US07706575B2

The system provides improved procedures to estimate head motion between two images of a face. Locations of a number of distinct facial features are identified in two images. The identified locations can correspond to the eye corners, mouth corners and nose tip. The locations are converted into as a set of physical face parameters based on the symmetry of the identified distinct facial features. The set of physical parameters reduces the number of unknowns as compared to the number of equations used to determine the unknowns. An initial head motion estimate is determined by: (a) estimating each of the set of physical parameters, (b) estimating a first head pose transform corresponding to the first image, and (c) estimating a second head pose transform corresponding to the second image.The head motion estimate can be incorporated into a feature matching algorithm to refine the head motion estimation and the physical facial parameters.In one implementation, an inequality constraint is placed on a particular physical parameter—such as a nose tip, such that the parameter is constrained within a predetermined minimum and maximum value. The inequality constraint is converted to an equality constraint by using a penalty function. Then, the inequality constraint is used during the initial head motion estimation to add additional robustness to the motion estimation.
US07706567B2

The present invention teaches techniques for creating scans of documents that are both secure from tamper and that are assured of satisfactory image quality. In particular, a method of producing an assured document is disclosed wherein the documents digital signature is combined with the scan quality in a secure way.
US07706561B2

Apparatus and method for manufacturing an electroacoustic transducer for, for instance, a hearing aid, with a diaphragm arranged in a housing. The diaphragm is attached onto a film or punched from a sheet of material, such that along the circumferential edge of the diaphragm, a free strip of film or a strip of material remains present, in a capillary space between the circumferential edge of the film and the inner wall of the housing, or in a capillary space between the diaphragm and the strip of material, a polymer of a low viscosity is provided to connect to diaphragm with the housing wall. Through the method, the production of the transducer is greatly simplified.
US07706552B2

A satisfactory sound volume sensation from a hearing point of view can be obtained, and an effective sound volume correction operation can be obtained with an algorithm as simple as possible. Correction step 0 (correction function off, level correction value 0) to correction step 16 (level correction value—16 dB) are defined. When a first condition that is defined in such a manner as to correspond to a state in which distortion occurs is satisfied, the correction step is made to proceed by one step from the current correction step (−1 dB is added to a level correction value). When a second condition that is defined in such a manner as to correspond to a state in which distortion does not occur is satisfied, the correction step is made to return by one step from the current correction step (−1 dB is subtracted from the level correction value).
US07706548B2

An acoustic communication device includes a computer device having an acoustic transmitter and/or an acoustic receiver. A signal processing module processes sound signals such that the transmitter and/or receiver are employed to permit acoustic communication between computer devices using sound signals.
US07706547B2

The invention is directed to a system and method for noise cancellation for an apparatus such as an electric motors or generator. The system may comprise a plurality of actuators, a plurality of phase controllers, each phase controller receiving an input signal representing a movement of an apparatus and outputting an output signal based on the input signal and at least one predetermined phase shift, and a plurality of amplifiers, each amplifier receiving an output signal from one of the phase controllers and outputting an amplified signal to drive one of the actuators. The method may comprise the steps of generating a first signal representing a movement of the apparatus, generating at least one second signal based on (a) the first signal, (b) at least one predetermined phase shift, and (c) at least one predetermined amplitude, and driving at least one actuator with the at least one second signal.
US07706529B2

A random signal generator uses a folded MOS transistor, whose drain-source current includes a random component, as an electronic noise source. The random signal generator generates a random binary signal from the random component. The invention may be applied, in particular, to smart cards.
US07706524B2

Described herein is a technique for reducing the effects of crosstalk between adjacent signal lines of a data path. The data path is formed by multiple signal lines arranged adjacent each other and traversing multiple segments. The signal lines are transposed between segments in a manner that is chosen to reduce differences in interline couplings between different pairs of the signal lines. The interline coupling of a pair of signal lines is represented as a function of coupling terms. A coupling term corresponds to each segment of a pair of signal lines, and is a function of the distance between the signal lines over that segment. Prior to transmitting a digital signal over the data path, the digital signal is encoded to reduce variations over time in a collective signal level of the digital signal.
US07706522B2

A method for communicating with an automatic call distributor system agent includes communicating through a communications link with a first agent of a plurality of agents associated with an automatic call distributor (ACD) system. The plurality of agents are able to receive user calls distributed by the ACD system. The user calls comprise requests for service. The method includes receiving an audible state command from the first agent through the communications link and changing the state of the first agent with respect to the ACD system in response to the audible state command.
US07706507B2

A scanning device for providing a radiation scan to an article is disclosed. The scanning device includes a housing, a transport system and a radiation attenuation system. The housing has a entrance port and an exit port and encloses a radiation analysis unit. The transport system is configured to move the article from the entrance port, through the housing and to the exit port. The radiation attenuation system is supported at one of the entrance port and the exit port. The radiation attenuation system includes at least one substantially rigid panel rotatable relative to the housing and a counter balance coupled to the panel to at least partially offset the weight of the panel.
US07706481B2

A method and system for improving reception in wired and wireless systems through redundancy and iterative processing are provided. A multilayer decoding process may comprise a burst process and a frame process. Results from a first burst process may be utilized to generate a decoded bit sequence in the frame process. The frame process may utilize redundancy information and physical constraints to improve the performance of a decoding algorithm. Results from the frame process may be fed back for a second iteration of the burst process and of the frame process, to further improve the decoding operation. In some instances, the second iteration of the burst process may be based on a gradient search approach.
US07706480B2

An integrated circuit device having a receive circuit is disclosed. The receive circuit generates first and second sets of samples of incoming symbols during first and second time intervals, respectively. A select circuit selects, based at least in part on the first set of samples, at least one sample from the second set to be output as a received data value. The integrated circuit device further includes a transmit circuit to generate an output symbol during a third time interval. The output symbol has an amplitude based, at least in part, on a transmit data value for which an output symbol was generated during a time interval prior to the third time interval.
US07706471B2

A correction unit corrects the phases of received multicarrier signals, respectively, carrier by carrier. A combining unit and a computing unit performs adaptive array processing on the corrected multicarrier signals on a carrier-by-carrier basis. A derivation unit derives, carrier by carrier, a phase for correction to be used by the correction unit, based on error in the multicarrier signals which have undergone the adaptive array processing. The derivation unit updates a frequency for correction about a carrier to which a known signal is assigned, based on error in the carrier, so as to derive a phase for correction and the derivation unit also derives a phase for correction, based on the error in the carrier and the phase for correction in a carrier to which the known signal is assigned.
US07706468B2

A transmitter for broadcasting an AM compatible digital audio broadcasting signal includes an analog modulator for producing an analog modulated carrier signal centrally positioned in a radio channel, wherein the analog modulated carrier signal is modulated by an analog signal, and a digital modulator for producing a plurality of digitally modulated subcarrier signals in the radio channel, wherein the digitally modulated subcarrier signals are modulated using complementary pattern-mapped trellis code modulation including a code mapped to overlapping partitions. In a first operating mode the analog modulated carrier signal and the plurality of digitally modulated subcarrier signals are in a 20 kHz channel and in a second operating mode the analog modulated carrier signal and the plurality of digitally modulated subcarrier signals are in a 30 kHz channel.
US07706464B2

An equalizer provided in a digital transmitter compensates for attenuation in a signal channel to a digital receiver. The equalizer generates signal levels as a logical function of bit history to emphasize transition signal levels relative to repeated signal levels. The preferred equalizer includes an FIR transition filter using a look-up table. Parallel circuits including FIR filters and digital-to-analog converters provide a high speed equalizer with lower speed circuitry. The equalizer is particularly suited to in-cabinet and local area network transmissions where feedback circuitry facilitates adaptive training of the equalizer.
US07706463B2

Methods and apparatus for decoding frame packet data in a communication system to reduce latency for decoding particular types of broadcast signals in a frame. In particular, decoding of a communication signal includes demodulating at least a particular type of encoded broadcast channel modulation symbol received in a frame before completion of reception of a certain number of frames each including the particular type of encoded broadcast channel modulation symbol are received. After demodulation, the demodulated encoded broadcast channel modulation symbol is then decoded by a decoder. A determination is then made whether decoding of the first broadcast channel modulation symbol is successful. If decoding is successful, decoding of subsequent broadcast channel modulation symbols is terminated. Otherwise, decoding is incrementally or iteratively continued (i.e., a next received frame and so on) until decoding is determined to be successful.
US07706462B2

A transceiver of a MIMO method communication system, and a transmitting-receiving method thereof are disclosed. The transceiver includes one or more antennas for receiving two or more signals transmitted using two or more transmission antennas, a channel estimating unit for estimating a channel of each of the signals, an error detecting unit for performing error detection of each signal based on reliability information added to the signal, and for determining a transmission rate of the signals based on at least one of the channel estimation result and the error detection result of each signal, and a transmission rate determining unit for adjusting the number of signals to be transmitted from the transmission antennas at a predetermined interval.
US07706456B2

A stream of modulation symbols from a zero symbol rate (ZSR) coding/modulation module and a stream of modulation symbols from another type of coding/modulation module are input into an interweaver module. The interweaver module mixes the two input streams when assigning modulation symbols to be communicated in a segment. If a ZSR modulation symbol is non-zero, the ZSR modulation symbol is allocated a transmission position. If the ZSR modulation symbol is a zero modulation symbol, the modulation symbol from the other coding/modulation module is allocated the transmission position. The non-zero modulation symbols from the ZSR module are higher in power than the non-zero modulation symbols from the other module, thus facilitating detection and recovery.
US07706455B2

Embodiments of a transmitter and methods for puncturing bits are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. In some embodiments, a multicarrier transmitter performs bit puncturing for pilot subcarriers in two operations. The first operation may uniformly removes bits from an encoded bit stream to achieve a predetermined code rate reserving space for pilot subcarriers of a predetermined number of antennas. The second operation may remove bits from each spatial data stream after interleaving in a manner to achieve approximately equal spacing between the punctured bits before interleaving. In this way, a conventional interleaver may be used. The second operation reserves space for pilot subcarriers when a greater number of antennas than the predetermined number are used.
US07706453B2

Provided are systems, methods and techniques for predicting a communication channel parameter. In one representative embodiment, values of a communication channel parameter are estimated at a plurality of previous points in time, values are predicted for the communication channel parameter at a plurality of such previous points in time, using a plurality of the channel estimates, and then the channel estimates are updated using the predictions, with the latter prediction and estimation steps being repeated until a specified condition has been satisfied.
US07706449B2

Disclosed is a digital television system carrying out modulation/demodulation by VSB (vestigial side band). A VSB transmitter includes an additional error correction encoder designed in a manner that a signal mapping of a TCM encoder is considered, a multiplexer (MUX), a TCM encoder operating in a manner corresponding to state transition processes of the additional error correction encoder, and a signal transmission part including an RF converter. And, A VSB receiver includes a signal receiver part receiving a signal transmitted from the transmitter, a TCM decoder, a signal processing part including a derandomizer, and an additional error correction decoder part.
US07706437B2

The present invention relates to wireless communications and is particularly applicable to devices and modules for correcting errors introduced to a wireless signal after its transmission. An equalizer is provided which compensates for undesirable effects on received radio signals introduced by either signal processing or by the transmission medium. In operation, the equalizer multiples the complex received signal with a complex corrective signal that compensates for these effects. A tap corrective signal corrects for time-varying channel effects (i.e. channel distortions), a timing tracking signal corrects for carrier frequency offset errors, and a phase tracking signal corrects for sampling frequency offset errors.
US07706436B2

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide an equalizer combined with a decoder and a method of updating filter coefficients. The method may include calculating output error signals ek, multiplying the output error signals by a parameter, obtaining a partial value by multiplying a delayed decoder decision stored in a filter delay line corresponding to an i-th filter coefficient by the result obtaining a partial value by multiplying a constant by a feedback coefficient and obtaining an updated value by adding the two partial values.
US07706433B2

A physical layer device (PLD) includes a first serializer-deserializer (SERDES) device and a second SERDES device. Each SERDES device includes an analog portion with a serial port that is configured to communicate serial data with various network devices, and a digital portion that is configured to communicate parallel data with other various network devices. The PLD includes a first signal path that is configured to route serial data signals between the analog portions of the SERDES devices, bypassing the digital portions of the SERDES devices. Therefore, the SERDES devices can directly communicate serial data without performing parallel data conversion. A second signal path is configured to route recovered clock and data signals between the analog portions of the SERDES devices, but still bypassing the digital portions of the SERDES devices. The recovered clock and data signals are then regenerated before being transmitted over a network device.
US07706428B2

Inter-carrier interference (ICI) in a kth sub-carrier of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal received at time t is reduced, wherein the received OFDM signal comprises a plurality of sub-carriers. This is achieved by generating a self-interference term, ICIk−L,k−L, for a signal received on sub-carrier k−L, wherein L ∈ [ . . . , −3,−2,−1,1,2,3, . . . ], and wherein the self-interference term is an estimate of the data received at time t on the sub-carrier k−L, weighted by a rate of change of the channel through which sub-carrier k−L passes at time t. An ICI cancellation coefficient, GL is obtained, and an estimated ICI term is generated by adjusting the self-interference term, ICIk−L,k−L, by an amount based on the ICI cancellation coefficient, GL. The estimated ICI term is then subtracted from a term representing a signal received on the kth sub-carrier at time t.
US07706418B2

A structured sub-mount assembly is disclosed to support a hybrid assembly of tunable filters. The sub-mount assembly is constructed to provide a high thermal resistance path and high mechanical resonance frequency. Optionally, the structured sub-mount assembly includes a temperature-controlled phase adjust component disposed approximately midway between the two tunable filters. The structured sub-mount assembly may be part of a tunable laser or other application.
US07706415B2

Systems and methods for providing multi-channel audio using a reduced amount of resources for the decoding process. A 5.1 channel audio stream is divided into three stereo streams. The packets from each of three stereo streams are multiplexed to create a pseudo-5.1 channel audio stream. The pseudo 5.1 channel audio stream is then decoded and demultiplexed at the output to create the output 5.1 channel audio sound. As such, the decoder resources only have decode a single pseudo 5.1 stream. This technique is equally applicable to 7.1 or other multi-channel formats.
US07706401B2

An approach provides interdomain traversal to support packetized voice transmissions. A request for establishing a voice call is received from a source endpoint behind a first network address translator of a first domain, wherein the request specifies a directory number of a destination endpoint within a second domain. A network address is determined for communicating with the destination endpoint based on the directory number. Additionally, existence of a second network address translator within the second domain is determined. If the network address can be determined, a media path is established between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint based on the network address to support the voice call.
US07706400B2

A processor detects a data error in the TS packet by utilizing a value of “adaptation_field_control” and a value of “adaptation_field_length” included in the TS packet of a transport stream. A TS packet filter of the processor deletes the relevant TS packet in the transport stream if the data error in the TS packet is detected, and outputs the relevant TS packet to a PID filter if the data error in the TS packet is not detected. The PID filter detects PCR (Program Time Clock) from the TS packet. In a period of time when the PCR does not arrive at a clock reproducer, a frequency of a reference clock when the last PCR arrived is maintained, and then, when the PCR arrives at the clock reproducer, a value of STC (System Time Clock) is set and the frequency of the reference clock CK is controlled by the clock reproducer such that the value of the STC becomes equal to a value of the new PCR.
US07706396B2

A method and a device for transferring data in a telecommunication system comprising a data transfer path (8) and devices (21, 22, 1) using the data transfer path for data transfer, data being transferred cyclically in messages (4) between the devices according to at least one cycle having a cycle time, whereby the device (1) is configured to monitor the cyclic communication on the data transfer path; determine, on the basis of the monitoring and the cycle time of said at least one cycle of the cyclic communication, at least one expected occurrence time slot of the cyclic communication; and transmit a message not belonging to the cyclic communication to the data transfer path on the basis of at least one determined occurrence time slot such that it does not collide with one or more messages of the cyclic communication occurring in the determined at least one occurrence time slot.
US07706395B2

The present invention is a wireless communications system for simultaneously establishing a basic access network and a wireless access network using at least two kinds of wireless communication networks. The basic access network executes signaling communication in which communication is controlled so as to be continuously switched, whereas the wireless access network executes data communications other than the signaling communication. Then, a wireless communication terminal is provided with a position obtaining means and sends position information to a server, thereby it is possible to switch to an optimum network.
US07706388B2

A method for guaranteeing service reliability in an end-to-end Quality of Service framework is provided. The method includes checking whether connection information held in all node equipment gone through by a session connection is consistent. If the connection information is consistent, the consistency check is completed. Otherwise, the inconsistent connection information is released from the node equipment. In the provided method, a consistency check is performed inside every node equipment, and between node equipment in the network, and thus, abnormal resources may be retrieved, so that network service ability will not be affected by abnormal situations. Consistent with the provided method, degradation of service ability because of network abnormity can be avoided, and network reliability and availability can be improved.
US07706384B2

The embodiments of the invention relate to video streaming, particularly to quality-aware adaptive and selective transmissions. The embodiments of the present invention provide for a set of scheduling patterns to be evaluated, and from such set determine the target scheduling pattern that is calculated to provide the least distortion increment based on the evaluation set.
US07706370B2

The present invention discloses a method of implementing traversal of multimedia protocols through Network Address Translation device, wherein the Network Address Translation (NAT) device establishes a mapping relationship between address of a terminal in a private network and address of a terminal in a public network, and enables the terminal in the private network to access the public network with a common address, so as to implement the interaction of media streams between the terminal in the private network and the terminal in the public network, in which the common address is a address of the private network for accessing the public network.
US07706361B2

A multistage interconnect network (MIN) capable of supporting massive parallel processing, including point-to-point and multicast communications between processor modules (PMs) which are connected to the input and output ports of the network. The network is built using interconnected switch nodes arranged in 2 [logb N] stages, wherein b is the number of switch node input/output ports, N is the number of network input/output ports and [logb N] indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N. The additional stages provide additional paths between network input ports and network output ports, thereby enhancing fault tolerance and lessening contention.
US07706353B2

Congestion control in connection-oriented packet-switching networks is accomplished by rerouting any misbehaving non-real-time connection over an alternative path, if network resources permit. In one exemplary methodological implementation, a congestion notification is received by a node in a network indicating that there is traffic congestion in a path connecting the node to a destination node. The node ascertains whether an alternative path exists with better throughput for rerouting traffic between it and the destination node. The node selects the alternative path to route traffic between it and the destination node, if such an alternative path exists.
US07706352B2

A pilot structure, a method, and a receiver for multi-carrier cellular communications defining a specific Time Division Multiplexer/Multiplexing pilot pattern and pilot sequence for a sub-frame with short system information. A primary synchronization sequence is configured to be transmitted every predetermine number of sub-frames in a defined bandwidth. A primary common pilot is configured to be transmitted for each sub-frame. Short system information is configured to be transmitted once per frame to define the pilot structure of sub-frames in a frame period to define a structure of a frame period.
US07706346B2

A method that employs aspects of CDMA and OFDM modulation for controlling transmissions between a mobile station and a base station is provided. The method comprises forming a frame having a plurality of slots therein and then using CDMA modulation in a first portion of the plurality of slots, and using OFDM modulation in a second portion of the plurality of slots.
US07706345B2

A Wireless LAN Context Control Protocol (WLCCP) is used to establish and manage a wireless network topology and securely manages the “operational context” for mobile stations in a campus network. The WLCCP registration protocol can automatically create and delete links in the network, securely distribute operational context, and reliably establish Layer 2 forwarding paths on wireless links. A single infrastructure node is established as the central control point for each subnet, and enables APs and MNs to select the parent node that provides the “least-cost path” to a backbone LAN. Context messages provide a general-purpose transport for context and management information. WLCCP “Trace” messages facilitate network diagnostic tools. Ethernet or UDP/IP encapsulation can be used for WLCCP messages. Ethernet encapsulation is employed for intra-subnet (e.g. AP-to-AP or AP-to-SCM) WLCCP messages. IP encapsulation is used for inter-subnet WLCCP messages and may also be used for intra-subnet WLCCP messages.
US07706344B2

A mobile terminal device that forms an adhoc network comprises a clustering section that identifies the ID and state of a mobile terminal device that is adjacent to the mobile terminal device itself by exchanging a Hello packet (containing the ID and state of the mobile terminal device itself) with the other mobile terminal device and which, based on the state of the adjacent mobile terminal device and the state of the mobile terminal device itself, sets the state of the mobile terminal device itself as a cluster head, gateway, or member; a storage section that stores the ID and state of the adjacent mobile terminal device and the state of the mobile terminal device itself; a link information transmit/receive section which, when the state of the mobile terminal device itself is the cluster head, transmits link information containing the ID of the adjacent mobile terminal device and the ID of the mobile terminal device itself and receives link information from the other mobile terminal device; and a routing section that finds a route to any mobile terminal device on the basis of the link information thus transmitted and received.
US07706339B2

A method for communicating media based on location of media source includes receiving communications from a plurality of endpoints. Each communication comprises a media message and location information identifying a location of its transmitting endpoint. The method includes receiving a selection of a geographical area and comparing the location information of each communication with the selected geographical area. The method also includes presenting to a user each message received from each endpoint of the plurality of endpoints located within the selected geographical area.
US07706332B2

A system for rapidly acquiring a spreading code, used in a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, comprises a generator for generating a first long code and a second long code, with each long code having a length of N chips. The first long code is different from the second long code. A transmitter transmits the first long code and the second long code at a first phase angle and at a second phase angle, respectively, on a carrier signal over a communications channel using radio waves. The first long code and the second long code may be transmitted at an in-phase (I) angle and at a quadrature-phase (Q) angle, respectively, on the carrier signal. From the communications channel, an I acquisition circuit and a Q acquisition circuit may acquire, in parallel, the first long code and the second long code from the I angle and the Q angle, respectively, of the carrier signal by searching, in parallel, N/2 chips of the first long code and the second long code.
US07706331B2

A method of performing a handover from a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system to a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system in a multi-mode terminal having a WCDMA module and a CDMA module is disclosed. The method includes determining whether a handover to the CDMA system is necessary during a call through a WCDMA system; acquiring a pilot signal from the CDMA system by activating the CDMA module if it is determined that the handover to the CDMA system is necessary; receiving a sync signal if the pilot signal from the CDMA system is acquired; transmitting information for handover to the WCDMA system through the WCDMA module; allowing the CDMA module to enter a CDMA traffic state using handover information if the handover information is received from the WCDMA system through WCDMA module; and releasing a traffic state of WCDMA module.
US07706309B2

A data transfer control device includes: a transmitter circuit; a receiver circuit; a transfer direction switch circuit which performs switching a transfer direction; a transfer direction switch indication circuit which indicates the transfer direction switch circuit to switch the transfer direction; and a code generation circuit which generates a transfer direction switch request code when a transfer direction switch request has been received from an upper layer circuit. When the transfer direction switch request has been received from the upper layer circuit, the transmitter circuit transmits the transfer direction switch request code through a serial signal line, and the transfer direction switch indication circuit indicates the transfer direction switch circuit to switch from a transmission direction to a reception direction after the transfer direction switch request code has been transmitted.
US07706306B2

Generating a path inventory for a communication network includes sending a path message through a sequence of nodes of the communication network. The sequence of nodes comprises an initiating node, a set of intermediate nodes, and a terminating node. The path message is sent from the initiating node, through the set of intermediate nodes, to the terminating node. The path message sent from the initiating node may not have a specified destination address. The following is repeated for each node of the set of intermediate nodes: establishing a next node subsequent to the each node, and gathering path information about the next node in the path message. The path message is received at the terminating node, and the path information is recorded in a return message.
US07706304B2

A system and method in an IP-based network for defining a specific router for a host to utilize as a default router. The host is configured with a plurality of preferred correlation values, each of which has a different corresponding preference level. Routers send Router Advertisement (RA) messages to the host and include at least one router correlation value and at least one corresponding priority value. The host compares the received router correlation values with its preferred correlation values and identifies the router that sent the router correlation value that matched the preferred correlation value having the highest corresponding preference level. The identified router is selected as the host's default router. If more than one router matches the preferred correlation value having the highest corresponding preference level, the router that sent the highest priority value is selected.
US07706300B2

A method, a unit and a computer program product for providing topology awareness information within an IP network includes a central node and a plurality of routers, wherein the probe is implemented in a router within the IP network and the probe belongs to a topology awareness system, that includes: elements for obtaining and maintaining relationship with other probes within the IP network, elements for collecting information about other network elements e.g. routers and switches, elements for communicating topology information with the central node of the topology awareness system, and elements for obtaining information concerning local resources on the router where the probe is implemented.
US07706283B2

A method selects an optimal route in a cooperative relay network including a set of nodes. For each node in a set of nodes of a cooperative relay network, dynamically varying channel state information is determined. A transmission policy based on the dynamically varying channel state information is selected, in which the transmission policy includes selected nodes forming an optimal route, a transmission mode for each selected node, and a transmission power for each selected node.
US07706276B2

A method to improve TCP throughput by separating TCP acknowledgment flow from TCP normal data flow in a wireless communications environment. This method creates dedicated signaling air interface link and signaling A10 link for TCP acknowledgment flow and assigns a higher priority value to TOS field of IP packets encapsulating TCP acknowledgments than those encapsulating TCP normal data.
US07706267B2

Network devices, systems, and methods are described that perform network service monitoring. One method includes examining a number of packets received by a first network device to determine whether a protocol of a packet corresponds to a given network service, forwarding an event to a second network device in response to a determination that the protocol of the packet corresponds to the network service, determining whether the network service is an authorized service by comparing the network service to a list of network services, and executing a remedial action in response to a determination that the network service is an unauthorized service.
US07706266B2

Systems and methods for dynamically controlling bandwidth of connections are described. In some embodiments, a proxy for one or more connections may allocate, distribute, or generate indications of network congestion via one or more connections in order to induce the senders of the connections to reduce their rates of transmission. The proxy may allocate, distribute, or generate these indications in such a way as to provide quality of service to one or more connections, or to ensure that a number of connections transmit within an accepted bandwidth limit. In other embodiments, a sender of a transport layer connection may have a method for determining a response to congestion indications which accounts for a priority of the connection. In these embodiments, a sender may reduce or increase parameters related to transmission rate at different rates according to a priority of the connection.
US07706265B2

The present invention relates to a method, an access node, an access edge node and a decentralized node for aggregating data traffic over an access domain. The decentralized node corresponds to one of the service providers, and is located in closer proximity with user domains to be serviced. The decentralized node maintains over the access domain one or several Virtual Local Area Networks, for aggregating thereon data traffic to be exchanged with the user domains, on behalf of the service provider domain. To allow proper aggregation of the data traffic, service bindings are created and stored at the access edge node, and further stored at the decentralized node and at the access node. Therefore, aggregation of the data traffic between the decentralized node and the user domains over the access domain is performed in accordance with the created service bindings.
US07706262B2

The present invention provides a method of wireless communication. The method includes determining whether a packet includes a voice payload or control information based on at least one property of the packet.
US07706255B1

A communications apparatus includes several functional modules for implementing an application, a pair of switch modules to provide redundant switching capability for transferring frames between the functional modules. Each functional module is connected to each switch module by a frame-based communication link. A redundancy logic unit at each functional module inserts sequence numbers into outgoing frames, replicates the outgoing frames for forwarding to each of said switch modules, and monitors incoming frames from each of the switch modules to select frames for forwarding to an application based on the sequence numbers. In this way, redundancy is maintained at all times, while duplicate frames are eliminated at the receiving module.
US07706251B2

A signal receiving apparatus having both a continuous and intermittent mode for receiving OFDM signals. While in the intermittent mode, the data processing units of the apparatus receive power for a duration of time that is shorter than the duration of an OFDM symbol.
US07706246B2

In one embodiment of the communications network, the predetermined encoding scheme and symbol constellation configurations are chosen so that the range in channel qualities that the encoding scheme and symbol constellation configurations are designed to be utilized within overlap with each other. This overlapping provides hysteresis, which reduces the frequency with which a subscriber must alter encoding scheme and symbol constellations. Reducing the frequency of changing encoding scheme and/or symbol constellation eliminates the communication overhead associated with these changes and increases throughput by enabling the subscriber to spend more time transmitting data.
US07706239B2

An apparatus for detecting a pre-pit signal at different laser power intensities of an optical disk drive. The apparatus includes an amplifier for receiving a push-pull signal acquired from an optical disk to generate an adjusted signal, a multiplexer for receiving the push-pull signal and the adjusted signal and selecting the push-pull signal or the adjusted signal as a slicing signal for output according to a power state signal, and a slicer for receiving the slicing signal and slicing the slicing signal according to a slicing level to generate the pre-pit signal. Thus, the apparatus only needs one set of slicer to correctly slice the pre-pit signal.
US07706229B2

The present invention allows the compatibility with general-purpose data recording/reproducing by use of conventional media systems, and at the same time, allows the construction of a recording/reproducing system which satisfies the demands for the increase in storage capacity, the construction of a proper management system, the compatibility with special information recording, and the solving of problems with conventional models (recording/reproducing apparatuses). The audio track and data track in the data area are managed by the second management data in the management area on the recording medium and the data track records data and the first management data for managing the se data. In addition, the audio track and the second management data are modulated by the first modulating scheme and the data track is modulated by the second modulating scheme before being recorded.
US07706224B2

In an information recording medium, positions of pits are modulated in a direction intersecting a direction of reading of pits, so that a predetermined information is recorded. In this information recording medium, the whole of the predetermined information or a part of the predetermined information is randomized through the used of spread spectrum.
US07706217B2

An optical disc apparatus includes an emitter which emits a laser beam to a optical disc, a divided photodetector including a first divided portion and a second divided portion disposed in a light path of the reflected beam from the optical disc, and producing a first photodetector signal and a second photodetector signal, a phase difference detector which produces a phase difference signal from a phase difference between the first and the second photodetector signals, an integrator which produces a integral signal from a integration of the phase difference signal, a tracking controller configure to perform tracking control based on the integral signal, and a limiter which limits a signal to be supplied from the divided photodetector to the phase difference detector or a signal to be supplied from the phase difference detector to the integrator based on a detection status of a signal detected by the divided photodetector.
US07706212B1

A mobility cane for use by a visually impaired person has a handle portion having an outer surface, an elongated member extending from the handle, a detection apparatus operably mounted on the mobility cane, and a plurality of vibrating tactile transmitters arrayed on the outer surface of the handle operably connected to the detection apparatus.
US07706209B2

A semiconductor device, including a word line driver for driving a word line connected to a memory cell in a memory cell array and for resetting the word line when the memory cell changes from an activated to a standby state. The reset level of the word line driver is set when resetting of the word line is performed, and may be switched between first and second potentials. A word line reset level generating circuit varies the amount of negative potential current supply in accordance with memory cell array operating conditions. The semiconductor device includes a plurality of power source circuits, each having an oscillation circuit and a capacitor, for driving the capacitor via an oscillation signal outputted by the oscillation circuit. At least some power source circuits share a common oscillation circuit, and different capacitors are driven via the common oscillation signal.
US07706208B2

If memory cell blocks are laid out in a conventional manner to create a memory chip with a capacity of an odd power of 2 by using memory cells whose aspect ratio is 1:2, the chip will take a 1:1 shape and become difficult to enclose in a package of a 1:2 shape. In addition, such conventional layout of memory cell blocks to form the 1:2 shape causes the area of a peripheral circuit region to be limited by the memory blocks, pads to be arranged collectively in the central section of the chip, and wiring to become dense during the enclosure of the chip in the package.In this invention, therefore, four memory blocks, BANK0, BANK1, BANK2, BANK3, BANK3, are constructed into an L shape and then these memory blocks are properly combined and arranged to construct a chip of nearly a 1:2 shape in terms of aspect ratio.
US07706192B2

In a voltage generating circuit for a semiconductor memory device, each of a plurality of reset signal generators individually generates a reset signal in response to one of a plurality of external source voltages. The plurality of external source voltages have different voltage levels. An output voltage generator generates a plurality of output voltages by independently driving each of the plurality of external source voltages in response to a corresponding one of the plurality of reset signals. The output voltage generator outputs the plurality of output voltages through a common output terminal.
US07706190B2

In a method of operating a non-volatile memory device subdivided verifications are performed by increasing verify voltages. Accordingly, threshold voltage distributions of memory cells can be narrowed and, therefore, the program performance of a flash memory device can be improved.
US07706183B2

A method for reading a nonvolatile memory array including an array of memory cells, each memory cell including a substrate, a control gate, a charge storage element, a source region and a drain region, includes receiving, at an address register, a read command including an address for a memory cell in the array of memory cells and an indication regarding whether the read command is a full page read command or a partial page read command. A starting address for a page including the received address is identified, wherein the page includes multiple rows of memory cells in the array of memory cells. The address register is reset to the starting address for the page. It is determined whether all memory cells in the page are non-programmed. Data indicative of a non-programmed state of the page is output if it is determined that all memory cells in the page are non-programmed.
US07706177B2

A method of programming a nonvolatile memory array including a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells, a plurality of bit lines, and a plurality of word lines, wherein each memory cell comprises a diode, or a diode and a resistivity switching element is disclosed. The method includes both bias programming the memory cells of the device.
US07706176B2

An integrated circuit having a cell arrangement is provided. The cell arrangement may include a memory cell and a reference cell. The memory cell has a first memory cell status and a second memory cell status. The reference cell is set to an intermediate memory cell status between the first memory cell status and the second memory cell status.
US07706174B2

A static random access memory (“SRAM”) comprising: a pair of inverters each having an input and an output; a cross-coupling path coupling the input of a first inverter to the output of a second inverter; and a transmission gate, wherein the transmission gate comprises a p-channel transistor coupling the input of the second inverter to the output of the first inverter; and an n-channel transistor coupling the input of the second inverter to the output of the first inverter in parallel with the p-channel transistor. In another embodiment, the SRAM comprises a first inverter having a supply voltage node connected to a supply voltage, and a ground node connected to ground; a second inverter cross-coupled with the first inverter and having a supply voltage node connected to a supply voltage, and a ground node; and a switch selectively connecting and disconnecting the ground node of the second inverter to ground.
US07706160B2

A high voltage generator of the DAC-controlled type, has an input terminal connected to a first voltage reference and an output terminal providing an output voltage and comprises at least a voltage control circuit and a charge pump circuit inserted, in series to each other, between the input and output terminals of the high voltage generator, and an output regulator connected to the output terminal of the high voltage generator and comprising at least a digital-to-analog converter or DAC. The output regulator further comprises at least an additional current regulation portion connected to the output terminal of the high voltage generator through a first resistive element of the output regulator as well to an enabling terminal which provides an enabling signal, the additional current regulation portion being supplied by a second voltage reference having a voltage level higher than a voltage level of the first voltage reference.
US07706155B1

The invention relates to a half-bridge power converter controller that employs current mode control. The power converter controller includes pulse modulation circuitry, error circuitry, and stabilization circuitry. The stabilization circuitry stabilizes the voltage at the mid-point of a half-bridge power converter input capacitor circuit. The input capacitor circuit mid-point voltage is stabilized by selectively adjusting the on-times of the high-side switch and low-side switch of a half-bridge power converter. This adjustment tailors the current that is provided to the input capacitor circuit and thus maintains the mid-point voltage near a desired value.
US07706154B2

A power converter provides power across an isolation barrier, such as through the use of coils. A coil driver has transistors connected in a positive feedback configuration and is coupled to a supply voltage in a controlled manner by measuring the output power and opening or closing a switch as needed between the power supply and the coil driver. An output circuit, such as a FET driver, can be used with or without isolation to provide power and a logic signal.
US07706146B2

Provided are a power system module allowing a user's requirements to be easily met, and having economic practicality and high integration, and a manufacturing method thereof. The power system module includes a plastic case, a molding type power module package, a control circuit board, and at least one external terminal. The plastic case defines a bottom and a side wall. The molding type power module package is fixed to the bottom of the plastic case and includes at least a power device therein. The control circuit board is fixed to the side wall of the plastic case, includes at least a control device mounted thereon which is electrically connected to the power module package. The external terminal protrudes to outside the plastic case and is electrically connected to the control circuit board.
US07706145B2

An assembly device for a computer case and outer cover incorporating: a host case provided with a bottom plate and perpendicular left and right side walls, a circuit motherboard fixed within the holding space, a jack panel of relatively small area and size is located at a tail end of the circuit motherboard, and an electrical circuit is printed on an inverse side of the jack panel; a rectangular outer cover, the outer cover can be assembled/disassembled to/from the rectangular gap of the host case, and the jack panel can be plugged into or withdrawn from the socket, thereby realizing a rapid and convenient method of assembling and disassembling the outer cover to and from the host case.
US07706144B2

Embodiments described herein may include example embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices, and/or systems for heat dissipation.
US07706143B2

A mounting plate for electronic components, including cooling conduits that are integrated into a plate body and that are traversed by a coolant, a fixing device for mounting electronic components that are to be cooled being located on the plate body. The mounting plate has the fixing device including at least one first groove with an approximately C-shaped cross-section, which extends in a linear manner in the extension direction of the mounting plate. At least one screw nut is inserted and locked against torsion in the groove in order to form a screw connection with an electronic component.
US07706135B2

A load center enclosure with displaceable end wall plates for easily accessing the wall cavity above and below the load center and adding additional electrical conductors in post installation applications.
US07706134B2

Described herein are various embodiments of a power distribution unit having modular components. For example, according to one embodiment, a power distribution unit can include a component portion that comprises at least two modules selected from the group consisting of outlet modules, circuit protection modules, power input modules, communications I/O modules, and display modules. Each of the at least two modules of the component portion can comprise at least one connection element and can be removably secured to one or more other of the at least two modules via the connection elements. The power distribution unit can also include a housing that defines an interior cavity. The component portion can be removably secured to the housing at least partially within the interior cavity.
US07706131B2

A solid electrolytic capacitor (A) includes a first porous sintered body (1A) made of valve metal, anode conduction members (21A, 21B) electrically connected to the first porous sintered body (1A), surface-mounting anode terminals (3A, 3B) electrically connected to the anode conduction members (21A, 21B), surface-mounting cathode terminals, and a second porous sintered body (1B) made of valve metal and intervening between the first porous sintered body (1A) and the anode conduction members (21A, 21B).
US07706130B2

A process for producing an electrode for an electric double layer capacitor, in which water is used as a forming auxiliary agent and kneading an pulverizing steps are omitted to improve production efficiency, and a process for producing an electric double layer capacitor employing such a electrode, are provided. In a first mixing step, an activated carbon and a carbon black are mixed by a grinder containing a grinding medium. As the grinder containing a grinding medium used in this first mixing step, a commonly used ball mill can be used. In the second mixing step, a mixture is taken out from the grinder containing a grinding medium of the first mixing step, and moved into a second mixer prepared separately. Then, polytetrafluoroethylene as a binder and water as a liquid lubricant are added and the materials are mixed again. Thereafter, a calendar forming is carried out. The mixture obtained by the second mixing step is not a clumpy body of clay state or rubber state but a product which can be easily turned into grains of 1 to 2 mm, by simple means such as a wire sieve.
US07706128B2

Capacitive devices are described having electrical interconnects of electrodes which possess efficient electrical contact between current collectors, electrical isolation of electrodes, and/or electrochemical stability, while minimizing the mechanical stress and strain applied to the electrodes. The capacitive devices are adaptable to a wide range of electrode diameters and electrode stack lengths.
US07706126B2

The method for manufacturing a supercapacitor according to the present invention includes the following steps. First, stack a bottom electrode plate and a top electrode plate in parallel. Then, install a first rubber frame and a second rubber frame face-to-face on the bottom and the top electrode plates. The first rubber frame is adapted with a first opening, while the second rubber frame is adapted with a second opening. Next, install an isolation membrane in a space surrounded by the first and the second rubber frames. Afterwards, bind the first and the second rubber frames. Then, produce vacuum in the space. Next, place the bottom and the top electrode plates into an electrolyte to make the electrolyte flow into the space. Finally, use a first resin to seal the first and the second openings. Thereby, the short-circuit phenomenon caused by long-term usage of the supercapacitor can be prevented. In addition, the structural strength of the supercapacitor can be reinforced to avoid electrolyte-leakage phenomenon.
US07706117B2

The subject invention pertains to a method and apparatus for lightning protection for a vessel or structure operated on a fluid such as water. In a specific embodiment, a sailboat mast or lightning rod collects the lightning charge and a flexible conductive wire is attached to the mast or lightning rod which goes over the side of the vessel. A grounding electrode has buoyancy so that the grounding electrode is substantially kept at the water surface. The grounding electrode and buoyancy may also serve to allow the grounding electrode to hydrodynamic plane at the water surface when moving through the water. The buoyancy place's portions of the grounding electrode both above or below the water line and the buoyancy keeps the electrode substantially positioned with respect to the water surface even if the vessel or structure is heeled.
US07706114B2

When an electrostatic discharge event occurs to a connection pad of a chip, an electrostatic discharge detector layout in a feedback loop is able to detect an induced electrostatic discharge voltage for generating a control signal. A pass transistor can be turned off by the control signal for isolating the induced electrostatic discharge voltage, and the internal circuit of the chip can be protected from being damaged by the induced electrostatic discharge voltage. Furthermore, the designed circuit based on electrostatic discharge isolation technique for protecting the internal circuit of the chip is compatible with programmable circuits, and the connection pad can be furnished with burning signals or logic signals.
US07706112B2

An active clamp device electrically couples first and second nodes in respective first and second supply domains referenced to ground potentials that can be different. The active clamp device comprises first and second active devices controlled by signals respectively referenced to the first and second supply domains that create a short-circuit or low impedance connection between the first and second nodes in normal operation and drive impedance between the first and second nodes high in response to a transient event.
US07706111B2

A motor lock detection circuit for detecting lock of a motor, comprising: a binarizing circuit to binarize a signal, obtained from the motor, having a frequency corresponding to rotation speed of the motor, to generate a binary signal; an edge detecting circuit to generate an edge detection signal when detecting an edge of the binary signal; a first counter to count based on a first counter clock, be reset according to the edge detection signal generated by the edge detecting circuit, and generate a count signal when counting for a first count period longer than an interval between edges of the binary signal; and a second counter to count based on a second counter clock, be reset according to the count signal, and generate a motor lock detection signal indicative of detection of lock of the motor when counting for a second count period longer than the first count period.
US07706096B2

Embodiments of the present invention help to increase the capacity and the reliability of a disk drive device to improve the manufacturing yield thereof. An embodiment of the present invention sets a data track pitch for each head slider (recording surface) in accordance with head characteristics. This method for specifying the data track pitch is based on the distance between erase band ends (EBEs) of the both adjacent data tracks. The erase band of a data track is a band defined as the area where the already written data are erased in writing the data track. The distance between the erase band ends of the both adjacent data tracks corresponds to the width SW of the area which is not erased by the adjacent data tracks. Specifying the data track pitch based on this leads to increase in the data capacity of each recording surface and secure prevention of occurrence of a squeeze error.
US07706093B2

A servo pattern is positioned in a DC erased portion to which a DC erase process has been performed, and recording tracks and track groove portions (discrete portions) are positioned in an AC erased portion to which an AC erase process has been performed. The track groove portions extend in a circumferential direction. The AC erased portion and the DC erased portion are both made of a magnetic material. In the servo pattern, four lines of preamble portions extending almost in a radial direction are formed and a plurality of pit portions disposed in a dotted manner in two lines are arranged. The pit portions are positioned rearward of the preamble portions in respect of a scanning direction of a magnetic head.
US07706084B2

A surveillance camera has a housing, a photographic lens installed in the housing, and an adjustment mechanism connected to the photographic lens. The photographic lens has a first adjustable lens for adjusting distance, and a second adjustable lens for adjusting focal length. A distance adjustment ring is coupled to the first adjustable lens, and a focal length adjustment ring is coupled to the second adjustable lens. The adjustment mechanism has a support, a first adjustment screw, and a second adjustment screw. A first adjustment ring installed on the distance adjustment ring of the photographic lens has teeth corresponding to threading of the first adjustment screw, and a second adjustment ring installed on the focal length adjustment ring of the photographic lens has teeth corresponding to threading of the second adjustment screw.
US07706083B2

A drive mechanism include a movable element which has at least one bearing arm; a linear guide shaft for linearly guiding the movable element without rotating; a driving device driving the movable element linearly along the linear guide shaft; a driven member driven, by the driving device, in a direction parallel to the linear guide shaft; a first guide hole formed on the bearing arm; a second guide hole formed on the driven member, the first and second guide holes being identical in size and in cross sectional shape; a tubular bearing member fitted into the first and second guide holes, the linear guide shaft being fitted completely through the tubular bearing member to be freely slidable therein; and a retaining device formed on the tubular bearing member and the driven member to prevent the tubular bearing member from moving relative to the driven member.
US07706080B2

To provide a zoom lens capable of achieving stable optical quality by inhibiting an effect of assemble errors during manufacturing. A zoom lens includes a positive first lens group G1, a negative second lens group G2, a positive third lens group G3, and a positive fourth lens group G4, which are arranged from an object side in that order, and during variation in lens position from a wide angle end state to a telescopic end state, G1 and G3 are fixed, G2 is moved toward an image side, G4 moves so as to compensate fluctuations in image-surface position due to the shift of G2, and an aperture diaphragm S is fixed adjacent to the object side of G3, etc. G2 includes a negative meniscus lens L21 with a concave surface opposing the image side and a cemented lens L22 of a biconcave lens and a positive lens with a convex surface opposing the object side, which are arranged from the object side in that order, and the negative meniscus lens is a compound lens of a glass lens and a resin lens PL formed adjacent to the image side of the glass lens, the lens surface adjacent to the image side of the resin lens is aspheric, and the conditional equation (1) below is satisfied: n2>1.75,   (1) where n2 is the average refractive index of glass constituting G2.
US07706079B2

A projection lens system includes, in order from the magnification side, a negative first group G1 and positive second to fifth groups G2 to G5. In the lens system, the first group G1 has aspheric surface, a lens closest to the magnification side (L7) in the fourth group G4 has an aspheric surface, and the fifth group G5 is formed of one positive lens. During zooming, the first group G1 and the fifth group G5 remain stationary, while the second to fourth groups G2 to G4 are moved separately. Furthermore, the lens system satisfies the expression 0.8
US07706078B2

An object is to provide a laser light irradiation apparatus and a laser light irradiation method which reduce errors of an irradiation position of laser light to an irradiated object and allow irradiation with laser light of any size when the irradiated object is irradiated with the laser light through a beam expander optical system. One feature of a laser light irradiation apparatus of the present invention is to include a laser oscillator; a beam expander optical system having a zoom function; and a correction lens disposed to conjugate the laser oscillator and the beam expander optical system including at least a first lens, a second lens, and a third lens in order in a traveling direction of the laser light, wherein the second lens and the third lens are cooperated with each other in accordance with the magnification of the laser light.
US07706077B2

A fluidic optical device, systems utilizing fluidic optical devices, methods for manufacturing fluidic optical devices and actuators are disclosed.
US07706076B2

An optical system for arranging between a light source and a field diaphragm in an illumination beam path of a microscope comprises n imaging optical elements with focal lengths fi and Abbe numbers νi (i=1, . . . , n). The following relationship is met for the optical system: ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ h i f i · v i ≤ 0.07 , where hi is one half of the bundle diameter of a bundle of light rays proceeding from a point of the light source at the entrance to the imaging optical element i.
US07706074B2

A projection optical system provided with at least one of optical members made of a calcium fluoride single crystal, wherein each of the optical members satisfies at least any one of the following conditions of (i) to (iii): (i) an RMS value of a spatial frequency component having a number of periods fPD in partial diameter in a range from 10 periods to 50 periods inclusive out of fluctuation of a transmission wavefront relative to light having a wavelength of 633 nm is equal to or below 0.35 nm/cm; (ii) an RMS value of a spatial frequency component having a number of periods fPD in partial diameter in a range from 10 periods to 100 periods inclusive out of fluctuation of a transmission wavefront relative to light having a wavelength of 633 nm is equal to or below 0.45 nm/cm; and (iii) an RMS value of a spatial frequency component having a number of periods fPD in partial diameter in a range from 10 periods to 150 periods inclusive out of fluctuation of a transmission wavefront relative to light having a wavelength of 633 nm is equal to or below 0.50 nm/cm.
US07706071B2

Systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide zoom and/or autofocus lenses. For example, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a lens is provided with at least one tunable lens. The focal length and/or focus of the lens may be varied without mechanically moving or changing the separation between one or more lens components.
US07706069B2

Apparatus for attenuating an unpolarized laser beam includes a polarizing beamsplitter for separating the laser beam into two plane-polarized beams following separate paths. The two plane-polarized beams are polarization rotated by a single polarization rotator. Each of the polarization-rotated beams is separated by a polarizing beam-combiner into two plane-polarized portions. One of the portions of one polarization-rotated beam is combined by the beam-combiner with one of the portions of the other polarization-rotated beam to provide an attenuated output-beam. In certain examples of the apparatus the separate paths are made equal in length so that combined beam portions are equal in diameter.
US07706054B2

An optical parametric device, for example an optical parametric generator or amplifier or oscillator, comprising a non-linear material (13) that is operable to generate a signal and an idler wave in response to being stimulated with a pump wave. The non-linear medium is such that the pump and idler waves are substantially collinear and the signal wave is non-collinear.
US07706052B2

Disclosed in an electrophoretic display device having a charged ink layer. In this disclosed device, the ink layer is disposed on the active region (an image display region) and the peripheral region located around the active region, and an electric field is applied to a portion of the electrophoretic ink film corresponding to the peripheral region. Therefore, the peripheral region does not look stained.
US07706051B2

A display medium includes a pair of substrates, an electrophoretic medium, and a partitioning medium. The pair of substrates is disposed in spaced-apart relation and substantially parallel to each other. The electrophoretic medium is disposed between the pair of substrates and contains charged particles. An electric field generated between the pair of substrates causes the charged particles contained in the electrophoretic medium to migrate for switching a display state. The partitioning medium has fluidity and is phase-separated from the electrophoretic medium at least at room temperature. The partitioning medium is in a phase-separated state phase-separated from the electrophoretic medium. The partitioning medium is disposed between the pair of substrates as a partition to partition the electrophoretic medium.
US07706039B2

A disclosed scanner apparatus includes a member having spaced apart proximal and distal portions. An electromagnetic radiation device is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation therefrom and is movably coupled to the distal portion of the member. The electromagnetic radiation device is configured to move in a first plane of movement to a first position to direct the electromagnetic radiation along a first path and configured to move in the plane of movement to a second position to direct the electromagnetic radiation along a second path. A MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) actuator is coupled to the electromagnetic radiation device, wherein the MEMS actuator is configured to move in a first direction to move the electromagnetic radiation device to the first position and configured to move in a second direction to move the electromagnetic radiation device to the second position. Other scanning and robotic structure devices are disclosed.
US07706036B2

A one-dimensional LUT has been incapable of color matching. A three-dimensional LUT has been incapable of ensuring a color conversion accuracy enough to reproduce fine changes in color tone on a monochrome image. It has been impossible to suppress a storage capacity for a color conversion table by ensuring the accuracy.There is provided a color conversion table which has a plurality of pieces of reference color image data making correspondence between color data for a first image device and color data for a second image device and comprises a specified total information amount. The color conversion table is used to distribute the reference color image data over a prescribed area in a specified color space. Color data information for each reference color image data is increased more than a specified amount within a limit of the specified total information amount. Further, a color conversion table is created using an original table which highly accurately defines colors in part of the color conversion table. If these color conversion tables are referenced for color conversion, it is possible to suppress the storage capacity, provide color matching, and perform high accuracy color conversion.
US07706032B2

A scanner device and an image forming apparatus, each having a shading correction unit are disclosed. The shading correction unit is implemented by a lens block, including a fixer and a wall. The fixer fixes a position of the lens block. The wall, connected to the fixer at a connecting point, has an opening. The minimum distance between the circumference line of the opening and the connecting point is larger than a thickness of the wall.
US07706022B2

An image forming apparatus according to the invention is characterized by including; an input unit that inputs first color data; a first color converting unit that converts the first color data into a black single color data; a second color converting unit that converts the first color data into second color data; a brightness correcting unit that corrects brightness of the black single color data such that brightness of the black single color data converted by the first color converting unit is equal to brightness of the second color data converted by the second color converting unit; and an image forming unit that prints image data on a recording medium. According to the image forming apparatus, in the image forming apparatus that uses both color conversion processing and black conversion processing, even if image data continuously changes from a chromatic color to an achromatic color, it is possible to reduce “brightness discontinuity”.
US07706016B2

An automated method is provided for viewing production data for a print job. The production data includes an electronic document defined by a page description language (PDL). The electronic document is stored in a PDL image file and has predefined physical dimensions and a predetermined area in which the electronic document must fit in a layout of a physical printed document. In the method, a still image proxy is created of the PDL image file. A static template is created that defines the predetermined area. The physical dimensions of the template are dynamically determined based on the area in which the electronic document must fit in the layout of the physical printed document. The physical dimensions of an image display of the still image proxy are dynamically determined based on the relative size of the predefined physical dimensions of the PDL image file to the predetermined area in which the electronic document must fit. An image display of the still image proxy is displayed in association with the template.
US07706009B2

A printing control apparatus includes an image pickup unit, a storing unit, a receiver, a display unit, a selector, a communicator, and a control unit therefor. The control unit is configured to calculate the number of image data possible to be included in printing control information based on at least one item in a power value received from a printing device and selected by the selector, the image data selected by the selector and a capacity of a memory used for communication of the printing control apparatus or/and the printing device, and to generate at least one printing control information according to the calculated number of the image data.
US07705994B2

An interferometer and corresponding system are provided having several aspects. In a first aspect, there is provided an interferometer adapted to receive separate first and second beams f1 and f2 therein, the interferometer comprising substantially equivalent and separate first and second optical pathways for the first and second beams f1 and f2. In a second aspect, there is provided an interferometer adapted to receive as separate inputs therein first and second beams f1 and f2, where such beams are not mixed or combined until just prior to being output by the interferometer. In a third aspect, an interferometer is provided having one or more beam blockers for intercepting extraneous or undesired light, and keeping such light from contaminating or interfering with separate beams f1 and f2.
US07705993B2

A method and device for sampling ultra-fast optical signals by generating a sampling signal comprising a train of short pulses and coupling the sampling signal together with an optical data signal to be sampled into a highly non-linear optical fiber. Four-wave mixing (FWM) occurs between the two signals resulting in a secondary signal output from the fiber consisting of pulsed components having energy proportional to the instantaneous power of points along the data signal. An analysis of this secondary signal can be carried out to create a normal trace or eye-diagram of the data signal.
US07705990B2

The use of a high power and an incoherent light source to reduce noise associated when investigating unknown molecules in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) systems. High power and incoherent light sources can improve resolution and accuracy of SPR system measurements.
US07705986B2

A sensor unit for measuring a response characteristic of a polarization rotation liquid crystal cell, includes a measurement light source which emits measurement light, a first polarization plate which has a first polarization direction and receives the measurement light from the measurement light source to output measurement light having the first polarization direction to a polarization rotation liquid crystal cell, a second polarization plate which has a second polarization direction and receives measurement light passed through the polarization rotation liquid crystal cell, a light receiving unit which receives measurement light passed through the second polarization plate, and a measurement unit which determines a response characteristic of the polarization rotation liquid crystal cell on the basis of a drive signal of the polarization rotation liquid crystal cell and the amount of measurement light received by the light receiving unit.
US07705981B2

The disclosure relates to Method and Apparatus for Super Montage Large area Spectroscopic Imaging. In one embodiment of the disclosure, a method for producing a spectroscopic image of an object includes the steps of (a) irradiating the object with light to thereby produce from the object scattered and/or emitted (interchangeably “scattered”) light for each of a plurality of wavelengths; (b) producing separately for each of the plurality of wavelengths a plurality of substantially contiguous sub-images of the object; (c) compensating for spatial aberrations in ones of the sub-images for a select one of the plurality of wavelengths; (d) compensating for intensity aberrations between ones of the substantially contiguous sub-images for one of the plurality of wavelengths; and (e) combining the sub-images for the select one wavelength to thereby produce said spectroscopic image of the object.
US07705979B2

A method for immersion based inspection, the method includes: (i) receiving an article that comprises a wafer and a transparent element, wherein a first fluid substantially fills a space between an upper surface of the wafer and the transparent element; and (ii) inspecting the wafer by utilizing a lens that contacts a second fluid element that also contacts the transparent element.
US07705978B2

A technique for providing high-contrast images of defects in solar cells and solar panels, by illuminating each cell under inspection with broadband infrared radiation, and then forming an image of radiation that is secularly reflected from the cell. Multi-junction solar cells have a metal backing layer that secularly reflects the illumination back into an appropriately positioned and aligned camera, selected to be sensitive to infrared wavelengths at which the solar cell materials are relatively transparent.
US07705977B2

Methods of obtaining dopant and damage depth profile information are disclosed using modulated optical reflectivity (MOR) measurements. In one aspect, the depth profile is constructed using information obtained from various measurements such as the junction depth, junction abruptness and dopant concentration. In another aspect, a full theoretical model is developed. Actual measurements are fed to the model. Using an iterative approach, the actual measurements are compared to theoretical measurements calculated from the model to determine the actual depth profile.
US07705967B2

In an exposure system for substrate members which bear a photosensitive coating on a substrate surface, comprising a machine frame, a substrate carrier bearing the substrate member and an exposure device, wherein the substrate member and the exposure device can be moved relative to one another such that the photosensitive coating can be exposed as a result of this relative movement, it is suggested for an exposure of the photosensitive coating which is as precise as possible that the exposure device have an optics slide which can be moved in the second direction and on which an optical imaging device for the exposure of the substrate member is arranged, and that the exposure device have a light source unit which is arranged on the machine frame separately from the optics slide and has a plurality of light sources, the radiation of which can be coupled into the optical imaging device.
US07705959B2

A curved optical device includes a pair of initially flat opposed flexible substrates that may have a fluid material with spacers disbursed therein disposed between the pair of substrates and sealed. The substrates have a uniform controlled distance therebetween. The substrates are permanently curved by applying heat and pressure with a mold while maintaining the controlled distance therebetween. The fluid material maybe a liquid crystal to provide the optical device with enhanced optical properties.
US07705952B2

The present invention provides an electronic device and manufacturing method thereof. The interconnecting leads of adjacent fan-out blocks have different heights along boundary area, thereby making the resistance of the adjacent interconnecting leads uniform and ensuring the quality of the electronic device.
US07705950B2

A liquid crystal display includes: a substrate; a plurality of pixel electrodes formed on the substrate and arranged corresponding to a pixel array; a first data line and a second data line formed on the substrate; a plurality of scan lines formed on the substrate, in which the scan lines cross the first data line and the second data line; a first branch electrode electrically connects a pixel electrode and partially overlaps the first data line; and a second branch electrode electrically connects the pixel electrode and partially overlaps the second data line, in which the first branch electrode and the second branch electrode are disposed opposite to the pixel electrode.
US07705946B2

A large screen liquid crystal display device using a transverse electric field system which is capable of dramatically improving an aperture ratio, a transmittance ratio, brightness, and contrast with low cost and high production yield. For example, the width of the common electrodes that shield the electric fields of the video signal lines can be decreased dramatically and the aperture ratio can be improved dramatically. Especially, the bumps covering the video signal lines can be used along with the spacers, and with the use of halftone exposure method, the bumps covering the video signal lines and the spacers can be constructed at the same time, which dramatically shortens the time required for the production process.
US07705942B2

A liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate and second substrate. The second substrate has an active region, a sealant surrounding the active region, and a spacer wall located between the active region and the sealant. Additionally, the spacer wall is used to prevent the liquid crystal layer from being contaminated by the sealant and to support the first substrate.
US07705936B2

A color filtering member for improving the brightness of a display device is presented. The color filtering member includes colored regions (e.g., regions with RBG color filters) and black-and-white regions for transmitting white light. The black-and-white regions may be colorless gaps between adjacent colored regions. Multiple planarizing layers may be deposited on the colored regions and the black-and-white regions to form a surface that is sufficiently even. The color filtering member may include an intercepting region that extends between neighboring colored regions. The position of the intercepting region is not centered between the two colored regions that it separates. Rather, the intercepting region is shifted in the direction of rubbing (in the direction of liquid crystal alignment) to more effectively cover the regions where light leakage occurs. This color filtering member may be combined with an array member and a liquid crystal layer to form a display device.
US07705931B2

A planar light-emitting device includes a lightguide plate (7), a light source including at least one light-emitting package (6) that makes light enter the lightguide plate, and a reflecting sheet (10, 11) that returns light leaking from the light source. The lightguide plate has an upper surface as a light exit surface, a lower surface opposite to the upper surface, and a peripheral edge surface a part of which is disposed as a light entrance surface (7′). The light source includes at least one light-emitting package (6) having a substrate, at least one light-emitting element mounted on a mount surface of the substrate, and a light-transmitting resin provided on the mount surface to seal the light-emitting element. The reflecting sheet is disposed to face at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the lightguide plate and to extend beyond the light entrance surface as far as over or underneath the light-transmitting resin.
US07705926B2

A liquid crystal display includes a substrate, a plurality of pixel electrodes formed on the substrate wherein each of the pixel electrodes includes first and second sub-pixel electrodes, and a plurality of first data lines formed on the substrate, wherein a first data line of the plurality of first data lines does not overlap a first sub-pixel electrode and partially overlaps a second sub-pixel electrode of a pixel electrode of the plurality of pixel electrodes.
US07705909B2

A camera module for small digital cameras and camera-equipped cellular phones includes a lens unit; a holder housing the lens unit and displaceable along an optical axis; a coil on the holder; a yoke and magnets in the yoke providing a magnetic field to the coil; a leaf spring for supporting the holder; and an imaging element below the lens unit. The leaf spring includes an outer annular portion attached to the yoke, an inner annular portion attached to the holder, and bridge portions coupled between the outer and inner annular portion to resiliently support the inner annular portion. Each bridge portion has an outer and an inner annular portion side base part, and extends between an inner peripheral edge of the outer annular portion and an outer peripheral edge of the inner annular portion, the outer annular portion welded to the top surface of the yoke.
US07705906B2

From image data for foreign substance detection obtained by an image sensing device that converts an optical image of an object into image data, correction data is created for correcting photographed image data in a case that normal image sensing is performed, and by correcting the photographed image data using the correction data, image data is obtained in which effects due to a foreign substance have been removed. In a case where a foreign substance removal operation, which removes a foreign substance affixed to an optical member, has been executed, the correction data is updated, so that correction of subsequent photographed image data using old correction data is prevented.
US07705897B2

A solid-state image-pickup device having a plurality of analog-to-digital converters that has a plurality of pixels converting an incident-light quantity into an electrical signal and that converts an analog signal obtained from each of the pixels into a digital signal is provided. The analog-to-digital converter includes a plurality of comparators, wherein each of the comparators compares a reference voltage changing over time to the analog signal and wherein different reference voltages are transmitted to the comparators, and at least one counter that counts a time period required to finish the comparison made by the comparator, that stores information about a result of the counting, and that has different count numbers.
US07705896B2

An imaging apparatus for accurate focusing detection and/or exposure control in a low-light environment with a driving control device which controls the read-out of the pixels so that the R and B pixels are each vertically added for a first number of vertical addition pixels and the G signals are vertically added for a second number of vertical addition pixels that is larger than the first number of vertical addition pixels.
US07705894B2

A data recording apparatus holds device state information which is updated according to use of the apparatus and represents a use state of the apparatus, and device identification information unique to the apparatus. Upon recording data, the data recording apparatus acquires information associated with generation of recording data, which is different from the device state information, as recording information, in association with the recording data. The apparatus generates unique identification information of the recording data based on the device identification information, the device state information, and the recording information, and records a file including the recording data and the unique identification information in a recording medium.
US07705890B2

An apparatus and method are provided for simultaneously photographing a still image and a motion image in a wireless terminal with at least two cameras. A first camera photographs motion images in motion-image photography mode. A second camera photographs still images in the motion-image photography mode. A controller of the first camera controls the first camera to photograph the motion images in the motion-image photography mode. A controller of the second camera controls the second camera to photograph the still images in the motion-image photography mode. A control unit controls an operation for photographing the motion images through the controller of the first camera in the motion-image photography mode, and controls photographing the still images through the controller of the second camera, and controls an operation for storing the motion/still images photographed in the motion-image photography mode.
US07705889B2

A hybrid imaging device is configured to capture low resolution video and high resolution still images. The imaging device is configured to apply motion information obtained from the low resolution video to a reference high resolution still image to generate a missing moment of interest high resolution still image. The low-resolution video is captured at a high frame rate in conjunction with a few high-resolution still pictures taken at periodic intervals. A user locates a desired scene of interest, e.g. a moment of interest, from the captured video, and a post-processing technique is used to generate the high resolution still picture corresponding to the selected moment of interest. The high resolution still image is generated using texture information from one or more nearby captured high resolution still images and motion information from the low-resolution video frame corresponding to the selected moment of interest.
US07705877B2

A method for displaying facial features includes generating an image with facial features on a nonplanar surface and positioning the image on the nonplanar surface to indicate a direction of gaze and enhance nonverbal communication associated with the facial features. The apparatus for displaying facial features includes a nonplanar surface, an image generation device that creates an image with facial features on the nonplanar surface and a positioning system that positions the image on the nonplanar surface to indicate a direction of gaze and enhance nonverbal communication associated with the facial features.
US07705870B2

A laser marking device that irradiates a laser beam on a workpiece (W) to transform a portion inside the workpiece at a focal point of the laser beam, thus putting a dot in each predetermined area. The laser marking device includes acquiring mechanism (10, 20) that acquires, as information on the dot, at least two-dimensional position information of an exposed section of the workpiece (W), and density information of the dot, coordinate setting mechanism (30) that calculates, for each dot according to the density information, dot depth information showing the distance from the surface of the workpiece (W) to the dot in the thickness direction of the workpiece (W), and sets three-dimensional coordinates for each dot based on a position specified by the dot depth information and the two-dimensional position information, and laser marking mechanism (40) that performs marking with the three-dimensional coordinates as a laser beam focal point.
US07705866B2

An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member, a charging unit for charging the image bearing member, and an image exposure unit including a light emitting portion for emitting light to form an electrostatic image. The image forming apparatus also includes a developing unit including a toner carrying member and a bias controlling unit for applying a bias voltage to the toner carrying member, the developing unit being effective to develop the electrostatic image with toner by a potential difference between the toner carrying member and the electrostatic image, a potential difference determining unit, and a storing unit for storing a light amount control value, corresponding to the potential difference, set on a basis of a light emission amount information inherent to the light emitting portion. The image exposure unit reads the light amount control value and controls the light amount based on the light amount control value.
US07705865B2

The present invention discloses a display panel driving device and a driving method thereof, wherein the display panel driving device includes a plurality of mapping table units and a source driver. The mapping table units receive a plurality of primary color signals respectively, and convert grayscale levels of the primary colors into a plurality of mapping grayscale level values corresponding to a single gamma curve according to the grayscale level mapping relation between the single gamma curve and a plurality of primary color gamma curves. The source driver is electrically connected to the mapping table units to receive the mapping grayscale level values generated by the mapping table units, and convert the mapping grayscale level values into a plurality of driving voltages according to the relation between grayscale levels and voltages of the single gamma curve for inputting the driving voltages into a display panel.
US07705860B2

The present disclosure relates to displaying full scale images with overlaid similar scaled images and a graphical user device in a display of a client device. The client device receives video streams of the full scale images and scaled images. The video streams are broadcast independent of one another, and a user of the client device may manipulate the format of the images of either or both streams, and/or place the scaled image on any portion of the full scaled image. The graphical user interface is placed so it does not obscure the scaled image. Alternatively a single video stream may be received by the client device. When a single video stream is received, the client device creates two video streams, one stream comprising full scale images and the other stream comprising scaled images. The full scale image is overlaid with the scaled image and the graphical user interface.
US07705857B2

A method for correcting for hue shifts includes parameterizing the conversion of long-medium-short (LMS) spectral sensitivities of the human eye to a human observer function, and applying a non-linear transformation between the LMS and human observer function in order to correct for the hue shifts. A system for correcting for hue shifts is also provided. The system includes a controller for parameterizing the conversion of LMS spectral sensitivities of the human eye to a human observer function and applying a non-linear transformation between the LMS and human observer function in order to correct for the hue shifts in the image. The system can also include an output device for presenting the hue corrected image.
US07705852B2

Compressed graphic image data files, such as Compressed ARC (Arc-second Raster Chart/map) Digitized Raster Graphics (CADRG) map files for a region of interest, are stored in blocks of memory (nodes) preferably arranged as a linked list. Portions of files containing data for an area of interest including an image of interest are decompressed before the data are sent to a frame buffer for display. Nodes that do not contain requested data are flagged as unused, but not deallocated, making the data in such nodes available for use or replacement.
US07705851B2

A multiple-level graphics processing system and method (e.g., of an operating system) for providing improved graphics output including, for example, smooth animation. One such multiple-level graphics processing system comprises two components, including a tick-on-demand or slow-tick high-level component, and a fast-tick (e.g., at the graphics hardware frame refresh rate) low-level component. In general, the high-level, less frequent component performs computationally intensive aspects of updating animation parameters and traversing scene data structures, in order to pass simplified data structures to the low-level component. The low-level component operates at a higher frequency, such as the frame refresh rate of the graphics subsystem, to process the data structures into constant output data for the graphics subsystem. The low-level processing includes interpolating any parameter intervals as necessary to obtain instantaneous values to render the scene for each frame of animation.
US07705838B2

A wireless communication handset (100) having a movable housing portion (204) coupled to a housing portion (202) that rotates relative to the housing portion. The movable housing portion may be a ring that rotates from one position 200 to another position 300 relative to the housing. Rotation of the ring to a first position activates a first function. Indicia 210 disposed on the ring indicates the desired mode. Rotation of the ring to a second position activates a second mode corresponding to a second indicia on the ring. The ring is interchangeable with other rings (FIG. 5 through FIG. 7) having different indicia corresponding to different modes or functions. The software that corresponds to the different modes may be stored in a memory 104 of the device or downloaded to the device upon coupling the ring thereto.
US07705827B1

An ergonomically configured computer mouse comprising a hand held housing body having one or more features to provide comfort in the operation of said mouse. For example, it may include a covering of a pliable memory material designed to yield to the impression of the user's palm and resile to its initial shape after use. As another example, the mouse may be provided with finger detents to facilitate handling of the mouse. Furthermore, the mouse can have a pair of aligned buttons for inputting information into the computer, or a scrolling mechanism, preferably in the form of a rocker switch, in proximity to the aligned buttons for activation with the user's index finger.
US07705817B2

An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device and a manufacturing method thereof to improve a luminous character are provided. The OLED display device includes a first transistor, a second transistor and an OLED. An image is displayed by applying a driving current to OLED through the first transistor and the second transistor. The thickness of the gate insulating layers of the first and the second transistor are different. The OLED is provided with the sufficient driving current to improve the luminous character without decreasing emissive area.
US07705813B2

This invention relates to a three electrode liquid crystal display panel that is adaptive for AC-driving liquid crystal cells inclusive of three electrodes, and a driving method thereof.A three electrode liquid crystal display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes first and second pixel electrodes disposed on a first substrate with an insulating film therebetween; and a common electrode disposed in a second substrate which is bonded with the first substrate with a liquid crystal therebetween, and wherein the first pixel electrode selectively supplies a maximum voltage and a minimum voltage, the common electrode supplies a medium voltage between the maximum voltage and the minimum voltage as a reference voltage, and the second pixel electrode supplies a positive data voltage and a negative data voltage on the basis of the reference voltage in a range between the maximum voltage and the minimum voltage, thereby AC-driving the liquid crystal.
US07705807B2

Set-up, write, sustain and erase pulses are variously applied to a plasma display panel using a staircase waveform in which the rising or falling portion is in at least two steps. These staircase waveforms can be realized by adding at least two pulses. Use of such waveforms for the set-up, write and erase pulses improves contrast, and use for the sustain pulses reduces screen flicker and improves luminous efficiency. This is of particular use in driving high definition plasma display panels to achieve high image quality and high luminance.
US07705804B2

Disclosed are a plasma display apparatus and a driving method thereof. The plasma display apparatus comprise a plasma display panel having a scan electrode and a sustain electrode, a scan driver for sequentially supplying a first rising ramp waveform, a first falling ramp waveform and a second falling ramp waveform to the scan electrode during the reset period of the first subfield of a plurality of subfields, and a sustain driver for supplying a round waveform to the sustain electrode while the first rising ramp waveform is being supplied to the scan electrode. In the driving method of a plasma display apparatus, which divides a plurality of subfields with a different number of times of light emission into a rest period, an address period and a sustain period, and displays an image by applying a signal to the scan electrode, sustain electrode and address electrode in the respective periods, a surface discharge occurs two times between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode in the reset period of the first subfield of the plurality of subfields, and an opposite discharge occurs between the scan electrode and the address electrode.
US07705797B2

There is provided an antenna arrangement for use in an ultra-wideband network, the antenna arrangement comprising an active element; and a plurality of passive elements arranged around the active element; each passive element being controllable to selectively reflect or transmit radio signals emitted by the active element so as to create a desired beam pattern from the active element.
US07705793B2

Antenna assemblies and associated satellite tracking systems that may include a low profile two-way antenna arrangement, tracking systems, and applications thereof. Applications for the system include military, civilian, and domestic emergency response applications. The antenna arrangements may be configured to form a spatial element array able to track a satellite in an elevation plane by electronically dynamically targeting the antenna arrangement and/or mechanically dynamically rotating the antenna arrangements about transverse axes giving rise to generation of respective elevation angles and dynamically changing the respective distances between the axes whilst maintaining a predefined relationship between said distances and the respective elevation angles. The system provides dynamic tracking of satellite signals and can be used for satellite communications on moving vehicles in military and civilian applications.
US07705791B2

An antenna having a plurality of resonant frequencies and including a ground plane having an edge; a feed point; a ground point; andan antenna track extending between the feed point and the ground point and comprising, in series connection, a first loop and a second loop wherein a least a portion of the first loop and a portion of the second loop are adjacent at least the edge of the ground plane.
US07705783B2

A hybrid slot-strip antenna apparatus, and an associated methodology, for a multi-mode mobile station or other radio device. The antenna is formed of a plurality of slot-strips disposed upon a printed circuit board, or other substrate. The antenna is defined by width and length design parameters, the selections of which are determinative of the antenna functionality. Through appropriate selection of the design parameters, the antenna is operable, that is, resonant, at each of the frequency bands of the multi-mode mobile station.
US07705775B2

A method of improving a vehicle emergency call network used during an enhanced 911 call, which is especially useful in environments having degraded GPS signals. The present method utilizes an independent position enhancement algorithm, such as a dead reckoning algorithm, and converts the output of that algorithm into a compatible format compatible with a position determining entity (PDE). Some independent position enhancement algorithms return output in the form of position information (typically, two- or three-dimensional coordinates), however, most PDEs only accept information in the form of pseudo-ranges. Thus, the present method provides a technique in which the advantages of an independent position enhancement algorithm are enjoyed, yet a compatible output is sent to the PDE.
US07705772B1

A traffic radar utilizes digital signal processing (DSP) to determine targets based on signal strength histories. From these histories, a target vehicle having the strongest Doppler return signal is identified and its speed is displayed, and a target vehicle having the highest frequency return signal is identified and its speed is displayed. The traffic radar may also display the relative strength of the strongest return signal and the relative strength of the highest frequency return signal, thereby showing a comparison of the strengths of the return signals from the target vehicles.
US07705769B2

A system and method for presenting wind speed information in a manner so as to be easily understood and appreciated by viewers of televised weather report presentations and the like. Wind speed information is presented as two or three-dimensional wind speed contour lines, delineating geographic areas corresponding to different wind speeds, overlaid on a geographic map display either alone, or in combination with radar reflectivity information. Wind velocity information received from a weather radar system, such as NEXRAD, relative to the weather radar is converted to absolute wind speed information for display.
US07705768B2

In a radar image processing device and a radar image processing method which can accurately extract a change of a ground surface, a communication interface unit (10) obtains a plurality of radar image data of a same observation target obtained at different times and stores in a radar image storage unit (12), and a registration processor (14) reads the plurality of radar image data from the radar image storage unit (12) and registrates the radar image data with respect to each other. Then, a characteristic value calculating unit (18) calculates a plurality of characteristic values indicating a state of a ground surface which is the observation target based on the positioned radar image data. A change candidate region extracting unit (34) extracts change candidate regions for each of the characteristic values, and a judging unit (36) extracts a region of land cover change of the observation target from the change candidate regions using a threshold value, an extracting condition, and a judging function determined by a judgment method determining unit (24).
US07705760B2

The invention relates to a method for the filtering and analog/digital conversion of an incoming analog signal including an analog filtering of the incoming analog signal so as to filter the frequency components located outside a desired frequency band, and a conversion of the filtered analog signal to a digital signal. The digital signal is reformatted in a form that is substantially similar, at least in the desired frequency band, to the form of the incoming analog signal. A final digital filtering of the reformatted digital signal is performed so as to filter the frequency components located outside the desired frequency band.
US07705755B2

The present invention provides a signal converting apparatus with built-in self test, including a first signal converting circuit, a second signal converting circuit, a comparing apparatus, a control logic apparatus and a voltage divider. The first and the second signal converting circuit take a first and a second reference voltage and are respectively controlled by a first and second set of control signals from the control logic apparatus for the comparing apparatus to generate a comparing result.
US07705748B2

The invention teaches a passive vehicle rear end warning and collision prevention method and apparatus thereof, comprising: a traveling data monitoring unit serving to monitor and sample the traveling data of present vehicle; a collision prevention information transmitting and receiving unit serving to transmit and receive the collision prevention information; an electronic control unit serving to analyze and process the sampled data so as to generate the collision prevention information and to receive the collision prevention information from other vehicle, and to control the traveling status of prevent vehicle based on the received collision prevention information so as to avoid rear end collision with other vehicle, so that the purpose of rear end warning and collision prevention is realized by receiving passively the collision prevention information from another vehicle.
US07705742B1

The present invention relates to conveyor control system and methodology that may be operatively coupled with other such systems in order to implement a control strategy for a modular conveyor system. A module and/or series of modules are provided that clamp to a cable, the modules having associated logic and inter-module communications for control. This includes relatively inexpensive power distribution, interconnection and motion logic for industrial conveyor systems.
US07705737B2

An object identifying device includes: an input request unit for requesting an input for starting a shooting operation; an input unit for receiving the input for starting the shooting operation and a control unit for controlling them. The control unit performs a truth and falseness deciding process for comparing an input operation of the input for starting the shooting operation that is received by the input unit with a normal operation previously registered as a normal operation to decide a truth or a falseness, a matching process for matching the object on the basis of the shot image obtained by the shooting operation and the registered data of the object that is previously registered and an identifying process for identifying the object to be relevant when both a decided result by the truth and falseness deciding process and a matched result by the matching process are true.
US07705736B1

A GPS data acquisition collar incorporating an individualized rugged watertight collar that monitors factors including GPS location, gazing patterns, elevation, feeding patterns, temperature, movement speed, sleep patterns and signaling or beacon tracking options. Additionally the present invention provides options for visual representation or programming alerting of factors that may affect an animal or herd of animals in a monitored and recorded environment.
US07705730B2

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and system for use of ranging MW to decrease MW intrusion detector false alarms. A Doppler microwave system may be provided that is capable of detecting an object range and adjusting the sensitivity of an alarm stage of a MW detector to account for object size and range. Multiple range limited MW stages may be configured for different ranges to determine the general range of the moving object. Based on signal levels present on these MW stages, an approximate object range may be determined. The sensitivity of the MW alarm stage is then adjusted based on a MW alarm state sensitivity vs. object range function that is optimized to alarm on humans and ignore small animals and insects. The method and system may be used in detection systems incorporating a MW sensor.
US07705729B2

A plurality of modules interact to form an adaptive network in which each module transmits and receives data signals indicative of proximity of objects. A central computer accumulates the data produced or received and relayed by each module for analyzing proximity responses to transmit through the adaptive network control signals to a selectively-addressed module to respond to computer analyses of the data accumulated from modules forming the adaptive network.
US07705728B2

A method of tracking objects uses an anchor beacon that can emit a broadcast over a range that is detectable by an object tracking device. The object tracking device can automatically detect a presence or absence of the broadcast. When the broadcast is present, the object tracking device can take no action. When the broadcast is absent, the object tracking device can determine a current location for the object tracking device and can convey an OTA communication to a tracking server. The OTA communication can indicate the absence of the broadcast and can also including the current location. The tracking server can selectively send a notification to a previously designated communication device to notify a user that the object tracking device is outside the range.
US07705726B2

A device suitable for wireless communication with a network entity. The device comprises a functional unit configured to monitor an operational state of the device and, in response to detecting that the device is in a de-powered operational state, to inform the network entity of an ability of the device to wirelessly communicate with the network entity during a future time interval while the device remains in a de-powered operational state. A second functional unit capable of wireless communication with the network entity may also be provided and may be selectably powered from either a main power source or an alternate power source such that the second functional unit is powered from the alternate power source during the future time interval and becomes unpowered from the alternate power source after the future time interval. Thus, de-powered devices can be located and communicated with more easily.
US07705720B2

A self leveling warning light for vehicles employing a light assembly that is pivotedly secured to an inner surface of a vehicle window by a mounting base suction cup. The light assembly has a plurality of LEDs whose intensity is amplified by a reflector and focused by an optical lens providing light emission in distances exceeding one mile with minimal battery drain. A control circuit having a power source is mounted within said light assembly and electrically coupled to the LEDs, the control circuit controlling four red LEDs separated by a centrally located yellow LED, the four red LEDs alternate on and off at sync rate of approximately 500 ms and the yellow LED turns on for about 750 ms and off for about 1 second. The light assembly maintaining directional pointing of the LEDs in a horizontal plane when the mounting base is moved between vertical and horizontal orientations by gravity weighting of the light assembly.
US07705714B2

A wheel position detecting device and a tire air pressure detecting device including the wheel position detecting device are provided. The wheel position detecting device includes triggering devices and a receiver mounted on the vehicle-body side, and transmitters mounted on the wheels. Each triggering device outputs a trigger signal to each transmitter. In response to the trigger signal, each transmitter transmits a frame to the receiver. The receiver receives the frame and judges whether the transmitter is mounted on a subject wheel, based on whether reception strength indicated by reception strength data stored in the frame is within a range set in advance.
US07705709B2

A varistor comprises a varistor portion, a metal portion, and buffer portion. The varistor portion has a varistor element body exhibiting a nonlinear current-voltage characteristic and two electrode portions. The metal portion has a thermal conductivity higher than that of the varistor element body. The buffer portion is disposed between the varistor portion and metal portion so as to be bonded to each of the varistor portion and metal portion and mainly composed of glass. The two electrode portions are arranged in the varistor element body so as to be electrically insulated from each other while exposing at least a portion of each thereof from an outer surface of the varistor element body. The metal portion and varistor portion are joined firmly to each other. The heat transmitted to the varistor can efficiently be diffused from the metal portion.
US07705680B2

In a gain switching LNA including a first transistor, a first transistor group (for example, second to ninth transistors) and a second transistor group (for example, tenth to seventeenth transistors), a first resistor connected between an emitter of the tenth transistor and a collector of the first transistor and a second resistor connected to emitters of eleventh to seventeenth transistors and the collector of the first transistor and having a resistance one seventh as high as that of the first resistor are provided. In a high-gain mode, since isolation of the tenth to seventeenth transistors which are turned OFF and the first and second to ninth transistors is secured by the first resistor and the second resistor, there is no deterioration in the noise factor.
US07705678B2

An amplifier circuit includes a pair of transistors amplifying differential signals of input signals to respective input terminals and outputting differential output signals to respective output terminals, and an impedance circuit provided in between sources of the pair of transistors, canceling a first cutoff characteristic on a high frequency side in frequency characteristics of the amplifier circuit constructed of the pair of transistors, and forming a second cutoff characteristic on a higher frequency side than the first cutoff characteristic.
US07705664B2

A circuit and method for providing an output current that includes biasing an output transistor in accordance with a reference current to conduct the output current and further includes maintaining a voltage across the output transistor. One embodiment includes conducting a reference current through a diode-coupled first field-effect transistor (FET) and biasing a gate of a second FET matched to the diode-coupled first FET by a voltage equal to a gate voltage of the diode-coupled first FET. A current equal to the reference current is conducted through a third FET having a gate coupled to a drain of the second FET, the third FET matched to the second FET.
US07705663B2

A semiconductor integrated circuit, has a current source having one end connected to a power supply and outputting a reference current; a first MOS transistor having one end connected to an other end of the current source and being diode-connected; a second MOS transistor having a gate connected to a gate of the first MOS transistor and passing an output current obtained by current-mirroring the reference current; a first variable resistor connected between an other end of the first MOS transistor and a ground; a resistive component connected between an other end of the second MOS transistor and the ground; and a first operational amplifier fed with a first potential of the other end of the first MOS transistor and a second potential of the other end of the second MOS transistor and outputting a signal for controlling a resistance value of the first variable resistor to equalize the first potential and the second potential, wherein the resistance value of the first variable resistor is controlled based on the output signal of the first operational amplifier.
US07705660B2

A substrate bias voltage detection unit compares a level of a substrate bias voltage with a reference voltage in response to a self-refresh signal, an idle signal, and a refresh count signal so as to output an oscillating driving signal, enables the oscillating driving signal when the substrate bias voltage is equal to or higher than a first level in a normal mode, disables the oscillating driving signal when the substrate bias voltage is at a second level in a self-refresh mode, and disables the oscillating driving signal when the substrate bias voltage is at a third level in the self-refresh mode. An oscillation unit outputs an oscillating signal according to the oscillating driving signal. A voltage pumping unit controls pumping of the substrate bias voltage according to an output signal of the oscillation unit and then outputs a pumped substrate bias voltage.
US07705655B2

An input buffer circuit. In one embodiment, the input buffer circuit includes a first transistor operable to receive a first input signal, a second transistor operable to receive a second input signal, and a first mechanism coupled to the first transistor and to the second transistor. The first mechanism is operable to control the first and second transistors such that the first and second transistors can receive either single-ended input signals or differential input signals. According to the embodiments disclosed herein, the input buffer combines single-ended input and differential input functionalities without compromising performance.
US07705645B2

A delay element generates a delayed clock signal which transitions with a delay from a rising (or falling) of a reference clock signal by a delay amount determined based on an output of a loop filter. A signal generation circuit generates two signals which complementarily change according to rising and falling of the reference clock signal and a transition of the delayed clock signal. A charge pump circuit performs on the loop filter, according to these two signals, a push (or pull) operation during an interval extending from a rising (or falling) of the reference clock signal to the transition of the delayed clock signal and a pull (or push) operation during an interval extending from the transition of the delayed clock signal to a falling (or rising) of the reference clock signal.
US07705640B2

A method, system, and circuit design product for setting the common-mode voltage level of a charge pump to yield low duty cycle distortion from a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). Differential charge pumps utilize common-mode feedback (CMF) networks to control the common-mode voltage level. A replica circuit of a current starved delay cell from a VCO replaces the unity gain buffering circuit within a common-mode feedback circuit. Inserting the current starved delay cell replica circuit permits adequate negative feedback compensation, while allowing a phase locked loop (PLL) to operate with a wide bandwidth. As a result of utilizing the replica circuit of a current starved delay cell from a VCO, the common-mode voltage level is optimally centered to interface with the VCO, thereby minimizing duty cycle distortion.
US07705638B2

A switching control circuit of synchronous rectification type that is capable of reducing dead time is obtained. Upon detection that an output potential rises above VDD-Va, a first sensor outputs an H signal to a first input terminal of a first NOR circuit, and the first NOR circuit outputs an L signal to a second input terminal of a second NOR circuit, and the second NOR circuit outputs an H signal to a first gate driving circuit. A PMOS is thereby turned on. Upon detection that the output potential falls below GND+Vb, a second sensor outputs an L signal to a first input terminal of a first NAND circuit, and the first NAND circuit outputs an H signal to a second input terminal of a second NAND circuit, and the second NAND circuit outputs an L signal to a second gate driving circuit. An NMOS is thereby turned on.
US07705634B2

An input circuit is disclosed. The input circuit can include a cross voltage generating block that can be configured to perform charge-sharing on a pair of input signals whose phases are opposite to each other and generate a cross voltage, and an input buffer block that can be configured to buffer the pair of input signals at a voltage level corresponding to a voltage level of the cross voltage and generate an output signal.
US07705632B2

A driver circuit includes a set of selectable drivers each having an individual drive capability, the drivers being selectable such that i) when a subset of the drivers is selected, a signal will be driven by the drivers at a first drive level, and ii) when the subset of the drivers and at least one additional driver is selected, signal will be driven by the drivers at a level that is greater than the first level by a level of drive provided by the least one additional driver.
US07705631B2

A level shifter comprises a voltage converting circuit, a voltage pull-up circuit, and a control signal generating circuit. The voltage converting circuit is configured to receive an input signal of a first voltage level and to output an output signal of a second voltage level. The voltage pull-up circuit is coupled to the voltage converting circuit and configured to expeditiously pull up a voltage of an output node of the level shifter to the second voltage level in response to a control signal. The control signal generating circuit is configured to receive the input signal and to provide the control signal to the voltage pull-up circuit. The control signal generating circuit includes three transistors.
US07705614B2

Apparatuses and systems for emulating electrical characteristics of a material having a known dielectric constant are disclosed for standardizing and calibrating of electromagnetic devices. The emulator apparatus can include an electrically non-conductive layer having a dielectric constant less than the material dielectric constant and an electrically conductive layer adjacent the non-conductive layer. Artificial dielectrics for emulating the dielectric constant of a material are also disclosed including a substrate matrix having a dielectric constant less than the material dielectric constant and an additive combined with the substrate, the additive having a dielectric constant higher than the material dielectric constant.
US07705606B2

A method of determining the state of a cable including at least one electrical conductor, uses a generated test signal and applies it to at least one conductor by a non-contact coupling transmitter. The resulting signal is propagated along the at least one conductor and a non-contact electrical coupling receiver picks up a reflected signal, and compares the reflected signal to expected state signal values for the cable to determine its current state.
US07705601B2

A system and method for monitoring the remaining useable life, or “wellness,” of a contactor or motor starter, and for predicting impending faults of such a device, is disclosed. By monitoring actuating coil current, actuating coil voltage, line current, and/or line voltage, the present invention can calculate wellness metrics which, when compared to threshold values, may be used as indicators of remaining life and/or imminent failures. The invention also provides non-mechanical positive indications of proper closures and openings of contacts for safety interlocking.
US07705600B1

An apparatus and method for disabling an internal voltage regulator of a circuit to voltage stress test the circuit. The apparatus may include a circuit having an internal voltage regulator and a design-for-test circuit coupled to the circuit to disable the internal voltage regulator to voltage stress test the circuit in a test mode.
US07705599B2

A sensor cable system for measuring electromagnetic response of the Earth's subsurface includes a sensor cable deployable on the bottom of a body of water. The sensor cable has a plurality of electromagnetic sensing devices thereon at spaced apart locations. A system control unit is in signal communication with the sensing elements. The system control unit includes a transceiver for communicating signals to and from a corresponding sensor cable system. The system control unit includes a global positioning system signal receiver. The system control unit includes a processor configurable to receive signals detected by sensing elements in the corresponding sensor cable system. The processor is configurable to compute stacked signals from the sensing elements in the sensor cable and from sensing elements in the corresponding system. The processor is configurable to calculate a statistical measure of the stacked signals. The system control unit is disposed in a flotation device.
US07705592B2

A method for estimating a property of a material, the method including: acquiring data using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements, the measurements performed by varying at least one of a magnetic field gradient (G) and an inter-echo time (TE); organizing the data according to at least one of magnetic field gradients (G) and inter-echo times (TE) used in the NMR measurements; calculating a shift of apparent transverse relaxation time (T2,app) and (longitudinal relaxation time T1)/(apparent transverse relaxation time T2,app) due to a variation of the product of G and TE; constructing a mathematical model of the NMR measurements from the shifts; and inverting the mathematical model to estimate the property.
US07705590B2

The invention relates to a SQUID arrangement for measuring a change in a magnetic field, the change in the magnetic field being caused by a specimen that is arranged in a magnetization field and the SQUID arrangement including a direct current SQUID. In order to provide a simple design in which the losses in the magnetic flux are also simultaneously minimized, it is provided that the SQUID itself is embodied for generating the magnetization field.
US07705583B2

A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) current and magnetic field sensor for sensing a magnetic field produced by a conductor includes a magneto-MEMS component for sensing the magnetic field and an interference-MEMS component for sensing an interference, wherein the magneto-MEMS component and the interference MEMS component are used to provide an indication of the current in the conductor.
US07705582B2

A power sensor includes a substrate, an aperture within the substrate, a membrane formed over at least a portion of the substrate and extending over the aperture, and an electro-thermal transducer partially supported by the insulating membrane. The electro-thermal transducer includes an impedance matched, bifurcated load supported over the aperture by the insulating membrane, and a thermopile extending over the aperture and supported by the insulating membrane, the thermopile being adapted to generate a voltage in response to heat generated in the impedance matched, bifurcated load. A signal conductor is electrically connected with one end of the impedance matched, bifurcated load to guide electromagnetic signals to the load, and a conductive under-layer stratified from the signal conductor by an intermediary dielectric is connected with an opposite end of the impedance matched, bifurcated load to act as a ground plane.
US07705581B2

The present invention relates to an integrated electronic device for digital signal processing, which includes a reference clock input for receiving a reference clock, a phase locked loop (PLL), a phase interpolator (PI) coupled to the phase locked loop (PLL) for shifting a phase of an output clock signal of the PLL in a stepwise manner so as to generate a shifted output clock signal (PHI_out), a logic stage for determining the state of the reference clock signal (REF_CLK) multiple times during an edge of the shifted output clock for each phase shift, a storing means for storing information whether or not the determined state of the reference clock signal (REF_CLK) is stable for a phase of the shifted output clock signal (PHI_out), and an interface configured to read out the stored information for determining the jitter of the shifted output clock signal (PHI_OUT).
US07705580B2

In a system, an output voltage of a power generator is input to a filter circuit. The filter circuit includes a first capacitor having opposing first and second electrodes, a second capacitor having opposing third and fourth electrodes, a first switch electrically connected to be series with the third electrode of the second capacitor, and a second switch electrically connected to be series with the fourth electrode of the second capacitor. A series circuit of series-connected first switch, the second capacitor, and the second switch is electrically connected with the first capacitor in parallel thereto. A control circuit is electrically connected to the first and second switches of the filter circuit. The control unit is configured to control the first and second switches to be substantially simultaneously on and off to thereby cause the filter circuit to filter the frequency components from the output voltage.
US07705578B2

Provided is a switching regulator for preventing generation of an inrush current flowing through a switching element of an output stage, which is provided in the switching regulator. A soft start control circuit (116) detects a current flowing through a PMOS transistor (104) serving as a switching element of an output stage. When the detected current is equal to or larger than a current limiting value for limiting the current flowing through the PMOS transistor (104), the soft start control circuit (116) controls the PMOS transistor (104) to be turned off. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent generation of the inrush current flowing through the PMOS transistor (104).
US07705571B2

Current supply circuit for supplying a circuit with an internal supply voltage on the basis of an external supply voltage with an bipolar transistor for realizing reverse-connect protection for the circuit to be supplied, a supply current flowing through the bipolar transistor's collector-emitter path, a regulating circuit connected to the bipolar transistor ensuring that the bipolar transistor is operated at the limit to saturation.
US07705566B2

A charger device is configured with electric conducting devices corresponding to electric conducting contact points of a battery. The electric conducting contact points are correspondingly associated with the charger device, a detector device and an automatic switching device. When the charger device is connected to the battery, the detector device determines size of charge current, and when the detector device determines that the charge current has not reached a set value, then the automatic switching device switches a normal charge mode to a boosting charge mode. The detector device stops the charger device from charging if the battery has already been charged for a predetermined time but has not reached a set value, and a display device displays that an abnormal state has occurred, thereby enabling the charger device to achieve the objective of providing good charging effectiveness and functionality to detect abnormalities when connecting to a battery.
US07705564B2

In accordance with various embodiments, there is a method for determining the state of charge of a battery. Various embodiments include the steps of determining the specific gravity of the battery and measuring an open circuit voltage of the battery at rest. The open circuit voltage at rest can be used to determine the battery state of charge from a correlation function dependent on the battery specific gravity.
US07705563B2

A charging control semiconductor integrated circuit used in a charging apparatus for a secondary battery includes first and second terminals. The first terminal is configured to output a control signal to a first charging transistor in the charging apparatus. The second terminal is configured to output a control signal to a second charging transistor in the charging apparatus. Further, the first and second charging transistors are separately controlled on the basis of a voltage across the first charging transistor, a voltage across the second charging transistor, and a voltage of the secondary battery.
US07705562B2

An object of the invention is to provide a small and low-cost switching power supply unit with a backup function in which a proper circuit construction can be selected by simple method when it is necessary to compensate for the instantaneous drop or power failure and a disk array system having the switching power supply unit. To accomplish the object, a backup unit which can insert and pull out its hot line into a switching power supply unit casing and has a secondary battery and its state monitoring/control unit is built in the unit, and proper charge/discharge management of the secondary battery can be made. When the backup unit is unnecessary, a backup unit formed by a plurality of capacitors whose hot lines can be similarly inserted and pulled out can be built in an enclosing space of the backup unit.
US07705561B2

The voltage detection circuit 3 is provided with an isolation transformer 4 having its primary side connected to battery 2 connection nodes 10, a switching device 5 connected to the primary side of the isolation transformer 4, an isolated input circuit 7 that switches the switching device 5 ON and OFF, and a secondary voltage detection section 8 that detects output voltage from the secondary side of the isolation transformer 4. In the voltage detection circuit 3, the series input circuit 6 of the isolation transformer 4 primary side and the switching device 5 are connected to battery 2 measurement nodes, the switching device 5 is switched ON and OFF with a given periodicity by the isolated input circuit 7, and the output voltage from the secondary side of the isolation transformer 4 is detected by the secondary voltage detection section 8 to determine the voltage across the measurement nodes.
US07705553B2

A hybrid backplane uses multiple, parallel serial communication channels to provide flexibility and robustness in a motor drive control requiring high-speed data communication for the real-time control of motor waveforms.
US07705551B2

An actuating device for actuators, such as switching, throttle or swirl flaps, in internal combustion engines for motor vehicles comprises a shaft connected with an actuating motor. The shaft is connected with an actuator, such as a switching flap or the like. In a predetermined position relative to the shaft two pin-type magnets are arranged and preferably connected with a partly toothed gearwheel. When the shaft is rotated, the pin-type magnets move relative to a preferably fixed magnetic field sensor. The magnetic field sensor is a linear Hall sensor. Provision of a linear Hall sensor allows three different shaft positions to be determined. The positions are the two shaft positions defined by the pin-type magnets in which the magnets are arranged opposite the Hall sensor, and a position in which the location of the pin-type magnets does not allow the Hall sensor to detect a magnetic field. In the latter position the linear Hall sensor has a defined bridge voltage.
US07705550B2

A method and apparatus is provided for processing signals from a Hall-effect device arrangement coupled to a monolithic brushless DC motor where the motor is driven by a PWM circuit providing PWM drive signals.
US07705546B2

An interface (12) for a lamp operating device (13) has two input-side terminals (1, 2) for the connection of bus lines or for connection with a button or switch, an evaluation logic (3) for the processing of signals present at the input-side terminals (1, 2) and for the generation of output-side signals for the control of the lamp operating device (3), and at least one electrical isolation element (4) to electrically decouple the input-side terminals (1, 2) from the lamp operating device (13). Thereby, the evaluation logic (3) is arranged on that side of the electrical isolation element (4) which is towards the input-side terminals (1, 2), and is supplied with voltage via the input-side terminals (1, 2) of the interface (12).
US07705541B2

An illuminance sensor is formed as a current output type sensor that outputs a current which increases or decreases in an analog manner corresponding to an increasing or decreasing change of the illuminance. A light-emitting device is connected with a detection resistor that detects a current flowing through a light-emitting device. A driving control circuit has a light-emitting device driver that outputs to the light-emitting device a voltage for holding a voltage, which is obtained when a current flowing through the light-emitting device and a current detected by the illuminance sensor flows through the detection resistor, in a predetermined value all the time. The light-emitting device emits a large amount of light in a dark place and emits a small amount of light in a bright place.
US07705534B2

A display device includes an underlying layer formed over a substrate; an insulating layer formed over the substrate to expose the underlying layer; and an organic EL layer formed on the exposed portion of the underlying layer, wherein a thickness of the insulating layer is formed to a predetermined thickness to prevent defects in the organic EL layer that can occur in an edge portion of the exposed portion.
US07705523B2

A dye-sensitized solar cell including ZnO nanowire arrays grown of a flat substrate for harvesting solar energy is integrated with a piezoelectric nanogenerator for harvesting ultrasonic wave energy. The two energy harvesting approaches work simultaneously or individually and can be integrated in parallel or serial for raising the output current, voltage or power, respectively. A solar cell employs an optical fiber and semiconductor nanowires grown around the fiber. A p-n junction based design, organic-inorganic heterojunction, or a dye-sensitized structure is built at the surfaces of the nanowires. Light entering the fiber from a tip propagates through the fiber until it enters a nanowire where it reaches a photovoltaic element. Light entering the fiber cannot escape until it interacts with a photovoltaic element, thereby increasing the solar conversion efficiency. The fiber can transmit light, while the nanowires around the fibers increase the surface area of light exposure.
US07705520B2

There is provided a driving device 1 in which an electromechanical transducer is used and which has a high drive efficiency, having an electromechanical transducer 4 that is extended and contracted by application thereto of voltages, a drive shaft 6 having one end fixed by adhesive 5 to the electromechanical transducer 4, and a movable member 7 that is frictionally engaged on the driving shaft 6, an expression 8≧E/t≧0.48 where t (μm) is a thickness of the adhesive and E (GPa) is a modulus of longitudinal elasticity of the adhesive is satisfied by mixing into the adhesive 3, 5 particulates 10 that have diameters not smaller than 1 μm and not larger than 5 μm.
US07705518B2

An ultrasonic motor includes a stator that includes a comb body with a plurality of circumferentially-arranged comb-like projections and a piezoelectric body integrally mounted on the comb body, a rotor rotatable with respect to the stator, the rotor having a contact surface that establishes pressure contact with the stator, and a resin film formed with predetermined hardness on the contact surface of the rotor, the resin film containing a solid lubricant.
US07705514B2

An electrostatic actuator comprising: first and second comb arrays of electrodes arranged on a base, the electrodes of the first and second comb arrays being interleaved; a third comb array of electrodes spring mounted over the first and second comb arrays, the electrodes of the third comb array being essentially aligned with the electrodes of the second comb array; means for applying a first voltage to the third comb array and a second voltage to the first and second comb arrays to generate an attractive force acting on the third comb array to move the third comb array toward the second comb array; and, means for applying the first voltage to the second and third comb arrays and the second voltage to the first comb array to generate a repulsive force acting on the third comb array to move the third comb array away from the second comb array.
US07705513B1

A system for the generation of Electricity from Thermal Energy using the thermal magnetic properties of a Ferromagnetic, Electrically Conductive Material (FECM) in one or more Magnetic Fields. A FECM is exposed to one or more Magnetic Fields. Thermal Energy is applied to a portion of the FECM heating the FECM above its Curie Point. The FECM, now partially paramagnetic, moves under the force of the one or more Magnetic Fields. The movement of the FECM induces an electrical current through the FECM, generating Electricity.
US07705511B2

A main element which can be used as a rotor or stator for an electrical machine has a short-circuit ring and radially protruding teeth formed integrally onto the short-circuit ring, which teeth are offset from one another about circumferential angles. To make it possible to press a main element of relatively great axial length of SMC material with the required high material density, the SMC body is subdivided into a plurality of separately manufactured modules, placed against one another in axially aligned fashion, two each of which modules are embodied identically and on being placed against one another are rotated 180° in the plane defined by the module axes. Each separately pressed module, to achieve the required density, has a high aspect ratio, and for pressing the plurality of modules, only two press molds are required.
US07705505B2

A brushless motor includes at a substantially cylindrical portion of a bracket thereof a retaining mechanism which retains a resolver stator. The resolver stator whose axial movement and circumferential movement are minimized by the retaining mechanism will be affixed to the bracket.
US07705489B2

At least one aspect is directed to an uninterruptible power supply that includes a first input having an input line connection and an input neutral connection to receive a first input voltage from a first voltage source, a second input to receive a second input voltage from a second voltage source, and a boost circuit configured to provide a positive output DC voltage with respect to the input neutral connection and a negative output DC voltage with respect to the input neutral connection in both a line mode of operation and a backup mode of operation. The power supply also includes a first connection circuit to couple the first input to the boost circuit in the line mode of operation, and a second connection circuit to couple the second input to the boost circuit in the backup mode of operation, the second connection circuit being configured to isolate the second voltage source from the input neutral connection in the line mode of operation.
US07705485B2

A power source is disclosed. The power source includes a first power source applying a first voltage to a control unit and a second power source applying a second voltage to a unit controlled by the control unit. The power source includes a first power supplying unit, which includes a main power switch and a first relay and supplies electric power to the first power source, and a second power supplying unit, which includes the main power switch and a second relay and supplies the electric power to the second power source. The electric power is supplied to the first power source by turning on the main power switch, and the first relay is turned on by a voltage output from the second power source. The electric power is supplied to the second power source by turning on the second relay by a voltage output from the first power source.
US07705484B2

An energy management system comprises at least one energy consuming device and an energy controller. The energy controller supplies energy to the energy consuming device and transmits an energy curtailment signal in response to an energy over-consumption condition. In one embodiment, the curtailment signal can be directed to a predetermined class of energy consuming device. In another embodiment, the energy consuming device can determine whether to curtail energy consumption in response to the curtailment signal. The energy controller can be in the form of a power strip.
US07705480B2

The fluid power generator is provided. The fluid power generator includes: a first member that has multiple coils; a second member that is rotatable relative to the first member and that has multiple permanent magnets; a rotating member that is mechanically linked with either one of the first member and the second member to rotate by fluid force; and a clearance controller that moves at least one of the first member and the second member to thereby change a clearance between the first member and the second member, wherein the clearance controller changes the clearance in such a manner as to make the clearance smaller after a start of rotation of the rotating member than before the start of rotation of the rotating member.
US07705478B2

An engine-driven generator is formed by supporting on a frame an engine and a generator driven by the engine, wherein the frame is formed by integrally connecting via a cross member lower side sections of a pair of left and right side frames formed by bending a steel pipe into a U-shape, a control box housing and holding an electrical component is mounted on open end parts of the two side frames in order to reinforce the frame by connecting the open end parts to each other, and an assembly of the engine and generator is resiliently supported on the cross member.
US07705470B2

The invention relates to a semiconductor switching module for on-board electrical supply systems comprising a plurality of semiconductor chips, and a method for producing the same. The semiconductor switching module has at least one half-bridge circuit comprising a first semiconductor circuit chip as LSS (low side switch) and a second semiconductor circuit chip as HSS (high side switch) on a common circuit structure. The circuit structure includes contact pads on the top side of the circuit structure and lead connections with external contact areas on the underside of the circuit structure and with internal contact areas on the top side of the circuit structure. In this case, at least one of the semiconductor circuit chips is arranged on contact pads of the circuit structure using flip-chip technology and is electrically and cohesively connected to the contact pads by using diffusion solder layers.
US07705469B2

The present invention provides a semiconductor device which comprises a lead frame including a die pad having one or two or more openings, a substrate mounted over the die pad so as to expose a plurality of semiconductor chip connecting second electrode pads from the openings of the die pad, a plurality of semiconductor chips mounted over the die pad and the substrate, bonding wires that connect chip electrode pads of the semiconductor chip and their corresponding semiconductor chip connecting first and second electrode pads of the substrate, and a sealing portion which covers these and is provided so as to expose parts of leads.
US07705463B2

The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for reducing a parasitic capacitance in an integrated circuit. The apparatus includes a substrate and a biasing device. The substrate has a circuit disposed thereon, wherein a first capacitance exists between the substrate and an element of the circuit. The biasing device DC biases a first portion of the substrate to a voltage different than a voltage of a second portion of the substrate, thereby inducing a second capacitance between the first portion of the substrate and the second portion of the substrate. The second capacitance is in series with the first capacitance.
US07705457B2

A wafer level semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip having a circuit part. A bonding pad group is disposed in the semiconductor chip and included in the bonding pad group is a power pad that is electrically connected to the circuit part. An internal circuit pattern is disposed at a side of the bonding pad group. An additional power pad is disposed at a side of the bonding pad group, and the additional power pad is electrically connected to the circuit part. An insulation layer pattern is disposed over the semiconductor chip, and the insulation layer includes openings that expose the power pad, the internal circuit pattern, and the additional power pad. A redistribution is disposed over the insulation layer pattern, and the redistribution is electrically connected to at least two of the power pad, the internal circuit pattern, and the additional power pad.
US07705447B2

A high-speed I/O trace is part of an I/O package architecture for an integrated circuit package substrate. The integrated circuit package substrate includes an integrated heat spreader footprint on a die-side and the I/O trace to couple with an IC device to be disposed inside the IHS footprint. The I/O trace includes a pin-out terminal outside the IHS footprint to couple to an IC device to be disposed outside the IHS footprint. The high-speed I/O trace can sustain a data flow rate from a processor in a range from 5 gigabits per second (Gb/s) to 40 Gb/s.
US07705443B2

An electrical connection inside a semiconductor device is established by lead frames formed of plural conductor plates. The lead frames are disposed three-dimensionally so that the respective weld parts thereof are exposed toward a laser light source used in the laser welding. The laser welding is then performed by irradiating a laser beam. According to the above, welding can be performed readily in a reliable manner. The productivity of the semiconductor device and the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device can be thus enhanced. In addition, because the lead frames have the cooling effect, they have the capability of a heat spreader. It is thus possible to provide a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device with high productivity.
US07705435B2

A lead frame structure of a light emitting diode is disclosed. The lead frame structure comprises a bonding zone, two wing-shaped reflective surfaces, a first electrode lead, and a second electrode lead. The first electrode lead and the second electrode lead are respectively connected to the bonding zone. The bonding zone bonds the light emitting diode. The reflective surfaces are formed on both sides of the bonding zone. A predetermined angle is formed between the bonding zone and the wing-shaped reflective surfaces for reflecting the side light emitted from the light emitting diode towards a predetermined direction.
US07705434B2

A power semiconductor component (2) has a chip stack, which contains a first chip (10), a second chip (6) and a third chip (8), where at least the second chip (6) and the third chip (8) are the same height. The power semiconductor component (2) also has a package in which the first chip (10), the second chip (6) and the third chip (8) are placed. The second chip (6) and the third chip (8) are mounted side by side on a lead (4), and the first chip (10) rests both on the second chip (6) and on the third chip (8).
US07705432B2

Semiconductor die are typically manufactured as a large group of integrated circuit die imaged through photolithographic means on a semiconductor wafer or slice made of silicon. After manufacture, the silicon wafer is thinned, usually by mechanical means, and the wafer is cut, usually with a diamond saw, to singulate the individual die. The resulting individual integrated circuit has six exposed surfaces. The top surface of the die includes the circuitry images and any passivation layers that have been added to the top layer during wafer fabrication. The present invention describes a method for protecting and insulating all six surfaces of the die to reduce breakage, provide electrical insulation for these layers, and to provide physical surfaces that can be used for bonding one semiconductor die to another for the purpose of stacking die in an interconnected module or component.
US07705431B1

A method of improving adhesion between layers in the formation of a semiconductor device and integrated circuit, and the resultant intermediate semiconductor structure, which include a substrate layer with a low k insulating layer thereover. The low k insulating layer includes a treated surface area of adsorbed gaseous particles. This treated surface area is formed by flowing a gas, preferably, silane, disilane, dichlorosilane, germane or combinations thereof, over a surface of the heated low k insulating layer for adsorption of such gaseous particles onto the heated surface, wherein the insulating layer maintains its original thickness. A capping layer is then deposited directly over the insulating layer wherein the treated surface area of the insulating layer significantly improves adhesion between the insulating layers and the capping layers to prevent delamination therebetween during subsequent processing steps of forming the integrated circuit.
US07705424B2

A phase change memory is provided. The method includes forming contact plugs in a first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is formed overlying the first dielectric layer and a trench formed therein exposing portions of the contact plugs. A metal layer is formed over surfaces of the trench. One or more heaters are formed from the metal layer such that each heater is formed along one or more sidewalls and a portion of the bottom of the trench, wherein the portion of the heater along the sidewalls does not include a corner region of adjacent sidewalls. The trench is filled with a third dielectric layer, and a fourth dielectric layer is formed over the third dielectric layer. Trenches are formed in the fourth dielectric layer and filled with a phase change material. An electrode is formed over the phase change material.
US07705419B2

A fuse box of a semiconductor device includes a plurality of metal fuses formed on a first interlayer dielectric of a semiconductor substrate and previously removed in blowing regions thereof; a conductive oxidation layer formed to cover removed blowing regions of the metal fuses; a second interlayer dielectric formed on the first interlayer dielectric including the conductive oxide layer; and a plurality of plugs formed in the second interlayer dielectric to be brought into contact with the metal fuses which are removed in the blowing regions thereof.
US07705418B2

A fuse includes a fuse portion laid in such a manner that the direction of each turn of the fuse portion is parallel to the direction in which pads are arranged. The distance between the pads and the fuse portion is defined as the distance between the side of a pad facing the fuse portion and the pad nearest to the turn facing the particular side. The distance between the turn of the fuse portion and the nearest pad is the distance between the pads and the fuse portion. The pads and the fuse portion are distant from each other by a length at least ten times the width of the fuse.
US07705405B2

An advanced gate structure that includes a fully silicided metal gate and silicided source and drain regions in which the fully silicided metal gate has a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the silicided source/drain regions is provided. Methods of forming the advanced gate structure are also provided.
US07705403B1

In a LVTSCR or snapback NMOS ESD structure, low voltage protection as well as higher voltage protection is provided by introducing a floating gate that capacitively couples with the control gate of the ESD structure and programming the floating gate to have different charges on it as desired.
US07705394B2

A nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes a memory cell transistor including a first floating gate electrode layer formed on a first tunneling insulating film, a first inter-gate insulating film, first and second control gate electrode layers, and a first metallic silicide film; a high voltage transistor including a high voltage gate electrode layer formed on the high voltage gate insulating film, a second inter-gate insulating film having an aperture, third and fourth control gate electrode layers, and a second metallic silicide film; a low voltage transistor including a second floating gate electrode layer formed on a second tunneling insulating film, a third inter-gate insulating film having an aperture, fifth and sixth control gate electrode layers, and a third metallic silicide film; and a liner insulating film directly disposed on first, second and third source and drain regions of the memory cell transistor, low voltage transistor, and high voltage transistor, respectively.
US07705392B2

A semiconductor substrate having a main surface, first and second floating gates formed spaced apart from each other on the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, first and second control gates respectively located on the first and second floating gates, a first insulation film formed on the first control gate, a second insulation film formed on the second control gate to contact the first insulation film, and a gap portion formed at least between the first floating gate and the second floating gate by achieving contact between the first insulation film and the second insulation film are included. With this, a function of a nonvolatile semiconductor device can be ensured and a variation in a threshold voltage of a floating gate can be suppressed.
US07705391B2

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor device including a plurality of memory cells, comprising a plurality of floating gate electrodes which are formed on a tunnel insulating film formed on a semiconductor substrate and have an upper portion which is narrower in a channel width direction than a lower portion, an interelectrode insulating film formed on the floating gate electrodes, and a control gate electrode which is formed on the interelectrode insulating film formed on the floating gate electrodes and partially buried between the floating gate electrodes opposing each other.
US07705388B2

A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes: a source-line-side diode an anode region that is connected to a source line; a bit-line-side diode a cathode region that is connected to a bit line; and memory cell string connected between a cathode region of the source-line-side diode and an anode region of the bit-line-side diode. The memory cell string includes a series connection of a plurality of memory cell transistors. The source-line-side diode is formed in a contact for connecting the source line and the memory cell string in a first direction perpendicular to a semiconductor substrate. The bit-line-side diode is formed in a contact for connecting the bit line and the memory cell string in the first direction.
US07705384B2

A non-volatile storage element 100 has a silicon substrate 102, a first memory region 106a composed of a first lower silicon oxide film 108a, a first silicon nitride film 110a, and a first upper layer silicon oxide film 112a provided in this order, a second memory region 106b composed of a second lower layer silicon oxide film 108b, a second silicon nitride film 110b, and a second upper layer silicon oxide film 112b provided in this order, and a first control gate 114 and a second control gate 116 arranged on the first memory region 106a and the second control gate 116, respectively, on the silicon substrate 102. The silicon nitride film 110 is provided so as to be horizontal in a direction within a substrate plane.
US07705380B2

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an amplification-type solid-state image sensing device which uses a semiconductor substrate formed by epitaxially depositing an n-type semiconductor layer on a p-type semiconductor substrate and has a photoelectric conversion unit formed in the n-type semiconductor layer including a first p-type semiconductor layer which is formed under the photoelectric conversion unit of at least one of a G pixel portion and a B pixel portion a second p-type semiconductor layer which is formed to surround the photoelectric conversion unit together with the first p-type semiconductor layer and has a depth up to the first p-type semiconductor layer and a third p-type semiconductor layer which is formed to surround an R pixel portion and has a depth up to the p-type semiconductor substrate.
US07705372B2

In a memory device and a method of forming the same, in one embodiment, the memory device comprises a first word line structure on a substrate, the first word line structure extending in a first direction. A bit line is provided over the first word line structure and spaced apart from the first word line by a first gap, the bit line extending in a second direction transverse to the first direction. A second word line structure is provided over the bit line and spaced apart from the bit line by a second gap, the second word line structure extending in the first direction. The bit line is suspended between the first word line structure and the second word line structure such that the bit line deflects to be electrically coupled with a top portion of the first word line structure through the first gap in a first bent position and deflects to be electrically coupled with a bottom portion of the second word line structure through the second gap in a second bent position, and is isolated from the first word line structure and the second word line structure in a rest position.
US07705370B2

Methods and structures for monolithically integrating monocrystalline silicon and monocrystalline non-silicon materials and devices are provided. In one structure, a monolithically integrated semiconductor device structure comprises a silicon substrate and a first monocrystalline semiconductor layer disposed over the silicon substrate, wherein the first monocrystalline semiconductor layer has a lattice constant different from a lattice constant of relaxed silicon. The structure further includes an insulating layer disposed over the first monocrystalline semiconductor layer in a first region and a monocrystalline silicon layer disposed over the insulating layer in the first region. The structure includes at least one silicon-based photodetector comprising an active region including at least a portion of the monocrystalline silicon layer. The structure also includes a second monocrystalline semiconductor layer disposed over at least a portion of the first monocrystalline semiconductor layer in a second region and absent from the first region, wherein the second monocrystalline semiconductor layer has a lattice constant different from the lattice constant of relaxed silicon. The structure includes at least one non-silicon photodetector comprising an active region including at least a portion of the second monocrystalline semiconductor layer.
US07705366B2

The present invention relates a light emitting diode (LED) package. The present invention provides an LED package, wherein one cavity for defining a circumference of an LED chip and other cavities necessary for exposing lead frames are separately formed in a supporting member for supporting lead frames, and the cavity defining the circumference of the LED chip is separately filled with a resin, whereby it is possible to prevent an irregular interface between the resin portions, and when a phosphor is contained in the resin portion formed to be confined in the circumference of the LED chip, it is possible to reduce color deviation for each light directional angle and to prevent unnecessary waste of the phosphor.
US07705364B2

A nitride semiconductor light emitting device has high internal quantum efficiency but low operating voltage. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device includes an n-nitride semiconductor layer; an active layer of multi-quantum well structure formed on the n-nitride semiconductor layer, and having a plurality of quantum well layers and a plurality of quantum barrier layers; and a p-nitride semiconductor layer formed on the active layer. One of the quantum well layers adjacent to the n-nitride semiconductor layer has an energy band gap greater than that of another one of the quantum well layers adjacent to the p-nitride semiconductor layer.
US07705358B2

It is an object to improve operation characteristics and reliability of a semiconductor device. A semiconductor device which includes an island-shaped semiconductor film having a channel-formation region, a first low-concentration impurity region, a second low-concentration impurity region, and a high-concentration impurity region including a silicide layer; a gate insulating film; a first gate electrode overlapping with the channel-formation region and the first low-concentration impurity region with the gate insulating film interposed therebetween; a second gate electrode overlapping with the channel-formation region with the gate insulating film and the first gate electrode interposed therebetween; and a sidewall formed on side surfaces of the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode. In the semiconductor device, a thickness of the gate insulating film is smaller in a region over the second low-concentration impurity region than in a region over the first low-concentration impurity region.
US07705347B2

Provided are an n-type carbon nanotube field effect transistor (CNT FET) and a method of fabricating the n-type CNT FET. The n-type CNT FET may include a substrate; electrodes formed on the substrate and separated from each other; a CNT formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the electrodes; a gate oxide layer formed on the CNT; and a gate electrode formed on the gate oxide layer, wherein the gate oxide layer contains electron donor atoms which donate electrons to the CNT such that the CNT may be n-doped by the electron donor atoms.
US07705338B2

A raindrop detection apparatus includes a light emitting unit for emitting light to an inner side of a windshield, a light receiving unit for receiving the light reflected by an outer surface of the windshield, a first lens unit which is arranged between the windshield and the light emitting unit to convert the light from the light emitting unit into parallel light, and a second lens unit which is arranged between the windshield and the light receiving unit to converge the reflected light at the light receiving unit. The second lens unit is larger than a radial cross section of the reflected light. An amount of raindrop landed on the outer surface of the windshield is detected based on an intensity of the light received by the light receiving unit.
US07705330B2

To provide an electron beam irradiation device capable of reducing quantity of inert gas consumed while maintaining oxygen concentration in an irradiation chamber in appropriate level. An electron beam irradiation device to irradiate an electron beam to an irradiated object passing through an irradiation chamber while introducing inert gas into the irradiation chamber comprising an oxygen concentration detection device to detect oxygen concentration in the irradiation chamber; a main controlling valve to regulate flow rate of inert gas introduced in the irradiation chamber; a control unit to control valve travel of the main controlling valve so that the flow rate of the inert gas decreases when the oxygen concentration becomes low on the basis of the oxygen concentration detected by the oxygen concentration detection device.
US07705323B2

A microscope stage with a flexural axis may exhibit predictable flexure characteristics and limited cross-coupling translations. Z motion of a Z plate proximate to a Z actuator may be substantially linear, while a distal side of the Z plate may be allowed to rotate about a hinge axis associated with a flexural component.
US07705315B2

An Ag film as a light-reflecting film is formed on one surface of an a-C substrate of a scintillator panel. The entire surface of the Ag film is covered with an SiN film for protecting the Ag film. A scintillator having a columnar structure, which converts an incident radiation into visible light, is formed on the surface of the SiN film. The scintillator is covered with a polyparaxylylene film together with the substrate.
US07705311B2

A time-domain pulsed spectroscopy apparatus which has a pulsed laser light source; a splitting unit to split pulsed laser light; a pulsed-light emitting unit; a detector; a sample holder; and a sample-unit entrance and exit optical systems; wherein the time-domain pulsed spectroscopy apparatus further comprises: at least one optical-path-length varying unit for setting a photometric range; at least one optical delay unit for the wave form signal measurement; and, at least one gate member to pass or block the pulsed light to a reflector.
US07705305B2

There is provided a transmission electron microscope capable of a capturing continuous field-of-view image without having an influence of aberration. In order to obtain an electron beam image of the whole of a predetermined range of a sample, the transmission electron microscope specifies a region with little aberration in a field of view of an image pickup device, moves a sample stage in units of the specified regions, captures the whole of the predetermined range as a plurality of continuous field-of-view images.
US07705280B2

The present invention provides plasmonic crystals comprising three-dimensional and quasi comprising three-dimensional distributions of metallic or semiconducting films, including multi-layered crystal structures comprising nanostructured films and film arrays. Plasmonic crystals of the present invention include precisely registered and deterministically selected nonplanar crystal geometries and spatial distributions providing highly coupled, localized plasmonic responses in thin film elements and/or nanostructures of the crystal. Coupling of plasmonic responses provided by three-dimensional and quasi-three dimensional plasmonic crystal geometries and structures of the present invention generates enhanced local plasmonic field distributions useful for detecting small changes in the composition of an external dielectric environment proximate to a sensing surface of the plasmonic crystal. Plasmonic crystal structures of the present invention are also useful for providing highly localized excitation and/or imaging of fluorophores proximate to the crystal surface.
US07705274B2

A cooker has an external circulation path outside a heating chamber in which foods are to be placed. A blower sucks in gas inside the heating chamber, and forms, in the external circulation path, a gas flow that makes the sucked gas return to the heating chamber. Downstream of the blower, the external circulation path is provided with an exhaust port, in which a damper is provided. The damper closes the exhaust port during cooking, and opens the exhaust port when a door of the heating chamber is opened. After the damper is changed to a position of opening the exhaust port, the blower continues to operate until a predetermined condition is satisfied.
US07705267B2

Systems and methods for removing material from a packaged electronic device of the type encapsulated with a protective material that forms an outer surface of the device. An exemplary system includes a stage for placing the device in a first position for receiving laser radiation to remove the material by ablation, and for placing the device in a second position for viewing one or more features along the outer surface of the device. An optical system is configured to provide an exterior image, including one or more features along an exposed surface of the device, while the device remains in the second position. A viewing system displays a captured image of the device, including one or more features interior to the protective surface, overlayed with the exterior image for simultaneous viewing of both images so that a position of a first feature present in the captured image can be viewed in relation to a position of a second feature in the exterior image. The combination of the first feature position and the second feature position can be used to define a region of the device for material removal with a laser. In an associated method a captured image of the device is provided, the image including one or more features interior to the protective surface. One or more features along the outer surface of the device are viewed with an optical system while the device remains on a stage, the optical system providing an exterior image. The captured image is combined with the exterior image for simultaneous viewing so that the position of a first feature present in the captured image can be viewed in relation to the position of a second feature in the exterior image. A region is defined for decapsulation based on the position of the first feature relative to the position of the second feature.
US07705259B2

Mobile phones are in a trend of having thinner configuration due to emphasis on the design. Thus, in order to meet this demand, the present invention aims to thin the key sheet portion as much as possible. A thin key sheet and a thin key unit incorporating the thin key sheet are configured by providing on its surface a key top 2 made of a metal or a resin with indications such as letters, symbols, graphics or the like indicating the functions of keys are formed on the front surface or the back surface thereof, and switch elements 4 for turning ON/OFF of an electric circuit by the pressing of the key top, together with a printed circuit board 5 on which a circuit pattern involved therewith is formed; and by adhering and fixing the key top 2 and the printed circuit board 5 together via a cushion gasket 3 having appropriate elasticity and a filler layer 14 disposed between the key top and the printed circuit board.
US07705250B2

The present invention includes apparatus and methods for handling mailpieces. A mailpiece handling device includes a substantially horizontal deck for receiving a mailpiece. The device also includes a substantially vertical registration wall that extends upwardly from an edge of the deck. The device further includes a disk mounted for rotation in a circular opening in the deck adjacent the registration wall. The disk has a substantially horizontal surface. In addition, the device includes an arm mounted above the disk so as to be pivotable in a horizontal direction. Also, the device includes a steering member mounted at a free end of the arm. The steering member is for applying downward pressure to a mailpiece that is in contact with the disk.
US07705246B1

A differential signal via structure for a printed circuit board having a pair of signal vias extending vertically from a surface of the board to an interior region of the board to contact signal conductors disposed horizontally within the interior region of the board and a pair of ground vias extending vertically from a surface of the circuit board to an interior region of the board to contact ground conductors disposed horizontally within the interior region of the board.
US07705239B2

A junction device includes a junction device main portion configured for attachment to an electrical enclosure and a modular device portion electrically coupled to the junction device main portion and configured for electrical coupling to an inner junction of the electrical enclosure. At least one conductive pass-through electrically couples the inner junction of the electrical enclosure to an outer junction of the electrical enclosure. The outer junction is enclosed by an outer enclosure that is configured to engage the electrical enclosure thereby surrounding the outer junction to prevent degradation of a coupled external high-voltage conductor and to provide fire protection.
US07705235B2

The present invention is related to a photovoltaic device, the device comprising a first layer of a first semiconductor material of a first conductivity type, a second layer of a second semiconductor material of the opposite conductivity type of the first layer, and a third layer of a third porous semiconductor material situated between the first layer and the second layer. The present invention also provides a method for producing the photovoltaic device.
US07705231B2

A method for generating an accompaniment for a recorded audio melody includes providing a recorded audio melody that includes segments; performing a frequency analysis of the recorded audio melody; summing the total duration of each fundamental frequency within a segment of the melody; based on the summing, computing a probability for each possible chord for each segment; based on the computed probabilities, selecting a set of chords for the segments; and outputting the set of chords as an accompaniment for the recorded audio melody. Various other methods, devices, systems, etc. are also disclosed.
US07705230B2

The invention generally pertains to a hand-held computing device. More particularly, the invention pertains to a computing device that is capable of controlling the speed of the music so as to affect the mood and behavior of the user during an activity such as exercise. By way of example, the speed of the music can be controlled to match the pace of the activity (synching the speed of the music to the activity of the user) or alternatively it can be controlled to drive the pace of the activity (increasing or decreasing the speed of the music to encourage a greater or lower pace). One aspect of the invention relates to adjusting the tempo (or some other attribute) of the music being outputted from the computing device. By way of example, a songs tempo may be increased or decreased before or during playing. Another aspect of the invention relates to selecting music for outputting based on tempo (or some other attribute). For example, the computing device may only play songs having a particular tempo. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to both selecting music based on tempo and adjusting the tempo of the music.
US07705226B1

The present invention discloses an octave-key transfer-bar protection device, which is installed on a saxophone to protect an octave-key transfer-bar on the saxophone, and which comprises a structure body, and a collision-protection bar arranged on the structure body and encircling an accommodation space. The structure body is fixed to the external surface of the saxophone. The octave-key transfer-bar is arranged inside the accommodation space and encircled by the collision-protection bar. The collision-protection bar can protect the octave-key transfer-bar from being deformed by collision. Thus, the performer can correctly lower or raise the gamut via the octave-key transfer-bar.
US07705225B2

A bridge assembly for a guitar having a bridge plate connected to an anchor plate by a single, horizontally positioned flat spring. The bridge plate has an opening that receives a portion of a sustain block. The sustain block has receptacles for receiving fine tuners and string clamps. Intonation screws extend through flange openings on the bridge plate and are adjustably connected to saddles. A locking nut is positioned on the neck of the guitar having a plurality of pieces connected by a tensioning bolt. At least one piece has one or more stabilizing flanges.
US07705219B1

A novel maize variety designated X6R223 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing maize variety X6R223 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X6R223 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X6R223, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X6R223. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X6R223 and to the maize varieties derived by the use of those methods.
US07705206B2

The invention provides seed and plants of the lettuce line designated P2231-3013596. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of lettuce line P2231-3013596, and to methods for producing a lettuce plant produced by crossing a plant of lettuce line P2231-3013596 with itself or with another lettuce plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of lettuce line P2231-3013596, including the gametes of such plants.
US07705202B2

This invention relates to nucleic acid molecules which comprise nucleic acid sequences which encode enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of n-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexanoic acid (DHA), or variants thereof; polypeptides encoded by said nucleic acids; cells transfected with said nucleic acid sequences and products comprising said nucleic acid sequences, polypeptides and/or cells.
US07705196B2

Tumor formation and reduced transcription of both sFRP1 gene and sFRP2 gene were found in Dlg gene knock-out mice, and thereby the following has been provided: an agent for enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP, containing a compound having an effect of enhancing the expression and/or function of Dlg; an agent for inhibiting tumor formation or an agent for preventing and/or treating a tumor disease, containing the agent for enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP; a method of enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP, comprising enhancing the expression and/or function of Dlg; a method of inhibiting tumor formation or a method of preventing and/or treating a tumor disease, comprising using the aforementioned enhancing agent or the aforementioned enhancing method; a non-human mammal that is deficient in one or both of Dlg alleles; a cell originating in the mammal; a method of identifying a compound, comprising using the mammal or the cell; and a method of examining a tumor tissue or a tumor cell, comprising measuring the expression and/or function of Dlg.
US07705190B2

A method for carrying out a chemical reaction between at least two reactants occupying separate phases within a multiphase reaction mixture has been discovered in which at least one phosphazenium salt is employed as a phase transfer catalyst. The remarkable utility of phosphazenium salts as phase transfer catalysts is illustrated by the preparation of aromatic ethers. The phosphazenium salt phase transfer catalysts are shown to be especially useful in the preparation of aromatic polyethers such as polyether sulfones.
US07705184B2

A method in which a crude chlorinated product of a phenylpropanolamine, preferably prepared by reacting thionyl chloride with the phenylpropanolamine, is purified by contacting an aqueous solution of the crude product with carbon. The carbon-treated solution of the crude chlorinated product of a phenylpropanolamine is catalytically hydrogenated to the corresponding amphetamine derivative.
US07705181B2

A process for removing methacrylic acid from liquid phase P comprising acrylic acid as a main constituent and target product, and methacrylic acid as a secondary component in which the removal is effected by crystallization, the acrylic acid accumulating in the crystals formed and the methacrylic acid in the remaining mother liquor.
US07705178B2

Improved processes for preparing and crystallizing N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid are provided. The processes include adding N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid seed crystals to N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid reaction solutions. Provided are beds of crystallized N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid having improved permeability and filtration rate and reduced impurities.
US07705170B2

The present invention is directed to a method or preparing fatty acid alkyl esters from fatty acids contained in co-product streams, or waste or recycled fatty acid stock. The present method utilizes an acidic resin to convert the fatty acid stock into esters. The present method encompasses the use of reactive simulated moving bed chromatography, wherein above about 95 percent of the fatty acid stock is converted to fatty acid alkyl esters. The present method has been optimized to separate the ester product from the raffinate stream formed during the chromatographic process, thereby improving the yield of the esterification and preventing acid hydrolysis of the ester.
US07705163B2

A process for the preparation of carvedilol of formula (I) (I) either in enantiomeric substantially pure form, or as an enantiomeric mixture, optionally as a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, which process comprises reacting 2,3-eopxypropoxy carbazole of formula (II) (II) or the R or S enantiomer thereof, with N-[2-(2-methoxy-phenoxy)ethyl]-benzylamine of formula (V) (V) to yield benzyl carvedilol of formula (VI) (VI) which is debenzylated by catalytic hydrogenation to yield carvedilol of formula (I), either in enantiomeric substantially pure form, or as an enantiomeric mixture, and if desired reacting the thus formed carvedilol of formula (I) with an inorganic or organic acid to yield a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and/or, if desired, separating the enantiomers. The above process is characterised in that reaction of said 2,3-epoxypropoxy carbazole of formula (II) with said N-[2-(2-methoxy-phenoxy)ethyl]-benzylamine of formula (V) is carried out in water as the reaction medium. The present invention further provides carvedilol of formula (I) prepared by a process as described above, and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same and therapeutic uses thereof.
US07705159B2

The invention provides a high-yield process for the preparation of letrozole having a high purity, without the need for removal of the 4-[1-(1,3,4-triazolyl)methyl]benzonitrile impurity at the intermediate stage. The invention also provides a process for the synthesis of letrozole in which formation of the impurity 4-[1-(1,3,4-triazolyl)methyl]benzonitrile during the first stage is minimized. In the process, a 4-(halomethyl)benzonitrile is reacted with a salt of 1H-1,2,4-triazole, reducing the formation of the impurity. Preferably, the preparation is conducted as a one-pot process.
US07705154B2

2-Substituted-5-(1-alkylthio)alkylpyridines are produced efficiently and in high yield by cyclization and thioalkylation.
US07705148B2

Processes for the preparation of 4-[[4-[[4-(2-cyanoethenyl)-2,6-dimethylphenyl]-amino]-2-pyrimidinyl]amino]benzonitrile of formula (I), a N-oxide, a pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salt, a quaternary amine or a stereochemically isomeric form thereof are provided, said processes comprise: a) reacting 4-(2-cyanoethenyl)-2,6-dimethylbenzenamine with an intermediate of formula (III) in the presence of a suitable solvent; b) reacting an intermediate of formula (IV) with acrylonitrile in the presence of a suitable palladium catalyst, a suitable base and a suitable solvent; c) dehydrating the corresponding amide of the compound of formula (I).
US07705137B2

The present invention relates to microbial trypsin variants having chymotrypsin-like activity, comprising: (a) a one or more substitutions corresponding to positions 144, S193A, 198, 201, 218, 223, 227, 228, 229, 230, and 231 of amino acids 25 to 248 of SEQ ID NO: 2, (b) one or more deletions corresponding to positions 192, 197, and 226 of amino acids 25 to 248 of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (c) an insertion between positions corresponding to positions 224 and 225 of amino acids 25 to 248 of SEQ ID NO: 2. The present invention further relates to nucleotide sequences encoding microbial trypsin variants having chymotrypsin-like activity; nucleic acid constructs, expression vectors, and recombinant host cells comprising such nucleotide sequences; and methods of producing microbial trypsin variants having chymotrypsin-like activity or a precursor thereof.
US07705133B2

The present invention provides novel polynucleotides encoding LTRPC3g, LTRPC3h, LTRPC3i, LTRPC3j, LTRPC3k, or LTRPC3l polypeptides, fragments and homologues thereof. Also provided are vectors, host cells, antibodies, and recombinant and synthetic methods for producing said polypeptides. The invention further relates to diagnostic and therapeutic methods for applying these novel LTRPC3g, LTRPC3h, LTRPC3i, LTRPC3j, LTRPC3k, or LTRPC3l polypeptides to the diagnosis, treatment, and/or prevention of various diseases and/or disorders related to these polypeptides. The invention further relates to screening methods for identifying agonists and antagonists of the polynucleotides and polypeptides of the present invention.
US07705121B2

Newly identified mammalian taste-cell-specific G protein-coupled receptors, and the genes and cDNA encoding said receptors are described. Specifically, T1R G protein-coupled receptors active in taste signaling, and the genes and cDNA encoding the same, are described, along with methods for isolating such genes and for isolating and expressing such receptors. Methods for representing taste perception of a particular tastant in a mammal are also described, as are methods for generating novel molecules or combinations of molecules that elicit a predetermined taste perception in a mammal, and methods for simulating one or more tastes. Further, methods for stimulating or blocking taste perception in a mammal are also disclosed.
US07705105B2

A compound represented by Formula (1) and a polymer obtained using the compound: wherein R1 is phenyl which may have substituents, Q1 is hydrogen, halogen, alkyl having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexenyl or phenyl in which optional hydrogen may be replaced by halogen or alkyl having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, Q2 is a group represented by Formula (2): wherein the code < represents a bonding point with silicon, l, m, n and p are independently 0, 1, 2 or 3, and A1 to A4, Z0 to Z4 and Y1 are defined in the specification.
US07705103B2

Polydiorganosiloxane polyoxamide, linear, block copolymers and methods of making the copolymers are provided. The method of making the copolymers involves reacting a diamine with a precursor having at least one polydiorganosiloxane segment and at least two oxalyamino groups. The polydiorganosiloxane polyoxamide block copolymers are of the (AB)n type.
US07705098B2

Chemically crosslinked polycyclooctene having excellent shape recovery properties is prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization of cis-cyclooctene followed by chemical crosslinking. The crosslinked polycyclooctene can be shaped, the shape memorized, a new shape imparted with the original shape being recoverable by suitable temperature adjustment. The dependence of shape memory characteristics on degree of crosslinking was established. In addition to polycyclooctene, blends thereof with other materials such as SBR, EVA, polyurethane rubbers, and inorganic fillers can be utilized to provide chemically crosslinked products having excellent and tailored shape memory properties.
US07705093B2

A phosphor-containing addition-curable silicone resin composition is provided. The composition is capable of forming a cured product which exhibits excellent crack resistance and shock resistance, and minimal surface tackiness. The composition includes (A) an organopolysiloxane including R1SiO1.5 units (T units), R22SiO units (D units), and R3aR4bSiO(4-a-b)/2 units (wherein, R1, R2 and R3 represent a methyl group or the like, R4 represents a vinyl group or allyl group, a represents an integer from 0 to 2, b represents 1 or 2, and a+b is either 2 or 3), in which the number of repetitions of the D units is within a range from 5 to 300; (B) an Si—H-containing polysiloxane including T units, D units, and R3cHdSiO(4-c-d)/2 units (wherein, c represents an integer from 0 to 2, d represents 1 or 2, and c+d is either 2 or 3), in which the number of repetitions of the D units is within a range from 5 to 300, in sufficient quantity that the molar ratio of Si-bonded hydrogen atoms within (B), relative to vinyl groups or allyl groups within (A), is within a range from 0.1 to 4.0; (C) a catalyst; and (D) a phosphor.
US07705087B2

The present invention relates to polyurethane/ureas wherein the polyurethane/ureas contain 0.5 to 6% by weight, based on the weight of the polyurethane/ureas, of alkoxysilane groups (calculated as Si, MW 28), which have been incorporated by the reaction of isocyanate groups with a dihydroxy compound containing urea and alkoxysilane groups, and wherein the polyurethane/ureas optionally contain hydrophilic groups and are optionally dispersed in an aqueous medium.The present invention also relates to a process for preparing these polyurethane/urea and to their use for preparing coatings.
US07705082B2

An aqueous latex coating composition and method of making an aqueous latex coating composition that comprises at least one oligomeric ethylene glycol derivative having the structure RO—(CH2—CH2—O—)n—H, at least one latex polymer, and water, wherein R is H or C1-C4 alkyl and preferably H, and n is from 3 to 9, preferably from 3 to 8, and more preferably from 3 to 6. The oligomeric ethylene glycol derivative functions as both a coalescing solvent and freeze-thaw stabilizer without contributing to the VOC content of the composition.
US07705081B2

An aqueous latex coating composition and method of making an aqueous latex coating composition that comprises at least one oligomeric ethylene glycol derivative having the structure RO—(CH2—CH2—O—)n—H, at least one latex polymer, and water, wherein R is H or Cl-C4 alkyl and preferably H, and n is from 3 to 9, preferably from 3 to 8, and more preferably from 3 to 6. The oligomeric ethylene glycol derivative functions as both a coalescing solvent and freeze-thaw stabilizer without contributing to the VOC content of the composition.
US07705079B2

The present invention provides a polyarylene sulfide resin composition which shows high dielectric constant and low dielectric dissipation factor, has excellent moldability, and has improved corrosive property to metal parts. More specifically, to 100 parts by weight of (A) polyarylene sulfide resin, compounded are 10 to 400 parts by weight of (B) an alkaline earth metal titanate showing 50 or higher relative dielectric constant and 0.05 or lower dielectric dissipation factor at 1 MHz, and containing less than 500 ppm of metal ion which is extracted by hot water; and 0.01 to 15 parts by weight of (C) one or more compound selected from hydroxides and oxides of alkaline earth metals.
US07705067B2

Biomedical devices, such as ophthalmic lenses, and methods of making such devices having a surface coating including at least one polyionic layer. A preferred method involves spray coating a polycationic material onto a core lens, rinsing and drying the lens, followed by spray coating a polyanionic material, rinsing and drying. The coating process may be applied a plurality of times to achieve a multi-layer coating on the lens surface. A particularly preferred embodiment is a contact lens comprising a highly oxygen permeable hydrophobic core coated with a 5 to 20 bilayers of hydrophilic polyionic materials.
US07705058B2

Method for the microwave emulsion treatment of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions, including a) determining, for an W/O emulsion the optimum conditions of the variables: water content, salt content, pH value of the aqueous phase, initial temperature, microwave application power, final temperature and drop size distribution to be adjusted in the industrial plant, as a function of the features of the tested crude oil such as viscosity, density, asphaltene content, total acidity, such conditions being those required for obtaining at least 90% separation efficiency of the emulsion in the presence of microwave radiation: b) utilizing such information for the initial adjustment of application conditions of the method to phase separation units in refineries and production units; c) perform on line tests of the variables of step a) of the process response in the streams effluent from separation units, being the response the water content and salt content tests, so as to feedback the information to the best adjustment of the process conditions for microwave application; and d) utilizing the on line or laboratory tests of the effect of the method as a tool for monitoring the efficiency of the breaking of the W/O emulsion.
US07705055B2

The present invention provides methods of treating neurological disorders in a mammal by administering to the mammal an effective amount of a selective persistent sodium channel antagonist that has at least 20-fold selectivity for persistent sodium current relative to transient sodium current.
US07705054B1

A method of treating and/or preventing oxidative damage, comprising administering an effective IsoK/NeuroK adduct formation suppressing amount of a phenolic amine compound and/or pyridoxamine or pyridoxamine analog, including embodiments where the phenolic compound is at least one of a pyridoxamine, salicylamine, tyrosine compound or an analog thereof.
US07705051B2

The use of calcium trifluoroacetate for the preparation of a drug for the treatment of plasma cell neoplasias, particularly multiple myeloma.
US07705050B2

N-(2-aryl-propionyl)-amides of formula (I) are described. The process for their preparation and pharmaceutical preparations thereof are also described.The amides of the invention are useful in the prevention and treatment of tissue damage due to the exacerbate recruitment of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (leukocytes PMN) at the inflammatory sites. In particular, the invention relates to the R enantiomers of N-(2-aryl-propionyl)amides of formula (I) for use in the inhibition of the chemotaxis of neutrophils induced by IL-8. The compounds of the invention are used in the treatment of psoriasis, ulcerative cholitis, glomerular nephritis, acute respiratory insufficiency, idiopathic fibrosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
US07705046B2

Disclosed are two new crystalline forms, δ and ε, of perindopril erbumine. Those forms are suitable as therapeutic active substances for medicaments for the treatment of cardio-vascular diseases, especially high blood pressure and heart failure. The ε crystalline form is obtained in the crystallization of perindopril erbumine at from 30 to 45° C., preferably from 34 to 45° C., from MTBE containing from 1.5 to 2.5% (v/v) water; the crystallization is advantageously carried out with stirring. If the water is then removed, advantageously by azeotropic distillation, preferably at from 35 to 37° C., and stirring is then continued for at least 15 h at from 30 to 45° C., preferably from 35 to 37° C., the ε crystalline form is converted to the δ crystalline form. The δ crystalline form can also be obtained by stirring the α or β crystalline form at from 33 to 38° C. in tert.-butyl methyl ether containing from 0.9 to 1.4% (v/v) water with seeding with the δ crystalline form. The ε crystalline form can also be obtained by stirring the α or β crystalline form at from 28 to 35° C. in tert.-butyl methyl ether containing from 0.9 to 1.4% (v/v) water with seeding with the ε crystalline form; or by stirring the α or β crystalline form at from 35 to 38° C. in tert.-butyl methyl ether containing from 1.5 to 2.0% (v/v) water.
US07705045B2

This invention concerns multiple release spacers and spacer systems, which release multiple leaving groups following a single activation. It concerns compounds comprising a specifier linked to two or more of the same or different leaving groups (L in the figure) via a self-eliminating multiple release spacer or spacer system, which compounds upon a single activation step, in particular removal or transformation of the specifier, release at least two leaving groups.
US07705044B2

The invention relates to compounds of the general formula and optionally the enantiomers thereof. These compounds have advantageous pesticidal properties. They are especially suitable for controlling parasites in warm-blooded animals.
US07705038B2

2-Phenyl-3-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)acrylonitrile compounds useful for controlling parasites in animals and methods of treatment of parasite infestation in animals using the compounds are disclosed.
US07705036B2

This invention is directed to deuterated aminocyclohexyl ether compounds and processes for preparing same and methods of using same.
US07705035B2

The invention is directed to indoline amide derivatives of formula I as EP4 receptor ligands, antagonists or agonists, useful for the treatment of EP4 mediated diseases or conditions, such as acute and chronic pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and glaucoma. Pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use are also included.
US07705034B2

The invention is concerned with novel vinylogous acid derivatives of formula I: wherein A and R1 to R5 are as defined in the description and in the claims, as well as physiologically acceptable salts thereof. These compounds are useful as chymase inhibitors.
US07705029B2

What is claimed is a compound represented by the following structural formula: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or clathrate thereof. The variables for Structural Formula (I) are as described herein.
US07705028B2

The present invention provides novel substituted isoxazole compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, therapeutic uses and processes for preparing the same.
US07705019B2

In its many embodiments, the present invention provides a novel class of compounds of structural formula IA or IB where R1-R8 are as disclosed herein as inhibitors of the CCR5 receptors, methods of preparing such compounds, pharmaceutical compositions containing one or more such compounds, methods of preparing pharmaceutical formulations comprising one or more such compounds, and methods of treatment, prevention, inhibition, or amelioration of one or more diseases associated with CCR5 using such compounds or pharmaceutical compositions. The invention also relates to the use of a combination of a compound of this invention and one or more antiviral or other agents useful in the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The invention further relates to the use of a compound of this invention, alone or in combination with another agent, in the treatment of solid organ transplant rejection, graft v. host disease, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, asthma, allergies or multiple sclerosis.
US07705014B2

The instant invention provides for compounds that inhibit Akt activity. In particular, the compounds disclosed selectively inhibit one or two of the Akt isoforms. The invention also provides for compositions comprising such inhibitory compounds and methods of inhibiting Akt activity by administering the compound to a patient in need of treatment of cancer.
US07705000B2

The present invention relates to an oral suspension comprising meloxicam, its preparation and its use in alleviating inflammation and pain in both acute and chronic musculo-skeletal disorders.
US07704994B2

The present invention relates to benzazepine derivatives of formula (I) wherein: R1 represents —C3-7 cycloalkyl optionally substituted by C1-3 alkyl; having pharmacological activity, processes for their preparation, to compositions containing them and to their use in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
US07704992B2

The present disclosure relates to compounds, compositions and methods for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds and methods for using these compounds in the treatment of HCV infection.
US07704990B2

The present invention provides novel compounds of Formula I and salts, hydrates, solvates, complexes, and prodrugs thereof. The present invention further provides methods for synthesizing compounds of Formula I. The invention additionally provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of Formula I and methods of using the pharmaceutical compositions of Formula I to treat and prevent disorders and diseases associated with the RyR receptors that regulate calcium channel functioning in cells. Such disorders and diseases include, by way of example only, cardiac disorders and diseases, skeletal muscular disorders and diseases, cognitive disorders and diseases, malignant hyperthermia, diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome. Cardiac disorder and diseases include, but are not limited to, irregular heartbeat disorders and diseases; exercise-induced irregular heartbeat disorders and diseases; sudden cardiac death; exercise-induced sudden cardiac death; congestive heart failure; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and high blood pressure. Irregular heartbeat disorders and diseases include and exercise-induced irregular heartbeat disorders and diseases include, but are not limited to, atrial and ventricular arrhythmia; atrial and ventricular fibrillation; atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmia; atrial and ventricular tachycardia; catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT); and exercise-induced variants thereof. Skeletal muscular disorder and diseases include, but are not limited to, skeletal muscle fatigue, exercise-induced skeletal muscle fatigue, muscular dystrophy, bladder disorders, and incontinence. Cognitive disorders and diseases include, but are not limited to, Alzheimer's Disease, forms of memory loss, and age-dependent memory loss.
US07704988B2

This invention provides cholesterol absorption inhibitors of Formula I: and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts and esters thereof. The compounds are useful for lowering plasma cholesterol levels, particularly LDL cholesterol, and for treating and preventing atherosclerosis and atherosclerotic disease events.
US07704985B2

The present invention discloses a method of treating an individual having irritable bowel syndrome or a related disorder, comprising the step of administering to said individual a pharmacologically effective dose of a luminally active anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive compound with minimal or no systemic side effects. Further provided is a method of inhibiting the onset of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or a related disorder in an individual in need of such treatment, comprising the step of administering to the individual a prophylactically effective dose of a luminally active anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive compound with minimal or no systemic side effects.
US07704984B2

A method of contraception that provides for sequentially administering to a female of child bearing age: (a) a first composition containing a progestin in an amount equivalent to about 0.3 to about 1.5 mg norethindrone acetate and an estrogen in an amount equivalent to about 5 to about 20 mcg of ethinyl estradiol for about 22 to about 26 days; (b) a second composition containing an estrogen in an amount equivalent to about 5 to about 20 mcg of ethinyl estradiol for about 2 to about 3 days and an optional third composition that is a placebo provided that (i) if estrogen administration is continuous then the first composition is administered for 25 to 26 days, the second composition is administered for 2 to 3 days and no third composition is administered and (ii) if estrogen administration is not continuous then the first composition is administered for 22 to 24 days, the second composition is administered for 2 to 3 days and the third composition is administered for 1 to 4 days. The total cycle length is 28 days, with the first composition administered on day 1 of the menstrual cycle, defined as the first day of menstrual bleeding, or on the first Sunday after the first day of the menstrual cycle.
US07704981B2

Compounds of formula I are provided where X1, X2 and X3 are independently selected from H or hydroxy protecting groups. Such compounds are used in preparing pharmaceutical compositions and are useful in treating a variety of biological conditions.
US07704980B2

A method of preventing and/or treating inflammatory bowel disease, particularly ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is disclosed. The method involves administering a 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compound in an amount effective to treat the disease. The administration of a 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compound also prevents the development of or delays the onset of inflammatory bowel disease in susceptible individuals. The preferred compounds are 1α-hydroxy-2-methylene-19-nor-homopregnacalciferol and 2-methylene-19-nor-20(S)-1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.
US07704978B2

The invention provides methods for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease, autism, depression, benign forgetfulness, childhood learning disorders, closed head injury, and attention deficit disorder. The methods entail administering to a patient diagnosed as having a neuropsychiatric disorder a pharmaceutical composition containing (i) a therapeutically effective amount of D-alanine (or a modified form thereof), provided that the composition is substantially free of D-cycloserine, and/or (ii) D-serine (or a modified form thereof), and/or (iii) 105 to 500 mg of D-cycloserine (or a modified form thereof), and/or (iv) N-methylglycine (or a modified form thereof).
US07704964B2

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for selectively expressing a polypeptide in a membrane vesicle. The invention also relates to genetic constructs and recombinant cells suitable to produce such membrane vesicles. This invention also relates to such functionalized membrane vesicles as well as to methods of making antibodies, methods of producing or regulating an immune response as well as to methods of screening or identifying binding partners using the same. The invention more particularly uses lactadherin or portions thereof to selectively express polypeptides in membrane vesicles, of natural or synthetic origin. This invention can be used in experimental, research, therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic areas.
US07704962B1

The present invention provides short antisense oligonucleotide compositions and methods for their use in the treatment of Bcl-2-associated diseases like cancer, such as follicular lymphoma (FL). The antisense oligonucleotides contain sequences that hybridize to Bcl-2 nucleic acids, the gene products of which are known to interact with the tumorigenic protein Bcl-2. The use of novel short antisense oligonucleotides, from 7 bases to 9 bases in length, is described in this invention. The invention also describes certain specific sequences which are longer than 9 bases and are 11 or 15 bases long. Used alone, or in conjunction with other antisense oligonucleotides, these antisense oligonucleotide compositions inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.
US07704961B2

Described is a compound of the formula (I) wherein the bond between carbon atoms 22 and 23 is a single or double bond; m is 0 or 1; R1, is C1-C12alkyl, C3-C8cycloalkyl or C2-C12alkenyl; and either (A) R2 is —N(R3)R4, and (1) X is 0, wherein R3 is, for instance, hydrogen, unsubstituted or mono- to pentasubstituted C1-C12alkyl, and R4 is, for instance, mono- to pentasubstituted C1-C12alkyl, unsubstituted or mono- to pentasubstituted C3-C12cycloalkyl; or (2) X is S, wherein R3 is, for instance, hydrogen, unsubstituted or mono- to pentasubstituted C1-C12alkyl, and R4 is, for instance, hydrogen, unsubstituted or mono- to pentasubstituted C1-C12alkyl; or (3) X is 0 or S, wherein R3 and R4 together are, for instance, a three- to seven membered alkylene or a four- to seven-membered alkenylene bridge; or (B) R2 is OR5, X is 0 or S, wherein R5 is, for instance, C1-C12alkyl, mono- to pentasubstituted C1-C12alkyl; or, if appropriate, an E/Z isomer, E/Z isomer mixture and/or tautomer thereof, in each case in free form or in salt form; such a compound demonstrates pesticidal activity.
US07704955B2

The invention relates to compositions comprising of SEQ NO: 1-244, 248-249, and any homologs, analogs, and fragments thereof. Such compositions can be used to treat, prevent, and modulate pain, inflammation, and metabolic processes in various organisms including plants and animals. Such compositions can be formulated with an acceptable pharmaceutical excipient for administration to a human or a plant. The compositions can be administered topically or for systemic use.
US07704953B2

The present disclosure relates to the construction, expression, and selection of genes that encode novel Trp cage polypeptides with desirable cell and/or tissue binding properties, as well as the novel Trp cage polypeptides themselves. A polypeptide of this disclosure may contain all or part of amino acid sequence AAADX1YX2QWLX3X4X5GPX6SGRPPPX7 (SEQ ID NO: 4), wherein Xn represents an amino acid found in position n, the polypeptide comprising a tryptophan cage (Trp cage).
US07704948B2

A stool softener and enteric coated bisacodyl form of a pharmaceutical composition.
US07704943B2

The present invention relates to use of a transglutaminase in the preparation of a medicament for inhibiting angiogenesis. Preferably, the transglutaminase is a human tissue transglutaminase. Advantageously, the medicament is for treating cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, retinopathy and/or psoriasis. Additionally, the invention relates to compositions comprising a transglutaminase in an amount sufficient to inhibit angiogenesis.
US07704942B2

The invention relates to phenyl-cycloalkanes of formula (I) wherein the groups R1 to R6 are defined in the specification.
US07704933B2

The present invention relates to a new class of compound, α-decalones with a 2,3,8a-trimethyl substitution, which are valuable perfuming ingredients of the woody type. The present invention also concerns the use of these compounds in the perfumery industry as well as the compositions or articles containing these compounds.
US07704927B2

Methods and compositions useful in acidizing a subterranean formation with an oil-in-water emulsion that includes a sulfonate ester, a fluoride salt, a proppant, and water. The reaction of the ester and fluoride salt is delayed so that hydrofluoric acid is produced in-situ.
US07704926B2

The present invention provides aqueous viscoelastic compositions comprising a cleavable surfactant and possibly also an electrolyte. The cleavable surfactants useful in the present invention comprise at least one weak chemical bond, which is capable of being broken under appropriate conditions, to produce oil soluble and water soluble products typically having no interfacial properties and surface activity compared with the original surfactant molecule. Further, the rheological properties of the aqueous viscolelastic composition are usually altered upon cleavage of the cleavable surfactant generally resulting in the elimination of the viscofying, viscoelastic and surfactant properties of the composition. Aqueous viscoelastic compositions in accordance with the present invention are suitable for use in oil-field applications, particularly for hydraulic fracturing of subterranean formations. Thus, the present invention also relates to a wellbore service fluid and a method of fracturing a subterranean formation. The present invention also concerns novel cleavable surfactants.
US07704923B2

High throughput screening of catalyst libraries may be performed using spin resonance techniques, and an evanescent wave probe developed by the present inventors. The probe may operate using either nuclear magnetic resonance or electron spin resonance techniques. In one configuration, a scanning evanescent wave spin resonance probe is used in conjunction with a library of catalysts or other materials, and localized detection of spin resonance is carried out at each library address. In another configuration, the evanescent wave probe is used in a micro-reactor array assay.
US07704919B2

The invention relates to gold-coated particles useful as fuel cell electrocatalysts. The particles are composed of an electrocatalytically active core at least partially encapsulated by an outer shell of gold or gold alloy. The invention more particularly relates to such particles having a noble metal-containing core, and more particularly, a platinum or platinum alloy core. In other embodiments, the invention relates to fuel cells containing these electrocatalysts and methods for generating electrical energy therefrom.
US07704918B2

The invention relates to platinum-metal oxide composite particles and their use as electrocatalysts in oxygen-reducing cathodes and fuel cells. The invention particularly relates to methods for preventing the oxidation of the platinum electrocatalyst in the cathodes of fuel cells by use of these platinum-metal oxide composite particles. The invention additionally relates to methods for producing electrical energy by supplying such a fuel cell with an oxidant, such as oxygen, and a fuel source, such as hydrogen. The invention also relates to methods of making the metal-metal oxide composites.
US07704914B2

A photocatalyst which has high catalytic activity, is nontoxic, has a long life, can utilize visible light as it is for photocatalytic reactions, and is useful especially for hydrogen generation; and a process for producing the same. The photocatalyst comprises cadmium sulfide, has a capsule structure, wherein platinum is supported thereto. It can be obtainable by bubbling H2S gas into a liquid to which particles of cadmium oxide have been added.
US07704902B2

The invention relates to glass fibers having a chemical composition that contains the following constituents in the limits defined hereafter and expressed in percentage by weight, namely: 38 to 49 SiO2; 15 to 25 Al2O3; 1 to 15 CaO; 0 to 4 MgO; 14 to 25 Na2O; 0 to 10 K2O; 0 to 8 B2O3; 0 to 3 Fe2O3; and 0 to 3 P2O5.
US07704894B1

This invention provides a high throughput PECVD process for depositing TEOS films in a multi-station sequential deposition chamber. The methods significantly reduce the number of particles in the TEOS films, thereby eliminating or minimizing small bin defects. The methods of the invention involve dedicating a first station for temperature soak while flowing purge gas. Stopping the flow of reactant gas and flowing the purge gas for station 1 eliminates TEOS condensation on a cold wafer surface and significantly reduces the number of defects in the film, particularly for short temperature soaks.
US07704893B2

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising an insulation film consisting of a fluoridation carbon film that has been subjected to thermal history of 420° C. or lower. The feature of the present invention is that an amount of hydrogen atoms included in the fluoridation carbon film is 3 atomic % or less before the fluoridation carbon film is subjected to the thermal history.
US07704891B2

A method of producing a semiconductor device includes the steps of: preparing a base member; laminating sequentially a barrier film formed of titanium nitride, a wiring portion film formed of tungsten, and a mask film formed of titanium nitride on the base member to form a multi-layer film; forming a resist mask on the mask film so that the resist mask covers a wiring portion forming area and exposes a wiring portion non-forming area; etching the mask film using a first gas in which titanium nitride has a large etching ratio with respect to tungsten; and etching the wiring portion film using a second gas in which tungsten has a large etching ratio with respect to titanium nitride so that a portion of the wiring portion film in the wiring portion non-forming area is removed and a portion of the wiring portion film in the wiring portion forming area remains.
US07704880B1

A method is provided for manufacturing removable contact structures on the surface of a substrate to conduct electricity from a contact member to the surface during electroprocessing. The method comprises forming a conductive layer on the surface. A predetermined region of the conductive layer is selectively coated by a contact layer so that the contact member touches the contact layer as the electroprocessing is performed on the conductive layer.
US07704877B2

When a multi-layer structure is formed by forming the interconnect trenches or via holes having different patterns in a plurality of insulating films, an anti-reflective film and an upper resist film are stacked in this order over an insulating interlayer, and the anti-reflective film is etched through the upper resist film used as a mask, wherein the anti-reflective film is etched while varying a value of at least one etching condition correlative to Δ(L2−L1), expressing dimensional shift of width L2 of opening of the recess formed in the insulating film, with respect to width L1 of opening of the upper resist film, so as to reduce the dimensional shift Δ(L2−L1) as the aperture ratio of the opening to be formed in the upper resist film increases, depending on the aperture ratio.
US07704872B2

Processes for sealing porous low k dielectric film generally comprises exposing the porous surface of the porous low k dielectric film to ultraviolet (UV) radiation at intensities, times, wavelengths and in an atmosphere effective to seal the porous dielectric surface by means of carbonization, oxidation, and/or film densification. The surface of the surface of the porous low k material is sealed to a depth less than or equal to about 20 nanometers, wherein the surface is substantially free of pores after the UV exposure.
US07704869B2

A method of forming a high aspect ratio via opening through multiple dielectric layers, a high aspect ratio electrically conductive via, methods of forming three-dimension integrated circuits, and three-dimensional integrated circuits. The methods include forming a stack of at least four dielectric layers and etching the first and third dielectric layers with processes selective to the second and fourth dielectric layers, etching the second and third dielectric layers with processes selective to the first and second dielectric layers. Advantageously the process used to etch the third dielectric layer is not substantially selective to the first dielectric layer.
US07704867B2

In semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices, a zirconium source having zirconium, carbon and nitrogen is provided onto a substrate to form an adsorption layer of the zirconium source on the substrate. A first purging process is performed to remove a non-adsorbed portion of the zirconium source. An oxidizing gas is provided onto the adsorption layer to form an oxidized adsorption layer of the zirconium source on the substrate. A second purging process is performed to remove a non-reacted portion of the oxidizing gas. A nitriding gas is provided on the oxidized adsorption layer to form a zirconium carbo-oxynitride layer on the substrate, and a third purging process is provided to remove a non-reacted portion of the nitriding gas.
US07704863B2

Chemical bath deposition (CBD) has proved top be the most favorable method for application of a buffer layer to semiconductor substrates, for example, chalcopyrite thin-film solar cells, whereby previously cadmium sulphide (CdS) was deposited and as cadmium is a highly toxic heavy metal, alternatives have been required. According to the invention, the semiconductor substrate is dipped in a solution for approximately 10 minutes, produced by the dissolution of zinc sulphate (0.05-0.5 mol/l) and thiourea (0.2 to 1.5 mol/l) in distilled water at a temperature being held essentially constant throughout said period. For the first time, the ZnS layer permits comparable or higher efficiencies than conventionally only achieved with toxic cadmium compounds. The method is hence much more environmentally-friendly with the same result.
US07704862B2

Systems and methods for reducing a surface roughness of a polycrystalline or single crystal thin film produced by the sequential lateral solidification process are disclosed. In one arrangement, the system includes an excimer laser for generating a plurality of excimer laser pulses of a predetermined fluence, an energy density modulator for controllably modulating the fluence of the excimer laser pulses such that the fluence is below that which is required to completely melt the thin film, a beam homoginizer for homoginizing modulated laser pulses in a predetermined plane, a sample stage for receiving homoginized laser pulses to effect melting of portions of the polycrystalline or single crystal thin film corresponding to the laser pulses, translating means for controllably translating a relative position of the sample stage with respect to the laser pulses, and a computer for coordinating the excimer pulse generation and fluence modulation with the relative positions of the sample stage to thereby process the polycrystalline or single crystal thin film by sequential translation of the sample stage relative to the laser pulses.
US07704857B2

After a semiconductor element is formed and before resin sealing is performed, a surface of a scribe line between the adjacent semiconductor elements of a semiconductor wafer is scraped thinly. A laser is irradiated on a broken layer of the surface of the scribe line thus scraped thinly to recrystallize the broken layer.
US07704851B2

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes providing a semiconductor substrate with gate structures. A sacrificial insulating layer is formed between the gate structures at a height lower than that of the gate structures such that a portion of each gate structure is exposed above the sacrificial insulating layer. Spacers are formed on sidewalls of the exposed portions of the gate structures. A portion of the sacrificial insulating layer between the spacers is exposed. The sacrificial insulating layer is removed, thereby forming spaces below the spacers. An insulating layer is formed to fill the spaces between the spacers such that air pockets are formed between the gate structures and below the spacers.
US07704848B2

A method for designing a semiconductor device includes: based on information on layout of a resistive element and information on layout of wiring disposed on a layer above the resistive element when seen in section, determining whether or not the resistive element and the wiring overlap each other when seen from above; and if it is determined that there is an overlap between the resistive element and the wiring when seen from above, changing at least one of the layout of the resistive element and the layout of the wiring so as to eliminate the overlap.
US07704847B2

An on-chip heater and methods for fabrication thereof and use thereof provide that the heater is located within an isolation region that in turn is located within a semiconductor substrate. The heater has a thermal output capable or raising the semiconductor substrate to a temperature of at least about 200° C. The heater may be used for thermally annealing trapped charges within dielectric layers within the semiconductor structure.
US07704842B2

A lateral high-voltage device in which conductive trench plates are inserted across the voltage-withstand region, so that, in the on state, the current density vectors have less convergence. This can help reduce on-resistance.
US07704841B2

A gate structure in a transistor and method for fabricating the structure are disclosed. A gate structure is formed on a substrate. The gate structure includes three layers: an oxide layer, a nitride layer and a polysilicon layer. The oxide layer is located on the substrate, the nitride layer is located on the oxide layer, and the polysilicon layer is located on the nitride layer. The gate structure is reoxidized to form a layer of oxide over the gate structure.
US07704839B2

A field effect transistor (FET) comprises a substrate; a buried oxide (BOX) layer over the substrate; a current channel region over the BOX layer; source/drain regions adjacent to the current channel region; a buried high-stress film in the BOX layer and regions of the substrate, wherein the high-stress film comprises any of a compressive film and a tensile film; an insulating layer covering the buried high-stress film; and a gate electrode over the current channel region, wherein the high-stress film is adapted to create mechanical stress in the current channel region, wherein the high-stress film is adapted to stretch the current channel region in order to create the mechanical stress in the current channel region; wherein the mechanical stress comprises any of compressive stress and tensile stress, and wherein the mechanical stress caused by the high-stress film causes an increased charge carrier mobility in the current channel region.
US07704838B2

A method is provided for making a semiconductor device, which comprises (a) providing a semiconductor structure comprising a top gate (228) and a bottom gate (240); (b) creating first, second and third openings in the semiconductor structure, wherein the first opening exposes a portion of the bottom gate; (c) filling the first, second and third openings with a conductive material, thereby forming source (258) and drain (260) regions in the second and third openings and a conductive region (253) in the first opening; and (d) forming an electrical contact (278) to the conductive region.
US07704832B2

Non-volatile memory and integrated memory and peripheral circuitry fabrication processes are provided. Sets of charge storage regions, such as NAND strings including multiple non-volatile storage elements, are formed over a semiconductor substrate using a layer of charge storage material such as a first layer of polysilicon. An intermediate dielectric layer is provided over the charge storage regions. A layer of conductive material such as a second layer of polysilicon is deposited over the substrate and etched to form the control gates for the charge storage regions and the gate regions of the select transistors for the sets of storage elements. The first layer of polysilicon is removed from a portion of the substrate, facilitating fabrication of the select transistor gate regions from only the second layer of polysilicon. Peripheral circuitry formation is also incorporated into the fabrication process to form the gate regions for devices such as high voltage and logic transistors. The gate regions of these devices can be formed from the layer forming the control gates of the memory array.
US07704831B2

A reduction of a resistance of a bit line of a memory cell array and a reduction of a forming area of the memory cell array are planed.Respective bit lines running at right angles to a word line are composed of a diffusion bit line formed in a semiconductor substrate and a linear metal bit line on an upper side of the diffusion bit line. The diffusion bit line is formed in a linear pattern on a lower side of the metal bit line in the same manner, and the metal bit line is connected with the diffusion bit line between the word lines. An interlayer insulating film is formed on the memory cell array, and the metal bit line is formed with being buried in it.
US07704828B2

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming a mold for forming a storage electrode, forming sacrificial spacers at side walls of openings in the mold, forming a conductive film for a storage electrode along the inside of the openings, removing the mold by a wet etching process, removing the sacrificial spacers by a dry etching process, and sequentially forming a dielectric film and an upper electrode on the storage electrode.
US07704823B2

To form a semiconductor device, an electrode layer is formed over a semiconductor body. The electrode layer includes an amorphous portion. A liner, e.g., a stress-inducing liner, is deposited over the electrode layer. The electrode layer is annealed to recrystallize the amorphous portion of the electrode layer. The liner can then be removed and an electronic component (e.g., a transistor) that includes a feature (e.g., a gate) formed from the electrode layer can be formed.
US07704814B2

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a low-voltage MOS transistor and a high-voltage MOS transistor. The present method includes a low-voltage well implantation process on a semiconductor substrate to form a first well in a first region of the substrate and a second well in a second region of the substrate; forming first and second gate oxide layers and first and second gate electrodes in the first and second regions, respectively; forming a first photoresist pattern to expose the first region; forming a first LDD region in the first region exposed by the first photoresist pattern and the first gate electrode; removing the first photoresist pattern; forming a second photoresist pattern to expose the second region; forming a second LDD region in the second region exposed by the second photoresist pattern and the second gate electrode; performing a compensational implantation on the second region to adjust a well concentration for the high-voltage MOS transistor; and removing the second photoresist pattern.
US07704800B2

A method for packaging an integrated circuit. A barrier metal pattern is disposed on a baseplate. A conductive layer is disposed on the barrier metal pattern. A photoresist having a pattern is applied to the conductive layer. A via is then disposed on the conductive layer. An integrated circuit is coupled to the via and encapsulated. Then, at least a part of the baseplate is removed. An integrated circuit package is produced by the method.
US07704794B2

A semiconductor device is formed of two or more dice of similar dimensions and bond pad arrangement, in which bond pads are located in fields along less than three edges of the active surface of each die. A first die is attached to a substrate and subsequent die or dice are attached in a vertical sequence atop the first die, each in an offset configuration from the next lower die to expose the bond pads thereof for conductive bonding to metallization of the substrate. The multiple chip device permits a plurality of dice to be stacked in a maximum density low profile device. A particularly useful application is the formation of stacked mass storage flash memory package.
US07704783B2

The manufacturing method includes forming a molecular film 16 of at least one kind of molecule on a part of a conductive film 13 by placing, on the conductive film 13, a solution 12 containing the one kind of molecule dissolved therein, with the one kind of molecule being selected from the group consisting of: a molecule expressed by Formula (1): CF3(CF2)n(CH2)mSH, where n indicates a natural number of 3 to 7 while m denotes a natural number of 8 to 18; and a molecule expressed by Formula (2): CF3(CF2)p(CH2)qSS(CH2)q′(CF2)p′CF3, where p and p′ each are a natural number of 3 to 7 independently while q and q′ each are a natural number of 8 to 18 independently. Subsequently, the conductive film 13 located in a part where the molecular film 16 has not been formed is removed by bringing the conductive film 13 into contact with an etchant for the conductive film 13. Thus, a conductive pattern 17 is formed.
US07704778B2

A microlens structure and a method of fabrication thereof are provided. The method comprises forming a layer of microlens material over a substrate, which has photo-sensitive elements formed therein. The microlens material, which comprises a photo-resist material, is exposed in accordance with a desired pattern a plurality of times. The energy used with each exposure process is less than the energy required if a single exposure is used. Furthermore, the masks used for each exposure may differ. In an embodiment, the masks are varied so as to create a notch in the upper corner of the microlens.
US07704776B2

Embodiments relate to an image sensor and a method for manufacturing an image sensor that may prevent a photoresist pattern from remaining on gates by forming a floating diffusion area faster than the gates. According to embodiments, since the gates may not be influenced by an ion implantation process, current characteristics and operation reliability may be enhanced. According to embodiments, the method may include forming dummy ion implantation mask patterns for forming a floating diffusion area over an epitaxial layer and forming an ion implantation mask pattern over the epitaxial layer and at least a portion of the dummy ion implantation mask patterns, so as to form the floating diffusion area by performing an ion implantation process.
US07704775B2

The invention provides CCD type solid-state imaging apparatus comprises: photoelectric conversion elements; a plurality of first transfer paths extending in a first direction; and second transfer paths extending in a first direction; the first transfer paths and the second transfer paths respectively including a plurality of discretely formed first layer transfer electrode films and second layer transfer electrode films formed between the first layer transfer electrode films and whose ends are laminated on the ends of the adjacent first layer transfer electrode films via insulating films. The thickness of the insulating film between the first layer transfer electrode film and the second layer transfer electrode film constituting the second transfer path shown is smaller than the thickness of the insulating film between the first layer transfer electrode film and the second layer transfer electrode film constituting the first transfer path shown.
US07704774B2

A pressure sensor is manufactured by joining two wafers, the first wafer comprising CMOS circuitry and the second being an SOI wafer. A recess is formed in the top material layer of the first wafer, which is covered by the silicon layer of the second wafer to form a cavity. Part or all of the substrate of the second wafer is removed to forming a membrane from the silicon layer. Alternatively, the cavity can be formed in the second wafer. The second wafer is electrically connected to the circuitry on the first wafer. This design allows to use standard CMOS processes for integrating circuitry on the first wafer.
US07704767B2

A manufacturing method of an electro line for a liquid crystal display device includes depositing a barrier layer made of a conducting material on a substrate, depositing a copper layer (Cu) on the barrier layer, wet-etching the Cu layer using a first etchant, and dry-etching the barrier layer using a second etchant using the wet-etched Cu layer as an etch mask.
US07704764B2

Fabrication method of GaN power LED with electrodes formed by composite optical coatings, comprising epitaxially growing N—GaN, active, and P—GaN layers successively on a substrate; depositing a mask layer thereon; coating the mask layer with photoresist; etching the mask layer into an N—GaN electrode pattern; etching through that electrode pattern to form an N—GaN electrode region; removing the mask layer and cleaning; forming a transparent, electrically conductive film simultaneously on the P—GaN and N—GaN layers; forming P—GaN and N—GaN transparent, electrically conductive electrodes by lift-off; forming bonding pad pattern for the P—GaN and N—GaN electrodes by photolithography process; simultaneously forming thereon bonding pad regions for the P—GaN and N—GaN electrodes by stepped electron beam evaporation; forming an antireflection film pattern by photolithography process; forming an antireflection film; thinning and polishing the backside of the substrate, then forming a reflector thereon; and completing the process after scribing, packaging and testing.
US07704763B2

A gallium nitride (GaN) based light emitting diode (LED), wherein light is extracted through a nitrogen face (N-face) (42) of the LED and a surface of the N-face (42) is roughened into one or more hexagonal shaped cones. The roughened surface reduces light reflections occurring repeatedly inside the LED, and thus extracts more light out of the LED. The surface of the N-face (42) is roughened by an anisotropic etching, which may comprise a dry etching or a photo-enhanced chemical (PEC) etching.
US07704754B2

Methods and applications of surface plasmon resonance-enhanced antibacterial, anti-adhere, adhere, catalytic, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, spectral change, biological and chemical decomposition properties of materials with embedded nanoparticles are disclosed. A method of the nonlinear generation of surface plasmon resonance enables the use of light with wavelengths from X-Ray to IR to enhance properties of materials by several orders of magnitude. The nanoparticle size is crucial for the enhancement and their size is considered to be in the proposed methods and applications within a range of 0.1 nm to 200,000 nm. The nanoparticles preferably are made of noble metals and/or semiconductor oxides. The invention describes a very broad spectrum of applications of surface plasmon resonance-enhanced properties of materials with embedded nanoparticles, from environmental cleanup by road pavement and construction materials, self-cleaning processes of surface materials, thermochromic effects on heat blocking materials, corrosion preventing paint, to sanitization by antibacterial textile fabrics, filters, personal clothing, contact lenses and medical devices.
US07704742B2

A method is disclosed for determining the translational efficiency of an individual codon in a cell. The method includes introducing into the cell a synthetic construct including a reporter polynucleotide fused in frame with a tandem repeat of the individual codon, wherein the reporter polynucleotide encodes a reporter protein, and wherein the synthetic construct is operably linked to a regulatory polynucleotide; and measuring expression of the reporter protein in the cell to determine the translational efficiency of the codon.
US07704737B2

This invention relates to methods of producing oligodendrocytes from multipotent neural stem cells by using at least one oligodendrocyte promoting factor, particularly granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, granulocyte colony stimulating factor, interleukin 3 or interleukin 5. The neural stem cells may optionally be expanded prior to being subjected to the oligodendrocyte promoting factor.
US07704734B2

A device for raising or cultivating cells in a container-like receptacle, comprises a base and at least one lid. The at least one lid is connected to the receptacle in a pressure-tight manner. The receptacle or the lid is provided with at least one connector drilling for the introduction and/or extraction of culture medium and/or oxygen.
US07704733B2

Provided are a nitrite-type nitrification carrier and a method for producing the same and a method and an apparatus for removing nitrogen using the same, in which the quantity of organic matter to be added can be substantially reduced to reduce running cost. A method for producing a nitrite-type nitrification carrier in which ammonia-oxidizing bacteria for nitrifying ammonium to nitrite is preferentially accumulated comprises the steps of: entrapping and immobilizing any sludge selected from sediment from a lake, a river or the sea, soil from the surface of the earth, or activated sludge from a sewage-treatment plant into a monomer or a prepolymer for immobilizing microorganisms; and then subjecting the entrapped and immobilized sludge to heat treatment at 30 to 80° C.
US07704730B2

The present invention is directed to methods for conducting multiplexed assays. The methods are particularly well suited for measuring a plurality of analytes that may be present in very different abundances. The invention also relates to systems, devices, equipment, kits and reagents for use in such methods.
US07704729B2

Disclosed is a testing device and methods for the identification of an analyte of interest in a sample. In a preferred embodiment, the testing device includes a front panel having at least one sample application aperture; a rear panel having at least one solvent application aperture; a sample collection matrix disposed between the rear panel and the front panel, the sample collection matrix being in communication with the sample and solvent application apertures of the front and rear panels; and at least one insertable test strip containing a reagent enabling detection of the analyte of interest.
US07704727B2

Disclosed is a device for processing biological material which at least comprises a chamber at least closable to the outside and having an inner space for receiving the biological material. The chamber comprises at least one electrode placed in contact with the inner space for generating an electric field. Also disclosed is a method for processing biological material. The biological material is introduced into the inner space above and the electrode can generate an electric field after said biological material is introduced by applying voltage to said electrode and a further electrode in contact with the inner space. The chamber comprises at least one inlet line having at least one opening arranged close to the electrode. The biological material is almost completely rinsed out of the inner space after the electric field is generated, via a solution guided via an inlet line of the chamber along at least one electrode.
US07704725B2

The present invention discloses a new strain of Streptomyces sp. BICC 7522, its variants or mutants and use of the strain for the production of macrolides, process of production and purification of microlides.
US07704723B2

A novel clostridia bacterial species (Clostridium ragsdalei, ATCC BAA-622, “P11”) is provided. P11 is capable of synthesizing, from waste gases, products which are useful as biofuel. In particular, P11 can convert CO to ethanol. Thus, this novel bacterium transforms waste gases (e.g. syngas and refinery wastes) into useful products. P11 also catalyzes the production of acetate.
US07704715B2

The invention relates to novel variants of cytochrome P450 oxygenases. These variants have an improved ability to use peroxide as an oxygen donor as compared to the corresponding wild-type enzyme. These variants also have an improved thermostability as compared to the cytochrome P450 BM-3 F87A mutant. Preferred variants include cytochrome P450 BM-3 heme domain mutants having I58V, F87A, H100R, F107L, A135S, M145A/V, N239H, S274T, L324I, I366V, K434E, E442K, and/or V446I amino acid substitutions.
US07704704B2

This disclosure relates to systems, devices, and methods of sensing an analyte. An implantable sensor may be contacted with a test sample under conditions that permit a binding protein and a ligand of the sensor to interact in an analyte-dependent manner to produce an analyte-dependent signal, and (b) detecting the analyte-dependent signal with a detector. A binding protein may reversibly bind an analyte and/or a ligand. A binding protein may have a higher binding affinity for an analyte than for a ligand. A binding protein and a ligand may each include a fluorophore, the absorption and/or emission properties of which may change in an analyte-dependent manner. A binding protein and/or a ligand may be bound to an active or inactive substrate. Some embodiments of systems, devices, and methods may be practiced in vitro, in situ, and/or in vivo. Systems and/or devices of the disclosure may be configured to be wearable.
US07704696B2

OCTN2 is consistently expressed at high levels in brain microvessel endothelial cells. Disclosed herein are assays for determining whether a test material/molecule is a substrate for, and/or is actively transported by, the OCTN2 transporter, and therefore a candidate substrate for crossing the blood brain barrier. The assays are useful in screening for therapeutic, cytotoxic or imaging compounds used in the treatment or diagnosis of neurological diseases.
US07704687B2

Alterations in the genetic content of a cell underlie many human diseases, including cancers. A method called Digital Karyotyping provides quantitative analysis of DNA copy number at high resolution. This approach involves the isolation and enumeration of short sequence tags from specific genomic loci. Analysis of human cancer cells using this method identified gross chromosomal changes as well as amplifications and deletions, including regions not previously known to be altered. Foreign DNA sequences not present in the normal human genome could also be readily identified. Digital Karyotyping provides a broadly applicable means for systematic detection of DNA copy number changes on a genomic scale.
US07704685B2

A method of producing in a cell in vivo a clostridial neurotoxin light chain peptide by delivering into the cell in vivo a nucleic acid construct. The nucleic acid construct comprises (a) a nucleic acid encoding a clostridial neurotoxin light chain peptide and (b) a regulatory sequence operably linked to the nucleic acid to allow expression of the nucleic acid. The expression of the nucleic acid produces the clostridial neurotoxin light chain peptide in the cell in vivo.
US07704680B2

Ultrafine patterns with dimensions smaller than the chemical and optical limits of lithography are formed by superimposing two photoresist patterns using a double exposure technique. Embodiments include forming a first resist pattern over a target layer to be patterned, forming a protective cover layer over the first resist pattern, forming a second resist pattern on the cover layer superimposed over the first resist pattern while the cover layer protects the first resist pattern, selectively etching the cover layer with high selectivity with respect to the first and second resist patterns leaving an ultrafine target pattern defined by the first and second resist patterns, and etching the underlying target layer using the superimposed first and second resist patterns as a mask.
US07704679B2

A method of making a lithographic printing plate includes the steps of: a) providing a lithographic printing plate precursor including (i) a support having a hydrophilic surface or which is provided with a hydrophilic layer, (ii) a coating on the support, including a photopolymerizable layer and, optionally, an intermediate layer between the photopolymerizable layer and the support, wherein the photopolymerizable layer includes a polymerizable compound, a polymerization initiator and a binder, b) image-wise exposing the coating in a plate setter, c) optionally, heating the precursor in a pre-heating unit, d) treating the precursor in a gumming station, including a first and at least a second gumming unit, wherein the precursor is consecutively developed in the first and the second gumming unit with a gum solution, thereby removing non-exposed areas of the photopolymerizable layer from the support and gumming the plate in a single step.
US07704678B2

A method of manufacturing a precise printing plate, and a method of manufacturing an LCD device using the same are disclosed, the method of manufacturing the precise printing plate comprising forming a mask layer of a predetermined pattern on a substrate; etching the substrate with an etchant including an anionic surfactant by using the mask layer of the predetermined pattern, to thereby form a trench; and removing the mask layer.
US07704667B2

There are described novel rhodamine dye compounds and imaging members and imaging methods, including thermal imaging members and imaging methods, utilizing the compounds. The dye compounds exhibit a first color when in the crystalline form and a second color, different from the first color, when in the liquid, amorphous form.
US07704666B2

A laser induced thermal imaging apparatus and a laser induced thermal imaging method. A laser induced thermal imaging apparatus has electromagnets in an adhesion frame and a substrate stage to closely adhere a donor film to a substrate. The laser induced thermal imaging apparatus includes a process chamber including a donor film and a substrate, and adapted to carry out a process for depositing the donor film on the substrate; a substrate stage having a first electromagnet, and positioned in the process chamber to support the substrate; an adhesion frame having a second electromagnet, and positioned over the substrate stage, wherein the donor film and the substrate are disposed between the substrate stage and the adhesion frame in the process chamber; and a laser oscillator adapted to apply a laser output to the donor film.
US07704664B2

In a method of manufacturing a toner in which toner particles are obtained by mixing resin particles and at least a colorant with each other to be coagulated, and heating an obtained coagulated product, binder resin is granulated into fine particles by a granulating method including a coarse particle preparing step, a slurry preparing step, a pulverizing step, a cooling step, and a depressurizing step. Slurry containing coarse particles of binder resin obtained by way of the coarse particle preparing step and the slurry preparing step is made to pass under heat and pressure through a pressure-resistant nozzle whereby the coarse particles of binder resin are pulverized into resin particles. By providing the cooling step and the depressurizing step immediately after the pulverizing step, the resin particles are prevented from coarsening.
US07704662B2

A toner for use in a single component development system, said toner including emulsion aggregation toner particles with a styrene acrylate polymer binder resin having a molecular weight Mw of from about 50 to about 100 Kpse and a number average molecular weight (Mn) of from about 10 to about 30 Kpse, a wax selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene, and at least one colorant, wherein the toner particles have an onset glass transition temperature of from about 50° C. to about 60° C., and a circularity of from about 0.950 to about 0.990.
US07704659B2

To provide a toner which has superior low-temperature fixing performance, high-temperature anti-offsetting properties and developing performance and may cause neither melt sticking of toner to photosensitive member nor turn-up of cleaning blade. The toner contains at least a binder resin, a colorant and a wax, and the wax is characterized by i) being an oxidized hydrocarbon wax, ii) having a hydroxyl value of from 5 mgKOH/g or more to 150 mgKOH/g or less, and iii) having, in molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography of tetrahydrofuran-soluble matter, a main peak within the range of molecular weight of from 200 or more to 600 or less, and a component with a molecular weight of 700 or more in a content of 3% by mass or less.
US07704654B2

An embodiment may be an image forming method, which comprises forming a latent image on an image carrier; developing the latent image with a toner to form a toner image on the image carrier; transferring the toner image; and applying ultrasonic vibration at one of the developing step and the transferring step. The toner comprises a resin particle and a release agent particle having a melting point in a range of 40 to 75° C. and the toner has Dp50 of 3.0 to 5.0 μm.
US07704635B2

An electrochemical device comprises a laminate including a first electrode layer, a separator layer, and a second electrode layer laminated in sequence; an electrolytic solution infiltrating the laminate; and a resin part covering an outer periphery of the laminate. The second electrode layer has an area smaller than the area of the separator layer and the area of the first electrode layer. The surface of the separator layer opposing the second electrode layer is provided with a noncontact part kept away from the second electrode layer. The noncontact part is formed like a ring along the outer periphery of the separator layer. The resin part further covers the noncontact part of the separator layer.
US07704625B2

Flow guides forming an inlet channel are formed on a surface of a metal separator of a fuel cell. The flow guides overlap a section of an outer seal provided on the other surface of the metal separator. When a load is applied to the flow guides and the overlapping section in a stacking direction of the fuel cell, the flow guides and the overlapping section are deformed substantially equally in the stacking direction to the same extent. The line pressure of the flow guides and the line pressure of the overlapping section are substantially the same. The seal length L1 of the flow guides and the seal length L2 of the overlapping section are substantially the same.
US07704610B2

The present invention provides electronic devices comprising novel polymer compositions which provide for enhanced device performance. The polymer compositions employed comprise a polymeric component and a novel organic iridium compound comprising at least one cyclometallated ligand and at least one ketopyrrole ligand. The organic iridium compounds used in the polymer compositions are referred to as Type (1) organic iridium compositions and are constituted such that no ligand of the novel organic iridium compound has a number average molecular weight of 2,000 grams per mole or greater (as measured by gel permeation chromatography). In one aspect, the polymeric component may be an electroactive polymer. In one aspect, the present invention provides optoelectronic devices, such as OLED devices and photovoltaic devices. In another aspect, the invention provides OLED devices exhibiting enhanced color properties and light output efficiencies.
US07704608B2

The invention relates to new processes for the preparation of antireflective coatings and coated substrates, as well as articles produced by these processes. These coatings can include one or more layers made of materials which form nano-structured and/or nano-porous surfaces. The process can include applying a cross-linkable hard coat to a substrate, partially curing or cross-linking the hard coat, and then applying a second coat carried by a solvent or mixture of solvents capable of swelling the partially cured hard coat. The second coat is then cross-linked and grafted to the hard coat to produce a durable coated substrate with antireflective properties.
US07704601B2

Fibrous structures that exhibit a cross machine direction total energy absorption (CDTEA) of greater than 8 cm-g/cm2 as measured according to the TEA Test Method.
US07704585B2

The invention relates to improvements in paper, and in particular to the use of watermarks and/or embossings for strengthening paper sheets and documents made therefrom. The invention therefore provides a sheet of paper having at least three corners and three sides joined at said corners, wherein corner reinforcing watermarks are provided at each of said corners. Alternatively, or in addition, corner reinforcing embossings are provided at each of said corners.
US07704579B2

A seaming system for forming a seam is disclosed, wherein the seam consists of at least two opposed sections of high-modulus, high-tenacity, low-elongation fabric sections joined by a tape. The system comprises a seamer head, and a seamer base that includes a topography configured to impart a predetermined pressure gradient to the adhesive layer, tape, and fabric sections of the seam. The resultant seam has a cross-section or thickness profile that generally corresponds to that of the applied pressure gradient. As such, the constructed seam more efficiently distributes stress imparted from any applied load.
US07704574B2

A printing arrangement can include an ink-receiving coating applied to a media substrate, the ink-receiving coating having a coating thickness being configured to have a concentration gradient relative to the thickness. In the concentration gradient, the concentration of a cationic agent is greater in a center region of the ink-receiving coating relative to an upper region and a lower region.
US07704565B2

A method of making a layered component with an improved surface finish by a shape metal deposition process is provided. The method comprises the steps of discriminating a first set of vectors on an exterior portion of the component from a second set of vectors on an interior portion of the component, and depositing a layer of metal material based on the vectors discriminated at different rates, wherein the material is deposited on the exterior portion at a high resolution and a slow rate, and the material is deposited on the interior portion at a low resolution and a fast rate.
US07704564B2

A light curing structure and related methods are disclosed wherein a framework defining an interior space for containing an object having applied thereon a light-cured material is provided, and means associated with the framework for exposing the object to UV radiation from natural sunlight is used to cure the light-cured material. Preferred embodiments include a booth for applying and curing light-cured materials comprising a housing having a ceiling and walls that define an enclosed interior space for holding an object, means for applying a light-cured material to the object; means for preventing the exposure of the light-cured material to UV radiation during application of the light-cured material to the object, and means for exposing the light-cured material to UV radiation from natural sunlight after application of the light-cured material to the object. Apparatus and methods according to the invention are particularly suited for use with UV-cured paints in the automotive industry.
US07704547B1

Method and system for combined coarse scale control and fine scale control of growth density of a carbon nanotube (“CNT”) array on a substrate, using a selected electrical field adjacent to a substrate surface for coarse scale density control (by one or more orders of magnitude) and a selected CNT growth temperature range for fine scale density control (by multiplicative factors of less than an order of magnitude) of CNT growth density. Two spaced apart regions on a substrate may have different CNT growth densities and/or may use different feed gases for CNT growth.
US07704536B2

Acid-neutralizing agent contains substantial amount of calcium of an acid-neutralizing ability against various acid chemicals substance for humans, animals, agricultural produces, meat and poultry. And the method of producing the same are provided. An environmental friendly high speed and high press scraping treatment is applied to a calcium-containing substance represented by calcium carbonate-containing substances originating from shellfishes, to eliminate heavy metals and other contamination accumulated on the surface. A heating and baking treatment is applied separately to the different said shellfishes and calcium carbonate-containing minerals and charcoal of bamboo to the temperature and maintaining the temperature not less then the decompose point of each calcium component-containing substance, a sufficient time of heating and baking treatment from 3 hours up to 18 hours depend on materials treated. An ionization and stabilization process is applied to the decomposed calcium components substance in high temperature. A regular pulverizing process is applied to grind the said calcium-containing substance into 500 mesh sizes of powder. A Nano pulverizing process is applied to the said powder into sizes not larger then 18000000 mesh (size of Nano). A formulation process is applied to the different pulverized calcium containing powder in different percentage to formulas which suitable for different applications.
US07704529B2

A stable, phase-pure magnesium-substituted crystalline hydroxyapatite containing from about 2.0 to about 29 wt % magnesium, wherein at least 75 wt % of the magnesium content is substituted for calcium ions in the hydroxyapatite lattice structure.
US07704523B2

The invention relates to a wound dressing comprising a microbial-derived cellulose for treatment of specific types of chronic wounds, including pressure sores, venous and diabetic ulcers. The wound dressing is capable of donating liquid to dry substances is also capable of absorbing exudating wounds.
US07704516B2

Pharmaceutical compositions of 4-hydroxy tamoxifen, particularly compositions suitable for percutaneous administration, are useful in methods for treating and preventing breast cancer. When percutaneously administered to a patient's breasts, 4-hydroxy tamoxifen concentrates locally, and exerts an anti-estrogenic effect. In patients with breast cancer, this effect reduces tumor tissue proliferation. In patients at risk for developing breast cancer, the anti-estrogenic effect prevents breast tumor formation.
US07704512B2

Agents for treating pain, methods for producing the agents and methods for treating pain by administration to a patient of a therapeutically effective amount of the agent. The agent can include a clostridial neurotoxin, or a component or fragment or derivative thereof, attached to a targeting moiety, wherein the targeting moiety is selected from a group consisting of transmission compounds which can be released from neurons upon the transmission of pain signals by the neurons, and compounds substantially similar to the transmission compounds.
US07704509B2

Recombinant human parainfluenza virus type 1 (HPIV1) compostions, formulations and methods are provided. The recombinant HPIV1 viruses and HPIV1 chimeric and chimeric vector viruses provided according to the invention are infectious and attenuated in permissive mammalian subjects, including humans, and are useful in immunogenic composition s for eliciting an immune responses against one or more PIVs, against one or more non-PIV pathogens, or against a PIV and a non-PIV pathogen. Also provided are isolated polynucleotide molecules and vectors incorporating a recombinant HPIV1 genome or antigenome.
US07704508B2

Provided is an isolated and purified protein produced by a naturally occurring Babesia sp. comprising an amino acid sequence at least 90% identical to SEQ ID NO:1 and an isolated and purified nucleic acid encoding the above protein. Additionally provided is an isolated and purified nucleic acid comprising at least 20 nucleotides having a sequence 100% identical to a portion of SEQ ID NO:2 or its complement. Further provided is an antibody preparation comprising an antibody that specifically binds to the above protein. Also provided are methods of diagnosing a Babesia sp. infection in a mammal, methods of determining whether a blood preparation is contaminated with a Babesia sp., methods of determining whether a blood preparation is contaminated with a Babesia sp., and methods of treating a mammal infected with a Babesia sp., the method comprising inhibiting the production or activity of the protein comprising an amino acid sequence at least 90% identical to SEQ ID NO:1 by the Babesia sp. in the mammal. Additionally provided are methods of screening a compound for treating an infection by a Babesia sp.
US07704506B2

The present invention generally relates to a new approach for the therapy of allergic responses, based on targeted elimination of cells expressing the FcεRI receptor by a chimeric cytotoxin FC2′-3-PE40. A sequence encoding amino acids 301-437 of the Fc region of the mouse IgE molecule was genetically fused to PE40—a truncated form of PE lacking the cell binding domain. The chimeric protein, produced in E. coli, specifically and efficiently kills mouse mast cell lines expressing the FcεRI receptor, as well as primary mast cells derived from bone marrow. The present invention provides a chimeric protein for targeted elimination of FcεRI expressing cells especially useful for the therapy of allergic responses. The said chimeric protein is comprised of a cell targeting moiety for FcεRI expressing cells and a cell killing moiety. The preferred killing moiety is the bacterial toxin Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE). This Pseudomonas exotoxin is a product of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The present invention also relates to a method for the preparation of said protein. This chimeric protein is prepared by genetically fusing the Fc region of the mouse IgE molecule to PE40, a truncated form of PE lacking the cell binding domain. The present invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions, for the treatment of allergic diseases and for the treatment of hyperplasias and malignancies, comprising as an active ingredient the above mentioned chimeric protein and a conventional adjuvant product.
US07704500B2

Modified chimeric polypeptides with improved pharmacokinetics are disclosed. Specifically, modified chimeric Flt1 receptor polypeptides that have been modified in such a way as to improve their pharmacokinetic profile are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods of making and using the modified polypeptides including but not limited to using the modified polypeptides to decrease or inhibit plasma leakage and/or vascular permeability in a mammal.
US07704488B2

In accordance with the present invention, a high intensity radiopaque contrast agent is disclosed. The agent may be coated on or incorporated within bulk materials, which may then be subsequently utilized to fabricate a radiopaque medical device. Primary effects through chemistry include higher radiopaque concentrations per unit weight of the radiopaque element or agent. Secondary effects include selective placement of the radiopaque elements which may further enhance the radiopacity of the device with reduced requirements of the radiopaque agent. Such a radiopaque contrast agent may be produced in various forms such as a dendrimer and/or incorporated as the end groups of polymeric chain. In addition one can incorporate biological and/or pharmaceutical agents in combination with the present invention.
US07704465B2

Aluminum hydroxide aggregated particles which have an average particle diameter of not less than 40 μm, an average particle diameter as determined after pressing at 1,000 kg/cm2 of not more than 35 μm, and an L value of slurry obtained by mixing 20 ml of glycerol and 10 g of the aluminum hydroxide aggregated particles of not more than 69, are obtained by a process comprising the steps of: (a) feeding a supersaturated aqueous sodium aluminate solution to a vessel, (b) adding aluminum hydroxide seeds to the supersaturated aqueous sodium aluminate solution, (c) stirring the seed-added solution in the vessel while continuously feeding an additional supersaturated aqueous sodium aluminate solution into the vessel to hydrolyze the supersaturated aqueous sodium aluminate solution, (d) separating the aluminum hydroxide aggregated particles from the aqueous sodium aluminate solution, and (e) continuously discharging the aqueous sodium aluminate solution out of the vessel.
US07704464B2

Hydrocarbon processing devices and systems are constructed to modify the combustion characteristics of hydrocarbon fuels and emissions for the purpose of emissions reduction and to increase the overall performance characteristics of the engine. According to one exemplary embodiment, a catalytic device for processing a fluid containing hydrocarbons includes a reactive body formed of a plurality of metallic materials arranged in a layered structure. The plurality of metallic materials is formed of at least two different materials. The body has an inner core member having a first density and another region, that is formed along a longitudinal length of the rolled layered structure, has a second density which is less than the first density.
US07704459B2

A pollution control device suitable for use with an internal combustion engine (e.g., a diesel engine) and comprising a pollution control element arranged in a casing with non-woven mat disposed between the casing and the pollution control element, said non-woven mat being a non-intumescent mat comprising at least 90% by weight based on the total weight of the mat of chopped magnesium aluminum silicate glass fibers that have a number average diameter of 5μ or more and a length of 0.5 to 15 cm, said glass fibers being needle punched or stitch bonded and said mat being free or substantially free of organic binder.
US07704450B2

A high-purity ferroboron contains 0.02 mass % or more of P and 0.03 mass % or less of Al, with the balance Fe, B and unavoidable impurities. The high-purity ferroboron may further contain 0.03 mass % or less of Ti.
US07704448B2

High temperature-resistant niobium wire enriched with phosphorous is suitable as a connecting wire for niobium, niobium oxide, or tantalum capacitors.
US07704446B2

The present invention relates to an apparatus for injecting gas into a vessel. The apparatus may include a gas flow duct and a central body within a forward end region of the duct. The central body and the gas flow duct form an annular nozzle for the discharge of gas from the duct. A plurality of flow directing vanes are disposed about the central body to impart swirl to a gas flow through the nozzle. The flow directing vanes have substantially straight leading end portions radiating outwardly from the central body and extending along the duct. The vanes also have substantially helical trailing end portions extending helically about the central body toward the front end of the duct and transition portions joining the leading end portions to the trailing end portions. The transition portions are shaped so as to merge smoothly with both the leading end portions and the trailing end portions and to smoothly and progressively change shape between them.
US07704442B2

A process for producing a honeycomb structure by obtaining clay from a cordierite-forming raw material containing an alumina source, a silica source, and a magnesia source; and forming the clay into a honeycomb shape, wherein a material having, in its volume particle size distribution, a 50 volume % particle size (V50) [μm] of 1 to 25 μm is used, as each of alumina source, silica source, and magnesia source; and a material having, in the volume particle size distribution of the whole cordierite-forming raw material, a ratio of 90 volume % particle size (Vall90) [μm] to 10 volume % particle size (Vall10) [μm] [a volume particle size distribution ratio (Vall90/Vall10)] of 10 or less and a difference (Vall90−Vall10) between 90 volume % particle size (Vall90) [μm] and 10 volume % particle size (Vall10) [μm] of 25 μm or less is used, as the cordierite-forming raw material.
US07704433B2

Coinjection molding system control apparatus and method preferably includes flow control structure and/or steps configured to reduce pressure on a second melt, preferably causing a relatively small portion of a first melt to flow from a distal portion of a first melt channel in the coinjection nozzle into a distal end of a second melt channel in the coinjection nozzle. This prevents substantial amounts of the second melt from being dragged into the mold cavity when the next shot of the first melt is injected.
US07704431B2

A mold comprises a spherical cavity, a support pin capable of being moved forward and backward with respect to the cavity, and a vent pin (8). The vent pin (8) includes two slits (S), an annular groove (20) and a vertical groove (22). An upper end (24) of the slit (S) is opened toward the cavity. A lower end (26) of the slit (S) is opened toward the annular groove (20). The annular groove (20) is coupled to the vertical groove (22). The lower end of the vertical groove (22) is opened toward air. A width (W) of the slit (S) is preferably equal to or greater than 1 μm, is more preferably equal to or greater than 3 μm, and is particularly preferably equal to or greater than 5 μm. A depth (D) of the slit (S) is preferably equal to or greater than 10% of a diameter (φ), is more preferably equal to or greater than 15% of the diameter (φ), and is particularly preferably equal to or greater than 20% of the diameter (φ). It is preferable that the same slit (3) should be formed on the support pin.
US07704427B2

A process for producing a resinous laminated member, which is provided with an inclining first resinous layer, a decorated layer disposed parallelly to the first resinous layer, a second resinous layer disposed parallelly to the first resinous layer and an engaging portion extending obliquely to the first resinous layer, includes the steps of molding a primary molded product by molding the first resinous layer with a first forming mold's first-inner-surface molding cavity surface and at the same time shaping a film, which makes the decorated layer, with the first-inner-surface molding cavity surface while extending the film parallelly to the first-inner-surface molding cavity surface's extending direction, and molding the second resinous layer integrally with the primary molded product with a second forming mold while disposing the primary molded product parallelly to the obliquely-extending direction of the produced resinous laminated member's engaging portion in the second forming mold.
US07704425B2

The invention relates to a two-step process for transferring a pattern from a template (1) to a target surface of a substrate, by creating an intermediate flexible polymer stamp (5) from the template in a primary step, and then using the polymer stamp to make an imprint in a radiation-sensitive moldable layer on the target surface in a secondary step. In the secondary step, the process steps of pressing the polymer stamp and the substrate against each other, UV exposure of the moldable layer through the polymer stamp, and postbaking of the radiated moldable layer, are all performed at a control constant temperature, in order to eliminate damages to the pattern created in the moldable layer caused by thermal expansion effects.
US07704420B2

A spraying device for melt granulation in a fluidized bed including a nozzle (2) with a feed channel for a liquid to be atomized, where the liquid is led through an emulsifying device and into an internal mixing chamber for gas and liquid, before it is fed to the fluidized bed. The nozzle has a separate channel for the atomizing gas fitted concentrically around the central liquid supply channel for the liquid to be atomized or nebulized. The mixing chamber surrounds the outlet zone of the liquid spray from the emulsifying device and the gas, allowing efficient mixing of high speed atomization gas and liquid, and having an external gas cap (1) where fluidization gas is channelled into a spout above the spraying device.
US07704411B2

A phosphor is provided. The phosphor includes a composition represented by the formula: M1O2.aM2O.bM3X2:M4,where M1 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, Ti, Zr, and Sn; M2 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Zn; M3 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Zn; X is at least one halogen element; M4 is at least one element essentially including Eu2+ selected from the group consisting of rare-earth elements and Mn; a is in the range of 0.1≦a≦1.3; and b is in the range of 0.1≦b≦0.25.
US07704399B2

A system and method for the treatment of water for human consumption using a naturally occurring inorganic catalyst working within a pH range between 3 and 13, combining the inorganic catalyst at 3 parts per million to an oxidant, primarily hydrogen peroxide and a metal salt used as a coagulant and a primary catalyst, resulting in an efficient and economical phasic water purification and filtration system and process. The inorganic catalyst is a zeolite a synthetic zeolite or preferably chabazite.
US07704392B2

A filter housing with a socket drain for minimizing waste and downstream contamination of valuable fluids during filter element changes.
US07704387B2

A fryer filtration arrangement utilizes certain automated components.
US07704382B2

The present invention provides a gravity fiber filter, comprising: a filter tank placed in a portion of a large amount of running water; at least one unit filter disposed in the filter tank; a filtered water collecting tank disposed in a lower portion of the filter tank; a discharging pipe extended from the filtered water collecting tank to the height lower than a influent inlet of the filter tank, so that the height of the extended discharging pipe is defined as a height of starting filtration; a sensor; a air inflow pipe through which a backwash air flows in from outside to a lower portion of the filter tank; a control means controlling the operation of filtering and backwashing; and backwash water discharging pipe.
US07704379B2

The present invention relates to a process for converting Fischer-Tropsch wax to high quality lube basestocks using a molecular sieve Beta catalyst followed by a unidimensional intermediate pore molecular sieve with near circular pore structures having an average diameter of 0.50 nm to 0.65 nm wherein the difference between the maximum diameter and the minimum is ≦0.05 nm. Both catalysts comprise one or more Group VIII metals. For example, a cascaded two-bed catalyst system consisting of a first bed Pt/Beta catalyst followed by a second bed Pt/ZSM-48 catalyst is highly selective for wax isomerization and lube hydrodewaxing with minimal gas formation.
US07704369B2

An environmentally beneficial method of producing methanol from varied sources of carbon dioxide including flue gases of fossil fuel burning power plants, industrial exhaust gases or the atmosphere itself. Converting carbon dioxide by an electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide in a divided electrochemical cell that includes an anode in one cell compartment and a metal cathode electrode in another cell compartment that also contains an aqueous solution comprising methanol and an electrolyte of one or more alkyl ammonium halides, alkali carbonates or combinations thereof to produce therein a reaction mixture containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen which can be subsequently used to produce methanol while also producing oxygen in the cell at the anode.
US07704367B2

First and second electrodes are disposed at first and second locations, respectively, proximate to a periphery of a wafer support, wherein the first and second location are substantially opposed to each other relative to the wafer support. Each of the first and second electrodes can be moved to electrically connect with and disconnect from a wafer held by the wafer support. An anode is disposed over and proximate to the wafer such that a meniscus of electroplating solution is maintained between the anode and the wafer. As the anode moves over the wafer from the first location to the second location, an electric current is applied through the meniscus between the anode and the wafer. Also, as the anode is moved over the wafer, the first and second electrodes are controlled to connect with the wafer while ensuring that the anode does not pass over an electrode that is connected.
US07704366B2

The present invention relates to a method for depositing an adherent zinc coating onto a zinc-containing magnesium alloy substrate in order to render the surface suitable for electroplating. The coatings are applied from a pyrophosphate-based zinc electrolyte solution containing a small quantity of fluoride ions. Depending on the zinc and aluminum content of the magnesium alloy, the zinc electrolyte solution is applied by immersion deposition or electrolytically.
US07704362B2

Dielectrophoresis is used to attract particles to an electrode edge then to controllably allow the transport of particles along that edge under a fluid flow to a particular region. The particles may be bacteria which may be maintained in this process in a live state through capture, transport and release.
US07704336B2

The invention relates to a method for treating molten metal that is contained in a metallurgical vessel, according to which a fine-grained blanket material containing silicon oxide and aluminium oxide is spread over the surface of the molten metal. The aim of the invention is to prevent the formation of dust and to facilitate the distribution of the blanket material over the surface of the molten metal. To achieve this, the blanket material consists of a synthetic zeolite material, which contains essentially equal fractions of silicon oxide and aluminium oxide. Said blanket material comprises a close grain-size distribution, in such a way that less than 20% of the grains have a diameter of less than 30 μm or greater than 125 μm. According to an additional embodiment of the invention, a vegetable ash, in particular a rice chaff ash, can be added to the blanket material.
US07704327B2

A method including removing an impurity from a gas stream to a processing chamber at a point of use. An apparatus with a point of use purifier on a gas stream. An apparatus including a shelf having dimensions suitable for placement within a thermal processing including a body of a material that renders the body opaque to radiation frequency range used for a temperature measurement of a substrate in a thermal processing chamber.
US07704322B2

A static fluid and a second fluid are placed into contact along a microfluidic free interface and allowed to mix by diffusion without convective flow across the interface. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the fluids are static and initially positioned on either side of a closed valve structure in a microfluidic channel having a width that is tightly constrained in at least one dimension. The valve is then opened, and no-slip layers at the sides of the microfluidic channel suppress convective mixing between the two fluids along the resulting interface. Applications for microfluidic free interfaces in accordance with embodiments of the present invention include, but are not limited to, protein crystallization studies, protein solubility studies, determination of properties of fluidics systems, and a variety of biological assays such as diffusive immunoassays, substrate turnover assays, and competitive binding assays.
US07704318B2

When growing a silicon single crystal free of grown-in defects based on the CZ method, the crystal is pulled out at a critical pulling rate at which a ring-shaped OSF occurrence region vanishes in a center portion of the crystal by using a hot zone structure in which a temperature gradient Gc in a center portion of the crystal is equal to or greater than a temperature gradient Ge in a peripheral portion of the crystal, while supplying an inert gas including hydrogen to an interior of a pulling furnace. The critical pulling rate at which the ring-shaped OSF occurrence region vanishes in the center portion of the crystal is increased, and single crystals free of grown-in defects in which dislocation clusters and COPs can be grown by pulling at a pulling rate higher than that of the prior art.
US07704317B2

In accordance with an embodiment, a method for producing an aggregate is disclosed comprising mixing incinerator bottom ash (“IBA”) from a municipal solid waste incinerator and pulverized fuel ash (“PFA”) from coal combustion. The method further comprises agglomerating the mixture, such as by pelletizing, and pyroprocessing the agglomerates, such as by sintering or vitrification, to form the aggregate. The addition of PFA to IBA has been found to facilitate production of lightweight and normal weight aggregates. Preferably, the IBA or the mixture of IBA and PFA is wet milled prior to agglomerating. A preferred proportion of IBA to PFA is 40%/60%. The agglomerates may be coated with an inorganic material to create a surface layer on the aggregate. Organic material may be included in the mixture to increase the porosity of the aggregate. A lightweight sintered aggregate comprising IBA and PFA and an aggregate comprising IBA and PFA are also disclosed.
US07704315B2

Aqueous dispersion containing a metal oxide powder with a fine fraction and a coarse fraction, in which—the metal oxide powder is silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide, cerium oxide or a mixed oxide of two or more of the aforementioned metal oxides,—the fine fraction is present in aggregated form and has a mean aggregate diameter in the dispersion of less than 200 nm,—the coarse fraction consists of particles with a mean diameter of 1 to 20 μm, —the ratio of fine fraction to coarse fraction is 2:98 to 30:70, and—the content of metal oxide powder is 50 to 85 wt. %, referred to the total amount of the dispersion. The aqueous dispersion is produced by a process comprising the steps:—production of a fine fraction dispersion by dispersing the pulverulent fine fraction in water by means of an energy input of at least 200 KJ/m3?, and—introducing the coarse fraction in the form of a powder into the fine fraction dispersion under dispersing conditions at a low energy input. Process for the production of molded articles using the dispersion.
US07704314B2

An improved composition for and method of priming a concrete pump line is provided. The flowable composition comprises a solid particulate mixture and water, the particulate mixture being comprised of solvatable polymeric material preferably selected from a group consisting of polyacrylamide, polyacrylate and mixtures thereof; an organic complexing agent preferably of urea; and a buffering agent preferably of citric acid. The invention provides a flowable composition exhibiting improved coating and lubrication to the inner walls of a concrete line as it passes therethrough. The flowable composition mixes quickly with water to form a clear solution, hydrates quickly upon being mixed with water, and provides a composition for use in priming concrete pump lines that does not utilize cement or priming grout slurry.
US07704312B2

A non-aqueous pigment dispersion includes a color pigment, a polymeric dispersant, and a dispersion synergist in a dispersion medium wherein the dispersion synergist is represented by Formula (I): wherein AR1 and AR2 represent a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group, and R represents a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, with the proviso that one of R, AR1, and AR2 contains at least one carboxylate anion and that the molecular weight of the anionic part of the dispersion synergist is smaller than 98% of the molecular weight of the color pigment. Also, methods of preparing the non-aqueous pigment dispersions.
US07704309B2

A process for printing an image on a substrate comprising applying to the substrate by means of an ink jet printer an ink comprising a compound of Formula (1) or salt thereof: Also claimed are compounds, inks, printed substrates and the use of compounds in preparing ink jet printing inks. The compounds provide inks which when printed exhibit good light fastness and ozone fastness.
US07704288B2

A water-in-hydrocarbon emulsion includes a water phase, a hydrocarbon phase and a surfactant, wherein the water phase is present in an amount greater than or equal to about 5% vol. with respect to volume of the emulsion, and the water phase and the surfactant are present at a ratio by volume of the water phase to the surfactant of at least about 1. A method for preparing the emulsion is also provided.
US07704285B2

Processes for coloring a keratin material, comprising applying to the keratin material, in the presence of oxygen, at least one component (A) comprising, in a physiologically acceptable medium:—at least one dye precursor chosen from compounds comprising at least one aromatic ring comprising at least two hydroxyl groups borne by two successive carbon atoms of the at least one aromatic ring, and at least one catalytic system comprising at least one first catalyst (1) chosen from Mn(II) and Zn(II) salts and oxides and/or at least one second catalyst (2) chosen from alkali metal hydrogen carbonates and alkaline-earth metal hydrogen carbonates followed by applying at least one component (B) comprising at least one acidic composition to fix the shade and followed by applying at least one component (C) comprising at least one alkaline composition to increase the intensity of the color or to modify the shade and optionally fixing the new color or shade obtained by applying a new application of at least one composition (B).
US07704284B2

Disclosed are compounds of formula (1a), wherein R1 is N+R8R9; R8 and/or R9 independently from each other are hydrogen; C1-C12alkyl; or phenyl-C1-C4-alkyl; or R8 and/or R9 are a bivalent C3-C6alkylene radical which is linked to the carbon atoms C1 or C2 respectively and, together with the linking nitrogen atom form a 6 to 16-membered carbocyclic ring; R2 is NR10R11; or OR10; R10 and R11, independently from each other are hydrogen; C1-C12alkyl; or phenyl-C1-C4alkyl; or R10 and/or R11 are a bivalent C3-C6alkylene radical which is linked to the carbon atoms C3 or C4 respectively and, together with the linking nitrogen or oxygen atom form a 6 to 16-membered carbocyclic ring; or R10 and R11 together with the linking nitrogen atom form a 4 to 8 membered carbocyclic ring; R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently form each other are hydrogen; C1-C12alkyl; halogen; NR12R13; or a radical of formula (1a); R12 and R13 independently from each other are hydrogen; C1-C12alkyl; phenyl-C1-C4alkyl; or a radical of formula (1a2); V is —O—; Or —NR15; R14, R15 R-16 and R17 independently from each other are hydrogen; or C1-C5alkyl; and Hal is a halogen atom; and wherein at least one of R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 is hydrogen. The compounds are useful for dyeing of keratin-containing fibers with or without reducing agents.
US07704275B2

Expandable medical implants for maintaining support of a body lumen are disclosed. These implants comprise a circumferentially nested, diametrically expandable, moveable vascular device for enlarging an occluded portion of a vessel. The device can be configured to allow for motion such as rotating, translating, and/or slide and lock. One advantage of the circumferentially nested stent is that it maintains the expanded size, without significant recoil.
US07704273B1

A therapeutic cold pack comprises a sleeve member adapted to accommodate a portion of the leg of an individual. Attached to a surface of the therapeutic cold pack are one or more containment bags each defining an internal volume adapted to hold a therapeutic amount of a cold substance. Each containment bag is positioned to substantially coincide with an intended part of the leg of an individual such that the cold substance provides a therapeutic cooling to that area.
US07704272B2

In accordance with the present invention, methods and structures are provided for the treatment of functional spinal unit injuries through the use of light activated gene therapy to induce bone fusion through the introduction of a desired gene into a patient's spinal tissue. Methods and structures are also provided for the utilization of ultraviolet light activated gene therapy to repair/rebuild an injured intervertebral disc through the introduction of a desired gene into a patient's spinal tissue. An implant system including a light probe and an implant with which r-AAV is integrated is also provided.
US07704270B2

A bone fixation assembly for use in spinal fixation surgery is disclosed. The bone fixation assembly has a rod receiving portion, a sliding component, a first locking element, and a second locking element. A method of fixing two vertebrae with respect to each other is also disclosed.
US07704265B2

Single-use blade lancet device includes a body having a rear end and a front end. A triggering mechanism has a blade tip opening and is mounted to the body. A blade member is movably mounted within the body and includes a front end and a rear end. The blade member is movable at least between a first retracted position, an extended position, and a second retracted position. A biasing arrangement biases the blade member from the first retracted position towards the extended position and then towards the second retracted position. A guiding arrangement guides the blade member while the blade member moves from the first retracted position towards the extended position and then towards the second retracted position. This Abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.
US07704264B2

Apparatus and methods are provided for forming a gastrointestinal tissue fold by engaging tissue at a first tissue contact point and moving the first tissue contact point from a position initially distal to, or in line with, a second tissue contact point to a position proximal of the second contact point, thereby forming the tissue fold, and extending an anchor assembly through the tissue fold from a vicinity of the second tissue contact point. Adjustable anchor assemblies; as well as anchor delivery systems, shape-lockable guides and methods for endoluminally performing medical procedures, such as gastric reduction, treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, resection of lesions, and treatment of bleeding sites; are also provided.
US07704259B2

Devices, systems, methods, and kits for treating the tissue structures of the ear make use of a guide structure that can mechanically register a treatment probe with a target region of a target tissue, the guide structure being fittingly received in an auditory canal and often comprising a conformable body such as a compressible foam, or the like. The guide structure may include an articulating mechanism for selectively orienting the treatment probe toward the target region of, for example, a tympanic membrane. The guide structure may also support a videoscopic image capture device, illumination transmitting optical fibers, an aiming beam transmitter, and the like. Such structures facilitate myringotomy, tympanostomy tube placement, and the like, under local anesthesia in a doctor's office.
US07704256B2

A cavity creation device is introduced into a cancellous bone volume of a vertebral body through a percutaneous access path. The cavity creating device is manipulated to form a cavity in the cancellous bone volume. A volume of filling material is placed in the cavity by introducing a tube through the percutaneous access path and by conveying the filling material through a side dispensing port of the tube.
US07704248B2

A tissue ablation device includes an array of elongate electrodes configured to be deployed in tissue, wherein the deployed electrode array defines a tissue ablation region, an inflatable balloon configured to be deployed in tissue, and a coupler securing the balloon relative to the one or more elongate electrodes, wherein the balloon, when inflated, is configured to apply a force to tissue located in the tissue ablation region. An ablation device includes a first array of electrodes, a second array of electrodes, a first inflatable balloon, and a coupler securing the first balloon relative to the first and second electrode arrays. A method of ablating tissue includes positioning an array of elongate electrodes and an inflatable balloon proximate tissue to be ablated, inflating the balloon to compress a tissue region located between the balloon and the electrode array, and energizing the electrode array to ablate the tissue region.
US07704243B2

A leg wrap structure is provided in a disposable absorbent garment such as a diaper or training pants. The leg wrap structure has a base layer, a top layer, and an elastic construction disposed therebetween. The elastic construction includes a plurality of spaced apart (e.g. generally equally spaced apart) elastic elements (e.g. strands or threads) that are aligned in a generally in generally parallel relation. Further, the top and base layers define a region of inelasticity. The leg wrap structure provides for the efficient formation of a reservoir and a plurality of fluid dams each capable of capturing a quantity of fluid to minimize the occurrence of fluid leaks from the absorbent article. Methods of forming such absorbent articles are disclosed.
US07704242B2

A method of forming a barrel for a tampon applicator assembly including molding a barrel then forming a rearward taper region in an area of the barrel is provided. The method includes molding a first portion of the barrel in a first mold part and a second portion of the barrel in a second mold part, the first and second mold parts meeting at a maximum outer dimension of the first portion, ejecting the barrel from the first and second mold parts, and forming a flared region in an area of the second portion.
US07704239B2

A catheter hub (100) including a first port (104) and a second port (108) fluidly communicating with the first port through a first conduit (106). The first conduit (106) turns at an angle of greater than approximately 135 degrees between the first port (104) and the second port (108). The hub (100) also includes a third port (120) fluidly communicating with the second port (108) through a second conduit (122) that similarly turns at an angle of greater than approximately 135 degrees between the third port (120) and the second port (108). Further, the hub (100) includes a fourth port (130) fluidly communicating with the second port (108) and is generally co-axial therewith. A catheter assembly (150) that utilizes the catheter hub (100) is also disclosed.
US07704235B2

A system for medically treating/vaccinating an individual comprising a first syringe, containing an anticoagulant material therein, for drawing a sample of blood from the individual. A centrifuge is provided for centrifuging the sample of blood contained within the first syringe to obtain a buffy coat. A second syringe comprising a second plunger and at least one microtubule member containing one of a treatment agent and a vaccine antigen. At least one open end formed within the at least one microtubule member for drawing a portion of the buffy coat therein and exposing the buffy coat to one of the treatment agent and vaccine antigen. A second needle capable of being attached onto the second syringe for introducing the exposed sample into the individual to effect treatment/vaccination thereof. This system is capable of allowing a plurality of treatment agents and/or vaccine antigens to be simultaneously applied to an individual.
US07704227B2

An ambulatory medical device for detecting acceleration, temperature, and/or humidity conditions in or around the medical device is provided. The medical device includes one or more acceleration, thermal, and/or humidity sensors which detect acceleration, temperature, and/or humidity conditions in or around the medical device. In response to detected conditions, the medical device may, among other things, alter the operation of the device, provide an alarm or warning to the user, or transmit data about the detected conditions to another device.
US07704223B2

A system and method for creating a medicated atmosphere in an organ, or body cavity is disclosed. The system includes a flexible aerosolization catheter, a device for introducing of the aerosolization catheter, a medication delivery apparatus configured to control delivery of a medication to the catheter, a gas delivery apparatus in communication with the catheter, a gas pressure relief apparatus configured to relieve pressure in the organ or body cavity, and a central controller in communication with the medication delivery apparatus, gas delivery apparatus, and gas pressure relief apparatus. The method includes providing insufflation gas and an aerosol of medication to an organ or body cavity while controlling overall pressure in the organ or cavity. The method may also include re-entering a patient through at least one port to apply gas and an aerosolized medicament, in either a post-operative procedure or in a chemotherapy context.
US07704220B2

Systems and methods for selective cooling or heating of a target site in the human body include a catheter having a supply elongated element and a delivery elongated element, with inlet and exit ports. Blood is withdrawn from the supply elongated element and cooled or heated in a control unit. The treated blood is sent to the targeted area via delivery elongated element. The supply elongated element can act as an insulator for the treated blood in the delivery elongated element.
US07704213B2

A measurement method for determining the blood flow rate QF in blood carrying lines is provided. It may be used in particular to determine the blood flow in a patient's vessel, which is connected to the extracorporeal circulation of a blood treatment machine by an arterial line and a venous line. According to the method, the net rate dX/dt of a variable X is determined, with X being derived from a physicochemical variable Y of the blood with the help of values YA and YV which are adequately constant over time and which respectively characterize the physicochemical property in the arterial line and the venous line during the measurement interval. The net rate dX/dt is then used to determine the blood flow rate QF. The targeted use of indicators is not necessary.
US07704212B2

The present invention is an apparatus and method for invasive bodily fluid pressure measurements using a pressure sensing assembly that is partially reusable. An embodiment includes a system for measuring a bodily pressure level having a support structure that includes at least one reusable pressure transducer that has a sensing face positioned on an exterior portion of the support structure, and a disposable pressure plenum having an inlet in fluid communication with a selected location within the body of a living being that is configured to be removably and slidably engaged with the support structure.
US07704211B1

The invention relates to an apparatus and method to assess the fluid level in lungs. An implantable medical device or external monitor is used to sense or monitor the patient's respiratory patterns to identify the presence of periodic breathing or Cheyne-Stokes Respiration (CSR) which is common in patients with congestive heart failure. A fluid index is used to assess the severity of congestive heart failure in a patient. A ratio of Δ blood gas/Σtotal lung volume can be used to determine the lung fluid index.
US07704209B2

A system and method are provided for sensing cardiac electrogram (EGM) signals and ventricular pressure signals and for using the sensed EGM and sensed pressure signals for estimating stroke volume (SV). A measure of cardiac output can be computed from the estimated SV and a heart rate determined from the EGM signals. The sensed ventricular pressure signal and the sensed EGM signal are used to derive landmark points such as an estimated pulmonary diastolic pressure, a mean pulmonary artery pressure, a peak right ventricular pressure (RVP), and various time intervals used in computing an area or a pulse contour integral. The pulse contour integral is used to estimate SV. The estimated pulmonary diastolic pressure, mean pulmonary artery pressure and CO computed from the estimated SV can be used to compute a pulmonary vascular resistance.
US07704206B2

An endoscope is disclosed that provide selection of each illumination mode of four different illumination modes, with one of the four different illumination modes being a mode which sequentially transmits very narrow wavelength ranges at three different wavelength regions within the visible spectrum.
US07704187B2

A shift control apparatus for an automatic transmission having an automatic shift mode for performing a shift operation by determining a gear position or gear ratio to be set according to a vehicle running condition and a manual shift mode for performing a shift operation instructed by a manual operation by an operator. The shift control apparatus includes a region determining unit for determining whether the present running condition is in a first region where downshift is performed at the present gear position or gear ratio in the automatic shift mode or in a second region higher in vehicle speed than the first region, and an upshift allowing unit for allowing upshift instructed by the manual operation by the operator in the manual shift mode when the region determining unit has determined that the present running condition is in the second region.
US07704184B2

An infinitely variable transmission comprising a pair of rotary, generally conical, torque-transmitting members, each being mounted for rotation on its geometric axis, the angularity of the axes, one with respect to the other, being variable, the outer surfaces of each member having torque-transmitting needles extending outwardly from the generally conical surface, the needles of one member meshing with the needles of its companion member, the needles being capable of flexing whereby torque may be transmitted through the rotary members without frictional sliding motion at the area of meshing engagement of the needles, the angularity of one member with respect to the other permitting a wide torque-transmitting ratio range.
US07704178B2

A gas turbine engine includes an epicyclic gear train that drives a turbo fan. The epicyclic gear train employs a one-piece carrier in which the spaced side walls are interconnected with circumferentially spaced apart mounts to form a unitary structure. Baffles are secured to the carrier near the mounts and provide lubrication passages that spray oil onto the sun gear and/or intermediate gears arranged between the baffles. The baffles can be constructed from a different material than the carrier since the baffles are not structural components in the gear train.
US07704177B2

A power-split transmission having several ranges of transmission ratios with continuously variable speed reductions. A drive shaft is connected to two shafts of a variable speed drive unit via a distributor gear whose shafts are in turn connected with the input shafts of a parallel gearbox via respective clutches. Two ranges of ratios only differ from each other through the reduction of the input shaft of the parallel gearbox and their output shafts. An additional embodiment includes a variable speed drive unit, a first planetary drive that is connected with a drive shaft, an input shaft of the variable speed drive unit and a connecting shaft, as well as a second planetary drive that is connected with the connecting shaft of the output shaft of the variable speed drive unit, and an output shaft and an electric motor that is nonrotatably connected with the connecting shaft.
US07704176B2

There is provided a transmission device having an electrically variable output that employs three electrically powered motor-generators, or machines. The electrically-variable transmission device comprises first, second and third electrical machines coaxial to and coupled to a plurality of planetary gear sets. Each planetary gear set coupled to a main shaft operative to transmit torque therebetween and operative to transmit torque to an output. There is an input mechanically coupled to one of the planetary gear sets. This transmission device can transmit mechanical power with a continuously variable ratio of the input shaft speed to the output shaft speed using two of the electric motors at a time, forming an input-split or either an output-split or a compound-split. A selectively actuable brake device is operative to multiply torque output from the second electrical machine.
US07704172B2

A front derailleur is configured to be accurately mounted to a bicycle frame in a prescribed mounting position. The front derailleur has a chain guide, a front derailleur main body, an intermediate piece and a fastening piece. The front derailleur main body has a mounting part with a curved mounting face having a circular arc arranged around a first pivot axis extending in a first direction. The intermediate piece has a first curved abutting face mating with the curved mounting face of the mounting part to pivot relative to each other about the first pivot axis, a second curved abutting face having a circular arc arranged around a second pivot axis extending in a second direction perpendicularly arranged relative to the first direction, and a first through hole extending in a third direction generally perpendicular to the first and second directions and passes through the first and second abutting faces.
US07704161B2

An apparatus for selectively adding weight to the hollow shaft of a hand-held implement. One embodiment includes a deformable upper cylindrical member, a lower member, and a rod coupled between the upper and lower members. These components are sized to fit within a hollow shaft, such as a golf club shaft. The upper deformable cylinder includes a chamber at its upper end, into which an oversized insert is inserted. This causes the deformable cylinder to expand radially creating a friction fit with the inside surface of the hollow shaft. The lower member may include an annular deformable member, such as an o-ring or a sleeve, stretched over its outside surface to create a snug fit within the shaft.
US07704159B1

This is an interchangeable golf club system, which allows particular golf club heads to be interchanged on the shaft of a golf club. Additionally, the length of the golf club can be adjusted using this same device. A set of locking rings allow appropriate adjustment of the length of the club or the replacement of the golf club head are provided.
US07704156B2

Golf club heads are releasably engaged with shafts so that the club heads and shafts can be readily interchanged and/or so that the shaft position with respect to the club head can be readily changed. Assemblies for connecting the club head and shaft may include: (a) a shaft engaging member including a rotation-inhibiting structure; (b) a club head engaging member including a shaft-receiving chamber and a retaining structure for engaging the rotation-inhibiting structure; and (c) a securing system for releasably securing the shaft engaging member with respect to the club head engaging member. The club head and shaft may be changed by releasing the securing system and exchanging the original parts with different parts. Furthermore, the shaft may be bent or otherwise extend at an angle from the shaft engaging member so as to allow adjustment of the shaft position with respect to the club head.
US07704155B2

In one embodiment, a golf club head is presented having a sole with three recessed cavities for attachment to a hosel-bending tool. In another embodiment, a golf club head is presented having a sole that includes one predetermined contact area proximal to the toe edge of the sole. In another embodiment, a golf club head is presented having a sole in which pads of material are incorporated that may be milled to vary the relief of the sole and to modify mass characteristics of the club head. Yet another embodiment presents a golf club head having a body with a cavity to receive a cartridge that has a constant density and weight.
US07704146B2

The present invention relates to a game, including a first module having a housing, a processor, a display operably coupled to the processor and an electrical contact positioned such that access is available to the electrical contact of the first module through the first module housing, and a second module having a housing, a processor, a display operably coupled to the processor and an electrical contact positioned such that access is available to the electrical contact of the second module through the second module housing, the electrical contact of the second module configured to contact the electrical contact of the first module, allowing the processor of the first module to communicate with the processor of the second module. Wherein when the processor of the second module is in communication with the processor of the first module, the first module display and the second module display are configured to each display a portion of a the game, each such portion configured to not overlap each other such portion.
US07704136B2

A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium for implementing improvements in video poker games. A second draw can be offered to the player, allowing the player an additional chance to improve the player's hand. The second draw can be always offered or triggered upon predefined conditions.
US07704135B2

The present invention provides an integrated game with five subsystems: (i) electronic spell-casting system, (ii) card game system, (iii) user-created card system, (iv) system for replacing the use of dice and/or random number generation; and (v) board game system. Spell-casting system provides a physical input mechanism, e.g., sensor-equipped “magic wand”, and a verbal input mechanism which together trigger a spell. Cards form formations affecting their powers and are marked as “spent” by being placed under another card. Users create their own cards through a Web-accessible site. Random number (generated by computer or dice) usage is replaced by “challenges,” i.e., player-performed tasks. Chess pieces follow standard rules but are deployed one-by-one, as are squares of the chess board. Licensing information is available through www.inventerprise.com.
US07704133B2

A two disk coin handling machine and method for offsorting with a feeding disk (11) for feeding coins to a sorting disk (62) having at least one opening (15-20) for receiving valid coins of different denominations, a drive member (71) disposed above the sorting disk (62) with narrowed fins (62) for moving the coins along an outside reference edge (64, 65, 66), a diverter member (74) disposed along the reference edge (64, 65, 66) to project into the coin track (63) to move a coin (14) selected for offsorting away from the reference edge (64, 65, 66) and off of a narrow rail portion (81) of the coin track (63) into an offsort opening (76), which causes the coin to tip up, and a deflector 77 for deflecting larger, tipped-up coins into the offsort opening (76).
US07704132B2

A device (1) for carving, boning, and defatting slaughtered animals is provided having a handle (3), with a head part (9) mounted at its front end. The head part (9) carries a knife carrier (21) with a rotatably mounted circular knife (17). The knife carrier (21) can be connected to the head part (9) via guiding cams (27) which are inserted into recesses (29) at the head part (9).
US07704129B2

Methods, apparatus and associated devices for rucking sleeves of covering material onto a chute body include a translating member disposed in a housing having an axis of movement configured to reciprocally translate a chute body about the axis of movement; and at least one gripping member disposed in the housing in cooperating alignment with the translating member. Each at least one gripping member has a gripping edge portion that defines a gripping surface. The at least one gripping member configured to reciprocally translate substantially orthogonal to the axis of movement. In operation, the at least one gripping member has an automated stroke cycle whereby the at least one gripping member is configured to travel inwardly a distance sufficient to snugly abut an outer surface of the chute body while the chute body travels in a first direction about the axis of movement and to travel outwardly a sufficient distance to prevent contact with the chute body while the chute body travels in a second opposing direction about the axis of movement.
US07704117B2

An electron emission display and method of fabricating a mesh electrode structure for the same. The electron emission display includes: an electron emission substrate having an electron emission region; a mesh electrode structure including a mesh electrode having an opening, through which electrons emitted from the electron emission region can pass, and a mesh electrode insulating layer formed at one side of the mesh electrode using a direct printing method; and an image forming substrate having an image forming region for emitting light by the emitted electrons. The method improves voltage resistance characteristics between the gate or cathode electrode and the mesh electrode, and eliminates the need for a lower spacer.
US07704114B2

This invention relates to a process for fabricating ZnO nanowires with high aspect ratio at low temperature, which is associated with semiconductor manufacturing process and a gate controlled field emission triode is obtained. The process comprises providing a semiconductor substrate, depositing a dielectric layer and a conducting layer, respectively, on the semiconductor substrate, defining the positions of emitter arrays on the dielectric layer and conducting layer, depositing an ultra thin ZnO film as a seeding layer on the substrate, growing the ZnO nanowires as the emitter arrays by using hydrothermal process, and etching the areas excluding the emitter arrays, then obtaining the gate controlled field emission triode.
US07704104B2

A replacement bus system having one or more conductive shafts supporting wire attachment lugs and spacers that ride along the conductive shaft; the spacers are conductive and separate the attachment lugs. The lugs and spacers may be secured onto the shaft by a locking mechanism. By providing a shaft on which the lugs may ride, the wires are configured transversely to conventional approaches, enabling a greater number of wires to be connected over a given length and a wider variety of relative orientation of wires. This configuration also enables much of the structure to be manufactured from stainless steel or other non cuprous metal, except for the spacers, which may be manufactured from tinned copper.
US07704082B2

A connector assembly is configured to be mounted to a substrate that has an opening extending between a mounting side and an opposite side. The connector assembly includes a housing and one or more contacts. The housing has a front end and a back end, with an interior chamber extending inward from a mating interface. The front end of the housing is configured to be partially inserted through the opening in the substrate until a housing mounting surface engages the mounting side of the substrate. The contact extends between a mating end and a contact mounting surface. The contact mounting surface is configured to be mounted to the mounting side of the substrate. The housing and contact mounting surfaces are substantially coplanar in a mourning plane, and a distance between the mating interface and the mounting plane is at least as great as a thickness of the substrate.
US07704079B2

The invention describes a T-shaped bus connector comprising a holding device for mechanically retaining the T-shaped bus connector on a mounting device on which the T-shaped bus connector is to be arranged, and further comprises a first and a second connecting unit for respectively producing an electrical connection to a complementary connecting unit of a device arranged adjacent to the bus connector, wherein the first and second connecting units face in substantially opposing directions and are constructed complementarily to one another, as well as a third connecting unit, oriented substantially perpendicular to the first and second connecting units, for producing an electrical connection to a connecting unit, complementary to the third connecting unit, of an electrical or electronic module, wherein data and/or power bus lines are run between all three connecting units, and all three connecting units are covered at least in part with a shielding material.
US07704077B1

A board to board connection system is disclosed for RF signals, and comprises coaxial interconnection systems which interconnect a daughter card to a backplane.
US07704073B2

This invention provides orthodontic archwires with more than one colors, which can be prepared by subjecting the orthodontic archwires to an anodizing treatment.
US07704057B2

A peristaltic pump includes a removable carrier against which a flexible tube is pressed by rollers. The carrier includes an intermediate deformable section having an internal cylindrical surface whose axis coincides with the main axis of rotation of the rollers and lateral rigid arms arranged on both sides of the intermediate section. The free ends of the lateral arms include guides. The pump case is provided with paths on which the guides are slidable. The path directions are predefined in order to constrain the displacement of the free ends of the lateral arms and to deform the intermediate section in such a way that the radius of the internal face is modified keeping the axis thereof coinciding with the main axis, thereby making it possible to use a tube having variable characteristics.
US07704056B2

A two-stage vapor cycle compressor includes a first stage impeller, a second stage impeller situated adjacent to the first stage impeller, an electric motor running on a pair of foil bearings, a thrust disk including two foil bearings and being positioned between the second stage impeller and the electric motor, and a compressor housing enclosing the first and second stage impeller and the electric motor. A refrigerant vapor compressed by the first stage and second stage impeller flows through an internal passageway formed by the compressor housing and cools the foil bearings and the electric motor. The compressor may be a gravity insensitive, small, and lightweight machine that may be easily assembled at low manufacturing costs. The two-stage vapor cycle compressor may be suitable for, but not limited to, applications in vapor compression refrigeration systems, such as air-conditioning systems, for example, in the aircraft and aerospace industries.
US07704055B2

The invention relates to a switching device for a hydraulic high-pressure system, particularly for operating hydraulic screw-tightening devices, comprising: a directional seat valve (17), which is subjected to the action of high pressure in the closing direction; a control piston (22), which can be subjected to the action of low pressure and which displaces the directional seat valve in the opening direction, and, a control valve (23), which either establishes or interrupts a connection to a pressureless low-pressure return flow line.
US07704054B2

A pump (10) includes a housing, a stator (20) supported in the housing, and a rotor assembly (30). The rotor assembly (30) includes a rotor (32) supported in the housing for rotation relative to the stator (20) about an axis (12). The rotor assembly (30) also includes a first impeller (34) operatively coupled to a first axial end of the rotor (32) for rotation with the rotor about the axis (12). The rotor assembly further includes a second impeller (36) operatively coupled to a second axial end of the rotor (32), opposite the first axial end, for rotation with the rotor about the axis (12). The rotor assembly (30) is movable along the axis (12) relative to the housing to adjust hydraulic performance characteristics of the pump (10).
US07704050B2

The present invention relates to a synchronous pump structure, particularly to an immersion pump (1) equipped with a float control device (3) and comprising a synchronous electric motor (2) with a permanent magnet rotor (8). The pump (1) is so structured that the float (16) of the control device (3) is incorporated in an envelope (11), externally associated with the body (15) of the pump (1). A sensor element (4) of the control device (3) housed in the pump body (15) in correspondence with the float (16) is also provided.
US07704049B1

A TBC covered substrate, such as an airfoil used in a gas turbine engine, the substrate has a plurality of open cells formed thereon with the cell walls being formed by ribs arranged to form substantially rectangular shaped cells. The walls or ribs or the cells have cross-over holes formed at about the mid-point of the cell wall and a wire band is passed through the cross-over holes and extends through the cells. A TBC is sprayed into the cells to fill the cell and cover the wire band such that the wire band functions to reinforce the TBC. The cell floors include at least one cooling air feed hole and the TBC is a porous material such that cooling air passing through the feed holes will also pass through the TBC. During the process of forming the airfoil with the TBC covered, air is passed through the feed holes while the TBC is being applied to prevent the feed holes from being blocked by the TBC.
US07704047B2

A turbine blade including an airfoil, the airfoil including an airfoil outer wall having pressure and suction sidewalls joined together at chordally spaced apart leading and trailing edges extending radially outwardly from a blade root to a blade tip surface. A continuous squealer tip rail extends radially outwardly from and substantially continuously around the blade tip surface forming a radially outwardly open squealer pocket. The squealer tip rail includes an aft portion adjacent to the trailing edge, where the pressure side tip rail is discontinued in the chordal location of the aft portion. A plurality of chordally spaced film cooling holes are provided in a surface of the suction sidewall and provides a cooling fluid flow along the aft portion of the squealer tip rail surface to define a sub-boundary layer or film of cooling fluid between a hot gas vortex flow and the aft portion of the squealer tip rail at the suction sidewall.
US07704039B1

A blade outer air seal for use in a gas turbine engine, the BOAS including a plurality of first diffusion and impingement cooling air cavities separated by stiffener ribs, each diffusion and impingement cavity being connected to a cooling air supply cavity through a first metering and impingement hole. Each diffusion and impingement cavity is connected to a plurality of trenched diffusion slots that open onto the surface of the BOAS and form a series of V-shaped slots. A plurality of second metering and impingement holes connect each slot to the respective first diffusion and impingement cavity. The trenched diffusion slots are angularly offset from a normal direction to the BOAS surface, and the second metering and impingement holes are offset at about 90 degrees from the slots so that both diffusion and impingement cooling occurs within the slots. The array of separated diffusion and impingement cavities and metering holes allow for the cooling flows and pressures to be regulated for each area of the BOAS.
US07704038B2

A method for assembling a compressor for use with a turbine is provided. The method includes coupling at least a first stator ring to a second stator ring via at least one fastener sized to extend through at least one stator ring opening. The method further includes coupling a shield assembly to at least one of the first stator ring and the second stator ring to facilitate reducing convection and aerodynamic bleed losses of the at least one stator ring. The shield assembly includes a downstream surface, a retaining portion, and a contoured upstream surface extending from the downstream surface to the retaining portion.
US07704034B1

An apparatus for towing a bike, tricycle or the like having front and rear wheels including a pivoting tongue, a base and an extensible support member for receiving a front of the bike yet permitting one or more rear wheels to remain in contact with the ground. An opposing pair of arms are each carried by a pair of support arms for connection to the base of the apparatus. The support arms are pivotably connected to the base to rotate toward the support member for storing the apparatus and from the support member to secure tie arms for retaining the bike in connection with the apparatus and stabilizing the bike under tow.
US07704033B2

A component loader for orienting a component along its long-axis for transfer to transmission means such as a carrier belt. The loader includes a rotatable load plate having an outer peripheral edge and an upper surface where the upper surface is inclined from a horizontal plane. A plurality of slots is on the upper surface, and each is located about the outer edge of the load plate. Each of the plurality of slots is sized to receive at least one chip, preferably lying with its long axis perpendicular to the rotational axis of the rotatable load plate. An outer wall conforms to the curvature of the outer peripheral edge and is mounted adjacent thereabout. A transfer slot extends axially into the upper surface of the load plate. Preferably, each transfer slot is shaped so that a chip descending into each transfer slot from a respective slot has a ninety degree rotation about the long axis. The loader can include an inner wall mounted above the plurality of slots and interior of the outer wall, also along the rotational axis of the load plate.
US07704026B2

The improved composite panel trailer sidewall of the present invention provides a recessed groove or a pair of recessed grooves on the interior of the panel that are spaced apart from the edges of the panel. Slots are cut in the composite panel in the recessed groove or between the recessed grooves. An interior vertical support having logistics slots is seated in the recessed groove or grooves to provide additional locations to secure and divide cargo without creating snag points in the interior of the trailer.
US07704018B2

A module and related methods of use in drilling a borehole in a face of a mine passage using a drilling element and installing a bolt in the borehole once formed. The module may include a bolt holder for holding a plurality of bolts and a drilling element holder for holding a plurality of different drilling elements. A manipulator moves along an arcuate path between the bolt and drilling element holders to deliver the respective components to a drill head positioned along the arcuate path. The drill head may also slide relative to the mast in two different directions, and includes a drill guide for determining the location of the face to be worked.
US07704017B2

There is provided a system and method for coupling with a shaft. In particular, there is provided a friction shaft coupler that includes a center plate and a plurality of outer plates, wherein the outer plates are configured to abut the center plate. The center plate and the plurality of outer plates each include a shaft bore configured to receive a shaft and a plurality of stub bores. The friction shaft coupler also includes a plurality of stubs, wherein each stub is configured to fit inside one of the plurality of stub bores, the plurality of stubs comprising a plurality of apertures that are perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stubs. Additionally, the friction shaft coupler includes a plurality of set screws configured to fit inside the apertures of the stubs, wherein the set screws are accessible for adjustment via access holes in the plurality of outer plates.
US07704016B2

A subsea docking unit 2 including an electronic module for being removably connected to a subsea docking station 1 comprises a canister B containing electronics to be connected to the docking station, and a selectively, engageable locking device for locking the docking unit to the docking station. The locking device comprises one or more arm structures adapted for being pivotally mounted into a corresponding arm holding detail on said docking unit, and an actuator means for moving said arm structure in relation to one or more corresponding arm receiving and retaining details on said docking station, whereby a releasable locking engagement and disengagement of the docking unit and docking station is obtained. The docking station correspondingly comprises arm receiving and retaining detail adapted for receiving and retaining a docking unit. The docking unit and docking station are parts of a multiphase flow meter.
US07704014B2

The invention relates to a process for removing contaminants from contaminated soil with the aid of a stripping gas. In the process a biologically active layer is present in or on the soil. The process comprises the following steps: a) there is created in the soil a medium whose resistance is lower than the resistance of the surrounding soil, b) the stripping gas is injected in the soil at the depth of and/or beneath the contaminant, c) the contaminants are volatized with the stripping gas, whereupon the stripping gas with the contaminants largely flows to the biologically active layer via the medium whose resistance is lower than the surrounding soil.
US07704007B2

A dust boot with enhanced protection from contaminants and improved lubrication characteristic includes a dust boot body having a housing opening on one end and on an opposing end a stud opening in an upper boot wall. The boot also includes a wiping lip located on an inner face of the upper boot wall in the stud opening, a grease channel on an outer surface of the upper boot wall bounded circumferentially by a rim seal, an offset opening hole through the upper boot wall into the grease channel which is offset from the wiping lip, and a flexible flap portion of said rim seal which is spaced away from said offset opening hole. The dust boot may also include an insert made from a plastic such as nylon housed in the upper boot wall such that the offset opening hole extends through the insert. The insert may also form a portion of the grease channel. The offset opening is preferably spaced opposite the flexible flap to promote the flow of grease around the outer surface of the stud. The dust boot may be incorporated into a joint assembly by placing it in sealing engagement with a housing which holds a stud in articulating engagement.
US07704005B2

A ring mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages comprises a housing and hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing. Rings for retaining the loose-leaf pages comprise ring members mounted on the hinge plates for movement with the hinge plates between an open and closed position. An actuator mounted on the housing is moveable between a first position in which the ring members are open and a second position in which the ring members are closed. The actuator is in continuous engagement with the hinge plates when the ring members are closed resisting movement of the actuator. A travel bar is operatively connected to the actuator for movement with the actuator. The travel bar resists movement of the actuator when the ring members are open.
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