最新美国发明专利第2013-06-04期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US08457005B2	Method and system for establishing cooperative routing in wireless networks A system and method is presented for establishing relayed communications involving (1) sending a request message from a source node to a destination node through a plurality of intermediate nodes, (2) receiving the request message at the destination node, and (3) sending an acceptance message from the destination node to the source node through at least a subset of the intermediate nodes, wherein an intermediate node relays the request or acceptance message by receiving the message and re-transmitting the message, and wherein the intermediate node is capable of receiving the message from more than one other intermediate node.
US08457003B2	Controller that instructs data to be held when a network abnormality is detected This invention enables an abnormality analysis to be easily and reliably performed in the FA system of the EtherCAT (registered trademark). A controller has a protocol monitor function of operating in a monitor system program, and constantly monitors data communicated with a remote device. The controller has an abnormality diagnosis function of detecting abnormality, and thus holds the data monitored immediately before when abnormality is detected. As the protocol monitor function is incorporated, a protocol monitor does not need to be newly plugged into the network as an external device after the occurrence of abnormality, and the data that becomes the cause can be held from the abnormality that occurred first by monitoring from the beginning of the operation of the system and can be used for analysis.
US08457002B2	Method and apparatus for grant loss detection and related processing in a wireless communication network The present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving wireless communication network performance and efficiency, based on detecting the occurrence of grant loss in relation to the transmission of scheduling grants to mobile terminals over a downlink control channel. Grant loss detection is based on detecting erasure events corresponding to the transmitted scheduling grants, and the incidence of grant loss with respect to a given mobile terminal can be tracked and used to compensate the control value(s) used for link adaptation of the downlink control channel, with respect to that terminal. Additionally, or alternatively, when a given grant is determined to be lost, a new grant is sent and the HARQ redundancy version is reset for the newly scheduled transmission.
US08456999B2	Methods and apparatuses for enhanced transmission selection-capable simulated traffic generation Various aspects of the disclosed technology relate to the generation for test purposes of test traffic, in a manner compliant with advanced flow control.
US08456998B2	Reducing channel overhead in a wireless coexistence network A system composed of a device configured to communicate, using a first wireless protocol, with a node. The system also comprises a processor coupled to the device and configured to determine whether the node operates in a coexistence mode. If the processor determines that the node operates in a coexistence mode then, as a result, the processor determines when the node operates in the first wireless protocol and communicates, by way of the device and without solicitation from the node, with the node when the node operates in the first wireless protocol.
US08456996B2	Method and apparatus for improved MBMS capacity and link management through robust and performance optimal soft combining A method for wireless communication is disclosed that includes receiving a plurality of sets of transport blocks, each set of transport blocks associated with a radio link from a plurality of radio links in soft combining; performing a filtering operation of block errors in the plurality of radio links; and removing one or more radio links from the plurality of radio links in soft combining based on the filtering operation. An apparatus and processing system for performing the method are also disclosed.
US08456992B2	Low-power policy for port Various example embodiments are disclosed. According to an example embodiment, a method may include determining, by a port processor, a buffer length based on an amount of data stored in a port controlled by the port processor, comparing the buffer length to a low-power buffer threshold, determining a link utilization based on a number of packets transmitted by the port, comparing the link utilization to a link utilization threshold, and placing the port into a low-power state based on the comparison of the buffer length to the low-power buffer threshold and the comparison of the link utilization to the link utilization threshold.
US08456983B2	Method and system for arranging link resource fragments The present invention relates to the field of optical communication and provides a method and system for arranging link resource fragments. The method comprises: configuring cascade services in a link in advance; generating a preset arrangement method according to an initial channel number of occupied channel(s) in the link and a cascade number of service born in the channel(s) (S210); a local end node that initiates a link resource arrangement notifying an opposite end node to arrange link resource fragments (S220); the local end node and the opposite end node reconfiguring a cross connection according to the preset arrangement method (S230). The method and system of the present invention can re-arrange the channel resources within one link, and integrate the scattered channel resource fragments into complete and available resources with a broader bandwidth, thus achieving the maximum utilization of the link bandwidth resources.
US08456982B2	System and method for fast network restoration An approach is provided for enabling fast network restoration. A node, within a network of multiple protocol label switching (MPLS) nodes, detects a failure condition affecting the node. A micro-loop with a neighboring node of the affected node is detected. A label is determined for a subsequent hop from the neighboring node to break the micro-loop for redirecting of traffic to a destination node in the network, wherein the subsequent hop does not create a loop with respect to the affected node.
US08456979B2	Objective lens and optical information recording/reproducing apparatus An optical information recording/reproducing apparatus for an optical disc using a light beam having a wavelength of λ including: an objective lens that converges the light beam onto a recording surface of the optical disc and satisfies a condition: 0.48 < d · ( n - 1 ) f 2 < 0.75 ( 1 ) where f represents a focal length (unit: mm) of the objective lens with respect to the wavelength λ, d represents a thickness (unit: mm) of the objective lens along an optical axis of the objective lens, and n represents a refractive index with respect to the wavelength λ; a photoreceptor to receive the beam reflected from the optical disc; a detector to detect quality of a signal, and an objective lens driving unit to tilt the objective lens in a direction to improve the quality of the signal based on a result of detection by the detector.
US08456975B2	Phase error detection apparatus, phase error detection method, and reproduction apparatus A phase error detection apparatus includes: a sampling block; a first phase error calculation block; a second phase error calculation block; and a selective output block.
US08456973B1	Optical disc drive test Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an optical disc drive test. In one embodiment, an optical disc drive of a host electronic device performs a test on itself. The host electronic device requests information about the test from the optical disc drive. The optical disc drive reports information about the test in response to the request.
US08456970B2	Information recording apparatus, information recording method, and information recording/processing program An information recording apparatus recording disc structure definition information defining a structure of an optical disc, in management areas of the optical disc including a data area and the management areas positioned on inner and outer periphery sides of the data area, includes: a memory which stores disc structure definition information of a new version including an invalid mark which cannot be interpreted as the disc structure definition information by an information reproducing apparatus and an information recording/reproducing apparatus being non-adaptive; and a recording control element for, when the disc structure definition information of the new version is recorded in the management areas, controlling recording of the disc structure definition information of the new version so the invalid mark is positioned at a position in the management areas in which all or part of disc structure definition information of an old version without the invalid mark needs to be recorded.
US08456969B1	Laser integrated recording head for heat assisted magnetic recording A magnetic stack includes a self-supporting substrate that carries first and second layer(s). The first layer(s) comprise a magnetic write pole, and the second layer(s) comprise a semiconductor laser. At least one of the second layer(s) is monocrystalline and incompatible with epitaxial growth on the substrate. No support substrate other than the self-supporting substrate attaches to the second layer(s). The magnetic stack may include a near field transducer (NFT) disposed to receive light emitted by the laser. A waveguide may transmit light from the laser to the NFT, or the NFT may couple to the laser without an intervening waveguide. The magnetic stack may be configured for heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR).
US08456968B1	Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head having dual heat sink layers A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head includes: a main pole and a plasmon generator disposed to align along the direction of travel of a recording medium; a first heat sink layer having two portions that are located on opposite sides of the plasmon generator in the track width direction; a second heat sink layer having two portions that are located on opposite sides of the main pole in the track width direction; and a nonmagnetic layer disposed between the plasmon generator and the main pole. The first and second heat sink layers are each made of SiC or AlN. The nonmagnetic layer is made of a material that is lower in thermal conductivity at 25° C. than alumina.
US08456962B2	Magnetic head for microwave assisted magnetic recording A magnetic head that writes information to a recording medium includes a magnetic pole layer that generates a writing magnetic field to the recording medium, a microstripline that is disposed in proximity to the magnetic pole layer and to which high frequency current is applied, and a ferromagnetic thin film that is disposed on a portion of the microstripline that faces the recording medium, and that generates a high frequency alternate-current (AC) magnetic field to be applied to the recording medium, using a current magnetic field generated on the microstripline due to the high frequency current.
US08456959B2	Timepiece with wireless communication function A timepiece with a wireless function, including a movement for displaying time; a conductive case that holds the movement; a crystal that is disposed on the face side of the case and covers the face side of the movement; a conductive plate that is electrically conductive, disposed between the movement and the crystal, and reflects radio waves; and an antenna that has a substantially annular, conductive antenna electrode, and is disposed along the outside edge of the conductive plate between the conductive plate and the crystal.
US08456957B2	Ultrasonic transducer for a proximity sensor An ultrasonic transducer assembly for use in sensing the location of objects in proximity to the transducer. The ultrasonic transducer assembly includes a piezoceramic resonator plate and a coupler. The resonator plate is supported to the coupler in cantilever relation. The coupler extends transverse to the resonator plate for acoustically coupling the resonator plate to a medium in contact with the coupler.
US08456954B1	Holographic navigation A method and apparatus that coherently correlates, in either the frequency domain, or the real domain, an image of a terrain with an extant holographic image of the terrain. Strong correlations indicates matches between features common between the two holograms, or a hologram and an image, and location of the strong correlations indicates position of the features relative to the imager (e.g. a sonar aboard a ship, or a radar aboard a helicopter). Correlation information can be used for navigation.
US08456950B2	Method for wave decomposition using multi-component motion sensors Three-axis velocity data, obtained along with pressure data in a marine seismic survey, are rotated to a ray direction. Plane wave decomposition is applied in the ray direction to the rotated velocity data. The pressure data and the velocity data are combined to generate at least one of up-going and down-going wave fields. The at least one of up-going and down-going wave fields are used in a time-space domain to image the earth's subsurface.
US08456949B2	Method for determining signal quality in dual sensor seismic streamer signals A method for determining quality of signals acquired using marine seismic streamers having pressure responsive sensors and motion responsive sensors includes cross ghosting pressure responsive seismic signals and contemporaneously acquired motion responsive seismic signals. First filters are determined that cause the cross ghosted pressure responsive signals to substantially match the cross ghosted motion responsive signals. Second filters are determined that cause the cross ghosted motion responsive signals to substantially match the cross ghosted pressure responsive signals. The first and second filters are convolved and the convolution is used to determine signal quality.
US08456944B2	Decoder circuit of semiconductor storage device The present invention provides a row decoder of a semiconductor storage device that prevents an increase in a circuit area while maintaining a high operation speed. Namely, the row decoder of the semiconductor storage device includes a word line selection circuit that has voltage application MOS transistors for each of plural word lines, the voltage application MOS transistors applying a normal voltage to the word lines corresponding to memory cells selected among plural memory cells positioned at a portion where the plural word lines intersect plural bit lines in a predetermined normal operation, and applying a high voltage in a predetermined high voltage operation; and a level shift circuit that outputs the normal voltage or a ground voltage lower than the normal voltage in the normal operation, and that outputs the normal voltage or the high voltage in the high voltage operation, to the voltage application MOS transistor.
US08456943B2	Electronic device and method for preventing data loss in memory storage device and electronic device assembly An electronic device includes a memory storage device, a storing unit, and a voltage increasing unit. The storing unit is used for receiving the supply voltage to store energy and releasing energy to generate an standby voltage when the power supply stops providing the supply voltage. The voltage increasing unit is used for receiving the standby voltage, increasing the standby voltage, and providing the increased standby voltage to the memory storage device for preventing data loss in the memory storage device. A related method for preventing data loss in a memory storage device and an electronic device assembly are also provided.
US08456939B2	Voltage regulation circuitry Voltage regulation circuitry is provided comprising a pull-up p-type threshold device connecting a supply voltage node to an output voltage node, the pull-up p-type threshold device configured to be switched off in dependence on a control signal. A pull-down stack connects the output voltage node to a reference voltage node, the pull-down stack comprising a pull-down p-type threshold device and a pull-down n-type threshold device connected in series. An inverter is configured to receive an input from the output voltage node and is configured to generate a cut-off signal, wherein the pull-down n-type threshold device is configured to be switched on in dependence on the control signal and the pull-down p-type threshold device is configured to be switched off in dependence on the cut-off signal.
US08456935B2	Memory and method for sensing data in a memory using complementary sensing scheme In a memory (100), a local data line pair (116, 118) is precharged to a first logic state and a global data line pair (101, 104) is precharged to a second logic state. A selected memory cell is coupled to the local data line pair (116, 118) to develop a differential local data line voltage. The differential local data line voltage is subsequently amplified to form an amplified differential local data line voltage. A selected one of the global data line pair (101, 104) is driven to the first logic state in response to the amplified differential local data line voltage to form a differential global data line voltage.
US08456933B2	Semiconductor memory apparatus and method for generating programming current pulse A semiconductor apparatus includes a first write control code generation unit configured to generate first write control codes which have fixed value for a first time and are cyclically updated after the first time, a second write control code generation unit configured to generate a second write control code, and a data write unit configured to output a first programming current pulse in response to the first write control codes, or a second programming current pulse in response to the second write control code.
US08456930B2	Variable resistance memory device having equal resistances between signal paths regardless of location of memory cells within the memory array A memory device including variable resistance elements comprises a plurality of memory cells configured to store data; a first signal transmission/reception unit and a second signal transmission/reception unit configured to transmit a signal to the memory cells or receive a signal from the memory cells; a first transmission line arranged to couple first ends of the memory cells to the first signal transmission/reception unit; and a second transmission line configured to couple second ends of the memory cells to the second signal transmission/reception unit, wherein a first resistance of a first signal path coupled between the first and second signal transmission/reception units through a first memory cell of the memory cells is substantially equal to a second electrical resistance of a second signal path coupled between a second memory cell and the first and second signal transmission/reception units through a second memory cell of the memory cells.
US08456928B2	Dynamic adjustment of reference voltage in a computer memory system A method provides improved signal quality in a computer memory system. In one embodiment, a digital signal is generated having a voltage interpreted with respect to a reference voltage. The reference voltage is dynamically adjusted as a function of the traffic intensity at which the digital signal is directed to a particular receiver. A training phase may be performed for each DIMM of the memory system, to construct a lookup table correlating suitable reference voltages with different traffic intensities. The lookup table may be referenced during a subsequent execution phase, to dynamically select a reference voltage according to changing traffic intensity. The dynamically selected reference voltage value may be enforced by using transistors to selectively recruit resistors of a resistor network.
US08456922B2	Method for erasing memory cells in a flash memory device using a positive well bias voltage and a negative word line voltage A memory device of the non-volatile type including a memory array having a plurality of memory cells organized as sectors, each sector having a main word line associated with a plurality of local word lines, each local word line coupled to the main word line by a respective local word line driver circuit, each of the local word line driver circuits consisting of a first MOS transistor coupled between the respective main word line and a respective local word line and a second MOS transistor coupled between the respective local word line and a first biasing terminal.
US08456920B2	Semiconductor memory device capable of executing high-speed page copy A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array, first and second data caches, and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to control, with use of the first and second data caches, a read operation of reading data from the selected memory cell of the memory cell array, and a write operation of writing data in the selected memory cell of the memory cell array. The control circuit is configured to execute, at a time of the read operation, an arithmetic operation of the data held in the first data cache by using the first and second data caches, and to generate the data which is to be written in the selected memory cell.
US08456919B1	Method and apparatus to provide data including hard bit data and soft bit data to a rank modulation decoder A method includes providing data including hard bit data and soft bit data to a rank modulation decoder.
US08456918B2	NAND flash memory device and method of operating same to reduce a difference between channel potentials therein An flash memory device includes a block of NAND cell units, each NAND cell unit in the block includes n memory cell transistors MC controlled by a plurality of n wordlines, and is connected in series between a string selection transistor SST connected to a bitline and a ground selection transistor GST. While a programming voltage Vpgm is applied to a selected wordline WL, a cutoff voltage Vss is applied to a nearby unselected wordline closer to the ground selection transistor GST to isolate a first local channel Ch1 from a second local channel Ch2. As the location i of the selected wordline WL increases close to the SST, the second channel potential Vch2 tends to increase excessively, causing errors. The excessive increase of Vch2 is prevented by modifying the voltages applied to string select lines (SSL) and/or to the bit lines (BL), or the pass voltages Vpass applied to the unselected wordlines (WL location i is equal or greater than a predetermined (stored) location number x. If incremental step pulse programming (ISPP) is implemented, the applied voltages are modified only if the ISPP loop count j is equal or greater than a predetermined (stored) critical loop number y.
US08456916B2	Non-volatile memory unit cell with improved sensing margin and reliability An only-one-polysilicon layer non-volatile memory unit cell includes a first P-type transistor, a second P-type transistor, a N-type transistor pair, a first and second coupling capacitors is provided. The N-type transistor pair has a third transistor and a fourth transistor that are connected. The third transistor and the fourth transistor have a first floating polysilicon gate and a second floating polysilicon gate to serve as charge storage mediums, respectively. One end of the second coupling capacitor is connected to the gate of the second transistor and is coupled to the second floating polysilicon gate, the other end of the second coupling capacitor receives a second control voltage. One end of the second coupling capacitor is connected to the gate of the second transistor and is coupled to the second floating polysilicon gate, the other end of the second coupling capacitor receives a second control voltage.
US08456914B2	Memory device with multiple planes Disclosed herein is a device that includes at least one selection/non-selection voltage receiving line, at least one word line operatively coupled to the selection/non-selection voltage receiving line, and a plurality of memory cells coupled to the word line; a selection voltage source line; and a selection voltage supply circuit comprising a first switch circuit and a first driver circuit driving the first switch circuit to be turned ON or OFF, the first switch circuit including a first node coupled to the selection voltage source line, a second node coupled to the selection/non-selection voltage receiving line of the first memory plane and a third node coupled to the selection/non-selection voltage receiving line of the second memory plane, and the first driver circuit being provided in common to the first and second memory planes.
US08456909B2	Nonvolatile memory device and method for fabricating the same Provided are a nonvolatile memory device and a method for fabricating the same, which can secure the structural stability of a three-dimensional nonvolatile memory device. The nonvolatile memory device includes one or more columnar channel plugs, a plurality of word lines and a plurality of dielectric layers stacked alternately to surround the columnar channel plug, a memory layer disposed between the word line and the columnar channel plug, a plurality of word line connection portions, each of the word line connection portions connecting ends of word lines of a common layer from among the plurality of word lines, and a plurality of word line extension portions extending from the word line connection portions.
US08456908B2	Multi-dot flash memory and method of manufacturing the same A multi-dot flash memory includes active areas arranged in a first direction, which extend to a second direction crossed to the first direction, the first and second direction being parallel to a surface of a semiconductor substrate, floating gates arranged in the first direction, which are provided above the active areas, a word line provided above the floating gates, which extends to the first direction, and bit lines provided between the floating gates, which extend to the second direction. Each of the floating gates has two side surfaces in the first direction, shapes of the two side surfaces are different from each other, and shapes of the facing surfaces of the floating gates which are adjacent to each other in the first direction are symmetrical.
US08456906B2	Memory and operation method therefor An operation method for a memory device having a plurality of memory cells includes: reading the plurality of memory cells by a first word line voltage to get a first number of a first logic state; reading the plurality of memory cells by a second word line voltage to get a second number of the first logic state, the second word line voltage different from the first word line voltage; and using the second word line voltage as a target word line voltage if the first number of the first logic state is equal to the second number of the first logic state.
US08456905B2	Efficient data storage in multi-plane memory devices A method for data storage includes initially storing a sequence of data pages in a memory that includes multiple memory arrays, such that successive data pages in the sequence are stored in alternation in a first number of the memory arrays. The initially-stored data pages are rearranged in the memory so as to store the successive data pages in the sequence in a second number of the memory arrays, which is less than the first number. The rearranged data pages are read from the second number of the memory arrays.
US08456904B2	Sub volt flash memory system Various circuits include MOS transistors that have a bulk voltage terminal for receiving a bulk voltage that is different from a supply voltage and ground. The bulk voltage may be selectively set so that some MOS transistors have a bulk voltage set to the supply voltage or ground and other MOS transistors have a bulk voltage that is different. The bulk voltage may be set to forward or reverse bias pn junctions in the MOS transistor. The various circuits include comparators, operational amplifiers, sensing circuits, decoding circuits and the other circuits. The circuits may be included in a memory system.
US08456903B2	Magnetic memory with porous non-conductive current confinement layer A magnetic element having a ferromagnetic pinned layer, a ferromagnetic free layer, a non-magnetic spacer layer therebetween, and a porous non-electrically conducting current confinement layer between the free layer and the pinned layer. The current confinement layer forms an interface either between the free layer and the non-magnetic spacer layer or the pinned layer and the non-magnetic spacer layer.
US08456901B2	Spin-torque transfer magneto-resistive memory architecture A system includes a processor and a memory array connected to the processor comprising a first memory cell comprising a first magnetic tunnel junction device having a first terminal connected to a first bit line and a second terminal, and a first field effect transistor having a source terminal connected to a second bit line, a gate terminal connected to a word line, and a drain terminal connected to the second terminal of the first magnetic tunnel junction device, and a second memory cell comprising a second magnetic tunnel junction device having a first terminal connected to a third bit line and a second terminal, and a second field effect transistor having a source terminal connected to the second bit line, a gate terminal connected to the word line, and a drain terminal connected to the second terminal of the second magnetic tunnel junction device.
US08456897B2	Low cost multi-state magnetic memory A multi-state current-switching magnetic memory element has a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ), for storing more than one bit of information. The MTJ includes a fixed layer, a barrier layer, and a non-uniform free layer. In one embodiment, having 2 bits per cell, when one of four different levels of current is applied to the memory element, the applied current causes the non-uniform free layer of the MTJ to switch to one of four different magnetic states. The broad switching current distribution of the MTJ is a result of the broad grain size distribution of the non-uniform free layer.
US08456891B2	Nonvolatile memory cells having oxygen diffusion barrier layers therein A nonvolatile memory cell includes first and second electrodes and a data storage layer extending between the first and second electrodes. An oxygen diffusion barrier layer is provided, which extends between the data storage layer and the first electrode. An oxygen gettering layer is also provided, which extends between the oxygen diffusion barrier layer and the data storage layer. The oxygen diffusion barrier layer includes aluminum oxide, the oxygen gettering layer includes titanium, the data storage layer includes a metal oxide, such as magnesium oxide, and at least one of the first and second electrodes includes a material selected from a group consisting of tungsten, polysilicon, aluminum, titanium nitride silicide and conductive nitrides.
US08456890B2	Multi-level resistance change memory According to one embodiment, a multi-level resistance change memory includes a memory cell includes first and second resistance change films connected in series, and a capacitor connected in parallel to the first resistance change film, a voltage pulse generating circuit generating a first voltage pulse with a first pulse width to divide a voltage of the first voltage pulse into the first and second resistance change films based on a resistance ratio thereof, and generating a second voltage pulse with a second pulse width shorter than the first pulse width to apply a voltage of the second voltage pulse to the second resistance change film by a transient response of the capacitor, and a control circuit which is stored multi-level data to the memory cell by using the first and second voltage pulses in a writing.
US08456889B2	Semiconductor devices including variable resistance materials and methods of operating the same Semiconductor devices including variable resistance materials and methods of operating the semiconductor devices. The semiconductor devices use variable resistance materials with resistances that vary according to applied voltages as channel layers.
US08456887B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprises a cell array having plural memory cells arranged in matrix, each memory cell including a variable resistor having a resistance reversibly variable to store data corresponding to the resistance of the variable resistor; a selection circuit operative to select a memory cell from the cell array; and a write circuit operative to execute certain voltage or current supply to the memory cell selected by the selection circuit to vary the resistance of a variable resistor in the selected memory cell to erase or write data. The write circuit terminates the voltage or current supply to the selected memory cell in accordance with resistance variation situation of the variable resistor in the selected memory cell when current flowing in the selected memory cell reaches a certain level appeared after the data erase or write.
US08456886B2	Reliable set operation for phase-change memory cell A Phase-Change Memory (PCM) device and a method of writing data to the PCM device are described. The PCM device includes a multi-phase data storage cell having at least a Set state and a Reset state that may be established using a heater configured to heat the data storage cell. A memory interface may be coupled with the heater configured to write data to the data storage cell, the data being represented by the Set or the Reset states. A write Reset pulse is used to place the data storage cell in the Reset state corresponding to a read value that is less than a read threshold. A write Set pulse that is a predetermined function of the write Reset pulse is used to place the data storage cell in the Set state. The PCM device may include additional intermediate states that enable each data storage cell to store two or more bits of information. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08456884B2	Semiconductor device Both decreasing access time and power consumption and improving storage bit count per one word line are compatibly attained. A memory cell array 1 has a configuration in which at least one row of memory cells MC having a fuse device F with a resistance value variable according to a flowing current and a plurality of cell transistors (TRB1 and TRB2) connected in parallel with respect to the fuse device F is arranged. In the relevant semiconductor device, out of the plurality of cell transistors (TRB1 and TRB2), the number of cell transistors turned ON is controllable by a writing control signal (WRITE) inputted from outside and an internal logic circuit 5 (and a word line drive circuit 4).
US08456882B2	Method and system for providing dual magnetic tunneling junctions usable in spin transfer torque magnetic memories A method and system for providing a magnetic junction usable in a magnetic memory are described. The magnetic junction includes first and second pinned layers, first and second nonmagnetic spacer layers, and a free layer. The first pinned layer has a first pinned layer magnetic moment and is nonmagnetic layer-free. The first nonmagnetic spacer layer resides between the first pinned and free layers. The free layer resides between the first and second nonmagnetic spacer layers. The second pinned layer has a second pinned layer magnetic moment and is nonmagnetic layer-free. The second nonmagnetic spacer layer resides between the free and second pinned layers. The first and second pinned layer magnetic moments are antiferromagnetically coupled and self-pinned. The magnetic junction is configured to allow the free layer to be switched between stable magnetic states when a write current is passed through the magnetic junction.
US08456880B2	Multiple layers of memory implemented as different memory technology Circuits and methods that use third dimension memory as a different memory technology are described. The third dimension memory can be used for application specific data storage and/or to emulate conventional memory types such as DRAM, FLASH, SRAM, and ROM or new memory types as they become available. A processor-memory system implements a memory operable as different memory technologies. The processor-memory system includes a logic subsystem and a memory subsystem, which includes third dimension memory cells. The logic subsystem implements memory technology-specific signals to interact with the third dimension memory cells as memory cells of a different memory technology. As such, the memory subsystem can emulate different memory technologies. The logic subsystem can be fabricated FEOL on a substrate and the memory subsystem can be fabricated BEOL directly on top of the substrate. An interlayer interconnect structure can electrically couple the logic subsystem with the memory subsystem.
US08456879B2	Switching power supply apparatus Provided is a switching power supply apparatus capable of suppressing heat generation from a power supply to improve the efficiency of conversion during a power supply operation and accurately detecting only a current flowing through a load to achieve more stabile control. Since a first closed loop made up of a fourth diode (27d), a third inductor (25c) and a fourth electronic switch (24d) and a second closed loop made up of a second diode (27b), a first inductor (25a) and a second electronic switch (24b) do not include a fourth inductor (25d) and a second inductor (25b) through which an AC output current supplied to a load (28) flows, an unnecessary current does not flow through the first or second closed loop.
US08456877B2	Data exchange between inverters in an inverter system The invention relates to an inverter system (1) with several inverters (2), each of which having at least one control unit (6), with at least one line (7) each being provided between the inverters (2) for data exchange, as well as to an inverter (2), and to a method of operating several inverters (2) in such an inverter system (1). To achieve a high transmission safety, and a high data-transmission rate, it is provided that each inverter (2) has a communication device (8) which is connected to a control unit (6) of the inverter (2) and to the data lines (7) of two neighboring inverters (2), and which has a switching device (13), the switching device (13) being configured to switch the data lines (7) between a ring system and between a bus system logically based on this ring system.
US08456875B2	Power supply device and uniform current control method A power supply device for providing an output voltage includes a first resonant converter, a second resonant converter, a first converting circuit, and a current regulating circuit. The first resonant converter is for converting a first input voltage into the output voltage. The second resonant converter is for converting a second input voltage into the output voltage. The output ends of the first and second resonant converters are coupled in parallel. The first converting circuit is coupled to the first resonant converter and is operable to provide the first input voltage to the first resonant converter. The current regulating circuit receives signals related to output currents of the first and second resonant converters, and drives operation of the first converting circuit according to the signals received thereby such that the output currents of the first and second resonant converters have substantially equal magnitudes.
US08456873B2	Method and apparatus for a power conversion device There is provided an apparatus and methods for a power conversion device. The method includes rectifying a mains voltage to produce a dc voltage and placing the dc voltage on a bus. The bus is coupled to an output converter and has a switch. The method also includes monitoring the bus voltage using voltage sensing circuitry and determining whether the voltage on the bus exceeds a threshold. If the voltage exceeds a threshold, the switch is turned off.
US08456868B2	Controller for a resonant switched-mode power converter An embodiment of the invention relates to an LLC power converter including a controller configured to regulate an output characteristic of the power converter by controlling a power converter switching frequency. In a first mode of operation, the controller turns off a secondary-side power switch earlier than a turn-off time of a primary-side power switch by a time difference that is controlled by a resistor coupled to an external circuit node. In a second mode of operation, the controller turns on a secondary-side power switch at substantially the same time as the primary-side power switch, and turns off the secondary-side power switch after a maximum on time that is a nonlinear function of a load current of the power converter. The nonlinear function is a substantially constant function of the load current for a value of the load current higher than a threshold value.
US08456863B2	Hybrid service device and system A hybrid service device, which can be embedded in a wall, includes a control module disposed on a first circuit board, a transmission functional module disposed on a second circuit board, and a service module disposed on a third circuit board. The control module includes a first circuit board connector and a socket, wherein the second circuit board is pluggable disposed on the socket, such that the first circuit board and the second circuit board are substantially parallel and the control module is electrically connected with the transmission functional module. The service module includes a second circuit board connector, wherein the third circuit board is pluggable connected with the first circuit board connector. The hybrid service device is connected with a first signal transmission line from the wall for receiving a transmission signal with a first format, and the hybrid service device selectively transform the first format to a second format and then transmits the transmission signal with the second format to an external access equipment by wired/wireless transmission.
US08456861B2	Display modules and methods of fixing flexible circuit boards therein A method of fixing a flexible circuit board. The method comprises the following steps: providing a flexible circuit board having a locating hole, providing a display module frame having a locating element corresponding to the locating hole, passing the locating element through the locating hole, bonding the flexible circuit board to the frame and deforming the locating element for to fix the flexible circuit board on the frame.
US08456860B2	Electronic device having inner holder for functional module An exemplary electronic device includes a housing, a left rail and a right rail assembled in the housing, and a holder assembled on the left and right rails and received in the housing. The holder can slide out from the housing for securing a functional module thereon. The holder includes a bottom plate glidingly assembled on the left and right rails, and front and rear plates both pivotally secured on the bottom plate. The front and rear plates are both elastically biased to rotate about the bottom plate. When the holder is at least partially received in the housing, the front and rear plates are in original closed positions. When the holder is almost totally slid out from the housing, the front and rear plates rotate about the bottom plate to be in open positions for providing resilience to secure the functional module.
US08456859B2	System card architecture for switching device It is an object of the present invention to provide switching equipment for communications networks, which switching equipment supports high-speed signalling between switch cards and line cards. Hence, the invention relates to a switching device for communications networks comprising a plurality of line cards and at least one switch card. The line cards comprise connection means arranged on or close to one edge of each line card, and the at least one switch card comprises matching connection means arranged on one flat side of said switch card. In this way, when said switch card is arranged substantially perpendicular to said line cards with said flat side of the switch card facing and at least partially overlapping said edges of the line cards, interconnection is achieved between the connection means of the line cards and the matching connection means of the at least one switch card.
US08456857B2	Backplane for an electronic mounting rack A backplane arrangement is provided for an electronic mounting rack with a base backplane with several contact strips, wherein a free space, into which at least one additional backplane can be inserted, is provided on the base backplane.
US08456854B2	Method of repair of electronic device and repair system A repair system which prevents heating of weakly heat resistant devices together and causing deterioration of the quality when preheating a first surface of the circuit board, wherein an electromagnetic induction material is buried in advance inside the circuit board near a specific electronic device envisioned as needed repair when becoming a defective electronic device in a production process and an electromagnetic coil emitting electromagnetic waves to an electromagnetic induction member in the vicinity of the repair device is provided and the heat generated by the electromagnetic induction member due to the electromagnetic waves enables the repair device to be heated and detached from the circuit board.
US08456851B2	Flex circuit with single sided routing and double sided attach A flex circuit having conductive traces formed on only one side of a base film for attaching to both sides of a DITO touch sensor panel is disclosed. By having conductive traces formed on only one side of the base film, the number of process steps and fabrication cost can be reduced because only a single etching step is needed. Furthermore, because the flex circuit is thinner, the resultant space savings can be utilized for other features in a device without enlarging the overall device package.
US08456849B2	Conductive film stacked member, electro-optical device, and electronic apparatus A conductive film stacked member includes: a first conductive film formed on a substrate; and a second conductive film formed on the first conductive film, wherein the width of the second conductive film is narrower than the width of the first conductive film, and the second conductive film has a surface convexly curved in the direction away from the first conductive film in a cross-sectional view.
US08456847B2	Mobile terminal A mobile terminal includes: a display unit that displays information; and a frame that fixedly surrounds the display unit and is fixed to a terminal case, wherein the frame includes at least one supplementary module mounting unit allowing a supplementary module that performs a different function from that of the display unit to be integrally mounted thereon. A supplementary module different from the display unit is integrally mounted on a frame constituting a display assembly, so handling and assembling can be facilitated and production cost can be reduced.
US08456842B2	Electronic device An exemplary electronic device includes a shell, a mother board and a metal sheet disposed at an inner side of the shell, an electronic apparatus fixed on the mother board, and a heat conducting plate thermally connecting the electronic apparatus with the metal sheet. The metal sheet is located between the shell and the mother board to shield electro magnetic interference from the electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus generates heat when working. The electronic apparatus is located between the mother board and the metal sheet, and is spaced from the metal sheet.
US08456841B2	Container data center A container data center includes a container, at least one power supplying assembly, at least one cooling assembly, and at least one server assembly. The power supplying assembly, the cooling assembly, and the server assembly are received in the container. The cooling assembly is positioned between the power supplying assembly and the server assembly. The power supplying assembly includes a first frame and a plurality of power boxes supported in the first frame, and is for supplying power to the cooling assembly and the server assembly. The cooling assembly includes a second frame and a plurality of cooling devices supported in the second frame, and is for cooling the power supplying assembly and the server assembly. The server assembly includes a third frame and a plurality of servers supported in the third frame.
US08456832B1	Data storage drive carrier A data storage drive carrier configured for insertion into 2U or 3U slots of an electrical chassis. The carrier has a pair of opposing side members, at least one of the members being a flexible, inwardly bowed member and front and back members. A first side member is fixedly attached to the front member to form a rigid L-shaped portion of the carrier; and a second side member and the back member are pivotally attached to the L-shaped portion. The second one of side members and the back member are pivotally attached to the L-shaped portion at first ends and second ends thereof are attached to together to form a closed frame after receiving therein the drive. A light pipe is disposed within a groove formed in one of the side members, one end of the pipe being disposed adjacent to a light source of a rearward interposer to receive optical signal emitted by the source and an opposite end disposed adjacent a front end of the carrier.
US08456828B2	Hard disk drive assembly A hard disk drive (HDD) assembly includes an HDD rack and a dummy HDD. The rack includes a front wall and two sidewalls perpendicularly extending from opposite ends of the front wall. A number of spaced fixing holes are respectively defined in each of the sidewalls. A number of protrusions extend from opposite ends of the dummy HDD and engage with the corresponding fixing holes of the rack.
US08456826B2	Flash memory stick A flash memory stick includes a clasp member, a connecting member, and a USB connector. The clasp member extends along a first direction and the connecting member extending from an end of the clasp member and along a second direction. The USB connector extending from an end of the connecting member and along a third direction. The second direction is different from the first direction and the third direction.
US08456825B2	Connection structure and electronic device using the same An electronic device includes a first base member, a second base member detachably connected to the first base member and a connection structure. The connection structure includes an assembling latch and a magnetic piece. The assembling latch is located in the first base member. The magnetic piece is located in the second base member and provides a driving force. The magnetic piece attracts the assembling latch, the assembling latch partially moves out the first base member and is partially received in the second base member to connect and assemble the first base member and the second base member side by side. When the first base member and the second base member are detached, the assembling latch moves back to and is received in the first base member.
US08456816B2	Structure assembled to panel A structure assembled to a panel includes a panel 7, a hood 6, and a filter 5, and is arranged such that the hood 6 and the filter 5 are assembled to the panel 7 independently from each other by the engagement between resiliently engaging claws and engaging concavities.
US08456814B2	Enclosure for an electrical system An enclosure for an electrical system is provided. The enclosure includes at least three panels, a support structure, and a top. The support structure supports the at least three panels. The at least three panels are not removable when the top is not opened passed a predetermined. The at least three panels are removable when the top is opened passed the predetermined position.
US08456813B2	Optical disc reproduction apparatus An optical disc reproduction apparatus includes a main body, a display unit, a two-axis hinge, and a battery pack. The two-axis hinge has a joint member to connect the two-axis hinge to the main body. The main body has not only a hinge mounting-housing portion to attach and house the joint member of the two-axis hinge but also a housing recess to house a battery housing of the battery pack on right and left sides of the hinge mounting-housing portion on a back end. The battery pack has a U-shaped recess in a center. The recess is located in a position corresponding to the hinge mounting-housing portion in the main body and has a width larger than that of the hinge mounting-housing portion in a rightward-leftward direction.
US08456812B2	Electronic device housing and manufacturing method thereof An electronic device housing includes a bottom housing, a support frame, a display panel, and a side frame. The bottom housing includes a base plate and four sidewalls extending from a periphery of the base plate. The support frame is welded to the sidewalls of the bottom housing. The support frame is received in the bottom housing and made up of at least two support plates, two ends of each are welded to ends of the adjacent support plates. The support frame forms at least two welding lines at joints of the at least two support plates, and each welding line corresponds to a middle portion of one sidewall. The display panel is positioned on the support frame sandwiched between the support frame and the side frame. The side frame is connected to a top edge of the bottom housing.
US08456810B2	Power supply assembly A power supply assembly includes an enclosure body, a cover panel mounted to the enclosure body, a power supply, and a positioning element mounted to the cover panel. The enclosure body includes a bottom panel, a rear panel substantially perpendicular to the bottom panel, and a side panel substantially perpendicular to the bottom panel and the rear panel. The power supply assembly is mounted in the enclosure body and is prevented from moving in a first direction, that is substantially perpendicular to the rear panel, and a second direction, that is substantially perpendicular to the side panel, and disposed between the bottom panel and the cover panel. The positioning element includes a first ladder-shaped positioning tab abutting two adjacent surfaces of the power supply and preventing the power supply assembly from moving in a third direction, that is substantially perpendicular to the cover panel and the second direction.
US08456807B2	Common mode magnetic device for bus structure A magnetic device mounting system is disclosed, such as for use in electrical cabinets for distribution of power via power bus bars. The system includes a common mode magnetic device that has an opening configured to receive extensions of a set of parallel bus bars. A non-conductive support is provided, along with a conductive extension, the non-conductive support and extension being configured to coordinate to engage the opening and to support the common mode magnetic device via attachment to the bus bar.
US08456800B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component A multilayer ceramic electronic component comprises an element body obtained by stacking dielectric layers (thickness t1) and electrode layers (thickness t2). The dielectric layer includes a compound expressed by ABO3 (A includes Ba, and may include Ca or Sr; and B includes Ti, and may include Zr or Hf), and includes 0.75 to 2.0 moles of MgO, 0.4 to 1.0 mole of an oxide of Y, Dy, Ho and the like in terms of the oxide, and 0.4 to 0.8 mole of SiO2 per 100 moles of the compound. A segregation phase containing Mg is formed in at least a part of an electrode missing portion. Line coverage of the electrode layer is 60 to 90% and relations of 0.3 μm≦t1≦2.0 and 0.3 μm≦t2<1.0 μm are fulfilled.
US08456797B1	Laminated chip electronic component, board for mounting the same, and packing unit thereof A laminated chip electronic component includes: a ceramic body including internal electrodes and dielectric layers; first and second external electrodes formed to cover both end portions of the ceramic body in a length direction; an active layer in which the internal electrodes are disposed in an opposing manner, while having the dielectric layers interposed therebetween, to form capacitance; upper and lower cover layers formed on upper and lower portions of the active layer in a thickness direction, the lower cover layer having a thickness greater than that of the upper cover layer; and additional electrode layers disposed irrespective of a formation of capacitance within the lower cover layer.
US08456796B2	Monolithic electronic component and method for manufacturing monolithic electronic component A monolithic electronic component includes a laminate including a plurality of stacked insulating layers and a plurality of internal electrodes which extend between the insulating layers and which have end portions exposed at predetermined surfaces of the laminate, first plating layers disposed on the predetermined surfaces of the laminate, and second plating layers disposed on the first plating layer. The first plating layers are made of a metal different from that used to make the internal electrodes. The first plating layers are formed by electroless plating. The second plating layers are formed by electroplating.
US08456795B2	Hard start kit for multiple replacement applications A hard start capacitor replacement unit has a plurality of capacitors in a container sized to fit in existing hard start capacitor space. The capacitors are 4 metallized film capacitors wound in a single cylindrical capacitive element. The container has a common terminal and capacitors value terminals for the plurality of capacitors, which may be connected singly or in combination to provide a selected capacitance. An electronic or other relay connects the selected capacitance in parallel with a motor run capacitor. The hard start capacitor replacement unit is thereby adapted to replace a wide variety of hard start capacitors.
US08456793B2	Systems and methods for ionization using adjusted energy A method, performed by a driver, provides a current through a load after ionization that forms a circuit for the current through the load. The method includes, in any practical order, (a) accomplishing a first ionization; (b) in response to the first ionization, determining a first energy; and (c) attempting a second ionization using a second energy less than the first energy.
US08456790B2	Wind power generation system In one embodiment, a wind-power generating system 10 includes: a lightning protecting device including a receptor 70 provided on a blade surface and a lightning conductor 73 grounding the receptor 70; an airflow generating device 60 provided on the blade surface and including first and second electrodes 61, 62 separated via a dielectric 63; a discharge power source 65 including switches 90, 91 able to connect the first and second electrodes 61, 62 to output terminals 84, 85 respectively and a switch 92 able to connect the first or second electrode 61, 62 to a grounding conductor 100; and a thundercloud detecting device detecting information regarding thundercloud approach. When the information regarding the thundercloud approach is detected, the second electrode 62 is connected to the grounding conductor 100 and the first and second electrodes 61, 62 are disconnected from the output terminals 84, 85.
US08456786B2	Bridging unit A converter cell of a modular converter is provided. The converter cell includes a bridging unit which has a mechanical bistable relay, an electronic switch, a drive for switching the relay and the electronic switch, and an energy store for supplying power to the mechanical relay, the electronic switch and the drive. The drive includes passive overvoltage detection configured to charge the energy store if the overvoltage is exceeded. The drive includes an additional switch which is closed when a voltage on the energy store exceeds a predefined value, and the drive supplies current from the energy store to at least one of the relay and the electronic switch. The drive has hysteresis, such that, if the voltage on the energy store is undershot, at least one of the relay and the electronic switch is still supplied with current from the energy store.
US08456780B1	Uncoupled piezoelectric milli-actuator assembly An actuator arm for a hard-disk drive (HDD) is disclosed. A piezoelectric element is disposed within a well of an actuator arm. The piezoelectric element is aligned with a neutral axis of the actuator arm.
US08456777B2	Storage medium exchanging device wrong insertion preventing part blocking at least part of movable cell non-doorway A storage medium exchanging device to discharge a movable cell, which is one of plural magazine cells for storing a storage medium inserted from a doorway, and to store the movable cell, include a carrying part on which the movable cell is mounted; and a wrong insertion preventing part which generates discharging force to make the carrying part discharge from the magazine and blocks at least a part of a non-doorway of the discharged movable cell.
US08456774B1	Compensating asymmetries of signals using piece-wise linear approximation A system including a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit is configured to (i) select a first portion of a signal based on a first offset, (ii) amplify the first portion of the signal according to a first function, and (iii) scale the amplified first portion based on a first factor to generate a first compensation for asymmetry in the first portion of the signal. The second circuit is configured to (i) select a second portion of the signal based on a second offset, (ii) amplify the second portion according to a second function, and (iii) scale the amplified second portion based on a second factor to generate a second compensation for asymmetry in the second portion of the signal.
US08456773B2	Lens module A lens module includes a holder, a connecting loop, engaging pins, an adjustment ring, a fixing pin; and a lens unit. The holder includes a barrel having a receiving space. The barrel defines sliding slots. The adjustment ring defines guiding grooves and a stopping slot. The connecting loop is received in the receiving space, the adjustment ring is sleeved over the barrel, and each engaging pin is secured with the connecting loop, an end of each engaging pin passing through a corresponding sliding slot and into a corresponding guiding groove. The fixing pin passes through the stopping slot and fixed with the barrel, the lens unit is secured with the connecting loop, the adjustment ring is rotated relative to the holder, and the engaging pin slides along the guiding groove, to cause the lens unit to axially move without rotating relative to the holder.
US08456771B2	Holding arrangement for an optical element A holding arrangement for an optical element includes a basic structure surrounding an optical element and a mounting device by which the optical element can be supported on the basic structure with two degrees of freedom for a rotational movement about an optical axis and a translational movement along a first axis which extends perpendicularly to the optical axis and intersects the optical axis in a center. The mounting device includes four joint locations arranged point-symmetrically with respect to the center and at least one parallel rocker which is displaceable parallel to the first axis. A manipulator unit includes a holding arrangement.
US08456770B2	Method of switching from immersion objective lens to dry objective lens A microscope apparatus capable of removing liquid from an observation field of view of a dry objective lens, when an immersion objective lens is switched to the dry objective lens, is provided. The microscope apparatus includes a specimen XY stage on which a specimen is placed, a dry objective lens and an immersion objective lens that collect light from the specimen, a movable revolver that selectively disposes one of these objective lenses at a position facing the specimen, and a control unit that controls the specimen XY stage and movable revolver such that the relative positions in the XY direction are changed until the immersion objective lens is disposed at a non-observation region of the dry objective lens, prior to switching of these objective lenses.
US08456767B2	Objective optical system Provided is a high-performance objective optical system which is compatible with a high-pixel-count image acquisition device, in which focusing can be achieved according to a change in object point distance and which has sufficient depth of field at the individual object point distances. Provided is an objective optical system (1) including, in order from an object side, a first group (G1), a second group (G2), and a third group (G3), in which the first group (G1) includes, in order from the object side, a plano-concave lens (L1) and a meniscus lens (L2) whose convex surface is towards an image side and in which the second group (G2) includes a positive meniscus lens whose convex surface is towards the object side and moves in the direction of an optical axis to perform focusing.
US08456766B2	Photographing optical system This invention provides a photographing optical system, in order from an object side to an image side comprising: a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface and concave image-side surface; a second lens element with negative refractive power; a third lens element with positive refractive power having a concave object-side surface and a convex image-side surface; and a fourth lens element with negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface and both the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof being aspheric; wherein the photographing optical system has four lens elements with refractive power. By such arrangement, the total track length and photosensitivity of the photographing optical system can be effectively reduced, and high image resolution can be obtained.
US08456765B1	Wide-conversion lens A wide-conversion lens, in order from the object-side to the image-side, includes a first lens with negative refraction power, a second lens with negative refraction power, a third lens with positive refraction power, a fourth lens with positive refraction power, and a fifth lens with negative refraction power. The first lens includes a surface facing the object side. The wide-conversion lens satisfies the following conditions: R1<0; Vd2−Vd1≧19; Vd2−Vd3≧35. Wherein, R1 is the curvature radius of the surface of the first lens; Vd1 is the Abbe number of the first lens; Vd2 is the Abbe number of the second lens; Vd3 is the Abbe number of the third lens.
US08456764B2	Projection lens A projection lens includes, in order from the magnification end to the minimization end thereof: a first lens group of a negative refractive power; and a second lens group of a positive refractive power. The projection lens satisfies the formula: 0.061
US08456759B2	Lens system with reduced length, wide view angle, and high resolution A lens system includes a first to fifth lenses. The second and fifth lenses have negative refractive power and the others have positive refractive power. The lens system satisfies: D/TTL>1.05; Z/Y>0; G3R1/F3>G1R1/F1>0; G1R2/F1
US08456758B1	Image capturing lens system This invention provides an image capturing lens system in order from an object side to an image side comprising five lens elements with refractive power: a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element with negative refractive power; a third lens element with both the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof being aspheric; a plastic fourth lens element with both the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof being aspheric; and a plastic fifth lens element having a concave image-side surface, both the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof being aspheric, and at least one inflection point is formed on at least one of the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof. By such arrangement, the lens system of the invention has larger chief ray angle, and thereby not only the total track length of the system can be reduced, but also better image quality can be obtained.
US08456752B2	Lens barrel and imaging device An interchangeable lens unit comprises a second lens group unit, a focus lens unit, a fourth lens group unit, a zoom ring unit, and a focus motor. The zoom ring unit mechanically transmits operational force inputted to a zoom ring to the second lens group unit and the fourth lens group unit. The focus motor electrically drives the focus lens unit in the Z axis direction with respect to the second lens group unit. When the zoom ring is operated in a state in which no power is being supplied to the focus motor, a gap is always ensured in the Z axis direction between the focus lens unit and the second lens group unit.
US08456751B2	Optical system having fisheye zoom lens and optical apparatus having the optical system An optical system includes, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a negative refractive power and a second lens unit having a positive refractive power. The optical system satisfies: 1.70≦Yt/Yw≦2.5, Y=2×f×sin(θ/2) (85°≦θ≦90°), and 3.45≦bfw/\|f1\|≦7, where fw is the shortest focal length, ft is the longest focal length, f is an arbitrary focal length that satisfies fw≦f≦ft, θ is an angle between the optical axis and a principal ray of an off-axis light flux incident upon a lens surface closest to the object, Y is a formed image height of a ray incident at the angle θ, Yw is the largest image height at the shortest focal length, Yt is the largest image height at the longest focal length, f1 is a focal length of the first lens unit, and bfw is a back focus at the shortest focal length.
US08456746B2	Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus including the same A zoom lens includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, which does not move for zooming, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, which moves during zooming, a third lens unit having a negative refractive power, which moves during zooming, an aperture stop, and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power, which does not move for zooming. The fourth lens unit includes a first lens sub-unit, a focal length conversion optical system configured to be inserted into or removed from an optical path, and a second lens sub-unit. A focal length of the second lens sub-unit, a distance from the aperture stop to a lens surface at the most object side of the second lens sub-unit, and an F-number of the entire zoom lens at a wide-angle end are appropriately set.
US08456745B2	Compact eyepiece using an imersed field lens A first embodiment is a lens system having a plurality of refractive and reflective spherical elements that work as a magnifier to produce a distortion free, less than 1%, image with optical correction over a wide field of view. The system has at least one concave reflecting surface, and at least three convex refracting surfaces with the sign of the radius of one of the convex refracting surfaces being opposite of the sign of the radius of remaining two convex refracting surfaces. A second embodiment is a lens having a concave reflecting element which is on a substrate that is a negative lens by transmission with an index of refraction between 1.62.0 and a dispersion 49<νd>15. This is used in combination with at least 3 positive refracting surfaces with less dispersive power than the negative element and with the sign of the radius of one of the positive elements being opposite from the sign of the radius of the remaining positive elements.
US08456744B2	Beam combiner for use in a head-mounted display device and beam splitter A beam combiner for combining a first beam cluster with a second beam cluster that is not parallel to the first, to form a common beam cluster. The beam combiner includes a transparent body for the first beam cluster, which has a superimposition region that is encountered by the first beam cluster as it passes through the body. The superimposition region is split into a first section and a second section. Only the first section formed from interspaced reflective and/or refractive deflection elements causes a deflection of the second beam cluster by reflection and/or refraction, such that the first beam cluster forms the common beam cluster with the deflected second beam cluster once it has left the body.
US08456742B2	Optical component manufacturing method, and lens, lens unit and camera module Provided is an optical component manufacturing method wherein various types of information, including information relating to each optical component, can be relatively easily printed on each optical component, even in the case where a plurality of optical components are manufactured in a batch. A lens, a lens unit and a camera module manufactured by using such method are also provided. Prior to dividing camera modules into individual camera modules, a pattern to be printed on each camera module, i.e., printing contents determined based on information on a first lens array or the like after formation, is printed on the surface of the first lens array at one time. Thus, information specific to each camera module can be printed even by the relatively simple method.
US08456737B2	Amplification optical fiber and optical fiber amplifier and resonator using the same The invention provides an amplification optical fiber, which can output light with a good beam quality even when a higher-order mode is excited, and an optical fiber amplifier using the amplification optical fiber.An amplification optical fiber 50 has a core 51 and a clad 52 covering the core 51. The core 51 propagates light with a predetermined wavelength in at least an LP01 mode, and an LP02 mode, and an LP03 mode. When the LP01 mode, the LP02 mode, and the LP03 mode are standardized by power, in at least a part of a region where the intensity of the LP01 mode is larger than at least one of the intensities of the LP02 mode and the LP03 mode, the active element is added to the core 51 at a higher concentration than the central portion of the core.
US08456733B2	Coloured particles for electrophoretic displays The present invention discloses the use of functionalized particles as electrophoretic displaying particles, wherein the functionalized particles are SiO2, Al2O3 or mixed SiO2 and Al2O3 particles comprising, covalently bound to an oxygen atom on the surface, a radical of formula (1), wherein R1 and R2 are independently of each other hydrogen, particle surface-O—, or a substituent, n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, B is the direct bond or a bridge member, and D is the residue of an organic chromophore.
US08456731B2	Electro-wetting display device and driving method thereof An electro-wetting display device includes a light guide plate having a light incident surface and a light output surface, a light source, a transparent electrode, a dielectric layer, a transparent non-polar solution layer, a counter substrate, a light emitting material layer, a counter electrode layer and a transparent polar solution layer. The light source is disposed near the light incident surface. The transparent electrode layer is disposed on the light output surface. The dielectric layer covers the transparent electrode layer and has refractive index n1. The transparent non-polar solution layer is disposed on the dielectric layer and has refractive index n2, and n2≧n1. The counter substrate is disposed above the transparent non-polar solution layer. The light emitting material layer and the counter electrode are disposed on the counter substrate. The transparent polar solution layer is disposed between the counter substrate and the light guide plate.
US08456729B2	Weather-responsive shade control system An automatic daylighting method adjusts a window covering to block direct sunlight from entering the room through a window when the exterior sky condition is a sunny sky state and, subject to blocking direct sunlight, provides a desired daylighting interior light illuminance level and, if possible, a desired interior solar heat gain through the window. To prevent window covering oscillation, a delay may be used when the sky condition changes from a sunny to overcast state. The covering control may be based on various factors including interior light illuminance entering the window, a room heating or to cooling mode, whether the room is occupied by people, whether occupants have manually operated an adjustable window covering, and the exterior sky condition. The method may also detect an interior temperature level, e.g., to determine a heating or cooling mode of the room.
US08456725B2	Optical system that selectively provides either of a collimated light beam or a convergent light beam There is provided a method that includes projecting a collimated light beam from an optical system to a plane during a first mode of operation of the optical system, and projecting a convergent light beam from the optical system to the plane during a second mode of operation of the optical system. The method further includes, (a) during the first mode of operation, controlling a trajectory of a first light bundle in a first light path in the optical system, to steer the collimated light beam through the plane at a designated incidence angle, and (b) during the second mode of operation, controlling a trajectory of a second light bundle in a second light path of the optical system, to steer the convergent light beam to a target position in the plane. There is also provided an apparatus and a system that employs the method.
US08456720B2	Reducing noise induced by color mixing spot color recipe search What is disclosed is a novel system and method to reduce noise induced by color mixing in a color management system. At least one device color recipe is obtained for a target spot color. The recipe is defined for a color marking device and defines a range of marking device color values for a target Lab color value. Next, a minimal value and a maximum value of each color value in the range of color values for said target Lab color value are identified. An iterative process of searching is performed until the printed color test patch produces a visually acceptable smoothness while matching color accuracy. This iterative process includes generating at least one additional new device color recipe from color values within the range of color values. At least one of the new device color recipes is selected and provided to the color marking device for rendering.
US08456719B2	Automatic document feeder, image reading device having the same and image forming apparatus having the same Disclosed are an automatic document feeder capable of moving a pickup device between a standby position and a pickup position and carrying out a document pickup operation by using a single driving source, an image reading device having the same and an image forming apparatus having the same. The automatic document feeder includes a pickup device, a lifting device and a pickup driving device. The pickup device includes a pickup roller to pick up a document sheet. The lifting device moves the pickup device between a standby position and a pickup position. The pickup driving device includes a pickup motor to rotate in a first direction and a second direction. The pickup motor drives the pickup roller by rotating in the first direction, and drives the lifting device by rotating in the second direction.
US08456716B2	Light source unit, optical scanner including same, and image forming apparatus including the optical scanner A light source unit includes a holder, a light source, coupling lens, and a support member. The light source is supported by the holder and projects a light beam against a target. The coupling lens adjusts an optical axis of the light beam. The support member contacts the holder and the coupling lens to fix the coupling lens in place on the holder after the coupling lens adjusts the optical axis of the light beam. The holder and the coupling lens are adhered to the support member using an adhesive agent. An optical scanner includes a rotary deflector to deflect and scan the light projected from the light source unit, a scan optical element to focus the light deflected by the rotary deflector, and the light source unit. An image forming apparatus includes the optical scanner.
US08456708B2	Image processing device performing color conversion and producing scaled image An image processing device converts input image data to converted image data and produces scaled image data based on the converted image data. Each set of converted pixel data in the converted image data includes an achromatic color value and a plurality of chromatic color values. The achromatic color value indicates an amount of an achromatic color material. Each of the plurality of chromatic color values indicates an amount of one of a plurality of chromatic color materials. An achromatic color is produced by mixing at least one of the achromatic color material and the plurality of chromatic color materials. Each set of scaled pixel data in the scaled image data corresponds to at least one set of converted pixel data. The image processing device produces each set of scaled pixel data based on the corresponding at least one set of converted pixel data.
US08456707B2	Duplication prevention method and system An invisible ink management method and system. The method includes receiving by a computer processor data associated with an image to be duplicated and a duplication command enabling reproduction of the image. The computer processor receives a command for enabling a duplication prevention functionality and generates a first copy of the image. The computer processor enables an invisible ink spray nozzle. In response, the invisible ink spray nozzle sprays a plurality of invisible images on the first copy. The plurality of invisible images are invisible under first lighting conditions and are visible under second lighting conditions.
US08456705B2	System, method and software for reducing printer colorant usage A system, method, and printer controller software for reducing printer colorant usage by using printer controller software which controls the deposition by the printer of the printer colorant on the printable medium in response to selected print image quality and printer colorant reduction criteria, as well as identifying printer colorant deposition characteristics of the printable medium, identifying characteristics of the printer, and identifying characteristics of the printer colorant.
US08456700B2	Spectral matching guide for spot color print applications What is disclosed is a novel system and method for generating a spectral matching guide for spot color print applications. Spectral matching values are determined for spot colors obtained from a library of spot colors. A spectral matching guide is created from the spot colors and their respective spectral matching values in a manner more fully disclosed herein. Thereafter, when a user desires to render a job in a particular spot color, the associated spectral matching value for that spot color can be obtained from the spectral matching guide. In other embodiments, recommendations in the form of a suggested printer to use, a media type, a halftone screen, and other meaningful assistance can be provided for selection of spot colors for a given print/copy job that are less sensitive to varying illuminations. The present spectral matching guide provides meaningful extensions in spectral color reproduction in print/copy job environments.
US08456699B2	System and method for creating a data-bearing image A system for creating a data-bearing image can include a reference image generator configured to apply a clustered-dot halftone screen to a continuous-tone image. The resulting reference halftone image includes carrier cells in which a pixel cluster can be shifted to at least two shift positions in the carrier cell. The system also includes a payload encoder configured to segment the data payload and encode data segments into one of the carrier cells by shifting the cluster to one of the shift positions. The system also includes an output device configured to output the resulting data-bearing halftone image.
US08456686B2	Printing apparatus, method, and program for selecting, displaying, and printing group images based on selected dates According to this invention, the date range can be intuitively designated by designating up, down, left, and right directions, and images stored in a storage medium can be easily restricted to images which may be subjected to printing. In order to restrict images stored in a memory card on the basis of the date, a region for inputting the start date of the date range is displayed at the upper portion of a display window on a display device, and a region for inputting the end date is displayed at the lower portion. One of the regions is designated and selected with up and down direction keys. A date in the selected region is changed with left and right direction keys. Images having storage dates between the start date and the end date are decided as printing target candidates.
US08456685B2	Image forming apparatus searching an registering objects of interest in a cache based on a criterion An object attribute is determined with respect to an object and a determination is performed as to whether or not to execute image cache processing in response to the object attribute. By switching processing in accordance with this, execution of time-consuming image specifying processing is kept to a necessary minimum and performance reductions can be avoided. Furthermore, cache registration is avoided for images having low reusability, which achieves improvements in cache usage efficiency and improvements in cache search efficiency, thereby enabling performance to be improved.
US08456680B2	Printer network system, server device, and computer-readable recording medium In a printer network system including a client device and a server device connected to the client device via a network, the server device includes a virtual print processor unit which receives a request of a print job from an application unit of the client device and generates image data as intermediate data and job definition data that define print settings of the print job, and an exclusive access control unit which controls exclusively writing and reading of the image data and the job definition data. The client device includes an output condition control unit which determines one of output destinations meeting conditional information in accordance with predetermined rules. A delivering unit acquires the job definition data and the image data by communicating with the exclusive access control unit, selects a printer driver corresponding to the output destination, and transmits a print command to the printer driver.
US08456679B2	System and method for generating a remote job submission accelerator report in a multi-function device A system and method for generating a remote job submission accelerator report with respect to a network multi-function device. A multi-function device can be configured to receive a job from a mobile communication device via a submission path. A text representation with respect to the submission path and a spatial representation with respect to the text representation can be automatically generated. An accelerator report can be generated based on the text representation and the spatial representation and the report can be added to a cover page of the job. Such an approach effectively enables client-less job submission with respect to the multi-function device.
US08456678B2	Image reading apparatus and image reading method An image reading method includes generating pattern data for correcting a reading characteristic of a document reading apparatus, displaying the generated pattern data, reading the displayed pattern data, and correcting the reading characteristic of the document reading apparatus based on the generated pattern data and the read pattern data.
US08456676B2	Image reading device and image processing method utilizing the same An image processing apparatus provided with a reader for reading an original image, a connection unit for connection with a network to which plural computers are connected, and a transfer unit for transferring the image data, read by the reader, to a computer through the connection unit, the apparatus comprising a specifying unit for specifying a desired one among the computers connected through the connection unit, and a designation unit for designating image reading by the reader, wherein the transfer unit is adapted to transfer the image data, read by the reader in response to the designation by the designation unit, to a computer specified by the specifying unit.
US08456675B2	Image forming process management device, management method and computer readable medium A management device includes a receiving unit, a judgment unit, a permission unit and a change unit. The permission unit permits the image forming device to perform a requested image forming processes, if the judgment unit judges that a number of image forming process which have been performed is within a first upper limit value. The change unit sets, if the number of image forming process which have been performed exceeds the first upper limit value through the requested and permitted image forming processes being performed, a second upper limit value used for limiting image forming processes at the next time based on an excess amount from the first upper limit value.
US08456673B2	Printing system for switching connection modes by inserting or removing a recording medium A display control apparatus includes a communication control unit configured to control a first communication for receiving a video signal based on image data from a printing apparatus using a first communication protocol for receiving a video signal, and a second communication for sending image data to the printing apparatus using a second communication protocol for sending data to be used for printing. The communication control unit performs control to communicate with the printing apparatus using the second communication protocol in response to a storage medium being connected to the display control apparatus, and performs control to communicate with the printing apparatus using the first communication protocol in response to receiving a notification indicating that a storage medium is connected to the printing apparatus.
US08456671B2	Communication system, information storage device, management device, and terminal device A communication system, information storage device, management device, and terminal device which enable information transmission which takes into consideration the circumstances on the receiving side, are provided. An external equipment 9 transmits to a commanding device 4 service information, indicating the type of service which it itself provides and the service execution priority or the service state. The commanding device 4 stores the received service information, and transmits the service information to an image capture device 1. The image capture device 1 selects the external equipment 9 as the transmission destination for content information based on the received service information, and transmits the content information.
US08456669B2	Printing system According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a print system is provided comprising a plurality of networked print engines in communication with one another, a presence detector, and a controller to communicate with the presence detector to determine a user presence and to access usage data of each of the plurality of print engines. The controller combines and shares the user presence and the usage data to adjust operations of the plurality of print engines enabling quick entry to, and quick exit from, power saving mode of at least two of the plurality of print engines.
US08456666B2	Printer driver interface and methods Disclosed are methods of controlling printing of a document using a printer driver interface, and corresponding apparatus and computer-readable medium. The embodiments receive a print command to print a document having a document size, display the printer driver interface, the printer driver interface including the document size, display a selectable paper output size on the printer driver interface, the selectable paper output size allowing a user to select a user-selected one of a plurality of different paper output sizes, display user-selectable scaling options on the print driver interface, the scaling options for applying scaling to an image to be printed on the user-selected one of the plurality of different paper output sizes, receive from the user the user-selected one of the paper output sizes, and control printing of the document using the user-selected one of the paper output sizes.
US08456662B2	Control for display of multiple versions of a printable document for locked print An approach is provided for implementing locked printing on a printing device with control of the display of multiple versions of locked print data. The printing device includes a locked print process that determines whether the names of two or more locked print jobs stored at the printing device are the same. In response to determining that the respective names of the print jobs are the same, the locked print process causes to be displayed, on the user interface, a group print job name representing the two or more print jobs, instead of causing to be displayed the names of the print jobs individually. Embodiments also include printing the print data of a selected print job when a user requests that the print data associated with the group print job name be printed, and allowing a user to view the print jobs associated with the group print job name.
US08456661B2	Authentication printing technique The authentication printing technique of the invention obtains attachment information regarding attachment of a preset device, such as a hard disk drive, to a printing apparatus. In response to a request for a printing operation with the printing apparatus, the authentication printing technique refers to the obtained attachment information and restricts an authentication printing process according to the attachment information of the preset device. The authentication printing process externally receives print data and prints the received print data on completion of a preset authentication operation. This arrangement effectively reduces the potential for leakage of information from the device attached to the printing apparatus.
US08456656B2	Method for setting function options and multi function peripheral using the same A method for setting function options and a multi function peripheral (MFP) using the same are provided. The MFP at least includes an image sensor and an option switch, wherein the option switch includes a sliding groove and a shift lever, and the shift lever is disposed in sliding way in the sliding groove. The method includes using the image sensor to obtain an option image of the option switch; judging a corresponding position relating to the shift lever in the option image; and setting a peripheral function according to a function option corresponding to the corresponding position.
US08456649B2	Retro-reflector for image-guided operation systems A retro-reflector for image-guided operation systems, comprising eight cube corners, wherein the tips of the cube corners are adjacent to each other and each cube corner is formed from three reflective faces, comprising a protection against contamination which prevents dirt from being deposited in the cube corners.
US08456646B2	Vision recognition system for produce labeling A vision recognition system is provided for use with a high speed, automatic produce labeling machine. The system uses laser profiling to direct a sheet of light transversely to the longitudinal axis of a produce feed conveyor. The sheet of light periodically impacts, and generates laser profiles of, the surfaces of the produce items, such as pears, being fed by the conveyor to one or more labeling machines. The laser profiles are used to generate real world (x,y) coordinates of the domes of the incoming produce items, which are passed to the labeling machine or machines. Real world height (or z) coordinates may also be created and passed to the labeler.
US08456644B2	Measurement of changes in surfaces of objects Deformations of a surface of a test object can be measured by attaching mirrors to a surface of a test object, each mirror having a reflective surface with a dimension and a radius of curvature smaller than those of the surface of the test object. Light is directed towards the mirrors and a reference surface, and interference patterns are generated using light reflected from the mirrors and the reference surface. Changes in the surface of the test object are determined based on the interference patterns.
US08456635B2	Methods and apparatus to obtain suspended particle information Example methods and apparatus for obtaining suspended particle information are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes emitting light from a light source, dividing the light source into a first path and a second path, and directing the first path to a first container comprising a plurality of particles in a suspension material. The example method also includes directing the second path to a second container containing a suspension material devoid of particles, retrieving a first transmission value of the first path through the first container, and retrieving a second transmission value of the second path through the second container. The example method further includes directing the first and second paths to the second and first containers, respectively, retrieving a third transmission value of the first path through the second container, retrieving a fourth transmission value of the second path through the first container, and calculating a ratio of the first and second transmission values to the third and fourth transmission values to determine an indication of transmissivity for a given wavelength.
US08456633B2	Spectrometric process monitoring Spectrometric apparatus that include an array of detector elements and exhibits a number of capabilities is disclosed. The elements can be responsive to incident radiation to produce an output signal that includes information from the incident radiation. A spectrally selective element can be located in an optical path between the radiation source and the array, with an analysis module responsive to the output signal operative to analyze spatial distribution of spectral information received by the array. The apparatus can also correct for differences in intensity and spectral variability for spectral image signals and/or compare the spectral image signals with a pattern in spatial-spectral coordinate space. Detector elements can be responsive to scattering, and spatial information in their output can be analyzed.
US08456632B2	Vectorial polarimetry method and apparatus for analyzing the three-dimensional electromagnetic field resulting from an interaction between a focused illuminating field and a sample to be observed A method and apparatus for analysing the three-dimensional electromagnetic field resulting from an interaction between a focused illuminating beam and a sample to be observed, by characterising the distribution of the state of polarization of light across a measurement plane, the method comprising the steps of generating a beam of illuminating light; controlling the state of polarization at different positions across the beam width of the light beam; focussing said illuminating light beam to a focus, wherein said focus is a tight focus and said focused light has a suitable three-dimensional vectorial structure at the focus; detecting and measuring the state of polarization of the reflected light at different positions across the width of the measurement plane to retrieve information on the three-dimensional vectorial electromagnetic interaction of the illuminated focused field and the sample.
US08456631B2	Apparatus and method of producing a light beam for an optical measurement instrument An apparatus for providing a light beam for use in a diffraction instrument (1) includes a device (10; 17; 28) for generating a light beam; and means (12, 21; 24) for shaping the light beam generated by the device (10; 17; 28), dimensioned, in use, to determine the beam shape, and including: an aperture (21; 25) and means (13; 24) for rejecting spatial frequency components above a certain range in the light beam. The apparatus further includes a spatial low-pass filter (14; 15; 26; 27) arranged to filter a beam provided by the beam shaping means.
US08456626B2	Luminometer and methods of operation The present invention is directed to a luminometer and methods which provides simple and effective measurement of a plurality of wells in a plurality of strips in an automatic fashion. The luminometer may be used in CLIA (Chemi Luminescent Immuno Assays). The luminometer allows for CLIA micro strip reading, and reads break-apart wells, with a plurality of wells per strip, and calculates results instantly and automatically. The luminometer has an automatic carrier positioning system which selectively positions the plurality of wells in the plurality of strips at a measuring position, wherein the drive system associated with the positioning system drives the carrier along a single axis of movement. An optical track system automatically provides Y axis movement of the carrier. The luminometer may have a calibration system for maintaining proper operation of the system in measurements therewith.
US08456624B2	Inspection device and inspecting method for spatial light modulator, illumination optical system, method for adjusting the illumination optical system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method There is disclosed an inspection device for inspecting a spatial light modulator having a plurality of optical elements arrayed two-dimensionally and controlled individually, said inspection device comprising, a conjugate optical system which is arranged optically downstream the spatial light modulator and which forms a conjugate plane optically conjugate with an array plane where the plurality of optical elements are arrayed, a photodetector having a detection surface arranged on or near the conjugate plane, and an inspection unit which inspects optical characteristics of the plurality of optical elements, based on a result of detection by the photodetector.
US08456621B2	Measurement system and measurement processing method This invention is directed to extract the scattering characteristic of a measurement target together when measuring the surface shape in a measurement system, which measures the surface shape of a measurement target, by the pattern projection method. To accomplish this, the measurement system includes an illumination unit which irradiates a measurement target with dot pattern light, a reflected light measurement unit which receives the reflected light at a reflection angle almost equal to a incident angle, and a reflected light extraction unit which extracts the inclination of the surface of the measurement target, based on the shift amount between the light receiving position of the received reflected light and a predetermined reference position, and extracts the luminance value of the reflected light and the dot diameter of the dot pattern light as information about the scattering characteristic.
US08456612B2	Exposure apparatus and method of manufacturing device An exposure apparatus projects a pattern of an original onto a substrate by a projection optical system to expose the substrate, wherein the projection optical system includes a mirror assembly, and the mirror assembly includes a first mirror member which has a first reflecting surface and is configured to bend an optical axis of the projection optical system, a second mirror member which has a second reflecting surface and is configured to bend the optical axis, a supporting mechanism configured to support the first mirror member and the second mirror member, and the supporting mechanism is positioned to position the first mirror member and the second mirror member while a positional relationship between the first mirror member and the second mirror member is maintained.
US08456610B2	Environmental system including vacuum scavenge for an immersion lithography apparatus A liquid containment system is used for a liquid immersion lithography apparatus in which a substrate is exposed through liquid between an optical member of a projection system and the substrate. The liquid containment system includes a liquid containment member which confines the liquid, the liquid containment member including a removing inlet which removes the liquid from a gap between the liquid confinement member and the substrate. The liquid containment system also includes an actuator by which the liquid containment member is moved.
US08456609B2	Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method An exposure apparatus which prevents damages due to leaked out liquid from expanding and can maintain exposure accuracy and measuring accuracy. The exposure apparatus includes a first stage which is movable relative to the projection optical system, a second stage which is movable relative to the projection optical system, and a liquid immersion system that is capable of forming a liquid immersion region of a liquid under the projection optical system. The first and second stages are moved in a state in which a first overhang portion provided at the first stage and a second overhang portion provided at the second stage are brought close to or in contact with each other, such that the liquid immersion region is moved from one of upper surfaces of the first and second overhang portions to the other of the upper surfaces of the first and second overhang portions.
US08456597B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display includes a first insulating substrate. A pixel electrode is formed on a top surface of the first insulating substrate. The pixel electrode has a first opening pattern at each pixel area. The pixel electrode is substantially rectangular in shape with first second long sides, and first and second short sides. The pixel electrode is divided into an upper region defined by the first and second long sides and first short side, and a lower region defined by the first and second long sides and second short side. A common electrode is formed on a bottom surface of a second insulating substrate, and has a second opening pattern at each pixel area. The first and second opening patterns each have a plurality of openings, the openings of the first opening pattern and the second opening pattern being alternately arranged parallel to each other.
US08456596B2	Transparent display device and displaying method using the same A transparent display device includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) module and a transparent reflector. The LCD module includes an LCD panel having a liquid crystal layer, a light source providing light to the LCD panel, and a polarizing plate disposed between the light source and the LCD panel to polarize light from the light source. The transparent reflector and the LCD module are spaced apart. The transparent reflector displays the image by reflecting the image provided from the LCD panel. The transparency of the transparent reflector may be controlled, and the transparent reflector may have a curved shape.
US08456586B2	Portable computer display structures An electronic device housing may have upper and lower portions that are attached with a hinge. At least one portion of the housing may have a rear planar surface and peripheral sidewalls having edges. A display module may be mounted in the housing. The display module may have glass layers such as a color filter glass layer and a thin-film transistor substrate. The color filter glass layer may serve as the outermost glass layer in the display module. The edges of the display module may be aligned with the edges of the peripheral housing sidewalls to create the appearance of a borderless display for the electronic device. The display module may be provided with an opening that allows a camera or other electronic components to receive light. Traces may be provided on the underside of the thin-film transistor substrate to serve as signal paths for the electrical components.
US08456585B2	Fabrication method of liquid crystal display device having driving circuit-integrated array substrate A method of fabricating a liquid crystal display device includes providing a first substrate having a first region and a second region; forming an active pattern in the first and second regions of the first substrate; forming a first insulation film on the first substrate; forming a first gate electrode with a low-resistance conductive material on an upper portion of the active pattern; forming a second gate electrode to completely cover the first gate electrode on an exposed portion of the first gate electrode; forming N type source and drain regions in the active pattern of the first region by doping an n+ impurity ion; forming P type source and drain regions in the active pattern of the second region by doping a p+ impurity ion; forming a second insulation film on the first substrate; forming N type source and drain electrodes electrically connected with the N type source and drain regions on the first region and forming P type source and drain electrodes electrically connected with the P type source and drain regions on the second region; and attaching the first and second substrates. A low-resistance wiring can be implemented on a large-scale liquid crystal display panel by forming a second gate wiring of a clad structure at an upper portion of a low-resistance first gate wiring.
US08456581B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display includes an array substrate which includes a plurality of signal lines, a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of auxiliary capacitive lines, a plurality of pixels, an auxiliary capacitive line driving circuit, a logic circuit, a first auxiliary capacitive voltage supply line, a second auxiliary capacitive voltage supply line, and a power supply line, an opposite substrate, and a liquid crystal layer. Each of the pixels includes a switching element, a pixel electrode, and an auxiliary capacitive element. A first common line and a second common line are connected to each other on one end side and are in a non-connected state in parts other than the part on the one end side. A common voltage is supplied to the first common line and the second common line from the one end side.
US08456579B2	Dynamic RF AGC switch/mixer for optimal NTSC video detection This disclosure presents an apparatus and method for automatic gain control correction for a television signal in which the Radio Frequency (RF) and Intermediate Frequency (IF) power signal levels are collected for a band of channels, identifying a channel having a strong RF power signal level and an IF gain signal level that is lower than a nominal IF gain signal level, comparing the identified channel RF gain signal level with the RF gain signal level of adjacent channels to identify the relative power signal levels of the channel and associated adjacent channels, and applying correction to the channel wherein there is an imbalance in the RF and IF power signal levels of the identified channel. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08456576B2	Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, and program A signal processing apparatus includes a lower-level region data detecting section detecting, in luminance data of an input video signal, luminance data corresponding to a value in a set lower-level region, and a data converting section converting a value of the luminance data corresponding to the lower-level region to a set conversion value.
US08456574B2	Recovery of service mode data corruption Service mode data is stored in a television chassis or set by duplicating all the data that is accessible by service mode, i.e. by storing the same data twice, in two separate areas of a single memory device or two separate memory devices. A “working memory” is always accessible by the chassis. A “reserved memory” is normally not accessible by the chassis. At the factory, the same service mode data is input to both the working memory and the reserved memory. The chassis microprocessor would normally only access the working memory. If any data in the working memory is changed (intentionally or not), the original factory data can be recovered from the reserved memory and copied to the working memory by executing a specific access operation.
US08456573B2	Apparatus and method for providing digital multimedia broadcast service using an external device and a digital TV An apparatus and a method for providing a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) service using a digital TeleVision (TV) and an external device are provided. It is determined whether a received broadcast channel supports a Multi Mode Service (MMS), and if so, one of subchannels included in the broadcast channel is set to a main channel. The digital TV reproduces a broadcast signal via the main channel, and broadcast signals of subchannels excluding the main channel are transmitted to at least one external device in communication with the digital TV.
US08456569B2	Camera body and imaging unit attachable to and detachable from camera body, and imaging apparatus A camera body includes a camera body connector and a recess to which an imaging unit including an optical system, an image pickup device, and an imaging unit connector is detachably attached to be placed therein. The recess includes a back wall, an upper wall, and a side wall to be opened to a lower side, a front side, and a lateral side of the camera body. The camera body has a guide mechanism to control a position of the camera body connector in relation to a position of the imaging unit connector. The imaging unit has a rear surface on which at least two guiding grooves provided to be extended between opposite edges of the imaging unit and an engagement plate section are formed. The imaging unit has a biasing member to bias the imaging unit toward the back wall. The guide mechanism has at least two guide protrusions provided on the back wall and inserted into the at least two guiding grooves and an engagement claw formed on the back wall so as to face the engagement plate section and to engage with the biasing member when the imaging unit is attached to the camera body.
US08456568B2	Illumination device with improved remote control The present invention relates to an illumination device comprising at least one light source and a reflector system forming a spotlight (1), one or several actuators (5) arranged to pivot the spotlight (1) relative in a mounting base (4) for varying an illumination angle, and a camera (13) attached to the spotlight (1) and aligned to acquire images of an illumination region (7) to which the spotlight (1) is directed. The spotlight (1) is designed to comprise a central region from which the illumination region (7) is visible and which does not reflect or emit light of the light source towards the illumination region (7), wherein the camera (13) is arranged in said central region on an optical axis (14) of the spotlight (1). With the proposed illumination device an exact aiming of the spotlight (1) can be achieved even in applications in which the illuminated region (7) is close to the spotlight (1) without causing undesired shadows in the illumination region (7).
US08456564B2	Imaging lens, imaging device, and mobile terminal Provided are a wafer scale lens, which is so short in an optical total length with respect to an image height that it can correct an aberration satisfactory, and an optical system including the wafer scale lens and having a thin lens element on the side closest to the image. The optical system includes a first lens having a positive refractive power relative to an object, and a second lens arranged on the side of the image of the first lens and having a recessed shape on the side of the object. At least one lens is arranged on the side of the second lens. When that one of the lenses arranged on the side of the image of the second lens, which is arranged on the side closest to the image, is an i-th lens (i>3), this i-th lens includes an i-th lens flat plate and is formed on the object side of the i-th lens flat plate but has a refractive index different from that of the i-th lens flat plate, and a lens element having a convex shape on the object side where the main light ray of the maximum image height passes. Moreover, the ratio between the optical axial distance (or the lens distance) between a (i−1)-th lens and the i-th lens and the optical axis distance (or the optical total length) from the object side face of the first lens to the image face is 0.01 to 0.15.
US08456563B2	Solid-state imaging device with on chip lenses with adjust characteristics to render pixel output sensitivities more uniform A solid-state imaging device includes: an imaging unit wherein a plurality of light sensing units formed in a matrix and a plurality of interconnections are formed among the plurality of light sensing units; a color filter that is disposed over the imaging unit, and delivers colors to the light sensing units in accordance with a predefined rule; and on-chip lenses that are disposed corresponding to the light sensing units on a one-by-one basis over the color filter, and have light-collection characteristics varying in accordance with differences among sensitivities of the light sensing units, where the differences among the sensitivities of the light sensing units are generated, when the same colors are delivered to the light sensing units in accordance with the same rule, owing to the fact that positions of the individual interconnections relative to the light sensing units vary periodically.
US08456562B2	Image pickup unit In an image pickup unit, a first optical system holding frame has a hole axis orthogonal to an optical axis of photographing light made incident on a first object lens group, and a through-hole portion through which a second optical system holding frame can be inserted and arranged is formed in the first optical system holding frame and the first optical system holding frame and the second optical system holding frame are set relatively movable in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the photographing light made incident on the first object lens group and the second optical system holding frame and a third optical system holding frame are set relatively movable in a direction along the optical axis of the photographing light made incident on a solid-state image pickup device such that predetermined optical performance adjustment can be performed during assembly.
US08456556B2	Sensing pixel arrays and sensing devices using the same A sensing pixel array is provided and includes a plurality of pixels disposed in an array. Each pixel operates during an exposure period and a readout period and generates a readout signal. Each pixel includes a sensing unit and a sampling unit. The sensing unit senses light to generate a sensing signal during the exposure period. The sampling unit samples the sensing signal to generate a sensing output signal which serves as the readout signal during the readout period. During the exposure period, the sampling unit acts as a memory unit for storing an input signal and outputting an accessed output signal which serves as the readout signal.
US08456550B2	Image capturing system for correcting signals output from defective pixels An image capturing system includes a signal correction unit which corrects a signal output from a defective pixel in an optical black region based on a signal output from a normal pixel. The optical black region has a plurality of pixel blocks. Each of the plurality of pixel blocks has a plurality of pixels each including one or more elements which have the same functions as in the remaining pixels and which have relative positions different from the remaining pixels. The signal correction unit corrects the signal output from the defective pixel in the optical black region based on a signal output from a normal pixel which is included in another pixel block different from the pixel block of the defective pixel in the optical black region and includes one or more elements having the same functions and same relative positions as in the defective pixel.
US08456542B2	Imaging apparatus that determines a band of sound and emphasizes the band in the sound An imaging apparatus includes an imaging device configured to image an object, a sound receiving device configured to receive an ambient sound, a phonation determining device configured to determine whether the object imaged by the imaging device is producing a sound or not, an object characteristic determining device configured to determine a characteristic of the object if the phonation determining device determines that the object is producing the sound, a band determining device configured to determine a band of the ambient sound which suits the characteristic of the object and emphasize the band in the ambient sound, and a recording device configured to record the ambient sound in which the band is emphasized.
US08456539B2	Method of automatic task execution with triggering by object attribute recognition, and electronic apparatus for implementing the method A method of automatic task execution is adapted to be performed by an electronic apparatus that includes an image-capturing module and a processing module. The method includes the steps of: a) recording in the processing module a relationship between a visible physical attribute of an object and a corresponding task to be executed by the processing module; b) configuring the electronic apparatus for capturing an image containing a target using the image-capturing module; c) configuring the processing module to determine if the visible physical attribute of the object is found in the image captured by the image-capturing module; and d) when the visible physical attribute of the object is found in the image, configuring the processing module to execute the corresponding task automatically.
US08456532B1	Internet protocol camera transcode avoidance A method and a system for transcode avoidance of a data stream from a camera at a client device are described. A camera generates data streams with each data stream having a corresponding data configuration. A web server discovered by the camera dynamically determines data configuration for each data stream, the configuration of the client device, and the network conditions at the client device. The web server dynamically identifies a data stream for the client device based on the data configuration of each data stream from the camera, the configurations of the client device, and the network conditions at the client device so that the client device or an intermediary device do not need to transcode the identified data stream. The web server refers the client device to receive the identified data stream from the camera.
US08456531B2	Video alignment and calibration for video quality measurement Video alignment and calibration, which is needed for video quality measurement in full-reference mode, is performed continuously on the videos being measured to account for alignment parameters that may change over time. With this technique, the quality of video files and/or live video streams can be measured in full-reference mode in real-time. During video alignment, the temporal and spatial offsets, as well as any spatial, luminance or color transformations between the two videos are measured; during video calibration, the video frames are adjusted for these offsets and transformations so that the video quality can be measured correctly.
US08456529B2	Device and method for evaluating connectivity between a video driver and a display A device for evaluating connectivity between a video driver and a display, the device comprises a first video driver, a first output connector, a first terminating resistance; wherein the device is characterized by comprising a first comparison unit; wherein the first video driver has an output port that is coupled to the first output connector, to the first terminating resistance and to the first comparison unit; wherein the first output connector is configured to be coupled via a first cable to a first input of the display; wherein the first comparison unit is adapted to perform comparisons between a voltage level on the first terminating resistance to multiple thresholds and to determine whether a display first input impedance is substantially equal to the first terminating resistance, whether the display first input impedance is substantially lower then the first terminating resistance, or whether the first video driver is disconnected from the display; wherein the comparisons are executed during a pixel information idle period.
US08456526B2	Video effect using movement within an image A video effect is created that provides an experience to a viewer of freezing time during an event that is the subject of a video presentation, investigating the event during that frozen moment in time, and (optionally) resuming the action of the event. During that frozen moment in time, the video can move around the scene of the event and/or zoom in (or out) to better highlight an aspect of the event. In one embodiment, there will be a transition from video captured by a broadcast camera (or another camera) to a high resolution still image, movement around the high resolution still image, and a transition from the high resolution still image back to video from the broadcast camera (or another camera).
US08456523B2	Laser processing head and method for compensating for the change in focus position in a laser processing head The invention relates to a laser machining head (100) for machining a workpiece by means of a working laser beam (108), with a camera (102) with an imaging lens system (116) arranged in front of said camera in the beam path for observing a machining region of the workpiece that is being machined by means of the working laser beam (108), with a focusing lens system (114) for focusing the working laser beam (108) on the workpiece surface (104) or on a position defined in relation to the workpiece surface (104), and with an evaluation unit (122) which is designed to calculate a corrective adjusting displacement (ΔZos, ΔZB) by means of an adjusting displacement (ΔdKL) of the imaging lens system (116) in the direction of the optical axis in order to refocus the camera image when there is a shift in the focal point of the focusing lens system (114), which corrective adjustment displacement compensates a shift in the focal point of the focusing lens system (114) in relation to the workpiece surface (104) or with respect to a position defined in relation to the workpiece surface (104).
US08456522B2	Achieving focus in a digital pathology system Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information prior to scanning digital microscope slide data with a line scan camera. The methods include a point-focus procedure that works by moving the slide to the desired measurement location, moving the objective lens through a predefined set of height values, acquiring imagery data at each height, and determining the height of maximum contrast. The methods also include a ribbon-focus procedure whereby imagery data are acquired continuously, while the slide and objective lens are in motion. Both methods may be applied with either a static or a dynamic implementation.
US08456519B2	Video display system, video display method and display apparatus A video display apparatus includes pixels arranged in lines, a scanning signal transferor that supplies scanning signals to the pixels, and a data signal transferor that supplies a video signal to the pixels. A first controller supplies the video signal to the data signal transferor and causes the scanning signal transferor to supply a first scanning signal that corresponds to a first picture to the lines in the display from a head line to a final line and a second scanning signal that corresponds to a second picture subsequent to the first picture to the lines in the display from the final line to the head line.
US08456514B2	3D display device with controllable device for tracking visibility regions A 3D display device with controllable device for tracking visibility regions is disclosed, and includes a controllable device for tracking a visibility region, generated by way of superposition of light source images, in a observer plane of the display device. In preferred embodiments, the cladding of a waveguide comprises at least one material with optical properties of an anisotropic liquid, or at least two materials with optical properties of an isotropic liquid; a matrix arrangement of control electrodes defines multiple positions to be generated for local exit points in the cladding of the waveguide at which the total reflection is locally cancelled; and a system controller modifies positions of the output coupling points for superposing the output-coupled light through the lens array to the visibility region by displacing an output coupling point, or by switching off one output coupling point and switching on another one.
US08456512B2	Electronic device for capturing panoramic images An electronic device and a method enable capturing a 360° panoramic image by a digital camera having a fixed angle lens. A number of frames is set for capturing the 360° panoramic image of the digital camera unit. The electronic device receives an initial azimuth of the digital camera unit from an electronic compass and determines rotation points of the digital camera unit. A current azimuth from an electronic compass of the electronic device is received and the rotated angle of the digital camera unit is calculated. The electronic device captures at least one image if the digital camera unit rotates to one of the rotation points.
US08456495B2	Power control method of light emitting device for image display, light emitting device for image display, display device and television receiver In a method of controlling power of a light emitting device for image display that irradiates illumination light from divided regions, light emission brightness data of each light emitting element of the light emitting device is determined based on image data for image display (S20). Power in each region and total light emission power are computed based on the light emission brightness data of each light emitting element for each region (S40). If the computed total light emission power exceeds predetermined allowable power, the power in each region is limited so that the total light emission power is equal to or less than the predetermined allowable power (S50).
US08456488B2	Displaying digital images using groups, stacks, and version sets A method and apparatus for managing digital images is provided. A collection of digital images may be managed using a digital image system that displays images using groups, stacks, and versions. A group is a set of unordered digital images that may be visually represented, in a first state, using a representative image, and in a second state, by each digital image in the group. Stacks are similar to groups, except that each digital image in a stack has a rank, and each digital image in the stack is depicted in order of its rank. Versions are similar to groups, except that one or more images in the group are derived from another image in the group.
US08456487B2	Virtual staging apparatus and method A process of staging a live or pre-recorded performance that follows a schedule is disclosed. The performance involves electronic and mechanical media that are computer controlled, preferably so as to create a virtual reality of events. When an action that is not normal to the schedule occurs, the timing, speed, or sequence of one or more media activities are adjusted to compensate for the action so that the action does not adversely affect the continuity and totality of the performance to the audience. Computer hardware and software embodiments include a script of a scheduled performance and a control program that steps through the script while allowing for flexibility and adaptation of the performance in response to an action that is not normal to the schedule. A control interface to the sensory stimuli device may be provided to sensory stimuli associated with the performance by the control program.
US08456485B2	Image processing apparatus and method, head mounted display, program, and recording medium An image processing apparatus that corrects chromatic aberration that occurs in a display optical system, using a display unit in which respective pixels have a plurality of primary color elements that emit light of respectively differing primary colors, the apparatus comprises an acquisition unit adapted to acquire a displacement amount in which the position of a primary color element used as a light source is used as a reference, for light of each primary color emitted by a primary color element of the display unit, a calculation unit adapted to calculate a display position in the display unit for each primary color component of each pixel in a display image, based on the acquired displacement amount, and a display control unit adapted to display each primary color component of each pixel of the display image at the display position of the display unit calculated by the calculation unit.
US08456484B2	Apparatus and methods for wrapping texture onto the surface of a virtual object The invention provides techniques for wrapping a two-dimensional texture conformally onto a surface of a three dimensional virtual object within an arbitrarily-shaped, user-defined region. The techniques provide minimum distortion and allow interactive manipulation of the mapped texture. The techniques feature an energy minimization scheme in which distances between points on the surface of the three-dimensional virtual object serve as set lengths for springs connecting points of a planar mesh. The planar mesh is adjusted to minimize spring energy, and then used to define a patch upon which a two-dimensional texture is superimposed. Points on the surface of the virtual object are then mapped to corresponding points of the texture. The invention also features a haptic/graphical user interface element that allows a user to interactively and intuitively adjust texture mapped within the arbitrary, user-defined region.
US08456477B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method and program for generating and displaying network structures An information processing apparatus includes a network structure generation unit that generates a network structure showing relations formed between registered users at a predetermined time based on user information containing attribute information showing attributes of the registered user registered with a social networking service (SNS) and registration time information showing a registration time of the registered user, and relation information containing relation formation information showing a relation formed between the registered users on the SNS, and relation formation time information showing a relation formation time, a network image generation unit that generates a network image representing the generated network structure with the registered user as a node and a relation formed between the registered users as an edge, and a network image display unit that chronologically displays the generated network images at a plurality of the predetermined times. Accordingly, a change of SNS operation conditions can efficiently be grasped.
US08456476B1	Predicting constraint enforcement in online applications A computer-implemented method includes identifying a primary node that represents a first pose of an online character. The first pose is associated with a constraint being inactive. The method also includes identifying the primary node representing a second pose of the online character. The second pose is associated with the constraint being active. The method also includes calculating the difference between the primary node of the second pose and the primary node of the first pose. Further, the method includes applying the difference to the primary node of the first pose.
US08456474B2	Method for rendering outline of polygon and apparatus of rendering outline of polygon A database compiler sequentially selects element points constituting an outline of a polygon corresponding to polygon data obtained from a map database. When it is determined that one of the selected polygon element points is positioned on a map mesh boundary, a coordinate of the polygon element point is shifted toward an inside portion of the polygon by 1 point. When the polygon is to be displayed in an emphatic manner, the polygon data which has been coordinate-shifted is obtained. When it is determined that a portion of the outline of the polygon corresponding to the obtained polygon data is positioned on one of the map mesh boundaries, the portion of the outline is displayed in a non-emphatic manner and the remaining portions of the outline are displayed in an emphatic manner.
US08456466B1	Resolving ambiguous rotations in 3D manipulation A three-dimensional transformation of a three-dimensional object is calculated by a solver using an algorithm that reduces deviation between projected two-dimensional locations of three-dimensional contact points on a surface of the object after object transformation and two dimensional locations of touch points placed on a multi-touch display device. The algorithm is biased to generate a three-dimensional transformation that preferentially rotates the object in one direction over an opposite direction when all three-dimensional contact points are located at substantially the same depth along a Z-axis away from an image plane of the multi-touch display device and when transformation is then triggered by touch points moving such that a Euclidean distance between at least two of the touch points decreases.
US08456465B2	Display apparatus utilizing protective image for a period of display of 3D image A display apparatus is disclosed. The display apparatus includes a display panel that displays at least one of a two dimensional (2D) image and a three dimensional (3D) image, and a driver that is driven so as to display an image on the display panel. The driver includes a 3D image conversion unit that converts the 3D image into a protective image if a length of a period during which the 3D image is displayed on the display panel is longer than a length of a first period.
US08456464B2	Method for driving a liquid crystal display monitor and related apparatus A method for driving a liquid crystal display monitor including a display panel with a plurality of pixels includes receiving image data which includes a plurality of image signals corresponding to the plurality of pixels, initiating a column inversion procedure for driving the display panel to display the image data, comparing the plurality of image signals during the column inversion procedure to generate a comparison result, and deciding whether to initiate a charge sharing function of the plurality of pixels according to the comparison result.
US08456463B2	Low voltage driver for high voltage LCD A low voltage driver for a higher voltage LCD includes a plurality of LCD drive bias voltage input-terminals; an LCD drive voltage output terminal; an input transistor switching circuit having at least one switch for each LCD drive bias voltage for selecting one of the bias voltages; an output transistor switching circuit, responsive to the input transistor switching circuit, for applying the selected one of the bias voltages to the LCD drive voltage output terminal, the transistors of the switching circuits having a predetermined breakdown voltage; a level shifter for providing switching voltages counterpart to the plurality of bias voltages; a logic circuit for enabling the first transistor switching circuit to select a one of the bias voltages and applying a set of counterpart switching voltages to the input and output transistor switching circuits for connecting the selected one of the bias voltages to the output terminal and applying a set of switching voltages to the input and output switching circuits which limit the voltage across the transistor junctions in the switching circuit to less than the predetermined breakdown voltage.
US08456459B2	Adhesion type area sensor and display device having adhesion type area sensor A lightweight, thin, small size semiconductor device is provided. A pixel has a display portion, and a light receiving portion comprising a photodiode. A transistor is used with the semiconductor device for controlling the operation of the display portion and the light receiving portion.
US08456458B2	Display system for generating three-dimensional images and method thereof A display system for generating three-dimensional images includes a liquid crystal panel, a driving voltage generation circuit, and a liquid crystal lens. The liquid crystal panel is used for receiving a three-dimensional image signal. The driving voltage generation circuit is used for generating a set of square-wave voltages and a direct current voltage alternately according to the three-dimensional image signal. The liquid crystal lens is used for adjusting refraction angles of a plurality of liquid crystals of the liquid crystal lens to output a three-dimensional image according to the set of square-wave voltages and the direct current voltage.
US08456455B2	Display driving device and display apparatus A display driving device is provided which drives a display panel having source lines provided for columns of pixels and which includes: first switches sw1 provided for the source lines; second switches sw2 provided for the source lines; AMP units 52 which are provided for the source lines and drive a pixel signal to the source lines via the second switches; an external power source 48 applying an intermediate voltage of the pixel signal to an intermediate voltage line, the intermediate voltage having a level between a minimum voltage level and a maximum voltage level of the pixel signal; and a control circuit 47 controlling turning on and off the first switches and the second switches, wherein the control unit temporarily turns off at least part of the second switches, and concurrently, temporarily turns on corresponding ones of the first switches during a transition period of the pixel signal.
US08456454B2	Display panel A display panel is disclosed, which includes a substrate, a shift register array, plural scan lines, a compensating circuit, a first repair line, and a second repair line. The shift register array having plural shift registers is disposed on a non-display area of the substrate. The scan lines connect to the shift registers respectively to drive plural display units. The first repair line and the second repair line are connected to the compensating circuit and bridged over two ends of each scan line in the non-display area, respectively.
US08456453B2	Wireless file transmission A computer system which includes one or more wireless interface devices that are adapted to communicate with a remote host over a radio link. Each of the wireless interface devices is a pen-based device which includes an ink field in which pen events are translated into pen data packets and transmitted to the remote host over the radio link. Local inking is provided at the wireless interface device in order to maintain the pen paradigm in essentially real time.
US08456451B2	System and method for differentiating between pointers used to contact touch surface A touch system comprises a touch surface and at least one camera acquiring images of the touch surface. A pointer contact data generator generates pointer position data in response to pointer contact with the touch surface, the pointer position data representing where on the touch surface pointer contact is made. A processor communicates with the at least one camera and the pointer contact data generator. The processor analyzes acquired images to determine the type of pointer used to contact the touch surface, and processes the pointer position data in accordance with the determined type of pointer. In the preferred embodiment the processor distinguishes between pointer tip touch surface contacts, pointer backend touch surface contacts and finger touch surface contacts. A writing function is invoked in response to pointer tip touch surface contacts. An erase function is invoked in response to pointer backend touch surface contacts. Mouse events are generated in response to finger touch surface contacts.
US08456448B2	Light-tactility conversion system, and method for providing tactile feedback A light-tactility conversion system is provided which includes a light emitting device including an illumination unit capable of emitting light at a same time to a plurality of illumination areas in different illumination patterns, and an illumination control unit for controlling the illumination unit and making the illumination unit project an image, and also for controlling the illumination patterns in units of pixels of the projected image and making the illumination unit emit light to specific illumination areas in specific illumination patterns, and a vibration device including an illumination pattern detection unit for detecting an illumination pattern of light received from the light emitting device, and a vibration control unit for generating a vibration pattern corresponding to the illumination pattern detected by the illumination pattern detection unit and vibrating an oscillator in the vibration pattern.
US08456445B2	Touch screen and method for adjusting screen objects A touch screen and method are provided for adjusting the positioning of touch sensing objects in response to the position of the application of one or more touches. The touch screen, includes, but is not limited to a display face including an object, the display face configured to display a symbol associated with the object, and circuitry defining the object and configured to sense the position of at least one touch on at least a portion of the object. A touch screen controller is configured to adjust the object in response to the position of the at least one touch.
US08456443B2	Single-layer touch sensors A two-dimensional capacitive sensor device comprises first, second, and third sensor electrodes. The first sensor electrode has a varying width along a first direction, a maximum width at a first edge along the first direction, and a minimum width at a second edge along the first direction. The second sensor electrode has a varying width along the first direction and substantially identical widths at the first edge and second edge. The third sensor electrode has a varying width along the first direction, a minimum width at the first edge, and a maximum width at the second edge. The first, second, and third sensor electrodes have substantially equal surface area and are arranged in a first sensor cell with the second disposed between the first and third sensor electrodes. The two-dimensional capacitive sensor device comprises a plurality of sensor cells disposed in a repeated fashion in a single layer.
US08456441B2	Selective input system and process based on tracking of motion parameters of an input object A selective input system and associated method is provided which tracks the motion of a pointing device over a region or area. The pointing device can be a touchpad, a mouse, a pen, or any device capable of providing two or three-dimensional location. The region or area is preferably augmented with a printed or actual keyboard/pad. Alternatively, a representation of the location of the pointing device over a virtual keyboard/pad can be dynamically shown on an associated display. The system identifies selections of items or characters by detecting parameters of motion of the pointing device, such as length of motion, a change in direction, a change in velocity, and or a lack of motion at locations that correspond to features on the keyboard/pad. The input system is preferably coupled to a text disambiguation system such as a T9® or Sloppytype™ system, to improve the accuracy and usability of the input system.
US08456439B2	Graphical authentication for a portable device and methods for use therewith A portable device includes a touch screen that includes a display screen and that generates touch screen data in response to a user's interaction with the touch screen. A processor executes a security application for authenticating the user to the portable device that provides first display data to the touch screen for displaying a security prompt on the display screen. Touch screen data is received from the touch screen in response to the user's interaction with the touch screen and is processed to determine when an authentication shape is recognized as being indicated by the touch screen data. The user is authenticated to the portable device when the authentication shape is recognized as being indicated by the touch screen data.
US08456436B2	Input device and input method An input-mode determination unit determines an input mode to be a graphic mode in the case where the number of sets of coordinates included in a coordinate sequence stored in the coordinate-sequence storage unit is smaller than a predetermined number and points represented by the coordinates are within a predetermined distance range, and otherwise, determines the input mode to be a curve mode. A line-to-draw sequence generation unit generates a line-to-draw sequence according to the input mode which the input-mode determination unit has determined to be.
US08456434B2	Touch sensor and operating method thereof Provided are a touch sensor and a method of operating the same. The touch sensor includes: a pulse signal generator for generating a pulse signal of which pulse width is calibrated in response to a control code; a pulse signal transmitter for transmitting the pulse signal when a touch object is out of contact with a touch pad and stopping transmitting the pulse signal when the touch object is in contact with the touch pad; a pulse signal detector for detecting the pulse signal transmitted through the pulse signal transmitter; and a controller recognizing a non-contact state and adjusting the control code to calibrate the pulse width of the pulse signal when the pulse signal detector detects the pulse signal. In the above-described configuration, the contact of the touch object with the touch pad can be sensed more precisely, and the occurrence of a malfunction in the touch sensor due to changed operating conditions can be prevented. As a result, the operating reliability of the touch sensor can be enhanced.
US08456433B2	Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method and selection method of user interface icon for multi-touch panel The present invention provides a signal processing apparatus and a signal processing method of a man-machine interface. The signal processing method comprises steps of: receiving a first touch signal; recognizing an object corresponding to the first touch signal; determining whether a second touch signal is received while receiving the first touch signal; and selecting the object corresponding to the first touch signal when receiving the second touch signal.
US08456428B2	User interface for mobile computing device A mobile computing device includes a housing, a touch screen display coupled to the housing, a processor coupled to the touch screen display, and a user input device responsive to a sliding manipulation by a user. The processor may be configured to activate a keyboard entry area on the touch screen display responsive to the sliding manipulation. The mobile computing device may include a cellular phone.
US08456427B2	Floating capacitive couplers used to enhance signal coupling in a capacitive touchpad A capacitive touchpad comprised of drive electrodes and at least one sense electrodes disposed on or within an insulating substrate material, wherein an electrically floating capacitive coupler is disposed adjacent to both the drive electrodes and the sense electrode to thereby enhance signal coupling between the drive electrodes and the sense electrode caused by introduction of a pointing object.
US08456424B2	Input display device, electronic apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium An input display device comprises an operation panel including a first display operation area that enables operation screens to be switched hierarchically based on a selected operation key and to display a fixed-arrangement of operation keys in respective layers, and a second display operation area that displays an operation history indicating that the operation key has been selected; a selected key use determination unit configured to determine which of the operation keys has been selected when the operation key is selected from one of the first display operation area and the second display operation area; a storage processing unit configured to successively store results determined by the selected key use determination unit into a storage device as operation history information; and a selected key use history display control unit configured to display the operation history information stored in the storage device into the second display operation area.
US08456419B2	Determining a position of a pointing device The present invention is directed toward a system and process that controls a group of networked electronic components using a multimodal integration scheme in which inputs from a speech recognition subsystem, gesture recognition subsystem employing a wireless pointing device and pointing analysis subsystem also employing the pointing device, are combined to determine what component a user wants to control and what control action is desired. In this multimodal integration scheme, the desired action concerning an electronic component is decomposed into a command and a referent pair. The referent can be identified using the pointing device to identify the component by pointing at the component or an object associated with it, by using speech recognition, or both. The command may be specified by pressing a button on the pointing device, by a gesture performed with the pointing device, by a speech recognition event, or by any combination of these inputs.
US08456416B2	Image recognition apparatus, and operation determination method and program therefor An image for an operator is extracted, and an operation determination unit employs a relationship, relative to a marker of an operation input system, for the operator, who is standing behind the marker when viewed by a video camera. When a body part of the operator comes to the front of an operation plane, as viewed by the video camera, the operation determination unit determines that an action for an input operation has been started, and examines the shape and the movement of each individual body part (an open hand, two fingers that are being held up, etc.), and determines whether the shape or the movement is correlated with one of operations that are assumed in advance.
US08456415B2	Object, method and system for transmitting information to a user An object for transmitting information to a user includes an information detection device for detecting and receiving an information signal, a touch detector for transmitting a touch detection signal upon detection of the user touching the object, and an electronic switch for electronically coupling the information detection device to a tactile stimulation unit upon receipt of the touch detection signal such that information signal is transmitted from the information detection device to a part of the user touching the object via the tactile stimulation unit. In this way, the object is suitable for transmitting information only to the user touching the object, and this information is hidden from and not transmitted to other users.
US08456412B2	Method of driving the backlight of a liquid crystal display device being effective in reducing an influence by light leaked from other light-emitting regions to one light-emitting region There is provided a method of driving a backlight of a liquid crystal display device capable of eliminating leakage of light from adjacently-placed light emitting blocks. A gray level and maximum gray level of an input video signal are inputted for every light-emitting block. An output average gray level is calculated and a lighting control signal corresponding to converted luminance is outputted. The drivers responding to the lighting control signal makes LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) emit light. An average gray level from an output from sensors is calculated. An average gray level, based on an average gray level and a light leakage rate, by taking light leakage into consideration. A gray level correcting signal is outputted in the light-emitting block based on the above output average gray level. An output average gray level is corrected in response to a gray level correcting signal.
US08456411B2	Display unit, display device and information processing apparatus A display unit having a pivot function and prolonged lives of light sources has been implemented according to the present invention. The display unit includes: a screen that is changeable between a first position and a second position and displays an image; at least one first light source that illuminates the screen in the first position; at least one second light source that illuminates the screen in the second position; and a turn-on control section that controls turning on of the first light source and the second light source according to a position. A display device and an information processing apparatus each provided with the display unit have also been implemented according to the present invention.
US08456409B2	Gate drive circuit and display apparatus having the same Gate drive circuit includes a plurality of stages connected one after another to each other. An m-th stage includes a pull-up section outputting a first clock signal as a gate signal of the m-th stage to an output terminal, a pull-down section applying a low voltage to the output terminal, a carry section outputting the first clock signal as a carry signal of the m-th stage in response to the high voltage of the first node signal, a first carry holding section maintaining the carry signal of the m-th stage at the low voltage in response to the high voltage of the first clock signal and a second carry holding section maintaining the carry signal of the m-th stage at the low voltage in response to a high voltage of the second clock signal.
US08456408B2	Shift register A shift register includes multiple stages each generating a scan signal at an output terminal and including a level pull-up circuit, a level pull-down circuit, a driving circuit and a level controlling circuit. The level pull-up circuit makes the scan signal equal a first clock signal in response to an enabled level of a first control signal. The level pull-down circuit makes the scan signal equal a first voltage in response to an enabled level of a second control signal. The driving circuit controls the first control signal to be the enabled level and a disabled level in response to an enabled level of an input signal and the enabled level of the second control signal, respectively. The level controlling circuit controls the second control signal to be the disabled level and the enabled level in response to the enabled level and the disabled level of the input signal, respectively.
US08456404B2	Voltage boosting power supply circuit for monitoring charging voltage with predetermined voltage to detect boosted voltage, and boosted voltage control method A power supply circuit of the present invention includes a voltage boosting capacitor, a first switch, a second switch, an addition comparison circuit, and a control circuit. The first switch charges the voltage boosting capacitor by applying a first voltage thereto. The second switch connects a second voltage serially to the voltage boosting capacitor that is already charged, thereby boosting the voltage therein. The addition comparison circuit adds up the voltage of the voltage boosting capacitor and the second voltage and compares the comparison result, with a predetermined threshold value. The control circuit controls the on/off state of the first switch according to the comparison result of the addition comparison circuit.
US08456403B2	Liquid crystal display and driving method thereof A liquid crystal display and a driving method thereof are provided. The liquid crystal display includes: a liquid crystal display panel including a plurality of data lines, a plurality of gate lines crossing the data lines, and pixels arranged in m×n matrix; a register for defining polarity pattern information, frame rotation information, and line rotation information to determine a polarity of a data voltage charged in N lines, wherein N is a positive integer less than n; a timing controller for generating a polarity control signal to control polarities of data voltages charged in n lines of the liquid crystal display panel based on the information read from the register; and source drive ICs for converting the polarities of the data voltages supplied to the data lines in response to the polarity control signal.
US08456400B2	Liquid crystal device and electronic apparatus A liquid crystal device including a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel electrodes, a capacitor electrode, a control circuit, a scanning line driving circuit, and a data line driving circuit.
US08456396B2	Liquid crystal display device A first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, a fourth transistor are provided. In the first transistor, a first terminal is electrically connected to a first wiring; a second terminal is electrically connected to a gate terminal of the second transistor; a gate terminal is electrically connected to a fifth wiring. In the second transistor, a first terminal is electrically connected to a third wiring; a second terminal is electrically connected to a sixth wiring. In the third transistor, a first terminal is electrically connected to a second wiring; a second terminal is electrically connected to the gate terminal of the second transistor; a gate terminal is electrically connected to a fourth wiring. In the fourth transistor, a first terminal is electrically connected to the second wiring; a second terminal is electrically connected to the sixth wiring; a gate terminal is connected to the fourth wiring.
US08456393B2	Method of manufacturing a light emitting, photovoltaic or other electronic apparatus and system The present invention provides a method of manufacturing an electronic apparatus, such as a lighting device having light emitting diodes (LEDs) or a power generating device having photovoltaic diodes. The exemplary method includes forming at least one first conductor coupled to a base; coupling a plurality of substrate particles to the at least one first conductor; converting the plurality of substrate particles into a plurality of diodes; forming at least one second conductor coupled to the plurality of spherical diodes; and depositing or attaching a plurality of substantially spherical lenses suspended in a first polymer, with the lenses and the suspending polymer having different indices of refraction. In some embodiments, the lenses and diodes have a ratio of mean diameters or lengths between about 10:1 and 2:1. In various embodiments, the forming, coupling and converting steps are performed by or through a printing process.
US08456392B2	Method of manufacturing a light emitting, photovoltaic or other electronic apparatus and system The present invention provides a method of manufacturing an electronic apparatus, such as a lighting device having light emitting diodes (LEDs) or a power generating device having photovoltaic diodes. The exemplary method includes forming at least one first conductor coupled to a base; coupling a plurality of substantially spherical substrate particles to the at least one first conductor; converting the substrate particles into a plurality of substantially spherical diodes; forming at least one second conductor coupled to the substantially spherical diodes; and depositing or attaching a plurality of substantially spherical lenses suspended in a first polymer. The lenses and the suspending polymer have different indices of refraction. In some embodiments, the lenses and diodes have a ratio of mean diameters or lengths between about 10:1 and 2:1. In various embodiments, the forming, coupling and converting steps are performed by or through a printing process.
US08456391B2	Pixel circuit driving method, light emitting device, and electronic apparatus including a variable driving signal Provided is a method of driving a pixel circuit including a light emitting element and a driving transistor which are connected in series, and a storage capacitor disposed between the path between the light emitting element and the driving transistor and the gate of the driving transistor, the method including the steps of: supplying a driving signal, of which the time rate of change of the potential varies over time, to a gate of the driving transistor; stopping the supply of the driving signal at a point in time which is set to be variable in accordance with a gradation specified for the pixel circuit; and supplying a driving current corresponding to an open circuit voltage of the storage capacitor to the light emitting element.
US08456384B2	Plasma display device A plasma display device is disclosed. The plasma display device includes a plasma display panel (PDP), a printed circuit board assembly (PBA), and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) electrically connecting electrodes of the PBA and the PDP. In some embodiments, the FPC is formed of two films with signal lines therebetween and electrodes on opposite sides.
US08456383B2	Circuit and method for controlling a liquid crystal segment display Circuit and method for controlling a liquid crystal segment (1) display wherein the shape of the control signals of the segments (e1, e2, b1, b2) is adapted according to a supply voltage (Vdd) so as to compensate at least partially the opacity variations caused by the supply voltage variations.
US08456382B2	Light emitting device, driving support system, and helmet It is an object to provide a driving support system and a display device suitable for the driving support system. According to the driving support system, change in driver's mental and physical conditions can be caught instantaneously and a warning light emission display is given within the forward sight of the driver in order to call the driver's attention. A light emitting device of the driving support system can display a far side of the display. A display may be switched between a transmission mode and a non-transmission mode by adjusting a movable polarizer.
US08456378B2	Electronic device and display method To provide a technology of moving and displaying an object concealed on a first display unit to and on a second display unit. An electronic device including a first display unit and a second display unit displays an object as a graphical user interface on the first display unit, detects that the object gets concealed, determines whether or not the concealed object is coincident with a predetermined condition, and displays the object coincident with the predetermined condition on the second display unit. When a detection unit detects that the object does not get concealed, the display of the object is deleted from on the second display unit.
US08456372B2	Mobile wireless communications device with human interface diversity antenna and related methods A mobile wireless communications device may include a portable handheld housing, and a wireless transceiver carried by the housing. A pair of an antennas are positioned in side-by-side relation preferably in the upper portion of the portable handheld housing. A human interface diversity controller is connected to the wireless transceiver to preferentially operate with the plurality of antennas based upon a relative position of the portable handheld housing with respect to a hand of a human user. The device can select or weight the antennas based upon the position of the device when being held by a user.
US08456371B2	Shielding antennas in wireless application devices An antenna assembly that includes an antenna module fitting between a display panel of an electronic device and a metallic cover of the device. The antenna module includes an antenna and a support for the antenna. A shielding layer fits between the antenna module and the cover. The shielding layer has a grounding area configured for electrical connection with the antenna and for electrical isolation from the cover.
US08456368B2	Antenna device and radio-wave receiver with such antenna device A radio-wave receiver is provided with a hollow-cylindrical case, a plate-like module member accommodated within the cylindrical case, a transparent member closing one opening end of the cylindrical case, a cover closing the other opening end of the cylindrical case, and an antenna structure disposed on the side position of the plate-like module member. The antenna structure is provided with a core including a plurality of plate-like magnetic members layered on each other in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the plate-like module member, a coil wound around a central straight part of the core, and bent end portions extending from both ends of the core and bent to conform to the inner periphery of the cylindrical case.
US08456365B2	Multi-band monopole antennas for mobile communications devices Antennas for use in mobile communication devices are disclosed. The antennas disclosed can include a substrate with a base, a top, a front side and a back side; a first conductor can be located on the first side of the antenna substrate; and a second conductor can be located on the second side of the antenna substrate. The conductors can have single or multiple branches. If a conductor is a single branch it can, for example, be a spiral conductor or a conducting plate. If a conductor has multiple branches, each branch can be set up to receive a different frequency band. A conductor with multiple branches can have a linear branch and a space-filling or grid dimension branch. A conducting plate can act as a parasitic reflector plane to tune or partially tune the resonant frequency of another conductor. The first and second conductors can be electrically connected.
US08456355B2	Partial ambiguity fixing for multi-frequency ionospheric delay estimation A method is suggested for robust estimation of a subset of carrier phase integer ambiguities for precise ionospheric delay estimation. The advantages of this method are the precise estimation of receiver and satellite biases, an increase in the number of reliably fixable ambiguities, and an improved accuracy for the ionospheric delay estimation.
US08456352B2	Methods and apparatus for automatic STC from sea state measurement via radar sea clutter eccentricity Methods and apparatus to receive radar return information from signals transmitted by a radar, process the radar return information to identify sea clutter, process the sea clutter to fit an ellipse to arrange horizon of the sea clutter as a function of azimuth to determine a sea state, and select sensitivity time control (STC) attenuation of the sea clutter based upon the sea state.
US08456350B2	Methods and apparatus for sea state measurement via radar sea clutter eccentricity Methods and apparatus to fit the range extent of radar sea clutter to an ellipse to determine sea state. From one or more ellipse parameters, a sea state, which can include direction, can be identified. In one embodiment, the system autonomously determines the sea state and automatically selects non-isotropic STC filtering based on the ellipse that measures the sea state.
US08456349B1	Three dimensional radar method and apparatus A bistatic radar receiver is centrally located within an array of multiple bistatic transmitters at an airport to precisely determine bird positions and altitudes. Bird target reflections from multiple transmitters are received by the radar receiver. Target location is determined by the transmitter location, receiver location, and measured transmitter-to-target-to-receiver ranges. Target position and altitude accuracy is similar to GPS. The radar receiver antenna is composed of a vertical array of elements and rotated 360 degrees in azimuth. The output of each element is downconverted, digitized, and digitally beamformed to provide multiple simultaneous antenna beams each electronically scanned in elevation. When bistatic transmitters cannot be deployed, a narrow-azimuth wide-elevation transmit antenna beam is overlapped with a wide-azimuth narrow-elevation receive antenna beam electronically scanned in elevation to provide a composite narrow azimuth and elevation beamwidth.
US08456340B2	Self-timed digital-to-analog converter A tracking module that tracks the operation of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The DAC tracking module may be included on-chip with a DAC, and be formed with similar circuit components as a DAC. The DAC tracking circuit may output a signal indicating that the DAC within a SAR ADC has settled to an approximate value during each bit conversion. A differential solution is also provided. Power may be optimized because optimal conversion speed may be achieved, and a comparator within the DAC may be turned off or placed in a standby mode at the end of bit conversions, and before the next conversion cycle in response to the signal output by the DAC tracking module.
US08456329B1	Wand controller for aircraft marshaling In one preferred embodiment, an aircraft marshaling wand controller displays aircraft marshaling instructions to a pilot on a video display monitor on-board an aircraft, such as an aircraft on an aircraft carrier. When an aircraft marshal uses arm motion gestures to form aircraft marshaling instructions for the pilot on the aircraft, the wand controller of the present invention senses or detects those gesture motions, and generates digitized command signals representative of those gesture motions made by the aircraft marshal. A wireless transceiver then transmits those digitized command signals to the aircraft for display on the video monitor for viewing by the pilot.
US08456317B2	Sensor module A sensor module is mounted at a windshield of a vehicle. The sensor module can be connected, via a fastening section that is arranged on a module housing, to an element that is fixed to the vehicle body or to an element which is connected to a part that is fixed to the vehicle body. A sensor is accommodated in the module housing and is retained such that it can be displaced and/or pivoted from a first starting position into a second end position in order to rest against the windscreen. The adjusting movement can be initiated by an adjusting element which can be preloaded in the direction of the end position by means of a spring element and can be blocked in the starting position by means of a blocking element. Also, a delaying element is provided that can influence a parameter of the adjusting movement.
US08456312B2	Domestic water leak and humidity detection and control apparatus with water valve control A domestic water leak and humidity detection and control apparatus to monitor and detect water leaks and to alert a user by an aural buzzer and by illuminated green, red, or yellow LEDs of an operative state of the apparatus incorporates one or more sensor sets, each sensor set having one or more leak detectors connected to a central controller; the central controller having for each sensor set a respective comparator set and a respective LED set, and the central controller connected to and controlling the aural buzzer and controlling a water valve to control water leaks originating from a domestic water supply by electrically controlling the water valve.
US08456311B2	Sensor with mount An assembly includes a mount (10) and a sensor (30), in particular a rain/light sensor for a motor vehicle, the mount (10) including at least two abutments (12) for a clamping bracket (50), wherein at least one clamping bracket (50) is hinge-fitted to the sensor (30) at two bearing points, the clamping bracket (50) being adapted to swivel between a mounting position and a clamping position, in which it urges the sensor (30) against the mount (10) with a pretensioning force.
US08456310B2	Method of and apparatus for repelling aquatic creatures This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for repelling aquatic creatures and finds particular application in the protection of surfers (or surfboards) and personal watercraft such as surf skis, paddle skis and the like from shark attack. The drawing illustrates the device 10 installed on the underside of a surfboard 100, the device 10 consisting of a pair of housings 102, 104 connected to one another by a cable tray 106. One of the housings 102, 104 houses the device circuitry and the other of the housings 102, 104 houses a rechargeable power source. The device circuitry comprises electrodes connected in a circuit and adapted for immersion in a body of water, such that the water, in use, completes the circuit.
US08456309B2	Within-patient algorithm to predict heart failure decompensation This document discusses, among other things, systems and methods for predicting heart failure decompensation using within-patient diagnostics. A method comprises detecting an alert status of each of one or more sensors; calculating an alert score by combining the detected alerts; and calculating a composite alert score, the composite alert score being indicative of a physiological condition and comprising a combination of two or more alert scores.
US08456308B2	Attachment detection method and system An attachment detection method and system. The method includes receiving, by a computer processor of a computing system, attachment data describing different devices associated with and attachable to an electro/mechanical apparatus. The computer processor retrieves first data describing a first attachment device currently attached to the electro/mechanical apparatus and analyzes the attachment data with respect to the first data. In response to the analysis, the computer processor determines specified protective gear required for operation of the electro/mechanical apparatus and the first attachment device. The computer processor generates indication data specifying required usage of the specified protective gear and presents the indication data to a user.
US08456307B2	Method for producing sheet with IC tags, apparatus for producing sheet with IC tags, sheet with IC tags, method for fixing IC chips, apparatus for fixing IC chips, and IC tag A method of producing a sheet 1 with IC tags comprises the steps of: preparing and feeding a sheet 21a with electrical conductors formed thereon; providing an adhesive 18 on the sheet 21a with electrical conductors; preparing multiple IC chips 20 and successively feeding the IC chips 20; successively arranging each IC chip 20 on the electrical conductors 22 of the sheet 21a; and fixing each IC chip 20 onto the electrical conductors 22 through the adhesive 18. The sheet 21a with electrical conductors formed thereon includes a non-conductive sheet 21 and a pair of electrical conductors 22. The pair of electrical conductors 22 of the sheet 21a with the electrical conductors are provided on the non-conductive sheet 21, extend in the feed direction, and are spaced apart from each other.
US08456304B2	Perimeter security system A security system for detecting physical intrusion in a monitored area including a plurality of radio units arranged in a network around the monitored area to determine received signal strength and pass variations thereof through the radio units to a base station.
US08456293B1	Providing electronic content based on sensor data Techniques are described for using sensor data derived from a monitoring system to drive personalized content. Sensor data captured by a monitoring system may be used to determine attributes of users of the monitoring system and/or attributes of a property monitored by the monitoring system. The determined attributes may be used to select content to present to users of the monitoring system. Content presentation may be made through the monitoring system and may be triggered based on events detected by the monitoring system.
US08456292B2	Door mirror A door mirror includes a turn signal lamp for indicating a traveling direction; a foot lamp; and a housing that houses the turn signal lamp and the foot lamp, wherein the turn signal lamp and the foot lamp are provided in the housing such that the turn signal lamp and the foot lamp are provided with outer lenses lying adjacent to each other such that light based on a turning on of one lamp is guided to an outer lens of the other lamp.
US08456289B2	Apparatus and method for providing haptic function in a portable terminal An apparatus and a method for providing a haptic function in a portable terminal are provided. The method for providing the haptic function in the portable terminal includes determining information which denotes a movement of the portable terminal, generating a haptic data to stimulate a user's tactile sense according to the information and generating a vibration corresponding to the haptic data.
US08456287B2	Indicator system for a medication container An indicator system for use on a medicine bottle to indicate the times and dates of the last dosage taken and the next dosage to be taken, including means for registering time and date when the bottle is opened and then closed.
US08456281B2	Non-contact IC medium communication device The present invention provides a non-contact IC medium communication device (1) capable of detecting a non-contact IC medium (25) in a desired area with a simple configuration, by obtaining, from each of separate read areas, identification information of the non-contact IC medium that exists within the read area and a signal level of a reception signal received from the non-contact IC medium, the identification information and the signal level being associated with each other, performing difference operation or division with respect to respective signal levels of reception signals from the separate read areas, for each of the identification information, to obtain a composite signal level, and extracting the identification information whose composite signal level falls within a predetermined threshold range. The present invention further provides a method thereof, a program thereof, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the program.
US08456273B2	Chip resistor device and a method for making the same A chip resistor device includes: a dielectric substrate that has top and bottom surfaces and two opposite edge faces interconnecting the top and bottom surfaces; two electrodes that are formed on two opposite sides of the dielectric substrate and that cover the edge faces and parts of the top and bottom surfaces; a resistor layer that is formed on one of the top and bottom surfaces of the dielectric substrate between the electrodes and that is brought into contact with the electrodes; and a heat conductive layer that is disposed on the resistor layer oppositely of the dielectric substrate and between the electrodes, that contacts the resistor layer and the two electrodes, and that has a higher resistance than that of the resistor layer. A method for making the chip resistor device is also disclosed.
US08456271B1	Optical proximity switch An optical proximity switch includes a potentiometer for setting a switching point and supported for rotation through multiple turns, a crosswheel supported for rotation and including a visible position index visible, and a cam drive rotatably coupled to the potentiometer and the crosswheel.
US08456267B2	High-impedance DC-isolating transmission line transformers A composite transmission line transformer includes at least one core, a first port, a second port, and one or more pairs of transmission lines wound about the core(s). Each transmission line is in signal communication with the first port and the second port. For each pair, the transmission lines are interconnected in series at the first port and at the second port such that the first port and the second port are DC-isolated from each other.
US08456266B2	Transformer coil assembly A vacuum cast or “solid” transformer coil assembly and a method of manufacturing thereof are provided. A solid transformer coil assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention, includes a dielectric substrate, the coil windings provided around the substrate, and an epoxy compound encapsulating the substrate and the coil windings. The substrate is provided with raised “buttons” comprising the same epoxy material as the epoxy compound used for encapsulation. The buttons maintain a specific distance between the coil and the dielectric substrate. The buttons are arranged such that they support the windings and allow the encapsulating epoxy to flow around them flooding the entire mold without entrapping air or creating voids.
US08456263B2	Winding arrangement for an inductive component The scope of the invention is a winding arrangement for an inductive component that consists at least of a core (9) and of a winding structure placed around the core and consisting of planar winding sheets (11). Inside the winding structure there is cooling medium that is adapted to transfer excess heat away from the winding.
US08456262B2	Electromagnetic solenoid An electromagnetic solenoid includes first and second stators arranged at two axial end sides of a coil. The first stator includes an annular radial core part, an axial core part cylindrically extending from an inner end of the radial core part toward the second stator, and a core corner part having an outer corner surface at an intersection of the radial and axial core parts. A plunger guide includes a cylindrical sleeve inward of the stators, a flange extending radially outward from the sleeve along a side of the radial core part opposed to the coil, and a plunger-guide corner part having an inner corner surface at an intersection of the sleeve and the flange. The outer and inner corner surfaces of the core corner part and the plunger-guide corner part abut on each other in a contact portion linearly or in area along an entire circumference.
US08456261B2	Electromagnetic switch The electromagnetic switch includes an excitation coil serving as an electromagnet when energized, a fixed core magnetized by the electromagnet, a movable core configured to move by being attracted by the fixed core being magnetized, a pair of fixed contacts interposed in an electrical circuit, and a movable contact configured to move in accordance with movement of the movable core to make and break electrical connection between the fixed contacts. The electromagnetic switch further includes a stopper for restraining movement of the movable core for preventing short-circuit between the fixed contacts through the movable core due to abrasion of members of the electromagnetic switch.
US08456260B2	MEMS switch A MEMS switch comprises a substrate, first and second signal lines over the substrate, which each terminate at a connection region, a lower actuation electrode over the substrate and movable contact electrode suspended over the connection regions of the first and second signal lines. An upper actuation electrode is provided over the lower actuation electrode. The connection regions of the first and second signal lines are at a first height from the substrate, wherein signal line portions extending from the connection regions are at a lower height from the substrate, and the lower actuation electrode is provided over the lower height signal line portions, so that the lower height signal line portions are buried. The area available for the actuation electrodes becomes larger and undesired forces and interference are reduced.
US08456250B2	Methods and apparatus for tuning devices having resonators Methods and apparatus for tuning devices having resonators are described. Phase shifters are included in the circuits and used to shift the phase of the output signal(s) of the resonators. In some implementations, the phase shifters are configured in a feedback loop with the resonators. One or more of the apparatus described herein may be implemented as part, or all, of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS).
US08456249B2	Micro-scale system to provide thermal isolation and electrical communication between substrates A microscale apparatus includes a microscale rigidized Parylene strap having a reinforcement structure extending from a first side of the strap, a first silicon substrate suspended by the microscale rigidized Parylene strap, the microscale rigidized Parylene strap conformally coupled to the first substrate, and a second substrate conformally coupled to the microscale rigidized Parylene strap to suspend the first silicon substrate through the microscale rigidized Parylene strap.
US08456248B2	Circuit arrangement and method for supplying a capacitive load A circuit arrangement (S) for supplying a load (P), whose essential electric property is capacitance, from a DC voltage source (U0) has a switch element (S1), which in the operational state is alternately switched between the conductive and non-conductive state, and at least one component (L1, L2) whose essential property is inductance, the load (P) being coupled into the circuit arrangement (S) in parallel to the component (L1, L2) so that the load (P) and the component (L1, L2) form a parallel resonant circuit, the switch element (S1) is connected between the parallel resonant circuit and a base voltage (GND) and the DC voltage source is to be applied in parallel (U0) to the load. The circuit arrangement (S) according to the invention can be used to drive the capacitive load (P) in a bipolar manner, the supply of the load in the non-conductive phase of the switch element (S1) being achieved by the component (L1, L2).
US08456245B2	Two LO and two mixers generating high frequency LO signal One embodiment of the present invention relates to a system that provides a high frequency local oscillator (LO) signal. The system comprises a first LO that generates a first frequency LO signal component, a mixer that generates a difference signal from the first frequency LO signal component and a second frequency LO signal component, and a second LO that generates the second frequency LO signal component that is a harmonic of the difference signal.
US08456244B2	Apparatus and methods for adjusting voltage controlled oscillator gain Apparatus and methods for adjusting a gain of an electronic oscillator, such as a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus for compensating for VCO gain variations includes a charge pump controller. The charge pump controller can be configured to select a VCO gain model based on a comparison of a VCO gain indicator and a threshold value stored in a memory, obtain VCO gain model parameters from the memory corresponding to the selected VCO gain model, and compute a charge pump current control value using the VCO gain model parameters. The charge pump current control value can be used to compensate for VCO gain variations.
US08456240B2	Differential amplifier stage with integrated offset cancellation circuit A differential amplifier stage and method for offset cancellation include an amplifier having an input and an output. An internal offset cancellation circuit has an input for receiving a control signal to control offset cancellation in the amplifier. The offset cancellation circuit is integrated with the amplifier but isolated from the input and the output of the amplifier, and, in accordance with its isolation, an impedance of the stage is unaffected by the offset cancellation circuit.
US08456231B2	Filter circuit In a filter circuit comprising a plurality of low pass filters (LPFs) that are connected in series, each of the plurality of LPFs comprises a switched-capacitor circuit (SC), and a fully-differential amplifier (AMP) which amplifies a signal output from the SC, and outputs the amplified signal. An AMP of an LPF which inputs a signal output from a 1-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) comprises a discrete-time type common-mode feedback circuit, and an AMP of an LPF which outputs a signal output from the filter circuit comprises a continuous-time type common-mode feedback circuit.
US08456230B2	Adaptive filter with coefficient determination based on output of real time clock An adaptive filter implemented in a communication system transmitter or receiver has a real time clock associated therewith, and one or more coefficients of the adaptive filter are determined based at least in part on an output of the real time clock. For example, the adaptive filter may comprise a coefficient update engine and a memory for storing a plurality of sets of adaptive filter coefficients in association with respective time indicators derived from the output of the real time clock, with the coefficient update engine being configured to determine a particular one of the sets of filter coefficients for use by the adaptive filter based at least in part on one or more of the time indicators. The time indicators may comprise respective time stamps generated based on the output of the real time clock at respective times at which the corresponding sets of coefficients are determined.
US08456228B2	Low power reference A low power reference device is disclosed. The low power reference device includes a precision reference module, a low power reference module, a calibration module, an output module and one or more sequencers. The precision reference module is configured to output a first reference signal while the low power reference module is configured to output a second reference signal. The calibration module is configured to receive the first and second reference signals and output a correction signal to the low power reference module. The output module is configured to receive the first and second reference signals and output a final reference signal. The one or more sequencers are configured to drive each of the precision reference modules, low power reference module, calibration module and output module according to a predetermined timing sequence.
US08456225B1	Negative charge pump Generally, this disclosure provides negative charge pump circuitry that is configured to supply a voltage that is less than a reference voltage (such as ground). The charge pump circuitry includes blocking circuitry that reduces or eliminates charge leakage so that a negative voltage may be developed at the output. The charge pump circuitry generally includes complimentary pairs of MOS switches that switch in a complimentary fashion according to charge developed on complimentary capacitors to provide a negative voltage power supply.
US08456223B2	Integrated circuit with power gating An integrated circuit includes a main power rail, a ground power rail as well as a virtual main power rail and a virtual ground power rail. Combinatorial logic circuitry is connected to draw its power from the virtual main power rail and the virtual ground power rail. Signal value storage circuitry is connected to draw its power from one of the main power rail and the ground power rail with the other power connection being to a virtual rail. The integrated circuit has an operational mode, a retention mode and a power off mode. In the retention mode, the voltage difference across the combinatorial logic circuitry is a low power voltage difference insufficient to support data processing operations whereas the voltage difference across the signal value storage circuitry is higher and is sufficient to support signal value retention within the signal value storage circuitry.
US08456222B2	Electronic devices and methods The present invention relates to an electronic device, which comprises: a first module, comprising an I/O pad for being an interface between the electronic device and an external device, and receiving a first bias source; a second module, coupled to the first module, comprising a register, and receiving a second bias source; and a signal converter, coupled between the first module and the second module. Wherein when one of the first and second bias sources is stable and the other is unstable, the signal converter outputs a first predetermined bias value to the first or second modules receiving the unstable bias source.
US08456219B2	H bridge driver circuit A PWM mode for turning on and off two output transistors by an output of a high impedance circuit and a constant voltage mode for controlling voltages at two output terminals by an output of an op amp are provided. Then, the two modes are switched by a switching signal.
US08456217B2	Apparatus for interfacing circuit domains An interface circuit for controlling a cross-domain signal link between a first circuit domain and a second circuit domain in a circuit may include first and second controllers, each of the first and second controllers including a first input coupled to a first voltage source of the first circuit domain and a second input coupled to a second voltage source of the second circuit domain. The interface circuit may further include a first switch controlled by an output of the first controller, the first switch including a first end coupled to the cross-domain signal link and a second end coupled to a first defined voltage state, and a second switch controlled by an output of the second controller, the second switch including a first end coupled to the cross-domain signal link and a second end coupled to a second defined voltage state, in which during a power-up of the circuit, if one of the first and second voltage sources is unavailable, at least one of the first and second controllers generates a control signal to engage at least one of the first and second switches and pull the cross-domain signal link to one of the first and second defined voltage states, while providing cross-domain protection against field-induced charge device model (FICDM) stress conditions at small drivers and receiver inputs connected to the signal interface link.
US08456216B2	Level shifter A level shifter includes a driving signal generating unit, a driving unit, and a current path forming unit. The driving signal generating unit is configured to generate a pull-up signal and a pull-down signal in response to an input signal, which may swing between a first high level and a first low level. The driving unit is configured to generate an output signal swinging between a second high level and a second low level in response to the pull-up signal and the pull-down signal. The current path forming unit is configured to form a current path between the pull-up signal and the pull-down signal in response to the pull-up signal and the pull-down signal.
US08456213B2	Initialization circuit and bank active circuit using the same An initialization circuit comprises a section signal generator generating a section signal, of which a prescribed section is enabled in response to a power-up signal, a first oscillator generating a first period signal in response to the section signal, a first period multiplier generating a first multiplied signal by multiplying a period of the first period signal, and a signal selector transferring the first multiplied signal or a second multiplied signal selectively as a self-refresh enable signal in response to the section signal.
US08456212B2	Duty correcting circuit, delay-locked loop circuit including the circuit, and method of correcting duty A duty correcting circuit includes a duty steerer circuit, a differential clock generator, and a charge pump circuit. The duty steerer circuit corrects a duty cycle of an input clock signal in response to a duty control signal and generates an output clock signal. The differential clock generator generates two internal clock signals having a phase difference of 180° from each other based on the output clock signal. The charge pump circuit performs a charge pump operation in a differential mode in response to the internal clock signals to generate a duty control signal.
US08456208B2	Circuit for clamping current in a charge pump A circuit for clamping current in a charge pump is disclosed. The charge pump includes switching circuitry having a number of switching circuitry transistors. Each of first and second pairs of transistors in the circuit can provide an additional path for current from its associated one of the switching circuitry transistors during off-switching of that transistor so that a spike in current from the switching circuitry transistor is only partially transmitted through a path extending between the switching circuitry transistor and a capacitor of the charge pump.
US08456206B2	Phase-locked loop lock detect Apparatus and methods for detecting a lock in a phase-locked loop (PLL) are disclosed. In one aspect, a lock detect component includes a reference multiplier and a lock detect. The reference multiplier can receive a reference signal, a divider signal, and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) output generated by a VCO in a PLL from which the divider signal is generated. The reference multiplier can also generate a multiplied reference signal using the reference signal and the VCO output. The multiplied reference signal can have a frequency that is an integer multiple of a frequency of the reference signal. The lock detect can detect a phase lock of the reference signal and the divider signal based at least in part on comparing a signal generated from a delayed reference signal and a signal generated from a delayed divider signal for a predetermined period of time.
US08456204B2	Phase-locked loop systems using adaptive low-pass filters in switched bandwidth feedback loops Methods and systems directed toward a PLL circuit including a local lock detector receiving an error signal and providing a lock signal, and a charge pump for receiving the error signal and providing a charge signal. A loop filter provides a first loop filter bandwidth and a second loop filter bandwidth. The loop filter includes a first low-pass filter configured to receive the charge and lock signals, alter a filter characteristic in response to the lock signal, and provide a first filter signal. The loop filter includes a second low-pass filter configured to receive the first filter and lock signals, alter a filter characteristic in response to the lock signal, and provide a loop filter signal. The PLL circuit includes a VCO for receiving the loop filter signal and providing an output signal, and a divider for receiving the output signal and dividing it to provide the reference signal.
US08456202B2	Latch divider There are numerous types of dividers that have been employed at various frequency ranges. For many very high frequency ranges (i.e., above 30 GHz), dividers in CMOS have been developed. However, many of these designs use multiple stages. Here, however, a single stage divider has been provided that is adapted to operate at very high frequencies (i.e., 120 GHz). To accomplish this, it uses parasitic capacitances in conjunction with inductor(s) to form an LC tanks so as to take advantages of parasitics that normal degrade performance.
US08456197B2	Differential data sensing A first sensing circuit has input terminals coupled to a true differential signal line and a complementary differential signal line. A second sensing circuit also has input terminals coupled to said true signal and said complementary signal. Each sensing circuit has a true signal sensing path and a complementary signal sensing path. The first sensing circuit has an imbalance that is biased towards the complementary signal sensing path, while the second sensing circuit has an imbalance that is biased towards the true signal sensing path. Outputs from the first and second sensing circuits are processed by a logic circuit producing an output signal that is indicative of whether there a sufficient differential signal for sensing has been developed between the true differential signal line and the complementary differential signal line.
US08456194B2	Level shifter with primary and secondary pull-up circuits A level shifter includes first and second input terminals, first and second output terminals, first pull-down circuitry operable to pull down one of the first and second output terminals responsive to signals present on the first and second input terminals, first pull-up circuitry operable to pull up the first output terminal responsive to a signal present on the second output terminal or pull up the second output terminal responsive to a signal present on the first output terminal, and second pull-up circuitry operable to pull up one of the first and second output terminals responsive to the signals present on the first and second input terminals.
US08456191B2	Data-driven integrated circuit architecture The exemplary embodiments provide a reconfigurable integrated circuit architecture comprising: a configurable circuit element configurable for a plurality of data operations, each data operation corresponding to a context of a plurality of contexts; a plurality of input queues; a plurality of output queues; one or more configuration and control registers to store, for each context of the plurality of contexts, a plurality of configuration bits, a run status bit, and a plurality of bits designating at least one data input queue and at least one data output queue; and an element controller coupled to the configurable circuit element and to the one or more configuration and control registers, the element controller to allow loading of a context configuration and execution of a data operation upon the arrival of input data in the context-designated data input queue when the context run status is enabled and the context-designated data output queue has a status to accept output data.
US08456189B2	Differential signal termination circuit A multi-mode differential termination circuit has a pair of differential input terminals for receiving external differential signals, a pair of series-connected load elements coupled between said differential input terminals, and an analog interface terminal coupled a common junction point of said load elements. A bias circuit is coupled to the common junction point of the load elements for selectively applying a bias voltage thereto in response to a digital control signal. A control input receives the digital control signal to activate the bias circuit.
US08456187B2	Implementing temporary disable function of protected circuitry by modulating threshold voltage of timing sensitive circuit A method and circuits for implementing a temporary disable function at indeterminate times of circuitry to be protected in a semiconductor chip, such as in an integrated circuit or a system on a chip (SOC) by modulating threshold voltage shifts of a timing sensitive circuit, and a design structure on which the subject circuit resides are provided. The timing sensitive circuit is designed to be sensitive to threshold-voltage shifts and is placed over an independently voltage controlled silicon region. Upon startup, the independently voltage controlled silicon region is grounded, and then is left floating. Each time a hack attempt or predefined functional oddity is detected, charge is applied onto the independently voltage controlled silicon region. After a defined charge has accumulated, the device threshold voltages in the timing sensitive circuit above the independently voltage controlled silicon region are modulated causing the timing-sensitive circuit to fail.
US08456186B2	Reliability evaluation test apparatus, reliability evaluation test system, contactor, and reliability evaluation test method A reliability evaluation test apparatus of this invention includes a wafer storage section which stores a wafer in a state wherein the electrode pads of a number of devices formed on the wafer and the bumps of a contactor are totally in electrical contact with each other. The wafer storage section transmits/receives a test signal to/from a measurement section and has a hermetic and heat insulating structure. The wafer storage section has a pressure mechanism which presses the contactor and a heating mechanism which directly heats the wafer totally in contact with the contactor to a predetermined high temperature. The reliability of an interconnection film and insulating film formed on the semiconductor wafer are evaluated under an accelerated condition.
US08456185B2	Test adapter and method for achieving optical alignment and thermal coupling thereof with a device under test Independent assemblies are compliantly mounted to a force transfer mechanism to optically align and thermally couple a device under test (DUT) to a test apparatus. A first assembly includes an optical connector. The first assembly has an alignment feature and a first compliant interface. A second assembly includes a thermal control member and force transfer members coupled to a structure. A passage permits a portion of the arm of the first assembly to extend through the structure. The force transfer members provide respective seats for an additional compliant interface. The alignment feature engages a corresponding feature to align the optical connector with the DUT before the compliant interfaces compress under an external force. Compliant mounting of the assemblies accommodates manufacturing tolerances in the DUT so that contact forces on the DUT are relatively consistent and thereby enable consistent optical and thermal coupling between the test apparatus and the DUT.
US08456180B2	Capacitive switch reference method An example capacitive switch apparatus comprises a capacitive switch sensor providing a capacitive switch signal, a capacitive reference sensor providing a capacitive reference signal, and an electronic circuit, receiving the switch and reference signals and detecting switch activation by comparing the switch signal level with a threshold level. The threshold level is adjusted as a function of the reference signal level. The reference signal is obtained, for example during periods of operator proximity to the reference sensor. For a finger-operated switch, the reference signal is obtained when a finger is proximate the reference sensor.
US08456177B2	System and method of occupant detection with a resonant frequency An occupant detection system that includes an electrode arranged proximate to an expected location of an occupant for generating an electric field between the electrode and the occupant proximate thereto. An electrical network coupled to the electrode forms a resonant circuit that includes the occupant as part of the resonant circuit. A controller coupled to the resonant circuit is configured to determine a resonant frequency of the resonant circuit indicative of an occupant presence, and a network signal magnitude at the resonant frequency indicative of a humidity value proximate to the electrode. 7. A method for detecting a vehicle applies an excitation signal to the resonant circuit, determine a resonant frequency of the resonant circuit and determines a humidity value based on a network signal magnitude at the resonant frequency.
US08456173B2	Signal acquisition system having probe cable termination in a signal processing instrument A signal acquisition system has a signal acquisition probe having probe tip circuitry coupled to a resistive center conductor signal cable with the signal cable coupled to a signal processing instrument via an input node. The input node is coupled to an input current amplifier via input circuitry. The input circuitry provides at least one of resistive and capacitive termination of the resistive center conductor signal cable. The termination of the resistive center conductor signal cable in the signal processing instrument provides a signal acquisition system where the capacitive loading of a device under test at higher frequencies is reduced by reducing the input capacitance of the probe tip circuitry resulting in an increase in the signal acquisition system bandwidth.
US08456171B2	Semiconductor test system and relay driving test method therefor It is aimed to provide a probe card test system and a relay driving test method for probe cards which can automatically and continuously perform tests without bringing needle tips into contact with a number of relays mounted on a probe card and by using a device. In a probe card test system for testing a probe card using a tester, the probe card includes a substrate having a first probe and a first relay connected to the first probe, a relay controller for the first relay and a first measurement channel for connecting the first relay and the first probe to the tester are further provided on the substrate. The tester includes a DC power supply, a control board for controlling the relay controller for the first relay, and a first measurement circuit connected to the first measurement channel, the DC power supply and a voltmeter. The first measurement circuit includes a first resistor having a predetermined time constant and a first changeover switch to be connected to the first measurement channel. The DC power supply and the first resistor are connected to the first changeover switch, and the first measurement channel is switchingly connected to the DC power supply or the first resistor by the first changeover switch.
US08456168B2	Systems and methods for testing the standoff capability of an overhead power transmission line An overhead power transmission line system includes detector circuitry to detect a flashover event on a power line conductor in response to test over voltage excitations applied to the power line conductor applied. Processing circuitry establishes an operational voltage level for the power line conductor taking into account the lowest applied test over voltage excitation that causes a flashover event.
US08456165B2	Device for highly precise synchronization of the NMR transmission frequency to the resonance frequency of an NMR line while taking into consideration a non-constant RF phase A device has a first control loop (28) with which a frequency RF of an RF generator is synchronized with a resonance frequency F0 of an NMR line. A phase shifter (22) is provided to rotate the radio frequency phase of the NMR receiver system in the first control loop. The phase shifter is controlled by a second control loop (27) whose input signal comes from a signal extraction stage.
US08456164B2	Methods and apparatuses for 3D magnetic density imaging and magnetic resonance imaging Three-dimensional (3D) tomographic image of a target object such as soft-tissue in humans is obtained in the method and apparatus of the present invention. The target object is first magnetized by a polarizing magnetic field pulse. The magnetization of the object is specified by a 3D spatial Magnetic Density image (MDI). The magnetic field due to the magnetized Object is measured in a 3D volume space that extends in all directions Including substantially along the radial direction, not just on a surface as in prior art. This measured data includes additional information overlooked in prior art and this data is processed to obtain a more accurate 3 D image reconstruction in lesser time than in prior art. The methods and apparatuses of the present invention are combined with frequency and phase encoding techniques of Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) technique in prior art to achieve different trade-offs.
US08456161B2	Polarizing nuclei solids via spin transfer from an optically-pumped alkali vapor The present invention relates to a method and system for polarizing a solid compound of interest via spin transfer from an optically-pumped alkali vapor. In one embodiment, the method provides a cell which contains a solid compound as well as pure alkali metal and some amount of buffer gas. The cell is heated to vaporize some of the pure alkali. Resonant laser light is passed through the cell to polarize the atomic vapor, a process known as “optical pumping.” Optical pumping can transfer order from photons to atoms, causing a buildup of vapor atoms in one angular momentum state. This vapor polarization is then transferred through the surface of the solid compound in order to polarize the nuclei in the bulk of the compound. This can produce nuclear polarizations in the sample many times larger than the limit set by thermal equilibrium. The method can be used in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
US08456160B2	Three axis field monitor The gauss meter devices of the present invention are small, low power 3 axis field monitor board which detects DC to slow varying magnetic fields. The unit is designed to be embedded into a system which may be sensitive to magnetic fields and needs to continuously measure the magnitude of the field around it. The unit continuously monitors and logs magnetic fields on X, Y and Z axes and it also logs the vector summation of the X, Y and Z axes. The unit may be controlled and queried by wired serial communication means or by means of an integrated radio frequency (RF) transceiver. The RF transceiver may utilize a proprietary communication protocol or a standard wireless communication protocol such as ZigBee, Bluetooth or any of the IEEE communications standards. The many configuration settings of the device may be changed by the user by issuing commands to the device from an established command set. Novel use is made of solid state electronics to calibrate the unit digitally instead of by the traditional use of mechanical potentiometers, physical trimming of resistors and so forth. Therefore, the units may be calibrated by an automated system. All calibration and configuration data is stored in nonvolatile memory.
US08456159B2	Stabilization system for sensors on moving platforms A stabilized field sensor apparatus collects field data, in particular magnetic field data, with reduced motion noise. The apparatus includes a tear drop shaped housing, a tow frame in the housing, a plurality of vibration isolating dampers spaced around the frame, a base assembly mounted to the dampers, a support pedestal having a bottom end fixed to the base assembly and an upper free end, a single spherical air bearing connected to the upper free end of the pedestal, an instrument platform with a lower hollow funnel having an upper inside apex supported on the air bearing for a one point support, principal and secondary gyro stabilizers for maintaining pivotal and rotational stability, and at least one field sensor mounted to the instrument platform for collecting the field data while being stabilized against motion noise including vibration, pivoting and rotation from the base assembly, from the tow frame and from the housing. Stabilization of the instrument platform is enhanced by preserving accurate balance through a dynamic balancing system whereby small masses are moved under computer control to maintain the center of mass of the instrument platform at the center of rotation of the spherical air bearing. The dynamic stabilization process is made more precise by actively vibrating the instrument platform by a set of linear vibrators.
US08456155B2	Radio-frequency power amplifier A power amplifier includes: an input matching circuit including an inductor, the input matching circuit receiving an input signal and matching input impedances with each other; an amplifier amplifying the input signal that is passed through the input matching circuit; and a test circuit, wherein the test circuit includes: a capacitor connected to the inductor in the input matching circuit through first test switch; a negative resistance transistor provided between the inductor and first voltage source terminal with second test switch being interposed between the inductor and the negative resistance transistor; and a current source transistor provided between second voltage source terminal and the inductor, wherein, in testing, first and second test switches and the current source transistor are turned on to cause the inductor and the test circuit to form a oscillator and, in normal operation, first and second test switches and the current source transistor are turned off.
US08456154B2	Low voltage differential signaling test system and method In a low voltage differential-mode signaling (LVDS) test system and method, a positive signal waveform and a negative signal waveform of an LVDS signal pair are obtained. A differential-mode high voltage, a differential-mode low voltage, and a common-mode noise are measured according to the positive signal waveform and the negative signal waveform. The measurement results are output to an output device.
US08456153B2	Digital multimeter having improved recording functionality A digital multimeter automatically records measurements of electrical or physical parameters. The multimeter may record the measurements based on events such as the passage of time, fluctuations or deviations in the measurements, or user inputs. In some examples, the digital multimeter operates at a reduced power setting during automatic recording operations.
US08456150B2	Hand-held phase-shift detector for sensor applications The invention is directed to a novel phase-shift detector capable of interfacing with an array of sensors. The detector is light-weight, portable and capable of fitting within the palm of a hand. The detector may be used in conjunction with a variety of diagnostic, biosensor and chemical sensor applications.
US08456145B2	Device and method for single board energy-saving and single board The embodiments of the present invention disclose a single board energy-saving device, which includes: a power calculation module, configured to detect the input current of the single board, and calculate the real-time power of the single board according to the detected input current and a previously measured and obtained input voltage of the single board; a single board energy-saving control module, configured to determine the load condition of the single board according to the real-time power of the single board and send a voltage adjustment command according to the load condition; a power supply adjustment module, configured to receive the voltage adjustment command and adjust the bus voltage of the single board according to the voltage adjustment command. The corresponding embodiments of the present invention also disclose a single board energy-saving method and a single board. Through the foregoing technical solutions, energy-saving is realized for the single board.
US08456144B2	Power supply with non-isolated DC DC splitting A power supply with non-isolated DC DC splitting includes n conversion cells that are interlaced. The splitting switch of each cell is placed in a resonant circuit. The resonant circuit makes it possible to obtain a switching to the open state of said switch at zero current and voltage. The ripple at the input and output is minimized and the efficiency improved. In particular, the wiring inductances in the charge transfer loop of each cell no longer have negative effects on the efficiency. The cell may be of boost, buck, buck/boost, Cuk or SEPIC topology.
US08456142B2	System and method for powering an information handling system in multiple power states Power is supplied to an information handling system chipset with a single voltage regulator having dual phases. A first phase of the voltage regulator provides power to a low power state power rail in an independent mode to support a low power state, such as a suspend or hibernate state. A second phase of the voltage regulator provides power to a run power state power rail in combination with the first phase by activation of a switch, such as a MOSFET load switch, that connects the low power state power rail and the run power state power rail. Voltage sensed from both power rails is applied to control voltage output so that the run power state power rail is maintained within more precise constraints than the low power state power rail.
US08456141B2	Boost converter with integrated high power discrete FET and low voltage controller A boost converter for high power and high output voltage applications includes a low voltage controller integrated circuit and a high voltage, vertical, discrete field effect transistor, both of which are packed in a single package on separate electrically isolated die pads.
US08456133B2	Control method of battery-system for improving safety Disclosed herein are a method of controlling the operation of battery modules in a battery system, which includes two or more battery modules or battery module assemblies, wherein the battery system further includes energy consuming loads for consuming charged energy, and the method includes, when a specific battery module or a specific battery module assembly is abnormally operated, connecting the abnormally operated battery module or the abnormally operated battery module assembly to the corresponding energy consuming load to forcibly discharge the charged energy, and a battery system that is capable of performing the battery system control method.
US08456132B2	Secondary battery system A secondary battery system that is light in weight and low in cost is provided, which comprises a plurality of secondary batteries connected in series. A plurality of first diodes each has an anode connected to a negative electrode of the corresponding secondary battery. A plurality of second diodes each has a cathode connected to a positive electrode of the corresponding secondary battery. A plurality of capacitors is each connected to a junction portion between the cathode of the first diode and the anode of the second diode. An alternating current power source is commonly connected to the junction portions through the capacitors.
US08456131B2	Smart wall plate An apparatus for providing electricity to a portable electronic device comprising: a wall plate that surrounds and attaches to an electrical wall receptacle, a charging cradle with a platform for supporting a portable electronic device; a male charging connector coupled to an opening slot in the charging cradle's platform, wherein the charging connector is insertable into a female charging port of a portable electronic device; and a transformer circuit coupled to the male charging connector, wherein the transformer circuit transforms a receiving electricity to an output electricity having an output voltage, an output current and an output wattage wherein the output electricity is within a range sufficient for charging the portable electronic device.
US08456130B2	Method and apparatus for utilizing recycled batteries to surface charge an automobile battery Method and apparatus comprising used batteries for surface charging an automobile battery. A surface charge provides a time limited window in which to start a vehicle comprising a surface charged battery for example. Use of used batteries provides for environmentally effective manner in which to deal with the tremendous amount of used batteries that are discarded worldwide each year. The apparatus may comprise a charging circuit to allow for recharging the used batteries. Recharging “non-rechargeable” batteries at least once provides a destination for used batteries that have until now been discarded. Embodiments may comprise an LED to signify when a target battery comprises sufficient surface charge to warrant an attempt to start an engine. The apparatus is a small portable device that can stored anywhere in a vehicle.
US08456129B2	Outdoor monitoring system An outdoor monitoring system includes a camera, a direct-current adapter, a solar cell unit and a power management unit. The power management unit includes a controller, a rechargeable power source, a first voltage detection circuit, and a second voltage detection circuit. The first voltage detection circuit detects a charging voltage of the solar cell unit for charging the rechargeable power source. The second voltage detection circuit detects an output voltage of the rechargeable power source applied to the camera. The controller selectively connects the rechargeable power source or the direct-current adapter to the camera according to the output voltage and connects or disconnects the rechargeable power source to the solar cell unit according the output voltage and the charging voltage.
US08456127B2	Method of obtaining image of disc and apparatus for driving disc Provided is a method of obtaining an image of a disc, in which the method obtains an image of an analysis or test result object of a disc by minimizing a difference between the positionings of a magnet of the disc and a magnet of a feeding unit, and an apparatus for driving a disc, wherein the apparatus performs the method. The method includes: fixing a positioning of a disc by using magnetic attraction between a first magnet installed on the disc and a second magnet installed on a feeding unit; minimizing a difference between the positionings of the first and second magnets; and obtaining an image of an analysis or test result object of the disc.
US08456124B2	Parallel mechanism A parallel mechanism includes a base portion, a bracket to which an end effecter is attached, a plurality of actuators attached to the base portion, a plurality of arms through which the plurality of actuators and the bracket are coupled together in parallel, and a control device arranged to control the actuators. When the end effecter in a stopped state is moved to a target position, the control device is arranged to control the actuators so that a level of acceleration at which the end effecter is accelerated is higher than a level of deceleration at which the end effecter is decelerated.
US08456123B2	Conveyance system and automated manufacturing system A conveyance system. The conveyance system includes a movable device for conveying an article, and a robot selected from the group consisting of an articulated robot and an orthogonal robot. The movable device is configured to be both vertically and horizontally movable; and, the robot is mounted on the movable device. The robot includes a hand and a gripper disposed on the hand. The gripper is configured to hold the article. The movable device and the robot are configured to convey the article in conveyance operations that include an extraction, a conveyance, and an installation, of the article; the range of the conveyance operations lies within a working range of the robot from a present position that is selected with priority. The movable device is configured to remain in a stationary state when the article is conveyed by the robot using the conveyance operations within the working range.
US08456119B2	Driving device of brushless DC motor for fan and driving method thereof A driving device of a brushless DC motor for a fan includes a protection circuit, a storage circuit, a control circuit and a bridge circuit. The protection circuit is electrically connected with an auxiliary power. The storage circuit electrically connected with the protection circuit receives the auxiliary power. The control circuit is electrically connected with the protection circuit and the storage circuit. The bridge circuit electrically connected with the control circuit has a first switching unit, a second switching unit, a third switching unit and a fourth switching unit. The first and second switching units are coupled with one end of a motor coil. The third switching unit and the fourth switching unit are coupled with the other end of the motor coil. The first switching unit is electrically connected with the third switching unit, and the second switching unit is electrically connected with the fourth switching unit.
US08456116B2	Power supply system and method with remote variable frequency drive (VFD) In at least some embodiments, a system includes a first remote tool. The system also includes a variable frequency drive (VFD) coupled to the first remote tool, wherein the output of the VFD powers the first tool and wherein at least part of the VFD is in situ with the first remote tool.
US08456113B2	Electric switch An electric switch for an electric tool with an electric motor. The switch has first electrical terminals for electrical connection to a voltage supply and second electrical terminals for electrical connection to the electric motor. The switch has an actuating mechanism which can be adjusted between an initial position and a final position, wherein the electric motor is switched off when the actuating mechanism is located in the initial position and is switched on when the actuating mechanism is not located in the initial position. The switch also has a braking circuit for braking the electric motor, the braking circuit operating when the actuating mechanism is reset to the initial position. The switch also has a reversal circuit for switching over the direction of rotation of the electric motor. The braking circuit is arranged between the second electrical terminals and the reversal circuit.
US08456112B2	Control of a linear motor Disclosed is a linear electric motor having a fixed primary comprising a stator divided into a number of sections, including a translating secondary having an operative length longer than any two adjacent sections of the stator in the form of a reaction plate, and a connecting means for connecting only those sections of the stator that are at least partially covered by the reaction plate. The position of the reaction plate relative to the stator is determined by monitoring current in the active representative sections. Power is supplied to each stator section individually, with power supplied in a modulated manner to end active stator sections only partially covered by the reaction plate. A measurement of the current to the active representative section is used to control output voltage to all energized stator sections and is used to determine the change in position of the reaction plate.
US08456109B1	Lighting system having a dimming color simulating an incandescent light A lighting system has a white light source and a color light source, a control circuit pulses the white and color light sources and changes relative duty cycles of the light sources to alter a color output of the lighting fixture, in response to a change in a control signal from a controller. A comparator compares a reference voltage relating to an aggregate current driving the light sources to a signal voltage relating to the periodic signal from a signal generator. The comparator controls a switch that controls one of the light sources. A duty cycle of the color light source varies inversely to a duty cycle of the white light source.
US08456106B2	LED driver with extended dimming range and method for achieving the same A circuit for powering of a Light Emitting Diode (LED) string has a switching power converter. A brightness control circuit is coupled to the switching power converter to allow a duration of a conductive state of the power converter to exceed a duration of a conductive state of the LED string for maintaining a current magnitude in the LED string constant.
US08456105B2	Driving circuit capable of enhancing energy conversion efficiency and driving method thereof A driving circuit includes a switch, a detecting unit, and a current supply unit. A first terminal of the switch is used for coupling to a first terminal of a first LED group of a plurality of LED groups and receiving a first voltage, and a third terminal of the switch is used for coupling to a first terminal of a last LED group of the plurality of LED groups. The detecting unit is used for outputting a switch control signal to a second terminal of the switch for controlling turning-on and turning-off of the switch. The current supply unit has a plurality of input current terminals, and a ground terminal coupled to ground, where each input current terminal of the plurality of input current terminals is used for coupling to a second terminal of a corresponding LED group of the plurality of LED groups.
US08456103B2	Current regulator apparatus and methods An apparatus according to the present invention provides regulated pulsed current to an LED from a voltage source such as a rectified AC voltage. The present inventions provide methods for delivering regulated pulsed current to an LED from the voltage source.
US08456096B2	Thermally controlled driver/switching regulator, and methods of controlling and/or regulating a driver and/or switching regulator Circuits for regulating and/or controlling integrated circuits such as drivers and switching regulators generally include a first switch configured to control or regulate a current, voltage drop or voltage boost; a first regulator or driver configured to transmit first pulses to the first switch, the pulses having a first pulse width; and pulse width modulation circuitry configured to (i) reduce the first pulse width when a first thermal threshold is met and (ii) increase the first pulse width when a second thermal threshold is met, the second thermal threshold being less than the first thermal threshold.
US08456084B2	Organic light-emitting device A organic light-emitting device includes a substrate including at least a base material, at least one organic light-emitting element which includes (a) a pair of electrodes provided on the substrate and an organic compound layer disposed between the pair of electrodes, and (b) provides a light-emitting area, an inorganic sealing layer provided on the organic light-emitting element and the surface of the substrate, and an adhesion layer which is provided between the substrate and the inorganic sealing layer and only on the periphery of the light-emitting area for closely contacting the surface of the substrate and the inorganic sealing layer, and inhibits moisture from intruding at an edge of the inorganic sealing layer.
US08456083B2	Lighting device One object is to provide a lighting device having a large irradiation range at low cost. One object is to provide a lighting device with improved light extraction efficiency at low cost. The lighting device includes a light-transmitting base, a first light-transmitting electrode formed over almost the whole area of a surface of the light-transmitting base, an EL layer over the first light-transmitting electrode, and a second electrode over the EL layer. The light-transmitting base has a cylindrical shape, a conical shape, a prismatic shape, or a pyramidal shape whose bottom surface is the surface of the light-transmitting base.
US08456082B2	Surface-emission light source with uniform illumination An extended area uniform light source providing uniform luminance is taught for displays and other applications where the light emission can be planar or have curvature. The uniform light source is achieved using a combination of a blue light-emitting electroluminescent layer and a highly stable inorganic photoluminescent color conversion layer to tailor the color spectrum of the emitted light. The invention thus encompasses the uniform light source, displays incorporating the uniform light sources as well of methods of making such light sources and displays.
US08456080B2	Display device for detecting misregistration and width variation and method of manufacturing same A display device capable of early finding a sign such as misregistration or width variation of an emission layer formed by a layer transfer method, and a manufacturing method of the same are provided. In an inspection region 150 outside of an effective region 110, inspection pixels Px2 made up of organic light-emitting elements 10R, 10G and 10B are provided, and a distance W2 between the inspection pixels Px2 on both sides of a color targeted for inspection is shorter than a distance W1 between display pixels Px1 on both sides of the color targeted for inspection. Based on a change in a chromaticity or a spectrum shape of EL or PL light emission of the inspection pixel Px2, a sign such as misregistration of a red-light emission layer 15CR, a green-light emission layer 15CG, is found at an early stage.
US08456075B2	Fluorescent lamp for cold environments The invention relates to a fluorescent lamp (1) adapted for cold environments, which comprises an elongated main tube (11), fixing devices (12) at each end of the fluorescent lamp (1) for fixing the fluorescent lamp (1) in a light fitting (27), two electrodes (15) placed inside the main tube (11), a heat-insulating outer tube (20) that surrounds the main tube (11) and creates an airspace (22) between the main tube (11) and the outer tube (20). Each fixing device (12) comprises an end cap (41) with a radial part (41b), that delimits an outer end plane of the fluorescent lamp (1), and with an axial peripheral part (41a), that is connected to an end of the outer tube (20). An axial spacer (29, 31) with low heat conductivity has a first end part (33) that is connected to an end (34) of the main tube (11) and a second end part (38) that adjoins the outer end plane and keeps the main tube (11) separate from the end cap (41) in order to reduce the transmission of heat from the main tube (11) to the end cap (41) and the outer tube (20).
US08456071B2	Structure of spark plug designed to ensure improved productivity A spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine. The spark plug is equipped with a metal shell, a ground electrode joined to the metal shell, and a center electrode disposed in the metal shell. The ground electrode has a protrusion formed on a top end thereof. The metal shell and the ground electrode are covered with a plated layer which has a thickness of 2 μm to 18 μm, which minimizes the possibility of peeling of the plated layer from the ground electrode while keeping the plated layer as thin as possible without sacrificing the resistance to corrosion on the ground electrode.
US08456066B2	Piezoelectric / electrostrictive material, piezoelectric / electrostrictive ceramic composition, piezoelectric / electrostrictive element, and piezoelectric motor There is provided a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element having little decease of Qm even in a high electric field in the case of a piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive body is characterized in that the rate of Qm in an electric field of 10 V/mm is 30% or more with respect to Qm in an electric field of 1 V/mm.
US08456065B2	Stiffness-enhanced surface-mounted piezoelectric devices Surface-mounted piezoelectric devices are disclosed, of which an exemplary device includes a tuning-fork type piezoelectric vibrating piece having a base portion and a pair of vibrating arms extending from the base portion. The device includes a package defined by a wall. The package includes a cavity accommodating the tuning-fork type piezoelectric vibrating piece and at least one columnar body situated between the vibrating arms in the cavity.
US08456062B2	Surface acoustic wave sensor device and method of controlling liquid using the same A surface acoustic wave sensor device includes a main body and a liquid controller disposed external to the main body. The main body includes a sample chamber, a surface acoustic wave sensor connected to the sample chamber, a first disposal chamber connected to the surface acoustic wave sensor and channels connecting the sample chamber, the surface acoustic wave sensor and the first disposal chamber. The liquid controller controls flow of a sample through the main body.
US08456056B2	Rotor core for rotating electric machine A rotor core for a rotary electric machine includes a plurality of ring-shaped core plates. The core plates are formed by joining arc-shaped segments. The core plate segments each include a protruding portion that is formed on one surface of each of the segments and has an end in the circumferential direction that is arc-shaped, and a recessed portion that is formed on the other surface and has an end in the circumferential direction that is arc-shaped, and to which the protruding portion of the core plate segment of another layer is fitted when the core plates are laminated. An interference fit is provided between the protruding portion width of the core plates and the recessed portion of the core plates in the radial direction and a loose fit is provided in the circumferential direction.
US08456055B2	Core block, and magnetic pole core using core blocks for motor A core block has an arm portion, and a yoke portion extending circumferentially at an end of the arm portion. At least the yoke portion is configured such that a plurality of core segments are stacked in multiple levels in an axial or radial direction. Each of the core blocks has engaging portions formed at respective opposite ends of the yoke portion and adapted to connect adjacent core blocks. In a first-level core segment, each of the engaging portions has a protrusion extending circumferentially from a corresponding one of the opposite ends of the yoke portion, and a recess juxtaposed radially to the protrusion and adapted to receive the protrusion of an adjacent core block. In a second-level core segment, each of the engaging portions has the protrusion and the recess provided in positionally reversed relation with those of the first-level core segment with respect to the radial direction.
US08456049B2	Drive apparatus A heat sink is provided on a motor. A power module is provided on the heat sink to switch current supply to motor coils. A control circuit substrate is arranged on the heat sink and connected electrically to the power module. A power circuit substrate is connected electrically to the power module and arranged at an opposite side of the control circuit substrate relative to the heat sink. A control circuit connector is electrically connected to the control circuit substrate. A power circuit connector is electrically connected to the power circuit substrate. The control circuit connector and the power circuit connector are arranged between the control circuit substrate and the power circuit substrate.
US08456042B2	Linear vibrator A linear vibrator is disclosed. The linear vibrator includes a cover, a base forming a hollow space together with the cover and defining a plurality of sidewalls, a pair of elastic members received in the hollow space, a weight with a plurality of laterals suspended in the hollow space by the elastic members, and a magnet assembly provided with a plurality of magnetic poles and accommodated in the weight. Each elastic member defines at least a fastening arm comprising a connecting portion, an inner arm extending from one end of the connecting portion for abutting against the lateral of the weight, and an outer arm extending from another end of the connecting portion for abutting against the sidewall of the base. The extending direction of the inner arm and the outer arm of each fastening arm is the same. The magnetic poles of magnet assembly near the coil are opposite to each other. A height of the linear vibrator with the structure can be reduced.
US08456038B2	Adjustable inductive power transmission platform An adjustable inductive power transmission platform includes inductive power outlets embedded into adjustable modules having multiple configurations. The inductive power outlets are configured to couple with inductive power receivers to provide power to electrical loads wired thereto. The multiple configurations of the adjustable modules allow the position of the inductive power outlets to be adjusted to match the locations of inductive receivers to suit changing requirements.
US08456037B2	Shunt switch, semiconductor device, module and electronic device A shunt switch allowed to improve isolation, a semiconductor device, a module and an electronic device each of which includes the shunt switch are provided. The shunt switch includes: a transmission line, a ground; and a shunt line electrically coupling the transmission line and the ground, in which two or more of the shunt lines are arranged in parallel to one another, and an impedance between the two or more shunt lines is higher than an impedance of the transmission line.
US08456035B2	Power supply controller Main arrays (MA1-MAm) of solar cells (2) are provided so as to correspond to shunt circuits (SM1-SMm), respectively. Charge arrays (CA1-CAn) are provided so as to correspond to shunt circuits (SC1-SCn) and charging circuits (CH1-CHn), respectively. Each shut circuit operates independently from other shunt circuits, and each charging circuit operates independently from other charging circuits.
US08456032B2	Rotational kinetic energy conversion system An energy conversion system for converting between one form of input energy selected from a mechanical energy and electrical energy, and an output energy selected from a mechanical energy and electrical energy using a linearly displaced magnetic component interacting with an orbitally displaced magnetic component.
US08456031B1	Underwater pumped-hydro energy storage Device and methods associated with underwater pumped-hydro energy storage are disclosed. An underwater pumped-hydro energy storage device includes a submersible tank that includes an inlet and an outlet. A pump is disposed at the outlet of the submersible tank to evacuate water from the submersible tank in a surrounding body of water. A valve is disposed at the inlet of the at least one submersible tank to control a flow of the water into the submersible tank from the surrounding body of water. Moreover, a turbine power unit is to generate output electrical power from the flow water into the submersible tank.
US08456022B2	Weldable contact and method for the production thereof A solderable contact for use with an electrical component includes a pad metallization on a substrate, and an under bump metallization over at least part of the pad metallization. The under bump metallization is in an area for receiving solder. The pad metallization is structured to reveal parts of the substrate surface. The under bump metallization is in direct contact with the parts of the substrate.
US08456011B2	Method to control metal semiconductor micro-structure A method of forming a metal semiconductor alloy that includes forming an intermixed metal semiconductor region to a first depth of a semiconductor substrate without thermal diffusion. The intermixed metal semiconductor region is annealed to form a textured metal semiconductor alloy. A second metal layer is formed on the textured metal semiconductor alloy. The second metal layer on the textured metal semiconductor alloy is then annealed to form a metal semiconductor alloy contact, in which metal elements from the second metal layer are diffused through the textured metal semiconductor alloy to provide a templated metal semiconductor alloy. The templated metal semiconductor alloy includes a grain size that is greater than 2× for the metal semiconductor alloy, which has a thickness ranging from 15 nm to 50 nm.
US08456008B2	Structure and process for the formation of TSVs An integrated circuit structure includes a semiconductor substrate; an interconnect structure over the semiconductor substrate, wherein the interconnect structure comprises a top inter-metal dielectric (IMD); an opening penetrating the interconnect structure into the semiconductor substrate; a conductor in the opening; and an isolation layer having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion physically connected to each other. The vertical portion is on sidewalls of the opening. The horizontal portion is directly over the interconnect structure. The integrated circuit structure is free from passivation layers vertically between the top IMD and the horizontal portion of the isolation layer.
US08456005B2	Transparent conductive film and method for producing the same A transparent conductive film which is excellent in transparency, electrical conductivity, in-plane uniformity and durability is disclosed, comprisinga metal conductive pattern and a transparent conductive material on a transparent film substrate, wherein the transparent conductive material contains a conductive polymer and at least one of a conductive fiber and a conductive metal. A production method thereof is also disclosed.
US08455997B2	High power semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes an insulating substrate, a metal pattern formed on the insulating substrate, a power terminal bonded onto the metal pattern, and a plurality of power chips bonded onto the metal pattern. The plurality of power chips are all separated from the power terminal by a distance sufficient to thermally isolate the plurality of power chips from the power terminal.
US08455996B1	Wafer level packaging method and a packaging structure using thereof The present invention discloses a wafer level packaging method and a packaging structure for packaging a first wafer and a second wafer. The first wafer has a back side and an active side, and further, the active side of the first wafer has a MEMS element. The step of forming two through silicon vias is performed first. A first electrical interconnect and a first bonding ring are formed on the active side of the first wafer. The former connects with one of the through silicon vias, the later surrounds the MEMS element and connects with the other of the through silicon vias. The step of forming a second bonding ring and a second electrical interconnect is then performed. And then, a voltage will be applied to the through silicon vias through the back side of the first wafer.
US08455993B2	Integrated circuit packaging system with multiple row leads and method of manufacture thereof A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: forming a first lead adjacent and staggered to a second lead, the first lead having a first external connection portion with a first external conductive layer and a first internal connection portion, the first external connection portion oriented laterally outwards from the first internal connection portion, and the second lead having a second external connection portion with a second external conductive layer and a second internal connection portion; connecting an integrated circuit device with the first internal connection portion and with the second internal connection portion; forming an encapsulation over the integrated circuit device with the first lead and the second lead exposed; and forming a solder mask on the encapsulation, on the first lead, and on the second lead with the first external conductive layer and the second external conductive layer exposed from the solder mask.
US08455988B2	Integrated circuit package system with bumped lead and nonbumped lead An integrated circuit package system includes: forming an external interconnect; forming a terminal having a cavity adjacent to and downset from a portion the external interconnect; connecting a first integrated circuit with the external interconnect; and forming an encapsulation over the first integrated circuit with cavity filled with the encapsulation, the terminal extending from the encapsulation, and the external interconnect partially exposed from the encapsulation.
US08455987B1	Electrically isolated power semiconductor package with optimized layout A packaged power semiconductor device is provided with voltage isolation between a metal backside and terminals of the device. The packaged power semiconductor device is arranged in an encapsulant defining a hole for receiving a structure for physically coupling the device to an object. A direct-bonded copper (“DBC”) substrate is used to provide electrical isolation and improved thermal transfer from the device to a heatsink. At least one power semiconductor die is mounted to a first metal layer of the DBC substrate. The first metal layer spreads heat generated by the semiconductor die. In one embodiment, the packaged power semiconductor device conforms to a TO-247 outline and is capable of receiving a screw for physically coupling the device to a heatsink.
US08455985B2	Integrated circuit devices having selectively strengthened composite interlayer insulation layers and methods of fabricating the same An integrated circuit device includes a plurality of stacked circuit layers, at least one of the plurality of circuit layers including a composite interlayer insulation layer including laterally adjacent first and second insulating material regions having different mechanical strengths and dielectric properties and a plurality of circuit components disposed in the composite interlayer insulation layer. The first insulating material region may have a lower dielectric constant and a lower mechanical strength than the second insulating material region such that, for example, the first insulating material region may be positioned near signal lines or other circuit features to reduce capacitance while using the second insulating material region near a location that is susceptible to localized mechanical stress, such as a fuse location, an external connection bonding location or a scribe line location.
US08455984B2	Integrated circuit structure and method of forming the same A method of forming an integrated circuit structure comprises the steps of: providing a semiconductor substrate having a first side and a second side opposite the first side; forming a hole extending from the first side of the semiconductor substrate into the semiconductor substrate; filling the hole with conductive material; thinning the second side of the semiconductor substrate to a first predetermined thickness, so that the bottom of the hole does not protrude from the second side of the semiconductor substrate; and etching the second side of the semiconductor substrate to a second predetermined thickness, thereby exposing the bottom of the hole.
US08455981B2	Doped graphene electronic materials A graphene substrate is doped with one or more functional groups to form an electronic device.
US08455979B2	Three dimensional integrated deep trench decoupling capacitors A method of forming an integrated circuit device includes forming a plurality of deep trench decoupling capacitors on a first substrate; forming a plurality of active circuit devices on a second substrate; bonding the second substrate to the first substrate; and forming electrical connections between the deep trench capacitors and the second substrate.
US08455978B2	Semiconductor circuit structure and method of making the same A semiconductor circuit structure includes an interconnect region, and a material transfer region. The semiconductor circuit structure includes a conductive bonding region which couples the material transfer region to the interconnect region through a bonding interface. The conductive bonding region includes a barrier layer between a conductive layer and bonding layer. The bonding layer is positioned towards the material transfer region, and the conductive layer is positioned towards the interconnect region.
US08455976B2	Semiconductor device and method of blowing fuse thereof A semiconductor device comprises an active region including a core circuit forming region and a buffer forming region, and a fuse element forming region arranged on a corner of the active region and to be able to be electrically fused. It is possible to arrange the fuse element without forming the fuse in the core circuit forming region by arranging the fuse element forming region at the corner of the active region.
US08455974B2	N well implants to separate blocks in a flash memory device A semiconductor memory device that has an isolated area formed from one conductivity and formed in part by a buried layer of a second conductivity that is implanted in a substrate. The walls of the isolated area are formed by implants that are formed from the second conductivity and extend down to the buried layer. The isolated region has implanted source lines and is further subdivided by overlay strips of the second conductivity that extend substantially down to the buried layer. Each isolation region can contain one or more blocks of memory cells.
US08455971B2	Apparatus and method for improving charge transfer in backside illuminated image sensor The present disclosure provides an image sensor device and a method of forming the image sensor device. In an example, an image sensor device includes a substrate having a front surface and a back surface; a sensor element disposed at the front surface of the substrate, the sensor element being operable to sense radiation projected toward the back surface of the substrate; and a transparent conductive layer disposed over the back surface of the substrate, the transparent conductive layer at least partially overlying the sensor element. The transparent conductive layer is configured for being electrically coupled to a bottom portion of the sensor element.
US08455970B2	Lead frame assembly, package structure and LED package structure A package structure is adapted for mounting at least one light emitting diode (LED) die. The package structure includes an insulating housing having a top surface that is formed with a cavity, and a lead frame unit. The lead frame unit includes a first lead frame portion and a second lead frame portion. The first lead frame portion is covered by the insulating housing, and has a die-bonding area exposed within the cavity and adapted for mounting the LED die. The second lead frame portion is covered by the insulating housing, and has a conductive surface exposed outwardly of the top surface of the insulating housing and adapted for electrical connection with an end of a conductive wire.
US08455968B2	Storage element and memory device Disclosed herein is a storage element, including: a storage layer which has magnetization vertical to a film surface and in which a direction of the magnetization is changed in correspondence to information; a magnetization fixing layer which has magnetization vertical to a film surface becoming a reference of the information stored in the storage layer, which is composed of plural magnetic layers, and which has a multilayered ferri-pin structure into which the plural magnetic layers are laminated one upon another through a non-magnetic layer(s); and an insulating layer made of a non-magnetic material and provided between the storage layer and the magnetization fixing layer.
US08455967B2	Memory element and memory device There is disclosed a memory element including a layered structure including a memory layer that has magnetization perpendicular to a film face and a magnetization direction thereof varies corresponding to information; a magnetization-fixed layer that has magnetization that is perpendicular to the film face; and an insulating layer that is provided between the memory layer. An electron that is spin-polarized is injected in a lamination direction of the layered structure, and thereby the magnetization direction of the memory layer varies and a recording of information is performed with respect to the memory layer, a magnitude of an effective diamagnetic field which the memory layer receives is smaller than a saturated magnetization amount of the memory layer, and the memory layer and the magnetization-fixed layer have a film thickness in such a manner that an interface magnetic anisotropy energy becomes larger than a diamagnetic energy.
US08455960B2	High performance HKMG stack for gate first integration Semiconductor devices are formed with a silicide interface between the work function layer and polycrystalline silicon. Embodiments include forming a high-k/metal gate stack by: forming a high-k dielectric layer on a substrate, forming a work function metal layer on the high-k dielectric layer, forming a silicide on the work function metal layer, and forming a poly Si layer on the silicide. Embodiments include forming the silicide by: forming a reactive metal layer in situ on the work function layer, forming an a-Si layer in situ on the entire upper surface of the reactive metal layer, and annealing concurrently with forming the poly Si Layer.
US08455956B2	Multi-drain semiconductor power device and edge-termination structure thereof An embodiment of a semiconductor power device provided with: a structural body made of semiconductor material with a first conductivity, having an active area housing one or more elementary electronic components and an edge area delimiting externally the active area; and charge-balance structures, constituted by regions doped with a second conductivity opposite to the first conductivity, extending through the structural body both in the active area and in the edge area in order to create a substantial charge balance. The charge-balance structures are columnar walls extending in strips parallel to one another, without any mutual intersections, in the active area and in the edge area.
US08455953B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing semiconductor device A sinker layer is in contact with a first conductivity-type well and a second conductivity-type drift layer, respectively, and is separated from a first conductivity-type collector layer. A second conductivity-type diffusion layer (second second-conductivity-type high-concentration diffusion layer) is formed in the surface layer of the sinker layer. The second conductivity-type diffusion layer has a higher impurity concentration than that of the sinker layer. The second conductivity-type diffusion layer and the first conductivity-type collector layer are isolated from each other with an element isolation insulating film interposed therebetween.
US08455951B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a rectangular shape, and a via hole that has an elliptic shape or a track shape having a linear portion in a long-axis direction of the track shape, a long axis of the elliptic shape or the track shape being arranged in a long-side direction of the substrate.
US08455949B2	ESD protection element and ESD protection device for use in an electrical circuit An ESD protection element for use in an electrical circuit having a fin structure or a fully depleted silicon-on-insulator structure. The fin structure or the fully depleted silicon-on-insulator structure contains a first connection region having a first conductivity type; a second connection region having a second conductivity type, which is opposite to the first conductivity type; and also a plurality of body regions which are formed alongside one another and which are formed between the first connection region and the second connection region. The body regions alternately have the first conductivity type and the second conductivity type. The ESD protection element has at least one gate region formed on or above at least one of the plurality of body regions, and also at least one gate control device which is electrically coupled to the at least one gate region.
US08455947B2	Device and method for coupling first and second device portions This disclosure relates to devices and methods relating to coupled first and second device portions.
US08455946B2	Lateral stack-type super junction power semiconductor device A lateral stack-type super junction power semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate; an epitaxial stack structure on the semiconductor substrate, having a first epitaxial layer and a second epitaxial layer; a drain structure embedded in the epitaxial stack structure and extending along a first direction; a plurality of gate structures embedded in the epitaxial stack structure and arranged in a segmental manner along the first direction; a source structure between the plurality of gate structures; and an ion well encompassing the source structure.
US08455944B2	Semiconductor device having a trench-gate transistor A semiconductor device includes, on a semiconductor substrate, an active region surrounded by an STI region, a gate trench formed in one direction transverse to the active region, a gate insulating film formed on a side surface of the gate trench, an insulating film formed on a bottom of the gate trench and thicker than the gate insulating film, and a gate electrode having at least a part of the gate electrode formed in the gate trench. Portions of the semiconductor substrate present in the active region and located on both sides of the gate trench in an extension direction of the gate trench function as a source region and a drain region, respectively. A portion of the semiconductor substrate located between the side surface of the active region (the side of the STI region) and the side surface of the gate trench functions as a channel region.
US08455942B2	Semiconductor device having vertical-type channel A semiconductor device includes an active region including a surface region and a first recess formed below the surface region, the active region extending along a first direction; a device isolation structure provided on an edge of the active region; a gate line traversing over the surface region of the active region along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; a second recess formed in the device isolation structure to receive a given portion of the gate line into the second recess; a first junction region formed in the active region beneath the first recess and on a first side of the gate line; and a second junction region formed on a second side of the gate line and above the first junction region. The first and second junction regions define a vertical-type channel that extends along lateral and vertical directions.
US08455941B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing the same A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a stacked body including electrode films stacked in a first direction; a conductive pillar piercing the stacked body in the first direction; an inner insulating film, a semiconductor pillar, an intermediate insulating film, a memory layer, and an outer insulating film provided between the conductive pillar and the electrode films. The inner insulating film is provided around a side face of the conductive pillar. The semiconductor pillar is provided around a side face of the inner insulating film. The intermediate insulating film is provided around a side face of the semiconductor pillar. The memory layer is provided around a side face of the intermediate insulating film. The outer insulating film is provided around a side face of the memory layer.
US08455938B2	Device comprising a field-effect transistor in a silicon-on-insulator The present invention relates to a semiconductor device that has a semiconductor-on-insulator (SeOI) structure, which includes a substrate, an insulating layer such as an oxide layer on the substrate and a semiconductor layer on the insulating layer with a field-effect-transistor (FET) formed in the SeOI structure from the substrate and deposited layers, wherein the FET has a channel region in the substrate, a gate dielectric layer that is made from at least a part of the oxide layer of the SeOI structure; and a gate electrode that is formed at least partially from a part of the semiconductor layer of the SeOI structure. The invention further relates to a method of forming one or more field-effect-transistors or metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors from a semiconductor-on-insulator structure that involves patterning and etching the SeOI structure, forming shallow trench isolations, depositing insulating, metal or semiconductor layers, and removing mask and/or pattern layers.
US08455936B2	Configurable memory sheet and package assembly A configurable memory sheet includes a plurality of segmentable memory banks arranged on a repeating grid such that the plurality of segmentable memory banks can be configured for applications with a variety of circuit elements, where the plurality of segmentable memory banks are configured into memories by their connections to the variety of circuit elements.
US08455934B2	Image sensor having four-transistor or five-transistor pixels with reset noise reduction The invention relates to image sensors produced with CMOS technology, whose individual pixels, arranged in an array of rows and columns, each consist of a photodiode (PD1) associated with a charge storage region (N2) which receives the photogenerated charge before a charge readout phase. To eliminate the risk of introducing kTC-type noise into the signal, during the reset of the storage zone (N2) at the end of a readout cycle, the invention proposes that the storage zone be divided into two parts one of which (N2b), adjacent to the reset gate (G3), is covered by a diffused region (P2) of the same type of conductivity as the substrate in which the photodiode is formed, this region being brought to the fixed potential of the substrate, and the other (N2a) of which is not covered by such a region and is not adjacent to the reset gate.
US08455932B2	Local interconnect structure self-aligned to gate structure A common cut mask is employed to define a gate pattern and a local interconnect pattern so that local interconnect structures and gate structures are formed with zero overlay variation relative to one another. A local interconnect structure may be laterally spaced from a gate structure in a first horizontal direction, and contact another gate structure in a second horizontal direction that is different from the first horizontal direction. Further, a gate structure may be formed to be collinear with a local interconnect structure that adjoins the gate structure. The local interconnect structures and the gate structures are formed by a common damascene processing step so that the top surfaces of the gate structures and the local interconnect structures are coplanar with each other.
US08455930B2	Strained semiconductor device with facets A semiconductor device having a substrate including a major surface, a gate stack comprising a sidewall over the substrate and a spacer over the substrate adjoining the sidewall of the gate stack. The spacer having a bottom surface having an outer point that is the point on the bottom surface farthest from the gate stack. An isolation structure in the substrate on one side of the gate stack has an outer edge closest to the spacer. A strained material below the major surface of the substrate disposed between the spacer and the isolation structure having an upper portion and a lower portion separated by a transition plane at an acute angle to the major surface of the substrate.
US08455928B2	Micro electro mechanical device and manufacturing method thereof A micro structure and an electric circuit included in a micro electro mechanical device are manufactured over the same insulating surface in the same step. In the micro electro mechanical device, an electric circuit including a transistor and a micro structure are integrated over a substrate having an insulating surface. The micro structure includes a structural layer having the same stacked-layer structure as a layered product of a gate insulating layer of the transistor and a semiconductor layer provided over the gate insulating layer. That is, the structural layer includes layers formed of the same insulating film as the gate insulating layer and the same semiconductor film as the semiconductor layer of the transistor. Further, the micro structure is manufactured by using each of conductive layers used for a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode of the transistor as a sacrificial layer.
US08455922B2	Programmable gate III-nitride semiconductor device A III-nitride semiconductor device which includes a charged gate insulation body.
US08455920B2	III-nitride heterojunction device A III-nitride heterojunction semiconductor device having a III-nitride heterojunction that includes a discontinuous two-dimensional electron gas under a gate thereof.
US08455917B2	Nitride semiconductor light emitting device According to one embodiment, in a nitride semiconductor light emitting device, a first clad layer includes an n-type nitride semiconductor. An active layer is formed on the first clad layer, and includes an In-containing nitride semiconductor. A GaN layer is formed on the active layer. A first AlGaN layer is formed on the GaN layer, and has a first Al composition ratio. A p-type second AlGaN layer is formed on the first AlGaN layer, has a second Al composition ratio higher than the first Al composition ratio, and contains a larger amount of Mg than the GaN layer and the first AlGaN layer. A second clad layer is formed on the second AlGaN layer, and includes a p-type nitride semiconductor.
US08455916B2	Light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same A light emitting device having a structure in which oxygen and moisture are prevented from reaching light emitting elements, and a method of manufacturing the same, are provided. Further, the light emitting elements are sealed by using a small number of process steps, without enclosing a drying agent. The present invention has a top surface emission structure. A substrate on which the light emitting elements are formed is bonded to a transparent sealing substrate. The structure is one in which a transparent second sealing material covers the entire surface of a pixel region when bonding the two substrates, and a first sealing material (having a higher viscosity than the second sealing material), which contains a gap material (filler, fine particles, or the like) for protecting a gap between the two substrates, surrounds the pixel region. The two substrates are seated by the first sealing material and the second sealing material. Further, reaction between electrodes of the light emitting elements (cathodes or anodes) and the sealing materials can be prevented by covering the electrodes with a transparent protective layer, for example, CaF2, MgF2, or BaF2.
US08455915B2	Light emitting device The light emitting device according to the present invention includes a resin molded body having a recess, a first electrically conductive member and a second electrically conductive member each having terminal portions respectively exposed from a first outer side surface and second outer side surface which are opposite outer side surfaces among the outer side surfaces of the resin molded body, and a light emitting element mounted on the first electrically conductive member exposed at a bottom surface of the recess. The recess has a first bottom surface on which the light emitting element is mounted and a second bottom surface arranged at a higher position of the outer periphery of the first bottom surface.
US08455914B2	Light emitting device A light emitting device including a second metal layer, a second conduction type semiconductor layer on the second metal layer, an active layer on the second conduction type semiconductor layer, a first conduction type semiconductor layer on the active layer, a first metal layer on the first conduction type semiconductor layer, an insulating layer being disposed on a peripheral portion of an upper surface of the second metal layer and being disposed under a lower surface of the second conduction type semiconductor layer, and a passivation layer on lateral surfaces of the insulating layer, the second conduction type semiconductor layer, the active layer and the first conduction type semiconductor layer, the passivation layer being on an upper surface of the second metal layer, wherein a lateral surface of the insulating layer is adjacent to a lateral surface of the second metal layer.
US08455912B2	Semiconductor light emitting device and manufacturing method thereof A light-emitting device which includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type; and a light emitting layer provided between the first and second semiconductor layers, the device comprises a first electrode formed on the first semiconductor layer; a second electrode formed on the second semiconductor layer; and a light-transmissive electrode covering the second semiconductor layer and the second electrode, wherein contact between the second electrode and the second semiconductor layer is non-ohmic, and the second electrode has a stacked structure including a lower layer and an upper layer whose contact resistance with the light-transmissive electrode is lower than that of the lower layer, part of the second electrode being exposed through an opening formed in the light-transmissive electrode.
US08455911B2	Semiconductor light-emitting device According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light-emitting device using an ITON layer for a transparent conductor and realizing low drive voltage, high luminance efficiency, and uniformed light emission intensity distribution is provided. The semiconductor light-emitting device includes: a substrate; an n-type semiconductor layer formed on the substrate; an active layer formed on the n-type semiconductor layer; a p-type semiconductor layer formed on the active layer and whose uppermost part is a p-type GaN layer; an ITON (Indium Tin Oxynitride) layer formed on the p-type GaN layer; an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) layer formed on the ITON layer; a first metal electrode formed on a part on the ITO layer; and a second metal electrode formed in contact with the n-type semiconductor layer.
US08455910B2	Method of manufacturing light emitting diode packaging lens and light emitting diode package A method of manufacturing light emitting diode packaging lens and packages made by using the method are disclosed in the present invention. By using electrophoretic deposition, one or more layers of phosphors are coated onto one surface of a cup which has a curved portion. The cup is used for the packaging lens. Thickness of phosphor layer can be controlled and distribution of phosphor particles is uniform. Therefore, light emitting diode packages with the lens can be a uniform light source.
US08455907B2	Semiconductor light emitting device having an optical plate including a meniscus control structure and method of manufacturing A semiconductor light-emitting device and a method for manufacturing the same can include a wavelength converting layer in order to emit various colored lights including white light. The semiconductor light-emitting device can include a base board, a frame located on the base board, at least one light-emitting chip mounted on the base board, the wavelength converting layer located between an optical plate and each outside surface of the chips so as to extend toward the optical plate using a meniscus control structure, and a reflective material layer disposed at least between the frame and both side surfaces of the wavelength converting layer and the optical plate. The semiconductor light-emitting device can be configured to improve light-emitting efficiency and color variability between the light-emitting chips by using the reflective material layer as each reflector, and therefore can emit a wavelength-converted light having a high light-emitting efficiency from various small light-emitting surfaces.
US08455906B2	Semiconductor light-emitting device with improved light extraction efficiency The present invention provides a semiconductor light-emitting device. The light-emitting device comprises a first conductive clad layer, an active layer, and a second conductive clad layer sequentially formed on a substrate. In the light-emitting device, the substrate has one or more side patterns formed on an upper surface thereof while being joined to one or more edges of the upper surface. The side patterns consist of protrusions or depressions so as to scatter or diffract light to an upper portion or a lower portion of the light-emitting device.
US08455898B2	LED device utilizing quantum dots There is herein described a LED lighting device utilizing quantum dots in layers on top of an LED chip. The quantum dots layers and the LED chip are arranged with gradient refractive indices, so that the refractive index of each layer is preferably less than the refractive index of the immediately underlying layer or chip. The quantum dots with emission peaks at longer wavelengths are preferably arranged in lower layers closer to the LED chip; while the quantum dots with emission peaks at shorter wavelengths are arranged in higher layers farther from the LED chip.
US08455894B1	Photonic-crystal light emitting diode and method of manufacture A high efficiency photonic-crystal light emitting diode comprises a flip-chipped stack of AlxInyGa1-x-yN layers, where 0≦x, y, x+y≦1. Each layer has a high crystalline quality, with a dislocation density below about 105 cm−2. The backside of the stack, exposed by removal of the original substrate, has a photonic crystal pattern for improved light extraction.
US08455891B2	Light emitting device package and light unit including the same An LED package includes a body; a first lead frame having a first cavity in the body; a second lead frame having a second cavity in the body; a first bonding part protruding into a region between a first lateral side of the body and the first cavity from the first lead frame; a second bonding part protruding into a region between a second lateral side of the body, and the second cavity from the second lead frame; a first LED in the first cavity; a second LED in the second cavity; a third lead frame disposed between the first lateral side and the first cavity; a fourth lead frame disposed between the second lateral side and the second cavity; a first protective device on one of the third lead frame and the first bonding part; and a second protective device on one of the fourth lead frame and the second bonding part.
US08455887B2	LED illumination device for reducing occurrence of color heterogeneity An LED illumination device includes: a substrate; one or more red LED chips arranged on the substrate; a plurality of blue LED chips arranged on the substrate; and a plurality of third-color LED chips arranged on the substrate. Respective centers of the red LED chips are arranged on a circumference of a first circle having as its center a point on the substrate, respective centers of the blue LED chips being arranged on the circumference of a second circle concentric with and greater than the first circle, respective centers of the third-color LED chips being arranged in a region between the first circle and the second circle.
US08455886B2	Light emitting device using GaN LED chip A light emitting device is constituted by flip-chip mounting a GaN-based LED chip. The GaN-based LED chip includes a light-transmissive substrate and a GaN-based semiconductor layer formed on the light-transmissive substrate, wherein the GaN-based semiconductor layer has a laminate structure containing an n-type layer, a light emitting layer and a p-type layer in this order from the light-transmissive substrate side, wherein a positive electrode is formed on the p-type layer, the electrode containing a light-transmissive electrode of an oxide semiconductor and a positive contact electrode electrically connected to the light-transmissive electrode, and the area of the positive contact electrode is half or less of the area of the upper surface of the p-type layer.
US08455885B2	Method for heteroepitaxial growth of high-quality N-face gallium nitride, indium nitride, and aluminum nitride and their alloys by metal organic chemical vapor deposition Methods for the heteroepitaxial growth of smooth, high quality films of N-face GaN film grown by MOCVD are disclosed. Use of a misoriented substrate and possibly nitridizing the substrate allow for the growth of smooth N-face GaN and other Group III nitride films as disclosed herein. The present invention also avoids the typical large (μm sized) hexagonal features which make N-face GaN material unacceptable for device applications. The present invention allows for the growth of smooth, high quality films which makes the development of N-face devices possible.
US08455882B2	High efficiency LEDs A light emitting device and method of fabricating the same is disclosed that comprises at least one light emitter comprising an active region which emits light. The device further comprising a submount arranged such that the at least one light emitter is mounted to the submount such that the active region is angled in relation to the submount.
US08455877B2	Thin film transistor array substrate A thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate includes a stack structure disposed to raise an extended electrode of a drain electrode of a thin film transistor. Therefore, a contact hole does need to be very deep to expose the extended electrode of the drain electrode.
US08455876B2	Organic light emitting diode display and method of manufacturing the same An OLED display including a substrate main body; a first gate electrode and a second semiconductor layer; a gate insulating layer on the first gate electrode and the second semiconductor layer; a first semiconductor layer and a second gate electrode overlying the first gate electrode and the second semiconductor layer, respectively; etching stopper layers contacting portions of the first semiconductor layer; an interlayer insulating layer on the first semiconductor layer and the second gate electrode and including contact holes exposing the plurality of etching stopper layers, respectively; a first source electrode and a first drain electrode on the interlayer insulating layer and the contact holes being indirectly connected to the first semiconductor layer via the etching stopper layers or directly connected to the first semiconductor layer; and a second source electrode and a second drain electrode on the interlayer insulating layer being connected to the second semiconductor layer.
US08455875B2	Embedded DRAM for extremely thin semiconductor-on-insulator A node dielectric and a conductive trench fill region filling a deep trench are recessed to a depth that is substantially coplanar with a top surface of a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) layer. A shallow trench isolation portion is formed on one side of an upper portion of the deep trench, while the other side of the upper portion of the deep trench provides an exposed surface of a semiconductor material of the conductive fill region. A selective epitaxy process is performed to deposit a raised source region and a raised strap region. The raised source region is formed directly on a planar source region within the SOI layer, and the raised strap region is formed directly on the conductive fill region. The raised strap region contacts the raised source region to provide an electrically conductive path between the planar source region and the conductive fill region.
US08455872B2	Electronic devices having plastic substrates A method of manufacturing a thin film electronic device comprises applying a first plastic coating (PI-1) directly to a rigid carrier substrate (40) and forming thin film electronic elements (44) over the first plastic coating. A second plastic coating (46) is applied over the thin film electronic elements with electrodes (47) on top, with a portion lying directly over the associated electronic element, spaced by the second plastic coating. The rigid carrier substrate (40) is released from the first plastic coating, by a laser release process. This method enables traditional materials to be used as the base for the electronic element manufacture, for example thin film transistors. The second plastic coating can form part of the known field shielded pixel (FSP) technology.
US08455871B2	Thin film transistor array panel and method for manufacturing the same A thin film transistor array panel is provided and includes a gate line, a gate insulating layer covering the gate line, a semiconductor layer disposed on the gate insulating layer, and a data line and a drain electrode disposed on the semiconductor layer. The data line and the drain electrode have a dual-layered structure including a lower layer and an upper layer with the lower layer having a first portion protruded outside the upper layer and the semiconductor layer having a second portion protruded outside the edge of the lower layer.
US08455861B2	Graphene based switching device having a tunable bandgap A method of implementing bandgap tuning of a graphene-based switching device includes subjecting a bi-layer graphene to an electric field while simultaneously subjecting the bi-layer graphene to an applied strain that reduces an interlayer spacing between the bi-layer graphene, thereby creating a bandgap in the bi-layer graphene.
US08455860B2	Reducing source/drain resistance of III-V based transistors An integrated circuit structure includes a substrate; a channel layer over the substrate, wherein the channel layer is formed of a first III-V compound semiconductor material; a highly doped semiconductor layer over the channel layer; a gate dielectric penetrating through and contacting a sidewall of the highly doped semiconductor layer; and a gate electrode on a bottom portion of the gate dielectric. The gate dielectric includes a sidewall portion on a sidewall of the gate electrode.
US08455858B2	Semiconductor structure for reducing band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) leakage A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure may include a substrate (100); a buffer layer or an insulation layer (200) formed on the substrate; a first strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer (400) formed on the buffer layer or the insulation layer; a strained narrow bandgap semiconductor material layer (500) formed on the first strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer; a second strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer (700) formed on the strained narrow bandgap semiconductor material layer; a gate stack (300) formed on the second strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer; and a source and a drain (600) formed in the first strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer, the strained narrow bandgap semiconductor material layer and the second strained wide bandgap semiconductor material layer respectively.
US08455850B2	Extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus and method of generating extreme ultraviolet light An extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus, which is to generate an extreme ultraviolet light by irradiating a target with a main pulse laser light after irradiating the target with a prepulse laser light, the extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus comprises: a prepulse laser light source generating a pre-plasma by irradiating the target with the prepulse laser light while a part of the target remains, the pre-plasma being generated at a different region from a target region, the different region being located on an incident side of the prepulse laser light; and a main pulse laser light source generating the extreme ultraviolet light by irradiating the pre-plasma with the main pulse laser light.
US08455849B2	Method and apparatus for modulating wafer treatment profile in UV chamber A method and apparatus for providing a uniform UV radiation irradiance profile across a surface of a substrate is provided. In one embodiment, a substrate processing tool includes a processing chamber defining a processing region, a substrate support for supporting a substrate within the processing region, an ultraviolet (UV) radiation source spaced apart from the substrate support and configured to transmit ultraviolet radiation toward the substrate positioned on the substrate support, and a light transmissive window positioned between the UV radiation source and the substrate support, the light transmissive window having an optical film layer coated thereon. In one example, the optical film layer has a non-uniform thickness profile in a radial direction, wherein a thickness of the optical film layer at the peripheral area of the light transmissive window is relatively thicker than at the center region of the optical film layer.
US08455847B2	Mask health monitor using a faraday probe In an ion implanter, an ion current measurement device is disposed behind a mask co-planarly with respect to a surface of a target substrate as if said target substrate was positioned on a platen. The ion current measurement device is translated across the ion beam. The current of the ion beam directed through a plurality of apertures of the mask is measured using the ion current measurement device. In this manner, the position of the mask with respect to the ion beam as well as the condition of the mask may be determined based on the ion current profile measured by the ion current measurement device.
US08455846B2	Method for making structures with improved edge definition A method includes scanning a radiation beam with respect to a multi-photon curable photoreactive composition. The radiation beam includes a power sufficient to at least partially cure a volume of the multiphoton curable photoreactive composition. The method further includes modifying a characteristic of the radiation beam as the radiation beam is scanned.
US08455845B2	Method for detecting drag reducer additives in gasoline A method for detecting polymer-based drag reducer additives in gasoline includes placing a sample in a high UV-transmittance receptacle having at least two transparent adjacent sides and irradiating the same with a pulsed laser beam; detecting laser-induced fluorescence wavelength resolved spectrum at a 90° angle relative to the laser beam through the adjacent side of the receptacle and a slit in a diffraction screen adjusting the position of the receptacle and de-focusing the collimating lenses so that the low resolution fluorescence wavelength-resolved spectrum appears with a first peak at about 380 nm and a second peak at about 430 nm; recording the laser-induced fluorescence wavelength-resolved spectra within a defined time-gate starting at the end of the temporal span of the laser pulse; and comparing the percentage intensity of the first peak relative to the second peak to that of a gasoline sample free of any polymer-based drag reducer additives.
US08455835B2	Radiation detection device A radiation detection system for detecting the presence and location of a radiation source includes an optical fiber bundle having fibers of different lengths, a radiation sensitive material, a stimulating source and an optical detector. The stimulating source stimulates the radiation sensitive material and the radiation sensitive material releases a light output, while the light output provides a readout signal for each fiber corresponding in intensity to the radiation received from the radiation source. The optical detector receives the readout signal such that the variations in intensity of the readout signals along the length of the bundle determine the presence and general location of the radiation source.
US08455831B2	Sensing assembly having an oblique viewing angle range and methods of assembling, mounting and orienting the same Disclosed herein is a sensing assembly. The assembly includes a sensing assembly housing for enclosing an interior. The assembly further includes a plurality of sensing assembly components which are at least partially positioned, or at least partially contained, within the interior. And the assembly includes an indicator lens device which is integral with, or integrated with respect to the housing. In at least some embodiments, at least a portion of the housing coincides at least in part with a first axis and at least a portion of the indicator lens coincides with a second axis, such that the first axis and the second axis intersect to form an oblique viewing angle range and at least a portion of the indicator lens device is visible at least substantially throughout the oblique (e.g., obtuse) viewing angle range.
US08455826B2	Variable aperture mechanism retention device According to one embodiment, an optical device includes a variable aperture mechanism configured on a structure having a radiation detector that receives radiation through an aperture of the variable aperture mechanism. The aperture is selectively movable from a first position to a second position in which the aperture has a different size relative to the aperture in the first position. The structure is configured with one or more magnets that function with one or more magnetically permeable members configured on the variable aperture mechanism to hold the variable aperture mechanism in at least one position using a magnetic force between the magnets and magnetically permeable members.
US08455821B2	Method for S/TEM sample analysis An improved method and apparatus for S/TEM sample preparation and analysis. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for TEM sample creation, especially for small geometry (<100 nm thick) TEM lamellae. Preferred embodiments of the present invention also provide an in-line process for S/TEM based metrology on objects such as integrated circuits or other structures fabricated on semiconductor wafer by providing methods to partially or fully automate TEM sample creation, to make the process of creating and analyzing TEM samples less labor intensive, and to increase throughput and reproducibility of TEM analysis.
US08455818B2	Mass spectrometry data acquisition mode for obtaining more reliable protein quantitation Described herein are methods and systems which enable a unique platform for analyte quantitation. The methods and systems relate to determining the amount of interference in a precursor ion isolation window resulting from an impurity. Once the level of impurity is determined, several methods can be employed to reduce the amount of interference in a subsequent MS/MS spectrum. The methods and systems described herein enable increased quantitation accuracy while maintaining high levels of throughput.
US08455811B2	Light guide array for an image sensor An image sensor pixel that includes a photoelectric conversion unit supported by a substrate and an insulator adjacent to the substrate. The pixel includes a light guide that is located within an opening of the insulator and extends above the insulator such that a portion of the light guide has an air interface. The air interface improves the internal reflection of the light guide. Additionally, the light guide and an adjacent color filter are constructed with a process that optimizes the upper aperture of the light guide. These characteristics of the light guide eliminate the need for a microlens.
US08455809B2	Solid-state imaging device, imaging device and driving method of solid-state imaging device It is possible to achieve compatibility between suppressing dark current caused by a leak phenomenon and ensuring element reliability in a CMOS solid-state imaging device. When a pixel using electrons as signal charge is driven, the negative voltage level of each of control signals adapted to pulse-drive transistors in the pixel is adjusted so that the longer the charge accumulation time, the higher the voltage level. Preferably, the negative voltage level is grounded (GND) when no signal charge is accumulated. The negative voltage level is increased only when the charge accumulation time is long, which is the case where dark current caused by a leak phenomenon becomes a problem. Therefore, it is possible to suppress stress on the pixels and the gate oxide film of their drive circuits and degradation of the transistor characteristics even if dark current is suppressed.
US08455807B2	Sunlight collector module having a light-guide element and a beam splitting element and a hybrid illumination system having the same A sunlight collector module is disclosed, capable of collecting the sunlight from the sun for the illumination at a certain position, and of reflecting portion of the sunlight to a solar photovoltaic module. The disclosed sunlight collector module comprises: a base, a first reflective element disposed on the base, a second reflective element, a light-guide element, and a beam splitting element, wherein the second reflective element is disposed on a side, which is opposite to the base, of the first reflective element. Besides, the light-guide element disposed on a side, which is opposite to the second reflective element, of the first reflective element. In addition, the beam splitting element is disposed between the first reflective element and the light-guide element, for reflecting portion of the sunlight to the solar photovoltaic module. The non-reflected portion of the sunlight passes through the beam splitting element and enters the light-guide element.
US08455805B2	Two dimensional barcodes and mobile terminals Processing a two dimensional (2D) barcode using a mobile telecommunications terminal having an image scanner includes obtaining a scanned image of the 2D barcode from the image scanner, decoding the image to obtain data, including a web address, and associating an identifier with the decoded web address, such that the identifier is identifiable by a remote proxy server to obtain information relating to the use of the barcode. A browser of the mobile terminal transmits a web page request including the decoded web address and the identifier. The web page request may be identified as originating from a 2D barcode at a server in a mobile telecommunications network. The request is received from a mobile terminal, an inserted identifier is identified in the request, and a record is saved, the record including an identifier of the mobile terminal or a user of the mobile terminal and the web page address.
US08455800B2	Helix heated hose The helix heated hoses 10 and 12 use two features to increase the flexibility. The first feature is a braided-copper heating element 14, which has increased flexibility over the prior art solid copper heating element. The element is spiral wound around the hose and held in place with a moisture barrier 16. The second feature is the helix twist 18 located just before the point where the hoses 10 and 12 attach to the manifold 20. The helix feature is created with the helix support 22, which initiates the twist around 24 inches back from the point of termination. The helix feature works to reduce the moment of inertia about the neutral axis 26 of the two supply hoses 10 and 12.
US08455799B2	Control panel for a cooking device A control panel for controlling the operation of hotplates situated on a cooking appliance. The control panel has a translucent plate that permits the location of operating elements to be visually displayed on a top surface thereof only when lighting elements associated with the operating elements are energized. The lighting elements are selectively energized and/or de-energized so that only the operating elements of a particular hotplate are visible on the top surface of the translucent plate while a user is in the process of selecting or otherwise altering an operating parameter of the particular hot plate.
US08455798B2	Oven The present invention relates to an oven (1) comprising a cooking chamber (2) wherein the cooking process is performed, a heater (3) for cooking the foodstuffs emplaced in the cooking chamber (2), a thermostat that controls the operation of the heater (3) and a control unit (4) that regulates the cooking parameters of temperature and duration such that energy savings is maintained at different temperature values (T1) defined by the user such as 160° C., 180° C., 200° C., 220° C., . . . according to type of food to be cooked.
US08455797B2	High-speed cooking oven with optimized cooking efficiency The present invention is directed to improving the conventional high-speed cooking oven based on a combination of hot air impingement and microwave heating by providing a time-dependent spatial variation in the net air impingement and/or net microwave energy applied to the food product in the oven. This is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and microwave efficiencies in a high-speed cooking oven, thereby enabling the oven to deliver an optimal cooking efficiency in comparison to the conventional high-speed cooking oven. In addition, under the embodiments of the present invention, the cooking efficiency may be further optimized by providing a plenum between each wall of the cooking chamber and the housing of the oven.
US08455796B2	Hair styling iron with retractable fins A heated flat iron 1 includes a first elongated member 2 and a second elongated member 3 that are joined together at one end at a hinge 4. An electrical cord 5 is attached thereto and has a conventional plug (not shown) to connect the iron 1 to a conventional external electrical energy source. An upper plate 6 is attached to the first member 2, and a lower plate 7 us attached to the second member 3. The upper plate 6 comprises a longitudinally aligned groove 8, preferably including in the groove 8 a series of longitudinally spaced laterally oriented slot depressions 9. The lower plate 7 includes a set of raised ridges 10, each having a length L that is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the second member 3, a height H measured in a direction extending away from the surface of the lower plate 7, and a thickness T measured transversely to length L, where L is greater than T. The ridges 10 are aligned in a longitudinally extending row along the lower plate 7 so that the row is aligned with the groove 8 and each ridge 10 corresponds in alignment with one of the slot depressions 9. The height of the ridges 10 may be adjustably varied.
US08455793B2	Laser shock peening An embodiment of an apparatus for laser shock peening a treatment region of a metallic member includes a base oriented along a longitudinal axis; an engagement member actuable to engage a surface of the metallic member, the base in connection with engagement member; and a laser peening head adapted to emit laser radiation disposed with the base, the laser peening head moveable relative to the longitudinal axis.
US08455789B2	Energy collection and power reduction in laser coupling process An energy collector is used to assist a laser coupling process by reducing the amount of output power of a laser that is used to modify a device attaching element. The energy collector includes an energy collector tip configured to be placed proximate to a device attaching element during the laser coupling process. The energy collector tip is configured to receive laser energy reflected from the device attaching element during the laser coupling process and is formed from a material that converts this reflected energy to heat. Sufficient thermal coupling is created between the energy collector and a surface to provide a conductive pathway for the energy, which has been converted to heat, between the energy collector and the device attaching element.
US08455778B2	Side key assembly for portable electronic device A side key assembly includes a metallic dome, an insulating layer and a decorative layer. The insulating layer is laminated on the dome. The decorative layer is laminated on the insulating layer.
US08455774B2	Electronic apparatus In an electronic apparatus, a first switch and a second switch are located in a correspondence relationship with each other. The first switch is configured to obtain an electric output by causing a first contact and a second contact to contact each other with an operation member. The second switch is configured to obtain an electric output by deforming a dome-shaped plate spring covering a third contact. The electronic apparatus includes a supporting member configured to keep a gap between the first contact and the second contact constant and to regulate the first switch and the second switch to be located on an approximately same line with respect to an operation direction of the operation member.
US08455767B2	Printed circuit board module As a base, a side wall, and a top board are integrated by integral molding in a printed circuit board module, the printed circuit board module is structured in a simple manner. Further, conductive terminals are used for fitting a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is securely held between the electrically conductive terminals and the top board via an elasticity of the conductive terminals. Here, due to the functioning of the notches, the printed circuit board is positioned in a simple manner. Due to the functioning of the base, a printed circuit board module can stand erect. The printed circuit board establishes a vertical posture. The packaging area is reduced. The packaging density improves. Further, the flat surface of the top board that is formed facing upward with a certain extension is used as, for example, an absorbent face.
US08455764B2	Support bracket A support bracket for supporting insulating rods inside an insulator tube of a hollow core insulator. The support bracket includes a cylindrical ring with an outer surface for abutting against the inner surface of an insulator tube, an inner surface for supporting an insulating rod and two opposing end sides, denominated by first and second end sides. The support bracket includes an expansion assembly configured to be actuated so as to expand the cylindrical ring in at least one radial direction when the support bracket has been inserted in an insulator tube of a live tank circuit breaker.
US08455762B2	High performance telecommunications cable A telecommunications cable comprising four twisted pairs of conductors and a separator spline comprised of a principal dividing strip and a first subsidiary dividing strip attached longitudinally along a first side of the principal dividing strip and a second dividing strip attached longitudinally along a second side of the principal dividing strip, the spline separating the four twisted pairs such that they are arranged in a staggered configuration. A method for reducing cross talk between adjacent cables in a telecommunications system, the method comprising the steps of, for each of the cables, providing a plurality of twisted pairs of conductors, winding an elongate filler element around the twisted pairs and covering the twisted pairs and the element with a cable jacket, the element introducing a visible distortion into an outer surface of the jacket.
US08455751B2	Thermoelectric devices and applications for the same High performance thin film thermoelectric couples and methods of making the same are disclosed. Such couples allow fabrication of at least microwatt to watt-level power supply devices operating at voltages greater than one volt even when activated by only small temperature differences.
US08455747B2	Musical learning aid A musical learning aid that help users learn and understand how musical pieces are composed. The present invention is able to help users understand how scales and chords are constructed. Additionally, the present invention can teach users which chords naturally lead to other notes allowing users to learn how to compose their own musical pieces.
US08455744B2	Adjustable magnetic guitar or similar stringed instrument support An improved adjustable stringed instrument apparatus, hereafter known as ‘support’, ‘instrument support’ or ‘guitar support’, that supports the instrument in playing position while the user is in the sitting position. The support attaches to the instrument using magnets and rests on the user's leg. It utilizes a flexible leg support means connected to a magnetic attachment means, also referred to as the magnet housing, at one end and an adjustable rigid support with hinged pivoting magnet housing on the opposing end. Three discrete mechanisms on the support allow for vertical, horizontal, and angular adjustments of the instrument. The support's design allows it to be easily attached, removed, collapsed, and stored with no detrimental effects to the instrument. It also allows the support to be securely attached to a variety of imperfect surfaces.
US08455740B2	Potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’ A potato cultivar designated ‘FL 2204’ is disclosed. The invention relates to the tubers of potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’, to the seeds of potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’, to the plants of potato ‘FL 2204’, to the plant parts of potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’ and to methods for producing a potato plant produced by crossing potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’ with itself or with another potato variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a potato plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic potato plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to potato cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from potato variety ‘FL 2204’, to methods for producing other potato cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’ and to the potato plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid potato tubers, seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing potato cultivar ‘FL 2204’ with another potato cultivar.
US08455739B2	Pepper hybrid PX11334879 The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid PX11334879 and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid PX11334879 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US08455738B2	Pepper hybrid PS09956434 The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid PS09956434 and the parent lines thereof, such as line SMY 99-1311. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid PS09956434 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US08455737B2	Pepper hybrid PS09967422 The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid PS09967422 and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid PS09967422 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US08455736B2	Pepper hybrid PS09967922 The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid PS09967922 and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid PS09967922 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US08455734B2	Bean line EX 08071301 The invention provides seed and plants of the bean line designated EX 08071301. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of bean line EX 08071301, and to methods for producing a bean plant produced by crossing a plant of bean line EX 08071301 with itself or with another bean plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of bean line EX 08071301, including the pods and gametes of such plants.
US08455730B1	Soybean cultivar 14172101 A soybean cultivar designated 14172101 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 14172101, to the plants of soybean cultivar 14172101, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 14172101, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 14172101. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 14172101. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 14172101, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar 14172101 with another soybean cultivar.
US08455725B2	Soybean variety A1023969 The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1023969. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1023969. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1023969 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1023969 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08455724B2	Soybean variety A1023941 The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1023941. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1023941. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1023941 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1023941 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08455717B2	Collagen producing plants and methods of generating and using same A method of producing collagen in a plant and plants producing collagen are provided. The method is effected by expressing in the plant at least one type of a collagen alpha chain in a manner enabling accumulation of the collagen alpha chain in a subcellular compartment devoid of endogenous P4H activity, thereby producing the collagen in the plant.
US08455710B2	Conductive wound dressings and methods of use Wound treatment dressings comprising combinations of at least one conductive layer, at least one absorbent layer or a moisture regulation layer, and methods of making and methods of use are disclosed for treatment of wounds in humans and animals. The novel dressings aid in healing by helping restore the transepithelial potential of the skin, providing a functional anti-microbial barrier, and allowing for regulation of the moisture content of the wound without disturbing the wound.
US08455706B2	Method of making linear alkylbenzenes A method of producing a linear alkylbenzene that includes introducing an olefin into an aromatic stream to form a mixture; processing the mixture in a shear device at a shear rate greater than about 20,000 s−1 to form a dispersion; and reacting the dispersion in the presence of a catalyst in a reactor vessel to form a linear alkylbenzene product stream, wherein the reactor vessel is maintained at a bulk reaction temperature in the range of about 0° C. to about 60° C.
US08455703B2	Use of ionic liquids with tetracyanoborate anions as a solvents for extraction of alcohols from aqueous solutions The invention relates to a method for the liquid-liquid extraction of alcohols from aqueous solutions using at least one ionic liquid containing a tetra-cyanoborate anion as solvent.
US08455702B1	Cobalt and tin catalysts for producing ethanol The present invention relates to a process for the formation of ethanol from a mixed feed, the steps of the process comprising: contacting a feed stream containing the mixed feed and hydrogen at an elevated temperature with a hydrogenation catalyst comprising from 3 to 25 wt. % of a substantially equal molar ratio of cobalt and tin on a support, wherein the mixed feed comprises 5 to 40 wt. % ethyl acetate and 60 to 95 wt. % acetic acid.
US08455700B2	Method for producing phenylalkane-1-ols The present invention relates to a process for preparing phenylalkan-1-ols in three stages, where an ester condensation in the presence of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal alcoholates is carried out in the first stage.
US08455699B2	Production and separation of glycerol-related products using various feed stocks Disclosed are processes for producing glycerol-related products. One process for producing glycerol-related products comprises introducing glycerol and an alkylation reagent to a substantially oxygen free environment. Another process for producing glycerol-related products comprises introducing a glycerol and tetramethylammonium hydroxide to a substantially oxygen free environment.
US08455694B2	Gelling agent and gel A compound represented by the following formula (1) is provided as a gelling agent for gelatinizing a liquid organic compound: wherein n and m are each independently an integer of 2 to 18, R1 and R3 are each independently a single bond or a branched or linear alkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, R2 is a branched or linear alkylene group having 3 to 18 carbon atoms, and Z1 and Z2 are each independently a phenylene group or a biphenylene group.
US08455690B2	Method for producing arylhydroxylamine The invention provides a method for producing an arylhydroxylamine compound efficiently and safely under mild conditions. The method involves contacting a nitroaryl compound with a hydrogen source in the presence of a platinum catalyst supported on amino group-coordinated silica and a poisoning agent.
US08455684B2	Method for converting aromatic aldehydes to aromatic acyl halides A method for converting an aromatic aldehyde or a mixture of aromatic aldehydes to a reaction product in a reaction medium that is free from xylene. The reaction product may be an aromatic acyl halide or a mixture of aromatic acyl halides. The method includes bringing the aromatic aldehyde or mixture of aromatic aldehydes in contact with a halogen to obtain the reaction product.
US08455682B2	Method for the production of aminodicarboxylic acid-N,N-diacetic acids Provided is a method for the production of aminodicarboxylic acid N,N-diacetic acids of formula (I), wherein X is independently hydrogen or an alkali metal and n is 1 or 2. Aminodicarboxylic acid-N,N-diacetic acids of high purity can be yielded. The method involves: a) reacting an aminodicarboxylic acid, with 0.8 to 1.2 mole equivalents of formaldehyde and with 0.8 to 1.2 mole equivalents of hydrocyanic acid; b) reacting the reaction products of a) with 0.8 to 1.2 mole equivalents of hydrocyanic acid and with 0.8 to 1.2 mole equivalents of formaldehyde; c) hydrolyzing in the reaction product obtained in b).
US08455679B2	Prepolymer systems having reduced monomeric isocyanate contents A prepolymer system has a monomeric isocyanate content of no greater than about 10% by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the prepolymer system. The prepolymer system comprises a diluent component and a prepolymer component different than and separate from the diluent component. The diluent component has an excess of isocyanate (NCO) functional groups, and comprises the reaction product of a monohydric isocyanate-reactive component and an excess of a first isocyanate component. The first isocyanate component comprises monomeric isocyanates reactive with the monohydric isocyanate-reactive component. The prepolymer component also has an excess of NCO functional groups, and comprises the reaction product of a polyol component and an excess of a second isocyanate component. The prepolymer system can be used to prepare foams via reaction with water. The foams have low density and have excellent adhesion and sound dampening properties for use in cavities of automobile bodies.
US08455675B2	Solution component recovery method, solution component recovery apparatus, and impregnation process/impregnation component recovery system A solution component recovery method, a solution component recovery apparatus, and an impregnation process/impregnation component recovery system for separating a first component from a second component. The separation between the first and second components is accomplished by reducing the pressure on a solution that contains the first component, which results in the solidification of the first component in the solution at a temperature that is equal to or higher than a predetermined solidification temperature. The second component, in which the first component is dissolved, is evaporated at a temperature range that is less than the predetermined solidification temperature. The evaporated second component is then recovered by a cooling step.
US08455669B2	Process for extracting fatty acids from aqueous biomass in a membrane contactor module The present invention relates to a new process for extracting fatty acids from aqueous biomass in a membrane contactor module. The present invention also relates to an integrated process combining biomass concentration and/or diafiltration and fatty acid extraction in said membrane contactor module.
US08455664B2	Process for preparing 1-alkyl-3-difluoromethyl-5-hydroxypyrazoles The present invention relates to a process for preparing 1-alkyl-3-difluoromethyl-5-hydroxypyrazoles, which are valuable intermediates for the production of fungicides.
US08455662B2	Formulations for benzimidazolyl pyridyl ethers Formulations are provided, comprising: a compound of Formula I, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, or a mixture of any two or more thereof; and an ingredient selected from a hydrophilic solvent, a lipophilic solvent, an emulsifier, or a mixture of any two or more thereof; wherein the compound of Formula I is: In some embodiments, the formulations are liquids. In other embodiments, the formulations are solids. Also provided are methods of preparing such formulations.
US08455661B2	Catalysts containing N-heterocyclic carbenes for enantioselective synthesis Novel N-heterocyclic carbene ligand precursors, N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and N-heterocyclic metal-carbene complexes are provided. Metal-carbene complexes comprising N-heterocyclic carbene ligands can be chiral, which are useful for catalyzing enantioselective synthesis. Methods for the preparation of the N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and N-heterocyclic metal-carbene complexes are given.
US08455657B2	Process for the preparation of 3-alkylsulfinylbenzoyl derivatives A process is described for the preparation of 3-alkylsulfinylbenzoyl derivatives of the formula (IIIa) by reaction of 3-alkylsulfinylbenzoic acids of the formula (Ib) with compounds of the formula (II) in the presence of a chlorinating agent and a base. In the formulae specified above, Y is a radical such as pyrazolyl and cyclohexanedionyl. R1, R2 and R3 are radicals such as halogen, nitro, cyano and alkyl.
US08455653B2	Hydroxy-6-heteroarylphenanthridines and their use as PDE4 inhibitors Compounds of the formula Ia***** in which the substituents have the definitions provided in the specification, are novel, effective PDE4 inhibitors, useful in the treatment of psoriasis.
US08455652B2	Inhibitors for the soluble epoxide hydrolase Inhibitors of the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) are provided that incorporate multiple pharmacophores and are useful in the treatment of diseases.
US08455651B2	Nicotinic acid and picolinic acid derived near-infrared fluorophores This invention relates to new fluorescent chemical entities, including fluorescent molecules that comprise a carboxyl or carbonyl functionalized pyridine moiety. This invention also relates to the corresponding reactive versions of such molecules. This invention also relates to the corresponding conjugates with moieties such as peptides, proteins, various biomolecules, carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds, sugars, and their uses thereof.
US08455649B2	Insecticidal substituted azinyl derivatives N-Azinyl-N′-aryl ureas and thioureas derivatives are effective at controlling insects.
US08455643B2	8-hydroxyquinoline-based white-light-emitting organic electroluminescent material A white-light organic electroluminescent material based on 8-hydroxyquinoline and the method for preparing the same, as well as an organic light emitting diode including this material. The material may be the compound represented by the Formula (IX) having a DCDC group, a 5-position substituted 8-hydroxyquinolinyl group and a carbazolyl group as red light-, green light- and blue-light emitting groups, respectively. It exhibits a spectrum having a band width of 182.4 nm that substantially covers the visible-light region, and has a color coordinate of (0.3177, 0.3946), which just locates within the white-light area. Such a material is capable of realizing a white-light emission, and may be used in a white-light OLED as a single light-emitting layer, which can decrease the number of layers of the white-light OLED and thereby improve the luminous efficiency, stabilize the light color, lower the turn-on voltage and simplify the fabrication process.
US08455640B2	Process for statins and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof Novel process for statins and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof represented by general formula (I).
US08455638B2	Soluble guanylate cyclase activators A compound having the structure useful for treatment or prevention of cardiovascular diseases, endothelial dysfunction, diastolic dysfunction, atherosclerosis, hypertension, angina pectoris, thromboses, restenoses, myocardial infarction, strokes, cardiac insufficiency, pulmonary hypertonia, erectile dysfunction, asthma bronchiale, chronic kidney insufficiency, diabetes, or cirrhosis of the liver in a human or animal patient.
US08455635B2	Antisense oligonucleotides for inducing exon skipping and methods of use thereof An antisense molecule capable of binding to a selected target site to induce exon skipping in the dystrophin gene, as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 to 202.
US08455629B2	Human anti-OPGL neutralizing antibodies as selective OPGL pathway inhibitors Monoclonal antibodies and hybridomas producing them that interact with osteoprotegerin ligand (OPGL) are provided. Methods of treating osteopenic disorders by administering a pharmaceutically effective amount of antibodies to OPGL are also provided. Methods of detecting the amount of OPGL in a sample using antibodies to OPGL are further provided.
US08455625B2	Fusion protein of antibody L19 against fibronectin ED-B and interleukin 12 Conjugate for targeting therapeutic or diagnostic agent or drug to cells or tissues in a body, e.g. areas of neoplastic growth or angiogenesis. Use of conjugate for in vivo diagnosis or therapy e.g. inhibiting tumor growth or metastasis, inhibiting angiogenesis and/or treating cancer. Conjugate comprises therapeutic or diagnostic agent as oligomeric protein e.g. heterodimeric protein, wherein first and second subunits of protein are each conjugated to a specific binding member e.g. an antibody fragment such as scFv. Subunits of oligomer may be conjugated to specific binding members as fusion proteins. Conjugate may comprise IL-12 heterodimer having two subunits, each subunit fused to scFv L19 or TN11 for targeting IL-12 to extracellular matrix components associated with neoplastic growth and angiogenesis.
US08455624B2	Methods and compositions for detecting endometrial or ovarian cancer Some embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and compositions for assessing the absence, presence, progression, or stage of cancer. In particular, methods and compositions for detecting endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer are provided.
US08455623B2	Compositions and methods for diagnosing and treating cancer Isolated antibodies that specifically bind the human MET Receptor and inhibit MET signaling are described. Also described are methods of treating cancer, the methods comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of the provided MET antibodies and combinations thereof.
US08455622B2	Variant target binding agents and uses thereof The present invention provides variant target binding agents and methods relating to the use of such binding agents for the prophylaxis or treatment of cancers and immunological disorders. The variant target binding agent is conjugated to a therapeutic agent that exerts a cytotoxic, cytostatic, or immunomodulatory effect on target cells.
US08455620B2	Cloning and expression of a novel phytase The present invention relates to a novel phytase enzyme, a novel isolated nucleic acid molecule coding the enzyme, and a novel Yersinia intermedia having phytase activity. Particularly, the present invention relates to the phytase having (a) Theoretical molecular weight 45.5 kDa, (b) high specific activity 3960±248 U/mg, (c) high stability at high temperature and wide pH, (d) optimal pH of 4.0-5.0, (e) optimal temperature of 50-60° C., (f) high resistance to pepsin and trypsin. The phytase is very suitable to be used in feed of monogastrics as feed additive. The present invention also relates to a recombinant vector comprising said nucleic acid molecule, a recombinant host cell (e.g., Pichia pastoris) harboring said recombinant vector, and a method for producing phytase using the recombinant host cell. The present invention further provides a feed additive comprising said phytase and/or host cells expressing a phytase as effective ingredient. In addition, the present invention provides a novel method for isolating phytase from a target organism.
US08455619B2	Polypeptide synthesis for drug delivery The present invention provides improved methods for the synthesis of polypeptide or peptide-linked compounds via a NCA-based polymerization reaction that produces high product yields in much less time. Such improved methods are achieved by application of a higher temperature and/or reduced pressure to the reaction such that an NCA-containing monomer melts.
US08455618B2	Melanocortin receptor-specific peptides The invention relates to melanocortin receptor-specific cyclic peptides of Formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, where R1, R2, R3, R4a, R4b, R4c, R5, x and y are as defined in the specification. These compounds are particularly useful in the treatments of energy homeostasis and metabolism related (e.g. diabetes), food intake related and/or energy balance and body weight related diseases, disorders and/or conditions, including obesity, overweight and diseases, disorders and/or conditions associated with obesity and/or overweight, such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
US08455614B2	PMMA binding peptides Peptides are provided that have binding affinity for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The polymethyl methacrylate-binding peptides may be used to prepare peptide-based reagents suitable for use in a variety of applications. The peptide-based reagents may be used to couple benefit agents to a PMMA polymer surface or may be used to couple a benefit agent comprising a PMMA polymer surface to a target surface, such as a body surface.
US08455613B2	Reagents for directed biomarker signal amplification Described herein are methods, compositions and articles of manufacture involving neutral conjugated polymers including methods for synthesis of neutral conjugated water-soluble polymers with linkers along the polymer main chain structure and terminal end capping units. Such polymers may serve in the fabrication of novel optoelectronic devices and in the development of highly efficient biosensors. The invention further relates to the application of these polymers in assay methods.
US08455609B2	Castable polyurea formulation for golf ball covers Golf balls having improved cut and shear resistance that include covers and/or other layers formed from polyurea compositions formed with at least one amine-terminated polytetramethylene ether glycol homopolymer, at least one amine-terminated copolymer of polytetramethylene ether glycol and polyalkylene glycol. The amine-terminated polytetramethylene ether glycol homopolymer or amine-terminated copolymer of polytetramethylene ether glycol and polyalkylene glycol may be used as the isocyanate-reactive in the prepolymer and/or the curing agent.
US08455607B2	Curable liquid composite light emitting diode encapsulant A curable liquid polysiloxane/TiO2 composite for use as a light emitting diode encapsulant is provided, comprising: a polysiloxane with TiO2 domains having an average domain size of less than 5 nm, wherein the curable liquid polysiloxane/TiO2 composite contains 20 to 60 mol % TiO2 (based on total solids); wherein the curable liquid polysiloxane/TiO2 composite exhibits a refractive index of >1.61 to 1.7 and wherein the curable liquid polysiloxane/TiO2 composite is a liquid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Also provided is a light emitting diode manufacturing assembly.
US08455605B2	Resin composition for transparent encapsulation material and electronic device formed using the same A resin composition for a transparent encapsulation material, the resin composition including a polysiloxane obtained by copolymerization of a first silicon compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 and a second silicon compound including a compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 2,
US08455603B2	Process for the preparation of amine-amide-functional siloxanes The invention describes amine-amide-functional siloxanes and a process for the preparation thereof by the chemical reaction of SiOH-functional siloxanes with amino-functional silanes in the presence of carboxylic acid anhydrides.
US08455590B2	Modified triaroylbenzene-skeleton polymer It is an object to provide a film having both high transparency and high heat resistance, and particularly a coating solution for forming a coating film from which an optical film can be produced. A triaroylbenzene-skeleton polymer in which a terminal of a polymer produced by polymerizing a compound of Formula [1] below is modified by a compound of Formula [2] below. A coating solution for forming a coating film, comprising the polymer. A film obtained from the coating solution for forming a coating film. In the formulae below, X1 is a divalent group of Formula [1a], Formula [1b], or Formula [1c] below (where Y1 and Y2 are independently a C1-2 alkylene group; n is an integer of 1 to 6; and m is an integer of 1 to 6), X2 is divalent benzene, thiophene, furan, or fluorine, and X3 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, CF3, a C1-6 alkoxy group, or a C1-6 alkyl group.
US08455582B2	Tire rubber composition and pneumatic tire It is an object of the present invention to provide a tire rubber composition excellent in performances such as silica dispersibility and processability. The present invention relates to a tire rubber composition, comprising: a rubber component; silica; and a silane coupling agent, wherein the silica has a CTAB specific surface area of 180 m2/g or more and a BET specific surface area of 185 m2/g or more, and the silane coupling agent is a copolymer comprising units A represented by formula (1) and units B represented by formula (2), and the proportion of the units B is 1 to 70 mol % of the total molar amount of the units A and the units B.
US08455580B2	Medium voltage cable insulation Compositions comprising: A. Ethylene-based polymer, e.g., LDPE; B. Polyalkylene glycol, e.g., PEG; C. Tertiary hindered amine stabilizer; D. Sulphur-containing hindered phenol antioxidant; E. Peroxide; and F. Optional coagent are useful in the preparation of TRXLPE insulation for medium voltage cable that exhibits a commercially desirable balance of long term heat aging retardancy and water-tree resistance.
US08455575B2	Wood powder-containing material, method of manufacturing the same, and compact A wood powder-containing material includes wood powder having a volume average particle diameter of from about 1 μm to about 5 mm, an aliphatic polyester, and a condensed phosphate ester.
US08455573B2	Curable composition comprising imidazolium monocarboxylate salt Disclosed are curable epoxy compositions comprising imidazolium monocarboxylate salts as curing catalysts and method for curing same. The imidazolium monocarboxylate salt is suitable for use as latent catalysts that effect curing upon heating to a curing temperature threshold. The curable compositions prepared therefrom are used to prepare coated substrates, and to produce conformally sealed printed wiring boards. Of particular utility are curable compositions comprising 2-ethyl-4-methyl imidazolium monocarboxylate salts.
US08455570B2	Ink composition for continuous inkjet printing An aqueous inkjet black ink composition for use in continuous ink jet printing is provided comprising black pigment particles dispersed with a polymeric dispersant or self dispersing pigment particles without the need for a dispersant; and at least one surfactant, wherein the at least one surfactant is selected to provide the ink composition with a 10-ms dynamic surface tension of less than 54 mN/m. The invention relates to continuous ink jet printing of an aqueous pigmented ink composition recycled from a main ink supply reservoir, employing a printer with a drop ejector and a drop deflector and a non-printing drop catcher capable of returning unprinted ink to the fluid delivery system following the capture of non-printing drops. The pigmented ink jet ink compositions provide for particularly suitable fluid properties on the drop catcher face that minimize printing defects that can occur during drop deflection during the printing of high dynamic range images at high speed.
US08455566B2	Materials leading to improved dental composites and dental composites made therefrom Provided herein are uncured dental composites suitable for, among other things, filling cavities in teeth.
US08455563B2	Reactive mesogenic compounds and mixtures The invention relates to new reactive mesogenic compounds (RM), polymerisable liquid crystal (LC) mixtures and polymers comprising them, and the use of the compounds, mixtures and polymers in optical, electrooptical, electronic, semiconducting or luminescent components or devices, in decorative, security or cosmetic applications, especially for use in polymer films having high optical dispersion.
US08455551B2	Broad spectrum disinfectant A broad spectrum disinfectant includes a quaternary ammonium halogen, an alkaline agent, a chelating agent, a nonionic surfactant coupler, at least one alkoxylated nonionic surfactant, and water or any aliphatic alcohol. The disinfectant composition is phenol-free, is effective in eradicating microorganisms such as various fungi, and is stable to gamma-irradiation.
US08455549B2	Carbonylamino derivatives useful for the treatment of certain inflammatory disorders The present invention relates to the use of a particular group of carbonylamino derivatives for the treatment or alleviation of a disease or condition relating to certain inflammatory disorders.
US08455546B2	Medicament having promoting action on hepatocyte proliferation A medicament for promoting proliferation of hepatocytes and liver regeneration, which comprises a polyprenyl compound such as 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2,4,6,10,14-hexadecapentaenoic acid as an active ingredient.
US08455545B2	Liquid pest control formulation The present invention relates to a liquid pest control system that includes a synthetic pyrethroid as a pest control active ingredient and an agent selected from the group consisting of purified diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, tocopherol nicotinate and tocopherol succinate, and combinations thereof, to reduce or eliminate paresthesia of the synthetic pyrethroid. The system releases the synthetic pyrethroid efficiently and uniformly. The pest control system is less irritating to the animal's skin as compared to prior art systems, particularly to small breeds of dogs. The system is useful for making liquid spot-on treatments, sprays and the like.
US08455544B2	Synthetic triterpenoids and methods of use in the treatment of disease The present invention concerns methods for treating and preventing renal/kidney disease, insulin resistance/diabetes, fatty liver disease, and/or endothelial dysfunction/cardiovascular disease using synthetic triterpenoids, optionally in combination with a second treatment or prophylaxis.
US08455536B2	Methods of using (+)-2-[1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylsulfonylethyl]-4-acetylaminoisoindoline 1,3-dione Stereomerically pure (+)-2-[1-(3-Ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylsulfonylethyl]-4-acetylaminoisoindoline-1,3-dione, substantially free of its (−) isomer, and prodrugs, metabolites, polymorphs, salts, solvates, hydrates, and clathrates thereof are discussed. Also discussed are methods of using and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the (+) enantiomer of 2-[1-(3-Ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylsulfonylethyl]-4-acetylaminoisoindoline-1,3-dione are disclosed. The methods include methods of treating and/or preventing disorders ameliorated by the reduction of levels of TNF-α or the inhibition of PDE4.
US08455535B2	Heteroaryl dihydroindolones as kinase inhibitors The present invention provides a compound represented by the formula: wherein ring systems A and B, and the variables R1, b, R6, Y, Z, X, R and a are defined in the specification. The compounds of the present invention may be used in a method for treating diseases related to unregulated tyrosine kinase signal transduction, such as cancer, blood vessel proliferative disorders, fibrotic disorders, mesangial cell proliferative disorders, and metabolic diseases.
US08455534B2	Estrogen receptor modulators and uses thereof Described herein are compounds that are estrogen receptor modulators. Also described are pharmaceutical compositions and medicaments that include the compounds described herein, as well as methods of using such estrogen receptor modulators, alone and in combination with other compounds, for treating diseases or conditions that are mediated or dependent upon estrogen receptors.
US08455533B2	Aminotetrahydropyrans as dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors for the treatment or prevention of diabetes The present invention is directed to novel substituted aminotetrahydropyrans of structural formula I which are inhibitors of the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme and which are useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases in which the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme is involved, such as diabetes and particularly Type 2 diabetes. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds and the use of these compounds and compositions in the prevention or treatment of such diseases in which the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme is involved.
US08455531B2	Amino acid compositions An amino acid composition is disclosed. The composition includes: at least one constituent selected from the group consisting of a nitrate, a nitrite, and both; and at least one constituent amino acid selected from the group consisting of Arginine, Agmatine, Beta Alanine, Citrulline, Creatine, Glutamine, L-Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Norvaline, Ornithine, Valine, Aspartic Acid, Cysteine, Glycine, Lysine, Methionine, Proline, Tyrosine, and Phenylalanine. Also disclosed are a method for increasing the bioabsorption of Amino Acids in a human or animal and a method for increasing vasodilative characteristics of Amino Acids in a human or animal.
US08455519B2	Drug active in neuropathic pain The present invention relates to a compound of formula (I): in which: R is a linear or branched alkyl group containing between 1 and 3 carbon atoms, Y is CH or N, and p is an integer between 0 and 3 and preferably 0 and 1, and salts thereof, either acid-addition salts with a pharmaceutically acceptable organic or mineral acid, or base-addition salts with a pharmaceutically acceptable organic or mineral base. The invention also relates to a process for preparing the compound of formula (I), and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising it. The invention also relates to the use of an indazole for preparing a pharmaceutical composition that is active in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
US08455518B2	Method of treating skin with microRNA modulators Methods for preventing, ameliorating, or reducing dermatological signs of aging are provided which employ active agents that suppress or down-regulate microRNA expression in dermal fibroblast, resulting in enhanced production of collagen, elastin and/or fibrillin in the skin. Also provided are methods for screening for activity against specific microRNAs and the methods of using active agents identified by the screening protocol in the treatment of skin.
US08455517B2	Method of using diketopiperazines and composition containing them The invention provides a method of inhibiting the effects of platelet activating factor (PAF). For instance, a disease or condition mediated by PAF (particularly inflammation) can be treated or platelet aggregation can be inhibited. The invention also provides a method of inhibiting the production and/or release of interleukin 8 (IL-8) by cells. The effects of PAF and the production and/or release of IL-8 are inhibited according to the invention by a compound of the formula: wherein R1 and R2 are defined in the application, or a physiologically-acceptable salt thereof. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds.
US08455516B2	HIV-1 fusion inhibitors and methods A new series of HIV-1 fusion inhibitors and methods of use are disclosed. The compounds are based on a substituted indole, benzimidazole, indoline or isoindoline fragment. The compounds find use in inhibiting or preventing HIV fusion from occurring, thus inhibiting or preventing entry of viral RNA into host cells. The compounds may be useful towards other biological targets involving protein-protein interactions.
US08455515B2	Substituted 4-phenyltetrahydroisoquinolines, process for their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions and therapeutic use The present invention relates to substituted 4-phenyltetrahydroisoquinoline compounds and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them which are excellent inhibitors of the sodium-hydrogen exchanger (NHE), in particular of the sodium-hydrogen exchanger of subtype 3 (NHE-3). As such these compounds are useful in the treatment of various disorders of the renal and respiratory systems such as acute or chronic renal failure, pulmonary complications, biliary function disorders, respiratory disorders such as snoring or sleep apneas and cardiovascular/central nervous system disorders such as stroke. More specifically, the present invention relates to substituted 4-phenyl-tetrahydroisoquinolines defined by the formula I in which R1-R8 are defined herein.
US08455510B2	Rapamycin carbonic ester analogues, pharmaceutical compositions, preparations and uses thereof Rapalogs of formula I, pharmaceutically acceptable salts, pharmaceutical compositions, and preparation methods and uses thereof. The rapalogs have the structure of formula I and can be used as an anti-tumor medicament. Comparing with rapamycin, the rapalogs of the present invention exhibit enhanced water solubility, and improved pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties by introducing a hydrophilic and polar group such as a hydroxyl.
US08455509B2	Method for the preparation of morphine compounds The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of morphine compounds comprising a low content of α,β-unsaturated compounds, which comprises the steps of: (i) bringing the crude morphine compound into contact with a base, at a pH of greater than 13, under conditions which make possible the Michael addition reaction on the α,β-unsaturated compound(s) present; (ii) separating the morphine compound from the reaction mixture; and (iii) if appropriate, separating the addition product formed from the morphine compound. It also relates to a composition comprising at least 99% by dry weight of morphine compound or of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and an α,β-unsaturated compound in a content of less than 100 ppm.
US08455507B2	Aminopyrimidines useful as kinase inhibitors The present invention relates to compounds useful as inhibitors of Aurora protein kinases. The invention also provides pharmaceutically acceptable compositions comprising those compounds and methods of using the compounds and compositions in the treatment of various disease, conditions, and disorders. The invention also provides processes for preparing compounds of the invention.
US08455506B2	Quinazoline based EGFR inhibitors containing a zinc binding moiety The present invention relates to quinazoline containing zinc-binding moiety based derivatives of Formula (I) below. These compounds have enhanced and unexpected properties as inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) and are useful in the treatment of EGFR-TK related diseases and disorders such as cancer. These compounds may further act as HDAC inhibitors.
US08455502B2	Selective phosphodiesterase 9A inhibitors as medicaments for improving cognitive processes The invention relates to the use of selective phosphodiesterase 9A (PDE9A) inhibitors for producing medicaments for improving perception, concentration, cognitive processes, learning and/or memory.
US08455498B2	Inhibitors of histone deacetylase This invention comprises the novel compounds of formula (I) wherein n, R1, R2, R3, R4, Q, X, Y, Z and have defined meanings, having histone deacetylase inhibiting enzymatic activity; their preparation, compositions containing them and their use as a medicine.
US08455497B2	Inhibitors of aspartyl protease The present invention relates to a novel class of sulfonamides which are aspartyl protease inhibitors. In one embodiment, this invention relates to a novel class of HIV aspartyl protease inhibitors characterized by specific structural and physicochemical features. This invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds. The compounds and pharmaceutical compositions of this invention are particularly well suited for inhibiting HIV-1 and HIV-2 protease activity and consequently, may be advantageously used as anti-viral agents against the HIV-1 and HIV-2 viruses. This invention also relates to methods for inhibiting the activity of HIV aspartyl protease using the compounds of this invention and methods for screening compounds for anti-HIV activity.
US08455494B2	Preparations and methods for ameliorating or reducing presbyopia This application relates to the use of one or more parasympathomimetic drugs in combination with one or more alpha agonists to create optically beneficial miosis to, for example, temporarily treat presbyopia. The invention provides a pharmaceutical preparation comprising a therapeutically effective amount of one or more parasympathomimetic drugs or cholinesterase inhibitors, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, in combination with one or more alpha agonists or antagonists, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The invention further provides for a method for treating, ameliorating or reducing presbyopia of a patient having an eye, comprising administering to said eye a pharmaceutically effective amount of the ophthalmic preparation.
US08455493B2	Imidazopyrazine Syk inhibitors Certain imidazopyrazines of Formula (I) and pharmaceutical compositions thereof are provided herein. Methods of treating patients suffering from certain diseases and disorders responsive to the inhibition of Syk activity, which comprises administering to such patients an amount of at least one chemical entity effective to reduce signs or symptoms of the disease or disorder are provided. Also provided are methods for determining the presence or absence of Syk kinase in a sample.
US08455492B2	Methods for treating retinal diseases The present invention provides a method of providing neuroprotection to a mammal comprising administering to said mammal suffering from or at risk of suffering a noxious action on its nerve cells an effective amount of a compound of formula I to inhibit or prevent nerve cell injury or death wherein the 2-imidazolin-2-ylamino group is in either the 5- or 6-position of the quinoxaline nucleus; x, y and z are in any of the remaining 5-, 6-, 7- or 8-positions and are selected from hydrogen, halogen, lower alkyl, lower alkoxy or trifluoromethyl; and R is an optional substituent in either the 2- or 3-position of the quinoxaline nucleus and may be hydrogen, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and mixtures thereof. Such noxious action may result from ischemia, e.g. spinal ischemia.

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