Document Document Title
US09842738B2 Method for manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor device and silicon carbide semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a silicon carbide semiconductor device is provided. The method suppresses the increase in the number of manufacturing steps and is capable of suppressing the degradation of ohmic characteristics of an alloy layer with respect to a semiconductor substrate. The method includes a step of forming a metal layer made of a first metal on a semiconductor substrate made of silicon carbide; a step of forming a metal nitride film obtained by nitriding a second metal on the metal layer; a step of directing a laser light through the metal nitride film to form a layer of an alloy of silicon carbide in the semiconductor substrate and the first metal in the metal layer; and a step of forming an electrode on the metal nitride film.
US09842736B2 Semiconductor photo-receiving device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor photo-receiving device includes a substrate, a light propagation layer and a semiconductor layer including a lowest layer and upper layers. The upper layers include an optical absorption layer. The light propagation layer includes a first light input layer, a first annular layer at a desired distance from the first light input layer, and a first optical waveguide connecting the first light input layer and annular layer. The lowest layer of the semiconductor layer includes a second light input layer, a second annular layer at a desired distance from the second light input layer, and a second optical waveguide connecting the second light input layer and annular layer.
US09842731B2 Systems and methods for using variable mass selection window widths in tandem mass spectrometry
Systems and methods are used to analyze a sample using variable mass selection window widths. A tandem mass spectrometer is instructed to perform at least two fragmentation scans of a sample with different mass selection window widths using a processor. The tandem mass spectrometer includes a mass analyzer that allows variable mass selection window widths. The selection of the different mass selection window widths can be based on one or more properties of sample compounds. The properties may include a sample compound molecular weight distribution that is calculated from a molecular weight distribution of expected compounds or is determined from a list of molecular weights for one or more known compounds. The tandem mass spectrometer can also be instructed to perform an analysis of the sample before instructing the tandem mass spectrometer to perform the at least two fragmentation scans of the sample.
US09842730B2 Methods for tandem collision-induced dissociation cells
A method for operating a mass spectrometer so as to detect or quantify analytes, comprises: (a) identifying a selected-reaction-monitoring (SRM) transition to be used for each respective analyte; (b) determining a time duration required for a fragmentation reaction corresponding to each identified transition to proceed to a threshold percentage of completion; and (c) for each analyte, performing the steps of (i) isolating ions corresponding to a precursor-ion mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of the respective transition; (ii) fragmenting the respective isolated ions in one of two fragmentation cells or fragmentation cell portions; and (ii) mass analyzing for fragment ions corresponding to a product-ion m/z ratio of the respective transition, wherein, for each analyte, the fragmentation cell or fragmentation cell portion that is used for fragmenting the isolated ions is determined from the time duration determined for the respective analyte.
US09842729B2 Systems and methods for using interleaving window widths in tandem mass spectrometry
Systems and methods are provided for analyzing a sample using overlapping measured mass selection window widths. A mass range of a sample is divided into two or more target mass selection window widths using a processor. The two or more target widths can have the same width or variable widths. A tandem mass spectrometer is instructed to perform two or more fragmentation scans across the mass range using the processor. Each fragmentation scan of the two or more fragmentation scans includes a measured mass selection window width. The two or more measured widths of the two or more fragmentation scans can have the same width or variable widths. At least two of the two or more measured mass selection window widths overlap. The overlap in measured mass selection window widths corresponds to at least one target mass selection window width.
US09842728B2 Ion transfer tube with intermittent inlet
An ion transfer tube assembly, a mass spectrometry system, and a method for providing an ion stream to an ion detection device are described that include using an ion transfer tube and an additional conduit connected to a small high-flow low vacuum pump and a valve. In an implementation, an ion transfer tube assembly includes an ion transfer tube assembly having an intermittent inlet for delivering an ion stream to an ion detection device that employs example techniques in accordance with the present disclosure includes an ion transfer tube, where the ion transfer tube is coupled to a first conduit; a second conduit coupled to the ion transfer tube and the ion detection device; and a third conduit coupled to the second conduit, where the third conduit includes a valve and is coupled to a pump.
US09842727B2 Automated beam check
A method of automatically performing a routine to check the operational state of a mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein the method is performed automatically as a start-up routine upon switching ON the mass spectrometer. The method comprises automatically generating a vacuum within one or more vacuum chambers of a mass spectrometer and automatically generating first ions using an internal ion source, wherein the internal ion source is located within a vacuum chamber of the mass spectrometer or is located within a chamber downstream from an atmospheric pressure interface, and detecting at least some of the first ions or second ions derived from the first ions. The method further comprises automatically determining whether or not the mass spectrometer is in a correct operational state.
US09842722B2 Electron microscope having a carrier
An electronic microscope includes a carrier, a first driving unit, a flow-buffer unit and an electron source. The carrier carries a sample. The first driving unit drives a first fluid to flow along a first flow path, wherein the first flow path passes through the sample. The flow-buffer unit is disposed on the first flow path to perform buffering on the first fluid, wherein the first fluid flows through the flow-buffer unit and the carrier in sequence. The electron source provides an electron beam to the sample.
US09842719B2 Fusible switch disconnect device for DC electrical power system
A fusible disconnect switch devices includes dual sets of switch contacts to connect or disconnect a current path through an overcurrent protection fuse with reduced arcing severity. Faster acting and longer contact path switch mechanisms are described providing satisfactory switching of DC circuits without excessive electrical arcing in a reduced physical package size.
US09842716B2 Circuit interrupters and electrical enclosures with rejection features
A set of circuit interrupters and electrical enclosures that are configured to permit an electrical enclosure having a current rating to have connected therewith a circuit interrupter having a current carrying rating no greater than the current rating. However, a current interrupter having a current carrying rating less than the current rating of the electrical enclosure potentially may be connected therewith. Such electrical interruption equipment employs threaded studs on bus bars that are of varying sizes and/or are separated by varying distances in order to resist an electrical enclosure having a current rating from being electrically connected with a circuit interrupter having a current carrying rating greater than the current rating. Alternatively or additionally, the circuit interrupter and/or the electrical enclosure may have interference elements that physically interfere with the mounting and/or the electrical connection of a circuit interrupter having a current carrying rating with an electrical enclosure having a current rating less than the current carrying rating.
US09842714B2 Detecting current leakage in a heating element
Systems and methods of detecting current leakage in a heating element are provided. An alternating current signal can be applied to the heating element. The heating element can have an associated line relay and an associated neutral relay coupled to a line terminal of the heating element and a neutral terminal of the heating element, respectively. A control system can be configured to control a sequence of operations of the line and neutral relays such that the magnitude of a leakage current flowing through the heating element to ground is increased. Such increased magnitude can facilitate detection of the leakage current. The detected leakage current can be compared with a leakage threshold. The control system can cease the operation of the heating element if the leakage current is greater than the leakage threshold.
US09842706B2 Sealing material used as a flexible thin-film type super-capacitor device
Disclosed are a method of manufacturing a flexible thin-film type super-capacitor device and a super-capacitor device manufactured by the same. The flexible thin-film type super-capacitor device comprises a base film which has flexibility; a separator which is interposed between the base films; and an active material which is formed on the base film. Thus, flexibility is given since thickness is very thin while maintaining high electrical conductivity and high binding property. In addition, economic feasibility is high and mass production is possible. Further, it is possible to stably and efficiently contain a highly corrosive material.
US09842705B2 Flexible dye-sensitized solar cell using fiber
A flexible dye-sensitized solar cell includes: a fiber layer formed of nanofibers; a conductive electrode layer formed on one side of the fiber layer; a photoelectrode layer formed on the conductive electrode layer; a counter electrode layer formed on the other side of the fiber layer; a sealing member for enclosing the fiber layer, the conductive electrode layer, the counter electrode layer and the photoelectrode layer therein so as to seal said layers from the outside; and an electrolyte infiltrated into the fiber layer. A cell body in which an electrode and a photoelectrode are formed on one surface of the fiber that contains an electrolyte therein and a counter electrode is formed on the other side of the fiber is sealed with a polymer film, thus forming a flexible solar cell having an excellent sealing structure for preventing the electrolyte from leaking out of the cell even when pressure is externally applied.
US09842703B2 Aluminum electrolytic capacitor and rubber seal for same
An aluminum electrolytic capacitor includes a capacitor element having lead terminals; an armor case housing the capacitor element; and a rubber seal having a terminal passage hole for the lead terminals drilled therein and mounted on an opening section of the armor case. A hole diameter of a lead wire passage hole is smaller than an outside diameter of an outside lead wire, and a conical guide surface of progressively smaller diameter is formed between a round bar mating hole and the lead wire passage hole within a terminal passage hole. A passage guide part of progressively smaller diameter from a lead wire body is integrally furnished at an end of the outside lead wire so as to have a smaller diameter than the hole diameter of the lead wire passage hole, forming a conical sloped surface having a predetermined angle on a peripheral surface of the passage guide part.
US09842702B1 Thermal treatment of capacitor electrode materials
Fabricating a capacitor includes performing an oxide formation operation on a sheet of material. The oxide formation operation forms an anode metal oxide on an anode metal. A thermal compression is performed on the sheet of material after the oxide formation operation is performed. The thermal compression applies thermal energy to the sheet of material while applying pressure to the sheet of material. After the thermal compression, the capacitor is assembled such that at least one electrode in the capacitor includes at least a portion of the sheet of material.
US09842701B2 System and method for electret surface potential restoration by a directional pulsating electric field
A system is disclosed for restoring a surface field potential of an electret material. An oscillator generates an oscillating output, and a power amplifier amplifies the oscillating output. A step-up transformer generates a high voltage alternating current output from the amplified oscillating output, and a polarity controller generates one of a positive pulsating output and a negative pulsating output from the high voltage alternating current output.
US09842698B2 Multilayer ceramic capacitor and manufacturing method therefor
A multilayer ceramic capacitor having a multilayer ceramic element with internal electrodes opposed to each other and dielectric ceramic layers interposed therebetween, and external electrodes on a surface of the multilayer ceramic element and electrically connected to the internal electrodes. The external electrodes contain a first non-precious metal as a first conductive component, and glass containing BaO and/or SrO, where a total content of the BaO and/or the SrO is 34 mol % or more. The internal electrodes have a second non-precious metal different from the first non-precious metal included in the external electrodes. A glass layer is formed at interfacial parts between the ceramic layers and the external electrodes, and a diffusion length thereof is within a range of 1 μm to 5 μm from joint interfaces between the external electrodes and the internal electrodes at the joints.
US09842697B2 Capacitor housing case with output terminal withdrawn forward for the improved heat dissipation and lightweight
A capacitor housing case with output terminal withdrawn forward comprises: a rear plate for forming the placement space which is divided by division portion being projected longitudinally; a top plate which is vertically formed forward from a top of the rear plate; a bottom plate which is formed parallel to the top plate forward from a bottom of the rear plate; a side plate for forming the placement space having a front opening by coupling to both sides of the rear plate, a top plate and a bottom plate; and at least two fixed mount, which is exposed outside parallel to the rear plate, for having a fixation groove penetrating up and down; wherein a capacitor output terminal is extended through the front opening, and epoxy is inserted through the front opening, and the capacitor elements and the first, the second busbar-formed portion are epoxy molded.
US09842696B2 Composite perovskite powder, preparation method thereof, and paste composition for internal electrode having the same
There are provided a composite perovskite powder, a preparation method thereof, and a paste composition for an internal electrode having the same, the composite perovskite powder capable of preventing ions from being eluted from an aqueous system at the time of synthesis while being ultra-atomized, such that when the composite perovskite powder is used as an inhibitor powder for an internal electrode, sintering properties of the internal electrode may be deteriorated, and sintering properties of a dielectric material may be increased; accordingly, connectivity of the internal electrode may be improved, and permittivity and reliability of a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) may be increased.
US09842695B2 PLZT capacitor and method to increase the dielectric constant
A ceramic-capacitor includes a first electrically-conductive-layer, a second electrically-conductive-layer arranged proximate to the first electrically-conductive-layer, and a dielectric-layer interposed between the first electrically-conductive-layer and the second electrically-conductive-layer. The dielectric-layer is formed of a lead-lanthanum-zirconium-titanate material (PLZT), wherein the PLZT is characterized by a dielectric-constant greater than 125, when measured at 25 degrees Celsius and zero Volts bias, and an excitation frequency of ten-thousand Hertz (10 kHz). A method for increasing a dielectric constant of the lead-lanthanum-zirconium-titanate material (PLZT) includes the steps of depositing PLZT to form a dielectric-layer of a ceramic-capacitor, and heating the ceramic-capacitor to a temperature not greater than 300° C.
US09842693B2 Multilayer ceramic capacitor
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes an element body, a first terminal electrode, a second terminal electrode, and a plurality of internal electrodes. The plurality of internal electrodes include a plurality of first internal electrodes, a plurality of second internal electrodes, a plurality of third internal electrodes, and a plurality of fourth internal electrodes. The element body includes a plurality of first and second regions. The first regions are located between the first internal electrodes opposed with each other. The second regions are located between the first internal electrodes opposed to each other through the third internal electrodes, and between the second internal electrodes opposed to each other through the fourth internal electrodes. The first regions and the second regions are alternately located in the first direction.
US09842692B2 Composite sheet, multilayer ceramic electronic component, and method for manufacturing the multilayer ceramic electronic component
A composite sheet includes a ceramic green sheet having a lengthwise direction and a conductor film printed on the ceramic green sheet. The conductor film has a shape that has a longitudinal dimension extending in the lengthwise direction and a lateral dimension perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The conductor film includes a plurality of thickness-varied regions arranged in a row or a plurality of rows extending in the lengthwise direction while being dispersed in the lengthwise direction. The thickness-varied regions have a thickness that is different from a thickness of a portion of the conductor film excluding the thickness-varied regions.
US09842691B2 Wire winding method and wire winding apparatus
A wire winding method which can prevent twisting tendency of a wire and the occurrence of damage on the wire. The wire winding method includes: a first step of making a plurality of wires pass through a tensioner and a nozzle sequentially and fixing distal ends of the plurality of wires to a core side; and a second step of winding the plurality of wires on the core while twisting the plurality of wires by making the nozzle revolve around the core such that a mutual positional relationship between a plurality of wire insertion holes formed in the nozzle through which the plurality of wires are made to pass respectively with respect to the tensioner is set to a fixed value.
US09842686B2 Split winding repeater
A circuit for transferring wireless electrical energy through a lossy material is described. The circuit comprises a first inductive winding portion connected electrically in series to a second inductive winding portion and at least one capacitor. Interaction of the first or second inductive winding portions with an electromagnetic field emanating from an electrical power source causes electrical energy to be induced within the circuit. The first inductive winding portion is preferably positionable adjacent a first sidewall of a lossy material and the second inductive winding portion is preferably positionable adjacent the second and opposite sidewall of the lossy material. At least one intermediate substrate composed of a ferrite material is preferably positioned between the first and second inductive winding portions as a shield that minimizes electromagnetic field interference.
US09842685B2 Artificial magnetic structures for wireless power transfer
A system includes a first resonator coupled to an energy source and a second resonator located a distance from the first resonator and coupled to the first resonator to provide near-field wireless energy transfer between the first resonator and the second resonator. The first resonator and the second resonator are non-radiative structures having a resonant frequency. The system also includes an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) having the resonant frequency and arranged within the system to shape the near-field of at least one of the first resonator and the second resonator. The AMC includes a layer of unit cells arranged in a periodic pattern enabling the AMC to reflect the near-field. Each unit cell of the AMC includes a plurality of electronic components.
US09842684B2 Systems and methods for wireless power system with improved performance and/or ease of use
A device for testing a wireless power network is disclosed. The network includes at least one power source, at least one load, and multiple resonators configured to couple wireless power from the at least one power source to the at least one load. The device includes: a user interface for receiving input from a user and providing information to the user; a measurement module for measuring, whether directly or indirectly, at least one operational characteristic of the wireless power network and information about the geometric arrangement of the multiple resonators in the wireless power network; a memory for storing design specifications about the wireless power network; and an electronic processor configured to calculate information about a performance of the wireless power network based on the measured operational characteristic, the information about the geometric arrangement of the multiple resonators, and the stored design specifications, and further configured to provide the performance information to the user through the user interface.
US09842683B1 Bobbin and E-core assembly configuration and method for E-cores and EI-cores
A magnetic assembly includes a bobbin and first and second cores. Each core has a main body. At least one of the cores has first and second outer legs and a center leg extending from the main body. The bobbin includes a first channel on a first end flange and a second channel on a second end flange. Each channel includes a plurality of crushable ribs that extend into the channel. The first and second cores are inserted into the respective first and second channels to engage and crush the crushable ribs. The crushed ribs frictionally engage the main bodies of the two cores to retain the two cores in a fixed relationship with the bobbin without requiring tape or glue. In one embodiment, both cores are E-cores. In another embodiment, one core is an extended E-core and the other core is an I-core.
US09842674B2 Methods of forming thin film resistors with high power handling capability
Designs and methodologies related to attenuators having a thin-film resistor assembly are disclosed. In some embodiments, the thin-film assembly can include a first and second thin-film resistor, each having a main portion with an input end and an output end. The input end of the first thin-film resistor is interconnected to the input end of the second thin-film resistors, and the output end of the first thin-film resistor is interconnected to the output end of the second thin-film resistor. The first and second thin-film resistors are disposed relative to one another so as to define a separation. The separation region reduces the likelihood of hot spot regions forming at or near the center of the thin-film structure and improves power handling capability for a given resistor width. Also disclosed are examples of how the foregoing features can be implemented in different products and methods of fabrication.
US09842666B2 Carbon nanofiber including copper particles, nanoparticles, dispersed solution and preparation methods thereof
Disclosed are amorphous carbon nanofibers including copper nanoparticles or copper alloy nanoparticles, copper composite nanoparticles prepared by grinding the amorphous carbon nanofibers and implemented as surfaces of Cu-included particles are partially or wholly coated with amorphous carbons, a dispersed solution including the copper composite nanoparticles, and preparation methods thereof and the amorphous carbon nanofibers include nanoparticles including copper, copper nanoparticles or copper alloy nanoparticles, and, the copper composite nanoparticles are implemented as surfaces of Cu-included particles are partially or wholly coated with amorphous carbons.
US09842665B2 Optimization of high resolution digitally encoded laser scanners for fine feature marking
Disclosed herein are laser scanning systems and methods of their use. In some embodiments, laser scanning systems can be used to ablatively or non-ablatively scan a surface of a material. Some embodiments include methods of scanning a multi-layer structure. Some embodiments include translating a focus-adjust optical system so as to vary laser beam diameter. Some embodiments make use of a 20-bit laser scanning system.
US09842664B2 Recovering and recycling uranium used for production of molybdenum-99
A processes for recycling uranium that has been used for the production of molybdenum-99 involves irradiating a solution of uranium suitable for forming fission products including molybdenum-99, conditioning the irradiated solution to one suitable for inducing the formation of crystals of uranyl nitrate hydrates, then forming the crystals and a supernatant and then separating the crystals from the supernatant, thus using the crystals as a source of uranium for recycle. Molybdenum-99 is recovered from the supernatant using an adsorbent such as alumina. Another process involves irradiation of a solid target comprising uranium, forming an acidic solution from the irradiated target suitable for inducing the formation of crystals of uranyl nitrate hydrates, then forming the crystals and a supernatant and then separating the crystals from the supernatant, thus using the crystals as a source of uranium for recycle. Molybdenum-99 is recovered from the supernatant using an adsorbent such as alumina.
US09842662B2 Screening for data retention loss in ferroelectric memories
A data retention reliability screen of integrated circuits including ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) arrays. Sampled groups of cells in the FRAM array are tested at various reference voltage levels, after programming to a high polarization capacitance data state and a relaxation time at an elevated temperature. Fail bit counts of the sample groups at the various reference voltage levels are used to derive a test reference voltage, against which all of the FRAM cells in the integrated circuit are then tested after preconditioning (i.e., programming) and another relaxation interval at the elevated temperature, to determine those cells in the integrated circuit that are vulnerable to long-term data retention failure.
US09842659B2 Non-volatile memory device for detecting progressive error, memory system, and method of operating the non-volatile memory device
Provided are a non-volatile memory device, a memory system, and a method of operating the non-volatile memory device. The method includes: performing a user operation according to at least one mode selected from among a writing mode, a reading mode, and an erasing mode with respect to a memory cell array; setting up voltages of a plurality of word lines; floating at least one word line from among the plurality of word lines, the voltages of which are set up, according to the at least one selected mode; and detecting whether the at least one word line has a progressive defect, according to a result of detecting a voltage level of the at least one floated word line.
US09842654B2 Nonvolatile memory device with improved reliability and operating speed
A nonvolatile memory includes a memory cell array, a row decoder circuit, and a page buffer circuit. The row decoder circuit applies a turn-on voltage to string selection lines, which are connected to string selection transistors of a selected memory block, at a first precharge operation in response to a write command received from an external device. The page buffer circuit applies, in response to the write command, a first voltage to bit lines, which are connected to the string selection transistors, through a first precharge circuit at the first precharge operation regardless of loaded data and applies the first voltage and a second voltage to the bit lines through a second precharge circuit at a second precharge operation based on the loaded data. During the first precharge operation, write data is loaded onto the page buffer circuit.
US09842653B2 Semiconductor memory device and operating method of biasing memory blocks
In an embodiment, a method of operating a semiconductor memory device may include performing a read operation on a selected memory block, and, during the read operation, enabling local select lines to float so that potential levels of local word lines coupled to unselected memory blocks is increased.
US09842651B2 Three-dimensional vertical NOR flash thin film transistor strings
A memory structure, includes (a) active columns of polysilicon formed above a semiconductor substrate, each active column extending vertically from the substrate and including a first heavily doped region, a second heavily doped region, and one or more lightly doped regions each adjacent both the first and second heavily doped region, wherein the active columns are arranged in a two-dimensional array extending in second and third directions parallel to the planar surface of the semiconductor substrate; (b) charge-trapping material provided over one or more surfaces of each active column; and (c) conductors each extending lengthwise along the third direction. The active columns, the charge-trapping material and the conductors together form a plurality of thin film transistors, with each thin film transistor formed by one of the conductors, a portion of the lightly doped region of an active column, the charge-trapping material between the portion of the lightly doped region and the conductor, and the first and second heavily doped regions. The thin film transistors associated with each active column are organized into one or more vertical NOR strings.
US09842650B2 Non-volatile SRAM memory cell, and non-volatile semiconductor storage device
A first switch transistor and a second switch transistor are turned on concurrently. Thereby a first ReRAM is electrically connected to a first storage node, and a second ReRAM is electrically connected to a second storage node. Complementary SRAM data stored in an SRAM is programmed into a non-volatile memory section of a first memory cell and a second memory cell. One of the first switch transistor and the second switch transistor is turned on to electrically connect only the first ReRAM to the first storage node or to electrically connect only the second ReRAM to the second storage node. Hence, the first memory cell or the second memory cell functions as an independent-type cell in accordance with usage. Data is programmed separately into the first memory cell M1a or the second memory cell M1b. Thus memory capacity is increased.
US09842647B1 Programming of resistive random access memory for analog computation
Examples include a method of programming resistive random access memory (RRAM) array for analog computations. In some examples, a selected RRAM cell of the RRAM array may be programmed with a selected target conductance and a programmed conductance error of the selected RRAM cell may be determined. A neighboring RRAM cell may be programmed with an error corrected target conductance that is a function of a neighboring target conductance and the programmed conductance error of the selected RRAM cell. The neighboring RRAM cell may be in a same row or a same column as the selected RRAM cell. The selected RRAM cell and neighboring RRAM cell are programmed such that the RRAM array is programmed for an analog computation.
US09842644B1 Memory device, operation method of the same, and operation method of memory controller
A method for operating a memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells, the method may include: performing a first refresh operation comprising sequentially applying a recovery pulse to each of the plurality of memory cells and repeating the sequential application of the recovery pulse to each of the plurality of memory cells for a predetermined number of times; and performing a second refresh operation comprising sequentially re-writing data of each of the plurality of memory cells once after the first refresh operation is performed for the predetermined number of times.
US09842641B2 Semiconductor device and operating method thereof
A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory cell blocks each including a plurality of word lines and suitable for being selectively activated based on an active command and a row address, wherein word lines are selected from the respective activated memory cell blocks based on the active command and the row address, and a column decoding block sequentially accessing the activated memory cell blocks to input/output data thereof by decoding a column address based on the row address.
US09842640B2 Refresh control circuit and memory device including same
A memory device may include: at least one memory bank; and a control circuit suitable for: refreshing the at least one memory bank through a first refresh operation in response to a refresh command; and refreshing the at least one memory bank through a second refresh operation when an active operation is performed between a current refresh command and a previous refresh command.
US09842637B2 Magnetic memory device and method of fabricating the same
A magnetic memory device and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The method includes forming a first magnetic layer on a substrate, forming a tunnel barrier layer on the first magnetic layer, and forming a second magnetic layer on the tunnel barrier layer. The forming of the tunnel barrier layer includes forming a first metal oxide layer on the first magnetic layer, forming a first metal layer on the first metal oxide layer, forming a second metal oxide layer on the first metal layer, and performing a first thermal treatment process to oxidize at least a portion of the first metal layer.
US09842636B2 Perpendicular magnetization film, perpendicular magnetization film structure, magnetoresistance element, and perpendicular magnetic recording medium
Provided is a structure having a perpendicular magnetization film which is an (Mn1-xGax)4N1-y (0
US09842634B2 Wordline negative boost write-assist circuits for memory bit cells employing a P-type field-effect transistor (PFET) write port(s), and related systems and methods
Write-assist circuits for memory bit cells (“bit cells”) employing a P-type Field-Effect transistor (PFET) write port(s) are disclosed. Related methods and systems are also disclosed. It has been observed that as node technology is scaled down in size, PFET drive current (i.e., drive strength) exceeds N-type Field-Effect transistor (NFET) drive current for like-dimensioned FETs. In this regard, in one aspect, it is desired to provide bit cells having PFET write ports, as opposed to NFET write ports, to reduce memory write times to the bit cells, and thus improve memory performance. To mitigate a write contention that could otherwise occur when writing data to bit cells, a write-assist circuit provided in the form of negative wordline boost circuit can be employed to strengthen a PFET access transistor in a memory bit cell having a PFET write port(s).
US09842633B2 Tracking and correction of timing signals
Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to track and/or correct timing signals. Timing signals generated from an interface can be compared to the timing signals returned to the interface. A timing delta from the comparison can be applied to calculate a correction value make adjustments that can include adjustment to a subsequent timing signal, adjustment to a reference voltage setting associated with the subsequent timing signal, other adjustments, or combinations thereof. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US09842630B2 Memory component with adjustable core-to-interface data rate ratio
A memory component includes a memory bank comprising a plurality of storage cells and a data interface block configured to transfer data between the memory component and a component external to the memory component. The memory component further includes a plurality of column interface buses coupled between the memory bank and the data interface block, wherein a first column interface bus of the plurality of column interface buses is configured to transfer data between a first storage cell of the plurality of storage cells and the data interface block during a first access operation and wherein a second column interface bus of the plurality of column interface buses is configured to transfer the data between the first storage cell and the data interface block during a second access operation.
US09842627B2 Memory device with strap cells
A device includes a first strap cell, a first data line, and a second data line. The first strap cell is arranged between a first row of memory cells and a second row of memory cells in a memory array. A first portion of the first data line is configured to transmit data to or from a first memory cell in the first row of memory cells. The second data line and a second portion of the first data line are configured to transmit data to or from a second memory cell in the second row of memory cells.
US09842626B2 Sealing and enclosure system for disc drives
A drive enclosure system having an enclosure assembly, a divider positioned in the enclosure assembly, and a sled assembly movably connected to the enclosure assembly is disclosed herein. The enclosure assembly has an interior area, and the divider separates the interior area into first and second chambers. The divider has a drive opening which receives a drive. The sled assembly supports the drive and is movable relative to the divider. The sled assembly has a leading end portion and a sealing member and positioned to form a seal around the drive opening when the sled assembly is in a position with a portion of the drive in the first chamber and another portion of the drive in the second chamber.
US09842622B1 Data storage device having improved read failure tolerance
Systems and methods for improving read failure tolerance during read-modify-write operations of data storage systems accommodating a host that uses a logical sector of a size smaller than the physical sector size of the data storage system. In one embodiment, the data storage system can perform sector indirection in response to a read error during a read-modify-write command.
US09842621B1 Heat-assisted magnetic recording apparatus capable of detecting optical power change based on one or more of phase errors and dibit response
An apparatus determines that phase errors have exceeded a threshold when reading data previously recorded to a heat-assisted recording medium. In response to the phase errors exceeding the threshold, remedial action is taken to prevent loss of data due changes in power applied to heat the heat-assisted recording medium when recording.
US09842617B1 Electronic system with head management mechanism and method of operation thereof
An apparatus includes: a media; a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head over the media; and control circuitry, coupled to the HAMR head, the control circuitry being configured to: receive a write command to write the media; apply a dynamic flying height (DFH) control before asserting a write gate of the HAMR head; assert the write gate to the HAMR head; and enable a flying height compensation mechanism to maintain a constant value of a flying height of the HAMR head over the media during a next assertion of the write gate.
US09842615B1 Magnetic reader having a nonmagnetic insertion layer for the pinning layer
A method and system provide a magnetic read apparatus. The magnetic read apparatus includes a read sensor. The read sensor includes a pinning layer, a nonmagnetic insertion layer and a pinned layer. The nonmagnetic insertion layer has a location selected from a first location and a second location. The first location is between the pinned layer and the pinning layer. The second location is within the pinning layer.
US09842609B2 Real-time adaptive audio source separation
Methods and systems for audio source separation in real-time are described. In an embodiment, the present disclosure describes reading and decoding an audio source into PCM samples, fragmenting Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) samples into fragments, transforming fragments into spectrograms, performing audio source separation using a training database that includes a training dictionary and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to generate a set of component signals, and streaming the component signals to a playback engine. In an embodiment, a semantic equalizer graphical user allows for fading of individual component signals.
US09842605B2 Apparatuses and methods for audio classifying and processing
Apparatus and methods for audio classifying and processing are disclosed. In one embodiment, an audio processing apparatus includes an audio classifier for classifying an audio signal into at least one audio type in real time; an audio improving device for improving experience of audience; and an adjusting unit for adjusting at least one parameter of the audio improving device in a continuous manner based on the confidence value of the at least one audio type.
US09842595B2 Frame error concealment method and apparatus, and audio decoding method and apparatus
Disclosed are a frame error concealment method and apparatus and an audio decoding method and apparatus. The frame error concealment (FEC) method includes: selecting an FEC mode based on at least one of a state of at least one frame and a phase matching flag, with regard to a time domain signal generated after time-frequency inverse transform processing; and performing corresponding time domain error concealment processing on the current frame based on the selected FEC mode, wherein the current frame is an error frame or the current frame is a normal frame when the previous frame is an error frame.
US09842591B2 Methods and systems for modifying operational data of an interaction process or of a process for determining an instruction
It is inter alia disclosed to perform at least one of operating an interaction process with a user of the medical apparatus and determining, based on a representation of at least one instruction given by the user, at least one instruction operable by the medical apparatus. Therein, the at least one of the operating and the determining at least partially depends on operational data. It is further disclosed to receive modification information for modifying at least a part of the operational data, wherein the modification information is at least partially determined based on an analysis of a representation of at least one instruction given by the user.
US09842585B2 Multilingual deep neural network
Described herein are various technologies pertaining to a multilingual deep neural network (MDNN). The MDNN includes a plurality of hidden layers, wherein values for weight parameters of the plurality of hidden layers are learned during a training phase based upon training data in terms of acoustic raw features for multiple languages. The MDNN further includes softmax layers that are trained for each target language separately, making use of the hidden layer values trained jointly with multiple source languages. The MDNN is adaptable, such that a new softmax layer may be added on top of the existing hidden layers, where the new softmax layer corresponds to a new target language.
US09842584B1 Providing content on multiple devices
Techniques for receiving a voice command from a user and, in response, providing audible content to the user via a first device and providing visual content for the user via a second device. In some instances, the first device includes a microphone for generating audio signals that include user speech, as well as a speaker for outputting audible content in response to identified voice commands from the speech. However, the first device might not include a display for displaying graphical content. As such, the first device may be configured to identify devices that include displays and that are proximate to the first device. The first device may then instruct one or more of these other devices to output visual content associated with a user's voice command.
US09842581B2 Acoustic logging apparatuses and methods
A transmitter for an acoustic logging tool includes an elongated housing, an acoustic energy generator, and a driver. The elongate housing defines a hollow interior and supports an acoustic energy generator, which includes four mutually orthogonally orientated bender bars that are electrically driveable to flex within the hollow interior in order to generate pressure-derived waves in a fluid surrounding the transmitter in use. The housing includes one or more transmissive windows via which flexing of the bender bars gives rise to propagation of one or more said waves in a said fluid. The driver electrically drives the bender bars to flex so as selectively to generate monopole, dipole, or quadrupole waves in a said fluid, with the poles of the dipole and quadrupole when generated selectively being aligned with normals to pairs of the bender bars or rotated 45° relative thereto.
US09842579B1 Percussion instrument and method for detecting an attack position of a percussion instrument
A percussion instrument, in particular electronic percussion instrument, includes at least one main attack element having at least one main attack surface and with a position detecting unit which is at least provided to detect an attack position of the main attack surface. The position detecting unit comprises at least two position detecting elements which are arranged decentrally with respect to the main attack surface, at least when the main attack surface is viewed perpendicularly.
US09842576B2 Midi mallet for touch screen devices
For music production, the velocity values with the purpose of creating dynamic percussion in cooperation with a value measuring surface (a touch screen tablet or touch screen phone) has the ability to simulate the tension of a percussion instrument thus tone values are correlated with X, Y values from a measuring surface and dynamics values are measured with velocity, all inclusive, wireless and cooperative with MIDI software.
US09842575B1 Music box
A music box includes a box, an operation unit, multiple activation units and a comb member. A circuit board controls a coil in a desired one of the activation units to create a magnetic field with the magnetic plate so as to attract the activation plate to be matched with the match plate. The attached activation plate and the match plate are rotated by a shaft extending through the activation units. The shaft is driven by a driving member. Each activation plate includes fingers which push the keys of the comb member to generate sound.
US09842572B2 Methods and apparatus for displaying video including variable frame rates
Methods are described for displaying video including variable frame rates. A method for displaying images includes receiving digital video data including video image data in a display system capable of displaying images at multiple frame rates; storing the digital video data in at least one frame buffer coupled to the display system; receiving in the digital video data ancillary data comprising at least configuration parameters indicating a current frame rate and a future frame rate; storing the parameters representative of a current frame rate in a first timing control buffer coupled to the display system; storing the parameters representative of a future frame rate in a second timing control buffer; displaying images from data in the frame buffer at the current frame rate; and upon detection of a swap condition, instantly displaying images from data in the frame buffer at the future frame rate. Additional methods and apparatus are described.
US09842570B2 Display device and method, and program
The present technique relates to a display device and method, and a program for presenting high-quality stereoscopic images in a simpler manner.A display unit is a four-viewpoint display device having a parallax barrier. On the display unit, block regions that are formed with pixels of channels CH0 through CH3 aligned in the parallax direction are aligned in the parallax direction. An allocation control unit allocates a parallax image for the left eye or a parallax image for the right eye to the pixels of each channel in block regions, in accordance with the viewpoint position of the user. For example, the same parallax image is allocated to pixels of two different channels adjacent to each other in the parallax direction. A generating unit generates a combined image by combining the parallax image for the right eye and the parallax image for the left eye in accordance with the allocation performed by the allocation control unit, and causes the display unit to stereoscopically display the combined image. The present invention can be applied to display devices.
US09842565B2 Controller for in-vehicle ethernet and control method thereof
In-vehicle communication and, more particularly, a controller operating an in-vehicle Ethernet environment and a control method thereof are disclosed. A controller operating in an in-vehicle Ethernet network includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a physical layer (PHY) device connected to the CPU through a first interface, a second interface, and a first pin, wherein the PHY device includes a decoder, the PHY device being configured based on a predetermined configuration value for initialization irrespective of booting of an operating system of the CPU, and the decoder decodes compressed video data received from an external source through the Ethernet network into uncompressed video data and transmits the uncompressed video data to the external source after initialization of the PHY device is completed based on configuration of the first pin.
US09842559B2 Display device
A demultiplexer circuit (12) of a display device according to one aspect of the present invention includes signal input lines (Vn), control lines (BSW, GSW, and RSW), and sampling transistors (13R2, 13G2, and 13B1). Sampling transistors connected to one signal input line includes first and second sampling transistors. A first sampling transistor (13B1) includes a control electrode (17) which branches to a first branch part (17a) and a second branch part (17b), either one of an input electrode (15) and an output electrode (18) that are disposed between a first branch part (17a) and a second branch part (17b), and other one of an input electrode (15) and an output electrode (18) that are disposed outside of a first branch part (17a) and a second branch part (17b).
US09842557B2 Gate driving circuit and display device having the same
A gate driving circuit provides a plurality of gate lines of a display panel with gate signals, the gate driving circuit including: a plurality of driving stages which correspond to the plurality of gate lines, respectively, and each of which outputs a carry signal and a gate signal for driving a corresponding gate line in response to a clock signal, an input signal, and a carry signal of a next stage; and a dummy driving stage which outputs a dummy carry signal in response to the clock signal, a carry signal of the last stage of the plurality of driving stages, and a carry signal output from any one of the plurality of driving stages.
US09842556B2 Display device and method of driving the same
According to one embodiment, a display device includes a display unit and a driver unit. The driver unit includes a display drive unit, a power supply unit and a control unit. The control unit instructs a display period in which the image is displayed in the display unit and a non-display period in which the image is not displayed to the display drive unit, and instructs mitigation driving which mitigates a difference in an electrical load of the display drive unit between the display period and the non-display period to the power supply unit in the non-display period.
US09842553B2 Method of driving display panel and display apparatus for performing the same
A method of driving a display panel includes: generating a data signal having a difference between a number of positive frames and a number of negative frames; and displaying an image according to the data signal.
US09842547B2 Display apparatus and television receiver
A display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel, and a plurality of light sources irradiating the liquid crystal panel with light. The display apparatus inserts black signals during a predetermined period within respective frame periods in a plurality of image frames. The display apparatus respectively displays signals corresponding to the respective regions in each image frame into which the black signals are inserted, in respective regions of the liquid crystal panel irradiated with light by each of the light sources, in an order along an arrangement direction of the respective regions. The display apparatus respectively irradiates the respective regions with light by the light sources corresponding thereto, in a latter period within a period in which the corresponding signals are respectively displayed in the respective regions of the liquid crystal panel. In this case, the display apparatus reduces luminance of light from the light sources corresponding to the respective regions, in an order of respectively displaying the signals in the respective regions of the liquid crystal panel, corresponding thereto.
US09842544B2 Stable driving scheme for active matrix displays
A method and system for operating a pixel array having at least one pixel circuit is provided. The method includes repeating an operation cycle defining a frame period for a pixel circuit, including at each frame period, programming the pixel circuit, driving the pixel circuit, and relaxing a stress effect on the pixel circuit, prior to a next frame period. The system includes a pixel array including a plurality of pixel circuits and a plurality of lines for operation of the plurality of pixel circuits. Each of the pixel circuits includes a light emitting device, a storage capacitor, and a drive circuit connected to the light emitting device and the storage capacitor. The system includes a drive for operating the plurality of lines to repeat an operation cycle having a frame period so that each of the operation cycle comprises a programming cycle, a driving cycle and a relaxing cycle for relaxing a stress on a pixel circuit, prior to a next frame period.
US09842542B2 Display apparatus having a pixel structure for driving a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes
There are provided a pixel structure, a display panel and a display apparatus. The pixel structure comprises a pixel circuit (11), a switch circuit (12) and n organic light-emitting diodes (13) sharing the pixel circuit (11), where n is greater than or equal to 2. Respective organic light-emitting diodes (13) sharing the pixel circuit (11) are located in a same column of the display panel, and emit lights of a same color when emitting light. The switch circuit (12) is configured to control any two organic light-emitting diodes (13) sharing the pixel circuit (11) to emit light at different periods of time. The pixel circuit (11) is configured to drive of the respective organic light-emitting diodes sharing the pixel circuit (11) to emit light according to a received data signal. The pixel structure is used to solve the problem of the complexity of the back board.
US09842537B2 Pixel, display device comprising the same and having an initialization period and driving method thereof
A display device includes: a display unit including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels including: an OLED; and a driving transistor to supply current to an anode of the OLED according to a voltage applied to a gate of the driving transistor and a power supply voltage; a scan driver to supply scan signals to the pixels; an initialization driver to supply initializing signals to the pixels; a data driver to supply data signals to the pixels; light emission drivers to supply first and second light emission signals to the pixels; and a power supply to supply the power supply voltage and an initialization voltage to the pixels, wherein the initialization voltage is supplied to the anode during a first period, and the power supply voltage corresponding to a threshold voltage of the driving transistor is supplied to the gate during a first sub-period of the first period.
US09842531B2 Gate driving circuit and display device
The invention discloses a gate driving circuit and a display device. The gate driving circuit includes first to eighth dock signal lines and first to Nth stage first shift registers, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 9. The first to eighth clock signal lines are configured to provide first to eighth clock signals, respectively. The ith stage first shift register is coupled to one of the first to eighth clock signal lines and receives one of the first to eighth clock signals, a first input signal and a second input signal and outputs an ith stage first output signal, where i is any integer from 1 to N.
US09842526B2 Flat panel display and driving method thereof
A flat panel display includes a signal generator to generate data signals to respective data lines via an output terminal or to generate a control signal for controlling switches. The signal generator includes a first voltage supply unit to supply, to the output terminal, a voltage of a first voltage sources, a voltage stabilizing unit to raise or drop the voltage supplied to the output terminal, and a second voltage supply unit to supply, to the output terminal, a voltage from a second voltage source, after the voltage of the output terminal is raised or dropped.
US09842521B2 Assembly for communicating a status of a vehicle
An assembly for communicating a status of a vehicle, the assembly incorporating an inner plate; an inner slot plurality positioned at the inner plate's peripheral edge; a plurality of indicia display surfaces having radially inner ends, wherein each indicia display surface is positioned between an adjacent pair of slots; an outer plate having a peripheral edge, the outer plate being rotatably mounted upon the inner plate; an outer slot positioned at the outer plate's peripheral edge, wherein the outer slot is sized for, upon rotation of the outer plate, successively exposing overlying the indicia display surfaces; and a pawl fixedly attached to and extending inwardly from the outer plate, the pawl being positioned for, upon the outer plate rotation, successively engaging the inner slots.
US09842520B2 Product display members
A product display member is disclosed. The product display member includes an attachment portion, an elongated portion, a light source, and an information display portion. The attachment portion is configured to engage a portion of a shelf. The elongated portion is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the attachment portion. The elongated portion defines a lumen extending at least partially therethrough. The light source is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the lumen. The information display portion is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the elongated portion.
US09842519B2 Fastener assembly and system for manufacturing the same
A fastener assembly includes a molded plastic fastener shaped to define a filament, a paddle at one end of the filament, and a cross-bar at the other end of the filament. The fastener assembly additionally includes a printed label embedded in the paddle, the printed label including an electrically chargeable, stiffness enhancing laminate that is applied to a print receptive polymer substrate. An in-line system for manufacturing a continuously connected supply of the fastener assemblies includes a rotatable mold wheel, a feed mechanism for advancing a continuous, ionized, printed polymer web in a near tangential relationship relative to the mold wheel periphery, a cutting mechanism for transversely cutting through the web to form a plurality of rectangular printed labels that are magnetically drawn into corresponding cavities in the mold wheel, an extruder for applying molten plastic into the cavities and a knife for skiving excess hardened plastic from the mold wheel periphery.
US09842508B2 Online interactive fitness trainer
A method, and corresponding system, for providing a fitness program to remote subscribers includes receiving first data related to a fitness program. A virtual fitness session having a set of remote subscribers is established. An online fitness coach is assigned to the set of remote subscribers in the virtual fitness session. Second data, including audio and/or video data related to the first fitness program, is transmitted to the set of remote subscribers in the virtual fitness session. Feedback is provided from each remote subscriber to the online fitness coach. The feedback enables the online fitness coach to monitor in live-time third data regarding performance of each remote subscriber in the virtual fitness session. The method further includes communicating between the online fitness coach and the set of remote subscribers. The communication enables the online fitness coach to send fourth data to one or more of the remote subscribers in live-time.
US09842506B2 Systems and methods for conflict detection using dynamic thresholds
Systems and methods are delineated in which dynamic thresholds may be employed to detect and provide alerts for potential conflicts between a vehicle and another vehicle, an object or a person in an aircraft environment. Current systems for airport conflict detection and alerting consider one or more alerting boundaries which are independent of the amount of traffic present at any one time or over the course of time. Because nuisance alerts rates depend to a large extent on the amount of traffic, and because alert detection thresholds are often set based on a desire to limit nuisance alerts to a specific threshold, adapting those thresholds based on, among other things, the amount of traffic can result in earlier alerting in some crash scenarios and can even result in providing an alert in a crash scenario where no alert would have otherwise been generated.
US09842501B2 Mine management system
A mine management system includes generating unmanned vehicle traveling data including a target traveling route of an unmanned vehicle, acquiring unmanned vehicle current situation data at first time point, acquiring manned vehicle current situation data at the first time point, estimating a range in which the unmanned vehicle may be present at second time point based on the unmanned vehicle traveling data and the unmanned vehicle current situation data, estimating a position where a manned vehicle may be present at the second time point based on the manned vehicle current situation data, and deriving a risk level indicating a possibility of collision between the manned vehicle and the unmanned vehicle corresponding to the second time point at the first time point per position where the manned vehicle may be present based on estimation results of estimating the unmanned vehicle existence range and the manned vehicle existence position.
US09842498B2 Road-traffic-based group, identifier, and resource selection in vehicular peer-to-peer networks
A method, a computer program product, and an apparatus for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus adjusts a number of sets of identifiers in a plurality of sets of identifiers based on traffic information. In addition, the apparatus selects an identifier from a set of identifiers of the plurality of sets of identifiers based on the traffic information. Furthermore, the apparatus communicates using resources associated with the selected identifier. The traffic information may include at least one of direction of travel, map information, velocity, whether approaching an intersection, whether departing an intersection, location, a number of vehicles within a particular area, information from other vehicles, type of intersection, whether the intersection includes stop lights or stop signs, at least one computed value based on acquired traffic information, or information from other wireless devices.
US09842496B1 Broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel
A system of broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel may include a mobile device configured to: (1) mount within a vehicle dashboard cradle so that the mobile device is positioned to take images forward of a vehicle; (2) collect telematics data, with customer permission or affirmative consent, when the vehicle is moving, including GPS location, speed, heading, lane, braking, cornering, acceleration, and/or route data of the vehicle; (3) generate an alert based upon the telematics data and the images, and/or broadcast data including the images and the telematics data; and/or (4) broadcast the alert and/or the data collected to (a) a nearby vehicle(s) and/or (b) a smart infrastructure component(s) to facilitate warning of hazards upon the nearby vehicle(s) and/or the smart infrastructure component(s) receiving and processing the alert and/or the broadcasted data. Insurance discounts may be generated based upon the risk mitigation or prevention functionality.
US09842491B2 Universal remote control
Disclosed is a universal remote control device including a display to provide a graphical unit interface (GUI), a controller configured to process registration requests from state machines associated with remotely controllable appliances and to manage control data transfer to and from the state machines responsive to the registration requests, and a communication module to enable communications between the device and the state machines. Additionally disclosed is a graphics interface unit (GUI) implementable on a display of a computing device operable to remotely control a plurality of appliances. The GUI includes a screen area on the display to display output information, and a plurality of sections on the display to simultaneously display input selection functions associated with different levels of a hierarchical arrangement of control functions for the plurality of appliances.
US09842488B2 Method and apparatus for creating security and control system tracking immunity
Systems and methods grant immunity from a monitoring system. For example, a monitoring system comprises a portable device configured to communicate a unique identifier with a registration signal, and a monitoring system. The monitoring system comprises a database including the unique identifier, a sensor configured to detect a condition, and a controller configured to receive a detection signal from the sensor when the condition is detected. The monitoring system grants immunity from the sensor to the portable device when the registration signal is received by the monitoring system.
US09842485B2 Prognosticating panic situations and pre-set panic notification in a security system
A system is provided that includes a security system that protects a secured geographic area, a delayed alarm process executing on a processor of the security system, wherein the delayed alarm process is activated by an authorized person through a user input of the security system, a timer of the delayed alarm process that delays sending an alarm message to a predetermined destination for a predetermined time period first following activation of the delayed alarm process by the authorized person through the user input, and a cancel feature of the delayed alarm process that disables the delayed alarm process upon receipt of an instruction from the authorized person, wherein, upon expiration of the predetermined time period without receipt of a reset, the delayed alarm process sends the alarm message to the predetermined destination.
US09842481B1 Apparatus and method to collect device information published in past times via a network of gateways
Gateways transfer data between publishers and subscribers. Upon receiving an acquisition request for acquiring device-information from a subscriber, a first gateway stores, as routing-information, a matching condition for transferring device-information and a transfer-destination address, and transfers the acquisition request. Upon receiving device-information issued by a publisher, the second gateway stores the device-information in association with a reception time of the device-information, adds, to the routing information, a matching result including a source address of the device-information and the reception time, and transfers the device-information through gateways to the first gateway, according to the routing information. When the acquisition request includes a time condition related to past time, the first gateway generates an accumulating area for accumulating device-information, and when device-information is acquired in response to the acquisition request, accumulates the acquired device-information in the accumulating area, and transmits the accumulated device-information to the subscriber after a predetermined time has elapsed.
US09842479B1 Systems including a smart device for receiving a prerecorded message and transmitting the prerecorded message to a detector
A warning system of the present disclosure has at least two detectors for detecting conditions within a structure that are communicatively coupled via a wireless area network (WAN), and each detector is configured to activate an alert and to transmit data indicative of a detected condition to a smart device. In addition, the warning system has a processor configured to receive the data indicative of the detected condition and automatically initiate control logic resident on the smart device. Further, the processor is configured to initiate an alert in response that indicates the presence of the detected condition in the structure, which is conveyed to a user of the smart device.
US09842478B2 Smoke and fire detector
A smoke and/or fire detector for the detection and distance measurement of smoke (36) in a monitored zone (2), having a light transmitter (4) for transmitting a transmitted light signal (8), having a light receiver (6) for generating a received light signal (10) from the transmitted light signal (8) remitted or reflected in the monitored zone (2), and having an evaluation unit (12) for evaluating the time of flight of the received light signal (10), wherein the evaluation unit (12) has a transient recorder (14) and wherein the transient recorder (4) is configured to record multiple received light signals (10) of a single transmitted light signal (8) successively following in time in a time period and the evaluation unit (12) is configured to evaluate the received slight signals (10).
US09842477B2 Lighting device and lighting system
A lighting device includes: a light source switchable between illumination modes; a human detector which detects a person in a detection area in an illumination area of the light source; an ID reader which wirelessly reads an identification stored in an RF tag in a read area corresponding to the detection area; and a controller communicably connected to the light source, the human detector, and the ID reader. The controller obtains from the human detector human detection information indicating that one or more persons are present, obtains from the ID reader one or more identifications read by the ID reader when the human detector detects the one or more persons, and applies one mode of the illumination modes to the light source based on the human detection information and one or more identifications obtained, and the light source performs illumination in the applied mode.
US09842474B2 Slots game with improving bonus-winning odds
Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for adjusting bonus winning odds while playing an online slots game. One method includes an operation for receiving user input during a session of an online slots game, where the user input is defined to spin wheels of the online slots game. In addition, the method includes an operation for defining an initial tier and one or more additional tiers for play of the online slots game during the session, each tier being assigned an odds value that changes with each assigned tier, and each tier being defined to have a set of spins. Further, the method includes operations for assigning tiers with changed odds when an option to play a bonus game is not presented during the predefined set of spins for each tier, and for assigning the initial tier upon determining that the bonus game was played during the session.
US09842473B2 Gaming machine
After determining that a game state is a non-play state, it is determined whether or not a credit required for a play has been inputted within a predetermined time period. When the credit has not been inputted within the predetermined time period, a display mode in which a plurality of different bonus ranks are displayed on a middle image display panel in a first state in which a bonus or bonuses are likely to be obtained by a drawing and in a second state in which the bonus or bonuses are not obtained thereby is switched to a display mode in which all of the plurality of bonus ranks displayed in display areas are displayed in either of the first state or the second state.
US09842471B2 Assigning a secure room to a player in online poker game
Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for selecting game servers and assigning seats to players in poker tables. One method includes an operation for receiving table parameters from a user in a poker game. The table parameters identify the characteristics of a desired table for playing poker by the user. A distance from the desired table to the available poker tables is calculated, where the distance based on the similarity between the desired table and each of the available poker tables. Each of the available poker tables is served by one of a plurality of servers. Additionally, the method includes operations for selecting candidate tables from the available poker tables based on the calculated distances, and for selecting a playing table from the candidate tables at random. The user is then connected to a server that serves the selected playing table.
US09842470B2 Method of gaming, a gaming system and a game controller
A method of gaming in a gaming system comprising; generating a game outcome by spinning a plurality of reels to respective stop positions at which a plurality of symbols of each reel are displayed at respective ones of a plurality of symbol display positions; controlling spinning of the reels prior to the reels reaching their respective stop positions to include a first mode in which all of the reels spin independently of each other, and a second mode in which at least two adjacent reels are synchronized to spin together; evaluating the game outcome to determine whether to make an award in respect of the game outcome; and making any determined award.
US09842467B2 Card picks for progressive prize
In various embodiments, players around the casino may predict cards to be dealt in a game of blackjack.
US09842464B2 Storage method for a gaming machine
In a first aspect the invention provides a storage method for a gaming machine, including allocating program code to one of at least two program categories including a first category of program code that is expected to be modified more frequently than a second category of program code and storing program code from the first and second categories in logically separate storage areas.
US09842457B2 Method, apparatus, and program product for allocating progressive prize pools
A method for controlling contributions to progressive prize pools includes providing a progressive server which manages standalone progressive prize pools for each of multiple individual gaming machines. The progressive server may further provide group progressive prize pools, allowing a gaming machine to have standalone pools and also be a member in a group pool. Where multiple standalone progressive prize pools are maintained for a single gaming machine, additional steps are taken to identify which pool or pools are to be increased when a standalone progressive contribution is made.
US09842455B2 Single space parking meter and removable single space parking meter mechanism
A parking meter mechanism is described that may include a front housing, having a display opening for viewing a display through, connected to an internal structure. Additionally or alternatively the parking meter mechanism may include a contactless payment reader located behind the display. The parking meter mechanism may be secured to a lower housing. A back housing may be secured to the lower housing as well. The front or back housing may include a solar panel compartment and solar panel mounted therein.
US09842453B2 Banknote processing device
A banknote processing device includes: a plurality of storage units configured to store a banknote having a predetermined condition in a storage unit corresponding to the banknote among the plurality of storage units when the banknote is fed through a depositing port provided on a device main body; and a dispensing box configured to discharge the banknote through a dispensing port provided on the dispensing box by conveying the banknote, which is sent from the storage unit, to the dispensing box when a dispensing instruction is given. The dispensing box is configured to collect the banknote being stored in the storage units when a collecting instruction is given.
US09842450B2 Banknote handling apparatus
A banknote handling apparatus 100 includes: a taking-in unit 10 which takes banknotes in one by one; a transport unit 70 which transports each banknote from the taking-in unit 10; a recognition sensor 20 which obtains information related to the fitness of the banknote transported by the transport unit 70; and a memory unit 55 which stores a threshold value for an unfit note factor for determining the fitness of a banknote. A control unit 50 of apparatus 100 determines the fitness of the banknote by comparing the threshold value and a detected value of the unfit note factor based on the information obtained by the recognition sensor 20, and counts the number of times the unfit note factor has been used to determine the banknote as an unfit note. An output unit 35 outputs the unfit note factor and the number of times of reason.
US09842447B2 System and method for range-boosted key fob
A vehicle key fob is provided having a module for wirelessly communicating with an associated mobile device, a dedicated input device for initiating a mobile link mode, a plurality of input devices for commanding an associated vehicle to perform a user-selected function, and a processor configured to, upon receiving an input at the dedicated input device, send a command signal for performing the user-selected function to the mobile device.
US09842445B2 Passive remote keyless entry system with time-based anti-theft feature
Method for preventing security breaches via the two-thief method of attack of passive remote keyless entry systems for vehicles. The method involves the measurement of air travel time of the RF messages between the RKE fob and the vehicle. Multiple round trips between the fob and the vehicle are employed to magnify the distance covered by the messages and thereby allow accurate measurement of the air travel time.
US09842443B1 Computing device as a vehicle key
In general, aspects of this disclosure are directed towards techniques for using a computing device to perform the functionality of a vehicle key, so that the computing device may be used to automatically unlock the doors of a vehicle and/or to activate a previously-deactivated keyless ignition system. The computing device may be associated with a vehicle, including sending an identifier associated with the computing device to the vehicle via short-range communication. The computing device may also send to the vehicle, via short-range communication, at least one unlock door signal including an access code verifiable by the vehicle, and wherein receipt of the at least one unlock door signal by the vehicle enables the vehicle to unlock one or more of its doors without further user intervention.
US09842438B1 Mileage and speed estimation
An approach to determining vehicle usage makes use of a sensor that provides a vibration signal associated with the vehicle, and that vibration signal is used to infer usage. Usage can include distance traveled, optionally associated with particular ranges of speed or road type. In a calibration phase, auxiliary measurements, for instance based on GPS signals, are used to determine a relationship between the vibration signal and usage. In a monitoring phase, the determined relationship is used to infer usage from the vibration signal.
US09842436B2 Seamless texture transfer
A method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture provide the ability to seamlessly transfer a texture. An image that has an object to be concealed is acquired. A conceal tool is activated. A source patch of a first collection of pixels within the image is defined. A target patch of a second collection of pixels within the image is defined and located over the object to be concealed. The source patch is mapped onto the target patch using a transformation (T). A contrast between the source patch and the target patch along a boundary of the source patch and the target patch is measured. A color one of the one or more pixels in the second collection is accepted/rejected based on the contrast.
US09842430B2 Method and device for automatically identifying a point of interest on a viewed object
A method and device for automatically identifying a point of interest (e.g., the deepest or highest point) on a viewed object using a video inspection device. The method involves placing a first cursor on an image of the object to establish a first slice plane and first surface contour line, as well as placing another cursor, offset from the first cursor, used to establish an offset (second) slice plane and an offset (second) surface contour line. Profile slice planes and profile surface contour lines are then determined between corresponding points on the first surface contour line and the offset (second) surface contour line to automatically identify the point of interest.
US09842427B2 Methods and systems for visualization of flow jets
Methods and systems are provided for calculating flow transparency values that improve the visualization of turbulent blood flow with an ultrasound imaging system. In one embodiment, a method comprises calculating transparency values for a plurality of voxels based on a variance value and a velocity value of each voxel and a time corresponding to acquisition of each voxel, and rendering an image with the calculated transparency values applied to the plurality of voxels. In this way, the visualization of turbulent blood flow can be tailored to the dynamics of the blood flow, thereby enabling an improved diagnostic accuracy.
US09842425B2 System and method for rendering three-dimensional scenes by a computer graphics processor using orthogonal projection
A method is provided for rendering a three dimensional scene upon an electronic processor based system such as a computer, cellular phone, games console or other device. The method involves rendering a three dimensional scene by activating pixels of an electronic display device using a perspective projection for some portions of the scene and an orthogonal projection for others. A far less computationally expensive orthogonal projection is used for rendering other portions of the scene which meet a predetermined condition. The method results in a rendered scene displayed by pixels of the display device that appears overall to have been realistically rendered using a perspective transformation. However, since portions of the rendered scene have been rendered using an orthogonal projection, the method is computationally less expensive than rendering using only perspective projection.
US09842420B2 Image processing device and method for creating a reproduction effect by separating an image into a foreground image and a background image
According to an illustrative embodiment, an image processing device is provided. The image processing device includes a foreground selection processing circuit to select at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; a background selection circuit to select at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and a combination circuit to combine the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image.
US09842419B2 Method and device for displaying picture, and storage medium therefore
The disclosure discloses a method and device for display a picture, relates to the field of electronic information and is intended to address the problems of a long modeling period of time and inefficient modeling when the picture is three-dimensionally displayed. Particularly the method includes: obtaining at least one picture sequence number, wherein a picture sequence number corresponds to a picture; substituting the at least one picture sequence number into a preset set of equations to calculate location information of at least one picture, wherein the preset set of equations is a set of equations created in a virtual three-dimensional coordinate system, and location information of a picture corresponds to a picture sequence number; and displaying the at least one picture according to the location information of the at least one picture. The disclosure is applicable to display of a picture.
US09842418B1 Generating compositions
Implementations generally relate to generating multiple user media compositions (e.g., photo compositions) in connection with a social network system. In one implementation, a method includes detecting a plurality of devices based on one or more location criteria. The method also includes synchronizing an actuation of the plurality of devices. The method also includes receiving photos from the plurality of devices. The method also includes generating one or more compositions from the photos.
US09842417B2 Computing device and method for simplifying point cloud of object
In a method for simplifying point clouds of an object using a computing device, a point cloud of the object is obtained from a scanning device connected to the computing device, and the point cloud is meshed into triangulated grids. The triangulated grids are selected from the point cloud, and a number of simplification passes to simplify the triangulated grids is received from an input device. The triangulated grids of triangles are classified according to a shape of each grid and a location of each grid in the point cloud. Each type of triangulated grid is simplified to obtain simplified grids by performing a loop triangular grid function with the number of simplification passes. The simplified grids are smoothed and the cloud model of the object can be displayed.
US09842416B2 Animated painterly picture generation
A system for animated painterly picture generation comprises a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to: determine a first set of brush strokes, each brush stroke being based on a two-dimensional vector; generate a first frame from the first set of brush strokes; perturb the first set of brush strokes to create additional sets of brush strokes; and generate additional frames from the additional sets of brush strokes, wherein the first frame and the additional frames form a sequence of frames that are time-coherent.
US09842413B2 Method and apparatus for calibration of medical image data
In a method and apparatus for providing a visualization image and a reference image for a patient, with only one reconstruction being implemented, raw scan data from the patient are reconstructed into a visualization image, and the reference image is generated, without another reconstruction, by applying a filter to the visualization image to obtain a simulated reference image, using a value of a filter parameter that is specific for the patient. The patient-specific filter parameter is determined by comparing image-derived properties of an accessed, previously-reconstructed reference image and the reference image, and the filter parameter is adapted to reduce differences in the image-derived properties of the respective images.
US09842412B2 Rendering method, rendering device, and display including the same
A rendering method includes performing a binary representation of input data by using input data of target subpixels of an RGB stripe structure, such that the binary representation defines binary data, calculating the binary data via a line detection mask to detect a target line made of the target subpixels, rendering adaptation data of a plurality of adaptation subpixels included in an adaptation line corresponding to the target line, and controlling the adaptation data of a plurality of white subpixels corresponding to the target line among a plurality of adaptation subpixels to generate output data.
US09842410B2 Image compression and decompression with noise separation
Image processing may include separating a noise component from an original image resulting in a de-noised image and determining a noise parameterization for the noise component. The de-noised image and the noise parameterization may be compressed.
US09842409B2 Image transmission device, image transmission method, image transmission program, image recognition and authentication system, and image reception device
An image transmission device includes an image input unit that inputs a plurality of continuous images, a data amount reduction unit that reduces an amount of data of the plurality of images that are input to the image input unit, and generates a data amount reduced image, and a transmission unit that transmits the data amount reduced image to an image reception device that performs a recognition/authentication process with respect to the data amount reduced image. The data amount reduction unit reduces the amount of data of the plurality of images by a reduction method corresponding to the recognition/authentication process that is performed in the image reception device.
US09842408B2 Methods and apparati for nondestructive detection of undissolved particles in a fluid
The apparati, methods, and computer program products disclosed herein can be used to nondestructively detect undissolved particles, such as glass flakes and/or protein aggregates, in a fluid in a vessel, such as, but not limited to, a fluid that contains a drug.
US09842406B2 System and method for determining colors of foreground, and computer readable recording medium therefor
Provided are a system and method for determining at least one color of a foreground and a computer readable recording medium therefor. The system includes: a motion detector configured to detect a motion region from an image of an area; and a color determiner configured to determine at least one color of the foreground included in the motion region based on a difference between at least one color of the motion region and at least one color of a background which is a region outside the motion region in the image, for displaying the foreground color with the foreground at a display device.
US09842402B1 Detecting foreground regions in panoramic video frames
Various examples are directed to systems and methods for detecting regions in video frames. For example, a computing device may receive a video comprising a plurality of frames and a video frame sequence of the plurality of frames. The computing device may select a plurality of scene point location from a first frame. The computing device may determine a plurality of columns in the first frame and fit a first sinusoidal function to a distribution of average column Y-axis displacements for the plurality of columns by column position. The computing device may determine a first difference based at least in part on the first scene point Y-axis displacement and an output of the first sinusoidal function at the X-axis position of the first scene point and determine that the first difference is greater than a threshold distance.
US09842401B2 Segmentation apparatus for interactively segmenting blood vessels in angiographic image data
The present invention relates a segmentation apparatus (10) for interactively segmenting blood vessels (2) in angiographic image data (3). The segmentation apparatus (10) comprises a significant location determining unit (11) for determining one or more locations of a current segmentation (4) of the blood vessels (2) in the angiographic image data (3) as significant locations (5) at which the current segmentation (4) has a predetermined influence on a value of a blood flow parameter that is calculated based on the current segmentation (4), and a display unit (12) for displaying the significant locations (5) to an operator. Thereby, the operator can be guided to focus his/her segmentation efforts to those locations of the current segmentation (4) that are most relevant for the accuracy of the calculation of the value of the blood flow parameter. This may ease the burden on the operator during the segmentation procedure.
US09842400B2 Method and apparatus for determining disparity
A disparity determination method and apparatus are provided. The disparity determination method includes receiving first signals of an event from a first sensor disposed at a first location and second signals of the event from a second sensor disposed at a second location that is different than the first location, and extracting a movement direction of the event, based on at least one among the first signals and the second signals. The disparity determination method further includes determining a disparity between the first sensor and the second sensor, based on the movement direction, a difference between times at which the event is sensed by corresponding pixels in the first sensor, and a difference between times at which the event is sensed by corresponding pixels in the first sensor and the second sensor.
US09842399B2 Image processing device and image processing method
A device includes a memory configured to store map point information including a first map point group indicating a three-dimensional position of an object measured by a distance sensor and a second map point group indicating a three-dimensional position of the object determined based on captured images and a processor configured to compare a first projection point group of the first map point group with a feature point group extracted from a new captured image, create pairs of a feature point in the feature point group and a first projection point that is similar to the feature point, when the number of the pairs is less than or equal to a threshold, compare a second projection point group of the second map point group with the feature point group, create other pairs of the feature point and a second projection point, and estimate a position and attitude of a camera.
US09842394B2 Detection of anatomical landmarks
A method including accessing image data representing tissue and identifying one or more features of the tissue indicated by the image data. A model is selected for the tissue based on the one or more identified features. The image data is segmented and, using the model, one or more anatomical landmarks of the tissue indicated by the segmented image data are identified.
US09842392B2 Device, system and method for skin detection
An input unit (20) obtains a sequence of image frames over time. A segmentation unit (22) segments image frames of the sequence of image frames. A tracking unit (24) tracks segments of the segmented image frame over time in the sequence of image frames. A clustering unit (26) clusters the tracked segments to obtain clusters representing skin of a subject by use of one or more image features of the tracked segments.
US09842387B2 Pixel perturbation for image quality measurement
Techniques disclosed herein provide an approach using pixel perturbation to measure image quality. In one embodiment, a pixel perturbation engine perturbs pixels in an image with a reference image for measuring quality of the image after transmission. By perturbing least significant bits, a composite image may be generated in which the reference image is hidden in the original image. The perturbations in the composite image may then be recovered after the composite image is transmitted to a remote device and used to determine image quality based on preservation of the perturbations. In another embodiment, image(s) perturbed with reference image(s) at increasingly higher order bit positions may be transmitted, and quality of the transmitted reference image determined, until the determined quality exceeds a threshold, with the perturbed bit position at which the determined quality exceeds the threshold being indicative of the quality of the image(s) transmitted.
US09842382B2 Method and device for removing haze in single image
The present invention provides a method for removing a haze in a single image. In the present invention, a transmission is estimated by using a dark channel prior obtained from a hazy input image. The estimated transmission includes a block artifact. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in order to preserve an edge and remove the block artifact, a refined transmission value is obtained by performing WLS filtering by using an estimated transmission value and a morphologically-processed input image, the image is restored based on the refined transmission value, and then multi-scale tone manipulation image processing is performed.
US09842379B2 Method and apparatus for registering medical images
A method for registering medical images includes calculating, when a probe is disposed on a reference point of a target, a transformation relation for registering a first medical image and a second medical image having a different modality from the first medical image by using the reference point, wherein the first medical image is obtained by using the probe; and obtaining a sectional image of the second medical image corresponding to a sectional image of the first medical image from the second medical image by using the transformation relation.
US09842376B2 Graphics processing unit preemption with pixel tile level granularity
Techniques are described with respect to preemption in which a graphics processing unit (GPU) may execute a first set of commands in response to receiving a draw call, the draw call defining a plurality of primitives that are to be rendered by the first set of commands, receive a preemption notification during execution of the first set of commands, and preempt the execution of the first set of commands, prior to completing the execution of the first set of commands to render the plurality of primitives of the draw call, for executing a second set of commands.
US09842374B2 Physiological indicator monitoring for identifying stress triggers and certain health problems
Disclosed is a portable, wearable device for measuring parameters including blood oxygenation, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, and exertion level, and diagnosing stress and other conditions which cause stress-like physiological responses based on the results of the monitoring and on patient input of feelings and symptoms. Specific queries and advice on stress reduction, related disease management, and stress and disease education is also provided to the patient through the device.
US09842373B2 System and method for acquiring, comparing and evaluating property condition
A system and method is provided for acquiring, collecting, comparing and evaluating the condition of rental property at several time periods during a lease or rental agreement. A deposit amount that is returned to a rentee or owed by the rentee is determined by a computer or individual based on a comparison of the documentation provided by the rentee and/or renter at the start of the rental period to the documentation that is provided the end of the rental period. The documentation provided by the rentee and renter is time-stamped and imprinted with geo-location information if it is available.
US09842372B2 Systems and methods for controlling assets using energy information determined with an organizational model of an industrial automation system
A system may include a processor that may receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system such that the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system. The processor may also determine energy properties of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time, identify one or more idle periods of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping during the period of time based on the energy properties, and send one or more commands to the one or more assets to enter a reduced power consumption mode during the idle periods.
US09842370B1 Online benefit utilization
A system having an insurance database, a products database, and a benefit utilization processing system is implemented by a system server coupled to the insurance and products databases. The benefit utilization processing system may be configured to retrieve and display eyewear product and pricing information, receive and extract benefit details from a benefits table, and provide specification options compatible with a selected product. The system may then apply the extracted benefit details, associated with the user, to the eyewear product price to determine individual benefit amounts for the selected product and for each selected option or accessory to determine a final benefit amount based on the user's benefit amounts.
US09842363B2 Method, computer program product, and system for producing combined image information to provide extended vision
Method, computer program product, and system to provide an extended vision within an environment having a plurality of items, where the extended vision is based on a field of view of a person determined using a first visual sensor, and is further based on at least a second visual sensor disposed within the environment. Image information from the first and second visual sensors is associated to produce combined image information. Selected portions of the combined image information are displayed based on input provided through a user interface.
US09842354B2 Simulator for a real-time bidding system
A multistage online auction for electronic advertising is described including simulation. A first stage auction occurs internally within a demand-side platform where multiple advertiser clients compete to determine whose advertisement is submitted to at least one external auction site. Within the internal auction, an advertiser client optionally simulates their participation. All bidders enter a bid and campaign targeting parameters. A simulating bidder's campaign is processed in real time just as those of real bidders. Ad placement opportunities received from an external auction site are filtered for each campaign producing a list of targetable impressions. For each targetable impression, the client placing the highest real bid has their ad and bid submitted to the second stage external auction. A simulating bidder receives a report on targetable impressions for their campaign. A targetable impression for a simulated bid that is higher than any real bid is reported as a winnable impression.
US09842353B1 Techniques of claiming all available timeslots in media content management and deployment system
In certain aspects, a media content management and deployment system is provided. A data store stores data specifying available timeslots and locations of signage devices. A front end server sends a user input interface to a remote computing device. The user input interface receives campaign parameters from a user for building a campaign. A deployment module receives the campaign parameters, and examines data in the data store to select candidate signage devices and candidate timeslots of the candidate signage devices from the available timeslots. The user input interface then obtains and displays the candidate timeslots of candidate signage devices for displaying media content, and receives an instruction from the user to claim all of the candidate timeslots for the campaign. Upon receiving a request to claim all of the candidate timeslots, the deployment module generates campaign deployment plan data including data specifying the candidate timeslots and the candidate signage devices.
US09842350B2 Method and apparatus for forwarding media content interspersed with an advertisement
A method an apparatus is provided for providing selected media files, which are chosen from among a plurality of media files, to a user over a packet-switched network such as the Internet. The method begins by receiving over the packet-switched network a request from the user to receive media content. Next, a user profile associated with the user is retrieved from a database. The user profile reflects user preferences in media content to be received over the packet-switched network. The plurality of media files are ranked based at least in part on the user profile. At least one highly ranked media file is selected from among the ranked plurality of media files. At least one of the highly ranked media files is forwarded to the user over the packet-switched network.
US09842349B2 System and method for preference determination
A system and method for preference determination, including obtaining permission for profile access from social media users where the users agree to participate in surveys. Profile data, preferences, and data from completed surveys is retrieved, and base odds are calculated for particular variables in profiles of respondents and of people in the general population, and attributes for which predictive targeted sets are desired are returned. The profile data, preferences, and survey data is analyzed using a combined index calculation method to reduce the profile data, preferences, and data from surveys to a single index value for one or more particular keywords. The variables are placed in rank order based on the single index value to determine a likelihood of a particular user to prefer a particular item, and a predictive targeted set is returned for a likelihood of users in a particular set of users to prefer a particular item.
US09842344B2 System and method for shareholder investment
A shareholder investment system and method is provided. At least certain embodiments relate to processing of loyalty rewards such as rewards generated via the use of credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, etc. A payment processing system for financial transactions is enhanced to support reward transactions. The reward communications can be processed over the payment processing system together with payment transactions. Consumer's can accumulate monetary value associated with the rewards in a rewards account. The rewards are based on awards provided by conducting transactions using a rewards account associated with a shareholder rewards program or by conducting transactions with particular merchants participating in the rewards program. The accumulated monetary value can then be used for purchase of shares of stock of participating merchants.
US09842343B2 Systems and methods for an online marketplace for accessories of a remote monitoring and management product
Systems and methods of the present disclosure facilitate providing a marketplace for accessories of a remote monitoring and management product. In some embodiments, the system may be configured to create a first user account for a first user with a first number of points, and a second user account for a second user with a second number of points. The system may obtain a first RMM accessory item (e.g., a monitor, a data view, an antivirus definition, a search, a report, a script, a system component, a plugin, a probe, or a definition) and a corresponding price. Responsive to receiving an indication of interest, the system may transmit the first RMM accessory item to the second user, add to the first number of points a first multiplier times the price, and subtract from the second number of points a second multiplier times the price.
US09842342B2 Systems and methods for take-out order analytics
Systems and methods for take-out order management and analysis. In an embodiment, for each of a plurality of restaurants, an interactive menu associated with the restaurant is provided to a plurality of users, a plurality of orders are received from the plurality of users, and the plurality of orders are sent to the restaurant. Order information related to the plurality of orders and the plurality of users is stored in at least one database, and analyzed.
US09842341B2 Non-subjective quality analysis of digital content on tabletop devices
A method of evaluating digital content displayed on an electronic tabletop device includes receiving a plurality of non-intentional signals generated in response to a plurality of users interacting with at least one of the digital content displayed on the electronic tabletop device and each other, classifying the plurality of non-intentional signals into a first set of data including user-specific non-intentional signals and a second set of data including collaborative non-intentional signals, correlating the plurality of non-intentional signals to user profiles corresponding to the plurality of users, and generating an evaluation report including information indicating a collaborative quality of the digital content based on the plurality of non-intentional signals and a correlation of the plurality of non-intentional signals to the user profiles.
US09842340B2 Review system with location-verified reviews
In general, the subject matter described in the specification can be embodied in methods, systems and program products for an improved review system with location-verified reviews. The system verifies a user's location using one or more available sources, such as geographic location by global positioning system (GPS), cellular localization systems, or wireless local area network (WLAN). The user confirms the business or attraction at the current geographic location that the user would like to review. The system then accepts a review of the business or attraction at the current geographic location. The review is indexed for retrieval. Preferably, the system includes a delay before indexing a review, wherein the management of the business or attraction is notified of the review so that it can respond to any complaints in the review before it is made available for retrieval.
US09842334B1 Identifying risky transactions
A technique identifies risky transactions by mapping raw user location data to a particular cell in a fixed grid. Along these lines, when a user initiates a transaction with a service provider over a mobile device, the service provider collects raw location data such as a latitude and longitude for the user and transmits the location data to an adaptive authentication server. The adaptive authentication server then accesses a fixed set of geographical areas overlaid on a map of the Earth. The adaptive authentication server finds a particular geographical area which contains the latitude and longitude for the user. The adaptive authentication server also obtains information in connection with previous transactions in the particular geographical area using the identifier of the particular geographical area to obtain the information. Based on this information, the adaptive authentication server determines the riskiness of the particular geographical area. Based on the riskiness, the adaptive authentication server assigns a risk score to the transaction.
US09842330B1 User interfaces for stored-value accounts
In some examples, an account is provisioned onto an electronic device. In some examples, the device receives a value to fund the account provisioned on the electronic device. In some examples, the electronic device transacts with a contactless transaction terminal using the provisioned account and displays an indication of the transaction. In some examples, the electronic device transmits information corresponding to the provisioned account without checking for authentication. In some examples, the device receives user input initiating a process for moving the account from a first device to a second device. In some examples, the device receives account payment credentials from a second device when a set of payment criteria are met.
US09842329B2 Body area network for secure payment
Disclosed is a method performed in a system comprising a first Body Area Network (BAN) enabled device and a second BAN enabled device, for performing secure payment at a payment counter by a user of the first and the second BAN enabled devices, the user wearing or carrying the first and the second BAN enabled devices; where the first and the second BAN enabled devices are paired for authorizing the user by the second BAN enabled device; the method comprises: establishing a connection between the payment counter and the first BAN enabled device; sending a BAN signal via BAN from the first BAN enabled device to the second BAN enabled device requiring confirmation from the second BAN enabled device that the second BAN enabled device is in contact with the user's body; receiving a confirmation BAN signal via BAN from the second BAN enabled device to the first BAN enabled device confirming that the second BAN enabled device is in contact with the user's body; receiving a request for payment from the payment counter in the first and/or second BAN enabled device; and confirming the requested payment in the first and/or second BAN enabled device.
US09842327B2 Mobile device discovery and information distribution system for an indicia reader system at retail establishment
A retail store communications network, a point of transaction (POT) terminal and methods of using the same according to embodiments of the application can include a hand held and/or stationary optical reader for reading a bar code symbol of an item and generating a decoded out bar code data message. The network is configured so that the POT terminal can use linked or identified mobile devices by way of wireless communication, to provide a sequenced order of identified customers at the POT terminal among a plurality of discoverable wireless devices.
US09842325B2 Monetary transaction system
Embodiments are directed to monetary transaction system for conducting monetary transactions between transaction system subscribers and other entities. In one scenario, the monetary transaction system includes a mobile device that runs a monetary transaction system application. The monetary transaction system also includes a subscriber that has a profile with the system. The subscriber indicates a transaction that is to be performed with the monetary transaction system. The system further includes a monetary transaction system processor that performs the transactions specified by the subscriber including communicating with a monetary transaction database to determine whether the transaction is permissible based on data indicated in the subscriber's profile. The monetary transaction system also includes at least one entity that is to be involved in the specified transaction, where the entity has a profile with the monetary transaction system. This entity may be a person, a retail store, an agent or other entity.
US09842317B2 Methods, systems, and apparatus for scheduling appointments
Methods, systems, and apparatus for scheduling appointments between a user and a provider are described. In one aspect, a requested appointment including an requested appointment location and information defining at least one period of time is received from a user. Computer processor instructions are executed to identify at least one current appointment and location during the period. Still more computer processor instructions are executed to determine an interval of time between the current appointment and the requested appointment based at least in part on the location of the current appointment and the requested appointment location, and further to determine at least one available time option for scheduling the requested appointment based at least in part on the interval of time. The available time option(s) is (are) then returned to the user.
US09842311B2 Multiple users working collaborative on a single, touch-sensitive “table top”display
There is disclosed a method of providing resources in a collaborative input system comprising an interactive display surface, the method comprising: providing a common set of resources for a plurality of users; and selectively providing the common set of resources to individual users.
US09842308B1 Systems and methods for rules based shipping
Systems and methods which implement a rules based engine for processing items for shipping are shown. Embodiments implement a series of rules that are executed in a particular order to address decision points in processing individual items of a plurality of items for shipping. A user interface adapted to allow a user to create rules, weigh or order the rules, revise rules, enable/disable rules, etc. is provided according to embodiments. By selecting and associating various rule parameters, such as conditions, operators, and/or outcomes, through the rules interface a user may create and revise rules as desired. The rules interface of embodiments provides a hierarchical rules environment in which the resulting rules are weighted or ordered for hierarchical implementation.
US09842306B2 Apparatus and method of determining a likelihood of task completion from information relating to the reading of RFID tags
Methods and apparatuses are provided using RFID devices to assist in determining a likelihood that the performance of a task has been completed. In one implementation, an apparatus comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and a control circuit operably coupled to the RFID reader. The control circuit is configured to: detect, using at least information received via the RFID reader regarding a reading of one or more RFID tags by the RFID reader, one or more circumstances that evidence a status of interest pertaining to performance of a task of interest; and make a determination that the performance of the task of interest has likely been completed.
US09842302B2 Population-based learning with deep belief networks
A plant asset failure prediction system and associated method. The method includes receiving user input identifying a first target set of equipment including a first plurality of units of equipment. A set of time series waveforms from sensors associated with the first plurality of units of equipment are received, the time series waveforms including sensor data values. A processor is configured to process the time series waveforms to generate a plurality of derived inputs wherein the derived inputs and the sensor data values collectively comprise sensor data. The method further includes determining whether a first machine learning agent may be configured to discriminate between first normal baseline data for the first target set of equipment and first failure signature information for the first target set of equipment. The first normal baseline data of the first target set of equipment may be derived from a first portion of the sensor data associated with operation of the first plurality of units of equipment in a first normal mode and the first failure signature information may be derived from a second portion of the sensor data associated with operation of the first plurality of units of equipment in a first failure mode. Monitored sensor signals produced by the one or more monitoring sensors are received. The first machine learning agent is then and activated, based upon the determining, to monitor data included within the monitored sensor signals.
US09842300B2 Statistical model for systems incorporating history information
For calculating statistical Markov model-like state transition probabilities, a method represents state transition probabilities between a plurality of statistical Markov model-like states and output probabilities associated with a plurality of previous statistical Markov model-like states. The state transition probabilities between the plurality of previous states depend on a sequence of previous states of the plurality of previous states. The output probabilities associated with each of the plurality of states depend on the sequence of previous states.
US09842299B2 Distributed, predictive, dichotomous decision engine for an electronic personal assistant
A system, method and user interface are described for providing a personal assistant functionality using a predictive, adaptive, dichotomous (two choices) decision engine that proactively prompts the user for decisions on matters deemed relevant by the decision engine based on past user decisions and activities.
US09842297B1 Establishing industry ground truth
Methods, computer program products, and systems are presented. The methods include, for instance: determining a category of a domain having content documents and gathering search terms frequently used in similar domains associated with the category. A ground truth table has domain search results as discovered from searches by use of the search terms from the similar domains. Ground truths are utilized in later searches for optimal search results.
US09842290B2 Flight-cycle sensor monitoring of aviation component
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for a system for collecting aviation flight cycle data comprising a radio frequency (RF) tag configured to read sensor information from a sensor, the RF tag comprising (i) an RF and analog block for receiving and transmitting an RF signal, (ii) a data processing and controller block for digital information processing, and (iii) a memory store, wherein the RF tag is at least in part powered by an external RF signal received by the RF and analog block; and a sensor for generating sensor information indicative of an airborne flight cycle parameter, wherein the RF tag periodically collects the sensor information generated by the sensor and stores the sensor information in the memory store.
US09842289B2 Middleware device, driving method of reader and method for determining misrecognition of tag
A middleware device, a driving method of a reader and a tag misrecognition determining method are provided. The middleware device operated in relation to a reader includes a storage configured to pre-store receiving sensitivity of tag information of a tag of an object recognized at different distances from the reader as a reference value, a communication interface configured to, in response to the object approaching to the reader, acquire the receiving sensitivity of tag information of the tag recognized at a preset time interval, and a tag misrecognition processor configured to compare the acquired receiving sensitivity with the pre-stored reference value to determine misrecognition of the tag.
US09842281B2 System for automated text and halftone segmentation
A method and system for segmenting text from non-text portions of a digital image using the size, solidity, and run length characteristics of connected components within the image data. For a connected component comprising a rectangular group of pixels enclosing a set of connected pixels having the same binary state, the size characteristic may be based on a ratio of height to width of the connected component and the total number of pixels within the connected component, the solidity characteristic may be based on a ratio of pixels within the connected component to a total number of pixels within a convex hull of the set of connected pixels, and the run length characteristic may be based on a number of transitions within the connected component.
US09842279B2 Data processing method for learning discriminator, and data processing apparatus therefor
A data processing method includes setting a learning data set including a plurality of learning data having respective labels to an uppermost node of a decision tree, setting selection probabilities of the learning data, selecting a combination of the learning data from each of a plurality of sets of learning data assigned to nodes of the decision tree in accordance with the selection probabilities, determining a branch rule for dividing each of the sets of the learning data assigned to the nodes of the decision tree into at least two subsets using the selected combination of the learning data, and assigning the subsets divided in accordance with the branch rule to nodes in a lower level.
US09842278B2 Image analysis and orientation correction for target object detection and validation
A method and an image analysis system including an orientation correction processor (OCP), a spatial sensor, and an analytics unit for detecting a target object from an image and validating the detection of the target object are provided. The OCP receives and processes image data from a series of image frames captured by an image sensor and spatial data from the spatial sensor. The OCP generates orientation data using the image data, the spatial data, timestamp data, and lens data of the image sensor. The OCP generates resultant image data by associating the generated orientation data with the received and processed image data simultaneously for each image frame. The analytics unit, in communication with the OCP, processes and analyzes the generated resultant image data with reference to an analytic dataset library to detect the target object from the image and validate the detection of the target object.
US09842275B2 Image processing device, image processing method, and information storage device
An image processing device includes a processor including hardware, the processor being configured to calculate comparison result information through a comparison process performed on the results of a census transform process performed on a first image and the results of the census transform process performed on a second image, set weight information, calculate a cost using the comparison result information and the weight information, calculate the amount of disparity using the cost, set a first weight having as low degree of contribution to the cost on a neighboring pixel which is determined to be affected by noise to a large extent among a plurality of neighboring pixels, and set a second weight having a high degree of contribution to the cost on a neighboring pixel which is determined to be affected by noise to a small extent among the plurality of neighboring pixels.
US09842272B2 Detecting the location of a mobile device based on semantic indicators
A system and computer implemented method for detecting the location of a mobile device using semantic indicators is provided. The method includes receiving, using one or more processors, a plurality of images captured by a mobile device at an area. The area is associated with a set of candidate locations. Using the one or more processors, one or more feature indicators associated with the plurality of images are detected. These feature indicators include semantic features related to the area. The semantic features are compared with a plurality of stored location features for the set of candidate locations. In accordance with the comparison, a location from the set of candidate locations is selected to identify an estimated position of the mobile device.
US09842268B1 Determining regions of interest based on user interaction
A system and method provide for determining regions of interest within an image based on viewer interaction with the image. At least one image associated with a location is provided for display in a viewport, and pose data related to user interaction with the at least one image is identified. Weights are assigned to portions of the at least one image based on the pose data, the weights indicating at least a period of time the portion of the at least one image is generally at a center of the viewport. Based on the assigned weights, image regions of interest of the at least one image are determined.
US09842267B2 Method and apparatus for monitoring driver status using head mounted display
A method for monitoring a driver status in a terminal which interworks with a vehicle head unit through local wireless communication includes receiving vehicle proceeding direction information from the vehicle head unit. Whether or not a driver's gaze deviates from a gaze stability area is determined using the vehicle proceeding direction information. A driver's gaze deviation warning message is transmitted to the vehicle head unit, upon determining that the driver's gaze deviates from the gaze stability area.
US09842263B2 Inter-vehicle authentication using visual contextual information
Authentication of vehicles in preparation for V2V communication includes vehicle A taking a picture of vehicle B (VA) and vehicle B taking a picture of vehicle A (VB). These pictures are then shared. Vehicle A determines the relative location of vehicle B indicated in VA and VB. If they agree, then vehicle A and B authenticate one another, such as using Diffie-Hellman key exchange. Identifying vehicle A and vehicle B in the pictures may include identifying the license plates of vehicle A and vehicle B in the pictures. Vehicles A and B may exchange license plate numbers prior to taking of the pictures. Image spoofing may be prevented by taking both forward and rearward facing pictures by both vehicles. Objects in pictures facing the same direction may be identified to verify that the pictures were taken nearly simultaneously.
US09842258B2 System and method for video preview
A method for presenting a preview of a video includes receiving a first version of the video. The first version of the video has a first resolution. The method also includes analyzing the first version of the video and identifying a first preview frame from the first version of the video based on the analysis of the first version of the video. The method further includes obtaining information relating to the identified first preview frame and receiving a second version of the video. The second version of the video has a second resolution, which is greater than the first resolution. The method also includes extracting, from the second version of the video, a second preview frame according to the information relating to the first preview frame.
US09842257B2 Automated pharmaceutical pill identification
A pill identification system identifies a pill type for a pharmaceutical composition from images of the pharmaceutical composition. The system extracts features from images taken of the pill. The features extracted from the pill image include color, size, shape, and surface features of the pill. In particular, the features include rotation-independent surface features of the pill that enable the pill to be identified from a variety of orientations when the images are taken. The feature vectors are applied to a classifier that determines a pill identification for each image. The pill identification for each image is scored to determine identification for the pharmaceutical composition.
US09842254B1 Calibrating inertial measurement units using image data
The systems and/or processes described herein may calibrate an inertial measurement unit (IMU) of an electronic device in part by using images captured by one or more cameras of the electronic device. In this regard, an IMU of an electronic device may comprise a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, or any other type of motion sensor or rotational sensor.
US09842252B2 Systems and methods for use in characterizing agricultural products
A method is provided for use in optimizing ethanol yield from agricultural products. The method includes imaging agricultural products to determine predicted ethanol yields for the agricultural products and assigning characterizations to the imaged agricultural products based on their predicted ethanol yields. An apparatus is provided for collecting, retaining, and/or transporting bulk quantities of agricultural products. The apparatus includes an analyzer configured to image the agricultural products for use in determining the predicted ethanol yields. And, a system is provided for tracking and/or monitoring agricultural products. The system includes an analyzer configured to image the agricultural products for use in determining the predicted ethanol yields, a central processor configured to communicate with the analyzer to thereby link the imaged agricultural products with their predicted ethanol yields, and a telecommunications link coupling the analyzer to the central processor for allowing the communication between the analyzer and the central processor.
US09842245B1 Fingerprint sensing system with liveness detection
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a fingerprint sensing system for liveness authentication. The method comprising acquiring a first set of sensing signals and a second set of sensing signals from a fingerprint sensor in two different operational modes and subsequently provide a liveness authentication signal based on the first set of sensing signals and the second set of sensing signals. The invention also relates to a fingerprint sensing system and an electronic device.
US09842244B2 Fingerprint sensing device with interposer structure
The invention relates to a fingerprint sensing device comprising: a sensing chip comprising an array of sensing elements being configured to be connected to readout circuitry for detecting a capacitive coupling between each of the sensing elements and a finger placed on a sensing surface of the sensing device. A surface of the sensing elements defines a sensing plane. The sensing device further comprises a plurality of interposer structures arranged on the sensing chip extending above sensing plane, wherein the plurality of interposer structures have the same height above the sensing plane. A protective plate is attached to the sensing chip by means of an adhesive, and the protective plate rests on the interposer structures such that a distance between the protective plate and the sensing plane is defined by the height of the interposer structures.
US09842243B2 Fingerprint sensing device with heterogeneous coating structure comprising a mold
The invention relates to a fingerprint sensing device comprising a sensing chip comprising an array of capacitive sensing elements. The sensing device comprises a coating material arranged in a layer on top of the array of sensing elements, the coating material comprising a plurality of cavities filled with a mold material; wherein locations of the cavities correspond to locations of the sensing elements, such that a cross-section area of a cavity covers at least a portion of an area of a corresponding sensing element; and wherein a dielectric constant of the mold material is higher than a dielectric constant of the coating material. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a device.
US09842241B2 Biometric cryptography using micromachined ultrasound transducers
An embodiment includes an ultrasonic sensor system comprising: a backend material stack including a first metal layer between a substrate and a second metal layer with each of the first and second metal layers including a dielectric material; a ultrasonic sensor including a chamber, having a negative air pressure, that is sealed by first and second electrodes coupled to each other with first and second sidewalls; an interconnect, not included in the sensor, in the second metal layer; wherein (a) a first vertical axis intersects the substrate, the chamber, and the first and second electrodes, (b) a second vertical axis intersects the interconnect and the substrate, (c) a first horizontal axis intersects the chamber, the interconnect, and the first and second sidewalls, and (d) the first and second electrodes and the first and second sidewalls each include copper and each are included in the second metal layer.
US09842237B2 Device and method for identifying an object at least partially covered by a transparent material
A device and method for identifying an object at least partially covered by a transparent material. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.
US09842234B2 RFID tag authentication system
An RFID tag using a physically unclonable function (PUF) generates a response value corresponding to a challenge value, receives an RFID reader ID from an RFID reader, generates a first message authentication code for the RFID reader ID, an RFID tag ID and time information by using, as a secret key, a first response value corresponding to a first challenge value, and transmits, to the RFID reader, the first challenge value, the first message authentication code and the time information of the RFID tag, which are tag identification elements, when the RFID reader ID is received. At this time, the RFID tag shares, with an RFID tag authentication server, the same message authentication code generation function, the RFID tag ID, the first challenge value, and the first response value generated by a PUF module.
US09842233B2 Switchable radio-frequency identification tag device
A switchable radio-frequency identification tag device. The device includes a first RFID module positioned on a first plane, at least one un-tuned antenna section positioned on a second plane, a shorting bar positioned on the second plane; and a sliding mechanism configured to move between a first position and a second position. The first plane is positioned parallel to the second plane. The first RFID module is coupled to the at least one un-tuned antenna section to form a tuned RFID tag in the first position. The first RFID module is coupled to the shorting bar in the second position.
US09842231B2 System method and apparatus for anti counterfeiting serialization
An anti-counterfeiting serialization method. The method can include receiving an input serial number, locating a seed character at a predetermined position in the input serial number, determining, based on the seed character, a first output position for an incrementing character of the input serial number, determining, based on the incrementing character, at least one second output position for at least one remaining character of the input serial number, and generating an output serial number having the incrementing character in the first output position and at least one remaining character in the at least one second output position.
US09842228B2 Local personal daemon
Systems and methods of a personal daemon, executing as a background process on a mobile computing device, for providing personal assistant to an associated user is presented. While the personal daemon maintains personal information corresponding to the associated user, the personal daemon is configured to not share the personal information of the associated user with any other entity other than the associated user except under conditions of rules established by the associated user. The personal daemon monitors and analyzes the actions of the associated user to determine additional personal information of the associated user. Additionally, upon receiving one or more notices of events from a plurality of sensors associated with the mobile computing device, the personal daemon executes a personal assistance action on behalf of the associated user.
US09842227B2 Secure high speed data storage, access, recovery, and transmission
A method for storing a first data object includes: decomposing the first data object into a first fragment associated with a first original record locator and a second fragment associated with a second original record locator; obfuscating the first original record locator to generate a first obfuscated record locator and the second original record locator to generate a second obfuscated record locator; encrypting the first fragment using a first encryption key and the second fragment using a second encryption key; and storing, to at least a first of a plurality of storage locations, the first encrypted fragment with the corresponding first obfuscated record locator and the second encrypted fragment with the second obfuscated record locator.
US09842226B2 Locative social networking using a mobile device
Technologies are generally described for providing a locative social networking service utilizing wireless access point. In some examples, a method performed under control of a mobile device may include connecting to a wireless local area network, finding at least one other mobile device connected to the wireless local area network and satisfying a predetermined condition, and for each found mobile device, requesting a public user profile associated with the found mobile device, in response to the request, receiving the public user profile associated with the found mobile device, and for each found mobile device from which an associated public user profile is received, transmitting to the found mobile device a public user profile associated with the mobile device.
US09842223B2 Functional architecture pattern for safety related applications
A functional architecture pattern has a first software module, an operating system module, a first board support package, and a first microcomputer. The functional architecture pattern further has a second software module, a second board support package, and a second microcomputer that are logically separated from the first software module, the operating system module, the first board support package, and the first microcomputer. The first software module is developed according to quality management standards, while the operating system module, both first and second board support packages, and the third software module are developed according to safety integrity levels standards so as to make a logical split-off on three levels between the first software module software and the second software module.
US09842222B2 Securely rebuilding an encoded data slice
A method begins by a requesting entity issuing a rebuild request regarding an encoded data slice to at least some of a set of distributed storage (DS) units. In response to the rebuild request, the method continues with each of at least some of the DS units of the set of DS units generating a partial slice corresponding to the encoded data slice to be rebuilt based on one of a set of encoded data slices stored by the respective DS unit to produce an array of partial slices. The method continues with the at least some of the DS units encrypting the array of partial slices using a set of encryption keys to produce an array of encrypted partial slices. The method continues with the requesting entity rebuilding the encoded data slice from the array of encrypted partial slices.
US09842219B1 Systems and methods for curating file clusters for security analyses
The disclosed computer-implemented method for curating file clusters for security analyzes may include (1) identifying a suspicious file that exists on at least one computing system within a computing community, (2) clustering a set of files that includes the suspicious file into a file cluster based at least in part on at least one characteristic shared by the set of files, (3) prioritizing at least one file included in the file cluster based at least in part on a contextual value of the file relative to the file cluster, (4) providing, for presentation to a security analyst, a graphical representation of the file cluster that highlights the prioritized file relative to the file cluster, and then (5) performing at least one security action on the suspicious file based at least in part on feedback received from the security analyst. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09842217B2 Method and system for securing data
A method for securing user data includes the steps of: a) setting the user data as input data; b) randomly fragmenting the input data into a plurality of Atoms and randomly distributing the Atoms into an AtomPool; and c) recording information about the fragmentation and the distribution of step b) into an AtomMap.
US09842215B2 Computer-implemented system and method for anonymizing encrypted data
A computer-implemented system and method for anonymizing encrypted data is provided. At least one attribute is identified within a dataset for anonymization and is associated with a plurality of data values. Each data value is encrypted for each identified attribute while maintaining an order of the encrypted data values. The encrypted values are ordered and the ordered encrypted data values are segmented into two or more classes based on the ordering of the encrypted data values. A range of the encrypted data values within each of the segmented classes is identified and the range of one of the classes is assigned to each encrypted data value within that class as anonymized data.
US09842214B2 System and method to secure on-board bus transactions
A technique for securing on-board bus transactions in a computing device is discussed. A shared key is generated and then programmed into the read-only non-volatile write-once storage of two on-board components. The shared key may be generated during the manufacturing process. Once complete, all transactions between the two on-board components are encrypted by the components using the shared key without exposing the key on any external bus.
US09842211B2 Systems and methods for biometric authentication
Systems and methods for determining a threat level are disclosed. A method includes: receiving, from a biometric sensor, data corresponding an attempt to verify an identity of a user; determining, based on the data corresponding to the attempt, one or more authentication parameters associated with the attempt; authenticating the user based on determining that a score associated with the attempt satisfies an authentication condition associated with a biometric template; after authenticating the user, determining one or more device usage parameters within a time window of authenticating the user; determining a threat level based on the one or more authentication parameters and the one or more device usage parameters; and, causing an action to be performed by the device in accordance with the threat level.
US09842209B2 Hardened event counters for anomaly detection
A collection of techniques allow for the detection of covert malware that attempts to hide its existence on a system by leveraging both trusted hardware event counters and the particular memory addresses (as well as the sequences of such addresses) of the instructions that are generating the suspected malicious activity. By monitoring the address distribution's specific patterns over time, one can build a behavioral model (i.e., “fingerprint”) of a particular process—and later attempt to match suspected malicious processes to the stored behavioral models. Whenever the actual measured behavior of a suspected malicious process fails to match said stored behavioral models, the system or system administrator may attempt to perform rehabilitative actions on the computer system to locate and remove the malware hiding on the system.
US09842208B2 Method, apparatus and system for detecting malicious process behavior
A method, apparatus and system for detecting a malicious process behavior. A detection apparatus monitors a process to obtain behavior information about a target process behavior, and then sends the behavior information to a server, which determines whether the target process behavior is a malicious process behavior. The detection apparatus can receive first operation indication information returned by the server according to a detection result of the target process behavior, and perform an operation on the target process behavior according to the first operation indication information. The target process behavior is subjected to a comprehensive detection by the server according to the behavior information, rather than depending on a specified feature analysis of a single sample of the target process behavior by the detection apparatus, so that malicious process behavior can be detected in time, thereby improving the security performance of the system.
US09842206B2 Using call stack snapshots to detect anomalous computer behavior
Detecting computer anomalies by determining probabilities of encountering call stack configurations at various depths, the call stacks being associated with software application instances on computers having the same operating system, where snapshots of the call stacks are recorded on the computers responsive to detecting predefined software application events, determining entropies of call stack configurations at various call stack depths using their associated probabilities, determining stack frame rarity scores of call stack configurations at various depths based on their associated stack frame entropies in accordance with a predefined rarity function, determining a call stack rarity score of any given call stack configuration as the maximum stack frame rarity score of the given configuration, and detecting an anomaly associated with any given one of the computers where any of the snapshots recorded on the given computer is of a call stack whose call stack rarity score meets a predefined anomaly condition.
US09842205B2 Time-varying passwords for user authentication
Time-varying passwords for user authentication are disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein for password generation include obtaining a base password including characters, determining a first character position of the base password at which a first time-varying data element is to be inserted to determine a time-varying password, the first time-varying data element to be computed based on a time-varying parameter, and determining a first offset to be applied to a value of the time-varying parameter to compute the first time-varying data element. Example methods disclosed herein for password evaluation include accessing a base password including characters, applying a first offset to a value of a time-varying parameter to determine a first time-varying data element to be inserted at a first character position of the base password to determine a time-varying password, and comparing the time-varying password with an input password to perform authentication based on the input password.
US09842201B2 Privacy preserving electronic document signature service
An electronic document signature system preserves the security of an electronic document while tracking a signature process corresponding to the electronic document. In particular, using a client application on a client device, an originating user can protect an electronic document and send the protected electronic document to a tracking server. The tracking server receives only a protected document such that the security the electronic document is preserved. Using a client applications on client devices, one or more participating users can subsequently receive the protected document from the tracking server, access the contents of the electronic document, and sign the electronic document. The tracking server can record events that occur with respect to the protected document to create an event log.
US09842200B1 Content monitoring and host compliance evaluation
A content hosting service provides an interface for enabling content owners to upload controlled video and specify conditions for monitoring and hosting it on the hosting service. Plural fingerprints are extracted from the controlled video and used to detect use of the controlled video on pages of the hosting service. The fingerprint extraction and evaluation enables extent of copying to be determined. The interface also allows owners to specify context in which controlled video may be used. Results of monitoring are provided in a graphical user interface that depicts matches of the controlled video and extent of copying of the controlled video in matching monitored video.
US09842198B2 Screening method and systems utilizing mass spectral fragmentation patterns
The present application is directed to methods and systems for identifying small molecule compounds in mixtures using a library comprising calculated structures and corresponding calculated mass spectral fragmentation patterns of known and/or hypothetical small molecule compounds that may be in the mixture and screening of a mass spectrum of the mixture using the library to identify matching fragmentation patterns. If a mass spectral fragmentation pattern present in the mass spectrum of the mixture matches a calculated fragmentation pattern of one of the known or hypothetical compounds this confirms the identity of a compound in the mixture as the known or hypothetical compound. The method represents a platform method that can be used for a multitude of purposes related to the screening and identification of compounds in mixtures. Therefore the methods and systems of the present application represent an approach that is uniquely capable of navigating chemical space and providing a understanding of desired families and pharmacophores.
US09842196B2 Variable dose dispensing system
A variable dose dispensing system may include a processor and memory. The processor may receive a request for a variable dose order of a medication, such as from a user. The processor may request an amount of the medication to be administered, and receive, in response to the request, an indication of the amount to be administered. The processor may verify that the amount to be administered is within a range of the variable dose order. The processor may determine an item in a local inventory that contains at least the amount of the medication to be administered, and may dispense the item. If an amount of the dispensed item exceeds the amount to be administered, such as by a waste amount, the processor may display an indication of the waste amount to the user, and may transmit a notification of the waste amount, such as to a management server.
US09842191B2 Imaging system operational property monitoring
This invention relates to an imaging system and more particularly to imaging system operational property monitoring and describes an approach that makes key parameters available remotely from a collection of imaging systems for trending, ranking, analysis and further service telemetry. A method includes obtaining a set of operational properties of an imaging system. The method further includes identifying an operational property of the set of operational properties that intermittently falls outside of a predetermined operational range and does not require immediate service of the imaging system. The method further includes generating a trend for the identified operational property. The method further includes comparing the generated trend with at least one reference trend. The method further includes determining the imaging system should be serviced based on the comparison. The method further includes generating a service notification signal in response to determining the imaging system should be serviced, where the service notification signal invokes service of the imaging system.
US09842183B1 Methods and systems for enabling concurrent editing of electronic circuit layouts
Methods and systems of an electronic circuit design system described herein provide a new layout editor tool to make edits in an electronic circuit layout. A plurality of partitions is created in the electronic circuit layout. The new layout editor tool enables multiple electronic circuit designers to edit a different partition of the plurality of partitions of the same electronic circuit layout at the same time and save the edited partition locally.
US09842178B2 Systems and methods for binding mismatched schematic and layout design hierarchy
Disclosed herein are systems and methods that allow a layout editor function, presented in a graphical user interface, of an EDA, to indicate certain layout instances or “cell views” as “transparent.” The instances are indicated as transparent using various layout editor commands or layout designer markers. Unlike conventional solutions, a binder within the layout editor of the EDA is not required to bind layout transparent instances to corresponding instances in a related schematic design file or records. Instead, the EDA may identify non-transparent instances at a lower-level of the layout design's hierarchy to bind, because the systems and methods described herein provide for a transparent instance container at a hierarchically higher-level.
US09842176B2 System and method for designing and validating computing systems
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with designing computing systems are described. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a design that defines a computing system with at least a set of servers and connections between the set of servers to indicate an arrangement of the set of servers within the computing system. The method includes validating the design by determining whether the connections defined between the set of servers violate one or more of a set of design constraints. Validating the design includes using attributes of the set of servers to analyze the connections defined between the set of servers.
US09842173B2 Systems and methods for providing a user interface with grid view
A tool (systems, apparatus, methodology, application, user interface, etc.) for accessing content, such as webpages hosted over a network such as the internet, and more particularly, a tool for accessing the content of a webpage and further displaying a grid view superimposed over the content of the webpage.
US09842171B2 Method, network server and computer program for determining advertisement information relating to map information
The invention relates to a solution in which advertisement icons displayed together with map information relate to the displayed map information. In one embodiment of the invention, some or all of the advertisement icons are from service providers situated within the geographical area displayed by the map information.
US09842169B1 Actionable social news generator
A method of encouraging a user to be active with respect to a game networking system on a particular day is disclosed. An event is detected on the game networking system. A newsworthiness of the event to the user is determined. An action that the user is likely to want to perform on the game networking system in response to receiving information pertaining to the event is determined. A notification is generated that includes the information pertaining to the event and information pertaining to the action. The notification is sent to the user.
US09842165B2 Systems and methods for generating context specific terms
Various embodiments are described herein that generally relate to systems and methods for generating context specific terms and performing various actions based on the context specific terms. One example embodiment includes a computer-implemented method for generating context specific terms comprising obtaining a collection of terms from at least one electronic file associated with a given context; comparing the collection of terms with a collection of expected terms to generate candidate terms that are not in the collection of expected terms; determining a relevance for each of the candidate terms; and determining whether to add a given candidate term to a collection of context specific terms for the given context if the relevance for the given candidate term is above a threshold.
US09842163B2 Distributed computing for portable computing devices
This disclosure describes a distributed reader architecture for a mobile computing device such as cellular telephone handset. One claim recites a portable computing device including: memory for storing a library of processing components, the library including a signal detector component and an audio fingerprinting component; a microphone for capturing ambient audio; one or more processors configured for: invoking the audio fingerprinting component for processing captured audio to produce an audio fingerprint, wherein the audio fingerprinting component comprises a filtering process, in which the filtering process produces components of the captured audio that are used to produce the audio fingerprint; and invoking the signal detector component, in which the signal detector component comprises a fast detect process for analyzing the captured audio to determine the presence of an auxiliary signal within the captured audio, and when the presence of the auxiliary signal is detected, controlling the signal detector component for detecting the auxiliary signal to yield a detected auxiliary signal. The device further includes a communications output for communicating the audio fingerprint and the detected auxiliary signal to a remotely located server. Of course, other claims and combinations are provided as well.
US09842158B2 Clustering web pages on a search engine results page
Methods, systems, and media are provided for delivering clustered search results for recent and non-recent events by maintaining the identification (ID) numbers of the respective clustered documents beyond the “fresh” life span of the clustered documents. When clusters are formed according to similar content, an ID number and associated attributes are assigned to each of the clusters. This provides a mechanism to track and retrieve the respective clusters for subsequent delivery of search results. The respective ID numbers of the clusters are maintained, even after the documents are no longer considered “fresh.” These similar-content clusters are further subdivided according to publication date. This provides individual subdivided clusters for similar content events that occurred at different time spans, which are delivered along with individual non-clustered search results in a SERP.
US09842156B2 System and method for providing differentiated storage service in a database
In accordance with some embodiments, classification of input/output requests from a database to a storage system may be performed. Each input/output request may be associated with a database class, and each database class may be mapped to a quality of service policy. Thus, quality of service may be enforced such that different data blocks within the storage system of the database may be afforded appropriate quality of service.
US09842152B2 Transparent discovery of semi-structured data schema
A system, apparatus, and method for managing data storage and data access for semi-structured data systems.
US09842150B2 Method, an apparatus, a computer system and a computer program product for defining visibility of objects in metadata-based file arrangement in mobile environment
The invention relates to determining a visibility component from a metadata value of an object, determining a visibility-affecting feature of a mobile device using the information management system, and retrieving the object to a display view of the mobile device, if the determined visibility-affecting feature corresponds to a value of a visibility property of the visibility component. The invention further relates to an apparatus, and a computer program product that perform the method.
US09842149B2 Population and/or animation of spatial visualization(s)
One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for populating and/or animating a spatial visualization, such as a map, a timeline, and/or other 2D and/or 3D visual representations of locations. The spatial visualization may be populated with events extracted from a data source (e.g., real-time events, news events, social network events, etc.), and may include relationships between events (e.g., based upon time, location, contextual similarity (e.g., social network check-in events at a restaurant), events referencing one another (e.g., an article describing a first event may comprise a hyperlink to an article describing a second event) etc.). Filter criteria (e.g., date, event type, location, etc.) may be applied to events and/or relationships when populating the spatial visualization. A sequence of events and corresponding relationships may be animated within the spatial visualization (e.g., as the events unfold over a (user) designated period of time).
US09842147B2 Determining a relative importance among ordered lists
Implementations and techniques for determining a relative importance among ordered lists are generally discussed.
US09842146B2 Methods and apparatus for determining a mood profile associated with media data
In an embodiment, a method is provided for determining a mood profile of media data. In this method, mood is determined across multiple elements of mood for the media data to create a mood profile associated with the media data. In some embodiments, the mood profile is then used to determine congruencies between one or more pieces of media data.
US09842145B2 Providing profile information using servers
A method includes: generating profile data for users including a first user, the profile data related to contacts or persons used in messages to or from each user; generating, via a server platform, parameters corresponding to the profile data for ranking contacts or persons; and transmitting the parameters to client devices to allow each client device to determine ranks of contacts or persons in the profile data based on the parameters and a function that uses the parameters.
US09842141B2 Range query methods and apparatus
Range query techniques are disclosed for use in accordance with data stream processing systems. A technique is provided for incrementally processing continual range queries against moving objects. This technique is applicable for location-aware services and applications. A technique for evaluating one or more continual range queries over one or more moving objects comprises maintaining a query index with one or more containment-encoded virtual constructs associated with the one or more continual range queries over the one or more moving objects, and incrementally evaluating the one or more continual range queries using the query index.
US09842140B2 Dynamic input streams handling in DSMS
A method for providing an output data stream in a network system comprises receiving a request for a desired output data stream and identifying at least one input data stream on the basis of the desired output data stream. The method further comprises identifying at least one relationship between the at least one identified input data stream and the desired output data stream, determining at least one operator on the basis of the at least one identified relationship and creating a query for generating an output data stream corresponding to the desired output data stream. The query is created by applying the at least one operator to the at least one identified input data stream.
US09842139B1 Metadata-driven program code generation for clinical data analysis
Techniques are described for metadata-driven code generation to generate code for analyzing data from clinical trial(s). A code generation engine may generate program code based on metadata that is input to the engine. The metadata may describe the data to be input to the generated code, and one or more artifacts to be output by the generated code on execution. The metadata may also describe one or more operations to be performed on the input data and/or intermediate data. The metadata may include one or more of the following: inline code to be included in the generated code; references to stored code to be included in the generated code; and/or instructions to be run to generate the code. Artifact(s) may include, but are not limited to, reports such as tables, figures, and/or listings that describe the results of analyzing or otherwise processing the data by the generated program code.
US09842138B2 Methods and apparatus to search datasets
Methods and apparatus to search datasets are disclosed. An example disclosed apparatus includes a grouper to reference statistics associated with a database to identify which criterion of a group of logically related criteria of a search request satisfies fewer ones of records in the database, an identifier to select the identified criterion of the group of logically related criteria as a driving criterion for the group of logically related criteria, a reduced set generator to form a subset of the records of the database based on the driving criterion, and an analyzer to reduce a search time associated with the search request by searching the subset of the records for a non-driving criterion of the group of logically related criteria.
US09842135B2 Methods, apparatuses and computer program products for performing index search optimization
Performing index search optimization by receiving a search query for a search of an index, wherein the index has been partitioned across a plurality of nodes. This search index optimization may be performed for deterministic as well as non-deterministic queries. In both cases, a local partition is searched and analyzed and a corresponding execution path is selected for optimization. Different optimization strategies are chosen for the two types of queries. For the cases when the partition or the set of partitions containing the required matches can be determined, the request is routed directly to that partition or set of partitions without interrogating other partitions.
US09842132B2 Bloom filter index for device discovery
Implementing a Bloom filter index as a hierarchical data structure. Bloom filters are received and their bit vectors are decomposed into successive bit sequences. For each bit sequence except the last one, memory for at least storing a pointer to a memory location on the next level is allocated on the level corresponding to the bit sequence. The pointer storage is labeled by the value of the next bit sequence. A pointer to the allocated memory is stored in the pointer storage on the previous level that was labeled by the binary value of the current bit sequence. For the last bit sequence, memory for storing Bloom filters is allocated on the last level. A pointer to the allocated memory is stored in the pointer storage on the second-to-last level that was labeled by the value of the last bit sequence. The Bloom filter is stored in the allocated memory.
US09842131B2 System and method for supporting contact reminding
The present invention relates to a system and method for supporting contact reminding and includes: a contact history database for storing information on a contact history; an unregistered contact point obtaining unit for obtaining an unregistered contact point which has not been registered with an address database, based on the contact history stored in the contact history database; and a contact point recommending unit for calculating contact statistics for a preset certain period by using the contact histories of the obtained unregistered contact points, determining, as a recommended contact point, an unregistered contact point from which contact has not been received recently, based on the calculated contact statistics of the unregistered contact points and the number of times that contact has been made for a recent certain period, and informing a user of the determined recommended contact point.
US09842130B2 Enumeration of trees from finite number of nodes
Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and/or systems for manipulating hierarchical sets of data are disclosed.
US09842129B2 Association strengths and value significances of ontological subjects of networks and compositions
The present invention discloses methods, systems, and tools for evaluating a number of value significance measures of ontological subjects of compositions or networks. The method breaks a composition into its constituent ontological subjects of different orders and builds a participation matrix indicating the participation of ontological subjects of the composition in other ontological subjects, i.e. the partitions, of the composition. Using the participation information of the OSs into each other, an association strength matrix is built from which the value significance measures of the partitions of the composition are calculated. The methods systematically calculate the value significances of the ontological subjects of different orders of the composition. Various systems for implementing the methods and some exemplary applications and services are disclosed.
US09842126B2 Automatic repair of corrupt HBases
Systems and methods for checking for region consistency and table integrity problems and automatically repairing a corrupted HBase cluster. The methods and systems operate in a diagnostic mode and a diagnostic and repair mode. The methods include fixing table integrity problems, such as backwards table regions, table region holes, table region overlap, and the like to restore table integrity invariant. Once the table integrity has been restored, each row key resolves to exactly one region. The methods further include fixing region inconsistencies, such as bad region assignment, no region present in the meta table, region information not in the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), and the like to restore region consistency invariant. The information in the HDFS is taken as ground truth and any meta table or assignment problems that are inconsistent with the HDFS is deemed wrong and removed.
US09842124B1 Highly available cluster agent for backup and restore operations
Systems and methods for backing up and restoring virtual machines in a cluster environment. A cluster agent that is cluster aware operates as an interface with the backup server. The cluster agent can locate the virtual machines being backed up or restored and coordinate with a local agent to perform the backup or restore of the virtual machines.
US09842123B2 Dynamic, parameterized image resource selection
Embodiments are directed to providing an image in response to a request for an image and to requesting an image for a specified context. In one scenario, a computer system stores multiple image representations of a corresponding visual asset identified by an identifier. The image representations include a vectorized representation of the visual asset and/or a rasterized representation of the visual asset. The computer system receives a request that includes an identifier for one of the visual assets and usage parameters. The computer system evaluates at least one of the usage parameters to identify an image representation of the identified visual asset that substantially corresponds with the usage parameters. The computer system then obtains the identified image representation of the corresponding visual asset based on the evaluation and provides the obtained image representation in response to the request.
US09842118B2 Updating a file using differences and file format therefor
A method for updating and formatting a local file is described. An update file, having a newer version of the local file, is accessed from a server over a network and a list of new hash values corresponding to data blocks of the update file is retrieved. Divisions between the data blocks are located when a value of a rolling checksum reaches a particular value, the data blocks being of variable size. New hash values of the update file are compared with local hash values of the local file. For each of the new hash values not having a matching local hash value, the corresponding data block is downloaded from the server and written to a new file. For each of the new hash values having a matching local hash value, the corresponding block is copied from the local file to the new file.
US09842117B1 Managing replication of file systems
A method is used in managing replication of file systems. Metadata of a set of slices of a file system is updated upon performing an operation on a slice of the file system. The file system includes the set of slices. The metadata of the set of slices is used for recovering the file system.
US09842116B2 Method and system for synchronizing data between a database system and its client applications
Systems and methods for synchronizing data between a database system and its client applications are provided. After a regular synchronization, objects' records on a user computing device may be checked against a new sharing rule. Newly shared records may be synced down to the user computing device regardless of timestamps, and all records which the user no longer has access to may be removed from the user computing device. Consequently, data on the user computing device complies with the new sharing rule.
US09842111B2 On-demand indexing
A method for indexing objects in a computerized system having an index, comprising identifying in the computerized system an at least one indexed object that meets an at least one criterion related to contents of the at least one indexed object, detecting an at least one non-indexed object having a property similar to an at least one property of the at least one indexed object that was identified, and indexing the at least one non-indexed object in the index, wherein the method is performed by the computerized system, and an apparatus for performing the same.
US09842108B2 Automated escalation agent system for language interpretation
A system, computer program product, and process are provided for an automated escalation agent. A receiver receives a request for language interpretation from a first language to a second language. Further, a database stores data associated with a plurality of language interpreters associated with a computer implemented language interpretation platform. A processor searches the database and determines that no online language interpreter is available to perform language interpretation at a time of the request and that escalates the request to determine if an offline language interpreter is available to initiate the language interpretation within a predetermined time period measured from the time of the request. An automated escalation agent module searches the database according to notification criteria, and sends at least one notification including the request to a plurality of offline language interpreters that meet the notification criteria.
US09842104B2 Textual geographic location processing
Textual Geographical Location relates a placename, which is a set of terms, from one to any maximum as defined in an individual language, to a unique point or area (many points) as found on a map or other coordinate system, such as the map of the United States as used in global positioning system (GPS).
US09842101B2 Predictive conversion of language input
Systems and processes for predictive conversion of language input are provided. In one example process, text composed by a user can be obtained. Input comprising a sequence of symbols of a first symbolic system can be received from the user. Candidate word strings corresponding to the sequence of symbols can be determined. Each candidate word string can comprise two or more words of a second symbolic system. The candidate word strings can be ranked based on a probability of occurrence of each candidate word string in the obtained text. Based on the ranking, a portion of the candidate word strings can be displayed for selection by the user.
US09842100B2 Functional ontology machine-based narrative interpreter
A system and method for analyzing narrative data based on a functional ontology using semiotic square functions to produce analyzed data outputs. A computer implemented method accesses narrative data and reads a semiotic square function data table for each verb in the sequence of words, each semiotic square function data table classifies at least one verb in each sentence pattern as a functional type and includes one or more words in a semiotic square relationship to the verb classified, the functional type applying at least one symmetrical relationship between a first actor and a second actor in the narrative data. The method parses each sentence which includes a verb matching a functional type to match sentence subjects and objects to an event template and outputs an analysis of the narrative data relative to a common story theme based on a sequence of event records.
US09842099B2 Asynchronous dashboard query prompting
A client receives data from a server that includes a dashboard generated at the server by converting each of a spreadsheet file and a dashboard structure file into a text-based, language-independent data interchange format. In addition, the dashboard includes at least one component dependent on at least one prompt. Thereafter, the at least one prompt is asynchronously rendered in a graphical user interface at the client. Data is later received that includes answers to one or more prompts. At least one query is subsequently executed based on the received answers. After results of the executed at least one query is received, the component having a corresponding received answer is rendered in the dashboard. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.
US09842092B1 Multi-page website optimization
Webpages are optimizing through the use of experiments that compare the responses of viewers that are either presented with the original webpage or a variant thereof. One or more variants are first defined through the use of a browser-based editor application that initially examines the webpage for a snippet of code. The snippet can be added to the webpage, if missing, and the webpage returned to the editor application. Changes made to the webpage to define a variant are saved in variation code. When the webpage is later requested by multiple viewers, in each instance the viewer receives the webpage with the snippet, the snippet instructs the browser to download a file, and the instructions of the file determine whether the viewer will see the variant or the original webpage. Tracking viewer responses to the webpage and the variant allow a statistical basis for comparison to be developed.
US09842088B2 Method and apparatus for rendering an image for an entire web page on physical devices
In at least one embodiment, a system and method described herein provides a concrete and tangible solution to solve a problem of remotely and programmatically activating and manipulating a device to capture screen shots of a complete web page and, in at least one embodiment, prevent and, if necessary, recover from device crashes.
US09842083B2 Using completion queues for RDMA event detection
Systems and methods for using completion queues for Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) event detection. An example method may comprise: receiving a request to create a queue pair for processing Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) requests using an RDMA-enabled network interface controller (RNIC), the queue pair comprising a send queue and a receive queue; associating the queue pair with a completion queue associated with the RNIC, the completion queue employed to store a plurality of completion queue elements associated with completed work requests; receiving a notification of an interrupt associated with the RNIC; and responsive to determining that at least one of a number of send queues associated with the completion queue or a number of receive queues associated with the completion queue exceeds zero, identifying at least one of: a first application registered to be notified of RDMA send events or a second application registered to be notified of RDMA receive events.
US09842078B2 Data transmission architecture
A data transmission architecture includes a local system and a peripheral system. A core computing unit and the peripheral hub of the local system integrate display data and transmission data and transmit integrated data to the image transmission unit. A driving circuit of a display panel of the image transmission unit is utilized to transform the integrated data into a first electrical signal. A data transmission between the local system and the peripheral system utilizes at least one electrode of the display panel to transmit the first electrical signal to retrieve the transmission data. A transmitting device of the peripheral system transmits a second electrical signal. A receiving device of image transmission unit retrieves the second electrical signal. Then the receiving device transmits the second electrical signal to the peripheral hub. Accordingly the data transmission architecture can be utilized in data/files transmission, and cooperating with existing transmission system.
US09842077B2 Control server system with a switch and comparing circuit for controlling a trigger time for buffer and power signal based on current status
A control system includes a switch circuit, a buffering circuit, and a motherboard. The switch circuit is configured to output a switch signal having a trigger time. The buffering circuit determines whether the trigger time of the switch signal is equal to a predetermined time. If the trigger time of the switch signal is equal to the predetermined time, the buffering circuit outputs a signal to the motherboard. The motherboard performs a power off operation.
US09842073B2 N-phase signal transition alignment
System, methods and apparatus are described that facilitate transmission of data, particularly between two devices within an electronic apparatus. Information is transmitted in N-phase polarity encoded symbols. Drivers may be adapted or configured to align state transitions on two or more connectors in order to minimize a transition period between consecutive symbols. The drivers may include circuits that advance or delay certain transitions. The drivers may include pre-emphasis circuits that operate to drive the state of a connector for a portion of the transition period, even when the connector is transitioned to an undriven state.
US09842069B2 Hardware accelerator and chip
Present invention disclose a hardware accelerator and a chip, and the hardware accelerator includes: an interface circuit and an accelerator core coupled to the interface circuit, where the interface circuit is configured to receive a first task request, perform decoding on the first task request to acquire identifier information, and configure, according to the identifier information, the first task request to be in an FIFO queue that matches the identifier information; a scheduling controller is configured to determine, from at least two channel groups, one or more target channel groups that have at least one to-be-processed second task request in an nth period, receive a time parameter that is fed back by the accelerator core and corresponding to the target channel group, and schedule the at least one second task request in the one or more target channel groups according to the time parameter and a weighted round robin algorithm.
US09842067B2 Processor communications
A processor module including a processor configured to share data with at least one further processor module processor; and a memory mapped peripheral configured to communicate with at least one further processor memory mapped peripheral to control the sharing of the data, wherein the memory mapped peripheral includes a sender part including a data request generator configured to output a data request indicator to the further processor module dependent on a data request register write signal from the processor; and an acknowledgement waiting signal generator configured to output an acknowledgement waiting signal to the processor dependent on a data acknowledgement signal from the further processor module, wherein the data request generator data request indicator is further dependent on the data acknowledgement signal and the acknowledgement waiting signal generator acknowledgement waiting signal is further dependent on the acknowledgement waiting register write signal.
US09842062B2 Backup accessible by subset of related devices
Some embodiments provide, for a particular device in a set of related devices, a method for backing up data synchronized between the devices. The method receives a command to create a backup for a subset of data synchronized between a subset of the devices, which is a subset of all data synchronized between the devices. The method identifies the subset of synchronization data from the set of all synchronization data. The subset of synchronization data is tagged as pertaining to a particular set of criteria for synchronization between only the subset of devices. The method stores a backup of the subset of synchronization data in a backup storage encrypted in such a way that requires a recovery key associated with any one of the devices in the subset of devices to access the backup while preventing access to the backup with recovery keys of any of the other devices.
US09842061B2 Implementing advanced caching
Embodiments are disclosed for implementing a priority queue in a storage device, e.g., a solid state drive. At least some of the embodiments can use an in-memory set of blocks to store items until the block is full, and commit the full block to the storage device. Upon storing a full block, a block having a lowest priority can be deleted. An index storing correspondences between items and blocks can be used to update priorities and indicated deleted items. By using the in-memory blocks and index, operations transmitted to the storage device can be reduced.
US09842057B2 Storage apparatus, storage system, and data read method
There is provided a storage apparatus connected to a storage device that stores data and a cache device used as a temporary storage area of the data. The storage apparatus includes: a memory configured to store location information for associating a storage location of data stored in the storage device with content information relating to content of the data, and cache information including the content information corresponding to data stored in the cache device; and a processor configured to identify, upon receiving a read request specifying the storage location and requesting to read data, the content information corresponding to the storage location specified in the read request and, when the content information is included in the cache information, read the data from the cache device and return the data as a response.
US09842052B2 Selective allocation of CPU cache slices to database objects
A central processing unit (CPU) forming part of a computing device, initiates execution of code associated with each of a plurality of objects used by a worker thread. The CPU has an associated cache that is split into a plurality of slices. It is determined, by a cache slice allocation algorithm for each object, whether any of the slices will be exclusive to or shared by the object. Thereafter, for each object, any slices determined to be exclusive to the object are activated such that the object exclusively uses such slices and any slices determined to be shared by the object are activated such that the object shares or is configured to share such slices.
US09842041B1 Approximation of datastore storing indexed data entries
The technology can compute an approximation of a datastore storing a multiplicity of indexed data. An example method can a template including programming logic that, when executed, calculates output(s) based on input(s) and undetermined parameter(s). The undetermined parameter(s) are input into a machine learning framework. Data entries reflecting one or more inputs are retrieved from a datastore and input into the machine learning framework, which determines value(s) for the undetermined parameter(s), respectively (making them determined parameters). The example method generates an approximation of the datastore using the determined parameter(s) and the input(s).
US09842039B2 Predictive load scaling for services
Embodiments are directed to determining an optimal number of concurrently running cloud resource instances and to providing an interactive interface that shows projected operational metric measurements. In one scenario, a computer system accesses metric information which identifies operational metric measurements, and further accesses a second portion of metric information that identifies operational metric measurements for the cloud resource instances over a second period of time. The computer system then calculates projected operational metric measurements based on the identified operational metric measurements over the first period of time (e.g. for reactive tuning) and further based on the identified operational metric measurements over the second period of time (e.g. for predictive tuning). The computer system then determines, based on the projected operational metric measurements, a number of cloud resource instances that are to be concurrently running at a specified future point in time.
US09842031B1 Incremental updates to user transaction state at read-only nodes of a distributed database
A distributed database system may implement incremental updates to user transaction state at read-only nodes of the distributed database. A read-write node of the distributed database may determine a change to transaction state for a user transaction initiated at the read-write node. The read-write node may send a notification of the change to the transaction state for the user transaction to a read-only node in order to incrementally update the transaction state for the user transaction at the read-only node. The read-only node may receive the notification of the change to the transaction state and update in-memory system metadata to apply the change to the transaction state for the user transaction. A view of the distributed database may be made available at the read-only node for read requests according to the updated transaction state for the user transaction.
US09842026B2 Snapshot-protected consistency checking file systems
Various of the disclosed embodiments provide for recovery following inadvertent errors in a Log-Structured File System (LSFS). Particularly, embodiments mitigate inadvertent errors introduced by a file system consistency check operation by creating file system images at an appropriate time. The images may be stored within the portion of the file system accessible to a user. The images may be created in conjunction with the mounting of the file system and in such a fashion as to preserve the file system data should an error occur. Restoring the system to one of the images may remove any errors introduced by the consistency check, or similar, operation.
US09842018B2 Method of verifying integrity of program using hash
In a method for verifying the integrity of first to Nth binaries (N is a natural number greater than or equal to 2), the method may comprise: loading the first to Nth binaries into a main memory in order to execute the binaries; verifying a self hash to verify, by the Kth binary (K=1, . . . , N−1) which has been loaded into the main memory, the integrity thereof by using a hash; and verifying a link hash by setting any one of the first to Kth binaries as a verification binary and setting a (K+1)th binary to be loaded into the main memory as a binary to be verified so that the verification binary verifies the integrity of the binary to be verified by using a hash.
US09842011B2 Delegating a status visualization task to a source application by a target application
A target application loads target application's user interface (UI) after an initial preoperational task is completed. A task for visualizing a progress status for the target application is delegated to a source application that is used for launching the target application in a new window. The source application creates a shared object and assigns a unique identifier (ID) to the shared object. The unique ID of the shared object is passed to the target application, when the target application is launched from the source application. The shared object is accessed by the target application during the performance of the initial preoperational task. The target application stores progress status of the initial preoperational task in the shared object. The source application monitors the progress status stored in the shared object and presents it continuously on source application's user interface.
US09842006B2 Application processing allocation in a computing system
A method for allocating processing of an application performed by a computing system made up of a plurality of interconnected physical computing devices includes executing an application on a first application server associated with the computing system, the application having a number of modular software components; while executing the application, measuring processing resources consumed by one of the modular software components; and in response to one of the modular software components consuming an amount of processing resources defined by a criterion, deploying the one of the modular software components to a second application server associated with the computing system.
US09842004B2 Adjusting resource usage for cloud-based networks
A cloud marketplace system can be configured to communicate with multiple cloud computing environments in order to ascertain the details for the resources and services provided by the cloud computing environments for optimizing resources utilized by virtual machines. The cloud marketplace system can be configured to determine the resource and service data for the cloud computing environments and select a set of resource servers for instantiating the virtual machines based specifications of the virtual machines and parameters of the instantiation. The cloud marketplace system can be configured to periodically monitor the cloud's resources and migrate the virtual machines if resources become available that more closely match the parameters of the virtual machines.
US09841999B2 Apparatus and method for allocating resources to threads to perform a service
An apparatus and method are provided for allocating resources to a plurality of threads to perform a service. In use, a request for service is received. At least one of a plurality of resources is allocated to the threads. Further, the service is performed with the threads, utilizing the allocated at least one resource.
US09841995B2 Apparatus and method for adaptive context switching scheduling scheme for fast block input and output
Provided is a method and apparatus for an adaptive context switching for a fast block input/output. The adaptive context switching method may include: requesting, by a process, an input/output device to perform an input/output of data; comparing a Central Processing Unit (CPU) effectiveness based on whether the context switching is performed; and performing the input/output through the context switching to a driver context of the input/output device, or directly performing, by the process, the input/output based on a comparison result of the CPU effectiveness.
US09841984B2 System and method for creating virtual disk images for use with remote computer
A system and method is disclosed for creating and exposing virtual disk images to a host server, during a KVM session, using an HTML5 KVM virtual media client running in the Web browser of a user's device (e.g., PC workstation). The host server is able to select all or specific portions of the virtual disk image for use, whereupon the bytes representing the selected data content are packaged by the HTML5 KVM virtual media client and transmitted to the host server. Using the HTML5 KVM virtual media client to create and expose virtual disk images eliminates the problem of the Web browser not being able to directly access physical media (e.g., disks) on the user's device.
US09841980B2 Extensible and application-adaptable toolbar for web services
Providing a user interface (UI) on a web page. A toolbar section is defined on the web page. The web page includes a content section being different and separate from the toolbar section, and the content section displays additional content of the web page. One or more groups are specified to include one or more action controls associated therewith. Each of the specified groups has a group identifier associated therewith. The one or more action controls are displayed according to the specified groups in the toolbar section of the web page. Each of the one or more displayed action controls includes properties associated therewith, and the included properties define at least one of the following: a name of the action control, a link of the action control, the group identifier of the action control, and a classification identifier of the action control.
US09841979B2 Method and apparatus for shuffling data using hierarchical shuffle units
A method and corresponding apparatus for processing a shuffle instruction are provided. Shuffle units are configured in a hierarchical structure, and each of the shuffle units generates a shuffled data element array by performing shuffling on an input data element array. In the hierarchical structure, which includes an upper shuffle unit and a lower shuffle unit, the shuffled data element array output from the lower shuffle unit is input to the upper shuffle unit as a portion of the input data element array for the upper shuffle unit.
US09841974B2 Renaming with generation numbers
A processor including a register file having a plurality of registers, and configured for out-of-order instruction execution, further includes a renamer unit that produces generation numbers that are associated with register file addresses to provide a renamed version of a register that is temporally offset from an existing version of that register rather than assigning a non-programmer-visible physical register as the renamed register.
US09841971B1 Embedding software updates into content retrieved by applications
The disclosed embodiments provide a system that facilitates execution of an application that is updated after undergoing an approval process with a digital application distribution platform on an electronic device. During operation, the system obtains content for display within the application from a server. Next, the system identifies, within the content, an update to the application. The system then modifies execution of the application during runtime of the application by applying the update without reloading the application on the electronic device and without downloading the update from the digital application distribution platform.
US09841970B2 Vehicle control update methods and systems
A vehicle can include methods and systems to update controls in vehicle modules. The systems and methods can include receiving a control update for a receiving vehicle module to be stored at a first memory location, installing the received controls at the first memory location, running the module using controls at a second memory location, checking the controls at the first memory location, if checking is valid, operating the vehicle module using the controls at the first memory location in place of the controls at the second memory location. The vehicle module can operate the controls at the first memory location without waiting to restart the vehicle or can delay use of the controls until a later event, e.g., restart or download to other vehicle modules on which the current module may depend.
US09841969B2 Software development and distribution platform
A system and method for developing and distributing software. Third-party software development kits (SDKs) are received and stored by a software development and distribution platform (SDDP), with each third-party SDK published by a third-party service provider, the plurality of third-party SDKs including a first third-party SDK. An installation request from an application developer machine is received by the SDDP and the SDDP sends the first third-party SDK in response to the installation request for installation in an application under development.
US09841967B2 Method and apparatus for auto installing applications into different terminals
An apparatus and method of automatically installing an application in different terminals by storing terminal information of a user and allowing the user to install an application when the user installs an application in at least two terminals, and in which an installation process may be automatically conducted is provided. Information related to an application installed in a first terminal is received from the first terminal; and a second terminal is requested to install another application corresponding to the application, in the second terminal, by using the received information related to the application.
US09841966B2 Selective migration of virtualized applications
User configurations of an installed application are migrated by isolating them from a base application state of the installed application to generate a virtual application package. At runtime, a base virtual application package and a user configurations virtual application package are provisioned from a central repository and executed by the user. The resulting virtualized execution environment merges the application resources contained in the packages such that the user configurations override the base application to make available all of the user configurations. This technique may be used to preserve user configurations during migration of applications, or to maintain user-specific configurations for a particular application across different sessions of a user's virtualized desktop.
US09841946B1 Method and apparatus for modulo operation
In some applications, such as randomization and cryptography, remainder computation for a number is required. The remainder computation is also used in modulo arithmetic. The remainder computation can be simplified when the divisor belongs to a certain class of numbers. A method and apparatus are disclosed that enable low complexity implementation of remainder computation of any number when the divisor belongs to a type of numbers that can be represented as 2k+1.
US09841942B2 Method of augmenting an audio content
A method of augmenting an ambiently experienced audio content is provided, the method comprises recording an acoustic audio signal from the ambiently experienced audio content; receiving a wireless signal comprising a first audio signal and a second audio signal, the wireless signal received using a first wireless communication system, wherein the first audio signal comprises sound that is also audible within the ambiently experienced audio content and the second audio signal comprises sound that is substantially inaudible within the ambiently experienced audio content; comparing the first audio signal with the acoustic audio signal to determine a delay between the acoustic audio signal and the first audio signal; delaying the second audio signal by the determined delay; and reproducing the delayed second audio signal at an audible volume, such that it is substantially synchronized with the ambiently experienced audio content. A device and system for augmenting the ambiently experienced audio content are also provided.
US09841940B2 Power reduction through clock management
Power reduction through clock management techniques are disclosed. In one aspect, the clock management is applied to a clock signal on a SOUNDWIRE™ communication bus. In particular, a control system associated with a master device on the communication bus may evaluate frequency requirements of audio streams on the communication bus and select a lowest possible clock frequency that meets the frequency requirements. Lower clock frequencies result in fewer clock transitions and result in a net power saving relative to higher clock frequencies. In the event of a clock frequency change, the master device communicates the clock frequency that will be used prospectively to slave devices on the communication bus, and all devices transition to the new frequency at the same frame boundary. In addition to the power savings, exemplary aspects of the present disclosure do not impact an active audio stream.
US09841936B2 Print setting control program and print setting control method
A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable print setting control program operated by a device for instructing an image forming apparatus to print, the print setting control program causing the device to function as an information acquisition unit which obtains information on a function performed by the image forming apparatus, a display control unit which causes a display unit to display a print setting screen where the function performed by the image forming apparatus is set, and a prohibition determining unit which determines whether a previous setting conflicts with a following setting and changes the previous setting to a setting which does not conflict with the following setting when the settings conflict with each other, wherein the display control unit decorates displays at set positions of the previous setting and the following setting when the previous setting is changed due to the conflict between the settings.
US09841934B2 Information processing apparatus, installation system, and installation method
An information processing apparatus includes a detector configured to detect whether a first printer serving as a connection destination of an installed first driver has been changed to a second printer; an information acquirer configured to, when the first printer has been changed, acquire from the first driver first information and acquire from the second printer second information; an inquirer configured to request information on a driver for the second printer together with the first and second information to a server, and receive a response including the information on the driver for the second printer; a decider configured to determine a second driver to be installed from drivers indicated by the response; a driver acquirer configured to acquire the second driver from the server; and an installer configured to carry over print settings of the first driver to install the second driver.
US09841932B2 Information processing apparatus, output control method, and storage medium
A page included in a preview page is deleted from an output target document. A logical page corresponding to the deleted page and logical pages corresponding to undeleted pages are represented in different formats on a display unit. A preview page representing one of the undeleted pages is displayed on the display unit. The deleted page is restored as an output target page in the output target document.
US09841929B1 Distributed system software infrastructure
A computer-executable method, system, and computer program product for providing data services, using a single control path, on a data storage resource selected from a plurality of heterogeneous storage resources, the computer-executable method comprising receiving a request for managing the data storage resource, analyzing the request to determine if a service for managing the data storage resource is available for satisfying the request, and based on the analyzing, providing access to the service for managing the data storage resource from the heterogeneous storage resources.
US09841922B2 Memory system includes a memory controller
A memory system includes a memory controller, a first memory module including first and second groups of first memory chips, a second memory module including first and second groups of second memory chips, and a channel including a first group of signal lines suitable for coupling the memory controller with the first memory module, and a second group of signal lines suitable for coupling the memory controller with the second memory module.
US09841920B2 Heterogeneous memory die stacking for energy efficient computing
Methods and apparatus to provide heterogeneous memory die stacking for energy efficient computing are described. In one embodiment, a Phase Change Memory with Switch (PCMS) die is coupled to a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) die and a Central Processing Unit (CPU) die. CPU checkpointing state data is stored in the PCMS die first before transferring the checkpointing data to a backup media at a later and more extended time. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.
US09841917B2 Systems and methods for configuring non-volatile memory
Systems and methods are disclosed for configuring a non-volatile memory (“NVM”). In some embodiments, each block of the NVM can include a block table-of-contents (“TOC”), which can be encoded (e.g., run-length encoded) and dynamically-sized. Thus, as user data is being programmed to a block, the size of a block TOC can be concurrently recalculated and increased only if necessary. In some embodiments, the NVM interface can use a weave sequence stored in the context information and at least one weave sequence associated with each page of a block to determine whether to replay across the pages of the block after system boot-up.
US09841916B2 Memory system for controlling semiconductor memory devices through plurality of channels
A memory system includes a plurality of channels; a plurality of semiconductor memory devices connected to the channels; and a controller that controls the semiconductor memory devices through the channels, wherein the controller writes program data in a first semiconductor memory device of the plurality of semiconductor memory devices, and wherein, when the writing of the program data fails, the program data is temporarily stored in a page buffer unit of a second semiconductor memory device of the plurality of semiconductor memory devices connected to a channel other than the channel corresponding to the first semiconductor memory device.
US09841915B1 Electronic device
This technology provides an electronic device. An electronic device in accordance with an implementation of this document may include a semiconductor memory for storing data, and the semiconductor memory may include a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure comprising a free layer having a variable magnetization direction, a pinned layer having a pinned magnetization direction, and a tunnel barrier layer interposed between the free layer and the pinned layer; and an under layer located under the MTJ structure, wherein the under layer may include: a first under layer including a silicon-based alloy; a second under layer including a metal; and a blocking layer interposed between the first under layer and the second under layer and including an amorphous material.
US09841912B1 Memory efficient block allocation map to support online growth of different storage attributes
A first tree data structure is used to track an allocation state for each block included in a first set of storage blocks. Upper level nodes in a given tree present the allocation state of connected lower level nodes in the given tree, such that each allocation state indicates whether any associated storage blocks are free. A second tree data structure is used to track an allocation state for each block included in a second set of storage blocks. The first tree data structure and the second tree data structure each have a number of leaf nodes corresponding to a maximum number of blocks that can be included in a superset of storage blocks, wherein the first set of storage blocks and second set of storage blocks are included in the superset of storage blocks. An allocation bitmap associated with the superset of storage blocks is used to track allocation states of storage blocks in the superset, wherein each leaf node of a specified tree is associated with a plurality of associated locations in the allocation bitmap.
US09841911B2 Green NAND device (GND) driver with DRAM data persistence for enhanced flash endurance and performance
A Green NAND Device (GND) driver application queries AC line and battery status and then stores an image of processor states and caches and a resume routine to DRAM when power failure occurs. A DRAM image is then stored to flash memory for a persistent mode when battery power is available. The image in DRAM may be a partial image that includes entries, flushed caches, processor contexts, ramdisks, write caches, and a resume context. Endurance of flash memory is increased by a Super Enhanced Endurance Device (SEED) SSD. In a power down mode, the GND driver limits DRAM use and only caches in DRAM data that can be deleted on power down. Host accesses to flash are intercepted by the GND driver and categorized by data type. Paging files and temporary files cached in DRAM are optionally written to flash.
US09841910B2 Moving and committing valid data on a set-by-set basis
A storage module may be configured to organize data to be moved from an initial storage location to a destination storage location into sets, and to determine whether to commit the data to the destination storage location on a set-by-set basis. Error correction and/or a post write and read process may be performed on the sets that are copied to the destination storage location to determine whether to commit each of the copied sets.
US09841905B2 File system having a database management system using file pre-allocation in mass storage devices
The present invention relates to a computer implemented method and database management system for storing data on a storage device. A plurality of empty files at the storage device is pre-allocated in a processor of the database management system. Each of the empty files has a pre-determined file size. The empty files are overwritten sequentially with a plurality of data blocks. Each of the data blocks having a pre-determined size. The present invention relates to a database management system (DBMS) that coordinates both the physical and the logical components of data management.
US09841900B2 Storage control apparatus, method, and medium for scheduling volume recovery
A storage control apparatus, that controls a storage apparatus that includes a storage drive in which a plurality of logical volumes are set, includes a storage unit that stores load information for each of the plurality of logical volumes, and a control unit that determines to-be-rebuilt volumes, which are targets to be rebuilt, from the plurality of logical volumes, sequentially selects a logical volumes for which a volume-specific taken time is estimated, determines, for each selected logical volume, a volume-specific start time at which a rebuild will be started, estimates, by using the volume-specific start time and the load information about the selected logical volume, the volume-specific taken time for rebuilding the selected logical volume, and totals the volume-specific taken time estimated for each selected logical volume to calculate a total taken time taken for rebuilding the to-be-rebuilt volumes.
US09841898B2 Subsegmenting for efficient storage, resemblance determination, and transmission
Transmitting or storing subsegments is disclosed. A data stream or a data block is received and broken into a plurality of segments. For at least one segment, the segment is broken into a plurality of subsegments. A previously stored or transmitted segment similar to the at least one segment is identified. A fingerprint is computed for at least one subsegment. And, using the fingerprint for the at least one subsegment, determining whether the at least one subsegment is identical to a subsegment of the previously stored or transmitted segment without directly comparing the content of the at least one subsegment with the content of the subsegment of the previously stored or transmitted segment.
US09841897B2 Devices, methods and systems for assessment and recordation of reactions to stimuli
Provided herein are methods of recording objective responses of a subject to stimuli, and devices and user interfaces (UI) for use therewith. In particular, the present invention provides UIs that allow a user to record objective multivariable responses to stimuli, devices comprising such UIs, and methods of using such UIs and devices to assess the characteristics of a sample or product.
US09841890B2 Information processing device and information processing method for improving operability in selecting graphical user interface by generating multiple virtual points of contact
A plurality of GUIs are displayed on the screen of a display. A hit determination area of each GUI is defined within a graphic of the GUI. When a user touches a point of contact, four virtual points of contact are generated in the shape of a ‘V’ within the screen. A GUI desired to be selected by the user is identified according to a predetermined rule by referring to whether points of contact are located within each hit determination area, the number of points of contact, the priority level defined for each GUI, etc.
US09841882B2 Providing application and device management using entitlements
Methods and systems for providing virtual workspaces are provided. Specifically, Application Workspace System “AWS” enables users to access remote server-based applications (e.g., thin client applications, terminal server applications, applications on hosted operating systems, etc.) using the same interface that they use to access local applications, without needing to know where the application is being accessed. The AWS automatically determines which applications the user is entitled to use, and then figures out, based upon a variety of parameters, which applications are to be made available to the user (resolved to version, particular package etc.), and whether they are to be installed locally, or accessed remotely.
US09841875B2 Method for displaying files from a plurality of devices in a multi-view interface and for enabling operations to be performed on such files through such interface
In a synchronization or back-up system that synchronizes and/or back-ups files from multiple computing devices, the present invention provides a method for (1) displaying files from multiple computing devices in a multi-view user interface and (2) enabling content and file operations to be performed on such files through the user interface. The multi-view interface includes a file-system view and one or more media-specific views. In the file-system view files are organized in the same way in which they are organized on the devices on which they are stored. The file-system view in the interface looks essentially the same as the file-system view on client devices. In the file-system view, users can perform file operations on files. In the media-specific view files are organized by media category. In one embodiment of the media-specific view, files are organized by metadata that relates to the files content. In the media-specific view, users can perform content operations on the files.
US09841874B2 Expandable application representation
Expandable application representation techniques are described. The techniques may include support of an expandable tile that may function as an intermediary within a root level (e.g., start menu or screen) of a file system. The expandable tile, for instance, may be output via a gesture to gain additional information that was not included in an unexpanded version of the tile, may be utilized to provide inputs to an application such that a user, and so on. Thus, this may support non-modal interaction by a user. Techniques are also described in which the expanded representation is included in a taskbar, which may also be used for non-modal interaction, sending of content represented in the representation to a device or application, continuation of interaction initiated with the representation by a mobile computing device, and so on. Expandable tile techniques may also be utilized to support interaction between shells of an operating system, such as a desktop and immersive shell. Further description of these and other examples involving and not involving an expandable tile are also contemplated.
US09841872B2 Emergency information access on portable electronic devices
Improved techniques for facilitating emergency access to one or more contacts stored on a portable electronic device are disclosed. One or more contacts on the portable electronic device are designated as emergency contacts. While the portable electronic device is password-locked, a request to display the one or more emergency contacts on the password-locked portable electronic device is received. Without requiring a password, the one or more emergency contacts are displayed on the portable electronic device.
US09841870B2 Integrated visualization and analysis of a complex system
An apparatus is provided for implementation of a system for integrated visualization and analysis of a complex system such as an aircraft composed of a plurality of elements. The apparatus may receive data for a physical instance of the complex system, and this data may include a list of the plurality of elements that reflects a relationship between at least some of them. The apparatus may generate a visual presentation of a digital three-dimensional (3D) model of the complex system. The apparatus may generate a layout of document components depicting elements of the plurality of elements, with the layout including one or more two-dimensional (2D) images depicting at least some of the elements. And the apparatus may integrate the data, visual presentation of the 3D model and layout to produce a visual definition of the complex system.
US09841869B2 Method for providing GUI using motion and display apparatus applying the same
A method of displaying a three-dimensional (3D) graphical user interface (GUI) on a mobile phone, including controlling, by a processor of the mobile phone, a display of the mobile device to display a first face of a 3D GUI, the first face comprising a GUI menu of the GUI, and a second face of the 3D GUI, the second face comprising image information of the GUI; detecting, by a sensor of the mobile phone, a physical slanting of the mobile phone; and displaying the image information of second face of the 3D GUI as being slanted to correspond to the physical slanting.
US09841862B2 Stylus position system
A system of one embodiment includes a touch-sensing device and a stylus. The touch sensing device includes an electrode array, which includes a plurality of electrode line pairs, and a controller. Each electrode line pair includes a first and second electrode line to send a first and second signal, respectively. The stylus includes a sensor to measure the first and second signals, a signal processor to determine position information, and a transmitter to send position information to the touch-sensing device.A method of another embodiment includes sending, by a first electrode line, a first signal having a first frequency. A second electrode line sends a second signal having a second frequency. A stylus receives the first and second signals. The stylus sends a response signal to the touch-sensing device based on the first and second signals. A position of the stylus is determined based on the first and second signals.
US09841859B2 Sensor structure and detection method
A sensor device includes electrodes disposed in a detection region having plural segments such that the electrodes do not overlap each other. The plural segments are arranged in a matrix shape with plural, three or more rows and plural, three or more columns. Each of the electrodes is located on certain segments out of the plural segments. The certain segments are located certain rows out of the plural rows and certain columns out of the plural columns. When each of the segments in the detection region is operated, the electrodes output signals different from each other correspondingly to each of the plural segments. The sensor device can easily detect the operated position with a simple configuration.
US09841858B2 Touch window
A touch window includes a substrate comprising a first area and a second area, a wire electrode on the second area, an intermediate layer provided on the substrate to cover an end of the wire electrode, a sensing electrode on the intermediate layer, and a connection electrode to connect the sensing electrode with the wire electrode. The connection electrode is provided on the intermediate layer to connect the sensing electrode with the wire electrode.
US09841856B2 Touch panel and touch device including the same
A touch panel may include a substrate including a sensing area and a connecting area, a circuit pattern integrally formed on the substrate, and a driving chip on the connecting area of the substrate. The circuit pattern may include a sensing circuit pattern in the sensing area and a connecting circuit pattern in the connecting area. A width of the sensing area measured may be greater than a width of the connection area and the circuit pattern may extend from the sensing area to the connecting area. Moreover, the substrate may be a flexible substrate having a flexible characteristic.
US09841851B2 Display device
In a capacitive touch panel, edge regions of the panel display generally have poor accuracy of coordinate detection of a touch point as compared to the intermediate region of the panel display. A display device includes a plurality of first electrodes arranged at predetermined pitches and extending in a X-direction; and a plurality of second electrodes arranged at predetermined pitches and extending in a Y-direction, wherein both endmost first electrodes of the plurality of first electrodes have a smaller pitch than the other first electrodes, both endmost second electrodes of the plurality of second electrodes have a smaller pitch than the other second electrodes, and the display device is configured to detect a touch based on a capacitance variation at one or more of intersections of the plurality of first electrodes with the plurality of second electrodes.
US09841848B2 Input device
An input device includes an irradiation component that emits scanning light relative to an input region of a projected image, a light receiver that receives reflected light of the scanning light to output detection signal, a detector that detects an input operation relative to the input region based on the detection signal from the light receiver; and a controller that sets an irradiation parameter of the scanning light from the irradiation component based on the input region.
US09841839B2 System for measuring latency on a touch device
A system and method are disclosed for measuring latency in a device which includes a user interface that receives user input and provides output in response. In an embodiment, a body separate from the device under test is provided. A first sensor operatively attached to the body detects a touch event input to the device at a first time and a second sensor detects a response output from the device at a second time. A computational engine computes a time differential between the first time and the second time and an output outputs an indication of a measurement of latency in the device, the measurement being reflective of the time differential between the first time and the second time.
US09841837B2 Apparatus and method for recognizing a user input
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for recognizing a user input. The apparatus comprises a sensor configured to sense an acoustic wave signal generated by knocking a surface of a medium, an extractor configured to separate an initial pulse signal from the acoustic wave signal and extract signal characteristic of the separated initial pulse signal, and a controller configured to recognize a knocking gesture based on the signal characteristic extracted by the extractor and generate a corresponding control signal.
US09841833B2 Touch sensor integrated display device
A touch sensor integrated display device includes a plurality of common electrode blocks that defines a plurality of touch driving channels and a plurality of touch sensing channels. The touch driving channel is formed of a group of common electrode blocks electrically linked via a touch signal line placed under the layer of the common electrode blocks. The source/drain of the circuit TFTs provided in the non-display area is formed of the same metal layer of the touch signal line. The source/drain of the pixel TFTs provided in the display area is formed of a metal layer different from the metal layer of the touch signal line.
US09841831B2 Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus and method and computer-readable storage medium
An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a touch interface configured to display a screen comprising an ultrasound image of an object, and receive a user touch on the ultrasound image; and a controller configured to acquire a seed point, at which the user touch is sensed, acquire shape information of the object, and perform a control to display, on the ultrasound image, a touch point corresponding to the user touch, the touch point being determined based on the seed point and the shape information.
US09841821B2 Methods for automatically assessing user handedness in computer systems and the utilization of such information
In some embodiments, a system and/or method may assess handedness of a user of a system in an automated manner. The method may include displaying a 3D image on a display. The 3D image may include at least one object. The method may include tracking a position and an orientation of an input device in open space in relation to the 3D image. The method may include assessing a handedness of a user based on the position and the orientation of the input device with respect to at least one of the objects. In some embodiments, the method may include configuring at least a portion of the 3D image based upon the assessed handedness. The at least a portion of the 3D image may include interactive menus. In some embodiments, the method may include configuring at least a portion of an interactive hardware associated with the system based upon the assessed handedness.
US09841820B2 Interactive haptic system for virtual reality environment
A physically interactive haptic system for a virtual reality environment. The system includes a plurality of actuating cylinders arranged perpendicularly to a plane. Each said cylinder includes a rod portion that moves within a series of telescoping-tube portions. Additionally, each said cylinder is designed to support the weight of a human. The system also includes a computing device, including a processor, for individually controlling each of the plurality of actuating cylinders. The computing device is configured for sending command signals to each of the plurality of actuating cylinders. A command signal instructs an actuating cylinder to move a rod portion within a telescoping-tube portion, so as to physically create a haptically-enhanced object in the virtual reality environment. A plurality of couplings for individual conductively coupling each of the plurality of actuating cylinders to the computing device.
US09841819B2 Perceptions in a haptic system
A system providing various improved perceptions techniques for haptic feedback above interactive surfaces that require no contact with either tools, attachments or the surface itself is described. A range of receptors in a perceiving member which is part of the human body is identified to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback. A vibration frequency that is in the range of the receptors in the perceiving member is chosen and dynamically altered to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback throughout the receiving member.
US09841812B2 Image display device and information input device
According to an illustrative embodiment, an information processing device is provided. The information processing device includes at least one electrode configured to generate at least one signal related to eye blinking of a subject; and a processing circuit configured to receive the at least one signal and detect eye blinking of the subject based on the at least one signal.
US09841809B2 Virtual encounters
A virtual encounter system includes a mannequin coupled to a camera for receiving a video image. The camera sends the video image to a communications network. The virtual encounter system also includes a processor for morphing the video image and a set of goggles to display a morphed video image.
US09841806B1 Method and system using memory channel load sharing
A memory load sharing system and method therefor. This system can include a platform VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) coupled to a memory channel with the platform VRM having a platform voltage input. One or more first memory modules can coupled to the platform VRM through the memory channel. Each of the first memory modules includes one or more plane connectors and a module connector, as well as a memory module VRM coupled to a module load sharing diode that is coupled to the one or more plane connectors of that first memory module. The platform VRM is coupled to a first platform load sharing diode that is coupled the plane connectors of each of the first memory modules. This platform is configured to support load sharing between the first memory modules and to provide a predetermined amount of power to each of the memory modules.
US09841805B2 Power management circuit and electronic device employing the same
A power management circuit that controls a plurality of power circuits for generating supply voltages at least for a processor is disclosed. The circuit includes: a real time clock that generates clock signals with a predetermined frequency; a power-on terminal to which a power-on key is connected, wherein the power-on terminal receives a voltage whose level depends on whether the power-on key is pressed or not; a power-on detecting unit that monitors a voltage at the power-on terminal and asserts a start signal if it is determined using the clock signals that the power-on key is pressed and held for a predetermined time period; and a power management controller that receives a system voltage based on a battery voltage or a DC voltage from a DC power source and, upon the start signal is asserted, starts up the plurality of power circuits in a predetermined sequence using the clock signals.
US09841804B2 Clocking a processor
A technique includes clocking a processor; and in response to the processor providing a signal indicating that the processor is transitioning between a first power state that is associated with a first power consumption and a second power state that is associated with a second power consumption different than the first power consumption, changing a frequency of the clocking.
US09841803B2 Independent power control of processing cores
Independent power control of two or more processing cores. More particularly, at least one embodiment of the invention pertains to a technique to place at least one processing core in a power state without coordinating with the power state of one or more other processing cores.
US09841802B2 Wake lock management through application monitoring
Methods, systems, and devices are described for managing wake locks in a wireless communication device. The described methods, systems and devices may enable a wireless communication device to monitor activity of an application for which a wake lock is held. The described approach may manage the wake lock based at least in part on the activity or inactivity of the application. For example, when the application is inactive or has activity below a particular threshold for a certain amount of time, the described approach may determine to release the wake lock.
US09841801B2 Power supply device and image processing device
A hardware circuit (403) outputs different output signals between a case where an operation of an operating switch (402) is continued for longer than a threshold time and the other cases. An operation detecting CPU (404) outputs different output signals between a case of having detected the operation of the operating switch (402) and the other case. A signal generating section (405) feeds a control signal for switching the power supply mode to an off mode into a power control section (401): when the hardware circuit (403) outputs an output signal different from an output signal for the case where the operation is continued for longer than the threshold time and the operation detecting CPU (404) outputs an output signal for the case of having detected the operation; or when the hardware circuit (403) outputs the output signal for the case where the operation is continued for longer than the threshold time and the operation detecting CPU (404) outputs an output signal different from the output signal for the case of having detected the operation.
US09841800B2 Budgeting for power consumption in a chassis environment that includes a plurality of integrated technology elements
Methods, apparatuses, and products for budgeting for power consumption in a chassis environment that includes a plurality of integrated technology elements (‘ITEs’), each ITE having power utilization information indicating an average power consumption of the ITE, including: determining, by a chassis management module, a total power requirement value based on a sum of the average power consumption for each ITE; increasing, by the chassis management module, the total power requirement value in dependence upon a predetermined power utilization delta; identifying, by the chassis management module, one or more power supplies to provide power to the ITEs in the chassis environment in dependence upon power delivery capabilities of the one or more power supplies and the total power requirement value; and powering on the identified one or more power supplies by the chassis management module.
US09841797B2 Power supply switch apparatus
A power supply switch apparatus includes a first interface, a switch circuit, and a power supply circuit. The first interface includes a first control signal output terminal, a second control signal output terminal, and a third control signal output terminal. Each of the first control signal output terminal, the second control signal output terminal, and the third control signal output terminal outputs a control signal according to an electronic device inserted in the first interface. The switch circuit receives the control signals and outputs a power supply signal accordingly. The power supply circuit receives the power supply signal, and provides a first direct current (DC) voltage or a second DC voltage to the electronic device according to the power supply signal.
US09841793B2 Solid state drive cooling in dense storage
Embodiments of apparatuses, systems and methods related to Solid State Drive (SSD) cooling in dense storage are described. An embodiment of an apparatus may include a housing. The apparatus may also include a first set of peripheral heatsink fins disposed parallel to a first axis of the housing. Additionally, the apparatus may include a second set of peripheral heatsink fins disposed parallel to a second axis of the housing. Also, the apparatus may include a set of heatsink members disposed adjacent the first set of peripheral heatsink fins and the second set of peripheral heatsink fins, the set of heat sink members configured to align with at least one of the first set of peripheral heatsink fins and the second set of peripheral heatsink fins.
US09841789B2 Hinge assembly for electronic device
A hinge assembly adapted to an electronic device is provided. The hinge assembly comprises a fixing member, a sliding shaft, a connecting member, a rotating shaft and a rotating member. A curved guide rail is formed at the side plate. When the sliding shaft is located at a first position and a force applies on the rotating member, the sliding shaft moves from the first position to a second position along the curved guide rail, when the sliding shaft is located at the second position of the curved guide rail and the force applies on the rotating member continuously, the rotating member rotates around the rotating shaft.
US09841788B2 Operation device
An operation device includes: a first substrate on which a wiring pattern is formed; an input unit that is mountable on the first substrate, and includes a member to be operated, a first wireless communication module that outputs a signal in accordance with operation of the member to be operated, and a first terminal that contacts the wiring pattern and supplies a power source to the first wireless communication module; and a position defining member that defines a position of the input unit on the first substrate.
US09841782B2 Connecting device, electronic equipment and notebook computer with connecting device
The embodiments of the present invention provide a connecting device and electronic equipment with the connecting device. The connecting device includes: a first fixed component; a mobile component mounted on the first fixed component; a rotational component connected to the first fixed component by the mobile component, wherein the rotational component could move horizontally with respect to the first fixed component by the mobile component; and a second fixed component connected to the rotational component, wherein the second fixed component could rotate with respect to the first fixed component by the rotational component. The connecting device could achieve the two operations of moving horizontally and rotating synchronously.
US09841775B2 Systems and methods for ultra-precision regulated voltage
Systems and methods for ultra-precision regulated voltage are provided. In one embodiment, a voltage regulated power supply device comprises: a precision reference voltage generator comprising a current regulator network supplying current into a voltage reference node, and a voltage regulator network applying a voltage potential to the voltage reference node, wherein at least one of the current regulator network or the voltage regulator network comprise a random variance statistical mitigation architecture; and a power amplifier coupled to voltage reference node, where the voltage reference node provides a constant voltage reference to the power amplifier.
US09841770B2 Pressure-type flow control device and method for preventing overshooting at start of flow control performed by said device
The pressure-type flow control device includes: a main body provided with a fluid channel communicating between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and an exhaust channel communicating between the fluid channel and an exhaust outlet; a pressure control valve fixed to a fluid inlet side of the main body for opening or closing the upstream side of the fluid channel; a first pressure sensor for detecting the internal pressure of the fluid channel on the downstream side of the control valve; an orifice provided in the fluid channel on the downstream side of the point of branching of the exhaust channel; an on/off valve for opening or closing the fluid channel on the downstream side of the first pressure sensor; and an exhaust valve for opening or closing the exhaust channel.
US09841767B1 Using emergency response system (EMS) vehicle telematics data to reduce accident risk
A computer system configured to use emergency response system (EMS) vehicle telematics data to reduce risk of accidents may be configured to (1) receive, when the EMS vehicle is en route to an emergency location, the EMS vehicle telematics data associated with the EMS vehicle and including GPS location, speed, route, heading, acceleration, and/or lane data; (2) determine that a current route of an autonomous vehicle will interfere with the route of the EMS vehicle; (3) determine an alternate route for the autonomous vehicle to avoid interfering with the route of the EMS vehicle; and (4) direct the autonomous vehicle to (i) travel along the alternate route or (ii) pull over to a side of a road on the current route to allow the EMS vehicle to pass unimpeded. Insurance discounts may be generated based upon the risk mitigation or prevention functionality.
US09841766B2 Restraint device, restraint system and restraint method for restricting robot to carry out task in predetermined area
A restraint device of the disclosure restricts a robot to carry out a task in a predetermined area. The restraint device includes a portable housing, a first signal receiver and a first signal transmitter. The first signal receiver receives signals transmitted from the robot. The first signal transmitter is electrically connected to the first signal receiver, and is configured for communicating with the robot. The first signal receiver includes a plurality of signal receiving units positioned toward a front wall of the portable housing, and the plurality of signal receiving units receive the signals from the robot at a predetermined position and within a predetermined angle range. The first signal transmitter responses to signal received states of the plurality of signal receiving units to communicate with the robot. The disclosure also offers a restraint system and a restraint method thereof.
US09841764B2 Predictive control of a motor vehicle
A method for controlling a motor vehicle includes: ascertaining a driving strategy as a function of an environment; detecting a driving strategy of a motor vehicle driving ahead; ascertaining that the driving strategies deviate from each other; and controlling the motor vehicle in accordance with the driving strategy of the motor vehicle driving ahead.
US09841762B2 Alerting predicted accidents between driverless cars
This patent application discloses methods and systems for alerting computerized motor-vehicles about predicted accidents. In an example method, a motor vehicle alerts another motor vehicle about a predicted accident, even though that accident is between the alerting car and a third motor vehicle—for example, the alert is transmitted by non-visual electromagnetic (EM) radiation. When an adjacent motor vehicle receives such accident alert and determines it might itself be hit, it will react so as to minimize its chances of being hit or at least to minimize the damage if it is being hit. Optionally, one or more of the motor vehicles has an onboard device for measuring a blood-alcohol level of a human driver thereof. The measured blood-alcohol level may be used to compute a probability of an occurrence of an accident and/or may be included in one or more of the transmitted accident alerts.
US09841755B2 Job plan creation system
Provided is a job plan creation system capable of creating an efficient job plan when the job plan is reconfigured on the basis of the progress of the jobs after the completion of the jobs that day and by the job starting time of the following day, for example. A job plan creation system extracts an interrupted job that has been started but has not been completed, a delayed job that should have been started based on the job plan but has not been started, and a not-started job that is scheduled to be started on the job plan and so has not been started from the job plan, and creates the job plan while setting priorities in the order of the interrupted job, the delayed job and the not-started job.
US09841754B2 Information-linkage supporting apparatus and information-linkage supporting program
An information-linkage supporting apparatus includes: a schema-information acquiring unit acquiring schema information concerning the configuration of numerical control data stored by a numerical-control-data storing apparatus as a database, from the numerical-control-data storing apparatus; a memory-map-information acquiring unit acquiring memory map information concerning memory allocation in the data memory of the numerical control data stored by a numerical control apparatus in an inside thereof, from the numerical control apparatus; a mapping-table generating unit generating, on the basis of association instruction information inputted from the outside for instructing association between constituent elements of the schema information and constituent elements of the memory map information, a mapping table, which is information for information linkage obtained by associating and mapping the constituent elements of the schema information and the constituent elements of the memory map information; and a mapping-table transmitting unit transmitting the mapping table to the numerical control apparatus.
US09841753B2 Monitoring system of a dynamical arrangement of pieces taking part in a process related to a manufacturing executing system
A monitoring system of a dynamical arrangement of pieces takes part in a process related to a manufacturing executing system is presented. At least one of the pieces is spatially movable and the arrangement is free of interfacing signals for signaling a spatial position of the pieces at a control unit of the manufacturing executing system. The monitoring system contains a camera which is spatially positionable in a free selected neighborhood closed to predefined pieces and which acquires an image of a field of interest of the dynamical arrangement, a motion detection unit at an output of the camera that provides a detection of a spatial motion of one of the pieces, and an interface at the output of the camera for transmitting the acquired image to an input of a monitoring unit to extract information on a status of the arrangement which is interpretable in the control unit.
US09841749B2 Runtime controller for robotic manufacturing system
Example systems and methods allow for runtime control of robotic devices during a construction process. One example method includes determining at least one sequence of robot operations corresponding to at least one robot actor, causing the at least one robot actor to execute a portion of the at least one sequence of robot operations during a first time period, receiving an interrupt signal from a mobile computing device indicating a modification to the at least one sequence of robot operations, where the mobile computing device is configured to display a digital interface including one or more robot parameters describing the at least one robot actor and one or more tool parameters describing operating characteristics of at least one physical tool, and causing the at least one robot actor to execute a portion of the at least one modified sequence of robot operations during a second time period.
US09841745B2 Machine controller and method for controlling a machine
A machine having at least one drive and at least one input device for inputting control commands for controlling the drive, the input device being configured in such a manner that at least occasionally at least two different actuating actions must be performed by a user on the input device in order to output a control command to the drive. The input device has a display device with a touch-sensitive surface in such a manner that inputs can be made by touching the surface. The display device at least occasionally displays a first symbol in a first region of the surface. A first input is able to be made by touching this symbol. The display device at least occasionally displays a second symbol in a second region of the surface. A second input is able to be made by touching the second symbol.
US09841744B2 Programmable controller, peripheral device thereof, and table data access program of programmable controller
A programmable controller includes a command execution unit that executes multiple commands in a user program in order; a database storage unit that stores therein a database that holds data used in a process performed by the command execution unit in a table format; a database-query-command generation unit that, when the commands include a command to access the database, converts the access command into a database query command described in a database query language; and a database management unit that accesses the database in the database storage unit and acquires data specified by the database query command.
US09841738B2 Field bus device with the possibility for inputting energy data
A method for operating an automation machine having a field bus device and an energy consumer connected to the field bus device, includes storing energy data relating to the energy consumer in the field bus device before operation of the automation machine, the energy data identifying an energy mode being stored, reading the energy data from the field bus device by a first control device connected to the field bus device via a field bus, and using the energy data for energy-saving operation of the automation machine during operation of the automation machine.
US09841734B2 Timepiece display mechanism with a fast corrector
A display mechanism including a mechanism for fast correction of a position of a display wheel set, an intermediate wheel set ensuring synchronization with an automatic drive mechanism, and, inserted between the intermediate wheel set and the display wheel set, a safety lever driven by the display wheel set during periodic driving thereof, in a trajectory that interferes with a spatial volume of the intermediate wheel set, such that, when the intermediate wheel set is correctly synchronized, the trajectory of the lever does not interfere with the intermediate wheel set, and, when the intermediate wheel set is not correctly synchronized, the trajectory of the safety lever interferes with the intermediate wheel set, which the safety lever then drives in an opposite direction to a single direction of normal operation, to resynchronize the intermediate wheel set.
US09841730B2 Filter frame and filter assembly
A frame for sandwiching and holding a filter includes a first frame portion, a second frame portion, a plurality of first tapered projections, and a plurality of second tapered projections. At least the first tapered projections are disposed so as to be sandwiched by the second tapered projections with respect to an arrangement direction. Shapes, in a section in a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction of at least one of the first tapered projections and the second tapered projections, of the at least one of the first tapered projections and the second tapered projections have first sides substantially perpendicular to a bottom thereof and second sides inclined with respect to the bottom.
US09841729B2 Process cartridge, electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and electrophotographic photosensitive drum unit
A process cartridge includes a casing, a photosensitive drum having an axis L1, and a coupling member having an axis L2. The coupling member includes a first end portion connected to the photosensitive drum and a second end portion, with the second end portion including at least one projection that is open to the axis L2 and an outer surface that faces away from the first end portion. For at least part of the outer surface, a maximum distance from the axis L2 to the outer surface along a line perpendicular to the axis L2 decreases as the distance along the axis L2 from the first end portion increases.
US09841728B2 Process cartridge having changeable relative positioning of a coupling member and another part of the process cartridge
A process cartridge comprises a guide member, a photosensitive drum having an axis L1, and a coupling member having an axis L2 and at least one projection. Relative positioning of the coupling member and the guide member is changeable between (i) a first relative position in which a tip of the at least one projection is a first distance away from an end of the guide member as measured in the direction of the axis L1 and (ii) a second relative position in which the tip of the at least one projection is a second distance away from the end of the guide member as measured in the direction of the axis L1, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance.
US09841727B2 Process cartridge, electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and electrophotographic photosensitive drum unit
A process cartridge comprises a guide member positioned at a side of the process cartridge, a photosensitive drum having an axis L1, and a coupling member having an axis L2, with the coupling member including at least one projection. A relative positioning of the coupling member and the guide member is changeable between (i) a first relative position in which a tip of the at least one projection is a first distance away from an end of the guide member as measured in the direction of the axis L1 and (ii) a second relative position in which the tip of the at least one projection is a second distance away from the end of the guide member as measured in the direction of the axis L1, with the first distance being greater than the second distance.
US09841722B2 Replaceable unit for an image forming device having magnets of varying angular offset for toner level sensing
A replaceable unit for an electrophotographic image forming device according to one example embodiment includes a housing having a reservoir for storing toner. A rotatable shaft is positioned within the reservoir and has an axis of rotation. A first magnet and a second magnet are connected to the shaft and rotatable around the axis of rotation in response to rotation of the shaft. The first magnet and the second magnet pass near at least a portion of an inner wall of the housing forming the reservoir during rotation of the first and second magnets. An amount of angular offset between the first magnet and the second magnet varies depending on an amount of toner in the reservoir.
US09841721B2 Electrophotographic image forming apparatus
A drum supporting member, which is usable with an image forming apparatus, includes a photosensitive drum and a mounting portion for detachably mounting a developing cartridge. The drum mounting portion also includes a contacting member contactable with the developing cartridge, with contacting member being movable between a first position and a second position. When the contacting member is in the first position, the contacting member contacts the developing cartridge with a developing roller of the developing cartridge being placed in a third position contacting the photosensitive drum. When the contacting member is in the second position, the contacting member contacts the developing cartridge with the developing cartridge being placed in a fourth position in which the developing cartridge is dismountable from the drum supporting member. The drum supporting member further includes an elastic member configured to urge the contacting member against movement of the developing cartridge in a direction from the fourth position to the third position.
US09841720B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus, including a body with an aperture, a processing unit movable between an inside position and an outside position, and a transfer unit, is provided. The processing unit includes first and second drum cleaners to remove waste toner from first and second photosensitive drums respectively; and a waste toner conveyer including a conveyer tube longitudinally extending in a movable direction of the processing unit, a port, a conveyer screw located inside the conveyer tube, and a shutter movable between an opening position and a closed position to open and close the port. The transfer unit includes a belt unit with a belt arranged to contact the first photosensitive drum and the second photosensitive drum, and a belt cleaner including a container with an opening which communicates with the port of the conveyer tube when the processing unit is in the inside position.
US09841716B2 Electrophotographic photoreceptor, image forming apparatus, and image forming process
An electrophotographic photoreceptor includes an intermediate layer, a photosensitive layer, and a surface protective layer, deposited in this order on an electroconductive support. The surface protective layer includes a resin and a p-type semiconductor microparticle contained in the resin. The intermediate layer includes a resin and at least one metal oxide microparticle contained in the resin. The at least one metal oxide microparticle is selected from the group consisting of untreated tin oxide particles, tin oxide particles surface-treated with organic compounds, untreated anatase titanium oxide particles, anatase titanium oxide particles surface-treated with organic compounds, untreated rutile titanium oxide particles, and rutile titanium oxide particles surface-treated with organic compounds.
US09841714B2 Creating social prints from photographs maintained by a social networking system
A social networking system user may request physical prints of digital photographs stored in connection with the user's user profile on the social networking system. The physical prints are generated by a photograph developer, such as a retail store, and retrieved by the user. The user may request the physical prints from an application executing on a user device that allows the user to identify social context information associated with a digital photograph for inclusion on the physical print. The social networking system may notify users connected to the user and/or to the digital image of the physical print generation.
US09841712B2 Fixing device, heating member, and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes a belt member that moves in a circulating manner, a pressure member that is disposed to be in contact with an outer circumferential surface of the belt member, and pressurizes a recording material on which an image is formed, and a heating member. The heating member includes a curved portion that is curved along an inner circumferential surface of the belt member and is in contact with the inner circumferential surface, a bent portion that is bent from an upstream side end portion of the curved portion in a moving direction of the belt member and is separated from the inner circumferential surface, and a heat generation portion that is provided in the curved portion and heats the belt member. A generated heat amount in the curved portion on the upstream side is larger than that in the curved portion on a downstream side.
US09841707B2 Image forming apparatus, control method, and control program in which a magnitude of a current to flow in a paper sheet at the time of toner image transfer can be set
An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier configured to carry a toner image; a transfer member configured to transfer the toner image onto a transfer target member by applying a transfer voltage of the opposite polarity of the polarity of the toner image to the transfer target member, the transfer member being in contact with the image carrier; an accepting unit configured to accept a setting for changing a preset current range to a new current range, the preset current range being defined by one of a lower limit of a current flowing in the transfer target member and an upper limit of the current; a sensing unit configured to sense a magnitude of the current flowing in the transfer target member; and a control device configured to control the transfer voltage so that the magnitude of the sensed current falls within the new current range.
US09841703B2 Developing apparatus
A developing apparatus includes a developing container containing a developer and a stirring-conveying screw configured to feed the developer. The stirring-conveying screw includes a first feeding screw portion to feed the developer in a first direction, a second feeding screw portion to feed the developer in an opposite direction, and a third feeding screw portion. A first feeding passageway accommodates parts of the feeding screw portions, and a second feeding passageway is provided in fluid communication with the first feeding passageway. A bottom surface portion is disposed proximate to the communication opening and has a first portion provided at a position higher than a bottom surface of the second feeding screw and a second portion provided at a position lower than a bottom-most portion of the communication opening. The bottom surface portion is located downstream of the second feeding screw and faces the third feeding screw.
US09841701B1 Toner container, image forming apparatus
A toner container includes a container main body, a rotation member, a flat plate-like lid member, a rib member, and a film member. The rotation member is rotatably provided in the container main body and extends in a depth direction of the container main body. The lid member closes an opening portion of the container main body in the depth direction. The rib member is provided on an inner surface of the lid member in such a way as to be located adjacent to the rotation member with a predetermined gap from the rotation member, and positions the lid member with respect to the opening portion. The film member is attached to the housing of the container main body such that one surface of the film member contacts the rib member and an opposite surface of the film member contacts an outer circumferential surface of the rotation member.
US09841698B2 Optical deflector, and optical scanning device and image forming apparatus equipped with same
Disclosed is an optical deflector including a polygonal mirror and a drive motor each mounted on a substrate, a cover member covering the polygonal mirror and the drive motor, and an electronic component. The cover member includes: a first cover portion defining a first space in which the polygonal mirror is installed, wherein the first cover portion is formed with a first opening opened in opposed relation to an outer peripheral surface of the polygonal mirror; and a second cover portion defining a second space which is communicated with the first space and in which the drive motor is installed, wherein the second cover portion is formed with a second opening opened in opposed relation to a motor body of the drive motor. When viewed in the first direction, the electronic component is disposed such that it falls within an open region of the second opening.
US09841696B2 Image forming apparatus and cleaning method
Provided is an image forming apparatus including a first holding member that is rotated and holds a liquid developer including a volatile carrier liquid, a first cleaning member that is able to come into contact with or separated from the first holding member and cleans a surface of the first holding member by being in contact with the first holding member, a supplying device that supplies a volatile washing liquid to the first holding member at an upstream side of the first cleaning member in a rotation direction of the first holding member, and a switching mechanism that switches a first state in which the first cleaning member is in contact with the first holding member that is rotated to a second state in which the first cleaning member is separated from the first holding member that is rotated to apply the washing liquid to the first holding member.
US09841695B2 Liquid developer, method for controlling charging properties of toner, image forming apparatus, image forming method, process cartridge, and liquid developer cartridge
An image forming apparatus includes an image holding member, a first charging unit that charges a surface of the image holding member, a latent image forming unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on a charged surface of the image holding member, a second charging unit that charges a toner contained in a liquid developer, a developing unit that accommodates the liquid developer and develops the electrostatic latent image by using the liquid developer containing the toner charged by the second charging unit to form a toner image, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium, and a fixing unit that fixes the toner image to the recording medium. The liquid developer includes a toner in which a compound having a charge-accepting functional group has been bonded to a surface of toner particles, an ionization-controlling agent that ionizes the charge-accepting functional group, and a carrier liquid.
US09841693B2 Brilliant toner, electrostatic charge image developer, and toner cartridge
A brilliant toner includes release agent domains meeting conditions (1) a length of the release agent domain in a longitudinal axis direction is 300 nm to 1,500 nm, (2) a ratio between the length in the longitudinal axis direction and in a short axis direction of the release agent domain is 3.0 to 15.0, (3) an angle between (a) a tangent line passing through a contact point of (a1) a circumference of a circle that is centered at a centroid of the release agent domain and is inscribed in an outer edge of the toner particle and (a2) the outer edge and (b) a line passing through the centroid and extending in the longitudinal axis direction is 0° to 45°, and (4) a ratio of a distance between the centroid and the contact point to an equivalent circle diameter of the toner particle is 0.03 to 0.25.
US09841689B1 Approach for model calibration used for focus and dose measurement
A method is provided that comprises printing FEM wafers having different predefined focus offsets and multiple corresponding sites, measuring signals from the sites, and quantifying a focus inaccuracy by comparing the measured signals from the corresponding sites across the wafers.
US09841686B2 Exposure method, exposure device for performing the method and manufacturing method of display substrate using the method
An exposure method includes exposing a substrate to form a first pattern on a first layer, measuring a first alignment value of the first pattern, generating first correction data by using the first alignment value, storing the first correction data and exposing the substrate to form a second pattern on a second layer disposed on the first layer by using the first correction data.
US09841685B2 Determination of a corrected variable
A method for determining a corrected variable, which depends on at least one parameter, in a parameter range of the parameter, includes carrying out a measurement, measurement values of the variable being made available in a plurality of separate and non-overlapping subranges of the parameter range; correcting measurement values of the variable using an approximation, in which measurement values of the variable are approximated with a smooth function and with subrange functions of the subranges of the parameter range. The smooth function allows reproduction of the progression of the variable over the parameter range. The subrange functions permit an individual change of the variable in the subranges. Also disclosed are methods for adjusting imaging optics of an optical system, devices for determining a corrected variable, which depends on at least one parameter in a parameter range, and methods for determining a plurality of corrected wavefront errors in an image field.
US09841683B2 Illumination optical unit for EUV projection lithography
An illumination optical unit for EUV projection lithography illuminates an illumination field with illumination light from a light source. A first facet mirror of the illumination optical unit has a plurality of first facets for the reflective guidance of partial beams of a beam of the EUV illumination light. Disposed downstream of the first facet mirror is a second facet mirror with a plurality of second facets for further reflective guidance of the partial beams. As a result of this, the reflective beam guidance that the two facets predetermines object field illumination channels, by which the whole object field is illuminable by the illumination light in each case and to which exactly one first facet and exactly one second facet is assigned in each case.
US09841678B2 Photosensitive resin composition, photosensitive element, semiconductor device and method for forming resist pattern
A photosensitive resin composition comprises: a component (A): a resin having a phenolic hydroxyl group; a component (B): a compound having a methylol group or an alkoxyalkyl group; a component (C): an aliphatic compound having two or more functional groups, the functional groups being one or more types selected from an acryloyloxy group, a methacryloyloxy group, a glycidyloxy group and a hydroxyl group; and a component (D): a photosensitive acid generator.
US09841677B2 Negative photosensitive resin composition, cured resin film, partition walls and optical element
To provide a negative photosensitive resin composition which may be sufficiently cured even at a low exposure amount and which can impart good ink repellency to the upper surface of partition walls, a cured resin film and partition walls which have good ink repellency on the upper surface, and an optical element which has dots formed with good precision, having opening sections partitioned by partition walls uniformly coated with an ink.A negative photosensitive resin composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin or alkali-soluble monomer (A) having an ethylenic double bond, a photopolymerization initiator (B), a thiol compound (C) having at least 3 mercapto groups in one molecule, and an ink repellent agent (D), a cured resin film and partition walls formed by using the negative photosensitive resin composition, and an optical element having the partition walls located between a plurality of dots and their adjacent dots on a substrate surface.
US09841674B2 Patterning method, and template for nanoimprint and producing method thereof
A patterning method according to one embodiment includes forming a ground layer on a processing target layer. The ground layer has higher affinity for one of a first segment and a second segment contained in a self-assembly material than for the other segment. The neutral layer is patterned on the ground layer. The neutral layer is neutral to the first segment and the second segment. Exposing surfaces of the ground layer and the neutral layer is irradiated with an energy ray. The self-assembly material is applied onto the ground layer and the neutral layer. The self-assembly material is phase-separated into a first domain including the first segment and a second domain including the second segment. One of the first domain and the second domain is selectively removed.
US09841669B2 Method for forming conductive mesh pattern, and mesh electrode and laminate manufactured thereby
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a conductive mesh pattern, a mesh electrode manufactured by the same, and a laminate.
US09841668B2 Photomasks for reducing thermal stress generated by heat
A photomask includes a light transmission substrate having a transfer region and a frame region, a light-transmitting region exposing a portion of the light transmission substrate in the transfer region corresponding to a transfer pattern, a phase shift region surrounding the light-transmitting region in the transfer region. The phase shift region includes a first phase shift region surrounding the light-transmitting region and a second phase shift region surrounding the first phase shift region. A first phase shift pattern is disposed on the light transmission substrate in the first phase shift region, and a plurality of second phase shift patterns are disposed on the light transmission substrate in the second phase shift region.
US09841665B2 Information processing apparatus and information processing method to modify an image based on audio data
An information processing apparatus is provided that includes a playback unit to play back music data, an analysis unit to analyze a feature of a relevant image of the music data, an image correction unit to perform image correction with use of any of a plurality of correction types, a storage unit to store one or more than one image, a selection unit to select a correction type corresponding to the feature of the relevant image analyzed by the analysis unit from the plurality of correction types, a correction control unit to cause the image correction unit to perform image correction of an image stored in the storage unit with use of the correction type selected by the selection unit, and an output unit to output the image corrected by the image correction unit.
US09841661B2 Projecting system with extendable modules
A projecting system is proposed. The projecting system comprises a mini projector with at least one first building block structure, a battery pack with at least one second building block structure, and an application unit with at least one third building block structure. One of the at least one first building block structure is electrically coupled to one of the at least one second building block structure. One of the at least one first building block structure is electrically coupled to one of the at least one third building block structure.
US09841659B2 Wearable stabilizing assembly for an optical device
A stabilizing assembly for an optical device includes a base plate having a blade curved to fit against a person's torso, a strap extending outwardly from the base plate; a socket defined in the base plate and a mounting screw spaced from the socket. The blade extends below the base plate and an adjustment member is located on the underside of the base plate a distance from a lower end of the blade. The optical device is engageable with the stabilizing assembly in two ways. Firstly, the blade is inserted between the person's torso and a waistband or belt. The strap is passed around the person's neck and an end of a monopod engaged with the optical device is inserted into the socket. Secondly, the optical device is directly engaged with the mounting screw and the assembly is placed on the ground supported by the blade and adjustment member.
US09841649B2 Gate driver on array short-circuit protection circuit and liquid crystal panel including the same
The short-circuit protection circuit for a Gate Driver on Array (GOA) liquid crystal panel contains a power module, a first booster module, a feedback module, and a second booster module series-connected in the this order. A control module is electrically connected to the first booster, feedback, and second booster modules. The power module provides a power voltage. The control module provides a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal so as to control the first and second booster modules to transform the power voltage into driving voltage. The feedback module extracts a feedback current from a current flowing from the first to the second booster module and provides a feedback signal to the control module. When the feedback current exceeds a current threshold, the control module cuts off the PWM signal output so as to achieve short-circuit protection. A liquid crystal panel incorporating the above short-circuit protection circuit is also provided.
US09841646B2 Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display includes a first substrate in which a pixel region is defined by a gate line and a data line intersecting the gate line, the pixel region being arranged in a matrix with other pixel regions, a pixel electrode disposed in the pixel region, and a shielding electrode disposed between the pixel electrode and another pixel electrode, wherein the shielding electrode is electrically connected to the data line and a different voltage from a voltage applied to the data line is applied to the shielding electrode.
US09841645B2 Display device
A display device includes a display panel, a circuit board, a light guide structure and two paste materials. The circuit board is disposed on the display panel. The light guide structure is disposed on the display panel. The light guide structure has a bottom surface and a peripheral surface, wherein the bottom surface is oriented toward the display panel and the peripheral surface is adjacent to the bottom surface. Two plating pads are formed on the bottom surface. Two first recesses are formed on the peripheral surface and corresponding to the two plating pads. The two paste materials are formed between the two plating pads and the circuit board.
US09841641B2 Liquid crystal display device
A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate. The first substrate includes a gate line and an auxiliary capacitance line extending in a first direction, a source line extending in a second direction orthogonally crossing the first direction, and a pixel electrode having a main pixel electrode arranged on the auxiliary capacitance line and extending in the first direction. The second substrate includes a common electrode having a main common electrode arranged above the gate line and extending in the first direction. A liquid crystal layer is held between the first substrate and the second substrate having liquid crystal molecules. The liquid crystal molecules are initially aligned in the first direction in a splay alignment state between the first substrate and the second substrate in a state where electric field is not formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.
US09841636B2 Liquid crystal display device
A high-definition and high-contrast liquid crystal display device having a high aperture ratio without light leakage around a columnar spacer is provided. The liquid crystal display device of a horizontal electric field type includes a TFT substrate with a pixel electrode and a common electrode, a color filter substrate with a color filter, a columnar spacer interposed between the substrates, and a liquid crystal layer arranged between the substrates. A liquid crystal alignment film formed between the substrates is a photo-alignment film. The columnar spacer, formed on the color filter substrate or the TFT substrate, has a wall-like shape and an inclined surface extending in a direction parallel to or perpendicular to a direction in which the liquid crystal is initially aligned.
US09841635B2 Liquid crystal display device
A reliability of seal portion of a liquid crystal display device can be improved by the following structure. A liquid crystal display device includes: a TFT substrate which includes a display region and a terminal part, and has an inorganic insulating film formed on an organic passivation film and an alignment film formed over the inorganic insulating film; a counter substrate, the TFT substrate and the counter substrate bonded together by a sealing material formed at a seal part surrounding the display region; and a liquid crystal sealed inside. At the seal part, a transparent conductive oxide film is formed between the inorganic insulating film and the alignment film. The transparent conductive oxide film exists inside an edge of the TFT substrate and hence, the edge of the TFT substrate is free of the transparent conductive oxide film.
US09841634B2 Three dimensional display apparatus and manufacturing method thereof
A three-dimensional (3D) display apparatus, display module, and a manufacturing method thereof, are provided. The 3D display apparatus includes a display module including a first display panel configured to display a two-dimensional (2D) image, a second display panel disposed in front of the first display panel and spaced apart from the first display panel, and configured to display another 2D image that when combined with the 2D image displayed by the first display panel generates a 3D image, and a spacing panel comprising a rear surface on which the first display panel is attached and a front surface on which the second display panel is attached, the spacing panel providing an amount of space between the first display panel and the second display panel.
US09841633B2 Liquid crystal display device
In the step of curing a resin for bonding a TFT substrate and a counter substrate each having an alignment film that has been optically aligned by using UV-light, damage to the alignment film due to the UV-light can be prevented without using a light shielding mask. A UV-light absorption layer is formed between each black matrix on the counter substrate. The TFT and counter substrates are sealed at their periphery by a resin that is cured by UV-light radiated from the counter substrate side. Since the absorption layer has a high absorbability to UV-light at a wavelength of 300 nm or less that degrades the alignment film, damage to the alignment film due to the UV-light for curing the resin can be prevented. Thus, provision of a light shielding mask for shielding the UV-light for the display region can be saved.
US09841629B2 Display panel and display device
A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes a first substrate having a display region and a non-display region, a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, at least a data line and at least a scan line disposed in the display region, a liquid crystal layer, a plurality of spacers and a seal disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, a light shielding layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, and including a light transmitting portion and a light shielding portion, and an alignment layer and a plurality of particles disposed on the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion. A first surface roughness corresponding to the light transmitting portion of the non-display region is greater than a second surface roughness corresponding to the light shielding portion of the non-display region.
US09841627B2 Backlight module
A backlight module includes a substrate having an opening on top, a first reflective plate disposed on a bottom surface of the substrate, light guide plates disposed on the first reflective plate with intervals in between, backlight source components, and a plurality of optical films disposed on the opening of the substrate. The backlight source components comprise heat sink shelves, and point light sources that are fixed on the heat sink shelves and inserted in the interval between two neighboring light guide plates. The present invention effectively reduces the width and thickness of the backlight module, and is instrumental for a narrow-frame and ultra-thin design, effectively reduce production cost. Meanwhile, the arrangement ensures good backlight uniformity, and is instrumental in reducing the distance needed for light mixing. Additionally, the defect of dark band appearing around the backlight module of traditional backlight modules can be effectively eliminated.
US09841623B2 Liquid crystal display and manufacturing method thereof
A liquid crystal display includes: an insulation substrate; a microcavity layer disposed on the insulation substrate and having a reversed taper side wall; a pixel electrode disposed in the microcavity layer on the insulation substrate; a liquid crystal layer disposed in the microcavity layer; and a common electrode which covers the liquid crystal layer.
US09841621B2 Display apparatus and manufacturing method thereof
Provided herein a display apparatus including a display panel including a first surface for displaying information and a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface, and where a curvature is formed as a physical force is applied; and a curvature changing unit bonded to at least a portion of the second surface, wherein the curvature changing unit includes a first actuator unit configured to curve the display panel when a voltage is applied and a fixing unit configured to fixate the first actuator unit.
US09841619B2 Optical body
Provided is an optical body capable of arbitrarily and quickly controlling the optical characteristics of incident light. A refractive index variable layer (8) formed of PLZT or other material and a magneto-optical material layer (9) formed of garnet or other material are provided side by side between a first reflective layer (3) and a second reflective layer (5). If linearly polarized light is made incident from the side of the first reflective layer (3), the incident light interacts with the magneto-optical material layer (9) and is converted into a right-circularly polarized light component and a left-circularly polarized light component. A very small retardation occurring between both the right- and left-circularly polarized light components is amplified through multiple reflections between the pair of reflective layers (3, 5) and is controlled according to a controlled refractive index of the refractive index variable layer (8).
US09841603B2 Electronic eyewear viewing device
An electronic eyewear viewing device including a display module having a microdisplay for viewing images. The microdisplay can have an exit window aligned along a first lateral axis L1. The display module can have a pivot joint along a second lateral axis L2 parallel to and spaced apart from the first lateral axis L1. The display module can be rotatable about the pivot joint. A lateral position adjustment screw can be mounted and rotatably secured to the display module for laterally adjusting position of the display module. A rotational position adjustment screw can be mounted along a transverse axis that is transverse to the second lateral axis L2 and rotatably secured to the display module at a location offset from the second lateral axis L2 for adjusting rotational position of the display module about the pivot joint along the second lateral axis L2.
US09841602B2 Location indicating avatar in head worn computing
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to visual presentation techniques for indicating a location in a head-worn computer using an avatar. A method may include receiving a location indicative of a human presence at a location in an obscured environment, establishing a virtual location marker in a position that is visually available to a person wearing a head-worn computing system, wherein the virtual marker provides an indication of the location in the obscured environment, and generating an avatar as a representation of the human presence and presenting the avatar in a field of view of the head-worn computing system, wherein the presentation of the avatar is positioned in the field of view by visually associating the avatar with the location marker such that the avatar appears to remain at the location marker location, as perceived by a person wearing the head-worn computing system, independent of the head-worn computing system's viewing angle.
US09841598B2 Lens with embedded multilayer optical film for near-eye display systems
A lens is formed from at least two sections or bodies that are shaped to mate with each other, and a multilayer optical film is sandwiched between these two sections. Smooth surfaces of each section combine to provide a first optical surface of the lens, e.g., a concave, convex, or flat optical surface. The multilayer optical film includes a stack of polymer layers configured to selectively reflect light by constructive or destructive interference, at least some of the polymer layers being birefringent. The multilayer optical film may thus be or comprise e.g. a reflective polarizer and/or a narrow band or otherwise notched reflector. The multilayer optical film has an extended terminus that separates the smooth surfaces of the two sections. Any edge defects such as cracks or delaminations that may exist along the extended terminus are characterized by an average defect distance of no more than 100 or 50 microns.
US09841596B2 Laser beam directing system and method for orienting optical components of the laser beam directing system
A laser beam directing system including a first deflection mirror which is connected with an elevation axis of the laser beam directing system; a primary laser which is coupleable into telescope optics by the first deflection mirror; a first auxiliary laser that is oriented in parallel to an azimuth rotation axis of the laser beam directing system; a second auxiliary laser that is oriented parallel to an elevation rotation axis of the laser beam directing system; and a first detector, wherein the first auxiliary laser, the second auxiliary laser and the first detector are arranged and oriented in the laser beam directing system so that the first deflection mirror is alignable by comparing beams of the first auxiliary laser and the second auxiliary laser impacting the first detector so that a beam from the primary laser is coupleable into the telescope optics parallel to the elevation rotation axis.
US09841594B2 Apparatus of coupling substrates for electrowetting display panel and method of coupling substrates for electrowetting display using the same
An apparatus that couples a first substrate and a second substrate of an electrowetting display panel, the apparatus comprising a first chuck provided with a first support surface and a second chuck provided with a second support surface opposite to the first support surface and positioned beneath the first chuck. The second support surface is smaller than the first support surface and is positioned in a plane parallel to a plane that includes the first support surface.
US09841592B2 Temporal compressive sensing systems
Methods and systems for temporal compressive sensing are disclosed, where within each of one or more sensor array data acquisition periods, one or more sensor array measurement datasets comprising distinct linear combinations of time slice data are acquired, and where mathematical reconstruction allows for calculation of accurate representations of the individual time slice datasets.
US09841591B2 Microscope switchable between bright-field observation and fluorescence observation having movable lens
A microscope is a microscope that switches an observation method between the bright-field observation and the fluorescence observation. The microscope includes an objective that irradiates a sample with excitation light and converts fluorescence from the sample into a parallel light flux, a beam splitter that splits fluorescence and excitation light from each other, and a collective lens that is arranged in such a manner that it is freely set in and removed from an optical path between the beam splitter and the objective, that has a positive power, and that is set in the optical path for fluorescence observation and is removed from the optical path for bright-field observation.
US09841590B2 Real-time focusing in line scan imaging
Systems and methods for capturing a digital image of a slide using an imaging line sensor and a focusing line sensor. In an embodiment, a beam-splitter is optically coupled to an objective lens and configured to receive one or more images of a portion of a sample through the objective lens. The beam-splitter simultaneously provides a first portion of the one or more images to the focusing sensor and a second portion of the one or more images to the imaging sensor. A processor controls the stage and/or objective lens such that each portion of the one or more images is received by the focusing sensor prior to it being received by the imaging sensor. In this manner, a focus of the objective lens can be controlled using data received from the focusing sensor prior to capturing an image of a portion of the sample using the imaging sensor.
US09841584B2 Magnification optical system
A magnification optical system forms an enlarged image of an object. It includes a refractive optical system including a plurality of lens groups; and a mirror train including a curved mirror, arranged in this order from an object side, a first focus structure configured to move the respective lens groups of the refractive optical system by different amounts along a normal line of a conjugate surface on the object side, and a second focus structure configured to move the respective lens groups along the normal line of the conjugate surface on the object side by different amounts from those of the first focus structure.
US09841581B2 Photographic lens optical system
A photographic lens optical system includes first to fifth lenses sequentially arranged in a direction away from an object. The first lens may have a negative refractive power, the second lens may have a positive or negative refractive power, the third lens may have a positive refractive power, the fifth lens may have a negative refractive power, and the fifth lens may have a positive refractive power. The first and fifth lenses may be spherical lenses. The fifth lens may be a biconvex lens. The second to fourth lenses may be aspherical lenses. An aperture stop may be between the second and third lenses. The photographic lens optical system may satisfy the inequality −2.3
US09841579B2 Multiple-fiber connector inspection
A fiber inspection system for inspecting optical-fiber endfaces of a multiple-fiber connector is provided that includes a housing structure, a mating interface fixed relative to the housing structure for interfacing with the multiple-fiber connector, and an imaging assembly. The imaging assembly is enclosed in the housing structure and defines an inspection plane and an image plane, at least a plurality of the optical-fiber endfaces being disposed on the inspection plane, to within a focusing range, when the multiple-fiber connector is mated to the mating interface. The imaging assembly also defines an imaging axis between an inspection point on the inspection plane and a detection point on the image plane, and includes an alignment module disposed between the inspection plane and the image plane and controllable to move the inspection point across the inspection plane for selectively inspecting one or more of the optical-fiber endfaces.
US09841578B2 Projector
A projector includes an image forming panel 14 on which an image is formed, and a projection lens 15 which projects the image of the image forming panel 14. In a projector in which the center of the image forming panel 14 is fixed with being shifted in a direction opposite to a direction in which a central position of the projected image of the image forming panel 14 is deviated with respect to an optical axis L of the projection lens 15, a lens barrel 31 of the projection lens 15 includes heater 33 for heating a lens barrel portion on a side opposite to a direction, in which the image forming panel 14 is shifted, on the image forming panel 14 side from the diaphragm position 32 where an F-Number of the projection lens is determined. Cooler may be provided in place of the heater.
US09841577B2 Optical element unit
An optical element unit is provided comprising an optical element group for projecting light along an optical axis of the optical element group and a housing having an inner housing part partly defining a first space and a light passageway between the inner housing part and a second space. The inner housing part receives the optical element group. The optical element group comprises an ultimate optical element located in the region of the light passageway. A load-relieving device is provided adjacent to the ultimate optical element, the load relieving device partly defining the first space and the second space and at least partly relieving the ultimate optical element from loads resulting from pressure differences between the first space.
US09841574B1 Deformable latch mechanism for tray
A latch mechanism for retaining a tray in a selected one of a first, second position and third position. The latch mechanism comprises notches arranged on an inner surface of the housing along an axis parallel to a direction of travel of the tray, an elongate actuator on the tray and opposite the inner surface, the actuator comprising a first elongate member and a second elongate member, an inner end of the first elongate member connected to an inner end of the second elongate member at a connection point, a stop positioned at the connection point wherein the stop is biased laterally towards the inner surface. By increasing a distance between an outer end of the first elongate member and an outer end of the second elongate member the stop is moveable from an unactuated state wherein the stop is engageable by a selected one of the notches and such that the tray is retainable in a selected one of the first, second and third position, to an actuated state wherein the stop moves laterally against the biasing force away from the inner surface and such that the stop is no longer engageable by one of the notches.
US09841573B1 Optical fiber cable
A cable comprising a central member with a coating that is soft, and which deforms under compression. Ribbon stacks are then placed atop the soft material so that the bottoms of the ribbon stacks are in direct contact with the soft material, thereby causing the soft material to conform to the shape of the bottoms of the ribbon stacks.
US09841572B2 Transceiver and interface for IC package
An interconnect system includes a first circuit board, first and second connectors connected to the first circuit board, and a transceiver including an optical engine and arranged to receive and transmit electrical and optical signals through a cable, to convert optical signals received from the cable into electrical signals, and to convert electrical signals received from the first connector into optical signals to be transmitted through the cable. The transceiver is arranged to mate with the first and second connectors so that at least some converted electrical signals are transmitted to the first connector and so that at least some electrical signals received from the cable are transmitted to the second connector.
US09841568B2 Latch mechanisms for modules
Latch mechanisms for modules are disclosed. A module includes a housing and a release slide. The housing includes a first rib located on a first side of the housing and a second rib located on a second side of the housing. The release slide is slidingly positioned on the housing. The release slide includes a release slide base, a first release slide arm extending from the release slide base, and a second release slide arm extending from the release slide base. A first flange extending from the first release slide arm is positioned at least partially over the first rib. A second flange extending from the second release slide arm is positioned at least partially over the second rib.
US09841562B2 Fiber devices with displaceable fiber guide
A fiber cleaver having a displaceable fiber guide for aligning and guiding an optical fiber. Generally, the fiber cleaver includes a pair of clamps that may articulate between a retracted position and a clamping position. A displaceable fiber guide directs the optical fiber as it travels along an internal path of the fiber cleaver. The fiber guide translates between a loading position and a clamping position. When the clamps are securing the optical fiber to the internal path, a linear actuator may be depressed in order to translate the fiber guide and ultimately direct the optical fiber toward a scoring blade to cleave the fiber. The fiber guide is sized and shaped such that a predetermined length of optical fiber will remain after cleaving.
US09841560B2 Method and system for partial integration of wavelength division multiplexing and bi-directional solutions
Methods and systems for partial integration of wavelength division multiplexing and bi-directional solutions are disclosed and may include, an optical transceiver on a silicon photonics integrated circuit coupled to a planar lightwave circuit (PLC). The silicon photonics integrated circuit may include a first modulator and first light source that operates at a first wavelength and a second modulator and second light source that operates at a second wavelength. The transceiver and PLC are operable to modulate a first continuous wave (CW) optical signal from the first light source utilizing the first modulator driven by a first electrical signal and modulate a second CW optical signal from the second light source utilizing the second modulator driven by a second electrical signal. The modulated signals may be communicated from the modulators to the PLC utilizing a first pair of grating couplers in the IC and combined in the PLC.
US09841546B2 Light source apparatus
A light source apparatus includes an optical illumination unit that converts optical characteristics of primary light emitted from a light source unit and emits secondary light different from the primary light; and an adapter unit that outwardly emits illumination light generated based on the secondary light emitted from the optical illumination unit and that is attachable to/detachable from the optical illumination unit. A radiation angle control member converts a traveling direction of the secondary light so that the secondary light allowed to emit from a light conversion member toward the radiation angle control member in the secondary light allowed to emit from the light conversion member travels toward the adapter unit through the secondary light emit portion.
US09841545B2 Optical film with pressure sensitive adhesive on both sides and method for producing image display device using thereof, and method for suppressing curl of optical film with pressure sensitive adhesive on both sides
The optical film with a pressure sensitive adhesive on both sides includes a first pressure sensitive adhesive layer having a thickness of 3 μm to 30 μm on first main surface of an optical film, and a second pressure sensitive adhesive layer having a thickness of 50 μm or more on second main surface of the optical film. A first protective sheet and a second protective sheet are releasably attached on the first pressure sensitive adhesive layer and the second pressure sensitive adhesive layer, respectively. The residual stress of the second pressure sensitive adhesive layer S2 (N/cm2), the thickness of the first protective sheet Y (μm); and the thickness of the second protective sheet Z (μm) satisfy the following relationship: 20≦Y≦80; 45≦Z; and Y+0.17 Z+10.6 S2≧63.
US09841543B2 Imaging lens assembly
An imaging lens assembly is provided in the present disclosure. The imaging lens assembly includes a front fixing unit with a first lens, a triangular prism, a magnification unit with a second lens, an aperture stop, a compensation unit with a third lens and a fourth lens, and an object lens unit with a fifth lens, which are arranged in that order along an light incident direction. The triangular prism is configured for changing a light transmitting direction, the magnification unit and the compensation unit are configured for performing continuous focal length switching, and the object lens unit is configured for performing focusing in different distance conditions. The first lens is a meniscus convex lens, the second lens is a biconvex positive lens, the third lens is a biconcave lens, the fourth lens is a meniscus convex lens, and the fifth lens is a biconvex lens.
US09841542B2 Optical assembly and the method to make the same
The present invention discloses an optical assembly. The optical assembly comprises: a first optical film comprising a first surface; an adhesive disposed on the first surface of the first optical film; and a second optical film comprising a second surface, wherein the second surface of the second optical film comprises a plurality of microstructures, wherein the plurality of microstructures are bonded to the adhesive; wherein the adhesive is made of a first material and the plurality of microstructures are made of a second material, wherein the hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristic of the first material is configured with respect to the hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristic of the second material such that the adhesive force between the adhesive and the plurality of microstructures of the second optical film is larger than 100 g/25 mm and the optical gain of the optical assembly is larger than 1.5.
US09841541B2 Luminance enhancement film having a substrate incorporation dispersed particles for diffusion
The present invention discloses a light redirecting film. The light redirecting film comprises a support substrate and an optical substrate. The support substrate comprises a unitary body, wherein the unitary body has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The optical substrate has a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to the third surface, wherein the fourth surface is a structured surface, and the second surface of the unitary body faces the third surface of the optical substrate. A plurality of particles are disposed in a region below the first surface of the unitary body, wherein the thickness of the region is smaller than the thickness of the unitary body.
US09841540B2 Coating material composition, and light-diffusing member manufactured using said coating material composition
A coating material composition include a hydroxyl group-containing acrylic resin, a fluororesin, and light diffusive particles, and the hydroxyl group-containing acrylic resin has a weight-average molecular weight in a range of 10,000 to 30,000 and a hydroxyl value in a range of 14 to 70, wherein a mass ratio of the fluororesin to the hydroxyl group-containing acrylic resin (the fluororesin/the hydroxyl group-containing acrylic resin) is in a range of 5/95 to 50/50. The coating material composition can provide the light diffusing properties capable of uniformly diffusing light while effectively masking a light source image.
US09841536B2 Anti-glare/antireflection member and method for producing same
Provided is an anti-glare/antireflection member having excellent visibility. The anti-glare/antireflection member (1) includes a base material (10) and an antireflection layer (20). The base material (10) is provided in a surface layer thereof with an anti-glare layer (10a) having a concavo-convex configuration. The antireflection layer (20) is provided on the anti-glare layer (10a).
US09841533B2 Disdrometer having acoustic transducer and methods thereof
An acoustic disdrometer is provided for measuring precipitation. The acoustic disdrometer has an acoustic transducer positioned within an acoustic chamber defined by an acoustic shell. Precipitation impacting the acoustic shell generates sound waves that are collected by the acoustic transducer for processing.
US09841521B2 Variable depth multicomponent sensor streamer
Variable depth multicomponent sensor streamer. At least some of example embodiments including perform a geophysical survey by: setting a first target depth for first depth positioning device of a sensor streamer, the first depth positioning device associated with a first sensor of the sensor streamer, the first sensor at a first offset, and the first target depth based on tension in the sensor streamer proximate the first sensor; setting a second target depth for a second depth positioning device of the sensor streamer, the second depth positioning device associated with a second sensor of the sensor streamer, the second sensor at a second offset greater than the first offset, the second target depth based on tension in the sensor streamer proximate the second sensor, and the second target depth greater than the first target depth; towing the sensor streamer through the water; and obtaining data from the sensors.
US09841512B2 System and method for reducing radiation-induced false counts in an inspection system
An inspection system with radiation-induced false count mitigation includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample, a detector assembly comprising an illumination sensor configured to detect illumination from the sample, and one or more radiation sensors configured to detect particle radiation, and control circuitry communicatively coupled to the detector. The control circuitry is configured to perform the steps of determining a set of radiation detection events based on one or more radiation signals received from the radiation sensors, determining a set of imaging events based on the illumination signal received from the illumination sensor, comparing the set of radiation detection events to the set of imaging events to generate a set of coincidence events, wherein the set of coincidence events comprises simultaneous imaging and radiation detection events, and excluding the set of coincidence events from the set of imaging events to generate a set of identified defect sites.
US09841506B2 System and method for dual-mode location determination
A geographic tracking system with minimal power and size required at the mobile terminal collects observation data at the mobile terminal, forwards the data to a processor, which calculates the position. The mobile terminal needs only to gather a few milliseconds of observation data, and to relay this observation data to the processor. In one embodiment, the observation data is communicated to the processor using either a satellite communication network or through a mobile telephone network.
US09841504B2 Photosensor unit with a condensing lens including a plurality of light-emitting convex lens
An object of the present invention is to provide a photosensor unit with a structure which is simple and also does not cause decrease in detection accuracy. Provided is a photosensor unit including a light emitting element 1 and a light receiving element 2 housed in a unit case 3, and configured such that reflected light of detection light emitted from the light emitting element 1 to the outside of the unit case 3 is received with the light receiving element 2, the reflected light being reflected from the outside of the unit case 3. A plurality of the light emitting elements 1 are disposed around the light receiving element 2, and a passage space for the reflected light inside the unit case 3 is separated from a passage space for the detection light inside the unit case 3 by an appropriate partition 4.
US09841503B2 Optical ground tracking apparatus, systems, and methods
Optical ground tracking apparatus for use with buried object locators or other instruments or devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a buried object locator includes a locator module disposed in our coupled to the housing to sense a buried object based on emitted magnetic fields, and a surface tracking module for determining motion information of the buried object locator based on light reflected from a tracking surface.
US09841498B1 Phase coded linear frequency modulation for radar
Disclosed herein are embodiments that relate to phase coded linear frequency modulation for a radar system. Embodiments include transmitting at least two signal pulses. The transmitting includes transmitting a first pulse with a first phase modulation and a first chip rate, and transmitting a second pulse with a second phase modulation and a second chip rate. The second chip rate may be different than the first chip rate. Embodiments also include receiving a signal that includes at least two reflection signals associated with reflection of the at least two transmitted signal pulses. Embodiments further include processing the received signal to determine target information. The processing includes filtering the received signal to time-align the at least two reflection signals. The filtering includes applying a frequency-dependent time delay to one or more of the at least two reflection signals. Additionally, embodiments include removing phase code modulations from the time-aligned reflection signals.
US09841494B2 Global resource locator
The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for accurately calculating time with a Miniature Atomic Clock along with other components that can receive process and communicate information to enable locating, identifying, and tracking physical Assets and data contained within the Assets. More specifically, the present disclosure presents a Global Resource Locating (GRL) device and service that may be adhered or inserted in the Asset, which may be built in or attached to a second Asset, wherein the device may comprise a receiver and a trilateration mechanism. In some aspects, the Asset may comprise a product, organism, produce, or component of a logistics based operational process and marketing based Asset movement and usage analysis.
US09841492B2 Ceiling-mounted RFID-enabled tracking
Systems and methods for tracking a subject using radio-frequency identification (RFID). In an embodiment, an antenna array comprising a plurality of articulating brackets and a plurality of antennas is provided. Each of the articulating brackets is configured to move one of the plurality of antennas into a plurality of positions, and each of the antennas is configured to receive a RFID signal. In addition, a processor receives RFID data based on RFID signals received by the antennas of the antenna array, and determines a trajectory of a subject based on the RFID data. Based on the determined trajectory of the subject, the processor controls one or more of the articulating brackets to move one or more of the antennas into a position to track the subject.
US09841490B1 System and method for detecting movement of a mobile asset and controlling operations of the asset based on its movement
A system and method are provided for detecting direction of movement. The system includes at least two radio frequency identification (RFID) readers arranged in different locations. The RFID readers transmit respective location signals from their locations and receive corresponding response signals from a portable electronic device (PED) when the PED is within range to receive the corresponding location signals, respectively. The system includes a controller configured to determine whether the individual response signals received by the RFID readers respectively satisfy a predetermined condition at a first time and a second time subsequent to the first time. The controller is also configured to determine a direction of movement of the portable electronic device relative to the locations of the RFID readers during the first and second times based on whether the response signals respectively satisfy the predetermined condition at the first and second times.
US09841487B2 Calibration board for calibrating signal delays of test channels in an automatic test equipment and timing calibration method thereof
A calibration board and a timing calibration method thereof are provided. The calibration board for calibrating signal delays of test channels in an automatic test equipment is pluggably disposed in the automatic test equipment and includes calibration groups, a first common node, and a switching module. Each calibration group includes a second common node and conductive pads electrically connecting to the second common node. Each conductive pad selectively and electrically connects to one test channel. The switching module electrically connects to the first common node and each second common node. When a first delay calibration procedure is performed, the connection between the first common node and each second common node is disabled. When a second delay calibration procedure is performed, the connection between the first common node and each second common node is built.
US09841485B2 Magnetic field sensor having calibration circuitry and techniques
A magnetic field sensor includes at least one magnetic field sensing element configured to generate a measured magnetic field signal responsive to an external magnetic field and to generate a reference magnetic field signal responsive to a reference magnetic field and a calibration circuit configured to divide the measured magnetic field signal by the reference magnetic field signal to generate a calibrated magnetic field signal. The calibrated signal has reduced susceptibility to stress influences.
US09841479B2 Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method
A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an embodiment includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive an operation of setting an application condition concerning a local excitation pulse that is a radio frequency (RF) pulse for local excitation applied to a local region different from an imaging region; generate a waveform of the local excitation pulse based on the application condition; and set an imaging condition such that an index value calculated from the waveform of the local excitation pulse does not exceed a limit value.
US09841477B2 Method for multi-mode, multi-load, and multi-domain optimization of a multi-channel near-field RF transmitter
The invention relates to a method for optimization of a performance of a multi-channel transmitter including several transmit elements, particularly in a magnetic resonance imaging device. The method includes: (a) Exciting the transmit elements of the multi-channel transmitter by electric excitation signals comprising a specific power, with the power of the excitation signals partially reflected by the transmit elements of the multichannel transmitter, (b) Determining a reflected power which is reflected by the multi-channel transmitter during excitation of the transmit elements, (c) Determining reflection coefficients Sxx of the multi-channel transmitter, (d) Determining reflection coefficients Sxy of the multi-channel transmitter, (e) Calculating a performance criterion representing the performance of the multi-channel transmitter, with the performance criterion based on the reflected power, the reflection coefficients Sxx and the reflection coefficients Sxy, and (f) Tuning the multi-channel transmitter so that the performance criterion is optimized.
US09841474B2 Method and device for controlling a signal with a plurality of independent components
A method for controlling a signal with a plurality of independent components is provided. The signal is fed as an input signal via an input path to a control path that supplies an output signal. The output signal is fed via an output path to a control apparatus controlling the input signal. A coupling signal is determined in a coupling determination apparatus. On the basis of the coupling signal, the independent components are decoupled in a decoupling apparatus, as a result of which, a decoupled output signal is generated. Components of the decoupled output signal are decoupled from the components of the input signal. The decoupled output signal is fed as a control variable to the control apparatus. The control apparatus controls each independent component separately on the basis of a desired signal with a diagonal controller and outputs the input signal as a manipulated variable.
US09841467B2 Methods and systems for detecting vehicle charging system faults
A vehicle may include a vehicle charging system having an alternator operatively coupled to an engine and a controller. The controller may be programmed to output a warning indicative of a vehicle charging system fault in response to a quotient of a voltage drop associated with the alternator and an output current of the alternator exceeding a threshold value while the alternator is operating in a steady state condition.
US09841465B2 Battery DC impedance measurement
The state of charge of a rechargeable battery is determined by calculating the DC impedance of the battery. The impedance is calculated by: performing a two different constant current discharges of the battery at a first and second C-rates, respectively; measuring the voltage and current during the interval of each constant current discharge and calculating the amount of charge extracted from the battery up to a point where the battery voltage drops to a threshold value; calculating the state of charge of the battery; and calculating the DC impedance of the battery as a function of the difference between the battery voltages and discharge currents for the two different discharges.
US09841457B1 Pseudo flexure for disk drive and method of testing electronic circuit for disk drive
A test coupon includes a pseudo element circuit which is constituted of a main circuit section and an adjusting section. The main circuit section includes a first pattern conductor and second pattern conductors. The first pattern conductor and the second pattern conductors overlap one another with a dielectric layer interposed therebetween. The first pattern conductor electrically conducts to the second pattern conductors. The main circuit section represents the R-component and the L-component of an equivalent circuit, and is a dominant circuit element which determines a signal waveform. The adjusting section includes linear conductors. A peak of a voltage waveform is suppressed by the R- and L-components of the adjusting section.
US09841454B2 Electrical device installation improvement
An energy saving device that is adapted to be connected to a power outlet and further connected to at least one electrical device, said electrical devices drawing power through the energy saving device, the energy saving device including testing means adapted to perform at least one installation verification test and communication means adapted to communicate a validation signal to a monitoring entity when a result of the installation verification test indicates that a correct installation has occurred.
US09841449B2 Apparatus and method for cable phase correction for vector analyzer remote heads
A system and method corrects the phase of measurement signals obtained from remote heads during testing of a device. A first signal is transmitted along first and second transmission lines to respective remote heads. A shunt switch is connected between a remote end of the first transmission line and a first remote head, and another shunt switch is connected between a remote end of the second transmission line and a second remote head. The shunt switches in a first configuration respectively reflect the first signal back to a phase measurement apparatus as first and second reflected signals. The phase measurement apparatus determines a first reference phase and a second reference phase respectively based on the first and second reflected signals. A compensation unit compensates phase of the measurement signals based on the first and second reference phases.
US09841443B2 Detection circuit
A detection circuit for detecting an external device with a specific resistance is provided. The detection circuit includes a first resistor, a second resistor, a first converter, a second converter, a device converter, a first current comparator, and a second current comparator. The first resistor has a first resistance. The second resistor has a second resistance. The first converter is configured to convert the first resistance into a first current. The second converter is configured to convert the second resistance into a second current. The device converter is configured to convert the specific resistance into a specific current. The first current comparator is configured to compare the specific current with the first current, and generate a first output signal. The second current comparator is configured to compare the specific current with the second current, and generate a second output signal.
US09841439B2 Electromagnetic wave identification method and identification device
An electromagnetic wave identification device includes a detection section for detecting an electromagnetic wave signal which is output from an antenna for detecting electromagnetic waves and whose level is equal to or greater than a predetermined level; a measurement and record section for recording and storing the detected electromagnetic wave waveform data; and an analysis and evaluation section for receiving the recorded and stored electromagnetic wave waveform data, normalizing the electromagnetic wave waveform data by an maximum amplitude value to obtain normalized data, and determining whether or not the received electromagnetic wave is a direct wave by reference to the normalized data. The analysis and evaluation section determines whether or not the received electromagnetic wave is a direct wave by obtaining a kurtosis from a histogram of amplitude values of the normalized data and determining whether or not the kurtosis is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or by obtaining a normal probability plot from the normalized data and determining whether a value of the normalized data at a predetermined probability is equal to or greater than, or equal to or less than, a predetermined threshold.
US09841437B2 Solderless PIM test fixture
A solderless test fixture, including a conductive base, a clamp, and a connector is described. The conductive base has at least one cable groove with a cable grounding portion. A clamp is mounted on the base and associated with the cable groove. A connector is associated with the cable groove and has a solderless center terminal aligned with the cable groove and an outer shield being mechanically and electrically connected to the base.
US09841436B2 AM/FM measurements using multiple frequency of atomic force microscopy
Apparatus and techniques presented combine the features and benefits of amplitude modulated (AM) atomic force microscopy (AFM), sometimes called AC mode AFM, with frequency modulated (FM) AFM. In AM-FM imaging, the topographic feedback from the first resonant drive frequency operates in AM mode while the phase feedback from second resonant drive frequency operates in FM mode. In particular the first or second frequency may be used to measure the loss tangent, a dimensionless parameter which measures the ratio of energy dissipated to energy stored in a cycle of deformation.
US09841432B2 Inertia measurement module for unmanned aircraft
The present disclosure relates to an inertia measurement module for an unmanned aircraft, which comprises a housing assembly, a sensing assembly and a vibration damper. The vibration damper comprises a first vibration-attenuation cushion; and the sensing assembly comprises a first circuit board, a second circuit board and a flexible signal line for connecting the first circuit board and the second circuit board. An inertia sensor is fixed on the second circuit board, and the first circuit board is fixed on the housing assembly. The inertia measurement module further comprises a weight block, and the second circuit board, the weight block, the first vibration-attenuation cushion and the first circuit board are bonded together. The present disclosure greatly reduces the influence of the operational vibration frequency of the unmanned aircraft on the inertia sensor and improves the measurement stability of the inertia sensor.
US09841430B2 Fractional C-reactive protein (fracCRP) antibodies and assays
Antibodies and antigen-binding fragments of antibodies that bind to human fractional C-Reactive Protein (fracCRP), kits containing these antibodies and antibody fragments, and assays using these antibodies and antibody fragments.
US09841429B2 Method for real-time measurement of the individual secretions of a cell
The present invention relates to a method for real-time measurement of the secretion of at least one compound by at least one individual cell, comprising: the culturing, in a liquid medium, of at least one cell in a culture chamber, at least one wall of which comprises at least one sensitive area, a sensitive area comprising a plurality of ligands, attached to a solid support, each ligand being able to bind specifically to the compound, and an element for real-time transduction of a signal produced by the binding of the compound to one of the ligands; the identification, in a sensitive area, of at least one spot producing a signal; the real-time measurement of the signal produced by the spot identified, representing the amount of compound secreted by an individual cell.
US09841428B2 Viscosity-sensitive dyes and method
Disclosed viscosity-sensitive reporter compounds and methods allow tracing the changes in viscosity in a biological sample/environment (e.g., in medical, biochemical, biological, and/or pharmaceutical applications). Compounds and methods of the present disclosure can be used to identify the localization and the rheological state of hydrogels, their degradation products and other biostructural materials, including surgical implants, as well as the effectiveness of drug delivery by hydrogel carriers.
US09841427B2 HCV antigen-antibody combination assay and methods and compositions for use therein
The present invention generally relates to combination immunoassays, reagents and kits for simultaneous detection of HCV antigens and anti-HCV antibodies in a test sample.
US09841425B2 Methods for evaluating viral receptor/co-receptor usage and inhibitors of virus entry using recombinant virus assays
Provided are methods for identifying whether a compound inhibits entry of a virus into a cell. The method may include obtaining nucleic acid encoding a viral envelope protein from a patient infected by the virus and co-transfecting it into a first cell along with a viral expression vector which lacks a nucleic acid encoding the envelope protein. The method may further include contacting the viral particles produced by the first cell with a second cell to which the virus binds in the absence and presence of the compound and measuring the amount of signal produced by the second cell.
US09841424B2 Serologic test for the rapid diagnosis of active tuberculosis
The present invention relates to methods and kits for detecting active tuberculosis infection in a subject using serological techniques and a first agent capable of binding an IgG, IgA and/or IgM directed to the first protein present in or on a Mycobacterium tuberculosis membrane vesicle or a Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) membrane vesicle. Also provided are methods of treating a subject with an active tuberculosis disease.
US09841422B2 Sensitive and rapid determination of antimicrobial susceptibility
The present invention relates to moving microorganisms to a surface, where they are grown in the presence and absence of antimicrobials, and by monitoring the growth of the microorganisms over time in the two conditions, their susceptibility to the antimicrobials can be determined. The microorganisms can be moved to the surface through electrophoresis, centrifugation or filtration. When the movement involves electrophoresis, the presence of oxidizing and reducing reagents lowers the voltage at which electrophoretic force can be generated and allows a broader range of means by which the target can be detected. Monitoring can comprise optical detection, and most conveniently includes the detection of individual microorganisms. The microorganisms can be stained in order to give information about their response to antimicrobials.
US09841421B2 Sensor device for magnetically actuated particles
The invention relates to a sensor device (100) and a method for the detection of magnetic particles (1) in a sample chamber (2) with a contact surface (11). The sensor device (100) comprises a sensor unit (120, 130) for detecting magnetic particles (1) in a target region (TR) and/or in at least one reference region on the contact surface. Moreover, it comprises a magnetic field generator (140) for generating a magnetic field that shall guide magnetic particles to the contact surface. With the help of these components, an “auxiliary parameter” is determined that is related to the magnetic particles (1) and/or their movement but that is independent of binding processes taking place in the target region between magnetic particles and the contact surface. The auxiliary parameter may for example be related to the degree of mismatch between the positions reached by the magnetic particles (1) under the influence of a magnetic field and the target region (TR). The evaluation results can be used to validate and/or correct the measurements obtained in the target region (TR).
US09841410B2 Liquid phase phenol analysis
A liquid reagent composition for detecting phenol or phenol derivatives includes a reagent capable of generating a stained product by forming a bond with phenol, an oxidant compound or mixture of oxidant compounds, a basic compound or mixture of basic compounds. The ratio of [stained reagent]:[oxidant compound] is 1:2 to 50:1, having a pH greater than 7. Also disclosed is a kit for the use of the composition and liquid-phase method for analysing a fluid potentially containing phenol or a phenol derivatives.
US09841409B2 Balanced feature display in fluidic sample separation
A device for processing measurement data assigned to a measurement on a fluidic sample to be separated, the measurement data having multiple features being indicative of different fractions of the fluidic sample, the device includes a feature position analysis unit configured for analyzing positions (p1, p2, d1, d2) of at least a part of the features relative to one another, and a display adjustment unit configured for adjusting, based on a result of the analyzing, a mode of displaying at least a part of the features along at least one display axis of a display diagram so that at least a part of adjacent features is positioned equidistantly along the at least one display axis or so that at least a part of adjacent features is positioned to have a distance (d) from one another which is larger than or equal to a predefined threshold value (dth).
US09841407B2 Liquid chromatograph and liquid chromatograph analysis method
A liquid chromatograph analysis method and a liquid chromatograph minimize analysis time when performing analyses by switching columns and mobile phases. Liquid chromatograph 100 for performing a plurality of analyses according to a schedule table includes: mobile phase switching sections 15, 16 for switching a plurality of mobile phases to select a mobile phase to be used in analysis; column switching sections 31, 33 for switching a plurality of columns 32a-32f to select a column to be used in analysis; and control section 60 including memory 61 for storing an equilibration time of each of the plurality of columns 32a to 32f and an equilibration controller 66 for controlling column equilibration. If used columns or used mobile phases are different between two consecutively executed analyses, equilibration controller 66 equilibrates a column used in the later of the two analyses over an equilibration time read out from memory 61.
US09841404B2 Probe and manufacturing method thereof
Disclosed herein is a probe including: an acoustic module including a piezoelectric layer configured to generate ultrasonic waves, a matching layer configured to reduce a difference in acoustic impedance between the piezoelectric layer and an object, and a backing layer configured to absorb ultrasonic waves generated by the piezoelectric layer and transmitted backward from the piezoelectric layer; a plurality of attenuation layers provided at both edges of the upper surface of the acoustic module, and configured to attenuate ultrasonic waves generated by the acoustic module; and a lens layer disposed to cover the upper surfaces of the attenuation layers, and configured to focus ultrasonic waves transmitted forward from the piezoelectric layer at a predetermined point.
US09841400B2 System and method for detecting smoldering in processes with continuous air flow
A system (20) and method (100) using decentralized trace gas sensors (44a, 44b, 44c) and a central control element (46) to detect smoldering material in particulate material processing equipment (26) with continuous air flow (22, 24, 34). First and second sensors (44a, 44c) measure gas concentrations at an air inlet (22) and an air outlet (34), respectively. The control element (46) receives the measurements from the sensors (44a, 44c) simultaneously, considers the first and second concentrations simultaneously to determine an amount of gas being produced in the processing equipment (26), determines whether the amount of gas being produced exceeds a threshold value indicative of smoldering, and if so, activates an alarm. A user interface (48) allows a user to interact with the control element (46), including resetting the alarm, viewing current and stored sensor and system information, and initiating a test of the system by exposing the sensors (44a, 44b, 44c) to gas released from a gas reservoir (50a, 50b, 50c).
US09841399B2 Chemical sensor package for highly pressured environment
A package for a chemical sensor including an encapsulation and a pressure balancing structure is disclosed. The encapsulation encapsulates a chemical sensor and has a hole for exposing a chemical sensitive part of the chemical sensor. The pressure balancing structure balances pressure applied to the chemical sensor at the chemical sensitive part.
US09841394B2 System and method for sensing oil quality
A system for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oil in a deep fryer is provided. The system includes a filter system with a filter vat, a filter media, and a filter pump. A sensor is disposed with respect to the vat or the piping associated with the filter system, the sensor being adapted to measure an electrical property that is indicative of total polar materials of said cooking oil.
US09841392B2 Apparatus for sensing at least one parameter in water
Apparatus (2) for sensing at least one parameter in water, which apparatus (2) comprises: (i) a conductivity sensor (6) for sensing conductivity in water; (ii) the conductivity sensor (6) is an electrode-based conductivity sensor having bare electrodes (12) which contact the water; (iii) there are at least four of the electrodes (12); (iv) the conductivity sensor (6) is fabricated on a substrate (14) using photolithography and etching; (v) the conductivity sensor (6) is an open cell sensor having a physically unconstrained electric field; (vi) the conductivity sensor (6) is of a dot construction comprising a dot and a surrounding formation; (vii) the conductivity sensor (6) has two electrodes which are for current stimulation and which geometrically bound and enclose another two electrodes which are for voltage sensing; and (viii) the conductivity sensor (6) is a laminar construction on the substrate (14).
US09841385B2 Pattern characteristic-detection apparatus for photomask and pattern characteristic-detection method for photomask
According to one embodiment, a pattern characteristic detection apparatus for a photomask includes a detection-data creating portion, a reference-data creating portion, an extracting portion, a first area-setting portion, a detecting portion and an collecting portion. The detection-data creating portion is configured to create detection data on the basis of an optical image of a pattern formed on a photomask. The reference-data creating portion is configured to create reference data of the pattern. The extracting portion is configured to extract a pattern for pattern characteristic detection and positional information of the extracted pattern. The first area-setting portion is configured to set an area where pattern characteristics are to be detected, and configured to extract a target pattern. The detecting portion is configured to detect pattern characteristics of the target pattern within the area. In addition, the collecting portion is configured to collect the detected pattern characteristics.
US09841380B2 Method and apparatus for detecting and discriminating biological from non-biological species
This invention concerns the field of sample identification, in particular a method and apparatuses for identifying or discriminating biological species from non biological species, both as individual particles and as components of a composition, by pump-probe fluorescence spectroscopy for time-resolved detection or imaging. The method uses the finding that the UV-induced fluorescence of biological molecules is varied, in particular is depleted, by the addition of visible radiation, whereas this does not occur with non-biological organic molecules. The invention discriminates the fluorescence signals of bio and non-bio particles or species using a differential approach, i.e. the comparison. of the total fluorescence recorded with and without additional visible radiation. This allows to discriminate biological particles comprising aromatic amino-acids (AA), like peptides, proteins, bacteria, viruses, pollens, spores, etc., from non-biological particles, like aromatic (AH) or polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), carbonaceous aerosols, soot, etc.
US09841378B2 Series absorbance glass and interference filters
An imaging assembly and processing system that includes a sample platform having a target region which can hold a sample, where the sample can be marked with fluorescent or phosphorescent markers. The imaging assembly can have an excitation light module proximate to the sample platform that emits light to excite the markers, and a lens module positioned to receive emission light from excited markers in target region. At least one series filter assembly or interference filter can be arranged in front of, behind, or both in front of and behind the lens module. The assembly includes a light sensor and a processor and imaging module configured to process data captured by the light sensor. Images of the sample are generated based on the emission light from the sample that transmit through and are filtered by the lens assembly and series filter assembly or interference filter.
US09841377B2 Sample test cards
The present invention is directed to sample test cards having an increased sample well capacity for analyzing biological or other test samples. In one embodiment, the sample test cards of the present invention comprises a fluid channel network disposed in both the first surface and the second surface and connecting the fluid intake port to the sample wells, the fluid channel network comprising at least one distribution channels, a plurality of fill channels operatively connected to the at least one distribution channel, a plurality of through-channels operatively connected to one or more of the fill channels and a plurality of horizontally orientated fill ports operatively connecting the fill channels to the sample wells.
US09841374B2 System and method for determining a concentration of a gas in a container
A system and method for measuring a concentration of a gas in a container having at least one flexible or variable side or wall. The system and method comprising creating a determinable optical path length through the container having a shape. Positioning a light source head and a detector head against at least one of the least one flexible or variable side or wall. Transmitting a light signal between the light source head and the detector head through the determinable optical path length. Determining the concentration of the gas in the container based on detected light and the determinable optical path length.
US09841367B2 Methods and devices for optical sorting of microspheres based on their resonant optical properties
Microspheres are sorted by resonant light pressure effects. An evanescent optical field is generated when light is confined within the interior of an optical element such as a surface waveguide, a tapered microfiber, or a prism. Microspheres brought within vicinity of the surface are subjected to forces that result from a coupling of the evanescent field to whispering gallery modes (WGM) in the microspheres. Alternatively, a focused laser beam is directed close to the edge of the microspheres to exert resonant optical forces on microspheres. Alternatively, standing optical waves are excited in the optical element. Optical forces are resonantly enhanced when light frequencies match WGM frequencies in the microspheres. Those microspheres for which resonance is obtained are more affected by the evanescent field than microspheres for which resonance does not occur. Greater forces are applied to resonating microspheres, which are separated from a heterogeneous mixture according to size.
US09841364B2 Device for testing mixed-mode fatigue crack growth rate
A device for testing mixed-mode fatigue crack growth rate includes a plate-like specimen, and a first fixture mechanism for exerting stretch, shear and torsion actions on the specimen via a second fixture mechanism. The second fixture mechanism is used for clamping the specimen and enabling the specimen to generate a mixed-mode fatigue crack in cooperation with the first fixture mechanism. The device further comprises a fatigue crack measurement instrument for measuring and recording the length of mixed-mode fatigue crack generated on the specimen.
US09841360B1 Sample cup assembly, system and method for purging
A sample analysis cup assembly, system and method for purging including a cell body, including a top end; a bottom end; a cell body wall extending axially from the top end to the bottom end; a transverse wall adjacent the top end, including a plurality of apertures extending therethrough; and a raised portion on the transverse wall including a central aperture extending therethrough; a rotatable cap, including a top surface; a bottom surface; and a series of apertures extending from the top surface through the bottom surface, the rotatable cap being structured to engage with the top end of the cell body; and a ring member structured to couple with the bottom end of the cell body are provided.
US09841357B2 System for sensing particulate matter
Methods and systems are provided for sensing particulate matter in an exhaust system of a vehicle. An example system comprises a particulate matter sensor inside a tube configured to receive a portion of exhaust gas in an exhaust passage.
US09841355B2 Method for operating an ignition device
A method for operating an ignition device for an internal combustion engine, in which via a rotating magnetic pole wheel a voltage signal with a number of positive and negative half-waves is produced in at least one coil arrangement that is located on a core leg of an iron core during each rotation of the magnetic pole wheel, wherein the voltage signal is used to determine the gap width of the air gap between the magnetic pole wheel and the core leg.
US09841354B2 Diagnosis of internal combustion engine performance
This invention provides a non-invasive method for diagnosing performance of a vehicle. The method comprises using a 3-axis accelerometer to perform diagnosis of the performance of an internal combustion engine, the performance of the engine including an engine power loss and one or more flaws associated with the engine mount. The method is also usable for diagnosing deterioration of a suspension system of said vehicle. An apparatus comprising a 3-axis accelerometer for diagnosing performance of a vehicle is also provided. In one embodiment, the 3-axis accelerometer is embedded in a smart phone.
US09841352B2 System and method for monitoring gear and bearing health
A method for monitoring a gear and bearing system having at least two inter-meshing gears and at least one bearing includes detecting gear and bearing vibrations with at least one vibration sensor operable to generate a signal representative of the detected gear vibrations. A carrier frequency is identified from the generated signal. A band pass filter is applied to the signal at the carrier frequency to create a filtered signal. An envelope is extracted from the filtered signal to create an extracted signal. A time-frequency analysis is then applied to the extracted signal which allows for identification of degradation of the gears.
US09841348B2 Fiber integrity monitoring
It is provided an apparatus, comprising a box configured to conduct an optical fiber from an exterior to an interior of the box; at least one of a mounting means adapted to mount a connecting means to which the optical fiber may be connected and a guiding means adapted to guide the optical fiber, wherein the at least one of the mounting means and the guiding means is arranged in the interior of the box; a detecting means arranged in the interior of the box adapted to detect a first signal from the interior of the box, wherein the first signal is at least one of a light and a smoke; wherein the interior of the box is substantially shielded from a second signal from an exterior of the box, and the detecting means is suitable to detect the second signal in a same manner as the first signal.
US09841346B2 Method for determining the aerodynamic moment of resistance of a wheel
A method for determining the aerodynamic moment of resistance Maero-EM of a wheel arranged on an axis, by measuring the value of the mechanical power Pm to be applied to the wheel in order to maintain it in rotation at a constant speed ω, the said wheel being equipped with a rotational-drive means and with a device for picking off and/or recording the numerical values of the said mechanical power and those of the rotational speed. The wheel is protected by a removable cap and is subjected to a flow of air.
US09841339B2 Double-acting pressure sensor
A pressure sensor includes a base having a bottom wall and a first sidewall enclosed with the bottom wall to form a first receiving space. A pressure sensitive film is located in the first receiving space and the peripheral portion of the pressure sensitive film is arranged on the first sidewall. An elastic cover has a top wall, a second sidewall, and a protrusion. The top wall and the second sidewall are enclosed to form a second receiving space. The second sidewall is located on the first sidewall of the base, the protrusion extends from the top wall to the second receiving space and makes contact with the pressure sensitive film, transferring an external pressure to the pressure sensitive film. The resistance of the pressure sensitive film is virtually linear corresponding to the external pressure.
US09841338B2 High integrity process fluid pressure probe
A process fluid pressure measurement probe includes a pressure sensor formed of a single-crystal material and mounted to a first metallic process fluid barrier and disposed for direct contact with a process fluid. The pressure sensor has an electrical characteristic that varies with process fluid pressure. A feedthrough is formed of a single-crystal material and has a plurality of conductors extending from a first end to a second end. The feedthrough is mounted to a second metallic process fluid barrier and is spaced from, but electrically coupled to, the pressure sensor. The pressure sensor and the feedthrough are mounted such that the secondary metallic process fluid barrier is isolated from process fluid by the first metallic process fluid barrier.
US09841337B2 Pressure determination for HPLC applications
Disclosed is a pressure determining unit configured for determining a pressure of a fluid. The pressure determining unit comprises a body structure and a deformation detector. The body structure has a fluidic path configured for conducting the fluid, wherein the body structure has a first surface in a first dimension and in a second dimension, and a thickness in a third dimension. The deformation detector is configured for responding to an elongation into the second dimension of the first surface of the body structure by generating a signal indicative of a value of the pressure of the fluid in the body structure. The fluidic path of the body structure comprises one or more first channel segments, each first channel segment having a height into the third dimension being at least twice of its width into the second dimension.
US09841330B2 Apparel having sensor system
A sensor system configured for use with an article of apparel includes one or a plurality of sensors formed of a polymeric material having a conductive particulate material dispersed therein and conductive leads connecting the sensors to a port. The leads may also be formed of a polymeric material having a conductive particulate material dispersed therein. The conductive material is dispersed in the sensor(s) at a first dispersion density and the conductive material is dispersed in the leads at a second dispersion density that is higher than the first dispersion density. Each of the sensors is configured to increase in resistance when deformed under pressure, which is detected by a module connected to the port. The second dispersion density is such that each of the leads has sufficient conductivity that the leads are configured to conduct an electronic signal between each sensor and the port in any state of deformation.
US09841324B2 Chemical mapping using thermal microscopy at the micro and nano scales
A non-destructive method for chemical imaging with ˜1 nm to 10 μm spatial resolution (depending on the type of heat source) without sample preparation and in a non-contact manner. In one embodiment, a sample undergoes photo-thermal heating using an IR laser and the resulting increase in thermal emissions is measured with either an IR detector or a laser probe having a visible laser reflected from the sample. In another embodiment, the infrared laser is replaced with a focused electron or ion source while the thermal emission is collected in the same manner as with the infrared heating. The achievable spatial resolution of this embodiment is in the 1-50 nm range.
US09841319B2 Light detecting device
A light detecting device is provided, comprising a substrate having a patterned metal layer formed thereon; a dielectric layer formed on the substrate, first pixel element formed on the dielectric layer, and a second pixel element. The dielectric layer at least has a first trench, and the first trench is positioned below the level of the first pixel element. The second pixel element comprises a buried portion formed correspondingly to the first trench, and an upper portion formed on the buried portion. The upper portion of the second pixel element is positioned at the same level of the first pixel element.
US09841315B2 Fiber optic cable for distributed acoustic sensing with increased acoustic sensitivity
Methods and apparatus for performing Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) using fiber optics with increased acoustic sensitivity are provided. Acoustic sensing of a wellbore, pipeline, or other conduit/tube based on DAS may have increased acoustic sensitivity through fiber optic cable design and/or increasing the Rayleigh backscatter property of a fiber's optical core. Some embodiments may utilize a resonant sensor mechanism with a high Q coupled to the DAS device for increased acoustic sensitivity.
US09841310B2 Load suspension and weighing system for a dialysis machine reservoir
A load suspension and weighing system for a removable reservoir unit of a portable dialysis machine includes a centrally located flexure assembly. The flexure assembly includes magnets and a number of flexure rings which allow for movement of the magnets about a fixed circuit board. Sensors in the circuit board sense changes in the magnetic field as the magnets move in relation to the circuit board. The magnetic field changes produce a voltage output which is used by a processor to generate weight calculations. The top of the flexure assembly is attached to the interior of the dialysis machine. The entirety of the reservoir unit is suspended by a first internal frame that is attached to the bottom of the flexure assembly. Having a single flexure assembly positioned above the reservoir unit provides more accurate weight measurements while also preventing damage to the assembly from water spillage.
US09841307B2 Multivariable guided wave radar probe
A multivariable fluid level detection system comprising a guided wave radar probe with sensor or sensors integral to the probe for producing sensor signal(s), a transmitter for transmitting guided microwave pulses down the probe, a receiver for receiving reflected microwave pulses, and a processor for producing a measurement of fluid level based upon a time difference between transmission of a pulse and receipt of a reflected pulse and the sensor signal(s).
US09841303B2 Plate carrier guide for an orifice fitting
A device and method for positioning an orifice plate carrier in an orifice fitting. The positioning device is secured in an upper chamber of the fitting and includes an insert having a first end and a second end, and a back side, a first side, and a second side each extending from and connecting the first and second ends to form a through-passage with a front side. The through-passage is configured to allow the orifice plate carrier to pass therethrough. The first and second sides include a first cutout and a second cutout, respectively, which are configured to allow a gear to pass therethrough. The gear engages grooves on the orifice plate carrier to pass the orifice plate carrier through the upper chamber. The positioning device provides consistent and repeatable alignment in guiding the orifice plate carrier in and out of the fitting.
US09841302B2 Wire seal for detector assembly
A detector head assembly of a sensor includes a detector body having an internal channel extending a longitudinal length. The detector body is configured to hold a sensor cartridge that includes a sensing element. The detector head assembly includes a wire having a conductor. The wire extends into the internal channel of the detector body such that an end of the conductor is configured to be operatively connected to the sensing element. The detector head assembly includes a wire seal having a generally pliable sealant held within the internal channel of the detector body. The generally pliable sealant is configured to be longitudinally compressed along the longitudinal length of the internal channel during assembly of the detector head assembly such that the generally pliable sealant moves into and fills one or more voids between the wire and the detector body for sealing the wire to the detector body.
US09841301B2 Digitally controlled chirped pulse laser for sub-terahertz range fiber structure interrogation
The present disclosure provides a sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator (SV-LLPG) controlled using a digital phase locked loop (DPLL) circuit. The SV-LLPG is utilized for the interrogation of sub-terahertz-range fiber structures for sensing applications that require real-time data collection with mm-level spatial resolution. A laser generates chirped laser pulses via injection current modulation and a DPLL circuit locks the optical frequency sweep velocity. A high-quality linearly chirped laser pulse with a frequency excursion of 117.69 GHz at optical communication bands using a distributed feedback laser is provided.
US09841298B1 Measurement device for linear stage
A measurement device for a linear stage includes a two-dimensional grating and a measurement unit respectively disposed on first and second moving stages of the linear stage. The measurement unit includes a light source, a two-dimensional sensor and a processor. The light source emits incident light to the two-dimensional grating so that the incident light is reflected thereby to result in reflection light. The two-dimensional sensor receives the reflection light and converts the same to a reflection signal. The processor receives the reflection signal and determines accordingly a first rotational angle, and first and second displacement components of a displacement of the first moving stage.
US09841296B2 Rotary arc position sensor with linear output
A rotary position sensor includes a member with a shaft associated with the member such that movement of the member rotates the shaft. An arc-shaped permanent magnet is coupled to a periphery of the shaft for rotation therewith. First and second adjacent magnetic field concentrators define a gap there-between. Sensor structure is disposed in the gap. Upon movement of the member causing rotation of the shaft and magnet, the concentrators and sensor structure remain stationary, with the magnet providing a magnetic pole that changes the magnetic field in the gap. The sensor structure is constructed and arranged to respond to the changes in the magnetic field to identify a position of the member.
US09841293B2 In-vehicle display system for navigation and additional functions
An in-vehicle information apparatus includes a main unit having a display device, and a navigation unit providing a navigation function to the main unit. The navigation unit includes a navigation processing unit a sub unit providing an addition function to the navigation unit, and a navigation unit screen generating unit which generates a navigation unit screen for displaying information concerning a function which the navigation unit provides. The main unit includes an operation unit which receives an input for selecting a function from a user, a main unit screen generating unit which generates a main unit screen for displaying information concerning a function which the main unit provides, and a video selector which selects one of the navigation unit screen and the main unit screen.
US09841290B1 System, method, and computer program for maintaining service continuity associated with a mobile device during travel
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for maintaining service continuity associated with a mobile device during travel, by providing alternative navigational routes based on user defined inputs and preferences. In use, at least one input parameter is received from a mobile device associated with at least one communication network, the at least one input parameter corresponding to a navigational task to be performed utilizing the mobile device. Further, a starting point associated with the navigational task is identified. Additionally, an ending point associated with the navigational task is identified. Furthermore, at least one route is determined from the starting point to the ending point, based at least in part on a current service continuity associated with the mobile device, a historical service continuity associated with the mobile device, and the at least one input parameter.
US09841289B2 Navigation devices and methods carried out thereon
This invention concerns a method of determining a route using map data comprising a plurality of navigable paths, the map data divided into a plurality of regions. The method comprises using at least one processing apparatus to: receive an origin and a destination on the map data and a selection of one of a plurality of cost functions and determine a route from the origin to the destination using the map data and minimum cost data that identifies minimum cost paths between regions of the map data. The minimum cost data identifies more than one minimum cost path between a pair of the regions if different minimum cost paths exist between the pair of regions for different cost functions and determining a route comprises identifying from the minimum cost paths for the pair of regions comprising the origin and destination, the minimum cost path having a lowest cost for the selected cost function.
US09841287B1 Using train telematics data to provide information in one or more vehicles to reduce accident risk
A computer system configured to use train telematics data to reduce risk of accidents via a mobile device traveling within a vehicle may be provided. The mobile device may be configured to (1) receive train telematics data associated with a train that includes GPS location, speed, route, heading, acceleration, and/or track data; (2) determine when, or a time period of when, the train will pass through, be passing through, or be within a predetermined distance of a railroad crossing based upon the train telematics data; (3) determine an alternate route for the vehicle to take to avoid waiting at the railroad crossing; and (4) cause display of the alternate route on a display of the mobile device or a vehicle navigation system to allow the train to pass and to avoid train-vehicle collisions. Insurance discounts may be generated based upon the risk mitigation or prevention functionality.
US09841285B2 Generation of link node routing graph using a straight skeleton algorithm
A processor identifies a navigable space. The processor generates a polygon from the navigable space. The processor calculates skeleton lines from the polygon using a topological algorithm. The processor removes a subset of skeleton lines leaving one or more center segments. The processor generates a routing graph from the center segments.
US09841284B2 Distributed barometer network to assist in indoor navigation
A navigation device includes a pressure sensor, a radio, a memory including program instructions, and a controller operably connected to the pressure sensor, the radio, and the memory and configured to execute the program instructions to (i) receive at least one signal from a reference beacon of a plurality of beacons, (ii) determine a reference relationship curve correction based upon the received at least one signal, and (iii) determine an altitude of the navigation device based upon the reference relationship curve correction, and a signal from the pressure sensor.
US09841283B2 Path guidance system for the visually impaired
An innovative path guidance system and method has been invented that in a preferred embodiment allows visually impaired people to follow a dynamically changing path that avoids obstacles and arrive at a destination with minimal intervention by a sighted guide. The disclosed invention has the leader set a track electronically, and employs but is not limited to haptic feedback and audible alerts used in combination or individually, to help the visually impaired person control his or her trajectory. The visually impaired follower can be following a leader setting the path in real time or following a path established by a guide at an earlier time and recorded.
US09841281B2 Micro-electromechanical apparatus utilizing folded spring for rotary element
A micro-electromechanical apparatus includes a rotary element, at least one restraint and at least two folded springs. The rotary element is capable of rotating with respect to an axis. The folded springs are symmetrically disposed about the axis. Each folded spring has a moving end and a fixed end, the moving end is connected to the rotary element, and the fixed end is connected to the at least one restraint. The moving end is not located on the axis, and the fixed end is not located on the axis. A moving distance is defined as a distance between the moving end and the axis, a fixed distance is defined as a distance between the fixed end and the axis. A spring length is defined as a distance between the moving end and the fixed end. The spring length is varied according to the rotation of the rotary element.
US09841280B2 Modular medical imaging system
A modular video imaging system, and more particularly, a modular video imaging system having a control module connectable to multiple input modules. The input modules each capable of receiving differing types of image data from different types of cameras and processing the image data into a format recognizable by the control module. The control unit providing general functions such as user interface and general image processing that is not camera specific.
US09841279B2 Apparatus and method for quantitative evaluation of braze bonding length with use of radiation
According to an embodiment, there is provided an apparatus which quantitatively evaluates a braze bonding length. A radiation emission unit emits radiation to each of a plurality of partial specimens which are obtained by cutting a specimen in a plane perpendicular to a braze bonding length direction. A light generator generates light of an amount corresponding to an intensity of transmissive radiation. An imaging unit photographs this light. A calculator calculates a braze bonding length of each of the partial specimens, from a light amount obtained with respect to each of the partial specimens, based on a correlation between a braze bonding length and a light amount. The calculator further calculates the braze bonding length of the specimen by totaling the braze bonding lengths of the respective partial specimens.
US09841274B2 Device for determining the location of mechanical elements
The invention relates to a device for determining the location of a first mechanical element (10, 156) and a second mechanical element (12, 154) with respect to each other, with a first measurement unit (14, 114, 214) for positioning at the first mechanical element, a second measurement unit (18, 118, 218) for positioning at the second mechanical element, and an analysis unit (22), wherein the first measurement unit has means (24, 124, 224) for producing a light beam bundle (28, 128, 228), wherein the second measurement unit has a scattering surface (34, 134, 234) for scattering of the light impinging on the scattering surface, a camera (36), and means for imaging the scattering surface on the camera, wherein the scattering surface faces the first measurement unit when the measurement units are positioned at the respective mechanical element so as to be impinged on by the light beam bundle.
US09841273B2 Optical measuring probe and method for optically measuring inner diameters
An optical measuring probe for measuring inner and/or outer diameters of objects, uses a first optical element for focusing or collimating an optical beam onto a surface of an object. A second optical element for splitting the optical beam into a first measuring beam and a second measuring beam is provided in the optical measuring probe in such a way that the second measuring beam is guided out of the measuring probe in a direction opposite the direction of the first measuring beam and that the first measuring beam forms a first scan point and the second measuring beam forms a second scan point. Also described is a corresponding method for measuring diameters using the optical measuring probe. The optical measuring probe and the associated method make it possible to optically measure inner and outer diameters of measuring probes objects in a simple manner.
US09841271B2 Three-dimensional measurement apparatus, processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium
A three-dimensional measurement apparatus selects points corresponding to geometric features of a three-dimensional shape model of a target object, projects a plurality of selected points corresponding to the geometric features onto a range image based on approximate values indicating the position and orientation of the target object and imaging parameters at the time of imaging of the range image, searches regions of predetermined ranges respectively from the plurality of projected points for geometric features on the range image which correspond to the geometric features of the three-dimensional shape model, and associates these geometric features with each other. The apparatus then calculates the position and orientation of the target object using differences of distances on a three-dimensional space between the geometric features of the three-dimensional shape model and those on the range image, which are associated with each other.
US09841269B2 Method and apparatus for compensating for a time-varying disturbance in interferometric sensing systems
An optical interrogation system, e.g., an OFDR-based system, measures local changes, of index of refraction of a sensing light guide subjected to a time-varying disturbance. Interferometric measurement signals detected for a length of the sensing light guide are transformed into the spectral domain. A time varying signal is determined from the transformed interferometric measurement data set. A compensating signal is determined from the time varying signal which is used to compensate the interferometric measurement data set for the time-varying disturbance. Further robustness is achieved using averaging and strain compensation. The compensation technique may be applied along the length of the light guide.
US09841267B2 Surface roughness sensor apparatus and processing tool structure using the same
The present disclosure relates to a surface roughness sensor apparatus. The surface roughness sensor apparatus includes: a rotatable rotation shaft; a piezoelectric sensor provided along a circumference of the rotation shaft, rotated by rotation of the rotation shaft, and configured to generate a sensing signal in response to a pressure applied by a surface of an object as being in direct contact with the surface of the object; and a signal transfer unit configured to transfer the sensing signal generated and transmitted by the piezoelectric sensor to the outside of the sensor apparatus, and the piezoelectric sensor may be rotated in a direction in which a relative movement between the piezoelectric sensor and the surface of the object is made at a contact point with the object to minimize damage to the surface of the object.
US09841263B2 Method for initiating thermal battery having high-height drop safety feature
A method for initiating a thermal battery including: releasing an engagement between an element and a striker mass upon an acceleration time and magnitude greater than a first threshold; and moving at least one member into a path of the element to prevent the element from releasing the striker mass only where the acceleration time and magnitude is greater than a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold.
US09841260B2 Projectiles for ammunition and methods of making and using the same
A projectile 1 for ammunition is disclosed, said projectile 1 comprising an outer profile geometry on an ogive-shaped impact end portion 5 thereof, said outer profile geometry comprising two or more notches 2 extending in at least one of (i) an axial, (ii) parallel or (iii) slightly inclined orientation relative to a dissecting axis 3 extending longitudinally through said impact end portion 5 of said projectile 1, wherein each notch 2 (a) comprises notch surface portions 4,7 so as to increase (i) an overall outer surface area of said ogive end portion 5 of projectile 1, and (ii) a given length of an outer surface periphery Sp extending along a line within a plane normal to said dissecting axis 3, and (b) is surrounded by an outer side surface 51 of said ogive-shaped impact end portion 5 of said projectile 1. In other words, the presence of the two or more notches 2 increases a length of an outer surface periphery Sp extending along a line within a plane normal to said dissecting axis 3 relative to the same outer surface periphery Sp extending within the same plane normal to said dissecting axis 3 when a notch is not present.
US09841259B2 Wirelessly conducted electronic weapon
An electroshock system wirelessly delivers a shock to a subject. The electroshock system may include a launcher, a wireless projectile, a power source, and a wireless power transmitter. The launcher is configured to be grasped by a user. The wireless projectile is configured to detach from the launcher and adhere to a subject. The power source contributes power for the administration of a shock to the subject. The wireless power transmitter delivers said contributed power to the wireless projectile while the wireless projectile is detached from the launcher. The power source and the wireless transmitter may be co-located with the launcher, or may be separate (such as secured to a person or within a vehicle).
US09841258B1 Modular hybrid dovetail rail clamping assembly
A modular dovetail rail clamping assembly includes a polymer body and a metal fixed clamp component. A threaded fastener extends through the body and into the fixed clamp component to draw the fixed clamp component into engagement with the body. The fixed clamp component and the body have mating longitudinal ridge and groove structures which rigidly fix alignment of the fixed clamp component relative to the body when assembled. A metal movable clamp component opposes the fixed clamp. A threaded clamping fastener extends through the movable clamp component and the body, and is received into the fixed clamp component to draw the movable clamp component into engagement with the body. A removable, reversible crossbar extends transversely across the body between the fixed clamp component and the movable clamp component.
US09841257B2 Dual picture sights
The invention relates to a uniquely designed set of iron sights for a firearm. The rear site includes a ring aperture and notch located directly above the ring aperture. The front site includes a bead or substantially circular section to be centered inside the ring and a thinner post style extension located above the bead to interact visually with the notch.
US09841252B2 System and method for aiding repeated firing of semi-automatic weapon
A method for aiding repeated firing of a semiautomatic firearm having a trigger and a bolt includes means for detecting that the bolt has translated rearwardly at least a first predetermined distance due to firing the firearm, means for calculating a particular time when the bolt will be in a chambered position, responsive to detecting that the bolt has translated rearwardly at least the first predetermined distance and, means for applying a forward biasing force to translate the trigger from a fired to an un-fired position, at the particular time the bolt is in the chambered position, and subsequently removing said forward biasing force.
US09841250B1 Firearm covers
Firearm covers are disclosed. A firearm cover includes a body defining a partially enclosed region sized and shaped to receive a firearm receiver of a firearm. The body includes a first side wall having a first lip and a second side wall opposite the first side wall and having a second lip. The first lip and the second lip define a longitudinal opening to the partially enclosed region. The first side wall and the second side wall define a forward opening to the partially enclosed region and a rear opening to the partially enclosed region such that, when the firearm receiver is operatively received in the partially enclosed region, the firearm extends through the forward opening and the rear opening. The firearm cover further includes structure for restricting the firearm from being fired when the firearm receiver is operatively received in the partially enclosed region.
US09841245B1 Rocker chiller with baffle assembly
A rocker chiller includes a chilling tank and a baffle assembly. The baffle assembly includes a drive shaft, a baffle blade extending along a bottom of the tank and a plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members extending in a radial direction from the drive shaft towards the bottom of the tank. The elongate baffle members contact the drive shaft at spaced-apart locations along the drive shaft and define a plurality of openings therebetween. The elongate baffle members are sized and shaped to push at least a majority of the carcasses laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to a lengthwise forward movement of the carcasses from the first end of the tank to the second end of the tank.
US09841243B2 Thermal energy storage system combining sensible heat solid material and phase change material
The invention relates to a system for the storage and recovery of thermal energy, using, as its medium, at least one phase change material (solid-liquid) and a sensible heat solid material for storing/recovering the heat obtained from an external source in the form of phase change latent heat and sensible heat. The aforementioned materials are duly housed inside a single tank containing at least two zones which are differentiated by the range of temperatures to which they are subjected, each zone containing a different material. The most common configuration consists of three different zones located inside the tank, namely: a hot zone in the upper part of the tank, enclosing an encapsulated phase change material characterized by a high melting temperature; a cold zone housed in the lower part of the tank, containing a phase change material with a low melting temperature; and a middle zone containing a sensible heat solid material.
US09841240B2 Heat exchanger
A heat exchange, which includes a casing having a cylinder; two connectors respectively attached to one end of the cylinder through the small opening; two convex heads respectively connected through the opening end to the large opening of a connector; a core disposed inside the casing; and two heat transfer medium passages. In this way, the space at the ends of the casing of the heat exchanger may be enlarged, thereby providing a space large enough to accommodate the construction personal and better working environment for two-side welding and future maintenance and wider selection range of material of the casing of the heat exchanger; a buffer area is provided for the flow of the heat transfer medium, and the auxiliary like baffles may be mounted inside the convex heads as required to further improve the heat exchange efficiency and reduce the cost.
US09841238B2 Direct forced draft fluid cooling tower
A cooling tower is provided with a housing containing a fan at the bottom of the tower, and a plurality of layers of water collection troughs or channels above the fan to capture water droplets sprayed downwardly from the top of the device through an evaporative cooling pad located above the collection troughs. The collection troughs extend from one side of the housing to the other in the form of a structural support for the housing and the equipment therein. The troughs have open ends which extend through the housing to discharge collected water to an adjacent vertical tank.
US09841237B2 Unevenly spaced induction coil for molten alloy containment
Various embodiments provide an apparatus and methods for containing the molten materials within a melt zone during melting. The apparatus may include a vessel configured to receive a material for melting therein and an induction coil with unevenly spaced turns along its length. Induction coil can have a series of turns acting as a first (e.g., load) induction coil and a series of turns acting as a second (e.g., containment) induction coil. The material in the vessel can be heated and contained by the separated turns of the induction coil. A plunger can also assist in containing material during melting. Once the desired temperature is achieved and maintained for the molten material, operation of the induction coil can be stopped and the molten material can be ejected from the vessel into a mold using the plunger.
US09841235B2 Substrate treatment process
In a substrate treatment process, substrates are moved by a transporting device in a transporting direction through a substrate treatment installation having a number of chambers. The substrates are moved by transporting sections of the transporting device driven independently of one another. The transporting sections are driven such that, if substrates dwell temporarily in the transporting section, they are moved back and forth. Stresses in a substrate brought about by differing inputs of heat as a result of both process-induced and malfunction-induced dwell times of the substrate in a chamber are reduced by compensating within the chamber for a structurally brought about input of heat into the substrate, varying periodically over the length of the chamber, during temporary dwelling of the substrate in the chamber by moving the substrate back and forth over at least one period of the heat input by a change of the transporting direction.
US09841234B2 Drying device
A drying device for drying coated, elongated work pieces in a continuous process including a transport device for transporting the work piece. For drying an edge or surface of the work piece, heat sources are arranged in a drying chamber. In a drying zone, drying vapor is generated during drying. The vapor is removed by an airflow. The airflow is supplied via a supply channel and fans. A controller is provided to control the fans.
US09841230B2 System for enhanced gas turbine performance in a liquefied natural gas facility
A system for liquefying natural gas that includes a process and apparatus for enhancing the performance of one or more gas turbines. Gas turbine power output can be stabilized or even enhanced using the interstage cooling system configured according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, partially compressed air from a lower compression stage of a gas turbine is cooled via indirect heat exchange with a primary coolant before being returned to a higher compression stage of the same gas turbine. Optionally, the interstage cooling system can employ one or more secondary coolants to remove the rejected heat from the primary coolant system.
US09841225B2 Low wattage flipper mullion
A flipper mullion for an appliance includes an outer cover coupled to a hinge, wherein the outer cover is rotationally operable between an extended position and a folded position relative to the hinge. A gasket engages at least a fastening portion of the outer cover, wherein the gasket and the outer cover cooperate to define an outer surface, and wherein an interior surface of a flexible portion of the gasket defines an insulating space that is positioned opposite a front surface of the outer cover.