tool to generate multiple pin patterns and may use the pin patterns to construct multiple pin blocks, to group the pin blocks around four sides of a chip and to adjust the pin blocks into a minimized package size of the chip. |
| US08302064B1 |
Method of product performance improvement by selective feature sizing of semiconductor devices
Device features, such as gate lengths and channel widths, are selectively altered by first identifying those devices within a semiconductor die that exhibit physical attributes, e.g., leakage current and threshold voltage magnitude, that are different than previously verified by a design/simulation tool used to design the devices. The identified, non-conforming devices are then further identified by the amount of deviation from the original design goal that is exhibited by each non-conforming device. The non-conforming devices are then mathematically categorized into bins, where each bin is tagged with a magnitude of deviation from a design goal. The mask layers defining the features of the non-conforming devices are then selectively modified by an amount that is commensurate with the tagged deviation. The selectively modified mask layers are then used to generate a new semiconductor die that exhibits improved performance. |
| US08302063B2 |
Method and system to optimize semiconductor products for power, performance, noise, and cost through use of variable power supply voltage compression
A method of integrated circuit design and, more particularly, a method and system to optimize semiconductor products for power, performance, noise, die area, and cost through use of variable power supply voltage compression. The method is implemented in a computer-based tool and includes: embedding relationships in an optimization tool running on a computing device, wherein the relationships are based at least partly on performance, power-supply noise, die area, and power; inputting a set of product data and a set of technology data in the optimization tool running on the computing device; and determining product design parameters including power supply voltage, switching-noise-induced power supply voltage variation, and decap area. The determining is based on the relationships, the product data, and the technology data and is performed using the computing device running the optimization tool. |
| US08302061B2 |
Aware manufacturing of an integrated circuit
Some embodiments of the invention provide a process for designing and manufacturing an integrated circuit (“IC”). The process selects a wiring configuration and an illumination configuration. The process uses the selected wiring configuration to design an IC layout. The process then uses the selected illumination configuration to manufacture the IC based on the designed IC layout. Some embodiments concurrently select an optimal pair of wiring and illumination configurations. Other embodiments select an illumination configuration based on the selected wiring configuration. Yet other embodiments select a wiring configuration based on the selected illumination configuration. In some embodiments, selecting the illumination configuration entails selecting at least one stepper lens for the IC layout, where the stepper lens illuminates at least one mask for at least one particular layer of the IC layout. In some embodiments, this selection entails selecting a stepper lens for each particular layer of the IC layout. Also, in some embodiments, selecting the wiring configuration entails defining the width and/or spacing of the routes along different directions on at least one particular wiring layer of the IC layout. In some embodiments, this selection entails selecting width and/or spacing of routes along different directions on each particular layer of the IC layout. |
| US08302060B2 |
I/O cell architecture
A system includes a computer readable storage medium and a processor. The computer readable storage includes data representing an input/output (“I/O”) cell of a first type for modeling and/or fabricating a semiconductor device. The I/O cell of the first type includes circuitry for providing a first plurality of functions. The processor is in communication with the computer readable storage medium and is configured to select the I/O cell of the first type, arrange a plurality of the I/O cells of the first type on a model of an semiconductor device, and store the model of the semiconductor device including the plurality of the I/O cells of the first type in the computer readable storage medium. |
| US08302059B2 |
Power switch design method and program
A method of designing a power switch block (200) for an integrated circuit layout in a predefined integrated circuit technology is disclosed. The power switch block (200) includes a segment (710) comprising a plurality of spaced parallel conductors (110, 120, 130, 140) each having a predefined height in said technology, a stack of a first power switch (115) of a first conductivity type and a pair of drivers (152; 154) for respectively driving the first power switch (115) and a second power switch (135), said drivers having predefined dimensions in said technology, and the second switch (135) of a second conductivity type. The method comprises providing respective predefined width/length ratios for said power switches (115; 135); determining a total height of the segment (710) from the sum of the predefined heights of the individual conductors (110; 120; 130; 140) and respective spacings (310; 320) between said individual conductors, determining the height of the first transistor (115) from the difference between the total height and the predefined driver height; determining the width of the first transistor (115) from the combined predefined widths of the pair of drivers (152; 154); optimizing the first power switch layout within its determined height and width based on its predefined width/length ratio; and optimizing the second power switch layout based on its predefined width/height ratio. |
| US08302051B2 |
System and method for extracting parasitic elements
A parasitic element extracting system includes: a classifying section configured to classify each of interconnection layers of a layout structure of a semiconductor device into one of an upper interconnection layer and an lower interconnection layer based on a predetermined criterion; and a marker producing section configured to generate a marker to indicate a via-contact connecting the upper interconnection layers and the lower interconnection layers. An upper layer parasitic element list producing section is configured to generate an upper layer parasitic element list by extracting parasitic elements in the upper interconnection layers based on a first criterion, and a lower layer parasitic element list producing section is configured to generate a lower layer parasitic element list by extracting parasitic elements in the lower interconnection layers based on a second criterion which is different from the first criterion. A parasitic element list producing section is configured to generate a parasitic element list of the layout by combining the upper layer parasitic element list and the lower layer parasitic element list by using the markers. |
| US08302050B1 |
Automatic debug apparatus and method for automatic debug of an integrated circuit design
A computerized method of characterizing a DUV includes executing in a verification environment (VE) a set of verification tests to stimulate the DUV to collect test results from the DUV. The method further includes collecting a set of failure data for the test results; and generating sets of common failures based on clusters of features of interest in the set of failure data. The method further includes generating a set of hints from the common failures; wherein the hints indicate a potential failure mode or a potential root cause failure of the DUV for the test results for the simplified set of tests; and generating a set of debug data from the clusters of features of interest. The method further includes transferring the set of hints and the set of debug data to a user computer for storage, display, and use in an interactive debug session of the DUV. |
| US08302049B2 |
Method for enabling multiple incompatible or costly timing environment for efficient timing closure
A method of performing a static timing analysis based on slack values to verify and optimize a logic design includes: selecting one or more circuits within the logic design having at least two inputs taking on a known value; identifying a critical input that controls an output arrival time of the selected circuit from among the inputs that take on the known value; determining one or more non-critical input of the circuit a required arrival time based on the difference between the arrival times of the critical and non-critical inputs; and computing the slack at a critical input based on the difference between the AT of the critical and non-critical inputs. The design optimization based on the slack defined by arrival time differences preferably uses a reverse merge margin design metric. The metric determines the exact required amount of improvement in the input arrival time of non-critical signals of a clock shaping circuit. |
| US08302045B2 |
Electronic device and method for inspecting electrical rules of circuit boards
An electronic device and method for inspecting electrical rules of circuit boards includes selecting at least two design files that record electrical rules of the circuit boards and searching the electrical rules in the selected design files using preset parameter keywords. Same electrical rules of the selected design files are acquired by comparing the electrical rules in the selected design files. The same electrical rules and corresponding parameter values are input to a comparison table, and the comparison table is output. |
| US08302034B2 |
Performing optical proximity correction by incorporating critical dimension correction
A solution for performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) process on a layout by incorporating a critical dimension (CD) correction is provided. A method may include separating the layout into a first portion and a second portion corresponding to the two exposures; creating a model for calculating a CD correction for a site on the first portion, the model corresponding to a topography change on the site due to the double exposures; implementing an OPC iteration for the fragment based on the model to generate an OPC solution for the first portion; and combining the OPC solution for the first portion with an OPC solution for the second portion to generate an OPC solution for the layout to generate a mask for fabricating a structure using the layout. |
| US08302030B2 |
Management of multiple advertising inventories using a monetization platform
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for delivery of a sponsored content to a mobile communication facility user. In embodiments, a request may be received for a sponsored content from a publisher, and one or more content inventories may be searched for a content that is relevant to the request. Content may be selected for delivery to the publisher from one or more content inventory. The content may be selected based at least in part on a relevance between the content and the request. The content, and the content inventory from which the relevant content is chosen, may be selected based at least in part on a statistical weight relating to the amount of revenue a wireless operator may realize upon presentation of the content to a mobile communication facility. |
| US08302027B2 |
Graphic user interface management system and method
A graphic user interface management system displays all shortcuts on surfaces of a first three-dimensional (3D) graph displayed on a desktop background. The first 3D graph streams objects during rotating. On projection paths of the objects, a first preset number of objects forms system time to be displayed on the desktop background, a second preset number of objects forms a process wall, which displays running processes of shortcuts invoked by a user from the first 3D graph. The shortcuts dragged from the first 3D graph to other positions of the desktop background are represented by second 3D graphs. A rotation speed and direction of the first 3D graph change according to an operation speed and direction on the first 3D. The system further performs corresponding desktop display actions according to manipulated operations on the first 3D graph, the process wall, or the second 3D graphs. |
| US08302020B2 |
Widget authoring and editing environment
An authoring environment for creating and/or editing user interface elements such as widgets used in a unified interest layer. The authoring environment facilitates creation of widgets that have a consistent appearance and mechanism, and allows third-party developers to easily create widgets that have a look and feel that is consistent with a predefined set of widgets. |
| US08302018B2 |
Representing an interest priority of an object to a user based on personal histories or social context
A method and apparatus assigns a quantative variable to each object (or set of objects) in a collection available to a user. The quantative variable is referred to as the Interest Priority Value (IPV). The IPV defines a range of states of the object, between ‘accessed’ and ‘unaccessed’, and is calculated based on one or more attributes of the object. A object with the highest IPV is the most ‘unaccessed,’ and the object with the lowest IPV is the least ‘unaccessed.’ The IPV may be used in a visual representation of the collection of objects, thereby permitting a user to readily identify and obtain those objects of greatest interest to the particular user. |
| US08302013B2 |
Personalized page modules
A system, a method, and a user interface for providing content by using several modules for displaying the content within a single page. A first module within the page is for presenting content from a first source and a second module is for presenting content from a second source. The first module is stacked on top of the second module within a window for presenting the page. The content presented by the first module is independent of the content presented by the second module such that a user interacts with the content of each module independently and without the need for navigation to a location external to the single page. |
| US08302012B2 |
Providing status of portal content
Methods and apparatus, including computer-program products, for providing a portal-based desktop. A computer-implemented method for providing status of portal content includes identifying at least one element of portal content to which a user is subscribed. The method includes monitoring a state of the one element of portal content. The method includes indicating status of the one element of portal content, the indication being included as portal content. A computer program product, for providing status of portal content, includes instructions operable to cause a processor to identify at least one element of portal content to which a user is subscribed. The product includes instructions to monitor a state of the one element of portal content. The product includes instructions to indicate status of the one element of portal content, the indication being included as portal content. The product is tangibly stored on machine-readable medium. |
| US08302010B2 |
Transcript editor
A transcript editor enables text-based editing of time-based media that includes spoken dialog. It involves an augmented transcript that includes timing metadata that associates words and phrases within the transcript with corresponding temporal locations within the time-based media where the text is spoken, and editing the augmented transcript without the need for playback of the time-based media. After editing, the augmented transcript is processed by a media editing system to automatically generate an edited version of the time-based media that only includes the segments of the time-based media that include the speech corresponding to the edited augmented transcript. |
| US08302007B2 |
Touring in a geographic information system
The present invention relates to navigating in a geographic information system. In an embodiment, a method tours geographic information in a geographic information system. A set of actions for a tour is received. Each action includes a tour time. A tour time of at least one of the actions is defined by a user. Each action in the set of actions is executed to tour geographic information in the geographic information system. |
| US08302005B2 |
Optimizing playback of media content
A computer-readable storage medium stores media content in one or more formats and a media engine. The media engine includes a media player and a plurality of execution modules. Each execution module is specific to a different platform of multimedia device, such that the computer-readable storage medium is usable in a plurality of different multimedia device platforms. |
| US08301998B2 |
Identification of content in an electronic document
In some embodiments, a method includes receiving an electronic document that comprises a plurality of sections. The method includes marking the plurality of sections as a content section or a non-content section using an attribute of the sections that includes at least one of a width of the section, a density of the plurality of hyperlinks in the section, a size of a font of text in the section and whether a title of the electronic document overlaps with text in the section. The method also includes storing the marking of the plurality of sections of the electronic document in a machine-readable medium. |
| US08301994B1 |
Synchronizing multiple hierarchal data structures
Synchronization between multiple data repositories is described which retrieves tree structures that represent the hierarchical organization of the data repositories that will be or are synchronized. One of tree structures is parsed for data nodes, while the other tree structures are parsed for each such data node to find matching data nodes having corresponding hierarchies. Moved nodes are identified when a matching node is found that does not have the same hierarchy in its tree structure. Similarly, deleted nodes are identified when a node is found with no match in a controlling tree structure. Data structure lists are compiled noting matching relationships and hierarchies and also noting moved and deleted nodes and their relationships with the rest of the formerly corresponding nodes. Using these data structure lists, a synchronization interface is generated for display to a user that visually compares the synchronization of the multiple data repositories. |
| US08301993B2 |
Mapping raw spreadsheet data into graphs on arbitrary subsets of the data
Disclosed are a method, information processing system, and computer readable medium for graphically representing data in a spreadsheet. The method includes displaying a set of tabular data visually arranged at least in rows and columns. A user selection of a first dimension and second dimension of data in a series of a first column and second column, respectively, in the set of tabular data is received. A user selection of at least one series identifier in a third column is received. Each distinct set of data entries within the third column is found automatically and without manual intervention. A graphical representation of the user selected tabular data is automatically created without manual intervention. The graphical representation is based on the selected first dimension of data in the series, the selected second dimension of data in the series, and the selected series identifier. |
| US08301989B1 |
Calculation of soft decoding metrics
A method for communication includes receiving at a receiver a signal from a transmitter embodying data encoded with an error correction code. The signal is processed in order to extract a sequence of samples in a complex signal space. Scalar values are extracted from the samples and the scalar values are processed so as to define one or more clusters of scalar data points. Gain and noise of the signal are estimated responsively to the defined clusters. Bit value metrics for the signal are computed based on the samples and the estimated gain and noise of the signal. The error correction code is decoded using the bit value metrics. |
| US08301988B1 |
Error checking parity and syndrome of a block of data with relocated parity bits
An apparatus for error checking is described. The apparatus includes a matrix having a plurality of bit position columns and rows, where the bit position columns are equal in number to data bits of a word length, the word length for a word serial transmission of a data vector, where the bit position columns are one each for each data bit. The bit position rows are equal in number to syndrome bits, and the bit position rows are one each for each syndrome bit. A portion of the bit position columns are allocated to parity bits for a selected word of the data vector, where the portion of the bit position columns for the selected word are one each for each parity bit allocated to the selected word. |
| US08301980B2 |
Error detection and correction for external DRAM
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for protecting data with an error correction code (ECC). The data is accessed by a processing unit and stored in an external memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Application data and related ECC data are advantageously stored in a common page within a common DRAM device. Application data and ECC data are transmitted between the processor and the external common DRAM device over a common set of input/output (I/O) pins. Eliminating I/O pins and DRAM devices conventionally associated with transmitting and storing ECC data advantageously reduces system complexity and cost. |
| US08301976B1 |
Defect detector for holographic storage systems
A system including a data detection module, a reconstruction filter module, a first correlation module, and a second correlation module, The data detection module detects data bits from input signals. The reconstruction filter module generates reconstructed signals using the data bits. The first correlation module correlates the input signals and the reconstructed signals and generates first correlation values. The second correlation module self-correlates the reconstructed signals and generates second correlation values. In response to at least one of the input signals and the reconstructed signals including a B-bit floating number having a sign bit, at least one of the first correlation module and the second correlation module generates the first correlation values and the second correlation values based on the sign bit and K most significant bits (MSBs) of the B-bit floating number, where 0 |
| US08301975B2 |
Structured low-density parity-check (LDPC) code
A method for constructing a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code using a structured base parity check matrix with permutation matrix, pseudo-permutation matrix, or zero matrix as constituent sub-matrices; and expanding the structured base parity check matrix into an expanded parity check matrix. A method for constructing a LDPC code using a structured base parity check matrix H=[Hd|Hp], Hd is the data portion, and Hp is the parity portion of the parity check matrix; the parity portion of the structured base parity check matrix is such so that when expanded, an inverse of the parity portion of the expanded parity check matrix is sparse; and expanding the structured base parity check matrix into an expanded parity check matrix. A method for encoding variable sized data by using the expanded LDPC code; and applying shortening, puncturing. |
| US08301973B2 |
Digital television systems employing concatenated convolutional coded data
In iterative-diversity (ID) transmission systems for signals with concatenated convolutional coding (CCC), paired iterative diversity signals each have ½ the code rate of the 8VSB DTV signals prescribed by the 1995 ATSC Digital Television Broadcast Standard. Known serial concatenated convolutional coding (SCCC) or novel parallel concatenated convolutional coding (PCCC) is used in such system. Pairs of CCC signals code data bits and ones' complemented data bits respectively, using similar coding algorithms. Receivers for this transmission system use respective turbo decoders for turbo decoding the earlier-transmitted and later-transmitted CCC signals. Turbo decoding of the earlier-transmitted portions of iterative diversity signals is delayed to be contemporaneous with turbo decoding of the later-transmitted portions of iterative diversity signals. This facilitates the turbo decoders exchanging information concerning confidence levels of data bits during the turbo decoding procedures. |
| US08301972B2 |
Apparatus for correcting single bit insertion or deletion in a data payload with a checksum corrector
This application discloses a message format including a data payload of N bits and a corrector component encoding a checksum to correct the checksum of single bit slipping noise, where the checksum is the sum of each data payload bit by its position modulo N+1. The corrector component may encode a second checksum derived from the checksum that may also be included in the message and so on. Apparatus embodiments may include a transmitter generating a transmitted message of this format and/or a receiver using a received message that may be corrupted from the transmitted message through bit slipping in the form of bit insertion or bit deletion. |
| US08301971B2 |
Digital broadcasting system and error correction method thereof
A digital broadcasting system comprising of a digital broadcasting station, a set of digital broadcast receivers, and a switched network, wherein the digital broadcasting station transmits a digital signal to the set of digital broadcast receivers, and the digital broadcast receivers exchange error correction information with each other using the network to compensate errors in local receptions of the digital signal at each digital broadcast receiver location. |
| US08301965B2 |
Method and apparatus for cascade encoding
A cascade encoding method and apparatus are applied to a handheld television system or other fields. The method includes the following: A. Reed-Solomon (RS) encoding is performed on inputted Medium Access Control (MAC) packets, and coded MAC packets are outputted; and B. Low density parity check code (LDPC) encoding is performed on the coded MAC packets, and LDPC encoding blocks are outputted. The apparatus includes an RS coder and an LDPC coder. The RS encoding and LDPC encoding are cascaded to encode an inputted code flow, so as to reduce an error rate. Meanwhile, bytes in one RS encoding data block are dispersed into different LDPC blocks to be encoded through byte interleaving, thereby sufficiently utilizing error code characteristics of the RS encoding and the LDPC encoding for decoding, and improving error correction capability of a system. |
| US08301962B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating a linear code
An apparatus for generating a linear code according to the present invention includes a coding unit for coding input bits with a second coding scheme which is different from a first coding scheme for generating the linear code; and a rearrangement unit for generating the linear code by rearranging the bits coded with the second coding scheme. The present invention can provide a coding apparatus and method capable of reducing complexity by adaptively applying it to various coding scheme. |
| US08301959B2 |
Apparatus and method for processing beam information using low density parity check code
An apparatus and method for processing optical information using a low density parity check code are suggested. An optical information recording method includes the steps of encoding data to record into a low density parity check code; representing the data, which is encoded into the low density parity check code, to a spatial light modulator in the unit of a data page; and modulating a recording beam into the data page representing the spatial light modulator to be recorded in the form of hologram in a recording medium. By blocking inexact probability information from being concentrated in the LDPC code block, by achieving exact probability information through effective allocation of a mark, and by improving average accuracy of the pixel, which corresponds to the LDPC code, failure rate of decoding can be minimized so that decoding performance can be improved. |
| US08301955B2 |
Method and apparatus performing express retransmission of frames
A method, apparatus and computer program product for the express forwarding are presented. A node attempts to transmit a frame designated as a Time Sensitive Quality of Service (TSQ) frame to be express forwarded from a first node to a second node of a plurality of nodes. A collision is detected involving the TSQ frame while attempting to transmit the TSQ frame. A retransmission of the TSQ frame is attempted without waiting a predetermined back off period. |
| US08301952B2 |
Method for resource allocation for hybrid-automatic repeat request
A resource allocation method for a HARQ is disclosed. This resource allocation method includes, transmitting an MAP message having specific information indicating whether or not a differential allocation is supported, storing MAP information contained in the MAP message during a predetermined frame, and upon receiving an NACK message during the predetermined frame, transmitting sub-burst information having differential allocation information related to sub-bursts to be retransmitted. If there are a large amount of HARQ traffic, each embodiment of the present invention transmits only differential information on the basis of MAP information of the initial MAP message when HARQ sub-bursts is retransmitted. |
| US08301951B2 |
Base station with a retransmission function
A base station includes a control unit configured to avoid contention between a radio resource allocated to a transmission packet or a retransmission packet by a channel-condition-based scheduling unit and a radio resource allocated to a transmission packet or a retransmission packet by a persistent scheduling unit. |
| US08301944B2 |
State machine select inputs coupled to TDI, TCK, and TMS
A TAP linking module (21, 51) permits plural TAPs (TAPs 1-4) to be controlled and accessed from a test bus (13) via a single TAP interface (20). |
| US08301943B2 |
Pulse flop with enhanced scan implementation
In an embodiment, a clocked storage device such as a pulse flop is provided. The pulse flop includes a latch coupled to receive a scan data input to the pulse flop. The latch receives the scan data input during one of the phases of the clock, and retains the received input during the other phase. The other phase is the phase in which the pulse to the pulse flop occurs. Thus, when scan data is captured in the pulse flop, the latch at the next pulse flop in the chain may be closed and may prevent a race condition in propagating the scan data. |
| US08301931B2 |
Time synchronization of portable devices
A portable time transfer device is provided to transfer accurate date/time to reader devices and, thus, the reader devices do not have to be connected to a source of accurate time. A host computing system is configured to synchronize the portable time transfer device to a network, GPS, or other source of precise (accurate) time. Once the portable time transfer device is synchronized to the accurate date/time by the host computing system, the portable time transfer device is ready to be used by reader devices or any other devices (e.g., laptops, etc.) which need to maintain accurate time regardless of the connectivity to a network or GPS. |
| US08301929B2 |
System and method for dynamic power regulator for power supply output adjustment
An apparatus with a direct-current to direct-current power transformer is configured to transform an input voltage at an input terminal to an output voltage at an output terminal. A current sensor is coupled to the power transformer and configured to measure a current flowing through the power transformer. A voltage adjustment controller is coupled to the current sensor and the output terminal and configured to change the output voltage based at least on the measured current. |
| US08301924B2 |
Apparatus and method for a power control in a system using an embedded CPU
A portable communication apparatus is configured to perform a method for power control of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) in a portable communication apparatus. The portable communication apparatus for power control of the CPU includes a CPU configured to report an operation status of the CPU and an overhead determiner. The CPU is also configured to change a power control level according to control of the overhead determiner. The overhead determiner is configured to determine an overhead of the CPU and to control the power control level of the CPU based on the overhead of the CPU. |
| US08301923B2 |
Multiprocessor system including a power saving mode and control method thereof, and computer-readable medium
A multiprocessor system configured to share processes by a main system having a first processor and a subsystem having a second processor, comprises a first shared memory configured to receive accesses from the main system and the subsystem, a second memory configured to receive access from the subsystem at a power saving mode, a stop unit configured to stop accesses from the main system and the subsystem to the first shared memory when the subsystem enters the power saving mode, and a switching unit configured to switch an access destination of the subsystem from the first shared memory to the second memory when the subsystem enters the power saving mode. |
| US08301921B2 |
Secondary power utilization during peak power times
The invention generally relates to the utilization of electric power, and more particularly to systems and methods for selectively utilizing secondary power sources during peak power times. A method includes receiving a notification of a peak power time, and discontinuing use of a primary power supply and beginning use of a secondary power supply based upon the notification. |
| US08301917B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing power from a sequestered partition of a processing system
A processing system may include a first processing unit for a legacy partition and a second processing unit for a sequestered partition. In one embodiment, a first interrupt handler in the legacy partition may support power management for the first processing unit. A second interrupt handler in the sequestered partition may cause the sequestered partition to take control of power management hardware in the processing system when the legacy partition enters reduced power mode. For example, the second interrupt handler may program the power management hardware to route interrupts to the second processing unit. The sequestered partition may relinquish control of power management hardware to the legacy partition when the legacy partition exits reduced power mode. A power policy manager in the sequestered partition may support features such as wake for incoming communications, wake to record, etc. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08301910B2 |
Intelligent, export/import restriction-compliant portable computer device
A method and system that enables cross-border compliance with export restrictions of particular computer technology, including software loaded on a computing device. The computing device is loaded with software, and has a country location device, such as a low-end GPS device. The country location device (country locator) stores the present geographic location of the device in a location register. When the computing device is turned on or the software is activated for operation on the computing device, a security utility of the software compares the value in the register against a list of pre-established locations that are export-restricted. When the value matches (or falls within a range) of one of pre-established locations, the features of the software that are export restricted are automatically disabled. |
| US08301909B2 |
System and method for managing external storage devices
An apparatus, system, and method enable a new platform storage system to have access to an external storage system having data encrypted thereon by an existing platform storage system. Encryption information corresponding to the encrypted data in the external storage system is stored in a memory in the existing platform storage system. The encryption information stored in the memory of the existing platform storage system is transferred to an encryption table stored in the new platform storage system, so that the new platform storage system can read the encrypted data stored in the external storage system. |
| US08301907B2 |
Supporting advanced RAS features in a secured computing system
Systems and methods for enabling Reliability, Availability & Serviceability features after launching a secure environment under the control of LaGrande Technology (LT), or comparable security technology, without compromising security are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises adding at least one specific capability to a processor to enable at least one of CPU hot-plug, CPU migration, CPU hot removal and capacity on demand. |
| US08301905B2 |
System and method for encrypting data
A system and method for encrypting data. The system includes a controller and a processing element (PE) array coupled to the controller. The PE array is operative to perform one or more of encryption functions and decryption functions using an encryption algorithm. According to the system and method disclosed herein, by utilizing the PE array, the system encrypts and decrypts data efficiently and flexibly. |
| US08301901B2 |
System and method for expressing and evaluating signed reputation assertions
A method for expressing and evaluating signed reputation assertions is disclosed. In one embodiment, a first entity receives a request to generate a signed assertion relating to a piece of content. The first entity generates a reputation statement about a second entity from reputation-forming information (RFI) about the second entity available to the first entity. The first entity then generates a signed assertion from the reputation statement and the piece of content at least in part by binding the piece of content to the reputation statement and signing a portion encompassing at least one of the bound piece of content and the bound reputation statement. The signed assertion is then transmitted to a receiving entity. |
| US08301894B2 |
Method and apparatus for applying digital signatures to translated content
A method (100) and a system (300) for applying digital signatures (206, 216, and 222) to translated content (and other content) can include a presentation (309) and a user interface presented on the presentation device. The system can further include at least one processor (307) that operates to create (102) the user interface in a first language as part of an application, enables (104) the entering of data into the user interface and the digital signing of the data by a first user, translates (106) the user interface to at least a second language, and presents (108) the data to at least a second user using the application. A recipient device can verify (110) the digital signatures where a verification of the digital signatures independently verifies a data signature (222), a user interface signature (206), and a translated user interface signature (216). |
| US08301888B2 |
System and method for generating secured authentication image files for use in device authentication
A secure authentication image file is generated for use in authenticating a device. The device performs a secure authentication algorithm on the secure authentication image file and a received plaintext challenge, and outputs a cyphertext response. If the cyphertext response matches a pre-stored cyphertext string associated with the plaintext challenge, then the device is authenticated. The secure authentication image file is pre-generated in a secure environment. A plurality of key address locations are reserved in a raw memory image file. A key merger application merges the secure key data into the raw memory image file to generate a secure authentication image file. A test set of plaintext/cyphertext pairs are generated using the newly created secure authentication image file. To maintain security of the secure authentication image file, the secure key data and the raw memory image file are erased from a working memory. The test set of plaintext/cyphertext pairs are used to verify a production device containing the secure authentication image file. |
| US08301887B2 |
Method and system for automated authentication of a device to a management node of a computer network
A first computer-based device is authenticated at a second computer-based device communicatively coupled thereto through use of a unique identifier and an encrypted token, each received from the first device. Following the authentication, configuration information for the first device is sent from the second device to the first device and the first device is authorized to join a network that includes the second device. Further, permissions related to the network may be granted to the first device. |
| US08301883B2 |
Secure key management in conferencing system
A method for managing a conference between two or more parties comprises an identity based authenticated key exchange between a conference management element and each of the two or more parties seeking to participate in the conference. Messages exchanged between the conference management element and the two or more parties are encrypted based on respective identities of recipients of the messages. The method comprises the conference management element receiving from each party a random group key component. The random group key component is computed by each party based on a random number used by the party during the key authentication operation and random key components computed by a subset of others of the two or more parties seeking to participate in the conference. The conference management element sends to each party the random group key components computed by the parties such that each party can compute the same group key. |
| US08301880B2 |
Certificate enrollment with purchase to limit sybil attacks in peer-to-peer network
A system may protect against Sybil attacks on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network based on each one the nodes in the P2P network being identified by a corresponding certificate. In particular, a node may receive a license key, where the license key is evidence of a purchased product license. The node may transmit a message included in the license key to a certificate authority. The node may receive a certificate from the certificate authority in response to authentication of the message. The node may be identified in the P2P network with a node identifier included in the certificate. |
| US08301863B2 |
Recursive logical partition real memory map
A recursive logical partition real memory map mechanism is provided for use in address translation. The mechanism, which is provided in a data processing system, receives a first address based on an address submitted from a process of a currently active logical partition. The first address is translated into a second address using a recursive logical partition real memory (RLPRM) map data structure for the currently active logical partition. The memory is accessed using the second address. The RLPRM map data structure provides a plurality of translation table pointers, each translation table pointer pointing to a separate page table for a separate level of virtualization in the data processing system with the data processing system supporting multiple levels of virtualization. |
| US08301862B2 |
Formatting device
A formatting device (200) which formats a memory module in such a manner that delay in updating management information is prevented is a formatting device that formats a memory card (100) including a first recording area (110) and a second recording area (120) having different characteristics, the formatting device including: a use determination unit (210) configured to hold a ratio of recording areas to be allocated to each of directories that are to be created when the memory card (100) is formatted; and a management information generation unit (220) configured to allocate, to each directory, a recording area having a size determined for the directory according to the ratio held by the use determination unit (210), the recording area being included in the first recording area (110) of the memory card (100). |
| US08301858B2 |
Control device
A control device is connected to a processor, a memory module, and a specification information storage memory for storing specification information indicating specifications of the memory module. The control device includes: a readout unit that reads the specification information from the specification information storage memory when power is turned on to the control device; a storage unit that stores the specification information read from the specification information storage memory; and a transfer unit that receives a specification information read instruction from the processor, and that transfers the specification information stored in the storage unit to the processor. |
| US08301852B2 |
Virtual storage migration technique to minimize spinning disks
A method, and system for employing the method, for virtual data storage migration providing a plurality of data storage devices communicating with at least one computer system. A plurality of data being managed by the computer system and an archive data storage device is selected from the plurality of data storage devices. Specified data is selected for archiving in the archive data storage device when the archive data meets a specified archive criteria. After the archived specified data is accessed in the archive data storage device at a predetermined frequency, the archive data is migrated to an active data storage device in a powered up state. The archive data storage device is then powering down. |
| US08301851B1 |
Consecutive scheduling of jobs for a device using run count values
Scheduling jobs for a plurality of devices includes assigning a run count value to each of the devices, scheduling a number of consecutive jobs up to the run count value, and decrementing the run count value according to the number of consecutive jobs scheduled. The run count value for a particular one of the devices may vary according to a total load of the particular one of the devices. The total load of the particular device may vary according to a number of pending jobs for the particular device and a total number of jobs for all devices coupled to a controller for the devices. The devices may be disk drive devices. Only one read job may be scheduled for a device irrespective of the run count value for the device and devices having pending read jobs may be given precedence over other devices. Multiple read jobs may be scheduled for a device according to the run count value and devices having pending read jobs may be given precedence over other devices. The disk drive devices may be subdivided into a plurality of logical devices. |
| US08301847B2 |
Managing concurrent accesses to a cache
Various embodiments of the present invention manage concurrent accesses to a resource in a parallel computing environment. A plurality of locks is assigned to manage concurrent access to a plurality of parts of a resource. A usage of at least one of the plurality of parts of the resource is monitored. The assignment of the plurality of locks to the plurality of parts of the resource is modified based on the usage that has been monitored. |
| US08301843B2 |
Data cache block zero implementation
In one embodiment, a processor comprises a core configured to execute a data cache block write instruction and an interface unit coupled to the core and to an interconnect on which the processor is configured to communicate. The core is configured to transmit a request to the interface unit in response to the data cache block write instruction. If the request is speculative, the interface unit is configured to issue a first transaction on the interconnect. On the other hand, if the request is non-speculative, the interface unit is configured to issue a second transaction on the interconnect. The second transaction is different from the first transaction. For example, the second transaction may be an invalidate transaction and the first transaction may be a probe transaction. In some embodiments, the processor may be in a system including the interconnect and one or more caching agents. |
| US08301842B2 |
Efficient pseudo-LRU for colliding accesses
An apparatus for allocating entries in a set associative cache memory includes an array that provides a first pseudo-least-recently-used (PLRU) vector in response to a first allocation request from a first functional unit. The first PLRU vector specifies a first entry from a set of the cache memory specified by the first allocation request. The first vector is a tree of bits comprising a plurality of levels. Toggling logic receives the first vector and toggles predetermined bits thereof to generate a second PLRU vector in response to a second allocation request from a second functional unit generated concurrently with the first allocation request and specifying the same set of the cache memory specified by the first allocation request. The second vector specifies a second entry different from the first entry from the same set. The predetermined bits comprise bits of a predetermined one of the levels of the tree. |
| US08301840B2 |
Assigning cache priorities to virtual/logical processors and partitioning a cache according to such priorities
Mechanisms are provided, for implementation in a data processing system having at least one physical processor and at least one associated cache memory, for allocating cache resources of the at least one cache memory to virtual processors of the data processing system. The mechanisms identify a plurality of high priority virtual processors in the data processing system. The mechanisms further determine a percentage of cache lines of the at least one cache memory to be assigned to high priority virtual processors. Moreover, the mechanisms mark a portion of the cache lines in the at least one cache memory as being evictable by only high priority virtual processors based on the determined percentage of cache lines to be assigned to high priority virtual processors. The marked portion of the cache lines cannot be evicted by lower priority virtual processors having a priority lower than the high priority virtual processors. |
| US08301838B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing an application-level cache with a locked region and a floating region
An approach is provided for providing an application-level cache. A caching application configures at least one memory of a mobile terminal into an application-level cache with a locked region and a floating region. The caching application then causes, at least in part, actions that result in caching, into each of the locked region and the floating region, of data items that are anticipated to be requested via an application of the mobile terminal. |
| US08301831B2 |
Backward compatible extended USB plug and receptacle with dual personality
An extended Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) connector plug and socket each have a pin substrate with one surface that supports the four metal contact pins for the standard USB interface. An extension of the pin substrate carries another 8 extension metal contact pins that mate when both the connector plug and socket are extended. The extension can be an increased length of the plug's and socket's pin substrate or a reverse side of the substrate. Standard USB connectors do not make contact with the extension metal contacts that are recessed, retracted by a mechanical switch, or on the extension of the socket's pin substrate that a standard USB connector cannot reach. Standard USB sockets do not make contact with the extension metal contacts because the extended connector's extension contacts are recessed, or on the extension of the connector pin substrate that does not fit inside a standard USB socket. |
| US08301829B2 |
Flash memory device and flash memory system including buffer memory
A flash memory device includes a flash memory and a buffer memory. The flash memory is divided into a main region and a spare region. The buffer memory is a random access memory and has the same structure as the flash memory. In addition, the flash memory device further includes control means for mapping an address of the flash memory applied from a host so as to divide a structure of the buffer memory into a main region and a spare region and for controlling the flash memory and the buffer memory to store data of the buffer memory in the flash memory or to store data of the flash memory in the buffer memory. |
| US08301828B2 |
Systems and methods for reliable multi-level cell flash storage
Multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory has become widely used due to their capacity to store more information in the same area as a single-level cell (SLC) flash memory. This makes MLC flash memory very attractive for storing media. Flash has also traditionally been used in electronic devices for firmware, but MLC flash is less reliable than SLC flash. For critical memory operations, MLC flash memory can be made as reliable as SLC flash by mapping one binary value to an MLC state corresponding to the highest threshold voltage and the other binary value to the MLC state corresponding the lowest threshold voltage when writing to the MLC flash, and by mapping all MLC states with corresponding threshold voltages above a central cutoff threshold voltage to one binary value and by mapping all MLC states with corresponding threshold voltages below a central cutoff threshold voltage to the other binary value. |
| US08301827B2 |
Data read method for processing a plurality of host read commands, and flash memory controller and storage system using the same
A data read method for reading data to be accessed by a host system from a plurality of flash memory modules is provided. The data read method includes receiving command queuing information related to a plurality of host read commands from the host system, each of the host read commands is corresponding to one of a plurality of data input/output buses coupled to the flash memory modules. The data read method also includes re-arranging the host read commands and generating a command giving sequence according to the data input/output buses corresponding to the host read commands. The data read method further includes sequentially receiving and processing the host read commands from the host system according to the command giving sequence and pre-reading data corresponding to a second host read command. Thereby, the time for executing the host read commands can be effectively shortened. |
| US08301823B2 |
Bus controller arranged between a bus master and a networked communication bus in order to control the transmission route of a packet that flows through the communication bus, and simulation program to design such a bus controller
A bus controller includes: a data receiving section for receiving output status information from other bus controllers on transmission routes available; a route load detecting section for calculating uniformity of distribution index indicating the degree of non-uniformity in transmission flow rate between the routes based on the output status information; a routing section for determining transmission routes, of which the transmission flow rates have been adjusted by reference to the index; a packet assembling section for generating a packet; a data output section for outputting the packet through one of output ports; a header analyzing section for determining which output port is connected to a transmission route chosen by reference to information about the packet receiving end; and a data output section for outputting the packet through the output port. |
| US08301820B2 |
Direct memory access for advanced high speed bus
A memory system for use with a master-slave type bus such as an AHB bus has a memory, a bus interface to allow memory access from the bus, and a direct memory access interface to allow memory access from a DMA controller without occupying the bus. The system can reduce occupancy of the bus, it can allow dedicated DMA access protocols faster than the bus protocol to be used, and can remove or reduce the need for bus arbitration and associated circuitry and delays. An arbiter can arbitrate between the memory accesses and give priority to DMA accesses. |
| US08301819B2 |
Method and system for docking a laptop with ethernet A/V bridging to guarantee services
Methods and systems for docking a laptop with Ethernet A/V bridging to guarantee services are disclosed and may include interfacing a portable computing device with a docking station using an Ethernet interface, and utilizing audio/video (AV) bridging for communicating data between the portable computing device and one or more devices coupled to the docking station. AV bridging may be utilized based on latency requirements of the data communication. The interfacing may include directly coupling an Ethernet port of the docking station to an Ethernet port of the portable computing device. Alternatively, the interfacing may include coupling an Ethernet port of the docking station to an Ethernet port of the portable computing device via an Ethernet cable. The portable computing device may be powered via the Ethernet interface, and may utilize power over Ethernet protocol. The docking station may include a passive or active docking station. |
| US08301815B2 |
Executing an instruction for performing a configuration virtual topology change
In a logically partitioned host computer system comprising host processors (host CPUs) partitioned into a plurality of guest processors (guest CPUs) of a guest configuration, a perform topology function instruction is executed by a guest processor specifying a topology change of the guest configuration. The topology change preferably changes the polarization of quest CPUs, the polarization related to the amount of a host CPU resource is provided to a guest CPU. |
| US08301813B2 |
Method and device for disabling a higher version of a computer bus and interconnection protocol for interoperability with a device compliant to a lower version of the computer bus and interconnection protocol
A method and a device for disabling a lower version of a computer bus and interconnection protocol (e.g., Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) 2.0 or higher) for interoperability with a receiver compliant to a lower version of the protocol are disclosed. The device detects a presence of a receiver, and starts link training. During the link training, the number of link training failures or the elapsed time is counted. The device transmits a training sequence including symbols set in accordance with a higher version of the protocol that the device supports on each lane that the receiver is detected as long as the number of link training failures or the elapsed time is below a predetermined threshold. If the number of link training failures or the elapsed time reaches a predetermined threshold, the device transmits a training sequence including symbols set in accordance with a lower version of the protocol. |
| US08301808B2 |
Information processing apparatus, peripheral device control method, and storage medium
The view language of a specific application can be adaptively switched in response to a language switching request from a user. If the user selects the specific application via a user interface on a peripheral device management screen, it is determined whether view language information having been set matches view language information designated and received as an argument when the specific application is selected. If it is determined that the view language information having been set does not match the view language information designated and received as the argument, view language information set beforehand in a storage unit is replaced by the view language information designated and received as the argument. |
| US08301805B2 |
Managing I/O request in a storage system
The present invention relates to managing I/O requests in a storage system. By dynamically changing the scheduling parameters to achieve optimal turn around time for I/O requests pending for processing at a component in the storage system. The scheduling parameters are changed based on a feedback mechanism. The turn around time of the I/O request are calculated as the ratio of I/O request processing rate and the average number of I/O requests in the component. |
| US08301802B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting and preventing flooding attacks in a network environment
A method for processing network traffic data includes receiving a packet, and determining whether the packet is a previously dropped packet that is being retransmitted. A method for processing network traffic content includes receiving a plurality of headers, the plurality of headers having respective first field values, and determining whether the first field values of the respective headers form a first prescribed pattern. A method for processing network traffic content includes receiving a plurality of packets, and determining an existence of a flooding attack without tracking each of the plurality of packets with a SYN bit. |
| US08301799B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing transmission of TCP data segments
A communication device is arranged to transmit data segments over an interface, wherein the communication device comprises transmission management logic. In response to receipt of a data segment for transmission over the interface, the transmission management logic is arranged to determine a sequence number of a data segment to be transmitted and compare the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted with at least one pending sequence number of a previous data segment. Based on the comparison, the transmission management logic either discards the data segment to be transmitted if the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted matches the at least one pending sequence number of the previous data segment; or adds the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted to the at least one pending sequence number and transmits the data segment over the interface if the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted does not match the at least one pending sequence number. |
| US08301798B2 |
System and method for processing large amounts of transactional data
A system including a reference data server that stores a first set of data used in the plurality of processes, a load balancer that reconfigures the transactional data, a first stage processing system and a second stage processing system. The first stage processing system includes one or more first processing modules that execute at least one process of a first set of the plurality of processes on the reconfigured transactional data to generate first stage processed transactional data, each of the one or more first processing modules comprising an in-memory cache that stores a second set of data used in the at least one process, and a first stage data storage system that stores the first stage processed transactional data. The second stage processing system includes one or more second processing modules that execute at least one process of a second set of the plurality of processes on the first stage processed transactional data to generate second stage processed transactional data, each of the one or more second processing modules comprising an in-memory cache that dynamically stores a third set of data related to the at least one process, and a second stage data storage system that stores the second stage processed transactional data. |
| US08301796B2 |
Real-time priority-based media communication
Representative embodiments are disclosed of a real-time priority-based communication system and method for communicating media streams made up of multiple media message sub-streams, the communication system comprising a chunk configurator for dividing media message sub-streams into chunks, a state machine configured to translate between information regarding the media message sub-streams and the chunks and state associations to the information, the state associations written into a header for each of the chunks, a queue for holding the chunks waiting to be transmitted, and a processor for executing a scheduling algorithm, wherein the scheduling algorithm determines ones of the chunks in the queue to transmit next. |
| US08301794B2 |
Media content improved playback quality
Media content improved playback quality is described. In embodiments, a media content playback system stores segments of a media asset in a memory device, where the segments are stored as non-consecutive data that correlates to at least some of the media asset when the segments are downloaded from one or more media content sources. A data load manager is implemented to project when a content navigation input will be received that causes non-linear playback of the media asset. The data load manager can then estimate, for each segment of the media asset, when each segment will be played back based on the projected content navigation input. The data load manager determines a next segment of the media asset to download and store based on estimates of when each segment will be played back. |
| US08301792B2 |
Network-attached media plug-in
An embodiment is a method and apparatus to provide a network-attached media plug-in. A network interface interfaces with a client and a server. The network interface receives an input from the client requesting content from the server. The client has a network plug-in interface. A network processor extracts a media stream from the requested content. A multimedia processor dynamically modifies the media stream according to the input from the client. |
| US08301784B2 |
Transcoding content for maximizing playback abilities in a switch enabled device
Embodiments are directed towards providing a switch proxy service (SPS) to transcode content from a native format into a format optimized for play at a switch enabled consumer electronic device (SED). In one embodiment, the SPS may receive a set of capabilities for a SED that includes at least a minimum, a maximum, and at least one other set of content characteristics. The SPS may associate the capability set with a device identifier that uniquely identifies the SED. When a request for content is received, the SPS examines the request to determine if it valid and authorized. If the request is valid and authorized, the SPS provides content transcoded based on the capability set for the SED, where the SPS provides the content as much as possible to satisfy the SED's best quality set of content characteristics, but at least within the SED's minimum/maximum sets of content characteristics. |
| US08301779B2 |
Mechanisms for obtaining access to shared resources using a single timestamp technique
Providing access to a shared resource in a computing environment involves maintaining a timestamp for each shared resource, the timestamp representing the time the resource was last accessed. Then, detecting if the resource is reserved before obtaining access to the resource, by reading the resource timestamp, and if the timestamp represents a future time relative to the current time, indicating that the resource is reserved and delaying access to the resource. If the resource is unreserved, then accessing the resource by reading the resource timestamp to detect any changes in the timestamp since the last reading; if unchanged, then accessing the resource. If the resource is unreserved, then obtaining exclusive access to the resource by reserving the resource by incrementing its timestamp by a reservation period; accessing the resource; and resetting the resource timestamp to the current time. |
| US08301768B2 |
Peer-to-peer indexing-based marketplace
A data sharing and indexing system composed of multiple local indexing systems residing on network storage devices. Each (instantiation of the groupware) local storage device runs software for advanced content-based indexing, and each local indexing system forms a node in a peer-to-peer network. The indexing software performs topic-based categorization by means of a higher-order path analysis algorithm, which mimics human intuition by considering both high- and low-order links between data elements. The indexes generated by the software are automatically partitioned into topic indexes. The topical similarity of indexes to each other and to a pre-established set of topic indices is measured using a cross-training algorithm. The peer-to-peer network is implemented by a novel mesh-based, self-healing protocol, providing specialized means for sharing data and topic indexes. The software leverages the index sharing technology to provide content- and metadata-based searching features. |
| US08301765B2 |
Event detection and response using rich network content
A server device may receive a notification indicating that an event has occurred, where the notification specifies an area associated with the event. The server device may further send a request for network content in response to the notification; receive the network content for each of a group of user devices, where the network content includes a location for each of the group of user devices and incident information for each of the group of user devices; generate geo fence information based on the area associated with the event, the geo fence information including boundaries for a geo fence that surrounds the location of the event; generate state information, associated with the geo fence, for a user device, of the group of user devices, located within the boundaries for the geo fence, where the state information includes the location for the user device; and send, to another server device, the state information for the user device. |
| US08301756B2 |
Method and system for providing support for software applications
A method and system for providing support for a Java™ based software application in a communication system. The communication system includes a support server communicating with an application server. The Java™ based software application has a plurality of instances installed on the application server. The method includes receiving a first attribute-list corresponding to an instance of the Java™ based software application from the application server based on an operating environment of the instance. The method further includes comparing a second attribute-list stored on the support server with the first attribute-list. Thereafter, based on the comparison, a diagnostic report for the instance of the Java™ based software application is displayed. |
| US08301752B2 |
Load balancing for network server
Embodiments of the invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to load balancing for servers having multiple blades and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for load balancing at the blade level for servers having multiple blades. In one embodiment of the present invention, a blade server for performing load balancing may comprise a plurality of blades, each blade coupled with a plurality of outgoing ports. The blade server may further include a blade management module configured for monitoring throughput performance of the server and the plurality of blades, wherein each blade is coupled with a plurality of outgoing ports, instructing a blade to switch from a first outgoing port to a second outgoing port when throughput performance decreases and instructing the blade to switch from the second outgoing port back to the first outgoing port when throughput performance increases. |
| US08301750B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for facilitating communication between an enterprise information system and a client
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for assuring delivery of an Enterprise Information System (EIS) event to a client. An adapter apparatus polls at least one EIS for an event. The event is staged to a staging table, consisting of an XA-compliant database, in preparation for delivery to the client. The status of the event is marked and the event is delivered to the client. Events delivered to clients that are unresponsive or otherwise unavailable are held until the clients become responsive and then the events are delivered. Delivery of events is confirmed using a transaction service. |
| US08301749B1 |
Unused resource recognition in real time provisioning and management of fabric-backplane enterprise servers
Real time provisioning and management of fabric-backplane enterprise servers includes monitoring system status and configuration, displaying monitoring results, accepting user commands, and providing hardware and software management and configuration commands to the system. In one embodiment, an event is generated when a pluggable module is inserted into the system. In response to the event, the availability of the pluggable module is displayed to a system operator, and the operator enters a command to provision a server that includes the pluggable module. The server provisioning command is processed, resulting in a hardware configuration command being issued to the system, and an event indicating a status associated with processing the command is returned. The recognition of the inserted module, the display to the operator, and the processing of the server provisioning command occur in real time. |
| US08301741B2 |
Cloning policy using templates and override cloned policy
A method for creating a newly configured policy comprises a plurality of operations. An operation is performed for receiving a policy creation request including identification information corresponding to a template policy, override information corresponding to the template policy and override information corresponding to a policy referenced by the template policy. An operation is performed for facilitating cloning of a new referenced policy in accordance with the override information corresponding to the referenced policy. An operation is performed for assigning the new referenced policy to a configuration of the template policy. An operation is performed for facilitating cloning of a new policy in accordance with the override information corresponding to the template policy, the template policy configuration and the assigned new referenced policy. |
| US08301740B2 |
Autonomic control of a distributed computing system using dynamically assembled resource chains
In general, this disclosure describes techniques of managing resources in a service-oriented distributed computing system. As described in this disclosure, one or more control nodes provide for the efficient and automated allocation and management of resources within the distributed computing system. In order to provide automated allocation and management of computing functions and resources, a control node uses a set of governors. This set of governors includes a set of service governors to govern services used in the distributed computing system. The set of governors also includes a set of resource governors that govern individual resources of the services in the distributed computing system. The service governors and the resource governors may be implemented using finite state machines. |
| US08301735B1 |
Variable AAA load distribution for PDSN
A packet data serving node (PDSN) may manage sessions between mobile devices and a packet-based network. The PDSN may send requests to and receive responses from an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server. The PDSN may include a packet session manager configured to create, maintain, and terminate the sessions between the mobile devices and the packet-based network. The PDSN may include a global AAA manager. The global AAA manager may be configured to determine a latency in communication between the PDSN and the AAA server based on latencies in responses from the AAA server to at least two requests which the PDSN sends to the AAA server. The global AAA manager may be configured to determine an adjustment in a load which may be imposed on the AAA sever based on the determined latency and to cause the determined adjustment in the load which may be imposed on the AAA server to be implemented. |
| US08301730B2 |
Method and system for building and distributing application profiles via the internet
A method for collecting transcripts each storing an order in which portions of an application file were accessed by the file when the file was executed on one of a plurality of computing devices. The method includes receiving requests to download the file from directing processes each executing on a different one of the computing devices, and in response to those requests, downloading the file to the computing devices and instructing the directing processes to profile usage of the file. Then, transcripts created by the directing processes are received therefrom. A streaming model may be created based on the transcripts received. The file may be divided into a plurality of smaller files based on the streaming model. The streaming model may be used to download the file by downloading at least a portion of the smaller files using a conventional download protocol without using a specialized streaming protocol. |
| US08301724B2 |
Targeted media advertising over networks
Advertising on networks can include a three-step system in one embodiment of the disclosure. The first step can include the review of search requests, followed by a response linking to a media file containing an advertisement. The second step can be a delivery process. The advertising cannot be considered spam as the user can be redirected towards information that can directly correlate to the users search. The advertising can be done with the full cooperation and volition of the media company or companies involved. The advertisers' contract with the media companies can allow for payment and the media companies can then expose their product to potential buyers. The third step can be contacting an advertising server any time that media file is played. In this third step it can be determined what the optimal advertisement for this media file is. |
| US08301709B2 |
Chat system without topic-specific rooms
A method, system and graphical user interface for a chat system is disclosed. One aspect of certain embodiments includes sending target messages to users based on the respective selection and filtering criteria selected by the respective users instead of having users enter topic specific rooms. |
| US08301703B2 |
Systems and methods for alerting administrators about suspect communications
Systems, methods, and computer program products for alerting system administrators and owners about suspect communications, such as communications from open relay, blacklisted, and blocked computers, are disclosed. Embodiments comprise receiving information related to a communication of an electronic document from one computer to another, determining if the sending computer is either blacklisted, and alerting the administrator or owner of the sending computer if it is identified as suspect. In some embodiments, determining if the sending computer is suspect comprises examining blacklisted IP addresses and/or blacklisted domain names. Some embodiments determine the identity of the administrator by examining WHOIS database information. In some embodiments, alerting the administrator or owner comprises sending them an e-mail. |
| US08301699B1 |
Dynamically enabling features of an application based on user status
In one embodiment, one or more applications may be executed on a computer, where each application has an associated feature set. A user status of a particular application may be determined, and in response to that user status for the particular application, the feature set of at least one other application may be dynamically adjusted. |
| US08301697B2 |
Adaptive streaming of conference media and data
A distributed system for distributing conferencing data such as video, audio, and other conference data. The distributed system includes a conference data dispatch system, multiple conference participant computing systems, and a network distribution path through which conference data may be distributed from the conference data dispatch system to the various conference participant computing systems. The conference data is segmented. Each segment is encoded to be suitable to a particular class of participant computing systems. The encoded segments may be cached in an intermediary computing system to thereby avoid a strict unicast model for distributing conference data. |
| US08301696B2 |
Methods and systems for scalable video delivery
Methods and systems for delivering scalable media content from a server to a client are provided. A server index is provided to a media server for indexing the layers of scalable content in the form of media data groups. The client transmits at least one media request comprising a scalable media presentation identifier, a requested quality identifier and a requested layer identifier. Based on the at least one request, the server identifies the requested media data groups and transmits the requested media data groups to the client. The client receives the requested media data groups, which may be a subset of all available media data groups, and reorders the media data into decoding order for subsequent decoding and playback. |
| US08301695B2 |
Terminal, server and method for determining and processing contents as spams
A terminal, server and method for determining and processing contents as spams are discussed. According to an embodiment, the includes a method for controlling a content by using a terminal, comprising receiving a first content and a first content ID associated with the first content; transmitting the first content ID and spam information related to the first content ID to a content managing server, the spam information includes information indicating that the first content is to be considered as a spam; receiving the first content ID and indication information indicating that the first content is a spam from the content managing server; receiving a second content and a second content ID associated with the second content; comparing the second content ID, with the first content ID and the indication information; and processing the second content based on the comparison result. |
| US08301689B2 |
Controlling presentation engine on remote device
A communication mechanism or facility for enabling interaction with, and control of, a remote presentation engine for presenting a rich media application, such as one written using animated graphics allows the presentation engine to be configured or instructed remotely to perform certain actions, to send requests, and/or to send information, independently of the animated graphics application being executed. The communication facility between a workstation enables a presentation engine to pass a request by the application for resource stored on a workstation—an image file or a data file, for example—thereby creating a virtual file system. Local resource references can thus be maintained in the application during development without having to download all resources to the device in connection with testing. |
| US08301687B2 |
Systems and/or methods for standards-based messaging
The example embodiments disclosed herein relate to application integration techniques built around the publish-and-subscribe model (or one of its variants). In certain example embodiments, a first standards-based messaging protocol (e.g., the JMS messaging protocol) may be used to create a trigger so that a message envelope according to a second standards-based messaging protocol (e.g., SOAP) may be communicated over the first standards-based messaging transport layer. In other words, in certain example embodiments, a trigger according to a first protocol (e.g., JMS) may have a message according to a second protocol (e.g., SOAP) associated therewith so as to enable the message to be communicated over the first protocol's transport layer. The trigger may be configured to receive a message from a web service consumer via the JMS messaging protocol and pass it to the web service stack for dispatch to the web service provider. Similarly, for a request-reply web service exchange pattern, the trigger may be configured to send the reply message from the web service provider, as returned by the web service layer, to the web service consumer via the JMS messaging protocol. |
| US08301683B2 |
Method of enhancing multimedia
A method of enhancing multimedia data contained on an information carrier includes reading the carrier and communicating with a remote unit via a network. The information carrier contains additional data. The method includes reading from the information carrier a user file containing user data defining user's previous actions in a storage unit of a recording and/or reproducing device, providing the additional data as a function of the user data, and updating the user data to reflect the user's latest actions. |
| US08301680B2 |
Apparatus and method to compute reciprocal approximations
A method and apparatus for reducing memory required to store reciprocal approximations as specified in Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards such as IEEE 754 is presented. Monotonic properties of the reciprocal function are used to bound groups of values. Efficient bit-vectors are used to represent information in groups resulting in a very compact table representation about four times smaller than storing all of the reciprocal approximations in a table. |
| US08301679B2 |
Computation of logarithmic and exponential functions
Efficiency of computation of logarithmic and exponential functions may be improved using multiplication by pre-computed coefficients to obtain intermediate products. |
| US08301677B2 |
System and method for dynamic weight processing
A dynamic weight processing system. The inventive system includes a first circuit for receiving an input signal and a second circuit for filtering the input signal with dynamic weights to provide a weighted signal. In an illustrative embodiment, the dynamic weights are finite impulse response filter correlation coefficients that are dynamically generated based on a pseudo-noise code. The system may also include a dynamic weight generator that generates the dynamic weights by combining weight values stored in a lookup table in a manner dependent on the pseudo-noise code. The weighted signal may be further processed to generate nulling and beamsteering weights for the input signal. In a more specific implementation for a GPS (Global Positioning System) application, the received signal is partitioned into space frequency adaptive processing (SFAP) bands and space time adaptive processing (STAP) is performed within the SFAP bands. |
| US08301674B2 |
Random signal generator and random number generator including the same
A random signal generator includes a differential noise generation circuit, an amplification circuit and a single-ended amplifier. The differential noise generation circuit includes a pair of input nodes and a pair of output nodes, and is configured to receive noise signals at the pair of input nodes and to generate differential noise signals at the pair of output nodes. The differential noise generation circuit is self-biased such that the pair of input nodes is coupled to the pair of output nodes. The amplification circuit is configured to amplify the differential noise signals output from the differential noise generation circuit to generate amplified differential signals. The single-ended amplifier is configured to generate a random signal based on the amplified differential signals, the random signal having irregular transition time points. |
| US08301671B1 |
Method and apparatus providing removal of replicated objects based on garbage collection
A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing removal of replicated objects based on garbage collection is presented. Data objects are replicated from a primary source to a backup device. A notification is received from a garbage collection process for at least one data object replicated from the primary source to the backup device, the notification indicating that the data object should be deleted. The data object having the notification is deleted from the backup destination. |
| US08301667B2 |
Method and system for implementing efficient cursor pruning
Disclosed are improved methods, systems, and media for cursor sharing and cursor pruning. According to some approaches, existing child cursors are distinguished using a cursor sharing criteria node structure. A sharing criteria node (also referred to as a “diagnostic” node) is created when a sharing criteria mismatch/failure happens. The node contains information about why the child cursor could not be shared and also information that can be used to quickly re-evaluate this sharing criterion in the future. |
| US08301660B2 |
Enforcing restrictions for graph data manipulation operations
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with data manipulation operation restriction enforcement on graph data are described. A statement specifying a data manipulation operation to modify graph data that will modify one or more triples in the graph data is received. One or more resources that the one or more triples describe is determined. Data constraints associated with the resources are accessed. The access constraints are evaluated on the graph data. The data manipulation operation is selectively restricted based, at least in part on, the evaluation of the access constraints. |
| US08301659B2 |
Method, apparatus, and computer program product for determining media item privacy settings
An apparatus for determining media item privacy settings may include a processor. The processor may be configured to receive media item capture data associated with a media item. The media item capture data may include at least a capture location. The processor may also be configured to identify a privacy context that corresponds to the media item capture data. In this regard, the capture location of the media item capture data may be within a geographic zone of the privacy context. The processor may be further configured to determine a privacy setting for the media item based on the corresponding privacy context, and, in some embodiments, control access to the media item in accordance with the determined privacy setting. Associated methods and computer program products may also be provided. |
| US08301653B2 |
System and method for capturing and reporting online sessions
The present invention discloses a computer system for reporting online sessions and a computer enabled method utilizing the same. The computer system is made up of an icon that preferably appears on a user screen. The icon is capable of capturing a screen session on the user screen and saving it within a recording. The recording may then be communicated to a database server that is capable of extracting a plurality of target components from said recording, and is capable of storing them in a database. The database may contain a benchmark content of the plurality of target components. Target components may then be compared against the benchmark content in a variety of ways to determine whether the level of target components is above or below reasonable and socially accepted levels. |
| US08301649B1 |
Dynamic categorizations for electronic advertising
An advertiser submitting a sponsored ad to a provider can determine aspects of the ad, such as creative elements and bid price, based on a dynamic categorization of an item and/or landing page associated with the ad. An algorithm can be used that utilizes a browse tree for each item to be displayed to a user following a sponsored link, for example, and attempts to find a node in the browse tree that appears at the lowest level in the tree and with a sufficient appearance frequency. When consensus is reached for a node in the browse tree that meets these criteria, a corresponding categorization is determined, which can be used to determine appropriate aspects to be used for the sponsored ad, at least until enough information is obtained such that aspects can be determined independent of the categorization. |
| US08301648B2 |
Multimedia content search and recording scheduling system
Techniques described herein enable searching for multimedia content and for downloading or scheduling the recording of the multimedia content. The multimedia content may have been previously stored on one or more databases. The client device may download or schedule the recording of multimedia content in one step, for example, in one touch. When desired multimedia content is not available, the multimedia content is added to the client device's wish list. When the client device's does not have a wish list, the client device's wish list may be created on the spot. During the scheduling of the recording, a tag associated with the multimedia content is checked to determine whether the multimedia content is live or delayed. When the tag indicates the multimedia content is live or delayed, the client device prompts with a suggestion to add extra time to the end of the recording of the multimedia content. |