最新美国发明专利第2014-07-08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
US08773835B2	Active material actuation utilizing magnetic overload protection A system for and method of providing overload protection for an active material actuator, includes a magnetically functioning mechanism comprising, for example, one or more permanent or electromagnets, and/or magnetorheological fluid, and configured to produce a holding force less than the capacity of the actuator, and more preferably, a modifiable holding force responsive to load influencing conditions.
US08773834B2	Polarized lightning arrestors Systems and methods for dynamically defending a site from lightning strikes are provided. The systems and methods involve dynamically altering electrostatic fields above the site and/or dynamically intervening in lightning discharges processes in the vicinity of the site.
US08773831B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit A semiconductor integrated circuit that is efficiently reduced in a noise level is offered. P-channel type MOS transistors M1 and M2 serving as differential input transistors have a thin gate oxide film in order to reduce the noise level. A protection circuit to protect the P-channel type MOS transistors M1 and M2 from overvoltage is formed including P-channel type MOS transistors M3 and M4. The P-channel type MOS transistor M3 is a first protection transistor to protect the P-channel type MOS transistor M1 from overvoltage, and is connected to a drain of the P-channel type MOS transistor M1. The P-channel type MOS transistor M4 is a second protection transistor to protect the P-channel type MOS transistor M2 from overvoltage, and is connected to a drain of the P-channel type MOS transistor M2.
US08773827B2	Intelligent circuit breaker apparatus and methods A system and associated components for providing an intelligent circuit breaker being adapted to communicate with, monitor and control various devices within a commercial or residential premises. In one embodiment, the system is adapted for low cost, ease of installation and operation, and ease of manufacture. The intelligent circuit breaker may also be adapted to send data relating to sensed parameter or conditions to, and receive commands from, a user interface. Methods for operating such breakers and converting existing circuit breakers to intelligent circuit breakers consistent with the aforementioned system and components are also described.
US08773826B2	Power-rail electro-static discharge (ESD) clamp circuit A power-rail ESD clamp circuit with a silicon controlled rectifier and a control module is provided. The silicon controlled rectifier is connected to a high voltage level and a low voltage level for bearing a current flow. The control module is connected to the silicon controlled rectifier in parallel, and includes a PMOS, a NMOS, at least one output diode, a resistor and a conducting string. The silicon controlled rectifier is a P+ or N+ triggered silicon controlled rectifier. By employing the novel power-rail ESD clamp circuit, it is extraordinarily advantageous of reducing both a standby leakage current and layout area while implementation.
US08773823B2	Overvoltage protection structure for a differential link A structure for protecting an integrated circuit connected to first and second rails of a differential link against overvoltages, including: a first bidirectional conducting device, between the first rail and a common node; a second bidirectional conducting device, between the second rail and the common node; and a capacitor between the common node and a low reference potential rail.
US08773818B2	Magnetic recording head configured to reduce the degradation of recorded signals and disk device including the same A magnetic recording head includes a main magnetic pole generating a recording magnetic field, a trailing shield, a recording coil generating a magnetic field and a high frequency oscillator. The trailing shield includes a magnetic region including a gap side end surface facing a write gap and a nonmagnetic film arranged in the vicinity of the write gap in the trailing shield, and within a plane including track width direction centers of the main magnetic pole and the high frequency oscillator and being perpendicular to a recording layer of a recording medium, a film thickness of the nonmagnetic film along a track moving direction is substantially equivalent to or more than a half of a distance from the gap side end surface to the nonmagnetic film.
US08773815B2	Fluid bearing component including thrust bearing groove recesses and disk drive device including same An example rotating device is a disk drive device that includes a base, a hub on which a recording disk is to be mounted and which rotates relative to the base, and a fluid dynamic bearing unit that allows the hub to rotate relative to the base. The fluid dynamic bearing unit includes a shaft that performs relative rotation and a cylindrical member that encircles the shaft, the cylindrical member includes a thrust dynamic pressure generating groove which is provided in one end face of the cylindrical member and which generates thrust dynamic pressure, and the thrust dynamic pressure generating groove includes a cut-and-machined face.
US08773811B2	Systems and methods for zone servo timing gain recovery Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for data processing. As an example, a data processing system is disclosed that includes Various embodiments of the present invention provide data processing systems that include an analog to digital converter circuit and a phase and gain computation circuit. The analog to digital converter circuit is operable to convert an analog input into a series of digital samples. At least a portion of the series of digitals samples represent a periodic signal from a servo data region. The phase and gain computation circuit is operable to: determine an approximate amplitude of the periodic signal based at least in part upon the digital samples representing the periodic signal from the servo data region; determine a gain based at least in part on the approximate amplitude; and determine a phase based at least in part on the approximate amplitude.
US08773803B2	Reduced plasmon shield-generator gap structure and process Three structures, and processes for manufacturing them, that improve the performance of a TAMR feature in a magnetic write head are disclosed. This improvement is achieved by making the separation between the edge plasmon generator and the plasmon shield less than the separation between the edge plasmon generator and the optical wave-guide.
US08773802B1	Disk drive resetting fly height reference generated from a degrading calibration track A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk and a fly height actuator operable to control a fly height of the head in response to a fly height control signal. A touchdown operation is executed to set an operating fly height control signal by adjusting the fly height control signal until the head contacts the disk. A fly height calibration track is then read to set a fly height reference. When calibrating the operating fly height control signal, the fly height calibration track is read and the operating fly height control signal is adjusted in response to the fly height reference. When the adjusted operating fly height control signal is invalid, the touchdown operation is re-executed to reset the operating fly height control signal and then the fly height calibration track is read to reset the fly height reference.
US08773800B2	Adaptive disturbance compensation with multi-rate synchronized sampling An apparatus and method for providing adaptive disturbance compensation with multi-rate synchronized sampling is disclosed herein. The dynamic disturbance occurring in a media drive during read/write operations is attenuated using the adaptive disturbance compensation scheme. A plurality of compensation filters are used, each of the compensation filters configured to attenuate a disturbance caused by a particular source within the media drive. Each of the compensation filters is computed based on a sampling rate relevant to the respective disturbances.
US08773796B2	System and method of synchronized writing on bit patterned media with read-write offset A system and method of establishing write timing in a disk drive using bit patterned media and a magnetic head with read-write offset in which servoing and writing occur on different tracks with timing offsets. Initially, the distance between the servoing and writing tracks is determined for each track/head position in accordance with head geometry and skew angle. The relative timing errors are then measured by iteratively writing data at timing offset increments to determine the optimal timing offset for the servoing/writing track pair, and then writing the offset to sync fields on the servoing tracks of the disk.
US08773794B2	Systems and methods for block-wise inter-track interference compensation Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for data processing. As an example, a block-wise data processing circuit is discussed that includes: a data buffer, an inter-track interference response circuit, and an inter-track interference signal estimator circuit. The data buffer is operable to store a previous track data set corresponding to a block. The inter-track interference response circuit is operable to estimate an inter-track interference response from the previous track data set across the block based at least in part on the previous track data set and a current track data set. The inter-track interference signal estimator circuit is operable to calculate an inter-track interference from the previous track data set across the block based at least in part on the previous track data set and the inter-track interference response from the previous track data set.
US08773793B1	Disk drive selecting target response based on identified response A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk. A test pattern is written to the disk and read from the disk to generate a read signal. The read signal is sampled to generate signal samples, the signal samples are filtered with an equalizer filter to generate a first output, and the test pattern is filtered with a target filter to generate a second output. An error signal is generated based on a difference between the first output and the second output. Coefficients of the target filter are adapted in response to the error signal, and after adapting the coefficients of the target filter, a sequence detector is configured based on the coefficients of the target filter.
US08773788B2	Systems and methods for hardware assisted write pre-compensation enhancement Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for calibrating write pre-compensation values.
US08773787B1	Changing the performance level of a disk drive A method or apparatus for changing a performance level of a disk drive from an initial performance level to a target performance level, wherein the disk drive includes a profile table. The method including determining an initial performance level, determining a target performance level, determining constant offset values that cause the performance level of the disk drive to match the target performance level, and programming a constant offset table of the profile table with the constant offset values.
US08773784B2	System for reducing the effects of component misalignment in an optical system Different rotational interfaces between individual optical components and their mounts are compared based on a sensitivity of optical system performance to misalignment of the optical component to an alignment axis of the optical mount within a clearance space. The rotational interfaces at which the sensitivity of the optical system performance to the misalignment of the optical component approaches a minimum are incorporated into the optical design.
US08773783B2	Optical system and optical apparatus having the same An optical system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a front unit having a positive refractive power, an aperture diaphragm, and a rear unit. The front unit includes a first lens unit having a positive refractive power. The rear unit includes a second unit adjacent to the aperture diaphragm and configured to move in focusing. The first lens unit includes n (which is an integer of 2 or higher) positive lenses and one or more negative lenses. The materials of at least two positive lenses of the n positive lenses in the first lens unit satisfy 0.0100<ΔθgF where ΔθgF is an abnormal partial dispersion of each material. The material of one or more positive lenses of the n positive lenses in the first lens unit satisfies 0.0272<ΔθgF. Additional conditional expressions are satisfied.
US08773779B2	Lens system, optical device with lens system, and method of manufacturing lens A lens system comprises, on a side closest to an object, a first lens component having a positive refractive power and a second lens component having a positive refractive power in order from the object; and on a side closest to an image, a cemented lens constructed by cementing together a positive lens and a negative lens in order from the object; wherein the lens system satisfies the following conditional expressions: (n1+n2)/2>1.49 (ν1+ν2)/2>60 where n1 and ν1 denote a refractive index and an Abbe number of the first lens component at d-line, respectively, and n2 and ν2 denote a refractive index and an Abbe number of the second lens component at d-line, respectively.
US08773774B2	Photographing lens assembly A photographing lens assembly includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element and a third lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has an object-side surface being concave at a paraxial region thereof and an image-side surface being convex at a paraxial region thereof. The second lens element has positive refractive power. The third lens element with negative refractive power made of plastic material, and has an image-side surface being concave at a paraxial region thereof and being convex at a peripheral region thereof, wherein an object-side surface and the image-side surface of the third lens element are aspheric.
US08773773B2	Imaging lens Provided is an imaging lens, including, in an ordered way from an object side, a first lens having positive (+) refractive power, a second lens having negative (−) refractive power and having a meniscus shape concavely formed at an object side surface, and a third lens having positive (+) refractive power and having an aspheric shape. An object side surface and an image side surface of the third lens can each have an inflection point.
US08773772B2	Photographic lens optical system A lens optical system includes first, second, third, and fourth lenses that are arranged between an object and an image sensor, in order from an object side, wherein the first lens has positive refractive power and an incident surface that is convex toward the object, the second lens has negative refractive power and both surfaces of which are concave, the third lens has positive refractive power and a meniscus shape that is convex toward the image sensor, and the fourth lens has negative refractive power and at least one of an incident surface and an exit surface of which is an aspherical surface, wherein the system satisfies the inequality, 3.0
US08773769B2	Lens module There is provided a lens module, including: a first lens having positive refractive power, an object-sided surface thereof being convex; a second lens having negative refractive power, an image-sided surface thereof being concave; a third lens having positive refractive power; a fourth lens having negative refractive power, an image-sided surface thereof being convex; and a fifth lens having negative refractive power, an image-sided surface thereof being concave, wherein the fourth lens satisfies Conditional Expression 1, f ⁢ ⁢ 4 f < - 3.0 [ Conditional ⁢ ⁢ Expression ⁢ ⁢ 1 ] where f is an overall focal distance of an optical system and f4 is a focal distance of the fourth lens.
US08773767B2	Mobile device and optical imaging lens thereof Present embodiments provide for a mobile device and an optical imaging lens thereof. The optical imaging lens comprises five lens elements positioned in an order from an object side to an image side. Through controlling the convex or concave shape of the surfaces of the lens elements to allow the thickness of the second lens element and the sum of all air gaps between all five lens elements along the optical axis satisfying the relation: 0.20
US08773766B2	Liquid optics with folds lens and imaging apparatus A high performance zoom lens system suitable for use with a camera is disclosed. The zoom lens systems employs redirection of the radiation axis, liquid optics and a movable lens group to provide optical performance over the zoom focal length range at focus distances from close to infinity. The system also provides compensation for undesirable thermally induced effects by adjustments of the zoom group and the variably shaped optical surface in the liquid lens cell.
US08773765B2	Endoscope apparatus An endoscope apparatus includes an objective optical system mounted at a distal end portion of an endoscope, which is inserted into a tube cavity, and configured to form an image of an object in the tube cavity, the objective optical system including a focusing lens movable in an optical axis direction, a solid-state image pickup device for color image pickup configured to pick up the image formed by the objective optical system, a color separation filter being arranged for each pixel in the solid-state image pickup device, a focus adjusting mechanism configured to move the focusing lens and automatically adjust the objective optical system to a focus position in a focused state, a moving range switching section configured to perform switching of a moving range of the focusing lens, a moving range limiting section configured to limit the moving range in association with the switching by the moving range switching section, and the like.
US08773764B2	Beam combiner and distributor system and method therefore The present invention relates to a fiber laser system for processing materials involving a system of interconnected operational components for combining and optionally distributing beams from multiple beam emitters. More particularly, the present invention provides a system for combining and distributing fiber laser beams having different wavelengths and a method for operating the system thereof. Multiple beam combiners may be optionally linked with a beam distribution system. In exemplary use, multiple fiber laser sources generating different wavelength outputs are combined in a single beam incident of a work piece comprising multiple layers.
US08773762B2	Lens barrel having an image-stabilizing insertable/removable optical element A lens barrel having an insertable/removable optical element includes an advancing/retracting member, an anti-shake frame supported by the advancing/retracting member, an insertable/removable frame holding the insertable/removable optical element and supported by the anti-shake frame, an anti-shake drive mechanism, and a removal drive mechanism which moves the insertable/removable frame between the insertion and the removed positions. The anti-shake drive mechanism includes first and second anti-shake drive actuators positioned on the opposite side of the insertion position from the removed position and are respectively positioned on opposite sides of a straight line connecting a center of the insertable/removable optical element at the insertion position and at the removed position. Directions of driving forces produced by the first and second anti-shake drive actuators are at right angles to each other.
US08773761B2	Optical member and microscope An optical member and a microscope that allow acquiring brighter and sharper images when fluorescent observation is performed while stimulating a sample with light. Illumination light from a laser unit is split into stimulation light and excitation light by a dichroic mirror. In other words, half of the illumination light is transmitted through the dichroic mirror and becomes the stimulation light, and half of the illumination light is reflected by the dichroic mirror and becomes the excitation light. Half of the excitation light is reflected by a dichroic mirror and is irradiated onto a sample, and half of the stimulation light transmits through the dichroic mirror and is irradiated onto the sample. Fluorescence generated from the sample is totally reflected by the dichroic mirror and the dichroic mirror, and is received by a photodetector.
US08773756B2	Compensating optical coupler for visible and NIR imaging An optical system, in particular for endoscopic applications, is disclosed which uses wavelength-compensating optical components, in particular prisms, made of materials with different inter-element coatings and refractive indices to image significantly different wavelength-ranges (VIS and NIR) onto the same image plane of an image acquisition device, such as a CCD sensor.
US08773754B2	Utilization of Yb: and Nd: mode-locked oscillators in solid-state short pulse laser systems An optimized Yb: doped fiber mode-locked oscillator and fiber amplifier system for seeding Nd: or Yb: doped regenerative amplifiers. The pulses are generated in the Yb: or Nd: doped fiber mode-locked oscillator, and may undergo spectral narrowing or broadening, wavelength converting, temporal pulse compression or stretching, pulse attenuation and/or lowering the repetition rate of the pulse train. The conditioned pulses are subsequently coupled into an Yb: or Nd: fiber amplifier. The amplified pulses are stretched before amplification in the regenerative amplifier that is based on an Nd: or Yb: doped solid-state laser material, and then recompressed for output.
US08773753B2	Optical amplifier and optical amplifying apparatus An optical amplifier amplifies signal light and includes a pump light source that outputs pump light of a wavelength different from that of the signal light; a combining unit that combines the signal light and the pump light output by the pump light source, to output combined light; an amplifying unit that has non-linear optical media that transmit the combined light to amplify the signal light, the amplifying unit further removing, in the non-linear optical media, idler light generated from the signal light and the pump light, and outputting light that results; and an extraction filter that extracts the signal light from the light output by the amplifying unit.
US08773747B2	Electrochromic device and method for producing same The present invention relates to electrochromic devices and methods for functionalizing cellulose-based materials, in production and post-production stages, in order to obtain solid-state electrochromic devices. The invention is in the field of electrochemistry. These functionalized cellulose-based materials have typical electrochromic characteristics, specifically the capacity to change the oxidation state, leading to a modification of the physical properties, shown by a color change when exposed to an electric potential difference, being this color change reversible. The color remains in the absence of any electric stimulus, demonstrating a memory effect. An example of an electrochromic device according to the present invention comprises a cellulose-based material soaked with a dispersion of electrochromic inorganic material nanoparticles or with a solution of electrochromic organic molecules, wherein the solution/dispersion contains at least one salt, and is finished by deposition of an electrode in each side of the cellulose-based material, wherein at least one of the electrodes is transparent.
US08773746B2	All-solid-state reflective dimming electrochromic element sealed with protective layer, and dimming member comprising the same An all-solid-state reflective dimming electrochromic element having a multilayer film formed on a transparent substrate, which is characterized in that the multilayer film has a multilayer structure comprising at least a transparent conductive film layer, an ion storage layer, a solid electrolyte layer, a buffer layer, a catalyst layer, a reflective dimming layer, and a protective layer formed on the transparent substrate, and which is sealed with the protective layer, and a dimming member comprising the same are provided.
US08773744B2	Light modulating cell, device and system A 3D image display system with high resolution is disclosed. The system may deflect left and right eye images to a left and right eye of a viewer, respectively. As such, the viewer can see 3D images. With a time-sharing mode, all of electronically switchable light modulating cells are configured to modulate all of the images deflected to the left eye of the viewer during a first period, and modulate all of the images to the right eye of the viewer during a second period, and the first period and the second period are alternate periods. Alternatively, a part of the electronically switchable light modulating cells are configured to modulate left eye images deflected to the left eye of the viewer, and another part of the electronically switchable light modulating cells are configured to modulate right eye images to the right eye of the viewer during the same period.
US08773737B2	Image processing device having sheet conveying mechanism A conveying path extends from a set position in which the original sheet is set to a discharge position in which the original sheet is discharged from the image-processing device. A control unit controls an image processing unit such that the image processing unit does not execute an image processing relevant to an original sheet when an elapsed time is less than a reference time and such that the image processing unit executes the image processing relevant to the original sheet when the elapsed time is greater than or equal to the reference time. The elapsed time is time from a point of time that the control unit begins to drive a conveying mechanism in response to a reception of the command by a command reception unit until a point of time that a sensor detects the original sheet conveyed by the conveying mechanism at the detection position.
US08773733B2	Image capture device for extracting textual information A digital image capture device, comprising an image sensor and an optical system for capturing digital images, and a program memory storing instructions configured to cause a data processing system to implement a method for extracting textual information from a document containing text characters. The method includes capturing plurality of digital images of the document using the image sensor. Each of the captured digital images is automatically analyzed using an optical character recognition process to determine extracted textual data. The extracted textual data for the captured digital images are merged to determine the textual information for the document, wherein differences between the extracted textual data for the captured digital images are analyzed to determine the textual information for the document.
US08773730B2	Scan assisting fixing device and scanner using the same A scan assisting fixing device and a scanner using the same are provided. The fixing device is for fixing an object to be scanned, which includes a scanning portion and a holding portion. The fixing device includes an accommodation region, a scan window and a protrusion portion. When the holding portion is loaded in the accommodation region, the scanning portion correspondingly disposed in the scan window is retained and fixed by the protrusion portion, and the position of the holding portion in the fixing device is constant, so that the scanning portion is always within the range of the field depth of the scanner regardless of the specification of the positive film holder, and the clarity of the scanned image is assured.
US08773726B2	Image forming device capable of controlling scanning unit and method to control scanning unit thereof An image forming device capable of controlling a scanning unit and a method to control the scanning unit, the image forming device including a rate error calculator to calculate a rate error from a difference between a practical rotation rate and a target rate of a motor that drives the scanning unit, a position error calculator to calculate a position error from a difference between a current position and a target position of the motor, and a rate/position controller to output a control pulse to control a rate and a position of the motor by applying the rate error and the position error.
US08773723B2	Generating color separation table for printer having color forming materials with high and low relative densities using a gamut boundary to limit use of dark color material To generate a color separation table for an image forming apparatus which has relatively dark/light color materials with high/low relative densities, a gamut boundary for limiting the use of the relatively dark color material is set. One of relatively dark color materials is selected, and at least a grid point which satisfies a condition that the color material value of the selected relatively dark color material is nonzero and a color value to be reproduced based on color material values set to the grid point exists in a region brighter than the gamut boundary is determined. The color material value of the selected relatively dark color material set to the grid point which satisfies the condition is replaced by the color material value of the relatively light color material.
US08773720B2	Image processing using halftone image data An image processing apparatus according to this invention performs the first halftone processing for input image data having the first number of gradations, generating halftone image data having the second number of gradations smaller than the first number of gradations. The image processing apparatus evaluates a pixel value difference between input image data and halftone image data, and calculates quantization error data representing a quantization error generated in the halftone image data owing to the first halftone processing. Then, the image processing apparatus performs the second halftone processing for the calculated quantization error data, generating correction data having the second number of gradations for correcting the quantization error generated by the first halftone processing. The image processing apparatus corrects the halftone image data using the correction data.
US08773717B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium for adding check operation to instruction based on error information acquired An information processing apparatus includes a check unit, an acquisition unit, a first determination unit, and an output unit. The check unit checks a processing status of a printing apparatus. The acquisition unit acquires exception processing information including a content of exception processing from the printing apparatus in response to the processing status checked by the check unit being in execution of the exception processing. The first determination unit determines a check operation to be added to a physical job ticket according to the exception processing content included in the exception processing information acquired by the acquisition unit. The output unit outputs the physical job ticket including the check operation determined by the first determination unit.
US08773705B2	Data transmitting method of image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus for performing data transmitting method A method of transmitting data from an image forming apparatus, the method including: receiving identification information of a destination of the data; determining whether to transmit the data to the destination corresponding to the received identification information based on a security policy of the image forming apparatus; and transmitting the data to the destination in response to the destination being determined to be a destination to where the data is allowed to be transmitted, based on the security policy.
US08773704B2	Image processing apparatus that generates hyperlink structure data An image processing apparatus includes an image reading unit configured to read information as image data, a character recognition unit configured to recognize individual characters included in the image data, a grouping unit configured to group the individual characters recognized into one or more character string based on character information indicating a format of the character, a character extraction unit configured to extract a character string for which a link is to be created based on an importance of the character string obtained by the grouping, a character search unit configured to search the image data in which the characters have been recognized for the character string having the same character base among the character strings extracted, and a link setting unit configured to link the character strings having the same character base that are retrieved to each other based on the importance.
US08773701B2	Image processing apparatus, print control method, recording medium storing print control program An image processing apparatus includes a display unit; a screen control unit configured to control display of operation screens on the display unit so that there are more operation procedures for color printing compared to monochrome printing in printing operations performed by a user; a setting change unit configured to change a print setting of print data of a selected stored job, among stored jobs stored in a predetermined storage area, to monochrome or color when a print execution instruction is received, based on the print execution instruction received from an operation screen controlled and displayed by the screen control unit; and a print control unit configured to execute monochrome printing or color printing on the print data according to the print setting changed by the setting change unit.
US08773700B2	Panoramic image preparing method and three-dimensional laser scanner A panoramic image preparing method comprises a step of setting a measurement range 70 so as to include objects to be measured 72, 73, and 74, a step of dividing the measurement range as required and setting two or more sections 71 and a step of synthesizing partial images 81 photographed for each of the sections and preparing a panoramic image 80, a step of photographing each of the sections under two or more image pickup conditions and a step of synthesizing the panoramic image by using the partial image photographed under an optimal image pickup condition at least about the object to be measured.
US08773699B2	Information processing apparatus, printing system, and method for controlling the same An information processing apparatus includes a storage unit, an installation unit, a processing unit, and a transmission unit. The storage unit stores data to be printed in an intermediate format independent of a specific model of a printing apparatus. The installation unit installs a printer driver corresponding to a printing apparatus in response to a request from the printing apparatus. The processing unit causes the printer driver installed by the installation unit to generate, from the intermediate-format data, data capable of recognizing output settings used for actual printing apparatus printing and outputs the generated data to a storage area inside the information processing apparatus. The transmission unit acquires information about the output settings from the data output by the processing unit and transmits the information about the output settings to the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus displays the information about the output settings of the data to be printed.
US08773694B2	Managing a print job using print setting information A print server comprises: storage unit configured to store the print job of the intermediate format received from an information processing apparatus; setting change receiving unit configured to receive, from a printing apparatus, a print setting information change instruction for the print job of the intermediate format stored in the storage unit; update unit configured to update print setting information of the print job in accordance with the print setting information change instruction; print request receiving unit configured to receive a print request from the printing apparatus; and job transmission unit configured to generate a print job of a format printable by the printing apparatus based on the print job of the intermediate format and the print setting information updated in accordance with the print request, and to transmit the generated print job to the printing apparatus.
US08773693B2	Communication apparatus capable of referring to transmission job history, control method therefor, and storage medium storing control program therefor A communication apparatus that enables to refer to transmission history information in response to settings of use proprieties for transmission methods. A recording unit records a history of a transmission job executed by the communication apparatus as transmission history information that includes a transmitting destination at least. A setting unit sets a use propriety of each of the transmission methods. A determination unit determines whether reference to the transmission history information is permitted in response to the use propriety of each of the transmission methods set by the setting unit and the transmitting destination included in the transmission history information, when a user instructs to refer to the transmission history information.
US08773690B2	Print configuration engine integrated with an online collage-based editor The invention allows an online print engine to enhance a printing quality and a user experience of an online printing system. The invention may be used for photo books, photo cards, photo calendars, and in other online print situations. One embodiment is a print engine residing on and executable from a digital medium, the print engine integrated with a graphical user interface (GUI) for creating and editing photo-based projects over a data network, the print engine including a communications link to a print server and a printer connected to the data network, a print queue for queuing printing tasks, and an effects filter size-reduction module. The print engine automatically senses via the effects filter size-reduction module if the area of a filter is greater than a pre-defined threshold, and if so produces a smaller filter embedded into a bitmap image, after which the bitmap image is scaled back up to the filters original size.
US08773685B2	High-speed digital image printing system Techniques are disclosed for decreasing the time required for a photo-printing device (such as a commercial photo-printing kiosk) to print a plurality of digital images. For example, the digital images may be transferred from a print client to a print server and stored in a RAMdisk at the print server prior to printing. Image processing may be performed on at least some of the digital images prior to the initiation of printing. The digital images may be processed in decreasing order of estimated image processing time. Two or more of these techniques may be combined to decrease the total time required to print the digital images by, for example, increasing the speed with which images may be accessed, decreasing the amount of time that passes before printing begins, and enabling all of the digital images to be printed without stopping and restarting the print engine.
US08773682B2	Image forming system, image forming apparatus, and information processing device An image forming system may include an image forming apparatus, an information processing device configured to send print data to the image forming apparatus, and a destination device configured to receive error information sent from the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus may include a control device configured to determine whether the destination device is available to provide notification of the error information. The control device may be further configured to enforce print restriction controls to start the printing operation of the print data received from the information processing device when the destination device is available to provide notification of the error information and to not start the printing operation of the print data when the destination device is not available to provide notification of the error information.
US08773678B2	Media processing device A media processing device enables conveying media fed from different paths into a common path in a stable conveyance state to the scanning position of a scanner. A check processing device has a path switching member that selectively bridges a back path for conveying checks and a card path to a downstream path, which is a common path. The path switching member changes position and switches the connected paths in conjunction with movement of a shutter that covers the open part of a nozzle cap used to cap the nozzle face of the inkjet head at the back path.
US08773676B2	Multifunction peripheral, multifunction peripheral control system, and multifunction peripheral control method for preparing information display screen including changing default conditions A multifunction peripheral of the present invention includes: a display section that displays an information display screen; a storage section that stores information display screen setting data including default conditions for preparing the information display screen; and an information display screen preparation section that prepares the information display screen on the basis of the information display screen setting data, the information display screen preparation section (i) changing, in accordance with an instruction received from the server, at least one of the default conditions included in the information display screen setting data, and (ii) causing the display section to display the information display screen prepared on the basis of the information display screen setting data including the change.
US08773674B2	Method and apparatus to provide enhanced printing for newly launched devices in a universal printer driver A system for interfacing a universal print driver with a print device after the universal print driver is deployed. The system includes a universal print driver interfaced with a network and at least one associated print device. A repository stores a set of device compatibility packs (DCPs) for each of the at least one associated print device interfaced with the universal print driver. The universal print driver is adapted to search the repository for a DCP if the associated print device is unsupported by the print driver.
US08773669B2	Optical device According to one embodiment, an optical device includes emission of an image projecting light source and emission of an optical path length measuring light source are provided by a light projecting device and respective beams are directed to a moveable mirror. In accordance with the movement of moveable mirror, an image projecting light scans a target and an image is displayed. Reflected light is scattered from the target and reaches a photodetector. By calculating the time difference of reference light and reflected light detected by the photodetector, the distance of the optical device and a reflection point of an optical path length measuring light is computed. By combining the computed optical path length data and angle data of the moveable mirror, the reflecting point of the optical path length measuring light is determined.
US08773666B2	Device and method for acquiring position with a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer Device and method for acquiring position with a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer. In a general aspect, the device for acquiring position may include an arrangement for acquiring position where the acquiring arrangement has a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer. In another general aspect, a method for acquiring position may include generating an interference pattern dependent on a position of an object by a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer; detecting the interference pattern to obtain a measuring signal; and evaluating the measuring signal.
US08773663B2	Luminous unit A luminous unit for an optical gas detector, an optical gas detector including the luminous unit, and a method of recording an absorption spectrum in an optical gas detector include a light source for linearly polarised light radiation and a housing with an exit window. A wavelength of the light radiation radiated from the light source is tunable. The light source is arranged in the housing such that the main emission direction (OA) of the light source encloses an inclination angle (φ) of between 10° and 50° with a normal (N) to the main extension plane (HE) of the exit window. The direction of polarisation (P) of the light radiation encloses a rotation angle (θ) of between 22.5° and 67.5° with the plane of incidence on the exit window.
US08773660B2	Arrangement for determining a longitudinal position of a stopper The invention refers to an arrangement and a method for determining a longitudinal position of a stopper for sealing a compartment of a translucent medicament container for a liquid medicament (M). The arrangement comprises a circular light source and a photo sensitive sensor, wherein either the light source or the sensor is laterally arrangeable next to the medicament container extending over at least part of the length of the medicament container, and wherein the respective other of the light source and the sensor is arrangeable in a circular manner around a head of the medicament container. The light source is arranged to emit light into the medicament container. The light is scattered by the medicament or medicament container and detected by the sensor. The sensor is connected to a processor unit for detecting the position of the stopper).
US08773656B2	Apparatus and method for characterizing glass sheets Disclosed is an apparatus for characterizing attributes of a moving glass sheet comprising complementary mechanical material handling technologies that progressively stabilize, position, capture, flatten, and release the lower portion of glass sheets traveling past the apparatus while posing minimal constraint on the top section of the sheet. The apparatus includes a pressure-vacuum (PV)-type device comprising distinct regions such that the glass sheets experience a non-contact but gradual increase in constraining force until the point where measurements can be performed, then a gradual decrease in constraining force until the glass sheets are released from the inspection station. This graduated force technique is applied along the direction of travel of the sheets and may also be applied vertically upwards along the height of the sheet to restrict the motion of the sheet without constraining it at pinch points near the conveyor.
US08773655B2	Total luminous flux measurement system and total luminous flux measuring method The present invention relates to a total luminous flux measurement system and a method thereof for measuring a total luminous flux of a light emitting component. The total luminous flux measurement system includes a light receiving module, a first light detector and a processing module. The light receiving module is disposed on a central normal of the light emitting component and divides a projection light field to a forward light field and a side light field. The light receiving module receives a beam in the forward light field to obtain a forward luminous flux. The first light detector is disposed on a side of the light receiving module to receive a beam in the side light field to obtain a first side luminous flux. The processing module electrically connects the light receiving module and the first light detector to calculate the total luminous flux at the light emitting component.
US08773651B2	Method and apparatus for visualizing a signature mark on a spectacle lens A method and an apparatus serve for visualizing a signature mark on a spectacle lens. In order to identify the signature mark, an illumination light beam is directed onto the spectacle lens, which impinges on the spectacle lens, after impinging on the spectacle lens is reflected at a retroreflector, impinges once again on the spectacle lens, and finally is passed as an observation light beam to a camera. A reflection region of the illumination light beam on the reflector is varied by means of a moved first optical element.
US08773650B2	Optical position and/or shape sensing An accurate measurement method and apparatus are disclosed for shape sensing with a multi-core fiber. A change in optical length is detected in ones of the cores in the multi-core fiber up to a point on the multi-core fiber. A location and/or a pointing direction are/is determined at the point on the multi-core fiber based on the detected changes in optical length. The accuracy of the determination is better than 0.5% of the optical length of the multi-core fiber up to the point on the multi-core fiber. In a preferred example embodiment, the determining includes determining a shape of at least a portion of the multi-core fiber based on the detected changes in optical length.
US08773648B2	Imaging system with motorized positioning of image capture device An imaging system may be collect information related to a specific gemstone such that a user may later access those images in a manner that allows the user to emulate a microscope. The illustrative embodiment of the imaging system may allow a subject gemstone to be rotated by 360 degrees in yaw, pitch, and roll dimensions relative to an image capture device, and the linear distance between the image capture device and the subject gemstone to be adjusted. The illustrative embodiment of the image capture device may record images of the subject gemstone at a plurality of focal points in three-dimensional space from a plurality of angles. A viewer system may be used to access images for a specific gemstone.
US08773644B2	Optical beam scanner and laser radar unit An optical beam scanner includes a light source, an optical scanner configured to scan a light beam irradiated from the light source, and an input optical system configured to direct the light beam irradiated from the light source to the optical scanner, wherein the optical scanner includes a rotating mirror configured to rotate around a rotational axis and reflect the light beam irradiated from the light source; the rotating mirror is rotated around the rotational axis so that the light beam is irradiated on differing positions of a mirror surface of the rotating mirror; and the mirror surface of the rotating mirror has a mirror surface inclining angle with respect to a direction parallel to the rotational axis that is arranged to gradually increase from a first side to a second side of the rotating mirror in a direction parallel to a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis.
US08773639B2	Illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus An illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus comprises a pupil surface and an arrangement of individually drivable beam deviating elements. Each beam deviating element is configured to direct light impinging thereon onto different positions on the pupil surface in response to a control signal applied to the beam deviating element. According to the disclosure an attenuation unit is provided which is configured to reduce the intensity of light, which is directed by any arbitrary beam deviating element (onto the pupil surface, by more than 50%. This makes it possible to reduce the intensity of light in the pupil surface that has been reflected by defective beam deviating elements.
US08773638B2	Microlithographic projection exposure apparatus with correction optical system that heats projection objective element A microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes a primary illumination system producing projection light, a projection objective and a correction optical system. The correction optical system includes a secondary illumination system, which produces an intensity distribution of correction light in a reference surface, and a correction element which includes a heating material and is arranged in a plane that is at least substantially optically conjugate to the reference surface such that the correction light and the projection light pass through at least one lens contained in the projection objective before they impinge on the correction element. All lenses through which both the correction light and the projection light pass are made of a lens material which has a lower coefficient of absorption for the correction light than the heating material contained in the correction element.
US08773632B2	Display device It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device where expansion of a frame portion over a substrate, which results from formation of a lead wiring over an active matrix substrate, is minimally suppressed to realize a narrow frame. According to one feature of a display device of the present invention, a chamfer portion is formed at least at an end portion of an active matrix substrate having a pixel portion of a pair of substrates disposed to be opposed to each other, and wirings (a source line, a gate line, a storage capacitor line, a leading out wiring, and the like) over the active matrix substrate are electrically connected by a common wiring formed in the chamfer portion.
US08773627B2	Liquid crystal display device and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display device A liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates of which one substrate is provided with a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of common wirings, a first insulation film covering the scanning lines, the common wirings, and the one substrate, a plurality of signal lines provided on the first insulation film, a thin film transistor provided near an intersection part of the scanning lines and the signal lines, a lower electrode formed below the first insulation film and connected to the common wirings, a second insulation film formed on surfaces of the thin film transistor, the signal lines, and the first insulation film, and an upper electrode formed on the second insulation film and having a slit, a display region in which the liquid crystal layer is driven by an electric field, and a non-display region that is formed outside the display region.
US08773625B2	Method of manufacturing flexible substrate structure and flexible flat device A method of manufacturing a flexible substrate structure includes the following steps. A first loading substrate having a center area and a peripheral area is provided. A first adhesive layer is formed on the center area of the first loading substrate, and a second adhesive layer is formed on the peripheral area of the first loading substrate. The first flexible substrate is adhered to the first loading substrate by the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer to form a flexible substrate structure, wherein the adhesive force between the first flexible substrate and the second adhesive layer is stronger than that between the first flexible substrate and the first adhesive layer. The flexible substrate structure is cut, and the first flexible substrate is separated from the flexible substrate structure.
US08773624B2	Resin composition and image display apparatus A thin image display apparatus capable of high luminance and high contrast display of a display part, which does not produce display defects resulting from deformation of the image display part. The thin image display apparatus has an image display part and a light-transmitting protective part arranged on the image display part. A cured resin layer is arranged between the image display part and the protective part. The cured resin layer has a transmittance in the visible region of 90% or higher and a storage modulus at 25° C. of 1.0×107 Pa or less. The cured resin layer is formed from a resin composition which has a curing shrinkage ratio of 5.0% or less.
US08773623B2	Transflective liquid crystal display device including transmissive and reflective areas in each pixel An IPS-mode transflective LCD device includes an array of pixels each including a reflective region and a transmissive region. A first pixel electrode and a first common electrode are formed in the reflective region, and a second pixel electrode and a second common electrode are formed in the transmissive region. The first and second pixel electrodes receive a common pixel signal. The first common electrode receives a first common signal which is common among the reflective regions of a plurality of pixels, and the second common electrode receives a second common signal which is common among the transmissive regions of the plurality of pixels.
US08773621B2	Liquid crystal device, electronic device and projector with maximum-light-intensity direction inclined from the direction normal to the substrates A liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal panel including a pair of substrates that sandwiches a liquid crystal layer containing liquid crystal molecules exhibiting a parallel alignment in an initial alignment state, and a polarizing plate disposed on either side of the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal molecules are inclined at a pretilt angle and aligned in a predetermined direction in planes of the substrates. The liquid crystal panel emits light entering through one of the polarizing plates toward the other. The liquid crystal panel emits light having the maximum intensity in a direction different from a direction normal to the substrates. The azimuth of the maximum-light-intensity direction projected onto the planes of the substrates is substantially parallel to the predetermined direction. The maximum-light-intensity direction is a direction inclined from the direction normal to the substrates toward a direction in which the maximum-light-intensity direction form a right angle with a longitudinal direction of the liquid crystal molecules inclined at the pretilt angle.
US08773613B2	Liquid-crystal display with coherent illumination and reduced speckling Disclosed is a liquid-crystal display with coherent illumination. The display has a multilayered matrix structure comprising a matrix of micromirrors, lightguide panel with a matrix of holographic elements, a liquid-crystal matrix containing a plurality of liquid-crystal cells and a polarization analyzer. The micromirrors perform reciprocating linear or tilting movements. Therefore, in each current moment, the speckle pattern of the image shifts relative to the preceding pattern so that in each current moment the viewer sees an image in different micropositions, which are perceptible by the human eye as a quasistationary pattern. As a result, the speckle pattern seen by the viewer is smoothened.
US08773612B2	Light emitting module and illumination apparatus A light emitting module (1) comprises a module substrate (2), a light emitting diode string (31), and a sealing member (48). The light emitting diode string (31) includes light emitting diode elements (32) and bonding wires (37) which connect the light emitting diode elements (32). The light emitting diode element (32) has a pair of element electrodes (33, 34) and has a rectangular shape extending in a direction along which the element electrodes (33, 34) are aligned. The sealing member (48) is laminated on the module substrate (2) to seal the light emitting diode string (31). The light emitting diode elements (32) are arranged at intervals in a direction crossing the direction along which the element electrodes (33, 34) are aligned, and the element electrodes (33, 34) with the same polarity are aligned to be adjacent to each other in an arrangement direction of the light emitting diode elements (32) between the light emitting diode elements (32) adjacent to each other. Each bonding wire (37) is obliquely wired with respect to the arrangement direction of the light emitting diode elements (32) to connect the element electrodes (33, 34) with different polarities of the light emitting diode elements (32) adjacent to each other.
US08773610B2	Liquid crystal display and frame set with easy fixing structure thereof The present invention discloses a liquid crystal display that includes a plastic frame, a printed circuit board, a pin, a slot, a first constraining part and a liquid crystal panel. The printed circuit board has at least one hole therein. The pin is disposed on the plastic frame. The slot is formed on the pin and extends along the major axis of the pin. The first constraining part is disposed on the side surface of the pin for constraining the printed circuit board between the first constraining part and the plastic frame. The liquid crystal panel is held by the plastic frame and electrically connected to the printed circuit board.
US08773606B2	Display module A display module including an electronic component and a panel module is provided. The electronic component is installed inside the display module. The panel module includes a first side and a second side, and the first side includes a glass module having an electro-conductive material and a display region, wherein the glass module includes an electronic component projection area and the electronic component projection area does not contain the electro-conductive material to prevent affecting the performance of the electronic component. The electronic component projection area is an area where the electronic component is projected on the panel module along a normal direction of the display region. According to a design requirement of the product, the electronic component may be fixed to a frame combined with the panel module or located in the glass module.
US08773599B2	Near-to-eye display with diffraction grating that bends and focuses light A near-to-eye optical system includes an optically transmissive substrate having a see-through display region and a repeating pattern of diffraction elements. The repeating pattern of diffraction elements is disposed across the see-through display region of the optically transmissive substrate and organized into a reflective diffraction grating that bends and focuses computer generated image (“CGI”) light impingent upon the reflective diffraction grating. The see-through display region is at least partially transmissive to external ambient light impingent upon an exterior side of the optically transmissive substrate and at least partially reflective to the CGI light impingent upon an interior side of the optically transmissive substrate opposite the exterior side.
US08773598B2	Laser based display method and system The present invention is directed to display technologies. More specifically, various embodiments of the present invention provide projection display systems where one or more laser diodes are used as light source for illustrating images. In one set of embodiments, the present invention provides projector systems that utilize blue and/or green laser fabricated using gallium nitride containing material. In another set of embodiments, the present invention provides projection systems having digital lighting processing engines illuminated by blue and/or green laser devices. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a 3D display system. There are other embodiments as well.
US08773597B2	Pixel-to-barrier-uneveness-controllable ink Disclosed is an ink, which has a viscosity and a volumetric shrinkage, controlled to 20˜80 cP and 10˜30%, respectively, by controlling an amount of each of: (a) a first monomer having a viscosity of 7˜1,600 cP and having one or two polymerizable functional groups; and (b) a second monomer having a viscosity of 30˜20,000 cP and having at least three polymerizable functional groups, in the presence of 0˜20 wt % of a solvent, and which can form a convex portion due to its surface tension controlled to 20˜40 mN/m, so as to compensate for its volumetric shrinkage, wherein the viscosity and the surface tension are measured at 25° C. A substrate, which is patterned or information-recorded with the ink, and a display device having the substrate are also disclosed.
US08773593B2	Noise reduction filter circuitry and method The present invention provides filter circuitry for reducing noise in an input stream of image signals having luminance and chrominance components. Spatial filter circuitry is provided which, for a current image signal of the input stream, generates a spatially filtered internal signal from at least the luminance component of the current image signal. Comparison circuitry is configured to compare the current image signal with temporal data derived from multiple image signals of the input stream, and to generate a control signal dependent on the comparison. Combining circuitry is then used to combine, in a ratio determined by the control signal, the spatially filtered internal signal with at least a luminance component derived from the temporal data, in order to generate at least the luminance component of a current output image signal that forms a noise reduced version of the current image signal. Such a form of filter circuitry has been found to provide a filtered stream of image signals with significant noise suppression, and is particularly well suited to providing a filtered stream of image signals for input to video encoding circuitry, enabling significant improvements in the efficiency of the encoding circuitry by virtue of the manner in which the noise is suppressed.
US08773592B2	Display apparatus and display method A display apparatus is configured to control a clock generator so that a phase of a clock can maximize an integrated evaluation value that is an integrated value of a differential absolute value between adjacent pixels in an image display unit over one frame of a plurality of digital video signals corresponding to a plurality of clocks having different phases generated by the clock generator when a value made by dividing a maximum value of the integrated evaluation value by a minimum value of the integrated evaluation value is larger than a threshold, and to control the clock generator so that the phase of the clock can correspond to an intermediate position in a phase range in which the position becomes constant relative to the phase of the clock when the value made by dividing the maximum value by the minimum value is equal to or smaller than the threshold.
US08773590B2	Video output apparatus, display system, and video output method for outputting video signal to display apparatus A video output apparatus includes an attribute information acquisition unit that acquires attribute information of a display apparatus through a communication unit, a determination unit that determines whether to superimpose additional information on a video signal based on the attribute information of the display apparatus acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit, an output unit that superimposes the additional information extracted by an additional information extraction unit on the video signal output from a video decoding unit and outputs the additional information superimposed on the video signal to the communication unit if the determination unit determines to superimpose the additional information on the video signal, and outputs the video signal output from the video decoding unit to the communication unit without superimposing the additional information on the video signal if the determination unit determines not to superimpose the additional information on the video signal.
US08773586B2	Motion image rendering systems and methods Systems and methods of rendering a motion image. Input temporal image-samples are temporally interpolated to create the output sequence and an intentional, periodic motion-judder component that is visible when the output temporal image-samples are displayed is introduced.
US08773584B2	Playback apparatus, playback method, integrated circuit, broadcast system, and broadcast method using a broadcast video and additional video The present invention provides a playback apparatus for playing back one combination video by combining a broadcast video with any additional video not determined by a fixed position relative to the broadcast video. The playback apparatus comprises: a first receiving unit that receives, via a broadcast wave, a broadcast video composed of broadcast images, each broadcast image being a portion of a frame image among a plurality of frame images constituting the original video; a second receiving unit that receives an additional video composed of remaining images, each remaining image being the remaining portion of the frame image; an arrangement information acquiring unit that acquires arrangement information indicating an arrangement of the broadcast image and the remaining image in the frame image; and a playback unit that reproduces and plays back the frame images by arranging the broadcast images and the remaining images based on the arrangement information.
US08773582B2	System and Method for controlling a camera shutter Systems and methods using the same to achieve a camera having precise timing of a camera shutter, which can be used also for a controllable aperture, are disclosed. The aperture can be controlled continuously and can therefore be used for video cameras. The shutter system is controlled by a feedback loop. The shutter blades are moved by at least one linear motor, a position sensor senses the actual position and speed of the blades. The movement of the blades can be stopped any time to get an aperture desired. For capturing an image in a first step a global reset is opening (activating) every pixel of the image sensor after the shutter is opened. In order to achieve a short active light exposure time (below 1 ms), after the global reset, the mechanical shutter invented closes rapidly after a defined active light exposure time. An active light exposure time is the time span between the image sensor is activated and the mechanical shutter is closed. In order to achieve a precise timing the shutter of the present invention uses electronic control and a feedback loop to control the actual position of the shutter.
US08773581B2	Modular digital camera Modular digital camera systems, such as modular digital still and motion cameras are disclosed. Individual modules may be removed from the system and replaced, such as to benefit from upgraded technology, while preserving the remaining modules in the system. The modules may be disassembled and reconstructed to convert the physical form of the camera, such as between still configurations, motion configurations, ENG configurations, DSLR configurations and studio configurations. Universal lens mount modules are provided, to enable use of lens systems from a variety of commercial manufacturers.
US08773580B2	Solid-state image pickup device and camera system A solid-state image pickup device includes a pixel array unit that includes photoelectric conversion elements and in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in rows and columns that output, as pixel signals, electrical signals obtained by photoelectric conversion performed by amplifier elements to which pixel power supply voltage is supplied and that drive signal lines, a pixel power supply unit that generates the pixel power supply voltage from power supply voltage, the pixel power supply voltage being lower than the power supply voltage, and that supplies the pixel power supply voltage to the amplifier elements in the plurality of pixels, and a pixel signal read unit that reads pixel signals from the plurality of pixels.
US08773579B2	Accessory controlled by camera and camera that controls accessory An accessory is an accessary controlled by a camera. The accessory includes an information holding section that holds predetermined information by which the camera determines whether or not the accessary requests a supply of power consumed in the accessory to the camera.
US08773577B2	Region of interest extraction An example image capture device determines a region of interest using a first image captured while a light source is powered off and a second image captured while a light source is powered on and uses the region of interest to automatically set configurations. In one example, an image capture device includes a controlled light source, an image sensor configured to capture images, and a processing unit configured to cause the image sensor to capture a first image of a scene while the controlled light source is powered off, cause the image sensor to capture a second image of the scene while the controlled light source is powered on, calculate luminance differences between a plurality of regions in the first image and a plurality of collocated regions in the second image, and determine that a region of interest includes those regions for which the luminance differences exceed a threshold.
US08773568B2	Imaging apparatus and method for improving manipulation of view finders A method and apparatus for imaging are provided. An imaging device photographs a subject and outputs an image signal. Each of a plurality of view finders displays an image based on the image signal.
US08773567B2	Image capturing apparatus having display control of information and frames on displayed images and display control method When various kinds of information and various frames are superimposed on a displayed image of a subject during live view shooting, an object to be preferentially displayed is switched between the various kinds of information and the various frames in accordance with an overlapping state of the various kinds of information and the various frames if the various kinds of information overlap the various frames.
US08773562B1	Vertically stacked image sensor A vertically stacked image sensor having a photodiode chip and a transistor array chip. The photodiode chip includes at least one photodiode and a transfer gate extends vertically from a top surface of the photodiode chip. The image sensor further includes a transistor array chip stacked on top of the photodiode chip. The transistor array chip includes the control circuitry and storage nodes. The image sensor further includes a logic chip vertically stacked on the transistor array chip. The transfer gate communicates data from the at least one photodiode to the transistor array chip and the logic chip selectively activates the vertical transfer gate, the reset gate, the source follower gate, and the row select gate.
US08773560B2	Method for driving image pickup apparatus A signal for focus detection is generated by a first operation, in which a signal of at least one photoelectric conversion element included in a photoelectric conversion unit is read to an input node of an amplification unit and the signal is supplied to a common output line by the amplification unit and signals for forming an image are generated by a second operation, in which a signal of another photoelectric conversion element included in the same photoelectric conversion unit as that including the at least one photoelectric conversion element from which the signal has been read in the first operation is read to the input node of the amplification unit while holding the signal read in the first operation using the amplification unit and the signals are supplied to the common output line by the amplification unit.
US08773559B2	Solid-state imaging device and method of manufacturing the same, and imaging apparatus A solid-state imaging device includes: a semiconductor substrate; and a plurality of pixels arrayed two-dimensionally in the semiconductor substrate, each of the pixels having a photoelectric conversion element that performs photoelectric conversion, the photoelectric conversion element having a first impurity region, formed in the semiconductor substrate, containing an impurity of a first conductivity type; a second impurity region formed in the semiconductor substrate so as to be in contact with the first impurity region, containing an impurity of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type; and a PN junction portion in which the first impurity region and the second impurity region are in contact with each other, formed in a protruding shape projecting toward a surface side of the semiconductor substrate.
US08773558B2	Photoelectric conversion element, and photoelectric conversion apparatus and image sensing system A member for light path to a photoelectric conversion portion includes a middle portion, and a peripheral portion having a refractive index different from the refractive index of the middle portion, and within some plane in parallel with the light receiving surface of a photoelectric conversion portion, and within other plane closer to the light receiving surface than the some plane in parallel with the light receiving surface, the peripheral portion is continuous with the middle portion and surrounds the middle portion, and also the refractive index of the peripheral portion is higher than the refractive index of an insulator film, and the thickness of the peripheral portion within the other plane is smaller than the thickness of the peripheral portion within the some plane.
US08773555B2	Video bit stream extension by video information annotation A method and apparatus are provided for video bit stream extension by video information annotation. In one embodiment, the invention may include gathering video data from a video source, gathering non-visual video information associated with the video data, maintaining a current state of the video information in storage, and annotating the video data with the current state of the video information.
US08773553B2	Information apparatus for acquiring image file and log file, and control method thereof An information processing apparatus which is connectable with an image supplying apparatus having a unit which acquires position information, comprising: a file acquiring unit which acquires, from the image supply apparatus, an image file having shooting position information attached and a log file indicating locations along a path of movement of the image supplying apparatus; a file designating unit which designates an image file and a log file to be transferred from the image supplying apparatus; and a determining unit which determines, in a case that a file to be transferred is designated by the file designating unit, whether the designated file has already been transferred, wherein the determining unit determines whether the file has already been transferred, in accordance with a determination procedure that differs between a case where the designated file is an image file and a case where the designated file is a log file.
US08773552B2	Solid state imaging device According to one embodiment, a pixel outputs a photoelectrically converted signal. A reference ramp generating circuit generates a first ramp wave and a second ramp wave having a step width smaller than that of the first ramp wave. A column ADC circuit performs switching between the first ramp wave and the second ramp wave on the basis of the signal level of the signal from the pixel, compares the ramp wave with the signal level, and detects a signal component of the pixel by CDS.
US08773551B2	Signal processing apparatus, solid-state image capturing apparatus, electronic information device, signal processing method, control program and storage medium A signal processing apparatus is provided, for processing pixel signals corresponding to a plurality of respective pixels, the signal processing apparatus comprising a color matrix section for detecting brightness of the pixel and performs color adjustment on the pixel signals using a color matrix in accordance with the detected brightness of the pixel.
US08773550B2	Range measurement using multiple coded apertures A method of using an image capture device to identify range information for objects in a scene includes providing an image capture device having an image sensor, at least two coded apertures, and a lens; storing in a memory a set of blur parameters derived from range calibration data for each coded aperture; capturing images of the scene having a plurality of objects using each of the coded apertures; providing a set of deblurred images using the captured images from each coded aperture and each of the blur parameters from the stored set; and using the set of deblurred images to determine the range information for the objects in the scene.
US08773548B2	Image selection device and image selecting method An image selection device includes: an image acquiring unit which acquires a plurality of shot images acquired by continuously shooting a subject; an area segmentation unit which segments an image area of the shot image into a motion area indicating different positions by a specified amount or more between two shot images and a non-motion area other than the motion area based on the two consecutive shot images in time series in the plurality of shot images; and a selection unit which selects at least one shot image from the plurality of shot images based on an amount of blur of an image in the non-motion area.
US08773547B2	Imaging apparatus for facilitating a focus adjustment check at the time of multiple exposure shooting The present invention provides an imaging apparatus capable of facilitating a user's check of a focus adjustment state at the time of multiple exposure shooting, and also allowing a user to easily check in what kind of composition an image to be shot now will be combined with an already captured image immediately before shooting. The imaging apparatus includes a display control unit configured to perform control to display a through-the-lens image captured by an imaging unit on a display unit while sequentially updating the through-the-lens image during a focus adjustment, and display a multiple image combination result image generated by combining the through-the-lens image captured by the imaging unit and at least one already captured image on the display unit while sequentially updating the multiple image combination result image after completion of the focus adjustment.
US08773542B2	Apparatus and method for adaptive camera control method based on predicted trajectory An apparatus and method for adaptive camera control are provided. The method includes detecting motion information of a camera, predicting a motion of the camera based on the motion information, generating camera settings for controlling the camera, based on the predicted motion, controlling the camera to capture a frame according to the camera settings, performing digital image stabilizing on the captured frame, and outputting the stabilized frame.
US08773541B2	Image processing apparatus and method An image processing apparatus that records image data on a detachable storage medium in a previously set recording format is provided. The apparatus sets the recording format of image data, and determines whether or not a storage medium attached to an attachment unit has a communication function that communicates with a different apparatus than the image processing apparatus. If it is determined that the storage medium has a communication function, and that the recording format of image data that can be transferred by the communication function does not match the recording format that has been set, the apparatus issues a warning.
US08773536B1	Linear system based, qualitative independent motion detection from compressed MPEG surveillance video The present invention features a qualitative method to detect independent motion revealed in successive frames of a compressed surveillance MPEG video stream using linear system consistency analysis without decompression of the stream, identifying the segments containing independent motion in a real-time or faster manner, for the retrieval of these segments. The linear system is constructed using the macroblocks of MPEG compressed video frames. The normal flow value of the macroblock is obtained by taking the dot product between the macroblock gradient vector, computed by averaging the four block gradient vectors, and the motion vector of this macroblock. The normal flow value is filtered for inclusion in the linear system, and the statistic of the matrices of the resulting linear system is determined, filtered to screen out false negatives and outliers, and used to determine the presence or absence of independent motion.
US08773527B2	System and method for capturing debug information using a peripheral device A system and method for capturing debug information are disclosed. In one aspect, a method comprises connecting a portable test device having a memory and no processor to a television, the test device having stored therein a debug program configured to be executed by a control unit of the television to capture debug information from the television and store the captured debug information on the test device.
US08773524B2	Inspection device The present invention provides an inspection device including an imaging unit 16 for imaging an object to be inspected, a characteristics measurement unit 15 for measuring characteristics of the object to be inspected, an inspection information acquisition unit 11 for acquiring inspection information related to the object to be inspected, a condition determination unit 12 for determining measurement information related to a measurement condition of the object to be inspected corresponding to the inspection information, an imaging control unit 14 for controlling imaging by the imaging unit, and a measurement control unit 13 for controlling measurement by the characteristics measurement unit based on the measurement information.
US08773522B2	Endoscope apparatus A band-limiting filter of the invention exhibits a trimodal filter characteristic, and includes, for example, band-limiting transmittance filter characteristic portions Rb, Gb, and Bb for wavelength regions of red, green, and blue, respectively. More specifically, the band-limiting transmittance filter characteristic portions Rb, Gb, and Bb, for example, have bandpass characteristics in which the respective center wavelengths are 630 nm (full width at half maximum λ1=30 to 90 nm), 540 nm (full width at half maximum λ2=20 to 60 nm), and 440 nm (full width at half maximum λ3=50 to 80 nm). This makes it possible to obtain an image of a predetermined color tone by restraining an influence of spectral sensitivity characteristic of an image pickup device when the band-limiting filter is applied to a synchronous type endoscope for performing color image pickup to perform observation under normal illumination light.
US08773520B2	Control device, control program, and control method for observation unit, and observation system Provided is a control device for controlling an observation unit including an observation device for allowing a sample to be observed to acquire an observation image of the sample and an illumination device for illuminating the sample when the sample is observed with the observation device, the control device including a first control unit for controlling the illumination device to adjust an illuminance of the illumination device when a search mode is set for the observation unit, and a second control unit for controlling the illumination device to adjust the illuminance of the illumination device when a time lapse mode is set for the observation unit. Here, the illuminance set for the illumination device by the first control unit by adjusting the illuminance of the illumination device is lower than the illuminance set for the illumination device by the second control unit by adjusting the illuminance of the illumination device.
US08773519B2	Image display apparatus, glasses for image observation, image display control method, and program A normal three-dimensional image is presented to a person who is wearing glasses for three-dimensional image observation, and additional information including a message, disturbance information, or the like is presented to a person who is not wearing glasses for three-dimensional image observation. An image display apparatus displays, on a display unit, an image frame sequence in which additional information image frame including additional information is added between an image frame for the left eye and an image frame for the right eye. At a display timing of the additional information image frame for the display unit, the image display apparatus outputs a control signal that sets shutters for both the left and right eyes of glasses for three-dimensional image observation worn by an observer to a closed state. With this configuration, an observer who is wearing glasses for three-dimensional image observation can observe a normal three-dimensional image, and a person who is not wearing the glasses can observe additional information such as a message prompting the person to wear the glasses.
US08773516B2	Video signal processing apparatus, video display apparatus, video signal processing method, and integrated circuit A CT processing unit as an example of a video signal processing apparatus includes: a CT canceling unit which calculates, for each of a first color component and a second color component of each of pixels, a crosstalk component that is produced by a first image and subtracts the crosstalk component from the corresponding one of the signal levels of the pixels of a second image, to generate a modified second image represented as a combination of a signal level of a modified first color component and a signal level of a modified second color component; and a saturation modifying unit which updates the negative signal level of the modified first color component to a value of 0 or larger from among a modified first color component and a modified second color component, and modifies the signal level of the modified second color component according to this update.
US08773513B2	Context and epsilon stereo constrained correspondence matching A catadioptric camera having a perspective camera and multiple curved mirrors, images the multiple curved mirrors and uses the epsilon constraint to establish a vertical parallax between points in one mirror and their corresponding reflection in another. An ASIFT transform is applied to all the mirror images to establish a collection of corresponding feature points, and edge detection is applied on mirror images to identify edge pixels. A first edge pixel in a first imaged mirror is selected, its nearest feature points are identified, and a rigid transform is applied to them. The rigid transform is fitted to corresponding feature points in a second imaged mirror. The closest edge pixel to the expected location as determined by the fitted rigid transform is identified, and its distance to the vertical parallax is determined. If the distance is not greater than predefined maximum, then it is deemed correlate to the edge pixel in the first imaged mirror.
US08773512B1	Portable remote control device enabling three-dimensional user interaction with at least one appliance A portable remote control device enables user interaction with an appliance by detecting user gestures made in a hover zone, and converting the gestures to commands that are wirelessly transmitted to the appliance. The remote control device includes at least two cameras whose intersecting FOVs define a three-dimensional hover zone within which user interactions are imaged. Separately and collectively image data is analyzed to identify a relatively few user landmarks. Substantially unambiguous correspondence is established between the same landmark on each acquired image, and a three-dimensional reconstruction is made in a common coordinate system. Preferably cameras are modeled to have characteristics of pinhole cameras, enabling rectified epipolar geometric analysis to facilitate more rapid disambiguation among potential landmark points. As a result processing overhead and latency times are substantially reduced. Landmark identification and position information is convertible into commands that alter the appliance behavior as intended by the user's gesture.
US08773508B2	3D imaging system An apparatus and method for computing a three dimensional model of a surface of an object are disclosed. At least one directional energy source (106-109) directionally illuminates the object (101). An imaging assembly (104), having at least two spatially separated viewpoints (111,112) at fixed positions relative to each other, records a series of images of the object at each viewpoint when the object is illuminated by the source. At least one localisation template (102,103) having predetermined geometrical features is visible to at least one of the viewpoints simultaneously with the object. The images recorded at the viewpoints are analysed so as to determine the location and pose of each viewpoint relative to the template for each image in the series of images. Photometric data for the object is generated using the calculated location and pose of the viewpoints and the image data. Geometric data comprising an initial three dimensional model of the object is generated by performing stereoscopic reconstruction using optical triangulation. The geometric data and photometric data are then combined to construct the three dimensional model.
US08773506B2	Image output device, method and program The transition of representative parallax of a stereoscopic moving image is reflected in a parallax adjustment according to output conditions of the stereoscopic moving image. A parallax adjustment unit determines whether to satisfy \|representative parallax of a reference frame-representative parallax of a target frame\|<α. If Yes, the process proceeds to S5, and if No, the process proceeds to S6. Here, α is input from a threshold setting unit as a shift allowable threshold. For example α is equal to 0.75. When No is determined, it means that a fluctuation in the representative parallax between frames is large to some extent. In this case, the process proceeds to S6, and a process for shifting the target frame to output parallax different from the reference frame is performed.
US08773503B2	Automated panoramic camera and sensor platform with computer and optional power supply An indexing mechanism may include a drive table, an indexing table, a control ring between the tables, and a cam follower. The cam includes lobes on an inner surface. A drive arm of the cam follower is coupled to the drive table and an end of an indexing arm of the cam follower rides over the lobes during use. A spring may be coupled between the drive table and the indexing table. As the drive table rotates continuously, the components serve to move the indexing table in a non-continuous movement, by which it stops for a period and then moves to the next stop, etc. A camera may take a still image at each stop position, and the images may be stitched together (e.g., through use of an onboard computer) to produce a panoramic image. A power supply may also be provided, so that the entire system may be self-contained.
US08773502B2	Smart targets facilitating the capture of contiguous images Systems and methods facilitating the capture of contiguous images suitable for composition into a wide-angle or panoramic image. The method may include displaying smart graphical targets on an image capture graphical user interface representing target focal points to direct a camera to in order capture images with sufficient continuity or overlap for panorama creation. In one implementation, the method may include automatically capturing an image when the center of the current field of view is aligned with or within a threshold distance of a target focal point. In another implementation, the method may provide graphical targets along multiple axes. In another implementation the method may provide graphical targets for creating a panoramic image adhering to a certain aspect ratio. In another implementation, the method may suggest graphical targets on the motion of a camera after capturing a first image.
US08773501B2	Motorized camera with automated panoramic image capture sequences A motorized camera provides one or more capture sequences for capturing images of objects detected within one or more of its detection zones. The capture sequences may include actions to move or reposition the camera to one or more locations, and to capture one or more images before, during, or as the camera is moved. In addition, particular operations of the motorized camera may be conditioned on specific circumstances or environmental conditions relevant to image capture or the operation of the motorized camera. The motorized camera may comprise a moving camera for capturing images, one or more sensors that provide the to detection zones, and one or more illuminators held by an enclosure. A battery or other power source may be provided as well to allow the motorized camera to be portable and operate independent of external power sources or other external devices.
US08773497B2	Distributed real-time media composer A system and a method allowing simultaneous exchange of audio, video or data information between a plurality of units over a communication network, supported by a central unit, wherein the central unit is, based on knowledge regarding one or more of the units, adapted to instruct said one or more units to generate multimedia data streams adjusted to fit into certain restrictions to be presented on other units participating in a same session.
US08773491B2	Method, apparatus, and system for implementing audio mixing A method, an apparatus, and a system for implementing audio mixing are provided. The method for implementing audio mixing includes: receiving an audio signal sent by each sending conference site, where the audio signals include an audio channel-based audio signal and an audio object-based audio signal; selecting an audio signal for each receiving conference site from the received audio signals; processing the selected audio signals according to types of receiving conference sites, where the receiving conference sites include an audio channel-based receiving conference site and an audio object-based receiving conference site; and sending the processed audio signal to each receiving conference site respectively according to the type of the receiving conference site. The present invention is applicable to a multipoint conference where audio mixing is performed on an audio channel-based audio signal and an audio object-based audio signal.
US08773485B2	System for quick coupling of reels to a rotating shaft, and device and reel implementing the system A system for the quick coupling of reels to a rotating shaft especially suitable for the unwinding or winding in reels of a consumable of thermal transfer printing or direct thermal printing machines, including a rotating shaft provided with a plurality of housings each of which is suitable for the firm but removable coupling of a rod, a single rod being able to be selectively coupled in any one of the mentioned housings; and a set of reels of a different width, provided with respective tubular bodies for the winding of the consumable provided with at least one respective slot suitable for the bayonet mount thereof with the shaft through the rod coupled in said shaft. The arrangement of the housings and of the slots are such that it is possible to couple any of the reels in such a way that said reels are centered with respect to a same plane transverse to the shaft.
US08773479B2	Electro-optic device, electronic apparatus, and method for driving electro-optic device An electro-optic device has electro-optic elements; a storage units storing a first table including pairs of a gray-scale value and an a-bit sub-field code and a second table including pairs of a gray-scale value and a b-bit (b>a) sub-field code; a converting unit converting the gray-scale value of an object pixel into the sub-field code using the second table when a difference in gray-scale value between a first image and a second image is less than a threshold value, while converting the gray-scale value of the object pixel into the sub-field code using the first table when the difference in gray-scale value between the first image and the second image is the threshold value or more; and a driving unit supplying a signal corresponding to the sub-field code converted by the converting unit to drive the electro-optic elements.
US08773477B2	Method and apparatus for edge lit displays Edge lit displays are lit via a set (or individual) lighting elements. Each element projects light onto, for example, a zone which is then utilized directed as a backlight toward an LCD panel. An amount of light incident on any area (e.g., pixel) of the LCD panel (or SLM/series of SLMs) is calculated based on a sum of contributions from each zone. A similar process may be utilized for other lighting configurations. An amount of modulation performed by the LCD panel is then calculated based at least in part on lighting from the zones which may include brightness and varying levels of color content.
US08773474B2	Program, image data processing method, and image data processing apparatus A program causes a computer or similar apparatus to execute processing to match image data with log data on the basis of date and time information, wherein the image data contains appended date and time information indicating the time of image acquisition, and the log data contains date and time information associated with position information. As a result, position information is associated with image data. Display processing is subsequently executed to display, on a map image, acquisition location presentation images that indicate the acquisition locations of the image data according to the respective position information associated thereto. In accordance with correction input in the form of a time value, correction processing is then executed to correct associated position information for all image data specified for processing and additionally update the map image to reflect such corrections. The association results are then applied and saved in accordance with save command input.
US08773473B2	Instantaneous panning using a groove metaphor User input interpretation mechanisms can pass along user input without delay by initially treating it as freeform movement and passing it along unmodified, rather than waiting to receive a sufficient quantity of user input from which to derive a user's intentions. User input within a defined range from an initial point is freeform movement, passed along unmodified, while user input beyond that range can be confined to a groove if it evidences an intention to move in a precisely linear manner. Grooves can be established to aid in precise vertical movement, with no horizontal deviations, precise horizontal movement, with no vertical deviations, or any other orientation. Before being passed along, user input in groove regions can be modified to center the input within the groove region and eliminate human inaccuracies, such as slight deviations to either side. User input can escape groove regions by moving orthogonally to them.
US08773471B2	Content managing device and content managing method A content managing device is provided, which can allow a user to intuitively perform generation of, using an operation that is similar to an operation of sorting content items or to an operation of adding attribute information to content items, a new sort-destination region into which content items are to be sorted. A first display object indicating a content item and a region in which the first display object is to be stored are displayed on a display unit. A position to which the first display object is moved is determined. When the determined position is located in the region, the first display object is stored in the region. When the determined position is not located in the region, a new region is displayed at the position to which the first display object was moved, and the first display object is stored in the new region.
US08773468B1	System and method for intuitive manipulation of the layering order of graphics objects A technique for manipulating the layering order of graphical objects in a digital canvas or document is disclosed. A graphics object that is included in a layer in the digital canvas or document is selected. The digital canvas or document is searched in order to define a subset of graphics objects that includes the selected graphics object and any other graphics objects that overlap with the selected graphics object. A layering-order control enables a user to move the layer associated with the selected graphics object to a depth in the digital canvas or document that includes a layer associated with one of the other graphics objects in the subset of graphics objects. The concurrent re-positioning of multiple layers associated with two or more selected graphics objects is also disclosed.
US08773463B2	Systems and methods for image data management A system and method for image data management. A tiled representation of a data set is accessed. The tiled representation includes a plurality of high-resolution tiles and a plurality of reduced-resolution tiles. A request to access said data set from a computing device is received. An image display window is determined based on said request from the computing device, where the image display window corresponds to a displayable image for display on the display device. At least one overlapping image to send the computing device is determined based on said image display window, where the at least one overlapping image is selected from the scaled full images, the plurality of high-resolution tiles, and the plurality of reduced resolution tiles. At least a portion of the at least one overlapping image is sent to the computing device.
US08773461B2	Digital image processing apparatus and method for rapidly changing a displayed image A digital image processing apparatus may display an image that can be converted into other images by using a rapid sliding method. The digital image processing apparatus may include a storage medium in which a first image file and a second image file are stored and a buffer in which information about a first synthesized image, including a first image corresponding to the first image file and a second image corresponding to the second image file disposed adjacent to each other, is stored. The digital image processing apparatus may further include a display unit that displays at least one of the first image, a first partial synthesized image, and the second image by using a piece of the information about the first synthesized image. The first partial synthesized image may include a portion of the first image and a portion of the second image disposed adjacent to each other.
US08773457B2	Color space conversion A display pipe may include a video pipe outputting pixels of a video stream in a first color space, e.g. YCbCr color space. The display pipe may also include a first color space converter to convert the output pixels to a second color space, e.g. to RGB color space, producing a conversion output in which some of the converted output pixels have values that are invalid pixel values in the second color space. The display pipe may also include a blend unit that performs blending operations in the second color space on the converted output pixels to produce a blended conversion output that includes blended pixels in the second color space. A second color space converter in the display pipe may convert the blended pixels from the second color space to the first color space, and correctly display the converted blended pixels on a display screen.
US08773456B2	Halftone image generation method and image processing system and computer program product thereof A halftone image generation method used in a system including a quantizer, a subtracter, a post-dithering module and an adder for generating a halftone image is disclosed. First, an original image including original pixels having original pixel values is received by the quantizer and a quantized image including quantized pixels having quantized pixel values according to a predetermined threshold is generated by the quantizer. The quantized pixel values from the original pixel values are subtracted by the subtracter so as to generate quantization error values. A post-dithering process is performed by the post-dithering module to generate dither values by using the quantization error values. The quantized pixel values of the quantized image are added to the dither values by the adder. Finally, the halftone image including halftone pixels having halftone pixel values is generated.
US08773453B2	Techniques for quantum dot illumination Techniques for extracting light from a light guide are described. In some embodiments, a light source comprises a light guide configured to trap first light through total internal reflection. The light source may further comprise a plurality of light extractors configured to extract at least a portion of the first light upon establishing optical contact with the light guide. The light source is configured to control individual light extractors in the plurality of light extractors to make optical contact with the light guide. Quantum dots may be used with the light source to regenerate light, within desired frequency band, from the at least a portion of the first light.
US08773448B2	List texture A method, apparatus, and system are described for list texturing being performed over a data path of a graphics pipeline. Input data is received at a graphics pipeline of a graphics processing unit to be processed and generated into a final image to be displayed on a display device of a computer system. Geographic primitives are obtained from processing the input data, and neighbor aggregation of pixels within the geographic primitives is performed. The neighbor aggregation of the pixels includes rendering list texture of the pixels by merging the geographic primitives.
US08773446B2	Synchronous parallel pixel processing for scalable color reproduction systems What is disclosed is a novel system and method for parallel processing of intra-image data in a distributed computing environment. A generic architecture and method are presented which collectively facilitate image segmentation and block sorting and merging operations with a certain level of synchronization in a parallel image processing environment which has been traditionally difficult to parallelize. The present system and method enables pixel-level processing at higher speeds thus making it a viable service for a print/copy job document reproduction environment. The teachings hereof have been simulated on a cloud-based computing environment with a demonstrable increase of ≈2× with nominal 8-way parallelism, and an increase of ≈20×-100× on a graphics processor. In addition to production and office scenarios where intra-image processing are likely to be performed, these teachings are applicable to other domains where high-speed video and audio processing are desirable.
US08773444B2	Signal processing apparatus and method, and program A signal processing apparatus includes: an inputting section inputting plural video signals; a signal processing section subjecting the plural video signals; one or more sub-multiscreen split display signal generating sections selecting P (P: integral number of 2 or more) kinds of video signals from the plural video signals subjected to the signal processing, and intermediate generation signals as one or more video signals generated while the signal processing section subjects the plural video signals to the signal processing, and synthesizing the P kinds of video signals, thereby generating one or more sub-multiscreen split display signals; and a multiscreen split display signal generating section selecting Q (Q: integral number of 1 or more) kinds of sub-multiscreen split display signals from the one or more sub-multiscreen split display signals, and synthesizing the Q kinds of sub-multiscreen split display signals, thereby generating a multiscreen split display signal.
US08773441B2	System and method for conforming an animated camera to an editorial cut A method for conforming an animated camera to an editorial cut within a software application executing on a computer system. The method includes providing a shot that includes three-dimensional animation captured by a virtual camera associated with a pre-defined camera style; receiving an editorial action that has been performed to the shot; and updating a camera move associated with the virtual camera based on the camera style and the editorial action.
US08773440B2	Method and device for simplifying a complex path The invention relates to a technical field of graphic image processing, especially to a technology for simplifying a complex path. The invention provides a method and a device for simplifying a complex path, to accomplish simplification of any complex path into a simple path of a region described by the complex path. The method for simplifying a complex path comprises: parsing the complex path into a vector linked-list consisted of linked monotonic vectors; dividing each vector in the vector linked-list into vector segments according to intersection points of the vector with other vectors in the vector linked-list; and extracting from all vector segments the vector segments located on a boundary of a region defined by the complex path, and connecting the extracted vector segments according to their location to obtain a simple path. According the method of the present application, a complex path can be simplified to a simplest path defining a region by utilizing node scanning process, such that operations on a vector level for a complex path can be realized.
US08773438B2	Display system and display method An object is to clearly present not only the state of a controlled object but also a control process performed in a control device that controls the controlled object. Display system including a display control device that presents a calculation process performed in a control device for controlling a controlled object, that displays, on a display device, a control block diagram including a control component and a signal line and the state of the controlled object, and that changes the display format of the signal line in the displayed control block diagram according to a signal value transferred via the signal line.
US08773435B2	Temporary low resolution rendering of 3D objects 3D scenes may be rendered a resolution lower than a resolution associated with the resultant image. A graphics application or 3D editor may render the 3D artwork at a lower resolution while the user modifies or manipulates the 3D model from which the artwork is derived. In some embodiments, an image may include multiple image layers, each representing a portion of the overall finished image. Graphics programs generally associate a target resolution with an image. Rendering 3D artwork at high resolutions may take extra time and result in poor performance. Thus, in some embodiments, a graphics program may be configured to render 3D artwork at a lower resolution than the resultant image's target or associated resolution while a user is modifying the 3D model. Subsequently, after the user has completed manipulating the 3D model, the graphics program may render the 3D model again at the image's associated resolution.
US08773430B2	Method for distinguishing a 3D image from a 2D image and for identifying the presence of a 3D image format by feature correspondence determination A method identifies the presence of a three-dimensional (3D) image format in received image through the use of feature matching and correspondence. The received image is sampled using a candidate 3D format to generate two sub-images from the received image. Initially, these sub-images are compared to determine whether these sub-images are similar with respect to structure. If the sub-images are not similar, a new 3D format is selected and the method is repeated. If the sub-images are similar, features are detected in the two sub-images and a correspondence is formed between features that match in the two sub-images. Positional differences are computed between corresponding features. The amount and uniformity of the positional differences are then used to determine whether the format is 2D or 3D and, if 3D, which of the 3D formats was used for the received image.
US08773426B1	Removing hidden faces in 3D building models Systems and methods for removing hidden faces in a 3D model, such as a building model are provided. A method for removing hidden faces in a 3D building model may include identifying a 3D building model having hidden surfaces inside the building model. The method may further include adding closing surfaces to the hidden surfaces to form closed hidden surfaces. The method may further include combining the closed hidden surfaces into a single polygon. The method may then include removing the closed hidden surfaces. A system for removing hidden faces in a 3D building model may include a surface identifier, a surface adder, a surface combiner and a surface remover. The removal of unnecessary internal surfaces and artifacts may increase the efficiency of the 3D building model.
US08773425B2	Methods and apparatuses for proposing resolutions to conflicts in a CAD drawing with reflections Methods, apparatuses, systems, and software for proposing a resolution to a position conflict between a graphic object within a drawing sharing a portion of, up to all of, the one or more locations of other graphic objects, comprising the steps of: identifying a proposed new location of the graphic object within the drawing that will resolve the conflict; creating a reflection of the graphic object depicting the graphic object as it would appear at the proposed new location without moving the graphic object from its location; and determining whether the proposed new location will clear the conflict by not sharing a portion of the one or more locations, including embodiments directed to the use of reflections, alert/conflict bubbles, modeless drawing windows, and clipping planes.
US08773423B2	Creating optimized gradient mesh of a vector-based image from a raster-based image A method for creating an optimized gradient mesh of a vector-based image from a raster-based image. In one implementation, a set of boundaries for an object on a raster-based image may be received. An initial gradient mesh of the object may be created. A residual energy between the object on the raster-based image and a rendered initial gradient mesh may be minimized to generate an optimized gradient mesh.
US08773419B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display includes according to an embodiment a display panel provided with a plurality of data lines, a plurality of gate lines intersecting the data lines, liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix, and TFTs disposed at the intersections of the data lines and the gate lines; source drive ICs configured to supply data voltages to the data lines, wherein polarities of data voltages are reversed by a column inversion scheme; and a gate driver configured to sequentially supply gate pulses for the gate lines, wherein polarities of the data voltages charged in the liquid crystal cells in the display panel are reversed in dot unit.
US08773416B2	Driving method of a semiconductor device A horizontal scanning period is divided into n parts (n is a natural number), so that horizontal scanning can be performed (n×y) times in one frame period. That is, n signals can be outputted from each pixel, and storage times of the n signals are different from one another. Then, since a signal suited to the intensity of light irradiated to each pixel can be selected, information of an object can be accurately read.
US08773414B2	Driving circuit of light emitting diode and ghost phenomenon elimination circuit thereof A driving circuit of a light emitting diode (LED) and a ghost phenomenon elimination circuit thereof are disclosed. The ghost phenomenon elimination circuit which includes a ghost phenomenon elimination unit and a counter unit may determine a black insertion period according to a gray scale clock signal, and output an enable signal to the ghost phenomenon elimination unit during the black insertion period. The ghost phenomenon elimination unit may pull up the voltage levels at current driving terminals of the driving circuit so as to prevent the ghost phenomenon from occurring.
US08773408B2	Display control apparatus, display control method and program Disclosed herein is a display control apparatus for displaying an image from among a plurality of images arrayed in a predetermined order in an enlarged scale, including, a storage section, a detection section, a display control section, and a decoding section.
US08773404B2	Electromagnetic pen, electromagnetic signal transmission method and processing method, apparatus and device An electromagnetic pen, an electromagnetic signal transmission method and an electromagnetic signal processing method, a processing device and a processing apparatus comprises: a reference inductance and a reference capacitor, connected with each other in parallel in a housing of the electromagnetic pen and configured to transmit an electromagnetic signal in a handwritten frequency; a control capacitor, connected with the reference capacitor in parallel and controlled by a control switch connected in series so as to transmit an electromagnetic signal in a control frequency. The processing device comprises: a receiving identification module, configured to receive the electromagnetic signal transmitted by the electromagnetic pen and identify a frequency of the electromagnetic signal; a handwritten input module, configured to input a handwritten symbol when the identified frequency is within a range of the handwritten frequency; and a control input module, configured to input a control signal.
US08773403B2	Haptic device for position detection A system, method, and computer program product for automatically providing a haptic stylus based interface for enhanced user interaction with touch screen devices are disclosed. The stylus communicates with the touch screen device to report stylus operating information from onboard sensors, and to receive application program instructions defining feedback and friction forces to be applied by onboard actuators. The applied feedback and friction forces may be independently controlled. Friction forces are provided via a rolling contact ball gripping mechanism that mimics varying physical engagement between the contact ball and a touch screen display surface by controlling the relative rotational freedom of the contact ball. Embodiments of the invention enable a haptic stylus to mimic three-dimensional interactions for gaming, object manipulation and sculpting, and non-contact proximity-based stylus operation scenarios.
US08773401B2	Touch input device A touch input device includes a touch panel, a driving and sensing circuit, a data memory, and a processor. The touch panel is adapted to receive a touch trace including at least one touch point. The driving and sensing circuit is adapted to drive the touch panel and detect actual signal value Vi. The data memory is adapted to store a look up table including a plurality of position coordinates and a plurality of calibrating rules f each corresponding to each of the position coordinates. Each of the calibrating rules f can be used to convert actual signal value V0i of the touch point of a basic contact area A0 to a standard signal value Vs. The processor is adapted to calculate the position coordinate and calibrate the actual signal value Vi of the at least one touch point to a calibrated signal value V′i.
US08773400B2	Method and apparatus for tomographic touch imaging and interactive system using same A touch screen in the form of a panel is capable of conducting signals and a tomograph including signal flow ports is positioned adjacent the panel with the signal flow ports arrayed around the border of the panel at discrete locations. Signals are introduced into the panel to pass from each discrete border location to a plurality of other discrete border locations for being detected and tomographically processed to determine if any change occurred to signals due to the panel being touched during signal passage through the panel, and therefrom determine any local area on the panel where a change occurred. The tomograph computes and outputs a signal indicative of a panel touch and location, which can be shown on a display.
US08773394B2	Vehicular operating device An operation detection unit of a vehicular operating device is configured to detect a pressing force in a pressing direction substantially perpendicular to a plane including an operation direction of a slide operation by the finger of an operator on an operating surface. A control device does not execute recognition of a gesture pattern based on the slide operation if the pressing force detected by the operation detection unit is smaller than a first threshold value A, and recognizes a gesture pattern based on the slide operation after the pressing force has reached the first threshold value A or more. The control device controls a vehicle equipment in accordance with the recognized gesture pattern.
US08773391B2	Resistive multi-touch device and method for detecting touched points of the resistive multi-touch device thereof A resistive multi-touch device includes a touch panel, a matrix, a scanning circuit, a first multiplexer, a second multiplexer, and a touch controller. The matrix includes m pairs of first electrodes forming m columns and n pairs of second electrodes forming n rows. The scanning circuit detects which column of first electrodes is touched to generate a first selecting signal and which row of second electrodes is touched to generate a second selecting signal according to a predetermined scanning mode. The first multiplexer selects a first signal of the touched first electrode from signals transmitted on the first electrodes according to first selecting signal. The second multiplexer selects a second signal of the touched second electrode from signals transmitted on the second electrodes according to second selecting signal. The touch controller calculates coordinate value of touched point according to first signal and second signal.
US08773390B1	Biometric identification devices, methods and systems having touch surfaces A system may include a touch surface comprising a plurality of capacitance sensors; and processing circuits operable in a finger touch mode that detects finger touches as user input values, and biometric identification mode that detects a shape value of at least a portion of a user hand, and compares the shape value to stored biometric identification values.
US08773388B2	Click disambiguation on a touch-sensitive input device The surface of an touch-sensitive input device may act as a physical button that the user may push down to perform a click or other operation. For example, the user may push down the surface of the input device with one finger for a left click and push down the surface of the input device with two fingers for a right click. In one aspect, a system for detecting a left click or a right click when the user pushes down the surface of the input device is provided. When the system first detects that the surface of the input device is pushed down, the system may wait for a short period of time before making a determination of whether the user is pushing down the surface with one finger or two fingers. During this time, the system may collect additional information to make a more reliable determination.
US08773387B2	One sided thin film capacitive touch sensors Thin film capacitive touch sensors and applications thereof are described herein. Embodiments include construction of one-sided and two-sided thin film capacitive touch sensors with partial fill patterns, one-sided thin film capacitive touch sensors including conductive ground plane layers, one-sided thin film capacitive touch sensors including air gap layers, one-sided thin film capacitive touch sensors including a combination of both separation layers to create air gap layers and conductive ground plane layers.
US08773383B2	Operation accepting apparatus An operation accepting apparatus includes a moving portion that has a region to receive a pressing force by a pressing operation of a user and moves in a first direction after receiving the pressing force, a biasing portion that biases the moving portion in a second direction, which is a direction opposite to the first direction, an abutting portion that stops movement of the moving portion in the first direction by abutting the moving portion while the moving portion receives the pressing force, and an indication portion that indicates the region to the user so that the pressing force is not received in a position overlapping with the abutting portion when viewed from the first direction.
US08773381B2	Time-based contextualizing of multiple pages for electronic book reader A system and associated method for contextualizing a page turn in an electronic book pursuant to a snap gesture made by a user on a touch screen of a tablet device, as performed by an e-reader program running in the tablet device. The snap gesture is quantified with data elements including linger time and direction of the snap gesture. The quantified snap gesture is utilized in identifying a target page number to display on the touch screen responsive to at least one predefined data element of the quantified snap gesture such that the user is enabled to turn multiple pages of the electronic book by the snap gesture as turning multiple pages of a paper book.
US08773373B2	Display apparatus with touch panel and piezoelectric actuator Provided herein are a display apparatus with a touch panel to which a piezoelectric actuator may readily be mounted, and a piezoelectric actuator used in such a display apparatus with a touch panel. A support structure for supporting a piezoelectric actuator 3 on a front surface of a circuit substrate 5 is constituted from a pair of electrically conductive support members 13A, 13B which are each formed of an electrically conductive foam. The piezoelectric actuator 3 may be mounted by locating the piezoelectric actuator 3 with the pair of electrically conductive support members 13A, 13B attached thereto in a predetermined position on the circuit substrate 5, and connecting the pair of electrically conductive support members 13A, 13B to the pair of output electrodes 5A, 5B of the circuit substrate 5.
US08773371B2	Flat panel display with a touch screen panel A flat panel display integrated with a touch screen panel. The connecting patterns, which connect adjacent first sensing cells and adjacent second sensing cells are formed on the same level of the lower surface of the upper substrate of the flat panel display of the same material as metal patterns formed around the edge of the touch screen panel, and by arranging the connecting patterns not to cross each other. The flat panel display panel can also be integrated with a touch screen having improved visibility by forming the touch screen panel on the upper substrate of the flat panel display such that connecting patterns are formed in the regions between the pixels.
US08773366B2	Touch sensitive device using threshold voltage signal A touch sensitive apparatus having a plurality of drive electrodes and a plurality of receive electrodes, the drive electrodes and receive electrodes capacitively coupled to each other. A touch measurement circuit configured to identify touch events on the touch sensitive device by comparing a first time period to a second time period. The first time period can be, for example, representative of a length of time a periodic receive signal carried by a receive electrode is above or below a threshold voltage level.
US08773365B2	Display apparatus for supplying power to an external device and control method thereof Disclosed is a display apparatus including: a display unit; a power supply unit which supplies power to at least one external device; and a controller which displays on the display unit an at least one indicating image indicating an at least one power supply area of the display unit supplying power to the at least one external device, and controls the power supply unit to supply power to the at least one external device placed on the at least one power supply area in a wireless manner.
US08773364B2	Method for operating a lighting control console during color selection The invention relates to a method for operating a lighting control console for controlling a lighting system. The console provides a digital processor and memory for generating, managing and storing the adjusting commands. The console also includes a display device and a color palette, including all selectable colors consecutively displayed as color gradients, for selecting a color to be graphically represented at the display device for the user. The display device has a touch-sensitive sensor surface, such that when touching the same within the region of a contact surface, the user can select the digital color parameters of a color from the displayed color palette. The console facilitates the selection of a digital color image and allows the user to select pixels of the color image by touching the touch-sensitive sensor surface. The console further processes color parameter combinations of the pixels selected by the user.
US08773363B2	Control module for an automotive vehicle using a touch sensor The present invention relates to a control module that comprises at least one touch control surface (3) made of a sensor (31) sensitive to the pressure applied on the touch surface (3) and of a flexible protection layer (33) covering said sensor (31) and allowing a pressure to be locally transmitted to the sensor. The module further includes a rigid mechanical support (15) in which openings (27) are formed, allowing therethrough the light from at least one light source (25) and defining back-lighting regions of the touch surface (3), and a plate (20) of an incompressible material and transparent to the light which is sandwiched between the mechanical support (15) and the sensor (31) and defines a continuous smooth surface at the touch surface (3), wherein the sensor (31) and the flexible protection layer (33) are made so as to allow the light at least partially through the back-lighting regions.
US08773362B2	Electronic apparatus and input interface thereof An electronic apparatus includes an input interface, a controller and a processor. The input interface includes a central touch sensing region and a peripheral touch sensing region. The central touch sensing region has a central touch pad disposed therein, and the peripheral sensing region surrounds the central touch sensing region and includes a plurality of peripheral touch pads disposed therein. The controller is configured for detecting a touch on the central touch pad and at least one of the peripheral touch pads and generating a central detecting signal and at least one peripheral detecting signal. The processor is electrically coupled to the controller. When receiving the central detecting signal and the at least one peripheral detecting signal, the processor performs a corresponding function according to the variation of signal strengths of the central detecting signal and the peripheral detecting signal.
US08773361B2	Device identification method and apparatus, device information provision method and apparatus, and computer-readable recording mediums having recorded thereon programs for executing the device identification method and the device information provision method Provided are a touch-screen based device identification and information provision method and apparatus, and computer-readable recording mediums having recorded thereon programs for executing the touch-screen based device identification method and the information provision method. The device identification method for a touch screen device includes propagating a signal induced by touching a touch screen surface to an external device via the person, receiving information about the signal detected by the external device and an identification (ID) of the external device through a communication channel, and identifying the external device by using the received information about the detected signal and the received ID of the external device. Thus, the touch screen device and the external device can be connected to each other in real time by a simple and physical touch.
US08773358B2	Handheld electronic device and associated method providing advanced text editing function in a text disambiguation environment An improved handheld electronic device and associated method provide an advanced editing feature and an improved learning feature that are provided in a disambiguation environment. The advanced editing feature advantageously enables a new word that has been incorrectly disambiguated by a disambiguation routine to be readily corrected by the user without requiring the incorrectly disambiguated word to be deleted and retyped. Rather, the advanced editing feature enables the incorrectly disambiguated characters to be replaced with opposite characters on the same keys, and such changes can be accomplished merely through the use of inputs to a track ball. The newly edited word can then be learned by a learning database. The improved learning function advantageously favors words that are learned using the advanced editing feature over words that have been learned in other fashions.
US08773353B2	Electronic device An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing, an input device, a sliding groove and an actuating unit. The input device is disposed on the housing, wherein the input device includes a first input interface and a second input interface, and the first input interface and the second input interface are respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of the input device. The sliding groove is formed on the housing. The actuating unit is connected to the input device, the actuating unit automatically moves between a first position and a second position of the sliding groove to rotate the input device, the first input interface faces outward from the housing when the actuating unit is in the first position, and the second input interface faces outward from the housing when the actuating unit is in the second position.
US08773352B1	Systems and methods for gesture recognition for input device applications Systems and methods for gesture recognition for input device applications are described. In one embodiment, a system for gesture recognition includes a pair of IR LED emitters, an imaging module such as a camera or other imaging device, an LED emitter control module and a processing module. The IR LEDs generate IR light to highlight a target from one or more angles, and the received images are processed to identify target position and/or motion to provide output data based on the determined target position and/or motion.
US08773349B2	Backlight driving circuit and display apparatus A backlight driving circuit that provides backlight to a display panel of a display apparatus includes a power supply unit configured to supply power, a converter configured to convert and output a voltage of the supplied power, a light-emitting module supplied with the outputted voltage from the converter and providing the backlight, a switch connected to an output terminal of the light-emitting module and controlling an operation of the light-emitting module, a feedback resistor connected to an output terminal of the switch and sensing a voltage of a current flowing in the light-emitting module, a short-circuit sensing resistor connected between a ground of the power supply unit and a ground of the feedback resistor, and a short-circuit sensor configured to sense a voltage value of a current applied to the feedback resistor or the short-circuit sensing resistor according to whether the switch is switched on or off.
US08773348B2	Micro projector driving device and driving method A micro projector driving device and a driving method are provided, where pixels of the first and last images at a specified location are compared, and the light intensity of the light sources is then adjusted according to the compared results so as to avoid the continual display of images with different contrast requirements at the highest light intensity, thus saving power under a guaranteed visual effect, and prolonging the battery life of a portable micro projector. A higher power drive light source should be used for a static image rather than for a video image. Images are divided into sections, and then the pixels from each section are selected at random for comparison, therefore greatly reducing the amount of computing but still having a rather high accuracy.
US08773347B2	Electro-optical device, electronic apparatus and projection display device An electro-optical device includes an element substrate having a temperature detection conductive film formed by doping with an impurity in the same semiconductor layer as a semiconductor layer of transistor; and a driving portion for supplying a driving signal, wherein the driving portion includes a data conversion portion for converting image data and generating, as the driving signal, a digital driving signal made of an ON-voltage in which the brightness of the pixel is saturated and an OFF-voltage in which the pixel becomes a light-off state in each of a plurality of subfields in which a field period is divided on a time axis, and the data conversion portion performs a correction corresponding to a change in resistance in the temperature detection conductive film when generating the digital driving signal.
US08773346B2	Driving device for liquid crystal display A driving device of a liquid crystal display (LCD) utilized for preventing noises of a clock signal from causing error operation of a shift register is disclosed. The driving device includes a shift register, a reception terminal, a noise elimination circuit and a control signal generation circuit. The reception terminal is utilized for receiving a first clock signal. The noise elimination circuit is coupled to the reception terminal, and is utilized for eliminating noises of the first clock signal and delaying the first clock signal for a preset time to generate a second clock signal. The control signal generation circuit is coupled to the reception terminal, the noise elimination circuit and the shift register, and is utilized for generating a first control signal and a second control signal to control the shift register.
US08773345B2	Field-effect transistor shift register A shift register, each stage thereof provided to drive a corresponding output line, includes an output transistor that drives the output line and an additional transistor of the same technology and of the same polarity as the output transistor. The additional transistor is connected in such a way as to be subject to bias conditions similar to the output transistor, such that the additional transistor's threshold voltage, identical at the start of life to that of the output transistor, drifts as quickly or more quickly as the threshold voltage of the output transistor. The additional transistor is used to adjust the precharging voltage of a gate of the output transistor to its conduction performance characteristics during the precharging and/or selection phase.
US08773344B2	Surface display device of an arbitrary shape Disclosed is a display device for use of a surface display of an arbitrary shape, including a plural number of display element units, each made up of a circuit that forms a single stage of a scanning circuit and a pixel circuit connected to an output of the scanning circuit, are arranged in a unicursal fashion on a display substrate.
US08773343B2	LCD wherein the polarity of the final subfield of a field is kept the same as the polarity of first subfield of the next subfield by inverting the polarity of the capacitive potential lines twice during the final subfield A liquid crystal device includes a capacitive electric potential line driving circuit that supplies one of a low-level and a high-level electric potential as a capacitive electric potential to each of the capacitive electric potential lines, reverses polarity of the capacitive electric potential as a write period for the row corresponding to the corresponding capacitive electric potential line is terminated in each subfield period included in a unit period, and, in a final subfield period included in the unit period, reverses polarity of the capacitive electric potential again at the time period of after reversing the polarity of the capacitive electric potential until terminating the corresponding final subfield period.
US08773342B2	Display device and storage driving circuit for driving the same A display device includes a display panel, a gate driving circuit, a data driving circuit, and a storage driving circuit. The storage driving circuit includes a plurality of stages to apply a plurality of storage voltages, which are inverted in every frame, to the storage lines, respectively. A kth stage of the stages includes a counter charging part, a boosting part and a holding part. The counter charging part applies a first driving voltage to a kth storage line based on a kth gate signal. The boosting part applies a second driving voltage to the kth storage line based on a (k+2)th gate signal. The holding part applies a storage voltage to the kth storage line based on a (k+1)th gate signal during one frame. The level of the storage voltage corresponds to the second driving voltage.
US08773340B2	Color signal converter, display unit, color signal conversion program, computer-readable storage medium storing color signal conversion program, and color signal conversion method A color conversion circuit converts a three-primary-color signal PS0 to a 5-color signal PS5, and includes (i) a color component extraction module that generates, by performing isochromatic conversion, a 7-color signal PS2 made up of 7 color components equivalent in terms of color to color components d1 through d5 of the 5-color signal PS5, and (ii) a matrix operation module that generates color components of the 5-color signal by performing linear combination of the color components of the 7-color signal. With this, it is possible to realize a color conversion circuit by which colors represented by a signal after conversion can be adjusted using intuitively-understandable parameters.
US08773337B2	Color temperature tunable white light source A color temperature tunable white light source comprises a first LED arrangement comprising at least one blue emitting LED configured to excite a remote phosphor and a second LED arrangement comprising at least one red emitting LED. The LED arrangements are configured such that the composite light emitted by the LED arrangements appears white in color. The relative drive currents of the LEDs is controllable, and thus variable in relative magnitude, such that the color temperature of the composite light emitted by the source is electrically tunable.
US08773336B2	Illumination devices and related systems and methods Illumination devices and related systems and methods are closed that can be used for LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) backlights, LED lamps, or other applications. The illumination devices can include a photo detector, such as a photodiode or an LED or other light detecting device, and one or more LEDs of different colors. A related method can be implemented using these illumination devices to maintain precise color produced by the blended emissions from such LEDs. One application for the illumination devices is backlighting for FSC (Field Sequential Color) LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays). FSC LCDs temporally mix the colors in an image by sequentially loading the red, green, and blue pixel data of an image in the panel and flashing the different colors of an RGB backlight. Precise and uniform color temperature across such a display can be advantageously maintained by continually monitoring ratios of photodiode currents induced by the different colored LEDs in each illumination device as each color is flashed.
US08773330B2	Method and apparatus for a virtual mission control station A method and apparatus for performing a mission. Information for a mission is received at a control station. The control station comprises a display system, a motion capture system, a number of user input devices, a seat associated with the number of user input devices, and a processor unit. The display system is configured to be worn on the head of an operator and to present a display to the operator. The motion capture system is configured to track movement of the head. The processor unit is configured to execute program code to generate the display and adjust the display presented to the operator in response to detecting movement of the head of the operator. The mission is performed using the information and the control station.
US08773315B2	Method for estimating the polarization ellipticity of an antenna response signal to an incident electromagnetic wave A method is provided for estimating the polarization ellipticity of an antenna response signal to an incident electromagnetic wave received on a crossed-loop antenna or an Adcock antenna array. The method comprises at least the following steps: measuring the phase offset Δφ between the signals acquired respectively on the cosine and sine path of the antenna; measuring the ratio R between the amplitudes of the signals acquired respectively on the cosine and sine path of the antenna; determining the ellipticity angle τ based on the phase offset Δφ and on the ratio R. The invention applies notably to the discrimination of ionospheric waves from ground and/or sea waves, in particular for a surveillance, eavesdropping, or goniometry system using HF band signals.
US08773312B1	Magnetic pseudo-conductor conformal antennas A radio frequency transmission apparatus includes a first elongated antenna element having a first feed end and a first aperture end. A second elongated element has a second feed end and a second aperture end. The second feed end is coupled to the first feed end. The first and second elongated antenna elements are positioned relative to each other to render a separation between the first antenna element and the second antenna element to increase from the first and second feed ends to the first and second aperture ends. The first and second antenna elements comprise pseudo-conductor material having an electromagnetic constitutive property having a real part greater than the corresponding imaginary part of the electromagnetic constitutive property.
US08773310B2	Methods for forming cavity antennas An antenna resonating element may be mounted in an antenna cavity. The antenna resonating element may have a printed circuit board substrate with a patterned metal layer. Components may be soldered to the antenna resonating element using solder with a given melting point before soldering the antenna resonating element the antenna cavity using solder with a lower melting point. Solder widow openings may be formed in the antenna resonating element and antenna cavity to allow for application of solder paste. Engagement features and alignment structures may be used to align the antenna resonating element relative to the antenna cavity. The antenna cavity may have a curved opening. The printed circuit board substrate may be bent to the shape of the curved opening before soldering components to the printed circuit board. An elastomeric fixture may be used to hold the antenna resonating element to the cavity during soldering.
US08773309B2	Positional information transmitter, positional information receiver, and position measuring system The present invention provides a positional information transmitter, a positional information receiver and a position measuring system capable of measuring a position under moving circumstances. The positional information transmitter transmits positional information for specifying the current position. The positional information transmitter comprises a memory unit which stores therein a plurality of first positional information indicative of the latitude of the current position and a plurality of second positional information indicative of the longitude of the current position, a transmission unit which generates a first positional information signal corresponding to a wireless signal including the first positional information stored in the memory unit and a second positional information signal corresponding to a wireless signal including the second positional information stored therein, and transmits the generated first and second positional information signals, and a timing controller which controls the transmission unit in such a manner that the transmission unit repeatedly transmits the first positional information signal in different periods and repeatedly transmits the second positional information signal in different periods.
US08773308B2	Methods and systems for providing enhanced position location in wireless communications Embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for providing improved position-location (e.g., time-of-arrival) measurement and enhanced position location in wireless communication systems. In an embodiment, an access point may replace information (e.g., data) transmission by a “known” transmission (or “reference transmission”) at a predetermined time known to access terminals in the corresponding sectors. The access terminals may use the received reference transmission to perform a position-location measurement, and report back the measured information. The access point may also send a reference transmission on demand, e.g., in response to a request from an access terminal in need for a location-based service.
US08773306B2	Communication system and method using an active phased array antenna The subject matter discloses a wireless communication system comprising: at least one active phased array antenna unit for transmission and reception of electronic radiation and a phased array circuit for driving and controlling said at least one phased array antenna unit, wherein said at least one phased array antenna unit comprises at least four one dimensional arrays of radiations. The subject matter also discloses a method for utilizing the described system.
US08773305B1	Method for doppler-aided GPS carrier-tracking using P-step ramp unbiased finite impulse response predictor A GPS carrier-tracking method comprising: acquiring a GPS signal from a satellite with a receiver in acquisition mode when the signal strength of the GPS signal is equal to or above a carrier/noise (C/N0) threshold; tracking the carrier frequency of the GPS signal while the receiver in a tracking mode when the signal strength of the GPS signal is above the C/N0 threshold; recording carrier frequency values while the receiver is in tracking mode; predicting a current Doppler shift based on the recorded values when the signal strength of the GPS signal drops below the C/N0 threshold for a time period t; and resuming, without the receiver re-entering acquisition mode, tracking of the GPS signal after time t and once the signal strength of the GPS signal is again equal to or above the C/N0 threshold, wherein the resumed tracking is based on the predicted Doppler shift.
US08773304B2	Method and apparatus to improve sensitivity of decoding time of a global navigation satellite system receiver A method and an integrated circuit to improve sensitivity of decoding time of a GNSS receiver are disclosed. A plurality of estimates of states of an encoder for one or more instances of a time counter is maintained. A signal comprising a plurality of data bits corresponding to an instance of the time counter is detected and at least one augmented state for each estimate of states of the encoder is determined. A corresponding augmented state for successive instances of the time counter is predicted and an augmented branch metric for each of the at least one augmented state is computed. A path metric for the each estimate is updated based on the augmented branch metric for each of the at least one augmented state and a time counter value is determined based on the path metric for the each estimate.
US08773301B1	System for and method of sequential lobing using less than full aperture antenna techniques A method of determining an angle within the beam to a target using an airborne radar includes receiving first data associated with first returns associated with a first portion of an antenna. The method further includes receiving second data associated with second returns associated with a second portion of an antenna, wherein the first portion is not identical to the second portion. The method further includes determining the angle within the beam to the target using the first and second data.
US08773295B2	Data conversion method based on scale-adjusted B-map There is provided a data conversion method based on β-map suited for an A/D converter or chaos generator, that is adapted to an integrated circuit and capable of providing stable operation of the circuit. The data conversion method based on scale-adjusted β-map includes a discrete time integrator 1 having an amplification coefficient s(1−β) and a damping factor β, a quantizer 2connected in series to the discrete time integrator 1, and a feedback circuit 3 connected from an output of the quantizer 2 to an input of the discrete time integrator 1.
US08773292B2	Data compression An exemplary encoder device includes a data storage comprising an indication of a coordinate system and a set of symbols, each having at least one coordinate position in the coordinate system. A processor associated with the data storage is configured to encode at least one symbol within information comprising a plurality of symbols using the coordinate position of the at least one symbol relative to the coordinate position of another symbol within the information.
US08773291B2	Audio receiver and sample rate converter without PLL or clock recovery Methods and systems of operating an audio receiver may include a reference module configured to determine an input number of clocks per number of frames for an audio signal based on a reference clock and a specified number of frames. The audio receiver can also include a conversion module configured to re-sample the audio signal based on the input number of clocks per number of frames, the specified number of frames, and a specified number of clocks per number of frames.
US08773288B1	Methods for presenting traffic information on an aircraft display unit Present novel and non-trivial methods for presenting traffic information are disclosed. In a first method, data representative of ownship position, first traffic, and second traffic are received by a traffic symbology generator (“TSG”). The traffic is divided into zones and a correlation between the targets of the traffic is determined. A traffic symbology data set is generated by the TSG based upon the results of the correlation(s). In a second method, data representative of ownship position and first traffic, runway references, and a selectable display range are received by the TSG. The traffic is divided into zones, and a traffic symbology data set is generated by the TSG thereafter. In a third method, data representative of ownship position and first traffic are received by the TSG. The traffic is divided into zones, and a traffic symbology data set is generated by the TSG thereafter.
US08773287B2	Device and method for traffic surveillance A vehicle detector (10) comprises a vehicle sensor (14) arranged for sensing disturbances caused by a vehicle, a digitizer of a microprocessor (20) connected to the vehicle sensor (14). The vehicle detector (10) further comprises a memory (18) connected to the digitizer and arranged for storing the digital representation, an antenna (12) and a transmitter of a radio unit (40). The microprocessor (20) also comprises a controller arranged for controlling operation of the vehicle sensor (14), and the transmitter. The vehicle detector has a housing (49) enclosing the vehicle sensor (14), the digitizer, the memory, the transmitter and the controller. The housing (49) provides protection against mechanical damage and moisture, thereby enabling the housing to be placed under ground. The antenna (12) is provided outside the housing (49) and at a distance from the housing (49) for enabling placement of the antenna (12) within a roadway surface coating.
US08773285B2	Parking pilot method and device A parking pilot method and a device thereof are disclosed. Image detectors capture surrounding images of a vehicle. A speed detector detects speed of the vehicle. A distance detector obtains distance between the vehicle and a barrier. A processor obtains relative coordinates of the vehicle and parking lot and the angle and width of the parking lot with the images, speed and distances. Thereby, the processor creates a preset parking pilot frame and works out a relative position of the preset parking pilot frame and the parking lot. Then, the processor designates the preset parking pilot frame and the parking lot on a display. According to the information on the display, the driver moves the vehicle to an initial position and makes the preset parking pilot frame coincide with the parking lot. Then, the processor instructs the driver to manually park the vehicle, or automatically parks the vehicle.
US08773283B2	Road traffic control system A road traffic control system is applied to an intersection to control traffic and includes a light support, three traffic lights, a bracket, a number of indicators and a light controller. The light support is installed at one side of one lane at the intersection; the traffic lights are fixed on the light support and above the lane. The bracket is installed at one side of another lane at the intersection, and a number of stop lines are formed on the lane. The indicators are fixed on the bracket and above the stop lines to control traffic. The light controller controls to synchronously turn on or off the plurality of indicators and the traffic lights, and the indicators emit the same color light as the traffic lights.
US08773282B2	Signal light priority system utilizing estimated time of arrival Systems and methods for requesting modification of traffic flow control systems that combine satellite position navigation systems and dead reckoning technology with secure radio communications to accurately report a vehicle's real-time location and estimated arrival times at a series of signal lights within a traffic grid or at a distant signal light, while enabling signal controllers to accommodate priority requests from these vehicles, allowing for these vehicles to maintain a fixed schedule with minimal interruption to other grid traffic.
US08773279B2	Apparatus for visually and remotely determining an angular position of a relative rotation of parts A visually and remotely readable apparatus is provided which comprises a plurality of sensing units, a control unit and a flexible printed cable (FPC) to connect two units for exchanging information therebetween. A preferable structure of the sensing unit includes a fixed part secured to the body of the apparatus and two oppositely positioned rotatable parts, where two rotatable parts mounted on a common shaft with the fixed part arranged therebetween forming two angular position sensors. Each sensor is based on the capacitive coupling between two working surfaces of the rotatable part and the respective working surfaces of the fixed part with the electrodes are secured thereto. Two working surfaces of one part are confronted with two respective working surfaces of another part forming two working surface pair. Each sensor has two working surface pairs, one working surface pair is sensing pair for sensing angular position; another is coupling pair for coupling sensing signals. A plurality of transmitting electrodes are secured to the working surface of the sensing pair of the fixed part; a receiving electrode is secured to the working surface of the sensing pair of the rotatable part; an output electrodes is secured to the working surface of the coupling pair of the fixed part; a coupling electrode connected to the receiving electrode is secured to the working surface of the coupling pair of the rotatable part. To each of the plurality of the transmitting electrodes is applied a respective one of polyphase squarewave voltages. The capacitive coupling between the electrodes of the sensing pair is dependent on the relative positions of two rotatable part, and the output signal voltages on the output electrode which coupled from the coupling electrode represents the angular position of the rotatable part. In the first embodiment provided for the sensors, the shape of working surfaces is in a conical frustum; the second embodiment, the shape of working surfaces is a cylinder; the third embodiment, the shape of working surfaces is a disc; the fourth embodiment, with a cylinder-shaped working surface and a disk-shaped working surface, is a combination of the second and the third embodiments provided as an example of the application of the embodiments. A circuit of the control unit is provided for processing data, generating control signals for the sensors. By using radio frequency identification (RFID) technique to exchange information with the reader station outside of the apparatus and power the system are also disclosed in the invention.
US08773277B2	Routing facility for a subsea electronics module A routing facility (1) for a subsea electronics module (7) has on a single circuit board (2) a facility (5) for routing data packets between segments of a differential serial bus, and at least one input/output interface (14, 15, 16) for digital and/or analog process values, wherein the process values are accessible via the differential serial bus.
US08773272B2	Light scattering type smoke detector A light scattering type smoke sensor includes a sensor body, light-emitter for emitting light toward an open smoke-sensing space and outputting a light-received signal according to the amount of scattering light received, and a fire judging unit for judging whether fire occurs or not on the basis of the amount of received light determined on the basis of the outputted light-received signal.
US08773271B1	Apparatuses, systems, and methods for detecting and reacting to exposure of an electronic device to moisture An electronic device includes a port for connecting the electronic device to other electronic devices and a moisture detector configured to detect an electrically conductive liquid in the first port. The moisture detector is configured to maintain a voltage on a first electrical contact of the port and to detect a short circuit between the first electrical contact and a second electrical contact of the port. The moisture detector determines that the electronic device has been exposed to an electrically conductive liquid if the monitor module detects the short circuit. The moisture detector may also put the electronic device into safe mode if it is exposed to an electrically conductive liquid.
US08773270B2	Computer controlled and monitored medical storage system A system is disclosed for monitoring and controlling a refrigerated medical storage unit. The system may include a control station. The control station may receive temperature information from the refrigerated medical storage unit and may cause at least a portion of the temperature information to be stored. The control station may determine whether the temperature is outside a predefined range and may causes an alarm to be generated when the temperature is outside the predefined range. The control station may receive user authentication information from a user, and upon verification of the user authentication information, send unlock instructions to the refrigerated medical storage unit.
US08773269B2	Autonomous fall monitor A system, a method and an apparatus for autonomous monitoring, detecting and tracking of movement and orientation of a body or portion of a body. The apparatus comprises a device configured to monitor the translational and/or rotational movement of the body; and an altimeter configured to measure changes in height of the body. An alert condition is determined based on the translational and/or rotational movement of the body and changes in height of the body or portion of the body. The alert condition may comprise a hard fall event, a soft fall event, a susceptibility to a fall, or a near fall event.
US08773266B2	RFID tag reader station with image capabilities A system and method is provided for image surveillance of areas of interest for items having radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. These areas of interest are often times unmonitored due to privacy concerns. The present invention discloses an image surveillance system and method, that upon indication of an RFID tag coming within proximity of a portal system having an RFID reader, records one or more images of the area of interest, so as to capture a subject associated with the RFID tagged item moving into or through the area of interest. Such applications for embodiments of the present invention are directed to monitor items of interest in retail stores, restaurants, shipping and receiving locations, and other public areas.
US08773265B2	Alarm apparatus and method An alarm system for protecting an environment from an unwanted events, such as an intrusion, the alarm system including: a detection sensor for detecting sound in the environment, wherein the detection sensors are adaptable to identify a unique audio signal if an unwanted event is detected; a sensor module adapted to verify the unique audio signal from the detection sensor; and an alarm generation module adapted to generate an alarm if the unique audio signal is verified.
US08773259B2	Systems and methods for remote patient monitoring A system includes a local patient monitor and a plurality of remote patient monitors. The local patient monitor may display a plurality of physiological parameters for a local patient. The local patient monitor may further display a remote monitoring interface with the local patient's physiological parameters. The remote monitoring interface may include a plurality of status icons respectively representing the plurality of remote patient monitors. In one embodiment, the local patient monitor receives alarm information from a first remote patient monitor indicating that one or more physiological parameters for a remote patient are outside of a determined range. The alarm information may include, for example, location information for the remote patient and an alarm condition indicated by the one or more physiological parameters. The local patient monitor may display the alarm information within the remote monitoring interface.
US08773255B2	Status sensing and reporting interface A status sensing and reporting interface is provided. The interface includes one of an interface port or an adapter. Each of the interface port and adapter include: a body; a coupling circuit positioned within the body and configured to sense an electrical signal flowing through the status sensing interface; and an electrical parameter sensing circuit positioned within the body and configured to sense a parameter of the electrical signal flowing through the status sensing interface and a physical condition of the connection between the status sensing interface and a connector to which the status sensing interface is operatively coupled.
US08773253B2	Vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus A vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus is basically provided with a sound emitting device and a notification sound control device. The sound emitting device emits a movement notification sound to outside of a vehicle to inform a person in an area surrounding the vehicle that the vehicle is moving at a low speed. The notification sound control device operates the sound emitting device to selectively emit the movement notification sound. The notification sound control device includes a notification sound prohibiting section and a prohibition cancelling section. The notification sound prohibiting section prohibits an emission of the movement notification sound by the sound emitting device. The prohibition cancelling section cancels a notification sound emission prohibition imposed by the notification sound prohibiting section either upon a vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeding a prescribed vehicle speed or based on position information of the vehicle.
US08773250B2	Graphic display apparatus A graphic display apparatus within an automotive vehicle wherein the display apparatus includes at least two display units operable to display graphics and/or video, a wire connector connecting the at least two display units together, and a control system connected to the wire connector wherein the control system is operable to play video or graphics on the at least two display units. The display units are in communication with one another providing for a coordinated or synchronized display of graphics. If, by way of example, a firework explodes on the main display screen, the remnants of that single firework will be exploded onto the secondary display screens. Further, by way of example, scrolling text may scroll from one display screen to the other giving the synchronized impression to the user that the multiple display screens are similar to one large screen.
US08773246B2	Remote control macro instruction operation A remote control and method of programming a remote control for controlling components in an entertainment system are disclosed. The remote control may operate in multiple modes including a limited mode that prevents the remote control from sending predetermined commands to one or more components, even when instructed to do so by the user. In addition, the remote control may issue one or more commands to each component in response to a single user input.
US08773235B2	Electrical switch and circuit breaker An electrical switch and a circuit breaker are presented herein. The electrical switch includes a graded resistance block comprising a first end having a first electrical resistivity and a second end having an electrical resistivity greater than the first electrical resistivity. The electrical switch further includes a fixed contact electrically coupled to the first end of the graded resistance block, and a sliding contact configured to slide over the graded resistance block. In addition to the components of the electrical switch, the circuit breaker also includes a forcing mechanism to slide the sliding contact over the graded resistance block from the first end to the second end.
US08773229B2	Electromagnet for low field NMR measurements and method for manufacturing thereof The invention relates to an electromagnet and a method manufacturing the same. The electromagnet includes a frame having a volume within, and a conductive wiring wound around the frame. In accordance with the invention the magnet includes at least two circular grooves having two walls parallel to the each other and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame, at least two wire stacks each including at least one substack, wherein the wire has a cross section, at least one of the walls separating the two circular grooves, and jump wiring interconnecting the stacks so that contributions from jump wires of the adjacent stacks to total axial directional current are cancelled in average by the current of the return current wire, such that their contribution to the resulting magnetic field at the sample volume is minimized.
US08773226B2	Driving device and relay A relay has a driving device that includes a magnet portion, two electromagnets, a yoke portion fixed to the above elements, and a rocking armature. The magnet portion includes a ferrite permanent magnet polarized in a direction perpendicular to the yoke portion and a bearing surface facing way from the yoke portion. Each electromagnet includes an iron core fixed to the yoke portion and a coil wound thereon. The two iron cores are arranged at opposite sides of the magnet portion. The rocking armature includes two arms connected to each other with an included angle formed therebetween and a convex joint of the two arms. The convex joint abuts against the bearing surface and the rocking armature pivots about the convex joint between a first position and a second position in which the rocking armature contacts a respective one of the iron cores.
US08773224B2	Frequency multiplier A frequency multiplier includes an input circuit, an output circuit, and a resonance circuit. The input circuit is coupled to an input node and a middle node. The middle node provides a middle signal that has a signal component having the same frequency as an input signal that is provided to the input node. The middle signal further has an even number “n” multiple of the input signal frequency. The output circuit has a predetermined input impedance for the middle node. The resonance circuit includes an inductor that is coupled in series with a capacitor, where the capacitor is in a parallel connection to the middle node. The resonance circuit has a resonance frequency that is equal to a frequency of the input signal, and such resonance circuit also has an output impedance that matches with the predetermined input impedance of the output circuit.
US08773223B2	Variable resonator and variable filter A switch is replaced with a parallel resonant circuit 4. More specifically, a variable resonator includes a line part 1 that includes one or more lines and has an annular shape, at least two parallel resonant circuits 4 capable of changing a characteristic, and at least three variable reactance blocks 2 capable of changing a reactance value, in which the parallel resonant circuits 4 are electrically connected to the line part 1 at one end thereof at different positions on the line part 1, and the variable reactance blocks 2 are electrically connected to the line part 1 at predetermined intervals based on an electrical length at a resonance frequency.
US08773222B2	Filter assembly An object of the present invention is to provide an improved and simplified filter assembly. The object is achieved by a dielectric rod (120, 610, 620) for a filter chassis (110). The dielectric rod (120, 610, 620) extends between a first end (121) and a second end (122). The dielectric rod (120, 610, 620) comprises a conductive element (150) placed at the first (end 121). The conductive element (150) is adapted to be in conductive contact with a first contact means (141) of the filter chassis (110). The dielectric rod further comprises a second fastening element (160) placed at the second end (122). The second fastening element (160) is adapted to be attached and detached to a first fastening element (131) comprised in the filter chassis (110), such that the dielectric rod (120, 610, 620) is replaceable in the filter chassis (110).
US08773219B2	Active hybrids for antenna system In various embodiments, a differential phase generating hybrid can comprise a first input port in communication with a first active splitter, a second input port in communication with a second active splitter, a first active combiner that can be configured to receive a first signal from the first active splitter and a second signal from the second active splitter. The differential phase generating hybrid can further comprise a second active combiner that can be configured to receive the first signal from the first active splitter and the second signal from the second active splitter. The differential phase generating hybrid can further comprise a first output port to provide a first composite signal from the first active combiner, and a second output port to provide a second composite signal from the second active combiner. The size of the differential phase generating hybrid can be independent of an operating frequency.
US08773216B2	Selectivity of a dual coupler A directional dual distributed coupler including: a first conductive line between first and second ports, intended to convey a signal to be transmitted in a first frequency band; a second conductive line coupled to the first one; a third conductive line between third and fourth ports, intended to convey a signal to be transmitted in a greater frequency band than the first one; a fourth conductive line coupled to the third one; and at least one diplexer connecting, on the side of the second and fourth ports, the respective ends of the second and fourth lines to a fifth port.
US08773213B2	Resistance-capacitance oscillation circuit A resistance-capacitance oscillation circuit comprises an amplifier and a phase shifting circuit. The phase shifting circuit comprises at least three resistance-capacitance circuit elements, each of which comprises a resistance and a capacitor. At least one of the resistance-capacitance circuit elements comprises a variable resistance and a variable capacitor. The variable resistance is formed of a first electrode, a second electrode, a part of a semiconductor film, a part of a ferroelectric film, and a fourth electrode. The variable capacitor is formed of the second electrode, a third electrode, a fifth electrode, another part of the ferroelectric film, another part of the semiconductor film, and a paraelectric film.
US08773212B2	Resistance-capacitance oscillation circuit A resistance-capacitance oscillation circuit comprises an amplifier and a phase shifting circuit. The phase shifting circuit comprises at least three resistance-capacitance circuit elements, which comprise a resistance and a capacitance. At least one of the resistance-capacitance circuit elements comprises a variable resistance and a variable capacitance. The variable resistance is formed of a first electrode, a second electrode, a part of a semiconductor film, a part of a ferroelectric film, and a fourth electrode. The variable capacitor is formed of the second electrode, a third electrode, a fifth electrode, another part of the ferroelectric film, another part of the semiconductor film, and a paraelectric film.
US08773211B2	Common mode rejection circuit An electrical circuit includes a circuit element and a common mode rejection circuit element. The circuit element is configured to operate at a selected frequency within a variable frequency range and the common mode rejection circuit element is configured to reject a common mode current through the circuit element, wherein the common mode rejection circuit element is adjustable.
US08773210B2	Relaxation oscillator A relaxation oscillator for generating an output clock signal includes a RC circuit, a bias generation stage, first and second comparator stages, and a logic circuit. The RC circuit generates first and second comparator input signals that are transmitted to the first and second comparator stages. The bias generation stage generates first and second bias voltages that are provided to each of the first and second comparator stages. The first and second comparator stages generate first and second comparator output signals, respectively, based on the first and second comparator input signals and the first and second bias voltages. The first and second comparator output signals are provided to the logic circuit that generates the output clock signal.
US08773207B2	Phase locked loop, semiconductor device, and wireless tag An object is to provide a PLL having a wide operating range. Another object is to provide a semiconductor device or a wireless tag which has a wide operating range in a communication distance or temperature by incorporating such a PLL. The semiconductor device or the wireless tag includes a first divider circuit; a second divider circuit; a phase comparator circuit to which an output of the first divider circuit and an output of the second divider circuit are provided; a loop filter to which an output of the phase comparator circuit is supplied and in which a time constant is switched in accordance with an inputted signal; and a voltage controlled oscillator circuit to which an output of the loop filter is supplied and which supplies an output to the second divider circuit.
US08773201B2	Amplifying device and wireless transmission device using the same An amplifying device 1 of the present invention performs distortion compensation on distortion appearing in input-output characteristics of an amplifier 4 based on an input signal and an output signal of the amplifier 4, and includes a predistorter 23 that obtains the input signal and the output signal and performs distortion compensation of the amplifier; an ACLR calculation unit 25 that detects the distortion level of the distortion of the amplifier 4; and an adjustment unit 26 that adjusts the power of the input signal in accordance with the distortion level.
US08773200B2	Decoupling circuits for filtering a voltage supply of multiple power amplifiers Embodiments for at least one method and apparatus of a voltage supply are disclosed. One voltage supply apparatus includes a voltage supply, a plurality of power amplifier (PA) decoupling circuits, and a plurality of power amplifiers. Each PA decoupling circuit is connected to the voltage supply and provides a filtered voltage supply to a corresponding one of the plurality power amplifiers. Each PA decoupling circuit configured to suppress noise of the provided filtered voltage supply below a threshold at one or more selected frequencies, wherein the suppression is provided by the PA decoupling circuit operating in conjunction with at least one other of the plurality of PA decoupling circuits.
US08773194B2	Method, apparatus and system for adaptively adjusting voltage The present invention discloses a method, an apparatus, and a system for adaptively adjusting a voltage. The method includes: acquiring an internal temperature code of a system chip and a time sequence code of a system logic circuit, where the internal temperature code is detected by a temperature sensor and the time sequence code is output by a time sequence monitoring unit; selecting a time sequence reference calibration code from multiple configured time sequence reference calibration codes according to the acquired temperature code; and comparing the acquired time sequence code with the selected time sequence reference calibration code and determining, according to a comparison result, an adjustment voltage to be output for a system load. By using the foregoing method, the present invention can better reduce a power loss and achieve a better power reduction effect.
US08773193B2	Methods, devices, and systems for switched capacitor array control The present subject matter relates to methods, devices, and systems for switched array control. For an array of two-state elements that can be independently positioned in either an active state or an inactive state, the methods, devices, and systems can determine a linear number D of elements in the active state needed to achieve a total combined activity corresponding to a desired behavior, compare a number A of elements in an active state to the linear number D of elements needed to achieve the desired behavior, activate a first number n of inactive elements, and deactivate a second number m of active elements, wherein the difference between the first number n and the second number m is equal to the difference between the linear number D of elements needed to achieve the desired behavior and the present number A of elements in an active state.
US08773191B2	Analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and image sensor including the same One embodiment of an analog-to-digital converter includes at least one comparator and a restriction circuit. The comparator has first and second input nodes and a connection node. The connection node is one of an internal node and an output node of the comparator. The restriction circuit is electrically connected to the connection node, and the restriction circuit is configured to restrict a voltage of the connection node.
US08773190B2	Fine RF transceiver DC offset calibration An implementation relates to compensating DC offset in a signal path. The signal path may have a plurality of stages, where for each stage a fine DC compensation is performed by introducing a fine DC compensation signal into the signal path of the stage by way of a compensation analog to digital converter.
US08773185B2	Calibration of delay chains A calibratable delay chain having a delay chain and an adjustment circuitry varying a delay of each of the plurality of delay stages in the chain. The calibration circuitry is configured to calibrate a delay of the delay chain. The calibration circuitry includes calibration control circuitry for controlling the calibration and supplying the input value to an adjustment circuitry. Output selection circuitry is provided to select an output from a predetermined point along the delay chain. A bypass path bypasses the delay chain and a digital comparator compares an output from the delay chain and an output from the bypass path. An analogue comparator compares an output from the delay chain and an output from the bypass path. The calibration control circuitry is configured to control the output selection circuitry to output a signal from one point on the delay chain to the digital comparator.
US08773182B1	Stochastic beating time-to-digital converter (TDC) A stochastic beating time-to-digital converter (TDC) can include triggered ring oscillator (TRO) and a stochastic TDC (sTDC). The TRO, when triggered by a reference signal edge, can generate a periodic TRO signal with a TRO period that is a selected ratio of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) period. The TRO period can be greater than or less than the VCO period by the specified ratio. The sTDC with an event triggered memory can include an sTDC component with a plurality of groups of latches. Each group of latches can be configured to sample and store a VCO state at an edge of a TRO signal. The sTDC component can trigger a capture of a select number of VCO states of the group of latches when one latch in the group of latches transitions to a different digital state referred to as a transition edge.
US08773181B2	Locked loop circuits and methods The present invention provides a locked loop circuit in which the input clock signal is delayed according to a saw-tooth signal in order to output a range of frequencies not necessarily equal to an integer multiple of the input clock signal. The absolute value of the delay (i.e. the difference between the maximum and minimum values of the saw-tooth delay) can be calibrated by detecting the value of the circuit phase detector at the wrap point of the saw-tooth.
US08773179B2	Input receiver and operation method thereof An input receiver includes a first input receiving unit, a second input receiving unit, a delay unit, and a first logic unit. The first input receiving unit receives an inverse wake-up signal, an external clock enable signal, a first voltage, and a reference signal, and then generates a first enable signal according to the external clock enable signal and the reference signal. The second input receiving unit receives the external clock enable signal, the first voltage, and an inverse enable voltage, and then generates a second enable signal as its output according to the external clock enable signal. The delay unit generates a wake-up signal according to the second enable signal. The first logic unit receives the wake-up signal and the first enable signal, and then generates an internal clock enable signal according to the wake-up signal and the first enable signal.
US08773177B2	Drive circuit A drive circuit is provided with a charge pump including a capacitor. The capacitor of the charge pump is configured to be charged in the first stage and to be connected with the gate terminal of the switching device in the second stage. The charge pump is configured to be able to adjust a charging voltage charged in the capacitor according to an order signal.
US08773174B2	Rail to rail differential buffer input stage A rail to rail differential buffer input stage includes n-type and p-type input differential transistor pairs connected in voltage follower configuration to the power supply rails. A reference voltage generator includes a reference differential transistor pair generating a dynamic reference voltage relative to the common mode input voltage. Dummy n-type and p-type transistor pairs have current conducting paths connected in parallel with the input differential pairs and are controlled by the dynamic reference voltage to divert supply rail current away from and deactivate one of the associated input differential pairs when the common mode input voltage is further from the dynamic reference voltage than a threshold value. Both the dummy pairs conduct and both the input differential pairs are activated when the common mode input voltage is closer to the dynamic reference voltage VB than the threshold value so that the overall transconductance of the buffer input stage remains constant.
US08773171B2	Voltage buffer A voltage buffer having a fist transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor and a voltage detector is provided. A first terminal of the first transistor is coupled to a first reference voltage. A first terminal of the second transistor is coupled to a second terminal of the first transistor, a control terminal of the second transistor is coupled to an input voltage, and a second terminal of the second transistor is coupled to an output voltage. A first terminal of the third transistor is coupled to a second terminal of the second transistor. A second terminal of the third transistor is coupled to a second reference voltage. The voltage detector detects a voltage of the second terminal of the first transistor to generate a detection result and outputs the detection result to a bulk terminal of the second transistor.
US08773168B2	Maximum voltage selection circuit and method and sub-selection circuit A maximum voltage selection circuit and method and a sub-selection circuit are provided. The maximum voltage selection circuit includes a peripheral signal circuit and a selection circuit with N channels of input voltages. The peripheral signal circuit provides an operating mode signal and a reference voltage to the selection circuit including N sub-selection circuits coupled to the N channels of input voltages respectively. A sub-selection circuit determines its operating mode according to the operating mode signal. In the operating mode, when an input voltage of a sub-selection circuit is larger than the reference voltage, the sub-selection circuit sets itself to the output enable state and sets other sub-selection circuits to the output disable state, and outputs its input voltage as a maximum voltage through a PMOS.
US08773162B2	Communication cell for an integrated circuit, chip comprising said communication cell, electronic system including the chip, and test apparatus An embodiment of communication cell for enabling data communication between an integrated circuit and an electronic unit distinct from the integrated circuit, comprising a contact pad unit, configured for capacitively coupling, in a first operating condition of said communication cell, to the electronic unit for receiving an input signal from said electronic unit, and for ohmically coupling, in a second operating condition of said communication cell, to the electronic unit for receiving the input signal; a receiver device, including signal-amplifying means, coupled between said contact pad unit and said integrated circuit, configured for receiving the input signal and generating an intermediate signal correlated to the input signal; signal-selection means receiving the intermediate signal, the input signal, and providing an output signal which is the intermediate signal during the first operating condition, and the input signal during the second operating condition; and an input stage, connectable between the integrated circuit and the output terminal of the signal-selection means, configured for receiving the output signal and providing the output signal to the integrated circuit.
US08773159B2	Method of inspecting printed circuit board, method of manufacturing printed circuit board and inspection device of printed circuit board A plurality of assembly sheets are placed on an upper surface of a substrate adsorption platform, and a pressing plate is placed on the plurality of assembly sheets placed on the substrate adsorption platform such that the plurality of assembly sheets are pressed by the pressing plate. In this state, a DC power supply device is turned on and causes the upper surface of the substrate adsorption platform to be charged, thereby causing the plurality of assembly sheets to be adsorbed on the upper surface by an electrostatic force. Then, the pressing plate placed on the plurality of assembly sheets is removed while the upper surface of the substrate adsorption platform is charged, and automatic appearance inspection is performed on the plurality of assembly sheets adsorbed on the upper surface of the substrate adsorption platform.
US08773157B2	Test circuit for testing through-silicon-vias in 3D integrated circuits A test circuit and method for testing through-silicon-vias (TSVs) in three-dimensional integrated circuits (ICs) during each phase of manufacturing is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes testing for faults in each individual TSV, TSV-under-test, shorts between a TSV-under-test, and TSVs in close proximity and for connections between the TSV-under-test and another tier in the ICs. A test circuit has three switchable current paths connected to a power supply via a pull-up resistor and switches: a calibration path, a short path, and a current measurement path. A power supply is connected to the measurement path, and the calibration path and the short path are connected to ground via respective pull-down resistors. For each TSV-under-test, the desired operation mode is selected by the closure of different combinations of switches. The current flowing through the pull-up resistor in each operation mode indicates whether the TSV-under-test has passed or failed the test.
US08773152B2	Device for detecting physical state variables of a medium In the case of a device for detecting physical state variables of a medium, such as pressure or temperature, for example, of a liquid, comprising at least one measuring sensor, which is connected to at least one electrical conductor so as to transmit signals, wherein at least one section of the conductor, which encompasses the sensor, is embedded in a casting compound, the casting compound is embodied, according to the invention, from at least one casting core and a casting jacket, which encloses the casting core, and provision is made in the casting compound for at least one recess for a media-conducting access to a contact surface of the sensor.
US08773150B2	Vehicle crash detection device A metal plate (14) is buried in a gasket (12) of a case (10) for accommodating an electric device such as an inverter. The metal plate (14) is connected to a control board (400) in the case (10), and the voltage of the metal plate (14) is determined. A reference voltage is applied to the metal plate (14), and the case (10) is grounded. When the metal plate (14) is brought into contact with the case (10) or disconnected due to a crash, the voltage of the metal plate (14) is thereby changed, and the control board (400) detects a crash, based on the change in the voltage.
US08773149B2	Method for operating a water softening system having two calibration characteristics and associated water softening system Two different conversion modes are used for determining the water hardness from the conductivity of raw water in a water softening device dividing an influent raw water volume flow into two partial volume flows and subjecting a partial volume flow to a full softening process and re-uniting the two partial volume flows thereafter again into an admixed water volume flow. A first calibration curve reflects the maximum water hardnesses occurring at different conductivities; it is used for automatically controlling the regeneration of an ion exchange resin. A second calibration curve reflects the average water hardnesses at different conductivities; it is used for controlling the ratios of the two partial volume flows in the admixed water. With the invention, variations in the correlations between conductivity and water hardness may be taken into account in order to optimize regeneration and to minimize the hardness tolerances of admixed water.
US08773146B1	Waterproof scanning of a capacitive sense array A water-resistant capacitance sensing apparatus comprising a plurality of capacitive sense elements and a capacitance sensing circuit configured to measure both the mutual capacitance and self-capacitance on the plurality of capacitive sense elements.A method for water-resistant capacitance sensing, the method comprising performing a self-capacitance scan and a mutual capacitance scan, and detecting, by a processing device, a presence of an object with the plurality of sense elements. The method further determines whether the detected presence of the object is legitimate.
US08773145B2	Method for characterizing an electrical system by impedance spectroscopy The invention relates to a method for more precisely characterizing an electrical system by impedance spectrometry. The method consists of applying an input signal to the electrical system that comprises a sequence of sinusoidal perturbations, so as to scan a primary series (A) of frequencies; measuring an output signal of the electrical system in response to the input signal for each of the applied perturbations; and estimating a characteristic size of the impedance of the electrical system for each of the applied perturbations; wherein the perturbations of the sequence are applied so as to scan, turn by turn, a plurality of sub-series (A1, . . . , An) of frequencies resulting from the primary series (A), each sub-series of the plurality being interlaced with at least one other sub-series of the same plurality.
US08773143B2	Method and control unit for monitoring cable faults on a broadband lambda probe A method for identifying cable faults at the terminals of a broadband lambda probe comprising a Nernst cell and a pump cell in the exhaust gas duct of an internal combustion engine. The broadband lambda probe has a reference electrode terminal RE, an internal pump electrode terminal IPE and an external pump electrode terminal APE. A pump current is applied to the broadband lambda probe and a pulsed reference pump current is applied to the broadband lambda probe. Cable faults are identified by the evaluation of potential swings in current.
US08773141B2	Test apparatus and circuit module Provided are a first test substrate and a second test substrate opposing each other, a first test circuit testing a device under test and being disposed on a face of the first test substrate that faces the second test substrate, a second test circuit testing the device under test and being disposed on a face of the second test substrate that faces the first test substrate, and a sealing section that is formed by sealing a space between the first test substrate and the second test substrate to enclose the first test circuit and the second test circuit in a common space that is filled with coolant.
US08773134B2	Logging tool sonde sleeve A logging tool for use in a wellbore having a sensor portion for making measurements. The tool has a sleeve enclosing the sensor portion and made of a material that is transparent to the measurements being made. One or more structural elements having physical characteristics different from the material comprising the sleeve are carried on the sleeve to enhance the mechanical properties of the sleeve.
US08773132B2	Fracture detection via self-potential methods with an electrically reactive proppant This invention relates to a method for evaluating and measuring the geometry of a fracture.
US08773130B2	Device for particulate NMR samples in a fluid and related methods Devices and related methods for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of particulate materials are provided including a detector chamber configured for insertion into an NMR spectrometer and configured to receive particulate materials in a fluid. A circulation chamber is attached to and in fluid communication with a first end of the detector chamber. A transition region is between the detector chamber and the circulation chamber, and a fluid supply interface is at a second end of the detector chamber that is configured to attach to a fluid source. The detector chamber, the circulation chamber and the transition region are sized and configured such that, when fluid flows from the fluid supply interface into the second end of the detector region, a circulating current is formed in the transition region and/or the circulation chamber such that the particulate matter is contained in the circulation chamber by the circulating current.
US08773127B2	Transmission line array for explosive detection using nuclear quadrupole resonance A transmission line array is used for explosive/contraband detection using nuclear quadrupole resonance in which the array is driven in-phase with synchrony frequency-swept signals. Each of the balanced transmission lines is fed with a low power swept frequency source and stimulated emissions are picked out with a directional coupler. Location is provided using a cross grid array or a phase detector is used for each balanced line, with phase determining the distance to the sensed substance.
US08773126B2	Nuclear magnetic resonance measuring method using an isotope-labeled compound The present invention provides a method for measuring nuclear magnetic resonance that employs a compound in which a plurality of nuclei is labeled with isotopes as a probe agent, highly selectively and highly sensitively obtains a nuclear magnetic resonance signal of the above described probe agent, and can attach a spatial positional information to the above described nuclear magnetic resonance signal, and an apparatus therefore.
US08773125B2	Microcoil NMR for downhole microfluidics platform Methods and related apparatuses of a downhole micro nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) device having a resonant tuning (LC) circuit for use in a formation for collecting NMR signals from a fluid in the formation while under downhole pressures and temperatures. The downhole micro NMR device includes: a micro tube for the flowing fluid to flow therethrough; at least one magnet disposed about the micro tube; and at least one micro RF coil structured and arranged approximate to the micro tube and tuned to a Larmor frequency corresponding to a applied magnetic field from the at least one magnet.
US08773124B2	Magnetic-field sensor An embodiment of a magnetic-field sensor includes a magnetic-field sensor arrangement and a magnetic body which has, for example, a non-convex cross-sectional area with regard to a cross-sectional plane running through the magnetic body, the magnetic body having an inhomogeneous magnetization.
US08773121B2	Magnetic input for computer device A magnetic input apparatus and method for a computer device are disclosed. A grid pattern of magnetic sensors can include a plurality of Hall elements. Each Hall element is selectively coupled to a Hall voltage sensor. A source of magnetic field can be placed in proximity to the grid pattern and one or more Hall voltage measurements for one or more of the regions can be collected with the Hall voltage sensor. The measurements can be analyzed to determine a position of the source of the magnetic field with respect to the grid pattern. Input can be provided to the computer program based on the determined position of the source of the magnetic field.
US08773120B2	High resolution and high precision vector magnetometer The present invention relates to a vector magnetometer for measuring the components of an ambient magnetic field. This vector magnetometer comprises an optically pumped scalar magnetometer (2′), a pair of conductive windings (Ex,Ey) having distinct axes (Ox, Oy) and powered by two generators (Gx, Gy) having distinct frequencies. The RF coil (56) of the scalar magnetometer and the conductive windings (Ex,Ex) are mechanically integral with a swivel support (85) mounted on swivel means. The axis of the RF coil is in the same plane as the axes Ox, Oy. The support is swivelled so that this plane is substantially orthogonal to the ambient magnetic field.
US08773118B2	Magnetometer A magnetometer which includes an elongate reactor in which a sample can be secured in a sample support zone and which is located within a magnetic field space of a magnetic field generator and one or more signal pickup coils. Movement generating means is provided for generating relative movement in a generally linear direction between the reactor and at least one of the magnetic field and pickup coil, preferably by moving the reactor in its length. The magnetometer is characterised in that the reactor is a metal tube having a length which permits its ends to remain external of the signal pickup device during the relative movement.
US08773117B2	Conductivity sensor A conductivity sensor is disclosed. The conductivity sensor includes an oscillator for providing an input signal and a reactive circuit having an induction coil, a capacitive element, and a resistive element connected in parallel. The induction coil is adapted to be placed adjacent to a specimen. The conductivity sensor further includes a control circuit for driving the reactive circuit to resonance when the induction coil is placed adjacent to the specimen. The reactive coil is configured to provide an output signal having a parameter representative of the conductivity of the specimen when the reactive circuit is at resonance. The induction coil may include a first conductive element that spirals outward to an external perimeter and a second conductive element operably connected to the first conductive element. The second conductive element spirals inward from the external perimeter staggered relative to the first conductive element.
US08773115B2	Blade tip clearance measurement sensor for gas turbine engines An electromagnetic field sensor assembly for blade tip clearance measurement in a gas turbine engine is disclosed that includes a ceramic sensor body, a multi-layered wire coil wound about a distal end portion of the sensor body for producing an electromagnetic field, a ceramic well enclosing the sensor body and the coil, and a metallic housing surrounding the well and having an open distal end.
US08773110B2	Method and apparatus for wave detection Aspects of the disclosure provide method and apparatus for detecting attributes of an input power supply. The method includes receiving a first signal generated based on a second signal that is predictive. The first signal includes a portion that substantially corresponds to the second signal. Further, the method includes detecting attributes of the portion of the first signal that substantially corresponds to the second signal, and determining attributes of the second signal based on the attributes of the portion of the first signal that substantially corresponds to the second signal.
US08773103B2	Power supply device A power supply device includes a step-down unit to step down an input voltage, a switching unit to perform switching on a stepped-down voltage obtained through the stepping down by the step-down unit so as to externally output the voltage, an output variation detection unit to detect a corresponding variation of output from the switching unit, a delay unit to delay the input voltage by a prescribed time period, a delay variation detection unit to detect a corresponding variation of a delayed voltage output from the delay unit, an addition unit to add corresponding variations of the power supply voltage and the delayed voltage respectively detected by the output variation detection unit and the delay variation detection unit, and a control unit to perform feedback control on the basis of the corresponding variations of the power supply voltage and the delayed voltage added by the addition unit.
US08773102B2	Hysteretic CL power converter A novel switching hysteretic power converter is presented. The power converter combines the function of a capacitive charge pump with the function of an inductive step down converter to obtain a switching boost converter with a much simpler control method with respect to conventional inductive boost power converters. The hysteretic control provides stable operation in all conditions with excellent load transient response. Furthermore the hysteretic control allows high frequency switching reducing the size and cost of the passive components. The Discontinuous Conduction Mode of operation provides very high efficiency even at light loads. The presented power converter can be operated as a boost converter or as a buck converter simply by changing the switching phase of one switch. In both types of operation the efficiency of the hysteretic power converter can be quite high even at high switching frequencies.
US08773100B2	Inductive load controlling device An inductive load controlling device in which a target current value is reached in a short time while suppressing overshoot, undershoot, and ringing, including a target value filter that receives a target current value of electric current to be supplied to the load and exhibits differential characteristics using a plurality of filter parameters; an inductive load controlling section that controls load current to be supplied to the load based on a filter output from the target value filter; a parameter memory section that stores parameters for the filter corresponding to a plurality of selection conditions; a selection condition detecting section that detects the selection conditions; and a parameter selection processing section that selects the filter parameters fitting to the selection condition out of the parameter memory section based on the selection condition detected by the selection condition detecting section and delivers the filter parameters to the filter.
US08773099B2	Methods to reduce output voltage ripple in constant on-time DC-DC converters According to one aspect of the teachings herein, a DC-to-DC converter operates according to an advantageous constant on-time topology that reduces output voltage ripple during light load conditions. The converter produces an output voltage by driving high-side and low-side switches in an inductor-based switching circuit, and regulates the output voltage by varying the on-time of a low-side switch, while holding the on-time of the high-side switch constant. Advantageously, the converter shortens the on-time of the high-side switch during light load conditions, which reduces the output voltage ripple. Thus, the converter may be understood as using a first, constant on-time for the high-side switch during “normal” operations and a second, shorter on-time for the high-side switch during light load conditions.
US08773098B2	Capacitive load drive circuit, fluid ejection device and medical device Operation of a digital power amplifier for power amplification of a modulated signal is stopped in a period in which a voltage value of a drive signal applied to a capacitive load is constant, to thereby suppress power loss. The power amplification is stopped either when half a period of time when the modulated signal in a first voltage state maintains the first voltage state elapses or when half a period of time when the modulated signal in a second voltage state which is lower in voltage than the first voltage state maintains the second voltage state elapses. Accordingly, when electric current does not flow in a inductor of a low pass filter, it is possible to stop the power amplification. Thus, it is possible to prevent generation of voltage fluctuation in the drive signal due to an electromotive force caused by a self-induction phenomenon of the inductor.
US08773097B2	Digital peak current mode control for switch-mode power converters A digital control circuit is provided for use with a switch-mode power converter that receives an input signal at a first input node and a control signal at a second input node, and that provides an output signal at a first output node and a current signal at a second output node. The digital control circuit generates a programmable current reference signal based on a difference between the output signal and a voltage reference signal, calculates a time instant when the current signal substantially equals the programmable reference current signal, and generates the control signal based on the calculated time instant.
US08773092B2	Digital average input current control in power converter A digital average-input current-mode control loop for a DC/DC power converter. The power converter may be, for example, a buck converter, boost converter, or cascaded buck-boost converter. The purpose of the proposed control loop is to set the average converter input current to the requested current. Controlling the average input current can be relevant for various applications such as power factor correction (PFC), photovoltaic converters, and more. The method is based on predicting the inductor current based on measuring the input voltage, the output voltage, and the inductor current. A fast cycle-by-cycle control loop may be implemented. The conversion method is described for three different modes. For each mode a different control loop is used to control the average input current, and the control loop for each of the different modes is described. Finally, the algorithm for switching between the modes is disclosed.
US08773088B2	Single inductor multiple output power converter A novel method to operate and control single inductor multiple output switching power converter is presented. The method includes the means for generating one or more synthetic ripple signals and operating the converter at constant switching frequency allowing high frequency operation, maintaining stability in all conditions with minimum cross regulation between the outputs independently on the levels of load present at the outputs. The method further includes means for setting the maximum frequency of multiplexing the energy stored in the inductor between the various outputs reaching the desired compromise between the value of the output capacitors, the switching frequency of the output power devices and the acceptable output voltage ripple.Two different topologies are proposed that can be used for single inductor multiple output buck power converters and for boost power converter allowing the extension to buck-boost configurations as well.
US08773085B2	Apparatus and method for efficient DC-to-DC conversion through wide voltage swings A DC-to-DC converter includes two or more inductors coupled to a common core and two or more active switches, where at least one active switch is in an input current path. A controller operates the two or more active switches such that a DC input is driven through one or more of the two or more inductors to implement a power conversion operation.
US08773083B2	Detection of insufficient current sourcing capability of supplied power A method, apparatus, and device provide for the detection of insufficient supplied power supplied to a device. A current multiplier of the device, operable as a voltage regulator, is coupled to the power source, receives a clock signal, and generates a control signal. A digital counter, clocked by the clock signal and reset by the control signal, generates an overflow output in response to an overflow condition of the digital counter that indicates that the current sourcing capability of the power source has fallen below a current threshold of the device. A compensatory response by the device in response to the detection of insufficient supplied power may be provided as well.
US08773082B2	DC/DC power conversion apparatus An object of the present invention is to provide a DC/DC power conversion apparatus that can reduce the average power consumption over a wide range of DC voltage ratios. A control circuit (120) changes a switching frequency f at which IGBTs S1 to S4 perform ON/OFF operation, in accordance with a voltage ratio k (k=V2/V1) for DC voltage conversion, based on the following expressions, such that a magnitude ΔI of a current ripple flowing in a reactor Lc is a predetermined constant value irrespective of the voltage ratio k. If 1≦k<2: f=(V1/(2×L×ΔI))×(k−1)×(2−k)/k If k>2: f=(V1/(2×L×ΔI))×(k−2)/k
US08773080B2	Resonant commutation system for exciting a three-phase alternator An alternator has a field coil that produces a magnetic field which induces electricity in an coil arrangement. A field coil excitation system includes a generator with an output coil assembly for producing alternating electricity. A rectifier converts the alternating electricity into voltage and direct current at two nodes. A capacitor, between the nodes, has capacitance that forms a resonant circuit with inductance of the output coil assembly. Due to that resonant circuit, the voltage and direct current oscillate in a predefined phase relationship. A switch and the field coil are connected in series between the nodes. A controller renders the switch conductive for a time period specified by a received control signal. The switch is rendered non-conductive at the first occurrence of a minimum current level after the time period ends. The predefined phase relationship enables the minimum current level to be detected by sensing the voltage.
US08773077B1	Controllers for battery chargers and battery chargers therefrom A controller for a battery charger that includes a power converter has parametric sensors for providing a sensed Vin signal, a sensed Vout signal and a sensed Iout signal. A battery current regulator (BCR) is coupled to receive the sensed Iout signal and an Iout reference, and outputs a first duty cycle control signal. An input voltage regulator (IVR) receives the sensed Vin signal and a Vin reference. The IVR provides a second duty cycle control signal. A processor receives the sensed Iout signal and utilizes a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm, and provides the Vin reference to the IVR. A selection block forwards one of the first and second duty cycle control signals as a duty cycle control signal to the power converter. Dynamic switching between the first and second duty cycle control signals maximizes the power delivered to the battery.
US08773073B2	Battery protection circuit, battery protection device, and battery pack A battery protection circuit for protecting a secondary battery composed of a first cell and a second cell, includes a reference voltage supply circuit that outputs a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage generated based on cell voltages of the first cell and the second cell, respectively; a first detection circuit that outputs a signal prohibiting charging when at least one of the cell voltages of the first cell and the second cell exceeds a predetermined overcharge indication value; a second detection circuit that outputs a signal prohibiting charging when at least one of the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage is not within a predetermined target range; and a control circuit that controls to prohibit charging when at least one of the outputs from the first detection circuit and the second detection circuit is the signal prohibiting charging.
US08773070B2	Apparatus and method for balancing charge capacity of battery cell An apparatus for balancing charge capacity of battery cell includes a voltage sensing/discharging circuit having a battery with cell group, a switching unit for selectively connecting both terminals of each battery cell to conductive lines, capacitor connected to the conductive lines, a voltage amplifying unit connected to both terminals of capacitor via a first switch, and a discharge resistance connected to both terminals of capacitor via a second switch; and a voltage balancing unit for controlling the switching unit in ON state of first switch to connect both terminals of each battery cell to the conductive lines and then sense voltage of each battery cell through the voltage amplifying unit, and controlling the switching unit in OFF state of first switch to charge voltage of balancing-requiring cell to the capacitor and then turning on the second switch to discharge charged voltage of capacitor through the discharge resistance.
US08773069B2	Charge/discharge control method A secondary battery charging method includes the step of determining whether to perform one of a first charging control method of performing constant current charging and constant voltage charging and a second charging control method of performing only the constant current charging according to information stored in a plurality of secondary batteries including a compound oxide particle with an olivine crystal structure. The first charging control method includes the steps of performing the constant current charging of the secondary batteries, performing the constant voltage charging, determining whether voltage variation amounts of the plurality of secondary batteries are a value equal to or greater than a first set value, and storing information and firstly terminating the charging. The second charging control method includes the steps of starting the constant current charging of the plurality of secondary batteries connected to each other in series, and secondly terminating the constant current charging.
US08773066B2	Method and apparatus for extending lifetime for rechargeable stationary energy storage devices A flexible management system and method for efficiently operating energy storage devices to extend the lifetime and decrease costs includes (a) determining an active energy consumption period for the energy storage device; (b) determining an inactive energy consumption period for the energy storage device; (c) operating the energy storage device in a usage mode during the active energy consumption period; and (d) operating the energy storage device in a storage mode during the inactive energy consumption period.
US08773063B2	Motor drive system and control method thereof A motor drive system comprising: an inverter that supplies power to a three-phase motor; and a control unit that controls switching elements of upper and lower arms included in the inverter by switching between supply control of controlling the switching elements so that alternating current is supplied to three phases of the three-phase motor and suspension control of controlling the switching elements so that the supply of current is stopped. The suspension control involves: putting and keeping, in a conduction state, a switching element of at least one upper arm each corresponding to one of one or more phases through which current flows in a direction entering the three-phase motor at a timing at which the supply of current is stopped, and putting and keeping switching elements of rest of the upper arms and switching elements of lower arms in a non-conduction state.
US08773061B2	Drive circuit and drive method of a stepping motor A stepping motor drive circuit includes a control-purpose controller including a control-purpose position detecting unit; a rotation command information inputting unit arranged to receive command information on the rotating position of the stepping motor; a control-purpose deviation calculating unit arranged to calculate a positional deviation between the rotating position of the stepping motor detected by the control-purpose position detecting unit and the rotating position included in the command information; and an amplitude value setting unit. The amplitude value setting unit switches operations of stator coils of the stepping motor pursuant to the command information, rotate the stepping motor to the rotating position included in the command information, and increase or decrease an amplitude value of a drive current fed to the stator coils during stoppage of the stepping motor depending on the positional deviation calculated by the control-purpose deviation calculating unit.
US08773058B2	Rotor temperature estimation and motor control torque limiting for vector-controlled AC induction motors A system and method including a runtime thermal model that estimates individual component temperatures, permitting the system to only limit power when necessary or desirable. A power-limiting system for a vector-controlled AC induction motor includes a torque command system for generating a torque command; a thermal protection system determining a runtime estimate for a temperature of a component of a rotational electro-magnetic component of the vector-controlled AC induction motor; and a controller configured to generate a motor control signal for the vector-controlled AC induction motor responsive to the torque command, wherein the thermal protection system determines the runtime estimate responsive to a multi-node thermal model of the vector-controlled AC induction motor, and wherein the controller limits a power of the vector-controlled AC induction motor to maintain a component temperature below its critical temperature.
US08773053B2	Method for operating an electric motor A method and device for determining the motor moment constant kM of an electric motor by measuring motor parameters on the running motor. For reduction of the previously considerable measuring effort it is proposed that firstly the generator voltage UEMK produced by the motor is measured, and in that the motor moment constant kM is calculated by division of the generator voltage UEMK and the speed of rotation fMot of the motor, taking into consideration at least one further constant. The method and the device are suitable for DC motors and for 3-phase synchronous motors.
US08773052B2	Control of a brushless motor A method of controlling a brushless motor that includes exciting a winding of the motor in advance of predetermined rotor positions by an advance period. The length of the advance period is defined by a waveform that varies periodically with time. Additionally, a control system that implements the method, and a motor system that incorporates the control system.
US08773050B2	Brushless multiphase self-commutation controller The Brushless Multiphase Self-Commutation Controller or BMSCC is an adjustable speed drive for reliable, contact-less and stable self-commutation control of electric apparatus, including electric motors and generators. BMSCC transforms multiphase electrical excitation from one frequency to variable frequency that is automatically synchronized to the movement of the electric apparatus without traditional estimation methods of commutation and frequency synthesis using derivatives of electronic, electro-mechanical, and field-oriented-control. Instead, BMSCC comprises an analog electromagnetic computer with synchronous modulation techniques to first establish magnetic energy and then dynamically share packets of magnetic energy between phase windings of a multiphase, position dependent flux, high frequency transformer by direct AC-to-AC conversion without an intermediate DC conversion stage.
US08773049B2	System for use in controlling motor torque and method of assembling same A method of assembling an electric drive system includes providing a power conversion assembly and coupling an electric power source and a motor to the power conversion assembly. The method also includes coupling a computing device that includes a processor and a memory device operatively coupled to the processor to the power conversion assembly. The method further includes configuring the computing device to record at least one measurement related to a speed of the motor. The method also includes configuring the computing device to calculate a power output limit of the power conversion assembly and limit the power output of the power conversion assembly by limiting torque induced by the motor as a function of the speed of the motor.
US08773045B1	Light emitting diode driving device An LED driving device includes a DC to DC converter module and a driving module. The DC to DC converter module includes a full-bridge switching circuit for converting a first DC electric power into an AC electric power, a rectifier circuit for converting the AC electric power into a second DC electric power, and a control circuit for modulating pulse phase of the second DC electric power and for controlling switching operation of the full-bridge switching circuit, such that the second DC electric power has a predetermined voltage value. The driving module is operable to receive the second DC electric power, to output a third DC electric power with a predetermined current value for driving an LED module, and to modulate pulse width of the third DC electric power.
US08773041B2	High efficiency LED driver and driving method thereof The present invention relates to a high efficiency LED driver, and driving methods thereof. In one embodiment, a high efficiency LED driving method can include: (i) receiving an AC input voltage to obtain an absolute value thereof; (ii) receiving a DC bus voltage, and driving the LED device through a power switch; (iii) generating a first reference voltage according to a driving current and an expected driving current; (iv) comparing the absolute value against a sum of a driving voltage and the first reference voltage; (v) when the absolute value is greater than the sum of the driving voltage and the first reference voltage, turning off the power switch; and (vi) when the absolute value is greater than the driving voltage but less than the sum of the driving voltage and the first reference voltage, turning on the power switch to generate an output current.
US08773039B2	Discharge lamp system, method and apparatus of controlling the transition time of discharge lamp current change A method and a device for controlling a discharge Lamp, and a discharge lamp system are disclosed herein. The method includes the operations of: when the lamp current changes, determining a percentage of change of the lamp current according to a synchronous signal and obtaining a second lamp current after a discharge lamp current changes according to the percentage of change of the lamp current and a first lamp current; obtaining a modulating signal according to a current difference between the first lamp current and the second lamp current; and generating a pulse voltage signal according to the modulating signal. The pulse voltage signal transits from a first voltage to a second voltage during the time period when the lamp current is transited from a first lamp current to a second lamp current during a transition time.
US08773035B2	Electronic ballast with real-time current crest factor improvement function An electronic ballast includes a converter, an inverter circuit, a controlling unit, and a current crest factor improvement circuit. The controlling unit issues a first control signal to control the converter and issues a second control signal and a third control signal with opposite enabling/disabling states to control on/off states of corresponding switch elements of the inverter circuit. During a dead time between the enabling state of second control signal and the enabling state of the third control signal, these switch elements are simultaneously in the off state. During the dead time, the current crest factor improvement circuit is triggered to generate a restraining signal. According to the restraining signal, an output power of the converter is decreased to a predetermined value in real time or the converter is suspended.
US08773029B2	Device that enables PLC based smart dimmers to function with no new wires A device that enables “smart” dimmers comprising electronic circuits beyond those found in traditional rotary dimmers to be installed in existing houses with no need for any new electrical wires. In addition, for smart dimmers comprising PLC (power line communication) modems, the device overcomes the large attenuation imposed on power-line communication (PLC) transmissions, introduced by a lamp in series with the smart dimmer, and eliminates the large noise and ringing otherwise introduced by the switching device, inside dimmers. As opposed to prior art, that compromises either the amount of current for the electronic circuits, or the PLC attenuation or both, this disclosure overcomes both.
US08773027B2	Current-shunting alternating current light-emitting diode driving circuit A current-shunting AC LED driving circuit has a rectification unit, an LED unit, a voltage-controlled transistor, a shunt resistor, a current detection unit and a steady current control unit. The LED unit and the rectification unit constitute a power loop and acquire a pulsed DC power through the rectification unit. The voltage-controlled transistor and the current detection unit are serially connected to the power loop. The steady current control unit acquires an average loop current through the current detection unit to control the voltage-controlled transistor so that the LED unit can stably emit light. The shunt resistor is parallelly connected to the voltage-controlled transistor to constitute a current-shunting path to shunt the loop current flowing through the voltage-controlled transistor so as to reduce the power withstood by the voltage-controlled transistor.
US08773025B2	Organic electroluminescent display device The present invention overcomes image defects such as the brightness inclination or smears by reducing the line resistance of a power source bus line which supplies electricity to organic EL elements. A plurality of pixels which are arranged in a matrix array is connected to power source lines, and the plurality of power source lines are connected to a power source bus line. Both ends of the power source bus line are connected to a power source part via a FPC. By supplying electricity to both ends of the power source bus line from the power source part, the line resistance of the power source bus line can be reduced.
US08773024B2	Tuning of emitter with multiple LEDs to a single color bin The color of an LED-based lamp can be tuned to a desired color or color temperature. The lamp can include two or more independently addressable groups of LEDs associated with different colors or color temperatures and a total-internal-reflection (TIR) color-mixing lens to produce light of a uniform color by mixing the light from the different groups of LEDs. The color of the output light is tuned by controllably dividing an input current among the groups of LEDs. Tuning can be performed once, e.g., during manufacture, and the lamp does not require active feedback components for maintaining color temperature.
US08773023B2	LED traffic signal with synchronized power pulse circuit An improved LED traffic signal is provided. The LED traffic signal suitably includes a housing with an opening, a printed circuit board coupled to the housing, and a power supply system coupled to the printed circuit board. The power supply system includes a power supply module that receives an AC input voltage from an AC input line and transforms the AC input voltage into a DC voltage with a regulated current to power the LED load, and a synchronized power pulse circuit connected to the power supply that generates a synchronized power pulse representing a power consumption substantially equivalent to that of a halogen or incandescent traffic signal.
US08773022B2	Method and device for dynamically controlling heat dissipation of an alternating current light-emitting diode driving circuit A method for dynamically controlling heat dissipation of an AC LED driving circuit has steps of connecting multiple voltage-controlled transistors and a current detection unit in series to a power loop having an LED unit, connecting a resistive element between each adjacent two of the voltage-controlled transistors to constitute multiple stages of power distribution units, detecting a voltage and a current of the power loop and calculating a consumed power value, and switching to one of the stages of power distribution units with a power range in which the current power value falls. As the higher stage of power distribution unit has more resistive elements for current to flow therethrough, it can share the power of the single-chip voltage-controlled transistor when the LED unit having higher power is used, thereby avoiding overheated condition and malfunction of the voltage-controlled transistor.
US08773021B2	Light soaking system for photovoltaic modules An apparatus for exposing photovoltaic (PV) modules to simulated sunlight for testing purposes, comprising a chamber including a plurality of lamps disposed on a substantially vertical lamp plane, at least one substantially vertical target plane upon which are disposed one or more PV modules, at least one reflector for directing light from the lamps to the at least one target plane, and a cooling system to exhaust heat from the apparatus and maintain the temperature of the PV modules at a predetermined value.
US08773017B2	Glass-sealed LED lamp and manufacturing method of the same The present invention provides a glass-sealed LED lamp which includes a mounting substrate, an LED chip mounted on the mounting substrate, a glass sealing body, and a glass bonding portion bonding the LED chip to a portion of a lower surface side of the glass sealing body. A clearance between a lower surface of the glass sealing body and an upper surface of the mounting substrate side, which causes total reflection at an interface between the glass sealing body and the clearance, is formed outward of the portion of the lower surface side of the glass sealing body.
US08773015B2	Method for manufacturing organic electroluminescent element having organic layers with periodic structure Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an organic electroluminescent (EL) element which is provided with a pair of electrodes and two or more organic layers disposed between the electrodes, and which includes light-emitting layers as the two or more organic layers. The manufacturing method for an organic EL element includes: a step for forming one electrode of the pair of electrodes; a step for forming the two or more organic layers which have a periodic structure wherein the propagation direction of light propagating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the thickness direction of the light-emitting layers is inclined in said thickness direction; and a step for forming the other electrode of the pair of electrodes. In the step for forming the two or more organic layers, two or more planar layers constituting the organic layers are laminated, and the periodic structure which is periodically arranged in two dimensions is then formed on the two or more planar layers by means of an imprinting method in the plane perpendicular to the thickness direction of the light-emitting layers.
US08772989B2	Hand-held power tool The invention relates to an electric tool, in particular a hand-held electric tool, having a housing, which has a rear housing part and at least one front housing part arranged in front of the rear housing part in the longitudinal direction of the electric tool, and an electric drive motor having an armature shaft that extends in the longitudinal direction of the electric tool. The armature shaft is rotatably mounted together with a rear bearing arranged at the rear housing part. According to the invention, the rear bearing is designed as a fixed bearing.
US08772986B2	System for converting tidal wave energy into electric energy A system for converting marine surface wave energy into electric energy includes a barrier disposed generally vertically and having at least a portion thereof disposed above a surface of a body of water. The portion has a substantially planar surface disposed generally transverse to direction of marine surface waves. Bottom edge of the barrier is pivotally connected to one of a floor bed, a rigid formation and a rigid structure. At least one linear electric generator is coupled to storage of electric energy and is operable by a pivotal movement of the barrier. One type of electric generator is disposed external to the barrier while another type is mounted within a barrier chamber.
US08772983B2	Control circuit for motorized circuit breaker A circuit breaker module includes an electrically controlled actuator, such as a DC motor, operable to move a breaker contact between open and closed positions. An actuator power supply circuit coupled to an AC power source is configured to selectively energize the actuator, responsive to an actuation input. A processing circuit is configured to control the actuator power supply circuit to activate the actuator in response to breaker command signals, using the actuation input. The processing circuit is further configured to delay activations of the actuator as needed to enforce a predetermined cooling interval between successive actuations.
US08772981B2	Multiplexer and multiplexing method for use with the same A multiplexer includes: a first switch unit coupled between a first input terminal and an output terminal and including a series connection of first and second switches; a second switch unit coupled between a second input terminal and the output terminal; and a third switch unit coupled to a third input terminal and a common node between the first and second switches. Different first and second voltages, and a third voltage greater than one of the first and second voltages and less than the other one of the first and second voltage are applied respectively to the first, second and third input terminals. The multiplexer is operable between a first mode, where the first voltage is transmitted to the output terminal, and a second mode, where the second voltage is transmitted to the output terminal and the third voltage is transmitted to the common node between the first and second switches.
US08772980B2	Blumlein assembly with solid state switch A blumlein assembly incorporating a solid-state switch is presented. In the exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor switch is placed between first and second conducting strips, with dielectric material filling in the space between the strips on either side of the switch. A third conductive strip, parallel to the other two strips, is separated from the middle one of the strips by another dielectric layer. Rather than having the switch attach directly to the dielectric material on either side, a holder or carrier structure is used, which may be formed of several pieces or of a monolithic structure. The holder is formed of a material whose dielectric constant is closer to that of the switch than the dielectric material on either side, but whose boundary with the dielectric on either side has at least a portion that extends in a non-orthogonal direction with respect to the conducting strips. The arrangement allows the structure to withstand higher electric field levels without breakdown. The exemplary switch is light activated and the holder structure also includes ferrules on either side of the holder, by which optic fibers can be optically coupled with the switch. The switch extends to either side beyond the conductive strips, so that the ferrules are not placed between these strips to again allow for the use of higher field values.
US08772977B2	Wireless power feeder, wireless power transmission system, and table and table lamp using the same Power is fed from a feeding coil to a receiving coil by magnetic resonance. A drive circuit outputs an IN signal generated by an oscillator as a DR signal to alternately turn ON/OFF switching transistors at a resonance frequency, whereby AC current is fed to the feeding coil, and then the AC current is fed from the feeding coil to the receiving coil. An enable signal generation circuit generates an EN signal at a frequency lower than the resonance frequency. The drive circuit outputs the DR signal only while the EN signal assumes a high level. Transmission power from a wireless feeder to a wireless receiver is controlled by adjusting the duty ratio of the EN signal.
US08772976B2	Reconfigurable coil techniques Techniques are disclosed involving reconfigurable coils. Such coils may be used in applications, including (but not limited to) wireless charging and near field communications (NFC). For instance, a reconfigurable coil may include a first conductive portion and a second conductive portion. Two or more configurations may be established. These configurations may correspond to particular current paths. For example, in a circular configuration, a path is provided having the same rotational sense in both first and second conductive portions. However, in a figure eight configuration, a path is provided having a first rotational sense in the first conductive portion and a second rotational sense in the second conductive portion. A switch coupled between these portions may set the coil's configuration. Configurations may be selected based on one or more operating conditions involving the coil.
US08772973B2	Integrated resonator-shield structures Described herein are configurations for an integrated resonator-shield structure for wireless power transfer. In embodiments a conductor shield is used to shield the resonator from perturbing objects. In embodiments the conductor shield is used for a current return path for the conductors of the resonator. The resonator shield can be divided into separate conductor segments to tailor the current distributions in the conductor shield.
US08772967B1	Multistage and multiple-output DC-DC converters having coupled inductors A multiple-output DC-DC converter has a first and a second DC-DC sub-converter, each DC-DC subconverter may be a buck, boost, or buck-boost converter having a primary energy-storage inductor. Each DC-DC subconverter drives a separate output of the multiple-output converter and typically has a separate feedback control circuit for controlling output voltage and/or current. The converter has a common timing circuit to maintain a phase offset between the first and DC-DC subconverters. The primary energy storage inductors of the first and second DC-DC converter are magnetically coupled to raise an effective ripple frequency of the converter and simplify output filtering.
US08772965B2	Solar power generation system and method A power generation system includes integrated photovoltaic (PV) panels. Each of the integrated PV panel includes photovoltaic cells, a junction coupler coupling the photovoltaic cells in series, in parallel, or in combinations thereof, output terminals, and a DC to AC converter coupled between the junction coupler and the output terminals. The DC to AC converter includes switching devices and the integrated PV panels are coupled in series at the respective output terminals. A controller is provided in the power generation system for generation switching command signals for the switching devices of the integrated PV panels to synthesize an output voltage of the power generation system.
US08772960B2	Power transmitting and receiving system for vehicle A power transmitting and receiving system for a vehicle includes: an information communication device for transmitting/receiving vehicle positional relation specifying information; a power transmitting/receiving antenna for wirelessly transmitting/receiving an electric power between vehicles; a directionality specifying information transmitting/receiving device for transmitting/receiving directionality specifying information of the power transmitting/receiving antenna between vehicles; and an antenna directionality controller for controlling the directionality of the power transmitting/receiving antenna of the vehicles based on the vehicle positional relation specifying information and the directionality specifying information of the vehicles, so that the power transmitting/receiving antenna of the vehicle faces the power transmitting/receiving antenna of another vehicle.
US08772959B2	Vertical wind turbine generator with ventilator A Vertical Wind Turbine Generator with Ventilator is consisted of three components: a vertical wind turbine assembly, a ventilator, and a generator. This device can be installed on roof opening, or any other locations for power generation and ventilation. The power generation is coaxially connected to, and housed within, the ventilator, which is further connected with the wind turbine assembly. When the wind-turbines assembly is rotated as driven by wind, the ventilator and the power generator will be driven by the wind turbine assembly to exhausts hot air and generate power simultaneously.
US08772958B2	Wind power generating apparatus The present invention provides a wind power generator comprising: a case; a first rotor having a first main axis in the form of a hollow shaft rotatably installed within a part of said case, a first main wing, coils or a permanent magnet installed on said first main axis; a first stator having a permanent magnet or coils installed on an inner wall of said case; a first auxiliary wing mounted to an end of a first inner axis which is rotatably installed within said first main axis; a second rotor having a second main axis in the form of a hollow shaft rotatably installed within the other part of said case, a second main wing, coils or a permanent magnet installed on said second main axis; a second stator having a permanent magnet or coils installed on the inner wall of said case; and a second auxiliary wing mounted to an end of a second inner axis which is rotatably installed within said second main axis, wherein said first main wing and said second main wing rotate in rotational directions opposite to those of said first auxiliary wing and said second auxiliary wing, respectively, and, wherein the rotational force of said first inner axis and the rotational force of said second inner axis may be transmitted to said second main axis and said first main axis, respectively.
US08772956B2	Generator for an electrical machine A generator for an electrical machine having a stator and a rotor is provided. The rotor is rotatable around a center axis and relatively to the stator. The stator is built of a stator stack with a number of adjacently disposed metal plates and the stator further includes a number of stator windings which are at least partially wound around the metal plates with a certain distance to each other. At least one radial duct-like channel is provided between two or more adjacently disposed metal plates by spacers, wherein the spacers are arranged underneath the stator windings in such a manner that the at least one radial duct-like channel is radially open.
US08772946B2	Reduced stress TSV and interposer structures A component can include a substrate and a conductive via extending within an opening in the substrate. The substrate can have first and second opposing surfaces. The opening can extend from the first surface towards the second surface and can have an inner wall extending away from the first surface. A dielectric material can be exposed at the inner wall. The conductive via can define a relief channel within the opening adjacent the first surface. The relief channel can have an edge within a first distance from the inner wall in a direction of a plane parallel to and within five microns below the first surface, the first distance being the lesser of one micron and five percent of a maximum width of the opening in the plane. The edge can extend along the inner wall to span at least five percent of a circumference of the inner wall.
US08772943B2	Offset of contact opening for copper pillars in flip chip packages An integrated circuit die has a dielectric layer positioned over all the contact pads on the integrated circuit die. Openings are provided in the dielectric layer over each of the contact pads of the integrated circuit die in order to permit electrical coupling to be made between the integrated circuit and circuit boards outside of the die. For those contact pads located in the central region of the die, the opening in the dielectric layer is in a central region of the contact pad. For those contact pads located in a peripheral region of the die, spaced adjacent the perimeter die, the opening in the dielectric layer is offset from the center of the contact pad and is positioned closer to the central region of the die than the center of the contact pad is to the central region of the die.
US08772935B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device and method where a side wall insulating layer, extending perpendicular from a top surface of a semiconductor substrate, is prevented from contacting the semiconductor substrate by a barrier layer formed at an interface between the semiconductor substrate and the insulating layer.
US08772928B2	Integrated circuit chip with reduced IR drop An integrated circuit chip includes a power/ground interconnection network in a topmost metal layer over a semiconductor substrate and at least a bump pad on/over the power/ground interconnection network. The power/ground mesh interconnection network includes a first power/ground line connected to the bump pad and extending along a first direction, and a connection portion connected to the bump pad and extending along a second direction.
US08772925B2	Bonding structure and bonding method of heat diffusion member, and cooling unit using the same A bonding structure includes a first member, a second member and a bonding member. The first member has a plate shape and is made of a carbon-base material. The first member serves as a heat diffusion member that transfers heat at least in a thickness direction, which is perpendicular to a plane of the plate shape. The second member is bonded to the first member through the bonding member. The first member has a metal thin film at least on an opposed surface that is opposed to the second member. The bonding member is disposed between the opposed surface of the first member and the second member. The bonding member is provided by a sintered body of metal particle. For example, the bonding structure is employed in a cooling unit including a heat source.
US08772924B2	Forming in-situ micro-feature structures with coreless packages Methods of forming a microelectronic packaging structure and associated structures formed thereby are described. Those methods may include attaching a die to a carrier material, forming dielectric material surrounding the die, forming buildup layers in the dielectric material to form a coreless bumpless buildup package structure, and patterning the carrier material to form microchannel structures on the package structure.
US08772923B2	Semiconductor device having leads with cutout and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device includes: leads (5) in each of which a cutout (5a) is formed; a die pad (11); a power element (1) held on the die pad (11); and a package (6) made of a resin material, and configured to encapsulate inner end portions of the leads (5), and the die pad (11) including the power element (1). The cutout (5a) is located in a region of each of the leads (5) including a portion of the lead (5) located at a boundary between the lead (5) and the package (6), and is filled with a resin material.
US08772921B2	Interposer for semiconductor package An interposer is presented. The interposer includes an interposer base having first and second surfaces. A redistribution layer is disposed on a first surface of the interposer base. The interposer has at least one interposer pad coupled to the redistribution layer. It also includes at least one interposer contact on the second surface. The interposer contact is electrically coupled to the interposer pad via the redistribution layer. The interposer also includes at least one interposer via through the interposer base for coupling the interposer contact to the redistribution layer. The interposer via includes reflowed conductive material of the interposer contact.
US08772918B2	Semiconductor die package and embedded printed circuit board A semiconductor die package having an enhanced degree of heating radiation from the semiconductor, thereby reducing mechanical and electrical failure from excessive temperatures. A semiconductor die has circuit patterns formed thereon; a bump pad deposited on the semiconductor die and supporting at least one of the bumps electrically connected to the circuit patterns; and a radiating pad formed on an upper surface of the bump pad such that the radiating pad surrounds the bumps. An embedded printed circuit substrate includes a radiating pad formed on the bump pad to surround the bumps; and a core substrate has a through-hole formed in the core substrate, that extends from an upper surface of the core substrate to a lower surface thereof. The semiconductor die is deposited on the upper surface of the core substrate such that the bumps extend through the through-hole.
US08772917B2	Semiconductor device having an antenna When a conductive layer occupying a large area is provided in a coiled antenna portion, it has been difficult to supply power stably. A memory circuit portion and a coiled antenna portion are disposed by being stacked together; therefore, it is possible to prevent a current from flowing through a conductive layer occupying a large area included in the memory circuit portion, and thus, power saving can be achieved. In addition, the memory circuit portion and the coiled antenna portion are disposed by being stacked together, and thus, it is possible to use a space efficiently. Therefore, downsizing can be realized.
US08772916B2	Integrated circuit package system employing mold flash prevention technology An integrated circuit package system that includes: a support structure including an electrical contact; a solder mask over the support structure, the solder mask including a solder mask flange, the solder mask flange directly on a support structure first surface; an integrated circuit over the support structure; and encapsulant over the integrated circuit and in contact with the solder mask flange. A mold system that includes a first mold having a projection along a first mold bottom surface, the projection between a first cavity and a recess.
US08772915B2	Mask programmable interface selection According to one exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor die with on-die preferred interface selection includes at least two groups of pads situated on an active surface of the semiconductor die, where each of the at least two groups of pads is coupled to its associated interface in the die. A set of bumps is mask-programmably routed to one of the at least two groups of pads, thereby selecting the preferred interface for the semiconductor die. A non-preferred interface is not routed to any bumps on the active surface of the semiconductor die, thereby reducing bump count on the die. Each of the at least two groups of pads can be situated in a corresponding pad ring on the active surface of said semiconductor die. The at least two groups of pads can be laid out substantially inline.
US08772914B2	Semiconductor device A first semiconductor chip and a second semiconductor chip are overlapped with each other in a direction in which a first multilayer interconnect layer and a second multilayer interconnect layer are opposed to each other. When seen in a plan view, a first inductor and a second inductor are overlapped. The first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip have non-opposed areas which are not opposed to each other. The first multilayer interconnect layer has a first external connection terminal in the non-opposed area, and the second multilayer interconnect layer has a second external connection terminal in the non-opposed area.
US08772911B2	Semiconductor diode and method for producing a semiconductor diode A semiconductor diode has a first semiconductor layer (102) of a first conductivity type and a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type having a doping. The second semiconductor layer has a vertical electrical via region (106) which is connected to the first semiconductor layer and in which the doping is modified in such a way that the electrical via region (106) has the first conductivity type. A method for producing such a semiconductor diode is described.
US08772910B2	Doping carbon nanotubes and graphene for improving electronic mobility A method and an apparatus for doping a graphene or nanotube thin-film field-effect transistor device to improve electronic mobility. The method includes selectively applying a dopant to a channel region of a graphene or nanotube thin-film field-effect transistor device to improve electronic mobility of the field-effect transistor device.
US08772908B2	Conductive pads defined by embedded traces An assembly and method of making same are provided. The assembly can include a first component including a dielectric region having an exposed surface, a conductive pad at the surface defined by a conductive element having at least a portion extending in an oscillating or spiral path along the surface, and a an electrically conductive bonding material joined to the conductive pad and bridging an exposed portion of the dielectric surface between adjacent segments. The conductive pad can permit electrical interconnection of the first component with a second component having a terminal joined to the pad through the electrically conductive bonding material. The path of the conductive element may or may not overlap or cross itself.
US08772907B1	Anti-fuse structure and anti-fuse programming method An anti-fuse structure includes a substrate having at least a shallow trench isolation formed therein, a notch formed between the substrate and the STI, an electrode structure formed on the substrate, the electrode structure filling the notch, and a doped region formed in the substrate on a side of the electrode structure opposite to the notch.
US08772904B2	Semiconductor structure and process thereof A semiconductor structure is located in a recess of a substrate. The semiconductor structure includes a liner, a silicon rich layer and a filling material. The liner is located on the surface of the recess. The silicon rich layer is located on the liner. The filling material is located on the silicon rich layer and fills the recess. Furthermore, a semiconductor process forming said semiconductor structure is also provided.
US08772899B2	Method and apparatus for backside illumination sensor Methods and apparatus for a backside illuminated (BSI) image sensor device are disclosed. A BSI sensor device is formed on a substrate comprising a photosensitive diode. The substrate may be thinned at the backside, then a B doped Epi-Si(Ge) layer may be formed on the backside surface of the substrate. Additional layers may be formed on the B doped Epi-Si(Ge) layer, such as a metal shield layer, a dielectric layer, a micro-lens, and a color filter.
US08772892B2	Solid state imaging device A CCD image sensor is provided with a pixel set. The pixel set is composed of first and second pixels and a microlens. The pixels are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction. The microlens has a hemispheric shape. A diameter of the microlens is larger than a length of a rectangular region, being an external shape of the first and second pixels, in a height direction. The rectangular region has a height and width ratio of approximately 1:2. The pixel sets are arranged in a width direction of the rectangular region to constitute a pixel row. In the CCD image sensor, the pixel rows are arranged in the height direction of the rectangular region, with the adjacent pixel rows shifted from each other in the horizontal direction by half pitch of the rectangular region.
US08772890B2	Apparatus and method of detecting electromagnetic radiation A high speed and miniature detection system, especially for electromagnetic radiation in the GHz and THz range comprises a semiconductor structure having a 2D charge carrier layer or a quasi 2D charge carrier layer with incorporated single or multiple defects, at least first and second contacts to the charge carrier layer, and a device for measuring photovoltage between the first and second contacts. System operation in various embodiments relies on resonant excitation of plasma waves in the semiconductor structure.
US08772889B2	Magnetic domain wall shift register memory device readout A memory device includes a first nanowire, a second nanowire and a magnetic tunnel junction device coupling the first and second nanowires.
US08772888B2	MTJ MRAM with stud patterning Use of a multilayer etching mask that includes a stud mask and a removable spacer sleeve for MTJ etching to form a bottom electrode that is wider than the rest of the MTJ pillar is described. The first embodiment of the invention described includes a top electrode and a stud mask. In the second and third embodiments the stud mask is a conductive material and also serves as the top electrode. In embodiments after the stud mask is formed a spacer sleeve is formed around it to initially increase the masking width for a phase of etching. The spacer is removed for further etching, to create step structures that are progressively transferred down into the layers forming the MTJ pillar. In one embodiment the spacer sleeve is formed by net polymer deposition during an etching phase.
US08772887B2	Magnetic device A magnetic tunnel junction element is provided. The magnetic tunnel junction element has first magnetic layer and second magnetic layer formed adjacent, e.g., on lower and upper portions of an insulating layer, respectively and each having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, a magnetic field adjustment layer formed on the second magnetic layer and having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and a bather layer formed between the magnetic field adjustment layer and the second magnetic layer. The second magnetic layer and the magnetic field adjustment layer are magnetically decoupled from each other.
US08772886B2	Spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STTMRAM) having graded synthetic free layer A spin transfer torque memory random access memory (STTMRAM) element is capable of switching states when electrical current is applied thereto for storing data and includes the following layers. An anti-ferromagnetic layer, a fixed layer formed on top of the anti-ferromagnetic layer, a barrier layer formed on top of the second magnetic layer of the fixed layer, and a free layer including a first magnetic layer formed on top of the barrier layer, a second magnetic layer formed on top of the first magnetic layer, a non-magnetic insulating layer formed on top of the second magnetic layer and a third magnetic layer formed on top of the non-magnetic insulating layer. A capping layer is formed on top of the non-magnetic insulating layer.
US08772883B2	Sealed cavity and method for producing such a sealed cavity A method for producing a sealed cavity, including: a) producing a sacrificial layer on a substrate; b) producing a cover layer covering at least the sacrificial layer and a portion of the face of the substrate not covered by the sacrificial layer, the cover layer including lateral flanks forming, with the substrate, an angle of less than 90°; c) producing a hole through one of the lateral flanks of the cover layer such that a maximum distance between the substrate and an edge of the hole is less than approximately 3 μm, the hole crossing a portion of the cover layer deposited on a portion of the substrate not covered by the sacrificial layer; d) eliminating the sacrificial layer through the hole, forming the cavity; and e) depositing at least one material plugging the hole in a sealed fashion.
US08772882B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing semiconductor device A conductive film having a first width in a first direction, an ONO film, and a control gate are formed above a tunnel gate insulating film. With the control gate as a mask, the conductive film is etched to form a floating gate. Then, an inter-layer insulating film is formed. A contact hole whose width in the first direction is larger than the first width is formed in the inter-layer insulating film. Then, sidewall spacer is formed on an inside wall of the contact hole.
US08772878B2	Performance enhancement in PMOS and NMOS transistors on the basis of silicon/carbon material A silicon/germanium material and a silicon/carbon material may be provided in transistors of different conductivity type on the basis of an appropriate manufacturing regime without unduly contributing to overall process complexity. Furthermore, appropriate implantation species may be provided through exposed surface areas of the cavities prior to forming the corresponding strained semiconductor alloy, thereby additionally contributing to enhanced overall transistor performance. In other embodiments a silicon/carbon material may be formed in a P-channel transistor and an N-channel transistor, while the corresponding tensile strain component may be overcompensated for by means of a stress memorization technique in the P-channel transistor. Thus, the advantageous effects of the carbon species, such as enhancing overall dopant profile of P-channel transistors, may be combined with an efficient strain component while enhanced overall process uniformity may also be accomplished.
US08772874B2	MOSFET including asymmetric source and drain regions At least one drain-side surfaces of a field effect transistor (FET) structure, which can be a structure for a planar FET or a fin FET, is structurally damaged by an angled ion implantation of inert or electrically active dopants, while at least one source-side surface of the transistor is protected from implantation by a gate stack and a gate spacer. Epitaxial growth of a semiconductor material is retarded on the at least one structurally damaged drain-side surface, while epitaxial growth proceeds without retardation on the at least one source-side surface. A raised epitaxial source region has a greater thickness than a raised epitaxial drain region, thereby providing an asymmetric FET having lesser source-side external resistance than drain-side external resistance, and having lesser drain-side overlap capacitance than source-side overlap capacitance.
US08772872B2	Transistors, semiconductor memory cells having a transistor and methods of forming the same Transistors, semiconductor memory cells having a transistor and methods of forming the same are provided, the transistors may include a semiconductor substrate having a first semiconductor region. A gate pattern may be disposed on the first semiconductor region. Spacer patterns may each be disposed on a sidewall of the gate pattern. Second semiconductor regions and a third semiconductor regions may be disposed in the semiconductor substrate. The second semiconductor regions may be disposed under the spacer patterns. The third semiconductor regions may be disposed adjacent to the second semiconductor regions. The first semiconductor region may have a higher impurity ion concentration than the second semiconductor regions.
US08772869B2	Power semiconductor device A power semiconductor device includes: a first semiconductor layer; second and third semiconductor layers above and alternatively arranged along a direction parallel to an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer; and plural fourth semiconductor layers provided on some of immediately upper regions of the third semiconductor layer. An array period of the fourth semiconductor layers is larger than that of the second semiconductor layer. A thickness of part of the gate insulating film in an immediate upper region of a central portion between the fourth semiconductor layers is thicker than a thickness of part of the gate insulating film in an immediate upper region of the fourth semiconductor layers. Sheet impurity concentrations of the second and third semiconductor layers in the central portion are higher than a sheet impurity concentration of the third semiconductor layer in an immediately lower region of the fourth semiconductor layers.
US08772863B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory transistor, nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and method for manufacturing nonvolatile semiconductor memory A nonvolatile semiconductor memory transistor included in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes an island-shaped semiconductor having a source region, a channel region, and a drain region formed in this order from the substrate side, a hollow pillar-shaped charge storage layer arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the channel region in such a manner that a tunnel insulating film is interposed between the charge storage layer and the channel region, and a hollow pillar-shaped control gate arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the charge storage layer in such a manner that an insulating film is interposed between the control gate and the charge storage layer. The insulating film is arranged so as to be interposed between the charge storage layer and the upper, lower, and inner side surfaces of the control gate.
US08772862B2	Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same A vertical channel transistor includes a pillar formed over a substrate, and a gate electrode formed on sidewalls of the pillar, wherein the pillar includes a source area, a vertical channel area over the source area, a drain area over the vertical channel area, and a leakage prevention area interposed between the vertical channel area and the drain area.
US08772856B2	Charge storage nodes with conductive nanodots Memory cells formed to include a charge storage node having conductive nanodots over a charge storage material are useful in non-volatile memory devices and electronic systems.
US08772854B2	Multiple-time programming memory cells and methods for forming the same A device includes an active region and a coupling capacitor. The capacitor includes a first floating gate as an upper capacitor plate of the coupling capacitor, and a doped semiconductor region as a lower capacitor plate of the coupling capacitor. The doped semiconductor region includes a surface portion at a surface of the active region, and a sidewall portion lower than a bottom surface of the surface portion. The sidewall portion is on a sidewall of the active region. A capacitor insulator is disposed between the upper capacitor plate and the lower capacitor plate. The capacitor insulator includes an upper portion, and a sidewall portion lower than a bottom surface of the upper portion.
US08772852B2	Nonvolatile memory devices including common source Provided is a nonvolatile memory device including a common source. The device includes a first active region crossing a second active region, a common source disposed in the second active region, and a source conductive line disposed on the common source in parallel to the common source. The source conductive line is electrically connected to the common source.
US08772851B2	Dielectrics containing at least one of a refractory metal or a non-refractory metal Electronic apparatus and methods of forming the electronic apparatus may include one or more insulator layers having a refractory metal and a non-refractory metal for use in a variety of electronic systems and devices. Embodiments can include electronic apparatus and methods of forming the electronic apparatus having a tantalum aluminum oxynitride film. The tantalum aluminum oxynitride film may be structured as one or more monolayers. The tantalum aluminum oxynitride film may be formed using atomic layer deposition. Metal electrodes may be disposed on a dielectric containing a tantalum aluminum oxynitride film.
US08772849B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor film; a first gate insulating film covering the semiconductor film; a first gate electrode provided over the semiconductor film with the first gate insulating film interposed therebetween; a first conductive film which is provided over the first gate insulating film; an insulating film which is provided over the first gate insulating film, exposes top surfaces of the first gate electrode and the first conductive film, and has a groove portion between the first gate electrode and the first conductive film; an oxide semiconductor film which is provided over the insulating film and is in contact with the first gate electrode, the first conductive film, and the groove portion; a second gate insulating film covering the oxide semiconductor film; and a second gate electrode provided over the oxide semiconductor film and the groove portion with the second gate insulating film interposed therebetween.
US08772846B2	Magnetic tunneling junction devices, memories, memory systems, and electronic devices Provided is a magnetic tunneling junction device including a first structure including a magnetic layer; a second structure including at least two extrinsic perpendicular magnetization structures, each including a magnetic layer and; a perpendicular magnetization inducing layer on the magnetic layer; and a tunnel barrier between the first and second structures.
US08772843B2	Oxide deposition by using a double liner approach for reducing pattern density dependence in sophisticated semiconductor devices A silicon dioxide material may be provided in sophisticated semiconductor devices in the form of a double liner including an undoped silicon dioxide material in combination with a high density plasma silicon dioxide, thereby providing reduced dependency on pattern density. In some illustrative embodiments, the silicon dioxide double liner may be used as a spacer material and as a hard mask material in process strategies for incorporating a strain-inducing semiconductor material.
US08772842B2	Semiconductor diodes with low reverse bias currents A diode is described with a III-N material structure, an electrically conductive channel in the III-N material structure, two terminals, wherein a first terminal is an anode adjacent to the III-N material structure and a second terminal is a cathode in ohmic contact with the electrically conductive channel, and a dielectric layer over at least a portion of the anode. The anode comprises a first metal layer adjacent to the III-N material structure, a second metal layer, and an intermediary electrically conductive structure between the first metal layer and the second metal layer. The intermediary electrically conductive structure reduces a shift in an on-voltage or reduces a shift in reverse bias current of the diode resulting from the inclusion of the dielectric layer. The diode can be a high voltage device and can have low reverse bias currents.
US08772839B2	Integrated circuit including cross-coupled transistors having gate electrodes formed within gate level feature layout channels with four inside positioned gate contacts having offset and aligned relationships and electrical connection of transistor gates through linear interconnect conductors in single interconnect layer A semiconductor device includes first and second p-type diffusion regions, and first and second n-type diffusion regions that are each electrically connected to a common node. A gate electrode level region is formed in accordance with a virtual grate defined by virtual lines that extend in only a first parallel direction, such that an equal perpendicular spacing exists between adjacent ones of the virtual lines. Each of a number of conductive features within the gate electrode level region is fabricated from a respective originating rectangular-shaped layout feature having a centerline aligned with a virtual line of the virtual grate. The conductive features form gate electrodes of first and second PMOS transistor devices, and first and second NMOS transistor devices. The gate electrodes of the first PMOS and second NMOS transistor devices are electrically connected, and the gate electrodes of the second PMOS and first NMOS transistor devices are electrically connected.
US08772838B2	Semiconductor layout structure A semiconductor layout structure includes multiple active blocks which are disposed on a substrate, parallel with one another and extending along a first direction, multiple first shallow trench isolations which are disposed on a substrate, parallel with one another and respectively disposed on the multiple active blocks, and multiple second shallow trench isolations which are disposed on a substrate, cutting through multiple active blocks and extending along a second direction. The first direction has an angle about 1 degree to about 53 degrees to the second direction.
US08772837B2	Semiconductor device comprising a lateral bipolar transistor A configuration of a lateral transistor suited for the hybrid-integration (BiCMOS) of a high-performance lateral transistor (HCBT) and a CMOS transistor, and a method for manufacturing the lateral transistor. A semiconductor device includes a HCBT 100 and a CMOS transistor 200 hybrid-integrated. The HCBT 100 has an open region 21 opened by etching a device isolating oxide film 6 surrounding an n-hill layer 11. An emitter electrode 31A and a collector electrode 31B are formed in the open region 21 and are composed of a polysilicon film having such a thickness as to expose the n-hill layer 11 exposed by etching the device isolating oxide film, and an ultrathin oxide film 24 covering at least a part of the n-hill layer 11. The ultrathin oxide film 24 functions as a protective film for protecting the n-hill layer 11 from being etched when the polysilicon film is etched.
US08772835B2	Lateral high electron mobility transistor with Schottky junction A lateral HEMT includes a first semiconductor layer on a second semiconductor layer, a heterojunction at an interface between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and a rectifying Schottky junction. The rectifying Schottky junction has a first terminal electrically coupled to a source electrode and a second terminal electrically coupled to the second semiconductor layer.
US08772834B2	High electron mobility transistor and method of driving the same According to example embodiments, a HEMT includes a channel layer, a channel supply layer on the channel layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode spaced apart on the channel layer, a depletion-forming layer on the channel supply layer, and a plurality of gate electrodes on the depletion-forming layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode. The channel supply layer is configured to induce a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel layer. The depletion-forming layer is configured to form a depletion region in the 2DEG. The plurality of gate electrodes include a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode spaced apart from each other.
US08772829B2	Zinc-oxide based epitaxial layers and devices Methods of forming planar zinc-oxide based epitaxial layers, associated heterostructures, and devices are provided.
US08772827B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method A semiconductor device includes a first-conductivity-type semiconductor layer including an active region in which a transistor having impurity regions is formed and a marginal region surrounding the active region, a second-conductivity-type channel layer formed between the active region and the marginal region and forming a front surface of the semiconductor layer, at least one gate trench formed in the active region to extend from the front surface of the semiconductor layer through the channel layer, a gate insulation film formed on an inner surface of the gate trench, a gate electrode formed inside the gate insulation film in the gate trench, and at least one isolation trench arranged between the active region and the marginal region to surround the active region and extending from the front surface of the semiconductor layer through the channel layer, the isolation trench having a depth equal to that of the gate trench.
US08772823B2	Light-emitting devices Light-emitting devices are provided, the light-emitting devices include a light-emitting structure layer having a first conductive layer, a light-emitting layer and a second conductive layer sequentially stacked on a first of a substrate, a plurality of seed layer patterns formed apart each other in the first conductive layer; and a plurality of first electrodes formed through the substrate, wherein each of the first electrodes extends from a second side of the substrate to each of the seed layer patterns.
US08772821B2	Optoelectronic semiconductor part containing alkali-free and halogen-free metal phosphate An optoelectronic semiconductor part comprising a light source, a housing and electrical connections, wherein the optoelectronic semiconductor part comprises a component which contains metal phosphate, and wherein the metal phosphate is substantially alkali-free and halogen-free.
US08772820B2	Light-emitting device and manufacturing method thereof A highly reliable light-emitting device, a light-emitting device which can be formed without using a metal mask, or a light-emitting device in which a voltage drop due to the resistance of an upper electrode layer is suppressed is provided. When an EL film is formed over a conductive connection electrode layer having an uneven shape, a surface of the conductive connection electrode layer cannot be fully covered. Subsequently, a conductive film to be an upper electrode layer of an EL element is formed thereover; thus, a region in contact with the conductive connection electrode layer is formed. Further, a structure is provided in a position on a counter substrate, which overlaps with the conductive connection electrode layer, and then substrates are bonded to each other so that the structure is physically in contact with the upper electrode layer over the conductive connection electrode layer.
US08772816B2	Light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same Disclosed is a light emitting device and a method of manufacturing the same. The light emitting device includes a body, a first electrode installed in the body and a second electrode separated from the first electrode, a light emitting chip formed on one of the first and second electrodes, and electrically connected to the first and second electrodes, and a protective cap projecting between the first and second electrodes.
US08772815B2	Semiconductor light emitting device having a protecting member and method of fabricating the same A semiconductor light emitting device has a light emitting structure including a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer on the first conductive semiconductor layer, and a second conductive semiconductor layer on the active layer, and a nitride semiconductor layer on side surfaces of the second conductive semiconductor layer along an outer periphery of the second conductive semiconductor layer. An ohmic layer directly contacts the second conductive semiconductor layer and the nitride semiconductor layer.
US08772814B2	Phosphor layer containing transparent particles over blue LED LED dies are suspended in an ink and printed on a first support substrate to form a light emitting layer having a light emitting surface emitting primary light, such as blue light. A mixture of a transparent binder, phosphor powder, and transparent glass beads is formed as an ink and printed over the light emitting surface. The mixture forms a wavelength conversion layer when cured. The beads are preferably sized so that the tops of the beads protrude completely through the conversion layer. Some of the primary light passes through the beads with virtually no attenuation or backscattering, and some of the primary light is converted by the phosphor to secondary light. The combination of the secondary light and the primary light passing though the beads may form white light. The overall color is highly controllable by controlling the percentage weight of the beads.
US08772813B2	Light emitting diode package having frame with bottom surface having two surfaces different in height Provided is an LED package. It is easy to control luminance according to the luminance and an angle applicable. Since heat is efficiently emitted, the LED package is easily applicable to a high luminance LED. The manufacturing process is convenient and the cost is reduced. The LED package includes a substrate, an electrode, an LED, and a heatsink hole. The electrode is formed on the substrate. The LED is mounted in a side of the substrate and is electrically connected to the electrode. The heatsink hole is formed to pass through the substrate, for emitting out heat generated from the LED.
US08772810B2	Semiconductor light emitting device and method for manufacturing the same According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting device includes: a semiconductor layer including a first face, a second face, a side face, and a light emitting layer; a p-side electrode provided on the second face; an n-side electrode provided on the side face; a first p-side metal layer provided on the p-side electrode; a first n-side metal layer provided on the periphery of the n-side electrode; a first insulating layer provided on a face on the second face side in the first n-side metal layer; a second p-side metal layer connected with the first p-side metal layer on the first p-side metal layer, and provided, extending from on the first p-side metal layer to on the first insulating layer; and a second n-side metal layer provided on a face on the second face side in the first n-side metal layer in a peripheral region of the semiconductor layer.
US08772808B2	Semiconductor light emitting element and manufacturing method thereof A manufacturing method of a semiconductor light emitting element, includes forming sacrifice portions within the width of street portions in a semiconductor laminated body, and performing wet etching to remove the sacrifice portions together with their neighboring portions, thereby removing etching residuals in the streets.
US08772803B2	Semiconductor light-emitting device and method for fabricating the same A semiconductor light-emitting device is provided that may include an electrode layer, a light-emitting structure including a compound semiconductor layer on the electrode layer, and an electrode on the light-emitting structure, wherein the electrode includes an ohmic contact layer that contacts the compound semiconductor layer, a first barrier layer on the ohmic contact layer, a conductive layer including copper on the first barrier layer, a second barrier layer on the conductive layer, and a bonding layer on the second barrier layer.
US08772802B2	Light emitting device with transparent plate A light emitting device includes a carrier, a light emitting element disposed and electrically connected to the carrier, and a transparent plate disposed on the carrier and including a flat-portion and a lens-portion. The lens-portion covers the light emitting element and has a light incident surface, a light emitting surface, a first side surface and a second side surface. The light emitting element is suitable for emitting a light beam. A first partial beam of the light beam passes through the light incident surface and leaves from the light emitting surface. A second partial beam of the light beam passes through the light incident surface and is transmitted to the first side surface or the second side surface, and the first side surface or the second side surface reflects at least a part of the second partial beam of the light beam to be passed through the light emitting surface.
US08772799B2	Display substrate and method for manufacturing the same A display substrate includes a base substrate, color filter layers, a bottom supporting layer and a light-blocking and maintaining element. The base substrate includes a gate line, a data line crossing the gate line, and a switching element on the base substrate. The color filter layers are adjacent to each other on the base substrate. The bottom supporting layer is between the color filter layers adjacent to each other and on the base substrate. The light-blocking and maintaining element is between the color filter layers adjacent to each other, and on the bottom supporting layer. The light-blocking and maintaining element includes a light blocking portion, and a maintaining portion which overlaps the bottom supporting layer and protrudes from the light blocking portion.
US08772798B2	LED based lighting system An LED device comprises an LED chip or LED chip array for emitting light of a color spectrum, the LED chip or array being mounted on a component having a component surface. At least one color is applied to the component surface where the color is selected to reflect light to color tune the light emitted from the LED device to obtain a desired CRI.
US08772795B2	Light-emitting device and lighting device To provide a light-emitting device including the plurality of light-emitting elements having a structure in which a light-emitting area is large and defects in patterning of light-emitting elements are suppressed. To provide a lighting device including the light-emitting device. The light-emitting device includes a first wiring provided over a substrate having an insulating surface, an insulating film provided over the first wiring, a second wiring provided over the insulating film, and a light-emitting element unit including a plurality of light-emitting elements provided over the first wiring with the insulating film provided therebetween. The plurality of light-emitting elements each include a first electrode layer having a light-blocking property, a layer containing an organic compound in contact with the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer having a light-transmitting property in contact with the layer containing an organic compound. The layers containing an organic compound are separated by a separation layer.
US08772790B2	Nitride semiconductor light-emitting element, nitride semiconductor light-emitting device, and method of manufacturing nitride semiconductor light-emitting element A nitride semiconductor light-emitting device includes a nitride semiconductor light-emitting element, a package substrate and an optically transparent resin sealing portion. The nitride semiconductor light-emitting element includes a substrate, a nitride semiconductor multilayer portion having a light-emitting layer and a protective layer. The nitride semiconductor multilayer portion is provided on the substrate. The protective layer is provided on an upper portion of the nitride semiconductor multilayer portion. The resin sealing portion seals the nitride semiconductor light-emitting element that is mounted on the package substrate. An air gap layer is formed in at least one of an area between the substrate and the light-emitting layer in the nitride semiconductor light-emitting element, an area between the light-emitting layer and the protective layer in the nitride semiconductor light-emitting element and an area in the package substrate.
US08772786B2	Gallium nitride devices having low ohmic contact resistance A semiconductor structure having mesa structure comprising: a lower semiconductor layer; an upper semiconductor layer having a higher band gap than, and in direct contact with, the lower semiconductor layer to form a two-dimension electron gas (2DEG) region between the upper semiconductor layer. The 2DEG region has outer edges terminating at sidewalls of the mesa. An additional electron donor layer has a band gap higher than the band gap of the lower layer disposed on sidewall portions of the mesa structure and on the region of the 2DEG region terminating at sidewalls of the mesa. An ohmic contact material is disposed on the electron donor layer. In effect, a sideway HEMT is formed with the electron donor layer, the 2DEG region and the ohmic contact material increasing the concentration of electrons (i.e., lowering ohmic contact résistance) all along the contact between the lower semiconductor layer and the electron donor layer.
US08772783B2	Display device The invention provides a technique to manufacture a display device with high image quality and reliability at low cost with high yield. According to the invention, a spacer is provided over a pixel electrode layer in a pixel region. Moreover, a surface of an insulating layer which functions as a partition which covers the periphery of the pixel electrode layer is formed at a high position from the surface of the pixel electrode due to stacked layers under the insulating layer. These spacer and insulator which function as a spacer support a mask used for selectively forming a light emitting material over a pixel electrode layer, thereby preventing the mask from contacting the pixel electrode layer due to a twist and deflection of the mask. Accordingly, such a damage as a crack does not occur in the pixel electrode layer which results in having no defect in shape. Therefore, a display device which performs a high resolution display with high reliability can be manufactured.
US08772782B2	Transistor employing vertically stacked self-aligned carbon nanotubes A fin structure including a vertical alternating stack of a first isoelectric point material layer having a first isoelectric point and a second isoelectric material layer having a second isoelectric point less than the first isoelectric point is formed. The first and second isoelectric point material layers become oppositely charged in a solution with a pH between the first and second isoelectric points. Negative electrical charges are imparted onto carbon nanotubes by an anionic surfactant to the solution. The electrostatic attraction causes the carbon nanotubes to be selectively attached to the surfaces of the first isoelectric point material layer. Carbon nanotubes are attached to the first isoelectric point material layer in self-alignment along horizontal lengthwise directions of the fin structure. A transistor can be formed, which employs a plurality of vertically aligned horizontal carbon nanotubes as the channel.
US08772773B2	Display device including protective circuit A protective circuit includes a non-linear element, which includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer covering the gate electrode, a pair of first and second wiring layers whose end portions overlap with the gate electrode over the gate insulating layer and in which a second oxide semiconductor layer and a conductive layer are stacked, and a first oxide semiconductor layer which overlaps with at least the gate electrode and which is in contact with the gate insulating layer, side face portions and part of top face portions of the conductive layer and side face portions of the second oxide semiconductor layer in the first wiring layer and the second wiring layer. Over the gate insulating layer, oxide semiconductor layers with different properties are bonded to each other, whereby stable operation can be performed as compared with Schottky junction. Thus, the junction leakage can be decreased and the characteristics of the non-linear element can be improved.
US08772772B2	System and method for increasing productivity of combinatorial screening The present invention provides systems and methods for simultaneous, parallel and/or rapid serial testing of material parameters or other parameters of the result of a process. The testing is typically used for screening different methods or materials to select those methods or materials with desired properties. A reactor structure used to form the materials may consist of an array of small isolated reaction chambers that overlie the substrate so that the substrate forms a bottom surface of each isolated reaction chamber. Test structures are formed on the substrate, where the location of each test structure corresponds to an isolated reaction chamber area of the reaction structure. Test structures are used to measure certain parameters, such as by probing contact pads for each test structure, or such testing may be performed in-situ during processing.
US08772769B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device To provide a miniaturized transistor having favorable electric characteristics. An oxide semiconductor layer is formed to cover a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, and then regions of the oxide semiconductor layer which overlap with the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are removed by polishing. Precise processing can be performed accurately because an etching step using a resist mask is not performed in the step of removing the regions of the oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer. Further, a sidewall layer having conductivity is provided on a side surface of a gate electrode layer in a channel length direction; thus, the sidewall layer having conductivity overlaps with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer with a gate insulating layer provided therebetween, and a transistor substantially including an Lov region is provided.
US08772766B2	Organic electroluminescent display device An organic EL display device of active matrix type wherein insulated-gate field effect transistors formed on a single-crystal semiconductor substrate are overlaid with an organic EL layer; characterized in that the single-crystal semiconductor substrate (413 in FIG. 4) is held in a vacant space (414) which is defined by a bed plate (401) and a cover plate (405) formed of an insulating material, and a packing material (404) for bonding the bed and cover plates; and that the vacant space (414) is filled with an inert gas and a drying agent, whereby the organic EL layer is prevented from oxidizing.
US08772762B2	Organic electroluminescent device, method for manufacturing organic electroluminescent device, image display device, and method for manufacturing image display device Provided is an organic electroluminescent device including: a substrate (11, 101); a first electrode (12, 102) formed on the substrate (11, 101) and including a pixel region; a partition wall (23, 203) formed on the substrate (11, 101), partitioning the first electrode (12, 102), and including a surface with a recessed and projected form; a luminescent medium layer (19, 109) formed on the pixel region and the partition wall (23, 203), a film thickness of the partition wall (23, 203) being uneven according to the recessed and projected form; and a second electrode (17, 107) formed on the luminescent medium layer (19, 109).
US08772760B2	Organic light emitting diode device and method for manufacturing the same An organic light emitting diode device and a manufacturing method thereof. The organic light emitting diode device includes a substrate main body, a transparent electrode formed on the substrate main body, an organic emission layer formed on the transparent electrode, a cover electrode formed on the organic emission layer and made of a metal, and a sealant formed on the substrate main body to overlap an edge of the cover electrode and cover a side surface of the organic emission layer.
US08772759B2	Systems, devices, and methods for analog processing A system may include first and second qubits that cross one another and a first coupler having a perimeter that encompasses at least a part of the portions of the first and second qubits, the first coupler being operable to ferromagnetically or anti-ferromagnetically couple the first and the second qubits together. A multi-layered computer chip may include a first plurality N of qubits laid out in a first metal layer, a second plurality M of qubits laid out at least partially in a second metal layer that cross each of the qubits of the first plurality of qubits, and a first plurality N times M of coupling devices that at least partially encompasses an area where a respective pair of the qubits from the first and the second plurality of qubits cross each other.
US08772755B2	Directionally etched nanowire field effect transistors A nanowire field effect transistor (FET) device, includes a source region comprising a first semiconductor layer disposed on a second semiconductor layer, the source region having a surface parallel to {110} crystalline planes and opposing sidewall surfaces parallel to the {110} crystalline planes, a drain region comprising the first semiconductor layer disposed on the second semiconductor layer, the source region having a face parallel to the {110} crystalline planes and opposing sidewall surfaces parallel to the {110} crystalline planes, and a nanowire channel member suspended by the source region and the drain region, wherein nanowire channel includes the first semiconductor layer, and opposing sidewall surfaces parallel to {100} crystalline planes and opposing faces parallel to the {110} crystalline planes.
US08772751B2	Variable resistance semiconductor memory device According to one embodiment, a memory device includes a first electrode including a crystallized SixGe1-x layer (0≦x<1), a second electrode including a metal element, a variable resistance part between the first and second electrode, the part including an amorphous Si layer, and a control circuit controlling a filament in the amorphous Si layer, the filament including the metal element.
US08772741B2	Ion implantation method and ion implantation apparatus An ion implantation method includes reciprocally scanning an ion beam, mechanically scanning a wafer in a direction perpendicular to a beam scanning direction, and implanting ions into the wafer. The wafer is divided into a plurality of implantation regions, a beam scanning speed in the beam scanning direction is set to be varied for each of the implantation regions, an ion implantation amount distribution for each of the implantation regions is controlled by changing and controlling the beam scanning speed, and the ion implantation amount for each of the implantation regions is controlled and a beam scanning frequency and a beam scanning amplitude in the control of the beam scanning speed for each of the implantation regions is made to be constant by setting a wafer mechanical scanning speed and controlling the wafer mechanical scanning speed for each of the implantation regions.
US08772736B2	Transmission electron microscope micro-grid using carbon nanotubes A TEM micro-grid is provided. The TEM micro-grid includes a carrier, a carbon nanotube structure, and a protector. The carrier defines a first through opening. The provided defines a second through opening. The carbon nanotube structure is located between a surface of the carrier and a surface of the protector. The carbon nanotube structure covers at least part of the first through opening.
US08772735B2	Charged particle beam apparatus, and method of controlling the same A charged particle beam apparatus includes a field emission electron source, electrodes for applying an electric field to the field emission electron source, and a vacuum exhaust unit for keeping the pressure around the field emission electron source at 1×10−8 Pa or less. The apparatus uses electron beams emitted to have an electron-beam-center radiation angle of 1×10−2 sr or less, and uses the electric current thereof, the second order differentiation of which is negative or zero with respect to time, and which reduces at a rate of 10% or less per hour. A heating unit is provided for the field emission electron source, and a detection unit is provided for the electric current of the electron beam. The field emission electron source is repeatedly heated to keep the electric current of the electron beam to be emitted, at a predetermined value or higher.
US08772734B2	Charged particle beam lithography apparatus and method, and article manufacturing method A lithograph apparatus that performs writing on a substrate with a plurality of charged particle beams. A blanking deflector array blanks the plurality of charged particle beams. An aperture array blocks n charged particle beam deflected by the blanking deflector array. A sealing mechanism seals an opening or at least one of the blanking deflector array and the aperture array with a shielding material that shields a charged particle beam. A moving mechanism moves the substrate so that the writing is performed with a blankable charged particle beam instead of an unblankable charged particle beam shielded by the shielding material.
US08772733B2	Charged particle accelerator and particle beam therapy system The objective is to obtain a charged particle accelerator where the amount of pattern data for operating an acceleration cavity and electromagnets based on time clocks is reduced and the pattern data communication time is shortened. An accelerator control apparatus provided in a charged particle accelerator of the present invention is characterized by including a clock generation unit that generates an acceleration cavity clock and an electromagnet clock that is synchronized with the acceleration cavity clock and has a frequency lower than that of the acceleration cavity clock; a high-frequency control unit that controls an acceleration cavity, based on an acceleration cavity pattern stored in a first pattern memory and the acceleration cavity clock; and a deflection electromagnet control unit that controls a deflection electromagnet, based on a deflection electromagnet pattern stored in a second pattern memory and the electromagnet clock.
US08772731B2	Apparatus and method for synchronizing sample stage motion with a time delay integration charge-couple device in a semiconductor inspection tool A method for synchronizing sample stage motion with a time delay integration (TDI) charge-couple device (CCD) in a semiconductor inspection tool, including: measuring a lateral position of a stage holding a sample being inspected; measuring a vertical position of the stage; determining a corrected lateral position of an imaged pixel of the sample based on the measured lateral and vertical positions; and synchronizing charge transfer of the TDI CCD with the corrected lateral position of the imaged pixel.
US08772728B2	Apparatus and methods for high performance radiographic imaging array including reflective capability Embodiments of methods/apparatus according to the application can include radiographic imaging device comprising an imaging array of pixels or a plurality of photosensors including a first side to receive light from a scintillator and a second side to pass second light responsive to impingement of the scintillator light and a reflective layer configured to reflect third light responsive to impingement of the second light. Exemplary photosensors can absorb a prescribed amount of the scintillator light received through a first transparent side and the third light received through a second transparent side. Exemplary reflective arrangements can be selected based upon scintillotor emission characteristics and/or photosensor absorption characteristics. Embodiments of radiographic detector arrays and methods can reduce photosensor thickness to reduce noise, reduce image lag and/or increase charge capacity. Embodiments can maintain the quantum efficiency of a reduced thickness photosensor.
US08772725B2	Photo detector and optical device An optical device may include first and second lasers generating first and second laser beams; and a photo detector detecting the first and second laser beams. The optical detector comprises a substrate, a first impurity layer on the substrate, an absorption layer on the first impurity layer and a second impurity layer on the absorption layer. The absorption layer generates a terahertz by a beating of the first and second laser beams and has a thickness of less than 0.2 μm.
US08772723B2	Optical gas sensor device and method for determining the concentration of a gas A gas sensor device for determining a molar concentration of a gas to be detected, that absorbs light of a measurement wavelength that is characteristic of the gas in the infrared light region, includes a light emission device emitting measurement light of measurement wavelength into a solid angle region of a light absorption path extending through the gas, and a light detector measuring an intensity of at least one component of the measurement light that has propagated through the light absorption path, the light absorption path extending from the light emission device to an object outside the gas sensor device that at least partially reflects the measurement light to the light detector, and being essentially disposed outside of the gas sensor device, and means for determining the length of the light absorption path. A method for determining a concentration of a gas to be detected is also described.
US08772719B2	Coordinate measuring device A coordinate measuring device includes a carrier that can be rotated automatically about two axes and that can be directed toward a measuring aid. The following are arranged on the carrier so as to be able to move together: an optical distance measuring device for measuring the distance to the measuring aid; an infrared light source for emitting an infrared target beam, which is visible as an infrared target point when reflected on the measuring aid; a fine target detection unit for determining a fine position of the infrared target point on a first position detection sensor, wherein the fine target detection unit and the distance measuring device have a common exit lens system; a second light source, the light of which is visible as a second target point when reflected on the measuring aid; a rough target detection unit for determining a rough position of the second target point on a second position detection sensor.
US08772718B2	Electromagnetic radiation detecting device comprising an active bolometer and a shielded reference bolometer A device for detecting electromagnetic radiation that comprises an active bolometer provided with a first element sensitive to said electromagnetic radiation and a reference bolometer identical to the active bolometer, provided with a second element sensitive to said electromagnetic radiation. The active bolometer and reference bolometer are arranged close to one another on the same substrate. A cover covers at least the part of the second sensitive element exposed to the electromagnetic radiation and arranges an empty space between said second sensitive element and the cover. The inner wall of the cover is constituted by an absorbent layer made from a material absorbing at least the thermal radiations emitted by the second sensitive element. A reflecting shield forms at least a part of the outer wall exposed to said electromagnetic radiation.
US08772715B2	Electron beam device including a first electron biprism to split an electron beam into two beams and a second electron biprism in the image forming lens system to superpose the two beams An electron beam device includes a first electron biprism between an acceleration tube and irradiation lens systems, and an electron biprism in the image forming lens system. The first electron biprism splits the electron beam into first and second electron beams, radiated to differently positioned first and second regions on an objective plane of an objective lens system having a specimen perpendicular to an optical axis. The first and second electron beams are superposed on the observation plane by the electron biprism of the image forming lens system. The superposed region is observed or recorded. Optical action of the irradiation lens system controls each current density of the first and second electron beams on the objective plane having the specimen, and distance on electron optics between the first electron biprism and the objective plane of the objective lens system having the specimen.
US08772711B1	Apparatus and method of dissociating ions in a multipole ion guide A method of dissociating ions in a multipole ion guide is disclosed. A stream of charged ions is supplied to the ion guide. A main RF field is applied to the ion guide to confine the ions through the ion guide. An excitation RF field is applied to one pair of rods of the ion guide. The ions undergo dissociation when the applied excitation RF field is resonant with a secular frequency of the ions. The multipole ion guide is, but not limited to, a quadrupole, a hexapole, and an octopole.
US08772710B2	Low temperature plasma probe and methods of use thereof The present invention generally relates to a low temperature plasma probe for desorbing and ionizing at least one analyte in a sample material and methods of use thereof. In one embodiment, the invention generally relates to a low temperature plasma probe including: a housing having a discharge gas inlet port, a probe tip, two electrodes, and a dielectric barrier, in which the two electrodes are separated by the dielectric barrier, in which application of voltage from a power supply generates a low temperature plasma, and in which the low temperature plasma is propelled out of the discharge region by the electric field and/or the discharge gas flow.
US08772708B2	Time-of-flight mass spectrometer An embodiment with a dual-stage reflectron is as follows: (1) On the assumption that a reflector has a base potential XA(U) created by uniform electric fields, its design parameters are adjusted so as to cancel the first and second order derivatives at energy E=E0 of a total time of flight T(E), and a second-order focusing position on a central axis at which the potential value becomes zero is determined (Mamyrin solution). (2) A correcting potential XC(U) to be superposed on XA(U), beginning from the second-order focusing position, is calculated so that T(E) of ions reflected in a region deeper than the second-order focusing position will be constant. (3) Voltage values of the reflector electrodes are determined so that a real potential XR(U)=XA(U)+XC(U) is created on the central axis.
US08772704B2	Method and system for a light source assembly supporting direct coupling to an integrated circuit Methods and systems for a photonically enabled complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip are disclosed. The CMOS chip may comprise a laser, a microlens, a turning mirror, and an optical bench, and may generate an optical signal utilizing the laser, focus the optical signal utilizing the microlens, and reflect the optical signal at an angle defined by the turning mirror. The reflected optical signal may be transmitted into the photonically enabled CMOS chip, which may comprise a non-reciprocal polarization rotator, comprising a latching faraday rotator. The CMOS chip may comprise a reciprocal polarization rotator, which may comprise a half-wave plate comprising birefringent materials operably coupled to the optical bench. The turning mirror may be integrated in the optical bench and may reflect the optical signal to transmit through a lid operably coupled to the optical bench.
US08772703B2	Position detection system and projection display system An optical position detection system includes a light output unit that outputs lights toward a first detection target and a second detection target, and a first light receiving unit that receives a first reflected light from the first detection target and a second light receiving unit that receives a second reflected light from the second detection target having different wavelengths, wherein the first detection target has a first reflection filter that reflects the first reflected light and the second detection target has a second reflection filter that reflects the second reflected light.
US08772699B2	Display device having a photosensor The present invention relates to a display device including a photosensor in a pixel region. The photosensor of the present invention includes a diode (D1) that receives incident light, reset signal wiring (RST) that supplies a reset signal, readout signal wiring (RWS) that supplies a readout signal, a storage node (INT) whose potential changes in accordance with the amount of light received by the photodetection element in a sensing period, the sensing period being from when the reset signal is supplied until when the readout signal is supplied, an amplification element (C1) that amplifies the potential of the storage node in accordance with the readout signal, and a sensor switching element (M2) for reading out the potential amplified by the amplification element to output wiring (OUT) as sensor circuit output.
US08772695B2	Image sensor arrangement Each column of pixels in an image sensor array has at least two column bitlines connected to an output of each pixel. A readout input circuit includes first inputs and a second input. Each first input is connected, via a capacitance, to a comparator input node. The second input is connected via a capacitance to the same comparator input node. The first inputs receive, in parallel, an analog signal acquired from the pixels via the column bitlines. The analog signals vary during a pixel readout period and have a first level during a first calibration period and a second level during a second read period with the analog signals being constantly read onto the capacitances during both the first calibration period and the second read period. The comparator compares an average of the signals on the plurality of first inputs to the reference signal.
US08772692B2	Optical transmission device, laser module, failure detection method for laser module, and failure detection program for laser module An optical transmission device capable of being coupled to an optical fiber includes a light source configured to emit a first light toward the optical fiber; a lens configured to converge the first light to an end of the optical fiber; a light reflector configured to reflect a first reflected light as a second reflected light, a part of the first light being reflected as the first reflected light by the lens or the optical fiber; a first light receiver configured to receive the second reflected light; a detector configured to detect a failure based on a difference value between a first value corresponding to an amount of the second reflected light and a reference value being indicative of an amount of the second reflected light, the second reflected light being detected when the first light is normally emitted and is normally transmitted to and through the optical fiber.
US08772691B2	Optical integrating cavity lighting system using multiple LED light sources A system to provide radiant energy of selectable spectral characteristic (e.g. a selectable color combination) uses an integrating cavity to combine energy of different wavelengths from different sources. The cavity has a diffusely reflective interior surface and an aperture for allowing emission of combined radiant energy. Sources of radiant energy of different wavelengths, typically different-color LEDs, supply radiant energy into the interior of the integrating cavity. In the examples, the points of entry of the energy into the cavity typically are located so that they are not directly visible through the aperture. The cavity effectively integrates the energy of different wavelengths, so that the combined radiant energy emitted through the aperture includes the radiant energy of the various wavelengths. The apparatus also includes a control circuit coupled to the sources for establishing output intensity of radiant energy of each of the sources. Control of the intensity of emission of the sources sets the amount of each wavelength of energy in the combined output and thus determines a spectral characteristic of the radiant energy output through the aperture.
US08772690B2	Multi-functional star tracker with precision focal plane position control for small cubesat-class satellites An optical system for use in an Earth-orbiting satellite includes a plurality of image sensors disposed on a focal plane having a reference axis orthogonal thereto, optics configured to focus incident light onto the image sensors, a piezoelectric actuator coupled to the image sensors and configured to translate the image sensors in at least two axes each orthogonal to the reference axis, and at least one controller operably coupled to the plurality of image sensors and the piezoelectric actuator. The image sensors are configured to generate at least one image frame from light detected by the plurality of image sensors, the image frame including a target star and at least one guide star. The controller is configured to stabilize the position of the target star by adjusting the position of the piezoelectric actuator based on the changes in the position of the guide star.
US08772688B2	Autofocus device including line image forming unit and rotation unit that rotates line image An autofocus device including: an optical source; an optical unit that allows emitted light from the optical source and object light from a measurement target to pass through the same optical path, the optical unit being arranged between the optical source and the measurement target; and a detection unit that performs focus detection by using the object light passed through the optical unit. The optical unit includes: a tube lens that forms the emitted light into parallel light; an image forming unit that forms a continuous line image on a surface of the measurement target; and a rotation unit that rotates the continuous line.
US08772687B2	Microwave oven window An observation window for a microwave device exhibiting microwave radiation of a predetermined frequency, the observation window comprising two optically transparent panels to which an optically transparent conductive film has been applied to a single side thereof, each of the transparent conductive films primarily reflecting incident microwave radiation and being substantially parallel and spatially separated from each other by a predetermined distance, the predetermined distance being equal to an odd integer multiple of one quarter of the wavelength of the microwave radiation of the predetermined frequency in the interstice between the transparent films, the predetermined distance having a tolerance of plus or minus 0.15 of the wavelength in the interstice.
US08772685B2	Microwave steam cooking container system A microwave steam cooking container system for cooking foodstuff, comprising a water reservoir, a food container comprising a plurality of apertures on a bottom thereof, an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion, and a microwave shielding material encapsulated between said inner and outer wall portions, a cover comprising an inner wall portion and an outer wall portion, and a microwave shielding material encapsulated between said cover inner and said cover outer wall portions, wherein said food container is stacked and removably placed within said water reservoir, wherein in the assembled position the foodstuff to be cooked is shielded from cooking by direct exposure to microwave energy.
US08772678B2	Cooktop with light emitting indicators A heating cooker of the present invention is structured such that, an indicator sheet of a light emitting indicator unit has a light transmitting portion that transmits light of a light emission source and a light blocking portion that is provided away from a heating unit than the light transmitting portion is and that blocks the light of the light emission source, and that the light emission source is disposed below the light blocking portion. Thus, uneven shining of the indicator sheet can be suppressed, and the effect of heat from a heating target cooking vessel to the light emission source can be suppressed, whereby a further reduction in thickness of the heating cooker can be realized.
US08772677B2	Glow plug and method of manufacturing the same A configuration in which fixing is performed by inserting a rear end of a lead shaft member into an attachment hole of an external terminal at the rear of a glow plug and crimping an outer peripheral face of the external terminal. The outer peripheral face of a crimp formation region (78) of the external terminal (70) having a polygonal cross section is formed into a crimped portion (79) provided by round crimping toward a circle, and the external terminal (70) is fixed to the rear end (55) of the lead shaft member (50). Due to the configuration obtained from the round crimping of the polygon, plating breaks and the like are not easily produced in the plating layer on the surface of the external terminal.
US08772673B2	Welding gun A welding gun, including a contact tip assembly, a diffuser cap, a tip holder, and a shielding gas diffuser, where the shielding gas diffuser includes a casing and an axial tube extending within the casing, and where the casing and the tip holder are connected via a connection system that includes threads with reduced peaks.
US08772672B2	Hybrid stent and method of making A stent is formed by encasing or encapsulating metallic rings in an inner polymeric layer and an outer polymeric layer. At least one polymer link connects adjacent metallic rings. The stent is drug loaded with one or more therapeutic agent or drug, for example, to reduce the likelihood of the development of restenosis in the coronary arteries. The inner and outer polymeric materials can be of the same polymer or different polymer to achieve different results, such as enhancing flexibility and providing a stent that is visible under MRI, computer tomography and x-ray fluoroscopy.
US08772670B2	Dual gas laser cutting of medical devices A system prevents oxidation of a laser cut workpiece by utilizing a laser source that utilizes laser source with an inert gas, such as argon or helium, rather than air or oxygen, to create the slots or kerfs which form the pattern cut into the workpiece. The system introduces oxygen gas through the workpiece as it is being laser cut to oxidize any slag or dross created during the laser cutting process. Oxygen or a mixture of oxygen with other gases cools the slag and the workpiece while at the same time oxidizing the slag to either completely burn or partial burn the slag before it strikes an exposed surface of the tubular member.
US08772668B2	Plasma torch and torch handle having ergonomic features A plasma torch having a torch handle is provided. The plasma torch handle may be formed from a soft material and a hard material. Additionally, the plasma torch handle includes a thumb contour formed from the soft material and a finger contour formed from the soft material. In one embodiment, the plasma torch handle forms an angle of about 80° with the torch head. Plasma cutting systems having the plasma torch and handle are also provided.
US08772667B2	Plasma arch torch cutting component with optimized water cooling A nozzle or retaining cap for a plasma arc torch that includes a surface defining a conductive contact portion for exchanging heat with an adjacent torch component. The adjacent torch component can be a retaining cap, electrode or nozzle. The surface of the nozzle or retaining cap can also at least partially define a cooling channel having a curvilinear surface. A sealant portion can be positioned between the conductive contact portion and the cooling channel. The sealant portion can form or create a fluid barrier between the cooling channel and the conductive portion.
US08772663B2	Rotary electric component A click mechanism for an electric part comprises a spring 50 made of a plate material and disposed on a rotatable plate 40 that rotates integrally with a rotationally-manipulated shaft of an electric part, a click piece 60 disposed on the outer perimeter of the rotatable plate 40 so as to retractably protrude from the outer perimeter, and projections and depressions 25 formed on the inner perimeter of a housing 22 for the rotatable plate 40 to be arranged in the circumferential direction of the inner perimeter. The click piece 60 is cylindrical and biased by the spring 50 to be in resilient contact with the projections and depressions 25 at the perimeter thereof. The click mechanism can produce a fine and clear click feel, has high durability, and can be reduced in size.
US08772662B2	Rotary switch In a rotary switch, a latching portion having a recess or a hole provided in a decorative cover engages with a locking portion having a protrusion provided on an operating knob, and a catching portion of a rotary body contacts with an inner side of the locking portion on one side closer to the rotary body. The decorative cover is thus attached to the operating body.
US08772661B2	Press button and portable computer using the same A thin press button is provided. The press button includes a base plate, a link member, a cap, and at least one stopper. The link member, having a sliding recess, is disposed on the base plate. The cap pivots on the link member. The stopper has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end pivots on the cap and the second end is slidably disposed in the sliding recess.
US08772657B2	Acceleration switch and electronic device An acceleration switch has a frame fixed to a first substrate, a beam positioned inside the frame and supported by the frame, and a mass body supported by the beam and having a hole portion at substantially a center thereof. A central body is positioned inside the hole portion and fixed to the first substrate. The hole portion or the central body are suitably configured, or the position of the hole portion or the position of the center body is suitably selected, so that the acceleration switch is capable of detecting a predetermined acceleration irrespective of the influence of gravity acceleration.
US08772653B2	Encryption keyboard An encryption keyboard is provided, especially an encryption keyboard including a front spying and detecting protection system. The encryption keyboard comprises a panel and a main control panel. A sealed flexible printed circuit board (PCB) is set between the panel and the main control panel. A circuit for preventing from spying and detecting is set in the sealed flexible circuit. The circuit for preventing from spying and detecting is connected to the surface of the sealed flexible circuit through a circuit pin, and is connected electrically to the control circuit of the main control panel for realizing a self-destroyed function through the circuit pin. The keyboard also includes a split style key grain, which comprises a keycap and a press post. The keycap comprises a cap top and an admission space which is positioned on the undersurface of the cap top and includes a downward opening. The keycap sockets the press post through the admission space, and a gap matching is formed between the press post and the wall of the admission space.
US08772652B2	Keypad assembly for portable terminal A keypad assembly includes an operation member deformed according to user's manipulation to operate key switches, a binding member disposed on a top surface of the operation member, binding pieces extending and bent from the binding member to enclose sides of the operation member on an edge of the binding member, and a manipulation member disposed on a top surface of the binding member, the manipulation member including at least one key tops, in which the binding members are bound onto inner side walls of a housing of the portable terminal.
US08772651B2	Turntable integrated scale A turntable that can be used with a machine for wrapping loads with packaging material includes a turntable assembly having a first support assembly and a load support surface supported for rotation on the first support assembly. A second support assembly contacts a floor surface, and a plurality of load cells disposed between the first and second support assemblies space the first support assembly and the load support surface above the floor surface. In use, the load cells sense a weight of a load on the load support surface.
US08772649B1	Electrical box and frame assembly for shallow wall cavities formed by furring strips An electrical box and frame assembly for mounting an electrical component such as a duplex receptacle in a shallow wall cavity. The electrical box assembly includes a box member, a receptacle frame adapted to receive an electrical component, and a trim plate. Rotatable flags on the box member provide ease of installation to a wall in old or new work situations. The box member includes sidewalls of a narrow depth to enable mounting within a shallow wall cavity. The receptacle frame nests substantially within the cavity of the box member and the trim plate secures over the receptacle frame and is mounted to the box member. An outer sidewall on the receptacle frame includes bosses thereon for securing a duplex receptacle in a sideways orientation with respect to the box member and wall cavity thereby enabling the electrical box and frame assembly to be mounted in a shallow wall cavity.
US08772644B2	Carrier with three-dimensional capacitor A carrier with three-dimensional capacitor includes a substrate and a three-dimensional capacitor, wherein the substrate comprises a trace layer having a first terminal and a second terminal. The three-dimensional capacitor is integrally formed as one piece with the trace layer. The three-dimensional capacitor and the trace layer are made of same material. The three-dimensional capacitor comprises a first capacitance portion and a second capacitance portion, the first capacitance portion comprises a first section, a second section and a first passage, the second capacitance portion is formed at the first passage. The second capacitance portion comprises a third section, a fourth section and a second passage communicated with the first passage. The first capacitance portion is located at the second passage, a first end of the first capacitance portion connects to the first terminal, and a third end of the second capacitance portion connects to the second terminal.
US08772642B2	Control cabinet A control cabinet includes at least two plate shaped elongated wall segments. At least one wall segment features at least one open-edged cutout. Edges of adjacent wall segments facing each other, adjoin each other, forming a seal. Each cutout is covered by a frame. The frame includes a plurality of grommets to accommodate cables. In an assembled state each frame is enclosed and each frame protrudes beyond the butt joint between adjacent wall segments, covering same.
US08772637B2	Cable protection device and cable having the same The present invention provides a cable protection device and a cable having the same. The cable protection device is configured for connecting two cables and includes a first protective casing and a second protective casing assembled with the first protective casing. The first protective casing has a hollow body for allowing one of the two cables to be disposed through. The second protective casing has a hollow body for allowing the other of the two cables to be disposed through. The interiors of the hollow body of the first protective casing and the hollow body of the second protective casing form a protective space respectively for covering a connecting portion of the two cables. Thus, the present invention also generates waterproof and dustproof effects.
US08772636B2	Wire harness installation structure and wire harness-flattening band The object is to provide a wire harness installation structure which can enhance an operation efficiency when installing a wire harness and can also achieve a space-saving design of an installation region. In the wire harness installation structure in which a wire harness 10 formed by bundling a plurality of wires 42 into a generally-circular form in a cross-sectional view is installed, the wire harness 10 has a flat portion 10a which is formed by thinning and flattening part thereof along an extending direction thereof and is kept in a flat shape, and by doing so, the installing operation is easy, and the installation region is made space-saving.
US08772634B2	Busbar for power conversion applications A busbar for power conversion applications that includes two planar conductors that have terminal locations; a first planar insulator located between the planar conductors; two impedances elements that are electrically connected to each of the planar conductors, wherein the impedance elements each extend in a plane that is non-coplanar from the planar conductors, further wherein the impedance elements are configured so as to define a gap between them; and a second planar insulator is located in the gap. A power conversion assembly that connects an energy source and a power switch to the busbar.
US08772633B2	Method and system for a cutout cover A method and system for a cutout cover are provided. The cutout cover system includes a hollow head portion including a throat portion including an opening oriented toward a cutout when installed on the cutout and a tab portion extending from the hollow head portion in a first direction, the tab portion including a slit extending through the tab portion to the hollow head portion and dividing the tab portion into two joinable halves. The cutout cover also includes a nose portion extending from the hollow head portion in a second direction, the second direction opposite the first direction, the nose portion including a diverging cross-section along the nose portion from a distal end of the nose portion towards the head portion, the nose portion including a substantially smooth linear surface.
US08772628B2	High performance, high bandgap, lattice-mismatched, GaInP solar cells High performance, high bandgap, lattice-mismatched, photovoltaic cells (10), both transparent and non-transparent to sub-bandgap light, are provided as devices for use alone or in combination with other cells in split spectrum apparatus or other applications.
US08772624B2	Solar cell encapsulant layers with enhanced stability and adhesion The present invention provides a solar cell module comprising at least one encapsulant layer which has 1) a total thickness of from about 0.1 to about 20 mils and 2) at least one surface layer made of ionomers containing a finite amount of polymerized residues of α-olefins and from about 18 to about 25 wt % of polymerized residues of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids. The present invention also provides a process of manufacturing the solar cell module.
US08772623B2	Low-bandgap, monolithic, multi-bandgap, optoelectronic devices Low bandgap, monolithic, multi-bandgap, optoelectronic devices (10), including PV converters, photodetectors, and LED's, have lattice-matched (LM), double-heterostructure (DH), low-bandgap GaInAs(P) subcells (22, 24) including those that are lattice-mismatched (LMM) to InP, grown on an InP substrate (26) by use of at least one graded lattice constant transition layer (20) of InAsP positioned somewhere between the InP substrate (26) and the LMM subcell(s) (22, 24). These devices are monofacial (10) or bifacial (80) and include monolithic, integrated, modules (MIMs) (190) with a plurality of voltage-matched subcell circuits (262, 264, 266, 270, 272) as well as other variations and embodiments.
US08772620B2	Processing audio signals with portable handheld computing devices Systems and methods for processing a signal of an electric guitar are provided. An input guitar signal is received by a portable handheld computing device. The input guitar signal is processed using the digital signal. The combined guitar output is transmitted.
US08772616B1	Education guitar and method of manufacture A stringed instrument having a series of note references laser etched into a fingerboard. Each note reference is located respective to a position along a length of a respective string to generated the respective note. The note references are laser etched into the fingerboard using a laser wood removal system. The laser system is programmed to generate a series of recessions within the fingerboard in accordance with a programmed directive. The programming defines the location of each note reference adjacent to a respective fret and under the respective string. The programming accounts for the neck dimensions, fret locations (based upon the scale), string spacing, etc. The laser system can accommodate a neck (removed from the stringed instrument) or the entire instrument. The recessions can be left as formed or filled with a note reference filler to increase a contrast between the note reference and the fingerboard.
US08772614B2	Marked precoated strings and method of manufacturing same A coated string for a stringed device which includes a coating applied to the surface of the string. The coating includes a base layer bonded to the surface of the string and an at least partially transparent low-friction top coat applied to the base layer. The base layer includes heat activated pigments that change color when heated above a color shifting temperature. In one embodiment, the color of the pigment in one area contrasts with the color of the pigment in an adjacent area without otherwise affecting the low-friction surface of the coating. The areas of different color created in locations along the length of the low-friction coated string.
US08772613B2	Guitar with double carve sound board A stringed musical instrument body with a front plate having an integral cavity defined by a tail end inner edge, a neck end inner edge, a bass side inner edge, and a treble side inner edge is provided. The cavity cooperates with a back plate to form a resonance chamber. A method for making the stringed musical instrument body is also presented. In many instances, the stringed musical instrument is a guitar.
US08772607B2	Plants and seeds of corn variety CV931366 According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the corn variety designated CV931366. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CV931366, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CV931366 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to corn seeds and plants produced by crossing plants of variety CV931366 with plants of another variety, such as another inbred line. The invention further relates to the inbred and hybrid genetic complements of plants of variety CV931366.
US08772602B1	Soybean cultivar 22290432 A soybean cultivar designated 22290432 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 22290432, to the plants of soybean cultivar 22290432, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 22290432, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 22290432. 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 22290432. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 22290432, 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 22290432 with another soybean cultivar.
US08772601B1	Soybean cultivar 28384013 A soybean cultivar designated 28384013 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 28384013, to the plants of soybean cultivar 28384013, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 28384013, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 28384013. 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 28384013. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 28384013, 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 28384013 with another soybean cultivar.
US08772591B2	Soybean variety A1026332 The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1026332. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1026332. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1026332 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1026332 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08772587B2	Soybean variety A1026175 The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1026175. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1026175. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1026175 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1026175 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08772586B2	Soybean variety S100302 The invention relates to the soybean variety designated S100302. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety S100302. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety S100302 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety S100302 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08772583B2	Hybrid cucumber ‘jurassic’ A new hybrid cucumber designated ‘Jurassic’ is described. ‘Jurassic’ is an oriental-type slicer cucumber that also has intermediate resistance to cucumber mosaic virus and cucumber vein yellowing virus.
US08772582B2	Methods for plant seed production The invention provides methods for producing seeds in watermelon. In one embodiment methods are provided comprising grafting of a seed parent onto a stress tolerant rootstock, pollinating the seed parent with pollen from a pollen donor, and cultivating the seed parent until seed is formed. In specific embodiments, triploid seeds produced by a method of the invention are rendered conspicuously distinguishable from tetraploid seeds, and thus readily selected manually or by an automated machine. Methods for increasing seed yield and/or quality are also provided.
US08772581B2	Genomically multiplied rapeseed plants, compositions derived therefrom and uses of same A rapeseed plant having a multiplied genome being at least as fertile as a euploid rapeseed plant isogenic to the genomically multiplied plant grown under similar conditions.
US08772580B2	Cuervo lettuce variety A new lettuce variety designated ‘Cuervo’ is described. ‘Cuervo’ is a butterhead lettuce variety exhibiting stability and uniformity.
US08772576B2	Herbicide-resistant inoculant strains Exemplary embodiments are directed to a herbicide resistant N2-fixing microorganism and to a method for enhancing N2 fixation by the herbicide resistant rhizobia in symbiosis with herbicide resistant or tolerant leguminous plants treated with herbicide. At least one preferred embodiment comprises mutant rhizobia strains selected based on tolerance of the broad spectrum glyphosate weed control agent, originally Roundup®. Preferred embodiments can be expected to outcompete both indigenous soil rhizobia and/or commercial rhizobia that are not resistant to the herbicide.
US08772573B2	Spinach hybrid RX 06682141 The invention provides seed and plants of spinach hybrid RX 06682141 and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of spinach hybrid RX 06682141 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a spinach plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another spinach 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 leaf and gametes of such plants.
US08772562B2	Process for making basestocks from renewable feedstocks A process for converting feedstock triglycerides to lube basestocks. The process has the steps of (a) metathesizing the feedstock triglycerides with ethylene in the presence of a metathesis catalyst to form alpha olefins and medium-chain triglycerides and (b) hydroisomerizing the medium-chain triglycerides in the presence of a hydroisomerization catalyst and hydrogen to form methyl-branched triglycerides. The alpha olefins may be oligomerized in the presence of an oligomerization catalyst to form poly(alpha olefins).
US08772561B2	Methods for selective hydrogenation performance using a layered sphere catalyst with new formulations A process for selective hydrogenation of hydrocarbons is presented. The process uses a catalyst to selectively hydrogenate acetylenes and diolefins to increase the monoolefins in a product stream. The catalyst in the process includes a layered structure with an inert inner core and an outer layer bonded to the inner core, where the outer layer is a metal oxide and has at least two metals deposited on the outer layer.
US08772560B2	Modified zeolite catalyst useful for the conversion of paraffins, olefins and aromatics in a mixed feedstock into isoparaffins and a process thereof The invention relates to a modified zeolite catalyst, useful for the conversion of paraffins, olefins and aromatics in a mixed feedstock such as FCC gasoline that contain high content of olefin, aromatic and n-paraffin into isoparaffins. The invention further relates to the use of such a catalyst, for example but not limited to, in a process for the conversion of paraffins, olefins and aromatics in a mixed feedstock into the product having high amount of branched paraffins with decreased aromatics and olefins, a useful gasoline blend, with negligible production of lighter gases.
US08772555B2	Conversion of vegetable oils to base oils and transportation fuels The present invention is directed to methods (processes) and systems for processing triglyceride-containing, biologically-derived oils to provide for base oils and transportation fuels, wherein partial oligomerization of fatty acids contained therein provide for an oligomerized mixture from which the base oils and transportation fuels can be extracted. Such methods and systems can involve an initial hydrotreating step or a direct isomerization of the oligomerized mixture.
US08772554B2	Process for preparing 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene The present invention provides a method for efficiently preparing 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234yf) by a simple and economically advantageous method that is suitable for implementation on an industrial scale. The present invention provides a process for preparing 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, comprising the step of: (1) in a reactor, (1-1) reacting 1,1,1,2,3-penta-chloropropane with hydrogen fluoride in an amount of 10 to 100 mol per mole of the 1,1,1,2,3-pentachloropropane 1; (1-2) in the presence of chromic oxide represented by composition formula: CrOm (1.5
US08772553B2	Hydrogenation reaction conditions for producing ethanol The present invention relates to processes for producing ethanol from a feed stream comprising hydrogen and acetic acid and/or ethyl acetate. The reaction occurs at a temperature greater than 225° C. and the feed stream has a liquid hourly space velocity of at least 0.2 hr−1. The reaction occurs in the presence of a catalyst comprising a precious metal and one or more active metals on a modified support.
US08772548B2	Reaction of glycolaldehyde with an aminating agent The present invention relates to a process for reacting glycolaldehyde with an aminating agent in the presence of hydrogen and of a catalyst, the catalyst being activated by reducing a catalyst precursor or by reducing a passivated catalyst, which comprises effecting the reaction in the presence of a solvent and contacting the glycolaldehyde with the activated catalyst.
US08772544B2	Process for the production of bimatoprost The present invention relates to a process for the purification of crude bimatoprost to obtain pure bimatoprost comprising a chromatography, preferably a chromatography using an achiral stationary phase and an eluent comprising an alcohol and an apolar solvent; and crystallization of the product obtained the chromatography to obtain pure bimatoprost.
US08772542B2	Antiproliferative compounds, conjugates thereof, methods therefor, and uses thereof Antiproliferative compounds having a structure represented by formula (II), where n, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 are as defined herein, can be used to treat tumors, optionally when conjugated to a ligand such as an antibody:
US08772540B2	Thermal responsive molecule Provided is a thermal responsive molecule favorable as a thermal responsive low-molecular hydrogelling agent or the like that gels in response to heat. The thermal responsive molecule is characterized in that an amphiphilic side chain obtained by bonding a hydrophilic side chain such as triethylene glycol and a hydrophobic group such as an octyl group is introduced into a C3-symmetric disc-shaped molecular skeleton such as 1,3,5-benzenetriyltriurea. For example, the thermal responsive molecule is 1,1′,1″-(benzene-1,3,5-triyl)tris{3-(2,5,8,11-tetraoxaheptadecan-17-yl)urea} or the like.
US08772539B2	Method for synthesizing unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or derivative of same An appropriate catalyst is found for synthesis of an unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or a derivative thereof using as a raw material compound a hydroxycarboxylic acid and/or a derivative thereof that can easily be synthesized from a polysaccharide such as biomass-derived cellulose, and an efficient method for synthesizing the unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or the derivative thereof is provided. This method is a method for synthesizing an unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or a derivative thereof, wherein an apatite compound is used as a catalyst to synthesize the unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or the derivative thereof from a biomass-derived hydroxycarboxylic acid and/or a derivative thereof by a dehydration reaction.
US08772536B2	Proteasome inhibitors The present invention provides novel compounds useful as proteasome inhibitors. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of the invention and methods of using the compositions in the treatment of various diseases.
US08772535B2	Process for preparing isocyanates Process for preparing isocyanates by phosgenation of amines, wherein phosgene and amine are brought into contact in at least 2 mixing chambers connected in parallel.
US08772534B2	Method of recovering (meth) acrylic acid ester The present invention provides a method of recovering a (meth)acrylic acid ester, which comprises the steps of: (a) carrying out an esterification reaction between an alcohol and (meth)acrylic acid in the presence of a catalyst to obtain a (meth)acrylic acid ester, wherein a byproduct is generated together with the (meth)acrylic acid ester; and (b) subjecting the byproduct generated in step (a) to a reaction with a catalyst and water in a reactor, wherein the water is fed into the reactor in order that water content exceeds 0 wt % but is 10 wt % or less in the reactor based on the total weight of reactants comprising the byproduct, the catalyst and the water, and thereby separating the (meth)acrylic acid, the alcohol and the (meth)acrylic acid ester contained in the byproduct from the byproduct to obtain the (meth)acrylic acid, the alcohol and the (meth)acrylic acid ester as a recovered product.
US08772529B2	Catalyst for alkylation and process for producing alkylaromatic hydrocarbon compound using the catalyst A catalyst for alkylation contains an inorganic structural material having an ion-exchange ability and a metal ion having a valency of 2 or more. The metal ion is supported on the inorganic structural material. The inorganic structural material is preferably a zeolite. The metal ion is preferably a lanthanide metal. The catalyst for alkylation imparts industrially satisfiable activity and selectivity and can be readily separated, collected and recycled. Furthermore, the process for producing an alkylaromatic hydrocarbon compound includes reacting an aromatic hydrocarbon compound and a compound having an unsaturated bond in the presence of the catalyst for alkylation.
US08772520B2	Preparation of a metal complex The present invention provides a process for the preparation of a Pd(0)Ln complex, where L is a ligand and n is 2, 3 or 4, comprising the steps of: (a) reacting a Pd(II) complex in at least one solvent with a base and ligand L; and (b) if required, adding further base, optionally in at least one solvent, to form the Pd(0)Ln complex; wherein the at least one solvents in steps a and b are independently the same or different, and provided that when n=2, the Pd(II) complex is not bis[tri(ortho-tolyl)phosphine] palladium chloride. The invention also provides novel Pd(0)L2 and Pd(II) complexes.
US08772518B2	Dry fractionation method for oil or fat The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method, whereby, in the dry fractionation of an oil or fat, a decrease in solid-liquid separation efficiency, said decrease being caused by the engulfment of a filtrate fraction into a crystal fraction after crystallization and press filtration, can be prevented and thus the crystal slurry can be efficiently separated after the crystallization. A method for the dry fractionation of an oil or fat, said method comprising, before or after crystallization, adding a definite amount of a filtration aid followed by mixing and then press-filtering the thus obtained crystal slurry. Thus, the crystal slurry can be easily separated into a crystal fraction with little engulfment of a liquid fraction and the liquid fraction.
US08772516B2	Solvent-free process for obtaining phospholipids and neutral enriched krill oils Organic solvent-free processes for obtaining krill oil compositions are disclosed. The processes include a) cooking krill in a cooker vessel for a time and at a temperature sufficient to denature the protein content of the krill and cause a first solid krill fraction and a first liquid krill fraction to be formed while substantially avoiding emulsification of the first solid and first liquid krill fractions; b) removing the first solid and first liquid krill fractions from the cooker vessel at a temperature of at least about 90° C.; c) separating the first solid fraction and the first liquid fraction; and d) obtaining krill oil with neutral enriched from the first liquid fraction, and e) by pressing of first solid fraction to obtain press liquid or a second liquid krill fraction for obtaining krill oil with phospholipids enriched krill oil, the separating and the obtaining steps being carried out without the use of organic solvents. Krill oil compositions made by the process are also disclosed.
US08772510B2	PDE10 modulators The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I) wherein R1, R2, R3, R5, W, X, X1, Y, Y1, Z and Z1 are as defined in the description and in the claims, as well as physiologically acceptable salts thereof. These compounds inhibit PDE10A and can be used in the treatment of CNS disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
US08772505B2	Antiviral compounds composed of three aligned aryl moieties to treat diseases such as hepatitis C The present invention relates to novel Tricyclic Compounds, compositions comprising at least one Tricyclic Compound, and methods of using Tricyclic Compounds for treating or preventing a viral infection or a virus-related disorder in a patient. The present invention provides Tricyclic Compounds of Formula (I): Non-limiting examples of the Compounds of Formula (I) include compound 44 The Compounds of Formula (II) can be useful for inhibiting HCV viral replication or replicon activity, and for treating or preventing HCV infection in a patient.
US08772500B2	TRPV3 modulators Disclosed herein are modulators of TRPV3 of formula (II): wherein G1, X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, G2, Ra, Rb, and u are as defined in the specification. Compositions comprising such compounds and methods for treating conditions and disorders using such compounds and compositions are also presented.
US08772488B2	Crystals of prasugrel hydrobromate The present application discloses crystals of 2-acetoxy-5-(α-cyclopropylcarbonyl-2-fluorobenzyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[3,2-c]pyridine hydrobromate, crystal compositions and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them and their use. The crystals of prasugrel hydrobromate of the present application possess excellent stability and solubility.
US08772487B2	Fluorogenic hydrazine-substituted compounds The present disclosure is directed to fluorogenic schiff base-forming dyes capable of detecting analytes containing aldehyde and ketone groups. The dyes contain nucleophilic hydrazinyl appendages and are capable of binding and detecting analytes in situ.
US08772482B2	4-phenyl-6-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1-phenylethoxy)pyrimidine-based compounds and methods of their use Compounds of formula I are disclosed, as well as compositions comprising them and methods of their use to treat, prevent and/or manage diseases and disorders:
US08772480B2	Inhibitors of PI3 kinase and/or mTOR The present invention relates to compounds of Formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof; methods of treating diseases or conditions, such as cancer, using the compounds; and pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, wherein the variables are as defined herein.
US08772473B2	Mostly natural DNA sequencing by synthesis The invention provides a new method for DNA sequencing called “natural sequencing by synthesis” (nSBS). According to the method, DNA that includes a desired sequence is synthesized using a dNTP mix with a small percentage of fluorescently-labeled nucleotides. The fluorescent label is cleavable. In contrast to previous methods that utilize 100% labeled nucleic acids, use of a small percentage of labeled nucleic acids minimizes the distortion of the natural structure of the extending DNA strand and the DNA polymerase. Using the disclosed methods with less than 10,000 copies of template DNA and 10% of the nucleotides labeled, long homopolymer stretches up to 20 bases can be sequenced with high accuracy and Q20 (with 99% accuracy) read lengths of up to 1,000 bases can be achieved. A Q20 read length of greater than 100 bases can potentially be achieved, even if the sequencing is performed with 1,000 copies of a template and 10% of the nucleotides labeled.
US08772466B2	Zea mays NFB2 promoter The present invention provides non-coding regulatory element polynucleotide molecules isolated from the transcription factor Nuclear Factor B (NFB2) gene of Zea mays and useful for expressing transgenes in plants. The invention further discloses compositions, polynucleotide constructs, transformed host cells, transgenic plants and seeds containing the Zea mays NFB2 regulatory polynucleotide sequences, and methods for preparing and using the same.
US08772463B2	Fluorescent dye-labeled glucose bioprobe, synthesis method and usage thereof Disclosed are a novel fluorescent glucose analogue, a method for the synthesis thereof and the use thereof. The novel fluorescent glucose analogue is labeled with fluorescent dye by O-1-glycosylation and via various linkers. The fluorescent glucose analogue can be applied to molecular bioimaging and a method for screening curative or preventive drugs for glucose metabolism-related diseases.
US08772460B2	Thermostable FGF-2 mutant having enhanced stability Thermostable FGF-2 proteins having enhanced ability to support human pluripotent stem cell cultures are provided. Also provided are methods and compositions utilizing thermostable FGF-2 proteins.
US08772459B2	J591 minibodies and Cys-diabodies for targeting human prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and methods for their use In one embodiment, a minibody monomer that binds PSMA is provided. The minibody monomer is encoded by a nucleotide sequence comprising, from N-terminus to C-terminus, an scFv sequence that can bind PSMA, an artificial hinge sequence, and a human IgG CH3 sequence. In another embodiment, a CysDB monomer that binds PSMA is provided. The CysDB monomer may be encoded by a nucleotide sequence comprising, from N-terminus to C-terminus, an scFv sequence that can bind PSMA and a cysteine tail. In other embodiments, methods for diagnosing or treating a cancer associated with PSMA expression in a subject are provided.
US08772458B2	Crystalline anti-hTNFalpha antibodies The present invention relates to a batch crystallization method for crystallizing an anti-hTNFalpha antibody which allows the production of said antibody on an industrial scale; antibody crystals as obtained according to said method; compositions containing said crystals as well as methods of use of said crystals and compositions.
US08772450B2	Beta-amino acids Disclosed are β-amino acid monomers containing cylcoalkyl, cycloalkenyl, and heterocylic substituents which encompass the α and β carbons of the peptide backbone and β-polypeptides made from such monomers. Method of generating combinatorial libraries of polypeptides containing the β-peptide residues and libraries formed thereby are disclosed.
US08772440B2	Process for manufacturing lactic acid A process for the preparation of lactic acid includes: a) providing an aqueous medium comprising magnesium lactate; b) adding to the aqueous medium a monovalent base to form an aqueous medium comprising a water soluble monovalent lactate salt and a solid magnesium base; c) separating the magnesium base from the aqueous medium; d) adjusting the concentration of the monovalent lactate salt in the aqueous medium, e) subjecting the aqueous medium to water-splitting electrodialysis, to produce a first solution comprising monovalent base and a second solution comprising lactic acid and monovalent lactate salt, the electrodialysis being carried out to a partial conversion of 40 to 98 mole %; f) separating the second solution into lactic acid and a solution comprising the monovalent lactate salt by vapour-liquid separation; g) recycling the solution of step f) comprising the monovalent lactate salt to step d).
US08772436B2	Process for making thermoplastic polyesters The invention relates to a process for making a thermoplastic polyester, which comprises contacting at least one carboxylic acid-based compound and at least one alcohol-based compound in esterification and subsequent polycondensation reactions, in the presence of certain exfoliated inorganic nano-layered titanates acting as a catalyst.
US08772433B2	Polyactic acid-based polyol composition, process for production thereof, urethane resin composition, process for production of same, and molded products thereof Provided is a polylactic acid-based polyol composition in which a catalyst that remains in the polylactic acid-based polyol and that acts also as a catalyst for urethane formation has been deactivated by easy means. Thus, the polylactic acid-based polyol composition suffers from little influence of the catalyst on urethane formation. When the polylactic acid-based polyol composition is used as a raw material for a urethane resin, therefore, uniform molded products can be obtained. Also provided are a process for the production of the polylactic acid-based polyol composition, a urethane resin composition obtained using the polylactic acid-based polyol composition, a process for the production of the same, and molded products thereof. The polylactic acid-based polyol composition is a composition which comprises both a polylactic acid-based polyol prepared by transesterification and a silica compound and in which the silica compound has a surface area of 40 m2 or more based on 100 g of the polylactic acid-based polyol and a content of the silica compound is 70 wt % or less.
US08772430B2	Silicone resin, sealing material, and optical semiconductor device A silicone resin is obtained by allowing a cage octasilsesquioxane having a group represented by formula (1) below, to react with an alkenyl group-containing polysiloxane containing an alkenyl group having a molarity smaller than the molarity of the hydrosilyl group of the cage octasilsesquioxane in the presence of a hydrosilylation catalyst: (where R1 represents a monovalent hydrocarbon group, R2 represents hydrogen or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, and the molar ratio of monovalent hydrocarbon group: hydrogen in R2 in the cage octasilsesquioxane as a whole is, as an average value, in a range of 6.5:1.5 to 5.5:2.5).
US08772424B2	Curable phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy resin This invention relates to an epoxy resin composition, in particular a curable phosphorus containing flame retardant epoxy resin composition comprising epoxy resin and an epoxy resin chain-extending amount of a diaryl alkylphosphonate and/or diaryl arylphosphonate and a cross-linking agent. The curable flame retardant compositions are useful in e.g., printed wiring boards or molding compounds for electronic applications, protective coatings, adhesives, as well as structural and decorative composite materials.
US08772423B2	Emulsions based on hydroxyl compounds bearing silyl groups The invention relates to emulsions containing hydroxyl compound bearing silyl groups, to the production and to the use thereof.
US08772417B2	Polyimide membranes and their preparation Disclosed are (1) a method of preparing a polyimide membrane, including cross-linking polyimides via thermal labile side chains and decomposition of the thermal labile side chains; and (2) polyimide membranes thus prepared.
US08772414B2	Polymeric compositions and foams, methods of making the same, and articles prepared from the same The invention provides a composition comprising an ethylene/α-olefin/non-conjugated diene interpolymer, which has the following properties: an Mz(abs)/Mz(Conv) value greater than 1.35; an Mz(BB)/Mw(abs) value greater than 1.6; and a non-conjugated diene content less than 10 weight percent, based on the total weight of the interpolymer.
US08772411B2	Preparation of polyolefin-based adhesives Disclosed is a polyolefin-based adhesive. The adhesive comprises a maleated polyolefin. The maleated polyolefin is let-down in a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). The let-down LLDPE is selected from those which have a melt index MI2 within the range of 0.1 dg/min to 5 dg/min, preferably from 1 dg/min to 3 dg/min, and comprises a TREF soluble fraction having an intrinsic viscosity less than 0.9 dl/g. The adhesive composition can be used in multilayer polyolefin films and multilayer pipes.
US08772410B1	Polyolefin foams for footwear foam applications A composition that can be used as foam composition is disclosed, which comprises or is produced from an ethylene acrylate dipolymer, an acid copolymer, and optionally a soft ethylene polymer. The ethylene acrylate dipolymer comprises repeat units derived from ethylene and at least one alkylacrylate. The acid copolymer comprises repeat units derived from ethylene and acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or combinations thereof. The soft ethylene polymer comprises ethylene and an α-olefin, vinyl acetate, or combinations thereof.
US08772409B2	Compositions for sports equipment Compositions comprising the reaction product of: (a) a polyalkenamer; and (b) an organic modifier that includes at least one carbon to carbon unsaturated bond and at least one functional group selected from carboxyl, hydroxyl, amino, epoxy, (meth)acrylate, vinyl, ester, isocyanate, carbonyl, urethane, anhydride, or a metal salt thereof. Also disclosed are golf balls that include (i) a core, (ii) at least one intermediate layer, and (iii) at least one cover layer, wherein at least one of the core, intermediate layer or cover layer includes the polyalkenamer/functionalized organic modifier composition as a majority ingredient.
US08772407B2	One component polysiloxane coating compositions and related coated substrates Disclosed are one-component low temperature, moisture curable, storage stable coating compositions that include a silanol-functional silicone; an alkoxy-functional silicone; a flexibilizer comprising a reaction product of two or more reactants; and a curing agent selected from amines, aminosilanes, ketimines, aldimines, and combinations thereof. Also disclosed are substrates at least partially coated with a coating deposited from such a composition and methods for coating substrates with such compositions.
US08772405B2	Polymer polyol, method for producing the same, and method for producing polyurethane resin A polymer polyol (I) is provided that is formed of a polyol (A), polymer particles (B) obtained by polymerization of an ethylenically unsaturated compound (b), and an active-hydrogen-containing compound (d) having an aromatic ring and having a number-average molecular weight of 150 to 2,000, wherein a content of (d) is 1 to 20% on the basis of a weight of (B). The polymer polyol of the present invention contains polymer particles having sufficiently small particle diameters, has a low viscosity, and has excellent handleability. A polyurethane resin obtained by using the polymer polyol of the present invention has excellent mechanical strengths such as elongation at break.
US08772404B2	Composition for sealing a colorant to a surface and/or for protecting a surface A composition for treating carpets. The composition seals and protects a portion of a polyester carpet to which a colorant is applied such that, after the polyester carpet is walked on by 30,000 steps and vacuumed by 600 strokes, the ΔECMC (l:c=2:1) of the portion of the polyester carpet to which the colorant is applied is less than about 6.0. The ΔCCMC of the portion of the polyester carpet to which the colorant is applied is less than about −3.0 D. The composition imparts wear resistance to a nylon carpet such that an average width of free ends of carpet fibers that form the nylon carpet increases by less than about 10% when the nylon carpet is subjected to a simulated wear test that includes contacting the carpet fibers to a steel beating bar, covered with nylon, in a drum rotating at thirty-five rotations/minute for seventy-two hours.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10