最新美国发明专利第2018-01-09期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US09864657B2	Method and apparatus of automatically backing up application data and performing restoration as required A method and apparatus for automatically backing up application data and performing restoration as required are disclosed in the embodiments of the present document, which relates to application data backup and restoration technology of a terminal system. The method includes: an application layer setting an application data directory of an application into a system constant according to a backup instruction; a bottom layer acquiring a directory permission of the application data directory through the application data directory in the system constant; the bottom layer setting a permission of the application data directory to read-write; and the application layer backing up the application data under the application data directory of which the permission has been set to read-write, to perform restoration as required by using a backed-up application data hereafter.
US09864656B1	Key value databases for virtual backups Files from a master file table are identified. A key/value database based on the identified files is generated where the key includes directory information and the value includes file metadata. The key/value database is stored in a storage device. Identifying files from a master file table includes parsing a VMDK to isolate a master file table region.
US09864654B2	Detecting data indicated as being uncorrectable at a data storage device A data storage device includes a memory and a controller coupled to the memory. The memory is configured to store first data and second data. The controller is configured to unlock the first data using a first key, to unlock the second data using a second key, and to determine that the second data is indicated as being uncorrectable in response to unlocking the second data using the second key.
US09864651B2	Receiving an update code prior to completion of a boot procedure In some examples, fault of a code in an electronic device is detected. In response to detecting the fault, an update code is retrieved using a network stack from a network site over a network to update the code that has experienced the fault, during a state of the electronic device prior to completion of a boot procedure of the electronic device.
US09864650B2	Monitoring and responding to operational conditions of a logical partition from a separate logical partition Communicating with a logical partition of a computing system based on a separate logical partition in which each of one or more computing systems includes a central electronics complex (CEC) capable of concurrently operating multiple logical partitions, each CEC includes a support element (SE), in which the SE includes access to memory locations of each of the multiple logical partitions within memory of the CEC, and the SE has a mapping of the memory locations for each of the multiple logical partitions. A request to retrieve data from the memory of a logical partition with an operational condition is detected. The request is transferred to an SE interface which enables remote access to the logical partition with the operational condition, and in response to receiving the data, the data that includes the operations status from the memory location of the logical partition is displayed.
US09864649B2	Technologies for root cause identification of use-after-free memory corruption bugs Technologies for identification of a potential root cause of a use-after-free memory corruption bug of a program include a computing device to replay execution of the execution of the program based on an execution log of the program. The execution log comprises an ordered set of executed instructions of the program that resulted in the use-after-free memory corruption bug. The computing device compares a use-after-free memory address access of the program to a memory address associated with an occurrence of the use-after-free memory corruption bug in response to detecting the use-after-free memory address access and records the use-after-free memory address access of the program as a candidate for a root cause of the use-after-free memory corruption bug to a candidate list in response to detecting a match between the use-after-free memory address access of the program and the memory address associated with the occurrence of the use-after-free memory corruption bug.
US09864643B1	Using locks of different scopes in a data storage system to optimize performance and complexity Embodiments are directed to methods for allowing an I/O path of a data storage system to directly modify an object model while bypassing the highly-contested transaction lock used by a control path. This may be done by introducing a local lock to be used for individual resources within the object model. The control path also uses this local lock mechanism (in the context of a transaction lock) for essential resources that might be accessed by the I/O path in order to avoid accessing a given essential resource at the same time as the I/O path. A data storage system, apparatus, and computer program product for performing similar methods are also provided.
US09864642B2	Determining storage tiers for placement of data sets during execution of tasks in a workflow Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for determining storage tiers for placement of data sets during execution of tasks in a workflow. A representation of a workflow execution pattern of tasks for a job indicates a dependency of the tasks and data sets operated on by the tasks. A determination is made of an assignment of the data sets for the tasks to a plurality of the storage tiers based on the dependency of the tasks indicated in the workflow execution pattern. A moving is scheduled of a subject data set of the data sets operated on by a subject task of the tasks that is subject to an event to an assigned storage tier indicated in the assignment for the subject task subject. The moving of the data set is scheduled to be performed in response to the event with respect to the subject task.
US09864641B2	Method for managing workloads in a multiprocessing computer system A method for managing workloads in a multiprocessing computer system is disclosed. Initially, a set of affinity domains is defined for a group of processor cores, wherein each of the affinity domains includes a subset of the processor cores. An affinity measure is defined to indicate that a given workload should be moved to a smaller affinity domain having fewer processor cores. A performance measure is defined to indicate the performance of a given workload. A given workload is determined based on the affinity measure and the performance measure. In response to a determination that a given workload should be moved to a smaller affinity domain based on the affinity measure, the given workload is moved to a smaller affinity domain. In response to a determination that there is a reduction in performance based on the performance measure, the given workload is moved to a larger affinity domain.
US09864640B2	Controlling virtual machine density and placement distribution in a converged infrastructure resource pool Aspects include identifying physical resources in a computer environment, allocating virtual resources to the physical resources, and aggregating the virtual resources, as a virtual resource pool, at a per virtual machine level in the computer environment. Other aspects include evaluating the virtual resources in the virtual resource pool against resource pool domain constraints, and determining a resource allocation adjustment as a function of the evaluating. The resource allocation adjustment is configured to achieve a maximum specified virtual machine density.
US09864639B2	Management of resources within a computing environment Resources in a computing environment are managed, for example, by a hardware controller controlling dispatching of resources from one or more pools of resources to be used in execution of threads. The controlling includes conditionally dispatching resources from the pool(s) to one or more low-priority threads of the computing environment based on current usage of resources in the pool(s) relative to an associated resource usage threshold. The management further includes monitoring resource dispatching from the pool(s) to one or more high-priority threads of the computing environment, and based on the monitoring, dynamically adjusting the resource usage threshold used in the conditionally dispatching of resources from the pool(s) to the low-priority thread(s).
US09864630B2	Starting a process using file descriptors According to an example, a method includes: before a first process exits, a kernel receives a connection holding request carrying a File Descriptor (FD) transmitted by the first process, with respect to the FD carried by the connection holding request, the kernel increases a reference count of a file object corresponding to the FD and puts the file object into a cache, the kernel returns cache position information to the first process, such that the first process puts a corresponding relationship between the cache position information and identifier information of a communication connection pointed to by the FD in a predefined storage area; when a second process starts, the kernel receives an FD obtaining request carrying the cache position information transmitted by the second process, reads the file object from the cache, assigns a new FD to the file object and returns the new FD to the second process.
US09864629B2	Real-time code and data protection via CPU transactional memory suppport A technique allows for memory bounds checking for dynamically generated code by using transactional memory support in a processor. The memory bounds checking includes creating output code, identifying read-only memory regions in the output code and creating a map that is provided to a security monitoring thread. The security monitoring thread executes as a transaction and determines if a transactional conflict occurs to the read-only memory region during parallel execution of a monitored thread in the output code.
US09864627B2	Power saving operating system for virtual environment Principles for enabling power management techniques for virtual machines. In a virtual machine environment, a physical computer system may maintain management facilities to direct and control one or more virtual machines executing thereon. In some techniques described herein, the management facilities may be adapted to place a virtual processor in an idle state in response to commands from a guest operating system. One or more signaling mechanisms may be supported such that the guest operating system will command the management facilities to place virtual processors in the idle state.
US09864624B2	Software-defined computing system remote support Methods, computing systems and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include initializing, by a hypervisor executing on a processor, first and second virtual machines. A first software application configured to provide a service is executed on the first virtual machine, and a logical data connection is established between the first and the second virtual machines. Examples of the logical connection include physical and virtual serial connections, and physical and virtual data networking connections. A second software application configured to enable remote monitoring of the first software application via the logical data connection is executed on the second virtual machine. In some embodiments, the second software application can remotely monitor the first software application via an interface such as a command line interface, a graphical user interface and an application programming interface.
US09864622B2	Administering virtual machines in a distributed computing environment In a distributed computing environment that includes hosts that execute a VMM, where each VMM supports execution of one or more VMs, administering VMs may include: assigning, by a VMM manager, the VMMs of the distributed computing environment to a logical tree topology, including assigning one of the VMMs as a root VMM of the tree topology; and executing, amongst the VMMs of the tree topology, a broadcast operation, including: pausing, by the root VMM, execution of one or more VMs supported by the root VMM; sending, by the root VMM, to other VMMs in the tree topology, a message indicating a pending transfer of the paused VMs; and transferring the paused VMs from the root VMM to the other VMMs.
US09864621B2	Virtual machine joiner A method, system and computer readable medium for joining multiple virtual machines (VMs). The method includes identifying a first VM executing a first operating system (OS) for joining with a second VM executing a second OS, wherein the first OS and the second OS are incompatible. A new VM having a first new disk and a second new disk is created. The method includes creating a first image of a first disk associated with the first VM and a second image of a second disk associated with the second VM, installing the first image into the first new disk and the second image into the second new disk, and configuring the new VM to include a dual boot function enabling boot up of the new VM with either the first OS or the second OS.
US09864613B2	Configuration checker for application Provided are techniques for verifying application compatibility, comprising providing a configuration knowledge server (CKS) to store information about configuration issues; detecting, by a configuration checking agent (CCA), a reconfiguration of a computing system; signaling, by the CCA, a configuration checking service (CCS), in response to the detecting; in response to the signaling, requesting, by the CCS, a compatibility report, from the CKS, about potential configuration issues with respect to the reconfiguration; transmitting the compatibility report from the CKS to the CCS; parsing, by the CCS, the compatibility report to identify a compatibility issue with respect to the reconfiguration; and in response to identifying the compatibility issue, dynamically performing an action to mitigate the compatibility issue.
US09864606B2	Methods for configurable hardware logic device reloading and devices thereof A method and host computing device that restricts access by one or more applications to a configurable hardware logic device over a bus. At least a portion of the configurable hardware logic device is reconfigured. A determination is made when unplug and plug events have been generated by the configurable hardware logic device. The unplug and plug events are generated without disconnecting power supplied to the configurable hardware logic device. The configurable hardware logic device is re-enumerated on the bus when the determining indicates the unplug and plug events have been generated by the configurable hardware logic device.
US09864604B2	Distributed mechanism for clock and reset control in a microprocessor Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for implementing a reset controller of a microprocessor or other type of computing system by connecting the reset controller to a reset controller bus or other type of general purpose bus. Through the reset bus, the reset controller signals used to generate the reset sequence of the system may be transmitted to the components of the system through a bus, rather than utilizing a direct wire connection between the components and the reset controller. The wires that comprise the reset bus may then be run to one or more components of the microprocessor design that are restarted during the reset sequence. Each of these components may also include a reset controller circuit that is designed to receive the reset control signals from the reset controller and decode the signals to determine if the received signal applies to the component.
US09864603B2	Instruction and logic for machine check interrupt management A processor includes a front end including a decoder to decode an instruction, a scheduler to assign execution of the instruction to a core, and a core to execute the instruction. The instruction specifies that interrupts such as corrected machine check interrupts are to be selectively suppressed. The processor further includes an error handling unit including logic to determine that an interrupt caused by an error is to be created and that an error consumer has requested interrupt notification. The error handling unit further includes logic to, based on the instruction specifying that interrupts are to be selectively suppressed, send the interrupt to a producer that issued the instruction rather than the error consumer.
US09864600B2	Method and system for virtualization of software applications A method of virtualizing an application to execute on a plurality of operating systems without installation. The method includes creating an input configuration file for each operating system. The templates each include a collection of configurations that were made by the application during installation on a computing device executing the operating system. The templates are combined into a single application template having a layer including the collection of configurations for each operating system. The collection of configurations includes files and registry entries. The collections also identifies and configures environmental variables, systems, and the like. Files in the collection of configurations and references to those files may be replaced with references to files stored on installation media. The application template is used to build an executable of the virtualized application. The application template may be incorporated into a manifest listing other application templates and made available to users from a website.
US09864599B2	Firmware update method in two-chip solution for secure terminal A firmware update method in a two-chip solution for a secure terminal. The method comprises secure firmware update and application firmware update. The secure firmware update comprises: a secure processor erases a secure firmware storage area (201), decrypts a first ciphertext in firmware data to obtain a symmetric key (202), decrypts a second ciphertext in the firmware data with the symmetric key, and writes a decryption result to the secure firmware storage area (206). The application firmware update comprises: an application processor erases an application firmware storage area (301), acquires firmware data through the secure processor, decrypts a first ciphertext in the firmware data to obtain a symmetric key (302), decrypts a second ciphertext in the firmware data with the symmetric key, and writes a decryption result to the application firmware storage area (308). The method can effectively prevent firmware from being intercepted, copied, tampered, damaged or simulated during the update process of the firmware.
US09864597B1	Systems and methods for providing software updates The present invention comprises systems and methods, and computer readable media comprising the methods, for updating software applications. The systems and methods of the present invention provide automation and flexibility to the updating process. Processor usage and network usage are monitored and software updates are initiated and/or continued during periods where processor and/or network usage are low. The update process may be halted when the processor and/or network connection are called upon for other uses. Processor and/or network usage may also be throttled, for example limiting the bandwidth available for the download to maintain sufficient processor share and/or bandwidth for other tasks. Adverse impact on a computer user is minimized.
US09864595B2	Software updating method, system, and device Disclosed are a method system, and device of updating local software. The method comprises: broadcasting a broadcast message for updating local software to multiple client ends; determining whether a response message about existence of the update software is received, updating local software through the client end sending out the response message, or through a remote server if no response message is received. Accordingly, restriction on transmission speed by OTA server in software update process and congestion in data transmission process can be avoided, thus improving downloading speed and facilitate a simultaneous update of software for a mass of devices.
US09864591B2	Method, user equipment, and application server for downloading application A method for downloading an application includes, after learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment, sending, by a first user equipment that has an association relationship with the second user equipment, a downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment to an application server, where the downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment, and receiving, by the first user equipment, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment and is sent by the application server. By using the foregoing technical solution, the application does not need to be manually downloaded for the user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.
US09864587B2	Functional use-case generation Functional use-case generation may include determining whether a requirements context is available. In response to a determination that the requirements context is available, the requirements context may be determined as a task context and as a rule context for a requirements sentence of a requirements document. The task context and the rule context may be used to select a functional model from a plurality of functional models. A functional use-case that includes an entity that is to perform a task based on a rule may be generated. Further, in response to a determination that the requirements context is not available, a functional model may be selected from the plurality of functional models based on process context, where the functional model includes a process related to the process context, and the functional model that includes the process related to the process context may be used to generate the functional use-case.
US09864584B2	Code generator for programmable network devices A processing network including a plurality of lookup and decision engines (LDEs) each having one or more configuration registers and a plurality of on-chip routers forming a matrix for routing the data between the LDEs, wherein each of the on-chip routers is communicatively coupled with one or more of the LDEs. The processing network further including an LDE compiler stored on a memory and communicatively coupled with each of the LDEs, wherein the LDE compiler is configured to generate values based on input source code that when programmed into the configuration registers of the LDEs cause the LDEs to implement the functionality defined by the input source code.
US09864583B2	Algorithm to derive logic expression to select execution blocks for programmable network devices A processing network including a plurality of lookup and decision engines (LDEs) each having one or more configuration registers and a plurality of on-chip routers forming a matrix for routing the data between the LDEs, wherein each of the on-chip routers is communicatively coupled with one or more of the LDEs. The processing network further including an LDE compiler stored on a memory and communicatively coupled with each of the LDEs, wherein the LDE compiler is configured to generate values based on input source code that when programmed into the configuration registers of the LDEs cause the LDEs to implement the functionality defined by the input source code.
US09864581B2	Modularized XML namespaces Techniques to provide and use modularized XML namespaces are disclosed. In various embodiments, a resolution request associated with a first module is received. A resolution context associated with the first module is used to determine that a component made available by a second module is associated with the resolution request. Access to a shared instance of the component made available by the second module is provided.
US09864580B2	Dynamic availability-based integration of external functionality A system includes a user interface allowing a developer to select a function to supplement functionality of an application under development. A data store holds identifiers for functions representing external functionality available from third party applications. A code generation module provides a software object to the developer for incorporation into a state of the application. The state includes a user interface element associated with an entity. When the state is instantiated, an action query is transmitted to a search system with the unique identifier of the selected function and information about the entity. The user interface element is selectively visually adapted in response to the search system response. In response to user selection of the user interface element, a search result, the search system is displayed, including (i) an identifier of a target application and (ii) an access mechanism for a specified state of the target application, is displayed.
US09864579B2	Dynamic evaluation and adaption of hardware hash function Creating hash values based on bit values of an input vector. An apparatus includes a first and a second hash table, a first and second hash function generator adapted to configure a respective hash function for a creation of a first and second hash value based on the bit values of the input vector. The hash values are stored in the respective hash tables. An evaluation unit includes a comparison unit to compare a respective effectiveness of the first hash function and the second hash function, and an exchanging unit responsive to the comparison unit adapted to replace the first hash function by the second hash function.
US09864573B2	Personal audio mixer An audio mixer is provided comprising: an audio receiver configured to receive an audio signal comprising a plurality of audio channels and a controller comprising one or more modules configured to: receive an audio content setting from a user interface device, adjust the relative volumes of the audio channels according to the audio content setting to provide a plurality of adjusted audio channels and combine the adjusted audio channels to generate a custom audio content.
US09864567B2	Portable apparatus having a plurality of touch screens and method of outputting sound thereof A method of outputting a includes detecting a touch on a shortcut icon of a plurality of shortcut icons displayed on a touch screen, executing an application corresponding to the shortcut icon in response to the touch, detecting an angle between a first housing including a first touch screen and a second housing including a second touch screen by using a sensor, and determining an output mode based on the angle and a property of the application, and outputting a sound through a plurality of speakers according to the output mode.
US09864566B2	Information display system and information display method An information display system, which displays information suitable for each browser requiring information in a specific place, includes: a display device etc. which transmit signals via electromagnetic waves; and a portable terminal. The portable terminal includes: a reception measurement unit that receives the signals from the display device etc. and measures intensity of the signal; and a portable-device transmission unit that transmits predetermined data and intensity data indicating a measurement result. The display device includes: a display-device transmission unit that repeatedly transmits the signal via electromagnetic waves; and a display unit that changes a display state according to the data transmitted from the portable terminal. The display unit changes the display state to a first state where display information is displayed according to the predetermined data, when the intensity is greater than a first threshold, and changes a value of the first threshold after the change of the display state.
US09864565B2	Output system, output apparatus, and power control method An output system is provided that includes at least one output apparatus configured to output content information. The output system includes a determination part configured to determine, based on the content information, whether to generate first control information for switching the output apparatus to a power-saving mode, the first control information being generated with respect to the output apparatus that does not have to output the content information. The output system further includes a control information generation part configured to generate the first control information when the determination part determines that the first control information has to be generated and a power control part configured to switch the output apparatus to the power-saving mode based on the first control information.
US09864557B2	Network printer The multifunctional peripheral includes a download control unit, a determination unit, a storage control unit, a display screen data generation unit, and a display control unit. The determination unit determines whether or not data downloaded by the download control unit contains printable file data. If the determination unit determines that the data contains printable file data, the storage control unit performs control so as to extract the printable file data and store the printable file data in the cache memory. The display screen data generation unit generates display screen data to be displayed on the display screen. The display screen data is a list of the file data stored in the storage unit by the storage control unit. The display control unit performs control so as to display the display screen data, which is generated by the display screen data generation unit, on the display screen.
US09864552B2	Communication apparatus, control method of communication apparatus, and storage medium When a service of interest is specified, a communication apparatus searches other communication apparatuses capable of providing the specified service and establishes a wireless communication with the specified communication apparatus.
US09864551B2	Determining throughput based on system busy level Example implementations relate to determining, based on a system busy level, throughput of logical volumes. In example implementations, a system busy level may be increased in response to a determination that a latency goal associated with one of a plurality of logical volumes has not been met. A throughput for a subset of the plurality of logical volumes may be determined based on the system busy level.
US09864550B2	Method and apparatus of recovering and encoding for data recovery in storage system Provided are a method and an apparatus of recovering and encoding for data recovery in a storage system and a distributed storage system of supporting, when a node storing data is lost in a distributed storage environment, a function to recover the lost node. According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in a method of encoding for recovering data loss in a distributed storage system, it is possible to guarantee jointly optimized locality with respect to a loss of two or more specific numbers of nodes and recover data of lost nodes in the distributed storage system by using a smaller number of nodes while using a smaller storage capacity.
US09864541B2	Transparent hardware-assisted memory decompression Provided are methods and systems for memory decompression using a hardware decompressor that minimizes or eliminates the involvement of software. Custom decompression hardware is added to the memory subsystem, where the decompression hardware handles read accesses caused by, for example, cache misses or requests from devices to compressed memory blocks, by reading a compressed block, decompressing it into an internal buffer, and returning the requested portion of the block. The custom hardware is designed to determine if the block is compressed, and determine the parameters of compression, by checking unused high bits of the physical address of the access. This allows compression to be implemented without additional metadata, because the necessary metadata can be stored in unused bits in the existing page table structures.
US09864538B1	Data size reduction Server computers often include one or more input/output (I/O) devices for communicating with a network or directly attached storage device. Data transferred between these devices may include blocks of data with a common often repeated and identifiable data pattern. Transfer and storage of data of this nature may be optimized by transferring primarily blocks of data that are not of the pre-determined data pattern. An indicator may be transferred and stored with transferred data that has been reduced in size in this manner.
US09864537B2	Memory system power management An aspect includes a method for receiving a memory allocation request for a logical partition. Partition mirroring is enabled for the logical partition. Unscrubbed memory is allocated to both a first and a second copy of the logical partition, with the second copy of the logical partition mirroring the first copy of the logical partition. Scrubbing of the first and second copy of the logical partitions is initiated. Subsequent to initiating the scrubbing one of the first and second copy of the logical partition is selected and partition mirroring is disabled for the logical partition. The first copy of the logical partition is deallocated based on selecting the second copy of the logical partition. The second copy of the logical partition is deallocated based on selecting the first copy of the logical partition. The copy that is selected will continue to be scrubbed on a periodic based.
US09864535B2	Removable, active, personal storage device, system and method A storage device is configured to communicate with a host device over a Bluetooth connection. The storage device includes a flash memory, a processor, and a Bluetooth controller. The memory stores at least one permission for determining access to the memory. The processor manages access to the memory, independently of the host device, based on a comparison of a request at the removable storage device to access the memory to at least one permission. The comparison is independent, requiring no management by an operating system of the host device, such that if the at least one permission includes a particular access type that matches the access requested in the request, the processor provides access to the memory.
US09864534B1	Validation of storage volumes that are in a peer to peer remote copy relationship A peer to peer remote copy operation is performed between a primary storage controller and a secondary storage controller, to establish a peer to peer remote copy relationship between a primary storage volume and a secondary storage volume. Subsequent to indicating completion of the peer to peer remote copy operation to a host, a determination is made as to whether the primary storage volume and the secondary storage volume have identical data, by performing operations of staging data of the primary storage volume from auxiliary storage of the primary storage controller to local storage of the primary storage controller, and transmitting the data of the primary storage volume that is staged, to the secondary storage controller for comparison with data of the secondary storage volume stored in an auxiliary storage of the secondary storage controller.
US09864532B2	Performing preprocessing operations in anticipation of log file writes A location of a log file is determined, wherein data corresponding to writes is written sequentially starting from a starting block of the log file. A determination is made in the log file of a range of blocks in which data corresponding to a next write is anticipated to be written. Preprocessing operations are performed corresponding to the range of blocks of the log file in which the data corresponding to the next write is anticipated to be written.
US09864530B2	Method for writing data to virtual disk using a controller virtual machine and different storage and communication protocols on a single storage platform An administrator provisions a virtual disk in a remote storage platform and defines policies for that virtual disk. A virtual machine writes to and reads from the storage platform using any storage protocol. Virtual disk data within a failed storage pool is migrated to different storage pools while still respecting the policies of each virtual disk. Snapshot and revert commands are given for a virtual disk at a particular point in time and overhead is minimal. A virtual disk is cloned utilizing snapshot information and no data need be copied. Any number of Zookeeper clusters are executing in a coordinated fashion within the storage platform, thus increasing overall throughput. A timestamp is generated that guarantees a monotonically increasing counter, even upon a crash of a virtual machine. Any virtual disk has a “hybrid cloud aware” policy in which one replica of the virtual disk is stored in a public cloud.
US09864518B2	Assigning home memory addresses to function call parameters Embodiments are directed to assigning a home memory location for a function call parameter. A method may include determining whether a caller is configured to allocate a memory location for a parameter passed to a callee. The caller is a module that includes a function call to the callee and the callee is a function. The method may include inserting instructions in the callee to allocate a home memory location for the parameter in response to determining that the caller is not configured to allocate a memory location for the parameter. In addition, the method may include inserting instructions in the callee to set the memory location as a home location for the parameter in response to determining that the caller is configured to allocate a memory location for the parameter.
US09864515B1	Virtual joystick on a touch-sensitive screen Aspects of the subject technology relate to providing a virtual joystick on a touch-sensitive screen. The virtual joystick is associated with an area on the touch-sensitive screen and may be provided for display along with a virtual keyboard. A touch input may be detected on the touch-sensitive screen. A determination may be made as to whether at least a portion of the touch input is within the area on the touch-sensitive screen associated with the virtual joystick. An action associated with a text cursor may be performed based on the touch input.
US09864514B2	Method and electronic device for displaying virtual keypad A method and an electronic device for controlling a virtual keypad are provided. The method for displaying the virtual keypad of the electronic device includes detecting execution of an application allowing text input, detecting at least one touch subject within a threshold distance of a touch screen, and when detecting at least one touch subject within the threshold distance of the touch screen, displaying a virtual keypad.
US09864513B2	Rendering a virtual input device upon detection of a finger movement across a touch-sensitive display A method comprises a processor detecting a person's finger moving across an unrendered portion of a touch-sensitive display. As a result of detecting the finger moving, the method further comprises the processor causing data to be rendered as a virtual keyboard image on the display.
US09864512B2	Mobile terminal device, operation method, program, and storage medium A mobile terminal device includes a touch panel where a specified input operation is performed with an indicator, an input detection unit, and an operation determination unit. The input detection unit detects the pattern of the input operation based on the position of the indicator on the touch panel, and decreases the frequency of execution of processing arranged to detect the input operation performed on the touch panel when an input operation performed on the touch panel is not detected over a specified time period. When the pattern of the input operation is detected in the case where the execution frequency of the processing arranged to detect the input operation is low, the operation determination unit causes a controlled unit determined to be an operation target in relation to the pattern of the input operation to execute a specified operation.
US09864510B2	System and method for connecting and introducing trusted contacts An introduction or connection platform is described that improves the performance of a mobile device having a touchscreen by reducing the number of user inputs needed and also the amount of memory required for making connections in Apps that are used with backend databases. Examples of the subject technology include or provide: (1) an application for a mobile device that provides for a simple way to introduce someone to someone else (or multiple people); and (2) a mobile application that provides for receiving as a user input a simple swipe (e.g., finger or other digit being swept across the mobile's touch screen) in order to introduce someone in response to a post (e.g., a person looking for someone with a certain skill and/or experience set). Exemplary embodiments are implemented on a mobile device.
US09864508B2	Character recognition on a computing device In some embodiments, a device performs character recognition based on spatial and temporal components of touch input detected on a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, a device provides feedback about handwritten input and its recognition by the device. In some embodiments, a device presents a user interface for changing previously-inputted characters.
US09864506B2	Electronic device and method for removing folders from touch screen of the electronic device In a method for removing folders from a touch screen of an electronic device, a preset triggering operation for activating the folders is detected when performed on the touch screen. An acceleration of the electronic device is obtained in real time by the gravity sensor when the preset triggering operation is detected. The electronic device is determined that whether the electronic device is being shaken based on the obtained acceleration; and the folders are removed from the touch screen, the application icons of the folders are displayed on a desktop of the electronic device when the electronic device is being shaken.
US09864505B2	Touch input apparatus and portable electronic device including same A portable electronic device includes a touch input apparatus including a touch panel installed on a surface of a display, the touch panel has a lead part projecting at the end of a detecting section, which includes a matrix area A where X value detection lines and Y value detection lines are arranged in matrix, and a lead area B where a plurality of lead lines extending from the matrix area A in the same direction as the X value detection lines to reach the lead part are arranged, wherein a first touch input section is formed by the matrix area A of the touch panel, and a second touch input section is formed by the lead area B.
US09864500B2	Application for controlling auto scroll of content as a function of tilting the device A system and method for displaying content on a display device by using a combination of an initial scroll speed set by an explicit action, preferably flicking the screen, and the subsequent change of scroll speed by controlling the difference of the tilt of the device from a reference orientation.
US09864498B2	Automatic scrolling based on gaze detection Automatic scrolling of content displayed on a display device in response to gaze detection. Content may be displayed in a window rendered on a display screen. Gaze detection components may be used to detect that a user is gazing at the content and to determine a gaze point. At least one scroll zone relative to the display screen and a scroll action associated with each scroll zone may be determined. In response to determining that the gaze point is within a scroll zone, an associated scroll action may be initiated. The scroll action causes the content to scroll within the window until at least one of: expiration of a defined period, determining that a portion of the content scrolls past a defined position within the window, determining that the gaze point is outside of the scroll zone, and detecting an indicator that the user begins reading the content.
US09864493B2	Cohort-based presentation of user interaction data An interactive, customizable, user interaction data analysis system is disclosed. The system may be configured to provide cohort-based analysis and/or graphical visualizations of user interaction data to a system operator. User interaction data may be obtained, for example, as users interact with one or more software applications. In various embodiments, interactive and customizable visualizations and analyses provided by the system may be based on user interaction data aggregated across groups of users (also referred to as cohorts of users), across particular time frames, and/or from particular software and/or computer-based applications. According to various embodiments, the system may enable insights into, for example, user interaction patterns, the frequency of software application features accessed, the performance of various aspects of software applications, and/or crashes of software applications, among others.
US09864486B2	Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof Disclosed are a mobile terminal and controlling method thereof, by which saved image data can be effectively searched. The present invention includes a memory configured to store at least one image data, a touchscreen, and a controller outputting a thumbnail list for the stored image data on a 1st scale through the touchscreen, the controller receiving a scroll input to the outputted thumbnail list plural times, the controller, if the scroll input received plural times meets a scale change condition, changing the 1st scale of the outputted thumbnail list into a 2nd scale.
US09864485B2	Dental laser interface system and method Embodiments of the invention provide a method of controlling a dental laser system. The method can include providing a dental laser station and a controller for controlling certain functions of the station. A graphical user interface can be used to provide input to the controller. The graphical user interface can include a control wheel with selectable segments and a menu navigation portion located adjacent the control wheel. Treatment categories, procedures or laser control options can be selected using the interface, and the interface can be updated based on data from the station.
US09864480B2	Image forming apparatus, control method therefor, and storage medium storing control program therefor An image processing apparatus that is capable of displaying a WEB top button without deteriorating the quality of appearance even if the display size of the WEB top button is changed. A display unit displays a button, to which a URL is assigned, on an operation screen. An acquisition unit accesses a Web server that is identified by the URL and to acquire a plurality of icons in different sizes. The display unit selects an icon, which corresponds to a display size of the button, from among the icons acquired by the acquisition unit, and displays the selected icon together with the button.
US09864478B2	Multipurpose media players A computer readable medium containing a set of instructions that causes a computer to perform a process comprised of receiving one or more media files. The one or more media files having one or more scenes and each scene including a starting time point and ending time point. The set of instructions may include changing the starting time point and/or the ending time point of a scene from the one or more scenes in response to an input command. The set of instructions may create a new scene and save the new scene based on the new starting time point and/or ending time point of the scene.
US09864477B2	Touch device Disclosed is a touch device. The touch device includes a case; a cover substrate on the case; and an electrode member received in the case, wherein the electrode member has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the cover substrate.
US09864475B2	Method of detecting touch input, apparatus for sensing touch input, and apparatus for inputting touch input A method of detecting an input of an input marking apparatus includes generating and outputting a number signal to be written to the input marking apparatus, detecting the input marking apparatus in which the number signal is written, by detecting a response signal output from the input marking apparatus, and detecting a position of the input of the input marking apparatus of which the response signal is detected.
US09864473B2	Display panel with touch detection function, method of driving the same, driving circuit, and electronic unit There are provide a display panel with a touch detection function, in which display operation is less affected by touch detection operation, a method of driving the display panel with a touch detection function, a driving circuit, and an electronic unit having the display panel with a touch detection function. The display panel with a touch detection function includes: one or more display elements; one or more drive electrodes; one or more touch detection electrodes; and a drive section selectively applying a DC drive signal or an AC drive signal to the drive electrodes.
US09864470B2	Enhanced interaction touch system A touch-sensitive apparatus includes an touch sensing part which operates a touch sensor arrangement to provide signal data representing a touch within a touch-sensing region on a front surface of a light transmissive panel; The touch-sensitive apparatus further includes a computer vision system part which operates a camera system to image a scene located externally of the touch-sensitive apparatus, and operates a computer vision controller to detect, based on image data generated by the camera system, at least one object within the scene. The touch-sensitive apparatus enables user interaction by touch control, gesture control and hover control.
US09864469B2	Display apparatus for a vehicle A vehicle includes a display apparatus. The display apparatus includes a display unit, an optical sensor unit, a touch sensor unit, and a processor. The processor can determine whether a hand is located within a first distance range away from the display unit and whether the hand is located within a second distance range away from the display unit that is closer to the display unit than the first distance range. The optical sensor unit is configured to recognize the received light based on the hand being located within the first distance range, and the touch sensor unit is configured to recognize the hand based on the hand being located within the second distance range. The processor can cause the touch sensor unit to operate based on a determination that the hand has transitioned from being located within the first distance range to being located within the second distance range.
US09864468B2	Multi-touch integrity sensing for capacitive touch screen A method for multi-touch integrity sensing for a multi-touch capacitive touch screen is disclosed. By determining the integrity of touches, a distinction is identified between wanted touches, such as via a finger or stylus, and unwanted touches such as via foreign matter, errors, and the like.
US09864466B2	Mitigating common mode display noise using hybrid estimation approach A processing system configured for capacitive sensing includes sensor circuitry with functionality to acquire an absolute capacitive profile for sensor electrodes, and acquire a transcapacitive image using the sensor electrodes. The processing system is configured to create a first estimate of common mode noise using the absolute capacitive profile and the transcapacitive image, determine a location lacking an input object in the transcapacitive image using the first estimate of common mode noise, create a second estimate of common mode noise based on the location and the transcapacitive image, determine positional information of the input object using the second estimate of common mode noise, and process the positional information.
US09864465B2	Noise suppression method and system for touch detection and touch terminal The present invention is applicable to the technical field of touch control. Provided are a touch detection system and a noise suppression method therefor. The method includes the steps of: sequentially driving a touch detection system with all driving frequencies that the touch detection system supports, and detecting a currently existing interference strength value when driving with each driving frequency; and frequency-hopping to the driving frequency corresponding to the minimum interference strength value, and driving the touch detection system with the driving frequency corresponding to the minimum interference strength value to perform a normal operation. By detecting an interference strength value at each driving frequency and then using the driving frequency corresponding to the minimum interference strength value as an operating frequency of a touch terminal, the present invention minimizes the signal interference of a touch detection system.
US09864462B2	Liquid crystal display device In a liquid crystal display device, a second substrate includes a detection electrode of a touch panel, pixels include pixel electrodes and counter electrodes, the counter electrodes are divided into a plurality of blocks, the counter electrodes of the divided blocks are provided in common to the pixels on a plurality of display lines being side by side, the counter electrodes of the divided blocks are used as scanning electrodes of the touch panel as well, the liquid crystal display device includes a semiconductor chip configured to supply a counter voltage and a touch panel scanning voltage to the counter electrodes of the divided blocks, the semiconductor chip includes a first terminal group formed on a side of a display area side configured by the plurality of pixels.
US09864458B2	Touch-control display panel A touch-control display panel with integrated force touch function is provided. The touch-control display panel includes a first substrate and a second substrate arranged in opposite to the first substrate; a semiconductor layer having a plurality of active regions; and a light-shielding metal layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the semiconductor layer. The light-shielding metal layer has a first region and a second region isolated from the first region. A vertical projection of the first region on the first substrate is equal to or larger than a vertical projection of the active regions on the first substrate, and the second region contains a plurality of first force sensing electrodes.
US09864452B2	Coordinates indication device and coordinates measurement device for measuring input position of the coordinates indication device A coordinates measurement system for measuring positions of a finger and a coordinates indication device other than the finger is provided, which determines the touched position of an object such as a stylus pen, while using a single touch screen.
US09864445B2	Touch screen border regions Touch screens with more compact border regions can include an active area that includes touch sensing circuitry including drive lines, and a border region around the active area. The border region can include an area of sealant deposited on conductive lines, and transistor circuitry, such as gate drivers, between the active area and the sealant. The conductive lines can extend from the sealant to the active area without electrically connecting to the transistor circuitry. The conductive lines can have equal impedances and can connect the drive lines to a touch controller off of the touch screen. A set of drive signal characteristics for the drive lines can be obtained by determining a transfer function associated with each drive line, obtaining an inverse of each transfer function, and applying a set of individual sense signal characteristics to the inverse transfer functions to obtain the corresponding set of drive signal characteristics.
US09864438B2	Flexible display apparatus and display method thereof A flexible display apparatus includes a flexible display, a sensor which senses bending of the flexible display, and a controller which determines a screen activation region and a screen inactivation region from among a plurality of display regions of the flexible display based on the sensed bending, and displays a predetermined screen on the screen activation region.
US09864437B2	Circuit and method for detecting working and resting states for optical mouse Disclosed is a circuit for detecting working and resting states for an optical mouse. During each frame capture, a counting unit of the digital logic circuit outputs a first counting signal to turn on a switching transistor, such that the voltage of the pixel capacitor varies from its predetermined voltage, and the counting unit starts to count. The automatic gain control module outputs a second counting signal as the voltage of the pixel capacitor varies one threshold from the predetermined voltage, such that the counting unit stops counting and outputs a counting value. A computing unit computes a difference between the counting value and a reference counting value. The optical mouse is in a resting state if the difference is equal to or smaller than a threshold difference, and otherwise the optical mouse is in a working state.
US09864436B2	Method for recognizing motion gesture commands A computer capable of recognizing gesture commands is disclosed. Suppose that a user makes a gesture of swinging a hand from side to side in front of a camera associated with a computer. A camera module receives frames with shots of the gesture in order. The camera module calculates a gradation difference between corresponding pixels of each frame and a background image to generate a set of binarized differential images. The camera module then combines differential images to generate composite images. In response to a determination that any of the composite images matches a reference pattern, the camera module outputs a computer command. The computer command can be used to control the power state of the computer or start a specific application within the computer.
US09864434B2	Gesture control of interactive events using multiple wearable devices Systems and methods for gesture control of an interactive event using multiple wearable devices are herein disclosed as comprising, in an implementation, receiving signal data indicative of at least one gesture from a first sensor of a first wearable device and a second sensor of a second wearable device, performing pre-processing on the signal data by a computing device in communication with the first wearable device and the second wearable device, performing feature extraction on the pre-processed signal data by the computing device, and determining the at least one gesture based on the feature extracted signal data and offline training data by the computing device. In an implementation, the first sensor and the second sensor comprise one or more of a three-axis accelerometer, a six-axis accelerometer, or an electromyography sensor, and can be configured to calibrate the other.
US09864433B2	Method and system for human-to-computer gesture based simultaneous interactions using singular points of interest on a hand Described herein is a method for enabling human-to-computer three-dimensional hand gesture-based natural interactions from depth images provided by a range finding imaging system. The method enables recognition of simultaneous gestures from detection, tracking and analysis of singular points of interests on a single hand of a user and provides contextual feedback information to the user. The singular points of interest of the hand: include hand tip(s), fingertip(s), palm center and center of mass of the hand, and are used for defining at least one representation of a pointer. The point(s) of interest is/are tracked over time and are analyzed to enable the determination of sequential and/or simultaneous “pointing” and “activation” gestures performed by a single hand.
US09864432B1	Devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for haptic mixing An electronic device receives a first set of one or more inputs corresponding to user interface elements displayed on the display and a first set of one or more tactile outputs, and also receives a second set of one or more inputs corresponding to one or more hardware elements and a second set of one or more tactile outputs. In response, in accordance with a determination that the first set of one or more tactile outputs and the second set of one or more tactile outputs overlap, the device outputs, with one or more tactile output generators, a modified tactile output sequence that is modified so as to emphasize the second set of one or more tactile outputs relative to the first set of one or more tactile outputs.
US09864430B2	Gaze tracking via eye gaze model Examples are disclosed herein that are related to gaze tracking via image data. One example provides, on a gaze tracking system comprising an image sensor, a method of determining a gaze direction, the method comprising acquiring image data via the image sensor, detecting in the image data facial features of a human subject, determining an eye rotation center based upon the facial features using a calibrated face model, determining an estimated position of a center of a lens of an eye from the image data, determining an optical axis based upon the eye rotation center and the estimated position of the center of the lens, determining a visual axis by applying an adjustment to the optical axis, determining the gaze direction based upon the visual axis, and providing an output based upon the gaze direction.
US09864429B2	Method for controlling device on the basis of eyeball motion, and device therefor A method of controlling an operation of a display device using eye movements and a device for performing the method are provided. The method includes receiving eye movement information of a user; receiving blinking information of the user; generating a control command corresponding to the eye movement information and the blinking information; and controlling an operation of the display device based on the generated control command.
US09864428B2	Human computer interaction using wearable device Embodiments of apparatus and methods for human-computer interaction are described. An apparatus for human-computer interaction may have one or more processors, multiple sensors to measure motion of a body part of a user, a communication module to communicate with a remote computing device, and an interpretation module to interpret the motion of the body part of the user to be associated with an indication of a user input to the remote computing device. The components may be encased in a body configured to be worn by the user. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09864424B1	Power management of point-of-sale component Techniques for generating schedule(s) specific to a merchant for managing power states of component(s) of a point-of-sale (POS) system of the merchant are described. Transaction data associated with transactions involving the merchant may be received from a POS application of the POS system. Based at least partly on the transaction data, a schedule for managing the power states of a component, such as a battery-operated payment reader device, may be determined. The schedule may indicate when to change a first power state of the component to a second power state. The schedule may be sent to a POS system. The POS system may use the schedule to manage the power states of a component of the POS system, such as a battery-operated reader device. Additionally, or alternatively, the POS system may determine triggering events and may manage the power states of the component based on the triggering events.
US09864421B2	Hub having complex power converters A hub electrically connected to an electronic equipment and at least a portable device located in external environment is provided. The hub includes a first connector, at least a second connector, a controller, and a first DC/DC converter. The first connector is electrically connected to the electronic equipment, the second connector is electrically connected to the portable device. The controller is electrically connected between the first connector and the second connector, and the controller has a data transmission between the portable devices and the electronic equipment mutually. In addition, a signal is transmitted to the portable devices suitably by the controller so that the portable device being with rapid charge mode. An input terminal of the first DC/DC converter is electrically connected to the electronic equipment, and an output terminal of the first DC/DC converter is electrically connected to the portable device, the first DC/DC converter is applied to output stable voltage to the portable device.
US09864416B2	Portable electronic device A portable electronic device has a device body, a hinge unit, a driving unit and a support unit. The device body has a first connecting element. The hinge unit disposes at an end of the device body. The driving unit disposes in the device body and has a second connecting element. The support unit rotates relative to the device body for a closed state and a support state. The support unit has a third connecting element and a fourth connecting element. When the support unit in the closed state, the third connecting element connects with the first connecting element; the fourth connecting element connects with the second connecting element. When the driving unit moves to a driving position, the fourth connecting element detaches from the second connecting element, and the support unit rotates to the support state due to rotation of the hinge unit.
US09864415B2	Multistage friction hinge A multistage friction hinge is described. In at least some embodiments, the described hinge enables a support component to be adjustably attached to an apparatus. According to various embodiments, a hinge includes different activity stages where movement of the hinge is based on different activity mechanisms. For instance, the hinge includes different sets of components that form different friction engines that provide resistance to rotational and/or pivoting movement of the hinge.
US09864406B2	Strap system for head-mounted displays A strap system for a head-mounted display is disclosed. The strap system includes a rigid segment and a cylindrical structure to couple the rigid segment to the head-mounted display. The strap system also includes a flat circuit within the rigid segment and the cylindrical structure, to couple to the head-mounted display through the cylindrical structure.
US09864403B2	Electronic devices with structural glass members Electronic devices may be provided having internal components mounted to a structural glass support member. The structural glass support member may have a planar front surface that forms a front surface of the device. The structural glass support member may have bent portions that form sidewall surfaces of the device. Portions of the structural glass support member may form a transparent display cover layer. A rigid or flexible display may be mounted to the structural glass support member. Additional internal device components may be mounted to the display. A thin enclosure for enclosing the internal components in the device may be mounted to the structural glass support member. The thin enclosure may be mounted to the structural glass support member using a peripheral member. The thin enclosure may be free from attachments to internal components or may be adhesively bonded to one or more internal components.
US09864400B2	Camera integrated into a display Certain aspects of the technology disclosed herein integrate a camera with an electronic display. An electronic display includes several layers, such as a cover layer, a color filter layer, a display layer including light emitting diodes or organic light emitting diodes, a thin film transistor layer, etc. In one embodiment, the layers include a substantially transparent region disposed above the camera. The substantially transparent region allows light from outside to reach the camera, enabling the camera to record an image. In another embodiment, the color filter layer does not include a substantially transparent region, and the camera records the light from the outside colored by the color filter layer. According to another embodiment, while none of the layers include a substantially transparent region, the layers are all substantially transparent, and the camera disposed beneath the layers records light reaching the camera from outside.
US09864398B2	Embedded clock in a communication system A method for transmitting a plurality of data bits and a clock signal on a return to zero (RZ) signal includes: transmitting a first voltage that is greater than a first threshold, the first voltage being decodable to first order of data bits; transmitting a second voltage that is between a second threshold and the first threshold, the second voltage being decodable to a second order of data bits; transmitting a third voltage that is between a third threshold and a fourth threshold, the third voltage being decodable to a third order of data bits; transmitting a fourth voltage that is greater in magnitude than the fourth threshold, the fourth voltage being decodable to a fourth order of data bits; and transitioning the clock signal in response to the RZ signal being between the second threshold and the third threshold.
US09864394B2	Reference voltage generation circuit with startup circuit In a reference voltage generation circuit, a reference voltage generation unit 1 is configured to receive, as feedback, a voltage of an output terminal 3; a startup circuit unit 2 has a depletion MOS transistor TR1, and enhancement MOS transistors TR2, TR3; the MOS transistor TR1 has one end connected to a power source 4 and is formed as a constant current connection; the MOS transistor TR2 has one end connected to the power source 4 via a resistor RST, has an opposite end connected to the output terminal 3, and further has a gate connected to an opposite end of the MOS transistor TR1; and the MOS transistor TR3 has one end connected to the opposite end of the MOS transistor TR1, has an opposite end grounded, and further has a gate connected to the output terminal 3. The reference voltage generation circuit can reduce the occurrence of a wasteful current consumption after circuit startup.
US09864390B2	Power supply system and power supply method thereof A power supply system and a power supply method thereof are disclosed. The power supply system includes a master power supply device and a slave power supply device. When a master power detection module detects that a current value of a master power signal generated from a master power supply module increases to a first loading proportion, a master micro-controlling module will notices a slave micro-controlling module via a controlling pin to enable a slave power supply module to generate a slave power signal. When a slave power detection module detects that a current value of the slave power signal decreases to a second loading proportion, the slave micro-control module will control the slave power supply module to stop generating the power signal.
US09864389B1	Temperature compensated reference voltage circuit A delta-Vbe based bandgap reference voltage circuit generates a temperature stable reference voltage. First and second paths of the circuit each include a respective transistor coupled in series with a resistance. The collector current density of the transistor in first path is lower than the collector current density of transistor in the other path. A control path is used to generate a 2Vbe voltage that is coupled to the base nodes of the resistors in each path. A resistance that is coupled between a common node of a first end of the two paths and a circuit ground node. The circuit current is controlled by this resistance and a voltage drop of 2ΔVbe is across the resistance. The output reference voltage of the circuit is 2(Vbe+ΔVbe) when stack resistors in each path are used.
US09864385B2	Protection device The disclosure provides a protection device including a temperature detection circuit, a switch circuit, a control circuit, and a warning circuit. The temperature detection circuit outputs temperature signal to the control circuit. The control circuit obtains the temperature signal from the temperature detection circuit, and compares the temperature signal with a preset temperature range and outputs a first control signal. The warning circuit sends warning based on the first control signal.
US09864381B2	Integrated systems facilitating wire and cable installations Pulling eyes are provided with integrated wiring systems suitable for installing conductors or cables. The pulling eyes may include body portions that define interior cavities that are sized to snugly engage outside portions of the conductors or cables. The body portions are sized to be deformably crimped onto the outside portions of the conductors or cables. The pulling eyes may also include head portions joined to the body portions, with the head portions defining apertures for receiving a strength member for installing the conductors or cables. These apertures place the interior cavities in communication with the exteriors of the pulling eyes.
US09864377B2	Navigation using planned robot travel paths A method for generating a navigation map of an environment in which a plurality of robots will navigate, includes obtaining an image of the environment defined by a plurality of pixels, each having a cost value. The environment includes an image of a fixed object having a set of pixels corresponding to its location and having a first defined cost value. The method includes obtaining a planned path image for the robots, which include a first set of pixels corresponding to the location of each robot in the environment and a second set of pixels adjacent to the first set of pixels and extending along a planned path of travel toward a destination. The first set of pixels of each robot having the first defined cost value and the second set of pixels having a second defined cost value. The second defined cost value is less than the first defined cost value.
US09864376B2	Control system for an autonomous vehicle and a method for generating a control signal and autonomous vehicle equipped with such control system The invention relates to a control system for an autonomous vehicle, a method and an autonomous vehicle. The system comprises an image capturing means capable of capturing at least a first image of the environment of the vehicle and a second image of the environment, wherein the images are captured in a close time relationship but with different image capturing parameters. A processing means configured to obtain and process the images captured with different image capturing parameters separately and taking into consideration a first intensity threshold when processing the first image and a second, different intensity threshold when processing the second image. A control means for generating and outputting a control signal on the basis of a result of the at least one of the processed images.
US09864375B1	Area isolation system An area isolation system (AIS) is provided. The AIS may include a barrier adjacent to a work area, a barrier control panel (BCP) operatively connected to and disposed proximate the barrier, the BCP including a BCP controller in communication with a BCP short-range transceiver, the BCP controller configured to control the barrier, and a machine configured to autonomously operate within the work area. The machine may include a remote shutdown module (RSM) having an RSM controller in communication with an RSM short-range transceiver, and an RSM unique identifier preprogrammed into a memory associated with the RSM controller. The RSM short-range transceiver may be configured to send signals indicative of the RSM unique identifier to the BCP short-range transceiver when a machine radio zone associated with the RSM short-range transceiver intercepts with a BCP radio zone associated with the BCP short-range transceiver.
US09864373B2	Autonomous driving control system for vehicle An autonomous driving control system for a vehicle which is able to switch between manual driving and autonomous driving is provided with a driver condition sensor, acting part, and electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is provided with an autonomous driving control part, reliance calculating part for calculating an autonomous driving output reliance, vigilance calculating part for calculating a driver vigilance, and an action control part for controlling a strength of an action against a driver. In a region in which an operating point determined by the autonomous driving output reliance and driver vigilance can fall, a plurality of sub regions are defined by boundary lines extending so that the driver vigilance becomes higher as the autonomous driving output reliance becomes lower. The action control part controls the strength of the action against the driver to differ in accordance with the sub region in which the operating point falls.
US09864372B2	Automated drone systems An automated drone security system for surveilling a location includes one or more drones with onboard sensors and an imaging device for measuring surveillance data. The surveillance data may include images, telemetry data, infrared data, or other detectable information of the location. Drones may be capable of executing one or multiple flight operations as well as storing and transmitting the surveillance data to a server assembly operable for coordinating the drone and receiving the surveillance data. A drone dock may be included for drone launching, landing, and/or storing the drones. A user computing device may be in communication with the server assembly and the drone(s), the user computing device being capable of receiving user input and displaying surveillance data from the drone. Flight operations associated with surveilling the location may be automatically and/or manually controlled by the user computing device and/or or the server assembly in connection with the location.
US09864371B2	Automated guided vehicle system AGVs receive instructions regarding tasks to be performed via localized wireless I/O communication devices (604) onboard the AGVs from localized wireless communications units (600) positioned about the facility, for example, at conveyors (202). The wireless communications units (600) utilize I/O devices (604) which have a limited range so as to be truly localized in their operation. The AGVs have a sophisticated onboard control system (130) that includes a destination determination system (140), a routing system (142), a navigation system (144), and a crash avoidance system.
US09864370B2	Remote control methods and systems Methods and systems are provided for preventing interference from simultaneous data transmissions in a remote control system. A controlled terminal is typically configured to receive control data from a controlling terminal and to transmit feedback data to a monitoring terminal. To prevent interference caused by the simultaneous transmissions of control data and feedback data. The controlling terminal can transmit the control data to the monitoring terminal, which then transmits the control data to the controlled terminal. Such transmission of the control data may be carried out in a way that does not interfere with the transmission of the feedback data.
US09864366B2	Manufacture modeling and monitoring Methods, apparatus, and computer program products for analyzing, monitoring, and/or modeling the manufacture of a type of part by a manufacturing process. Non-destructive evaluation data and/or quality related data collected from manufactured parts of the type of part may be aligned to a simulated model associated with the type of part. Based on the aligned data, the manufacturing process may be monitored to determine whether the manufacturing process is operating properly; aspects of the manufacturing process may be spatially correlated to the aligned data; and/or the manufacturing process may be analyzed.
US09864365B2	Control environment change communication An automation control system is provided that includes delta scripts that describe one or more changes of the stored state information. The delta scripts may be useful to enable one or more other components of the control system and the one or more other components apply the one or more delta scripts to update state information stored on the one or more other components based upon the one or more changes.
US09864362B2	Method for setting and/or monitoring operating parameters of a workpiece processing machine A method for setting or monitoring operating parameters of a workpiece processing machine having a tool holder and means for moving a workpiece and the holder relative to one another along a first axis. During milling of the holder fitted with a workpiece and during application of the tool to a workpiece, values for at least one measured variable are registered and recorded. The variables include an axial force acting in a direction parallel to the first axis, a torque relative to the first axis or to an axis oriented parallel to the first axis, and bending torques or bending torque components according to direction and amount. The values are used to set the operating parameters with respect to an extended service life of the tool in conjunction with a processing time falling below a maximum machining time, monitoring tool wear or a machine error.
US09864360B2	Position aligning apparatus of vehicle and inspection method using the same A position aligning apparatus of a vehicle installed at a bottom surface of a vehicle inspection line to respectively correspond to both sides of a front wheel and both sides of a rear wheel of the vehicle so as to target-position the vehicle at an inspection position includes: a front aligning unit regulating a front movement of the vehicle having entered into the vehicle inspection line and aligning a front right/left position of the vehicle while pressing a front wheel of the vehicle in a right/left direction according to operation of a first actuator; a rear aligning unit aligning a rear right/left position of the vehicle while pressing a rear wheel of the vehicle in the right/left direction according to operation of a second actuator; and a controller controlling the operation of the first and second actuators.
US09864359B2	Numerical control device A numerical control device includes at least an operation-pattern storage unit that stores operation patterns each including commands for causing operations by a peripheral device to be executed, the commands using a shaft configuration of the peripheral device, a unique M code, or a moving amount of the peripheral device as variables, a machine-information storage unit that stores machine information in which a value with respect to each of the variables is specified for a shaft of the peripheral device or for the unique M code, and a program analysis unit that when a command in a received numerical control program is a command for the peripheral device, acquires an operation pattern corresponding to an argument indicating the operation pattern and delivers the operation pattern to a peripheral-device operation generation unit together with a moving amount indicated by an argument indicating the moving amount of the peripheral device.
US09864358B2	Event input module Disclosed is an event input module, wherein the event input module receives time information which is an IRIG-B signal of a predetermined method from an outside time provider, allocates the time information to a detected event and determines event generation information.
US09864356B2	Nonlinear parameter varying (NPV) model identification method The invention discloses an identification method of nonlinear parameter varying models (NPV) and belongs to the industrial identification field. The invention carries out identification tests and model identification for an identified object with nonlinear parameter varying characteristics. Firstly, the multi-input single-output nonlinear parameter varying model is identified through the steps of local nonlinear model tests, local nonlinear models identification, and operating point variable transition tests; after completing the identification of all the multi-input single-output nonlinear parameter varying models with respect to all the controlled variables, the completed multi-input multi-output nonlinear parameter varying models are built. The nonlinear parameter varying models of an identified object can be obtained by the identification method of the present invention with limited input/output data without detailed mechanism knowledge of the identified object. The nonlinear parameter varying models obtained can be used in model-based control algorithm design and process simulation, as well as in product quality prediction reasoning models and soft sensors.
US09864353B2	Flow balancing for a well Flow balancing includes selecting, for each down hole flow control valve of a well, a transformed well performance curve corresponding to a first down hole flow control valve pressure to obtain transformed well performance curves. The well includes a lateral including the down hole flow control valves. Using a constraint set that includes a balancing condition for the lateral, a network optimization analysis is performed on the transformed well performance curves to generate a set of choke positions corresponding to each down hole flow control valve. Network modeling of the well is performed based on the set of choke positions to obtain a second down hole flow control valve pressure for each down hole flow control valve. Using the set of choke positions, a field operation is performed for the well based on the second down hole flow control valve pressure being within a threshold difference of the first down hole flow control valve pressure for each down hole flow control valve.
US09864351B2	System, method and apparatus for resupplying fast moving consumable goods associated with appliances A consumable-goods reordering system in which a system controller has access to the signals transmitted by each smart appliance relevant to the environment being monitored, such as a home. Each appliance monitors a particular physical condition that is related to the appliance's usage of a consumable good, senses changes in the condition being monitored, and reports states of the condition. Meanwhile, the system controller memorizes and maintains the states of various processing events, such as when an appliance reported a particular state of the monitored condition. By considering the information reported by the multiple smart appliances, as well as by accounting for the states corresponding to the various events, the system controller is able to continually update a representation of the state of the monitored environment. Having such context awareness enables the system controller to generate intelligently various reorder messages for transmission to the various suppliers of the consumables.
US09864350B2	Events management In at least one illustrative embodiment, a building automation system may comprise a communication network compatible with at least one building automation system communication protocol, a control system coupled to the communication network, and a building automation server coupled to the communication network. The building automation server may be configured to receive at least one event message over the communication network from the control system in response to a corresponding condition occurring on the control system, access past event messages generated by the control system in response to past occurrences of the corresponding condition, and generate event alert data as a function of the received at least one event message and the retrieved past event messages, the event alert data identifying (i) a name of the corresponding condition, (ii) a real-time status of the control system, and (iii) a quantitative summary of the past occurrences of the corresponding condition.
US09864347B2	Method for optimizing an operating function of a ground milling machine and ground milling machine The present invention relates to a method for optimizing an operating function of a ground milling machine by way of the adaptation of operating parameters and to a ground milling machine which is implemented, in particular, for carrying out this method. In an essential aspect an operating parameter of a milling machine is provided starting from a starting value of the operating parameter to optimize an operating function of the ground milling machine in milling operation.
US09864346B2	Method for connecting a substation automation device according to IEC61850 to any industry automation field bus A method for connecting a switching station automation device, protection device or field device according to the IEC61850 communication standard to an industry automation field bus of an industry automation system. The method includes producing a modified SCL (Substation Configuration Description Language) technical manual file, SCL technical manual file is expanded by implementing at least one data object with mapping information in the form of communication- and functional parameters of the industry automation field bus, compiling the modified SCL technical manual file into a Device Type Manager component, and configuring the switching station automation device by the FDT frame application using the DTM component.
US09864345B2	Eliminating temperature variation effects to improve accuracy of electroplating bath monitoring A process for creating a predictive data set predicting the amount of target constituents are in an electrolyte solution at varying temperatures is provided. The process includes (a) obtaining a sample set in which each sample comprises an electrolyte solution of known composition; (b) obtaining an electroanalytical response for each sample in the sample set to produce a electroanalytical response data set at a pre-determined, chosen target temperature; (c) obtaining a plurality of training sets, each training set being measured at a different pre-selected temperature in a range of low to high temperatures that comprises the sample set and corresponds to the electroanalytical response data set; (d) analyzing each of the training sets individually using decomposition and multivariate regression methods to produce a plurality of regression data sets, each at different temperature; and (e) validating the plurality of training data sets to produce a predictive data set for predictive calibration models, each at different temperatures in the pre-selected range of low to high temperatures.
US09864342B2	Athletic watch A device for monitoring athletic performance of a user has a wristband configured to be worn by the user. The electronic module may include a controller and a screen and a plurality of user inputs operably associated with the controller. The user inputs may include a user input configured to be applied by the user against the screen and in a direction generally normal to the screen. The controller may further be configured to generate one or more user interfaces in response to various user inputs and conditions. For example, the controller may generate workout mode interfaces and non-workout mode interfaces including various goal information, workout data, reminders and the like. In one or more arrangements, multiple types of information may be displayed simultaneously.
US09864341B1	Time-to-digital conversion with latch-based ring An integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed for time-to-digital conversion with a latch-based ring. In example aspects, the IC includes a ring, a counter, an encoder, and time-to-digital converter (TDC) control circuitry. The ring includes multiple ring stages and propagates a ring signal between successive ring stages. Each respective ring stage includes latch circuitry to secure a state of the ring signal at the respective ring stage. The ring provides a ring output signal using the latch circuitry of each of the ring stages. The ring is coupled to the counter. The counter increments a counter value responsive to the ring signal and provides a counter output signal based on the counter value. The encoder is coupled to the ring and the counter. The encoder generates a TDC output signal based on the ring and counter output signals. The TDC control circuitry operates the ring responsive to a TDC input signal.
US09864339B2	Surface relief volume reflective diffractive structure A surface relief structure includes a recording medium configured to be structurally modified when exposed to interfering and non-interfering portions of radiation beams, the structurally modified recording medium including, when viewed in a two-dimensional cross-section along one of the axes of the recording medium a plurality of equally spaced steps of fine-sized periodicity superimposed upon a plurality of deep depressions of substantially coarse-sized periodicity. The structurally modified recording medium is configured to produce in reflection single and multiple colors in a broad spectral range when illuminated by a source of light.
US09864330B2	Developer cartridge A developer cartridge is described. The developer cartridge detachably mountable on a tandem type photosensitive unit slidable to a drawn-out position and a mounted position with respect to an image forming apparatus body may include a casing; a developer carrier rotatably supported on one end portion of the casing for carrying a developer; a pair of upright portions arranged on another end portion of the casing at an interval from each other in the axial direction of the developer carrier to extend from another end portion of the casing in a detaching direction for the developer cartridge; and an elastically deformable coupling portion extending in the axial direction of the developer carrier for coupling the upright portions with each other.
US09864328B2	Developer cartridge provided with gear including surface rotatable with gear A developer cartridge comprises a first gear. The first gear may be rotatable about a first axis extending in an axial direction. The first gear may include a first surface rotatable with the first gear, and a second surface rotatable with the first gear. The first surface may extend in a circumferential direction of the first gear. The second surface may extend in the circumferential direction. The second surface may be separated from the first surface in the circumferential direction. A length of the second surface in the circumferential direction may be greater than a length of the first surface in the circumferential direction.
US09864322B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer; a charging member to charge the surface of the image bearer; an irradiating member to irradiate the surface of the image bearer to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image bearer; an developing member to develop the electrostatic latent image with a toner to form a visible toner image on the surface of the image bearer; and a transferring member to transfer the toner image onto a transfer material. The image bearer includes a charge generation layer including an asymmetrical disazo pigment and a metal-free phthalocyanine pigment, and a charge transport layer. The irradiating member forms the electrostatic latent image at an irradiation energy greater than a half decay exposure of the image bearer and not greater than 2.5 times of the half decay exposure. The image bearer is not discharged every image forming process.
US09864317B2	Image forming apparatus that stably guides sheet to transfer nip portion An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a registration roller pair, a first guiding portion, a second guiding portion, a resistor, and a grounding conductive mechanism. The housing is made of metal and has a grounded inner wall. The registration roller pair is located between the paper sheet feeder and the transfer member in the sheet conveyance path, includes a metallic registration roller and a facing roller that is constituted of an elastic material, and rotates in abutting contact with the registration roller, so as to convey the sheet toward the transfer nip portion. The first guiding portion is made of metal. The second guiding portion is made of a conductive resin material. The grounding conductive mechanism electrically conducts the registration roller, the first guiding portion, and the second guiding portion to the inner wall via a resistor.
US09864316B2	Paper conveyance apparatus and image forming apparatus According to one embodiment, a paper conveyance apparatus includes: a paper feed section on which paper is placed; a first roller configured to be arranged at the upstream side of a reading position where the paper is read to convey the paper at a first speed; a second roller configured to be arranged between the first roller and the paper feed section to convey the paper at a second speed faster than the first speed; a motor; a fourth roller configured to be arranged between the first roller and the reading position and driven by the motor to convey the paper to the reading position at the first speed; and a transmission section configured to always transmit a rotation driving force of the motor to the first roller and the fourth roller.
US09864315B2	Image forming apparatus Provided is an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material, an image capturing unit that captures an image of a user who forms the image, and a control unit that causes the image capturing unit to capture an image in a preset monitoring region when the user does not capture an image using the image capturing unit.
US09864313B2	Fixing device and image forming apparatus A fixing device includes a first belt that heats a developer image on a recording medium; a support member that is arranged inside the first belt and supports the first belt; a second belt that sandwiches the recording medium with the first belt; a pressing roller that is provided with the second belt having an inner peripheral surface wound thereon, is provided rotatably in a direction orthogonal to a recording-medium transport direction as an axial direction, presses the second and first belts toward the support member, and forms a first press region; and a forming member that is provided inside the second belt, at an upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the pressing roller, presses the second and first belts toward the support member, and forms a second press region having a larger width than that of the first press region in the transport direction.
US09864309B2	Transfer device and image forming apparatus A transfer device includes a transfer member to which a bias voltage is applied and that transfers a toner image, which is carried on an image carrier, onto a sheet while nipping the sheet between the transfer member and the image carrier when the sheet is transported to the transfer member; and a pressing member that includes a spring member and a first rubber damper, which are arranged in series with each other, and that presses the transfer member against the image carrier.
US09864304B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus comprises a first component, a second component, a first end surface, a second end surface and a sealer. The sealer arranged on the first or second end surface seals the part between the first end surface and the second end surface while keeping the first opening communicated with the second opening when the second component is mounted on the first component.
US09864302B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image carrier, a development device and a seal member. The seal member is provided on a downstream side in a rotating direction of the image carrier beyond the development device. The seal member is configured to prevent toner from leaking into a downstream side space in the rotating direction through toner image non-forming areas. The seal member has an elastic member and a slide member. The elastic member has an opposed surface and an end surface. The opposed surface faces the toner image non-forming area. The end surface goes around into a direction separating from the development device from an upstream side end of the opposed surface in the rotating direction. The slide member is provided along the opposed surface and the end surface. The slide member is configured to come in contact with the toner image non-forming area.
US09864298B2	Developing device and image forming apparatus including the same A developing device includes a housing, a developing roller, a developer stirring member, and a layer thickness regulating member. The developing roller includes a stationary magnet and a sleeve. The stationary magnet includes a first magnetic pole having a specific polarity, and a second magnetic pole lying downstream of the first magnetic pole and having the same polarity as the first magnetic pole. In an entire inter-pole region between the first magnetic pole and the second magnetic pole, the stationary magnet produces a magnetic force including a horizontal component that keeps the specific polarity and has a value greater than zero (mT). The inter-pole region includes a flat area where a horizontal magnetic force component having a minimum absolute value exits and the horizontal magnetic force component changes within a range of 0.5 (mT) or less, the flat area extending over a range of 10 degrees or more.
US09864297B2	Developing device and image forming apparatus and process cartridge incorporating same A developing device includes a developer bearer, a magnetic field generator, a casing having an opening, a developer conveyor to rotate inside a developer containing compartment below the developer bearer, and a developer regulator. A side wall of the casing defines a bottom end of the opening, and the developer regulator is disposed on the side wall. The side wall includes an upper end face facing the developer bearer below an axis of the developer bearer and a curved inner face along an orbit of rotation of the developer conveyor, extending from below the developer conveyor toward the upper end face. On a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis of the developer bearer, an intersection between a tangent line to an upper end of the curved inner face and the surface of the developer bearer is in a range from a tangential magnetic-flux peak and a closest approach point.
US09864293B2	Electrostatic charge image developing carrier, method of preparing electrostatic charge image developing carrier, and electrostatic charge image developer An electrostatic charge image developing carrier includes magnetic particles and a resin coating layer which covers the magnetic particles, wherein a sulfate ion concentration of the resin coating layer is 0.05% by weight or less with respect to a total weight of the resin coating layer, and when a total value of a molar amount of sulfate ions contained and a molar amount of sulfo groups contained per 1 g of the resin coating layer is A mol and a molar amount of sodium ions contained per 1 g of the resin coating layer is B mol, a relationship of 0.1
US09864289B2	Electrostatic latent image developing toner An electrostatic latent image developing toner includes a plurality of toner particles each including a core containing a binder resin and a shell layer covering a surface of the core. The shell layer contains a copolymer of at least two vinyl compounds including a compound represented by the following formula (1). The toner contains a ring unopened oxazoline group in an amount of at least 0.10 μmol/g and no greater than 100 μmol/g.
US09864287B2	Electrostatic charge image developing toner, electrostatic charge image developer, and toner cartridge An electrostatic charge image developing toner includes kneaded and pulverized toner particles that contain a binder resin and a release agent, the release agent being partially exposed, and an external additive that contains silica particles having a compression aggregation degree of from 60% to 95% and a particle compression ratio of from 0.20 to 0.40.
US09864283B2	Apparatus and methods for photomask backside cleaning Apparatus for cleaning a photo mask includes a rotor in a head, with the rotor having a seal plate having a central opening, a resilient mask seal in the central opening, and retractors attached to the resilient mask seal and adapted to move the resilient mask seal into open and closed positions. A motor in the head rotates the rotor. A push plate in the head moves to operate the retractors. In the closed position the resilient mask seal seals against the sides of the photo mask. The back side of the photo mask can then be cleaned without affecting the patterned front side of the photo mask.
US09864273B2	Oxime ester photoinitiators Oxime ester compounds of the formula I, II, III, IV or V, wherein Z is for example (formula A); Z1 for is NO2, unsubstituted or substituted C7-C20aroyl or unsubstituted or substituted C4-C20heteroaroyl; provided that at least one Z1 is other than NO2; Z2 is for example unsubstituted or substituted C7-C20aroyl; R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 for example are hydrogen, halogen, or unsubstituted or substituted C1-C20alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted C6-C20aryl, or unsubstituted or substituted C4-C20heteroaryl; R9, R10, R11, R12 and R13 for example are hydrogen, halogen, OR16, unsubstituted or substituted C1-C20alkyl; provided that R9 and R13 are neither hydrogen nor fluorine; R14 is for example unsubstituted or substituted C6-C20aryl or C3-C20heteroaryl Q is for example C6-C20arylene or C3-C20heteroarylene; Q1 is —C1-C20alkylene-CO—; Q2 is naphthoylene; Q3 is for example phenylene; L is for example O-alkylene-O—; R15 is for example hydrogen or C1-C20alkyl; R20 is for example hydrogen, or unsubstituted or substituted C1-C20alkyl; are effective photoinitiators.
US09864269B2	Photomask blank A photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a chromium-containing film is provided. The chromium-containing film is formed of a chromium compound containing Cr, N, and optionally O, has a total Cr+N+O content≧93 at %, and meets the formula: 3Cr≧2O+3N. A chromium compound layer meeting a first composition having a N/Cr atomic ratio≧0.95, a Cr content ≧40 at %, a Cr+N content≧80 at %, and an O content≧10 at % accounts for 10-70% of the overall thickness of the chromium-containing film.
US09864260B2	Image display apparatus and image display unit An image display apparatus and an image display unit. The image display apparatus and the image display unit includes a light source configured to emit light, an illumination optical system including a luminous body forming device configured to form a secondary luminous body, the illumination optical system guiding the light emitted from the light source, an optical modulation element including a plurality of reflection planes to modulate the light guided by the illumination optical system, and a projection optical system including a projection lens system and a barrel storing the projection lens system, the projection optical system projecting the light modulated by the optical modulation element onto a projection plane. The barrel satisfies an equation φ<0.71H+8.5, where φ denotes an outside diameter of a front end of the barrel on a light entering side and H denotes distance between the reflection planes and the front end of the barrel.
US09864253B2	Electrophoretic fluid The present invention is directed to a display fluid comprising charged composite pigment particles dispersed in a solvent. The composite pigment particles have a density which matches to the density of the solvent in which they are dispersed. A display fluid comprising the composite pigment particles provides improved display performance.
US09864252B2	Variable transmittance optical filter and uses thereof Variable transmittance optical filters capable of transitioning from a light state to a dark state on exposure to UV radiation and from a dark state to a light state with application of an electric voltage are provided. The optical filters comprise a switching material that comprises one or more chromophores that have electrochromic and photochromic properties.
US09864251B2	Color changeable device Provided is a color changeable device which includes a first substrate and a second substrate that are spaced apart from each other, a first transparent electrode disposed on the first substrate, a second transparent electrode disposed on the second substrate, an electrochromic layer disposed between the first transparent electrode and the second transparent electrode, an organic layer disposed between the first transparent electrode and the electrochromic layer. The organic layer may include a hole injection layer or an electron injection layer. The organic layer may further include a hole transport layer or an electron transport layer.
US09864249B2	Electrochromism display device and method for fabricating the same The invention disclose an electrochomism display device and a method of fabricating the same, relates to the field of display technology, and the electrochomism display device may effectively suppress the light-leakage phenomenon in the opening region between adjacent electrochomism pixels, thus the display effect of the electrochomism display device is improved. The electrochomism display device comprises a plurality of eletrochromism pixels, each of the eletrochromism pixels comprises a first conductive layer, an eletrochromism layer, and a second conductive layer sequentially formed on a transparent substrate, an opening region is provided between every two adjacent eletrochromism pixels, wherein a thin film transistor is provided in the opening region, and a gate, a source and a drain of the thin film transistor are made of opaque material.
US09864245B2	Pixel structure A pixel structure including a plurality of sub-pixels arranged in array is provided. Each of the sub-pixels includes an active device and a pixel electrode electrically connected to the active device respectively. Each of the pixel electrodes includes a plurality of stripe patterns respectively, and spacings of at least one portion of the stripe patterns of at least one of the sub-pixels are larger than spacings of the stripe patterns of the other sub-pixels.
US09864239B2	Liquid crystal display device A liquid crystal display (“LCD”) device capable of easily setting up an accurate resistance ratio between thin film transistors, the LCD device includes a first substrate including a gate line and a data line, a second substrate opposing the first substrate, a liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first sub-pixel electrode in a first sub-pixel region of the first substrate, a second sub-pixel electrode in a second sub-pixel region of the first substrate, a first transistor connected to the gate line, the data line, and the first sub-pixel electrode, a second transistor connected to the gate line, the first transistor, and the second sub-pixel electrode, and a third transistor connected to the gate line, the second sub-pixel electrode, and a storage line, wherein one of the first, second, and third transistors includes a plurality of divided channel regions.
US09864237B2	Display device A display device includes a seat holding the spacer. The seat is formed in a superposition region where at least the gate line, the semiconductor layer, the data line, and the organic insulator are superposed on one another in a laminated direction, the superposition region being a region facing the spacer. A whole outer periphery of the seat and the superposition region are superposed on each other in the laminated direction.
US09864232B2	Light directed modulation displays A light source includes a light reflector and multi-pixel light modulators. The light reflector is surrounded with reflective surfaces. Light can be injected into the light reflector and diffused throughout the light reflector. The multi-pixel light modulators have individual transmittance states based on image data to modulate light that illuminates multi-pixel portions of a light receiving surface.
US09864230B2	Backlight unit and display apparatus having the same A display apparatus includes a display panel that includes a plurality of pixels which displays an image in a front direction, and a backlight unit which provides a light to the display panel and includes a first light source part which is disposed at a rear surface of the display panel, includes a first support substrate and a first light source mounted on the first support substrate and emits a first color light, and a second light source part which is disposed at the rear surface of the display panel, includes a second support substrate partially overlapped with the first support substrate and a second light source mounted on the second support substrate, and emits a second color light having a wavelength band different from that of the first color light, where an opening is defined through the second support substrate and corresponds to the first light source.
US09864224B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display includes: a first substrate; a plurality of pixels disposed on the first substrate; a dummy pixel disposed on the first substrate and disposed at an outer side of the plurality of pixels; a pixel pattern disposed on the first substrate and disposed at an outer side of the dummy pixel; a first light blocking member disposed on the dummy pixel and the pixel pattern; a second light blocking member adjacent to the first light blocking member and having a part disposed on the pixel pattern at a predetermined first thickness; a second substrate facing the first substrate; a common electrode disposed on the second substrate and configured to be applied with a common voltage; and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.
US09864219B2	Device for detecting liquid crystal module and method for detecting quantity of liquid crystal The present disclosure relates to a device for detecting a liquid crystal module and a method for detecting the quantity of liquid crystal. The method includes a cover for fixedly accommodating the liquid crystal module. An accommodation space for accommodating collision units is formed between the liquid crystal module and the cover, the collision units being connected to the top wall of the cover through elastic members. The collision units are spaced from the liquid crystal module in a certain distance in a static status, and collide with a panel of the liquid crystal module through vibration of the cover in the vertical direction during detection. The device for detecting a liquid crystal module improves the detection efficiency.
US09864217B2	Apparatus for manipulating color changing materials in articles of wear Apparatuses for manipulating a color displayed by an article of wear comprising iron oxide colloidal nanocrystals arranged within chains are described. The apparatus includes (a) a magnetic field source, wherein a strength of a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field source is tunable to control the color displayed by the article of wear, and (b) an energy source, wherein energy generated by the energy source is applied to at least some of the chains of nanocrystals to soften materials within the article of wear immediately surrounding the chains of nanocrystals to which the energy is applied.
US09864214B2	Loupe attachment apparatus and system According to an exemplary embodiment, a loupe attachment for glasses may be provided. The loupe attachment may include a loupe and a number of optical devices such as mirrors or prisms. The loupe and the optical devices may be connected to eyeglasses and be positioned as desired. The loupe and the optical device may be connected to the glasses on number of locations and the relative position of the loupe and optical devices in the trajectory of light may be modified. According to a second exemplary embodiment, loupes may be rigidly connected to eyeglasses and a number of optical elements may be rigidly or rotatably connected to the front end of the loupe so as to reflect the field of view situated at an angle from the loupe viewing direction.
US09864211B2	Systems and methods for removably coupling an electronic device to eyewear This disclosure provides systems and methods for removably coupling an electronic device to eyewear. In one aspect, an eyeglass is provided. The eyeglass includes an eyeglass frame adapted to be carried by a head of a wearer, at least a first lens, and at least a first lens support portion of the eyeglass frame configured to position the at least first lens in a path of a field of view of a wearer. The eyeglass further includes an attachment device that comprises a first connector and a second connector, where the first connector removably couples the attachment device to the eyeglass frame, and an electronic device, where the second connector removably couples the electronic device to the attachment device.
US09864209B2	Self-moire target design principles for measuring unresolved device-like pitches Metrology targets and methods are provided, which provide self-Moiré measurements of unresolved target features, i.e., interaction of electromagnetic fields re-scattered off elements within a single target layer provides signals with Moiré pitches that are measurable, although the actual target pitches are unresolved and possibly device-like. Targets comprise cell(s) with interlaced lines of elements having different device-like pitches which are selected to yield resolved Moiré pitch(es). Different target designs are presented for scatterometry and imaging metrology measurements, as well as for critical dimension, dose and focus, and pitch walk measurements—of device-like targets.
US09864205B2	Multifocal display A multifocal display for rendering a 3D scene as a series of 2D images. In one aspect, the multifocal display includes a display, an optical imaging system, a refractive focus actuator and a controller. The display renders the 2D images. The optical imaging system is image-side telecentric and creates an image of the display. The refractive focus actuator is positioned at the pupil of the optical imaging system. Thus, adjusting the refractive focus actuator alters a location of the image of the display but does not significantly alter a size of the image. The controller coordinates adjustment of the refractive focus actuator with rendering of the 2D images on the display. The waveform driving the focus actuator is preferably designed to reduce ringing and jitter effects.
US09864199B2	Monocular projection-type display According to one embodiment, a display includes a projector, a first optical unit, and a second optical unit. The projector emits a first light including image information. The first optical unit transmits at least a portion of a second light. The second optical unit reflects at least a portion of the first light and transmits at least a portion of the second light. A light reflectance of the first optical unit is lower than a light reflectance of the second optical unit, and a light absorptance of the first optical unit is higher than a light absorptance of the second optical unit.
US09864195B2	Image display apparatus An image display apparatus includes a light source device including a light source unit; a scanning optical system including an image forming unit on which an intermediate image is formed by light from the light source unit; and a virtual image optical system configured to guide light of the intermediate image by using a reflecting mirror and a curved transmissive reflection member. The scanning optical system includes an optical scanning unit configured to scan the light from the light source unit in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction of the image forming unit. The image forming unit is a transmissive member curved with a convex surface toward the reflecting mirror.
US09864193B2	Compact head-up display having a large exit pupil The invention relates to a head-up display including an element (10) suitable for overlaying a first image of a scene (14) on a second image from a projection system, the projection system including a screen (24) and an optical system (26), the screen (24) being divided into sub-screens (24A, 24B, 24C), each of which display the second image, the optical system (26) including a set of optical subsystems (26A, 26B, 26C) positioned opposite each sub-screen (24A, 24B, 24C), the screen being positioned within the object focal plane of each optical sub-system (26A, 26B, 26C).
US09864186B2	Low optical power hysteresis liquid lenses An electrowetting optical device including a conductive liquid and a non-conductive liquid, the liquids being non miscible, and a dielectric enclosure on which both fluids are in contact and form a triple interface. The non-conductive liquid includes from 0.0001 weight percent to 1 about weight percent of a surface adsorbing agent. The surface adsorbing agent is an amphiphilic molecule having a solubility in water lower than 0.1 about weight percent at 25° C.
US09864183B2	Systems and methods for structured illumination super-resolution phase microscopy Systems and methods for structured illumination super-resolution phase microscopy are disclosed. According to an aspect, an imaging system includes a light source configured to generate light. The system also includes a diffraction grating positioned to receive and diffract the output light. The system also includes a sample holder positioned to receive the diffracted light for transmission through a sample. Further, the system includes an image detector positioned to receive the light transmitted through the sample and configured to generate image data based on the received light. The system also includes a computing device configured to apply subdiffraction resolution reconstruction to the image data for generating an image of the sample.
US09864182B2	High-resolution scanning microscopy A microscope and method for high resolution scanning microscopy of a sample, having: an illumination device for the purpose of illuminating the sample, an imaging device for the purpose of scanning at least one point or linear spot across the sample and of imaging the point or linear spot into a diffraction-limited, static single image below a reproduction scale in a detection plane. A detector device for detecting the single image in the detection plane for various scan positions is also provided. An evaluation device for the purpose of evaluating a diffraction structure of the single image for the scan positions is provided. The detector device has a detector array which has pixels and which is larger than the single image. At least one phase mask with a variable lateral profile of the phase influence is included in or near to the objective pupil, or in a plane which is conjugated to the objective pupil, for generating a spatial distribution of the illumination light and/or the detection light perpendicular to the optical axis, and/or in the direction of the optical axis.
US09864180B2	Asymmetric curved-surface prismatic image display optical system An asymmetric curved-surface prismatic image display optical system includes a first prism and second and third prisms respectively arranged in front of and behind the first prism. The first prism includes a light-exiting planar surface that is at an eye-adjacent side and is opposite to a light-entering planar surface of the second prism with an air gap therebetween and may serve as a reference for inspection of a free-form curved surface. The second prism has a light-exiting planar surface at the eye-adjacent side and parallel to a side planar surface of the third prism to allow an external-world image to be seen more clearly. Light from an image displaying panel first enters the first prism and is subjected to total internal reflection by the light-exiting planar surface toward the reflective curved surface to be reflected and re-directed to transmit through the second prism for image formation on a retina.
US09864178B2	Reflection imaging device and method of producing reflection imaging device A reflection imaging device includes a first component board, a second component board, and flat plates. The first component board includes first planar reflectors perpendicular to a plate surface and first light transmissive bases extending parallel to the first planar reflectors. The first planar reflectors and the first light transmissive bases are alternately arranged. The second component board includes an inner plate surface bonded to an inner plate surface of the first component board opposed thereto. The second component board includes second planar reflectors perpendicular to the plate surface and the first planar reflectors and second light transmissive bases extending parallel to the second planar reflectors. The second planar reflectors and the second light transmissive bases are alternately arranged. The flat plates are bonded to the outer plate surfaces of at least one of the first component board and the second component board opposed thereto.
US09864177B2	Projection optical system, projection apparatus, and projection system An optical system includes a reflective optical system on a magnification side along an optical path of the projection optical system and a refractive optical system on a reduction side along the optical path. The reflective optical system includes one reflective optical element having a power. The refractive optical system includes a front group on the magnification side and a rear group on the reduction side. The front group having, in order from the magnification side toward the reduction side, a first lens group with a positive or negative refractive power, a second lens group, and a third lens group with a positive refractive power. The rear group has a positive refractive power. The first lens group moves to the magnification side, and the second lens group and the third lens group move to the reduction side in a change in focus from a long distance to a short distance.
US09864169B2	Optical image capturing system An optical image capturing system, sequentially including a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element and a fourth lens element from an object side to an image side, is disclosed. The first lens element has negative refractive power. The second through third lens elements have refractive power. The fourth lens element has positive refractive power. At least one of the image side surface and the object side surface of each of the four lens elements are aspheric. The optical lens elements can increase aperture value and improve the imagining quality for use in compact cameras.
US09864166B2	Imaging lens and imaging apparatus An imaging lens is constituted by, in order from the object side to the image side: a first lens having a negative refractive power and a concave surface toward the image side; a second lens having a negative refractive power; a third lens having a positive refractive power and a convex surface toward the image side; a fourth lens having a negative refractive power and a concave surface toward the image side; a biconvex fifth lens which is cemented to the fourth lens; and a sixth lens having a negative refractive power and a concave surface toward the object side. Conditional Formula (1) below is satisfied: −2.1
US09864153B2	Semiconductor chip package having optical interface A semiconductor package includes a chip having a first surface and a second surface; a mold configured to encapsulate the chip; a vertical conductive channel electrically connected to a pad formed on the second surface of the chip while passing through the mold; a wiring pattern electrically connected to a pad formed on the first surface of the chip and configured to perform electrical connection in the package; an optical device arranged on a surface of the semiconductor package to be electrically connected to the vertical conductive channel; and an external connection terminal configured to electrically connect the semiconductor package to the outside.
US09864151B2	Multi-fiber fiber optic connector A fiber optic cable assembly includes a fiber optic cable and a fiber optic connector. The cable includes a jacket having an elongated transverse cross-sectional profile that defines a major axis and a minor axis. Strength components of the cable are anchored to the connector. The fiber optic connector includes a multi-fiber ferrule defining a major axis that is generally perpendicular to the major axis of the jacket and a minor axis that is generally perpendicular to the minor axis of the jacket. Certain types of connectors include a connector body defining a side opening that extends along a length of the connector body; a multi-fiber ferrule configured for lateral insertion into the connector body through the side opening; and a cover that mounts over the side opening after the multi-fiber ferrule has been inserted into the connector body through the side opening.
US09864141B1	Silicon-waveguide-based broadband polarization beam rotator A compact polarization beam rotator includes a converter waveguide comprising a first segment and a second segment both in corresponding taper rib shapes sharing a first middle plane and configured to receive an input optical signal with TM polarization mode from an input plane and convert the TM polarization mode to TE1 polarization mode comprising a first arm mode and a second arm mode at a second middle plane. The polarization beam rotator additionally includes a splitter waveguide coupled to the second middle plane for separating the first arm mode and the second arm mode at a third plane respectively coupled to a first branch waveguide to deliver the first arm mode in phase and a second branch waveguide to reverse the second arm mode phase by 180°, and a 2×1 MMI coupler waveguide to combine both arm modes in phase to an output optical signal with TE polarization mode.
US09864138B2	Integrated photonics including germanium A photonic structure can include in one aspect one or more waveguides formed by patterning of waveguiding material adapted to propagate light energy. Such waveguiding material may include one or more of silicon (single-, poly-, or non-crystalline) and silicon nitride.
US09864136B1	Non-planar monolithic hybrid optoelectronic structures and methods Disclosed are non-planar monolithic hybrid optoelectronic structures. These structures are referred to as non-planar because they contain one or more semiconductor fins. These structures are referred to as monolithic because they contain, within each semiconductor fin, an optical waveguide core positioned laterally between a light sensor and a photodetector. Specifically, each semiconductor fin has end portions and a center portion positioned laterally between the end portions. The center portion is an optical waveguide core and the end portions have trenches that contain the light source and photodetector, respectively. These structures are referred to as hybrid because the optical waveguide core is made of one semiconductor material and the light sensor and photodetector are each made of at least one additional semiconductor material that is different from the semiconductor material of the center portion. Also disclosed herein are methods of forming monolithic non-planar hybrid optoelectronic structures.
US09864135B2	Complementary metal oxide semiconductor device with III-V optical interconnect having III-V epitaxially formed material An electrical device that in one embodiment includes a first semiconductor device positioned on a first portion of a type IV semiconductor substrate, and an optoelectronic light emission device of type III-V semiconductor materials that is in electrical communication with the first semiconductor device. The optoelectronic light emission device is positioned adjacent to the first semiconductor device on the first portion of the type IV semiconductor substrate. A dielectric waveguide is present on a second portion of the type IV semiconductor substrate. An optoelectronic light detection device of type III-V semiconductor material is present on a third portion of the type IV semiconductor device. The dielectric waveguide is positioned between and aligned with the optoelectronic light detection device and optoelectronic light emission device to transmit a light signal from the optoelectronic light emission device to the optoelectronic light detection device.
US09864132B1	Silicon waveguide devices in integrated photonics The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to silicon waveguide devices in integrated photonics and methods of manufacture. The integrated photonics structure includes: a localized region of negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient material formed within a trench; at least one photonics or CMOS component contacting with the negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient material; and cladding material formed above the at least one photonics or CMOS component.
US09864131B2	Tunable superstructure fiber grating device Application of non-uniform strain to discrete segments of a fiber grating mechanically changes the structure type of the associated device, e.g., the refractive index perturbation profile of the fiber grating is changed from uniform to phase shifted superstructured, or from chirped to superstructured. The strain may be applied with one or more deformable corrugated slides which are bonded to the fiber grating between the discrete segments. The applied strain changes the local period of fiber grating. Complex changes may be achieved via variations of corrugated slide dimensions. An LPFG may be provided with bare fiber by applying periodically longitudinal axial strain to fiber at multiple discrete segments on the fiber.
US09864127B2	Arrangement for a touchscreen and related method of manufacture Arrangement for use with a touchscreen, includes a substrate, such as an optically substantially transparent film or a film defining a through hole, the substrate including support electronics, such as printed electronics including a number of printed conductors, for providing power, control and/or communications connection to further electronic components, a number of emitters and detectors arranged on the substrate into contact with the support electronics, for emitting and detecting light, respectively, and a lightguide arranged onto the substrate such that the emitters and detectors, and optionally at least part of the support electronics, are substantially immersed in the lightguide material, the properties of the lightguide including the refractive index of the lightguide material being selected and the emitters and detectors being configured so as to enable, when in use, total internal reflection (TIR)-type propagation of light within the lightguide between the emitters and detectors and recognition of a touch on the basis of a drop in the TIR performance as determined from the detected light. A related method of manufacture is presented.
US09864124B2	Light generation member including light diffusion member and display apparatus having the same A light generation member includes a light source which includes light source units which generate a first light, a light conversion member which converts the first light to a second light, and a light diffusion member which is elongated in a first direction, in which is defined first grooves respectively corresponding to the light source units, the light diffusion member diffusing the first light generated by the light source unites and providing the diffused first light to the light conversion member. The light diffusion member is between the light conversion member and the light source in a second direction crossing the first direction, and the first grooves defined in the light diffusion member are each elongated in a third direction substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions.
US09864119B2	Infrared filter with screened ink and an optically clear medium An infrared filter includes a substrate having a front and surface. The infrared filter includes screened ink and an optically clear medium, or dye impregnated medium. The screened ink has a front surface nearest the substrate and a back surface. The screened ink has a first index of refraction. The optically clear medium abuts at least a portion of the back surface of the screened ink. The optically clear medium has a second index of refraction that differs from the first index of refraction of the screened ink by less than a predetermined amount. The dye impregnated medium has a spectral transmission over an infrared wavelength of greater than 70% and a spectral transmission over a visible light wavelength of less than 5%, while at same time maintaining MTF performance of a vision system imaging through the filter. Methods of manufacture are also described.
US09864115B2	Polarizing plate and method for manufacturing polarizing plate It is an object of the present invention to provide a polarizing plate which can suppress display unevenness even when being incorporated into a liquid crystal display device, has neutral hue, and can maintain cross property even when a low water-vapor permeable protective film is used. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing the same. The polarizing plate includes: a polarizing film; an adhesive layer; and a protective film provided on at least one surface of the polarizing film with the adhesive layer interposed therebetween. A ratio (I285/I480) of absorbance I285 of the polarizing film at 285 nm to absorbance I480 thereof at 480 nm is 1.2 or less. The polarizing plate has a hue b value of 4 or less. The protective film has a water-vapor permeability of 100 g/m2·day or less.
US09864112B1	Conformable retroreflective graphic film The present disclosure provides a retroreflective film for removable application to a three-dimensional object. The film comprises a transparent film layer; a first transparent adhesive layer; a retroreflective layer comprising glass microspheres and a binder; a metalized coating layer comprising aluminum applied on the retroreflective layer; a removable adhesive layer having a peel force of 2 lbs/inch or less. When the film is elongated by 50% it retains at least 50% of its unstretched coefficient of retroreflection as measured at the 0.2 degree observation angle and −4 degree entrance angle. When the film is elongated by 50% it retains at least 50% of its unstretched gloss when measured at a 20 degree angle.
US09864101B2	Polarizing film obtained by acetoacetyl-modified PVA-based resin having specified modification rate Provided a polarizing film which comprising a substrate and a PVA-based resin, wherein it has good adhesion between the substrate and the PVA-based resin to allow the PVA-based resin to become less likely to be peeled off from the substrate during stretching and/or conveyance, and exhibits excellent appearance, wherein the polarizing film is obtained by providing a layer of a PVA-based resin on a substrate and stretching the substrate and the PVA-based resin layer together. The PVA-based resin contains a modified PVA, wherein the modified PVA exists in an amount allowing a modification rate with respect to the entire PVA-based resin to be in a range of 0.04 mol % to 1.4 mol %.
US09864094B2	System for soil moisture monitoring Systems, methods and apparatus are provided for moisture measurement. In some embodiments, a reflectance measurement is corrected based on a soil characteristic map. In other embodiments, a first reflectance measurement at a first depth is corrected based on a second reflectance measurement at a second depth.
US09864092B2	Tracers for formation analysis Disclosed herein methods for determining a property of a formation, for example, when well logging, by feeding a gadolinium tracer fluid into the formation, applying an emitted radiation to the formation to thereby produce a signal, such as a neutron signal, and capturing the signal from the formation.
US09864085B2	Compact broadband source and method Method and marine acoustic source array for generating an acoustic wave in a body of water. The marine acoustic source array includes a first depth sub-array set of first acoustic source points configured to be provided at a first depth (z1), the first acoustic source points having different inline first locations along a longitudinal axis (X); and a second depth sub-array set of second acoustic source points configured to be provided at a second depth (z2), the second acoustic source points having different inline second locations along the longitudinal axis (X). The first locations do not coincide along the longitudinal axis (X) with any of the second locations.
US09864083B2	Beat tone full waveform inversion A full wave inversion (FWI) may utilize an Amplitude-Frequency-Differentiation (AFD) or a Phase-Frequency-Differentiation (PFD) operation to form a velocity model of a subterranean formation utilizing recovered low wavenumber data. Received seismic data is processes to isolate two data signals at different frequencies. In an AFD operation, the two data signals are summed and the data of the envelope of the summed function is used for the FWI. In a PFD operation, the phase data of the quotient of the two data signals is used for the FWI. The FWI proceeds iteratively utilizing either the AFD or PFD data or with single frequency data until the cost function of the AFD or PFD is satisfied.
US09864078B2	Portable type radiation image capturing apparatus A portable type radiation image capturing apparatus may include a sensor panel which converts irradiated radiation to an electric signal and which obtains image data; and a case which stores the sensor panel and which is formed from material including carbon fiber. A foam body layer may be embedded in the case. The case may be formed so that a thickness of a layer on an outer side than the foam body layer is thicker than a thickness of a layer on an inner side than the foam body layer.
US09864073B1	Systems and methods for controlling optical coupling between scintillator crystals A scintillator crystal array includes crystals and a clear film adhesive (CFA) layer. The crystals are configured to receive rays emitted by an object to be imaged and to emit light photons responsive to the rays. The crystals include a first crystal and a second crystal that are spaced apart from one another by a gap. The CFA layer is disposed in the gap between the first and second crystals. The CFA layer is configured to at least partially optically couple the first and second crystals.
US09864071B2	Bonding method with peripheral trench A device has planar components forming part of a stack on a support frame, such as a substrate and upper layer, for example a fiber optic scintillator/fiber optic plate, bonded together by an adhesive layer of well-defined thickness. The device is made by providing a trench in a peripheral recess extending in a marginal portion of the support frame. Excess adhesive is applied to one of the planar components, which are then brought together such that the adhesive layer of well-defined thickness is formed between the two components and surplus adhesive is collected in the trench.
US09864070B2	Scintillation detector The invention relates to X-ray imaging devices, particularly to devices for X-ray mammography and tomosynthesis. The scintillation detector comprises at least one photosensor with an array of cells each of thereof has a photosensitive area, and a scintillator arranged in the form of a structured aggregate made of elements isolated from each other and placed on the surface of the photosensor. The new construction of the proposed scintillation detector is the completely eliminated need for precise alignment of the structured scintillator based on the elements with a matrix of cells of a photosensor. Precise arrangement of the scintillation elements and the matrix of cells of a photosensor is performed directly during the formation of the scintillation elements. The technical result achieved by using the invention is the increase of image contrast.
US09864062B2	Laser tracker with hybrid imaging method for extending the measuring range The invention relates to a laser tracker for determining a position and/or orientation of an auxiliary measurement object, comprising a base which defines a vertical axis, a pivotal support, and a rotatable pivoting unit with at least two optical assemblies and an image detecting unit. The optical assemblies can be moved along an optical axis of the pivoting unit, and a magnification factor is defined by a positioning of the optical assembly. The tracker further has a radiation source for emitting a laser beam, a distance measuring unit, an angle measuring functionality, and a control and processing unit with an object imaging functionality, wherein the optical assemblies are positioned relative to the auxiliary measurement object dependent on a triggered measurement such that an image is provided for the auxiliary measurement object on the image detecting unit with a particular image scale.
US09864059B2	Ultrasound apparatus and ultrasound method for beamforming with a plane wave transmission According to an exemplary embodiment, an ultrasound apparatus for beamforming with a plane wave transmission may comprise a transceiver connected to a transducer array having at least one transducer element, and at least one processor. The transceiver transmits at least one substantially planar ultrasonic wave into a target region at one or more angles relative to the transducer array, and receives one or more signals responsive from the transducer array. The at least one processor applies a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to the one or more signals from each of the at least one transducer element and calculates at least one frequency within a frequency region, and applies an inverse FFT to at least one produced frequency data.
US09864058B2	Systems and associated methods for producing a 3D sonar image Provided are a sonar system and transducer assembly for producing a 3D image of an underwater environment. The sonar system may include a housing mountable to a watercraft having at least one transducer array. The transducer array may include a transmit/receive element configured to transmit sonar pulses and a second transducer element. The transmit/receive element and the second transducer element may receive first and second sonar returns convert the first and second returns into first and second sonar return data. A sonar signal processor may then generate a 3D mesh data using the first and second sonar return data and at least a predetermined distance between the transducer elements. An associated method of using the sonar system is also provided.
US09864056B2	Matching system between convective cell in weather radar image and lightning and control method thereof The present invention discloses a matching system between a convective cell in a weather radar image and lightning, and a control method thereof. In other words, according to the invention, convective cells are detected in a weather radar image, lightning is detected through a total lightning detection system, and the detected lightning is matched with the detected convective cells in the weather radar image. Therefore, it is possible to rapidly and accurately match and confirm a lightning-generated convective cell of a plurality of convective cells.
US09864054B2	System and method for 3D SAR imaging using compressive sensing with multi-platform, multi-baseline and multi-PRF data A method generates a 3D synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of an area by first acquiring multiple data sets from the area using one or more SAR systems, wherein each SAR system has one or more parallel baselines and multiple pulse repetition frequency (PRF), wherein the PRF for each baseline is different. The data sets are registered and aligned to produce aligned data sets. Then, a 3D compressive sensing reconstruction procedure is applied to the aligned data sets to generate the 3D image corresponding to the area.
US09864053B2	Systems and methods for using velocity measurements to adjust doppler filter bandwidth Systems and methods for using velocity measurements to adjust Doppler filter bandwidth are provided herein. In certain embodiments, a method for adjusting bandwidth for at least one Doppler filter in a Doppler beam sharpened radar altimeter comprises receiving a velocity measurement; adjusting the bandwidth of the at least one Doppler filter based on the velocity measurement; and transmitting a radar beam, wherein the radar beam is aimed toward a surface. The method further comprises receiving at least one reflected signal, wherein the at least one reflected signal is a reflection of the radar beam being reflected off of at least one portion of the surface; and filtering the at least one reflected signal with the at least one Doppler filter to form at least one Doppler beam.
US09864045B2	Radar receivers A radar receiver includes an analogue receiver for receiving a radar echo signal and a digital receiver. The digital receiver includes an analogue-to-digital converter arranged to receive and sample an IF analogue signal from the analogue receiver. The sampling is undersampling according to the Nyquist criterion, so that a plurality of IF digital signals are produced, in different Nyquist zones, including one or more aliased IF digital signals. The digital receiver is arranged to select an IF digital signal from the one or more aliased digital signals.
US09864043B2	FMCW radar with phase encoded data channel Methods and devices are disclosed of using a Frequency-Modulated-Continuous-Wave (FMCW) radar unit for data communication by receiving a signal with a phase encoded data channel, and processing the signal with the phase encoded data channel to simultaneously determine data and timing information.
US09864041B1	Systems and methods for beacon device fleet management Systems and methods for beacon device fleet management are provided. One example system includes a plurality of beacon devices, a plurality of mobile computing devices, a fleet management system, and a fleet owner computing devices. One example method includes receiving, by the fleet management system, a device status request from the fleet owner computing device. The fleet management system determines one or more operational statuses of beacon devices owned by the fleet owner and transmits data indicative of the one or more operational statuses to the fleet owner computing device. The operational statuses can include a current detection status (e.g., online or offline), a location status, a power source status, and/or other operational parameters.
US09864040B2	Position correction apparatus, position correction method, program, position correction system Systems and methods for correcting a location of a terminal are provided. In various aspects, a processor in a position correction apparatus may associate a reference position with the terminal, and determine a range for the terminal based on the reference position. The processor may also associate a second position with the terminal, and determine if the second position associated with the terminal is outside the determined range for the terminal based on the reference position. Upon a determination that indicates that the second position is outside the determined range, the processor may correct the second position to a corrected position associated with the terminal.
US09864039B2	Portable electronic device proximity sensors with multi-directional functionality An electronic device includes a housing, one or more processors, and one or more proximity sensor components, each having an infrared signal receiver to receive an infrared emission from an object external to the housing. The proximity sensor component is disposed by a first aperture and a second aperture, the first aperture having a first axis oriented in a first direction and the second aperture having a second axis oriented in a second direction. Attenuation of infrared emissions can occur through one of the first aperture or the second aperture. The one or more processors can determine whether a received infrared emission is attenuated to detect whether the received infrared emission was received from the first direction or the second direction.
US09864031B2	Measurement of NMR characteristics of an object containing fast transversal relaxation components Nuclear magnetic resonance properties of a sample containing fast relaxation components are determined using direct detection of the longitudinal component of the nuclear magnetization. Excitation and detection can be performed in different frequency ranges, which enables short dead time of measurements. In some implementations a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus can be configured for use in oil well logging.
US09864029B2	Means for operating an MRI device within a RF-magnetic environment An MRI device that reduces radio-frequency (RF) interference and the effect of the MRI's magnet, within an active RF-magnetic environment. The device relies on a shield. The device includes a uniform non-fringing magnetic field resonance device (UNF-MRD), an RF shielding means either embedded within or in connection with the UNF-MRD for providing the UNF-MRD a radio interference immunity (RII) from RF-electromagnetic environment surrounding the same.
US09864027B1	Magnetic resonance imaging system A magnetic resonance imaging configuration and methodology to straighten and otherwise homogenize the field lines in the imaging portion, creating improved image quality. Through use of calibrated corrective coils, magnetic field lines can be manipulated to improve uniformity and image quality. Additionally, when the apparatus is composed of non-ferromagnetic materials, field strengths can be increased to overcome limitations of Iron-based systems such as by use of superconductivity. A patient positioning apparatus and methodology allows multi-positioning of a patient within the calibrated and more uniform magnetic field lines.
US09864025B2	Magnetic resonance imaging systems for parallel transmit, receive and shim and methods of use thereof MRI systems with a new concept and hardware modality configured for parallel transmit, receive, and shim to address B0 and B1 inhomogeneity, both of which increase with field strength. This invention benefits from a number of advantages over existing technologies: it can save valuable space within the MRI magnet bore, largely reduce the manufacturing cost of MRI scanners, and avoid the electromagnetic interference issue associated with existing technologies.
US09864023B2	Combined shim and RF coil arrangement A coil arrangement for a magnetic resonance tomography device includes at least two antennas connected in parallel to one another for RF signals and connected in series with one another for direct current signals.
US09864021B1	Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and operating method thereof A radiofrequency antenna has a plurality of channels. A Q-value calculating unit computes reflected signals of the plurality of channels of the radiofrequency antenna, respectively, in a case where transmission signals as electrical signals are simultaneously supplied to the plurality of channels of the radiofrequency antenna, also including a signal obtained when the transmission signal supplied to one channel of the plurality of channels is reflected from another channel, and computes a Q value of the radiofrequency antenna using the reflected signal. An SAR calculating unit calculates a specific absorption rate (SAR) using the Q value.
US09864018B2	Method of diagnosing fault by using impedance of output terminal of power supply device for environmentally-friendly vehicle A method of diagnosing a fault by using impedance of an output terminal of a power supply device for an environmentally-friendly vehicle is provided. The method estimates impedance of the output terminal of the power supply device and diagnoses a fault by using the estimated impedance, thereby preventing an auxiliary battery from being discharged. Whether or not the fault is generated according to the impedance when the estimated impedance exceeds a reference value is determined.
US09864016B2	Battery system pack life estimation systems and methods System and methods for estimating a life of a battery pack are presented. In certain embodiments, a method for estimating a life of a battery pack may include generating cell-level test data that includes measured parameters a of battery cell included in the battery pack in response to a plurality of test conditions. One or more first thermal response parameters associated with the battery cells of the battery pack may be determined. A battery cell aging model may be generated based, at least in part, on the cell-level test data and the one or more first thermal response parameters. Second thermal response parameters associated with the battery pack may be determined, and an estimated life of the battery pack may be determined based, at least in part, on the battery cell aging model and the second thermal response parameters.
US09864013B2	Deterioration detecting apparatus and deterioration detecting method A deterioration detecting apparatus includes: a capacitor that is connected to an insulated electric power source, and is charged and discharged; a voltage detecting unit that detects a voltage of the capacitor; and a deterioration detecting unit that detects a deterioration in an insulating resistor of the electric power source on the basis of the voltage of the capacitor charged through a charging path for detecting a deterioration in the insulating resistor of the electric power source, and the voltage of the capacitor during discharging.
US09864011B2	Method for performing a diagnostic test of an alternator in a vehicle, test arrangement and vehicle A method for performing a diagnostic test of an alternator, a test arrangement and a vehicle are provided. The method may include running an engine, providing a signal representative of a pre-determined environmental condition to the alternator, providing an output voltage and output current to a battery based on the pre-determined environmental condition, and determining a battery voltage. The method may also include comparing the determined battery voltage with a pre-defined reference-voltage representative of the pre-determined environmental condition and outputting an approved test result if the difference between the determined battery voltage and the pre-defined reference voltage falls within a predetermined range.
US09864008B2	Electric power system circuit breaker trip diagnostic Disclosed herein are various systems and methods for monitoring the health of a circuit breaker. In various embodiments, a system may receive a voltage measurement across a trip coil assembly associated with a circuit breaker. The system may further receive a current measurement through the trip coil assembly. A plurality of transition points may be identified based on at least one of the voltage measurement and the current measurement, the plurality of transition points corresponding to at least one of a mechanical characteristic and an electrical characteristic of the circuit breaker during a trip event. A predictive analysis may be performed based at least in part on the plurality of transition points. An indication of the predictive health may be displayed.
US09864006B1	Generating a unique die identifier for an electronic chip Generating a unique die identifier for an electronic chip including placing the electronic chip in an identifier generation state, wherein the electronic chip comprises a set of test circuits, wherein each of the set of test circuits is attached to a corresponding component on the electronic chip; obtaining an ordered list of race pairs of the set of test circuits; for each race pair in the ordered list of race pairs of the set of test circuits: selecting the race pair of test circuits; executing a race between the selected race pair; and adding an element to the unique die identifier based on an outcome of the executed race; and returning the electronic chip to an operational state.
US09864003B1	Automated waveform analysis using a parallel automated development system A mixed signal testing system capable of testing differently configured units under test (UUT) includes a controller, a test station and an interface system that support multiple UUTs. The test station includes independent sets of channels configured to send signals to and receive signals from each UUT being tested and signal processing subsystems that direct stimulus signals to a respective set of channels and receive signals in response thereto. The signal processing subsystems enable simultaneous and independent directing of stimulus signals through the sets of channels to each UUT and reception of signals from each UUT in response to the stimulus signals. Received signals responsive to stimulus signals provided to a fully functional UUT (with and without induced faults) are used to assess presence or absence of faults in the UUT being tested which may be determined to include one or more faults or be fault-free, i.e., fully functional.
US09864001B2	Electronic device and testing system An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a printed circuit board (PCB), an antenna structure, a radio frequency signal transceiving circuit and a testing structure. The antenna structure is disposed on the PCB. The radio frequency signal transceiving circuit is disposed on the PCB, and is connected to the antenna structure through a conductive line. The testing structure includes a testing point and a grounding structure. The testing point is disposed on the conductive line, and the grounding structure is disposed on the PCB.
US09864000B2	Mismatch detection using replica circuit An apparatus for detecting difference in operating characteristics of a main circuit by using a replica circuit is presented. In one exemplary case, a sensed difference in operating characteristics of the two circuits is used to drive a tuning control loop to minimize the sensed difference. In another exemplary case, several replica circuits of the main circuit are used, where each is isolated from one or more operating variables that affect the operating characteristic of the main circuit. Each replica circuit can be used for sensing a different operating characteristic, or, two replica circuits can be combined to sense a same operating characteristic.
US09863999B2	Circuit and method for inspecting semiconductor device A circuit for inspecting a semiconductor device includes: the semiconductor device that is an object to be inspected and includes a diode; a protection element that is connected in series with the semiconductor device and includes a protection diode having higher breakdown resistance than the diode; a switch that includes a switching element connected in series with the semiconductor device and the protection element; and a coil that provides a loop path together with the semiconductor device and the protection element when the switching element is turned off. Even when the semiconductor device including the diode is broken, an inspection device is restricted from being damaged.
US09863997B2	Devices, methods, and systems for localizing a fault on a live cable Devices, methods, and systems for localizing a fault on a live cable are described herein. One system includes a wire fault localizer configured to receive current information from a location where direct current is applied to a cable comprising a number of loads, receive additional current information from at least two additional locations on the cable, wherein one of the at least two additional locations is on a source side of the cable and one of the at least two additional locations is on a load side of the cable, determine a fault resistance of the cable based on the received current information and received additional current information, and determine a fault distance on the cable based on the fault resistance.
US09863993B2	Storage battery monitoring device with wiring disconnection detection A storage battery monitoring device includes a pair of measurement lines connected respectively to a pair of voltage detection lines connected respectively to a positive and a negative electrode of a rechargeable battery, a pair of adjustment lines connected respectively to the pair of voltage detection lines in parallel with the measurement lines, a first capacitive element connected between the pair of measurement lines, a second capacitive element connected between the pair of adjustment lines, and a switch connected across the second capacitive element. Capacitance values of the first and second capacitive elements are set such that a voltage between the pair of measurement lines continues changing after closing the switch and then opening the switch after a lapse of a predetermined short-circuit time if the voltage detection line is broken.
US09863992B2	Fault detecting apparatus and detecting method of the same There is provided a fault detecting apparatus for detecting a fault in an electric circuit including connecting circuits and an aggregating circuit. The fault detecting apparatus includes a fault detector that detects a fault when at least one of connecting circuit current detectors detects that a current flows and an aggregating current detector detects that a current does not flow.
US09863988B1	Input/output multiplexer bus One embodiment includes and I/O bus including a signal line coupled to a signal source and multiple line switches, each line switch to couple a corresponding I/O port to the signal line. Switch logic coupled to the I/O bus may programmatically switch the multiple line switches to couple at least one of the signal source and measurement circuitry to the respective I/O port.
US09863985B2	State estimation of electrical power networks using semidefinite relaxation A semidefinite (SDR) programming formulation for state estimation (SE) of nonlinear AC power systems is described. The techniques make use of convex semidefinite relaxation of the original problem to render the process efficiently solvable. In addition, robust techniques are described that are resilient to outlying measurements and/or adversarial cyber-attacks. Further, techniques for SDR-based SE are described in which local control areas solve the centralized SDP-based SE problem in a distributed fashion.
US09863979B2	Systems, apparatus, and methods for energy monitoring An apparatus for energy auditing can include a sensor portion on a circuit substrate, the sensor portion defining a first opening, an integrated inductor on the sensor portion, the integrated inductor being formed proximal to the first opening or a hall sensor located on the sensor portion proximal to the first opening, and an electronic circuit on a body portion of the circuit substrate electrically coupled to the integrated inductor and configured to wirelessly transmit information to a wireless receiver.
US09863978B2	Electrical contacting device An electrical contacting device for electrical physical contact with a specimen, particularly wafers, taking place in a contacting direction, with at least one conductor substrate which can be electrically connected to a testing device, at least one contact distance transformer and at least one contact head having electrical contact elements, particularly resilient contact elements, preferably serving to compensate different physical contact distances existing in the contacting direction particularly at the contact elements.
US09863976B2	Module test socket for over the air testing of radio frequency integrated circuits A test system includes a test socket assembly for capturing low energy electromagnetic emissions from radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs). The test socket assembly is structured to direct electromagnetic radiation from the device under test (DUT) to a socket port coupled to one end of a waveguide for transmission to a tester. The combination of the materials comprising the socket assembly is selected to more efficiently couple electromagnetic emissions from the DUT into the waveguide. For example, a reflective plane with an adjustable position may be located below the DUT in order to increase coupling of electromagnetic radiation from the DUT into the waveguide.
US09863975B2	Femtosecond laser excitation tagging anemometry An apparatus for the imaging of gaseous fluid motion is disclosed. The apparatus includes a sub-nanosecond pulsed laser. The sub-nanosecond pulsed laser is configured to cause a particle species to fragment and for the recombining fragments subsequently to fluoresce. The apparatus also includes a gaseous fluid comprised of particle species. The apparatus also includes a time gated camera. The time gated camera configured to capture at least one image of the fluorescence from the recombining particle fragment species displaced after a specific time lapse following the laser pulse. Additionally, a fluid velocity can be calculated from a comparison of the image of the displaced particle species to an initial reference position and the time lapse. A Femtosecond Laser Electronic Excitation Tagging (FLEET) method of using the disclosed apparatus is also disclosed.
US09863972B2	Physical quantity sensor, electronic device, and moving object A physical quantity sensor includes: a sensor element which detects predetermined physical quantity; a driving circuit which generates a driving signal of the sensor element; and an AGC circuit which controls the driving signal at a constant level according to a reference voltage, based on an output signal of the sensor element, in which the reference voltage is variable.
US09863971B2	Wheel speed sensor with a waterproof structure for output wires A novel wheel speed sensor that can produce advantageously and inexpensively with a novel structure that can reliably ensure the waterproof property of drawn-out portions of the output wire, regardless of a material of a coating member for coating output wires for a wheel speed sensor.
US09863963B2	Method and reagent for determining vitamin D metabolites The present invention relates to a method for releasing bound vitamin D by bringing a sample containing vitamin D into contact with a release reagent which contains at least one hydrotropic substance and at least one transition metal salt. The released vitamin D can subsequently be determined quantitatively. The present invention relates further to a reagent for releasing and optionally determining vitamin D, containing at least one hydrotropic substance and at least one transition metal salt, as well as to the use of such a release reagent for releasing and optionally determining vitamin D.
US09863961B2	Method for determination of amyloid peptides with anti-amyloid antibody The invention relates to the field of immunoassays which allow the detection of Aβ 17 peptides by virtue of the use of an anti-Aβ 17 antibody and a kit and method using said antibody. The invention also relates to a method for diagnosing or distinguishing between different stages of a neurodegenerative disease.
US09863957B2	Methods and kits for isolation and analysis of a chromatin region The present invention encompasses methods of identifying proteins and protein modifications of proteins specifically associated with a chromatin.
US09863956B2	Differentiation of isobaric amino acids and other species Techniques for differentiating isobaric species are described. An isobaric species may be substituted with a tagging species identified using mass spectrometry. The isobaric species may be a subunit of a first polymer having a defined sequence, e.g., the isobaric species may be an amino acid in a protein or a peptide sequence. A tagging species may be substituted for the isobaric species in a second polymer having an otherwise identical sequence as the first polymer. The second polymer may have the same number of sequences as the first polymer, and substantially the same sequence of subunits, with a few exceptions such as the tagging species for the isobaric species. The first polymer and the second polymer may be prepared in the same reaction vessel. A polymer/protein of defined subunit sequence containing an isobaric species or a tagging species may be analyzed by mass spectrometry to determine the sequence.
US09863954B2	Methods for screening anti-protein aggregation agents using single-stranded specific RNAses to initiate protein aggregation The present invention provides the use of RNA removal to initiate protein aggregation of a plurality of proteins in a cell or cell lysate. This may be used to create an in vitro model of a disease, such as a neurodegenerative disease. The present invention also provides a method for determining the efficacy of a potential anti-protein aggregation agent comprising the following steps: i) using RNA removal to initiate the aggregation of a protein in a cell or cell lysate, ii) treating the cell or cell lysate with the potential anti-protein aggregation agent before, after or during RNA removal; and iii) comparing protein aggregation in equivalent samples with and without step ii) treatment in which a decrease in protein aggregation associated with step ii) treatment indicates that the potential anti-protein aggregation agent is effective in preventing and/or reversing protein aggregation.
US09863953B2	Method for determining prognosis of cancer The present invention relates to a method for determining prognosis of cancer in a subject, which comprises the step of detecting phosphorylation of a tyrosine residue at position 2681 of TRIO in a sample obtained from the subject.
US09863952B2	Method for the diagnosis of higher- and lower-grade astrocytoma using biomarkers and diagnostic kit thereof Disclosed is a method of diagnosing the presence of higher grade astrocytoma/glioblastoma (GBM) or lower-grade astrocytoma (DA or AA) in a human subject using secreted or plasma membrane associated biomarkers, which involves the detection of the expression levels of said genes, alone or in combination, in either tumor tissue samples or body fluids and a diagnostic kit thereof.
US09863949B2	Method for predicting and evaluating responsiveness to cancer treatment with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents Provided herein are methods directed to the prediction and early assessment of the efficacy of cancer treatment regimens, in particular in patients undergoing therapy with a DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agent, by determining expression levels of certain proteins found to be useful as biomarkers in circulating tumor cells obtained from the patient both prior to and post-treatment.
US09863940B2	Methods for isolating a target analyte from a heterogenous sample The invention generally relates to methods of using compositions that include sets of magnetic particles, members of each set being conjugated to an antibody specific for a pathogen, and magnets to isolate a pathogen from a body fluid sample.
US09863937B2	Fluorescent molecular rotors The present invention relates to methods and compositions for detecting an interaction between a protein and a ligand, comprising: (i) binding at least one fluorescent molecular rotor to said ligand or protein; and (ii) detecting a change in fluorescence emitted by said fluorescent molecular rotor after contact of the bound fluorescent molecular rotor with the other of said ligand or protein, thereby detecting an interaction between the ligand and the protein, wherein the fluorescent molecular rotor comprises: a rotating ?-bond; an electron-donating moiety; an electron-accepting moiety; and a ?-conjugated linker.
US09863935B2	Predictive biomarkers for CTLA-4 blockade therapy and for PD-1 blockade therapy Biomarkers are described for predicting the efficacy, risk of relapse, risk of an immune related adverse event (irAE), or combination thereof for a CTLA-4 blockade treatment, such as ipilimumab, in a subject with melanoma. Biomarkers are also described for predicting the efficacy and clinical benefit for a PD-1 blockade treatment, such as a PD-1 blocking antibody, in a subject with melanoma.
US09863933B2	Method for determining the repair activity of non-homologous end joining The invention discloses a method for determining the repair activity of NHEJ. In this method, HPRT gene is mutated by using a site-directed gene mutation technology, and plasmid transfection, and 6-TG treatment are performed. By means of the method of the invention, the NHEJ repair activity level of cells can be observed by measuring the cell viability. The method can be used for screening the effects of different drugs and different genes on the NHEJ repair activity.
US09863932B2	Gas measurement apparatus, gas measurement system, gas measurement method, and gas measurement program A gas measurement apparatus of the present invention includes a gas sensor and is capable of being in any one of an open state in which the gas sensor is connected to an outside air and a closed state in which the gas sensor is cut off from an outside air. The gas measurement apparatus includes: an acquisition unit; and a determination unit. The acquisition unit acquires a detection value of the gas sensor in the open state and a detection value of the gas sensor in the closed state. The determination unit compares the detection value of the gas sensor acquired in the open state and the detection value of the gas sensor acquired in the closed state to thereby determine the state of the gas sensor.
US09863925B2	Automated soil measurement device A filtration system for a soil analysis device and methods of pressure filtration and automated cleaning are disclosed for generating filtrate used in measuring characteristics of a soil sample and preparing the filtration system for repeated measurements. A mixing chamber combines a soil sample and an extractant into a liquid mixture. The filtration system receives and pressure filters the liquid mixture to quickly generate filtrate used to measure characteristics of the sample. The filtrate is passed to a measurement cell for analysis. Once the analysis is complete, the filtration system performs a cleaning process in preparation to receive a subsequent liquid mixture from another soil sample.
US09863914B2	Miniature quadrupole arrays using electron multiplication detectors A gas sensor includes a first chamber containing a plurality of evenly spaced rods having voltages applied thereto to cause gas ions in the first chamber to move in a direction from a first end of the first chamber to a second end of the first chamber and a second chamber coupled to the second end of the first chamber and having at least one ion detector, where ions pass from the first chamber to the second chamber through a plurality of channels between the first chamber and the second chamber and are detected by the at least one ion detector. The voltages applied to the rods may include a first voltage applied to a first subset of the rods and a second voltage applied to a second subset of the rods, each of first and second voltages containing a DC component and an AC component.
US09863913B2	Digital microfluidics cartridge and system for operating a flow cell A liquid handling system for supplying liquids to a flow cell (FC). The system may include a droplet actuator cartridge, wherein the droplet actuator and a flow cell are fluidly coupled to, or situated within, a droplet operations gap of the droplet actuator.
US09863909B2	Oxygen sensor control based on water contact Various methods for operating an oxygen sensor are provided. In one example, a method of operating an oxygen sensor comprises applying power to a heater of the oxygen sensor, and indicating whether water is in contact with the oxygen sensor based on a time rate of change of a temperature of the oxygen sensor.
US09863907B1	Electrochemical detection system and method of operation An electrochemical detection system for determining a concentration of a gas in exhaust gases of a combustion process. The system includes an electrolyte, a reference electrode, and a sense electrode that cooperate to form an electrochemical sensor that exposes both the reference electrode and the sense electrode to the exhaust gases. The electrochemical sensor is configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a species concentration of a species gas in the exhaust gases. The sensor signal exhibits a transient error in response to a change in a reference concentration of a reference gas in the exhaust gases. The processor is configured to determine the species concentration based on the sensor signal, and to determine an estimate of the transient error based on an operating condition of the combustion process.
US09863906B2	Apparatus and method for conditioning and reorienting components on an electrophysiology measurement system An apparatus for automatically conditioning a patch plate and a plenum of an electrophysiology measurement system is provided. An arm is linearly movable between a non-operative position and an operative position. An end effector mounted to one side of the arm is configured to condition the patch plate. Another end effector mounted to an opposite side of the arm is configured to condition the plenum. A linear actuator is coupled to the arm and is configured to drive movement of the arm between the operative position and the non-operative position. When the arm is positioned in the operative position, the arm is situated between the patch plate and the plenum.
US09863904B2	Nanopore-based sequencing with varying voltage stimulus A method of analyzing a molecule is disclosed. A voltage source is selectively connected to or disconnected from a capacitor using a switch controlled by a reset signal. A charge is stored in a capacitor when the voltage source is connected to the capacitor. The capacitor is discharged through a nanopore in a membrane when the voltage source is disconnected from the capacitor. A duty cycle of the reset signal is determined such that the voltage source and the capacitor is connected for at least a one tenth portion of a reset signal period and disconnected for a remaining portion of the reset signal period, such that a voltage across the nanopore is maintained at a higher level during the portion of the reset signal period in which the connection is maintained than during the remaining portion of the reset signal period in which the connection is not maintained.
US09863900B2	Planar sensor array for non-destructive evaluation of material using electromagnetic impedance Various embodiments include planar sensor arrays for use in determining characteristics of a material under test (MUT). The planar sensor arrays can include a set of electrodes positioned to enhance a depth and clarity of detection into the material under test. Some embodiments include an electromagnetic sensor array having: a first set of two rectilinear electrodes, positioned opposed to one another across a space; and a second set of two rectilinear electrodes, positioned opposed to one another across the space, the second set being off-set from the first set, wherein the first set and the second set are configured to detect an electromagnetic impedance of the MUT.
US09863898B2	High temperature simulated distillation Systems and methods for determining a boiling point distribution of a sample include controlling the rates of temperature increase for a column and an injection port. An analyzer includes a column having a column heating element and an injection port having an injection port heating element. The temperature of the column can be increased at a first rate, and a temperature of the injection port can be increased at a second rate. The first and second rates are selected such that the temperature of the injection port is within about five to fifteen degrees Celsius of the temperature of the column when the temperature of the injection port reaches a target temperature of minimal thermal decomposition.
US09863897B2	X-ray nondestructive testing device There is provided an X-ray nondestructive testing device which irradiates X-rays to an article, the article including a substrate having a predetermined X-ray absorption coefficient and a measurement target object disposed therein and having another X-ray absorption coefficient differing from that of the substrate, the device including: an X-ray source configured to irradiate the X-rays to the article; a detector configured to detect the transmission amounts of the X-rays passed through the article at at least paired different locations; a detection position specifying designator configured to specify the paired different locations as a set of paired locations based on a pre-stored design information; a driving mechanism configured to move the detector to the set of paired locations; and an operation calculator configured to calculate the thickness of the measurement target object based on the transmission amounts of the X-rays detected by the detector.
US09863890B2	Solar cell testing apparatus and method A solar cell testing apparatus may include an illuminator for directing light energy on a solar cell under test. The solar cell testing apparatus may also include a device for selectively positioning different filters of a multiplicity of filters in an optical path between the illuminator and the solar cell under test to at least one of measure performance and detect any defects in the solar cell. The multiplicity of filters may include a first set of filters and a second set of filters. Each filter of the first set of filters is adapted for passing a predetermined percentage of intensity of the light energy from the illuminator onto the solar cell under test. The second set of filters being adapted for testing the solar cell under different spectrums of light.
US09863889B2	System and method for inspecting a wafer A method and a system for inspecting a wafer. The system comprises an optical inspection head, a wafer table, a wafer stack, a XY table and vibration isolators. The optical inspection head comprises a number of illuminators, image capture devices, objective lens and other optical components. The system and method enables capture of brightfield images, darkfield images, 3D profile images and review images. Captured images are converted into image signals and transmitted to a programmable controller for processing. Inspection is performed while the wafer is in motion. Captured images are compared with reference images for detecting defects on the wafer. An exemplary reference creation process for creating reference images and an exemplary image inspection process is also provided by the present invention. The reference image creation process is an automated process.
US09863887B2	Unit and method for optical non-contact oil detection The invention relates to a unit and method for detection of presence of oil on the water surface or in the water column. Unit comprises a sensor, whereby the sensor is connected to electronic compartment followed by microprocessor controller with embedded software for carrying out necessary analyses of reflected signals received by the sensor. The microprocessor controller is connected to communication means for transmitting an alarm signal through external communication line in case of oil pollution. All elements mentioned above are supplied by external power supply and are accommodated into a waterproof housing. The sensor comprises the probe light source formed by a pulsed UV LED, collimating optics and narrow band optical filter, at least one dichroic mirror, a projection-receiving lens, at least one optical filter, at least one photodetector and a reference photodetector.
US09863885B2	Graphene-based multi-modal sensors A method for fabricating a composite film structure, the method includes determining a desired morphology for a metallic layer of the composite film structure, selecting a first metal substrate based on the determining, transferring a graphene layer onto the first metal substrate, depositing the metallic layer on the graphene layer to achieve the desired morphology, and removing the first metal substrate from the graphene and the deposited metallic layer to form the composite film structure. A surface energy difference between the first metal substrate and the deposited metallic layer results in the desired morphology of the metallic layer.
US09863870B2	Method and apparatus to use multiple spectroscopic envelopes to determine components with greater accuracy and dynamic range A method of using spectroscopic envelopes for determining components in a sample may include selecting spectroscopic envelopes and passing input light through a sample comprising at least one absorbing component is provided. The method includes measuring throughput light with a photo-detector and determining the concentration of the at least one absorbing component in the sample using the measured throughput, wherein at least one of the plurality of spectroscopic envelopes overlaps at least one absorption band of the at least one absorbing component in the sample. An apparatus for determining components in a sample including an input light source having a spectrum and a sample container having a fixed optical path-length is also provided. The apparatus may include a plurality of pre-selected spectroscopic envelopes to select spectral portions of the throughput light from the sample; and at least one photo-detector to measure the throughput light selected by the spectroscopic envelopes.
US09863863B2	Apparatus for cluster detection The invention relates to a sensor apparatus (100) and a method for detecting clusters with magnetic particles in a sample. The sample is provided in at least one sample chamber (114) of a substantially planar cartridge (110) that is exposed to a modulated magnetic field (Bxz, Byz) generated by a magnetic field generator (190). The sample chamber (114) is illuminated with excitation light (L0), and the resulting output light (Ls) is detected by a light detector (180). The magnetic field (Bxz, Byz) may particularly rotate, inducing a corresponding rotation of clusters which in turn induces a variation of the detection signal (S). According to a preferred embodiment, excitation light (L0) is focused onto blocking spots (173) behind the sample chamber (114), thus shielding the light detector (180) from direct illumination.
US09863861B2	Method and apparatus for particle size determination A computer-implemented method of determining particle size and a computer-readable medium storing instructions to execute such a method are presented. The method entails obtaining an image of at least one particle and a calibration mark, wherein the particle and the calibration mark were captured using the same lens, correcting the image for distortion effects to generate a corrected image, wherein the same correction factor is applied to both the particle and the calibration mark, and determining a size of the particle using the corrected image. The method may be useful for obtaining the target size of coffee grounds that will produce the desired flavor. Coffee grounds may be sprinkled on a surface with the calibration mark and imaged with the calibration mark such that the correction factor for the calibration mark can be used to determine the particle size range of the coffee grounds.
US09863857B2	Device and method for particle complex handling An embodiment of the invention relates to a device for detecting an analyte in a sample. The device comprises a fluidic network and an integrated circuitry component. The fluidic network comprises a sample zone, a cleaning zone and a detection zone. The fluidic network contains a magnetic particle and/or a signal particle. A sample containing an analyte is introduced, and the analyte interacts with the magnetic particle and/or the signal particle through affinity agents. A microcoil array or a mechanically movable permanent magnet is functionally coupled to the fluidic network, which are activatable to generate a magnetic field within a portion of the fluidic network, and move the magnetic particle from the sample zone to the detection zone. A detection element is present which detects optical or electrical signals from the signal particle, thus indicating the presence of the analyte.
US09863855B2	Apparatus and method for obtaining liquid sample from gaseous sample The present invention provides an electrostatic atomizer comprising: a container having an inlet; an atomization electrode having one end projecting in the container; an opposite electrode provided in the container; a tubular collection electrode provided opposite to the atomization electrode; a mask surrounding an outer periphery of the tubular collection electrode; and a cooling part for cooling the tubular collection electrode. The opposite electrode is provided between the atomization electrode and the tubular collection electrode. The mask is formed of resin. The mask comprises a mask through-hole. The tubular collection electrode is inserted in the mask through-hole. One end of the tubular collection electrode is located in the mask through-hole. The present invention provides a method for efficiently obtaining a liquid sample from a gaseous sample and an electrostatic atomizer suitable for the method.
US09863851B2	Exhaust gas measuring information processing apparatus, exhaust gas measuring system, and recording medium An exhaust gas measuring information processing apparatus of the present invention detects troubles etc. of a flow sensor during a flow rate measurement and performs predetermined processing relevant to maintenance and check of the flow sensor. The exhaust gas measuring information processing apparatus includes a reception circuit that receives a flow rate measurement signal indicating a flow rate measurement value of exhaust gas flowing through an exhaust gas tube of an internal combustion engine and an operational state signal indicating an operational state of the internal combustion engine, and a processing executing circuit that executes predetermined processing relevant to maintenance and check of the flow sensor that outputs the flow rate measurement signal when a predetermined correlation is not satisfied between an index value for the operational state indicated by the operational state signal and the flow rate measurement value indicated by the flow rate measurement signal.
US09863844B2	Measurement of the positions of centres of curvature of optical surfaces of a single or multi-lens optical system In a method for measuring the positions of centers of curvature of optical surfaces of a single- or multi-lens optical system, an imaging lens system images an object plane into a first and a second image plane. The first image plane is produced by a first ancillary lens system having a first focal length and defining a first beam path, while the second image plane is produced by a second ancillary lens system having a second focal length that is different from the first focal length and defining a second beam path that is different from the first beam path. An object arranged in the object plane is then imaged simultaneously or sequentially at the first and the second image plane by means of measuring light. Reflections of the measuring light at optical surfaces of the optical system are detected by means of a spatially resolving light sensor. The actual positions of the first and the second center of curvature are calculated from the detected reflexes.
US09863841B2	Measuring device having ideal wavefront generator for detecting point diffraction interferometric wavefront aberration of measured optical system and method for detecting wavefront aberration thereof A point diffraction interferometric wavefront aberration measuring device comprising an optical source, an optical splitter, a first light intensity and polarization regulator, a phase shifter, a second light intensity and polarization regulator, an ideal wavefront generator, an object precision adjusting stage, a measured optical system, an image wavefront detection unit, an image precision adjusting stage, and a data processing unit. The center distance between the first output port and the second output port of the ideal wavefront generator is smaller than the diameter of the isoplanatic region of the measured optical system and is greater than the ratio of the diameter of the image point dispersion speckle of the measured optical system over the amplification factor thereof. A method for detecting wavefront aberration of the optical system is also provided by using the device.
US09863840B1	Multi-faceted test chamber Systems and methods for providing a multi-direction wind tunnel, or “windball,” are disclosed. The system can have a series of fans configured to provide air flow in a plurality of directions to enable accurate testing of aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other vehicles capable of multi-dimensional flight. The system can comprise a spherical or polyhedral test chamber with a plurality of fans. The fans can be arranged in pairs, such that a first fan comprises an intake fan and a second fan comprises an exhaust fan. The direction of the air flow can be controlled by activating one or more pairs of fans, each pair of fan creating a portion of the air flow in a particular direction. The direction of the air flow can also be controlled by rotating one or more pairs of fans with respect to the test chamber on a gimbal device, or similar.
US09863838B2	Air tightness detection device for aluminum alloy wheel hub and method for detecting air tightness of wheel hub The present invention provides an air tightness detection device for an aluminum alloy wheel hub, which is characterized by precision air pressure sensors, a lower clamp, a cone cylinder pressure plate, air pipes, a pressure plate, guide posts, an air inlet pipe, and a compressed gas control and detection system. A technical solution of the present invention has the following advantages that the cone cylinder pressure plate of the detection device reduces the space of an inner cavity of the wheel hub to further reduce inflating volume, thereby increasing detection efficiency; the characteristics of readily availability for preparation, no pollution and low cost are achieved by taking compressed air as a leakage indication gas.
US09863837B2	Systems and methods for detecting leaks Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to detecting leaks in a patient monitoring system. The system can include a fluid handling network configured to receive a fluid sample drawn from a patient and to deliver at least a portion of the fluid sample to an analyte measurement system. The system can isolate at least a portion of the fluid handling network, can apply pressure to the at least a portion of the fluid handling network, can measure the pressure in the at least a portion of the fluid handling network, and can determine whether a leak is present in the at least a portion of the fluid handling network based at least in part on the measured pressure.
US09863834B2	Indicator for proving tightness of seals in a packaging consisting of at least partially light permeable thermoplastic film A seal testing system provides an indicator of the tightness of seals in packaging of the seal testing system includes at least partially light permeable thermoplastic film providing two flexible layers that are impermeable for liquid and that are circumferentially sealed to define chambers that store a seal testing fluid and that are interconnected via a narrowed intermediate passage. At least section of a seal between the film layers is weakened to allow release of the seal testing fluid when pressure is introduced in the chambers.
US09863833B2	Leak sensor for side detection A leak sensor includes a base layer which is formed by soaking a plate-shaped structure into a resin solution, particularly a fluorine-based resin solution, or formed of a plate-shaped structure of a resin, particularly a fluorine-based resin; and a sensor layer in which a leak detection part having a predetermined area is formed by coating or printing a mixture of a liquid resin or a liquid fluorine-based resin and a conductive material on the base layer in a predetermined pattern, wherein the leak detection part of the sensor layer is formed on a side surface of the sensor layer to be exposed to the outside. Therefore, even though the sensor is not located just under the leaked fluid, the sensor becomes in contact with the fluid, and thus can detect the fluid leakage.
US09863832B2	Automated work piece center of mass identification system and method for same A method and system for identifying a work piece center of mass includes coupling a work piece to a manipulator assembly. The manipulator assembly includes a force and torque sensor. The work piece is positioned in at least two different orientations relative to a gravity vector with the manipulator assembly. The at least two different orientations include at least first and second orientations. In the first orientation the force and torque sensor measures a first torque and at least a first force associated with the work piece in the first orientation. In the second orientation the force and torque sensor measures a second torque associated with the work piece in the second orientation. The work piece center of mass is identified according to at least the measured first and second torques and at least the first force.
US09863827B2	Monitoring machine wires and felts Collecting data includes generating a sensor signal from each of a plurality of sensors located on a sensing roll, wherein each signal is generated when each sensor enters a region of a nip between the sensing roll and mating roll during each rotation of the sensing roll; wherein a web of material travels through the nip and a continuous band, which also travels through the nip, contacts a region of the web of material upstream from or in the nip. A periodically occurring time reference is generated associated with each rotation of the continuous band and the signal generated by each sensor is received so that the one of the plurality of sensors which generated this signal is determined and one of a plurality of tracking segments associated with the continuous band is identified. The signal is stored to associate the respective sensor signal with the identified one tracking segment.
US09863824B1	Resistance-voltage transformation system for sensors in dynamic strain measurement and structural health monitoring A resistance-voltage (R-V) transformation system used in dynamic strain measurement for a structure is provided. The system has single-channel (SC) circuit units each for producing a voltage corresponding to a resistance of a sensing element of a structural-strain sensing network. Each SC circuit unit has a R-V transformation module for converting the resistance into the voltage, a band-pass filter module for filtering the R-V transformation module output after a direct-current bias therein is removed, and a high-gain amplification module for amplifying the filter output. The band-pass filter module is configured such that an unwanted low-frequency component induced by resistance drift of the sensing element is removed while allowing a guided-wave signal component to pass through. Particularly advantageous for the sensing network using nanocomposite sensing elements, the R-V transformation system is useful for a wide range of sensor resistance values, mitigating adverse effects of resistance drift, and enabling simplicity in wiring.
US09863820B2	Method for indirect temperature measurement of an object Exemplary embodiments provide a system and method for measuring the temperature of an object, but without requiring a direct measurement of the object to determine the point at which the object has reached a desired temperature. The exemplary embodiments provide a process where the object can be heated to a desired temperature without the requirements of temperature probes into the object. The exemplary embodiments allow the process operator to be informed when the heating process has completed, without regard to the size, shape, weight, density, or amount of materials to be prepared. The energy required to maintain the temperature of a fluid bath is compared to the energy required to maintain the temperature once an object has been placed within the fluid.
US09863817B2	Small highly accurate battery temperature monitoring circuit A battery temperature monitoring circuit, which has a cold comparator and a hot comparator, achieves high accuracy in a small cell size by utilizing a cold current optimized for the cold comparator and a cold reference voltage, and a hot current optimized for the hot comparator and a hot reference voltage, along with switching circuitry that provides the cold current to the cold comparator as the battery temperature approaches the cold trip temperature, and the hot current to the hot comparator as the battery temperature approaches the hot trip temperature.
US09863806B2	Optical analysis method and optical analysis device using the detection of light from a single light-emitting particle In the scanning molecule counting method using the light measurement with a confocal microscope or a multiphoton microscope, a measuring time is optimized with suppressing the scattering in a result small irrespective of light-emitting particle concentrations. In the inventive technique of detecting and analyzing the light from an light-emitting particle, there are repeated processes of detecting the light intensity from a light detection region with moving the position of the light detection region of an optical system in a sample solution by changing the optical path of the optical system of the microscope, and detecting the signals of the light of light-emitting particles individually, and based on the time taken for the number of the signals from the light-emitting particles to reach a predetermined number, the light-emitting particle concentration in the sample solution is determined.
US09863805B2	Detector systems having stray light suppression using a retro-reflector shield and negative luminescence An infrared detector system is provided for detecting infrared radiation from an infrared radiation source or a scene. The system includes a first area that is semiconductor-based and biased to produce negative luminescence, the first area including at least one semiconductor-based detector. The detector system further includes at least one additional area being semiconductor-based and biased to produce negative luminescence. A low-emissivity specular retro-reflector shield is configured to reflect infrared radiation and covers the first area and the at least one additional area. The shield defines an aperture to allow the at least one semiconductor-based detector to receive incident rays of the infrared radiation from the infrared radiation source or the scene via a low-scatter, low-emission optical system such that the radiation incident from the infrared radiation source or scene substantially fills the solid angle defined by the aperture at any point in the first area.
US09863804B2	Image sensor including color filter isolation layer and method of manufacturing the same An image sensor including a color filter isolation layer and a method of manufacturing the image sensor. The image sensor includes a plurality of color filters that transmit light of a predetermined wavelength band to a light sensing layer. The image sensor also includes an isolation layer disposed between adjacent ones of the plurality of color filters. The isolation layer is formed of a material having a lower refractive index than a refractive index of the color filters, thus totally internally reflecting light incident on the isolation layer from one of the plurality of color filters.
US09863803B2	Optical processing head having a plurality of optical fibers arranged to surround the light guide and 3D shaping apparatus This invention is directed to reliably condensing weak light by a sensor arranged at a position spaced apart from a processing position. The optical processing head includes a light guide that guides light for irradiating a processing position. The optical processing head further includes a light transmitter that has one end arranged near the distal end of the light guide and the other end connected to a photodetector, condenses reflected light traveling from the processing position, and transmits it to the photodetector. The optical processing head includes at least one light transmitter as its feature.
US09863800B2	Radar level gauge A radar level gauge using electromagnetic signals is provided, which includes a connection arrangement for connecting a transmitter receiver circuit board and an antenna unit with one another, with which the horizontal size of the radar level gauge may be reduced and reflection and transmission losses may be suppressed as well. The transmitter receiver circuit board 32 is so disposed in a housing 12 as to extend vertically. The connection arrangement includes a waveguide sequence which is fed at a feed terminal 32a formed on the transmitter receiver circuit board 32 and composed of three waveguides W1 to W3. Specifically, the waveguide sequence includes, in sequential order from the transmitter receiver circuit board to the antenna unit: a circular waveguide W1 extending horizontally and perpendicular to the transmitter receiver circuit board; a rectangular waveguide W2 in connection with the circular waveguide W1 and extending vertically; and a second circular waveguide W3 further in connection with the rectangular wave guide W2 and extending vertically.
US09863797B2	Correction of a temperature measurement of a thermometric resistance-type temperature probe The invention relates to a temperature measurement method using a thermometric resistance-type temperature probe (1) comprising at least two electroconductive sensitive elements (3, 4) on the same substrate (2), wherein different parameters representative of the strength of the electric current circulating in one of said sensitive elements (3, 4) are measured, and a correction, according to said strength of the electric current circulating in said sensitive element (3, 4), is applied to a signal representative of a temperature measurement generated from the other one of said sensitive elements (3, 4), in order to correct an error created as a result of the self-heating by the Joule effect of said sensitive element (3, 4) affecting the other one of said sensitive elements (3, 4).
US09863796B2	Sensor for monitoring rheologically complex flows Flow sensors, systems, and methods for continuous in situ monitoring of a rheologically complex fluid flow within a vessel, such as particulate and multiphase media for ascertaining certain fluid flow parameters, such as flow rate, dynamic viscosity, fluid density, fluid temperature, particle density and particle mass, from flow sensor measurements. The system involves a fluid flow sensor having a body member with internalized strain gauges configured to measure the deformation of certain segments of the body member. Based, at least in part, on these deformation measurements, the system is used to compute the fluid flow parameters.
US09863792B2	Encoder having liquid-tight structure An encoder able to maintain liquid-tightness over a long period of time. The encoder is provided with a housing unit holding component parts of the encoder. The housing unit is formed by a housing and a cover closing an opening part of the housing. At a boundary part of the housing and the cover, an O-ring is placed. The housing is formed with a guide groove at the outside in the radial direction from the O-ring and a discharge guide groove communicated with the guide groove and opening toward the outside in the radial direction. The cover is formed with a ring-shaped guide projection projecting out toward the guide groove at a position corresponding to the guide groove.
US09863789B2	Rotating camera systems and methods Example rotating camera systems and methods are described. In one implementation, an apparatus includes a motor having a camera mounting mechanism and configured to rotate a camera attached to the mounting mechanism. A communication module receives vehicle data from a vehicle. A rotation control module determines a current rotational orientation of the motor and determines a speed and direction to rotate the motor based on the received vehicle data.
US09863788B2	Linear position and rotary position magnetic sensors, systems, and methods Embodiments relate to a position sensor comprising a magnetic target. The magnetic target includes a magnetic multipole configured to generate a magnetic field. The magnetic field has three mutually-perpendicular components at a first region. Sensor elements can be configured to measure these field components at the first region. In embodiments, comparing the amplitudes of the components can be used to determine a global position, and the instantaneous values of these components can be used to determine a local position.
US09863787B2	Linear variable differential transformer with multi-range secondary windings for high precision A linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) having an electrical stroke includes a probe axially movable along a length of the LVDT electrical stroke, a primary winding extending axially over the length of the LVDT electrical stroke, and a secondary winding extending axially over the length of the LVDT electrical stroke. The LVDT further includes a tertiary winding extending axially over less than the length of the LVDT electrical stroke, the tertiary winding at least partially overlapping with the secondary winding. An advantage of the LVDT in accordance with the present disclosure is that the accuracy of the position calculated from the tertiary winding is greater relative to the total stroke of the LVDT than that calculated from the secondary winding. This is accomplished while still fitting within the envelope of a standard single output LVDT.
US09863785B2	System and method of directional sensor calibration An improved total field calibration system and method is disclosed for reducing the rotational misalignment between magnetic and gravity sensors in a directional sensing system. A method of calibrating a tri-axial directional sensor that includes orthonormal accelerometers and orthonormal magnetometers is disclosed. The method includes measuring Earth's magnetic and gravity fields with said directional sensor in at least 4 sensor orientations; obtaining at least one reference field value of dip drift of Earth's magnetic field from at least one source independent of said directional sensor corresponding to said orientations; and, determining and applying rotational misalignments between said magnetometers and said accelerometers so that measured magnetic dip drifts are substantially equal to said reference values. The calibration process can be performed without monitoring the declination change during the calibration process. Directional sensing systems can be calibrated accurately during a period when the Earth's magnetic field changes rapidly.
US09863784B2	Orientation estimation utilizing a plurality of adaptive filters Apparatuses, methods and systems apparatus for sensing an orientation are disclosed. One apparatus includes an accelerometer, wherein the accelerometer generates a sensed acceleration of the accelerometer and a gyroscope, wherein the gyroscope generates a sensed orientation of the gyroscope. The apparatus further includes a first adaptive filter, the first adaptive filter operative to receive at least the sensed acceleration and the sensed orientation of the gyroscope, and generate a first orientation (Q) of the apparatus, a second adaptive filter, the second adaptive filter operative to receive at least the sensed acceleration and the sensed orientation of the gyroscope, and generate a second orientation (Q′) of the apparatus, wherein a tuning for the first adaptive filter is different than a tuning for the second adaptive filter.
US09863782B2	Automated calibration of a surveying instrument The present invention provides a method for calibrating a geodetic instrument, an instrument and a computer program product thereof. In the method and geodetic instrument of the present invention, a value of at least one parameter affecting the measurements made by the instrument is detected and compared with a predetermined threshold. On the basis of the comparison between the detected value and the predetermined threshold, the instrument aims at a reference target and a calibration is performed using the reference target. The present invention is advantageous in that the accuracy and reliability of the measurements performed by the instrument are increased. Further, the present invention is advantageous in that the requirements on mechanical stability are reduced.
US09863777B2	Method and apparatus for automatic estimated time of arrival calculation and provision A system includes a processor configured to receive information relating to a vehicle location. The processor is also configured to determine one or more filters, based on the received information, for filtering out a plurality of non-specified locations from varied location types. Further, the processor is configured to apply filters for each varied location type to select a plurality of non-specified locations. The processor is also configured to calculate an estimated time of arrival (ETA), for each of the selected locations, and deliver the selected locations and the calculated ETAs to a vehicle.
US09863776B2	Ambulatory route management based on a personal drone Embodiments include method, systems and computer program products for route planning and management with a drone. Aspects include receiving a destination for an individual and determining multiple routes between a position of the individual and the destination. Aspects further include deploying the drone to determine safety and accessibility risks associated with the multiple routes and determining a preferred route from the multiple routes based on the safety and accessibility risks associated with the multiple routes.
US09863774B2	Stitching mixed-version map tiles in hybrid navigation for partial map updates Methods, apparatus, computer program products, and systems related to partial map updates are provided. An example embodiment provides a method comprising receiving updated map data comprises a plurality of links. One or more changed or new are identified links. The method further comprises determining a tiling of the updated map data and determining, based on the tiling of the updated map data, that a tile boundary between a first tile and a second tile intersects at least one of the one or more changed or new links. The method further comprises compiling a map update based on the updated map data, previous map data comprising at least one of the changed or new links intersected by the tile boundary, and the tiling, and providing the map update for at least the first tile.
US09863761B2	Critical dimension uniformity monitoring for extreme ultraviolet reticles Disclosed are methods and apparatus for facilitating an inspection of a sample using an inspection tool. An inspection tool is used to obtain an image or signal from an EUV reticle that specifies an intensity variation across the EUV reticle, and this intensity variation is converted to a CD variation that removes a flare correction CD variation so as to generate a critical dimension uniformity (CDU) map without the flare correction CD variation. This removed flare correction CD variation originates from design data for fabricating the EUV reticle, and such flare correction CD variation is generally designed to compensate for flare differences that are present across a field of view (FOV) of a photolithography tool during a photolithography process. The CDU map is stored in one or more memory devices and/or displayed on a display device, for example, of the inspection tool or a photolithography system.
US09863759B2	Illumination apparatus, pattern irradiation device, and system An illumination apparatus includes: a light emitting unit that outputs light; a light condensing unit that condenses the light output from the light emitting unit; a diffusion unit that diffuses the light condensed by the light condensing unit; and a uniformizing optical system that receives the light diffused by the diffusion unit, uniformizes a brightness distribution thereof compared with that of the light being received, and outputs the resulting light.
US09863755B2	Automated position locator for a height sensor in a dispensing system Apparatus and methods of determining a position of a height sensor in a dispensing system. The dispensing system includes a dispenser, height sensor, camera, and a calibration device configured to receive a signal from the height sensor. The calibration device may include an optical sensor that generates an alignment signal in response to receiving light from the height sensor and/or a fiducial that causes the height sensor to generate the alignment signal in response to a detected height change. The alignment signal is used to automatically determine the position at which the height sensor is aligned with the calibration device. The position of the height sensor relative to a camera is determined by aligning the camera with the calibration device and recording its position. The recorded coordinates of the camera are compared to the coordinates of the height sensor when the height sensor is automatically aligned with the calibration device.
US09863752B2	Metrology apparatus for a semiconductor pattern, metrology system including the same and metrology method using the same A metrology method includes obtaining a pattern reflection light reflected from an object by irradiating a first divided light, which is generated by reflecting a polarized light, to the object; obtaining a phase-controlled mirror reflection light reflected from a reflector by irradiating a second divided light, which is generated by transmitting the polarized light, to the reflector; and obtaining a pattern of the object based on an interference signal between the pattern reflection light and the mirror reflection light.
US09863751B2	Measuring machine for measuring workpieces The measuring machine (1) for measuring workpieces (23, 23a) features a machine table (2) and a mechanical device comprising a measuring slide movable in a first linear axis and a cross slide movable in a second linear axis, and a quill shaft (7) arranged on the cross slide and movable in a third linear axis. Arranged on the quill shaft (7) is, in addition to a sensor (9) for measuring the workpiece, also a gripper (11) by means of which a workpiece (23a) can be retrieved from a magazine (22) and transferred to the clamping device (20), or retrieved from the clamping device (20) and transferred to the magazine (22). Due to this configuration the existing mechanical device of the measuring machine (1) can be made use of to mechanically transfer and also retrieve a workpiece (23, 23a) being measured.
US09863744B2	One-piece four-blade machined broadhead and sharpener A one-piece four-blade machined broadhead and sharpener for sharpening the blades of a four-blade broadhead is described. A broadhead may be machined as a single component from, for example, bar stock material. A broadhead of the present disclosure may be machined on a multi-spindle machine such as but not limited to a Swiss or Swiss-style screw machine. A broadhead may be machined in a reverse configuration such that an attachment end for attaching the broadhead to an arrow is positioned at or near an open end of the bar stock material. One or more steps of the broadhead machining or manufacturing process may be automated, for example by the use of one or more robotic gripping arms. Furthermore, a sharpener of the present disclosure may have sharpening stones positioned at angles such that a two blades of a four-blade broadhead may be simultaneously sharpened.
US09863743B2	Annular arrow fletch The invention is an annular arrow fletch arrow stabilizer are therefor provided. The annular arrow fletch is used for; stabilizing arrow flight, providing better clearance and functionality then conventional fixed glued tail feathers, the invention can be used with light emitting diode arrow nocks. The invention improves current arrow shaft stabilization technology with reduced assembly labor cost, the elimination of facial and or face mask interference issues providing more clearance, improved accuracy, repeatable production with the consistent injection mold production of the annular arrow fletch, easy replacement of the annular arrow fletch in the field, and improved arrow storage. The annular arrow fletch incorporates a metallic contact point, which will work with all light emitting nocks. The design of the annular arrow fletch is so that it is affixed to an arrow by an arrow nock and comprises of an annular wing, a central elongated cylindrical cylinder with a cap and a plurality of fins with micro-groves and a metal contact. In use, the annular arrow fletch is affixed at the aft end of the arrow by an arrow nock prior to launch.
US09863742B2	Multilayered material sheet and process for its preparation The invention relates to ballistic resistant article having a multilayered material sheet which includes a consolidated stack of unidirectional monolayers of drawn polymer, whereby the draw direction of two subsequent monolayers in the stack differs. At least one monolayer comprises a plurality of unidirectional tapes of the drawn polymer, aligned in the same direction, whereby adjacent tapes do not overlap. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of the multilayered material sheet, and to a ballistic resistant article comprising the multilayered material sheet.
US09863740B2	Magnetically stabilized firearm sight A sight mechanism for firearms such as pistols, rifles and the like. The sight mechanism includes a sight member that has a rear sight that is vertically adjusted. The sight member can be mounted on a vertically moveable member that has a fixing member that sets the vertical position of the sight member. The vertically moveable member may, without limitation, be a pivoting member. The sight mechanism includes magnets that bias the vertical member against the fixing member so that the magnets maintain the sight at the vertical position defined by the fixing member.
US09863736B2	Archery release assembly and method An archery release assembly and method are disclosed herein. The assembly, in an embodiment, includes a body having a first structure having a first finger engagement surface and a second structure defining a recess and an axial space. The assembly also includes a hook pivotally coupled to the body and an extension having a protrusion configured to be inserted into the recess. Also, the assembly includes a member configured to be at least partially positioned within the axial space.
US09863734B2	Shooting rest adjusting device A device for adjusting the level of a shooting rest. The device includes a triangle-shaped insert having a sloped first side that can receive the shooting rest thereon. A second side of the insert includes a plurality of slots that extend along the length of the insert, toward the first side. Each slot corresponds to a different level in which the shooting rest can be adjusted to when the insert is engaged therewith. An aperture on the insert receives a cord, wherein the cord can form a loop around the shooting rest for securing the insert thereto. The device is used with an existing tree stand or, in some embodiments, includes a tree stand. The insert receives the shooting rest against the first side thereof and the second side further secures to the tree stand, thereby providing adjustability of the insert for repositioning the level of the shooting rest.
US09863730B2	Drop in trigger assembly A modular trigger and hammer assembly having a hammer, a trigger, a disconnector and a hammer spring for use in a weapon including at least a lob including a firing notch, a safety notch; and a curved landing flat. Also including a trigger needle bearing and a hammer needle bearing.
US09863727B1	Mobile hydro-blasting equipment and tube lancing containment system A mobile multi-function hydro-blast cleaning and tube lancing apparatus and system built into a containment vessel (tank) to enable it to be transported to a facility with ease and preform hydro-blasting/tube lancing with the ability to contain all the fluids involved in the cleaning and lancing process. The system comprises several key pieces of machinery working within a containment tank to make the process of cleaning more versatile. All the cleaning and lancing equipment is either controlled by the operator or computer automation that has been preprogrammed for a more hands free environment.
US09863725B1	Systems and methods for thermal management through use of ammonium carbamate Ammonium carbamate-based methods and systems for management of thermal loads, particularly low-quality, high-flux thermal loads. The increase in temperature in heat sensitive devices is mitigated by the endothermic decomposition of ammonium carbamate into carbon dioxide and ammonia gases. This process has an energy density an order of magnitude greater than conventional thermal management materials and is particularly useful for temperatures between 20° C. and 100° C. Systems incorporating ammonium carbamate may be controlled by regulating the fluid flow, overhead pressure, temperature, or combinations thereof.
US09863723B2	Integrated pressure compensating heat exchanger and method An integrated pressure compensating heat exchanger and method of use are provided. The integrated pressure compensating heat exchanger includes an inlet configured to input an internal fluid; a first conductive bellows connected to the inlet, configured to accept the internal fluid from the inlet, configured to transfer heat between the internal fluid and an external fluid, and configured to compensate for a pressure by compressing in length; and an outlet configured to accept the internal fluid from the first conductive bellows and to output the internal fluid.
US09863721B2	Heat exchanger This heat exchanger (100) includes a core portion (1), a header portion (2), and an intermediate member (3), and the curvature radius of a corner (31a to 31d) of the intermediate member is configured to be smaller than the curvature radius at a header portion side.
US09863719B2	Heat exchanger support assembly A support assembly is disclosed for use with a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger support assembly may include a frame configured to receive a heat exchanger. The frame may include a top section, a bottom section, and first and second side sections. The heat exchanger support assembly may also include at least one support member configured to mount a tank associated with the heat exchanger to the frame.
US09863717B2	Heat transferring device A heat transferring device comprises two massive thermally conductive bodies arranged vertically on top of one another and spaced apart by a variable distance. One or more spreading elements are positioned between the thermally conductive bodies and respectively comprise two horizontally movable wedges with wedge tips pointing in opposite directions and a spring pressing apart the wedges. The thermally conductive bodies have corresponding sliding surfaces extending parallel to the wedge surfaces. Motion of the wedges in the horizontal direction is converted into vertical motion of the thermally conductive bodies to thereby automatically adapt the height of the entire device to a respective installation situation.
US09863716B2	Heat exchanger with embedded heat pipes A heat exchanger is disclosed which includes a plurality of heat exchanger plates. Each plate has a plurality of hollowed out pins arranged in a pin fin pattern. Each plate also includes an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture in fluid communication with one another. A plurality of heat pipes are defined by several of the plurality of hollowed out pins. A wicking material is arranged within the several hollowed out pins. A heat transfer fluid at least partially fills each heat pipe.
US09863715B2	Plate heat exchanger with flanged base or connecting plate A plate heat exchanger may include a plurality of stacked plates, each formed of flat troughs fitted into each other having substantially flat bottoms and connected at respective trough edges. The plurality of plates may separate first and second chambers from one another which are arranged alternately succeeding within the plate stack formed by the troughs. A first fluid may flow in parallel through the first chambers connected in parallel via associated openings in the plates, and a second fluid flow may flow in parallel through the second chambers connected in parallel via associated second openings. The plate heat exchanger may include a base plate for holding an end face of the plate stack. The base plate may be arranged on the end face of the plate stack, the end face formed by a convex side of a plate. The plate heat exchanger may include a flange.
US09863714B2	Heat exchanger and corrugated fin thereof A heat exchanger including a plurality of horizontally arranged tubes, headers to support the tubes and to enable a refrigerant to flow in the tubes, and a corrugated fin horizontally disposed between the tubes, wherein the corrugated fins includes a vertical fin body, flat contact parts formed at an upper part and a lower part of the fin body, the flat contact parts being in surface contact with a top and a bottom of the tubes, and curved contact parts extending from opposite ends of the flat contact parts, the curved contact parts being in surface contact with the sides of the tubes, the fin body includes drainage guides formed outside the flat contact parts in a lateral direction, and each drainage guide includes protruding parts protruding more upward and downward than the flat contact parts.
US09863711B2	Molded plastic objects having an integrated heat spreader and methods of manufacture of same Embodiments are directed to a molded plastic object that includes at least one vapor chamber within the plastic object. A wicking material is in contact with at least a portion of an inner wall of the vapor chamber. A working fluid located within the vapor chamber is configured to distribute heat from warmer regions of the plastic object to cooler regions of the plastic object. In some embodiments, the molded plastic object is part or all of a solid inkjet printhead.
US09863710B2	Laminated total heat exchange element A laminated total heat exchange element that includes a plurality of laminated plates, a first spacing member forming a first flow path between the laminated plates, and a second spacing member forming a second flow path between the laminated plates, wherein the first flow path is formed to allow fluid to pass from one side to another side of the laminated total heat exchange element, the second flow path is formed to allow fluid to pass from the another side to the one side of the laminated total heat exchange element, a third flow path, which communicates with the first flow path on the one side and extends substantially parallel to a lamination direction of the laminated plates, is formed, and a fourth flow path, which communicates with the second flow path on the another side and extends substantially parallel to the lamination direction of the laminated plate, is formed.
US09863709B2	Device for measuring the temperature of a molten metal A device for measuring the temperature of a melt, particularly of a molten metal, includes an optical fiber and a guiding tube having an immersion end and a second end opposite to the immersion end. The optical fiber is partially arranged in the guiding tube. An inner diameter of the guiding tube is larger than an outer diameter of the optical fiber. A first plug is arranged at the immersion end of or within the guiding tube proximate the immersion end of the guiding tube. The optical fiber is fed through the first plug and the first plug reduces a gap between the optical fiber and the guiding tube.
US09863707B2	Furnace with refractory bricks that define cooling channels for gaseous media A furnace is provided suitable for metallurgical processes, comprising at least one section comprised of refractory bricks with an outer shell plate adjacent to the refractory bricks, including exterior bricks whose external faces adjacent the shell plate define gaseous media cooling channels extending along the exterior of the refractory bricks between them and the shell plate. The furnace further comprises cooling plates within the cooling channels and joints between the successive courses of bricks. Advantageously, the conductivity of the cooling plates is at least 5 times the conductivity of the refractory lining into which it is inserted. Suitable materials include copper and copper-based alloys, brasses, bronzes, cast irons, aluminum alloys, silver, high-temperature steels, refractory metals and their alloys, graphite, silicon carbide, and aluminum nitride.
US09863704B2	Chip dryer with integrated exhaust gas treatment According to a first embodiment, a dryer for removing hydrocarbons and/or moisture from metal chips is provided. The dryer includes a top portion and a base portion. The top portion comprises an elongated tubular chamber containing a scrap conveyor. The base portion comprises a burner, a heat exchanger, a high temperature VOC elimination chamber and a vent for returning reduced VOC gasses to the top portion. The top portion is configured to receive the metal chips at an inlet and transport the metal chips to an outlet while receiving heated air from the base portion.
US09863703B2	Tower grain dryer with improved heat reclamation and counter-flow cooling section A grain drying tower comprises a heater and blower separating a heating plenum and a cooling plenum. The dryer is provided with a heat reclamation/heat recycling system and/or counter-flow cooling to reduce the energy requirements of the tower dryer. The heat reclamation system comprises a chamber external to the outer wall of the tower and which is and located at a point along the drying path. The bottom of the chamber is open to the atmosphere. Hot exhaust air enters the heat reclamation chamber at the top of the chamber and is drawn back into the tower by the blower as the exhaust air exits the open bottom of the chamber. In the counter-flow, the walls defining the grain path of the in the cooling section are not air permeable, and air is drawn into the cooling section through outer wall ducts which are closed at the inner wall. The entering air travels up through heated grain to be warmed, and then enters the plenum through inner wall ducts, which are closed at the outer wall of the tower.
US09863701B2	Compositions and methods for atmospheric spray freeze drying Methods of preparing dried powders of biologically active compositions are disclosed. They are designed to provide dried material that maintains biological activity at low economic cost. Compositions made by the above methods are also described.
US09863698B1	Heated air moving device A heated air moving device for drying wet surfaces and materials includes a housing. A controller, a first power module and plurality of sockets are coupled to the housing. The first power module is operationally coupled to the controller. The sockets are operationally coupled to the first power module and are configured to couple electrically powered equipment to the first power module. An intake is positioned in a respective opposing side of the housing. A nozzle, fluidically coupled to the internal space, is coupled to the housing. A fan and a heater are coupled to the housing and is positioned in an internal space defined by the housing. The fan is configured to draw air through the intake and expel the air through the nozzle. The heater is configured to heat the air such that air expelled from the housing dries an area proximate to the housing.
US09863697B2	Integrated methane refrigeration system for liquefying natural gas Described herein is a method and system for liquefying a natural gas feed stream to produce an LNG product. The natural gas feed stream is liquefied, by indirect heat exchange with a gaseous methane or natural gas refrigerant circulating in a gaseous expander cycle, to produce a first LNG stream. The first LNG stream is expanded, and the resulting vapor and liquid phases are separated to produce a first flash gas stream and a second LNG stream. The second LNG stream is then expanded, with the resulting vapor and liquid phases being separated to produce the second flash gas stream and a third LNG stream, all or a portion of which forms the LNG product. Refrigeration is recovered from the second flash gas by using said stream to sub-cool the second LNG stream or a supplementary LNG stream.
US09863690B1	Home appliance door For the purpose of providing a home appliance device with improved characteristics regarding a user convenience, a home appliance door, in particular a home chiller appliance door, is proposed: The home appliance door has at least one door unit with an outer wall and an inner wall; and at least one covering element which at least partly covers at least one feature of the inner wall.
US09863688B2	Refrigerator and operating method thereof A refrigerator includes a compressor, a cold storage medium, a power supply to convert AC power supplied from an outside of the refrigerator, and to receive DC power during interruption of electric power, and a controller to perform a control operation to supply a cooling capacity to an interior of the refrigerator by driving the compressor based on the supplied AC power when no interruption of electric power occurs, and to perform a control operation to supply a cooling capacity to the interior of the refrigerator based on the supplied DC power and the cold storage medium during the interruption of electric power. Accordingly, consumption of electric power during interruption of electric power is reduced.
US09863684B2	Ice maker with piezo dielectric elastomer sensor An ice maker includes, among other things, an ice cube mold, an ice cube remover and a force sensor comprising a piezo dielectric elastomer (PDE). The ice cube mold has at least one cavity for receiving liquid. The ice cube remover is configured to apply a removal force to either the mold or an ice cube. The force sensor is provided on either the mold or the remover and provides an output indicative of the removal force. Upon the removal of an ice cube from the cavity, the ice cube remover applies a removal force to the mold or the ice cube to effect the removal of the ice cube from the cavity and the force sensor outputs a signal indicative of the removal force.
US09863683B2	Ice cube tray assembly An ice cube tray assembly having an insulating box, a lower chamber and an upper chamber. The insulating box having a base and an upstanding structure, with a cavity. A top surface has an inner and outer perimeter, with the inner perimeter defining the opening of the cavity. The lower chamber includes an upper deck portion and container structure depending therefrom. The upper chamber includes a top wall and an inner container structure depending from the top wall. The upper and lower chambers are positioned in sealing engagement.
US09863679B2	Air-conditioning apparatus with low outside air temperature mode In the case of a heating operation in which a use side heat exchanger functions as a condenser when the outside air has a predetermined low temperature, a low-outside-air-temperature heating operation start mode is executed in which, while a refrigerant, as discharged from a compressor, flows into the use side heat exchanger, the refrigerant, upon flowing into the injection pipe, merges with a part of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor, which has traveled through the connecting pipe and has transferred heat in the heat source side heat exchanger, and a merged refrigerant is supplied to the injection port of the compressor, and thereafter a low-outside-air-temperature heating operation mode is executed in which the refrigerant, as discharged from the compressor, is supplied to the injection port of the compressor via the injection pipe while flowing into the use side heat exchanger.
US09863677B2	Sublimation defrost system and sublimation defrost method for refrigeration apparatus A sublimation defrost system for a refrigeration apparatus including: a cooling device in a freezer, and includes a casing containing a heat exchanger pipe; a refrigerating device for cooling and liquefying a CO2 refrigerant; and a refrigerant circuit connected to the heat exchanger pipe permitting the cooled and liquefied CO2 refrigerant to circulate. The defrost system includes: a dehumidifier device; a CO2 circulation path in the heat exchanger pipe, an on-off valve in the heat exchanger; a circulating unit for the CO2 refrigerant; a first heat exchanger part exchanging heat between a brine as a first heating medium and the circulating CO2 refrigerant; and a pressure adjusting unit for the circulating CO2 refrigerant during defrosting so that a condensing temperature of the CO2 refrigerant becomes equal to or lower than a freezing point of a water vapor in the freezer inner air without a drain receiving unit.
US09863675B2	Oil separator and method for producing oil separator An oil separator includes a cylindrical first separating section having a first inner space where the refrigerant can swirl; a cylindrical second separating section disposed below the first separating section and having a second inner space where the refrigerant can swirl; an introduction tube sending the refrigerant toward an inner wall of the first separating section so that a swirl flow occurs; a delivery tube delivering the separated refrigerant; and an exhaust pipe discharging the separated refrigerant oil, the second separating section having a surface connecting the inner wall of the first separating section and an upper end of an inner wall of the second separating section and forming a step, and an angle between the surface and the inner wall of the first separating section and an angle between the surface and the inner wall of the second separating section being 90 degrees or smaller.
US09863674B2	Fin-coil design for dual suction air conditioning unit An evaporator system that includes: a first evaporator coil at a first evaporator temperature and pressure; a second evaporator coil at a second evaporator temperature and pressure that is less than the first evaporator temperature and pressure where the first evaporator and second evaporator are configured to be thermally disjointed; and a plurality of thermally conductive spaced apart evaporator fins having a plurality of spaced apart thermal break portions positioned between the first evaporator coil and the second evaporator coil that thermally disjoin the first evaporator and the second evaporator.
US09863673B2	Adsorption heat pump system and method of generating cooling power A heat pump including an evaporator and an adsorber is provided. The adsorber is regenerated by applying heat from a chemical thermal storage reactor, a heat accumulator or an external heat source, at a temperature higher than or equal to a temperature to regenerate the adsorber.
US09863671B2	Heat pump assisted engine cooling for electrified vehicles A method including controlling a climate control system of an electrified vehicle to cool a coolant of a coolant subsystem with a refrigerant of a heat pump subsystem in response to a temperature of the coolant exceeding a predefined threshold.
US09863670B2	Extended travel flexure bearing and micro check valve Variations of the devices and methods disclosed herein pertain to an extended travel spiral flexure bearing having spiral arms, each of the spiral arms including an attachment point at the inner end thereof and at the outer end thereof. Variations of the bearing may also include a bearing clamp to be attached to the spiral flexure bearing at the attachment points, the bearing including an outer bearing portion to be disposed on the outer periphery of the flexure bearing and an inner bearing portion to be disposed at the center of the flexure bearing. Variations also pertain to a micro check valve assembly that includes a valve base, a valve cover, and a flexure that are all bonded together. The valve being closed when the valve door rests on the valve seat and open when the valve door is lifted from the valve seat.
US09863667B2	Balanced solar tracker clamp In an example, the present invention provides a solar tracker apparatus. In an example, the apparatus comprises a center of mass with an adjustable hanger assembly configured with a clam shell clamp assembly on the adjustable hanger assembly and a cylindrical torque tube comprising a plurality of torque tubes configured together in a continuous length from a first end to a second end such that the center of mass is aligned with a center of rotation of the cylindrical torque tubes to reduce a load of a drive motor operably coupled to the cylindrical torque tube. Further details of the present example, among others, can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
US09863665B2	Discrete attachment point apparatus and system for photovoltaic arrays An attachment point apparatus and system for photovoltaic arrays is disclosed. One embodiment provides a rail system for receiving a PV module, including a first rail, a second rail, a substantially rectilinear double male connector adapted for coupling an end of the first rail to an end of the second rail, and a connector adapted to attach a PV module to the first rail. Another embodiment provides a PV module including a PV laminate, a frame integral with and supporting the PV laminate, and a spanner bar adapted to solely span a width of the PV module, orthogonally connect at various locations along the frame, and attach to a support structure. A further embodiment provides a coupling device for a PV module comprising a first coupling portion adapted to rotatably engage a PV module, and a second coupling portion adapted to rotatably engage a rail.
US09863664B2	Solar collector for solar heat boiler, and tower-type solar heat boiler equipped with same A deviation between an inlet-outlet temperature difference of a first superheater part and an inlet-outlet temperature difference of each of second superheater parts can be reduced so that a difference in thermal expansion between the first superheater part and the second superheater part can be reduced. It is therefore possible to avoid damage on heat transfer pipes. A solar collector for a solar heat boiler is provided with: cylindrical headers (1,3,5) which are connected to opposite end portions of heat transfer pipes; and a solar heat collection portion including the heat transfer pipes and membrane bars fixing the heat transfer pipes to one another; wherein: the cylindrical headers include an inlet header (1) into which a fluid to be heated flows, an intermediate header (3) which is disposed in a position opposed to the inlet header (1) with interposition of the heat transfer pipes, and two outlet headers (5,5) which are provided to extend on opposite end sides of the inlet header and through which the fluid from the intermediate header can be discharged to the outside; and the solar heat collection portion includes a first superheating portion (2) which has a group of the heat transfer pipes connected between the inlet header (1) and the intermediate header (3) so as to form a center region of the solar heat collection portion, and second superheating portions (4,4) which have groups of the heat transfer pipes connected between the intermediate header (3) and the two outlet headers (5) so as to be formed on opposite sides of the first superheating portion (2) respectively.
US09863651B2	Outdoor unit for air-conditioning apparatus An outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus includes at least a heat exchanger, a fan, a compressor, and a box-like casing housing these components and having an air inlet and an air outlet. The compressor is arranged at a location other than an air passage in which air having flowed in through the air inlet flows through the heat exchanger and the fan to the air outlet. The heat exchanger includes a plurality of heat exchange portions, and these heat exchange portions are arranged in a zigzag shape.
US09863649B2	Dual bypass direct fired heating system with pressure control A burner box for use in an air handling system. The burner box includes a main body having a top wall, a bottom wall, side walls extending between the top and bottom walls, and intermediate walls extending between the top and bottom walls and positioned between the side walls. An open upstream end of the main body is divided by the intermediate walls into a first bypass opening and a second bypass opening spaced from the first bypass opening by a burner opening. A direct fired burner is positioned in the main body between the intermediate walls and adjacent the burner opening such that air drawn into the main body through the burner opening is directed over the direct fired burner for heating. An electronic control system is operatively connected to the burner box and configured to maintain a constant pressure difference across the direct fired burner.
US09863648B2	Equipment protector with buoyant rim An equipment protector including a tubular body extending from a first end to a second. The tubular body is manufactured from a waterproof, collapsible material and has a first diameter. A buoyancy ring is sealingly connected to the first end of the tubular body and defines a through passage. The buoyancy ring has an outer diameter which is larger than the first diameter such that the buoyancy ring extends radially outwardly from the tubular body and is susceptible to a buoyancy force created at the exterior of the tubular body. A method of protecting equipment is also provided.
US09863645B2	Oven appliance An oven appliance includes features for permitting movement of a door of the oven appliance relative to a cabinet of the oven appliance. The oven appliance also includes a hinge assembly that couples the door to at least one of the first and second slide assemblies such that the door is pivotable. The hinge assembly is coupled to a front panel of the door and extends through a liner of the door. A related double oven range appliance is also provided.
US09863641B2	Heating appliance with light and sound and corresponding method A heater includes: a controller; a user input operatively connected to the controller; and a lighting system operatively connected to, and controlled by, the controller, the lighting system configured to illuminate outside the heater along a length of the heater. A method of displaying light includes: attaching a lighting system to a heater; operatively connecting the lighting system to a controller; operatively connecting a user input device to the controller; and configure the controller to illuminate the light system to provide indirect lighting to a room in which the heater is located.
US09863640B2	Bottom assembly unit for a combustion chamber assembly unit of a vaporizing burner A bottom assembly unit for a vaporizing burner combustion chamber assembly unit, especially for a vehicle heater, includes a bottom part (24) with a bottom wall. A porous evaporator medium (44) at least partially covers the bottom wall on a front side (42) positioned such that it faces a combustion chamber (20). A ring-shaped holding part (34) has a contact area (40) touching the porous evaporator medium (44). The contact area has a holding section (62) extending radially inwardly from a holding part circumferential wall (36) and extends over the porous evaporator medium (44) in a radially outer area (66). A plurality of contact projections (68) are arranged at spaced locations from one another about the longitudinal axis and extend in the direction of the porous evaporator medium. The porous evaporator medium (44) is pressed by the contact projections (68) in a radially outer area (66) against the bottom wall.
US09863639B2	Method for controlling gas-fired appliance A method for controlling a gas-fired appliance is presented, wherein the gas-fired appliance includes a combustor, at least one flow-regulating valve, and a solenoid valve which are all interconnected, and adaptive to low or no power supplied to the gas-fired appliances, including the steps of: using the solenoid valve to block fuel gas, determining whether the power returns to normal, and if not, maintaining the solenoid valve block, and if so, closing the flow-regulating valve to thereby block the fuel gas such that the fuel gas flow is paused when the solenoid valve is open during a next ignition try.
US09863638B2	Air shrouds with improved air wiping An air shroud for a nozzle includes an air shroud body defining an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with one another to allow an outer airflow to issue therefrom, the air shroud body defining a downstream surface. A plurality of air wipe channels are defined within the air shroud body, wherein each of the plurality of air wipe channels is in fluid communication with at least one of a plurality of air wipe outlets and air wipe inlets. Each air wipe outlet is defined in the downstream surface of the air shroud body such that air can flow through each air wipe outlet and wipe the downstream surface of the air shroud body.
US09863633B2	Oxygen and nitrogen enrichment of atmospheric air using an impeller-based apparatus The specification and drawings present a new apparatus and method for continuously providing oxygen-enriched gas/air produced from a predefined atmospheric air (normally comprising 78% of nitrogen N2 and 21% of oxygen O2) to a combustion area/chamber, using an impeller-based apparatus having a duct system. The impeller system can comprise at least one plurality of gates for capturing the oxygen-enriched gas/air to automatically improve processes of combustion, exhaust and/or related properties of the apparatus. The impeller can comprise a plurality of blades which, when rotating/spinning, may create the desired gas density/mass separation of oxygen and nitrogen. Furthermore, a nitrogen-enriched gas/air can be further provided from a predefined atmospheric air using the impeller-based apparatus with at least one plurality of further gates system/duct, gates rotating in sync with impeller blades, for collecting the nitrogen-enriched gas/air to further improve one or more apparatus parameters.
US09863632B2	Process for operating a coal-fired furnace with reduced slag formation There is provided a process for operating a coal-fired furnace to generate heat. The process has the steps of a) providing the coal to the furnace and b) combusting the coal in the presence of a first slag-reducing ingredient and a second slag-reducing ingredient in amounts effective to reduce slag formation in the furnace. The first slag-reducing ingredient and the second slag-reducing ingredient are different substances. The first slag-reducing ingredient is selected from the group consisting of magnesium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate, and combinations thereof. The second slag-reducing ingredient is selected from the group consisting of copper acetate, copper nitrate, aluminum nitrate, aluminum oxide, aluminum hydroxide, and ammonium phosphate. There is also provided a method for reducing slag formation in a coal-fired furnace.
US09863631B1	Shoe light device and method a light-monitoring apparatus includes a power source, a light detector, a computer processor coupled with the power source and in communication with the light detector and configured to receive and record light exposure detected by the light detector, an output device coupled with the computer processor, and a computer-readable medium coupled with the computer processor and storing instruction code for summing the recorded light exposure from the computer processor over time and communicating a signal to the output device to generate and communicate a signal indicating that a cumulative threshold light exposure for achieving a health benefit has been reached. The apparatus can accordingly be used by an individual to monitor cumulative light exposure from both natural and artificial sources, e.g., in the treatment of seasonal or non-seasonal depression.
US09863629B2	Pendant or accent light with thermal expansion accommodation heat sink An underwater pendant or accent light in contact with a body of water is provided. The underwater pendant or accent light has a housing. The housing has an at least one water tight end fitting at a first end of the housing and an at least one lens at a second end of the housing. An electronics section is further provided. The electronics section including an at least one controller contained within the housing and coupled to a power source. An at least one LED is coupled to the electronics section. An at least one heat sink is coupled to the at least one LED and the electronics section, the heat sink thermally coupled to and mounting the at least one LED and thermally coupled to the electronics section such that heat is communicated through the at least one heat sink. The heat sink has an at least one thermal expansion slot to accommodate thermal expansion of the heat sink as it absorbs heat, wherein the heat sink is in thermal communication through a thermal path with the housing and transmits the absorbed heat through the housing and lens to the body of water. A method of using same is also provided.
US09863626B2	Lamp holder and manufacturing method thereof and illuminating device having the lamp holder Various embodiments may relate to a lamp holder of a lighting module, including a first housing and a second housing made from different materials, wherein the second housing includes a body part and an assembling part in thermal contact with each other, wherein the second housing is embedded integrally in the first housing and in thermal contact with the first housing, and the assembling part and the body part are installed together. In addition, various embodiments further relate to a method for manufacturing the lamp holder and an illuminating device having the lamp holder.
US09863624B2	Gas-filled LED bulb manufactured by SMT A gas-filled LED bulb manufactured by SMT includes a shell, a lamp holder, a holder, and a filament assembly. The shell defines a chamber therein. The lamp holder is positioned outside the chamber and assembled to the shell. The holder is secured in the chamber and fixed to the shell. The filament assembly includes a plurality of LEDs packaged in a SMD or CSP and a bendable circuit board. The LED is mounted on the circuit board by SMT and arranged on the circuit board sequentially, the circuit board has an elongated shape, and opposite ends of the circuit board are fixed to the holder.
US09863623B2	Lighting device A lighting device may include a light irradiation portion, a main control module, and a second connector. The light irradiation portion may generate and irradiates light. The light control portion may control power applied to the light irradiation portion. The main control module may include an antenna to communicate with an external device by a wireless communication and control the light control portion according to a control signal from the external device. The second connector may be provided in the main control module and may connect the main control module and the light control portion by a wired communication. The second connector may include a first printed circuit board having a mode pin (for determining a control mode of the light control portion) and a power pin (for supplying power from the light control portion to the main control module), and a second printed circuit board having a control pin (for supplying a control signal from the main control module to the light control portion).
US09863616B2	Circuit board for LED applications Circuit boards are designed and configured for mounting light emitting devices (LEDs), such as for LED light bulb and LED light tube applications, and are capable of passing a non-isolated, mains powered, electrical strength test.
US09863612B2	Post cap assembly A post cap assembly includes a base plate with a floor, an upper peripheral wall extending from the floor in a first direction and a lower peripheral wall extending from the floor in a second direction opposite the first direction. The base plate is configured to be secured to a post having a square-shaped cross section. A cover that has a pyramidal shape is configured to be coupled to the base plate, where the base plate includes at least two tabs that each have a through hole configured to receive a fastener. The base plate includes a plurality of rectangular-shaped through holes extending through the floor of the base plate and disposed proximate the upper peripheral wall of the base plate.
US09863611B2	Signal column A signal column includes a rod-shaped, transparent housing, inside of which a rod-shaped signal generator is arranged. At least one light distribution element is arranged in the housing between the signal generator and the transparent housing, wherein the light distribution element directs light evenly from light sources of the signal generator to the housing wall.
US09863610B2	Rotatable single piece optical array A lighting device includes a housing, a light emitting device, and an optical array. The housing has a base and the light emitting device is connected to the base for producing a light output. The optical array includes a lens and removably connects to the base. The optical array is repositionable on the base to modify the light output.
US09863608B2	Light emitting device, light emitting device assembly and relevant projection system A light emitting device assembly comprises a wavelength conversion device, a drive device and an adapter. The wavelength conversion device comprises a wavelength conversion layer having at least one wavelength conversion region for receiving an exciting light and converting it into an excited light. The drive device comprises a drive surface used to drive the wavelength conversion device to move, so that a light spot of the exciting light acts on the wavelength conversion device along a preset path. The adapter coaxially connects the drive device and the wavelength conversion device and enables a light ray to arrive at the wavelength conversion device on a side facing the drive device and inside an axial-direction projection of the drive surface on the surface of the wavelength conversion device. The drive surface and the wavelength conversion layer at least partially overlap along the projection surface of the axial projection.
US09863606B2	Arrangement for light output comprising an LED light source and a reflector An arrangement for light output having an LED light source for generating light and emitting the light in a main emission direction, a reflector for optically influencing the light, and an optical element for optically influencing the light, wherein the optical element is arranged to take effect between firstly the LED light source and secondly the reflector, is configured in a manner curving forward in the main emission direction, and in this case consists of a light-transmissive material.
US09863605B2	Light-emitting devices providing asymmetrical propagation of light A variety of light-emitting devices for general illumination utilizing solid state light sources (e.g., light emitting diodes) are disclosed. In general, the devices include a scattering element in combination with an extractor element. The scattering element, which may include elastic and/or inelastic scattering centers, is spaced apart from the light source element. Opposite sides of the scattering element have asymmetric optical interfaces, there being a larger refractive index mismatch at the interface facing the light emitting element than the interface between the scattering element and the extractor element. Such a structure favors forward scattering of light from the scattering element. In other words, the system favors scattering out of the scattering element into the extractor element over backscattering light towards the light source element. The extractor element, in turn, is sized and shaped to reduce reflection of light exiting the light-emitting device at the devices interface with the ambient environment.
US09863603B2	Headlights having one light source module for a high beam and a low beam A high beam and a low beam is disclosed, the headlight including: a first light source unit; a second light source unit; a first light output unit; a second light output unit; and a controller configured to adjust a light quantity irradiated from the light source in response to a low beam mode or a high beam mode, and to control a beam output of the first light output unit and the second light output unit by allowing the first optical unit to be arranged selectively on a light path between the light source unit and the second optical unit.
US09863600B2	Galvanically decorated decorative element with contour light A galvanically decorated decorative element with contour light is produced from at least two plastic components in a material-fit composite, wherein a first plastic component is galvanigable and forms the decorative element. At least one second plastic component is galvano-inert. Consequently, it is uncoated and passes through the electroplating process unchanged. It represents a transilluminable contour light region.
US09863597B2	Lighting device for vehicle A lighting device for a vehicle, the lighting device including: a lens; a light source device configured to emit light; a first reflection unit configured to reflect light emitted from the light source device toward a second side of the lens; a reflective phosphor configured to (i) convert a wavelength of light reflected by the first reflection unit and (ii) reflect light which wavelength is converted toward the lens; a second reflection unit configured to reflect a portion of light that is reflected by the reflective phosphor toward the second side of the lens; a sensing unit configured to sense light reflected by the second reflection unit; and a controller configured to control the light source device based on sensing information sensed by the sensing unit, is disclosed.
US09863594B2	Vehicle headlamp and light-injecting accent lamp combination and method An accent lamp (10) having a solid state light source (4), such as LEDs, is attachable to a rear surface of an automotive headlamp (40) opposite the light-generating capsule (44). Accent lamp (10) has first retaining member (20), such as a clamp, formed above printed circuit board (8) on which LED (4) is mounted. Headlamp base (60) defines light passageway (45), formed as a light guide (42), extending from outermost peripheral surface (63) to an upper surface (61) on which lamp capsule (44) is retained. Accent lamp (10) is readily detachably mounted to headlamp (40), preferably by resilient first and second retaining members (20, 24), and, when mounted, can be biased to promote optical coupling of light source (4) to light guide (42).
US09863593B2	Daylighting film A daylighting film (1) according to one aspect of the present invention includes a base member (10) having optical transparency, first projections (11) having optical transparency and formed on an inner surface (10a) of the base member (10), a second projection (12) formed on the inner surface (10a) and having a height from the inner surface (10a) higher than a height of the first projections (11), a protective base member (13) arranged in an opposite relation to the inner surface (10a) of the base member (10), a bonding layer (14) for bonding the second projection (12) and the protective base member (13), and gaps (15) defined between the first projections (11) and between the first projection (11) and the second projection (12), wherein the first projections (11) include reflective surfaces (11c2) at which light incoming from an outer surface (13b) side of the protective base member (13) or the base member (10) is totally reflected.
US09863590B2	Pathway lights Environmental lighting assemblies are disclosed that may include a structural element, which may be a tubular J-shaped element or other shape or structure, as well as a driver module and an LED lighting engine assembly with a removable locking assembly for generating output light to streets, the ground, trees, or other surfaces, objects, or structures.
US09863583B2	Method of operating a hydrogen dispensing unit Method of operating a hydrogen dispensing where pressure relief is provided through block and bleed valves. After dispensing hydrogen from a dispensing station where the hydrogen is cooled during dispensing, trapped hydrogen remains in the transfer lines. During the idle time between refueling vehicles, the temperature of the trapped hydrogen increases resulting in an increase in the pressure of the trapped hydrogen. Block and bleed valves operate to relieve the pressure in the transfer lines.
US09863580B2	System and apparatus for hanging heavy objects Systems, methods, architectures, mechanisms or apparatus adapted to suspend or otherwise hang heavy objects such as chandeliers such as from a ceiling via a junction box suspended therein from a crossbar secured to one or more adjoining beams or joists via respective bracket housings configured to adjust an inclination of the crossbar secured therein.
US09863577B1	Portable lifting and transferring techniques Portable lifting and transferring techniques for assisting in the mobility of disabled persons are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a portable lifting and transferring apparatus for assisting disabled persons that is compact, lightweight, and portable for use in different locations. Preferably, such an apparatus would provide multiple pivot points for providing multiple degrees of maneuvering freedom when lifting and transferring disabled persons and/or their mobility devices and for providing compatibility with a wide range of vehicles. The techniques may also be realized in other embodiments as disclosed herein.
US09863567B2	Quick connect and quick disconnect system and method of manipulating a quick connect and quick disconnect system A quick connect/disconnect system includes a male connector and a female connector. The male connector includes a first body having a fixed male protrusion and a first rotating ring assembly rotatably connected to the first body. The female connector includes a first coupling channel including a mouth configured to receive the fixed male protrusion and extending from the mouth toward a seat portion, a shuttle movable within the first coupling channel and including a flange configured to form a seal with the seat portion, and an extending portion extending within the first coupling channel and a biasing member configured to bias the flange into sealing contact with the seat portion such that rotation of the first rotating ring assembly in a first direction forces the fixed male protrusion to move axially into contact with the extending portion thereby moving the shuttle to force the flange away from the seat portion.
US09863566B2	Bayonet coupling for the disconnectable connection of pipelines A coupling for the connection of pipelines and includes a coupling element and a complementary coupling element that can fit into one another wherein the coupling element includes a first body, a locking ring mounted around the first body, the first body being secured in translation with the locking ring, and wherein the locking ring includes a slot to receive a radially protruding part of the complementary element, a locking notch in which the protruding part can be axially locked and wherein a lever is radially rotatable in the slot and an elastic element urges the lever toward a locking position in which the lever locks the protruding part in the notch. The coupling also has a single sealing gasket mounted on an outer surface of the first body to cooperate with the complementary element.
US09863564B2	Clamp device In a clamp device, a main clamp body includes an elongated tightening groove delimited by groove-forming wall sections. First and second lobe parts are disposed in the vicinity of end portions of two such tightening grooves. The main clamp body presents a ring shape when bolt and nut are mounted in position on the lobe parts disposed facing each other. Each of the lobe parts includes sidewall sections respectively contiguous to the groove delimiting wall sections that delimit the tightening groove. Each lobe part also includes a curved outer end wall section interconnecting the sidewall sections at an outer end of each lobe part and a seat surface wall section contiguous to the sidewall sections and to the outer end wall section. The seat surface wall section provides a bolt/nut seat surface. An arcuately shaped fulcrum part is formed on the curved outer end wall section of each lobe part.
US09863559B2	Thin wall welding An exhaust component assembly includes a first pipe that defines a center axis and has a first end, and a second pipe that has a second end inserted into the first end of the first pipe such that an outer surface of the second end is in contact with an inner surface of the first end. At least one axial weld connects the first and second ends together.
US09863556B2	Corrosion reducing minimum contact clamp for supporting and securing tubing Tubing clamps having a minimum contact area between the tubes and supporting surfaces of clamp support bodies are provided for minimizing the collection and retention of liquids at the supporting surfaces. A minimum spacing is maintained between the tubes supported by the tubing clamps while maintaining sufficient ventilation between the tubes and the clamp support bodies to permit drying of any liquids which contact the tubes and the clamp support bodies at tubing support points. This prevents electrolysis and corrosion which may be caused by liquid retention and by contact between dissimilar metals. The tubing clamps are adapted to secure tubes having differing outer diameters in a single row or in multiple rows, such as in a stacked configuration. The clamps are provided with upper and lower supports, each having matching grooves that have chamfered edges forming the upper and lower tubing contact surfaces. The supports are secured together with fasteners to clamp the tubing therebetween.
US09863555B2	Stick-on hangers for layflat ducting system An system for drying a wet area of a building includes an elongated flexible duct and a plurality of hanger structures engaged with the duct at locations spaced therealong. Each hanger structure includes a connector tab adapted for engagement with a suspension member and a pair of diverging adhesive panels for adhesive engagement with the duct. The suspension members engage ceiling members to support the duct from an air source to the wet area.
US09863550B2	Valve control device and processing valve A valve control device for a processing valve includes control electronics for controlling a drive and a measuring system for determining the position of an element movable within the valve control device along a straight direction of movement. The measuring system includes a transmission arrangement for transmitting an excitation wave, a resonator secured to the movable element and in which a resonant electric vibration is generated by the excitation wave, a receiving arrangement in which a signal is generated by a resonant wave generated by the resonant electric vibration, and measuring electronics connected to the transmission arrangement and the receiving arrangement. The measuring electronics generate the excitation wave in the transmission arrangement and determine the position of the movable element relative to the receiving arrangement from the signal of the receiving arrangement. A processing valve improved by the valve control device is also described.
US09863545B2	Hose coupling device, mop suction device, electric vacuum cleaner, and ball valve [Object] To significantly increased the convenience in suctioning dust on a mop with use of a negative pressure of an electric vacuum cleaner.[Solution] A hose coupling device 10 includes a connecting pipe 14, a branch pipe 15, a ball valve 40. The connecting pipe 14 has openings, one of the openings configured as a first inlet 31 and another one of the openings configured as an outlet 33 communicating with the one of the openings. The branch pipe 15 continues from a lateral surface of the connecting pipe 14 and has an opening configured as a second inlet 32. The ball valve 40 is arranged in a valve box 35 at which the connecting pipe 14 and the branch pipe 15 communicate such that the ball valve 40 is rotatable about a rotation axis corresponding to an axis of the branch pipe 15 while the ball valve 40 remains in contact with an inner wall of the valve box 35. The ball valve 40 includes a first sidewall 41, a second sidewall 42, a third sidewall 43 facing the branch pipe 15, a through hole 45, and a communicating groove 46 extending from the third sidewall 43 to the second sidewall 42. The ball valve 40 is configured to rotate about the rotation axis between a first communicating position to connect the first inlet 31 to the outlet 33 via the through hole 46 and a second communicating position to connect the second inlet 32 to the outlet 33 via the communicating groove 46.
US09863544B2	Pressure-regulating valves A pressure-regulating valve assembly includes a sleeve body and a spool. The sleeve body has an interior surface and a sense port. The spool has an external surface and is slideably received within the sleeve body such that the external spool surface and the sleeve body interior surface define therebetween a plurality of sleeve body chambers. A first of the sleeve body interior chambers is a deadheaded chamber in fluid communication with the environment external to the sleeve body through the sense port for controlling pressure of fluid traversing the pressure-regulating valve assembly.
US09863543B2	Fluidic control element A fluidic control element comprising a housing in which a fluid space is formed makes provision that at least a first and a second flow channel open into said fluid space, at least one of the flow channels comprising a closable valve seat in the fluid space. A valve body which can be swiveled about an axle is able to be pivoted in the fluid space toward the valve seat. A drive system in the form of an electroactive polymer actuator is provided.
US09863540B2	Aseptic valve assembly, system for conducting a product, and method for operating a system A valve assembly comprises a housing, a chamber having a first product opening, a second product opening, a first closable secondary opening that can be connected to a steam line, and a second closable secondary opening. The assembly also includes a first closing element by which the first product opening can be closed, a second closing element by which the second product opening can be closed, and an outlet associated with the second secondary opening. A switching valve is arranged between the second secondary opening and the outlet such that a fluid connection between the outlet and the second secondary opening can be switched to a fluid connection between the outlet and an inlet provided on the switching valve. The inlet can be connected to a steam line, while simultaneously closing the second secondary opening. A system comprising the valve assembly and a method for operating the system are described.
US09863538B2	Gas turbine engine brush seal with supported tip As assembly is provided for a gas turbine engine. This assembly includes a component and a brush seal. The component includes a first surface and a second surface. The brush seal includes an annular bundle of bristles which extends longitudinally along an axis to a bundle tip. The bundle of bristles axially contacts the first surface at the bundle tip. The bundle of bristles proximate the bundle tip axially overlaps the second surface, and the bundle of bristles is operable to radially contact the second surface.
US09863535B2	Gasket component with half-stop and method of manufacturing A gasket for providing a gas and fluid tight between parts of an internal combustion engine, for example around a combustion chamber opening, is provided. The gasket includes a functional layer with a full embossment spaced from the combustion chamber opening. A stopper layer is attached to the functional layer adjacent the combustion chamber opening. After attaching the stopper layer to the functional layer, half embossments are simultaneously formed in the functional layer and the stopper layer adjacent the combustion chamber opening. The aligned half embossments are together referred to as a half-stop. The half-stop maintains the load on the stopper layer, limits compression on the full embossment, and protects the full embossment from combustion gases when the gasket is compressed between two parts of the internal combustion engine.
US09863533B2	Control device for continuously variable transmission A control apparatus for a continuously variable transmission (1) that includes a belt-type continuously variable transmission mechanism (40) and friction engagement elements (32), (33) is disclosed. The control apparatus includes: an operation position detection section (65) configured to detect an operation position of a selection lever (50); a selection control section (60b) configured to execute a selection control for engaging the friction engagement elements (32), (33) from a time point at which a switching from a non-travel range to a travel range is detected; a determination section (60) configured to determine engagement states of the friction engagement elements (32, 33); and a pulley pressure control section (60c) configured to control a pulley pressure supplied to two pulleys (41), (42). A belt slippage during an engagement of clutches is suppressed while a load on an oil pump is reduced.
US09863530B2	Method and apparatus for controlling shift based on relative speed between host vehicle and preceding vehicle A method of controlling shifts based on a relative speed between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle includes calculating the relative speed between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle based on a speed of the host vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, determining whether a change condition of a shift line before stopping is satisfied, changing the shift line before stopping if the change condition of the shift line before stopping is satisfied, and performing the shift using the shift line before stopping based on a position of an accelerator pedal and the speed of the host vehicle.
US09863528B2	Hydraulic pressure supply system of automatic transmission A hydraulic pressure supply system of an automatic transmission may include a mechanical oil pump driven by an engine to supply the oil stored in the oil pan to a first supply path fluidly-connected to the mechanical oil pump, a switch valve fluidly-connected to the first supply path and selectively supplying oil supplied from the first supply path to the transmission unit through a second supply path fluidly-connected to the switch valve and the transmission unit, a solenoid valve actuator engaged to the switch valve, and an electrical oil pump fluidly connected to the oil pan to pump the oil stored in the oil pan as a second high-pressure hydraulic pressure and supply the oil in the pan to a third supply path fluidly-connected with the second supply path, wherein the first and second hydraulic pressures may be applied to the transmission unit through three operation modes.
US09863524B2	Oil cooler for vehicle An oil cooler for a vehicle may include a header tank partitioned by a diaphragm formed at an inside of a center in a length direction thereof, and adapted to take in a working fluid at a first side and to take out the working fluid at a second side with respect to the diaphragm, a connection tank disposed to be spaced apart from the header tank by a predetermined interval, a plurality of tubes mounted along a length direction at an interior surface of the header tank to connect with the connection tank such that the working fluid flows therethrough, and a bypass valve integrally mounted at an outside of the header tank and connected to the inside of the header tank so as to bypass or flow the working fluid flowing therein into the inflow tank by selectively opening/closing according to a temperature of the working fluid.
US09863522B2	Torque converter clutch release fluid lubrication A torque converter clutch (TCC) release fluid lubrication system for a motor vehicle transmission includes a first fluid line, a second fluid line and a third fluid line. The first fluid line supplies TCC apply fluid to the TCC. The second fluid line receives TCC release fluid from the TCC. And the third fluid line supplies a first lubrication fluid to the transmission. The TCC release fluid and the first lubrication fluid combine into a second lubrication fluid that is fed into the transmission.
US09863521B2	Rack housing manufacturing method and rack housing A manufacturing method includes: forming a tubular portion of a rack housing by press forming from prepregs formed by stacking fiber-reinforced composite materials obtained by impregnating fiber sheets with a thermoplastic resin; and thereafter injecting a thermoplastic resin containing fillers for injection molding to form coupling portions integrated with metal rings. A rack housing is manufactured by the manufacturing method described above.
US09863520B2	Fan drive hub assembly with modular input shaft assembly A fan drive hub assembly having a modular input shaft assembly that includes a rear bearing housing, a front bearing housing, and a coupler that is fixedly coupled to the rear and front bearing housings.
US09863515B2	Self-locking no-back actuator A self-locking actuator for moving a flight control surface of an aircraft and for self-locking in response to an external load applied to the actuator. The actuator includes a motor, a screw, and a drive gear that is rotatably driven by the motor to rotationally couple with the screw. A pawl support is coupled to and rotatable with the screw, and a swivel assembly is coupled to the pawl support for rotational movement with the screw and pivoting movement relative to the screw. The swivel assembly engages a cage that is fixed relative to the rotating screw, drive gear, and swivel assembly. Pivoting of the swivel assembly about a pivot axis engages the swivel assembly with the cage to positively lock with the cage and to prevent rotation of the screw in each of first and second opposite rotational directions of the screw about a rotational axis of the screw.
US09863503B2	Planetary gear train of automatic transmission for vehicles A planetary gear train of an automatic transmission for a vehicle may include an input shaft receiving power of an engine, an output shaft configured to output shifted power, a first planetary gear set including first, second, and third rotation elements, a second planetary gear set including fourth, fifth, and sixth rotation elements, a third planetary gear set including seventh, eighth, and ninth rotation elements, a fourth planetary gear set including tenth, eleventh, and twelfth rotation elements, and six control elements which are disposed between the rotation elements, and disposed at portions where the rotation elements are selectively connected to a transmission housing.
US09863502B2	Automotive multistage transmission An automotive multistage transmission includes four planetary gear sets and six shifting members, and each of the planetary gear sets include three rotary members selectively connected to the six shifting members to transmit torque between input and output shafts, so that the automotive multistage transmission provides ten or more forward shifting stages and one or more rearward shifting stages with few parts and a simple configuration. With this arrangement, the transmission can improve fuel efficiency of a vehicle.
US09863500B2	Gearbox A gearbox includes a main housing, a cover, a worm wheel and an output shaft. The main housing includes a receiving chamber having a bottom and a hub. The cover is mounted to an opening of the receiving chamber. The worm wheel is mounted in the receiving chamber. The output shaft is mounted to a center of the worm wheel and coaxially rotatable with the worm wheel. The output shaft extends outwardly through the hub from the receiving chamber. The hub directly supports either the worm wheel or the output shaft.
US09863498B1	Flywheel assembly for an outboard engine An outboard engine has a cowling defining an engine compartment and an outlet fluidly communicating therewith. An engine housed in the engine compartment includes an engine block and an output shaft defining an output shaft axis, an axial direction, a radial direction and a circumferential direction. An outer end thereof extends outside the engine block. A flywheel mounted thereto rotates therewith. A cover fixed with respect to the engine block defines a chamber housing the flywheel disposed axially between the engine block and the cover, and radially between the output shaft and the cover. The cover includes a channel member defining a channel between a first end and a second end fluidly communicating with the outlet. The channel member defines a cross-sectional area of the channel. A circumferentially-extending portion of the channel is continuous with the chamber and has a cross-sectional area increasing towards the second end.
US09863497B2	Anti-vibration wheel for automobile There is provided an anti-vibration wheel for an automobile, comprising: a disk member connected to an axle hub with a rim member extending from a circumferential edge of the disk member for mounting a tire, the rim member further having: an outer bead seat positioned at an outer end of the rim member where an outer bead of the tire sits, an inner bead seat positioned at an inner end of the rim member where an inner bead of the tire sits, and a well portion which is inclined and extends between the outer bead seat and the inner bead seat, with an outer well portion extending from the outer bead seat and an inner well portion extending from the outer well portion, with the thickness of the outer well portion being greater than the thickness of the inner bead seat which is greater than the thickness of the inner well portion.
US09863492B2	Brake lining mounting for a disc brake A brake lining mounting for a disk brake for a commercial vehicle includes a lining holder and lining holding springs. The lining holder is supported on lining holding springs of brake linings which are arranged in a brake caliper on both sides of a brake disk. The lining holder spans a mounting opening of the brake caliper in an axial direction of the brake disk. The lining holder consists of one or more cables.
US09863488B2	Drum brake operating in simplex mode and/or in servo-dual mode A motor vehicle drum brake (10) includes: two braking segments (18A, 18B); an anchoring element (28) including two bearing surfaces (32A, 32B) of two second ends (24) of the braking segments (18A, 18B); a wheel cylinder (34) which, in a first “simplex” operating mode, is suitable for transversally separating the adjacent first ends (22) of the segments (18A, 18B); the anchoring element (28) including: a fixed body (42) wherein two sliding pistons (50A, 50B) each carry a bearing surface (32A, 32B); and elements (44) for separating the pistons (50A, 50B) between an anchoring position wherein they abut against the body (42), and a sliding position wherein the pistons (32A, 32B) are separated to allow the sliding thereof during operation in so-called “servo-dual” mode.
US09863486B2	Driven accessory A driven accessory that includes an input member, a cover, an output member, a clutch and a clutch actuator. The input member is rotatable about an axis and has a hub, an outer rim, and a radially extending web that couples the hub to the outer rim. The cover is coupled to the input member for common rotation about the axis and cooperates with the input member to define a clutch cavity. The clutch is received in the clutch cavity and selectively transmits rotary power between the input member and the output member. The clutch actuator is selectively operable to change the operational state in which the clutch operates. The clutch actuator has an electromagnetic coil that is disposed outside the clutch cavity. The hub is disposed along the axis between the clutch and the electromagnetic coil.
US09863485B2	Bearing having a wear ring The bearing provides a first bearing ring, a second hearing ring and a wear ring attached to the first bearing ring. The wear ring provides at least one hook cooperating with the first bearing ring for the axial retention of the wear ring relative to the first bearing ring. The first hearing ring further provides at least one centering member projecting into and engaging within a complementarily shaped recess of the wear ring, for angular locking of the wear ring relative to the first bearing ring.
US09863484B2	Friction ring, synchronizer ring, synchronizing unit as well as a variable gear transmission for a vehicle The invention relates to a friction ring (1) for a synchronizing unit (2) of a variable ratio gear transmission. The friction ring (1) comprises a conical friction body having an inner friction surface and an outer installation surface which each bound the friction ring body in a radial peripheral direction extending perpendicular to an axial friction ring axis (4). The friction ring body comprises a projection (9) for restraining a movement of the friction ring (1) relative to a synchronizer ring (7) substantially along the friction axis in operation in the synchronizing unit (2).
US09863482B2	Shaft coupling mechanism for electric power steering apparatus A shaft coupling mechanism 1 for an electric power steering apparatus includes a coupling base body 3 coupled to a rotating shaft 2; a coupling base body 5 coupled to a rotating shaft 4; a rotation transmitting member 8 constituted by a pair of rigid rotation transmitting members 6 and 7 disposed between the rotating shaft 2 and the rotating shaft 4 through both coupling base bodies 3 and 5 and adapted to transmit the rotation of the rotating shaft 2 in an R direction about an axis O to the rotating shaft 4; an elastic member 9 interposed between the rotation transmitting members 6 and 7 and coupled to the rotation transmitting members 6 and 7 in such a manner as to be axially superposed on the rotation transmitting members 6 and 7; and a coupling means 10 for coupling the pair of rotation transmitting members 6 and 7 to each other.
US09863479B2	Device for connecting a steering column to a steering gear housing A device configured to operably couple a steering column to a steering gear housing. The device includes a shaft, a clamping collar and a clamping screw. The clamping collar includes two arms arranged relative to one another so as to define a cavity. The cavity presents an entry zone and a coupling zone into which the shaft is inserted, the shaft first entering the entry zone then entering the coupling zone. The shaft is secured in position by tightening the clamping screw to a set torque, the entry zone being dimensioned in relation to the coupling zone so as to inhibit achieving the set torque of the clamping screw when the shaft is inserted into the entry zone only, and not the coupling zone.
US09863474B2	Bearing assembly with preload A wheel bearing assembly for a vehicle includes at least one rolling-element bearing having a first bearing ring and a second bearing ring defining therebetween a bearing interior, rolling elements disposed in the interior, and a seal assembly for sealing the bearing assembly. The seal assembly includes a sleeve-shaped element connected to the second bearing ring such that the sleeve-shaped element rotates with the second bearing, and the sleeve-shaped element includes a flange that forms an axial stop for the rolling elements. A carrier element is connected to the first bearing ring such the carrier element rotates with the first bearing ring, and the carrier element includes a radially extending annular flange. The radially extending annular flange supports a radially encircling seal having at least one seal lip, and the seal lip extends toward the second bearing ring and sealingly abuts on the sleeve shaped element.
US09863473B2	Sliding parts and processing method of sliding parts The present disclosure provides a processing method for preparing at least one sliding part of a pair of sliding parts, and includes a processing step of forming a shallow groove within a range of depth from 0.05 μm to 5 μm on a sealing face of the sliding part by irradiating an ultrashort pulse laser to a part of the sealing face where a positive pressure generation groove and a negative pressure generation groove are formed and removing part of a surface of the sealing face, wherein an energy fluence of the ultrashort pulse laser used in the processing step is 0.5 J/(cm2·pulse) to 7 J/(cm2·pulse).
US09863467B2	Bearing assembly for use with a rotating machining device A bearing assembly includes a first race having an arcuate configuration and a first set of bearing elements. The first set of bearing elements is arranged to dynamically contact the first race and recirculate within the bearing assembly in a first direction. A second race has an arcuate configuration and is removably secured to the first race. A second set of bearing elements is arranged to dynamically contact the second race and recirculate within the bearing assembly in a second direction opposite the first direction.
US09863464B2	Dust cover A dust cover in which an improvement in sealing performance is achieved. A dust cover 100 used in a ball joint includes a seal main body made of an elastic body and integrally having a body portion 110, a fixed portion 130 that is provided on one end side of the body portion 110, and a seal portion 120 that is provided on the other end side of the body portion 110, and an annular auxiliary seal 150 made of resin and provided in the seal portion 120. The seal portion 120 includes an inner peripheral seal portion and a dust lip 122, and the auxiliary seal 150 includes an auxiliary inner peripheral seal portion 151, an auxiliary dust seal portion, and a supported portion 153 that is supported by a collar fixed to a shaft portion on an opposite side to the auxiliary dust seal portion in an axial direction.
US09863459B2	Threaded fastener lock The present disclosure relates generally to a fastener lock for engaging a threaded fastener. The fastener lock defines a discontinuous circular opening therethrough with at least one extending tab extending into the discontinuous circular opening. When a threaded fastener is disposed in the discontinuous circular opening, the at least one extending tab engages the threads of the threaded fastener.
US09863456B2	Device for compensating offset in automatic locking systems A device for compensating the offset in automatic locking systems for the mounting of blanks comprising a box-like body composed of a T-shaped hollow body and a U-shaped base, which form an inner seat for a frustum-shaped jacket, which is arranged coaxially to the shank of the hollow body and above a piston, which can move transversely to the shank, a traction element being slideably arrangeable in the shank of the hollow body, the traction element cooperating selectively with balls which can be accommodated within openings provided in the shank and within second seats provided on the jacket, elastically compressible elements being arranged between the head of the hollow body and the jacket.
US09863455B2	Pin joint assembly A pin joint assembly for an aircraft landing gear having an elongate joint pin; at least one first lug through which the joint pin passes; and at least one second lug through which the joint pin passes. The joint pin assembly includes first and second retaining elements located at opposite ends of the joint pin and arranged to maintain the location of the joint pin relative to the first and second lugs. At least portion of the pin joint assembly is elastically deformable.
US09863453B2	Mechanical seed coupling An apparatus and method of manufacturing silicon seed rod in which two silicon seeds are joined into one long silicon seed rod by mechanical coupling. A mechanical seed coupler is a body in having an outer wall, an upper surface with an upper aperture, a lower surface with a lower aperture, and an inner wall surrounding an inner space. The mechanical seed couple can be of a shape including a cylinder shape, an elliptical tube shape, a rectangular tube shape and a square tube shape. Furthermore the mechanical seed coupler can be of unitary construction, made from one solid piece of material, or it can be composed of subparts.
US09863451B2	Truss end pad fitting A mechanical fitting for connecting structures may include a base structure and a plate member. The mechanical fitting may also include a support structure for supporting the plate member at a predetermined spacing from the base structure. The support structure may include a truss structure.
US09863449B2	Hydraulic system and a method for controlling a hydraulic system A hydraulic system for a working machine includes a hydraulic actuator and a first hydraulic machine for supplying fluid to the hydraulic actuator. The hydraulic system further includes a hydraulic transformer for supplying fluid to the hydraulic actuator in parallel with the first hydraulic machine, and an accumulator for fluid. The hydraulic transformer includes a first port and a second port and the transformer is adapted to transform a first pressure and a first flow at the first port to a second pressure and a second flow at the second port. The second port of the hydraulic transformer is in fluid communication with the hydraulic actuator and the first port is in communication with the accumulator.
US09863447B2	Master cylinder and master cylinder device An input piston connected to a brake pedal and an output piston which is moved forward to increase a hydraulic pressure in a pressure chamber are fitted to each other telescopically, and an engaging spring is provided between the input piston and the pressure chamber. The output piston is moved forward relative to the input piston by a hydraulic pressure in a rear chamber while compressing the engaging spring. Since a set load of the engaging spring is set at a small value, the output piston is moved forward relative to the input piston in an initial period of a braking operation, making it possible to reduce a stroke of the input piston which is required for a hydraulic pressure in brake cylinders to reach a first set pressure.
US09863444B2	Hydraulic energy recovery system A hydraulic energy recovery system (101) has an output drive unit (103), which can be actuated by a driver (102), and by which a hydraulic motor-pump unit (104) can be driven. In at least one energy feed position, the motor-pump unit supplies an energy storage device (106) and/or working hydraulics (107) with fluid. In a recuperation position, the motor-pump unit discharges fluid under pressure from the energy storage device (106) at least to the working hydraulics (107) and/or is used to actuate the output drive unit (103).
US09863443B2	Multistage ejector A multistage ejector has a nozzle arrangement, which has at least three nozzles which are arranged in series in the direction of a longitudinal axis, wherein the nozzles are designed for passage of a throughflow of a fluid, wherein a fluid gap is provided between adjacent nozzles in each case, wherein at least two of the at least three nozzles are interconnected monolithically to form a nozzle string, and wherein the nozzle string is arranged at least partially in a sleeve and the nozzle string and the sleeve are detachably fastened to each other. The nozzle string and the sleeve are axially fastened to each other by fastening mechanism which acts in a positively locking manner.
US09863442B2	Collapsible/extendable aspirator system An aspirator system is disclosed comprising a collapsible/extendable aspirator air channel, wherein a burstable seal for entrapping air across the exit channel is provided, wherein said entrapped air creates a pressure causing the aspirator to extend to its extended state, whereupon the seal bursts and opens the air channel.
US09863440B2	Submersible pump Submersible pump which comprises: a first motor provided with a first outlet shaft; a pumping body in which an impeller is housed that is fixed to the first outlet shaft of the first motor and drivable by the latter in order to pump a process fluid from a suction mouth to a delivery mouth of the pumping body itself; a support casing fixed to the pumping body and provided, at a lower end thereof, with an inlet opening through which a flow of the process fluid is susceptible to enter into the support casing itself; a dispersion head arranged at the lower end of the support casing and drivable in order to remove detrital material, which is conveyed by the flow of the process fluid into the inlet opening of the support casing.
US09863435B2	Fan unit including vibration suppressing structure and electric motor A fan unit (2) includes a fan housing (3), a fan motor (5) provided in the fan housing, and a partition plate (4) that is attached to a partition plate attachment surface (6a) of the fan housing and that regulates air flow from the fan motor. A protrusion portion (7) is provided on the partition plate attachment surface of the fan housing.
US09863430B2	Cooling unit of air compressor for fuel cell vehicle An air compressor for a fuel cell vehicle includes a volute housing, an impeller mounted to the volute housing, and a motor driving the impeller and cooling the motor and bearings that support a rotation shaft of the motor using air at an outlet side of the impeller. The air compressor has a cooling unit including: a coolant channel provided in plural along a radial direction in a motor housing that is coupled to the volute housing and through which a coolant flows; and a cooled air channel formed between coolant channels of the motor housing and through which the air flows.
US09863425B2	Pump system A pump system for a water supply mains has at least one pump device, a pressure detecting sensor at the pressure side of the pump device, a flow detecting sensor of the pump device, several pressure sensor units (D) remote arranged remotely from the pump device in different part regions of the mains, and a pump control device. The control device includes a model formation module designed in each case to produce a model (A) representing pressure loss from the pressure sensor to the position of the respective pressure sensor unit (D), based on several pressure measured values of at least two pressure sensor units (D) for the at least two associated part regions. The control device is designed for regulation of the pump device based on produced models (A), as well as to a corresponding method for regulation of a pump device in a water supply mains.
US09863421B2	Pulsation dampening assembly The present disclosure provides a pulsation dampening assembly for a compressor having an outlet port configured for supplying compressed refrigerant from a compression mechanism of the compressor. The pulsation dampening assembly includes a pulsating disc and a spring. The pulsating disc and the spring are disposed within the outlet port. The pulsating disc includes a plurality of apertures in fluid communication with the compression mechanism. The spring includes a first end engaging the pulsating disc and a second end engaging the outlet port. The pulsating disc is translatably disposed within the outlet port between an operative state and an inoperative state.
US09863417B2	Variable displacement vane pump A variable displacement vane pump is provided. This pump includes a pump housing including, a driving shaft, a rotor, a plurality of vanes, a cam support surface, a cam ring, an intake port formed at the pump housing, a discharge port formed at the pump housing, and a cam ring control mechanism disposed at the pump housing and configured to control an eccentric amount of the cam ring with respect to the rotor. The cam support surface is formed in such a manner that a shortest distance between the cam support surface and a reference line decreases from a second confining region side toward a first confining region side, and the cam ring is formed in such a manner that a cam profile radius change rate decreases first and then increases again on the second confining region side when eccentric amount of the cam ring is maximized.
US09863415B2	Pumping assembly A pumping assembly includes a hydraulic pump having a hydraulic ram tied to a reciprocating annular piston having a central bore. When the annular piston moves in an upward direction, the hydraulic ram moves toward an extended position extending from the housing. When the annular piston moves in a downward direction, the hydraulic ram moves toward a retracted position retracted within the housing. A polish rod extends up through the central bore of the annular piston and is held in position by a polish rod clamp positioned on top of the hydraulic ram. The polish rod moves with the hydraulic ram. Other pumping systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.
US09863409B2	Tamper resistant hand-operated pneumatic pump An Example can include an elongate pump barrel extending along a length and defining an elongate hollow piston chamber. The Example can include a piston slidably movable within the piston chamber to compress air within the piston chamber. The Example can include a piston rod connected to the piston. The Example can include a handle connected to the piston rod to reciprocally slide the piston in the piston chamber. The Example can include a piston rod seal disposed around the piston rod and coupled with the elongate pump barrel. The Example can include a downward opening air intake passage, located away from the rod seal, in fluid communication with a top of the piston.
US09863408B2	Slipper retainer for hydraulic unit A slipper retainer of a hydraulic unit having a circular body having a back surface and an outer edge, the circular body defining a diameter of about 2.240 inches (5.629 cm), a central aperture through a center of the circular body, the circular body having a curved surface defining an edge of the central aperture, wherein the curved surface is defined by a sphere that is centered at a point located a distance of about 0.209 inches (0.531 cm) from the back surface of the body, and a plurality of slipper apertures located between the curved surface of the circular body and the outer edge of the circular body, wherein each slipper aperture of the plurality of slipper apertures has a diameter of about 0.464 inches (1.179 cm).
US09863405B2	Circulatory osmotic pressure electric power generation system and method, phase control method for working medium, and working medium for circulatory osmotic pressure electric power generation An embodiment provides a working medium to be used in a circular osmotic pressure electric power generation system. The working medium comprises water and an inducing-liquid. The working medium, under conditions of a temperature of 5° C. to 35° C. and a pressure of 1 atmosphere, is in (1) a state of a liquid-liquid mutually dissolved two-component mixed solution when a concentration of the water or the inducing-liquid in the total amount of the water and the inducing-liquid is 10% by weight or lower, and (2) a state of being separated into the water phase and the inducing-liquid phase when the concentration of the water or the inducing-liquid in the total amount of the water and the inducing-liquid is higher than 10% by weight.
US09863397B2	Machine for generating power by rotating metal pinwheels via hydraulic and gravitational forces A machine for generating power by rotating metal pinwheels via hydraulic and gravitational forces. The metallic pinwheel structure is made from six to eight metal embedded projectiles projecting 20 feet outward from a closed metallic circular pool structure. Metallic pinwheel structures are installed on a seven inch perforated metal pipe that acts as an axle. A 150 gal tank filled with any fluid provides the fuel source for the motor. A water pump circulates the fluid through out the closed piping network with out any fluid loss. Barrel structures attached to the ends of the projectiles are top filled by the pumped fluids. The Fluid filled barrels become heavy when filled and exert downward forces with the assistance of gravity rotating the pinwheel structure. While the pinwheel structure is rotating a wired transmission and motor wired near the axle connects to a generator producing power.
US09863394B2	Fluid turbine A fluid turbine 65 is provided, including a rotor 16, including a vertical rotation axis 12, on which at least two rotor blades 18, 20, 22 are arranged, wherein the rotor 16 is arranged within a housing 70, wherein a top 72 and a bottom 74 of the housing 70 are arranged essentially vertical to the rotation axis 12. Each rotor blade 18, 20, 22 has at least a first height 68 at a second distance 69 parallel to the rotation axis 12 and the second height 66 at a second distance 67 parallel to the rotation axis 12, wherein the first distance 69 and the first height 68 are smaller than the second distance 67 and the second height 66, wherein the rotor 16 is rotatable relative to the housing 70. Due to the design of the housing 70, the fluid turbine 65 has particularly high efficiency.
US09863391B2	Ignition device An embodiment of an ignition device comprises an ignition coil including a first winding and a second winding electromagnetically coupled to each other, a first switch electrically connected to a first end of the first winding, a battery electrically connected to a second end of the first winding, a booster with a first end electrically connected to the battery, a second switch electrically connected to a second end of the booster and to the second end of the first winding, and a drive device electrically connected to the first switch, that turns the first switch and the second switch on and off. The drive device feeds a secondary current to the second winding by changing the first switch from an on-state to an off-state, and supplies an output from the booster to the first winding by changing the second switch from an off-state to an on-state.
US09863388B2	Holding device for fastening a fuel distributor to an internal combustion engine A holding device is used for fastening a fuel distributor to an internal combustion engine. A plurality of holding elements is provided, which are able to be fixed in place on the internal combustion engine via a fastener. A cable guide is provided in addition. The holding elements are connected to the cable guide. In addition, a system having such a holding device and a fuel distributor for conveying fuel are provided.
US09863382B2	High pressure oil pump roller tappet A high-pressure oil pump roller tappet, used for automobile fuel injection system, mounted between the driving cam and the tappet. The roller tappet includes a shell, a holder, a roller, and a pin. Planes A are arranged on both sides of the seam on lateral sides of the shell. Holes I are arranged at symmetrical positions on two planes A. Holes II are arranged on symmetrical positions on vertical plates. The roller is located in the middle of the pin. Welding has no requirement on the thickness of the plate. The weight can be controlled effectively, reducing inertia force, friction, and wear, improving engine efficiency. The shell and holder are designed as being separate, ensuring that the shell subjects to lateral force as little as possible when the holder subjects to a force, such that the shell is less likely to vibrate. Thus, the shell avoids the abrasion.
US09863381B2	Frequency to voltage converter using gate voltage sampling of power oscillator A frequency-to-voltage (F2V) conversion module includes a pulse shaping module that generates a square wave signal based on an oscillator signal, an edge to pulse conversion module that generates a pulse train based on corresponding rising and falling edges of the square wave signal, and an integrator module that generates an output voltage based on the pulse train. The output voltage is based on a frequency of the oscillator signal.
US09863380B2	Fuel injection valve When injection-hole inlets and injection-hole outlets are projected vertically onto an X-Y plane (N) perpendicular to a valve-seat axial center, an injection-hole arrangement angle (θ), which is formed by a straight line (a) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet of a reference injection hole and the valve-seat axial center and a straight line (b) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet of the injection hole neighboring the reference injection hole and the valve-seat axial center on the plane (N), is set so as to become smaller as being closer to a Y-axis. A fuel turn angle (α) on a wide-angle side, which is formed by the straight line (a) and a straight line (c) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet and a center of the injection-hole outlet on the plane (N), has a relationship: 90°<α<180°.
US09863379B2	Valve for regeneration in turbocharger operation An arrangement that is as simple as possible and that has very few lines, has a valve with a base element having a regeneration nozzle in which a regeneration channel is formed, having an outflow nozzle in which an outflow channel is formed, and having a drive flow nozzle in which a Venturi tube is accommodated, whereby the regeneration channel, the outflow channel and the Venturi tube are flow-connected is characterized in that a closeable bypass channel is provided which opens up into the drive flow nozzle and which is configured there in such a way that a fluid that is flowing in through the regeneration channel can be discharged through the Venturi tube as well as through the bypass channel.
US09863375B2	Device and method for diagnosing evaporated fuel processing device An evaporated fuel processing apparatus includes a blocking valve configured to selectively allow and shut off communication between a canister and a fuel tank, and adsorbs evaporated fuel by the canister by opening the blocking valve during fuel filling, wherein the evaporated fuel occurs in the fuel tank, and performs a purge operation of introducing purge gas into an intake air line of an internal combustion engine with the blocking valve closed while the internal combustion engine is operating, wherein the purge gas contains a fuel component released from the canister. A diagnostic apparatus is configured to diagnose whether or not the blocking valve is abnormal, based on sensing of evaporated fuel flowing through the blocking valve while the purge operation is being performed.
US09863366B2	Exhaust nozzle apparatus and method for multi stream aircraft engine A multi stream aircraft fixed geometry nozzle includes an inner nozzle, an outer nozzle, and a supersonic ejector. The outer nozzle is configured to channel a third stream from an aft end of a third stream duct surrounding a bypass duct of a multi stream aircraft engine to the supersonic ejector to merge the third stream with the primary stream. The fixed geometry nozzle is configured to operate between an SFC mode and a thrust mode such that, when the inner nozzle accelerates the primary stream supersonically to the supersonic ejector, at which the primary stream is merged with the third stream, in the SFC mode the total pressure of the primary stream is substantially the same as the total pressure of the third stream, and in the thrust mode the total pressure of the primary stream is substantially greater than the total pressure of the third stream.
US09863362B2	Piston A piston, (1) incorporates a pair of tear-drop shaped springs (6) acting, in use, between the crown (2) of the piston and an associated connecting rod (4) so as to bias the connecting rod away from the piston crown (2). The springs (6) are supported by support members (7 and 8), the springs being located substantially in the region of the piston crown (2). A carrier (5) is positioned within the piston (1), the carrier being slidably mounted within the piston for axial movement relative thereto, and being connected to the connecting rod (4) in such a manner that the springs (6) permit the carrier (5) to move axially relative to the piston crown (2). The springs (6) are made of a beta titanium alloy such as gum metal.
US09863359B2	Method of controlling an injection dwell time between two injections of a fuel injector A system and method of controlling the hydraulic dwell time between a first injection and a second injection performed by a fuel injector of an internal combustion engine are disclosed, in which the injector is equipped with a needle operated by a control valve. A value of a nominal electric dwell time between the first injection and the second injection is determined. An actual instant of hydraulic closing of the fuel injector after the first injection is also determined. A corrected electric dwell time is calculated as a function of the nominal electric dwell time and the actual instant of hydraulic closing of the fuel injector after the first injection. The fuel injector is operated using the corrected electric dwell time.
US09863355B2	Magnetic force based actuator control An electromagnetic actuation system includes an actuator having an electrical coil, a magnetic core, and an armature. The system further includes a controllable drive circuit for selectively driving current through the electrical coil. A control module provides an actuator command to the drive circuit effective to drive current through the electrical coil to actuate the armature. The control module includes a magnetic force control module configured to adapt the actuator command to converge magnetic force within the actuator to a preferred force level.
US09863354B2	Exhaust purification system of internal combustion engine An exhaust purification system comprises an exhaust purification catalyst, a downstream side air-fuel ratio sensor and a control device. The control device makes the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas change to an air-fuel ratio at a rich side from the prior air-fuel ratio as air-fuel ratio rich increasing control when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is made a rich air-fuel ratio and the output air-fuel ratio of the downstream side air-fuel ratio sensor is maintained at a lean judged air-fuel ratio or more, and judges that the downstream side air-fuel ratio sensor suffers from an abnormality, when, due to the air-fuel ratio rich increasing control, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is made to change to the rich side air-fuel ratio and the output air-fuel ratio of the downstream side air-fuel ratio sensor changes to the lean side.
US09863353B2	Methods and systems for estimating an air-fuel ratio with a variable voltage oxygen sensor Methods and systems are provided for estimating an exhaust air/fuel ratio based on outputs from an exhaust oxygen sensor. In one example, a method may include adjusting engine operation based on an air-fuel ratio estimated based on an output of the exhaust oxygen sensor and a learned correction factor. For example, the oxygen sensor may operate in a variable voltage mode in which a reference voltage of the oxygen sensor may be adjusted between a lower first voltage and a higher second voltage, and the learned correction factor is based on the second voltage.
US09863350B2	Start control device of homogeneous-charge compression ignition engine When a predetermined restart condition is satisfied after an engine is automatically stopped, whether or not a piston of a stopped-in-compression-stroke cylinder which is in a compression stroke falls within a specific range set at a bottom dead center side of a predetermined upper limit position is determined. When the piston of the stopped-in-compression-stroke cylinder falls within the specific range, a first compression start is executed in which fuel is injected from an injector into the stopped-in-compression-stroke cylinder for the first time and is then self-ignited. In the first compression start, a start timing of a first fuel injection operation with respect to the stopped-in-compression-stroke cylinder is set to be earlier as a stop position of the piston of the cylinder gets closer to the bottom dead center within the specific range.
US09863348B2	Method for controlling fuel of a spark ignited engine while regenerating a particulate filter A system for filtering and oxidizing particulate matter produced by a gasoline direct injection engine is disclosed. In one embodiment, engine cylinder air-fuel is adjusted to allow soot to oxidize at an upstream particulate filter while exhaust gases are efficiently processed in a downstream catalyst.
US09863344B2	Methods and systems to control exhaust gas recirculation A system includes an engine comprising an EGR valve that recirculates a portion of exhaust gas, a data repository that stores a first look up and one or more engine operational parameters, an engine control unit operationally coupled to the engine and the data repository, wherein the engine control unit is configured to: determine a desired EGR flow rate reference of the portion of the exhaust gas based on the one or more engine operational parameters and the first look up table, determine a current estimated EGR flow rate based on the one or more engine operational parameters, determine a designated corrected EGR flow rate reference based on the desired EGR flow rate reference and a delta EGR flow rate, determine EGR flow rate error, and determine a percentage opening of the EGR valve based at least on the EGR flow rate error.
US09863342B2	System and method for controlling an engine air-fuel ratio Various methods and systems are provided for adjusting an air-fuel ratio for combustion in an engine. In one embodiment, a method for an engine (e.g., a method for controlling an engine system) comprises responding to a sensed change in a load on the engine, or indications of engine knock or misfire, by one or more of: altering a speed of the engine, adjusting a fueling flow rate into at least one cylinder of the engine, and adjusting a position of a valve in a bypass passage configured to direct compressed intake air away from cylinders of the engine to obtain a determined air-fuel ratio; and thereby maintaining an air-fuel ratio in a determined range.
US09863338B2	Engine control apparatus When a difference between a target intake air amount during the reduced-cylinder operation, which is greater than a target intake air amount during the all-cylinder operation in a normal state, and an actual intake air amount is greater than an allowable deficient intake air amount, a preparatory control for increasing the actual intake air amount and shifting an ignition timing toward a retard side with respect to an ignition timing during the all-cylinder operation in the normal state. Then, at a time when the difference between the target intake air amount and the actual intake air amount becomes equal to or less than the allowable deficient intake air amount, the reduced-cylinder operation is started, wherein the allowable deficient intake air amount is set to a larger value when a current speed stage is a high speed stage than when it is a low speed stage.
US09863337B2	Systems for regeneration of a gasoline particulate filter A system includes a soot module, a coordinator module, a regeneration module, and actuator modules. The soot module determines a current amount of soot mass in a particulate filter of a gasoline engine, where the particulate filter is downstream from the gasoline engine and receives an exhaust gas from the gasoline engine. The coordinator module generates an enable signal, a torque reserve signal, and an equivalence ratio. The regeneration module, based on the current amount of soot mass and the enable signal, generates a regeneration signal to regenerate the particulate filter. The actuator modules, based on the regeneration signal, the torque reserve signal and the equivalence ratio, retard spark and increase an amount of air flow to the particulate filter. The actuators maintain a same amount of torque out of the gasoline engine during regeneration as output from the gasoline engine prior to the regeneration of the particulate filter.
US09863336B2	System and method for estimating ambient humidity Methods and systems are provided for estimating ambient humidity based on a wet bulb temperature and a dry bulb temperature during precipitation, and estimating ambient humidity based on the dry bulb temperature and not based on wet bulb temperature when precipitation is absent.
US09863334B2	Drive control apparatus for prime mover A drive control apparatus in which the target torque which is a target value of an output torque of the prime mover for driving a vehicle, is calculated, and the output torque control is performed so that the output torque of the prime mover coincides with the target torque, is provided. An estimated output torque which is an estimated value of the actual output torque of the prime mover, is calculated, and the torque difference accumulated value which approximates a time-integration value of a torque difference between the target torque and the estimated output torque, is calculated. It is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the output torque control when the torque difference accumulated value exceeds a determination threshold value which is set to a constant value.
US09863329B2	Throttle valve and internal combustion engine comprising such a throttle valve The present invention relates to a throttle valve adapted to equip an air intake system in an internal combustion engine, in particular an explosion engine. The throttle valve comprises: a body delimiting an air intake pipe; a valve member mounted rotatably in the pipe about an axis of rotation and comprising a spherical portion shutting off the pipe in the closed configuration; means for moving the valve member in rotation about the axis of rotation between different configurations of the throttle valve; and a bearing ring which receives a spherical outer surface of the valve member in sliding bearing contact. The throttle valve is characterized in that it also comprises a seal which is elastically deformable, which is arranged between the body and the bearing ring and which is adapted to take up forces to which the valve member and the bearing ring are subjected during a back-fire through the pipe. The invention also relates to an internal combustion engine, in particular an explosion engine, comprising such a throttle valve.
US09863325B2	Assembly for aircraft turbine engine and method for mounting same An assembly for an aircraft turbine engine, including a rolling bearing bracket defining an inner space on either side thereof; a rotary assembly including a first gear; a housing for drawing mechanical power including a second gear mating with the first gear; a shaft for drawing mechanical power, inserted into the housing and rotated by the second gear, the shaft passing through a first opening of the bracket. The assembly includes a mounting device for mounting the housing on the bearing bracket, the mounting device passing through a second opening via the bracket, the mounting device passing through a second opening via the bracket, the second opening being configured so as to allow the housing to be inserted into the space.
US09863318B2	Thermal management system for gas turbine engine A method of thermal management for a gas turbine engine comprising selectively positioning a valve to communicate a bypass flow into either an Environmental Control System (ECS) pre-cooler or an Air Oil Cooler (AOC) “peaker” through a common inlet.
US09863314B2	Carbon dioxide membrane separation system in coal gasification process, and integrated coal gasification combined cycle power generation facility using same The carbon dioxide membrane separation system in a coal gasification process contains introduction of a mixed gas of hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in a high temperature and high pressure condition generated through water gas shift reaction from a water gas shift reaction furnace, while maintaining the temperature and pressure condition, to a zeolite membrane module containing a zeolite membrane for removing carbon dioxide, thereby removing carbon dioxide and generating a fuel gas rich in hydrogen. The fuel gas rich in hydrogen in a high temperature and high pressure condition discharged from the zeolite membrane module is fed to a gas turbine of the power generation facility while maintaining the temperature and pressure condition.
US09863309B2	Method and system for using the by-product of electrolysis An engine system for generating hydrogen and oxygen, and a method using a by-product of electrolysis, for use in an internal combustion engine to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. The engine system has an electrolysis cell for generating hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis of an aqueous solution, a battery as a source of power for providing electrical power to the electrolysis cell, and cooling system for maintaining the temperature of the electrolysis cell to reduce problems associated with overheating of the cell during electrolysis. The engine system traps sludge generated during hydrolysis in a filter. The sludge is released from the filter by agitation, resulting in a gas containing the sludge which is then used during combustion to improve fuel efficiency. The novel reconfiguration of existing engine parts and introduction of new features results in a less expensive, cleaner and more efficient hydrogen powered engine.
US09863306B2	Engine restart aid A system is disclosed comprising an engine having coolant passages defined therethrough, a first coolant pump, and a first radiator. The system additionally comprises a second coolant pump, a second radiator, and a liquid-to-air heat exchanger configured to condition the temperature of intake air to the engine. The system further includes a coolant valve means. For a first configuration of the coolant valve means the first coolant pump is configured to urge coolant through the coolant passages in the engine and through the first radiator, and the second coolant pump is configured to urge coolant through the liquid-to-air heat exchanger and through the second radiator. For a second configuration of the coolant valve means the second coolant pump is configured to urge coolant through the coolant passages in the engine and through the liquid-to-air heat exchanger. A method for controlling the system is also disclosed.
US09863301B2	Filter fault detection apparatus A filter fault detection apparatus for a filter mounted on an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine for collecting particulate matter includes a sensor mounted on the exhaust passage downstream of the filter. The sensor includes an insulative sensor element formed with a pair of electrodes on which particulate matter is collected, the sensor generating a sensor output corresponding to an amount of particulate matter collected on the sensor element when the electrodes become electrically conductive therebetween, causing the sensor output to rise. The apparatus further includes an acquiring unit that acquires, as an output variation, a temporal variation of the sensor output after rise of the sensor output, and a fault determination unit that performs a fault detection process for detecting presence of a fault in the filter based on the output variation of the sensor output to determine whether the filter is normal or faulty.
US09863299B2	Engine exhaust treatment device There is provided an engine exhaust treatment device in which stick of a nozzle portion of a urea water injector can be suppressed. The engine exhaust treatment device includes: an SCR catalyst case housing an SCR catalyst; an SCR exhaust inlet pipe; and the urea water injector and the nozzle portion of the urea water injector is directed toward an inside of the SCR exhaust inlet pipe. An exhaust deflector is provided in the SCR exhaust inlet pipe and the exhaust deflector is mounted to an inner peripheral face of the SCR exhaust inlet pipe on an exhaust upstream side of the urea water injector so that exhaust flowing toward the nozzle portion of the urea water injector is deflected by the exhaust deflector and diverted from the nozzle portion.
US09863298B2	Compression ignition engine system with improved regeneration via controlled ash deposits An engine system includes an electronically controlled compression ignition engine configured to burn diesel fuel and a high ash oil to produce an exhaust with a temperature and NOx to soot ratio as well as a controlled level of ash deposits on the particulate filter of the system. An aftertreatment system is fluidly connected to the engine and includes a diesel oxidation catalyst, a reductant supply, and a diesel particulate filter coated with a NOx reduction catalyst. The soot load density on the diesel particulate filter can be stabilized by oxidizing soot at about a same rate as the compression ignition engine is supplying soot to the aftertreatment system.
US09863296B2	Centrifugal separator having oil coating on sidewalls A centrifugal separator for cleaning crankcase gas, containing oil, from an internal combustion engine, includes a stationary casing defining a separation space and including a first end portion, an opposite second end portion and an inner wall surface facing the separation space. The separator also includes an inlet channel for the gas to be cleaned, a gas outlet channel for the cleaned gas and an oil outlet for the separated the oil. A centrifuge rotor is provided in the separation space and includes a spindle and a plurality of separation discs carried by the spindle. The centrifuge rotor is rotated to create a rotating gas volume. An oil supply device supplies such a quantity of oil to the separation space that a flowing oil film is created on the inner wall surface during operation of the centrifugal separator.
US09863295B2	Engine unit An engine unit includes an engine body, a crankshaft, and an oil tank. The engine body includes a cylinder unit and a crankcase. The crankshaft is accommodated in the crankcase and extends in the horizontal or substantially horizontal direction. The oil tank is located at a lateral portion of the engine body. The oil tank includes a tank body, a first component, and a second component. The first component is separate from the tank body and is joined to the tank body. The second component is separate from the tank body and is joined to the tank body. A first joint surface between the tank body and the first component extends in a direction different from that of a second joint surface between the tank body and the second component.
US09863289B2	CVVT apparatus for engine A continuous variable valve timing apparatus for an engine includes: a housing, a rotor installed to be rotatable relative to the housing and connected to a camshaft, a locking pin configured to restrict rotation of the rotor relative to the housing when pushed by an elastic force to move linearly and pass through a relatively rotating surface between the housing and the rotor, an elastic member installed to provide the elastic force, a valve bolt coupled to the camshaft through the housing and the rotor, wherein the valve bolt includes a release passage through which a release pressure provided through the camshaft is transferred to the locking pin via the rotor, and a valve means for selectively blocking or unblocking the release passage, and an actuator installed to actuate the valve means of the valve bolt according to an actuation displacement.
US09863288B2	Valve opening and closing timing control device A valve opening and closing timing control device includes: a driving-side rotating body including a sprocket around which a rotating body interlocked with a driving shaft of an internal combustion engine is wound and rotates in synchronization with the driving shaft; a driven-side rotating body supported by an inside of the driving-side rotating body to be rotatable coaxially with the same rotational axis and integrally rotating with a valve opening and closing cam shaft; a bolt inserted into the driven-side rotating body to fix the driven-side rotating body to the cam shaft; a fluid pressure chamber formed by being partitioned between the driving-side and driven-side rotating bodies; and a control valve switching supplying and discharging of a hydraulic fluid with respect to the fluid pressure chamber such that a relative rotational phase of the driven-side rotating body with respect to the driving-side rotating body is changed.
US09863282B2	Automated mass management control Embodiments of the invention generally provide a heat engine system, a mass management system (MMS), and a method for regulating pressure in the heat engine system while generating electricity. In one embodiment, the MMS contains a tank fluidly coupled to a pump, a turbine, a heat exchanger, an offload terminal, and a working fluid contained in the tank at a storage pressure. The working fluid may be at a system pressure proximal an outlet of the heat exchanger, at a low-side pressure proximal a pump inlet, and at a high-side pressure proximal a pump outlet. The MMS contains a controller communicably coupled to a valve between the tank and the heat exchanger outlet, a valve between the tank and the pump inlet, a valve between the tank and the pump outlet, and a valve between the tank and the offload terminal.
US09863279B2	Multipurpose support system for a gas turbine A system includes a gas turbine engine and a multipurpose gas turbine engine support frame couple to the gas turbine engine. The multipurpose gas turbine support frame is configured to support the gas turbine engine during both operation and transport of the gas turbine engine.
US09863276B2	Actuator housing for ram air turbine deployment actuator An actuator housing is provided. The actuator housing may comprise a body, and a first side of the body including a first pin interface and a first threaded hole clocked relative to the first pin interface. The first pin interface and the first threaded hole may be configured to interface with a solenoid housing. A second side of the body may be orthogonal to the first side. The second side may include a circular geometry with a cylindrical member disposed central to the circular geometry. A toggle assembly interface may be recessed in the second side and disposed within the cylindrical member.
US09863273B2	Isostatic suspension of a turbojet by rear double support The invention relates to a bypass turbojet comprising an exhaust housing having a central hub (13) and connecting means (11) that can transmit the forces generated by the turbojet to the structure of the aircraft that it propels, said connection means being two arms extending radially from the central hub in order to cross the cold flow of said turbojet and being characterized in that they are secured to said central hub and positioned in a diametrically opposed manner in relation to each other. An additional connection means (14) extends between the hub (13) and the area (9) for securing the exhaust housing to the structure (12) of the aircraft in order to transmit the exceptional dimensioning loads, said connection means being on standby during normal use, without any transmission of force between said hub and said area.
US09863270B2	Turbomachine casing A turbomachine casing including a substantially cylindrical wall and an annular one-piece acoustic insulation panel mounted inside the wall, the panel including an annular surface that is radially external opposite a radially internal annular surface of the wall, wherein the wall includes on its internal angular surface first projecting members which bear axially against second projecting members belonging to the external annular surface of the panel and which are fixed to these second members in a dismountable manner.
US09863269B2	System for packaging electronic components in a rotatable shaft A system for packaging electronic components in a rotatable shaft includes an annular carrier shaft having a first end that is axially spaced from a second end and an inner surface that is radially spaced from an outer surface, and a plurality of transmitter assemblies annularly arranged within the carrier shaft. Each transmitter assembly includes a transmitter housing radially supported within the carrier shaft via a pair of circumferentially spaced rail members. Each transmitter assembly comprises a daughter board that extends laterally and longitudinally across a bottom portion of the transmitter housing and at least one electronic component electrically coupled to the daughter board. The electronic component extends substantially perpendicular to the daughter board within the transmitter housing.
US09863266B2	Waste heat recovery system for a power source The present disclosure is directed to a waste heat recovery system used in conjunction with a power source system. A pump may pressurize a working fluid to a set pressure threshold and feed the working fluid through a fluid flow path. An evaporator and a condenser may each connect to the fluid flow path. Connected to each the evaporator and the condenser may be a turbine able to receive the working fluid when the working fluid is above the set pressure threshold and a predetermined thermal threshold. An electric machine having a motor mode or a generator mode may then attach to the turbine. Attached to the other end of the turbine may be a shaft coupling also attached to the pump. The pump may be powered by the electric machine operating in a motor mode through the shaft coupling to provide pressure to the waste heat recovery system.
US09863263B2	Turbine wheel for a turbine engine A turbine wheel for a turbine engine is provided. The turbine wheel includes a disk carrying blades including internal channels for passing a flow of cooling air, each blade having a platform carrying an airfoil and connected by a tang to a root. The blade roots are engaged in grooves in the periphery of the disk and their tangs define between them spaces for housing sealing and damping members, which cooperate with the inside faces of the platforms to define air flow cavities. The tangs of at least some of the blades include cooling air outlet orifices that open out both into internal channels in the blades and into the cavities.
US09863261B2	Component retention with probe A gas turbine engine includes a casing, a probe, and a fairing. The probe extends through the casing and the fairing is disposed within the casing. The fairing is engaged by the probe to prevent circumferential movement of the fairing relative to the casing.
US09863260B2	Hybrid nozzle segment assemblies for a gas turbine engine A nozzle segment assembly for a gas turbine engine may generally include inner and outer ring support segments and a nozzle fairing positioned between the inner and outer ring support segments. The nozzle fairing may be formed from a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) material and may include both an outer endwall and an inner endwall. In addition, the nozzle fairing may include a strut vane extending between the inner and outer endwalls. The nozzle segment assembly may also include a metallic strut extending through the strut vane between the outer and inner ring supports and at least one secondary vane configured to be received through at least one of the outer endwall or the inner endwall of the nozzle fairing such that the at least one secondary vane extends between the inner and outer endwalls at a location adjacent to the strut vane.
US09863255B2	Impingement cooling of turbine blades or vanes A turbine assembly having a hollow aerofoil and impingement device, the aerofoil having a first side wall from leading to trailing edge and a cavity arranged a distance to an inner surface of the cavity for impingement cooling and a flow channel for cooling medium from the leading to trailing edge, the impingement device has first and second pieces arranged side by side, the second piece downstream of the first forming a first flow passage providing passage from one side of the aerofoil towards an opposite side. A blocking element is arranged in the flow channel between the second piece and first side wall at a suction side for blocking flow of cooling medium from leading to trailing edge denying access to a section of the flow channel downstream of the blocking element while directing cooling medium in the first flow passage away from the suction side towards pressure side.
US09863252B2	Single-piece blisk for turbomachine fan comprising an upstream and/or downstream recess making its blades more flexible The invention relates to a single-piece fan blisk (14) for a turbojet, this blisk (14) comprising a hub (16) with a general shape of revolution about a rotation axis (AX) and comprising an external peripheral face (18) of revolution extending radially towards the rotation axis at an upstream face (19) and a downstream face both of which are in the form of rings. This hub (16) supports radially oriented blades (17) at its external peripheral face (18), each comprising a base through which it is connected to this external peripheral face (18), each blade (17) having a leading edge (22) and a trailing edge (23) that are radially oriented. The spacing between the upstream face (19) and the downstream face of the hub (16) along the rotation axis (AX) is less than the distance separating the leading edge (22) from the trailing edge (23) of each blade.
US09863251B2	Turbomachine and turbomachine stage A turbomachine stage includes guide vanes and an airfoil platform forming a guide vane cascade, and rotor blades and an airfoil platform forming a rotor blade cascade. Airfoil platforms have cascade regions extending between circumferentially adjacent airfoils, and gap regions which radially and/or axially bound an axial gap extending axially between the guide vane cascade and the rotor blade cascade. A contour of at least one of these gap regions varies in the radial and/or axial direction around the circumference. A maximum extent of this contour in the radial direction toward the spoke-like pattern is circumferentially spaced from an airfoil edge of this cascade by no more than 50% of the cascade pitch, a maximum variation in the radial direction being no more than 50% of the cascade pitch and/or a maximum extent in the axial direction away from the spoke-like pattern is circumferentially spaced from an airfoil edge of this cascade by no more than 50% of the cascade pitch, a maximum variation in the axial direction being no more than 50% of the cascade pitch.
US09863247B2	Floor milling machine The present invention relates to a ground milling machine, in particular a road milling machine, a recycler, a stabilizer or a surface miner, comprising a milling drum with a milling drum width (a) extending along its rotational axis and with at least two chiseling devices, each of which comprises a chisel and a chisel holder, and a sensor device for determining wear on the at least two chiseling devices in a contactless manner, said sensor device comprising a sensor for measuring a wear parameter of the at least two chiseling devices, the sensor being movable at least over a part of the milling drum width (a) in order to set an identical measurement angle (α) and an identical position of the sensor relative to the at least two chiseling devices in order to measure the wear parameter of the at least two chiseling devices. The present invention further relates to a method for determining wear on the at least two chiseling devices of the ground milling machine in a contactless manner.
US09863246B2	Methods and apparatus for oil sample analysis using J-edit nuclear magnetic resonance A hydrocarbon sample is subjected to a chemically selective J-editing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) pulse sequence. Resulting signals are analyzed in order to identify a coupling frequency present in at least one molecule of the hydrocarbon sample. A J-coupling frequency of approximately 150 Hz is indicative of a component having an internal double bonded carbon atom (i.e., an olefin). The presence of an olefin in a hydrocarbon sample can be indicative of the presence of a synthetic based mud (SBM) in the sample.
US09863245B2	Device useful as a borehole fluid sampler The present invention provides a device comprising: (a) a proximal end of the device comprises an inner first conduit within the lumen of an outer second conduit, (b) a distal end of the device comprises the outer second conduit in fluid communication with a third conduit and a fourth conduit through a Y-shaped, T-shaped or U-shaped junction, (c) the third conduit terminates in a triggering mechanism, and (d) the fourth conduit is in fluid communication through a one-way valve, wherein fluid can only convey in a direction from the fourth conduit towards the second outer conduit, with an aperture.
US09863244B2	Downhole fluid properties analysis probe, tool and method A downhole fluid properties optical analysis probe (1) to analyze at least one property of a multiphase flow mixture (100) flowing in a hydrocarbon well (51) has an elongated cylindrical body shape and comprises an optical tip (5) at one end of the elongated cylindrical body arranged to be in contact with the multiphase flow mixture (100), and an optoelectronics module (11) at another end of the elongated cylindrical body arranged to be separated from the multiphase flow mixture (100) and coupled to the optical tip (5) by an optical fiber bundle. The optoelectronics module (11) comprises at least one light source (13) arranged to emit electromagnetic radiations in a wavelength range such that reflectance occurs when gas (G) is present at the optical tip (5) and fluorescence occurs when oil (O) is present at the optical tip (5), at least one reflectance light detector (14) arranged to be responsive to a reflectance light and to provide a reflectance signal (U1(t)) and at least one fluorescence light detector (15) arranged to be responsive to a fluorescence light and to provide a fluorescence signal (U2(t)). The optical fiber bundle comprises at least one first optical fiber (6) coupling the light source (13) to the optical tip (5), at least one second optical fiber (7) coupling the optical tip (5) to the reflectance light detector (14), and at least one third optical fiber (8) coupling the optical tip (5) to the fluorescence light detector (15), the at least one first, second and third optical fibers being mounted together into a protective tube (9) resistant to downhole conditions.
US09863242B2	Method for revealing anomalous discontinuity interfaces in pore pressures in non-drilled geological formations and a system implementing it A method for revealing anomalous discontinuity interfaces in pore pressures in non-drilled geological formations and an implementing system. The method includes generating, by an electroacoustic transducer, first pressure sound waves and receiving a reflected signal of such first pressure sound waves generated by at least one discontinuity interface due to passage from first to second different geological formations situated successively along an emission direction of the electroacoustic transducer; calculating speed of the first pressure sound waves generated and distance between the electroacoustic transducer and the at least one discontinuity interface; generating, by the electroacoustic transducer, second pressure sound waves and revealing the electrical impedance induced at terminals of the electroacoustic transducer; estimating, based on the electrical impedance revealed, plural parameters characteristic of the first and second geological formation; estimating pressure of the second geological formation based on the sound speed and distance calculated and the plural characteristic parameters estimated.
US09863240B2	Method and apparatus for drilling a probabilistic approach Methods and software tools for determining wellbore-strengthening information for a drilling operation, the method including inputting wellbore parameters into a wellbore simulator, importing wellbore-strengthening options into the wellbore simulator, and performing a plurality of wellbore simulations to obtain fracture information, wherein the performing the plurality of wellbore simulations includes selecting at least one of the wellbore parameters and determining the affect of the selected wellbore parameter on the wellbore. The method further includes selecting a wellbore-strengthening option based on the fracture information and outputting the selected wellbore-strengthening option.
US09863238B2	Submersible electrical machine and method A submersible electrical machine includes a first magnetic package spaced axially from a second magnetic package, a first stator displaced axially from the first magnetic package by a first air gap, a second stator displaced axially from the second magnetic package by a second air gap. The electrical machine can be operated as a generator or as a motor. When operating as a generator, a turbine can rotate the magnetic packages relative to the stators in response to fluid flowing axially across the electrical machine.
US09863236B2	Method for locating casing downhole using offset XY magnetometers An apparatus, method and computer-readable medium for locating a joint of a casing disposed in a borehole are disclosed. The apparatus includes a sensor oriented in a plane orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the casing. The sensor measures a magnetic field induced in the casing by the earth's magnetic field. A tool conveys the sensor through the casing along a path that is radially offset from a longitudinal axis of the casing. Transverse magnetic field measurements are obtained by the sensor at a plurality of depths along the casing. A change in the transverse measurements is identified and used to determine the location of the casing joint.
US09863234B2	Method and system for pressure testing downhole tubular connections using a reference port A method of pressure testing downhole tubular connections includes connecting a pressure monitoring device to a test port on a downhole connector of a downhole tool, connecting the pressure monitoring device to a reference port, pressurizing the test port and the reference port, and monitoring for a pressure difference between the test port and the reference port with the pressure monitoring device.
US09863231B2	Fracturing fluid for subterranean formations A method of fracturing a reservoir comprising the steps of pumping a geopolymer precursor fluid through a wellbore into the reservoir at a fracture pressure, the geopolymer precursor fluid at the fracture pressure generates fractures in the reservoir, wherein the geopolymer precursor fluid is comprised of an amount of aluminosilicate, an amount of alkaline reagent, and a permeability enhancer, allowing the geopolymer precursor fluid to fill the fractures in the reservoir, shutting-in the wellbore at a wellbore pressure, the wellbore pressure maintains the geopolymer precursor fluid in the fractures, allowing the geopolymer precursor fluid to harden for a hardening time to form a geopolymer in the fractures, the geopolymer has a geopolymer matrix, the geopolymer matrix has a permeability, the geopolymer has a compressive strength, and reducing the wellbore pressure allows a reservoir fluid to flow from the reservoir through the geopolymer matrix of the geopolymer to the wellbore.
US09863224B2	Wellbore isolation system with communication lines An isolation system is disclosed that contains: a lower wet connect portion, a central production tubing, an isolation device associated with the central production tubing, and at least one communication line, wherein the at least one communication line is associated with the lower wet connect portion and is disposed through an inside diameter of the isolation device. Further, a method for isolating a lower completion is disclosed that includes: conveying an isolation assembly to the lower completion, the isolation assembly including: a lower wet isolation device; and routing the at least one communication line through an inside diameter of the isolation device. Further a completion system is disclosed that contains a lower completion system and an isolation system associated with the lower completion system.
US09863223B2	Plunger assembly with dual dart system The present application includes and assembly having a dual dart assembly operable between an upper cage and a lower cage. The dual dart assembly is configured to connect an upper dart and a lower dart via a connecting rod. Therefore movement of one dart causes equal movement in the other dart. Movement of the dart is dampened upon impact at the top and bottom of the well by restriction of the working fluid as the dart assembly seats and unseats. A series of expandable seals are independently operated around the outer body and configured to expand and contact the outer wall in response to pressure increases within the outer body.
US09863222B2	System and method for monitoring fluid flow in a wellbore using acoustic telemetry An electro-acoustic system for downhole telemetry is provided herein. The system employs a series of communications nodes spaced along a string of production tubing within a wellbore. The nodes allow for wireless communication between transceivers residing within the communications nodes and a receiver at the surface. More specifically, the transceivers provide for node-to-node communication up a wellbore at high data transmission rates for data indicative of fluid flow within the production tubing adjacent gas lift valves. A method of monitoring the flow of fluid gas lift valves is also provided herein. The method uses a plurality of data transmission nodes situated along the production tubing which send signals to a receiver at the surface. The signals are then analyzed to determine gas lift valve operation and fluid flow data.
US09863220B2	Hydrophobically modified amine-containing polymers for mitigating scale buildup Hydrophobically modified amine-containing polymers (“HMAP”) may be useful in mitigating scale buildup in a subterranean formation. For example, a method may include preparing a treatment fluid that comprises a base fluid and a plurality of HMAP-coated particulates that comprise particulates at least partially coated with an HMAP, wherein the HMAP comprises a plurality of hydrophobic modifications on an amine-containing polymer; introducing the treatment fluid into a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation; forming a particulate pack that comprises at least some of the HMAP-coated particulates; and inhibiting scale buildup on the HMAP-coated particulates.
US09863219B2	Downhole magnet, downhole magnetic jetting tool and method of attachment of magnet pieces to the tool body A tool for suspending in a well retrieves various metal debris from the well, and includes an elongated tool body with a plurality of magnets included in a plurality longitudinal ridges which are circumferentially spaced. In the method a plurality of magnets can be positioned within openings, recesses, or pockets in each ridge, and held in place by one or more retaining plates, the tool being connected to a drill string and lowered into a well.
US09863217B2	Magnetic cleaning tool A magnetic cleaning tool for collecting ferrous debris in a wellbore and a method of cleaning a wellbore. The magnetic cleaning tool has a tool body for attachment in a work string, one or more magnets supported on the tool body, and a sleeve located around the tool body which is arranged to be moveable along the body to provide selective coverage of the magnets. Embodiments are described providing shear pins and spring loaded balls to hold the sleeve either over the magnets or free of the magnets. An expandable piston, moveable by action of a drop ball, is described to release the sleeve. The sleeve is arranged so that the magnets can be covered and therefore effectively inactive on run-in and during downhole operations, and uncovered to be active when pulled out of the wellbore.
US09863216B2	System to heat water for hydraulic fracturing Generally, a system for hydraulic fracturing of a geologic formation. Specifically, a transportable heating apparatus and method for the production of heated water for use in hydraulic fracturing of a geologic formation.
US09863213B1	Retrievable back pressure valve and method of using same The present invention is a retrievable back pressure valve device and method of using the same that may be placed in tubing during well completion and retrieved as desired by dropping a ball down hole, which then interacts with the valve to shear the positioning points allowing for retrieval as the valve is allowed to move up the well to be removed from same.
US09863209B2	Gas lift mandrel and isolator An isolation tool is presented for use in fluidly isolating first and second sections of tubing and more typically to a bleed valve/port of a gas lift mandrel. The isolation tool is configured for disposition within an interior of a gas lift mandrel. The isolation tool includes one or more resilient elements that may be compressed to expand to and seal against an inside surface of the tubing/mandrel. Such expansion and sealing by the resilient element(s) fluidly isolates sections of the tubing/mandrel. The isolation tool may be removed through the tubing when desired by releasing the compression of the resilient element(s) such that the resilient element(s) disengage the inside surface of the tubing/mandrel.
US09863207B2	Subsea well assembly and assoicated method Subsea well assembly having a Xmas tree (107, 207) and wellhead (103). From a tubing hanger (113) a tubing extends into the well. A part of a production flow passage extends vertically from the tubing hanger (113) in a vertical bore (111) of the Xmas tree. A fail close production master valve (PMV) (117) is arranged in the production flow passage. The tubing hanger (113) is arranged below the Xmas tree (107), such as in the wellhead (103). The Xmas tree (107) exhibits a branch (115) that deviates from the vertical bore (111), which branch constitutes part of the production flow passage. The fail close type production master valve (PMV) (117) is arranged in the branch (115).
US09863201B2	Isolation device containing a dissolvable anode and electrolytic compound A wellbore isolation device comprising: a first material, wherein the first material: (A) is a metal or a metal alloy; and (B) partially dissolves when an electrically conductive path exists between the first material and a second material and at least a portion of the first and second materials are in contact with an electrolyte; and an electrolytic compound, wherein the electrolytic compound dissolves in a fluid located within the wellbore to form free ions that are electrically conductive. A method of removing the wellbore isolation device comprises: placing the wellbore isolation device into the wellbore; and allowing at least a portion of the first material to dissolve.
US09863200B2	Device for a down-hole seismic source, a system comprising the device, and a method for using the device and the system A device adapted for a down-hole seismic source in a down-hole in the subsoil and containing water, the device being adapted for introduction into the down-hole and immersion in water, includes: a cartridge-holding head, having a cavity having a number of firing mouths on the side surface of the head, inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the head towards the operationally lower end of the closed head, the cavity accommodating a cartridge inserted into the upper end of the head; a cartridge percussion system into a sealed body and adapted to cause the explosion of the cartridge, and connected in a top position of the head, the explosion of the cartridge, of the blank-loaded type, causing water to be expelled laterally through the firing mouths when the device is operationally immersed in water within the down-hole.
US09863197B2	Downhole valve spanning a tool joint and methods of making and using same A downhole valve is described. The downhole valve has a pilot valve section and a tool section. The pilot valve section has a first tube. The tool section has a second tube slidably coupled to the first tube of the pilot valve section so as to provide fluid communication between the pilot valve section and the tool section. The tool section can be in the form of a signal valve section of a mud pulse telemetry valve, a reamer, a vertical steerable tool, a rotary steerable tool, a by-pass valve, a packer, a whipstock, or stabilizer.
US09863193B2	Hydraulically powered trough extension for a pipe handling, pipe laydown and pipe pickup machine A hydraulically powered trough extension attached to a pipe handling, pipe pickup and pipe laydown tool can be extended hydraulically to facilitate transport of pipe to/from a drill rig. The hydraulically powered trough extension is semipermanently attached to the trough of the pipe handling, pipe pickup and pipe laydown machine to eliminate the need for special equipment to attach a trough extension to the trough. A specially designed hinge enables the hydraulically powered trough extension to be folded so as to lay flat on the trough of the pipe handling, pipe laydown and pipe pickup machine. When the hydraulically powered trough extension is fully extended the hinge mechanism does not obstruct the movement of pipe on or off the pipe pickup and pipe laydown machine. This feature enables the hydraulically powered trough extension to be easily and safely extended for moving pipe to/from the drill platform and when folded for easy transport to another work site without the need for extra equipment.
US09863192B2	Slip insert with interrupted thread profile A slip insert is disclosed that includes a body having a curved face for receiving a tubular member, a plurality of first threads formed in a first direction on the face, and a plurality of second threads formed in a second direction on a portion of the first threads, the second direction being opposite of the first direction.
US09863191B1	Flexible coupling A progressive cavity device including an articulated coupling for converting the complex motion of a rotor into simple rotation. The coupling may include two shafts coupled to one another by joint assemblies connected to opposite ends of an intermediate shaft. The joint assemblies may include interleaved male and female spline portions and an elastomer filling the spaces between the male and female splines. The elastomer may deflect under load to allow the male and female splines to move relative to each other to allow the assembly to react to shaft misalignments. To limit elastomer bulging from the ends of the joint in response to shaft movement, the bulge area may be capped so that the elastomer cannot bulge outward and become extremely stiff. The joint may allow movement of the spines with very high torque capacity.
US09863188B2	Multi-motor steerable drilling system and method A directional drilling system consisting of a four-motor drilling head for better steering in directional drilling and vertical/horizontal drilling is developed. The rotational speed of each motor is independently controlled. The use of four motors in coordination with other traditional drilling variables allow precise control of the drilling direction and optimization of the rate of penetration (ROP). The top and right motors rotate in opposite directions to the bottom and left rotors to stabilize the roll rotation of the drilling head. Inclination (pitch) movement is obtained by increasing/decreasing the speed of the top motor while decreasing/increasing the speed of the lower motor. The Azimuth (yaw) movement is obtained similarly using the right and left motors. The drilling power is derived from down hole motors. A drill string transmits the drilling fluid and force on bit.
US09863187B2	Tubular access ladder and method An access ladder includes a plurality of sections connected together to telescope between an extended position and a retracted position that has an increasing reactive force to counterbalance the weight of the sections as they extend. A method for accessing a room with a ladder connected to a ceiling including the steps of moving the ladder to a fully extended position subject to an increasingly active force to counterbalance the weight of the ladder as it extends. There is the step of retracting the ladder into a retracted position in the ceiling.
US09863181B2	Door with high energy efficiency The invention relates to the manufacturing of solid wood doors and consists in increasing the insulating value of a door by inserting an insulating material between the internal and external panels and in the center of the structural parts of the door. In this way, a door with a minimum of non-insulated surfaces is achieved. By using this system, the insulating value of the assembled door is significantly increased and reach the requirements of high energy efficiency programs such as ENERGY STAR™. In addition to this, the rigidity and the durability of the solid wood door are not significantly compromised. A door with a traditional style and high thermal resistance levels is achieved.
US09863179B2	Sensing edge A sensing edge for providing a signal to a controller indicating that a forward edge of a door is obstructed during operation. The sensing edge includes an elongate sheath, a first end plug and a first end flap. The elongate sheath has a first end and a second end. A first cavity is located at the first end. The elongate sheath is mounted to the forward edge. The first end plug includes an inner end, an outer end, first engaging structures extending from the inner end and a first vertical groove in the outer end. The engaging structures are positioned within the first cavity in an assembled configuration. The first end flap includes a relatively flat first body and a first flange structure. The first flange structure is positioned in the first vertical groove in the assembled configuration to secure the first end flap to the first end plug.
US09863175B2	Multiple piece construction automotive door hinge An automotive hinge assembly adapted to facilitate motion of a closure panel relative to a fixed body structure comprises a door component constructed from two press formed angle brackets structurally connected via a pivot pin and adapted to be mounted to a vehicle closure panel, a body component constructed from two press formed angle brackets structurally connected via a simple formed feature and the pivot pin and adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body structure, such that the pivot pin structurally assembles the two hinge components, facilitates relative rotary motion between them and structurally connects the multiple press formed angle brackets so that the resulting assembly achieves a much higher material efficiency than the prior art with an associated significant cost reduction.

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