US08221068B2
This hydraulic machine member has at least one flow of water passing through it, and comprises at least one wetted surface extending between two edges of the member, at least one of the edges of the member and part of the adjacent wetted surface being reinforced and formed by at least one removable solid element made from material having a high resistance to abrasion.
US08221056B2
Apparatus and methods are presented for mixing a high temperature steam, perhaps leaked from an upstream turbine, with the cooler steam from a lower temperature, downstream turbine and introducing the mixture into the downstream turbine.
US08221054B2
An arrangement and method adapted for providing a reinforced lower exhaust hood for a steam turbine. Double-wall sidewalls and endwalls for a lower exhaust hood include an outer corrugated wall joined to an inner plate wall. The enhanced strength provided by the corrugation provides reduced deformation of the lower exhaust hood and allows reduction of structural complexity and improved aero-performance within the lower exhaust hood.
US08221050B2
A robotic is provided which comprises a hub (203); (b) a first lower arm (209) comprising first (213) and second (215) lower arm segments and having a first set of upper arms (229, 231) attached thereto; and (c) a first adjusting means (241) for adjusting the height of the first lower arm segment with respect to the second lower arm segment.
US08221048B2
A lifting apparatus has a support structure, a frame pivotally connected to the support structure, an actuator connected to the frame so as to move the frame between a retracted position and an extended position, a lifting bar pivotally connected to the frame, and a linkage having one end pivotally connected to the support structure and an opposite end connected to the lifting bar. The lifting bar has a first strut with one end pivotally connected to the frame, a second strut with the one end pivotally affixed to the frame, and a cross member affixed adjacent to opposite ends of the first and second struts and extending thereacross. The linkage includes a first link and a second link.
US08221047B2
A seed carrier includes a main hopper coupled with a frame via leg members. The main hopper has a discharge. A base plate is coupled with the frame. A support arm is rotatably coupled with the base plate at a first end. A belt driven conveyor having a conveyor hopper at a first end and a discharge at a second end is rotatably coupled with a second end of said support arm at an approximate center of gravity thereof. A latch mechanism is provided for detachably coupling the first end of the conveyor with the first end of the support arm such that the conveyor hopper is position below the main hopper discharge. When the conveyor is uncoupled from the first end of the support arm, the conveyor can rotate to a loading position wherein the discharge thereof can be positioned over the main hopper.
US08221046B2
The present invention features compositions comprising at least one compound of the formula I or formula II: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 independently, are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-C6 alkyl, C1-C6 hydroxyalkyl, or a cosmetically acceptable salt thereof, and the use thereof.
US08221042B2
An automotive fastener for insertion into a slotted aperture is provided with a head, a base with an elongated cross-section sized to fit within the slotted aperture for limiting rotation of the base therein, a first array of fins, and a second array of fins offset axially from the first array of fins. The fins in each array extend along respective peripheral regions of the base. The first region is less than half of the base perimeter and spaced apart and opposed from the second region. A automotive fastener for insertion into a slotted aperture is provided with means for connecting a component to a panel; and means for inserting the fastener into the slotted aperture, the means sized to fit and limit rotation therein. The fastener has first and second retainer means for retaining the fastener in the aperture; the second retainer means offset axially from the first means.
US08221040B2
A component assembly comprising a sheet metal part and a fastener element which has a flange part of larger diameter and a shaft part of smaller diameter which extends away from the flange part and merges at its end remote from the flange part into a cylindrical rivet section is characterized in that the fastener element is designed for use with sheet metal parts with thicknesses in the range of 3 mm and larger. With relatively thin sheet metal parts the sheet metal part has a smooth pierced cylindrical opening which has a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the shaft part, with the cylindrical rivet section being reshaped to a rivet bead which contacts the underside of the sheet metal part. With sheet metal parts of medium thickness the sheet metal part has a stepped hole with the hole region of larger diameter receiving the rivet bead. For relatively thick sheet metal parts the sheet metal part has a conical pierced hole and the cylindrical rivet section is reshaped to a conical rivet bead which is wedged in the conically diverging hole.
US08221031B2
The invention relates a method for transporting sediments in dammed bodies of water, especially in hydraulic power plants, said sediments being deposited because there are no erosion processes as a result of the absence of a current. According to the invention, the sediment deposits are picked up in the sedimentation zone of the reservoir and are transported to the erosion zone near the discharge element/s of the reservoir such that the sediments are transported into current water by the erosion processes of the effluent water caused by the current.
US08221030B1
A seismic-resistant fluid reservoir cover includes a plurality of panels and a network of flexible membranes coupled to adjacent panels. The flexible membranes are made of a potable water approved material, and the panels and the membranes create a fluid tight seal. Each panel in the reservoir cover is able to move along three directional axes independently of the adjacent panels while maintaining the fluid tight seal, at least in part because of the flexibility or the slack in the flexible membrane. A support member, such as a backer rod, may also be positioned in the spaces between the panels.
US08221026B2
In a paving screed E for a road paver F, the paving screed E comprises a base screed G and extension screeds A at the front side of the base screed, the extension screeds A being extendable and retractable and pivotable relative to the base screed G, a base guiding structure 18 pivotable relative to the base screed G, a guiding sub-structure 17 slidably guided in the base guiding structure 16, an extension guiding structure 16 slidably guided in the guiding sub-structure 17, and a sole plate frame structure 14 mounted to the extension guiding structure 16 and carrying an extension screed sole plate 11, substantially vertical guidances 20 and elevation adjustment assemblies 21 between the sole plate frame structure 14 and the extension guiding structure 16, the vertical guidances 20 and the elevation adjustment assemblies 21 facilitating to adjust the elevation of the sole plate frame structure 14 and the extension screed sole plate 11 parallel to itself and relative to the extension guiding structure 16.
US08221025B2
According to a method for laying a paving mat with a paving screed, the paving mat comprising a lane and a downwardly inclined slope beginning at a transition to the outside, the paving screed comprising a base screed and at least one extension screed which is extendable and retractable by a sliding motion in a sliding direction parallel to the base screed for varying the working width of the paving screed, the base screed and the extension screed having sole plates at the lower sides, with the sole plate of the extension screed being inclined laterally for forming the slope with the angle of the slope, a lateral position of the transition is first set relative to the base screed, during or after setting the lateral position a height difference is measured perpendicular to the planum between a fixed measuring location at the base screed and a location along a reference line extending parallel to the sole plate of the extension screed, the measured height difference being converted into a target value, and in the case of a variation of the working width and/or of the angle an occurring deviation of the height difference from the target value as caused by the variation is measured and automatically is corrected by a simultaneous height adaptation of the sole plate of the extension to the target value in order to maintain the set lateral position of the transition stationary.
US08221024B2
A method of constructing a roadway having an embedded linear synchronous motor (LSM) utilizes prefabricated modules. Structurally, each module comprises a top plate, a multiple-phase winding tied to the top plate, and a concrete mold encapsulating the winding. With the modules prefabricated, the roadway is constructed by first excavating a trench to position a foundation at the trench bottom. Then a mud matt is positioned on the foundation. Next, the modules are laid end-to-end on the mud matt. Thereafter, the windings in adjacent modules are electrically interconnected through joints. Further, the joints are covered by junction boxes, and the trench around the roadway is filled in with aggregate.
US08221023B2
Systems for improved vehicular movement between first and second crossing roadways. The systems employ multiple turn roadways to permit a vehicle traveling on one of the crossing roadways to appropriately turn and continuously travel onto the other of the crossing roadway. The systems are adaptable to use in conjunction with either left side of the road vehicle movement or right side of the road vehicle movement. In addition, the systems can be adapted for use in conjunction a roadway crossing whereat at least one of the roads is for forwarded vehicle movement in only one direction.
US08221022B2
A fuel cell has at least one engaging portion that protrudes from an outer edge of a cell and engages with a cell monitor so as to restrict movement of the cell monitor away from the cell. The cell has a plurality of engaging portions that are spaced apart from each other, and the engaging portions engage with one cell monitor at a plurality of positions of the cell. Separators of the cell contact at major surfaces thereof with cell monitor terminals. One cell monitor is mounted on a plurality of cells, and the terminals of the cell monitor are electrically connected to the separators of the cells.
US08221020B2
A through pin assembly for securing an axle into a pair of mounting cheeks and to stabilize a machine member is disclosed. The pin assembly has an axle having a pair of end members formed on each end of the axle. A channel is formed through the axle and runs a length of the axle. The channel consists of a threaded area of the channel at the first end for use when removing the assembly; a hexagon, octagon or otherwise shaped area at the second end to interlock with the threaded part of the locking end member; two grooves in the channel, one at each end, as a seat for gaskets to seal off a grease or oil chamber for distribution to the bearing. A bearing is mounted on a central section of the axle. A pair of expansion sleeves is provided wherein one of the pair of expansion sleeves is positioned over each of the end member of the axle. A locking device is inserted into the channel. The locking device engages the pair of expansion sleeves causing the expansion sleeves to expand into a pair of mounting cheeks and stabilizing the machine member to secure the axle when a first end of the locking device is adjusted.
US08221019B2
A method of applying texture material to a destination surface defining a pre-textured portion formed by a spray system and an untextured portion, comprising the following steps. A flexible container, texture, material, a sponge base, a resilient sponge are provided. The resilient sponge is adhered to the sponge base to form a sponge assembly. The texture material is arranged within the container chamber, and the sponge member is fixed relative to the container. Texture material is forced out of the container member and onto an applicator surface. At least a portion of the texture material on the applicator surface is transferred to the untextured portion of the destination surface by displacing the container member along the dispensing axis towards the destination surface with the applicator surface substantially parallel to the destination surface. The container member is then displaced away from the destination surface along the dispensing axis with the applicator surface substantially parallel to the destination surface such that an exposed portion of the particulate material on the untextured portion of the destination surface stands out from the destination surface and is visually perceptible.
US08221015B2
Device for packaging and applying a substance, the device including a receptacle for containing the substance, an applicator member, and a wiper member secured to the receptacle to wipe the applicator member as the applicator member leaves the receptacle. The wiper member includes at least one undulating wiper lip with a radially inner free edge defining the orifice through which the applicator member passes. The undulations of the wiper lip enabling the wiper lip to deploy under thrust from the applicator member.
US08221013B2
The makeup device in particular for making up the eyelashes and/or the eyebrows, comprises a reservoir an applicator and a wiper comprising bellows and scrapers projecting from the bellows for the purpose of scraping the applicator.
US08221006B2
A fiber optic cable assembly includes a fiber optic cable with one or more optical fibers attached to a housing. The housing includes a connector housing for a connector, a furcation housing for a furcation, and a splice housing for a mid-span cable splice. The furcation housing and the splice housing include a crimp body. The crimp body has a compression area and at least one hoop about the compression area defining a crimp zone. A crimp band is arranged for engaging the crimp zone and including an indentation defining a compression surface and a rib defining a rib interior. The crimp band and the crimp body cooperate to grip the strength element and resist cable pull off forces. A method of making the fiber optic cable assembly is also disclosed.
US08221003B2
A bearing unit has four rolling bearings adjacently disposed in an axial direction, each rolling bearing including an inner race, and outer race, and rolling elements interposed between the inner and outer races. A shaft is fitted to the inner races, and a sleeve has a fitting hole into which is fitted the outer races. The inner races or the outer races are brought into contract with each other in the axial direction to preload the rolling bearings. The inner races or the outer races of the rolling bearings at both axial ends, which are brought into contact with the inner races or the outer races of adjacent rolling bearings, are fixed to the sleeve, and the outer races of the central two rolling bearings form a radial gap between confronting surfaces of the sleeve and the outer races or between confronting surfaces of the shaft and the inner surfaces.
US08221000B2
A bearing for a rolling mill roll that has a roll neck, the bearing including a neck sleeve fitted onto the roll neck, a chock, a bearing bush supported in the chock, and a load-bearing lubricating film provided between the neck sleeve and the bearing bush. The roll neck has a step at a transition to an undercut region that defines part of a keyway groove in an axial end face of the roll neck, a remaining part of the keyway groove being formed in an axial end of the neck sleeve. A feather key is provided in the keyway groove. The feather key and the keyway groove are arranged adjacent to, without passing through, a Rötscher line extending between the step of the roll neck and an outer axial edge of the bearing bush. The feather key has a radial extension that is greater than an axial extension.
US08220996B2
Polymeric bag includes first and second opposing body panels attached to each other along a pair of opposing sides and a bottom bridging the sides, a reclosable fastener extending along a mouth formed opposite the bottom, a pressure relief opening defined in the first body panel, and a pressure relief valve attached to the first body panel. The valve includes a cover member to cover the opening. The cover member includes an upper layer and a lower layer, the lower layer including a first portion attached to the body panel and a second portion contiguous with the first portion but not attached to the body panel. The upper layer has a first end hingedly connected to the second portion of the lower layer on a first side of the pressure relief opening, and the upper layer has a second end fixedly attached on a second side of the pressure relief opening opposite the first side with the upper layer covering the pressure relief opening. An additional aspect includes a seal line extending proximate the pressure relief opening.
US08220989B1
A hot plate method and apparatus for the measurement of thermal conductivity combines the following capabilities: 1) measurements of very small specimens; 2) measurements of specimens with thermal conductivity on the same order of that as air; and, 3) the ability to use air as a reference material. Care is taken to ensure that the heat flow through the test specimen is essentially one-dimensional. No attempt is made to use heated guards to minimize the flow of heat from the hot plate to the surroundings. Results indicate that since large correction factors must be applied to account for guard imperfections when specimen dimensions are small, simply measuring and correcting for heat from the heater disc that does not flow into the specimen is preferable. The invention is a hot plate method capable of using air as a standard reference material for the steady-state measurement of the thermal conductivity of very small test samples having thermal conductivity on the order of air.
US08220987B2
A rotation switch includes an operating member that is operable to rotate, a magnet member that rotates integrally with the operating member, a magnetic sensor that is placed opposite to the magnet member, and a frame-shaped magnetic shield plate that surrounds the periphery of the magnetic sensor.
US08220986B2
A mixer impeller having high efficiency blades. The impeller may include a central hub and a plurality of blades attached to and extending radially outwardly from the hub such that leading edges thereof are inclined upwardly from trailing edges thereof. Each of the blades may include a root attached to the hub, a tip, a first crease extending along substantially an entire length of the blade dividing the blade into a leading portion and a trailing portion, the leading and trailing portions meeting at the first crease such that the leading portion is angled downwardly from the trailing portion, and a second crease extending from a portion of the leading edge of the leading portion between the root and the tip diagonally along the leading portion to the tip, the second crease intersecting the tip at a point spaced from a point where the first crease intersects the tip, the second crease forming a tip portion of the leading portion that needs a remainder of the leading portion such that the tip portion is angled downwardly from the leading portion.
US08220978B2
A brightness enhancement film (BEF) includes a light transmissive substrate having a first surface and a second surface, a plurality of lenses disposed on the first surface, and a reflective layer. Each of the lenses has a curved protruding surface facing away from the light transmissive substrate. The radius of curvature of the curved protruding surface in a first direction parallel to the first surface is R1, the radius in a second direction is R2, and R1≠R2. The reflective layer is disposed on the second surface and has a plurality of light pass openings respectively located on the optical axes of the lenses. The distance between the apex of the curved protruding surface and the corresponding light pass opening is L, the refractive index of the lenses is n, and the BEF satisfies L
US08220977B2
A lamp assembly manages thermal energy output from solid state lighting elements. An aspect of the present disclosure provides a lamp assembly that achieves enhanced cooling of light elements within the assembly. Enhanced cooling is achieved, in this aspect, by providing a lamp assembly including a heat sink having a plurality of thermo bosses protruding therefrom on a first side, and a plurality of heat sink fins on a second side. A printed circuit board is secured to the first side of the heat sink, and has a plurality of through holes that correspond to the size and locations of the thermo bosses, such that when the printed circuit board is secured to the heat sink, the thermo bosses extend into the through holes.
US08220975B2
A plate-shaped lens member has concentric annular prisms each including an inner annular surface divided from a light-entrance surface of a conventional TIR lens and an outer annular surface divided from a light-reflection surface of the TIR lens in which the light-entrance surface has a concave shape provided in a lower portion of the TIR lens and the light-reflection surface has a convex shape positioned at a peripheral side of the TIR lens to surround the light-entrance surface. The light-entrance surface and light-reflection surface of the bulky TIR lens are Fresnel-ized or divided into a set of concentric annular prisms on a surface of the plate-shaped lens member and positions of divided portions from the TIR lens are efficiently arranged on the surface of the plate-shaped lens member.
US08220965B2
A laser device including a concave mirror converging beamlets from a plurality of high efficiency diode lasers to a focal point, an integrating convex mirror placed at or near the focal point reflects a first portion of the beamlets back to the concave mirror and allows a second portion through to a light transmitter. The second portion of beamlets exists the light transmitter as a homogenized uniform laser beam having substantially uniform convergence and focus.
US08220962B2
The present invention relates to the technical field of LED street lamp, in particular to structure of a reflector panel of the LED lamp. A reflector panel comprises a base, the base has multiple reflector cups, which are divided into two groups according to the direction of their openings, all reflector cups in each group have the same direction of their openings, the directions of the openings of the reflector cups in two different groups are opposite. The reflector panel of the present invention can form the illumination band with even illuminance on the street and cause small light loss.
US08220956B2
An LED lamp includes an envelope, two covers, a mounting board and a plurality of LEDs. The covers engages with opposite ends of the envelope. Each of the covers has an electrically conductive part. The mounting board is received in the envelope. Two ends of the mounting board electrically connect with the electrically conductive parts of the two covers, respectively. The LEDs are disposed on the mounting board and received in the envelope.
US08220951B2
A lighting system includes a lighting unit and a mounting structure. The lighting unit is mounted adjacent to a window to shine outward, obstructing a view of the inside, while allowing those inside a clear, lighted view of the outside. The lighting unit may be powered by electrical wiring, battery, or solar. Light is preferably adjustable in various directions. The lighting system provides additional security and privacy.
US08220942B2
In a chassis 13, a cold cathode tube 15 is housed, a planar optical member 16 is provided in an opening portion, and a support component 20 that can support the optical member 16 is mounted. The support component 20 includes a linear support portion 24 linearly extending in parallel with a plane direction of the optical member 16. The linear support portion 24 is curved to become progressively lower from end sides toward a middle side of the optical member 16. The optical member 16 can be warped and deformed by a gap ensured between the optical member 16 and the linear support portion 24. When the optical member 16 is warped and deformed, the linear support portion 24 supports the optical member 16 in a height position corresponding to the warped shape.
US08220930B2
An integrated opto-electronic device, a portable reflective projection system and a method for in situ monitoring and adjusting light illumination are provided. The device includes a reflective polarizing composite film (150) configured to receive a source light (210) at a desired non-normal incident angle (221), polarizes and reflects a first portion (211) of said source light (210) as polarized illumination light (16) at a reciprocal angle (222) to said desired non-normal incident angle (221); and a photovoltaic cell (180), adhered to an opposite side of said reflective polarizing composite film (150) to said source light (210), configured to receive a second portion (212) of said source light (210) that passes through said reflective polarizing composite film (150) and transform said second portion (212) to photogenerated charge. Unused illumination can be collected in order to re-store and reuse recovered energy.
US08220927B2
The invention relates to a method of determining and selecting a contact lens with an opthalmological device for examining the eyes, the opthalmological device comprising a keratometer and an autorefractometer as well as a data processor, whereby a refractive power of an eye and a topography of a cornea are determined, whereby refraction data describing a refraction of an eye to be examined are obtained, whereby topographic data describing the topography of the cornea of the eye are obtained, and whereby, by using the obtained refraction and topography data, contact lens data are calculated and a contact lens is selected from a database of the opthalmological device. In accordance with an apparatus embodiment of the invention, an opthalmological device for carrying out the method is also described.
US08220925B2
Methods, devices, and systems establish an optical surface shape that mitigates or treats a vision condition in a patient. An optical surface shape for a particular patient can be determined using a set of patient parameters for the specific patient by using a compound modulation transfer function (CMTF). The compound modulation transfer function can include a combination of modulation transfer functions (MTF's) at a plurality of distinct frequencies.
US08220924B2
An apparatus for generating a two-dimensional image of an object using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) optical system, includes: the OCT optical system including: a light source; a splitter for splitting light emitted from the light source into a measurement optical path and a reference optical path; a scanner arranged in the measurement optical path for scanning the object in at least one of XY directions with the split light; and a detector for detecting a spectrum of combined light of the split light from the measurement optical path reflected on the object and the split light from the reference optical path each XY position of the light on the object, and a processor for generating the two-dimensional image of the object in the XY directions by converting the number of zero cross points of an interference signal contained in the spectrum at each XY position into a luminance value.
US08220922B2
A device and method for determining under wearing conditions at least one component of the orientation of a correcting ophthalmic lens of eyeglasses relative to the head of a future wearer. Provision is made for mounting a position-identification system (20) on the frame (10) and/or on a presentation lens fitted to the frame, which system includes at least one identification element (60, 70, 80) having at least one known geometrical characteristic, for capturing the image of the identification element in two dimensions in a vertical facial plane, for processing the captured image to measure the captured geometrical characteristic of the image of the identification element that depends on the known geometrical characteristic of the identification element, and for calculating at least one component of the orientation of the lens by comparing the captured geometrical characteristic with the known geometrical characteristic. A method of optically designing the correcting lens is disclosed.
US08220918B2
A spreader module for use in an imaging device includes a housing configured for insertion and removal from a docking position of an imaging device frame, a spreader drum operably supported by the housing, and a pressure roller operably supported by the housing adjacent the spreader drum to define a spreading nip through which a web of media is fed. The spreader module includes a release agent application system supported by the housing for applying a first release agent to the spreader drum. A docking slot is positioned adjacent the pressure roll that is configured to releasably secure a release agent sub-module to the housing, the release agent sub-module for applying a second release agent to the surface of the pressure roller.
US08220912B2
The present invention provides an ink composition including: (A) a polymerizable compound represented by the following formula (I); (B) a polymerizable compound having a structure that is different from that of the polymerizable component (A); and (C) a photoinitiator, wherein, in the formula (I), R represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, X represents a divalent organic group, m represents an integer of 1 or 2, and n represents an integer of 1 to 20.
US08220911B2
An inkjet recording method includes forming an image on an inkjet recording sheet with an ink set, wherein the inkjet recording sheet includes: a support; and a colorant-receiving layer provided on the support, the colorant receiving layer including inorganic particles, a water-soluble resin and at least one boron compound selected from the group consisting of boric acid, borate and borax, in which the ratio of the boron compound to the water-soluble resin is from 5 to 14% by mass, wherein the ink set including at least one inkjet ink including at least the boron compound and a water-soluble dye, and wherein the image is formed on a side of the inkjet recording sheet at which the colorant-receiving layer is formed.
US08220910B2
An ink cartridge 1 constructed as a liquid container has wall faces 1a, 370w1, and 370w2 that are respectively pierced to have holes. One end of an ink supply tube 910 is inserted through the holes of the wall faces 1a, 370w1, and 370w2 and is connected with an inlet 401 of a vertical communicating path 400 located in the upstream of a sensor unit 30 functioning as a detector. The other end of the ink supply tube 910 is connected to a large-capacity ink tank 900. Attachment of the ink cartridge 1 to an ink-jet printer completes an ink supply system. This arrangement effectively controls or prevents migration of bubbles into the detector in the liquid container equipped with the detector.
US08220905B2
A liquid transporting apparatus includes a channel unit having a plurality of pressure chambers, a piezoelectric actuator having a vibration plate, a plurality of piezoelectric elements, a first electrode and second electrodes, and a flexible wiring member connected to the second electrodes. A support section is provided on the surface of the vibration plate, not facing the pressure chambers. A surface of the support section which does not face the vibration plate is joined to the flexible wiring member to support the flexible wiring member.
US08220902B2
An inkjet printhead that receives one or more detachably mountable ink tanks, the inkjet printhead includes an ink tank holding receptacle that receives the one or more detachably mountable ink tanks between a first and second wall; a spring disposed on the first wall of the printhead to provide a biasing force in a direction that pushes the detachably mountable ink tank away from the first wall of the printhead and which biasing force must be manually overcome in order to properly install the one or more detachably mountable ink tanks in the ink tank holding receptacle of the printhead.
US08220900B2
A printhead cradle is provided for removably receiving a printhead. The cradle has a controller for controlling operation of the received printhead and an electromagnet for causing movement of a movable capper of the printhead under control of the controller.
US08220896B2
A system and method to provide pressure to de-prime a printhead. An image forming device comprises an ink reservoir that contains ink and provides the ink to a printhead. When a fault condition is detected that indicates a likelihood of a solidifying of the ink, the printhead is de-primed by applying pressure to the printhead to purge the ink from the printhead. The fault condition comprises any of a loss of power, a power-down process, or a printhead temperature being less than or equal to a threshold temperature.
US08220893B2
The present image forming apparatus converts driving data in such a manner that when a volume of liquid to be ejected in an (m+1)-th print cycle following an m-th print cycle is a maximum volume of ink among a plurality of predetermined volumes of ink, a volume of liquid to be ejected in the m-th print cycle is any volume other than zero and the maximum volume among the predetermined volumes, in which m-th print cycle (m is an integer number no less than “0”) no ink is to be ejected.
US08220887B2
A refrigerator is provided that includes a compartment, a first container, a second container, a door, and a selection device. The first container is located in the compartment and configured to be movable in a first direction. The second container is located in the compartment and configured to be movable in the first direction. The door is operably connected to the second container and configured to provide access to at least one of the first container and the second container of the compartment when the door is moved to an open position. The door is also configured to inhibit access to the compartment when the door is moved to a closed position. The selection device is located on the refrigerator and configured for inputting a selection of either the first container or the second container. The selected container is presented in an accessible position when the door is moved from the closed position to the open position.
US08220883B2
An ejection device for a furniture part mounted movably in or on a furniture body includes an ejector, a drive unit, and a friction clutch. The friction clutch is designed in such a manner that it decouples the drive unit and the ejector from each other when a predetermined torque is exceeded. The friction clutch includes two parts which are rotatable in relation to each other with respect to two directions of rotation. A spring is provided which interacts with the two parts in such a manner that the torque at which the decoupling takes place differs for the two directions of rotation of the two parts.
US08220880B1
An adjustable dressing mirror assembly includes a support, a rear link connected pivotally to the support, a mirror-mounting unit having an upper end pivotable forwardly and rearwardly relative to the support, a front link connected pivotally to the mirror-mounting unit and the rear link, and a positioning device. The positioning device includes: a plurality of positioning groove units formed in one of the front and rear links; a swing arm having a pivot end connected pivotally to the other one of the front and rear links, and an engaging end opposite to the pivot end; an engaging member disposed on the engaging end of the swing arm such that, by rotating the mirror-mounting unit, the engaging member is movable to engage within a selected one of the positioning groove units; and a resilient member for biasing the engaging member into the selected one of the positioning groove units.
US08220879B2
An interlocking device for a slide rail is connected with other interlocking devices through a cable. The interlocking device has a sliding block and a rotary disc disposed on a fixed base. The rotary disc is disposed thereon with a stop block. The sliding block and the stop block are connected with the rotary disc respectively by second springs to link each other. The stop block is connected with a pulley of a slide rail. The sliding block is connected with the cable so that when the slide rail slides outward, the slide rail drives the stop block, the rotary disc, and the sliding block to move synchronously. After the pulley is separated from the stop block, the cable is drawn tightly by the sliding block to lock the other interlocking devices.
US08220878B2
An electronic device including a circuit board onto which an electronic part is installed, a radiating member, and at least one fitting member that fixes the radiating member to the circuit board, the fitting member being formed with a resilient portion that is configured to produce a resilient restoring force and holds the radiating member in a state fixed to the circuit board by the resilient restoring force.
US08220867B2
A rocker includes a lower wall portion, which is an inclined surface inclined downward toward the inside of a vehicle body, on the lower surface of the rocker, and a floor panel is bonded to the lower wall portion. Accordingly, when an in-plane tensile force is applied to the floor panel the in-plane tensile force is applied not in a direction where the bonding between the rocker and the floor panel is separated but in a direction where the bonding between the rocker and the floor panel is shorn. As a result, it may be possible to improve bonding strength. Further, a corner portion is formed at the end portion of the inclined surface facing the floor panel, and a frictional force is generated at the corner portion between the floor panel and the rocker. Therefore, a load, which is applied to the floor panel, can be distributed to the rocker. Due to these operations, reinforcing members and the like do not need to be provided, and it may be possible to improve the bonding strength between the rocker and the floor panel.
US08220864B2
A front structure for a motor vehicle has a front wall with a stiffening element formed at least partially of plastic situated in a crossbeam on the lower half of the front wall. The stiffening element is enclosed between a bulkhead plate coupled to a front frame and the front wall which provides a high level of rigidity of the crossbeam. The front structure additionally has reduced weight due to the plastic stiffening element.
US08220859B2
A locking mechanism is provided for a tarping system having a flexible cover carried by a deployment mechanism having a horizontal arm spanning the width of a container, the deployment mechanism movable to an extended position in which the horizontal arm is adjacent one end of the container. The locking mechanism includes at least one locking element associated with one end of the container and at least one latching element having a latching portion configured to engage the at least one locking element. The latching element is pivotably supported on the horizontal arm so that that latching element can pivot to and from a locked position in which the latching portion engages the at least one locking element. A tension element is connected between the latching element and the cover to control the pivoting of the latching element under the force of gravity based on the position of the flexible cover.
US08220858B2
A headliner assembly configured to retain a visor to the headliner. The headliner has an outer surface opposite an inner surface, and a visor rod aperture. The visor rod aperture is in communication with the inner and outer surface. The headliner assembly including a clip configured to retain an end portion of the visor rod. The clip is disposed on the inner surface of the headliner. The headliner assembly further includes a base having a first portion configured to retain the clip and a second portion. The outer edge of the second portion extends a predetermined distance from the first portion so as to create a moment in equal magnitude of the moment experienced by the clip when the visor rod is installed.
US08220856B2
A mechanism for rotating a vehicle seat body and a mechanism for restraining rotation of the seat body are partially shared, reducing the number of parts. The seat includes a seat body, a seat rotation mechanism, a gear forming member having a rotation gear, a drive gear meshable with the rotation gear, and an actuator for rotating the drive gear. The seat further includes a moving mechanism that relatively moves the drive gear and the gear forming member in a direction of a rotation restraint position such that the drive gear is placed in such a position so as to interfere with the gear forming member when the seat body rotates to a first position and when the seat body is urged to rotate in a direction of a second position while the drive gear is in such a position so as to not mesh with the rotation gear.
US08220853B2
A clamping element for attaching a gripper onto a clamping tongue as well as a gripper with this kind of clamping element is provided. The clamping element has a longitudinal carrier the width of which substantially corresponds to the width of the clamping tongue and at least two mutually distanced clamping regions. At least one fastening element for the detachable fastening of the clamping elements to the clamping tongue (42, 44) is provided. The clamping element provides an improved force division as well as a secure support on the clamping tongue.
US08220843B2
An engine exhaust system comprises duct pieces and a thermally expandable sealing joint for interconnecting their adjoining ends. The sealing joint comprises a tubular body including a first axial end portion, a second axial end portion, and a bridge portion extending therebetween. The first end portion is at least partially positioned within a female recess of the first duct piece and the second end portion is at least partially positioned with a female recess of the second duct piece. The bridge portion can extend across a gap and/or it can be positioned partially within female recesses. Upon thermal activation, the sealing joint radially expands permanently to engage the inner radial surfaces of the duct pieces.
US08220838B2
An irrigation pipe connector has a core that is adapted to connect to an irrigation element and a wing that is attachable to a wall of a pipe. The wing is provided with resiliency to allow the connector to deform in response to changing fluid pressures in the pipe. In addition, the wing may be provided with a thin segment in order to reduce potential damage during welding of the wing to the wall of the pipe.
US08220837B2
In a state in which a fuel pipe (11) and a connector (13) are already joined, a swing fulcrum portion (14h) of a drop-off prevention holder (14) is engaged with the fuel pipe (11), and making the drop-off prevention holder (14) swing with this portion as a fulcrum allows a U-shaped first cutout (14d) formed in a first face (14b) to be fitted onto a small diameter portion (13c) of the connector (13), thus restricting the distance between a step (13b) and a second flange (11b) and thereby restraining the fuel pipe (11) and the connector (13) so that they do not separate. Since it is necessary to carry out a snap fitting operation only once in order for the small diameter portion (13c) of the connector (13) to pass through a narrow throat portion (b) formed partway along the first cutout (14d) of the drop-off prevention holder (14), the operation becomes easy compared with a case where snap-fitting operations are required a plurality of times, and the drop-off prevention holder (14) can be installed easily.
US08220826B2
A ramp bracket for a curtain airbag cushion of a vehicle may include a cushion storage portion storing the curtain airbag cushion therein, the cushion storage portion having an opening on a first sidewall thereof such that the curtain airbag cushion is deployed through the opening, wherein the first sidewall includes upper and lower surfaces to define the opening, and a shock absorption portion formed under a lower surface of the cushion storage portion and absorbing a shock generated when a passenger collides to the shock absorption portion.
US08220811B2
An arm material for an upper arm or a lower arm is provided which constitutes a double wishbone suspension or the like of an automobile and which has a flat, hollow, closed cross-sectional shape and enables further decreases in size, decreases in weight, and increases in strength.An arm material for an automobile suspension has a body made from a parts material made by metal. The parts material made by metal has a flat, hollow, closed cross-sectional shape having a pair of opposing long sides and is formed from a single member in its lengthwise direction. The body has at least a first bent portion which is bent in a plane roughly parallel to the pair of long sides.
US08220810B2
A countersteering vehicle rear axle induces a rotational motion of a wheel carrier about a virtual spread axis in the toe-in direction under the influence of a lateral force on the outside cornering wheel mounted on the wheel carrier. A support member exhibits a section, which extends essentially parallel to the plane of the wheel carrier, and a section, which is connected, when viewed in the direction of travel, to former section behind the wheel center point and extends essentially in the transverse direction of the vehicle. In a lateral projection, the support member is inclined in relation to the vertical direction in essentially the same way as the virtual spread axis. This support member is supported at least on the free ends of a sheet metal support plate, which in a lateral projection is approximately U-shaped and which in turn is mounted on the axle body.
US08220809B2
A suspension system for use with a frame comprising a first side suspension opposite a second side suspension, the first side suspension having a complete parallelogram suspension proximate the first side, and the second side suspension having a complete parallelogram suspension proximate the second side. The suspension system also includes a cross tube disposed at least partially between the first side and the second side, as well as at least one spring for resiliently controlling the vertical movement of the first and second side suspensions.
US08220806B2
A cart assembly for milling a surface includes a cart having a support frame, a triad of wheel assemblies, and a triad of receivers. The triad of wheel assemblies is disposed on the support frame. Each wheel assembly includes an actuator that selectively extends and retracts a shaft of the wheel assembly to maintain the support frame at a given elevation. The triad of receivers is disposed on the support frame in a generally triangular configuration. The receivers are in electrical communication with the actuators of the wheel assemblies. The cart assembly further includes a milling assembly mounted to the support frame of the cart. The milling assembly includes a grinder adapted to remove material from a surface.
US08220801B2
A front mechanical seal for pumps with frictional rings and fluid lubrication includes a rotary seal mounted on a support collar, which is formed of a first collar, and a second collar prismatically coupled by means of one or more tongues which are formed on the second collar and contained in corresponding housings on the first collar.
US08220797B2
An image recording apparatus, including: a recording head configured to record an image on a recording medium; a conveying mechanism disposed so as to face the recording head and configured to convey the recording medium in a medium conveyance direction that is substantially horizontal; a retaining portion disposed configured to hold and retain the recording medium on which the image has been recorded by the recording head, such that the recording medium is held and retained in a substantially horizontal posture; and a medium receiving portion to which the recording medium on which the image has been recorded by the recording head is discharged, wherein the recording head, the retaining portion, and the medium receiving portion are arranged in a vertical direction.
US08220793B2
An apparatus for thread-stitching of folded print products includes a sewing station in which individual print products are stitched along the fold and print products are then sewn together along the spine to form a book block. A pivoting saddle supplies individual print products straddling thereon to the sewing station. A feeder separates folded print products from a stack of folded print products. A feeding arrangement includes a feed path connecting the feeder to the pivoting saddle, and has a feeding end that cooperates with the feeder to supply the individual print products to the feed path and a discharge end that operates to supply the individual print products to the pivoting saddle. The sewing station, as seen from the top, is arranged on the machine frame of the apparatus, between the feeding end of the feeding arrangement and the pivoting saddle.
US08220784B2
An evaporative cooler for cooling air includes a cooling housing having an air inlet and an air outlet and an evaporation media, located within the cooling housing intermediate the air inlet and the air outlet for air flow there through and for receiving water to permit evaporation of at least some water. The evaporative cooler includes a drain pan located within the cooling housing and below the evaporation media to catch water which has not evaporated and falling from the evaporation media and a sump located within the cooling housing and below the drain pan for collecting water for use in supplying water to the evaporation media. The evaporative cooler includes a pipe connecting the drain pan to the sump for water movement from the drain pan to the sump and an air vent located within the cooling housing and connected to the pipe, the air vent being open to air within the cooling housing and above the drain pan to permit release of air from within the pipe.
US08220782B2
This invention is a humidifier used to increase and maintain the humidity of a musical instrument, such as a guitar. The humidifier is a container made of a water vapor permeable material that contains a water absorbent material such as acrylate polymer. The container is held within the body of the instrument by being mounted onto the strings of the instrument. The container is filled with water by an opening that is sealed with a cap. The water absorbent material can hold water without dripping, but will allow the water to evaporate.
US08220780B2
The present invention relates to an assembly having in combination an apparatus and a smooth and rigid plane on which the apparatus moves. The assembly allows, when activated by the foot of the user acting as a drive and directive force, the door to be raised and movements from bottom to top, front to back, right to left and vice versa to be executed, while the hands of the user no longer carry the load and are free to intervene.
US08220775B2
A flow connector for a valve, including a body in which a flow channel is formed that is made up of a first port, a second port and an opening area to receive a movable plug, whereby the ports can be flow-connected through the opening area. The valve having a flow connector is configured and refined in such a way that the volume of fluid that flows through the flow channel per unit of time can be set without any problem wherein the cross section surface area of the flow channel in the opening area is configured to be constant along a first height of lift and to be variable along a second height of lift. A solenoid valve includes the flow connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
US08220766B2
A guard for with a furniture element is provided. The furniture element has a perimeter with an edge portion and a bottom surface. The guard includes a movable rail, a support member and a resilient connection member. The movable rail extends along a portion of the furniture element and is spaced apart therefrom. The support member is connected to the rail and the bottom surface of the furniture element. The resilient connection member connects the support to the furniture element.
US08220762B2
A mounting clip for mounting a component on a supporting part having an aperture includes a head section for attaching the component. A shank section is insertable in the aperture. At least two latching fingers are resiliently held apart from the head section on opposite shank section sides which spread outward toward the head section. At free ends the latching fingers have latching surfaces that rest against a supporting part underside when the mounting clip is inserted in the aperture. The shank section has on one side which extends perpendicular to the sides having the latching fingers, a contact surface that is supported on the aperture inner edge, and has on the side opposite the contact surface an elastically resilient rib or tongue that is supported with a preload against the aperture inner edge after the mounting clip is placed in the aperture.
US08220757B2
A conduit hanger may include a retaining portion with two walls and a connecting member that is adjustable between: (1) a first condition where an object is enclosed between the two walls; and, (2) a second condition where the object is not enclosed.
US08220748B2
Systems and methods provide for a flexible fuel bladder assembly disposed to store fuel and supply the fuel to a vehicle. The flexible fuel bladder assembly may include: a fuel bladder including a fuel-resistant film disposed to store the fuel and supply the fuel therefrom at a manifold assembly connected thereto. The fuel bladder may include an embossed pattern disposed to prevent a vacuum being formed by the collapsing of any two or more sides of the fuel bladder upon each other and permit a substantial portion of the fuel to be supplied from the fuel bladder to the manifold assembly in an uninterrupted fashion until the substantial portion of fuel is removed from the fuel bladder. The flexible fuel bladder may be used in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which may be any one of: an organic air vehicle (OAV), a micro air vehicle (MAV), an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) or an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).
US08220746B1
A refueling system on an aircraft comprises a fuel hose coupled to the aircraft, a drogue coupled to the fuel hose, an air data computer, and a drogue canopy controller coupled to the drogue canopy. The drogue further comprises a coupling, a plurality of vanes, and a drogue canopy. The drogue canopy controller determines a selected surface area of the drogue canopy based on air speed. The drogue canopy controller is configured to modify a surface area of the drogue canopy to conform to the appropriate surface area.
US08220744B2
Disclosed is a fitting for introducing great loads into a fuselage cell of an aircraft, in particular those which emanate from undercarriage components or are introduced into them. The fitting has a shoulder plate for bearing against the inside of the skin of the fuselage cell for example over its full surface area. Arranged underneath the shoulder plate is a vertical lug shackle with a lug for introducing the loads, wherein the lug shackle is led to the outside through a clearance in the skin of the fuselage cell. At least one approximately upright fastening shackle is provided on the upper side of the shoulder plate for connecting the fitting to a frame web. According to the invention, the loads occurring are introduced into the frame, substantially “moment-free” in the region of a neutral fiber, so that the said frame is not exposed to any appreciable flexural stresses and can be of a more lightweight design. The frame becomes the load introducing instrument and distributes the loads uniformly into the skin of the fuselage cell. Radially acting loads are transferred from the shoulder plate directly into the skin of the fuselage cell by way of shearing.
US08220734B2
A tape drive, which is configured to receive a tape cartridge having a cartridge leader attached to magnetic tape, includes a take-up reel and a drive leader that is attachable to the cartridge leader. The drive leader has an attachment location attached to the take-up reel and a tapered portion proximate the attachment location.
US08220731B2
A food waste disposer and mount system has a threaded sink flange and a food waste disposer. The threaded sink flange has a tubular body portion and a flange portion extending radially outwardly from a top of the tubular body portion. The tubular body portion has a threaded portion. The food waste disposer has an upper food conveying section that includes a housing having an upper, annular portion having a threaded portion. The upper, annular portion of the housing of the upper food conveying section is threaded to the threaded portion of the tubular body portion of the threaded sink flange when the threaded sink flange is disposed in a draining opening of a sink to mount the food waste disposer to the sink.
US08220728B2
In a facility and a method for separating glass residues from PVB-film, comminuted material is passed through several process steps, where treating with beaters (12) in a chamber (2) is effected in one of the first steps. At the discharge end (18) of the chamber there is arranged a separation, as heavy particular material can be discharged through a perforated bottom section (19) in the chamber (2). Through an air inlet (22) at the side (15) of the chamber, air is drawn in induced by a ventilator-like impeller rotor (28) drawing air in through a central opening (26) spaced apart from the bottom section (19). Thereby, light film-like materials are carried away from the heavy particles.
US08220724B2
A high pressure rotary nozzle having a rotating shaft operating within a fixed housing wherein the of axial force which acts upon the shaft due to the fluid pressure at the shaft inlet is balanced by allowing passage of a small amount of the pressurized fluid to be bled to an area or chamber between the outside of the opposite end of the shaft and the inside of the housing where the fluid pressure can act axially in an opposing direction upon the shaft to balance the axial inlet force. The balance of axial forces is self-regulating by controlling escape of the fluid through a tapered or frusto-conical region between the shaft and housing. This further provides a fluid bearing between the two surfaces and allows use of interchangeable rotating jet heads having jet orifices which can be oriented in virtually any desirable configuration including axially forward of the nozzle.
US08220723B2
A sprinkler comprises a nozzle, a turbine and a gear train reduction. The gear train reduction has an output stage that is coupled to the nozzle. The turbine is located between the nozzle and the gear train reduction and is coupled to an input stage of the gear train reduction.
US08220721B2
A wireless interface circuit can include an electrical relay circuit that is configured for coupling to a separate wired thermostat circuit that is separately housed apart from the wireless interface circuit, where an input to the electrical relay circuit is configured for coupling to an electrical conductor provided between the separate wired thermostat circuit and the electrical relay circuit. A processor circuit is electrically coupled to the electrical relay circuit and is configured to control a state of the electrical relay circuit based on messages received via a wireless interface from a local system located at a location of a customer of an electrical service provider.
US08220719B2
The subject matter described herein includes an RFID payment terminal with a display-embedded antenna. According to one aspect, an RFID payment terminal with a display-embedded antenna includes a display for graphically displaying payment information to a user. An RFID antenna is embedded in a portion of the display used for displaying the payment information to a user and for communicating with an RFID device of the user to receive transaction information form the RFID device. An RFID payment module is coupled to the antenna for receiving the transaction information and for effecting the payment transaction.
US08220716B2
The present invention provides methods, reagents, and apparatus for authenticating products. Methods of the invention are easy to implement but difficult to replicate, simulate, alter, transpose, or tamper with. In particular, the present invention relates to a product authentication code defined by a signature array of a population of entities, and its use thereof.
US08220706B1
An automated banking machine operates to cause financial transfers responsive to data read from data bearing records. The machine includes a card reader that reads card data from a card of a machine user. The card data may be linked in a data store to both a customer's financial account and a cell phone assigned to that customer. The automated banking machine user may provide inputs to the machine via one or more sensors that operate to determine where on a display of the machine at least one eye of the machine user is looking.
US08220703B2
A secure mailbox for parcels and method of construction thereof are presented. A mail shelf is affixed to an inner surface of a housing. An inner door is pivotably affixed to a bottom surface of the mail shelf and is rotatably movable on a top edge around a sphere of rotation defined by a bottom edge. A mail deposit having an outer door and inner door is constructed. The outer door is pivotably affixed to a front surface of the housing and is rotatably moveable on a bottom edge. The inner panel is affixed to the bottom edge of the outer door and includes a distal edge defining a sphere of rotation which is rotatably distinct from the sphere of rotation for the inner door. At least one connecting member is rotatably attached on one end to the inner door and on the other end to the mail deposit.
US08220696B2
This invention provides a manufacturing method of printed wiring board which enables a plate-like substrate to be carried and processed without any contact to its product surface. End portions of plate-like copper clad laminates are overlapped vertically and then joined linearly by rotating an ultrasonic horn along the end portions. Consequently, copper foils can be metal-joined and a joining strength necessary for transportation with a roller is obtained. Because belt-like copper clad laminate is obtained by joining the plate-like copper clad laminates and after that, processed, thus, the belt-like copper clad laminate can be carried without any contact to its product surface as it is carried with the roller, and then processed.
US08220690B2
A surgical stapling system comprising a first staple, a second staple, and a bridge connecting the first staple and the second staple. In at least one embodiment, the first staple and the second staple are part of a strip of staples. For example, the first and second staples can be included in a strip of staples that includes several staples that are attached end-to-end and/or attached side-by side. In use, the strip, or strips, of staples are inserted into a stapler which can be used to insert the staples into soft tissue, for example, and deform at least a portion of the staples to hold the tissue, or several layers of tissue, together.
US08220687B2
A ratchet member 23, which is provide with a slope 24 for guiding a tip end of a nail inclined to a rear side of an ejection opening 7 into the ejection openings 7 and 16, and a guide surface 25 for guiding the tip end of a nail to the center of each of the ejection openings 7 and 16, is provided on a rear side of ejection openings 7 and 16 and urged so that a guide surface 25 of the ratchet member 23 enters the ejection openings 7 and 16.
US08220684B1
Apparatus for dispensing paper toweling from a roll of paper toweling includes structure including a fixed cutter blade and a toweling support tray at the toweling exit opening which makes it difficult to “milk” toweling from the dispenser.
US08220681B2
An anti-sway bicycle mount is provided. The bicycle mount includes a trough section, a collar section disposed adjacent to the trough section, a neck section disposed adjacent to the collar section, opposite the trough section, and a channel section disposed adjacent to the neck section, opposite the collar section. The trough section is adapted to receive a crossbar of a bicycle, the collar section is adapted to receive a support arm of a bicycle carrier, and the channel section is adapted to receive a tube member of the bicycle. The neck section facilitates forward and back motion of the channel section while restricting side to side movement of the channel section.
US08220671B2
An apparatus according to the present invention provides a fluid pour spout including a plunger having a variable position for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough. Also provided is a fluid container having a fluid pour spout including a plunger having a variable position for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, the spout being at least partially integrally formed with the container or removably coupled thereto. A further apparatus according to the present invention is a lid including a fluid pour spout including a plunger having a variable position for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, the lid being removably coupleable to a fluid container.
US08220670B2
An ejector cap which can impart a whipped cream-like appearance to a body care composition at the time of ejection. In order to find the arrangement of an ejection opening, a main means comprises a cap body fixed to a container and having an ejection opening in the top wall, and a lid movable freely between an open position and a close position. In the ejection cap for ejecting a body care composition, contained in the container and having viscosity of 10,000-50,000 Pas, from the ejection opening, the cap body has a dome portion on the top wall, and the ejection opening is of a central opening formed in the center of the dome portion and at least three leg-like openings extending radially outward from the central opening. The lid has an enclosing function for preventing leakage of the body care composition from the ejection opening at the close position.
US08220663B2
The present invention provides a system featuring a dispenser for providing fluid from multiple reservoirs to an appliance or other suitable device; and a multiple tubing arrangement coupled between the dispenser and the multiple reservoirs of fluid, the multiple tubing arrangement being responsive to a vacuum provided from the dispenser, for drawing the fluid from the multiple reservoirs so as to deplete the multiple reservoirs at relatively equal amounts based on the Venturi effect. The multiple tubing arrangement comprises a primary inlet tube for arranging in a primary reservoir, an auxiliary inlet tube for arranging in an auxiliary reservoir, and a feed connector tube arranged between the primary inlet tube and auxiliary inlet tube. The primary inlet tube is coupled to the auxiliary inlet tube so as to provide a proportional vacuum and siphoning effect. The multiple tubing arrangement siphons and depletes the fluid from the primary reservoir and the auxiliary reservoir based on the Venturi effect.
US08220646B2
A support for a semiconductor wafer includes a plate having a support surface for supporting the wafer and a recessed surface spaced from the support surface and spaced from the wafer. A plurality of holes extends from the recessed surface, and the support surface is free of holes to inhibit contamination of the wafer.
US08220638B2
A currency sorter includes: take-in means (101) for taking currency notes in the sorter one by one; discriminating means (105) for discriminating the currency notes according to new and old versions, fit and unfit conditions, denominations and other categories; a plurality of stacking units (111 to 115) for stacking the currency notes of a predetermined category/categories designated to be bundled according to the discrimination results obtained by said discriminating means; designating means (11) for designating the category/categories of the notes to be bundled and a mode of sorting the notes to leave unbundled; and control means (400) for controlling allocation of currency notes discriminated by said discrimination means to said stacking units according to a designation by said designating means.
US08220633B2
Embodiments of various stacking cartons that can be erected from a one-piece blank are provided. In this regard, a representative carton, among others, comprises a bottom wall, side walls and end walls. The side walls are foldably attached to left and right edges of the bottom wall. The end walls are foldably attached to top and bottom side edges of the bottom wall such that the side walls are located between the end walls. Each end wall is foldably attached to an end panel that is designed to fold and engage the inner surface of the end wall. The end wall is foldably attached to first reinforcing side panels at side edges of the end wall. Each first reinforcing side panel is foldably attached to a second reinforcing side panel that is designed to fold and engage the inner surface of the first reinforcing side panel.
US08220630B1
An EUV pod with fastening structure comprises an outer pod and an inner pod, wherein the upper cover of the inner pod is disposed with a plurality of retainers, and a plurality of supporters disposed on the outer pod of the EUV pod are used to press the plurality of retainers for the plurality of retainers to fasten and stabilize the reticle in the inner pod and thus ensure safety and stability of the reticle in the pod; by utilizing such design, risks of collisions of reticle in the pod due to vacillation of EUV pod during transportation can be reduced, and cost incurred by cracks and damages of reticles can also be greatly decreased.
US08220628B2
A storage assembly houses a defibrillator and enables would-be users to quickly (1) identify the defibrillator location and (2) carry the housed defibrillator to a user site. The storage assembly comprises a cover structure, a mounting assembly, and a defibrillator-restraining assembly. The cover structure comprises an open back, a closed front, a cover wall extending from the front to the back, a heart-shaped transverse cross-section. The cover wall spaces the front from the back and has a transverse periphery thereby defining a space sufficient to receive and house the defibrillator. The mounting assembly removably mounts the cover structure to a support wall, and the defibrillator-restraining assembly removably restrains the defibrillator as received within the cover structure. The cover structure may be nested with at least one additional cover structure for reducing space necessary for storage and the like. An optional alarm may be outfitted with the assembly.
US08220625B2
The present invention provides a container (10) for carrying one or more baby changing items comprising a base (15) having a first compartment (11) for storing one or more baby changing items, and a lid (20) pivotally connected to the base (15). The lid (20) comprises a second compartment (21) sealable from the first compartment (11) of the base (15) for storing one or more moist wipes (not illustrated) and an aperture (24) to allow access to the one or more moist wipes when the lid (20) is in a closed position.
US08220603B2
A rotary damper comprises a first component, a second component mounted rotatably on the first, a braking fluid interposed, between the first and the second component, and a third component mounted rotatably on the second component. The second and the third component form a lateral support surface and a lateral shaft surface which is rotatable within the lateral support surface, rolling elements being interposed between these surfaces. The arrangement is such that, in a first direction of rotation (A), the third component can rotate freely with respect to the second, and, in a second direction of rotation (B), the third component is rigidly coupled to the second. Recesses are formed on the lateral shaft surface, these recesses accommodating corresponding rolling elements and being shaped so as to create, in the second direction of rotation, a centrifugal displacement of the rolling elements such that the elements are locked between the recesses and the lateral support surface.
US08220599B2
Brake equipment, for an elevator installation, includes: a static element; a movable element movable relative to the static element in a first degree of freedom, wherein selectably a first frictional contact is produced in a first contact surface between the static element and the movable element by a controllable normal force acting in a second degree of freedom, and a first friction force opposes movement of the movable element relative to the static element; and a relative element, wherein a second frictional contact is produced in a second contact surface between the movable element and the relative element by the normal force, and a second friction force opposes movement of the movable element relative to the relative element. The relative element is movable in the first degree of freedom relative to the static element between a normal position and a braking position and is resiliently biased into the normal position.
US08220597B2
A parking brake (10) having a drum containing first and second brake shoe portions (11, 12), a handbrake lever (18) pivoted (19) adjacent one end on one (11) of the brake shoe portions and a strut (20) extending between a first abutment on the handbrake lever and a second abutment (21) on the other (12) of the brake shoe portions. Pivoting of the handbrake lever relative to said one brake shoe portion (11) moves the strut (20) which in turn moves the other brake shoe portion (12) away from said one brake shoe portion to bring the shoe portions into contact with the drum thus applying the parking brake. One of the abutments is in the form of a biased wedging means (21) which acts on the strut (20) to take up all play in the thrust path between the handbrake lever (18) and the other brake shoe portion (12) via the strut. A clamping member (27) is provided for disabling the wedging means (21) from operating except when initial manufacturing or assembly clearances are being taken up in the strut or when a subsequent manual adjustment of shoe clearance is being made. Alternative snail-cam type wedging means (21) are also disclosed as in an electrically actuated parking brake system with an automatic clearance adjustment device.
US08220593B2
A self-energizing disc brake having an electric actuator in which an activation force applied to the actuator is amplified using a self-energizing device arranged between the actuator and brake lining is described. The device has a brake application unit for applying at least one brake lining to one side of a brake disc by carrying out an application movement of the brake lining relative to the brake disc, the application movement having at least a first movement component in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the brake disc and a second movement component in a direction tangential to the rotational axis of the brake disc. The device also has at least one electromotive drive for activating the brake application unit.
US08220592B2
A linear motion brake (10) includes a channel shaped shoe guide (90) straddling a linear race (20) and having shoe bores (95) defined in leg plates (92) for receiving brake shoes (12). A piston (100) is reciprocally received in a piston cavity (86) of a plate-shaped housing (80) secured to the shoe guide (90). The piston (100) includes first and second protrusions (76, 134) extending from the piston head (102) in the reciprocation direction. Springs (114) are sandwiched between the shoe guide (90) and the piston (100). Ribs (116) of the piston (100) are slideably received in cutouts (96) formed in the connecting plate (94) of the shoe guide (92). Reciprocation of the protrusions (76, 134) cams the brake shoes (12) against the linear race (20).
US08220581B2
The invention relates to a device for locating a subframe to a vehicle body having a control hole. The device comprises a pin attached to the subframe and extending toward the vehicle body when the subframe is positioned for mounting to the vehicle body. The pin is adapted to engage the control hole to precisely align the subframe and the vehicle body. The invention also relates to a method for locating a subframe to a vehicle body having a control hole. The method comprises providing a pin on the subframe that extends toward the vehicle body when the subframe is positioned for mounting to the vehicle body, and engaging the pin with the control hole to precisely align the subframe and the vehicle body. The present invention further relates to a method for manufacturing a subframe, comprising manufacturing a subframe having one or more bosses adapted to retain locating pins, and inserting locating pins into the one or more bosses so that the locating pins extend toward a vehicle body when the subframe is positioned for mounting to the vehicle body.
US08220575B2
A reluctance machine includes a stator and a rotor. The stator and rotor have a same number of poles. The rotor is configured to rotate about an axis of rotation. Each stator pole is formed of a primary stator pole and an auxiliary stator pole. The auxiliary stator pole is axially aligned with the primary stator pole in the direction of the axis of rotation. Each rotor pole has a length extending in the direction of the axis of rotation sufficient to at least partially cover the primary stator pole and axially aligned auxiliary stator pole. The primary stator poles are actuated with an alternating magnetic field orientation, and the auxiliary stator poles are also actuated with an alternating magnetic field orientation. The field orientations for the primary and auxiliary stator poles are, however, opposite each other such that a primary stator pole its axially aligned auxiliary stator pole have opposite magnetic field orientations.
US08220570B1
An energy-producing system comprising an axle configured to be driven by an electric vehicle's wheels when in motion. The axle supports a series of wind-catching cups contained within an aerodynamic housing configured to direct air to the cups while also increasing the air speed. During vehicle motion, the cups are acted upon by rushing air causing the rotation of the axle such that the rotation may be transferred into energy via a generator/alternator linked thereto. A series of similarly polarized magnets integrated on said cups and proximate thereto further maintain the axle in motion during short vehicle stops. The system extends the life of the batteries between charges as well the distance the vehicle can travel between charges.
US08220567B2
A diamond impregnated drill bit features layered encapsulation of the diamond grit where the innermost layer is hardest or most abrasion resistant while succeeding layers are generally softer and less wear resistant. This can be accomplished by manipulating several variables in the encapsulation layers such as particle size or hard particle concentration. The outer layers can have added binder to make them softer. The encapsulated grit can be sintered or pre-sintered to make it less friable when handled.
US08220564B2
Various embodiments are directed to a method of switching horizontal directional drilling procedures during bore path turning. Such methods can include identifying a hierarchal arrangement of a plurality of different boring procedures utilizing different boring techniques, the hierarchy arrangement representing boring procedures of increasing ability to bore through harder soil while changing a trajectory of a boring tool. Such methods can further include boring a first leg of a curved bore path using a boring tool connected to a drill rig by a drill string, the first leg being bored using a first boring procedure of the plurality of different boring procedures. Such methods can further include monitoring a plurality of boring parameters during boring of the first leg, the plurality of boring parameters comprising: torsional pressure of the drill string, rotational travel of the drill string, hydraulic pressure, and axial displacement. Such methods can further include switching from boring the first leg of the curved bore path using the first boring procedure to boring a second leg using a second boring procedure of the plurality of boring procedures, the switch based on one or more of the boring parameters deviating past a threshold.
US08220533B2
According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, a piezoelectric pump may include a hydraulic fluid path between a low pressure source and a high pressure tool port; a fluid disposed in the hydraulic fluid path; a piston in communication with the fluid; and a piezoelectric material connected to the piston to pump the fluid through the high pressure tool port.
US08220526B2
A method for continuous and efficient casting roll of magnesium alloy plates including providing plural induction furnaces, resistance furnace, casting roll and rollers; adding metal elements into the induction furnaces, the metal elements comprising Mg ingots or Mg alloy, the metal elements being smelted in the induction furnaces and then flow into the resistance furnace; controlling temperature of the Mg melt in the resistance furnace, wherein there are at least two temperature controlling areas communicated with each other, and a difference of temperatures is constant; transferring the Mg melt into biting area through a transferring pipe and modeling the mg melt into Mg plate, the temperature of the Mg melt into the biting area being 690±10° C.; Rolling the Mg plate in the rollers and each band of the rollers having a working temperature 250˜350° C., and the difference of temperature is ±10° C.
US08220522B2
A turbine component has an airfoil portion with at least one central core element, a pressure side wall, and a suction side wall. The airfoil portion also has a serpentine cooling passageway in at least one of the walls. In a preferred embodiment, the airfoil portion has a serpentine cooling passageway in both of the pressure and suction side walls. A refractory metal core for forming the serpentine cooling passageway(s) is also described.
US08220519B2
A movable door panel having a front facer with opposed longitudinal edge profiles, rails secured to the longitudinal edge profiles, a rear facer secured to the rails, and foam disposed within an inner volume defined by the front facer, the rails and the rear facer is disclosed. Transverse stiffeners are disposed within the inner volume and the foam, and extend between the opposed rails. The door panel may be made by continuously providing the front facer with a rail secured thereto, continuously positioning transverse stiffeners on the front facer and extending between the metal rails, and continuously applying a foaming material on the front facer and the transverse stiffeners. The method concludes by bringing a rear facer into contact with the metal rails, and drawing the panel through a laminator. Hardware may then be attached to one or both of the facers and the stiffener.
US08220515B2
This invention relates to a tire-rim assembly which is easily produced at low cost, excellent in durability and capable of notably reducing road noise, and more particularly to a tire-rim assembly comprising a pneumatic tire (1), a rim (2) and a sponge member (4) disposed in a tire internal cavity (3) defined by the pneumatic tire (1) and the rim (2), characterized in that the sponge member (4) has a specific gravity of higher than 0.06 but not higher than 0.25 and/or an air permeability of not higher than 5 cc/cm2/sec.
US08220512B2
A tire with two beads (11) and a radial carcass reinforcement (12) anchored in each bead by an upturn (15) which forms at least one loop around a circumferential bead reinforcement (13), said upturn—when viewed in meridian section—beginning at a point of origin (A1) that corresponds to the point of intersection between the carcass reinforcement and a line (D) perpendicular to the tire's rotation axis and passing through the radially innermost point (A) of the circumferential bead reinforcement (13). A feature of the tire is that when viewed in meridian section, the end (F) of the upturn (15) is located between said upturn (15) of the carcass reinforcement and the circumferential bead reinforcement (13).
US08220505B2
Powder dispensing and sensing apparatus and methods are provided. The powder dispensing and sensing apparatus includes a tray support structure to receive a cartridge tray holding cartridges, a powder dispenser assembly including powder dispenser modules to dispense powder into respective cartridges of a batch of cartridges in the cartridge tray, a powder transport system to deliver powder to the powder dispenser modules, a sensor module including sensor cells to sense respective fill states, such as the weights, of each of the cartridges in the batch of cartridges, and a control system to control the powder dispenser modules in response to the respective sensed fill states of each of the cartridges of the batch of cartridges.
US08220496B2
A system for conveying fluid includes a conduit segment and a pump disposed downstream of and fluidicly coupled to the conduit segment. The conduit segment has an interior volume for conveying the fluid in a predetermined direction of flow and a plurality of elongate vanes disposed within the interior volume.
US08220489B2
A valve component for a faucet includes a base material, a strengthening layer provided above the base material, and an amorphous diamond material provided above the strengthening layer. The amorphous diamond material having a hardness that is at least 20 GPa and less than 45 GPa and a modulus that is at least 150 GPa and less than 400 GPa.
US08220486B2
The present invention provides a connecting piping assembly with limiter, including a first connecting piping and a second connecting piping. The first connecting piping contains a first coupling end, a first assembly portion and a first flow channel. The second connecting piping contains a second coupling end, a second assembly portion and a second flow channel. The first and second assembly portions can be mated and positioned so that the first and second flow channels are interconnected. A locating part is provided with a polygonal through-hole, which can be slidably sleeved on the perimeter of the first and second assembly portions, such that the polygonal through-hole is mated with the perimeter of the first and second assembly portions. The locating part is positioned via a locator.
US08220485B2
A pneumatic pilot valve comprises a valve body having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passage, and first and second valves arranged to control flow through the valve. The second valve includes a tapered valve seat opening into a cylindrical bore, and a thrust pin includes a tapered second part and an annular recess having a seal. The thrust pin is movable between a first position, a second position, and an intermediate position. The tapered second part of the thrust pin is arranged to engage the tapered valve seat to close the second valve when the thrust pin moves to the second position, and the resilient seal is sized to engage the cylindrical bore when the thrust pin is in the intermediate position.
US08220483B2
A device for shutting off the flow in pipelines, hoses or the like, in particular a non-return valve having a housing for installing in a pipeline or the like. The housing has a flow channel, of which the flowed-through cross section can be closed by a valve, the valve having a valve disc for closing the cross section and a valve stem for guiding the valve and the valve being mounted by means of the valve stem in a retaining plate, so as to be displaceable in the direction of flow.
US08220482B1
A leak detection system for the rapid and accurate detection of the mean surface level change of a body of liquid is provided. The system is capable of sensing mean surface level changes under static or turbulent surface conditions. In one embodiment, the system includes a rigid walled sensor pod with at least one inner pod cavity that is so positioned to receive liquid from a body of liquid by way of an opening below the surface of the liquid such that dynamic equilibrium is possible and maintained between the mean surface level of the body of liquid and the amount of liquid in the inner cavity. The system further includes a sensor assembly having a stiction free float operating in conjunction with a strain gauge, and microprocessors applying algorithms to process, display, and report the sensor data in accordance with the needs of the end user or to initiate actions for automated control functions.
US08220477B2
A collapsible canopy frame having an improved roof and support structure. A collapsible canopy frame according to one embodiment includes a plurality of side poles; a plurality of edge scissor assemblies coupling adjacent side poles of the plurality of side poles to one another; a center pole for supporting a covering; a plurality of center pole ribs each coupling the center pole to a respective side pole of the plurality of side poles; and a plurality of center scissor assemblies coupling the plurality of edge scissor assemblies to the center pole.
US08220471B2
A multipurpose parts washer may include an automatic cleaning portion, with a first cleaning chamber for spraying parts, a second cleaning chamber for soaking parts, and a manual cleaning portion. Cleaning solution may be disposed in a reservoir of the first cleaning chamber at a reservoir level and in the second cleaning chamber at an agitation level that is above the reservoir level. The manual cleaning portion may be configured as a sink that is movably connected to the automatic cleaning portion to provide selective access thereto. A first thermal energy source may be used to heat the cleaning solution to a first temperature for the second cleaning chamber and the manual cleaning portion and a second thermal energy source may be used to heat the cleaning solution to a spray temperature greater than the first temperature for the first cleaning chamber. The multipurpose parts washer includes three cleaning portions. All portions use cleaning solution from a single pump, a reservoir portion to collect and store the important volume of cleaning solution and debris from the washing process, a single controller interface operated from a display, and a thermal energy source for heating the cleaning solution.
US08220465B2
A walking assistance device having a seating member (1) on which a user (P) can sit astride, and support members (2L, 2R) which support the seating member (1). The seating member (1) has a backward movement prevention section (1b) for preventing the seating member (1) from being displaced backward relative to the user (P) sitting on the seating member (1). The backward movement prevention section (1b) is constructed so as to be in contact with an inguinal part (Q) of the user (P). The arrangement restrains backward dislocation of the seating member (1) relative to the user (P), thus permitting improved stability when the user is seated.
US08220463B2
A nasal cannula assembly is disclosed having a face mount part, in use resting against a user's face, which includes at least one nasal prong capable of being fitted into a person's nares. The cannula assembly also includes a manifold part, in fluid communication with the face mount part, having a single horizontal side gases entry. In particular, this cannula assembly is for supplying heated, humidified gases to a patient suffering from COPD. A tie or lanyard is disclosed for use with a breathing assistance apparatus such as a nasal cannula, face or nasal mask or tracheostomy connector. The tie or lanyard transfers the weight of the conduits supplying gases to the breathing assistance apparatus from the breathing assistance apparatus and distributes it onto the neck of the patient.
US08220453B2
The present invention includes a solar water heating system including: a water tank to hold water to be heated, an heat transfer fluid circuit including an heat exchanger associated with said water tank to heat water therein, a solar collection means in communication with said heat exchanger, an inlet connection to carry heat transfer fluid from said solar collection means to said heat exchanger where said water will be heated; and an outlet connection to carry heat transfer fluid from said heat exchanger to said solar collection means where said heat transfer fluid will be heated, said heat transfer fluid circuit including a reversibly evaporable heat transfer fluid which will absorb heat from said solar collection means and which will transfer said heat to said water in said water tank by means of said heat exchanger; and an diversion path being provided in said heat transfer circuit, whereby when a portion of heat transfer fluid changes to a gaseous state in said solar collection means, heat transfer fluid in a liquid state will be forced out of said solar collection means under pressure into said diversion path.
US08220452B2
The removable fireplace cleanout facilitates the chore of cleaning ash and/or other residue from a fireplace. The cleanout device is a relatively wide, low pan or tray configured for placement within a fireplace hearth. Wheels and/or other rolling supports extend beneath the device to facilitate its installation in and removal from the fireplace hearth. One wall of the device includes a dump door, with the weighted door being held closed by gravity until the unit is tilted to dump ash and residue therein. Fillets may be provided to preclude trapping of ash in the corners of the device. An integral grate may be permanently installed atop the floor of the device, thereby precluding need for grate removal and soiling of the area where the grate is placed during conventional fireplace cleanout.
US08220448B1
A stabilizer for an archery bow includes a motor-driven gyroscope located inside a tube which is mounted on the bow. The stabilizer screws into front of bow where traditional stabilizer/vibration dampeners usually attach. The stabilizer of the present invention has an electric motor powered gyroscope.
US08220447B1
A blow gun includes an ammunition chamber having an internal volume that is large enough to hold at least 30 spherical projectiles, for example plastic BBs. The ammunition chamber has a breath receiving orifice for receiving exhaled breath into the ammunition chamber. A barrel obtrudes from the ammunition chamber. The barrel has a cylindrical bore therethrough, that defines an internal diameter that is greater than the spherical projectile diameter but no greater than 1.7 times the spherical projectile diameter. The ammunition chamber includes a resilient handle portion that is squeezable to displace spherical projectiles within the ammunition chamber.
US08220445B2
A crossbow grip guard for preventing the fingers of an associated user from extending above a top portion of a stock of an associated crossbow. The crossbow grip guard may be adapted to be retro-fitted to an existing crossbow and may comprise a main body and an outwardly extending member that extends away from an exterior surface of the main body to create an obstacle or barrier positioned along a length of the main body and is designed to prevent the fingers of the associated user from extending above the top portion of the stock when firing the crossbow.
US08220440B2
Systems and methods for production of fuel for an internal combustion engine are described herein. Systems may include a plasma reformer and an internal combustion engine. The plasma reformer may produce a gas stream from the liquid feed. The gas stream may include molecular hydrogen and carbon oxides. At least a portion of the gas stream may be provided to the internal combustion engine.
US08220439B2
The present invention is directed to a dual fuel system and a dual fuel system assembly where liquid LPG and diesel are mixed and then distributed via the common rail to the combustion chambers. The liquid fuel mixture remains in a liquid state and under pressure for introduction to the combustion chambers. With the preferred embodiment of the dual fuel system, only minor changes are required to the diesel engine without altering the manufactures specifications and voiding the manufacturer's warranties. The resultant combustion of the liquid fuel mixture provides a cleaner emission and relatively cheaper vehicle operational costs.
US08220438B2
An apparatus including a canister and an accessory component associated with the canister. The canister may be filled with an adsorption material for adsorbing fuel vapor generated within a fuel tank. A communicating pipe extends downwardly from a housing of the accessory component for communication with the canister. An engaging protrusion is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the housing. An outer peripheral portion of an upper portion of the canister includes a wall portion for engagement with the engaging protrusion.
US08220436B2
A control system and method for operating an engine includes a spark ignited (SI) control module controlling the engine in a spark ignited mode, a pre-homogeneous charge compression (HCCI) module controlling the engine in an HCCI mode after the spark ignited mode, and an HCCI module controlling the engine in an HCCI mode after the pre-HCCI mode. The SI module controls the engine in the SI mode after the HCCI mode.
US08220431B2
An engine includes a crank mechanism and a balancer mechanism that inhibits vibrations caused by the crank mechanism. An instantaneous center of rotation of an engine is arranged in the neighborhood of a predetermined target position by adjusting an acceleration caused by a translational force generated by a primary inertial force of the crank mechanism and an inertial force of the balancer mechanism and an acceleration caused by a couple of forces generated by the primary inertial force of the crank mechanism and the inertial force of the balancer mechanism.
US08220430B2
An intake system for an internal combustion engine includes a cylinder head and an intake manifold attached to the cylinder head. A labyrinth seal is interposed between the intake manifold and the cylinder head, with the labyrinth seal including a projection formed in one of the intake manifold and cylinder head, and a mating receptacle formed in the other of the intake manifold and a cylinder head.
US08220428B2
A continuously variable valve lift apparatus includes an input cam disposed on an input shaft, a valve opening unit, a control shaft disposed in parallel with the input shaft, a variable member that contacts the input cam, wherein a relative distance between a contact portion of the variable member and the input cam, and the control shaft is variable according to relative angel changes between the variable member and the control shaft, a driving unit that is connected with the variable member and pivots around the control shaft and a driving cam that is disposed between the driving unit and the valve opening unit and drives the valve opening unit according to the pivoting of the driving unit.
US08220419B2
A radially adjustable horse grazing muzzle includes a muzzle body made of a flexible material and having an open end for allowing a horse snout to be placed in the muzzle body therethrough, and an adjustment assembly configured as a segment of a periphery of the open end of the muzzle body and having a pad and at least one adjustable fastener composed a first member and a second member, wherein the first member is fixed to the pad while the second member is fixed to an adjacent segment of the periphery of the open end of the muzzle body, the first and second members being configured to combine with an adjustable overall length thereof, whereby when the overall length of the combined first member and second member is reduced, the muzzle body is centripetally converged, thereby achieving a radial adjustment of the muzzle.
US08220418B1
A pet toy is provided having a tubular, linearly elongated main body terminated at each end by a replaceable wing assembly. As the toy is flying through the air, the wings provides a visual ‘flapping’ like stimuli, similar to that of the wings of a bird. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.
US08220413B2
A pet food server for dispensing pet food from a recently opened can at preselected intervals of time where the pet food feeder includes a cylindrical member, a sliding panel for holding an unopened can of pet food located within the cylindrical member, and an electric can opener located on a pedestal for lowering the can opener to the top of the can of unopened pet food to cut the lid from the can and then raising the can opener to its initial position. An electro-magnet is attached to the can opener for lifting the lid off the can of pet food as the can opener is raised to its initial position, and the sliding panel is moved with the can of open pet food through an opening in the cylindrical member for a pet to feed.
US08220412B2
A milking implement comprising a frame with, disposed thereon, at least one teat cup holder with a teat cup movable relative thereto, and a replacing element connected with the teat cup, wherein the frame further includes an intermediate arm connected with the frame and with the teat cup holder and having a first joint and a second joint about which the teat cup holder and the intermediate arm, respectively, are tiltable with the aid of the replacing element, and a spring coupled with the teat cup holder and the frame and, if desired, with the intermediate arm.
US08220380B2
The invention relates to a hydraulic group comprising a reservoir (28) for oil, in which a multiple piston pump (60) is arranged. The individual pumps (61) are cyclically driven by an eccentric ring (29). In order to ensure a permanent immersion of the individual pumps in the reservoir (28), an auxiliary reservoir (47) providing oil for refilling the reservoir (28) is arranged above the reservoir. The auxiliary reservoir (47) is connected to an additional tank (45) by means of a connection line (48).
US08220379B2
A UV camouflaging substance, in the form of a solid, powder, paste, film, or liquid, can be applied to objects such as fabrics to match the ultraviolet reflectivity of the objects with their immediate surroundings. Embodiments are transparent to visible and IR light, and can be applied without changing the visible appearance of the objects. Other embodiments visibly match the surrounding environment, such as a white substance used near snow. Different embodiments can be layered on top of each other to form UV camouflage textures and to adapt to changing environments. Some embodiments can be washed off, to avoid a build-up of camouflage layers. Embodiments include UV-interactive micro- or nano-particles suspended in a binding agent which transmit, reflect, absorb and/or scatter ultraviolet rays. Some particles are absorbent, while others are approximately one-quarter wavelength thick, and suppress UV light by inducing half-wavelength phase shifts between light reflected from opposing surfaces.
US08220376B2
A countermass weapon including a launching tube open or openable in both ends. The launching tube houses a launchable unit, a countermass, a pressure chamber, a propellant charge that upon firing and combustion of the charge in cooperation with the pressure chamber and the countermass accelerates the launchable unit forwards in the tube at the same time as the countermass accelerates backwards in the tube, and a firing and supporting unit connected to the outside of the launching tube. The countermass is designed such that a forward directed recoil is obtained and the launching tube is designed to be disengageable from the firing and supporting unit during the forward directed recoil.
US08220375B2
A rotating perforation apparatus contains a plurality of needle points (or other piercing features) formed along a free-wheeling support bar, where the bar is positioned to contact the film while it is being unrolled and is in a ‘tensioned’ state (in some embodiments, immediately prior to contacting the element to be wrapped). In particular, the free-wheeling perforation apparatus contacts a mechanized film roller such that the exposed needle points will rotate against the mechanized roller and make the perforations in the film as it travels over the film roller. As long as the film roller is formed of a pliable material, the needles will pierce the film and create the desired perforations. The size and placement of needles can be adjusted to provide the required pattern of perforations, as well as dictate the size of the actual perforations.
US08220373B1
The present invention has a harp with four arms forming a parallelogram. The four arms are pivotally connected at their respective ends. Wires are secured between the side arms of the harp with holders. The harp is securely received within a channel of the machine. As such, the harp lies in a plane that is parallel to the front of the product being sliced at all times. The harp is angularly adjustable, such that the top and bottom of the harp can selectably converge or diverge as the harp tilts. The wires remain parallel during the divergence and convergence of the top and bottom of the harp. An actuator is provided for effecting the tilting of the harp. Two vertical bars can be provided for supporting the wires and minimizing deflection of the wires along their respective lengths.
US08220365B2
The present invention of a planetary gear-driven magnification driving tool relies on randomly attachable and removable planetary gear-driven magnification driving tools to lock, adjust, and disassemble applied mechanism with screw structure such as screw locking device, screw adjusting device, and individual screw and nut set that do not need the installation of outer ring gear and planetary gear while reducing the installation cost for over a pair of such mechanisms.
US08220361B2
A rotary knob assembly (100) includes a fixed raised boss (110) having a boss cavity (107) and a knob (102) optionally having a rotary switch stem (104) therein. The knob can include a portion that axially resides within the boss cavity such that impacts to the knob transfers to the fixed raised boss. The knob can further include a rigid core member (106) and an outer over-molded portion (108) over-molded on to the rigid core member. The fixed raised boss can include an outer circumference (118) and an inner circumference (116). The inner circumference of the boss and a portion of the rigid core member and the outer circumference of the boss and the outer mover-molded portion form a knob-boss interface (117) that sustains impacts to the rotary knob assembly while isolating a rotary switch (112) from impacts.
US08220359B2
A theftproof clutch handle for a motorcycle includes a clutch connector provided with a plug, a handle body provided with a slot detachably mounted on the plug, and a locking device mounted on the handle body and releasably locked onto the plug. The handle body has a receiving chamber to receive the locking device. The locking device includes a support seat, a locking shaft, an elastic member and a drive member. Thus, when the drive member is pulled outwardly, the locking shaft is moved outwardly to detach from the locking hole of the plug to unlock the handle body from the clutch connector so that the handle body can be removed from the clutch connector to provide a theftproof effect.
US08220357B2
A bicycle shifter includes a base having an annular space and first teeth and second teeth defined in the annular space. A tube is fixed to a center of the base. A first rotation member and a second rotation member are installed in the tube and respectively have a first recess and a second recess. An elastic member is restricted in a space defined between the first and second recesses. The elastic member includes two opposite first and second elastic portions which protrude out from the first and second rotation members. The first and second elastic portions are engaged with the first and second teeth, respectively. When rotating the handle connected with the first rotation member, the first elastic portion moves over the first teeth, the second elastic portion simultaneously moves over the second teeth.
US08220354B2
A robot has a robot arm, a support structure, and a movable platform. The platform includes a cantilevered member coupled to a guide of the support structure such that motion of the platform is directed along a first direction. The robot further includes first and second timing belts having portions that extend along the first direction and that are disposed on opposite sides of the cantilevered member, and first and second shafts movable with the movable platform. The shafts are coupled to the respective timing belts, to the robot arm such that rotation of the first shaft imparts angular motion to the robot arm and rotation of the second shaft imparts radial motion. The robot also includes a third timing belt to which the platform is coupled and by which it is moved. Motors are provided that impart movement to the timing belts.
US08220349B2
A telescoping actuator is described which provides a first and third segments operatively connected to a second segment. A locking system locks the first and third segment in rotation with respect to one another. Upon rotation of the second segment, the first and third segments are displaced relative to one another and the second segment. The first and third segments are operatively coupled to the second segment by corresponding sets of threads in some embodiments. The locking system may be interlocking tubes, or shafts displaced internal to the actuator. Rotational energy may be imparted to the second stage externally about its outer diameter or internally by a driveshaft operatively connected to a drive source.
US08220344B2
Provided are procedures for estimating the amount of water vapor emissions as well as other properties, such as slump and volume yield, of a concrete or cementitious mix used in producing a concrete.
US08220337B2
A micromechanical capacitive pressure sensor has a layered structure, which includes at least one deflectable carrier element for at least one deflectable measuring electrode in a first layer plane and at least one stationary carrier structure for at least one counter electrode in a second layer plane parallel to the first layer plane. The carrier structure is suspended in a closed cavity of the layered structure between two diaphragms, which are oriented essentially perpendicularly to the layer planes and delimit the cavity on two opposite sides. At least one pressure connection aperture is provided, via which at least one of the two diaphragms may be subjected to a pressure being measured. The carrier element is connected to the two diaphragms in such a way that diaphragm deformations cause a parallel shift of the measuring electrode relative to the counter electrode.
US08220323B2
The invention relates to a safety device for a crosshead of a decoking plant arranged by means of a carrying device to be liftable and lowerable on profiles of a frame above a drum adapted to receive material, such as coke, and guided on guide rails of the profiles by means of rolls, and carried by a cable of a winch slung around return pulleys at the top of the frame and around a carrying pulley rotatably supported at the top end of the crosshead; and equipped with brakes for stopping the crosshead in an emergency, when the carrying device fails, and for intercepting the crosshead and fixing it on the guide rails or on the profiles. For a safety device, a test apparatus is provided for testing the brakes on site, comprising a carrying device, such as a brace, attachable on the frame, on which the crosshead is mountable for simulating a free fall of the same by means of a release device, and an arrestor device for the crosshead releasably attachable on the frame at a distance below the brace.
US08220312B2
The invention is a method and system of screening the content of an enclosure, such as a cargo container, for the presence of one or more target substances, such as explosives or drugs, comprising drawing air from the enclosure and passing the drawn air across at least one sampling card having a coating configured to absorb/adsorb the one or more target substances and thereafter analyzing the sampling card to determine if the coating has absorbed/adsorbed one or more target substances. The system embodiment includes a vacuum source, a conduit coupled to the vacuum source and a sampling card holder disposed along the conduit. The sampling card holder removably holds at least one sampling card having a coating thereon configured to absorb/adsorb the one or more target substances, so that air drawn into the conduct from the enclosure passes across the at least one sampling card.
US08220310B2
A gas analyzer that can be miniaturized and detect a wide variety of gases with high sensitivity, and a method of gas analysis. A separation column is configured so as to pass a sample gas together with a carrier gas through the inside thereof. A surface acoustic wave device has a base material with an annularly continuous annular surface formed of at least a part of a spherical surface; a surface acoustic wave generating means capable of generating a surface acoustic wave that propagates along the annular surface; and a plurality of reaction parts provided along the annular surface so as to change a predetermined physical quantity of the surface acoustic wave in response to the components of the sample gas. The surface acoustic wave device is arranged so that the sample gas passing through the separation column is reacted with the reaction parts. The measuring part can measure a physical quantity of the surface acoustic wave propagating along the annular surface, and the components of the sample gas can be analyzed on the basis of the measured physical quantity.
US08220308B2
A method of calibrating a sensor that includes determining a baseline condition of a sensor by channeling a fluid to a remote calibrator assembly coupled to the gas sensor, wherein the remote calibrator assembly includes a calibrator slide. The calibration of the sensor is determined by channeling a calibration fluid to the remote calibrator assembly, wherein during the calibration process, the calibrator slide moves to a calibration position. The calibrator slide moving to an operational position is verified, which is indicative of the sensor being in normal operating condition.
US08220307B2
Radial compression mechanism includes a plurality of dies each having an elongated arcuate body with an outer end pivotally attached to a hinge plate and an inner working tip. The dies are mounted on the hinge plate in an inwardly spiraling orientation with the outer ends positioned in a circle and the working tips cooperating to define a central product-receiving cylindrically-shaped cavity. The product-receiving cavity is transitional between an open and a closed orientation. The working tip of each die has a sliding surface and a working surface with the sliding surface positioned in parallel juxtaposition to the working surface of an adjacent die and a constant width gap therebetween. Driving mechanism is coupled to rotatably drive all of the dies in unison to transition between open and closed orientations. The width of the gap remains constant during transition and between the open and closed orientations.
US08220296B2
A locking assembly for securing a first item to a second item includes a staple plate configured for attachment to the first item and having a base plate with a staple projecting from the base plate. A hinge plate is configured for attachment to the second item and a flap is pivotably attached to the hinge plate and includes a channel defined by a pair of opposite sidewalls. The channel has a slot for engaging the staple when the flap is in a closed position.
US08220295B2
A driving apparatus for a washing machine is disclosed which includes a dual-motor type motor. The driving apparatus includes a tub which contains washing water, and receives a drum such that the drum is rotatable, a dual rotor which includes an outer rotor including magnets supported by an inner peripheral surface of the outer rotor, the inner rotor arranged inside the outer rotor, the inner rotor including magnets supported by an outer peripheral surface of the inner rotator, a bearing housing which is formed at a rear wall of the tub in accordance with an insert molding method such that the bearing housing is integral with the tub, the bearing housing rotatably supporting a drum shaft connecting the drum and the dual rotor, a motor mounting bracket which is mounted to the rear wall of the tub, and a stator which includes a core arranged such that opposite surfaces of the core face the magnets of the outer rotor and the magnets of the inner rotor, respectively, an insulator made of an insulating material, the insulator enclosing the core, coils wound around the insulator, a molded member formed in accordance with an insert molding method to enclose the insulator and the coils such that the molded member is integral with the insulator and the coils while allowing the opposite surfaces of the core to be exposed, and a coupling member extending from the molded member, the coupling portion being mounted to the rear wall of the tub via the motor mounting bracket.
US08220289B2
Disclosed is a refrigeration apparatus capable of minimizing the pressure loss of a refrigerant circulated through an internal heat exchanger and capable of improving a cooling capability. A refrigeration apparatus in which a compressor, a radiator, an electronic expansion valve and an evaporator are successively annularly connected to one another to constitute a refrigerant circuit includes a refrigerator unit provided with the compressor and the radiator, and a cooling unit provided with the electronic expansion valve and the evaporator, the refrigerator unit is connected to one or a plurality of cooling units via a communication pipe to constitute the refrigerant cycle, an internal heat exchanger which performs heat exchange between a refrigerant discharged from the radiator and a refrigerant discharged from the evaporator is constituted of a double tube, and the internal heat exchanger is provided in the cooling unit.
US08220284B2
A heat storage device that includes a first heat storage material and a second heat storage material, both of which accumulate heat by heat exchange with a heat afferent medium, and a changeover device that selectively either performs or intercepts heat storage by the second heat storage material. Accordingly, if the absorption of heat by the first heat storage material has decreased, the changeover device changes flow of the second heat storage material so that heat may be extracted from the heat afferent medium by the second heat storage medium. Thus, when the heat afferent medium is a refrigerant, it is possible to supercool the refrigerant thereof. Furthermore, since heat is extracted from the heat afferent medium and is accumulated, accordingly it is possible to anticipate effective utilization thereof.
US08220278B2
Disclosed is an air conditioner, in which, when a temperature sensor is rotated, the rotating speed of the temperature sensor is increased or the temperature sensing cycle is elongated in a rotating section where an object does not exist rather than in a rotating section where the object exists. Further, the rotating speed of the temperature sensor is increased or the temperature sensing cycle is elongated if the object is located at a short distance from the air conditioner rather than if the object is located at a normal distance from the air conditioner, and the rotating speed of the temperature sensor is decreased or the temperature sensing cycle is shortened if the object is located at a long distance from the air conditioner rather than if the object is located at a normal distance from the air conditioner.
US08220276B2
A gas-turbine compressor has a casing (1) in which a rotor hub (2) is rotatably borne, and a compressor duct (9) being disposed between the casing (1) and the rotor hub (2), in which at least one rotor (4), which is rotatable about a machine axis (5), and one stator (5) are arranged. Recesses (12) of a bleed-air tapping device (6) are provided in the casing (1), which—in at least one circumferential area (11)—are arranged circumferentially to each other recess (12) and include a circumferential leading edge (16) in the circumferential direction and a circumferential trailing edge (17), each of which includes an identical angle βE with the surface (18) of the casing (1).
US08220269B2
A combustor (1) for a gas turbine engine, particularly for a gas turbine having sequential combustion, includes a combustor wall (4) defining a mixing region (5) and a combustion region (6). The mixing region (5) has at least one first inlet (2) for introducing combustion air into the mixing region (5) and at least one second inlet for introducing fuel into the mixing region (5), the combustion region (6) extending downstream of the mixing region. The mixing region (5) crosses over to the combustion region (6) in a transition region (14). A baffle (9) extends from the transition region (14) generally in the downstream direction (15), forming at least one space (10) between the combustor wall (4) and the baffle (9).
US08220267B1
A Helmholtz resonator is used to detect a presence of a two-phase flow in a conduit. The resonator is sized so that a range of frequencies it is tuned for corresponds to a change in the speed of sound as the fluid changes from all liquid, to liquid plus vapor, and to all vapor. A band-pass filter is used to cancel out any external noise that would pollute the signal from the resonator. The resonator is used to monitor for a two-phase flow occurring within a feed line leading into a turbopump of a rocket engine.
US08220265B2
A method is provided for operating a stationary internal combustion machine including a compressor device of variable compressor geometry which compresses gas fed to the internal combustion machine, and a throttle device which is connected downstream of the compressor device and with which the amount of compressed gas fed to the internal combustion machine is variable. The internal combustion machine is regulated by way of the actuation of at least two adjusting members, wherein the internal combustion machine is regulated to a—preferably substantially constant—engine regulating value. Upon a deviation in the engine regulating value from a reference value, the amount of gas fed to the internal combustion machine is altered by the actuation of the throttle device as the first adjusting member and by the variation in the geometry of the compressor device as the second adjusting member so that the engine regulating value is re-set to the reference value.
US08220264B2
An internal combustion engine has a first and a second cylinder bank. The first and second cylinder banks are arranged such that they have less than a 180 degree included angle with respect to one another, thereby forming an inboard region or generally V-shaped cavity. A respective first and second cylinder head is mounted with respect to the first and second cylinder bank. Integrated within the first and second cylinder head is a first and second integrated exhaust manifold, respectively. The first and second integrated exhaust manifolds are provided on the engine in an “inboard” orientation, i.e. disposed on a side of their respective cylinder heads such that they are substantially adjacent to the generally V-shaped cavity. The first and second integrated exhaust manifold may operate to convey exhaust gases from the engine to at least one turbocharger, which is mounted substantially within the generally V-shaped cavity.
US08220249B2
A rocket nozzle includes a dual-bell nozzle and a gas introducing section configured to introduce gas into space surrounded by the dual-bell nozzle. Combustion gas flows in the space. The dual-bell nozzle includes a first stage nozzle bell-shaped and surrounding an upstream portion of the space, and a second stage nozzle bell-shaped and surrounding a downstream portion of the space. The dual-bell nozzle has an inflection point between the first stage nozzle and the second stage nozzle. The gas introducing section includes a gas inlet provided to an inner wall surface of the first stage nozzle. The gas is introduced into the space from the gas inlet.
US08220247B2
Disclosed herein is a power generation process in which a portion of the carbon dioxide generated by gaseous fuel combustion is recycled back to the power generation process, either pre-combustion, post-combustion, or both. The power generation process of the invention may be a combined cycle process or a traditional power generation process. The process utilizes sweep-based membrane separation.
US08220245B1
A gas turbine engine is provided, including an air inlet in fluid communication with a compressor, a combustor, a compressor turbine, and a power turbine. The compressor and compressor turbine may be mounted on a first drive shaft, and the power turbine may be mounted on a second shaft. The engine further includes an engagement mechanism adapted to selectively engage the first drive shaft to the second drive shaft, wherein the first drive shaft and second drive shaft rotate at substantially the same speed when the engagement mechanism is engaged. The disclosed multi-spool gas turbine engine provides improved part power fuel consumption at reduced output shaft speeds. The proposed invention can relate to turbines with two or more gas generator spools.
US08220238B2
A coppice header for a forage harvester adapted to be mounted on and powered by a forage harvester. The header including at the front side two circular rotatable knives, a feeding drum being mounted above each knife, said drums being rotatable about the same rotation axis as the respective knives. The header may also be provided with a front feed roll placed behind the knives and two additional feed rolls placed behind the front feed roll, wherein the front feed roll is equipped with guiding blades along the length of the feed roll. The blades have a central protrusion, so that the blades are longer in a region around the middle of the blade than at the lateral ends of the blades. The central protrusion is an inclined surface bent rearwardly away from the rotatable knives.
US08220226B2
Bulk material solids are packaged in a shaped block and the packaged block is irradiated on two sides using high-energy electron beam radiation to uniformly irradiate the solids in the package.
US08220220B2
The present invention relates to a method and structure for reinforcing a corrugated steel plate structure. The present invention provides a method of reinforcing a corrugated steel plate structure using a liner provided on one surface of a corrugated steel plate, the reinforcing method using the liner comprising: an anchor bolt installing step of forming an anchor bolt insert hole in the surface of the corrugated steel plate and installing an anchor bolt in the anchor bolt insert hole such that the upper end of the anchor bolt protrudes from the surface of the corrugated steel plate to a predetermined height; a reinforcing bar installing step of fastening a reinforcing bar to the anchor bolt using a wire; a mold installing step of mounting a mold to the anchor bolt using a nut such that the reinforcing bar is covered with the mold; a concrete placing step of placing concrete inside the mold; and a mold removing step of removing the mold after the placed concrete has been cured.
US08220219B2
A reinforcing assembly to address this problem comprises a plurality of diagonal working members (preferably formed of #3 rebar) each of which is “ribbed” to provide increased surface area for bonding to the concrete, and each of which is attached to a horizontal runner independently such that the diagonal working members are variably spaced along the assembly. Relative to the horizontal runner, each diagonal member is “bent” at a given angle, preferably in the range of 45° plus or minus 25°. The reinforcing assembly is designed for use to provide punching shear reinforcement in a reinforced concrete structure such as, without limitation, a slab (in which the assembly is supported) located adjacent a structural column. The top of each diagonal member in the reinforcing assembly preferably comprises a double hook that is configured to fit within reinforcing bars that run along the top of the slab. The horizontal runner comprises a pair of spaced-apart, longitudinally-extending carrier (or “support”) bars, each of which preferably terminates on one end (namely, at the support column) at one end in a structure that is bent upwards and hooked. Preferably, the hooked structure of each runner bar extends into the structural column to provide additional reinforcement, thereby converting the runner bar into a reinforcing member that provides the same function as the other diagonal members, and at a confined location at a highest point of stress (i.e. where the slab attaches to the column) where it would not be possible otherwise to fit a diagonal member.
US08220211B2
The present invention relates to a toggle assembly that can be used with a curtain wall system to retain infills of panel members. A toggle assembly of the present invention is sufficiently designed to simultaneously retain in place a first infill of a first panel member and a first infill of a second panel member on both sides of a mullion, wherein at least a portion of the toggle assembly directly engages at least a portion of the first infill of the first panel member and at least a portion of the first infill of the second panel member.
US08220208B2
The present invention is an improved method of making cornice assemblies and other trim members utilizing the process of pultrusion. The cornice assemblies and the other trim members made by the method of the present invention exhibit superior strength to weight ratios, low expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature and humidity, as well being less labor intensive to install.
US08220207B2
A roof for a large diameter grain bin is formed by roof rafters inclined from a top of the wall to a top ring, with sheet metal panels in an upper row extending from the ring to a circular bottom edge and a lower row extending from a circular top edge to the wall. A circular bracket of Z-shaped cross section is carried on the rafters by upstanding support legs and provides an upper flange engaging the bottom edge of the upper row and a lower flange engaging the top edge of the lower row and an interconnecting web portion. One or both rows are supported at a mid point on a cylindrical tube bent to form a circle butting the panels and supported from the rafters on leg members which include a center strap which can be bent around the tube and two legs bolted to the rafters.
US08220206B2
A rain gutter filter apparatus and method utilize a filter element of a reticulated foam material adapted for insertion into a gutter having an open top defining a top width of the gutter. The filter element has a flat top surface with a width substantially matching the top width of the gutter, a bottom surface having a width less than the top width of the filter element, and front and rear surfaces extending upward from the bottom surface of the filter element to thereby form a front and a rear open passage for water on front and rear sides of the bottom surface of the filter element when the filter element is installed into the gutter. The reticulated foam material of the filter element has a composition that is flame resistant, germicidal, mold resistant, and resistant to degradation by exposure to ultraviolet rays.
US08220199B2
A root feeder for watering feeding and enhancing the air flow to the roots of a plant when the root feeder is at least partially buried in soil adjacent to the root system, the feeder including body panels folded from flat stock and locked together to form a body having an interior volume and a plurality of apertures providing for circulation of air and/or water and nutrients through the body to the roots of the plant.
US08220179B2
The present invention provides a disc drying device and a disc drying method that allow simultaneous and quick drying of plural discs by a batch process and realize miniaturization of the device. In the present invention, plural discs arranged along a single axis are simultaneously chucked at outer peripheries thereof so that central openings of the discs internally form a space; plural nozzles are disposed in the space so as to supply hot water from inner peripheral surfaces of two sides of each of the discs to heat the discs with the hot water; and the discs are simultaneously rotated to thereby move the hot water from inner peripheries to outer peripheries of the discs and discharge the hot water outwardly of the outer peripheries by centrifugal force. The discharged hot water flows through valley grooves provided in inner wall surfaces of a water receiving cover to the lower side of the discs to be discharged to the outside.
US08220174B1
Apparatus and methods to model the dimension and contour of a segment of piping to be installed between a pair of open ends of a piping circuit, are provided. A first backing plate of a first end of an exemplary apparatus is connected to a first flange of a piping circuit. A telescopic elongate linkage member is extended and a second backing plate of a second end of the apparatus is connected to a second flange of the piping circuit. Various measurements are taken, to include a rotational angular difference between the backing plate and a coaxial alignment disk coaxially located with the backing plate, an angular difference between a central axis of the backing plate and the main axis of a hinged yoke connected to the coaxial alignment disk, an angular difference between the main axis of the yoke and a longitudinal axis of the linkage member, and an amount of telescopic extension of the linkage member.
US08220163B2
The invention relates to pruning shears comprising a cutting head (12) with a spring-loaded blade (18) acting in cooperation with a counter blade (20), a drive mechanism (16) connected to the cutting head (12), and an elongated handle (14) connected to the drive mechanism (16). The drive mechanism comprises a first and a second counterpart (32, 34), optionally rotating with respect to one another about an axis (36), allowing the cutting head (12) to be adjusted with respect to the elongated handle (14), and an upper line arrangement allowing the blade (18) to be turned about a hinge point (19) and the cutting head to be adjusted in such a manner that the blade (18) does not rotate about the hinge point (19).
US08220157B2
The rotary electric shaver comprising; cutter circumferential rims (24), each of which is separately provided for each outer cutter (16) and which holds the outer cutter by surrounding the outer periphery of the outer cutter, and pivotal supporting sections (22) which pivotably and removably hold the cutter circumferential rim on a pivotal axis (C) passing the center (Q) of the outer cutter. The upper surface of the cutter circumferential rim is extended out over the pivotal supporting sections, thus increasing the width of the upper surface of the cutter circumferential rim.
US08220156B2
A hair removal kit having a handle, a cover removably engagable to the handle, and a cartridge removably engagable to the handle. The cartridge has at least one blade. A removable dispensing unit is disposed within the handle. The dispensing unit has a pump, an applicator in liquid communication with the pump, and a reservoir having a first position and a second position. The reservoir is in liquid communication with the pump in the second position, but not in liquid communication with the pump in the first position.
US08220152B2
A process for making heat exchanger tubes comprises the operating steps of cutting a piece of sheet, subjecting the piece of sheet (3) to a forming step to obtain a plurality of first elements (8, 9) which mirror one another, and bending the piece of sheet (3) to create a tubular element (1) which has two flat walls (4) with the raised elements (8, 9) on them, the flat walls being opposite one another and joined by two connecting walls (5), and; the bending step substantially joining the lateral edges (7) to one another; and welding the lateral edges (7) to close the tubular element (1). The first raised elements (8) having an extended shape according to their main direction of extension. Those of the rows closest to the central axis (X) are made in such a way that their main direction of extension is set at an angle to the central axis (X) and to a direction perpendicular to it, while those of the rows closest to the lateral edges (7) are made in such a way that their main direction of extension is set at an angle to the central axis (X) and to a direction perpendicular to it, on the opposite side relative to the first raised elements (8) of the rows closest to the axis (X). The claims also relate to a tube obtained in this way.
US08220150B2
A method of repairing a vane cluster for a gas turbine engine includes attaching a first registration block to a salvageable airfoil segment of the vane cluster, machining a face of the first registration block relative to datum surfaces of the vane cluster, removing a damaged airfoil segment from the vane cluster, adding new material to the salvageable airfoil segment, joining a replacement airfoil segment having a second registration block to the salvageable airfoil segment to replace the damaged airfoil segment, removing the first registration block, and removing the second registration block. The respective first and second registration blocks of the salvageable airfoil segment and the replacement airfoil segment are aligned in a configuration substantially identical to a configuration of the vane cluster prior to undergoing repair.
US08220143B2
A plastic lead frame with reflection and conduction metal layer includes a base made of a metal catalyst containing or an organic substance containing plastic material, the base further includes a slanted reflection surface formed downwardly on top of the base; an insert slot continuously and staggeringly formed along the circumferential fringe of the base; a molded carrier made of non-metallic catalyst or organic substance containing plastic material accommodated in the insert slot; an interface layer formed on the surface of the base by chemical deposition; an insulation route formed on the surface of the base by ablating part of the interface layer with the laser beam radiation; and a metallic layer formed on the base by electroplating process thereby forming a plastic lead frame of excellent electrical conductivity and high light reflection property.
US08220141B2
It is intended to allow for efficiently performing a feeder replacement operation. A feeder 50 is formed in a shape elongated in one direction to allow a replacement operation therefor to be performed in such a manner that it is inserted and pulled out relative to a feeder installation section 150, along a longitudinal direction thereof. A rear end 111 which is a trailing one of longitudinally opposite ends of each of a plurality of feeders 50A, 50B, - - - , in an insertion direction, is provided with a guide portion for guiding one 50C of the feeders to be installed in adjacent relation to ones of the remaining feeders. For example, the guide portion can be formed by rounding corners of the rear end 111 of the feeder 50.
US08220135B2
There is disclosed an impact termination tool, a receiver for an impact termination tool, and a work end adapter for an impact termination tool. The work end adapter is adapted to receive standard tool bits and standard finned shaft tips. The impact termination tool is adapted to receive standard impact termination blades and to receive the work end adapter. When installed in the impact termination tool, the work end adapter rotates only with the impact termination tool, and will not rotate independently of the impact termination tool. The impact termination tool has a spring-loaded impact mechanism and a lock-out button to prevent the tool's impact mechanism from operating.
US08220120B2
A fiber laminate is made by providing a core layer of absorptive fiber material between two outer carrier layers to form a three-layer laminate. This three-layer laminate is then directly juxtaposed with a rigid template formed with an array of throughgoing holes separated by webs. Water jets are then directed at the three-layer laminate juxtaposed with the template to drive the fibers of the core layer out from between the carrier layers at the webs and to hydroentangle the outer layers directly with each other at the webs while leaving the core layer generally intact between the webs at the holes.
US08220119B2
A casket comprises a casket shell adapted to receive the remains of a deceased and having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall, a casket cap closable on the casket shell, the cap including a dish assembly mounted to an underside thereof, the dish assembly including a cap panel, and at least one medallion mounted on either an interior surface or an exterior surface of either the cap or the shell, the medallion having text and/or graphics representing a life aspect of the deceased.
US08220116B2
A connecting device including three elements, namely: a core which is housed in an inner part and an outer part. The core includes a head having a truncated-cone-shaped part and a rod having, for example, one of the two sides of a collar connected thereto, the other side being connected to the outer part. The inner part is snap engaged in the outer part and is simultaneously detached from the core. The head is shaped such that, in a closed configuration, the head inhibits the engagement element such that the device locks when the rod is pulled.
US08220113B2
A hinged clamp provides quick connection and disconnection of sections of fluid tubing. Some embodiments include a spring-loaded catch mechanism that enables the clamp to be loosely latched, and a winding mechanism that can retract the catch to a securely latched condition. Other embodiments provide a hinged shaft that pivots about an end of the upper clamp ring. A middle section of the shaft can be inserted into a slotted opening in the lower clamp ring, and the winding mechanism can move an engagement surface against the lower clamp ring to securely latch the clamp. An adjustment mechanism is included in these embodiments which can adjust the amount of winding required to engage the clamp. In various embodiments, less than one turn or less than one-half turn is required to engage/disengage the clamp. The clamp can be openable only just enough for insertion of flanged ends of the tubing sections.
US08220112B2
A device for anchoring a strap to a structural member has a strap and a strap anchoring member fixed to the strap at a first end of the strap. The strap anchoring member has a length and a width, wherein the length is greater than the width. The strap anchoring member is folded to provide only two layers of the strap anchoring member enclosing an end region of the strap adjacent a first end of the strap. A secured portion of the strap anchoring member is proximal the first end of the strap with both layers of the strap anchoring member fixed to the strap providing a three layer structure. An unsecured portion of the strap anchoring member is distal from the first end of the strap. A second end of the strap may be fixed to an airbag used for protecting an occupant of a motor vehicle. The positioning of the airbag when it is inflated can be achieved by having the strap extend through an aperture in a structural member of a motor vehicle with the strap anchoring device located on a side of the structural member distal from the airbag. The aperture has dimensions such that the unsecured portion of the strap anchoring member engages a surface of the structural member and impairs the passage of the strap anchoring device through the aperture toward the airbag.
US08220100B2
A hairbrush 10 has rounded outer surfaces 23, 25 of hinged heads 22, 24 that, when the brush is closed, achieve a closed form that is generally round or spherical in cross-sectional shape. Another aspect of the present invention includes inner head surfaces 26, 28 that support bristles and that are complementarily shaped concave and convex, respectively, to hold a tuft of hair in a curved position as the tuft is pulled through the closed heads.
US08220096B2
Disclosed herein is a pool cleaning device including an internal drive assembly mounted outside the interior cavity of the device housing. The device including a pool cleaning vehicle, the vehicle including a housing defining a body shell and the body shell including an interior cavity and the pool cleaning vehicle including a drive assembly; and an internal drive assembly, the internal drive assembly including a motor assembly for engaging the vehicle drive assembly for propelling the vehicle, the motor assembly mounted outside the interior of the body shell.
US08220092B2
A method to improve the cleansing effect on non-delicate washing which is to be washed in a washing machine comprising a washing drum. The washing drum is driven in at least one A phase (intensive wetting) and in at least one second B phase (high wash mechanics) within the washing and/or rinsing processes. Said phases are successive at least once during said washing and/or rinsing processes. In the A phase (intensive wetting), the washing drum accelerates in the first rotational direction (+) up to a rotational speed n1 which is significantly greater than the applicational rotational speed and in the other rotational direction (−) up to a second rotational speed n2 which is significantly less than the applicational speed. In the B phase (high wash mechanics), the washing drum accelerates in both rotational directions up to rotational speeds whereat the individual items of washing are highly spun and are rubbed against each other.
US08220091B2
An apparatus for facilitating sleep is disclosed. Embodiments of the sleep system receive a person's lower arm in an arm cavity of a person laying in a sleep-on-side position. An exemplary sleep system has a trunk rest and head rest. Two separated cantilevered supports extending outwardly from the base portion of the head rest are in contact with and supported by a top edge of the trunk rest, thereby defining an arm aperture that receives the person's lower arm when laying in a sleep-on-side position. An arm cavity is defined by lower surfaces of the two cantilevered supports and a trunk rest cantilevered arm cavity surface that extends generally downward and inward.
US08220074B2
A garment (100) for selectively warming or cooling a wearer includes a layer of material (101) with one or more pockets (201, 202, 203) coupled thereto. The one or more pockets (201, 202, 203) are configured to selectively receive one or more heating or cooling packs (500). In one embodiment, the one or more pockets (201, 202, 203) include a thermal adjustment layer (405), which may be configured as a thermal adjustment pocket (406), or a foldable layer of material (706). At least a portion of the thermal adjustment layer (405) may be selectively placed either between the one or more heating or cooling packs (204) and the wearer, or between the one or more heating or cooling packs (204) and an outer pocket portion (301) of a pocket (300). The one or more pockets (201, 202, 203) may be detachable from the garment (100), and may be of the same or different material as that of the garment (100).
US08225404B2
Systems and methods for simultaneously protecting software components (150) installed on a computer system (102) against malware. The methods involve executing a first end user application (3181, 3182, . . . , 318p) to the computer system (102) which execute in user mode on a trusted secure desktop (904). The trusted secure desktop is configured to run simultaneously with an unsecure desktop (902). The methods also involve performing a security service operation to protect the first end user application against malware. The security service operations include a keylogger prevention service operation, a code injection prevention service operation, a screen scraper protection service operation, a process termination prevention service operation, or a Domain Name System service operation.
US08225398B2
A recommendation engine coupled to a server computer in communication with a plurality of hosts is described. The recommendation engine includes computer readable intrusion-protection instructions stored in a memory device, which cause a processor of said server computer to determine a current host-protection configuration for a target host; detect discrepancy between said current host-protection configuration and a prior host-protection configuration; install said current host-protection configuration in said target host upon detecting said discrepancy; record successive host-reconfiguration periods, a host reconfiguration period being a difference between successive instants of time at which a current host-protection configuration differs from a prior host-protection configuration; determine a monitoring period according to a value of at least one of said successive host-reconfiguration periods; and a scheduler for activating said intrusion-protection instructions according to said monitoring period.
US08225391B2
Systems and methods for improving the restrictiveness on accessing software applications on mobile devices, such as cell phones, are disclosed. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented system and method for improving the restrictiveness on accessing software applications comprises using a device having a memory, wherein the software application is stored in the memory and requesting, from the user, an original PIN, wherein the original PIN is not stored in the memory and any information about the original PIN is not stored in the memory. The invention further comprises using the original PIN as a seed number to create a true encryption key, using the true encryption key to encrypt an application secret data into a ciphertext and storing, in the memory, the ciphertext. The invention further comprises requesting a PIN from an accessing person that is accessing the targeted software application, wherein the requested PIN is not validated by the software application, using the requested PIN, without any validation, as the seed number to create an encryption key, and using the encryption key to decrypt the ciphertext.
US08225386B1
A method for personalizing multi-application smart cards includes receiving, by an end-user, an anonymous smart card. The anonymous smart card includes one or more anonymous end-user applications; at least one personalized external application; and an end-user-controlled partition including a plurality of empty fields. The plurality of empty fields is for storing user data for the identified end-user. Each of the one or more anonymous end-user applications is disabled for uses requiring a link to an identified end-user. Also, each of the one or more anonymous end-user applications is enabled for uses not requiring a link to the identified end-user. The end user personalizes the anonymous smart card by storing user data in the end-user-controlled partition of the smart card. The user data includes identifying information for the end-user.
US08225384B2
A network-based biometric authentication system includes a client computer (10), a third party server (24), and a biometric authentication server (26). A user requests access to a web site hosted by the third party server via the client computer, wherein the third party server communicates a deployable object to the client computer. The client computer executes the deployable object, wherein the object enables the client computer to receive a user name, password, and biometric data from the user and to communicate the user name, password, and biometric data to the biometric authentication server in a secure fashion. The biometric authentication server authenticates the user name, password, and biometric data, and communicates the user name and password to the third party server, which attempts to verify the user name and password in a conventional manner and grants access to the user if the user name and password are verified.
US08225383B1
Some embodiments provide a system that activates an online account. During operation, the system obtains, through a registration interface, authentication information for the online account from a user without obtaining contact information for the user through the registration interface. Next, the system generates an activation credential for the online account using the authentication information and displays the activation credential to the user through the registration interface. Finally, the system activates the online account upon receiving the activation credential from the user through user-initiated communications outside of the registration interface.
US08225382B2
Attested identities are provided. An applicant requests an attested identity. Attesting resources provide assertions that include roles, rights, and privileges for the attested identity. The collection of assertions from each of the attesting resources represents the attested identity.
US08225374B2
A system and method for using a communication lease to open a communication channel is provided. An initiation terminal transmits a channel initiation request for access to a resource manager through a target terminal. Evaluation of a communication lease controlling access to the resource manager is awaited. Approval of the channel initiation request is received upon the successful evaluation of the communication lease. A communication channel is opened between the initiation terminal and the target terminal upon receipt of the approval.
US08225373B2
In one embodiment, local software code present in a computer system enables real-time detection of whether the computer system is properly protected against malicious attacks from harmful software. For example, software code such as one or more agents executing in the computer system support real-time protection validation based upon detection of the behavior of the computer system (as opposed to mere detection of the presence of resources or applications in the computer system). In response to detecting that the computer system or an application accesses or provides a particular type of resource and should be protected via one or more appropriate protection policies, if the computer system is not already protected, an agent of the computer system can provide immediate remediation (e.g., a security measure) to temporarily protect the computer system until the appropriate protection policy can be activated to protect the computer system against malicious software threats.
US08225367B2
Systems and methods to dynamically convert Web content to an interactive program for display on resource constrained television clients are described. In particular, a head-end server in a digital television entertainment system downloads the Web content from an external data source. The head-end server dynamically transcodes the downloaded content into an interactive walled garden program (iWGP) that includes MPEG stills and metadata for delivery to a client in the television entertainment system.
US08225365B2
A sending apparatus sends program information to which accompanying information is added with the program information and the accompanying information being suitable for sending. The sending apparatus contains a detection portion that detects the accompanying information, a separation portion that separates the accompanying information from the program information. The sending apparatus also contains a signal-processing portion that compresses and encodes the separated accompanying information and program information, respectively, and then packetizes the accompanying information and the program information, respectively, and a local area network interface for communication. The accompanying information and the program information are sent following separated data formats.
US08225362B2
In one embodiment consistent with the invention, an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) information collector device has an Internet interface for communication with an aggregator via the Internet and for communication with IPTV service providers. A processor functions to carry out a process of: conducting a query of an IPTV service and at least one IPTV channel supplied thereby; gathering quality of service (QOS) information from the at least one IPTV channel of the IPTV service as a result of the query; and reporting the QOS service to an aggregator device. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08225360B2
A communication system includes an image pickup device and an information processing apparatus. The image pickup device is connectable to a printer, and the information processing apparatus is connectable to a server device. The image pickup device includes an acquiring unit that acquires printer information indicating information on the printer if the image pickup device is connected to the printer and a transmitting unit that transmits the printer information acquired by the acquiring unit to the information processing apparatus if the image pickup device is connected to the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus also includes a display control unit that displays, on a display unit, an indication that the printer indicated by the printer information can be registered with the server device, based upon the printer information transmitted from the transmitting unit.
US08225359B2
An apparatus and method for providing information in conjunction with media content, including a receiver, wherein the receiver receives at least one of a transmission of media content and a broadcast of media content, wherein the media content includes at least one of broadcast media content and entertainment media content, and further wherein the receiver receives information regarding the media content, a processor for processing at least one of the received media content and the received information regarding the media content, a display device for visually displaying the information regarding the media content, and/or a speaker device for audibly announcing the information regarding the media content.
US08225357B2
A terminal apparatus receives data of a program to be viewed selected from among broadcast programs, and notifies viewing information indicating the program to be viewed. A base station apparatus broadcasts the data of the program to a cell, mutually notifies the broadcast program between cells, acquires the viewing information from a terminal apparatus, and starts to broadcast the program in the destination cell when predicting that the terminal apparatus is moving into the cell where the program that is being viewed is not broadcast.
US08225354B2
Techniques are disclosed herein for merging EPG data associated with a variety of program sources. In one aspect, EPG data is accessed for different program sources and rules are selected that define how entries in the EPG data are to be merged. The rules may be selected based on whether the EPG data was collected in-band or out-of-band. In addition, the merging rules can be dependent on the program source, which allows the flexibility of applying different rules to different program sources. The EPG data from the different program sources is merged into a single EPG based on the selected rules.
US08225351B2
A method for displaying broadcast channel information in a mobile terminal is presented. The method includes entering a broadcast reception mode, and displaying channel information indicating whether each channel available for reception is a general channel or an integrated channel, wherein a general channel comprises one broadcast channel mapped onto a single broadcast path, and an integrated channel comprises at least two virtual channels mapped onto a single broadcast path.
US08225348B2
Systems and methods to provide interactive moderated collaborative sessions are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes receiving a media stream and associating moderator controls with the media stream to create an interactive media session. The interactive media session enables multiple remote users to interact with one another with respect to the media stream. The moderator controls enable a moderator to facilitate the interaction of the multiple remote users. The method also includes sending display data to display devices of the multiple remote users. The display data is based on moderator control input received via the moderator controls, interactive input received from the multiple remote users, and the received media stream.
US08225346B2
A system and method is provided for providing subscribers with conditional access to data receivable across a communications medium in an MHP or OCAP broadcast system (100, 300). The invention can be implemented for use with standard MHP or OCAP receivers, without the need for a backchannel or specialized hardware.
US08225344B2
The present invention relates to a video processing apparatus that includes: a signal receiver receiving an encrypted video signal which contains access rights information of a transmitting side and decryption information; an information extractor extracting the access rights information of the transmitting side and the decryption information from the video signal; an encryption processor decrypting the encrypted video signal based on the decryption information; an access rights information storage unit storing access rights information of a receiving side; and a controller sending the decryption information to the encryption processor if it is determined that the access rights information of the transmitting side matches the access rights information of the receiving side.Accordingly, the video processing apparatus and method processes access rights with respect to a video signal that is granted only to an authorized user, with a high degree of reliability.
US08225336B2
A method of configuring a virtual device and a system of configuring a virtual device is provided. A plurality of virtual device drivers corresponding to a plurality of specific functions of a first device is identified along with a second device. A plurality of virtual device drivers corresponding to the plurality of specific functions of the second device is also identified. A plurality of virtual device drivers required for a service is selected from the plurality of virtual device drivers corresponding to the plurality of specific functions of the first device and the plurality of virtual device drivers corresponding to the plurality of specific functions of the second device. The virtual device is configured with the plurality of virtual device drivers required for the service.
US08225331B2
The method and system of the present invention include recording a first transition by an agent interface between a first session and a second session of a plurality of sessions in a communication utility. The first transition is recorded in a transition record. Responsive to receipt of a request to initiate a third session by the communication utility, a transition frequency is determined using the transition record. Whether to accept the request to initiate the third session is determined using the transition frequency, and the request to initiate the third session is accepted.
US08225328B2
A system and method provide access to a target object associated with a desired functionality. This is accomplished by creating an instance of a pre-existing object, replacing one or more functions of a table shared by all objects of the object's class, and triggering a call that ultimately causes the replacement functions to be called to allow access to the target object. The system includes software portions for enabling the method.
US08225322B2
Process for management resources each resource having one or several characteristics and, for each characteristic, a given category to which the resource belongs, this process comprising the following operations:a) identify (101) one or several characteristics required for the resources,b) identify (102) a group of resources with the required characteristic(s),c) for each resource in said group, and for each characteristic of the resource, associate (103) the resource category with a time, with a value that depends on the category,d) assign (104) a magnitude in time to each resource, called adhesion, equal to the greatest time of the resource characteristics.
US08225308B2
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for managing software lifecycle. Based on declarative models and knowledge of their interpretation, embodiments of the present invention facilitate lifecycle management for model-based software applications. Lifecycle models, such as, for example, lifecycle state machine models are stored in a shared repository such that executive services can determine how software application lifecycles are to be managed and transitioned. Software lifecycle activities can verify that a transition is possible and identify any errors preventing a lifecycle transition. Model-based error handling and error recovery mechanisms can be used to correct any identified errors.
US08225306B2
A method and system for defining a platform independent image on a medium readable by an information handling system determines a core operating system, enterprise configurations and a driver file for each of plural platform model types with one or more installation functions operable to install the enterprise configurations in an operating system of an information handling system having one of the plural platform model types. The installation function determines the platform model type of an information handling system loaded with the platform independent image and configures the core operating system with the enterprise configurations and a driver file associated with the determined platform model type.
US08225305B2
A method, system, and computer program product for efficiently providing software product updates in a client's computer system. A Software Product Update (SPU) utility initiates the software update process by downloading a response file. The response file comprises scripted code and encoded data for an update of application system files. The SPU utility processes the response file with the aid of a script processing engine (SPE), which is saved, along with installation files, on the client's computer system during an initial software product installation. The SPU utility sets the installation properties within the installation file set to values which allow the SPE to access and run the scripted code. The embedded binary data is decoded with the aid of the running scripted code. The SPU utility completes the update of application system files and the installation properties file, with the aid of the decoded embedded data.
US08225303B2
A method and system provide a business scenario. The method includes executing a first deployment unit on a first application platform. The method includes replacing an original second deployment with an upgraded second deployment unit on an upgraded second application platform. The method includes executing the upgraded second deployment unit. The method including transmitting messages related to the business scenario over a communications link between the first deployment unit and the upgraded second deployment unit. The method includes storing master data related to the business scenario in a data storage.
US08225300B1
A device receives a program that includes one of a parallel construct or a distributed construct, creates a target component from the program, and integrates the target component into a target environment to produce a client program that is executable on multiple heterogeneous server platforms.
US08225295B2
We show that register allocation can be viewed as solving a collection of puzzles. We model the register file as a puzzle board and the program variables as puzzle pieces. We model pre-coloring by letting some of the puzzle pieces be already immovably placed on the puzzle board, and we model register aliasing by letting pieces have a plurality widths. For a wide variety of computer architectures, we can solve the puzzles in polynomial time. Puzzle solving is independent of spilling, that is, puzzle solving can be combined with a wide variety of approaches to spilling.
US08225289B2
A system and method for executing application code in an operating system environment, attaching a development tool to the application code, saving a state of the application code, determining whether the attachment of the development tool interrupted a blocking system call of the application code, modifying, when it is determined the attachment of the development tool interrupted the blocking system call, the saved state to a further saved state corresponding to restarting the blocking system call and restoring the state of the application code to the further saved state.
US08225287B2
In a method for testing a system, the technology initially accesses a database having a plurality of stand-alone pieces-of-code. Each piece-of-code includes a sequence of operations to be performed on a system. One or more of a plurality of stand-alone pieces-of-code within a database are selected to generate a set of at least two stand-alone pieces-of-code, based on a testing scenario. A variable test sequence from a set of at least two stand-alone pieces-of-code is then generated. The variable test sequence is then utilized to test a system based on a testing scenario.
US08225286B2
A method and system to implement debugging interpreted input is described herein. One or more Intermediate Language (IL) islands are generated. Each IL island maps to one or more lines of source code. The interpreter reads a line of source code and parses the line of source code for a command. Before executing the command, the interpreter may call into the corresponding IL island. The IL island may include a breakpoint that corresponds to a set breakpoint in the mapped one or more lines of source code. The IL island may include a function. When calling the IL island, the interpreter may pass in a function pointer, one or more states of one or more variables, a representation of a call stack, or any other parameters. The IL islands enable a debug tool to do source-level debugging of languages executed by an interpreter without architectural changes to the interpreter.
US08225283B2
A computer-implemented method supporting collaborative product development. A plurality of artifacts associated with the collaborative product development is maintained under revision control in a first repository. Each artifact has a plurality of lifecycle states and each artifact is associated with a first finite state machine (FSM) that defines lifecycle state transitions for the artifacts. A plurality of artifact tuples associated with the collaborative product development is maintained under revision control in a second repository. At least one artifact tuple is comprised of at least one access information providing access to at least one of said plurality of artifacts in the first repository. Each artifact tuple has a plurality of lifecycle states and each artifact tuple is associated with a second finite state machine (FSM) that defines lifecycle state transitions for the artifact tuples. There exists a set of lifecycle state transition mappings which maps all valid lifecycle state transitions for an artifact with desired lifecycle state transitions for an artifact tuple and all valid lifecycle state transitions for an artifact tuple with desired lifecycle state transitions for an artifact. A workflow process relating to an evolution of an artifact or artifact tuple is expressed through sequencing of one or more members of the said lifecycle state transition mappings set.
US08225272B2
An architecture for developing a distributed information system comprises a service definition tool for generating service protocols as a service definition. Each service protocol includes a plurality of messages. The messages include incoming messages and outgoing messages. Each message carries a plurality of data fields. A component development tool generates a first and second plurality of components that implement and consume services. Each component in the first plurality of components represents a physical entity in the distributed information system. Each component in the second plurality of components represents a logical entity in the distributed information system. A system development tool generates a plurality of component instances based on the first and second plurality of components. An engine software program runs on each of a plurality of networked nodes. The engine software program provides a programmable run-time environment for hosting the plurality of component instances and supporting communication between component instances.
US08225270B2
A system that manages development of software is described. During operation, this system aggregates status information and requirement information as a function of time, where the status information specifies the status of the development of the software and the requirement information specifies target requirements for the software. Next, the system dynamically determines a project estimate for the development of the software based on the status information and the requirement information.
US08225268B2
A wiring design method for a wiring board comprises, if design rule errors are found in the wiring design, selecting one of the design rule errors as a selected design rule error, specifying a predetermined number of the second connection terminals as selected second connection terminals that correspond to the selected design rule error, and moving the selected second connection terminals to predetermined coordinate positions. Each time when the selected second connection terminals are moved to the post-movement coordinate positions, the method comprises connecting the second connection terminals and the first connection terminals, conducting the design rule check, and determining whether no design rule errors are detected newly and the selected design rule error is not detected either.
US08225264B2
An integrated circuit (IC) and fabrication method thereof is provided that include the steps of specifying a plurality of required tile modules suitable for a particular end application, each of the modular tiles being configured to perform a predetermined function and constructed to have approximately the same length and width dimensions. The modular tiles are used to form the IC in a standard IC fabrication process. In many implementations, physical layout of the IC does not include the step of routing. Capabilities also include configuring the modular tiles to have programmable performance parameters and configuring the modular tiles to cooperate usefully with one another based on a programmable parameter.
US08225251B2
Systems and methods for deriving a net equation representing a net state of an analog circuit net, wherein the net equation is derived from at least one other net state, determining a truthfulness of the net equation, reporting the truthfulness.
US08225247B2
Systems and methods are disclosed to automatically design a custom integrated circuit includes receiving a specification of the custom integrated circuit including computer readable code and one or more constraints on the custom integrated circuit; automatically devising a processor architecture and generating a processor chip specification uniquely customized to the computer readable code which satisfies the constraints; and synthesizing the chip specification into a layout of the custom integrated circuit.
US08225246B2
A technique for reducing a circuit listing. According to examples of the technique, at least a portion of a circuit listing is analyzed to identify occurrences of a circuit structure made up of a plurality of circuit components. For each identified occurrence of the defined circuit structure, an injection data object is created corresponding to the plurality of components, and the injection data object is substituted into the portion of the circuit listing in place of the plurality of components. For each occurrence of the defined structure, one or more properties of the occurrence of the defined structure may be determined and contained by the corresponding injection data object.
US08225245B2
A method and system of merging gated-clock domains in a semiconductor design includes producing, for each subset of clock gating functions in an initial set of clock gating functions, a set of quantified functions produced by existentially quantifying each clock gating function in the subset over a set of variables that are not part of the support sets of the other clock gating functions of the subset. If the set of quantified functions are equal, selecting one as a super clock gating function and adding it to the set of super clock gating functions. The set of super clock gating functions are sorted according to a criterion and the best is selected and added to the set of final clock gating functions. The remaining super clock gating functions are modified to prevent flip-flops gated by the selected super clock gating function from being gated by remaining super clock gating functions.
US08225244B2
The LSI design apparatus adds diagnostic circuitry for micro diagnosis to a behavior level description. Based on behavior level design data for a normal system of a LSI, high level synthesis generates RTL design data and register information. Based on the register information, a unique address used by a micro diagnosis program is allocated to each register. Circuit components within the normal system are grouped together. Based on the result of the address allocation and the result of the grouping, a behavior description for diagnostic circuits constituting a diagnosis system for the LSI is generated and added to the behavior level design data for the normal system, resulting in behavior level design data in which the normal and diagnosis systems are integrated together.
US08225242B2
A non-volatile memory device capable of reading and writing a large number of memory cells with multiple read/write circuits in parallel has an architecture that reduces redundancy in the multiple read/write circuits to a minimum. The multiple read/write circuits are organized into a bank of similar stacks of components. In one aspect, each stack of components has individual components factorizing out their common subcomponents that do not require parallel usage and sharing them as a common component serially. Other aspects, include serial bus communication between the different components, compact I/O enabled data latches associated with the multiple read/write circuits, and an architecture that allows reading and programming of a contiguous row of memory cells or a segment thereof. The various aspects combined to achieve high performance, high accuracy and high compactness.
US08225235B2
To provide a reproduction apparatus able to easily select a desired content data based on an attribute of the content data by a simple operation from a user and a reproduction method for the same, wherein the reproduction apparatus having: a display displaying the item; a first operation unit instructing a switch of the attribute; a second function unit instructing a selection of a predetermined item on the display; and a processing unit switching a first screen from a screen of a plurality of items so as to display a plurality of items when the first operation key is operated, and switching to a second screen displaying a plurality of item when the second operation key is operated when a plurality of item is displayed on the first screen.
US08225232B2
The subject invention relates to systems and methods that enable dynamic programming and execution of an electronic communications dialog. In one aspect, a configurable messaging system is provided. The system includes a configuration file to describe interface options of a computerized dialog session, wherein the configuration file specifies interface activities and state transitions between the interface options within the configuration file. A state controller executes the interface options during communications activities with the dialog session. The configuration file can also describe prompt elements to solicit information from users or applications.
US08225223B2
The invention relates to a method and tool which allows users to create interactive representations of input and output data, and simulate the associated algorithms used to manipulate this data, that are used in spreadsheet applications and other similar software programs. The interactive simulation is visually represented by a customizable set of components which hereinafter will be referred to as a control pane. The control panels can consist of a variety of components which include user interface elements (such as sliders, buttons, and checkboxes), charts and maps. The underlying simulation is generated based on data sources within an application software program file (e.g., spreadsheet data cells) selected by the user during the control panel creation process.
US08225220B2
The present invention is directed to a method of integrating information, including real-time information, into a virtual thematic environment using a computer system, including accessing the stored information from a database or downloading the real-time information from a source external to the thematic environment; inserting the real-time information into the thematic environment; and displaying the information to a user within the thematic environment. In one embodiment, the computer system is connected to a holographic projection system such that the images from the thematic environment can be projected as holographic projections. The computer system includes an interactive software application platform having at least one thematic/publishing logic module which contains thematic environment rules; at least one digital content library module which provides content management on the thematic environment; and at least one quantum imaging environment (QIE) module which interprets content such that the content is manipulated and accessed by any device.
US08225216B2
An image production system, image production apparatus, and image production method are disclosed, which sort user data received from a mobile communication terminal based on at least one type of the user data; display the sorted user data on a daily record page; produce the images from user data which are selected from the displayed user data and which serve as a source; and play back the produced images on a certain region of the daily record page. All the user data of the mobile communication terminal can be easily checked through the daily record page.
US08225214B2
Techniques are described for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes. In some situations, the providing of information includes receiving from first and second sources indications of ability to supply values for, respectively, an indicated one of the state attributes and another of the state attributes. In such situations, after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client, the providing of information further includes determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute, obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client, and supplying the indicated value to the client when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate.
US08225201B2
A graphic output device for generating a mixed graphic-textual depiction having at least one text object consisting of multiple letters for identifying a geographic feature, the output device comprising a processor unit, which is set up to reshape the text object in such a manner that the reshaped text object comprises, in addition to a normal text area having letters in the original size, a compressed text area having letters shrunken and/or compressed in relation to the original size, the boundary between the normal text area and the compressed text area running along a semantic jump point of the text object. A method for preparing a text object consisting of multiple letters using a processor unit, for the purpose of depicting the text object using a graphic output device.
US08225198B2
Flexible web page template building systems, methods and applications using an auto-expanding user-editable content container(s) are presented. A web page template displayable on a user display is configured with at least one auto-expanding user-editable content container that includes a predefined top portion, a pre-defined bottom portion, and a repeatable middle portion, The auto-expanding user-editable content container is configured to monitor the size of user-provided content in the content container relative to the size of the content container upon entry or removal of content and automatically adjust the size of the content container to fit the user-provided content by dynamically inserting or removing instance(s) of the middle portion of the content container to vertically expand or contract the size of the content container to fit the user-provided content.
US08225194B2
Selection and presentation of media streams, in which presentation is not limited by order imposed by the digital content representative of those media streams, in response to bookmarks and watchpoints settable and usable by a user. Bookmarks reference a location within the media stream, not necessarily pre-selected and possibly dynamically selected, in which a presentation can be started or restarted therefrom. Watchpoints reference a location within the media stream, or a presentation state for the media stream, in which an action can be triggered thereby. Bookmarks and watchpoints provide a general technique for presenting selections from media streams in response to metadata.
US08225188B2
Apparatus for providing a checksum in a network transmission. In one aspect of the invention, a checksum for a packet to be transmitted on a network is determined by retrieving packet information from a storage device, the packet information to be included in the packet to be transmitted. A blind checksum value is determined based on the retrieved packet information, and the blind checksum value is adjusted to a protocol checksum based on descriptor information describing the structure of the packet. The protocol checksum is inserted in the packet before the packet is transmitted.
US08225183B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for improved physical re-read operations in a hard disk drive. The disclosed methods and apparatus selectively retain data in a hard disk drive. A signal is read in an iterative read channel by assigning a reliability metric to each of a plurality of segments in a read signal; repeating the assigning step for a plurality of read operations; and selectively retaining the segments based on the assigned reliability metric. The read signal can be obtained by positioning a transducer over a storage media. The reliability metric may be based on soft bit decisions; log likelihood ratios or a noise estimation of a given segment.
US08225182B2
A network communication device includes a host interface, which is coupled to communicate with a host processor, having a host memory, so as to receive a work request to execute a transaction in which a plurality of data blocks are to be transferred over a packet network. Processing circuitry is configured to process multiple data packets so as to execute the transaction, each data packet in the transaction containing a portion of the data blocks, and the multiple data packets including at least first and last packets, which respectively contain the first and last data blocks of the transaction. The processing circuitry is configured to compute a transaction signature over the data blocks while processing the data packets so that at least the first data block passes out of the network communication device through one of the interfaces before computation of the transaction signature is completed.
US08225179B2
A method for generating error detection code is disclosed. Firstly, a first error detection code PEDC is derived by using 12-byte unknown sector data information including ID, IED, RSV and the 2048-byte main data while the main data is delivered from a host. Secondly, a second error detection code MEDC is obtained by using known 12-byte sector data information including ID, IED, RSV and the 2048-byte main data. Thereafter, the real error detection code EDC is obtained by applying an exclusive-OR operation to both the PEDC and MEDC.
US08225177B2
In an embodiment, the invention provides a method for programming flash memory while maintaining a constant error correction term. A data field and forcing bits are arranged in a packing order. Next, all the forcing bits are set to a logical zero value. A first error correction term is generated using the data field and forcing bits as an input to an ECC encoding algorithm. An exclusive OR function is performed on the constant error correction term and the first error correction term creating a difference term. A forcing function is applied to the difference term creating a new value for the forcing bits. The data field and the forcing bits are written to the flash memory.
US08225172B2
Error correcting systems, methods, and devices for non-volatile memory are disclosed. In one embodiment, a non-volatile memory device comprises a data area for storing data, an error correcting code generation section for generating an error correcting code in response to receipt of a code generation command, and an error correcting code area for storing the error correcting code. The non-volatile memory device further comprises a detector circuit for detecting the generating of the error correcting code, and a read section for correcting the data stored in the data area based on the error correcting code upon the detecting of the generation of the error correcting code by the detector circuit, where the code generation command is forwarded by a memory controller when the data are is filled with the data beyond a threshold level.
US08225171B2
A semiconductor memory device may include a parity generating circuit, a memory cell array, an error calculating circuit and an error corrector. The parity generating circuit generates parities having different number of bits according to types of a partial array self-refresh mode, and selects one of the parities to output a first parity. The error calculating circuit calculates an error based on a first data corresponding to the input data and a second parity corresponding to the first parity and outputs a first error data. The error corrector corrects the first data based on the first data and the first error data.
US08225168B2
A method for data transmission in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system. The method for data transmission includes receiving multiple input data streams and performing low density parity check (LDPC) encoding of the input data streams utilizing a parity check matrix. The parity check matrix comprises a plurality of sub-parity check matrices for encoding respective associated ones of the input data streams and performing space time encoding for transmitting the LDPC encoded input data streams over a plurality of antennas. The performing of the LDPC encoding of the input data streams includes generating one or more connection matrices, each connection matrix for injecting information of one of the input data streams into the encoding of another one of the input data streams. Each connection matrix is a zero matrix if a lowest parity check protection level based on the sub-parity check matrix for the one of the input data streams is equal to or lower than an assigned parity check protection level for the one input data stream, and a non zero matrix otherwise.
US08225164B2
The invention teaches a media container file comprising media data organized into media source blocks. Forward error correction (FEC) redundancy data is pre-calculated for the different source blocks and organized into the container file as different FEC reservoirs. The container file also comprises meta data providing an association between the media source blocks and the respective FEC reservoirs. The container file can be employed by a media server in a media session for compiling media data packets to be transmitted to requesting clients without the need of extensive data processing and FEC calculation.
US08225161B2
A method and apparatus are provided for error correction of a communication signal. To allow for retransmission of information in response to error determination with respect to a transmission of the information, the operating sampling rate for a communication channel is increased over its normal sampling rate. At the increased operating rate, retransmissions may be made while at least maintaining the overall data rate of the communication channel with respect to its normal sampling rate. The retransmissions may be conducted using automatic repeat request (ARQ) techniques. In an embodiment, operating at increased sampling rate allows for a decrease in the required signal-to-noise ratio at a given bit error rate for the communication channel.
US08225156B1
Various methods and apparatuses are described for a system that includes some on-chip components, e.g., I-Os, test processors, soft wrappers, etc., an external testing unit that provides Parametric Measurement Unit (PMU) capability, and various tests performed on the I-Os by the on-chip testing logic, the test vector patterns supplied by the external testing unit.
US08225153B2
Fault tolerant programming of a programmable device advantageously occurs via a host controller that first queries the programmable device through a Boundary scan interface to identify the device. Thereafter, host controller selects a program file in accordance with the device identity for subsequent downloading via the Boundary scan interface to program the device. Thereafter, the host controller verifies that successful programming has occurred.
US08225144B2
An operations management apparatus is provided which acquires performance information for each of a plurality of performance items from a plurality of controlled units, and manages operation of the controlled units, The operations management apparatus includes a correlation model generation unit and a model searching unit. The correlation model generation unit derives a correlation function between a first element and a second element of the performance information, generates a correlation model between the first element and the second element based on the correlation function, and obtains the correlation model for each element pair of the performance information. The model searching unit searches for the correlation model for each element between an input element and an output element among elements of the performance information in series, and predicts a value of the output element from a value of the input element based on the searched correlation model.
US08225142B2
A system for tracepoint-based fault diagnosis and recovery includes: a system state tracing model unit for storing state tracing models which are obtained by a modeling technique and are required for fault diagnosis and recovery; a state diagnosis unit for determining whether or not an action event is executable with reference to the state tracing models when the action event is received from a specific tracepoint among multiple tracepoints which exist in each of components within an operating system of the system, and generating a fault recovery command when it is determined that the action is not executable, that is, a fault has occurred; and a fault recovery unit for performing a fault recovery processing based on the state tracing models in response to the generated fault recovery command.
US08225141B2
An information processing apparatus includes a detecting unit configured to detect an abort signal among signals from a kernel that monitors execution of a process by referring to details concerning the execution; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information that concerns the details concerning the execution of the process and is referred to by the kernel at a detection of the abort signal by the detecting unit; and a storing unit configured to store the information obtained by the obtaining unit into a memory.
US08225140B2
A method and system are provided for testing a graphical user (GUI) (204). The method includes applying a test step (208, 222) to a GUI under test (204) and finding a control in the GUI under test (204) to which the test step is to be applied. A model (210) is built dynamically of representations of the contents of the GUI under test (204) as a new control is found. The method includes finding a collection of dependent controls and representing the collection of controls in the GUI model (210) as a generalised pattern of the controls. The method applies a test step to the model (210) simultaneously with the GUI under test (204) and compares the results of the test step from the GUI under test (204) and from the model (210). If a test step is applied to the model and it is determined that a representation of the control to which the test step is to be applied is not provided in the model (210), a building rule (212) is executed to add a representation of the control to the model (210).
US08225138B2
The invention broadly contemplates a computing system that offers high-speed recovery. The system is configured to offer such a high-speed solution via an instant roll back scheme. The system utilizes a virtualization to handle the system state and provide a rescue and recovery like solution without requiring a full system reboot. The system is configured to utilize virtualization, e.g. through the use of a hypervisor to track the fundamental system components. This enables the system to very quickly back the system up on a rolling basis via tracking atomic changes and offering the instant rollback at essentially any point following an atomic change, should common system difficulties be encountered.
US08225137B2
A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes evaluating a first plurality of messages from a media server configured to receive a media stream. The first plurality of messages is indicative of an active state for the media server. The method also includes detecting an anomaly associated with a portion of the first plurality of messages. The anomaly is associated with a failure of the media server. The method can also include activating a failover media server to receive the media stream based on the anomaly, and evaluating a second plurality of messages. The second plurality of messages is indicative of a resumed active state for the media server that experienced the failure. The failover media server can be deactivated based on the resumed active state. Media metadata can be communicated from the failover media server to the media server that experienced the failure.
US08225123B2
A method and system for power supply management in an integrated chip selectively manages the power supplied to the various circuits within the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes a combinational logic block, a memory block, a power supply block, and a control block. The power supply block includes multiple power regulators for generating power supply potentials of various magnitudes. The control block receives a power down signal, a clock disable signal, and a temperature threshold signal, and generates control signals for controlling the magnitude of the potential of the power supplied to the combinational logic block and the memory block by the power supply block.
US08225122B2
By supplying auxiliary power to a blade's optional components, instead of polling the blade for the power requirements of a fully configured module, each installed component can be individually polled and the values summed to produce a more accurate value representing the actual power needs of a blade system prior to booting.
US08225117B2
An electronic device capable of decreasing power consumption is provided. A multiple function apparatus including a power line communication function has a plurality of units such as a PLC board, a main control board, a printer control board, a printer, and a FAX control board. The multiple function apparatus also includes a device power supply unit for supplying power to the units independently. A power supply control unit of the PLC board outputs a power supply control signal in response to a state change of the multiple function apparatus and controls power supply to each unit.
US08225115B2
A system and method for testing hybrid sleep modes of an electronic device sets a switch time of switching a suspending to RAM (S3) sleep mode to a suspending to disk (S4) sleep mode. A computer sends a power management event (PME) signal to control the electronic device to be in the S3 sleep mode. If a system time of the electronic device reaches a switch time of switching the S3 sleep mode to the S4 sleep mode, the computer detects if the electronic device is in the S4 sleep mode. If the electronic device is in the S4 sleep mode, the computer sends an awake signal to control the electronic device to be in a normal work mode. A display of the computer displays that the electronic device is in the S3 sleep mode, the S4 mode, or the normal work mode.
US08225114B2
A portable electronic apparatus is connected to a power supply device via a transmission line, and it includes a designated connector, a charge control circuit, and a judgment circuit. The designated connector includes five terminals respectively corresponding to five pins of a USB connector of the power supply device. When the power supply device is connected to the portable electronic apparatus, the first terminal of the designated connector is logic high, the fourth terminal of the designated connector is logic high, and the third terminal of the designated connector is logic high after pulling up the voltage level of the second terminal, the judgment circuit pulls down the voltage level of the third terminal and detects the voltage level of the third terminal so as to generate a determining result for determining a type of the power supply device.
US08225102B1
An intermediate network device includes a local caching module that caches user information from a remote server before a local user requests the information. In particular, the local caching module securely obtains and caches one-time passwords for a local user. The local caching device maintains separate sets of one-time passwords for each user. The local caching module may access the locally cached one-time passwords to authenticate a local user to a resource protected by a one-time password.
US08225101B2
A method and apparatus for cross validation of data using multiple subsystems are described. According to one embodiment of the invention, a computer comprises a first subsystem and a second subsystem; and a memory, the memory comprising a first memory region and a second memory region, the first memory region being associated with the first subsystem and a second memory region being associated with the second subsystem; upon start up of the computer, the first subsystem to validate the second memory region and the second subsystem to validate the first memory region.
US08225096B2
When a client apparatus receives a request for an electronic certificate from a server apparatus, the server apparatus reads a client certificate containing personal information and a server public key of the server apparatus from a storage unit and encrypts the client certificate using the server public key. The client apparatus also creates a temporary electronic certificate by setting, in a basic field of an electronic certificate, a predetermined item indicating that the electronic certificate is a temporary electronic certificate and by setting the client certificate having been encrypted in an extension field of the electronic certificate. Then, the client apparatus sends the temporary electronic certificate to the server apparatus.
US08225092B2
An access authentication method includes pre-establishing a security channel between the authentication server of the access point and the authentication server of the user terminal and performing the authentication process at user terminal and access point. The authentication process includes 1) the access point sending the authentication_activating message; 2) the user terminal sending the authentication server of user terminal request message; 3) the authentication server of the user terminal sending to the user terminal response message; and 4) completing the authentication.
US08225091B1
Systems and methods for protecting sensitive files from unauthorized access are disclosed. An exemplary method involves detecting a connection of the computing device to an electronic device. An authorized connection list is accessed. It is then determined whether the connection is identified in the authorized connection list. If the connection is not identified in the authorized connection list, the method involves accessing sensitive file information which identifies at least one sensitive file stored on the computing device, and preventing access to the at least one sensitive file identified by the sensitive file information.
US08225090B2
Provided is a method of inserting authentication code into a data packet. The method includes determining whether to insert authentication code into a data packet based on at least one of an importance of the data packet and a type of the data packet, and inserting the authentication code into the data packet based on a result of the determining.
US08225083B2
Techniques for seeding data among client machines, also referred to as boxes herein, are disclosed. To prevent the data distributed among the boxes from being illegitimately accessed or possessed, according to one aspect of the present invention, each box is configured to perform what is referred to herein as a transcription process. In other words, when encrypted data is received, the data is decrypted and then re-encrypted with a key agreeable with a next box configured to receive the data.
US08225077B2
An obfuscation device includes a first instruction generating unit, for each of a first process and a second process, which generates an initialization instruction for securing a management area for managing identification information indicating an instruction block that should be executed next so as to proceed with the process. Further, a second instruction generating unit generates a selection instruction (i) to make a first selection selecting a process that should be proceeded out of the first process and the second process, (ii) to make a second selection selecting an instruction block indicated by the identification information managed in the management area as an instruction block that should be executed for proceeding with the process selected by the first selection, and (iii) to cause the execution device to execute the instruction block selected by the second selection, and stores the selection instruction in a storage unit.
US08225073B2
The present invention concerns configuration of a new category of integrated circuitry for adaptive or reconfigurable computing. The preferred adaptive computing engine (ACE) IC includes a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to an interconnection network. The plurality of heterogeneous computational elements include corresponding computational elements having fixed and differing architectures, such as fixed architectures for different functions such as memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability. In response to configuration information, the interconnection network is operative to configure and reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a plurality of different functional modes, including linear algorithmic operations, non-linear algorithmic operations, finite state machine operations, controller operations, memory operations, and bit-level manipulations. The preferred system embodiment includes an ACE integrated circuit coupled with the configuration information needed to provide an operating mode. Preferred methodologies include various means to generate and provide configuration information for various operating modes.
US08225064B2
There are provided a memory space allocation method and a memory space allocation device that aim at higher-speed accesses when a memory is shared by a plurality of circuits. In this memory, one data is accessed by issuing addresses a plurality of times. Memory allocation is performed so that high-order addresses of memory spaces of an external memory 505 may be maximally shared by a plurality of circuits 501. When the high-order addresses are common, a memory control circuit does not transfer the high-order addresses, thereby reducing the number of transfers of the high-order addresses. Therefore, the higher-speed access is achieved.
US08225063B2
A memory interface allows access to SDRAM by receiving a column address for a data read or write of a burst of data units. Each data unit in the burst has an expected bit size. The interface generates n (n>1) column memory addresses from the received column address. The interface accesses the synchronous dynamic memory to read or write n bursts of data at the n column memory addresses. Preferably, the SDRAM is clocked at n times the rate of the interconnected memory accessing device, and the memory units. The data units in the n bursts preferably have one nth the expected bit size. In this way, SDRAM may be accessed with high memory bandwidth, without requiring an increase in the size of data units in the SDRAM, and the associated data bus. Conveniently, the interface may be operable in two separate modes or configurations. In one mode, SDRAM may be accessed through the interface in a conventional manner. In the second mode, SDRAM is accessed in multiple bursts for each received burst access. The interface may form part of a memory accessing device, or may be a separate component for use with such a device.
US08225057B1
A method implements a single system configuration for backing-up and restoring a clustered storage system. The clustered storage system contains a plurality of storage servers. A virtual volume is configured based on one or more of the plurality of storage servers. The virtual volume shields its physical implementation from a client system. A virtual backup device is configured based on a physical backup device connected with one of the plurality of storage servers. The virtual backup device shields its connectivity from the client system. The method backs-up volume data stored in the virtual volume to the virtual backup device, irrespective of which of the plurality of storage servers is utilized by the virtual volume, or which of the plurality of storage servers is connected with the physical backup device.
US08225055B2
A data backup system includes an administration device built in an image forming apparatus for administering a state of usage of the image forming apparatus every administrative unit of a previously registered user and/or organization, and a backup device for acquiring registration data of the administrative unit and the data of the activities as backup data.
US08225050B2
The present invention discloses a control method of a memory storage device which includes a high density memory. The high density memory is composed of a plurality of MSB pages and LSB pages. The major feature of the method is such that it determines the property of data by its data length, and then decides where the data is to be written according to its property.
US08225041B2
A performance history management method and system are disclosed, in which the time-series performance history such as a volume included in a storage device is managed as one time-series performance history at the time of data rearrangement or device change. The data-oriented performance history providing the logical place of storage of the data stored in the volume is generated using the storage performance monitor program based on the rearrangement history information providing the information on the history of transfer of the data stored in the rearrangement history table and the volume of the storage device by the storage structure information acquisition program, the storage structure information stored in the storage structure information table and the performance history of each volume stored in the storage performance history table by the storage performance information acquisition program. The performance history can be displayed or the performance change detected to display an alert.
US08225039B2
A storage system includes a virtual volume, a plurality of RAID groups, a pool unit for managing a plurality of first real storage areas and a controller. If a write command related to the virtual volume is issued from a higher-level device, the controller selects a prescribed second real storage area from among respective second real storage areas included in a prescribed first real storage area, and associates this prescribed second real storage area with a prescribed area inside the virtual volume corresponding to the write command, and which associates one virtual volume with one first real storage area. A migration destination determination unit selects a migration-targeted second real storage area from among the respective second real storage areas associated with the virtual volume, and selects a migration-destination first real storage area, which is to become the migration destination of data stored in the migration-targeted second real storage area.
US08225038B2
A RAID storage array having a controller and plurality of disk drives is configured into a plurality of groups. The plurality of disk drives are in a plurality of drive trays. The controller includes a main memory. A set of configuration information is stored on a central nonvolatile memory device. The set of configuration information includes group configuration information corresponding to each group of the plurality of groups with which a corresponding disk drive is associated. The set of configuration information is stored on a plurality of remote nonvolatile memory devices that are each associated with at least one of the plurality of drive trays. A bootware control process is loaded into the main memory. The bootware control process is executed. A plurality of service layer processes are loaded into the main memory. The plurality of service layer processes are executed in parallel under the control of the bootware control process. The configuration information is read from the central nonvolatile memory device.
US08225037B2
A method and apparatus for incremental package deployment are described. In one embodiment, the method includes the redirection of disk input/output (I/O) requests to preserve contents of disk memory. Following redirection of the disk I/O request, a software distribution package is created according to disk I/O write requests redirected to unused blocks of disk memory. In one embodiment, the software distribution package is generated using a firmware agent, which uploads the software distribution package to a server, which provisions the software distribution packet to other computers within a uniform environment to ensure that each system within the uniform environment has an identical system and memory image. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08225034B1
In one embodiment, a storage buffer includes a plurality of storage locations configured to store a plurality of incoming instructions. The storage buffer also includes a shift FIFO that is coupled to the plurality of storage locations. The shift FIFO includes an entry configured to store an instruction that is next in a program order. In response to receiving a shift signal, control functionality that is coupled to the plurality of storage locations and to the shift FIFO may cause the instruction that is next in the program order to be moved from a given location of the plurality of storage locations to the entry of the shift FIFO.
US08225024B2
A telecommunications system and constituent two-wire interface module. The two-wire interface module includes a first two-wire interface component configured to receive a first two-wire interface communication following a first two-wire interface protocol, and a second two-wire interface component configured to generate a second two-wire interface communication following a second two-wire interface protocol. The first and second two-wire interface communications each include a header portion and a payload portion. The second two-wire interface component is further configured to use one or more of the data fields from the payload portion of the first two-wire interface communication in the header portion of the second two-wire interface communication.
US08225023B2
An indicator control apparatus includes a bus connector, a signal converting unit, an address configuring unit, and an indicating unit. The signal converting unit receives bus signals from the bus connector. The address configuring unit sets an address of the signal converting unit. The signal converting unit converts the bus signals to digital input/output (I/O) signals in response to the address of the signal converting unit matching with the bus signals. The indicating unit is driven by the I/O signals and correspondingly displays information.
US08225021B2
A master/slave data communication system in which a master device communicates with the slave devices by uniquely addressing each of the slave devices. In order to enhance the security of the data communication system, each slave device includes an address generator for generating unique addresses. Periodically, the master device requests that one or more slave device change its address. In response to the request, the addressed slave device increments its address generating algorithm to provide a new slave address. The master device also includes an algorithm that is synchronized with the slave address generating algorithm, whereby when the slave changes its address, it need not transmit the new slave address to the master device over the bus.
US08225013B2
A Network Address Authority (“NAA”) identifier associated with a storage device is generated from an Advanced Technology Attachment (“ATA”) serial number, or other identifier, associated with the storage device. The ATA serial number is received from the storage device and used to generate a unique string having a predefined length. In one embodiment, a hash function is applied to the ATA serial number to produce a unique value from the ATA serial number and a portion of the unique value, such as the least significant three bytes, is used as the string having the predefined length. Additional identifying data is combined with the predefined length string and reformatted to generate the NAA identifier. For example, an eight-byte data packet including a four-bit type identifier, a three-byte OUI and the three-byte predefined length string is generated and subsequently used to identify the storage device to processes or devices.
US08225010B2
A data recording apparatus includes a connection unit which is capable of connecting, as a recording medium, a first recording medium having a predetermined function and a second recording medium that does not have the predetermined function. The data recording apparatus detects a connection status of the recording medium to the connection unit, controls a menu concerning setting of the predetermined function. If the detection unit detects that the first recording medium is connected to the connection unit, the data recording apparatus makes the menu operable. If the detection unit detects that the first recording medium is removed and then detects that the second recording medium is connected to the connection unit, the data recording apparatus makes the menu inoperable, and maintains the menu in the operable state during a period from removal of the first recording medium to connection of the second recording medium to the connection unit.
US08224993B1
Systems and methods are provided for managing resources. In one implementation, a method is provided in which a management server determines whether a condition related to one or more resources has occurred. The management server further determines at least one program instance to terminate. The at least one program instance executes on one of a plurality of servers. The management server further terminates the determined at least one program instance, which was used by an excess program execution capacity user.
US08224982B2
Various embodiments of network performance assessment apparatus, systems and processes collect performance information pertaining to a current capacity utilization of a network, identify an occurrence of a capacity constraint on a portion of the network that is communicating the program to at least one presentation device, and modify at least one characteristic of the program and/or the communication thereof over the network so that a total capacity utilization of the network is less than a peak capacity of the network.
US08224981B2
A multimedia file transfer system including a redirector configured to identify a request to access a multimedia file via a network at a specified network address, and an accelerator configured to respond to the request by identifying at least one physical data storage device on which at least a portion of the multimedia file is stored, establish a plurality of data transfer links via the network with any of the devices, download a different portion of the multimedia file via each of the data transfer links, where any of the portions are downloaded at least partly concurrently, and provide, at least partly concurrently with downloading any of the portions, downloaded multimedia file data to a multimedia file player in the order in which the data appear in the multimedia file.
US08224974B1
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that configures a download technique. The system starts by determining a priority order for a set of download techniques. The system then attempts to download information from an institution using download techniques from the set of download techniques. While attempting to download information, the system attempts the download techniques in priority order. If information is downloaded using a given download technique, the system records the given download technique and uses the given download technique to perform subsequent downloads.
US08224968B1
A peer-to-peer communication system in which a peer communicating with a tracker node on a local torrent can locate and download files that are not currently available from other peers communicating on the local torrent. To enable this, the tracker node maintains collaboration information for a list of files. The collaboration information includes, for each file, a list of locations at which a full copy of the file may be located. The list of locations may include active peers, dormant peers and remote tracker nodes. The collaboration information may be obtained from each peer when it joins a local torrent. Upon joining the torrent, the peer may provide the local tracker node with a list of files that it is willing to serve.
US08224962B2
An automatic network domain diagnostic, repair, and mapping tool facilitates access by a user to shared resources on a network. A user provides an address, such as a domain name system (DNS) provided address, of the shared resource and user identification information, such as a username and password. The provided address is checked and repaired if necessary to identify the network server having the shared resource. The identified server is checked, such as by pinging the server, to ensure that it is actually responding. The supplied user identification is checked, such as by querying a domain controller, to confirm whether the user identification corresponds to an existing account. When the checks are complete, and everything is found to be in order, the shared resource is mapped automatically for the user.
US08224932B2
A method and system for deploying remote portlet applications into a portal. The system includes a portal server in communication with a client, and including a portal which includes a portlet which receives a request from a user, via the client, to install a portlet application from a remote location, searches for a selected remote portlet application as selected by the user, and triggers an installation of the selected remote portlet application when selected for installation by the user, and a deployment application programming interface (API) which communicates with the portlet and deploys the selected remote portlet application to the portal when triggered by the portlet.
US08224930B2
A device, method, computer program product, and network subsystem are described for signaling a first application relating with a first core and with a second core, and for aggregating information in response to data received after signaling the first application relating with the first core and with the second core, transmitting at least a portion of the information aggregated in response to the data received after signaling the first application relating with the first core and with the second core, or signaling via a third core a partial service configuration change at least in the first core in response to data received after signaling the first application relating with the first core and with the second core.
US08224929B2
Mobile device polling is disclosed. A content polling system includes a content polling module configured to transmit a content polling request to participant mobile devices that is executable by each participant mobile device to return a content polling response to the content polling module. The content polling module is further configured to receive the content polling response from each participant mobile device that indicates an attribute of one or more media content items stored at or previously accessed via that participant mobile device. The content polling module is further configured to transmit a content selection request to a content selection module that indicates the attributes of the content polling responses. The content selection request is executable by the content selection module to return a content selection response indicating selected media content that was selected by the content selection module based on the attributes indicated by the content selection request.
US08224923B2
Methods and apparatus for characterizing unregistered domain names are provided. One embodiment includes obtaining a list of a plurality of resolution requests for the unregistered domain names, determining a number of occurrences of each of the unregistered domain names, computing a plurality of groupings based on the number of occurrences, and associating a score with each of the unregistered domain names.
US08224922B1
The present invention recognizes that there is a need to enable scripts or rules within workflow engines to be more dynamic, more easily created, more easily interpreted by other software entities and moreover to enable many different media types to be provided rather than only one such as voice. The present invention addresses this by making use of new types of web-based scripting applications such as VXML and SALT. One or more new commands are added to existing workflow engines to enable them to instruct media servers to access web-based instructions. Those web-based instructions are then executed at the media server to provide additional media treatment control.
US08224915B2
Systems and methods for integrating instant messaging (IM) services and email services are described. In one embodiment, among others, an email message is received and an IM chat session is automatically initiated from the email message. In some embodiments, the initiation of the IM chat session may be subject to certain programmable criteria.
US08224902B1
Disclosed is a system and method for selective email processing. A traffic separator includes an interface for receiving electronic mail traffic from a source network address. The traffic separator also includes a processor for comparing the source network address to a stored list of network addresses to determine a categorization of the network source address. The traffic separator also includes at least one interface for forwarding the electronic mail traffic to one of many message transfer agents (MTAs) based upon said determination. A database stores the list of network addresses. In one embodiment, one or more network addresses in the stored list are network address ranges.
US08224898B2
Technologies are described herein for relevance-based expiration of data. An initial expiration time for the data is computed based upon an expiration duration associated with the data. The expiration time for the data is periodically re-computed in order to extend the expiration time. A relevance value for the meeting data is computed and the expiration time is set as a function of the computed relevance value. The relevance value may be computed as a product of a user-settable relevance value for the meeting data and a dynamic relevance point for the meeting data. When the computed expiration time for meeting data has been reached, the meeting data is expired, such as through the deletion of the meeting data.
US08224896B2
In one embodiment, the methods and systems detect a meeting; detect a missing participant scheduled to attend the meeting; identify a device actively utilized by the missing participant; and transmit a reminder message to the device.
US08224890B1
An embodiment for reusing data in content files includes receiving a request for a content file and retrieving a recipe that includes a series of instructions needed to compose the content file. Data identified by the recipe may then be retrieved from a content file server and the requested content file is composed based on the set of instructions in the recipe. In an example, the recipe is processed by a recipe player to compose a content file. In another embodiment, content files are stored in a cache as a series of instructions for generating them from portions of other content files. In this way, performance in a content delivery network may be improved by reusing similar data in content files.
US08224889B2
One or more input syndication data feeds are processed to generate an adjusted syndication data feed. The input syndication data feeds are received, and include a plurality of syndication data items. Based on a configuration of a syndication feed adjuster, particular ones of the syndication data items in the received syndication data feed are determined to not be included in an output syndication data feed. The output syndication data feed is provided based on the received input syndication data feeds and a result of the determination. The determination may be provided via a user interface via which, for example, a user may indicate particular ones of the syndication data feed items to not include in the output syndication data feed. Furthermore, in some examples, if no decision has been made about a particular syndication data feed item, that syndication data feed item is not provided in the output syndication data feed.
US08224885B1
A method and system for communicating a display image. The method comprises (a) compressing, by a first application on a first processor, initial updates; (b) determining, by the first application, availability of a second processor comprising compression hardware not in the first processor; (c) determining, by a second application on the first processor, a requirement to compress, by the second processor, future image updates; (d) compressing, by the second processor a first future image update; (e) initiating, by the first application on the first or a third processor, compressing by the second processor of a second future image update; (f) determining, by the first application, an unavailability of the second processor; (g) compressing, by the first application subsequent future image updates, including the second future image update, to generate compressed updates; and (h) transmitting the compressed initial updates, the compressed first update, and the compressed updates to a remote computer.
US08224878B2
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for managing content data in an information terminal. Content data information corresponding to content data is stored in a content information database (DB). Whenever an application requests content data information, a content manager provides the application with index information of content data. Then, the application accesses the content information DB and reads content data information corresponding to the provided index information.
US08224875B1
A computer-implemented method for removing unreferenced data segments from deduplicated data systems may include: 1) identifying a deduplicated data system that contains a plurality of data segments, 2) identifying a plurality of containers within the deduplicated data system, with each container containing a subset of the data segments within the deduplicated data system, 3) identifying at least one container within the plurality of containers that is likely to include a large proportion of data segments that are not referenced by data objects within the deduplicated data system, and then, for each identified container, 4) searching for unreferenced data segments within the identified container and 5) removing the unreferenced data segments from the identified container. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US08224866B2
Disclosure is related to idea tracking and management. The disclosure invokes a method and system for displaying and tracking ideas from a database. The invention accesses a data repository via a data connection, displays the data from the data repository, and allows the displayed data to be characterized as scheduling data, statistical data, action items, current status, and listing of individuals.
US08224862B2
A system and method for a networked viral family tree are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method, comprises receiving a first profile from a first client. The first profile includes a first e-mail address. A second e-mail address is received from the first client. The second e-mail address is associated with a second profile. The second profile is created dynamically when the client provides the second e-mail address. An invitation is sent to the second e-mail address to provide additional profile information associated with the second profile. One or more relationships are associated to the first profile and the second profile to generate a family tree. One or more user interfaces is provided through which the first client provides a plurality of e-mail addresses corresponding to members of the family tree and are associated with of a plurality of profiles.
US08224860B2
A multi-user, elastic, on-demand, distributed relational database management system. The database is fragmented into distributed objects called atoms. Any change to a copy of an atom at one location is replicated to all other locations containing a copy of that atom. Transactional managers operate to satisfy the properties of atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability.
US08224848B2
A system and method for an entropy-based near-match analysis identifies target files that are almost, but not identical, to a reference file. A computing processor computes entropies of the reference and target files, and determines the likeness of the target files to the references file based on the computed entropies. The computing processor determines a near match between the target file and the reference file if the likeness of the two files is within a user-defined tolerance level. According to one embodiment of the invention, the information entropy is a weighted value that takes into account the size of the file.
US08224843B2
Methods and systems for collaborative, incremental specification of identities are provided. Users of an information processing system collaborate to define and refine identities of entities, and users can create references for those identities. Relationships among the identifiers imply related keywords that can be used to improve search, navigation, and integration. Relationship factoring can be used to maintain efficient logical and physical representations.
US08224841B2
Systems and methods are provided for regularly updating a web index with new or updated content, such as meta words or meta streams, for a particular web page address, such as a URL. Web page addresses and associated updated information, such as meta words, meta streams, values, and locations in the web index for those meta words are received. In order to update a web index, which is used by search engines to search web documents, a document identification is retrieved and associated with the updated information. As information in the web index is stored by document identification and not by web page addresses, the document identification may replace the web page address. Each meta word received is matched with corresponding document identifications and associated updated information, which creates an inverted format of the information. The web index may now be updated and stored by the system.
US08224836B1
Systems and methods for multilingual searching allow search terms to be entered in a first language and searched in another language. A selection of a language may be associated with a search term or phrase in a search query, allowing terms from different languages to be searched at the same time.
US08224829B2
A database is provided in which an index for the database is provided as a hierarchical structure of nodes that are navigated during a search until a conclusion set is reached. The structure is organized such that key information relating to a node is inferred from the position of the node in the structure. The index is queried using a search criterion having at least one key, each key including at least one key symbol, in order to locate data matching the search criterion. The index is a hierarchical structure of nodes that is navigated during a search until a conclusion set satisfying the search criterion is reached, and the index is searched by comparing, at each node, a decision group within the search key with a decision value associated with the node. The structure is organized such that the key symbols are not stored at a node in the structure, and each node has less than three exit paths therefrom.
US08224821B2
Embodiments relate to methods and systems for building representations of related subjects. The representations may include a plurality of nodes, each being associated with a subject. Users may be able to access records and/or source documents related to a plurality of subjects and add or modify node characteristics based thereon. Users may be able to perform an interaction and/or modification related to a record page. Other users (e.g., users connected to the record page) may be notified of such interaction and/or modification.
US08224813B2
A method, system, and computer program product for cost based analysis for data access in a database management system. In one approach, the method, system, and computer program product identifies data to access. A first cost for direct I/O storage access and a second cost for cache access are then determined for accessing the data. A comparison between the first cost and the second cost is then performed. Finally, a first portion of identified data is accessed based at least in part upon the comparison.
US08224810B2
Techniques are disclosed for storing and rendering a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a display area for specifying result fields and operators to define an abstract query. Each result field corresponds to a logical field specification of a data abstraction model abstractly describing data in a database. The GUI further includes a display area for specifying classification fields for the abstract query, each classification field including a result field and a classification definition, and the display area including a result field window displaying available result fields and graphical elements configured to allow specification of classification definitions for one or more selected result fields. The classification definition is suitable for dividing data into a plurality of categories. The GUI further includes a selection element for specifying whether the specified classification fields are included with the abstract query for execution, and another selection element for initiating execution of the abstract query.
US08224809B2
Matching systems are provided that are configured to determine if a first entity received from a client device of a first user matches with at least one other entity of a plurality of entities indexed in an index in which each entity is associated with one or more index points. The system includes an application server adapted for communication with a matching engine and the client device. The matching engine is configured to index the first entity by associating the first entity with one or more index points in the index; and search for other entities matching the first entity among the plurality of entities indexed in the index by searching for other entities associated with at least one of the index points with which the first entity is associated. The matching system is adapted to initiate the search for other entities matching the first entity upon occurrence of a match triggering event and interpret the reception of the first entity as a match triggering event such that search is initiated upon reception thereof.
US08224807B2
System, method, computer program product embodiments and combinations and sub-combinations thereof for enhanced utilization of query optimization in a database system are provided. In an embodiment, query optimization of the database system is augmented to include statistics on temporary tables through an implicit update statistics option. Further, a statistics update is generated in the database system on a first optimizable query referencing at least one optimizable column of a temporary table when statistics for the at least one optimizable column are not already available.
US08224805B2
The present disclosure relates to a method for generating a context hierarchy and a system for generating a context hierarchy, and more particularly, to a method for generating a context hierarchy from data streams configured of an infinite set of continuously transactions and a system for generating a context hierarchy from the data streams.
US08224795B2
A first data product that can be read into a computer or a map data processing apparatus, contains therein map data having map-related information of a map. The map data includes: a structure having the map-related information divided into units of a plurality of divisions into which the map is divided; and a structure having management information for the map-related information divided into units of the divisions, and: the map-related information obtained by the computer or the map data processing apparatus can be updated in units of the individual divisions by using the management information.
US08224783B1
The invention provides a system and method for managing related information generated by a plurality of individuals. The information management system includes a data repository adapted to store related data tied to a key parameter field, and at least one application server coupled to the data repository and adapted to provide a plurality of applications to a plurality of users. Each of the applications is adapted to generate at least some data having the key parameter field, and the at least one server is adapted to retrieve and update data when any one of the applications uses and generates data having the key parameter field. The method for managing information includes serving a plurality of applications to respective users, wherein the applications are adapted to generate data tied to a key parameter field. The method also includes storing the data generated by each application and updating any of the data having the key parameter field when one of the applications is used to modify any of the stored data having the key parameter field. The method also includes serving the updated data to any of the other applications when the application retrieves the data having the key parameter field.
US08224777B2
A system and method efficiently generates a set of parallel persistent consistency point images (PCPIs) of volumes configured as a SVS and served by a plurality of nodes interconnected as a cluster. A volume operations daemon (VOD) executing on a node of the cluster is configured to manage generation of the volume PCPIs. Notably, the set of PCPIs is generated substantially in parallel to thereby obtain a consistent and accurate point in time reference of the entire SVS.
US08224763B2
A system and approach for efficient algorithmic signal management for buildings. When a set of signals is received, attributes of the signals may be extracted from a database. The attributes of the signals may be matched against the rule conditions in the database. The matches may be compared to the rules to find the rules which have all of the conditions satisfied. These rules may be executed to modify the further processing of the signals. A signal for instance may be an alarm.
US08224750B1
The invention may be considered a method and a system for changing license rights to a software product installed on a computer without reinstalling the software product. A first license and a second license to the software product are stored on the computer along with code for the software product. Subsequent to the installation, a change license module receives a command to change the license to the software product. In response to the command, the configuration data is changed to associate the software product with the second license and limit use of the software product to uses consistent with the second set of rights.
US08224745B2
A method of processing delinquency items associated with taxes on properties may include receiving preferences from two or more lenders. Delinquency items may be automatically processed according to the preferences of each lender for their respective loans. The preferences may include business rules for whether to process a delinquency item. A lender preference may include specific criteria for a determination process (e.g., criteria for when to act on delinquencies with respect to particular states).
US08224740B2
The present invention is systems and methods for trading. In accordance with these systems and methods, a plurality of trader work stations that are connected to a central server may be provided. Through the work stations and central server, the systems and methods may perform participant qualification, instrument creation, bid/offer entry and response, when hit and take, workup, price retention, price improvement, request for market, bid/off restoration, price generation, position conversion, marking to market, and delivery functions.
US08224736B2
A data processing method and system administers a deferred annuity product during the accumulation phase of a contract term. The annuity product permits the client to select both an interest rate which is reset periodically (reset rate) and an interest rate which is guaranteed for multiple years (MYG rate), during the same contract term. The client may elect to automatically switch from the reset rate to the MYG rate, for the remainder of the contract term, when the reset rate falls below the MYG rate.
US08224732B1
A process for enrolling individual participants in compensation and employee benefit plans using performance scores from a psychometric testing instrument to determine whether individual participants understand the risks of their plan choices. As an individual's score increases on the test, a larger array of plan choices become available allowing greater opportunity for plan customization. This screening process benefits the individual plan participant by limiting plan choices where risks are not properly understood. Additionally, the use of the test as a screener to curtail unsuitable plan choices affords plan sponsors a mechanism to demonstrate that they have properly exercised their fiduciary duty.
US08224727B2
Systems and methods to authenticate and process requests received via social networking websites. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility to store data associating a first phone number of a user with an identification of the user in a social networking website; and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility. The interchange includes a common format processor and a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of controllers of mobile communications. The converters communicate with the controllers in different formats and with the common format processor in a common format. The common format processor receives a request including the identification of the user, identifies the first phone number of the user based on the data stored on the data storage facility, and uses the converters to communicate with a mobile phone at the first phone number to confirm the request.
US08224724B2
Embodiments of the present invention relate to software for automatically forming links between a collateral agreement and receivable secured by the collateral agreement.
US08224721B2
A dunnage platform adapted to support a load for transport comprises a deck including a top surface, a bottom surface and an edge extending therebetween and a pair of legs, each of the legs including at least one foot extending from the leg. The bottom surface of the deck includes at least one stub for each of the legs, the at least one stub positioning the leg along the bottom surface. The at least one foot of each leg is hollow to receive the at least one stub. When the pair of legs is positioned along the deck, the dunnage platform is elevated by the at least one foot extending from the each said leg of the pair of legs.
US08224718B1
A method for managing inventory information that includes displaying the inventory information in a graphical user interface of a mobile device, and adding an item as part of the inventory information, using the mobile device, where adding the item includes adding descriptive metadata about the item to the inventory information.
US08224716B2
In accordance with one or more embodiments, a system determines an image, selects a panel of participants, and outputs the image to each of the participants of the panel of participants. Responses may be collected from the participants and an indication of the results may be output to a shopper.
US08224710B2
A method and system for bidding on multiple auctions. The multiple auction bidding system allows a user to define various models for bidding at multiple auctions. The bidding system then automatically places bids on behalf of the user. The bidding rules may specify to win at most one of multiple auctions at the lowest price or to bid at an auction only if successful at bidding at another auction.
US08224709B2
A system is described to facilitate online transactions via mobile communications, including a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of controllers in different formats for delivery of premium messages, and a common format processor coupled with the plurality of converters in a common format to send the premium messages. The common format processor receives a web request from a mobile phone, in response to a user selection within a mobile application executed separately from a browser application on the mobile phone, provides a web page in response to confirm a pre-defined purchase, transmits at least one premium message to the mobile phone using a first converter to obtain funds for the pre-defined purchase, and communicates with the merchant to make the pre-defined purchase on behalf of the user.
US08224708B1
The pricing of a product is programmatically managed by defining a plurality of pricing states for the product. Each pricing state has a pricing mechanism associated therewith. A pricing mechanism can be a variable pricing mechanism such as an auction. It can also be a fixed pricing mechanism for the sale, rental, or subscription of the product. One or more triggers are defined, each of which may include one or more trigger parameters, to enable the pricing of the product to transition from one pricing state to another pricing state. In this manner, an automated, systematic approach to pricing management is provided.
US08224706B2
A goods information registration method includes: maintaining a goods model database including a goods model identifier which is used in a predetermined shopping mall relay server; receiving a goods identifier or a goods name of goods information which is registered in a predetermined shopping mall server; extracting a model name keyword from the goods name; using the model name keyword for searching the goods model database for at least one recommendation goods model identifier corresponding to the goods identifier, based on a predetermined automatic goods model recommendation logic; presenting search results including a list of the at least one recommendation goods model identifier to a goods registrant, and receiving a selection on any one recommendation goods model identifier of the list, from the goods registrant; and registering the goods information in the shopping mall relay server, in association with the selected recommendation goods model identifier.
US08224699B2
An advertising control method is described. The method includes receiving an advertisement identification message (AIM) at a first mobile device, sending the AIM from the first mobile device to a content display unit (CDU) and storing the AIM in the CDU, selecting at least one content item from among a plurality of content items based, at least in part, on at least one stored AIM, the stoned AIM being stored in the CDU, and displaying the selected content item on the CDU. Related apparatus and methods are also described.
US08224698B2
A method and related system for determining the weighted average conversion (or click-through) probability (WACP) associated with an activity, such as an internet advertising bid activity. The method involves gathering information associated with prior actions relevant to future actions, such as bidding on internet advertisement placement, for example. The gathered information, such as clicks, impressions and conversions resulting from an advertisement placement, is used in an algorithm to calculate the WACP. The method may be carried out as part of a system including one or more computing devices and the execution of instructions embodied in computer-readable media. The algorithm may include the option of weighting the data used, such as by valuing recent data more than older data.
US08224697B2
Managing entitlements to rewards from multiple entitlement programs includes receiving transaction data associated with a reward entity. The transaction data is generated by a computer application that is separate from an entitlement management component used to manage entitlements to rewards from multiple entitlement programs. One of the multiple entitlement programs that applies to the received transaction data is identified. Each entitlement program is associated with a type of reward and has an entitlement rule for determining, from transaction data, an amount of reward credit for the type of reward of the entitlement program. An entitlement rule of the identified entitlement program is used to determine an amount of reward credit to be provided to the reward entity associated with the received transaction data. The determined amount of reward credit is associated with the reward entity associated with the received transaction data.
US08224694B2
Disclosed are systems, computer-implemented methods, and tangible computer-readable storage media for conducting sales. The method embodiment receives a time agnostic inquiry with at least one parameter from a user associated with a sale of an item, identifies one or more discount items that satisfy the inquiry, identifies comparable items for each discount item at nondiscount rates dynamically using real-time data, presents one or more comparable groups, each comparable group including one discount item and the respective comparable items, and furthers the sales process based on user input responding to the presented one or more comparable groups. Also disclosed is a method further including receiving a request from the user for multiple sub-items associated with the item, and engaging in a dialog with the user to enable payment for each of the sub-items with one of multiple payment types. The user can indicate a set of personalized comparable items.
US08224693B2
A computer-implemented method comprises running, by a processor, a plurality of classifiers on a web page to obtain one or more keywords. The method further comprises selecting, by the processor, advertisements based on the one or more keywords.
US08224678B2
A method for tracking health-related spending for validation of disability benefits claims includes receiving, by a Medicare Secondary Payer statute-compliance company, from an authorization server, an identification of an approved transaction initiated by a recipient of insurance settlement funds to acquire at least one of a healthcare-related service and a healthcare-related good by a provider, the recipient authorized to receive the at least one of the healthcare-related service and the healthcare-related good from the provider. The method includes tracking, by the Medicare Secondary Payer statute-compliance company, healthcare-related expenditures by the recipient. The method includes generating, by the Medicare Secondary Payer statute-compliance company, a statement of approved transactions. The method includes transmitting, by the Medicare Secondary Payer statute-compliance company, to a disability benefit provider, the statement of approved transactions.
US08224672B1
Techniques have been developed whereby an actuary-manipulable rating model may be defined and transformed into executable form using automated techniques. By allowing business users to define, review and revise rating models using familiar methodologies and constructs (such as factor tables) and by providing an automated facility for transformation of the rating model into an efficient executable form, systems and techniques in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention facilitate rapid deployment and update of insurance product offerings.
US08224669B2
A health care management system and method for chronic disease management such as diabetes management, hypertension management and like chronic diseases. The system is utilized by both patients and clinicians to manage the patients' chronic diseases and for clinicians to better manage a population of patients.
US08224666B1
The combination of a data communication system, including data input, data retention, and data output means, and to the supporting software to develop an accurate account of charges for a surgical procedure, including pre-op, surgical and post-op, of a patient in a medical facility. The method consists of a pair of sequential and interrelated modular subsystems having an administrator module and a manager module. The method includes inputting of such information as base charges, modifying the inputted base charges based on known circumstances and unique conditions of the patient, and identifying materials and facility resources used in the surgical procedure. Further, the actual materials used in the surgical procedures are identified along with actual items and duration of use during the surgical procedure, for inputting into data input base, where all of this data and information is transmitted to the data retention and data output base for accurately determining the appropriate charges to the patient.
US08224665B2
A method and apparatus for predicting a health benefit for an individual is provided. Outcomes from a first simulation on a set of simulated individuals reflecting a population are stored and used to determine a first risk function and corresponding cost values. Outcomes from a second simulation on a set of simulated individuals reflecting having a healthcare intervention are stored and used to determine a second risk function reflecting the intervention and corresponding cost values of the intervention. A benefit function is derived from the difference of the first and second risk functions. A cost function that describes the cost of the intervention is derived from the respective cost values. The derived benefit function and cost function are used to predict the corresponding benefit and cost of the healthcare intervention for a given individual. Individuals can be ranked by degree of expected benefit.
US08224664B1
A portable cart and related system for operating the cart to automatically detect and track a prescription orders through distribution, particularly within a health-care facility is disclosed. A unique wireless tag is operably secured to each prescription order, and tag readers, which are in communication with a computer system, are positioned near the cart and, if needed, throughout the facility, to detect the presence of a tag within a defined physical area. Preferably, unique tags are also operably secured to each worker and patient. The system this detected information to track the prescription order and preferably verify the proper distribution of the prescription order to the correct patient. More preferably, the system also records, or charts, the distribution event.
US08224657B2
In the method and device for interoperating a first station using a first communication scheme and comprising a first coder and a first decoder with a second station using a second communication scheme and comprising a second coder and a second decoder, communication between the first and second stations is conducted by transmitting signal-coding parameters related to a sound signal from the coder of one of the first and second stations to the decoder of the other station. The sound signal is classified to determine whether the signal-coding parameters should be transmitted from the coder of one station to the decoder of the other station using a first communication mode in which full bit rate is used for transmission of the signal-coding parameters. When classification of the sound signal determines that the signal-coding parameters should be transmitted using the first communication mode and when a request to transmit the signal-coding parameters from the coder of one station to the decoder of the other station using a second communication mode designed to reduce bit rate during transmission of the signal-coding parameters is received, a portion of the signal-coding parameters from the coder one station is dropped and the remaining signal-coding parameters are transmitting to the decoder of the other station using the second communication mode. The dropped portion of the signal-coding parameters are regenerated before the decoder of the other station decodes the signal-coding parameters.
US08224653B2
Methods and systems for operating an avionics system with voice command capability are provided. A first voice command is received. A first type of avionics system function is performed in response to the receiving of the first voice command. A second voice command is received. A second type of avionics system function that has a hazard level higher than that of the first type of avionics system function is performed in response to the receiving of the second voice command only after a condition is detected that is indicative of a confirmation of the request to perform the second type of avionics function. The avionics system may also have the capability to test whether or not the voice command feature is functioning properly.
US08224651B2
A speech recognition and control system including a sound card for receiving speech and converting the speech into digital data, the sound card removably connected to an input of a computer, recognizer software executing on the computer for interpreting at least a portion of the digital data, event detection software executing on the computer for detecting connectivity of the sound card, and command control software executing on the computer for generating a command based on at least one of the digital data and the connectivity of the sound card.
US08224649B2
A method and apparatus for remote access to a target application is disclosed where a system administrator may establish telephonic contact with an interactive voice response system and obtain access to the target application by speech communication. The interactive response system may authenticate the system administrator by implementing various measures including biometric measures. Once access is granted, the interactive response system may broker a communication between the target application using text/data and the system administrator using natural language.
US08224647B2
A system and method to allow an author of an instant message to enable and control the production of audible speech to the recipient of the message. The voice of the author of the message is characterized into parameters compatible with a formative or articulative text-to-speech engine such that upon receipt, the receiving client device can generate audible speech signals from the message text according to the characterization of the author's voice. Alternatively, the author can store samples of his or her actual voice in a server so that, upon transmission of a message by the author to a recipient, the server extracts the samples needed only to synthesize the words in the text message, and delivers those to the receiving client device so that they are used by a client-side concatenative text-to-speech engine to generate audible speech signals having a close likeness to the actual voice of the author.
US08224643B2
Packets of real-time information are sent with a source rate greater than zero kilobits per second, and a time or path or combined time/path diversity rate initially being zero kilobits per second. This results in a quality of service QoS, optionally measured at the sender or the receiver. When the QoS is on an unacceptable side of a threshold of acceptability, the sender sends diversity packets at an increased rate. Increasing the diversity rate while either reducing or maintaining the overall transmission rate is new. CELP-based multiple-description data partitioning sends the base or important information plus a subset of fixed excitation in one packet and sends the base or important information plus the complementary subset of fixed excitation in another packet. Reconstruction produces acceptable quality when only one of the two packets is received and better quality when both packets are received. Reconstruction provides for single and multiple lost packets.
US08224641B2
Multiple nonoverlapping languages within a single document can be identified. In one embodiment, for each of a set of candidate languages, a set of non-overlapping languages is defined. The document is analyzed under the hypothesis that the whole document is in one language and that part of the document is in one language while the rest is in a different, non-overlapping language. Language(s) of the document are identified based on comparing these competing hypotheses across a number of language pairs. In another embodiment, transitions between non-overlapping character sets are used to segment a document, and each segment is scored separately for a subset of candidate languages. Language(s) of the document are identified based on the segment scores.
US08224639B2
The present invention provides apparatus and methods to perform thermal management in a computing environment. In one embodiment, thermal attributes are associated with operations and/or processing components, and the operations are scheduled for processing by the components so that a thermal threshold is not exceeded. In another embodiment, hot and cool queues are provided for selected operations, and the processing components can select operations from the appropriate queue so that the thermal threshold is not exceeded.
US08224622B2
The present invention relates to an iterative method and an apparatus for distribution-independent detection of intermediate outliers and outliers in the distribution tail of streamed data. A considerable sequence of streamed data is sequentially read and subsequently assigned to matching bins. The bins are adaptively allocated when, where and if they are needed. Each bin range expands concurrently with the distribution range of the accumulating items assigned to the bin, adding a margin. For every N'th read item, overlapping or adjoining bins are merged, whereupon the bins are assessed for insider preclusion. Information regarding outliers is extracted from the remaining outlier bins when the entire data sequence has been processed.
US08224615B2
A portable telecommunication test set with a web browser incorporated therein is provided. A standard Hyper Text Mark-up Language or Wireless Application Protocol browser may be incorporated within the portable test set, allowing a network technician to access the Internet as well as other remotely-located sources of information to retrieve data and other useful technical information while in the field for communication network or telephone line maintenance, troubleshooting or repair. The test set may contain memory to locally store certain technical information that may be retrieved and “read” by the built-in browser module when prompted by the network technician. The web browser may display the content of the requested information on a display provided on the test set. Line-specific (as well as manufacturer-specific) test information need not be in a manufacturer-dictated proprietary format. Testing-related data may thus be supplied by a vendor other than the manufacturer of the test set.
US08224612B2
A device has a microcontroller (102) configured to operate in a fully-assembled mode if a device component (100) of the device is connected to a primary portion of the device when power is applied to the device component and configured to operate in a self-test mode if the device component is not connected to the primary portion of the device when power is applied to the device component.
US08224607B2
Described herein is a method and apparatus for performing calibrations on robotic components. In one embodiment, a method for performing robotic calibrations includes moving the calibrating device across a target (e.g., a wafer chuck). Next, the method includes measuring distances between light spots from the sensors and a perimeter of the target using the sensors located on the calibrating device. Next, the method includes determining a displacement of the calibrating device relative to a center of the target. Then, the method includes determining a rotation angle of the calibrating device relative to a system of coordinates of the target. Next, the method includes calibrating a robot position of the robot based on the displacement and rotation angle of the calibrating device with respect to the target.
US08224600B2
A method of monitoring deterioration of lubricating oil and a device therefore capable of judging deterioration of the oil with high accuracy suppressing measurement error due to mixing of foreign matter in the oil. Correlation between relative permittivity and TBN (total base number) of the lubricating oil is obtained beforehand (step S1), electric current and voltage are measured (step S2) when high-frequency voltage is applied between a pair of electrodes located in an oil path in a gas engine, permittivity of the oil is detected (step S3) based on the measurement of current and voltage, TBN of the oil is obtained (step S4) from the correlation between relative permittivity and TBN, and deterioration of the oil is judged by the obtained value of TBN.
US08224598B2
The method for forming the optimal characteristic curve of a solar cell comprises the steps of: providing a first acceptable error; and determining a current-voltage polynomial regression equation, whose square root of the residual sum of square is less than the first acceptable error for a set of solar cell measured data. The order of the current-voltage polynomial regression equation is gradually increased until the square root of the residual sum of square of the current-voltage polynomial regression equation is less than the first acceptable error.
US08224596B2
A battery life management unit for managing the battery life of a portable device. The battery life management unit determines a scheduled event for a user of a portable device and estimates whether battery power of the portable device will last throughout the scheduled event. If the battery power of the portable device is estimated not to last throughout the scheduled event, the battery life management unit determines whether a location of the scheduled event provides one or more battery charging resources. If the location of the scheduled event provides one or more battery charging resources, the battery life management unit reserves a battery charging resource for the user of the portable device.
US08224595B2
A system and method for online monitoring of molten salt corrosion of a component of an apparatus is disclosed. First and second electrodes are electrically isolated from each other within the component and exposed to a corrosive operating environment of the apparatus. The first and second electrodes are electrically coupled such that when an electrical potential difference exists between the first and second electrodes an electrical current flows between the first electrode and the second electrode. The electrical potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode is based at least in part on molten salt corrosion at the first electrode or the second electrode. At least one of the electrical potential difference or the electrical current flowing between the first electrode and second electrode is measured and analyzed such that a corrosion characteristic of the component can be predicted.
US08224591B2
A system for verifying validity of a pressure reading from a transducer on a remote powered system, the system including a comparator subsystem configured to evaluate a pressure reading differential taken between a first transducer that is part of a braking system on a lead powered system and a second transducer that is a part of a braking system on a remote powered system, wherein the pressure reading differential is taken when the lead powered system and the remote powered system are operating in a distributed power application. A method and computer software code, stored on a computer readable media and executable with a processor, are also disclosed for verifying validity of a pressure reading from a transducer on a remote powered system.
US08224589B2
The present invention provides a system and method for automatically deriving unique surrogate response data from experiment results in which inherent data loss occurs in a sufficient number of the samples to disallow quantitative effects estimation at the experimenter's desired level of confidence for statistical significance. In part, the unique surrogate response data sets of the present invention have four primary characteristics including: each is numerically analyzable; each may be more readily or directly obtained in which inherent data loss occurs; each provides a response value for an experiment trial; and each provides information on the effect of the change made to the process or system that would have been obtainable if the experiment samples had had no inherent data loss.
US08224581B1
A process is provided for identifying a cell type in a sample that includes identification of one or more peptide sequences in the sample. Each peptide sequence is assigned to a protein of known sequence. A matrix of assignments is generated for the presence or absence of each peptide in one or more cells. The matrix of assignments is rearranged according to cell classification. A cell type based on the most probable cell classification is identified.
US08224580B2
Methods and devices for more efficiently engineering diversity into recombinant polypeptides and/or nucleic acids are provided herein. For example, a variety of methods of selecting and/or assessing potential crossover sites in an amino acid sequence or a nucleotide sequence are provided, as well as the resulting chimeric product sequences. These methods include, e.g., consideration of structural, functional and/or statistical data in the selection and assessment of sequences and crossover sites for use in recombination.
US08224576B2
One apparatus embodiment includes an electronic assembly, equipped to sense one or more changes in an environmental condition. The assembly includes a logic circuit coupled to: one or more environmental sensors, memory that provides data storage, and a wireless communicator. The logic circuit is configured to perform time measurement, perform environmental measurement with the one or more environmental sensors, store time-stamped environmental data in the memory, and communicate with particular other electronic assemblies, equipped to sense one or more changes in an environmental condition, via the wireless communicator. The logic circuit is also coupled to a power source that provides power to at least one of the logic circuit and the wireless communicator.
US08224574B2
An exemplary navigation system uses a master navigation component at a first location in a vehicle and a slave navigation component at a second location that is a variable displacement to the first location due to physical deformation of the vehicle. Static and dynamic location components provide static and dynamic information of the displacement between the first and second locations. An error estimator estimates errors in the navigational measurement data generated by the slave navigation component based on the navigational measurement data generated by the master navigation component and the displacement information provided by the static and dynamic location components. The master navigation component corrects the navigation measurement data of the slave navigation component based on the determined error and translates the corrected navigation measurement data of the slave navigation component into navigational measurement data in its coordinate system.
US08224571B2
A system and method for rideshare security is provided. A rideshare participant device is made available to at least one rideshare participant during a rideshare. A security check is triggered while the rideshare is in progress. An action is performed based on the security check. Security information regarding the rideshare participant device is gathered and analyzed for inconsistencies. A security response provider is contacted when the inconsistency is identified.
US08224566B2
An apparatus and method to maintain traditional navigational deviation presentation in a manner that is consistent with existing training and safety methodology, but eliminates confusion generated when a navigation needle is placed in a fully pegged position by positively indicating that a needle is off-scale and not representing an actual accurate deviation.
US08224565B2
A method for automatically creating POI by identifying geographic information on a screen of a portable navigation device is disclosed. A first geographic information is retrieved from an information page shown in the screen of the portable navigation device and recognized by comparing with the first geographic information with a geographic information of landmarks stored in a map database of the portable navigation device. It is determined whether the first geographic information is in the map database. If the geographic information is in the map database, a first GPS coordinate corresponding to the first geographic information is obtained and stored as a first POI.
US08224554B2
A fuel injector for an internal combustion engine is provided which has a fuel supply path and a nozzle chamber. The fuel supply path extends a spray hole. The nozzle chamber is defined in the fuel supply path. A nozzle is disposed within the nozzle chamber to establish or block a fluid communication between the fuel supply path and the spray hole. A fuel pressure sensor is installed in the fuel injector so as to be exposed to the fuel in the nozzle chamber. Specifically, the fuel pressure sensor is located closer to the spray hole than a prior art structure in which the fuel pressure sensor is installed in a fuel supply pipe, thus resulting in increased accuracy in measuring a change in pressure of the fuel arising from the spraying of the fuel from the spray hole.
US08224552B2
A method for assembling a gas turbine engine is described. The method includes coupling a first fuel system interface (FSI-1) to a second fuel system interface (FSI-2), and coupling one of the FSI-1 and the FSI-2 to the engine. The method includes coupling a first control system and a second control system to the FSI-1 and to the FSI-2. The first control system includes a first driver A and a second driver A, and the second control system includes a first driver B and a second driver B. The method includes configuring the first control system and the second control system to apply a first over-speed logic algorithm and a second over-speed logic algorithm to determine operation of the first driver A, the second driver A, the first driver B, and the second driver B.
US08224533B2
An auto lighting system that performs lighting control that corresponds to the driver's visual perception is provided. An auto lighting system 1 includes imaging means 2 for capturing an image of the road ahead of a vehicle and lighting control means 3 for turning on or off lights such as headlights based on the image of the road ahead of the vehicle captured with the imaging means 2. The brightness ahead of the vehicle as perceived by the driver is recognized based on the image of the road ahead of the vehicle captured with the imaging means 2, and lighting control in which lights 101 are turned on or off is performed based on the brightness ahead of the vehicle.
US08224530B2
A steering system for a car having two front direction wheels and a number of electronic dynamic-performance control devices; the steering system has a steering wheel for controlling a turn angle of the front direction wheels, and a power-assist device which generates a power-assist torque which is added to the torque exerted on the steering wheel to vary the turn angle of the front direction wheels; the power-assist device has a control unit, which determines operation of the electronic dynamic-performance control devices, and modifies the power-assist torque as a function of operation of the electronic dynamic-performance control devices.
US08224527B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage medium. The computer program product is encoded with instructions configured to control a controller to perform a process. The process includes setting a target steering angle for the vehicle based on a steering amount of the vehicle, setting a target torque difference between right and left steered wheels based on the target steering angle, and setting a target driving/braking force for the vehicle based on an acceleration amount and a braking amount of the vehicle. The process also includes setting each target torque for the right and left steered wheels based on the target torque difference and the target driving/braking force and controlling driving of the steered-wheel motors based on the target torque. The kingpin point is positioned closer to the vehicle on an inside portion of an inside sidewall of a steered wheel.
US08224522B2
A driving operation support device for a vehicle is provided herein. One exemplary driving operation support device includes a road sensor for acquiring information regarding a section of road ahead of a vehicle over which the vehicle is traveling. The driving operation support device may also include a controller for determining whether the section of road is passable for the vehicle based on the information acquired by the road sensor. The driving operation support device may further include a display provided between the section of road and a driver of the vehicle. The controller may display a guidance element on the display at a position overlapped with the section of the road as seen from the perspective of the driver, such that the guidance element indicates whether the road is passable based on the determination of the controller.
US08224514B2
Short term power limits of an electrical energy storage device are progressively tightened toward long term power limits in accordance with net energy flow or magnitude or duration metrics.
US08224513B2
In a powertrain for motor vehicle that includes an engine, a first electric machine and a second electric machine, each machine being able to function alternately as a motor and a generator, a transmission having an input driveably connected to the engine and the first electric machine and a transmission output driveably connected to the second electric machine and wheels of the vehicle, a method for controlling the powertrain includes using the engine to produce wheel torque, performing a gear shift using the transmission, if a reduction in powertrain output torque is to occur while modulating torque during the gear shift, operating one of the first electric machine and the second machine as an electric generator to reduce the powertrain output torque, and if an increase in powertrain output torque is to occur while modulating torque during the gear shift, operating one of the first electric machine and the second machine as an electric motor to increase the powertrain output torque.
US08224511B2
The regulated-control device (10) for precision-stopping of a vehicle (4) with automatic control comprises: an observed kinematic input (44, 46) capable of receiving at least an observed kinematic variable for the vehicle (4), a predetermined setpoint input (42), capable of receiving an unregulated-control setpoint signal, a regulated-control output (40), which is dependent on the observed kinematic input (44, 46) and the setpoint input (42), according to a predetermined characteristic transfer function comprising at least an internal parameter (K, τ).
US08224507B2
Addressed are systems and methods for providing to pilots of landing aircraft real-time (or near real-time) information concerning runway conditions and aircraft-stopping performance to be encountered upon landing. The systems and methods contemplate using more objective data than utilized at present and providing the information in automated manner. Information may be obtained by using conventional ground-based runway friction testers or, advantageously, by using air-based equipment such as (but not limited to) unmanned aerospace vehicles (UAVs).
US08224500B2
The illustrative embodiments provide a computer program product for controlling a vehicle. In an illustrative embodiment, a computer program product is comprised of a computer recordable media having computer usable program code for identifying a dynamic condition. When the dynamic condition is identified, computer usable program code using a knowledge base controls the vehicle.
US08224497B2
A system and method for specifying a temporal window of a fixed size that slides along time; specifying energy consumption as the accumulated power consumption in a temporal window; and applying a threshold that limits the energy consumption in a sliding window, while the power consumption can fluctuate within the window. Power-aware systems apply energy limit as a constraint in performance optimization.
US08224492B2
In one embodiment, the disclosed method includes receiving a user selection of a machine system type from a plurality of machine system types, where the system types corresponding to specific machine component combination. The method also includes configuring alarms based on the machine system type, configuring calculations of vibration parameters based on the machine system type, wherein the calculations are adjusted for the machine system type, and configuring diagnostic information based on the machine system type.
US08224490B2
The present invention is a system for controlling the heating of a plurality of individual housing units in a building. The system includes at least one heating unit contained in each individual housing unit for heating said individual housing unit and a control unit coupled to each of the heating units for controlling the heat output of the control units. At least one outside temperature sensor is coupled to the control unit for providing the control unit with the measured temperature of the air outside the building. The control unit has an algorithm which is configured to decrease the heat output of the heating units when the temperature of the air outside the building increases beyond a predefined minimum outside temperature.
US08224489B2
A control strategy for heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) units used to condition the environment in data centers and other commercial buildings such as retail stores with an open-plan design is provided to coordinate the operation of the actuators of the HVAC units. A supervisory controller receives feedback signals from a plurality of environmental sensors and uses a set of references values to determine control signals to the actuators of the HVAC units. A pseudoinverse of a transfer function matrix G may be used to determine the control signals from errors in the feedback signals relative to the reference signals.
US08224488B2
A system and method for managing the temperature of a data center is disclosed in which a target computer system is identified. The target computer system is the system that requires access or service. The operation of the computer systems in the vicinity of the target computer system is modified to reduce the temperature in the vicinity of the target computer system or along the pathway between the entrance to the data center and the target computer system. After the target computer system is accessed or serviced, the computer systems in the vicinity of the target computer system or along the pathway between the entrance to the data center and the target computer system can be returned to their original state.
US08224487B2
A robot cleaner system is described including a docking station to form a docking area within a predetermined angle range of a front side thereof, to form docking guide areas which do not overlap each other on the left and right sides of the docking area, and to transmit a docking guide signal such that the docking guide areas are distinguished as a first docking guide area and a second docking guide area according to an arrival distance of the docking guide signal. The robot cleaner system also includes a robot cleaner to move to the docking area along a boundary between the first docking guide area and the second docking guide area when the docking guide signal is sensed and to move along the docking area so as to perform docking when reaching the docking area.
US08224472B1
A system for managing a project that includes multiple tasks and a plurality of workers. Input information includes characterizations based upon a human model, a team model and a product model. Periodic reports, such as one or more of a monthly report, a task plan report, a schedule report, a budget report and a risk management report, are generated and made available for display or further analysis or collection into a customized report template. An extensible database allows searching for information based upon context and upon content. Seven different types of project risks are addressed, including non-availability of required skill mix of workers. The system can be configured to exchange data and results with corresponding portions of similar project analyses, and to provide user-specific access to specified information.
US08224467B2
An information processing apparatus in which its function can be improved by installing an additional module to an existing module in a module configuration system.A video information processing apparatus 100, which is an existing module, has the function of reading, from a network module 150 as an additional module, software held in the network module 150. The software held in the network module 150 includes control software for the network module and software for making the control software available to the existing video information processing apparatus 100. The software held in the network module 150 is added to the video information processing apparatus 100, and the network module 150 is operated by the video information processing apparatus 100.
US08224456B2
A lead, method of manufacturing same, and system for stimulation is provided. The lead includes an insulative member or layer that masks a portion of the electrode(s) to effectively generate a directional lead that focuses or directs the stimulation to desired location(s). In another embodiment, the lead further includes a marking system to allow a clinician to orient the directional lead, as desired, while the lead is within a body.
US08224452B2
An implantable neurostimulator system adapted to provide therapy for various neurological disorders is capable of varying therapy delivery strategies based on the context, physiological or otherwise, into which the therapy is to be delivered. Responsive and scheduled therapies can be varied depending on various sensor measurements, calculations, inferences, and device states (including elapsed times and times of day) to deliver an appropriate course of therapy under the circumstances.
US08224451B2
Methods of facilitating stimulation of a stimulation site within a patient include implanting a distal portion of a first stimulating member such that the distal portion of the first stimulating member is in communication with a first stimulation site located within a patient, securing the distal portion of the first stimulating member at a first securing site with a first securing device positioned proximal to the first stimulation site, forming a first loop of at least 360 degrees with a portion of the first stimulating member proximal to the first securing device, securing the first loop with a second securing device at a second securing site having a position that is greater than or equal to substantially 180 degrees but less than or equal to substantially 315 degrees along the first loop from the first securing site, and positioning the second securing device and a stimulator to be coupled to a proximal end of the first stimulating member to maintain a curve in the first stimulating member of at least 45 degrees between the second securing device and the stimulator.
US08224445B2
An implantable pacemaker is provided with a far-field sensing channel which requires a reduced refractory period during the time when pacing pulses are delivered as compared with sensing channels using intra-cardiac electrodes. The far-field sensing channel may use the conductive housing of the implantable device or can and an indifferent electrode mounted on the device header as the electrodes for its differential inputs. Such a far-field sensing channel is able to sense activity occurring in either the atria or the ventricles for the purposes of arrhythmia detection and/or capture verification.
US08224441B2
An AED includes defibrillation circuitry housed within an enclosure, a first processor programmed to periodically test the operability of the defibrillation circuitry and a second processor in communication with the first processor. The AED further includes a visual indicator, such as a red/green LED, positioned at the exterior of the enclosure that is operatively connected to the second processor. The second processor is programmed to control the visual indicator in response to the periodic test results provided to it by the first processor.
US08224434B2
An implantable seizure monitor can include at least one sensing electrode and an electronics module configured to detect, record and/or log neurological events. For example, the electronics module can be configured to detect brainwaves indicative of seizures, such as, for example, epileptic seizures, and to create a log indicating when such seizures occur. The implantable seizure monitor can include a cushioning member made of a soft material and configured to be implantable between the epidermis and cranium of a patient.
US08224429B2
A watch or other type of portable electronic console that employs a number of different functions in order to improve its usability. The watch may, for example, allow a user to connect the watch to one or more remote electronic devices, such as an electronic performance sensor or MP3 player. The watch then displays information related to the connected electronic devices. Still further, the watch may allow a user to control the operation of one or more connected remote electronic devices. Thus, if the watch is connected to a remote speed/distance monitor employing a calibration variable, then the watch may allow the user to adjust the calibration variable.
US08224424B2
The invention is directed biopsy site markers and methods of marking a biopsy site, so that the location of the biopsy cavity is readily visible by conventional imaging methods, particularly by ultrasonic imaging. The biopsy site markers of the invention have high ultrasound reflectivity, presenting a substantial acoustic signature from a small marker, so as to avoid obscuring diagnostic tissue features in subsequent imaging studies, and can be readily distinguished from biological features. The several disclosed embodiments of the biopsy site marker of the invention have a high contrast of acoustic impedance as placed in a tissue site, so as to efficiently reflect and scatter ultrasonic energy, and preferably include gas-filled internal pores. The markers may have a non-uniform surface contour to enhance the acoustic signature. The markers have a characteristic form which is recognizably artificial during medical imaging. The biopsy site marker may be accurately fixed to the biopsy site so as to resist migration from the biopsy cavity when a placement instrument is withdrawn, and when the marked tissue is subsequently moved or manipulated.
US08224415B2
Methods and devices to detect analyte in body fluid are provided. Embodiments include processing sampled data from analyte sensor, determining a single, fixed, normal sensitivity value associated with the analyte sensor, estimating a windowed offset value associated with the analyte sensor for each available sampled data cluster, computing a time varying offset based on the estimated windowed offset value, and applying the time varying offset and the determined normal sensitivity value to the processed sampled data to estimate an analyte level for the sensor.
US08224413B2
An analyte monitor includes a sensor, a sensor control unit, and a display unit. The sensor has, for example, a substrate, a recessed channel formed in the substrate, and conductive material disposed in the recessed channel to form a working electrode. The sensor control unit typically has a housing adapted for placement on skin and is adapted to receive a portion of an electrochemical sensor. The sensor control unit also includes two or more conductive contacts disposed on the housing and configured for coupling to two or more contact pads on the sensor. A transmitter is disposed in the housing and coupled to the plurality of conductive contacts for transmitting data obtained using the sensor. The display unit has a receiver for receiving data transmitted by the transmitter of the sensor control unit and a display coupled to the receiver for displaying an indication of a level of an analyte. The analyte monitor may also be part of a drug delivery system to alter the level of the analyte based on the data obtained using the sensor.
US08224402B2
An apparatus and method for a power-efficient framework to maintain data synchronization of a mobile personal computer (MPC) are described. In one embodiment, the method includes the detection of a data synchronization wakeup event while the MPC is operating according to a sleep state. Subsequent to wakeup event, at least one system resource is disabled to provide a minimum number of system resources required to re-establish a network connection. In one embodiment, user data from a network server is synchronized on the MPC without user intervention; the mobile platform system resumes operation according to the sleep state. In one embodiment, a wakeup alarm is programmed according to a user history profile regarding received e-mails. In a further embodiment, data synchronizing involves disabling a display, and throttling the system processor to operate at a reduced frequency. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08224395B2
A method may include connecting to another user device, identifying a geographic location of the other user device, identifying a geographic location of the user device, mapping a sound source associated with the other user device, based on the geographic location of the other user device with respect to the geographic location of the user device, to a location of an auditory space associated with a user of the user device, placing the sound source in the location of the auditory space, and emitting, based on the placing, the sound source so that the sound source is capable of being perceived by the user in the location of the auditory space.
US08224394B2
A device for programming user-defined information into an electronic device is provided. The programmer allows a user to program customized information, such as user-selected audio, video, or Internet access information into his or her programmable device. Such electronic devices include wireless telephones, pagers, and personal digital assistants. The programmer allows a user to, among other things, customize the device to suit his or her particular taste.
US08224393B2
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special
US08224388B2
A mobile communication terminal for displaying supplementary information on a background screen includes a communication unit, a storage unit for storing cumulative transmissions and receptions of calls and messages corresponding to supplementary information, a cumulative number rank determiner for comparing the cumulative transmissions and receptions of calls and messages and determining a cumulative number rank for the phone number, a controller for creating a map consisting of the supplementary information arranged from the highest to the lowest cumulative number rank of the phone number, and a display unit for displaying the supplementary information together with the cumulative number rank. The terminal allows a user to easily visualize supplementary information corresponding to a phone number by display on the background screen.
US08224387B2
A beamforming system that can be used for both receive and transmit beamforming is provided. The system receives samples of a number of signals, each sample containing a band of frequencies and routes all sampled signals associated with the same beamformed frequency band to a predetermined processing block. A predetermined number of the routed sampled signals are selected sequentially according to predetermined criteria, weighted and accumulated to form a composite signal. Individual signals are then selected from the composite signal and routed to an appropriate output. The system uses a much smaller number of weighting functions than conventionally required, with processing for a single frequency being performed in the same processing block. This reduces the complexity of beamforming processing substantially and simplifies frequency reuse. In addition a single DSP design that works for both transmit and receive beamforming can be implemented.
US08224386B2
Radio base station equipment is connected to radio transmitting/receiving equipment provided in sectors (S), into which a communication area is divided, by an optical fiber (30), and performs radio communication with mobile terminals located in the respective sectors (S) via the radio transmitting/receiving equipment wherein a delay processing section delays a signal for each sector (S) according to a delay correction value obtained by subtracting a delay amount in each sector (S) from a maximum delay amount of a delay amount measured for each sector (S) and a baseband processing section obtains the signal from each sector (S) delayed by the delay processing section by setting a reception window at a position corresponding to the maximum delay amount.
US08224372B2
A first method includes determining if a sum of the transmit powers of individual component carriers is less than a maximum user equipment transmit power, adjusting the transmit power of one or more of the component carriers if the sum of the transmit powers of the individual component carriers is not less than the maximum user equipment transmit power, and transmitting the component carriers to a network access node. A second method includes identifying a component carrier with minimum transmit power and a component carrier with a maximum transmit power, calculating a power difference, determining if the power difference is greater than a predetermined maximum power difference and, if it is, increasing the transmit power of the component carrier with minimum transmit power by a first amount and decreasing the transmit power of the component carrier with the maximum transmit power by a second amount.
US08224361B2
Coincident with the evolution, maturation, etc. of (e.g., Short Message Service, Multimedia Message Service, IP Multimedia Subsystem, etc.) wireless messaging ecosystems an infrastructure that provides, in new and creative ways, enhanced message routing capabilities. The dynamic, flexible, and extensible nature of the enhanced message routing capabilities support, among other things, very large volumes of messaging traffic, numerous billing paradigms, different Quality of Service levels and possible charges for same, improved troubleshooting and problem investigation capabilities, etc. The infrastructure may optionally leverage the capabilities of a centrally-located Messaging Inter-Carrier Vendor.
US08224358B2
A method for realizing one card for multi-number service is disclosed, wherein the subscriber's card of the called terminal has a plurality of numbers, and the method comprises: determining the subscriber card information of the called terminal, the present activated number and the mobile switch center MSC_S based on the called number; connecting the call to the MSC_S based on the obtained routing information of the said MSC_S, and then performing the subsequent connection of the call based on the called subscriber card information. When calling a user experiencing one card for multi-number service, regardless the telephone number the user registers, the connection to the number that the user currently uses could always be realized, so as to obtain the calling or short message service targeted to the one card for multi-number service, that is, a plurality of number could be online concurrently.
US08224357B2
To address the need for new techniques that can improve paging efficiency, a network may employ a method such as that depicted in flow diagram 100 of FIG. 1. The network combines (110) at least one active set associated with each of N previous interactions of a mobile unit to produce a last location set, where N is a number of previous interactions of the mobile unit with the network. The network then initiates (120) paging of the mobile unit in each coverage area represented in this last location set. This method may be further optimized by determining the value of N such that a desired probability of locating the mobile unit in a coverage area represented in the last location set is at least minimally achieved.
US08224356B2
A novel and improved method and system for paging a cellular telephone or other wireless terminal using two paging channels that reduces standby mode power consumption described. In one embodiment of the invention, a minimally encoded quick paging channel is established over which short, quick page messages are transmitted during one of a set of quick paging slots. The quick page message indicates that a communications request has been received, and that the receiving communication terminals should process a highly encoded full paging channel over which more detailed, full page messages are transmitted during the next full paging slot. A terminal monitors full paging channel only after a quick page message has been received on the quick paging channel.
US08224353B2
A trusted third party information arbiter for facilitating third party information sources, such as advertisers or data processing services, to accurately target communications to mobile device users. Illustratively, the mobile device users can control target communications through the utilization of discretion requests/permissions processed by the third party information arbiter. Furthermore, the mobile device users may further interact with the trusted third party information arbiter to provide/release additional personal information. For example, a mobile device user may be provided an increasingly rich rewards or payments that may be provisioned by discount, coupons or offers associated with existing or new product advertisements or promotional information messages.
US08224343B2
The present invention provides a method of data retransmission in MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service), comprising: a step in which a base station allocates an uplink time-frequency resource block to mobile stations; a step in which the mobile stations feed back uplink feedback signalings with respect to the received downlink MBMS service data to the base station on the allocated uplink time-frequency resource block, wherein the uplink feedback signalings with respect to one and the same downlink MBMS service data are combined in one and the same uplink time-frequency resource, and the uplink feedback signalings with respect to different downlink MBMS service data are multiplexed in one uplink time-frequency resource block; a step in which the base station decides whether to retransmit a data block based on the fed-back uplink feedback signalings.
US08224341B2
Provided is a method for providing a service, and a method and an apparatus for allocating a resource in a wireless communication system. Services to be provided to users are divided into one of primary and secondary services based on priority in terms of frequency utilization. A service is provided using frequency channel remaining after being used in the primary service in a time zone when frequency utilization rate of the primary service is a threshold value or less. Accordingly, when service data corresponding to the secondary service are received, a user terminal stores the service data in a storage unit. Then, when the user requests provision of the corresponding service, the user terminal provides the stored service data to the user.
US08224334B1
Providing for data exchange between mobility management and location management components over a signaling network to facilitate establishment of end-to-end mobile communication is disclosed herein. Components can include an access control component that receives identification information associated with a target mobile device, and a lookup component associated with the mobile device that can provide routing information via a signaling network to the access control component. Such routing information can be sufficient to locate a second access control component serving the target device to assist in establishing end-to-end communication between the target device and an originating device. By such systems and methods, the claimed subject matter can increase scalability and capacity of finite core network resources engaged in facilitating mobile communication.
US08224326B1
Call handover in a cellular telecommunication system is improved by adjusting a rate-based parameter, such as that controlled by an adaptive multi-rate (AMR) codec in a time-division multiple access (TDMA) network, to increase call handling capacity when handover is indicated but the candidate handover cell does not have sufficient capacity to handle another call.
US08224324B2
Cell re-selection for a mobile terminal in a single frequency layer includes determining termination of a multicast broadcast multimedia service (MBMS) session in that frequency layer and checking for availability of stored information relating to a previously used frequency. If this information is available, then a check of the validity of stored information is made. If this information is not available or is not valid, then the mobile station selects a frequency from the SIB 11/12 list and attempts cell selection on a suitable cell on the selected frequency. If the cell selection attempt is not successful, then initial cell selection procedures are carried out to determine to which cell the terminal should move.
US08224313B2
A system and method for controlling systems of a vehicle with a cell phone. The cell phone is associated with the vehicle through a user interface. User preferences are received through the user interface for sending commands from the cell phone to the vehicle for controlling the systems of the vehicle. A wireless connection is established between the vehicle and the cell phone. A distance is determined between the cell phone and the vehicle. One or more commands are sent to the vehicle to control the systems based on the user preferences.
US08224312B2
A method of determining an environment wherein a mobile terminal of a mobile radiocommunication network is situated, the mobile terminal being associated to an identifier. The method includes: i) retrieving the identifier; ii) retrieving at least one technical feature of the mobile terminal according to the identifier, the one technical feature being related to the capability of the mobile terminal of receiving a radio signal; iii) taking a measurement indicative of a quality of the radio signal at the mobile terminal; and iv) applying to the measurement an operation for determining the environment, the operation depending on at least one parameter, wherein the method further includes, before step iv), v) adjusting at least one of the at least one parameter and the measurement according to the at least one technical feature.
US08224305B2
A system and method for wireless conferencing. A personal wireless device is linked with a conferencing system for implementing a conference call. Voice input is received from a user through the personal wireless device. The voice input is transmitted to the conferencing system in response to receiving the voice input. The voice input is broadcast through one or more speakers in communication with the conferencing system in response to determining the voice input may be inaudible to one or more users in a room.
US08224273B2
A diversity receiver includes: a plurality of demodulating means for demodulating inputted OFDM signals, to output their demodulated signals; noise component calculating means provided for each demodulating means, for calculating noise components included in the demodulated signals outputted from corresponding demodulating means; channel profile calculating means provided for each demodulating means, for calculating channel profiles based upon the demodulated signals outputted from corresponding demodulating means; transmission channel decision means for determining transmission channel based upon the channel profiles; reliability information generating means for generating reliability information indicating reliability of the demodulated signals outputted from each demodulating means, based upon the noise components and the results of the determinations by the transmission channel decision means; a weighting factor calculating means for calculating, depending on the reliability information, weighting factors used in combining the demodulated signals outputted from each demodulating means; and a combining means for combining, depending on the weighting factors, the demodulated signals outputted from each demodulating means.
US08224269B2
A vector modulator calibration system (“VMCS”) for obtaining a calibrated modulated output signal while minimizing spurious output signals from a vector modulator is shown. The VMCS may include a power sensor in signal communication with the vector modulator and a digitizer in signal communication with the power sensor.
US08224259B2
A radio-frequency (RF) receiver includes a receiver analog circuitry and a receiver digital circuitry. The receiver analog circuitry resides within a first integrated circuit and the receiver digital circuitry resides within a second integrated circuit. The second integrated circuit couples to the first integrated circuit via a one-bit digital interface. The receiver analog circuitry receives an RF signal and processes the received RF signal to generate a digital signal. The receiver analog circuitry provides the digital signal to the receiver digital circuitry. The receiver digital circuitry includes a digital down-converter circuitry that mixes the digital signal with an intermediate frequency (IF) local oscillator (LO) signal to generate a digital down-converted signal. The receiver digital circuitry also includes a digital filter circuitry that filters the digital down-converted signal to generate a filtered digital signal.
US08224246B2
Example method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed to enable near-field communication to be used in out-of-band initialization methods for connection setup for device-to-device communication. Example embodiments of the invention include a method comprising the steps of initiating, by a first device, an out-of-band near-field communication connection with a second device by transmitting wireless communication signals including necessary power for providing the near-field communication connection; sending a first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, to the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection; receiving second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, from the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection; selecting a role for the short-range communication connection by adopting short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that correspond to the role; discarding short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted; and initiating the short-range communication connection according to the selected role using the adopted short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.
US08224243B2
A communication system performs, by first and second data processing apparatuses, an electromagnetic-induction communication using a carrier having a single frequency. A transfer rate for use between the first and second data processing apparatuses is changeable in one transaction. The first data processing apparatus determines whether a transfer rate can be changed based on data transmitted from the second data processing apparatus. When the first data processing apparatus determines that the transfer rate can be changed, the first data processing apparatus transmits to the second data processing apparatus a request to change the transfer rate to one of a plurality of transfer rates.
US08224242B2
An apparatus, a method and a relay system for removing self-interference (SI). If a relay transmitting end transmits relay-reference signals (R-RS) through a region where a base station does not transmit signals, based on a protocol predetermined with the base station, a relay receiving end obtains SI channel values from signals transmitted by the relay transmitting end and received through a self-interference channel with use of the R-RS, removes the SI from transmitting signals of an uplink or an downlink based on the SI channel values, and relays the SI removed transmitting signals.
US08224237B2
Method and apparatus related to on-board message repeating for vehicle consist communications system
A communications method for a vehicle consist (10) comprising a lead (14) and a remote (12A/12B/12C) powered vehicle, the lead (14) vehicle comprising first (29A) and second (29B) antennas each associated with a radio, and the remote vehicle (12A/12B/12C) comprising third (29A) and fourth (29B) antennas each associated with a radio. The method comprises transmitting an outbound message from the lead (14) vehicle, receiving the outbound message at the third antenna (29A) and supplying a signal to the associated radio for producing a first received signal, and receiving the outbound message at the fourth antenna (29B) and supplying a signal to the associated radio for producing a second received signal, determining a first and second signal quality metric for the respective first and second received signals, selecting the first or second received signal for processing by the remote vehicle (12A/12B/12C) in response to the first and second signal quality metrics.
US08224235B1
A system and method communicates commands from a command originator to receiving devices, yet the receiving devices do not confirm receipt of the command. The most current command (e.g. the one with the highest sequence number) is rebroadcast by the command originator and the receiving devices, tending to be more frequent upon detection of an event indicating that the most current command was not received by at least one other device, and less frequently upon detection of an event indicating that the most current command was provided with sufficient duplication that if another device could receive it, the device likely did receive it, subject to a maximum and minimum rate.
US08224229B2
An image forming apparatus is swung with a stopper which is swingable simultaneously with a switching member, and which allows rotation of an output gear by being disengaged from the output gear with a swinging movement of the switching member to an ON side, and which stops the rotation of the output gear by being engaged with the output gear with a swinging movement of the switching member to an OFF side. When the switching member is swung to the OFF side, the stopper is engaged with the output gear at the same time as the switching member is disengaged from the triggering member or before the switching member is disengaged from the triggering member. Accordingly, a descent of a pressing plate at the time of stopping the pressing plate is prevented without using a one-way clutch.
US08224228B2
A cover closer having a drive unit for electrically opening and closing a cover of a copying machine or the like is described. The cover closer can ease the burden of manipulation of the cover and minimize the constraints on designing the main body of the copying machine and the like. The cover closer is provided with a compact drive unit having a high reduction ratio by the use of planetary gears which reduce the input torque necessary for opening and closing the cover, so as to downsize an electric motor used in the drive unit. The drive unit can therefore be installed within the hinge structure of the cover closer.
US08224225B2
A waste powder recovery container is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus, and further, is provided with a recovery port, through which waste powder discharged from a component part constituting a process unit is recovered, at one end in a longitudinal direction and an inclined surface on the container side, which is gradually inclined downward in a lateral direction and has the recovery port formed thereat. The inclined surface on the container side moves an opening/closing member disposed in a discharging portion formed at the component part constituting the process unit by pushing an inclined surface on a main body side formed at the opening/closing member, thereby opening a discharging port formed at the discharging portion, to discharge the waste powder and recover the waste powder through the recovery port.
US08224218B2
A developing device includes a photosensitive member having a surface on which a visible image is formed and a developing member to feed a developer to the photosensitive member, and an image forming apparatus having the developing device. The photosensitive member includes a developing region, to which the developer is transmitted by the developing member, and a transfer region, from which the developer of the photosensitive member is transmitted to a recording medium. A redistributing unit is disposed between the developing region and the transfer region, to redistribute the developer present on the photosensitive member. When developing a solid image and a halftone image in sequence is desired, even if a portion of the developer for use in development of the halftone image is prematurely transmitted to the photosensitive member, the redistributing unit can redistribute the transmitted developer so as to use the transmitted developer to develop the halftone image, resulting in a reduction in likelihood of image defects.
US08224214B2
A package suitable for containing marking material used in a printing machine. The package includes a package surface adapted to engage one or more surfaces of the printing machine and a material identifier mechanism for verifying the marking material. The package may also include a material pouch, which is adapted to contain the marking material, joined with or formed in the package surface. Alternatively, the package may include a carrier adapted to engage one or more surfaces of the printing machine and a material pouch joined with the carrier. Other aspects include a method of remanufacturing a package suitable for containing marking material used in a printing machine.
US08224213B2
A toner transferring mechanism is provided with: an agitating and transferring member disposed in a housing accommodating toner, and having a blade portion thereof formed in a spiral shape on a circumferential portion of a rotatable shaft portion; and a plurality of scraping members making contact with the agitating and transferring member, and then scraping toner adhering to the agitating and transferring member, the scraping members being arranged in an axial direction of the agitating and transferring member, wherein the scraping members are arranged so that the scraping members adjacent to each other form an interval which is approximate to a spiral pitch of the blade portion of the agitating and transferring member.
US08224210B2
In one embodiment, an image developer includes a developer roller rotatable along a photoconductor for presenting a layer of ink to the photoconductor and a cleaner for cleaning ink from the developer roller. The cleaner includes a first cleaning roller rotatable along the developer roller for removing ink from the developer roller and a second cleaning roller rotatable against the first cleaning roller for mechanically removing ink from the first cleaning roller. In one embodiment, the second cleaning roller deforms against the first cleaning roller such that the cross-sectional length of contact between the first and second cleaning rollers is in the range of 20% to 38% of the circumference of the first cleaning roller. In one embodiment, the second cleaning roller has a density in the range of 90 kg/m3 to 150 kg/m3.
US08224191B2
A main control section 41 displays a prompt for cleaning of a discharge wire 15-2 to a user together with a prompt for maintenance work for replacement of a toner container (consumable item) 21 to the user on a display screen of a touch panel section 53, for example, when a replacement timing of the toner container (consumable item) 21 that has been reached is detected. The user who sees the content of the display carries out cleaning work of the discharge wire 15-2 at the same time with maintenance work for replacement of the toner container 21. This can contribute to an improvement in user convenience and also increase the operating capacity of an apparatus body to the extent possible.
US08224184B2
A wireless communication network architecture 100 is provided. The wireless communication network architecture consists of multiple fiber optic rings 110, 120, 130 and employs a Radio over Fiber (RoF) network. Each of these fiber optic rings is constructed using an optical fiber on a segment 105, 115, 125 formed by dividing a path. Each fiber optic ring includes a number of remote antenna units (RAUs) 181-184, 191-194. Each RAU 4 is integrated into a corresponding Add/Drop Multiplexer (ADM) 186-189, 196-199 and each ADM is further connected to a base station.
US08224179B2
An exemplary portable electronic device includes a main body defining a shaft receiving hole an inner surface in the shaft receiving hole, a camera unit mounted on the main body, and a fastening member. The camera unit includes a camera module, and a shaft connected with the camera module. The shaft is rotatably received in the hole, and axially movable relative to the main body. The inner surface and the shaft cooperatively define a wedge-shaped space. The fastening member includes an elastic portion. The elastic portion is slidable between a first position where the elastic portion is engaged in a narrow end of the space, and the shaft is securely fastened to the main body by the elastic portion, and a second position where the elastic portion is disengaged from the narrower end of the space, and the shaft is unfastened from the main body.
US08224174B2
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method comprising: from an angled first end region of a substantially cylindrical beam splitter, reflecting incident light striking from any of a first set of predefined directions and to substantially transparently convey through said beam splitter and to a camera lens incident light traveling in any of a second set of predefined directions, the beam splitter defining a longitudinal central axis.
US08224172B2
An autofocus system includes: a focus operating device which performs focusing in a shooting screen of a camera; a best focus range detecting device which detects a range of a best focus state from the shooting screen representing the result of the focusing performed by the focus operating device; a face detecting device which detects a range of a human face from the shooting screen; an AF frame automatic setting device by which, when a human face exists in the range being in the best focus state in the shooting screen, the position of an AF frame representing the range of an AF area that is the range to be focused by autofocus in the shooting screen, is automatically set to a face frame representing the range of the human face; and an AF frame automatic tracking device which automatically tracks a subject in the set AF frame.
US08224168B2
An image pickup apparatus having removably attached thereto a lens apparatus including a blur correction unit includes a selection unit configured to select a first mode in which a mechanical shutter is used to start exposure or a second mode in which an electronic shutter is used to start exposure; and a controller configured to output information indicating the start of exposure to the lens apparatus. The controller changes the information indicating the start of exposure depending on whether the first mode or the second mode is selected to control the lens apparatus to perform different blur correction operations.
US08224165B2
A heater is described. The heater includes a ferromagnetic conductor and an electrical conductor electrically coupled to the ferromagnetic conductor. The ferromagnetic conductor is positioned relative to the electrical conductor such that an electromagnetic field produced by time-varying current flow in the ferromagnetic conductor confines a majority of the flow of the electrical current to the electrical conductor at temperatures below or near a selected temperature.
US08224157B2
An apparatus for extracting spatio-temporal feature and detecting video copy based on the same in a broadcasting communication system, the apparatus includes: an original video feature extractor configured to receive an original video and extract spatio-temporal feature of the original video; an original video feature database configured to store the extracted feature; a query video feature extractor configured to receive a query video and extract spatio-temporal feature of the query video; and a feature comparison and decision unit configured to compare the spatio-temporal feature of the original video and the spatio-temporal feature of the query video and decide similarity of the original video and the query video based on the spatio-temporal features of the original video and the query video.
US08224156B2
A recording apparatus, a reproduction apparatus and a file management method are disclosed wherein, even if one of files recorded on a recording medium cannot be reproduced regularly, another file selected by the user can be reproduced normally. A file having a hierarchical structure formed from video data and audio data both in the form of compressed data together with information necessary for processing of the video data and audio data is produced and recorded on a predetermined recording medium. Upon production of the file, information regarding decoding of the video data and audio data is disposed collectively on the top side of the file.
US08224154B2
The present invention relates to a recording control apparatus and a recording control method which can improve the convenience of a storage medium and also to a program and a storage medium. Image annulus data or audio annulus data having a first data amount in accordance with a data amount required for reproduction for first reproduction time and low-resolution annulus data or frame-meta annulus data having a second data amount in accordance with a data amount required for reproduction for a second reproduction time that is different from the first reproduction time are recorded on an optical disk so that the data are periodically arranged. The image annulus data or the audio annulus data is extracted from a data series of corresponding video data or audio data. The low-resolution annulus data or the frame-meta annulus data is extracted from a data series of low-resolution that is video data having a less data amount or a series of frame metadata. Clip metadata generated in accordance with the frame metadata is recorded at random independently of those data. The present invention is applicable to a disk drive apparatus.
US08224151B2
An imaging apparatus and method includes an input device to which image data is inputted, a recorder which records the inputted image data into a recording medium, an eraser which erases the recorded image data in the recording medium, a protector which protects from an erasure setting so as to protect from erasure by the eraser of the recorded image data, and a display which displays a list of reduced images of a plurality of image data recorded in the recording medium. While the recorder is controlled utilizing a filing system and the list of reduced images of the plurality of image data recorded in the recording medium is displayed, the display is controlled so as to display a mark indicating that protection from erasure is set with respect to the recorded image data for which protection from erasure is set by the protector.
US08224149B2
A record/reproduction apparatus capable of performing record-reproduction with high definition and standard definition appropriately records information, and includes: at least one of a display unit and an output unit to an external display device; a hard disk drive; and a disc drive corresponding to record-reproduction using a disc for record-reproduction in a high definition mode and a disc for record-reproduction in a standard definition mode. With the configuration, the record/reproduction apparatus performs a display on the display unit in the high definition mode or a display-output to the output unit in the high definition mode at activation, recognizes one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive as a record medium after the display-outputting, and sets a record mode to one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive based on a result of the recognition.
US08224129B2
A system for auto-deletion of image related data in an imaging system, includes an imaging system. The imaging system comprises a repository for storing image representative data, and is capable of archiving image representative data in the repository, and deleting image representative data from the repository. The system also includes an archiving system, coupled to the imaging system, for receiving image representative data from the imaging system and archiving the received data. The imaging system automatically deletes image representative data which has been archived from the repository.
US08224128B2
An objective of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal device capable of exclusively storing information which is useful to identify an illegal user.If a matching degree between characteristic information extracted from a photographed image by a characteristic extraction part 402A and registered characteristic information is determined to be smaller than an authentication threshold value by a matching degree determination part, 402C, an error history information management part 404 causes an error history information storage part 414 to store error history information obtained at that time. Therefore, history information obtained when authentication has failed in the authentication process is stored as error history information only when a person who differs from a true user such as, for example, a person who has stolen a mobile phone tries to use the mobile phone illegally and characteristic information is extracted from a face image of the person, so that the person can be identified from the error history information after the mobile phone is retrieved.
US08224127B2
A method and computer program product to create an unlimited number of synthetic but realistic, biologically-based, 2-D images like irises and magnetic resonance images (MRIs), as well as other images is presented. New metrics for measuring the mathematical distance of such synthetic images from a source (original) image have also been proposed. These metrics and the synthesis procedure are applicable to the development of image retrieval systems. The presented method can be extended to synthetic images of non-biological origins too.
US08224122B2
A dynamic wide angle image viewing technique is presented which provides a way to view a wide-angle image while zooming between a wide angle view and a narrower angle view that employs both perspective and non-perspective projection models. In general, this involves first establishing the field of view for a view of the wide angle image that is to be displayed. The view is then rendered and displayed based on the established field of view, such that the projection transitions between a perspective projection associated with narrower angle views and a non-perspective projection (e.g., cylindrical, spherical or some other parameterization) associated with wider-angle views.
US08224117B2
An image processing device that executes deformation of an image includes a candidate area setting unit, an exclusion determination unit and a deformation processing unit. The candidate area setting unit sets candidate areas, each of which includes a specific image, on a target image used as a target for a deformation process. The exclusion determination unit, when there is an overlap between the candidate areas, excludes one or more candidate areas from the target for the deformation process so as to eliminate the overlap. The deformation processing unit performs deformation of the image on the candidate areas other than the excluded candidate areas.
US08224114B2
A method, computer readable medium, and device for reducing speckle in an image by detecting the edges of the image to create an edge detected image, binarizing the edge detected image to create a binary edge image for processing, creating a list, L, of connected components in the binary edge image, creating a list, C, of connected components in list L that are smaller than a predetermined number of pixels, determining noise candidate pixels from the edge detected image that are covered by the connected components in list C, computing a histogram he of the noise candidate pixels, calculating a threshold from the total number of noise candidate pixels, and marking the pixels in the connected components in list C having a pixel intensity smaller than the threshold as noise. The pixels marked as noise may then be removed by setting the pixels marked as noise to a background color of the image. Optionally, a number of connected components M in list C and a number of connected components N in list L are counted and a percentage p of noise candidates M to the number of connected components N is calculated as p=M/N. The processing only removes the speckle if p is more than a predetermined percentage and stops processing of the image if p is less than the predetermined percentage.
US08224111B2
A degraded-image restoration method includes inputting a degraded image degraded by a predetermined degradation process; reading from a storage unit a filter coefficient in a filtering process of restoring the degraded image, in which an iteration formula for minimizing a square error between the degraded image and an image obtained by degrading a restored image by the degradation process is expanded corresponding to a predetermined number of iterations; and performing the filtering process using the filter coefficient with respect to the degraded image to obtain a restored image of the degraded image. Accordingly, a throughput in an apparatus that restores the degraded image can be reduced, thereby obtaining a preferable restored image.
US08224110B2
An image processing apparatus includes a gradient calculator that calculates a direction and a magnitude of a gradient of each pixel in an input image using neighboring pixel values; a histogram calculator that calculates a Histogram of Oriented Gradients containing plural sampled directions from the directions and the magnitudes of the gradients calculated for the pixels in a region including the pixel being processed; a storing unit that stores plural smoothing filters and associated Histograms of Oriented Gradients; a search unit that calculates errors between Histogram of Oriented Gradients calculated for the pixel being processed and the Histograms of Oriented Gradients stored in the storing unit and searches the Histogram of Oriented Gradients that has the minimum error; and a filter processing unit that acquires one of the smoothing filters stored in association with the Histogram of Oriented Gradients having the minimum error and determines a corrected pixel value of the pixel being processed by filter processing with the acquired smoothing filter.
US08224106B2
An image enhancement system and method using automatic emotion detection, the image enhancement system including: an emotional scale detection unit to analyze a pixel value of one or more frames of an input image in order to automatically detect an emotional scale of the input image; and an image enhancement unit to enhance a quality of the input image based on an image mode selected according to the emotional scale.
US08224105B2
It is decided whether a processing target block includes an edge in accordance with an edge detection result of the processing target block. In the case where the edge is included, it is then detected whether there is a flat portion. It is decided whether the processing target block includes the flat portion in accordance with a flat portion detection result. In the case where the flat portion is included, one of a first group of orthogonal transform sizes is selected. In the case where the edge is not included or the flat portion is not included, one of a second group of orthogonal transform sizes greater than the first group of orthogonal transform sizes is selected.
US08224103B2
An image encoding method is for obtaining, from a pixel data string containing pixel values of a plurality of pixels in a pixel array where the pixels are arrayed, a pixel data string containing a quantized representative value into which at least one of the pixel values is encoded. Encoding is performed by allocating a specific quantized representative value when a pixel value of a pixel is a specific pixel value, and by allocating a quantized representative value other than the specific quantized representative value when the pixel value is other than the specific pixel value.
US08224101B2
In this invention, image data expressed by one component is encoded at a high speed by using a color image lossless encoder. To do this, a color conversion unit converts color image data read by a document reading unit into C, M, Y, and K data. In a color reading mode, a switching unit directly outputs the C, M, Y, and K data to an encoding unit. If the reading mode is a monochrome reading mode, the switching unit neglects the C, M, and Y components of the C, M, Y, and K data. Every time four K components are input, the switching unit supplies the four K components to the encoding unit as pseudo data of C, M, Y, and K color components. The encoding unit lossless-encodes the received C, M, Y, and K component data.
US08224096B1
A technique that improves image analysis efficiency by reducing the number of computations needed to detect constant regions. Constant region detection according to the present techniques includes determining whether an image analysis window at a current position contains a constant region by analyzing a new line of pixels in the image analysis window if a pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window in the current position has a value equal to a pixel at the predetermined location from a previous position of the image analysis window. Analyzing only the new line of pixels saves the computational time that would otherwise go into analyzing all of the pixels in the image analysis window.
US08224092B2
A method of characterizing a word image includes traversing the word image in steps with a window and at each of a plurality of the steps, identifying a window image. For each of the plurality of window images, a feature is extracted. The word image is characterized, based on the features extracted from the plurality of window images, wherein the features are considered as a loose collection with associated sequential information.
US08224089B2
To perform progressive mesh segmentation suitable of interactive applications a high speed with high precision.An image processing device 10 includes an image information input unit 1 for inputting three-dimensional image information to be processed in the format of an incidence graph, an incidence graph evaluation unit 2 for evaluating and sorting the edges of the input incidence graph, an image region mesh growing unit 3 for extracting pairs of image regions sandwiching edges in the sorted order and evaluating and performing mesh growing thereof based on a statistical processing algorithm, and a minute node processing unit 4 for processing minute regions remaining as a result of the image region mesh growing.
US08224082B2
A method for forming a final digital color image with reduced motion blur including of a processor for providing images having panchromatic pixels and color pixels corresponding to at least two color photo responses, interpolating between the panchromatic pixels and color pixels to produce a panchromatic image and a full-resolution color image to produce a full-resolution synthetic panchromatic image from the full-resolution color image; and developing color correction weights in response to the synthetic panchromatic image and the panchromatic image; and using the color correction weights to modify the full-resolution color image to provide a final color digital image.
US08224076B2
An image processing method for improving image quality by appropriately detecting ringing artifacts and reducing only the detected ringing artifacts, is an image processing method which includes: selecting, from among a plurality of pixels included in an input image, a candidate for a noise pixel included in the ringing artifacts, using luminance values of the plurality of pixels; judging whether or not the candidate selected in the selecting is the noise pixel based on whether or not a chrominance value of the candidate is included in a chrominance range corresponding to a comparison target region which is a part of the input image; and filtering the noise pixel which has been judged in the judging.
US08224068B2
A method, system, and associated program code, for 3-dimensional image acquisition, using structured light illumination, of a surface-of-interest under observation by at least one camera. One aspect includes: illuminating the surface-of-interest, while static/at rest, with structured light to obtain initial depth map data therefor; while projecting a hold pattern comprised of a plurality of snake-stripes at the static surface-of-interest, assigning an identity to and an initial lock position of each of the snake-stripes of the hold pattern; and while projecting the hold pattern, tracking, from frame-to-frame each of the snake-stripes. Another aspect includes: projecting a hold pattern comprised of a plurality of snake-stripes; as the surface-of-interest moves into a region under observation by at least one camera that also comprises the projected hold pattern, assigning an identity to and an initial lock position of each snake-stripe as it sequentially illuminates the surface-of-interest; and while projecting the hold pattern, tracking, from frame-to-frame, each snake-stripe while it passes through the region. Yet another aspect includes: projecting, in sequence at the surface-of-interest positioned within a region under observation by at least one camera, a plurality of snake-stripes of a hold pattern by opening/moving a shutter cover; as each of the snake-stripes sequentially illuminates the surface-of-interest, assigning an identity to and an initial lock position of that snake-stripe; and while projecting the hold pattern, tracking, from frame-to-frame, each of the snake-stripes once it has illuminated the surface-of-interest and entered the region.
US08224066B2
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for high-resolution deflectometric determination of the local slope and of the three-dimensional shape of an object (6). The apparatus comprises a microscopic imaging system (5, 4, 8) having a numerical aperture (sin u), a focus plane (6a) and a receiving unit (9, 10); an illuminating system (1, 3, 4, 13, 13a) having a grating generator (1) that preferably generates a sine grating (2); and a control and evaluating unit. The object (6) is located in the object space of the imaging system. The illuminating system (13, 13a), which is fashioned as an illuminating system for reflected-light objects or for transmitted-light objects, generates a series of grating images (7), which are projected as virtual images into the object space a distance d from the focus plane of the microscopic imaging system. The imaging system images onto a receiving unit, as a modulated image, the object and simultaneously the grating image reflected in the object or the transmitted grating image. The local slope components of the object surface are determined from the series of modulated images with the aid of the evaluating unit.
US08224061B2
A method of decomposing a target pattern containing features to be imaged onto a substrate into a plurality of exposure patterns for use in a multi-exposure process. The method includes dividing the target pattern into fragments; associating the fragments with an exposure pattern; associating the fragments with image log slope (ILS) evaluation points; and maximizing ILS values. Maximizing the ILS values further includes calculating ILS values at the ILS evaluation points; determining a minimum ILS value; calculating changes in the ILS values as a result of associating fragments with a different exposure pattern; determining a maximum change of the ILS values; and associating fragments associated with the maximum change with a different exposure pattern.
US08224060B2
An image processing method that differentiates image data using an image processing system that includes a processing unit and a storage unit includes: acquiring image data; sequentially picking up pixels one by one at a predetermined pitch from among the pixels that constitute the image data and setting the picked up pixels as reference pixels; setting a close region around each of the reference pixels; calculating an average value of densities of the picked up pixels for each of the close regions; setting a wide region larger than the close region around each of the reference pixels; calculating an average value of densities of the picked up pixels for each of the wide regions; and calculating a difference between the density of each of the reference pixels and a corresponding one of the average values of the densities of the pixels of the wide regions.
US08224054B2
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for identifying stool particles in virtual dissection data for a colon. A shape classification may be determined for a segmented colon by three-dimensional filtering of a prone data set and a supine data set. The shape classification may be mapped onto a prone virtual dissection image and a supine virtual dissection image. The prone data set and the supine data set may be registered using one-dimensional registration to determine a registration. Shapes may be localized based on the shape classification and the registration for the prone virtual dissection and the supine virtual dissection. A distance metric may be applied to the localized shapes to identify stool particles. The identified stool particles may be suppressed. A prone virtual dissected image and a supine virtual dissected image may be displayed having the stool particles suppressed.
US08224047B2
A system and method are provided for determining at least one torsion angle of a left ventricle. The method includes the steps of collecting three-dimensional ultrasound data of the left ventricle (36) to obtain at least one first two-dimensional view and at least one second two-dimensional view thereof, wherein the first two-dimensional view is obtained at about the beginning of a cardiac phase and the second two-dimensional view is obtained at about the end of the cardiac phase, placing at least two tracking points (40, 42) on the at least one first two-dimensional view to draw a first torsion line (44), tracking the at least two tracking points to extrapolate the position thereof on the at least one second two-dimensional view and to draw a second torsion line (46), and calculating the at least one torsion angle by measuring an angle (A) formed by the intersection of the first and second torsion lines (44, 46).
US08224040B2
The present invention relates to a face recognition apparatus based on even light source, which includes a data processor (1), an imaging device (2) used to capture a face image and transport the face image to said data processor (1) for image processing, and an optical device (3) used to form an image of human face onto said imaging device (2). The optical device (3) further includes a camera lens (4) and an even light source device (5) located near or surrounding said camera lens (4). The even light source device (5) includes a light emitter (6) and an even light source generation device (7) which is used to generate indirect even light source by means of refraction, diffraction or reflection of light emitted by said light emitter (6). Light radiated onto the human face is evener due to the even light source, thus a better image effect is achieved to facilitate improving recognition quality and processing speed. Further, the apparatus may not bring irritation to human eyes, and may enhance comfortability during the recognition process.
US08224035B2
An eye detecting device includes an image generating device for generating a face image, a nostril detecting portion for detecting a nostril in the face image, an eye searching area setting portion for setting an eye searching area in the face image based on a position of the nostril detected by the nostril detecting portion, and an eye searching portion for searching an eye within the eye searching area set by the eye searching area setting portion.
US08224034B2
In a biometrics system for a building entrance unlocking or a bank account authentication, reference information registered under administration by the system is transmitted to a room or mobile-phone for private storage, with the original reference information deleted from the system. Biologic information gotten upon authentication is transmitted through wireless system to the room or mobile-phone for comparison with the reference, the result being returned to the system. Or, the reference is tentatively sent back to the system for comparison with the gotten biologic information. The biologic information sent to mobile-phone also includes health control information for storage and display. Mobile-phone also can receive blood pressure information at a waiting lounge of medical institution though wireless local communication even if the main power shut down. The communication between the biometrics system and the mobile-phone is encrypted. The system includes sensor unit and protection unit, the abnormality thereof being separately checked.
US08224026B2
A system for counting objects, such as people, is provided having a camera (22) for capturing video images along an image plane (25) in which two-dimensional shapes or design (28) are spaced along the image plane (25), and a computer system (14, 22) for receiving the images and detecting objects associated with change occurring in the images, and counting one of the detected objects when of the detected objects approximates a shape (31) associated with the object being counted (e.g., ellipse shape, to count a person) that fully or substantially blocks a portion said two-dimensional shapes or design (28) in the image associated with the detected object, and the detected object meeting other criteria for the object, such as size or compactness of detected change within the object. The system is especially useful for counting people near external windowed doors (19) of a building entranceway doors by discriminating between spurious light crossing the image plane and people.
