US08485895B2
A game server controls plural game machine groups including a collection of game machines, each of which is brought into a status enabling to start a game based on a thrown coin or a given credit number and is given a payout according to a result of the game. The game server includes a processing unit that judges whether a cumulative credit consumption of a predetermined game machine group reaches a predetermined upper limit, based on information about credit consumptions of the plural game machine groups. The game server also includes a communication interface that sends, when the processing unit judges that the cumulative credit consumption of the predetermined game machine group reaches the predetermined upper limit, a return signal for executing a return based on a predetermined return rate, to one game machine of the predetermined game machine group. The return is executed regardless of a game result.
US08485890B2
A wagering game award system is described herein. In some embodiments, the wagering game award system detects a player identifier associated with a wagering game award system, where the wagering game award system supports a plurality of award types. The system can also determine a number of awards of a first type, wherein the number of awards are associated with the player identifier, and wherein the first type is one of the award types. The system can also detect a request to exchange some of the number of awards for awards of a second type, wherein the second type is one of the award types. The system can also submit the request.
US08485883B2
Electronic gaming system with main monitor displaying public part of game and several terminals, each operating in gaming or controller mode. In gaming mode the terminal displays private parts of the game to user, and user's actions control object on terminal. In controller mode, main display is replicated on terminal display, and user's actions on private terminal are replicated on main display. Example, moving tile on the terminal will send “move tile” to move the same tile on the main monitor and all other terminals. The terminals support zoom and board shift to access any part of the bigger board. It also supports store and forward functions, enabling user to prepare next move privately before sending to main monitor. When the terminal is in controller mode, its processor may constantly synchronize the view of the terminal with the main monitor.
US08485881B2
A technique is described for operating a gaming machine adapted to receive a wager on a game of chance. In at least one embodiment, the gaming machine may be adapted to dynamically change its volume. In one implementation, the gaming machine may include a first movable display which may be used to dynamically and/or automatically change the volume of the gaming machine. For example, the first movable display may be automatically moved to a first position to thereby establish a first volume of the gaming machine. The first movable display may also be automatically moved to a second position to thereby establish a second volume of the gaming machine.
US08485879B2
A fight analysis system to objectively determine the quality and quantity of strikes in a fight. In one exemplary embodiment, one fighter wears a receiving module having a plurality of passive RFID tags at different locations that are read by a striking module (e.g., a knife) when the striking module lands on, or comes in proximity to, the receiving module, to provide the location of a strike. Force sensors in the striking module enable determination of the type and force of a landed strike. A graphical user interface module displays information gathered by the fight analysis system.
US08485865B2
A grinding wheel for grinding features into a work-piece and a corresponding method for grinding the features into the work-piece are disclosed herein. The grinding wheel includes an outer periphery with a first axial end having a first diameter. The grinding wheel also includes a second axial end spaced from the first axial end along a centerline axis. The grinding wheel also includes a plurality of discrete grinding projections for removing material from the work-piece. Each of the plurality of discrete grinding projections extends radially outward from the outer periphery and is positioned along the centerline axis in spaced relation to one another. The plurality of grinding projections have working heights that vary relative to one another. In the inventive method, a grinding wheel is rotated about an axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is arranged transverse to and spaced from a centerline axis of an arcuate surface of a work-piece. The grinding wheel and the arcuate surface are moved relative to one another and a plurality of grooves having variable depth are concurrently formed along at least a portion of a perimeter of the arcuate surface with the grinding wheel during at least part of the moving step.
US08485864B2
The double-side polishing apparatus is capable of uniformly polishing a wafer and highly preventing an outer edge of the wafer from being damaged. The apparatus comprises: a lower polishing plate and an upper polishing plate for polishing both sides of the wafer; a carrier having a main body part, in which a through-hole for holding the wafer is formed. Edges of the through-hole in an upper face and a lower face of the carrier are coated with coating layers, which are composed of an abrasion-resistant material and which have a prescribed width and a prescribed thickness. A resin cushion ring, which has a prescribed width and whose thickness is equal to that of the main body part of the carrier, is provided to an inner circumferential face of the thorough-hole. The wafer is held in the resin cushion ring.
US08485862B2
A polishing pad has a polishing layer with a polishing surface and a back surface. A plurality of grooves are formed on the polishing surface, and an indentation is formed in the back surface of the polishing layer. A region on the polishing surface corresponding to the indentation in the back surface is free of grooves or has shallower grooves.
US08485860B2
A coated abrasive product, comprising a first section and a second section, the first and the second sections being continuously joined together by a splice. The first section includes at least one first splice mark adjacent to the splice, wherein the first splice mark is a marking or a cluster of markings. A method of processing an article with such a coated abrasive product, and a method of acquiring information of such a coated abrasive product, respectively, includes detecting at least one characteristic of at least one first splice mark of the first section of the abrasive product, and comparing the detected characteristic to a database, wherein the detected characteristic of the first splice mark conveys approach of the splice and the end of the first section. The method of processing an article further includes providing a signal to skip the splice to thereby prevent the article being processed with splice area of the abrasive product. A method of preparing such a coated abrasive product includes forming the first and the second sections of the abrasive product.
US08485853B2
An electrical contact includes a knurl pattern disposed along at least a portion of an interior surface of the electrical contact. The portion receives a lead of a wire cable along a longitudinal axis and is attached thereto to form a crimp connection. The knurl pattern includes a plurality of recessed elements and each recessed element has a rhombus shape that includes inner corners. An orientation of a first pair of opposing, generally axial inner corners define an axial minor distance therebetween and an orientation of a second pair of opposing, inner corners define a major distance therebetween. The axial minor distance is less than the major distance. The recessed elements of the knurl pattern are especially suitable for engagement with an aluminum wire cable to form the crimp connection. A wire assembly that includes the crimp connection is associated with a cable harness disposed in a motorized vehicle.
US08485852B2
A wire locking structure includes a base, at least one conductive terminal lug and at least one screw. The base has at least one hole and at least one through-hole which communicate with each other and communicate with the outside of the base. The at least one conductive terminal lug is disposed at the at least one hole, includes a locking portion and a terminal portion, and has an aperture. The locking portion has an internal thread. The terminal portion extends from the at least one hole to the outside of the base. The aperture communicates with the at least one through-hole and opens to the internal thread. The at least one screw penetrates the at least one hole so as to be engaged with the internal thread and screwed into the aperture. The wire locking structure saves materials, cuts costs, and enhances the wire locking conforming rate.
US08485847B2
A method for coupling an end of a first insulated conductor to an end of a second insulated conductor that includes placing a sleeve over the end of the first insulated conductor and the end of the second insulated conductor; filling an interior volume of the sleeve with electrically insulating material; and moving the end of the first insulated conductor and the end of the second insulated conductor towards the center of the sleeve. When the ends of the insulated conductors are moved together an end of a core of the first insulated conductor and an end of a core of the second insulated conductor are coupled inside a core coupling located inside the sleeve and the electrically insulating material is compressed between an end portion of an electrical insulator in the first insulated conductor and an end portion of an electrical insulator in the second insulated conductor.
US08485845B2
A post having a first end, a second end, and a flange proximate the second end, wherein the post is configured to receive a center conductor surrounded by a dielectric of a coaxial cable, a connector body attached to the post, a coupling element attached to the post, the coupling element having a first end a second end, and a biasing member disposed within a cavity formed between the first end of the coupling element and the connector body to bias the coupling element against the post is provided. Moreover, a connector body having a biasing element, wherein the biasing element biases the coupling element against the post, is further provided. Furthermore, associated methods are also provided.
US08485843B2
An assembling type terminal device with RJ45 female terminal is disclosed for controlling the power or data connection status of a connector terminal unit by controlling the switch of a relay unit via detecting if a RJ45 female terminal unit receives the power or data.
US08485841B2
A clamping spring for a spring-cage terminal includes a spring-steel band having a clamping arm, a supporting arm and a flexural joint joining the clamping arm and the supporting arm. The spring-steel band has a greater width in an area of the flexural joint than in an area of the clamping arm and the supporting arm.
US08485832B2
Upon plug and receptacle connectors of an electrical connector being fitted with each other, positioning recesses of a block of the plug connector engage positioning protrusions of a housing of the receptacle connector to achieve positioning of the two connectors in their width directions. Inclined portions of receptacle contacts of the receptacle connector are commensurate with inclined portions of inserting holes of the housing so that a backup function of the housing for the receptacle contacts is adjusted to obtain a stable connection between the plug and receptacle connectors. First chamfered portions of the receptacle contacts engage recesses of the plug contacts to generate tactile clicks and to achieve the positioning and contacting between the plug and receptacle contacts. The plug contacts are embraced between contact portions and elastic portions of the receptacle contacts to obtain a stable connection between the both contacts.
US08485831B2
A tall mezzanine connector which connects the substantial middle half of each of a pair of circuit cards positioned normal thereto in such a way that there is compliance when the two halves of the circuit cards are not in alignment. The mezzanine connector comprises a header and a receptacle that includes wafers having electrical contact means at each end thereof for contacting contacts in the respective circuit cards, the wafers being held in place by an upper base member and a lower base member.
US08485816B2
An orthodontic bracket is disclosed having three archwire retention channels in the mesial-distal directions, a central channel and two side channels. The two side channels each include a pair of spaced apart inverted archwire retaining regions having a recess that opens generally towards the bracket base. Each such recess is for grasping or holding an archwire therein. Each of the side channels has an archwire retaining ridge extending gingivally-occlusally along the adjacent side of the bracket base between the two retaining regions of the channel. For each channel, its retaining ridge exerts a force on a portion of an archwire facing away from the archwire portion residing in the recesses of the retaining regions of the channel. The force on the archwire is directed toward the interiors of the recesses of the retaining regions for assisting in seating the archwire in the recesses.
US08485815B2
A rotary tube furnace (1) comprising an insulated heating chamber (4), the insulated heating chamber having a product discharge outlet (21) and a process tube inlet (39), a heating element (14) operatively arranged to selectively heat the heating chamber, a generally horizontally extending process tube (2) supported for rotation relative to the heating chamber, the process tube having a first portion (36) generally arranged outside of the heating chamber and a cantilevered second portion (37) extending from the first portion into the heating chamber and terminating at a discharge end (38) within the heating chamber, a feed mechanism (40) configured and arranged to feed product into the process tube, and a bearing assembly operating between a support frame (34) and the first portion of the process tube and configured and arranged to support the process tube and transmit rotational torque to the process tube.
US08485814B2
A decorative molded candle and method of making the candle is disclosed in which coloring agents are limited to the outer peripheral surface of the candle.
US08485812B2
Methods and systems for fabrication of injection molded optical components. In one embodiment, a moldplate with cavities receives injected optical material within walls of the cavities. The cavities are designed with a geometric profile approximately corresponding to a optical profile of an optical element to be formed therein. When molten optical material is injected into the cavities of the moldplate, the injected optical material forms a meniscus due to surface tension between the optical material and the wall of the cavities. The meniscus thus provides a shape corresponding to the predetermined optical profile. The optical material is then rapidly cured with actinic radiation, and a desired optical element with high-precision dimensions is formed within the cavities of the moldplate. In some embodiments, the moldplate is spun such that the meniscus is adjusted to match the predetermined optical profile within a certain tolerance.
US08485811B2
A fine structure formation apparatus includes a preheating heater to heat up the surface of belt-like mold alone, right before contacting the belt-like mold to heating and pressurizing rollers, the temperature of the surface of the belt-like mold is made equal to that of the heating and pressurizing rollers, enabling to reliably obtain a predetermined temperature, and cooling rollers or a cooling blower are arranged right after the heating and pressurizing rollers, enabling cooling by a forced cooling and pressure holding, and to transfer a pattern.
US08485804B2
A single screw compressor structure includes a screw rotor and a casing, which houses the screw rotor. A tapered outer circumferential surface of the screw rotor has a plurality of helical grooves, with an outer diameter that increases from an inlet side toward a discharge side. The casing includes an outer tube member having a circular inner hole to form an interior, and an inner tube member is fixed to the interior of the outer tube member. The inner tube member has a tapered inner surface that opposes the tapered outer circumferential surface of the screw rotor. A single screw compressor further including a gate rotor is assembled by adjusting mesh between the screw rotor and the gate rotor, aligning the tapered outer and inner circumferential surfaces relative to one another, and integrally coupling the outer and inner tube members to each other.
US08485800B2
A system and method for pumping fluid using a pump cassette. The system includes a control assembly for operating the pump cassette. A force assembly having a movable member is capable of applying force to the pump cassette to press the pump cassette against the control assembly. The movable member may be an expandable member, such as a bladder.
US08485796B2
A garden hose spray system includes a water pump and a controller with a switch for engaging and disengaging the pump. The pump is used for boosting a water flow through the system. The controller is in communication with the pump, and directs the switch to engage the pump when the water flow exceeds a predetermined, non-zero threshold flow rate. In certain embodiments, the system further includes a variable outlet. The variable outlet is operable at a first flow setting for a flow rate greater than the threshold and a second flow setting for a non-zero flow rate less than the threshold.
US08485794B2
According to the present invention, a reciprocating compressor with a rotary valve comprises a cylinder block with plural cylinder bore, a drive shaft which is supported and permitted to rotate in relation to the cylinder block, a piston which is housed in the cylinder bore and allowed to reciprocate therein, a power transmitting unit which connects the piston and drive shaft, a rear housing wherein an intake chamber and exhaust chamber are formed, and a rotary valve which rotates with the drive shaft and is installed in the inner surface of a coupling hole formed in the cylinder block and permitted to slide and rotate therein. In the inner circumference of the cylinder block, connection holes are respectively connected to the cylinder bore. A bypass unit is included between the coupling hole and rotary valve and bypasses the refrigerant remaining in the connection hole of one cylinder bore during the compressive stroke of the piston, then discharges it through the connection hole of another cylinder bore.
US08485783B2
A gas turbine engine includes in serial flow relationship: a first compressor provided with at least one row of compressor blades distributed circumferentially around the first compressor; a combustion chamber; and a first turbine provided with at least one row of turbine blades distributed circumferentially around the first turbine, wherein the first compressor and the first turbine are rotationally rigidly connected by a first shaft. The first turbine is adapted to influence a gas flow rate through the gas turbine engine depending on a rotational speed of the first turbine, wherein the gas turbine engine further includes an arrangement for controlling the rotational speed of the first turbine. A method for controlling a gas flow rate in an axial flow gas turbine engine is also provided.
US08485781B2
An axial flow fan includes an impeller rotatable about a central axis with a plurality of rotor vanes, a motor that drives the impeller, a base portion that supports the motor, a housing that includes an intake vent, an exhaust vent, and an inner peripheral surface surrounding the impeller and the motor, and a plurality of stator vanes that respectively connects the base portion and the housing, wherein the inner peripheral surface includes a first inner peripheral surface arranged to increase a distance from the central axis toward the intake vent or the exhaust vent in an axial direction, and a recess provided between the first inner peripheral surface and a stator vane included in the plurality of stator vanes and facing the first inner peripheral surface. Thus, airflow is allowed to smoothly pass through the housing, resulting in a decrease in noise generated in the fan.
US08485768B2
The invention relates to a connecting flange for an electric terminal, comprising a housing and a duct provided thereon for receiving a screw, wherein the duct has a duct wall made of an elastic material, on which a safety device is configured such that the screw can be captively received by the duct when not screwed in. A free cross-section of the safety device and the largest cross-section of the screw have different shapes, wherein the length of an interior circumference of the safety device is adapted to the length of the exterior circumference of the screw.
US08485760B2
A georeinforcing system, comprising a plurality of georeinforcement elements, each georeinforcement element formed from one or more basic connector pieces having one or more tire treads and one or more tire sidewalls fastened together in an alternating pattern with non-metallic screws. The plurality of georeinforcement elements are attached to a facing element and surrounded in particulate matter to support the facing element.
US08485758B2
A mine roof support assembly for anchoring in a bore hole by means of a resin, cementitious grout which includes an elongated reinforcing tendon which extends from a proximal end portion to a distal end portion. A slip sheath formed from a heat shrunk plastic, is secured by heat shrinkage radially about the tendon. The sheath is mechanically coupled to the tendon so as to allow the desired axial sliding of the tendon relative to the sheath on the application of predetermined forces which sufficient to effect any desired yielding movement of the tendon in the bore hole. An anti-bonding agent or coating and/or anticorrosive may be interposed between the sheath and the tendon, whereby the sheath substantially encapsulates and limits the admixing of the interposed anti-bonding agent/anti-corrosive coating with the resin.
US08485752B2
A method of assembling a tolerance ring between opposing surfaces of an inner and outer component arranged to mate with one another to provide an interference fit therebetween includes mounting the tolerance ring on one of the inner and outer components whereby the projections are received in a recessed portion on that component, partially mating the inner and outer components, and completing mating by causing relative movement between the tolerance ring and the recessed portion to move the projections from the recessed portion and to be compressed between the mated inner and outer components. The tolerance ring includes an annular band of resilient material for engaging an opposing surface of one of the inner and outer components. The annular band has a plurality of deformable projections extending radially therefrom to engage the opposing surface of the other one of the inner and outer components.
US08485737B2
A transition device for an optical fiber connection system adapted to interconnect a trunk cable with a plurality of transceivers includes: a first set of at least four optical fibers, each of the optical fibers having a trunk end and a transceiver end; a single trunk end terminal having a plurality of trunk ports arranged in a first row, each port connected with a respective one of the set of optical fibers at its trunk end, wherein a first axis of symmetry divides the ports; and a plurality of transceiver end terminals, each of the transceiver end terminals having at least one couplet of transceiver ports, each of the couplets of transceiver ports receiving a respective couplet of the set of optical fibers at their transceiver ends.
US08485730B2
An outer ring and an inner ring of a rolling bearing are constituted of steel containing 0.77 to 0.85% of carbon, 0.01 to 0.25% of silicon, 0.01 to 0.35% of manganese, 0.01 to 0.15% of nickel, 3.75 to 4.25% of chromium, 4 to 4.5% of molybdenum and 0.9 to 1.1% of vanadium with the rest consisting of iron and impurities, a nitrogen-enriched layer having a nitrogen concentration of at least 0.05 mass % is formed on a region including a rolling surface, and the total of a carbon concentration and the nitrogen concentration in the nitrogen-enriched layer is at least 0.82 mass % and not more than 1.9 mass %. A DLC coating layer is arranged on a region including an outer ring contact surface.
US08485729B2
A self-compensating hydrostatic journal bearing is disclosed, which is substantially a base provided for a spindle to mounted thereat passing through a hole thereof, while allowing a gap to be formed between the circumference surface of the hole and the spindle for a hydraulic fluid to flow therethrough. There are at least two oil holes formed on the base, and correspondingly, there are at least two first chambers formed on the circumference surface for allowing each first chamber to be in fluid communication with one of the at least two oil holes, and for each first chamber, there is one second chamber being arranged in the vicinity thereof. When the spindle is forced to bias, the gap axially opposite to the bias is changed for causing the hydraulic fluid to flow inside the channels between the first chambers and the second chambers correspondingly and thus accomplishing a fluid self-compensating process.
US08485727B2
A multiple chamber container for separately storing components of a parenteral nutritional formulation is provided. The multiple chamber container may include frangible barriers, preferably peelable seals separating the chambers from each other. The container preferably facilitates the selective activation of the peelable seals to permit the admixing of less than all the separately stored components. The container may include a chamber positioned at each of the opposite lateral ends of the container and at least one additional chamber between the lateral chambers. The at least one additional chamber may have a longitudinal length substantially less than the longitudinal length of at least one of the lateral chambers. This configuration allows for selective opening of the seals since when rolling the container from the top avoids pressurizing the at least one additional chamber and inadvertent activation of a seal. The longitudinal length of the at least one additional chamber may be from about two-thirds to about three-fourths the longitudinal length of at least one of the lateral chambers. Alternatively, the container may include a hanger flap extending from a top end of the container towards the bottom end a substantially greater distance relative to the at least one additional chamber than the lateral chambers.
US08485725B2
A system for detecting a change in medium sensed by a thermistor comprises a first module that receives a temperature signal from a thermistor and that calculates a first dissipation factor of the thermistor. A second module receives the first dissipation factor of the thermistor and detects at least one of an unexpected medium and a change in medium based on the first dissipation factor.
US08485724B2
A mixed-signal integrated circuit comprises: 1) an analog front end having differential inputs adapted for directly connecting to at least one thermocouple, 2) an analog-to-digital (ADC) for converting the thermocouple voltages to digital representations thereof, 3) a linearization circuit capable of performing the multi-order polynomial equations for converting the thermocouple electromotive voltages (the digital representations) to linear temperature measurement units by using coefficients unique to each type of thermocouple from a coefficients table based upon the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 4) a integrated temperature sensor for measuring cold junction temperature, 5) optionally, an input multiplexer for selecting each of a plurality of thermocouples for measurement thereof, 6) optionally, registers for storing measured temperature values, high and low set points, alarm limits, etc., and 7) a communications interface for setting parameters and receiving temperature information.
US08485721B2
A device to measure the residual power of a charge, comprising: means delimiting a first vessel to receive and contain a charge to be measured; means delimiting a second vessel around the first vessel; means to apply a layer of liquid or wet layer around the first vessel; and means to maintain constant the temperature and/or pressure of a vapor outside the first vessel or in the second vessel.
US08485719B2
A pivot organ (5a, 5b) designed to allow the rotation of a piece (3) of a clockwork movement around an axis of rotation, includes two elements: a pivot (7a, 7b) and a bearing (6a, 6b) receiving the pivot (7a, 7b), one being integral with the piece (3) and the other being integral with the frame (1) of the movement. The elements (6a, 6b, 7a, 7b) have shapes at their opposite surfaces such that the section of one of the elements along a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation is circular, the section of the other element along the plane being non-circular, so as to reduce the contact surface between the pivot (7a, 7b) and the bearing (6a, 6b). At least the contact surfaces of the two elements against each other are made from at least one material intrinsically having a low coefficient of friction and a low wear coefficient.
US08485714B2
A sealed mixer comprises a housing provided with a mixing chamber and a material insertion port for inserting materials into the mixing chamber; a weight for pressing the materials inserted into the material insertion port toward the mixing chamber; and a shaft member which extends upward from the weight and moves upward and downward together with the weight, the weight being connected to a lower end portion of the shaft member, a reservoir adapted to store lubricant between the weight and the shaft member is formed at a part connecting the weight and the shaft member, and a lubricant supply path adapted to supply the lubricant from an outside toward the reservoir is formed in the shaft member.
US08485711B2
A light plate includes a light guide plate and four light source modules. The light source modules are disposed around the light guide plate. Each of the light source modules includes a first white light emitting element and a second white light emitting element. The first white light emitting element is capable of emitting a first white beam. The second white light emitting element disposed beside the first white light emitting element is capable of emitting a second white beam. The first white light emitting elements of the light source modules are mirror-symmetrical with respect to a first reference plane and a second reference plane. The second white light emitting elements of the light source modules are mirror-symmetrical with respect to the first reference plane and the second reference plane. The correlated color temperature (CCT) of the first white beam is greater than the CCT of the second white beam.
US08485703B2
An aircraft cabin lighting kit includes: at least one lighting unit configured for installation in an aircraft cabin; a driving/dimming module generating output signals for controlling illumination of the at least one lighting unit according to command signals from a cabin management system; and at least one wire assembly interfacing the driving/dimming module with a power bus for receiving operational power, and a communication bus for receiving the command signals and for communicating the output signals to the at least one lighting unit. The present aircraft cabin lighting kit is certified by a governmental aviation-regulating body for installation in multiple aircraft. An aircraft cabin lighting system, which includes the kit, is also provided
US08485701B2
An embedded lamp and a replaceable illumination module are disclosed. The embedded lamp includes a lamp cover having a hollow housing, and a top frame fixed on the hollow housing. The replaceable illumination module is received in the hollow housing, and includes a connection base for connecting a lamp set, a middle sleeve received in the connection base, a rotation sleeve received in the middle sleeve and protruding outside the middle sleeve, a stop ring fastened at the top side of the middle sleeve, a rotation locking flake fastened at the top side of the rotation sleeve, and a elastic element for pushing the rotation sleeve. When the replaceable illumination module is pushed, the rotation sleeve is rotated in the middle sleeve and fixed at different locations. The rotation locking flake and an opening of the top frame are unlocked when both are parallel or locked when both are vertical.
US08485699B2
A self-positioning light fixture having an elongated body with a bottom self-righting segment. The elongated body comprises a pair of elongated body portions mateable along a vertical parting plane with components of the light fixture, such as the shock mount for the lamp assembly, an air circulating fan, and counterweights, being retained and supported within the body portions as an incident to assembly and securement of the body portions. The self-righting segment and counterweights are designed for optimally uprighting the fixture from tipped positions with minimum counterweighting and without excessive force or rocking movement of the fixture. Further features of the light fixture include air vent openings in the body that prevent or minimize entry of rain water and contaminants, an easily accessible gripping handle for facilitating movement of the light fixture, and a reflector shield adapted for easy selective positioning about the lamp assembly for the desired light direction.
US08485682B2
An illuminated eyeglass assembly includes one or more temple members having an integral lighting assembly structured and disposed to provide an illumination region proximate a user, for example, to illuminate an item within an arm's length of the user. Each integral light assembly includes at least one light source interconnected to a power source via a switch mechanism. Each of the light sources produce a light beam, and the light sources are structured and disposed such that the light beams provide an illumination region immediately proximate the user, thereby permitting the user to perceptively view an item in a low light environment, such as, to permit the user to read menu or a check in a restaurant or nightclub. A system is provided to retrofit an existing eyeglass assembly with one or more temple member having an integral lighting assembly.
US08485676B2
Apparatus for increasing a person's field of view is disclosed. The apparatus includes a mounting base. A receiver is rotatably mounted to the mounting base. A center arm section including a plurality of rigid segments is adjustably mounted at one end to the receiver. The apparatus also includes an upper arm section. A ball and socket connection is included between the upper arm section and the center arm section. The apparatus also includes a plurality of mirrors mounted on the upper arm section.
US08485666B2
The present invention features a car theater system using rear projection that extends projection distance through a reflection mirror, and may not restrict movement of passengers, and may not block an image projected toward a screen. According to preferred embodiments, the car theater system of the present invention comprises a video player, a projector, a reflection mirror, a screen for imaging an image reflected by the reflection mirror.
US08485663B2
An ophthalmic apparatus includes an imaging optical system for imaging an anterior segment image including a pupil of an examinee's eye, a pupil detection unit for detecting a size of the pupil of the examinee's eye based on the imaged result by the imaging optical system, and an output unit configured to obtain size information of a far vision zone and a near vision zone for a multifocal intraocular lens and output the obtained size information and the size of the pupil detected by the pupil detection unit to be comparable. Accordingly, applicability of the multifocal intraocular lens can be determined accurately and easily.
US08485656B2
A wide format printer that has a media transport system configured to transport media along a media path that is more than 432 mm (17 inches) wide, a printhead assembly fixed relative to the media path and a plurality of service modules for the printhead assembly. Each of the service modules is independently movable relative to the media path.
US08485654B2
An aqueous inkjet printing fluid composition for use in an inkjet printer including a silicon-based material which contacts the aqueous printing fluid composition, having in a concentration sufficient to inhibit corrosion of the silicon-based material when contacted by the aqueous printing fluid composition a soluble metal ligand complex of Formula (I): wherein M represents a divalent or a trivalent metal, R1 and R2 each independently represent alkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl substituents, R3 represents hydrogen, a halide, or an alkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl substituent, and the number of ligands n is 2 or 3. The useful lifetime of microelectromechanical fluidic devices based on silicon fabrication is extended.
US08485651B2
A cradle unit for receiving a print cartridge to form a print engine, the cradle unit includes a main body defining an opening for receiving said cartridge, the main body having a frame structure including end plates with drive and exit rollers mounted therebetween; a printed circuit board (PCB) pivotally mounted between the end plates for housing control electronics for controlling the operation of the print engine; a cover assembly for securing said cartridge in the opening, the cover assembly pivotally mounted between the end plates, the cover assembly configured to pivot the PCB into electrical contact with a printhead controller on the cartridge when in a closed position, and to pivot the PCB out of electrical connection with said printhead controller when in an open position; and a maintenance assembly mounted to the main body, the maintenance assembly movable between a capping state where a printhead of the print cartridge is capped, and a printing stage where a printhead of the print cartridge is uncapped.
US08485650B2
A method for filling a liquid-discharge-head cartridge with liquid includes a first step in which a suction operation is performed at a first suction pressure while a suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a first moving speed to suck the liquid in the liquid container to fill the discharge ports, and a second step in which a suction operation is performed at a second suction pressure, which is lower than the first suction pressure, while the suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a second moving speed, which is lower than the first moving speed to remove bubbles in the flow path.
US08485640B2
Nozzle plate, droplet discharge head, method for manufacturing the same and droplet discharge device
A nozzle plate includes a silicon substrate, and a nozzle hole formed in the silicon substrate for discharging a liquid droplet provided with: a first nozzle portion formed perpendicularly to a surface of the silicon substrate; a second nozzle portion formed on a same axis as an axis of the first nozzle portion and having a cross-sectional area that is larger than a cross-sectional area of the first nozzle portion; and an inclined portion having a cross-sectional area gradually increasing from the first nozzle portion to the second nozzle portion.
US08485634B2
A method of detecting print head roll begins with the formation of a test pattern on an image receiving surface. The test pattern includes a plurality of marks arrayed across the image receiving surface in a cross-process direction with each mark in the plurality being formed by a different nozzle of a print head. The cross-process direction positions of each mark in the plurality of marks are then detected; and the detected cross-process direction positions are correlated to a print head roll value for the print head.
US08485632B2
An inkjet head according to an aspect of the invention may include: a flow path plate having a plurality of ink chambers; a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles connected to the ink chambers in order to eject ink in the ink chambers to the outside; and a temperature control unit having a heat exchange passage in at least one of the flow path plate and the nozzle plate in order to control temperature of the ink.
US08485628B2
A printer is shown that can selectively reduce its print resolution by sharing print for one nozzle in the nozzle array between several nozzles. Each nozzle has an ejection aperture and a corresponding actuator for ejecting printing fluid through the ejection aperture. A print engine controller sends print data to the array of nozzles in accordance with a designated print job. During use, the print engine controller can selectively reduce the print resolution by apportioning print data for a single nozzle between at least two nozzles of the array. This recognizes that some print jobs do not require the best resolution—a lower resolution is completely adequate for the purposes of the document being printed. This serves to extend the operational life of all the nozzles.
US08485627B2
The present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus recording image data by using recording heads that can be separately attached to and/or detached from the inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the attachment and/or detachment of each of the recording heads is detected, and only a pattern used to adjust the displacement of the landing location of the attached and/or detached recording head alone and a pattern used to adjust the displacement between the landing locations of recording heads including the attached and/or detached recording head are recorded.
US08485614B2
A base stand for supporting a metal cabinet includes a main body having a top wall and four side walls extending therefrom; and legs attached to each of the four side walls of the body. Each of the legs has at least one pair of holes for mounting the legs to the body. A slidable drawer is slidably mounted to the body. A base stand and metal storage bin assembly includes a base stand and metal storage bin assembly including a metal storage bin having a top wall, a bottom wall, and first and second opposed side walls and a base stand for storing and transporting the metal cabinet. The base stand has a main body having a top wall and four side walls extending therefrom and legs attached to the four side walls of the body. Each of the legs has at least one pair of holes for mounting the legs to the body. A slidable drawer is slidably mounted to the body.
US08485604B2
A seat assembly including a seat base, a back support, a support for the back support and/or for the seat base and at least one elastomer torsion-spring element. The back support and/or the seat base are/is pivotably hinged to the support in such a manner that a pivoting movement of the back support and/or of the seat base on a rotation axis can be carried out. During the respective pivoting movement of the back support and/or of the seat base with the elastomer torsion-spring element a restoring torque is generated that acts on the back support and/or on the seat base. The elastomer torsion-spring element includes an internal casing, an external casing encompassing the internal casing, and an elastomer body arranged in a space between the internal casing and the external casing. The elastomer body is rigidly connected to contact surfaces of the internal and external casings. The internal casing and/or the external casing are/is rotatably arranged on a rotation axis. During rotation of the internal casing and/or of the external casing on the rotation axis deformation of the elastomer body occurs. The contact surface of the internal or external casings include a non-circular cross section in a sectional plane perpendicular to the rotation axis.
US08485595B2
A device is provided for blocking an opening formed in an automobile roof, including a fixed glass portion to be rigidly connected to the vehicle and at least one glass panel. The glass panel is mobile relative to the fixed portion between a blocking position, in which it blocks an opening in the fixed portion, and at least one open position, in which the opening is at least partially open. Each of the mobile panels is slidingly guided along two rails rigidly connected to the surface of the fixed portion. The device also includes at least one passage for collecting and draining at least a portion of the water received on the outer surface of the mobile panel toward the outside of the vehicle. The passage is rigidly connected to the mobile panel to enable the water to flow from the mobile panel toward one of the rails.
US08485589B2
A cabin system to be mounted on a vehicle body is disclosed. The cabin system includes a driver's seat, an air conditioner body for indoor air conditioning disposed downwardly of the drive's seat, a plurality of support pillars constituting a cabin framework, a ceiling portion, and a main duct having a hollow tubular construction, the main duct forming therein an air passageway for the indoor air conditioning. The main duct includes, at a lower portion thereof, a duct connecting opening to be connected to the air conditioner body and also includes, at a lateral portion thereof, a support pillar engaging face. The main duct is attached through the support pillar engaging face to one of the support pillars along an indoor side peripheral face of the one support pillar. The support pillar engaging face of the main duct and the indoor side peripheral face of the one support pillar have profiles complementary with each other.
US08485583B2
A stowable seat arrangement can include a seat having a seat back coupled to a seat bottom. A pair of front and rear legs can be pivotably coupled to the seat bottom. A floor panel can be fixed to the seat back. A stowage recess cover can be pivotably coupled to the vehicle and the front legs. The seat can be configured to selectively articulate from a deployed position to a stowed position where the seat can be received in a vehicle stowage recess. Pivotably raising the cover can automatically begin articulation of the seat from the deployed position to the stowed position. The floor panel can be in spaced relation to the floor when the seat is in the deployed position and can automatically move to a position in engagement with the floor to provide a flat load floor configuration when the seat is in the stowed position.
US08485582B2
A storage device for a vehicle includes a storage section which has a space and has an engagement hole provided on the back side in a mounting direction and in which an article is put in and taken out through an opening portion, and a detachable separator which partitions the space in the storage section, is formed in a substantially L shape having two plate sections intersecting one another when viewed from the mounting direction into the storage section, has a projecting portion which protrudes toward the front in the mounting direction and is engaged with the engagement hole, and is mounted in the engagement hole at a partitioning position to divide the space into two compartments and a compartment expanding position to form a single compartment larger than either of the two compartments in the space.
US08485572B2
A security seal has an outer body, a locking insert, and a shackle. The locking insert and shackle are received within a cavity of the outer body to be locked therein. Once the locking insert is engaged with the outer body, they cannot be disengaged without showing evidence of the disengagement. The evidence of the disengagement can be in the form of damage to any component of the security seal, in the form of mismatching of marked components of the security seal, or in any other suitable form showing evidence of the disengagement.
US08485566B2
A door for mission critical enclosures, for example, cabinets containing sensitive items, such as electronics that may be exposed to high stress environments, for example shock and vibration. The door structure described provides improved mounting and lock features that can allow easy access while maintaining rigid structural needs and integrity. A door assembly for a cabinet generally includes a door that can be fitted directly, or indirectly, to an enclosure through an adapter frame. Generally, the door has fitting structures that operate as interlocking, tight fitting key sets. The fittings provide suitable detent features. An actuatable lock mechanism respectively locks and unlocks the door. The actuatable lock mechanism includes a ramped locking bolt that can engage a ramped surface of the cabinet or adapter frame to facilitate locking and unlocking of the door.
US08485564B2
A thread structure for an aerator of a water faucet outlet, wherein an internal and/or external thread structure of the aerator enables the aerator to be engaged with both metric and imperial internal threads on the water faucet outlet, wherein the dimensions of the structure is based on the pitch, the major diameter and the pitch diameter of the metric and imperial thread of the water faucet outlet and the variation tolerance, and wherein calculations are made based on the universal measurement of corresponding pitch, major diameter and, pitch diameter and the variation tolerance, such that the aerator can be engaged and locked in a metric faucet water outlet and also can be engaged and locked in an imperial faucet water outlet, thereby achieving a universal utilization effect.
US08485556B2
A snowboard or other glide board has a receptacle and plug accessory system for quickly incorporating additional and interchangeable functionality to the board. A user can readily switch functionality in and out of the board by way of the plug and receptacle system. Various plugs contain different features. The receptacle can be incorporated during manufacturing, such as in a manner compatible with existing manufacturing practices, as a retrofit to existing boards. The receptacle is a plate embedded into the board, in line with the core and sandwiched between the strength layers that are typically comprised of fiberglass. The receptacle sidewall has a one side of a latch mechanism in its interior walls. In one implementation, the plug accessory can latch fit into the receptacle. The plug can be disengaged with one hand without tools. The plug accessory can incorporate a camera, a light, a flag, and a rooster tail duct.
US08485554B2
A steering device has a guide rail and a holding rubber. The guide rail is mounted on a mounting stay of a vehicle by way of an upper bracket, and the holding rubber restricts movement of the guide rail relative to the upper bracket. The guide rail has a fixed portion and a main body portion extending forward of the vehicle along the axial direction of a steering shaft from the fixed portion. The main body portion is inserted into a through hole of a vehicle body bracket. The holding rubber has a positioning protrusion and a detent pawl for restricting movement of the guide rail relative to the upper bracket before being fixed to the mounting stay so as to hold them at a mounting position. The detent pawl is formed so as to reduce a restricting force for restricting movement of the guide rail relative to the upper bracket as the guide rail comes closer to the mounting stay by screwing a nut onto a bolt.
US08485549B2
An airbag apparatus mountable on a vehicle having a side window, a first pillar adjoining the window and a second pillar adjoining the window on the opposite side is disclosed. The airbag apparatus includes an airbag adapted to be housed in an upper edge of the window, and the airbag includes a shutter section that covers the window. The shutter section includes mounting portions that are located above the first and second pillars, an inflatable region comprised of a first pillar side region, a supporting region and a preventing region, and a thin panel region. The thin panel region includes therein a catching point that is intended to catch a vehicle occupant during a rollover event of the vehicle, and the supporting inflatable region and preventing inflatable region surround the catching point continuously at the lower side and on a side of the second pillar.
US08485548B2
An airbag arrangement in a vehicle seat, especially in a backrest, comprising an airbag module composed of an airbag housing, an airbag, and a charge for unfolding of the airbag, and a guide pocket attached to a covering of the vehicle seat in the region of an opening line of the covering. The guide pocket guides the airbag, as it unfolds, to the opening line, and wraps around the airbag module and a component secured to the vehicle seat. The two front ends of the guide pocket are attached in the region of the opening line of the covering. The airbag module is secured to the component, and the guide pocket is placed from above or from below about the component and the airbag module and extends about the airbag module in a loop-shaped manner.
US08485541B2
A suspension for use on two front/rear wheels of a tricycle includes a linking assembly comprising two H-shaped lower supports, two H-shaped upper supports, two coupling members each secured to a hub of the front/rear wheel, and a plurality of internally threaded linkages for pivotably securing the upper supports together, pivotably securing the lower supports together, and pivotably fastening each coupling member between the upper support and the lower support at the same side together; and an elongated shock absorber having both ends secured the upper supports.
US08485539B2
A stabilizer for a vehicle suspension system includes a fixed housing having a canister and end caps forming an enclosure. A rod moves axially relative to the housing. Abutment members on the rod are separated by a spring and confront or telescope into end stops in the housing, depending upon a rotated position of the end stops relative to the abutment members.
US08485538B1
An auxiliary axle suspension system for a motor vehicle is disclosed wherein a pair of hydraulically operated actuators position and force the auxiliary axle to help support the vehicle. And gas springs are provided that allow the actuators to extend and retract over a wide range of hydraulic operating pressure and thereby allow the auxiliary axle to adjust to a wide range of road grade differences between the auxiliary axle wheels and the wheels of the axles that normally support the vehicle without incurring significant gas and hydraulic pressure fluctuation and while isolating shock forces on the auxiliary axle wheels from the vehicle.
US08485525B2
A sheet-stacking apparatus includes a gripper configured to convey a sheet, two stacker trays stacking sheets arranged in a row, and a support member configured to separately elevate the two stacker trays. The stacker tray is selected according to a sheet length.
US08485516B2
A sheet conveying device, that can be included in an image forming apparatus, includes a first sheet conveying path, a second sheet conveying path, a third conveying path, and a belt-type sheet conveying unit. The first sheet conveying path has a curved portion, and feeds and conveys a sheet therethrough. The second sheet conveying path has a curved portion and different from the first sheet conveying path, and feeds and conveys the sheet therethrough. The third sheet conveying path is provided from a confluence of the first sheet conveying path and the second sheet conveying path. The belt-type sheet conveying unit is disposed on one side of the third sheet conveying path corresponding to an outer side of the curved portion of the first sheet conveying path and an inner side of the curved portion of the second sheet conveying path.
US08485511B2
One embodiment is an apparatus for holding a device that includes a body having at least one aperture bounded by edges between a top and a bottom surface and having a holding portion wherein: (a) a first and a second resilient prong extend into the aperture, each prong has a movable end extending beyond the holding portion and having an actuating surface thereon; (b) the first and the second resilient prongs are disposed to urge the device against aperture edges; (c) the actuating surfaces of the first and second prongs are juxtaposed; and (d) a movable cam is interposed between the actuating surfaces of the prongs.
US08485509B2
A fixing mechanism includes a fixed member, a movable member, and a driving member. The fixed member has a first claw portion, and the movable member has a second claw portion. The movable member is movably connected to the fixed member via the driving member. The driving member is configured for moving the movable member in a direction away from the first claw portion of the fixed member. A manipulator using the fixing mechanism is also disclosed.
US08485508B1
A mechanical hand held door opener device, light in weight and operable in any orientation including being inverted, for generating substantial door-opening force with a minimum effort from a user. When the user rotates the handle, he or she activates the unit by moving the shaft that interlocks with the first and second bevel gears. Since the second gear is fastened to the central lead screw, its rotation causes the rotation of the screw. The rotation of the screw then advances or retracts, depending on the clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation; and the inner platform and the four columns attached to the inner platform moves inwardly or outwardly of the outer platform.
US08485507B2
A movable table, which has a substrate to be processed mounted thereon and moves, includes: a main plate formed of a metallic material; and a plurality of sub plates which is disposed on the main plate and is formed of a material with a hardness higher than the metallic material, and the top surfaces of the plurality of sub plates are mounting surfaces of the substrate to be processed.
US08485506B2
This vibration isolating apparatus (1) includes a cylindrical first mounting component (6), a second mounting component (7), a rubber elastic body (8), a diaphragm (5), and a partitioning component (4). The partitioning component (4) is formed entirely from an elastic body, and on the first mounting component (6) there are provided a protruding portion (60) and a first cylindrical portion (62), and a toroidal rigid component (50) is fitted on an inner side of the first cylindrical portion (62), and in the rigid component (50) there are provided a second cylindrical portion (53) and a supporting portion (54).
US08485499B2
A driving device for adjusting an activating element of a throttle, of a valve, of a connecting device, of a metering device or the like in particular in the field of oil and gas exploration with at least one rotary gear movably connected to the activating element and a gear arranged between the rotary gear and at least one motor. To improve such a drive device in that the structure is simple and compact and efficiency is increased wherein simultaneously high axial forces are avoided and only a small number of assembly parts are necessary, the gear unit comprises a reduction gear assigned to the rotary gear in particular the so called harmonic drive gear, and a spare gear assigned to the motor which is in particular self locking.
US08485498B2
A rotational moving point of a connection between a rod and a valve swings between a full open point, at which the valve is fully opened, and a full close point, at which the valve is fully closed. An apex of this swing is set at a point, which is between the full close point and a half point and satisfies a relationship of θP>θA where θP denotes an angle that is defined between a first imaginary line, which connects between a bearing center of a rod bearing and the full open point, and a second imaginary line, which connects between the bearing center and the apex of the swing, and θA denotes an angle that is defined between the first imaginary line and a third imaginary line, which connects between the bearing center and the full close point.
US08485489B2
A longitudinal adjustment mechanism is provided for a seat, with a spindle guide nut (12) that can move on a spindle (10), which can be driven by a worm gear (14) with bearing sleeves (15) on both sides, as well as with a multi-part casing (20, 30) that receives the worm gear (14) and the spindle (10). The casing (20, 30) consists of two casing sections (20, 30) made of plastic, which can be inserted into one another in the axial direction (X) of the spindle (10); each casing section (20, 30) has a plate (21, 31), from which bars (22, 23, 24; 33) jut out on one side and the casing sections (20, 30) are permanently joined to one another. The mechanism provides a compact transmission for longitudinal seat adjustment mechanisms that is easy to assemble.
US08485488B2
An adjustable leg for a device includes first and second legs telescopically received relative to one another. The second leg has multiple adjustment holes. An externally located lever is supported relative to the first leg. The lever cooperates with a detent received in one of the adjustment holes in a latched position in which the first and second legs are fixed relative to one another. The lever includes an area spaced from the detent that is rotatable about a pivot from the latch position to an unlatched position in which the detent is disposed outside one of the adjustment holes. In the unlatched position, movement of the first and second legs in an axial direction relative to one another is permitted.
US08485477B2
An aircraft control input apparatus is configured to accept and provide to the aircraft control inputs from a user regarding the magnitude and direction of the aircraft's thrust vector. The present invention enables a user to continually provide control inputs to an aircraft in which both the magnitude and the direction of thrust vary. A rotational throttle interface is configured to alter its orientation within the aircraft based on the directional component of the aircraft's thrust vector. The rotational throttle interface enables the user to provide continual control inputs to command both the directional component of the thrust as well as the magnitude component. Accordingly the user can provide inputs regarding direction and magnitude throughout the operating envelope of the aircraft's thrust vector while maintaining continuous physical contact with the throttle.
US08485464B2
A safe, quiet, easy to control, efficient, and compact aircraft configuration is enabled through the combination of multiple vertical lift rotors, tandem wings, and forward thrust propellers. The vertical lift rotors, in combination with a front and rear wing, permits a balancing of the center of lift with the center of gravity for both vertical and horizontal flight. This wing and multiple rotor system has the ability to tolerate a relatively large variation of the payload weight for hover, transition, or cruise flight while also providing vertical thrust redundancy. The propulsion system uses multiple lift rotors and forward thrust propellers of a small enough size to be shielded from potential blade strike and provide increased perceived and real safety to the passengers. Using multiple independent rotors provides redundancy and the elimination of single point failure modes that can make the vehicle non-operable in flight.
US08485463B2
A reel is provided with a tubular hub, a first flange, a second flange, and positioning portions. A projection portion that projects in a radial direction is formed at an inner periphery face of the hub. The first flange includes a first extension portion which is extended in the axial direction of the hub from a first flange portion and is joined to the projection portion. The second flange includes a second extension portion which is extended in the axial direction of the hub from a second flange portion and is joined to the projection portion. The positioning portions regulate, in the radial direction, positions of distal end portions of the first extension portion and the second extension portion relative to the hub. Gaps are formed between the inner periphery face of the hub and outer periphery faces of the first extension portion and the second extension portion.
US08485460B2
A polyester film roll is rolled on a core, wherein the difference R (m) between the maximum value and the minimum value of the diameters of the roll is not more than 2W×10−3 and not more than L×10−7, when the diameters of said roll are measured in the width direction of the roll, (therein, W is the width (m) of the film roll, and L is the length (m) of the rolled film). Alternatively, among the lengths of lines which are obtained by measuring the diameters of said roll in the width direction of the roll, drawing a straight line between both the ends of the curved line of the obtained roll diameters, the maximum distance on the convex portion between the curved and straight lines is not more than 500 μm, and the maximum distance on the concave portion of the same is not more than 300 μm.
US08485458B2
The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of mechano-structured nacre by mechanosynthesis of micrometric nacre powder, characterized in that the temperature of the nacre is kept below 40° C. It also relates to the mechano-structured nacre and to uses thereof, in particular on implants and bone substitute pieces on which the mechano-structured nacre is deposited.
US08485455B2
A supersonic nozzle (called a Fisenko nozzle) improves conversion efficiency of the pressure energy of the input medium into kinetic energy of a two-phase gas-liquid stream of the ejected medium. The nozzle for boiling liquid includes inlet and outlet sections that are respectively converging and diverging in the direction of the medium flow, between which is a minimal nozzle section. The profile for a proximal part of the diverging section of the nozzle is defined by a curve that is concave to the nozzle axis, which smoothly transitions to a curve that is convex to the nozzle axis through the critical nozzle section downstream of the nozzle minima. At the critical section, the flow reaches sonic velocity and the nozzle profile is neither convex nor concave.
US08485454B1
An air freshener device has a chamber containing a fragrant material pivotal with respect to a back opening in the a plate. A perimeter notch is formed in an intermediate brace and a front dial plate so that a scale on the back plate is visible. A single cartridge has a pair of scent chambers coupled together and disposed adjacent one another in a side-by-side relationship, and formed as a pair of separate and discrete vessels in a plastic sheet separated by a divider and covered by a permeable membrane. Each of the pair of vessels contains a fragrant material with a fragrance that can permeate through the permeable membrane over time.
US08485452B2
The first object of the present invention is to provide a derailment prevention guard which can be easily shunted outside the range of the ballast tamping work, the rail grinding work and the rail maintenance work, and has no problem on safety.A derailment prevention guard comprises a guard member installed within a gauge and a support member fixed to a sleeper or a concrete slab track, and the guard member is held by a hold member which can turn around a central axis supported by the support member as turning center between a main rail and the inside of the gauge on the sleeper or the concrete slab track, and the support member is engaged with the hold member by means of a bolt through turning the hold member toward the main rail around the central axis as turning center on the sleeper or the concrete slab track, and the guard member can be shunted inward within the gauge by turning the hold member toward the inside of the gauge around the central axis as turning center on the sleeper or the concrete slab track after loosening the bolt.
US08485443B2
An apparatus for sensing an integrated circuit (IC) card may include a bottom surface in contact with a chassis of an information handling system (IHS) to form a slot for receiving at least one type of IC card and a top surface in communication with a transmitting element for sensing a first type of IC card inserted within the slot. The apparatus further includes a contact field disposed on the bottom surface, the contact field for sensing a second type of IC card inserted within the slot.
US08485439B2
A device and system for providing identification and medical information are disclosed. The device includes a readable code that contains medical biographical information of the subject, a programmable reporter element that is programmed to electronically store at least one particular event relating to the subject, and a signal producing element functionally related to the programmable reporter element. The system includes collecting and storing medical biographical information of a subject, embedding the medical biographical information in a readable code of the device, and scanning the readable code of the device worn by or in the possession of the subject using an appliance to retrieve the medical biographical information of the subject. The medical biographical information allows medical professionals to obtain the subject's medical information in order to provide medical care. Also disclosed is an integrated system for alerting subjects to upcoming events related to their continued care.
US08485435B2
A method and system for processing financial instruments to detect the presence of duplicate instruments. The method may include the steps of receiving items of information for a plurality of financial instruments, grouping the items into cycles and appending cycle and time dependent information to the items to form coded items, storing the coded items in a database, comparing the items to find items having duplicate identifying information, marking duplicate items for subsequent deletion and printing a report listing the duplicate items. The system may include a mainframe, data repository, item processing applications, and a module that filters items from incoming strings to remove false positives. The remaining duplicate items may be viewed on a graphical user interface that allows a user to review attributes of each item and manually mark duplicates for subsequent deletion.
US08485433B2
A fascia for a public access terminal is described. The fascia comprises: at least one user interface element on a front portion thereof (such as a customer display or a dispense slot), and a metal plate mounted on a rear portion thereof. The metal plate is dimensioned to close a metal body of the public access terminal so that the combination of the metal plate and the metal body provide a flame retardant public access terminal.
US08485431B2
Methods for filling prescriptions in a customer order. Each of the products is marked with a product barcode containing information relating to a contained pharmaceutical. Prior to loading into a machine, each of the products is free of markings relating to patient prescriptions in the customer order. The method includes using the machine to read the product barcode on each of the products loaded into the machine. In response to reading the product barcode on each of the products, at least some of the products are labeled with information relating to a respective one of the prescriptions.
US08485427B2
A quantum mechanical credit unit includes a plurality of qubit strings stored in computer readable storage media and configured for comparison with challenge questions during a verification procedure. The plurality of qubit strings is stored in at least k registers where k is a selected security number for the credit unit. An information register stores information about qubit strings that remain unused to provide the used qubit strings during the verification procedure. A unique serial number is configured to identify the credit unit without association with its holder or the qubit strings. Issuance and verification methods for the credit unit are also disclosed.
US08485423B2
A product container and dispenser including a housing having a plurality of walls that define an internal volume, a first wall of the housing defining an opening into the internal volume, and a partition structure positioned in the internal volume, the partition structure including a sealing wall aligned with the first wall and a partition wall connected to the sealing wall, wherein the opening is at least partially obstructed by the sealing wall.
US08485421B2
A single-piece blank forms a clamshell-style carton. This single-piece blank includes a plurality of fold lines. These fold lines are oriented and positioned such that folding the single-piece blank along the plurality of fold lines forms this clamshell-style carton. The resultant carton will tend to have a first compartment and a second compartment. Both compartments comprise corresponding storage areas of approximately equal size and both also share a particular fold line that also serves as a hinged edge.
US08485416B2
A sealing and bonding material structure for joining semiconductor wafers having monolithically integrated components. The sealing and bonding material are provided in strips forming closed loops. There are provided at least two concentric sealing strips on one wafer. The strips are laid out so as to surround the component(s) on the wafers to be sealed off when wafers are bonded together. The material in the strips is a material bonding the semiconductor wafers together and sealing off the monolithically integrated components when subjected to force and optionally heating. A monolithically integrated electrical and/or mechanical and/or fluidic and/or optical device including a first substrate and a second substrate, bonded together with the sealing and bonding structure, and a method of providing a sealing and bonding material structure on at least one of two wafers and applying a force and optionally heat to the wafers to join them are described.
US08485415B2
A method for manufacturing a panel structure in which a reference position of a first frame in an axial direction is first welded to one face of a face plate, a not-yet-welded position closest to the reference position in the axial direction is second welded to the one face, and welding is performed discontinuously to the one face from the not-yet-welded position closest to the reference position at portions on both sides in the axial direction on the basis of the reference position.
US08485412B2
A surgical stapling system including a driver and a staple where the driver is connected to the staple. In previous surgical stapling systems, the driver and the staple were not connected. A surgical stapling system in accordance with the present invention may have fewer components, less assembly and manufacturing time, and may accommodate larger staples which are at least partially embedded in the driver. In various embodiments, a surgical stapling system comprises a staple, the staple including a deformable member, and a stapler, the stapler including an anvil, a staple cartridge for removably storing the staple, and a cam movable between a first position and a second position. In these embodiments, the surgical stapling system further comprises a driver attached to the staple, the driver being operatively engaged with the cam to move the staple toward the anvil when the cam is moved between the first position and the second position.
US08485410B1
A magazine for a stack of fasteners in which the mean surface area overlap between adjacent fastener heads is substantial, has a chute, a constantly-urged follower pushing the stack in the chute, a slideway that intersects the chute at a separation station for the lead fastener, and a slide for pushing the lead fastener to an expulsion station and then retracting to get behind the next fastener to dispense from the chute and accede to the separation station, it being the new lead fastener.
US08485406B2
Disclosed is a plate-shaped heating panel having connecting members fastened to each other by means of resin. The heating panel comprises upper and lower plates integrally formed to face each other so as to form an inner fluid pathway in which heating water flows, a plurality of connecting members, The holes are filled with a melted plastic resin, and the melted plastic resin is integrated with the connecting members by pressing.
US08485401B2
The teachings provide a fill tube assembly for a casting mold and methods of using the assembly. The fill tube assembly includes a fill tube having a tubular member with a receiving end, a mold-engaging end and an intermediate portion. The mold-engaging end has a tapered flange radially extending therefrom, the remainder of the tubular member has a substantially, uniform cross-section. A clamping assembly is structured to maintain a substantially leakproof seal at the fill tube, casting mold interface while accommodating dimensional variations. The clamping assembly includes a gasket, a load ring, a clamping plate and a pre-load gap between the clamping plate and the casting mold and optionally includes a dimensional compensating ring. When tightened, the clamping plate biases the load ring against the flange thereby distributing a uniform load against the casting mold, compressing the gasket therebetween while narrowing the pre-load gap to accommodate dimensional variations.
US08485395B2
A product dispensing system includes a locking mechanism to prevent actuation of the system absent an authorized product refill unit. More specifically, the dispensing system includes a housing and an actuator slidably secured within the housing and including at least one locking post extending therefrom. The actuator is adapted to actuate a pump to cause dispensing of a product. A release ring is rotatably secured within the housing and includes at least one locking post extending therefrom and aligned with the locking post of the actuator. The release ring also includes at least one ramped surface. The locking posts of the actuator and release ring engage one another in a locked position to prevent actuation of the dispensing system, and the release ring is adapted to be rotated to an unlocked position upon insertion of an authorized refill unit.
US08485394B2
To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a carbonated beverage as a supercooled beverage. According to the present invention, there is disclosed a beverage dispenser including a carbonator 51 for manufacturing carbonated water; a beverage supply circuit 7 for supplying a carbonated beverage manufactured by the carbonator 51 to the outside; a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling; and a primary cooling device 13, the carbonator 51 mixes a carbonic acid gas supplied from a gas regulator 54 which supplies a pressurized carbonic acid gas, syrup and diluting water to manufacture the carbonated beverage, and the heat exchanger 16 for supercooling cools the carbonated beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 into a supercooled state at a temperature of a solidifying point or less to release the supercooled state in the outside.
US08485387B2
In one embodiment, a storage container includes a container structure defining at least one storage chamber. The container structure includes multi-layer insulation (MLI) composite material having at least one thermally-reflective layer. The at least one thermally-reflective layer includes bandgap material that is transmissive to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation.
US08485385B2
A welding material, comprising a modified polyethylene resin composition (Z) comprising from 0.5 to 95 wt % of a modified polyethylene resin (X) having at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of an unsaturated carboxylic acid and its derivative, grafted to a polyethylene resin (A) having a density of from 0.910 to 0.965 g/cm3 and a MFR (temperature: 190° C., load: 2.16 kg) of from 0.1 to 5.0 g/10 min, and from 5 to 99.5 wt % of an unmodified polyethylene resin (Y) having a density of from 0.930 to 0.965 g/cm3, a MFR of from 0.01 to 5.0 g/10 min and a melt flow rate ratio (HL-MFR (temperature: 190° C., load: 21.6 kg)/MFR of from 40 to 270, and having a density of from 0.938 to 0.965 g/cm3 and a MFR of from 0.05 to 1.0 g/10 min.
US08485383B2
A container includes multiple compartments for holding drinks and food. In an exemplary embodiment, a first compartment holds a drink of choice, such as soda, water or juice, and a second compartment holds a food of choice, such as popcorn, pretzels or chips. A third compartment may also be provided for holding a second food of choice, such as candy.
US08485374B2
A plastic closure is disclosed which is configured for enhanced performance and reduced closure weight. Notably, the closure includes a compound, internal helical thread formation including an upper retention portion which provides desired closure hoop strength and sealing performance, and a lower guide portion which is configured for light weight while functioning to guide the closure onto an associated container during application. The closure can further include a stepped top wall portion having a relatively thick outer region, and a relatively thin central region. A tamper-evident band of the closure can be configured to include a deformable free edge portion for enhanced tamper-resistance.
US08485366B2
There are disclosed a ceramic porous membrane formed with less membrane formation times and having less defects, a small and uniform thickness and a high flux, and a ceramic filter. A silica membrane is formed on a titania UF membrane as an ultrafiltration membrane (a UF membrane) formed on a porous base member which is a microfiltration membrane (also referred to as an MF membrane) and having an average pore diameter smaller than that of the porous base member, and the silica membrane has an average pore diameter smaller than that of the titania UF membrane, and does not substantially permeates the titania UF membrane.
US08485362B2
A cushion includes a main body, a receiving space, and at least one stand. The main body has a slot therein. The receiving space is disposed in the main body. The stand is telescopically received in the receiving space.
US08485359B2
A dosing cap for use with or without a separate container for combining two different ingredients at time of use by dispensing ingredient one from the dosing cap into a container with ingredient two. The dosing cap includes a moisture and waterproof seal to prevent the ingredients from receiving any moisture during storage, an absorbent material (desiccant) included with the seal to absorb any residual moisture in the container or that might be received into the container during storage to ensure a moisture free environment for the ingredient and a tracking device such as a radio frequency identifying chip (RFID) that is attached to the dosing cap for product identification and tracking purposes.
US08485357B2
A tray for positioning elongated objects each having a body and a flange. The tray includes a plate with openings and bearing surfaces. At least one first bearing surface is near a first opening and located at a first distance from the plate of the tray, and at least one second bearing surface is near a second opening adjacent the first opening and located at a second distance from the plate of the tray. The second distance is different from the first distance. The first and second openings are located at a distance with respect to one another such that the flange of a first elongated object engaged in one of these openings is able to partially overlap the flange of a second elongated object engaged in the other of these openings without contact between the flange of the first elongated object and the flange of the second elongated object.
US08485344B1
A device for applying a torsional bias force to a shaft is provided. In a preferred embodiment the device is used in combination with a tube supporting a cleaning blade for a conveyor belt cleaner, thereby enabling the force of the cleaning blade against the conveyor belt to be precisely set to a desired value.
US08485340B2
The device for transferring and nesting blister packs comprises a transfer device, which transfers blister packs from a first transport or storage device to a second transport or storage device arranged under the first transport or storage device. The transfer device has a receiving section, which can hold at least two blister packs and which can rotate at least 180°. A first blister pack can be received in the receiving section of the transfer device in a receiving position; the receiving section with the first blister pack can be rotated 180°; and finally a second blister pack can be received in the receiving section in the receiving position and placed onto the first, rotated blister pack.
US08485338B2
A paper money processor according to the present invention includes a transaction slot where paper money is at least either inserted or dispensed with an orientation such that one of lengthwise ends of the paper money is positioned at a side of a first lengthwise end of the transaction slot. The transaction slot includes a main opening which opens on a second lengthwise end of the transaction slot, and a lateral opening which is continuous with the main opening, and opens on a first widthwise end of the transaction slot.
US08485326B2
In the inside of a cylinder tube, there are provided a piston chamber and an adjusting chamber communicating each other, and these both chambers are filled with oil in a pressurized condition, and further, there are provided a piston moving in an axial direction in the piston chamber and a rod coupled to the piston. An elastic member is located in the inside of the adjusting chamber in a state that a reservoir tank is formed in the adjusting chamber by being compressed by pressurizing force of the oil, and impact is absorbed in such a way that the elastic member is caused to extend and contract by the oil flowing in/flowing out the reservoir tank by movement of the rod.
US08485318B2
An elevator rope braking system including a base portion and a top portion affixed by at least one mounting structure; an outer housing and a magnetic core arranged on and affixed to the base portion; an armature plate intermediate the top portion and the base portion having an armature extending toward the base portion; and an electromagnetic coil positioned between the outer housing and the magnetic core and operative to provide an electromagnetic force sufficient to move the armature from a first braking position to a second non-braking position.
US08485317B2
A method of controlling a lift installation with at least one lift car, at least one lift control and at least one mobile apparatus, and a control system for a controlling a lift installation. A reporting device near the lift installation receives at least one activation signal from a transmitting/receiving device of a mobile apparatus. The reporting device activates in response to the received activation signal. At least one network address of a recognition device of a lift control of the lift installation is transmitted from the activated reporting device to the transmitting/receiving device of the mobile apparatus.
US08485313B2
A muffler for a combustion engine includes walls forming a chamber, a first inlet, a first outlet, and a conduit. The first inlet is designed to receive exhaust gases from an exhaust duct of the engine. The exhaust gases pass through the chamber when moving from the first inlet to the first outlet. The exhaust gases then exit the muffler through the first outlet. The conduit extends between a second inlet and a second outlet. The second inlet is configured to receive fresh air entering the muffler. The fresh air then exits the conduit and is introduced into the exhaust gases through the second outlet.
US08485312B2
An exhaust pipe including an inner tube for introducing exhaust gas, and an outer tube fitted on the inner tube. Projected portions obtained by radially inwardly projecting plural parts of the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube in the circumferential direction, and extending the same in the tube axis direction, are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube. A plurality of air chambers partitioned by the projected portions are formed between the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube and the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube, and an intermediate member is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube and the projected portions. In the exhaust pipe a sufficient noise reduction effect and a prevention effect for reduction of the temperature of an exhaust gas can be obtained even if the exhaust pipe is bent.
US08485311B2
An air duct assembly supplies air from an air cleaner housing to an engine throttle and includes a first duct connected to the air cleaner housing and a second duct connected to the engine air intake. Open ends of the first and second ducts are spaced from one another and the second duct has a flared bell mouth at its open end. The second duct includes a sleeve that defines an attenuation chamber. A flexible bellows overlies the first and second ducts and the sleeve, and extends across the space between the first and second ducts to provide an airtight connection therebetween and flex during relative motion between the air cleaner housing and the engine air intake. A hydrocarbon adsorbing material can be housed within the attenuation chamber.
US08485297B2
A motor vehicle has an electrochemical cell, which includes an electrode stack of at least two electrodes in a parallel arrangement. The electrochemical cell is arranged outside an engine compartment of the motor vehicle in an accommodation compartment of the motor vehicle, the cross-sectional surface of which is tapered in the direction of the vertical axis of the vehicle. A cross-sectional surface of the electrochemical cell is thereby adapted to the cross-sectional surface of the accommodation compartment. Thus, particularly good use is made of the available space in the motor vehicle.
US08485294B2
An electric automobile includes an electric motor coupled to a first axle that propels the automobile in a desired direction. An alternator or generator is coupled to the second axle and includes an output that powers the electric motor or recharges a power source that powers the electric motor. A gearbox is arranged to harness the reciprocating motion of one of the axles and provide angular motion to the shaft of the generator or alternator.
US08485291B2
A hybrid electric vehicle with two separate drive systems. High speed operation is powered by self frequency ramping alternating current motors 107 within the wheel rims. Low speed operation is powered by hydraulic motors 102 directly coupled to the drive wheels. The hydraulic oil is pressurized by direct current motors/pumps 302 & 309 energized by a battery pack 106. The alternating current motors 107 are energized by mechanical or electronically generated alternating current. The hybrid power source is either a combustion engine 406 driving a poly-phased alternator 501 or a fuel cell 600 providing direct current. In the case of the combustion engine 406, a direct current helper motor/generator 404 will augment the engine with power from the battery pack 106 under large demands and charge the battery pack 106 under small demands. In the case of a fuel cell 600, the cell is augmented by the battery pack 106 under large demands and charges the battery pack 106 under small or no demands.
US08485290B2
A power plant which is capable of improving the drive efficiency and the power generation efficiency thereof when the electric power is generated using the power of a driven part thereof. A power plant has an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft, and a rotary motor having a rotor. A planetary gear train includes a sun gear, a ring gear, and a carrier rotatably supporting a planetary gear in mesh with the sun gear and the ring gear. The sun gear and the ring gear are connected to drive wheels. The carrier is connected to the crankshaft. The rotor is connected between one of the sun gear and the ring gear and the drive wheels. A transmission is connected between the other of the gears and the drive wheels, for varying a speed of power of the engine and transmitting the power to the drive wheels.
US08485286B2
A drive configuration for a skid steered vehicle comprises a pair of electric motors for propulsion of the vehicle, one each coupled to drive a respective track on a respective side of the vehicle, and one or more electric steer motors coupled through a differential gear mechanism to impose a speed difference between the tracks. An associated control system controls the current to each motor so that substantial contributions to the differential torque to turn the vehicle are made both by the steer motors and by the propulsion motors, in variable proportions preferably as a function of the vehicle speed.
US08485280B2
Implementations of the present invention include a core barrel assembly having a driven latch mechanism. The driven latch mechanism can lock the core barrel assembly axially and rotationally relative to a drill string. The driven latch mechanism can include a plurality of wedge members positioned on a plurality of driving surfaces. Rotation of the drill string can cause the plurality of wedge members to wedge between an inner diameter of the drill string and the plurality of driving surfaces, thereby rotationally locking the core barrel assembly relative to the drill string. The driven latch mechanism can further include a refracted groove adapted to lock the plurality of wedge members radially within the core barrel assembly, thereby allowing for faster travel within the drill string. Implementations of the present invention also include drilling systems including such driven latch mechanisms, and methods of retrieving a core sample using such drilling systems.
US08485274B2
It is an object of the invention to provide a technique that contributes to rationalization of a mechanism relating to reduction of vibration in an impact tool. Representative impact tool includes a tool body, a hammer actuating member, a dynamic vibration reducer and a positioning elastic element. The positioning elastic element contacts the hammer actuating member and thereby positions the tool body with respect to the workpiece so as to absorb a reaction force caused by rebound from the workpiece and acts on the hammer actuating member when the hammer actuating member performs the hammering operation on the workpiece. The positioning elastic element includes the elastic element formed as a component part of the dynamic vibration reducer.
US08485273B2
An electric assembly device for tightening of fastener includes a housing and a rotation. motor which is drivingly connected to an output shaft. The output shaft has a forward portion extending out of the housing, and is adapted to carry a coupling device for releasable coupling with a fastener during tightening, which is to be performed along a first rotation axis. The device is adapted to determine an angular displacement of the housing with respect to the first rotation axis during tightening of the fastener, and to control the rotation speed of the motor during tightening based on the determined angular displacement of the housing.
US08485267B2
A hydraulic connector for a wellhead hub is provided that includes a piston and a bottom portion configured to move in an axial direction via hydraulic pressure applied to one or more hydraulic ports in the connector. The movement of the piston and the bottom portion moves a ring and a segment of the connector in a radial direction to engage recesses in the wellhead hub. The connector may be unlocked by applying hydraulic pressure to a hydraulic port of the connector. A system and method of operating the connector are also provided.
US08485261B2
An apparatus which includes a housing defining a chamber, the chamber being sealed from an exterior of the housing, wherein the housing further defines an opening in fluid communication with the chamber and the exterior of the housing. The apparatus further includes a valve in fluid communication with the opening and positioned between the chamber and the exterior of the housing and a member at least partially positioned within the chamber and moveable relative to the housing such that opening of the valve allows fluid to enter the chamber from the exterior of the housing and move the member. A method to operate the same is provided.
US08485256B2
A system used to heat a subsurface formation includes an elongated heater at least partially located in an opening in a hydrocarbon containing layer of the formation. The opening extends from the surface of the formation through an overburden section of the formation and into the hydrocarbon containing layer of the formation. The elongated heater includes an electrical conductor, an insulation layer at least partially surrounding the electrical conductor, and an electrically conductive sheath at least partially surrounding the insulation layer. The elongated heater tapers from a larger thickness at a first end of the heater to a smaller thickness at a second end of the heater. The first end is at or near the junction between the overburden section and the hydrocarbon containing layer and the second end is further into the hydrocarbon containing layer.
US08485235B2
An apparatus and system for transferring a liquid, such as an anesthetic, from the outlet port of a reservoir to a machine while effectively and conveniently minimizing the release of anesthetic. In one embodiment, the apparatus and system can include a first valve movable between a first position and a second position; a first housing surrounding the first valve; a second valve slidably connected to the first valve and movable between a third position and a fourth position; and a second housing which surrounds the second valve; wherein the apparatus defines a first opening, a second opening, and a receiver passage between the first and second openings. In another embodiment, a movable plunger can be slidably connected to the second valve.
US08485234B2
A funnel for filling a container with liquid through an aperture in a side wall of the container includes a panel that has a fill spout. A rim is disposed on a lower edge of the panel and adapted to engage a lower inner surface of the side wall. A tab extends from the panel and is adapted to engage an outer surface of the side wall.
US08485231B2
Disclosed in this specification is a medicine container with a flexible flap covering the opening of the container. The opening is closed by the flexible flap when the flexible flap is in a resting position and the opening is opened when the flexible flap is in a flexed position. A hand-operated plunger is equipped with an end configured to mate with the opening such that a seal is established between the plunger and the opening. The plunger is shaped to apply a force to the flexible flap, thereby operating the flexible flap.
US08485227B2
To provide conditioned fluid flows, a base body has a main flow duct formed therein with a bypass duct that is branched off from and led back to the main flow duct. An exchangeable flow conditioning insert includes a flow resistance element and is adapted to be arranged in the main flow duct relative to the bypass duct in an axial installation position such that the flow resistance element generates a pressure difference between ports of the bypass duct at the main flow duct.
US08485215B2
Liquid tank venting system comprising a chamber that is inside the tank and that is equipped with a drainage device that comprises at least one opening made in the chamber and an elastomer-based non-return valve capable of sealing/freeing this opening, according to which this non-return valve is forced into a position for leaktight closure of the opening via a specific device starting from a certain liquid level in the tank.
US08485214B2
A valve assembly for a fuel tank for a small engine includes a housing. A membrane is supported by the housing such that the membrane covers a housing opening. The membrane allows the passage of vapor through the membrane and into the housing cavity and prevents the passage of liquid through the membrane. A pressure relief valve is supported by the housing to control flow of a vapor through the housing cavity.
US08485207B1
A shade system having a main shaft with a first and second end, the second end adapted to engage a hitch receiver on a vehicle, a first and second half are connected via a pivot component allowing the first half to pivot from side to side, a telescopic arm in the first end secured in a desired position via a locking mechanism, a vertical shaft extending upwardly from the telescopic arm wherein an umbrella holder is adapted to receive an umbrella shaft of an umbrella which can slide up and down through the umbrella holder and is secured in a position via a locking mechanism, a barrier bar extending outwardly at the pivot component adapted to prevent the first half from pivoting too far to the side, and a flange extending downwardly from the main shaft, wherein a hitch ball is disposed on the flange.
US08485199B2
Devices and methods are provided which shield at least one turbinate from trauma or damage during sinus surgery that could be caused by direct contact with diagnostic and therapeutic devices. The devices and methods provided are particularly useful for protecting nasal turbinates during FESS and FTIS procedures.
US08485196B2
An improved female condom apparatus includes a pouch that has a wall, an open end, a closed end and a frame. The frame is positioned proximate the open end of the pouch and extends around a perimeter of the open end. An anchoring device is located within the pouch proximate the closed end to secure the condom in position during use. A harness includes a center strap and may include side straps. One end of each strap is secured to the open end of the pouch. Further, one or more of the straps may be detachable from the pouch. At least the center strap may be constructed of a resilient and/or pliable material. As such, during use the center strap extends between a user's legs and resiliently engages the user's back in a clamping or tensioning action. This clamping action assists in securing the condom in position during use.
US08485194B2
An oral airway for insertion into a mouth and pharynx of a patient to provide a breathing pathway and for cooperating with either an anesthesia breathing connector, a suction tube, or a nasal cannula. The oral airway includes a first tubular member, a second tubular member disposed within the first tubular member, and a connector configured to securely attach to both the first tubular member and the second tubular member. The connector includes a first portion in fluid communication with the first tubular member and a second portion in fluid communication with the second tubular member.
US08485192B2
A cushion for a patient interface that delivers breathable gas to a patient includes a base wall structured to be connected to a frame, an underlying support cushion extending away from the base wall towards the patient's face in use, and a membrane provided to substantially cover at least a portion of the underlying cushion. The membrane is adapted to form a continuous seal on the patient's face. The underlying cushion has a spring-like connection with the base wall. The underlying cushion and/or base wall define a spring constant that varies along a length of the seal.
US08485190B2
A seal and a respiraoty mask having a seal adapted for confronting engagement with a surface of a user to form an interface therewith. The seal includes a first portion defined by a gel substance. In one embodiment, the seal includes a selectively formable substance adapted to be molded from a first pattern into a second pattern and to retain the second pattern responsive to being so molded. The seal and mask having the seal in this embodiment is tailored to patient by causing the formable portion of the seal to be placed in a malleable state, applying the seal to the patient while the formable portion is in the malleable state, and causing the formable portion to be placed in a fixed state to retain a shape generally conforming to the portion of the patient underlying the seal.
US08485185B2
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, methods and devices for respiratory support. As one example, a ventilation system is disclosed that includes a computer readable medium including instructions executable by a processor to receive a measured pressure value and a net flow value. A patient effort value is calculated based on a relationship between patient effort, the measured pressure value and the net flow value. The instructions are further executable to calculate a gas delivery metric that varies as a function of the patient effort value. Gas is then caused to be delivered consistent with the gas delivery metric.
US08485173B1
An airsoft gun includes a stock and barrel assembly including a rear compressed propellant gas container having a seal, a spring biased striker disposed forwardly of the seal, a chamber disposed forwardly of the striker, a sliding weight in the chamber, a receiver disposed forwardly of the chamber, and an annular trough on an inner surface of a forward portion of the gun; a spring biased cap member locked at a forward opening; a pistol grip extending laterally out of the receiver and including two opposite three-section slots on a surface; a magazine assembly in the pistol grip; a and trigger assembly at bottom of the pistol grip and including a spring biased spacer engaging the bottom pellet, a cap element at the bottom of the pistol grip, and two safety pins through the cap element and the slots to lockingly urge against the spacer in a safe position.
US08485158B2
A method to control a gas engine system is disclosed, whereby the engine can be operated with an air-fuel-ratio controlled with high precision, even in using a low calorific fuel-gas that is prone to vary in calorific value; the engine system includes: a first gas line toward each cylinder via a first gas valve from a gas supply source line, the first gas valve regulating flow rates of the fuel-gas through a gas compressor on the line; a second gas line toward suction air, the line being branched from the gas supply source line and the line being provided with a gas air mixer and a second gas valve on the line. In the case when the fuel-gas is of a low calorific value or where the output of the engine is high, a part of the fuel-gas is supplied to the engine through the first and second lines. The mixer forms a mixture of a prescribed mixing ratio that is leaner than a lower limit of flammability of the fuel-gas, while the remaining fuel-gas through the first line is supplied to the mixture just before each cylinder so that a final prescribed air fuel ratio is formed.In the case when the calorific value of the fuel-gas is high, or of high engine output, the whole fuel-gas can be supplied only through the first gas line.
US08485154B2
An intake manifold flange system prevents leakage between joining portions of an intake manifold and a cylinder head while permitting stress relief. A flange body has an opening for receiving a distal end of the intake manifold and fastener hole openings for fixing the flange body to the cylinder head. Spaced annular grooves are arranged in an axial direction of the intake manifold. O-rings of a dimension to extend from the annular grooves and provide a pressurized contact with the distal end of an intake manifold. An annular groove is formed at a surface opposite a mounting portion of the cylinder head and an O-ring seal enables offsetting of the flange body from the cylinder head surface.
US08485152B2
A switchable device for supplying at least one consumer of an internal combustion engine with pressure, comprising: a cavity formed inside a camshaft; a first displacement element arranged in the cavity having a first pressure surface which at least partially delimits a first accumulator chamber together with the wall of the cavity; a first energy accumulator which interacts with the first displacement element; a locking mechanism by which the first displacement element can be locked in the second end position; a switching mechanism which can be actuated by an actuator, having a switch element that can be brought into at least two switching positions; a second displacement element arranged in the cavity having a second pressure surface which at least partially delimits a second accumulator chamber together with the wall of the cavity; a second energy accumulator which interacts with the second displacement element; the first accumulator chamber and the second accumulator chamber communicating with each other and being connectible to a pressure source in a fluid-conducting manner.
US08485151B2
A sealing structure seals a clearance between a housing and a brake rotor. The housing defines a fluid chamber for sealing a magnetic viscous fluid inside. The brake rotor penetrates through the housing and generates brake torque by contacting the magnetic viscous fluid. The housing has a magnetic sleeve section and a magnetic screw section provided to the brake rotor. The magnetic sleeve section is continuous in a rotational direction of the brake rotor and generates a magnetic flux. The magnetic screw section is an external screw having a screw thread, which extends away from a fluid chamber side toward a phase adjusting mechanism side when traced in a rotational direction of the brake rotor. The magnetic flux is guided to the magnetic screw section through a sealing gap between the magnetic screw section and an inner peripheral section of the magnetic sleeve section.
US08485149B2
A continuously variable valve lift apparatus includes a camshaft, a first cam disposed on the camshaft, a first valve opening/closing unit, a control unit transferring rotation of the first cam to the first valve opening/closing unit and adjusting valve lift of the first valve opening/closing unit, a second cam disposed on the camshaft and a second valve opening/closing unit constantly opened and closed by rotation of the second cam.
US08485142B2
An internal combustion engine cooling system includes: an internal combustion engine; a water pump for circulating a fluid; a flow path for the fluid circulated at least between the internal combustion engine and the water pump; a first sensor disposed on the flow path through which the fluid flows from the internal combustion engine to the water pump; a first flow path provided with a fluid cooling means; a second flow path provided with a heat exchange means; a first valve provided on the flow path and configured to control inflow amounts of the fluid into the first flow path and the second flow path; a second valve provided on the second flow path and configured to control inflow of the fluid into the second flow path; and a controller for performing failure determination of the second valve based on a detection result of the first sensor.
US08485140B2
A method and system for treating a combustible fluid and operating a combustion system, where the combustible fluid is introduced into an electrolysis cell, electrochemically activated in the electrolysis cell, and combusted in a combustion-based engine.
US08485139B2
Provided is an apparatus for inspecting a structure including a heating tube, a tube sheet supporting the heating tube, and a flow distribution baffle, which are installed in a steam generator of a nuclear power plant, and more particularly, an apparatus for visually inspecting and removing a foreign object in gaps of a bundle of heating tubes of an upper portion of a tube sheet of a secondary side of a steam generator, in which a detector is inserted into gaps of a bundle of heating tubes of an upper portion of a secondary side of a steam generator so as to inspect sludge or foreign objects, and a foreign object remover removes foreign objects when foreign objects are discovered in the gaps of the heating tubes.
US08485136B2
A pet wash station is provided that includes a wash room with a pet wash tub and a flexible spray hose to enable washing a pet in the tub. The tub drains into a collection trough in the floor of an equipment room. The equipment room and wash room share a common wall. The wash room floor extends under the common wall into the equipment room. The wash room floor drains towards the common wall, through a space between the wash room floor and the common wall, and into the trough in the equipment room floor.
US08485119B2
A wake tower for a powerboat for use in wakeboarding or other water sports is described. The wake tower can include base members attached to the powerboat and a U-shaped bar extending generally upwardly from the base members. The side bars can be tapered inward and can also be angled toward the bow of the powerboat. Support members can be positioned along the side bars to provide increased structural support to increase the maximum load of the wake tower and to increase the rigidity of the wake tower resulting in less shaking during use. A tow cross bar having a tow rope connector can be suspended generally between the side bars of the wake tower. The wake tower can be transitioned between an upright position and a lowered position. Shocks can be used to compensate for some of the weight of the wake tower to allow the wake tower to be raised and lowered with less effort by the user.
US08485117B2
A method, system and device for facilitating the retrieval of a marine anchor from an underwater obstruction, the device being configured to actuate when subjected to a force load of a predetermined peak force threshold to effect a change in the point of retrieval that an anchor rode makes with the anchor. The obstructed anchor may be retrieved from another direction, such as a direction opposite from which the anchor was set.
US08485114B2
A needle plate includes a first needle plate secured on a bed and a second needle plate detachably attached to the first needle plate. An engagement mechanism includes an engagement member formed at the first needle plate and an engagement subject member formed at the second needle plate, and retains the second needle plate with the first needle plate through engagement of the engagement member and the engagement subject member. A switching element switches positioning of the second needle plate relative to the first needle plate, wherein when in a first position, the second needle plate is secured in contact with the first needle plate with the engagement mechanism engaged, and when in a second position, the second needle plate is distanced from the first needle plate.
US08485097B1
A device for initiating an energetic material through an electrical pulse. The device includes an input charge, an initiator assembly and a switch. The input charge is formed of a secondary explosive. The initiator assembly is configured to initiate a detonation event in the input charge in response to receipt of the electrical pulse to a terminal that is electrically coupled to the initiator assembly. The switch is maintained in a normally open condition but is closed to transmit electrical energy from the pulse that remains on the first terminal after operation of the initiator assembly has been initiated.
US08485093B2
A heat application apparatus includes a longitudinally split cylinder that may be disposed about a section of a suspension bridge cable or similar tubular article. The cylinder is split into two essentially identical semi-cylindrical halves which are pivotally connected by an elongate hinge. A plurality of toggle clamps are arranged transversely across the opens ends of the halves and may be engaged to positively connect and lock the edges together. On each of the inner faces of the halves is secured a semi-cylindrical air bladder. The bladders are covered by a flexible heat blanket having a uniformly distributed electrical resistance heating element. Independent air pressure regulators which are supplied with compressed air provide air at low pressure to the bladders and a suitable electrical connector all reside on the exterior of the apparatus. Optionally, an air compressor may be mounted on each half to supply each regulator and bladder independently, thereby configuring the apparatus so that it requires only electrical power to operate.
US08485092B2
A door opening assembly of a bale press including a first arm member having a first end and a second end hingedly coupled at the first end to a first door. The door opening assembly also includes a second arm member having a first end and a second end hingedly coupled at the first end to a second door. An actuator is coupled to the second end of the first arm member and the second end of the second arm member to cause the first arm member to displace the first door and the second arm member to hold the second door from being displaced. A further feature includes a door closing system involve a guide member and a guide receptacle for moving a latch gate to close the door.
US08485084B1
Reactive armor that includes a casing having a plurality of walls, a back, and a cavity formed therebetween; a cover that closes the cavity and forms a strike face; a filler placed within the cavity, the filler comprising a disruptive material; and an explosive. To defeat projectile or projectile related threats, the reactive armor substantially, but not necessarily wholly, implements laterally oriented force mechanisms, erosion mechanisms, and bulking mechanisms, e.g., explosive forces, with respect to the strike face.
US08485083B1
A single-feed magazine adapter used with automatic or semi-automatic firearms and a twin-drum magazine, which converts the dual-feed arrangement of rounds created thereby into a single-feed arrangement that permits dual-feed twin-drum magazine use with automatic and semi-automatic rifles and pistols of differing caliber requiring a single-feed system. The easily-installed adapter can be separately manufactured for attachment to an existing dual-feed twin-drum magazine, or attached to a new dual-feed twin-drum magazine during manufacture. In an empty adapter prior to magazine reload, three specialty rounds are located adjacent to the feed opening, with numerous standard filler/dummy rounds behind them. A flexible linked-connection between two of the three specialty rounds creates a pendulum motion in rounds within the adapter's top inwardly-tapered portion that enables successful conversion of rounds close to the feed opening from a dual-feed arrangement into a single-feed arrangement during their forward advancement toward the firing position.
US08485077B2
A treatment device for material strands having a separating device for dividing a material strand and a transport system. The treatment device comprises at least one front and one rear transport unit. At least one drive unit is provided for moving at least one transport unit relative to the other transport unit.
US08485062B2
A double-lock cable and flexible conduit gland formed of a shell, a collar, a packing ring, and a connection ring is disclosed. The shell has an axial through hole. The collar has an axial through hole. The packing ring has an axial through hole surrounded by a first packing ring segment and a second packing ring segment thereof. The collar is inserted into the axial through hole of the shell. The packing ring is mounted in the axial through hole of the collar. The connection ring and the shell are fastened together by a screw joint, causing the first packing ring segment and second packing ring segment of the packing ring to be wrapped about the inserted cable or the inserted cable and flexible conduit tightly, achieving a double-lock function and protecting against moisture and dust particles.
US08485053B2
The illustrative embodiments provide a method and apparatus for stabilizing an electronic rack structure. In one embodiment the apparatus comprises an enclosure with a user interface panel. The apparatus also comprises a gyroscope, sensor system and controller attached within an enclosure. A sensor system associated with the gyroscope is capable of detecting a tilt of an electronic rack structure. A controller is also located within the enclosure and is capable of detecting the tilt of the electronic rack structure and controlling an orientation of the gyroscope to counter the tilt of the electronic rack structure in response to detecting the tilt. In another illustrative embodiment, a method for stabilizing an electronic rack structure is provided.
US08485049B2
The torque tool device includes a torque tool and an information processing terminal. The torque tool is capable of measuring the torque value at which a bolt or the like was tightened and then transmitting the measured torque value via wireless communication unit and the information processing terminal has information processing unit receiving the measured torque value and determining whether the torque value is acceptable.
US08485041B2
A sensor system, e.g., a pressure sensor system, includes a substrate having at least one trench on a first side. The trench is provided for forming a first diaphragm region on a second side opposite from the first side. In addition, a second diaphragm region and a cavern are integrated into the material of the first diaphragm region.
US08485038B2
A 3D tracking system is provided. The 3D tracking system includes at least one acoustic emission sensor disposed around an object. The acoustic emission sensor is configured to identify location of a probe inserted into the object based upon time of arrival of an acoustic signature emitted from a location on or near the probe. The 3D tracking system also includes a first sensor configured to detect an elevation of the probe. The 3D tracking system further includes a second sensor configured to detect an azimuth of the probe.
US08485037B1
An apparatus comprising a vibration generation system, a vibration measurement system, and an optical system associated with the vibration measurement system, and a controller. The vibration generation system is configured to generate acoustic energy that causes vibrations to occur in the ground. The vibration measurement system is configured to transmit laser beams to the surface of the ground in which the vibrations occur, receive responses to the laser beams, and generate vibration data from the responses. The optical system is configured to direct the laser beams to the surface of the ground such that the laser beams have a selected spatial arrangement relative to the surface. The controller is configured to determine whether an object is present under the surface of the ground using the vibration data.
US08485034B2
A Confocal Interferometry microscope for use with a suitably selected acoustic emitter and acoustic detector for providing three-dimensional information on the state of an object is presented. The microscope has a coherent wavelength source for producing a coherent beam, scanning means for moving said coherent beam in a suitably selected pattern, and means for producing and focusing an object beam and an interference beam to an object focal point and an interference focal point, respectively. The object beam has a transmission path of essentially the same length of the transmission path of the interference beam. The object beam intercepts an object at the object focal point while the interference beam passes by the object. There are also means for defining the object beam and the interference beam based on the position of the object focal point and the geometry of the convergence angles and means for producing an interference pattern between the object focal point and the interference focal point.
US08485033B2
A method of determining the dynamic Poisson's ratio of a material with a circular solid rod is provided. The method includes at least the following steps. 1. a circular solid rod specimen with the material to be determined for its dynamic Poisson's ratio is manufactured; 2. the length and diameter of the circular solid rod specimen is measured; 3. both the fundamental longitudinal and cross-sectional resonant frequencies of the circular solid rod specimen are obtained through experiments; 4. the dynamic Poisson's ratio of the material according to the formula provided in this invention is calculated; 5. the validity of geometric dimension of the circular solid rod specimen is justified.
US08485032B2
An accelerometer for reducing undesired attraction or repulsion forces between a proof mass and a cover. An exemplary accelerometer includes a proof mass, a base, a flexure that flexibly attaches the proof mass to the base, at least one double-ended tuning fork (DETF) attached at one end to the proof mass and at another end to the base, and a housing structure that encloses the proof mass within a cavity. A layer of graphene is located on at least a portion of the nonconductive surfaces within the housing structure. The nonconductive surfaces include a surface on the proof mass, the housing structure, the base, the flexure, or the DETF. The layer of graphene is attached to a heat sink and/or to an electrical charge dissipation component.
US08485030B2
A flow sensor includes a fluidic component, such as a tube, a heat source, an upstream temperature sensor, and a downstream temperature sensors. The fluidic component defines a flow path having inlet and outlet ends disposed closer to each other than to a mid-point of the flow path. The heat source and the upstream and downstream temperature sensors are disposed in thermal communication with a fluid in the flow path.
US08485013B2
A set of tooling for making pointed headed bolts of a given diameter in numerous lengths with roll thread ready threaded to the head and partially threaded shanks in a four forming station forming machine, the tools being configured to work on wire stock as received at the first station of a diameter larger than or substantially the same as the roll diameter and not greater than the nominal diameter of the bolt, including at least two sequential head forming tools for mounting on the slide, an extrusion pointing tool for mounting on the die breast, a roll diameter extrusion tool for mounting on the die breast and a head support tool mountable in a station on the slide at multiple axial positions corresponding to standard lengths of the bolts being made, the head support tool being arranged to work at either the extrusion pointing station or the roll diameter extrusion station.
US08485011B2
A tool for installing rivet nuts, the tool comprising a screw, a rotatable drive for rotating the screw and an anti-rotation device for preventing rotation of a rivet nut which has been screwed onto the screw.
US08485010B1
A method and apparatus for installing a retractable thermocouple at the upper end of a flare stack for sensing a flare pilot burner flame. The apparatus comprises: a portable mounting structure; two pair of opposing drive wheels having non-metallic contacting surfaces; a first set of offset straightening rollers having non-metallic contacting surfaces for straightening the thermocouple in a first plane; and a second set of offset straightening rollers having non-metallic contacting surfaces for straightening the retractable thermocouple in a second plane different from the first plane.
US08485001B2
A household appliance includes a housing having a door formed in a front panel thereof for accessing an interior of the housing, a tub disposed inside the housing, and a rotatable drum within the tub and having an axis of rotation, the rotatable drum for receiving laundry through the door. The tub includes a tub body, a heater pocket integrally formed in a lower portion of the tub body, the heater pocket forming a cavity in fluid communication with the drum, the heater pocket for at least partially surrounding a heating element for heating a fluid in the tub, and a fluid guide on an interior surface of the tub, the fluid guide one of guiding the fluid from the tub body into the heater pocket and disrupting a fluid ring formed in the tub body during rotation of the rotatable drum.
US08485000B2
A clothes treating apparatus having a liquid reservoir comprises a body having a drum therein, a liquid spraying means configured to spray liquid into the drum, a reservoir installation portion disposed at an inner upper portion of the body, a coupling means slidably installed in the reservoir installation portion, and a liquid reservoir detachably fixed into the coupling means and having an outlet on a side surface thereof, wherein a cut-out portion communicated with the reservoir installation portion and through which the liquid reservoir passes is formed on an upper surface of the body, and the liquid reservoir is connected to the liquid spraying means by sliding movement of the coupling means.
US08484996B2
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a preform for optical fibers, wherein deposition of glass-forming compounds on the substrate takes place. The present invention furthermore relates to a method for manufacturing optical fibers, wherein one end of a solid preform is heated, after which an optical fiber is drawn from said heated end.
US08484986B2
The present invention provides an energy storage device that utilizes a cold sink that undergoes cycles of freezing and thawing. The device converts electrical energy to stored thermal energy, and then re-converts the stored thermal energy to electrical energy, as needed or desired. The device can store energy on a large scale (e.g., on the order of megawatts or greater) and for an extended period of time (e.g., for at least 12 hours, or longer, as needed).
US08484972B2
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for OTEC plant. The device can be deployed in ocean with depth of 600 meter or more.
US08484971B2
An apparatus and method for improving vehicle performance by application of pneumatic boost to vehicle engines, including diesel engines having at least one turbocharger supplying air to the engine, in a manner which increases engine torque output while minimizing the potential for exceed various operating limits to the maximum practicable extent. The vehicle's pneumatic booster system controller implements strategies for shaping the rate of the air injection during a boost event, tailoring the air injection to obtain maximum engine torque output while respecting the operating limits, by controlling the timing, duration, quantity and/or injection pattern during a boost event to achieve a refined distribution of compressed air injection over the course of the boost event to provide desired engine torque output and fuel efficiency while minimizing the potential for exceeding a wide variety of operation limits, regulatory, engineering and passenger comfort limits.
US08484967B2
An electrical power and heat co-generation unit typically comprising a Stirling engine includes an adsorption element within a sealed interior of the unit which is effective to remove from gas circulating within the interior of the machine hydrocarbons or other chemical species originating from within the interior of the machine from a grease, a lubricant, a retaining compound, or a sealant to reduce carburisation and/or oxidisation of internal components. The unit may also comprise within the sealed interior of the machine an atmosphere dosing fluid which is effective to react with hydrocarbons or other chemical species circulating in the interior of machine in addition to a working fluid of the machine, to produce reaction products which can be removed by the sorption element.
US08484962B2
The invention relates to a system for regulating a temperature of hydraulic fluid in at least one hydraulic circuit of an aircraft, wherein, in a periphery of the aircraft, additional hydraulic consumption units are each provided with at least one controllable valve for heating the hydraulic fluid above an adjustable minimum temperature limit value (Tmin), wherein the controllable valve is closed during a maneuver of the aircraft, wherein the controllable valves of the additional hydraulic consumption units are closed when the temperature of the hydraulic fluid exceeds an adjustable theoretical temperature value (Tsoll), and wherein a temperature control system is connected to a temperature sensor for adjusting the controllable valve on the basis of a local temperature of the hydraulic fluid, the temperature sensor being near the hydraulic consumption units which are arranged in wings and tail of the aircraft.
US08484941B2
The present invention relates to a method of accomplishment of a hybrid cord comprising an inner layer (1) in steel cord, an intermediate layer (2) in a high module and high toughness fiber and an outer layer (3) in a Polyolefin fiber. The present invention also refers to its application in an 8 (4×2) cords braided hybrid cable or any other type of hybrid cable presenting another construction, in braided or twisted cables.
US08484935B2
This apparatus relates to ice-bagging apparatuses with an ice maker and a hopper for receiving ice from the ice maker. The apparatus utilizes rotating drums designed for delivering ice into a bag. The apparatus also possess bagging and drop mechanism which fills and mechanically seals each bag of ice and drops it into a freezer for storage. The apparatus has an electronic operating system that has been greatly simplified using infrared technology and/or laser technology. The operating system is connected with the internet and a central processing center to allow for complete managing and monitoring of the system.
US08484912B2
A tubular hollow profile, particularly a spacer tube for the production of spacer frames for insulated glazing, has a profile wall. The profile wall is configured to be double-walled and has an outer wall made of metal, particularly stainless steel or aluminum, and an inner wall made of plastic, which are connected with one another, preferably in firm, i.e. non-displaceable manner. A device and a method for production of the hollow profile are also provided.
US08484911B2
An inventive method is presented for a sliding pendulum seismic isolation system that reduces seismic forces on the supported structure and reduces the costs of the isolation bearings, seismic gaps, and supported structural frame. The inventive method is to configure the isolation system to achieve increased effective friction with increased displacement amplitudes, and to employ specific bearing configurations that suit the different types and magnitudes of loads present at particular structure support locations. Three bearing configurations are presented which are comprised of multiple sliders that slide along different concave spherical surfaces, each constituting an independent sliding pendulum mechanism having a specified pendulum length and friction. Two bearing configurations are presented which are comprised of multiple sliders that slide along different concave or convex cylindrical surfaces, one configured to carry both compression and tension loads, and one configured to be cost-effective for carrying light compression loads and accommodating large displacements.
US08484910B2
An active dynamic vibration absorber 1 includes a weight 2; a frame 3 which is adjacent to the weight 2 in such a manner as to surround the weight 2 with clearances X1 and Y1; a holding mechanism 4 which is interposed between the weight 2 and the frame 3 and holds the weight 2 movably in an X direction with respect to the frame 3, while holding the weight 2 immovably in a Y direction and a vertical direction V; a detecting means 5 for detecting the relative vibration of a predetermined value in the X direction of the weight 2 with respect to the frame 3; and a moving means 6 for relatively moving the weight 2 in the X direction with respect to the frame 3 on the basis of a detection signal from the detecting means 5 such that the relative movement of the weight 2 in the X direction with respect to the frame 3 is allowed, while the vibrational displacement of the weight 2 in the X direction with respect to the frame 3 is reduced.
US08484902B1
A window assembly includes a window frame having a front wall and a lateral wall, the window frame being set within a building opening. A thermal break liner having a laterally extending portion is provided wherein the laterally extending portion is positioned on the lateral wall of the window frame. The window assembly also includes a glazing with at least one pane of glass mounted in the window frame, a glazing bead for holding the glazing in place against the window frame, and a glazing bead retainer fixed to the thermal break liner for retaining the glazing bead in place on the thermal break liner. The thermal break liner is formed of a material having a low thermal transmittance factor and is positioned to prevent direct contact and thermal transfer between the glazing bead and the window frame. The window assembly may be a fixed or operable window assembly.
US08484898B2
A natural ventilation apparatus 1 includes a window frame 2 which is installed in a building; a framed panel 4 disposed in an opening portion 3 defined by the window frame 2; and opening/closing means 5 for opening and closing the opening portion 3 on the basis of an air current. The opening portion 3 is adapted to be opened by the opening portion opening movement of the framed panel 4 moving toward a building exterior 7 side, and to be closed by the opening portion closing movement of the framed panel 4 moving toward a building interior 8 side.
US08484896B1
A pet access door assembly mounts on the screen member of an outer screen door in a residential dwelling structure. The pet access door assembly includes a pair of frame members positionable on opposing sides of the screen member to trap the screening material between the frame members. The frame members are provided with both snap pins and removable fasteners that interengage the opposing frame members to place a high clamping load on the screening material between the frame members. A solid pliable door flap is clamped between the frame members by both the snap pins and the fasteners to allow a hinged movement for ingress and egress of the pet. A security panel is selectively mounted in a grooved receptacle on the inner frame member to prevent passage through the pet door assembly. A magnet secures the bottom of the door flap against the security panel.
US08484892B2
An electric door operator for opening and closing one or a spaced pair of transit vehicle passenger doors for being mounted over an opening for the doors. A rotatable input shaft has an electric motor secured to the input shaft for driving the input shaft, a worm centrally positioned on the motor shaft, and an electric brake mounted to the input shaft at an end opposite of the electric motor. A drum cam lifts a pinion from a worm gear disconnecting the worm gear from an output gear train in an emergency.
US08484889B2
The present invention relates to a seed sticker for seeding and planting flowers or sprouts easily and quickly in a small vessel or in a flower garden and a manufacturing method thereof. The present invention is characterized by a seed sticker, inside of which a seed is enshrined, comprising: a transfer paper wherein a coating layer is formed on the surface of the transfer paper; an adhesive layer which is formed on the surface of the coating layer; a seed pellet which is enshrined on the surface of the adhesive layer; a red clay soil sheet accumulated over the upper part of the seed pellet; and a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sheet accumulated over the upper part of the red clay soil sheet and covering both the seed pellet and the red clay soil sheet, and the edge of which is bonded to the adhesive layer.
US08484886B2
An animal trap for restraining animals, such as raccoons. The trap includes a hollow body having an entrance opening, an external and an internal grip member spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of the body, both having a V-shape, and a biased restraint member having a V-shape and adapted to move towards the grip members when released to engage an extremity of an animal inserted through the entrance opening. Two interchangeable trigger assemblies are each adapted to restrain the restraint member until proper engagement with a respective trigger member. The first trigger assembly releases the restraint member via a first directional force or an opposite second directional force applied to a first trigger member. The second trigger assembly releases the restraint member via only the first directional force applied to a second trigger member. A ground stake having jagged teeth and a swivel chain may be used for anchoring.
US08484879B2
Mount assemblies for securing laser sights (designators) to a wide variety of guns through mounting of the designator directly to an existing conventional scope. The mount assembly includes a base adapted for attaching the mount assembly to a scope, a rail pivotally attached to the base, and a ring assembly on the rail for mounting the designator to the rail. A first adjustment mechanism is provided for pivoting the rail in a first plane toward and away from the base to effect elevation changes in the trajectory of a laser beam generated by the designator, and a second adjustment mechanism is provided for pivoting the rail relative to the base in a second plane to effect windage changes in the trajectory of the laser beam.
US08484867B2
A device for refreshing fabrics. The device provides fabrics with a crisp and fresh appearance and feel. The device also controls wrinkles on fabric without the use of a conventional iron or press. The device also allows for the delivery of fabric refreshing actives such as perfumes and other actives to fabrics.
US08484862B2
A condensation dryer having a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of a coolant; a first comparator to determine a temperature difference between a first temperature of the coolant and a second temperature of the coolant that is measured after a period of time and to compare the temperature difference with a limiting temperature difference stored in a controller; a counter to ascertain a number of occurrences in which the temperature difference is greater than or equal to the limiting temperature difference; and a second comparator to compare the number of occurrences with a limiting number stored in the controller and to evaluate a number difference between the number of occurrences and the limiting number with respect to the presence of an impermissible operating state. A first impermissible operating state is indicated if the number difference is greater than or equal to a value stored in the controller.
US08484861B2
A clothes treating apparatus is disclosed. The clothes treating apparatus includes a cabinet defining a accommodating space for receiving clothes, an air supplying device for drying air circulating into the accommodating space, and a guide unit for guiding dry air generated by the air supplying device to be uniformly dispersed into the accommodating space.
US08484851B2
A hair feathering razor including first and second interconnected handles that move between open and closed positions, a biasing element tending to open the handles, a razor blade extending outwardly from the first handle, and a hair guiding bar extending outwardly from the second handle, wherein the hair guiding bar and the razor blade are in parallel alignment and move toward one another in the closed position. The hair feathering razor can further include a roller rotatably carried on the hair guiding bar.
US08484850B2
A hair remover including an outer blade and an inner blade accommodated in the outer blade. The outer blade includes a cylindrical side wall, an upper wall, and a bend connecting the side wall and the upper wall. Straight upper cutting edges and side cutting edges are formed by slits extending from the upper wall to an upper part of the side wall. The inner blade includes a straight upper cutting edge, which is formed at a location corresponding to the upper cutting edges of the upper blade, and a straight side cutting edge, which is formed at a location corresponding to the side cutting edges of the outer blade. The outer blade and the inner blade are formed so as to clip body hair through cooperation between the straight side cutting edges and cooperation between the straight upper cutting edges.
US08484848B2
A method for assembling two structural elements, at least one of the two structural elements being tube-shaped and including a skin made of a fiber-reinforced composite material. The ability of the element to adapt to the shape and perimeter of a junction interface is improved by providing longitudinal grooves distributed on the circumference of the junction interface. The grooves are of a sufficient length to provide the junction interface with the flexibility to accommodate, through relative radial movement of each portion located between two grooves, differences in shape and perimeter among the junction interfaces of the two structural elements.
US08484845B2
A heat conducting structure, a heat sink with the heat conducting structure, and a manufacturing method of the heat conducting structure are disclosed. The manufacturing method includes the steps of providing a first mold (20) and a second mold (30) having different concave cambers (211, 211a, 221, 221a), using the first mold (20) to progressively compress the heat pipes (10) and form a camber (112) at an evaporating section (11), using the second mold (30) to compress the camber (112) to form a contact plane (112′) and an attaching plane (113′) perpendicular to each other, coating an adhesive (50) on the contact planes (112′), connecting the contact planes to make the attaching planes co-planar.
US08484843B2
A method for producing a dispersion-hardened object which contains carbide nanoparticles comprises producing an object by means of a thermal spraying method, wherein downstream of the combustion chamber, the gas flow is supplied by means of a carrier gas with at least one precursor which reacts in the gas flow to form a carbide, or carbide nanoparticles are supplied via an external nanoparticle generator which is subject to a thermal load. It allows the production of a dispersion-hardened object such as, for example, a component for an internal combustion engine, for example a piston ring. The method is carried out by means of a thermal spraying device which, downstream of the combustion chamber, besides at least one line for supplying a thermal spray powder, further comprises at least one line for supplying a precursor by means of a carrier gas.
US08484842B2
An apparatus includes a plate configured for connection to a first engine crankcase portion, such as the lower crankcase. A cam mechanism is secured to the plate and has a portion spaced from the plate to define a gap between the portion of the cam mechanism and the plate. Studs are configured for connection to the second engine crankcase portion and configured to span the gap when connected to the second engine crankcase portion so that the cam mechanism rests on the studs when the plate is connected to the first engine crankcase portion. The cam mechanism is configured to lift the plate when force is applied to the cam mechanism. A method of separating crankcase portions is carried out using the apparatus.
US08484837B2
The invention relates to a method to conductively connect an electrical component with at least one conductive layer, whereby the conductive layer is applied to a substrate which is essentially transparent in the visible wavelength zone of light, comprising the following steps: the electrical component or the conductive layer is provided with a soldering material in the area where the component is to be connected to the conductive layer; the soldering material is provided with energy supplied by an energy source, such that the soldering material melts and a non-detachable, material-bonded conductive connection between the electrical component and the conductive layer is established.
US08484834B2
Improved plant for the electrochemical formation of lead-acid batteries, which comprises a circuit for circulating the electrolytic solution for the purpose of controlling its temperature and electrolytic concentration, provided with supply means for conveying into the cells via a first distribution header a first flow of electrolytic solution at a constant piezometric pressure and return means for removing under a vacuum by means of a suction header the first flow of electrolytic solution from the cells. A cap, which comprises an inlet pipe connected via a first connecting line to the first distribution header and an outlet pipe, is removably mounted in a sealed manner on each cell. Each cap also comprises at least one ventilation pipe which connects the internal environment of the cell, present underneath the lid, to the external environment which is at atmospheric pressure, so as to dilute the formation of inflammable gases inside said cell.
US08484832B2
There is provided a method of producing a printed circuit board incorporating a resistance element capable of adjusting resistance after the resistance element has been formed and assuring a high accurate resistance. A method of producing a printed circuit board incorporating a resistance element using carbon paste includes the steps of: forming through holes 5, 6, 25 and 26 or a bottomed hole in a double-sided copper clad laminate; applying noble metal plating into the through hole or the bottomed hole; filling the through hole or the bottomed hole with carbon paste; subjecting the carbon paste with which the thorough hole or the bottomed hole is filled to noble metal plating, conducting treatment and plating to form a conductive layer; forming an opening 18 in the conductive layer on the end of the through hole filled with the carbon paste; and performing trimming through the opening to adjust the resistance of the resistor formed by the carbon paste.
US08484828B2
A rotor core of an induction motor fabricating method includes a cylindrically shaped steel laminate stack having a plurality of longitudinal grooves distributed around the periphery of the steel laminate stack. A plurality of conductor bars are each located in one of the plurality of longitudinal grooves and each includes a first end projecting from a first end of the steel laminate stack. A shorting end ring includes a plurality of grooves aligned with and mated to the first ends of the conductor bars. The shorting end ring is affixed to the rotor core assembly by a lock ring assembled when at a thermally expanded condition to the rotor core when at a thermally contracted condition.
US08484819B2
The invention includes a hand tool that may be used for applying a design to a jewelry line. The tool may include at least one three-dimensional object having a slot spanning at least the distance of one side of the object. The slot may be receptive to a jewelry line, such as a wire or string. The tool may include at least a first object connected to another object so the objects may abut one another or be spaced an adjustable distance apart and at least two of the slots are in-line. Further, the hand tool may be used in a method of applying a design or designs to the jewelry line by placing the line in the slot(s) and applying a stop to the line.
US08484811B2
A zipper arrangement comprises a plurality of zipper elements with a slider moveably positioned on the plurality of zipper elements. At least one wheel is rotatably positioned on the slider and configured to engage the plurality of zipper elements. The at least one wheel may include a first wheel configured to engage a first plurality of zipper elements and a second wheel configured to engage a second plurality of zipper elements within a slider. The slider may be generally triangular or trapezoidal in shape. Accordingly, the slider and includes a first end configured to pass disengaged zipper elements and a second end configured pass engaged zipper elements, wherein the second end is wider than the first end. The slider also includes a window configured to display at least a portion of the first wheel and the second wheel.
US08484807B2
A necklace with plastic hand having a fresh scent compartment includes a 36 inch nylon lanyard necklace made to go around the user's neck; plus a refillable new plastic hand device with two circular plastic hang tabs assembled together and attached onto the palm area. The new plastic hand device is for storing a fresh scent liquid-gel hand sanitizer inside, so now any user of a new liquid-gel hand sanitizer has an easier way to try to keep their own personal hands cleaner and well sanitized from today's germs and viruses. Finally, the new nylon lanyard necklace w/swivel hook is fastened onto of the circular plastic hang tab assembly on the new plastic hand device to form a new compartment. In addition, the new plastic hand device has a screw on 15 mm snap-top cap with valve for releasing the liquid-gel hand sanitizer from the new plastic hand device into a user's hands for sanitizing.
US08484799B2
A cyclone bin assembly comprises a dirt collection chamber in communication with a dirt outlet of a cyclone chamber. The dirt collection chamber comprises a first and second opposed ends and comprises a first and portions. The dirt outlet is positioned adjacent the second opposed end of the dirt collection chamber. The first and second portions may comprise discrete chambers that are separated from each other by a passage extending between the dirt outlet and a wall of the dirt collection chamber. The first and second portions may have first and second sides. The first side is positioned adjacent the passage and the second side is angularly spaced from the passage. The second portion has a divider wall that extends towards the second opposed end of the dirt collection chamber from the first opposed end of the dirt collection chamber. The divider wall may be spaced from the second side.
US08484795B2
An apparatus and associated method are provided for collecting debris from a tool. A housing defines a channel, at least one of the tool and the housing being selectively movable to operably orient the tool at a predefined reference relationship to the channel. A magnetic member is operable to demagnetize at least one of the tool and the debris. A windage source in fluid communication with the channel is operable to establish a windage contacting the tool to cooperate with the magnetic member in removing the debris from the tool. A conduit connected to the channel collects the removed debris.
US08484793B2
A toothbrush with a handle having a base, a body, and a head. The body having a first section and a second section forming an oblique angle. A projector of sound or music located within the handle. The toothbrush having at least one bristle attached to the head. The toothbrush having a handle cover attached to the base. A method of using a toothbrush including the step of gripping the toothbrush. The method further including the step of engaging the projector of sound or music. The method still further including the step of utilizing the toothbrush while the projector of sound or music is activated.
US08484786B2
Ramp for a movable passenger bridge, which passenger bridge includes movable sections, arranged to be adapted to an opening in the hull of a ship, which sections are arranged so that passengers can walk from one section into an adjacent section and to a finishing section arranged to be connected to an opening in the hull of the ship, wherein the ramp is arranged at the finishing section and projects from the finishing section into the ship when docked with the ship. The ramp includes two or more parallel footpaths for passengers, in that each footpath includes a plate which is foldable so that it can be folded out and folded up, in that each plate is essentially horizontal in its folded out state and essentially vertical in its folded up state, whereby each plate in its folded up state forms a wall for blocking of the footpath in question.
US08484778B2
A siderail assembly comprises a first siderail body and a second siderail body. The second siderail body is movably coupled to the first siderail body and configured to rotate between a first position and a second position with respect to the first siderail body about a rotational axis passing through the first siderail body. The second siderail body is positioned above the first siderail body in the first position and below the first siderail body in the second position.
US08484775B2
A crib wherein one end of the bed portion of the crib is hinged and the other end of the bed portion of the crib includes handles which protrude through the bedposts of the crib. Holes in the bedpost correspond to holes in the handles so that, when the unhinged end of bed portion is lifted vertically, a pin may be used to secure the unhinged portion, providing a desired angle of elevation to the bed portion of the crib.
US08484769B1
A chemical system is provided for adding a small amount of chemicals to a toilet bowl at the end of the flush cycle. The system has several chambers and a mechanism to add water to the system to force chemicals out and into the overflow tube of the toilet.
US08484767B2
In a protective cap housing a shield member for covering almost all of a face of a wearer in the interior of a cap body, the protective cap capable of retracting the shield member in the interior of the cap body is provided. It is a protective cap 1 having a cap body 3 formed in a semi-spherical-shell-like form for protecting a head of a wearer, a shield member 5 for protecting almost all of a face of the wearer, and guide means 7 for guiding the shield member 5 to move along a curved surface of the cap body 3 between a housing position P1 to be housed in the cap body 3 and a shielding position P3 for covering almost all of the face of the wearer.
US08490209B2
Provided are a surface state measuring device which can measure an alternating force of an arbitrary frequency and which is excellent in spatial resolution, and a surface state measuring method using the device. This surface state measuring device measures the surface state of a sample by detecting the modulation of the oscillation of a probe arranged above the sample. The measuring device comprises: a cantilever having a probe near a free end; an excitation mechanism for exciting the cantilever; a scanning mechanism for making the probe scan the sample by moving the probe and the sample relative to each other; and alternating force generator for generating an alternating force of an arbitrary frequency in a space; and a modulation measuring mechanism for measuring the degree of frequency modulation or amplitude modulation of the oscillations of the probe, which are generated by the alternating force.
US08490186B1
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for detecting unwanted data based on scanning associated with a payload execution and a behavioral analysis. In use, an execution of a payload is detected, utilizing interface monitoring. Additionally, process memory associated with the execution of the payload is scanned. Further, a behavioral analysis is performed. Still yet, unwanted data is detected based on the scanning and the performance of the behavioral analysis.
US08490181B2
Managing access to resources shared among multiple processes within a computer system. Multiple program instances of an application are almost simultaneously executed on multiple processors for fault tolerance. The replication solution supports the recording and subsequent replay of reservation events granting the shared resources exclusive access rights to the processes, when one program code instruction may request access to a set of shared resources in a non-deterministic order.
US08490177B2
An apparatus and method are disclosed for variable authentication requirements. The apparatus includes an operating status module identifying a change in an operating status of a device and maintaining a history of operating statuses, and an access control module comparing a current operating status with a previous operating status. The apparatus also includes a profile module maintaining a trust indicator for each operating status. The access control module determines a level of authentication required to unlock the device in response to the trust indicator associated with the current operating status. The method includes identifying a change in an operating status of a device and maintaining a history of operating statuses, and comparing a current operating status with a previous operating status. The method also includes maintaining a trust indicator for each operating status, and determining a level of authentication required to unlock the device in response to the trust indicator associated with the current operating status.
US08490175B2
A security method and system for Layer Independent Passive Clustering (LIPC) is presented. The inventive method and system maintains the states in the LIPC cluster formation protocol while adding a ‘Trusworthy’ event to each state and provides a methodology that depends on the state of the transmitting node to quantify Trustworthy and derive a Trust Confidence Value (TCV) to represent the level of confidence in quantifying ‘Trustworthy’. The invention dynamically computes a degree of trustworthiness for each participating network node and eliminates nodes from participating in the PC cluster formation protocol and packet forwarding if they do not meet established trust metrics. The security solution can also apply to PC-based Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The novel system and method applies a multidimensional set of security algorithms to protect the LIPC cluster formation protocol from malicious attacks that compromise cluster formation and secure routing.
US08490172B2
According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for communicating an encrypted data packet. The method includes steps occurring at a first gateway node. The method also includes receiving a data packet from a first host. The method further includes determining that a first security association (SA) instance associated with the data packet is in an inactive state. The method further includes identifying a second SA instance that is both associated with the data packet and in an active state. The method further includes forwarding the data packet to the second SA instance.
US08490165B2
The different illustrative embodiments provide a method, a computer program product, and an apparatus for restoring secure sessions. A determination is made whether cached information for a session for the requestor is stored at the data processing system using a session cookie responsive to receiving a request at a data processing system from a requestor to access a resource. Access to the resource is controlled using the cached information and a number of privileges for the requestor associated with the cached information responsive to a determination that the cached information for the session is stored at the data processing system. A migration cookie is requested from the requestor responsive to an absence of a determination that the cached information for the session is stored at the data processing system. The cached information is generated for the session using the migration cookie.
US08490156B2
Access management of femto cell service through access control list(s), or “white list(s)” is disclosed. Such white list(s) can be configured via a networked interface which facilitates access management to a femto cell. White list(s) includes a set of subscriber station(s) identifier numbers, codes or tokens, and can also include additional fields for femto cell access management based on desired complexity. Various interfaces and user profiles are associated with granting different levels of access to requesting UEs.
US08490155B2
A method where a Downloadable Conditional Access System Provisioning Server (DPS) detects a duplicated secure micro is provided. A method of detecting a duplicated secure micro, the method including: generating authentication time difference information associated with a value of a difference between a time when a host is finally authenticated in a first address and a time when the host is authenticated in a second address; comparing the authentication time difference information with a first reference value and a second reference value, the second reference value being less than the first reference value; and determining whether the secure micro is duplicated based on a result of the comparing.
US08490151B2
An approach is presented for performing a multi-role communication using a Radio Frequency (RF) memory tag. The control manager receives a content request, at a memory tag, from a first device according to a first access policy. Further, the control manager determines one or more sources of content data responsive to the content request. Then, the control manager provides access from the one or more sources to the memory tag according to a second access policy. The access facilitates transmission of the content data to the first device according to a third access policy.
US08490150B2
According to one embodiment, a system comprises one or more processors coupled to a memory and executing logic. A policy life cycle component is configured to maintain a repository of security policies. The repository of security policies comprises policies governing access to a virtual host and to a plurality of virtual machines running on the virtual host. The policy life cycle component is also configured to issue a compound policy for an identified virtual operating system running on the virtual host. The compound policy provides a virtual host policy and access rules for each of the plurality of virtual machines running on the virtual host. A topology manager is configured to receive the compound policy from the policy life cycle component, assign the compound to an access control agent, and maintain a security policy topology. The security policy topology stores associations between access control agents and compound policies.
US08490141B2
Methods and related systems related to content distribution include but are not limited to receiving at a user device a notification that at least one remote user has selected a specific instance of content; displaying on said user device a request to select said specific instance of content indicated by said notification; receiving a request to select said specific instance of said content; transmitting an indication to said at least one remote user that said specific instance of said content has been selected; receiving said specific instance of said content; displaying on said user device said specific instance of said content; enabling said user device to handle at least one manipulation of at least said specific instance of said content; and enabling said user device to communicate with at least one remote user.
US08490122B2
Provided are a disc chucking method of preventing mis-chucking from occurring according to a state and direction of a disc loaded onto a tray when the tray is closed, and a disc driving apparatus for performing the disc chucking method. The method include: opening a tray on which a disc in which a first magnet is installed is loadable; moving a feeding unit to a position where attraction between a second magnet installed in the feeding unit and the first magnet is relatively low; and if the tray is closed, placing a center of the disc in a turn table.
US08490120B2
A system and method for dynamic, application dependency implicit, service configuration of application server environments. A dynamic and implicit mechanism can be provided using technologies such as OSGi and the Java Module System, that then reduce the need for external application server configuration. An application server so implemented can be enabled to dynamically/lazily load the required services implementations on demand, at the time an application is deployed and/or initialized at runtime, and to subsequently release any such resources consumed when they are no longer required.
US08490118B2
In a first thread of a process a determination is made that a current value at a target address is not a desired value. In response to this determination, a first application programming interface (API) is invoked to indicate that the first thread is to sleep and be woken up when a second thread modifies the value at the target address. When a second thread modifies the value at the target address, the second thread invokes a second API to indicate that the value at the target address has been modified. In response to the second API being invoked, the first thread is woken up.
US08490116B2
Techniques for supporting legacy VGA video using UEFI standard and extended UEFI graphics drivers. When an operating system that does not natively support the UEFI display protocols requires video services provided by firmware, the operating system communicates a request for video services to a generic video option ROM. The generic video option ROM notifies a generic video SMM driver of the request for video services. Such notification may be performed using a software system management interrupt (SMI). Upon notification, the generic video SMM driver notifies a third party UEFI video driver of the request for video services. The third party video driver provides the requested video services to the operating system. In this way, a third party UEFI graphics driver may support a wide variety of operating systems, even those that do not natively support the UEFI display protocols.
US08490091B2
Virtual machines having a high amount of identical memory pages are grouped under a common hypervisor to enable greater memory savings as the result of transparent page sharing. One embodiment provides a computer program product including computer usable program code for performing a method that comprises analyzing the software image content of a plurality of virtual machines running on a plurality of hypervisors in a common migration domain, identifying two or more of the virtual machines having greater than a threshold amount of common memory pages, placing the two or more virtual machines under a common hypervisor, and sharing the common memory pages among the two or more virtual machines. Optionally, the identifying of two or more of the virtual machines may include identifying two or more of the virtual machines having the same software image content classifications; thereby, identifying images with a greater affinity for common memory pages.
US08490080B2
The system and methods of the present application comprise one or more computers that generate and maintain a plurality of software-simulated computers. Each software-simulated computer is adapted to efficiently run an installed application program. Additional security layers provide access to the installed application through a remote user interface installed on a user's computing device. The system generates a new copy of the software-simulated computer for each user session, that prevents configuration problems from interfering with the proper operation of the application program, thereby consistently running the application in an optimized fashion, regardless of changes made to the software-simulated computer by the user or a virus. These software-simulated computers are unaffected by changes a user makes on their own client device. To this end, the system provides robust, web accessible capabilities to application software that may not have been adapted for use on the Internet.
US08490077B2
A product server downloads distributed application component from a resource server and updates an application at a predetermined synchronization time. Other aspects include associating a distributed application component and a local application component with a virtual path. If a product server is unable to access the local application component with a virtual path, the distributed application component is downloaded from a resource server.
US08490076B2
A method and system for collecting installed application data from a computer system. The method includes scanning a file system of the computer system to produce file system data, and scanning an installed application database of the computer system to produce installed application data. The method further includes collecting system information associated with the computer system. The method still further includes combining the file system data, the application data, and the system information to produce an output file.
US08490071B2
Mechanisms are provided for optimizing code to perform prefetching of data into a shared memory of a computing device that is shared by a plurality of threads that execute on the computing device. A memory stream of a portion of code that is shared by the plurality of threads is identified. A set of prefetch instructions is distributed across the plurality of threads. Prefetch instructions are inserted into the instruction sequences of the plurality of threads such that each instruction sequence has a separate sub-portion of the set of prefetch instructions, thereby generating optimized code. Executable code is generated based on the optimized code and stored in a storage device. The executable code, when executed, performs the prefetches associated with the distributed set of prefetch instructions in a shared manner across the plurality of threads.
US08490068B1
A method for feature migration that includes defining a feature specification of a feature in a first application, wherein the feature specification comprises a feature element in a first specification defining the first application, defining a profile specification of a second application, importing the feature specification of the feature into the profile specification, and generating code for the second application using the profile specification, wherein the feature is thereby incorporated in the second application.
US08490065B2
The present invention provides a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for compiling instructions to manage a cache system. Loop constructs are analyzed to identify data usage characteristics for cache and prefetching conditions in instructions to form identified prefetch conditions. A set of control instructions are inserted into the instructions based on the data usage characteristics and the identified prefetch conditions to form multiple modified instructions. The set of multiple modified instructions are compiled to generate code for execution to form compiled instructions. The set of control instructions in the compiled instructions form a cache management policy to control movement of data in a memory system during execution of the compiled instructions.
US08490060B2
A system, method, and computer program product for expediting the identification of computer program code that is the source of errors in the execution of a computer program. A debugger monitors a specified memory address, or group of addresses for updates, during execution of the computer program. In response to determining that a running computer program has updated the memory address, the processor executes a watchpoint handler to identify the source of errors in a computer program executing in a data processing system. The watchpoint handler gathers trace information associated with the faulty processing thread, and records the trace information to a memory location. The watchpoint handler may also apply filters to the trace information to identify the source of the error, saving valuable debugging time.
US08490055B2
Disclosed herein are techniques for generating data that describes dependencies between software components as transactions are processed, as well as displaying dependency maps based on the data. The data may be collected by agents that monitor or trace transactions being processed by the software components. The collected data may be aggregated to form a directed graph that describes the dependencies between the software components. A dependency map may be displayed based on the directed graph. The dependency map may show dependencies between software components as the transactions are processed. The dependency map may also show dependencies between applications that include the software components. The dependency map(s) may allow a user to easily and quickly ascertain where a problem is occurring. For example, the user might be able to quickly determine that a problem is at a backend database, as opposed to an application server at a frontend.
US08490047B2
This document describes various techniques for creating, modifying, and using graphical mashups. In one embodiment, a graphical mashup is created based on locations of graphical representations of objects in a working area. Logical connections between the objects are created based on the objects' locations relative to each other. Alternatively or additionally, the techniques may enable a user to create or modify a graphical mashup by adding or deleting objects, modifying logical connections between objects, annotating objects, or abstracting the graphical mashup.
US08490045B2
A method, system, and integrated circuit including selectively added timing margin. The method, for integrating statistical timing and automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) to selectively add timing margin in an integrated circuit, includes identifying, while a chip is in design, paths that are unable to be robustly tested “at speed” during manufacturing test, running statistical timing to calculate a margin to be applied to the paths, updating design specifications for margin to be applied to the paths, and optimizing chip logic based on updated design specifications.
US08490043B2
A standard cell library is disclosed. The standard cell library contains cells wherein at least one transistor in at least one cell is annotated for gate length biasing. Gate length biasing includes the modification of the gate length, so as to change the speed or power consumption of the modified gate length. The standard cell library is one used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices (e.g., that result as semiconductor chips), by way of fabricating features defined on one or more layouts of geometric shapes. The annotations serve to identify which ones of the transistor gate features are to be modified before using the geometric shapes for manufacturing the semiconductor device.
US08490040B2
A method and system for dispositioning integrated circuit chips. The method includes performing a performance path test on an integrated circuit chip having one or more clock domains, the performance path test based on applying test patterns to selected sensitizable data paths of the integrated circuit chip at different clock frequencies; and dispositioning the integrated circuit chip based on results of the performance path test.
US08490037B2
A method and an apparatus for tracking uncertain signals in the simulation of chip design are provided. The method comprises: generating a directed graph which contains sequential logic devices and IO devices from the netlist of chip design, wherein the directed graph illustrates the signal association among the sequential logic devices and IO devices; obtaining the signals related with the sequential logic devices and IO devices from the simulation results, wherein the signals contain a plurality of uncertain signals; and back tracing at least a part of the plurality of uncertain signals along the directed graph to determine the device which firstly generates an uncertain signal. The corresponding apparatus is also provided. With the above method and apparatus, uncertain signals can be traced and their source can be determined, which improves the debugging efficiency.
US08490035B2
Tensor transmission-line metamaterial unit cells are formed that allow the creation of any number of optic/electromagnetic devices. A desired electromagnetic distribution of the device is determined, from which effective material parameters capable of creating that desired distribution are obtained, for example, through a transformation optics/electromagnetics process. These effective material parameters are then linked to lumped or distributed circuit networks that achieve the desired distribution.
US08490023B2
A solution for navigating UML diagrams (200) is proposed. For this purpose, a graphical interface is implemented for defining multiple navigation paths (NAVk) along corresponding sequences of diagrams (DIA11-DIA55). The definition of those navigation paths is stored into a dedicated file (without modifying the definition of the diagrams). A home bar for invoking the navigation paths is then added to the graphical representation of the diagrams. Once a reader has selected a specific navigation path, its first diagram (DIA11; DIA15) is retrieved and displayed. At the same time, a navigation bar for moving throughout the sequence is dynamically generated and added to the graphical representation of each diagram that is traversed.
US08490020B2
A graphical user interface for a telephone system includes programmable buttons which may be customized for individual users or groups of users. The programmable buttons enable user specific functionality to be provided, for example, enabling a button to be defined to record a call at a particular extension with one touch. The programmable buttons are collected onto toolbars and displayed on the user interface.
US08490010B2
A subset of a plurality of input elements associated with a form to be rendered in a graphical user interface may be identified. Thereafter, the rendering of the form may be initiated such that the graphical user interface renders a form to include the subset of the plurality of input elements and to exclude input elements that are not within the subset. Related techniques, apparatuses, systems, and computer program products are also described.
US08490000B2
A computer functioning as three-dimensional (3D) computer aided design (3D-CAD) system executes the process for selecting a 3D model of a component from a library. The process includes a step for designating a category of a component; a step for displaying a menu for designating values of category-dependent items representing a specification of the component; a step for narrowing down, on the basis of the designated value, records of a database, in which each record for each component includes the items representing the specification; a step for extracting a possible value of an item with its value being undetermined and accordingly updating a choice(s) selectable via the menu; and a step for determining, to be a 3D model to be loaded from the library, the 3D model of the component uniquely determined after repeating the above-mentioned steps for narrowing-down, extracting and updating for one time or more.
US08489994B2
A communication system comprising one or more computer readable mediums; comprising determining means operable to determine an attribute of a communication device; identifying means operable to identify an avatar by using the attribute, wherein the avatar is such that it conveys to a viewer thereof information about a person; and communicating means operable to communicate the avatar to the communication device in a virtual environment
US08489992B2
In one embodiment, a graphics user interface is provided. The graphics user interface includes a plurality of graphical representations identifying separate audio data, respectively. Each of the plurality of graphical representations is configured in a list to be selected for playback of the respective audio data. A progression icon is displayed in each of the respective graphical representations. Each progression icon illustrates a temporal progression of the playback of the respective audio data.
US08489991B2
There is provided a system and method for video frame marking. It is preferable that a tagged video frame is visually perceptible in the set of chronologically ordered video frames shown in the display. The selection of each video frame preferably causes playback of an excerpt of the video with a duration of the common predetermined interval. The video frame may denote a scene from a portion of the excerpt of the video, such as, for example, start, middle and end. It is advantageous that the excerpts of the video of each tagged video frame is combined using the user interface to generate a concise representation of the video. The concise representation of the video may be in a form where excerpts of the video of each of the tagged video frames are played back at a normal rate while excerpts of the video of each of other video frames are played back at an accelerated rate.
US08489987B2
An MMR system includes an analytics module for monitoring and analyzing the creation and usage of visual content search. The analytics module is part of a MMR gateway and provides a mechanism for administrators to determine the usage patterns and other information about users of the MMR system. This information is fed back to other components of the MMR system to improve its operation. The analytics module comprises a monitoring module, a usage database, an access analysis module and a presentation module. The monitoring module is coupled to other components of the MMR gateway and collects information about retrieval request, image queries, context information and recognition results. The usage database stores the information collected by the monitoring module. The access analysis module performs queries on the usage database and analyzes the results. The output of the access analysis module is provided to the presentation module for presentation or output to other systems and users.
US08489986B2
Technologies are described herein for correcting the layout of shapes in a diagram. A request is received to correct the diagram layout. The positional relationships between the shapes in the diagram are determined through the creation of a dependency tree. According to various embodiments, the dependency tree defines parent-child relationships within the diagram and the physical position of shapes with respect to one another. Using the dependency tree and layout rules, the shapes within the diagram may be repositioned to correct misalignment and uneven spacing to make minor corrections in the layout while preserving the general configuration of the original layout. Embodiments provide for layout corrections of diagrams including regions that encompass member shapes and provide for conflict resolution when layout corrective actions result in overlaps of shapes, regions, or page breaks.
US08489980B2
A translation management system in a computer environment. A preferred embodiment of the invention automatically detects when a document, data stream, or non-text file in the master language has been updated and notifies the user which corresponding documents, data streams, or non-text files in the other languages require translation which are then staged and dynamically routed and sequenced to individual translation resources where the actual translation is performed. Management status, reporting, scheduling, and accounting information is sent to the user as the translation process ensues. The user is notified of the completion of translation and the invention coordinates the delivery of the translated documents, data streams, or non-text files back to the user's site for installation and optional review. The invention makes a variety of translation resources instantly available to the user which include both automated translation tools as well as human translators. The translation resources are connected to the invention using a flexible architecture that can be deployed on intranets as well as the Internet.
US08489969B2
The present invention relates to channel decoding and provides ways and means for improved channel decoding of data frames. The frame has been channel encoded and transmitted to a receiver. The frame includes a part with information that is unknown to the receiver and another part with information for which the receiver generates at least one data hypothesis predicting its information content. The receiver performs a hypothesis-based decoding of the received encoded frame, wherein the at least one data hypothesis is used to improve a probability of successful decoding. The invention may advantageously be used to improve decoding of frames containing short control messages with fill bits, e.g. acknowledgement messages.
US08489967B2
Dynamic monitoring of ability to reassemble streaming data across multiple channels based on history
Mechanisms are provided for processing streaming data at high sustained data rates. These mechanisms receive a plurality of data elements over a plurality of non-sequential communication channels and write the plurality of data elements directly to the file system of the data processing system in an unassembled manner. The mechanisms determining whether to perform a data scrubbing operation or not based on history information indicative of whether data elements in the plurality of data elements are being received in a substantially sequential manner. The mechanisms perform a data scrubbing operation, in response to a determination to perform data scrubbing, to identify any missing data elements in the plurality of data elements written to the file system and assemble the plurality of data elements into a plurality of data streams in response to results of the data scrubbing indicating that there are no missing data elements.
US08489963B2
A device for processing streams is disclosed. The device includes a stream arranging unit which stacks and rearranges a stream, and a dummy inserting unit which inserts a dummy into the rearranged stream. The device may further include a convolutional interleaver which interleaves the stream with a dummy or an RS encoder and a CRC encoder.
US08489959B2
A method and apparatus for Turbo encoding uses a set of rate-compatible Turbo Codes optimized at high code rates and derived from a universal constituent code. The Turbo Codes have rate-compatible puncturing patterns. The method comprises: encoding a signal at a first and second encoder using a best rate 1/2 constituent code universal with higher code rates, the first encoder and the second encoder each producing a respective plurality of parity bits for each information bit; puncturing the respective plurality of parity bits at each encoder with a higher rate best puncturing patterns; and puncturing the respective plurality of parity bits at each encoder with a lower rate best puncturing pattern. In a variation, the best rate 1/2 constituent code represents a concatenation of polynomials 1+D2+D3 (octal 13) and 1+D+D3 (octal 15), D a data bit. A Turbo Encoder is provided which has hardware to implement the method.
US08489955B2
The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, a data processing method and a program which can improve the tolerance of code bits of an LDPC code to errors.Where two or more bits of an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code are set as one symbol and are mapped to 214 or 216 signal points, a column twist interleaver 24 carries out, as a re-arrangement process for re-arranging code bits of an LDPC code such that a plurality of code bits corresponding to the value 1 included in one arbitrary row of a parity check matrix are not included in one symbol, column twist interleave of changing the writing starting position when code bits are written in a column direction of a memory for each column of the memory. The present invention can be applied, for example, to a transmission apparatus for transmitting an LDPC code.
US08489954B2
Methods and apparatuses to model the relation between the delay samples and congestion losses and to protect media flows against congestion losses are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises measuring congestion by delay samples, and performing a dynamic FEC algorithm that uses convex hull clustering for loss-event classification, including determining an FEC rate according to the loss-event classification. In another embodiment, the method comprises measuring congestion by delay samples, modeling loss events associated with the delay samples by grouping loss events as unions of convex hulls to identify a period of potentially increased congestion, dynamically changing the FEC rate based on the modeling, and applying FEC protection to the media flow during the period based on the FEC rate. In yet another embodiment, the method comprises forming clusters using past loss events and their {FTT, F{dot over (T)}T} or {RTT, R{dot over (T)}T} estimates, and estimating future loss events using most recent {FTT, F{dot over (T)}T} or {RTT, R{dot over (T)}T} estimates and their membership in convex hull clusters.
US08489942B1
A memory management method for a rewritable non-volatile memory module including a plurality of physical unit groups is provided, and each physical unit group includes first physical units. The method includes: grouping the physical unit groups into a first and second areas, setting the physical unit groups of the first area in a first program mode indicating that all physical units are programmable, and setting the physical unit groups of the second area in a second program mode indicating that only the first physical units are programmable. The method also includes: when a physical unit group in the first area is damaged, transforming a physical unit group from the first program mode to the second program mode and the physical unit group is unable to be set back in the first program mode. Accordingly, the lifespan of the rewritable non-volatile memory module is increased.
US08489941B2
Techniques for automatically documenting activity data in connection with execution of a ticket are provided. The techniques include receiving activity data in connection with execution of a ticket, processing the activity data to generate an output, and appending the processed activity data output to the ticket for ticket enrichment. Techniques for identifying a wrong choice of resolution code in connection with a ticket are also provided. The techniques include analyzing one or more previous tickets to determine a category in which a ticket belongs, determining whether a user-defined code is in variance with a system-suggested code, and sending an alert to a system administrator if the user-defined code is different than the system-suggested code.
US08489932B2
There is provided a server system that collects memory information at the time of occurrence of a failure if a failure occurs in the operating system so as to enable failure analysis. Stall monitoring of a firmware is performed by hardware and, if a stall is detected, a reset is performed. A memory has a memory area used by a boot loader of the firmware and a memory area used by another part of the firmware. It is determined based on a reset factor retained in a device whether the reset is a normal reset or a reset associated with the stall detection. In the case where the reset is a reset associated with the stall detection, information of the memory area of the memory used by the another part of the firmware at the time of occurrence of the stall is collected.
US08489929B2
A system and method for testing in a database system. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving an indication of one or more changes to a software application, wherein each change corresponds to a different version of the software application. The method further includes generating one or more virtual machines for a version of the software application in response to the indication, wherein the one or more virtual machines test the version of the software application.
US08489920B2
The invention includes a computerized method responding to a navigation cue from a user by saving the writable state of the application and directing the computer through the window operating system to perform the navigation task 36 indicated by the navigation cue. The invention includes the following, which will each be discussed in turn. An alteration mechanism including means for altering window operating system by altering the hook triggered by each navigation cue to integrate saving the writable state. The window operating system integrating response to each navigation cue and saving the writable state. Source code artifacts which can be installed to implement navigation cues triggering saving the writable state. A business method generating revenue for a business entity.
US08489918B2
When a failure has occurred, the situation is dealt with promptly according to this invention. As triggered by detection of a failure in any specified processor package of a plurality of processor packages, a processor for the specified processor package is temporarily substituted with a processor for another processor package, as an assignment destination of ownership which is assigned to the processor for the specified processor package, instead of actually transferring the ownership, thereby making the transition to an ownership-substituted state; and as triggered by an event that the failure is no longer detected in the specified processor package, a processor for the other processor package cancels the ownership-substituted state.
US08489908B2
An information processing apparatus switches from a regular power mode to a power saving mode in the event that a first control unit does not process packets for a certain period of time. The information processing apparatus includes a packet table in which packets to be processed by the first control unit are registered, and a determining unit for determining whether the system of the information processing apparatus can switch to the power saving mode. In the event that the determining unit determines that the system can switch to the power saving mode, a network controller processes the packets based on the packet table.
US08489907B2
In a non-volatile memory system, physically separate power rails are provided from a host system to a NVM device for independently power cycling a controller and memory array in the NVM device. The controller of the NVM device can send a power cycle request signal to the host system over a host channel, or updates a status register in the NVM device. The host system receives and decodes the power cycle request signal, or reads the status register, and performs the power cycle request, which can include power cycling the controller or the memory array in the NVM device, or both. The power cycle request can be based on a power state of the non-volatile memory system, which can be managed by the controller or the host system, or both.
US08489906B2
A processor includes a first virtual terminal, a second virtual terminal, circuitry coupled to the first virtual terminal for providing current to the first virtual terminal, a first regulating transistor coupled between the first virtual terminal and the second virtual terminal, a first disabling transistor coupled in parallel with the first regulating transistor for selectively disabling the first regulating transistor by directly connecting the second virtual terminal to the first virtual terminal, a second regulating transistor coupled between the second virtual terminal and a first power supply voltage terminal, and a second disabling transistor coupled in parallel with the second regulating transistor for selectively disabling the second regulating transistor by directly connecting the second virtual terminal to the first power supply voltage terminal.
US08489898B2
A secure execution environment for execution of sensitive code and data including a secure asset management unit (SAMU) is described. The SAMU provides a secure execution environment to run multiple instances of separate program code or data code associated with copy protection schemes established for content consumption. The SAMU architecture allows for hardware-based secure boot and memory protection and provides on-demand code execution for multiple instances of separate program code or data provided by a host processor. The SAMU may boot from an encrypted and signed kernel code, and execute encrypted, signed code. The hardware-based security configuration facilitates the prevention of vertical or horizontal privilege violations.
US08489892B2
A device receives protected content and a license for the content, unprotects the content using an input key and retrieves a rule associated with the input key. The device then processes the content to create new content, retrieves at least one output key associated with the input key in the retrieved rule, protects the content using the output key and sends the newly protected content and the corresponding license. It is thus possible to impose a work flow as it is necessary for a device to store a particular key in order to access the content and as the rule imposes a particular output key depending on the input key. In a preferred embodiment, the content is scrambled using a symmetrical key that is encrypted by an asymmetrical key in the license. An alternate embodiment uses watermarking techniques instead of encryption. The invention finds particular use in video processing.
US08489872B1
The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A REAL-TIME DESKTOP CONFIGURER (hereinafter “RTDC”) implement efficient and scalable monitoring, regulation, and allocation of computational processing, data, labor, and/or the like resources within an enterprise. In some embodiments, the RTDC may regulate access to and/or selectively provide application files to requesting users, such as may be based on access profiles linked to user identifiers. In one implementation, access profiles may be linked to user identifiers via intermediary codes configured as delimited strings in accordance with a descriptive business grammar. The centralized management of application access and use engendered by the RTDC may provide for unprecedented flexibility, security and control in a variety of networked computing contexts, including enterprise information technology management.
US08489868B2
A code signing system and method is provided. The code signing system operates in conjunction with a signed software application having a digital signature and includes an application platform, an application programming interface (API), and a virtual machine. The API is configured to link the software application with the application platform. The virtual machine verifies the authenticity of the digital signature in order to control access to the API by the software application.
US08489866B2
A method, data processing system, and computer program product for managing a branch trace environment. In response to a branch being taken for a first branch instruction that is conditional and direct in the branch instructions, a performance monitoring unit stores an effective address of the first branch instruction into a first entry in a set of entries in a memory. The performance monitoring unit counts each branch not taken in processing the branch instructions occurring after the first branch instruction to form a branch count. In response to a branch being taken during processing of subsequent branch instructions in the branch instructions after the first branch instruction, the performance monitoring unit determines whether to create a second entry in the set of entries in the memory using the branch count with a set of rules identifying when the second entry is to be made.
US08489864B2
Performing non-transactional escape actions within a hardware based transactional memory system. A method includes at a hardware thread on a processor beginning a hardware based transaction for the thread. Without committing or aborting the transaction, the method further includes suspending the hardware based transaction and performing one or more operations for the thread, non-transactionally and not affected by: transaction monitoring and buffering for the transaction, an abort for the transaction, or a commit for the transaction. After performing one or more operations for the thread, non-transactionally, the method further includes resuming the transaction and performing additional operations transactionally. After performing the additional operations, the method further includes either committing or aborting the transaction.
US08489863B2
An information handling system includes a processor with an instruction issue queue (IQ) that may perform age tracking operations. The issue queue IQ maintains or stores instructions that may issue out-of-order in an internal data store (IDS). The IDS organizes instructions in a queue position (QPOS) addressing arrangement. An age matrix of the IQ maintains a record of relative instruction aging for those instructions within the IDS. The age matrix updates latches or other memory cell data to reflect the changes in IDS instruction ages during a dispatch operation into the IQ. During dispatch of one or more instructions, the age matrix may update only those latches that require data change to reflect changing IDS instruction ages. The age matrix employs row and column data and clock controls to individually update those latches requiring update.
US08489862B2
An object of the invention is to reduce the electric power consumption resulting from temporarily activating a processor requiring a large electric power consumption, out of a plurality of processors. A multiprocessor system (1) includes: a first processor (141) which executes a first instruction code; a second processor (151) which executes a second instruction code, a hypervisor (130) which converts the second instruction code into an instruction code executable by the first processor (141); and a power control circuit (170) which controls the operation of at least one of the first processor (141) and the second processor (151). When the operation of the second processor (151) is suppressed by the power control circuit (170), the hypervisor (130) converts the second instruction code into the instruction code executable by the first processor (141), and the first processor (141) executes the converted instruction code.
US08489860B1
A wireless data platform comprises a plurality of processors. Channels of communication are set up between processors such that they may communicate information as tasks are performed. A dynamic cross compiler executed on one processor compiles code into native processing code for another processor. A dynamic cross linker links the compiled code for other processor. Native code may also be downloaded to the platform through use of a JAVA Bean (or other language type) which encapsulates the native code. The JAVA Bean can be encrypted and digitally signed for security purposes.
US08489859B2
Performing a deterministic reduction operation in a parallel computer that includes compute nodes, each of which includes computer processors and a CAU (Collectives Acceleration Unit) that couples computer processors to one another for data communications, including organizing processors and a CAU into a branched tree topology in which the CAU is a root and the processors are children; receiving, from each of the processors in any order, dummy contribution data, where each processor is restricted from sending any other data to the root CAU prior to receiving an acknowledgement of receipt from the root CAU; sending, by the root CAU to the processors in the branched tree topology, in a predefined order, acknowledgements of receipt of the dummy contribution data; receiving, by the root CAU from the processors in the predefined order, the processors' contribution data to the reduction operation; and reducing, by the root CAU, the processors' contribution data.
US08489844B2
If an I/O load on a first virtual storage area falls below a first threshold, a controller copies data in a first storage area, which is allocated to the first virtual storage area, to a third storage area in a second tier storage area, and allocates the third storage area instead of the first storage area to the first virtual storage area. If an I/O load on a second virtual storage area exceeds a second threshold which is greater than said first threshold, the controller copies data in a second storage area, which is allocated to the second virtual storage area, to a fourth storage area in a first tier storage area, and allocates the fourth storage area instead of the second storage area to the second virtual storage area.
US08489837B1
According to certain aspects, a memory module is provided having at least one output configured to be operatively coupled to a memory controller of a host computer system. The memory module can be configured to operate in at least two modes comprising an initialization mode during which the memory module executes at least one initialization sequence and an operational mode. The memory module may include a controller circuit configured to cause the memory module to enter the initialization mode. The memory module may also include a notification circuit configured to drive the at least one output while the memory module is in the initialization mode to provide at least one notification signal to the memory controller indicating at least one status of the at least one initialization sequence.
US08489819B2
A data processing system includes a plurality of processing units coupled by an interconnect fabric. In response to a data request, a victim cache line is selected for castout from a first lower level cache of a first processing unit, and a target lower level cache of one of the plurality of processing units is selected based upon architectural proximity of the target lower level cache to a home system memory to which the address of the victim cache line is assigned. The first processing unit issues on the interconnect fabric a lateral castout (LCO) command that identifies the victim cache line to be castout from the first lower level cache and indicates that the target lower level cache is an intended destination. In response to a coherence response indicating success of the LCO command, the victim cache line is removed from the first lower level cache and held in the second lower level cache.
US08489817B2
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for caching data. A storage request module detects an input/output (“I/O”) request for a storage device cached by solid-state storage media of a cache. A direct mapping module references a single mapping structure to determine that the cache comprises data of the I/O request. The single mapping structure maps each logical block address of the storage device directly to a logical block address of the cache. The single mapping structure maintains a fully associative relationship between logical block addresses of the storage device and physical storage addresses on the solid-state storage media. A cache fulfillment module satisfies the I/O request using the cache in response to the direct mapping module determining that the cache comprises at least one data block of the I/O request.
US08489815B2
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for managing cache metadata providing a mapping between addresses on a storage medium (e.g., disk storage) and corresponding addresses on a cache device at which data items are stored. In some embodiments, cache metadata may be stored in a hierarchical data structure comprising a plurality of hierarchy levels. When a reboot of the computer is initiated, only a subset of the plurality of hierarchy levels may be loaded to memory, thereby expediting the process of restoring the cache metadata and thus startup operations. Startup may be further expedited by using cache metadata to perform operations associated with reboot.
US08489810B2
In a method of synchronizing with a separated disk cache, the separated cache is configured to transfer cache data to a staging area of a storage device. An atomic commit operation is utilized to instruct the storage device to atomically commit the cache data to a mapping scheme of the storage device.
US08489809B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for intelligent storage planning and planning within a clustered computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment). Specifically, embodiments of the present invention will first determine/identify a set of storage area network volume controllers (SVCs) that is accessible from a host that has submitted a request for access to storage. Thereafter, a set of managed disk (mdisk) groups (i.e., corresponding to the set of SVCs) that are candidates for satisfying the request will be determined. This set of mdisk groups will then be filtered based on available space therein, a set of user/requester preferences, and optionally, a set of performance characteristics. Then, a particular mdisk group will be selected from the set of mdisk groups based on the filtering.
US08489800B2
Methods for providing shadow page tables that virtualize processor memory protection. In one embodiment, virtualization software maintains the following: (a) a mapping φ from guest domain identifier to a set of shadow L2 page tables that back guest L1 sections marked with a domain identifier; and (b) with each such shadow L2 page table, a set ω of back-pointers to “potentially referencing” shadow L1 descriptors.
US08489790B2
A control method for extender is proposed. A transmitting unit stops outputting image signal, voice signal or serial data to a receiving unit. A request signal is sent from the transmitting unit to the receiving unit by using the circuit through which the transmitting unit stops outputting image signal, voice signal or serial data to the receiving unit. Extended display identification data of a display device or peripheral data of a control device is sent from the receiving unit to the transmitting unit.
US08489788B2
Provided are a data processor, and a control system, in which an interrupt controller and an event link controller are adopted. The event link controller responds to a generated event signal to output a start control signal for controlling start of an operation of a circuit module. The circuit module is able to generate an event signal. The event link controller generates the start control signal according to the correspondences between event signals and start control signals which are defined by event control information. The links between the event signals and start control signals can be prescribed by the event control information. Therefore, operations of circuit modules prescribed by such links can be controlled sequentially. The control neither involves save and return processes by CPU as in the interrupt processing, nor needs priority level control as executed on competing interrupt requests.
US08489783B2
Disclosed is an electronic device featuring a multi buffer scheme for processing incoming signals. For example, two buffers can be used. A processor can read and process stored signals from a first buffer while an incoming data module can concurrently store signals in a second buffer. Once, the processor is done, it can move on to the second buffer and process signals stored therein while the incoming data module stores signals in the first buffer. Also provided is a flagging scheme for allowing the processor and the incoming data module to control their respective access to the various buffers, so that only one of them accesses a single buffer at any time.
US08489771B2
The present invention provides a computer-readable recording medium having recorded therein an address book transmission program for causing a computer, which includes a storage that stores therein one or more pieces of address book data, to transmit the pieces of address book data to a data transmission apparatus, each of the pieces of address book data corresponding to one or more senders, the address book transmission program causing the computer to execute: a receiving step of receiving, from the data transmission apparatus, apparatus information indicating a state of the data transmission apparatus; a reading step of reading a piece of address book data that corresponds to a sender out of the pieces of address book data stored in the storage; a judging step of, based on the apparatus information received in the receiving step, specifying a use mode that shows how the data transmission apparatus uses address book data, and judging whether or not the piece of address book data read in the reading step is appropriate to the specified use mode; an editing step of, if a result of the judging step is negative, editing the read piece of address book data so as to be appropriate to the specified use mode; and a transmitting step of transmitting the edited piece of address book data to the data transmission apparatus.
US08489760B2
A method and apparatus for creating universal adaptive bit rate streams using a generic container format to store audio, video, and supplemental data that allows seamless trans-containerization from one adaptive streaming format to another.
US08489751B2
In order to carry out actions such as setting up a call from an entity in the address realm of one middlebox to an entity in the address realm of another middlebox, then a middlebox control node such as a call server is used. Previously, the middlebox control node has needed to have pre-configured information about all the middleboxes and which address realms they are associated with. The present invention provides one or more middlebox-identity-providing nodes which are separate from the middlebox control node, and which are more directly connected to the end users of the service than the middlebox control node. This provides greater flexibility in network design and removes the need for middlebox information to be pre-configured at the middlebox control node. Instead, this information is sent to the middlebox control node, as part of signalling messages, from middlebox-identity-providing nodes.
US08489746B2
Systems and methods of the present invention provide for displaying, suggesting and registering available domain names on a client computer based on selected geographical locations from online mapping service software or a geo-location software. Any combination of an online mapping software and a domain name registration software may receive a selection of one or more geographical locations within a displayed geographical area. Alternatively, a location of a client computer may be detected using the geo-location software. One or more available domain names may be parsed for keywords related to the selected geographical area, and one or more available domain names may be suggested based on the selected keywords.
US08489740B2
Some embodiments of a method and an apparatus to validate a web session in a proxy server have been presented. In one embodiment, a first message authentication code is generated at a proxy server communicatively coupled between an application server and a client upon receiving a message from the application server. The message is generated by the application server in response to an authentication request from the client to initiate a web session. The proxy server then adds the first message authentication code and one or more timestamps to the message. Then the proxy server may send the message to the client, wherein the client may use the first message authentication code and the one or more timestamps to request access to predetermined content during the web session.
US08489737B2
A system and method for monitoring the performance associated with fulfilling resource requests are provided. One or more client computing devices obtain an original resource request and associate a record identifier with the original resource request. The one or more client computing devices also determine performance data associated with processing each embedded resource request included in a response to the original resource request. Each embedded resource request is associated with a component record identifier that is associated with, but different from, the record identifier of the original resource request. The one or more client computing devices can then transmit the determined performance data with the record identifier to another processing device.
US08489735B2
Embodiments of the present invention may provide a cross system monitor. The cross system monitor may function as a central dashboard for all PI components in PI domains being monitored. The cross system monitor may tightly integrate PI monitoring with system monitoring. Further, the cross system monitor may provide integration with incident management, notification management and alerting infrastructure. Moreover, the cross system monitor may provide context specific guidance with analysis. In addition, the cross system monitor may collect all necessary information regularly and automatically in background.
US08489733B2
A method and system for automatic ESB deployment at the level of individual services is described. One method deploys a first instance of an enterprise service bus (ESB) including multiple services. An ESB load balancer tracks the performance of the first ESB instance and determines a first service falls below a threshold. The ESB load balancer deploys a second ESB instance including a first duplicate service for the first service and a second duplicate service for a second service of the first ESB instance. The ESB load balancer determines that the first service falls below the threshold a second time and deploys a third ESB instance including a third duplicate service for the first service and a fourth duplicate service for a third service of the first ESB instance without user intervention.
US08489725B2
A communication device and method are provided for storing and updating file system information for a network resource such as a content server or application server over a wireless connection. Data pertaining to a folder structure or content listing is received at the device and stored in persistent memory. Upon determination that the stored file system information has aged beyond a predetermined threshold and that a last modification time for the network resource is later than a time associated with the first file system information, a request is transmitted over a wireless connection for new file system information for the network resource. The request may be intercepted by a mobile data server that communicates with the network resource to provide the information to the communication device.
US08489716B2
One example embodiment provides a method and system where a node in a utility network receives a block of IPv6 network addresses from an access point in the utility network. The utility node allocates an IP network address from the block of IPv6 network addresses received from the access point to an in-premise device which communicates to the utility node over an in-premise network which is not IP based. The utility node proxies the allocated IP address to the utility network, allowing other nodes on the utility network to address and communicate with the in-premise device.
US08489709B2
Embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems of managing a file access, in a distributed file system environment. In the provided methods and systems, each of the host computers is connected with one of the file servers as a target file server and issues the file access request to the target file server, for access to a target file stored in at least one of the file servers. The management computer collects load information from the file servers, analyzes it, by specifying location of the target file and the target file server, and based on the analysis, redistributes the target file among the file servers and reallocates connections between the host computers and the target file servers.
US08489703B2
An analysis sever capable of performing analysis among a large amount of sensor data in order to obtain an analysis result that a reader desires and outputting the result instantaneously. The analysis server rearranges the sensor data acquired from a sensor node into time series data. The analysis is performed separately for time trigger analysis (D) and for event trigger analysis (F) depending on analysis contents. In the time trigger analysis (D), analysis processing that is basically needed when visualizing a state of an organization is performed. In the event trigger analysis (F), an analysis result obtained by the time trigger analysis (D) is processed using the reader's desired information and is outputted.
US08489702B2
A method is provided through which information about media files embedded in web pages is obtained from a server and analyzed to determine if the media files are playable on a device. This information may be external to the media file or may be a portion of the media file itself. The determination of whether a media file is playable by a device is made based on information obtained from the server without downloading the entirety of the media file.
US08489700B2
Method for measuring the performance of a multi-nodal computer system. In one embodiment, a number of system related events may be instrumented. When an instrumented event occurs, instrumentation routines may be invoked to record the state of system variables related to the event. In particular, events such as thread creation, dispatch, and nodal events such as events related to verifying or changing workload distribution in a multi-nodal system, among others, may be instrumented to record the state of variables as these events occur in a running multi-nodal computer system.
US08489698B2
Provided are an apparatus and a method for acquiring a consistent result even if one client accesses any metadata server in a circumstance that the cluster configuring many metadata servers exist. The apparatus as mentioned above includes a deletion file list unit that stores information about a deleted metadata during a predetermined period; and a metadata server selector that selects a metadata server to receive a operation request about a metadata among a plurality of metadata servers based on information from the deletion file list unit.
US08489696B2
A method for displaying multimedia content created by a user of a first computerized messaging device to a user of a second computerized messaging device communicatively coupled to the first computerized messaging device by a network includes: displaying, with the second computerized messaging device, a textual instant messaging exchange between the user of the first computerized messaging device and the user of the second computerized messaging device; receiving the multimedia content at the second computerized messaging device over the network; and dynamically embedding a player for the multimedia content in-line in the display of the textual instant messaging exchange at the second messaging device.
US08489692B2
An apparatus, method, computer readable medium, and system are provided for associating content with a conference. A viewer of content may elect to partake in a conference and may select one or more options associated with the conference. The viewer may be authenticated and billed based on the viewer's participation in the conference. The viewer may be assigned to a conference group based on a location of the viewer and/or the viewer's selections of conference options. A lookup may be performed to determine conference parameters, comprising one or more of a terminal identifier associated with the viewer, a conference code identifier and a participant code. A conference setup message may be transmitted to one or more of a switch and a customer premise equipment device (CPE) based on the conference parameters.
US08489688B2
A first portion of electronic meeting content is transmitted to a first client computing device. The first portion of the electronic meeting content configured to provide a first content resolution that is less than a full content resolution. A second portion of the electronic meeting content is transmitted to the first client computing device. The second portion of the electronic meeting content configured to provide a second content resolution that is greater than the first content resolution. The second portion of the electronic meeting content combined with the first portion of the electronic meeting content provides progressive refinement of electronic meeting content transmitted to the first client computing device.
US08489681B2
A digital plaque that can display one of several stored certificates that can also retrieve updates to a displayed certificate when needed. The digital plaque is used to display a certificate and associated information. Typically the certificate displayed is one of an award, a recognition, a score card, a picture, a transcript, a document, a sales deed, a ticket, a poster, a document cover, a book cover, a patent application, a granted patent and a graduation record. A collection of such certificates is stored in memory and displayed when selected by a user. Status information and supporting documents associated with the selected certificate can be retrieved from a remote server and portions of the retrieved information can be displayed.
US08489675B2
A method and apparatus for a configurable offline data store are described herein. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request for a first set of one or more records from a client application, wherein the first set is remotely stored. The method further includes determining a second set of one or more records that is associated with the first set, wherein the second set is remotely stored. The method further includes fetching over a network the first set and the second set from a server data store unit; storing the first set and the second set in a client data store unit and providing access to the first set and the second set when the network is not operational.
US08489673B2
Methods, apparatuses, and systems are provided for improving utilization of the communications system through various “deltacasting” techniques for handling content sets (e.g., feeds or websites). In some embodiments, within a client-server context, content sets are anticipatorily pre-positioned in client dictionaries using multicasting techniques to share forward link capacity. Pre-positioning determinations are made according to byte-level data, set-level metadata, and/or user preferences. In some embodiments, when locally stored information from the content sets is requested by a user, deltacasting techniques are used to generate fingerprints for use in identifying and exploiting multicasting and/or other opportunities for increased utilization of links of the communications system.
US08489672B2
Methods, apparatuses, and systems are provided for improving utilization of the satellite communications system through various “deltacasting” techniques for handling content sets (e.g., feeds or websites). Embodiments operate in a client-server context, including a server optimizer, a client optimizer, and, in some embodiments, a pre-positioning client. Within this client-server context, content sets are multicast (e.g., anticipatorily pre-positioned in a local dictionary) to end users of the communications system and are handled at the content set level, according to set-level metadata and/or user preferences. In some embodiments, when locally stored information from the content sets is requested by a user, deltacasting techniques are used to generate fingerprints for use in identifying and exploit multicasting and/or other opportunities for increased utilization of links of the communications system.
US08489671B2
The present invention relates to methods, apparatus, and systems for providing peer-to-peer network acceleration. The system includes a content server configured to transfer content based on received requests for content. The system further includes a proxy server coupled with the content server. The proxy server is configured to receive content from the content server and to forward the received content. Furthermore, the system includes client systems coupled with the proxy server. The client systems each include a personal byte cache and are configured to receive content from the proxy server, to store content in the personal byte caches, to synchronize the personal byte caches with each of the plurality of client system's portions of a shared byte cache, and to retrieve content from the shared byte cache.
US08489670B1
Applications that run on an overlay network-based managed service achieve high performance gains using a set of TCP optimizations. In a first optimization, a typical single TCP connection between a client and an origin server is broken into preferably three (3) separate TCP connections. These connections are: an edge-to-client connection, an edge-to-edge connection, and edge-to-origin connection. A second optimization replicates TCP state along the connection to increase fault tolerance. In this approach, preferably a given TCP connection is maintained on two servers. When a packet is received by one server, called the primary, its state is updated and then passed to a second server, called the backup. Only when the backup sends an acknowledgement back to the primary can it then send a TCP acknowledgement back to the host that originally sent the packet. Another optimization reduces connection establishment latency. In particular, data is sent across the edge-to-edge connection before waiting for a SYN/ACK from a receiving region to be received by the sending region. This is achieved by generating a SYN/ACK packet (at the sending region) and feeding it back to the edge-to-edge connection. This causes TCP to treat the connection as established, thereby allowing data to flow.
US08489667B2
A vertical-mount network remote power management outlet strip embodiment of the present invention comprises a long, thin outlet strip body with several independently controllable power outlet sockets distributed along its length. A power input cord is provided at one end, and this supplies AC-operating power to relays associated with each of the power outlet sockets. The relays are each addressably controlled by a microprocessor connected to an internal I2C-bus serial communications channel. The power-on status of each relay output to the power outlet sockets is sensed and communicated back on the internal I2C-bus. A device-networking communications processor with an embedded operating system translates messages, status, and controls between the internal I2C-bus and an Ethernet port, and other external networks.
US08489660B2
A hardware-based digital random number generator is provided. The digital random number generator is a randomly behaving random number generator based on a set of nondeterministic behaviors. The nondeterministic behaviors include temporal asynchrony between subunits, entropy source “extra” bits, entropy measurement, autonomous deterministic random bit generator reseeding and consumption from a shared resource.
US08489655B2
Systems, Methods, and Computer Program Products are provided for restoring data segments in a clustered file system (CFS). Contents of the data segments, that were modified during a transaction, which is being rolled-back to the most recent contents of the data segments prior to the transaction commencing, are restored. Locations of the most recent contents of the data segments, which are restored, are identified.
US08489654B2
A method for forming a virtual file system associated with a distributed storage system is implemented at a computing device communicatively connected to the distributed storage system. The computing device retrieves one or more metadata blocks associated with the virtual file system from the plurality of storage devices. After rendering a commit tree for the virtual file system, the computing device builds an instance of the virtual file system by traversing a plurality of directory nodes and file nodes associated with the tree in a recursive manner. For a respective directory node, the computing device creates a directory in accordance with the metadata associated with the directory node; for a respective file node, the computing device retrieves one or more data blocks from the plurality of storage devices in accordance with the metadata associated with the file node and creates a file using the retrieved data blocks.
US08489649B2
A method and apparatus for introducing domain-specific data types with associated semantics in an RDF database system using an extensibility framework mechanism. The extensibility framework mechanism allows users to map serialized instance data for a particular user-defined data type to properties of a base data structure associated with the domain-specific data and to map instance data in base data structures to the data's serialized form. The RDF database system may return inferred properties of RDF data stored in domain-specific data types in response to a query on the data. Further, the RDF database system may infer relationships between resources in stored data.
US08489634B2
Provided is a file access destination control device capable of storing only a file requiring confidentiality in a server and storing a file not requiring confidentiality in a client. A file access destination control device includes: means for setting an access destination with respect to a file accessed by a program whose name is listed in a white list to the client-side storage device; means for setting the access destination with respect to a file accessed by a program whose name is listed in a redirect list to the server-side storage device; means for prohibiting a program whose name is listed neither in the white list nor redirect list from performing writing operation to a file; and means for setting the readout destination with respect to a file accessed by a program whose name is listed neither in the white list nor redirect list to the client-side storage device.
US08489632B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on one or more computer storage devices, for receiving training data for predictive modeling and executing multiple processes simultaneously to generate multiple trained predictive models using the training data and training functions. After executing the processes for an initial runtime, a convergence status of each process is determined that indicates a likelihood that the training function being executed will converge on the training data. Based on the determination, training functions are identified that are not likely to converge and processes that are executing these training functions are terminated. After an ultimate runtime has expired, processes that are still executing training functions that have not yet converged are terminated. An effectiveness score is generated for each of the trained predictive models that were successfully generated and a trained predictive model is selected based on the effectiveness scores.
US08489621B2
A system and method for providing items to users and, more particularly, a system and method for rating items and placing such items into a queued list. The method includes providing an item from a web browser to a recipient on a preferred list and placing the item into a queued list with respect to other items based on a rating. The system includes a computer infrastructure being operable to provide a rated item from a web browser to a recipient on a preferred list and place the rated item in a queued list with respect to other items.
US08489608B2
A method for the definition of data categories is described. The method uses logic templates and may be used in database processing. One embodiment of the method comprises: selecting a plurality of attributes from a group of attributes, each attribute describing a possible data item in a set of data; selecting a logic template from a group of logic templates, each logic template comprising a predetermined logic expression containing one or more variables; and assigning one or more selected attributes to each variable within the selected the logic template to produce a logic expression defining the data category. A computer program product and a user interface for achieving this method are also described.
US08489602B2
Determining exclusion efficiencies of a plurality of keywords appearing in a search result of an exclusion keyword for indicating efficient exclusion of an unwanted piece of data when the user narrows searching objects. The determining of exclusion efficiencies may involve a processor to calculate an exclusion efficiency for each of a plurality of keywords, if a search condition is applied to the search result and the keyword is applied as an exclusion keyword to the search result. The exclusion efficiency of each of the plurality of keywords provides an indication regarding the effectiveness of exclusion of the keyword.
US08489601B2
A method for extracting data from service repair verbatims in a vehicle service reporting system. Each service repair verbatim includes a technician's comments concerning a part, a symptom associated with the part, and a repair action associated with the symptom. Each service repair verbatim includes information relating to an identified problem with at least one vehicle part. A diagnostic and prognostic ontology database is provided that is structured by vehicle part classification, a vehicle part sub-class classification, and a relationship classification, wherein the relationship classification includes symptom relationships and action relationships. Each of the service repair verbatims are reconstructed utilizing the diagnostic and prognostic ontology database. Combinations of information are extracted from the reconstructed service repair verbatims as a function of user input criteria. A frequency is determined of each combination extracted in the reconstructed service repair verbatims. The service repair verbatims are clustered for each combination.
US08489600B2
An approach is provided for increasing content relevancy to user search queries by segmenting and summarizing media content. A probabilistic tag application segments a first media content item into at least a first segment and a second segment, associates a first keyword with the first segment, and assigns to the first keyword a first probability value indicating relevance of the first keyword to the first segment. Thereafter, the probabilistic tag application includes the first segment in a search result, in response to a search query including the first keyword.
US08489596B1
Provided is a process of profiling a user of a mobile computing device, the process including: obtaining a location history of a user, the location history being based on signals from a mobile computing device of the user; obtaining a location-attribute score of a location identified in, or inferred from, the location history; determining, with a computer, a user-attribute score based on the location-attribute score; and storing the user-attribute score in a user-profile datastore.
US08489588B2
An approach is provided that visually distinguishes between entity types in a communication system. A Data store with entities is queried, with entities connected to one another as senders and receivers, resulting in a query result. A node data structure corresponding to each of the entities is created and an edge data structure corresponding to each of the connections between the entities is also created. Nodes corresponding to the node data structures are displayed, along with edges (e.g., connection lines) corresponding to the edge data structures. A user selects one of the nodes that is displayed, and the selected node is visually highlighted. Different types of non-selected nodes are identified based on the selected node. Types of nodes may include sender type nodes, receiver type nodes, and sender/receiver type nodes. The types of identified nodes are highlighted in a manner that visually distinguishes each type from the other types.
US08489574B2
Embodiments of methods and apparatuses for searching contents, including structured search are described herein. Embodiments of the present invention use tree structures (or more generally, graph structures), layout structures, and/or content category information to capture within search results relevant content that would otherwise be missed, to reduce the incidence of false positives within search results, and to improve the accuracy of rankings within search results. Embodiments of the present invention further use tree structures (or more generally, graph structures), layout structures, and/or content category information to extend search results to include sub-document constituents. Embodiments of the present invention also support the use of distribution properties as criteria for ranking search results. And embodiments of the present invention support search based on structural proximity, search expressions with recursively embedded operators, predicates, and/or quantifiers, and applications to selection of advertisements.
US08489572B2
The present inventors, devised among other things, an exemplary method of researching provisions of contracts. The exemplary method entails receiving user selection of one or more predefined queries for contractual precedents, and executing a search of one or more databases containing agreements based on the received user selection. After executing the search, the method entails displaying a subset of the search results based on a predefined filter stored in association with an identifier for the user. The predefined filter may filter based on traits such as jurisdiction, deal size, industry, or a list of companies.
US08489568B2
A data acquisition apparatus includes an input unit configured to input acquisition data specification information, secret data specification information, and output format specification information, an acquisition unit configured to acquire data specified by the acquisition data specification information from a database, an output unit configured to output the acquired data in a format specified by the output format specification information, and a control unit configured to control at least one of the acquisition unit and the output unit so that data specified by the secret data specification information which is independent of the output format specification information is not output.
US08489567B2
A database is maintained that stores data persistently. Tasks are accepted from task sources. At least some of the tasks have competing requirements for use of regions of the database. Each of the regions includes data that is all either locked or not locked for writing at a given time. Each of the regions is associated with an available processor. For each of the tasks, jobs are defined each of which requires write access to regions that are to be accessed by no more than one of the processors. Jobs are distributed for concurrent execution by the associated processors.
US08489565B2
Integral index management for a relational database is provided. Possible index management actions are identified to an administrator, and index management metric thresholds are provided by the administrator. An index metrics collection module automatically collects metric values. An index metrics analysis module automatically determines whether collected metric values satisfy specified thresholds. An index management action implementation module then implements index management actions, such as reorganizing or rebuilding indexes, adding indexes, and removing indexes. Threads may work in parallel on multiple tables of the relational database. Proposed actions may be subject to final authorization or may be implemented automatically after the metric threshold values are satisfied.
US08489559B2
In one embodiment of the invention, a utility may be installed (e.g., by a system administrator) on a storage system. The utility may read content units on the storage system that are stored in one data format, and convert the content units to a second data format. In one embodiment, in response to a read request for a content unit, a data format in which to return the content unit may be selected and the content unit may be returned in that data format. In another embodiment, mapping information may be created that specifies in which data format a content unit should be returned in response to a request for the content unit. The mapping information may be stored either on the storage system that stores the content unit, the computer requesting access to the content unit, or any other computer or device in the computer system.
US08489551B2
A method of determining whether a query can be redirected to an alternate evaluator in a directory system. The method includes the step of determining in any order, any one or a combination of: Availability of an alternate evaluator, First parameters of the query, Second parameters of the alternate evaluator, Third parameters which are pre-determined criteria.
US08489549B2
A method of resolving conflicts between revisions to a distributed virtual file system is implemented at a computing device that is communicatively connected to a plurality of storage devices. The virtual file system at the computing device has a first revision of the virtual file system. Upon receipt of a request to synchronize the first revision of the virtual file system with the storage devices, the computing device retrieves one or more blocks from the storage devices, which are associated with a second revision of the virtual file system. The computing device then merges a first component of the first revision with a corresponding component of the second revision if a first predefined condition is met or identifies a second component of the first revision as being conflicted with a corresponding component of the second revision if a second predefined set of conditions is met.
US08489547B2
A system, method and apparatus for performing information transformations on an information stream composed of configuration items (CIs) for improving data quality and extending the capabilities of a configuration management database (CMDB). In one embodiment the data transformations ensure that a CMDB can be used to manage environments that use Network Address Translation by the modification of the signatures of analyzed CIs so that the resulting set of CIs is unique. The modification is applied to augment the signature with a domain specific prefix so that, when loaded into the enterprise wide CMDB, a CI is uniquely identified.
US08489541B2
A system and method for enabling a Meta Object Facility (MOF) and a Java Metadata Interface (JMI) compliant service to access program resources. A system includes a metamodel repository and an application server. The metamodel repository is configured to store the program resources including metadata and one or more metamodels. The application server includes at least one application providing a first portion of the program resources. A first portion of the program resources are stored in a database associated with the application server. A second portion of the program resources are provided in at least one application of the application server, and programming language instances of the program resources are received by one or more applications independent of where the program resources are stored or provided.
US08489540B2
According to an example embodiment, a technique may be provided for managing a label data base of which each entry comprises a data field for insertion into a respective packet in a multicast transmission and a validity field. The technique may include, for example, (a) establishing a fixed size for a cluster of labels, (b) associating with each cluster a pointer to another cluster, (c) establishing a sentinel cluster of which all entries are indicated to be invalid and of which the cluster pointer points to this sentinel cluster, (d) establishing a root table which defines the number of replications of the packet in a multicast group and identifies a first label cluster associated with the multicast group and (e) establishing a chain of clusters of which each cluster which is full of valid entries points to the next cluster in the chain and the last cluster which contains valid entries points to the sentinel cluster.
US08489539B2
Computer-aided systems and methods are provided for determining the skin composition of a specific user according to Traditional Chinese Medicinal (TCM) principles by statistically analyzing biological and/or psychological information collected from such user, such as age, gender, bodily sensation, skin condition and complexion, sleep pattern, dietary habits, energy level, stress level, physical fitness and emotional wellness, so as to classify the skin composition of the user according to TCM principles but without employing a TCM practitioner. Preferably, the skin composition classification is indicative of Yin-Yang balance of the skin of the user or the lack thereof. The present systems and methods may further recommend to the user one or more topical skin care regimens and/or ingestible skin benefit products suitable for the skin composition of the specific user.
US08489536B1
In some embodiments, a method includes receiving an electronic document that comprising a list of one or more features specified for use during processing of the electronic document by an application. The method also includes determining if one or more specified features from the list of specified features is not supported by the application. The method includes executing an operation that is defined by a prescription associated with one or more specified features, in response to a determination that the one or more specified features is not supported by the application, wherein the prescription defines at least one of an operation to be performed or a restriction to be applied by the application as part of subsequent processing of the electronic document.
US08489529B2
A method is disclosed herein that includes an act of causing a processor to access a deep-structured, layered or hierarchical model, called deep convex network, retained in a computer-readable medium, wherein the deep-structured model comprises a plurality of layers with weights assigned thereto. This layered model can produce the output serving as the scores to combine with transition probabilities between states in a hidden Markov model and language model scores to form a full speech recognizer. The method makes joint use of nonlinear random projections and RBM weights, and it stacks a lower module's output with the raw data to establish its immediately higher module. Batch-based, convex optimization is performed to learn a portion of the deep convex network's weights, rendering it appropriate for parallel computation to accomplish the training. The method can further include the act of jointly substantially optimizing the weights, the transition probabilities, and the language model scores of the deep-structured model using the optimization criterion based on a sequence rather than a set of unrelated frames.
US08489522B1
According to one embodiment, a pattern learning system includes a pattern learning tool that receives event messages in a sequential manner from multiple sensors and forms multiple sub-sequences that each includes a trigger event message, a consequence event message, and one or more intermediary event messages. The pattern learning tool then generates multiple graphs that each represents a sub-sequence of the plurality of event messages. The pattern learning tool then combines the graphs into a combined graph according to a type of each event message, and determines a causal sequence from the combined graph according to a heaviest weighted directed path from the trigger event message to the consequence event message.
US08489521B2
An ink billing system is used between a client company X 200 that prints information and a printer manufacturer that supplies ink cartridges (or toner) to the company X 200. The company X 200 has a main server 210, a plurality of in-store servers 220, 230 in communication with the main server, and a plurality of inkjet (or laser) printers 240 each having an ink cartridge 20 (or toner) for printing according to commands from the in-store server 220, 230. When billing the company X 200 based on the number of ink shots (or drum charging time) used by the printers 240 and stored on the main server 210, the terminal device 100 of the printer manufacturer changes the billing rate per unit of ink according to the ink shot count (or drum charging time).
US08489512B2
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for providing electronic media to a customer. One method prompts a customer to license a right to electronic media. If the customer agrees to license the right, then the license is electronically stored on behalf of the customer. The licensed electronic media is communicated to the customer via a communications network.
US08489509B2
A message, method and system for processing rights object (RO) in a DRM system are disclosed. A message for requesting submission or return of an unused/partially consumed rights object (RO) is newly defined. When an authenticated device generates such a request message and transmits it to a right issuer (RI), the RI checks whether there exists an ID of a receiving device in the request message. If an ID of a receiving device exists in the request message, the RI performs a procedure for submitting the RO to the ID of the receiving device. If, however, the ID of the receiving device does not exist, the RI performs a procedure of returning of the RO or issuing of a different RO. Accordingly, the unused RO or partially consumed RO can be returned or submitted to a different device by using the request message.
US08489504B1
A check service provider enables users to make and receive payments from a financial account via a mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. The device includes a check module and a camera. A user can capture an image of a check using the camera and the check module deciphers information, such as an account number, bank routing number, and information regarding the account holder, from the image of the check. The user can then make payments from and receive payments into the financial account associated with the imaged check via the check module without having the physically write or deposit a check. The check service provider interacts with the ACH to settle payments directly between the user's accounts without handling the money. Users can be notified of pending payments via text, voice, and e-mail messaging.
US08489501B2
A system and method for evaluating risks associated with a project based on project data from several projects. A project management server manages multiple, unrelated projects for a plurality of participants. The system manages each project by receiving and processing data associated with each project. Risks for a project are evaluated by aggregating project data from multiple projects. Risk assessment data for a particular project, based on the aggregated project data, is displayed to a participant of the project while access to the project data is limited to only projects with which the participant is associated.
US08489499B2
Embodiments include systems and methods of detecting and assessing multiple types of risks related to mortgage lending. One embodiment includes a system and method of detecting and assessing risks including fraud risks, early payment default risks, and risks related to fraudulently stated income on loan applications. One embodiment includes a computerized method that includes creating a combined risk detection model based on a plurality of risk detection models and using the combined risk detection model to evaluate loan application data and generate a combined risk score that takes into account interaction of different types of risks individually and collectively detected by the plurality of risk detection models.
US08489498B1
A computer-implemented mortgage loan application data processing system comprises a workflow engine and workflow analysis logic. The workflow engine has stored therein a list representing tasks that need to be performed in connection with a mortgage loan application associated with a lender. The workflow engine is configured to prompt users to perform the tasks and to track performance of the tasks. The workflow analysis logic includes fallout prediction logic configured to receive status information from the workflow engine concerning status of the tasks that need to be performed in connection with the mortgage loan application. The workflow analysis logic is configured to predict a probability of fallout for the mortgage loan application based on the status information.
US08489497B1
An on-line interactive and partner-enhanced credit card application system is disclosed. The system utilizes partner-supplied data of an applicant in credit decision. The system structures an on-line credit card application interactively with a tree-type series of questions and answers such that the next set of questions are based on the answers given. The system offers an appropriate bounty to a partner by the credit card issuer based on the data supplied by the partner and obtained during the interactive questions and answers. The system enables a credit card issuer to make an optimum product offer such as pricing and credit line assignment. The system offers commercial incentives, and utilizes the partner-supplied data during a statement process to generate further revenue and ensure cardholder retention.
US08489492B2
In one example a method includes: receiving a first input value associated with a first data field; responsive to determining that the first data field is associated with an increment operation, selecting a second input value associated with a corresponding second data field of a previously transmitted message; comparing the first input value and second input value to determine if the first input value includes a sum of the second input value and an increment value; when the first input value includes the sum of the second input value and increment value, generating a message that omits the first input value for the first data field, and providing an operator symbol indicating the increment operation to specify that the first data field of the message is to be associated with the sum of the increment value and second input value of the second data field in the previously transmitted message.
US08489490B2
Preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise, for example, a method for measuring trade costs, comprising (1) capturing trade data over a predetermined time period; (2) capturing time stamp data corresponding to said trade data, wherein said time stamp data comprises open events and close events, data regarding when an order is received by a buy-side trading desk from a portfolio manager; data regarding when execution of said order is completed, and data regarding when a manager decides to engage in trading regarding said order; and (3) performing an investment level analysis based on said trade data and said time stamp data. Further embodiments comprise systems and software for implementing the above method (and others) and utilizing information obtained therefrom.
US08489481B2
An apparatus comprising equipment provides a principal functionality other than two-way communication. A computing device in the apparatus controls the equipment. The apparatus operates in a plurality of modes including an operational mode and a paid off mode. When the apparatus is in the operational mode, the computing device communicates with a remote computer and in response, receives an instruction that is based on a state of a financial account. Based on the received instruction, the computing device controls whether the equipment provides the principal functionality. When the apparatus is in the paid off mode, the equipment provides the principal functionality without being controlled by the computing device based on the state of the financial account. The apparatus transitions from the operational mode to the paid off mode based on a wireless communication from the remote computer resulting from an amount owed in the financial account being paid off.
US08489476B1
Systems and methods are disclosed for managing transaction data from a plurality of financial services for a suspicious activity monitor (SAM). In one implementation, transaction data from each financial service is conformed to a standard format for publication. The publication may occur either substantially in real time as each transaction is conducted, at predefined intervals, or in periodic batches. A SAM data manager may then retrieve and process the transaction messages, including filtering non-required transactions, removing levels of hierarchy from the data, arranging the data in a predefined document structure, adding tags that may be required by the SAM tool, and creating SAM messages. The SAM data manager may thereafter forward the SAM messages to the SAM tool for analysis. In some embodiments, the SAM data manager may also send any updates of member and account data contained in the transaction messages to a central repository for such data.
US08489471B2
A product management system is disclosed. The product management system comprises a product detection device disposed on a product display rack and configured to detect presence/absence of a product on the product display rack, a wireless communication device disposed on the product display rack and configured to wirelessly transmit information about the presence/absence of the product detected by the product detection device, a relay device to relay communications between the wireless communication device and a network, a product management device to store and display the information transmitted from the wireless communication device via the relay device and the network, and a terminal device capable of wireless communications with the wireless communication device and configured to travel with a shopper.
US08489467B2
An extended manufacturing environment can receive, at a manufacturer's server, a communication from a customer of the manufacturer, automatically process the communication, and automatically transmit an order for supplies to a supplier of the supplies. The supplies, which are needed by the manufacturer to manufacture at least one product for the customer, can be directly ordered by the customer, without the customer having to wait for the manufacturer's approval.
US08489465B2
A system for allocating resources which are anticipated to be available in an on-demand computing at some time in the future, wherein a producer trending agent (PTA) lists resources according to a trend prediction of resource availability in the past, a consumer trending agent (CTA) places bids for listed resources according to previous resource usage trends, and an arbitration system (REAS) matches the bids with the listings to determine if a match exists. If so, a binding contract for consumption of the matched listed resources is established. The PTA also produce tier-based dynamic incentive (TDI) schema which divides potential bidders into tiers, and offers additional resource incentives according to the tiers. Both PTA and CTA dynamically update their available/usage trends, listings and bids, over time.
US08489456B2
A computer-implemented offer redemption method includes the steps of: (a) storing information on a consumer and a payment account associated with the consumer in a computer storage system; (b) receiving activation of an offer from the consumer covering a product or service or a purchase from a retailer; (c) linking the offer to the consumer's payment account; (d) monitoring transactions in the consumer's payment account; and (e) when the consumer has purchased the product or service or made a purchase from the retailer covered by the linked offer using the consumer payment account, making payment for offer settlement to a payment processor managing the consumer's payment account to be credited to the consumer's payment account.
US08489449B2
A system for managing loyalty incentives for a customer, including a personal loyalty account at a centralized server assigned to the customer for storing the balance of a first amount of loyalty incentives for the customer, a loyalty card carried with the customer for identifying and accessing the personal loyalty account and including a loyalty purse for storing a second amount of loyalty incentives, a first merchant terminal operable to interface with the loyalty card for awarding the customer an awarded amount of loyalty incentives by selecting whether to add the awarded amount to the loyalty purse or to add a first predefined amount of loyalty incentives to the loyalty account and receive the difference between the first predefined amount and the awarded amount from the loyalty purse.
US08489445B1
This disclosure relates to determining and displaying item preferences associated with geographic areas. Each of a plurality of item selections is associated with a respective geographic location. Item selections associated with a geographic area are identified. A preference for an item from among a group of items is determined based on the identified ones of the item selections. The preference is sent to a client for rendering.
US08489442B1
The present invention is directed to an overlay interface for facilitating and coordinating meetings. In particular, a central overlay interface tool having access to a plurality of applications is provided for scheduling meetings at dates and times at which desired meeting attendees are available. The tool allows for communications related to the meeting to be automatically generated and sent to participants. In addition, communications may be received and acted on by the tool. The tool may also provide for the identification of materials related to the meeting, and provide access to such materials to attendees. In a further aspect, the overlay interface allows for follow-up and sidebar meetings to be scheduled.
US08489440B2
Obtaining an earned value includes storing a simulation version of a project baseline. The project baseline includes tasks that define a project associated with the project baseline. The simulation version is copied to create an operative version of the project baseline. The simulation version is augmented with an additional task such that the simulation version maintains separate baselines for the additional task and for pre-existing tasks. The additional task is mapped from the simulation version to the operative version such that the operative version incorporates the additional task and the pre-existing task into a single baseline. The earned value is obtained for the project using the operative version.
US08489439B2
The discovery cost forecasting system uses incomplete information to generate forecasts of discovery expenses. Models are generated with different levels of granularity depending upon the available facts and user preferences. An expert provides real-time information to improve the accuracy of the predictions. A scenario analysis is generated that evaluates how changes to the parameters of the matter could affect the forecasted cost. An estimate is generated of the degree of advancement of the matter in its lifecycle as part of the cost forecast. The cost associated with each data source and custodian is tracked and reported. A configurable and extensible cost equation is defined. A dashboard user interface is generated to monitor the entire portfolio to extract easy to understand facts, trends, and early warning signs related to discovery cost management.
US08489436B1
Various embodiments of a system and method for an order handling data model with item-level granularity are described. Embodiments may include an order handling system configured to, for a given purchase order received from an ordering entity, generate within a data store a purchase order data object, item data objects for items of the purchase order, and message data objects for messages associated with item data objects. In various embodiments, the order handling system may also generate in the data store mapping information for mapping each of the different data objects for a given purchase order together. The order handling system may also provide to the ordering entity a notification for a particular item. The notification may be based on information accessed from the item data object corresponding to the particular item or information accessed from other data objects associated with that item data object according to the mapping information.
US08489435B2
A process for storing and accessing data in databases of a computerized travel reservation system includes, for each type of information to be stored, created rules associating a set of criteria defining the trips to which the information applies, and a content representing the value of the information to be applied, the set of criteria of a rule including a pair of markets with a market of origin that is defined by the geographical zone of departure on the trip and a destination market which is defined by the geographical zone of arrival of the trip. A database stores the defined markets and a database stores the created rules.
US08489432B1
Insurance customers may establish and contribute to a self-insurance account. The insured may set aside an amount each policy period that is deposited to the self-insurance account. The value of the self-insurance account may further grow in value with earnings via common investment vehicles. The deposits and investment growth may continue until the account reaches maturity (self-insurance status). From that point forward customers can forego paying insurance premiums. The self-insurance account is accessible to the insured as a financial asset, and may be provided to the insured upon termination of the self-insurance account.
US08489427B2
A system and method is disclosed for indicating the loss of a wireless communication link within a healthcare facility.
US08489421B2
A health care cost management marketplace brings together health care payers and health care cost management vendors. The health care cost management vendors bid on lots of single-claims or multiple claims. Health care cost reduction contracts are awarded to vendors whose bids project the greatest net health care cost reduction savings. Auctions are timed and vendors may change their bids while time remains. Bids include a vendor fee percentage, and, for single claim lots, may further include an estimated cost savings amount. For the single-claim lots, vendors which fail to achieve actual cost reduction savings above a predetermined threshold compared to estimated savings can be penalized.
US08489420B2
A method of optimizing healthcare services consumption according to the invention includes the steps of assessing the healthcare situation of an employer providing healthcare benefits to a population, identifying a first group of patients from the population likely to generate expensive healthcare claims based on data representing past claims, periodically determining whether patients in the first group have satisfied certain predetermined healthcare requirements, identifying a first group of providers who provide high quality, cost efficient healthcare services based on the practice patterns of the providers, prompting patients who have not satisfied the predetermined healthcare requirements to obtain services from providers in the first group, and responding to healthcare requests from patients by determining whether the requesting patient is seeking services from a provider in the first group, and, if not, urging the patient to obtain such services from a provider in the first group.
US08489417B2
A system is provided that integrates of records of clinical laboratory services into the assessment and optimization of patient health care and, in particular, regulation of the use of pharmaceuticals. Laboratory test result records are used in conjunction with other health care benefits records to monitor regulation of use of pharmaceuticals by patients. The incorporation of laboratory tests and results into such a utilization system allows improvement in the management of a patient's therapy based on a more precise picture of the patient's level of illness as revealed by the laboratory test results. The system of the present invention also allows optimization of the selection of laboratory tests to be performed, and also provides an outcome assessment of the risk of hospitalization due to pharmaceutical treatments resulting in physician intervention, leading to a change in physician prescribing behavior and, accordingly, a decrease in drag induced hospitalizations and improved quality of patient care and savings of health care costs.
US08489415B1
Systems and methods for the coordination of benefits in healthcare claim transactions are provided. A healthcare claim request including information associated with a plurality of prescription claims for a single healthcare transaction may be received from a healthcare provider computer and identified as a bundled healthcare claim request. A primary claim request for the healthcare transaction may be generated and communicated to a first claims processor computer for adjudication, and a first adjudicated reply may be received from the first claims processor computer. Based at least in part on the received first adjudicated reply, a secondary claim request for the healthcare transaction may be generated and communicated to a second claims processor computer for adjudication. A second adjudicated reply may be received from the second claims processor, and information associated with the first adjudicated reply and the second adjudicated reply may be communicated to the healthcare provider computer.
US08489412B1
A data processing system is provided for determining clinical outcomes of medical data gathered by the system. The system can allow a person (e.g. a doctor) to define a medical study and can then administer the medical study and can collect and analyze data in real-time from potentially geographically diverse doctors, patients and other people associated with a study. The system can analyze the medical data in real-time according to any number of clinical algorithms that may be custom defined and edited before and during the study. The clinical algorithms produce clinical outcome data that can be used for treatment of patients participating in the study immediately after the data is input and analyzed. The medical outcomes can indicate such things as performance comparisons, composite outcomes, and risk stratification and assessments for such things as treatments, drugs, illnesses, doctors, patients and physicians groups.
US08489407B2
A method of evaluating architectural fit of business software applications employed in an enterprise. The method comprises providing a computer tool with a defined rating system for each one of a set of business technology factors and with a set of defined keys having respective key values, inputting into the computer tool data for a plurality of business components using the respective key values, ranking one or more of the set of business technology factors according to the defined rating system, and conducting an analysis to evaluate architectural fit of the business software applications based on the data inputted using the respective key values and the ranked set of business technology factors. The conducting step further comprises providing at least one business or technology objective and executing an algorithm corresponding to the one business or technology objective provided to conduct the analysis.
US08489405B2
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a compression coding and decoding method, a coder, a decoder and a coding device. The compression coding method includes: extracting sign information of an input signal to obtain an absolute value signal of the input signal; obtaining a residual signal of the absolute value signal by using a prediction coefficient, where the prediction coefficient is obtained by prediction and analysis that are performed according to a signal characteristic of the absolute value signal of the input signal; and multiplexing the residual signal, the sign information and a coding parameter to output a coding code stream, after the residual signal, the sign information and the coding parameter are respectively coded, so as to improve compression efficiency of a voice and audio signal.
US08489401B1
A system and method for evaluating the compliance of an agent reading a script to a client comprises conducting a voice interaction between the agent and the client wherein the agent follows a script, and dividing data representing a portion of the voice interaction into a plurality of panels after being spoken by the agent, wherein the panels correspond to respective sections of the script, wherein the dividing is based upon timestamps of the panels, and wherein the panels correspond to a single offer of a good or service.
US08489399B2
An audible based electronic challenge system is used to control access to a computing resource by using a test to identify an origin of a voice. The test is based on analyzing a spoken utterance to determine if it was articulated by an unauthorized human or a text to speech (TTS) system.
US08489396B2
The system provides a technique for suppressing or eliminating tonal noise in and input signal. The system operates on the input signal at a plurality of frequency bins and uses information generated at a prior bin to assist in calculating values at subsequent bins. The system first identifies peaks in a signal and then determines if the peaks are from tonal effects. This can be done by comparing the estimated background noise of a current bin to the smoothed background noise of the same bin. The smoothed background noise can be calculated using an asymmetric IIR filter. When the ratio of the current background noise estimate to the currently calculated smoothed background noise is far greater than 1, tonal noise is assumed. When tonal noise is found, a number of suppression techniques can be applied to reduce the tonal noise, including gain suppression with fixed floor factor, an adaptive floor factor gain suppression technique, and a random phase technique.
US08489390B2
A method is provided in one example and includes receiving data propagating in a network environment and separating the data into one or more fields. At least some of the fields are evaluated in order to identify nouns and noun phrases within the fields. The method also includes identifying selected words within the nouns and noun phrases based on a whitelist and a blacklist. The whitelist includes a plurality of designated words to be tagged and the blacklist includes a plurality of rejected words that are not to be tagged. A resultant composite is generated for the selected nouns and noun phrases that are tagged. The resultant composite is incorporated into the whitelist if the resultant composite is approved.
US08489385B2
A translation graph is created using a plurality of reference sources that include translations between a plurality of different languages. Each entry in a source is used to create a wordsense entry, and each new word in a source is used to create a wordnode entry. A pair of wordnode and wordsense entries corresponds to a translation. In addition, a probability is determined for each wordsense entry and is decreased for each translation entry that includes more than a predefined number of translations into the same language. Bilingual translation entries are removed if subsumed by a multilingual translation entry. Triangulation is employed to identify pairs of common wordsense translations between a first, second, and third language. Translations not found in reference sources can also be inferred from the data comprising the translation graph. The translation graph can then be used for searches of a data collection in different languages.
US08489378B2
A model for a silicon controlled rectifier includes three diode models connected in series, with the middle diode model being reverse biased. Each diode model corresponds to and can be configured to simulate DC operation of a junction in the silicon controlled rectifier. The model can be used to evaluate behavior of a circuit that includes the silicon controlled rectifier. For example, the circuit can include an electrostatic discharge protection circuit that includes the silicon controlled rectifier.
US08489357B2
An apparatus and method of determining the junction temperature (Tj) and drain-source current (Ids) of a standard FET within a multi-FET module includes a control IC managing one or more 3 terminal standard FETs within the same package, calculating Tj and Tds for one or more FETs in one or more packages, and protecting each FET against short circuit faults while allowing high current transients, such as inrush currents from a lamp load.
US08489353B2
A method for calibrating a vision system of a vehicle includes the steps of projecting a pattern in proximity to the vehicle and calibrating the vision system using an image of the pattern generated by the vision system.
US08489352B2
Apparatuses and method capable of reliably tracking processes through which products have passed without calling for expensive setup are necessary in production and distribution processes of the products. A process management apparatus including a data transmission/reception unit to and from an RFID tag of an information recording medium and a data generation unit comprises a process data generation unit for representing a process, a process pass certificate data generation unit for generating process data pass certificate data and a transmission/reception unit for the process data with the information recording medium and the process pass certificate data can track the processes through which the object products have passed.
US08489346B2
A method and apparatus measures electrical power usage and quality, while mitigating the effects of noise on measured signals or parameters. Specifically, a digital electrical power and energy meter employs a method in which a processor averages a parameter, such as voltage or current, over a plurality of cycles of a time-varying signal, such as an AC electrical signal. The method employed by the meter samples a parameter over the plurality of cycles and computes the average of the samples corresponding to the same phase angle of the signal to produce an average signal.
US08489338B2
In a process for estimating the concentration (C) of a chemical element in the primary coolant of a nuclear reactor, a dilution solution or a concentrated solution of said chemical element in a predetermined concentration (C*) is injected into the primary coolant within the reactor, and the reactor includes a sensor capable of measuring a quantity (Cm) representing the concentration of said chemical element. The process is an iterative process in which repeatedly in each time step k: a stage of acquiring quantities (qdk) and (qck) representing the injected flows of dilution solution and concentrated solution in step k, and a quantity (Cmk) representing the concentration measured by the sensor; a stage of calculating an estimated value (Cek+1) of the concentration of said chemical element in the primary coolant in step k+1 on the basis of representative quantities (qdk, qck, Cmk) acquired in stage k.
US08489330B2
A method of operation of a navigation system includes: executing a distance bounded function for displaying on a device; setting a reference location; receiving a user location for monitoring a location of the device; measuring a distance traveled with the user location from the reference location only when the distance bounded function is executing; and deactivating the distance bounded function when the distance traveled equals or exceeds a distance limit.
US08489329B2
Techniques are described for providing a meeting notification and automatic modification service. A system may be configured to identify an appointment in a calendar application, identify a geographic location of the appointment, and identify, before the appointment time, a geographic location of a first participant of the appointment. Based on the geographic information, the system may identify a route extending from the geographic location of the first participant to the geographic location of the appointment, and may identify a travel time associated with the route. Based on the travel time and the appointment time, the system may determine whether the first participant is estimated to arrive at the appointment on time and, based on the determination, the system may send a message to participants of the appointment or dynamically reschedule the appointment.
US08489325B2
Systems and methods are provided for defining a route from a starting point to a destination. The route can include several steps, each including an instruction directing a user to move in a particular manner, and a reference around or near which to follow the instruction. To assist the user in following the directions, a step can include one or more points of interest serving as references. In particular, points of interest having high visibility (e.g., relative to street signs) can be selected to serve as references for the directions. The device can select which points of interest to use based on any suitable criteria, including for example based on the distance of a point of interest from a location where a step requires an instruction, as well as based on visibility attributes of the points of interest.
US08489324B2
Two-way communication between a mobile device and a server is used to provide increased relevance of traffic information at lower bandwidth. The complexity, amount of storage and processing power required of the mobile navigation device are minimized, since the server performs much of the required computing. A transactional billing model can be used to bill the driver based on usage or consumption of traffic information. A driver selects a destination and routing preferences on a mobile device, and the local system generates a routing. The mobile device sends the planned route and preferences to a server. The server uses real-time traffic flow and incident information to determine an estimated driving time for the planned route. The server may also generate alternative routes, with an estimated time for each alternative route. The traffic and time information for the planned and alternative routes are then transmitted back to the mobile device.
US08489319B2
A method of operation of a navigation system includes: detecting a surrounding view for detecting an object at a traffic lane to the left or the right of a device as well as in the front or at the rear of the device; presenting the surrounding view for displaying on the device; and generating an alert with a detection of the object at or exceeding a threshold.
US08489316B1
A map matching method for a vehicle safety warning system (VSWS) is provided. The method includes the steps of a) determining if intelligent transportation system (ITS) map data is available, b) determining a vehicle location and a vehicle heading, c) determining an envelope area around a road feature defined by the ITS map data, d) determining a segment heading for a segment of the road feature, e) determining a separation distance between the vehicle location and the segment if the vehicle location is located within the envelope area, the segment heading is substantially similar to the vehicle heading, and optionally, the segment elevation is substantially similar to the vehicle elevation, and f) map matching the vehicle location to the segment if the separation distance is less than a threshold.
US08489314B2
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for identifying locations of a plurality of automobiles using cell phone tower triangulation to locate a cell phone within each of the plurality of automobiles, and calculating a vehicle speed for each of the plurality of automobiles using the identified locations, and creating a traffic condition measure for a route in proximity to the locations. The computer program product may repeat this process in real-time to calculate a real-time traffic condition measure that may be used to predict a travel time, and may respond to a user's request with an audio alert on the user's cell phone that comes from a speaker on the cell phone that can also be combined with a wirelessly-enabled speaker in an automobile or a wirelessly-enabled headset. The audio alert may be displayed in conjunction with at least one navigation option pertaining to the route.
US08489306B2
This invention relates to an engine synchronization method for aircraft equipped with at least two gas-turbine engines, where the respective speeds N1 of the low-pressure compressor spools of the gas-turbine engines are determined and a difference value N1 is calculated and subsequently on the basis of this difference value at least one trim value is calculated, on the basis of which, at least on one gas-turbine engine, a change of the setting is made, with subsequently the respective speeds N2 of the high-pressure compressor spools of the gas-turbine engines being determined and a difference value N2 being calculated and subsequently on the basis of this difference value, at least on one gas-turbine engine, the inlet temperature value T20, which is fed to the engine controller, being changed for synchronization.
US08489304B2
A torque distribution control apparatus for a four-wheel drive vehicle includes a torque distribution controller configured to control a sub-driving-wheel distribution torque to be transmitted to right and left sub-driving wheels via right and left torque distribution clutches in accordance with a target distribution torque. A driving-torque calculator is configured to calculate a driving torque output from a driving source. A target-distribution-torque calculator is configured to calculate the target distribution torque to be distributed to the sub-driving wheels in accordance with the driving torque. A target-distribution-torque correction device is configured to correct the target distribution torque to increase when the target distribution torque is lower than or equal to a first threshold value and an increase rate of the target distribution torque is higher than or equal to a second threshold value.
US08489303B2
A control system includes an engine control module and a transmission control module. The transmission control module communicates with the engine control module via a network. The engine control module generates a mean engine speed signal and a minimum engine speed signal. The engine control module transmits the mean engine speed signal and the minimum engine speed signal to the transmission control module via the network. The transmission control module controls operation of at least one of a torque converter and a transmission based on the mean engine speed signal and the minimum engine speed signal. The torque converter is connected between an engine and the transmission.
US08489300B2
An object of the present invention is to execute an optimum control of vibrations due to a driver's operation of an accelerator pedal, steering wheel and brake pedal. The operation instructions are inputted into a vibration calculating means (kinetic model) comprising a vehicle body model, suspension model and tire model. Conventional kinetic model controlled the suspension in order to suppress the vehicle body vibration. However, in the kinetic model of the present invention, the tire vibration due to a change in the engine output is first absorbed by the suspension, whereby a residual vibration which was not be absorbed yet by the suspension is transferred to the vehicle body. The operation inputs are compensated by the three feed-back loops between the outputs of the above-mentioned three portions and input of the tire portion, giving the highest priority on the vehicle body model.
US08489299B2
A method is disclosed for obtaining a signal representing motor vehicle acceleration. The method involves obtaining a high pass filtered vehicle acceleration signal and a low pass filtered vehicle acceleration signal. One of these signals (preferably the high pass filtered signal) is obtained based upon the net driving force applied to the vehicle, which can be used to obtain an estimate of acceleration by means of an adoptive vehicle model (28). The other signal is obtained by measurement, for example by differentiating a measured vehicle speed signal with respect to time. Adding the two filtered signals together gives a vehicle acceleration signal of potentially good quality.
US08489297B2
A system and method for controlling a hydraulic transmission uses a clutch fill profile having a hold level that varies as a function of torque. A pressure required for an on-coming clutch to hold the gear of the off-going clutch without a flare or over-speed condition is calculated. This pressure approximates the pressure of the on-coming clutch when a disengage command with respect to the off-going clutch is reached. The pulse and hold phases for the clutch are executed at times that are constant from shift to shift and do not vary as a function of torque or slip.
US08489294B2
Transmission control device for automatic transmissions that changes rotation output speed of turbocharged engines. An intake-state detecting unit detects an engine intake state and at least one of intake air amount, intake pressure, and engine air-fuel ratio. An intake-state determining unit determines whether a target intake state is satisfied based on detecting unit detection results and sets the target intake state based on target torque and engine operating range. A transmission-pattern selecting unit has a first transmission pattern for setting a transmission gear ratio based on an operational state and a second transmission pattern for setting the transmission gear ratio such that an engine rotation speed is higher than that in the first transmission pattern. The first or second transmission pattern choice is based on whether or not the target intake state is satisfied or not. A transmission controller controls a transmission mechanism based on the transmission pattern selection.
US08489293B2
A method for controlling a powertrain includes executing a shift, determining a plurality of input acceleration profiles for controlling an engine and an electric machine, determining an input speed profile, and controlling operation of the engine and the electric machine based upon the input speed profile.
US08489276B2
A cabin services system for an aircraft is disclosed. The cabin services system comprises at least one wireless network, the at least one wireless network providing at least one cabin service. The cabin services system further includes a cabin attendant panel for communicating with the at least one wireless networks and configured to control the at least one cabin service.
US08489269B1
A graphic user interface (GUI) display of computer status is provided across multiple computer platforms. A computer and physical layout are identified and this information is used to provide a desired set of displays. Data is parsed from an output from the computer and is stored in a data store in a predetermined common format as a part of a collection of parsed data. A graphic display depicting a physical layout of at least one aspect of a computer or the physical layout is provided along with data retrieved from the collection of parsed data and corresponding to the computer associated with the display depicting the physical layout in accordance with the identification of the computer and physical layout.
US08489263B2
A vehicle has an apparatus (2) for charging an electrical energy store (3) from a stationary power supply system. An existing controller (6) of the vehicle is configured to calculate and indicate an amount of electrical energy drawn from the stationary power supply system by using a time information item provided in the vehicle controller (6). Alternatively, a battery management system (1) is configured to calculate and indicate the amount of electrical energy drawn from the stationary power supply system by using the time information item provided in the existing vehicle controller (6).
US08489261B2
A device for aiding the piloting of an aircraft during a final approach phase includes a flight management system and an approach selecting device for automatically selecting an approach to be used during landing of the aircraft. A method for aiding the piloting of an aircraft includes automatically selecting an approach to be used during landing of an aircraft by selecting an approach with the smallest decision height that can also be technically implemented by the aircraft.
US08489260B2
A method and apparatus for landing a spacecraft having thrusters with non-convex constraints is described. The method first computes a solution to a minimum error landing problem for a convexified constraints, then applies that solution to a minimum fuel landing problem for convexified constraints. The result is a solution that is a minimum error and minimum fuel solution that is also a feasible solution to the analogous system with non-convex thruster constraints.
US08489252B2
In an obtainer for obtaining speed feeling of a driver of a movable object, a gaze point setter sets a gaze point of the driver, and a motion detector detects relative motion of an environmental field around the mobile object with respect to the mobile object. A divergent component calculator projects the relative motion of the environmental field in a coordinate system. The coordinate system is formed by modeling a retina sphere of the driver of the mobile object. The divergent calculator calculates each of divergent components of the projected relative motion of the environmental field radially expanding from the gaze point. A speed feeling calculator calculates speed feeling of the driver based on the divergent components of the projected relative motion of the environmental field radially expanding from the gaze point calculated by the divergent component calculator.
US08489246B2
A hybrid control system for controlling an electric machine coupled to a gas turbine engine is provided. The control system comprises: a primary analog control loop including an analog controller for controlling the electric machine based on a set point and a measured output of the electric machine; and a digital controller of the turbine engine operationally connected to the primary analog control loop to adjust at least one control parameter associated with the analog controller.
US08489242B2
An energy management system for a home network is provided. The energy management system includes one or more power consuming devices, including at least a pool pump system having a motor and a filter with a filtration cycle, a central controller operatively connected to the power consuming devices and configured to receive and process a signal indicative of the current state of an associated utility, including at least a peak demand state and an off-peak demand state, and a display. The central controller is configured to operate the pool pump system in one of a plurality of operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode, and to provide pool pump usage information to a user via a user interface on the display.
US08489239B2
A robotic system includes a tendon-driven finger and a control system. The system controls the finger via a force-based control law when a tension sensor is available, and via a position-based control law when a sensor is not available. Multiple tendons may each have a corresponding sensor. The system selectively injects a compliance value into the position-based control law when only some sensors are available. A control system includes a host machine and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a control process, which is executed by the host machine to control the finger via the force- or position-based control law. A method for controlling the finger includes determining the availability of a tension sensor(s), and selectively controlling the finger, using the control system, via the force or position-based control law. The position control law allows the control system to resist disturbances while nominally maintaining the initial state of internal tendon tensions.
US08489237B2
Methods correcting wafer position error are provided. The methods involve measuring wafer position error on a robot during transfer to an intermediate station. This measurement data is then used by a second robot to perform wafer pick moves from the intermediate station with corrections to center the wafer. Wafer position correction may be performed at only one location during the transfer process. Also provided are systems and apparatuses for transferring wafers using an intermediate station.
US08489235B2
Improved robotic surgical systems, devices, and methods include selectably associatable master/slave pairs, often having more manipulator arms than will be moved simultaneously by the two hands of a surgeon. Four manipulator arms can support an image capture device, a left hand tissue manipulation tool, a right hand tissue manipulation tool, and a fourth surgical instrument, particularly for stabilizing, retracting, tool change, or other functions benefiting from intermittent movement. The four or more arms may sequentially be controlled by left and right master input control devices. The fourth arm may be used to support another image capture device, and control of some or all of the arms may be transferred back-and-forth between the operator and an assistant. Two or more robotic systems each having master controls and slave manipulators may be coupled to enable cooperative surgery between two or more operators.
US08489234B2
Disclosed are a mobile robot and a controlling method thereof. The mobile robot comprises: a case; and a sensor unit having two or more sending portions and two or more receiving portions arranged on an outer surface of the case separately and alternately. The plurality of sending portions and receiving portions are arranged in an alternating manner, thereby having a directivity. Also, since signals received through the receiving portions are judged based on a reference value, an area unallowable to be detected for an obstacle sensing is minimized, which allows an obstacle to be detected more accurately. When the obstacle corresponds to a side wall on the basis of a moving path of the mobile robot, a distance between the side wall and the mobile robot is calculated based on signals received by the receiving portion closest to the side wall. Accordingly, the mobile robot can move with maintaining a constant distance from the side wall.
US08489232B2
Disclosed are various embodiments of systems and methods for receiving shipment parcels at materials handling facilities. A parcel receiving system has an imaging tunnel through which shipment parcels received at a materials handling facility are passed. While a shipment parcel is passing through the imaging tunnel, a camera captures at least one image of the parcel. The parcel image is electronically analyzed to discover various tracking information and to detect various types of exceptions, such as damage to the parcel or defective tracking information. In addition, the captured image is stored in order to create a visual record of the parcel at the time of reception. This record may be used in a variety of ways, such as resolving or tracking exceptions or providing feedback to the vendor or shipment carrier. In addition, the parcel image may be viewed by a user to enable the user to detect and/or resolve an exception. Thus, the overall process of receiving parcels is facilitated, and the percentage of parcels diverted to an exception bin may be decreased.
US08489226B2
A method is provided for automatically and sequentially loading objects onto a feed system, each having a respective axis of rotation and respective first and second indices of rotation about the respective axes. The loading of each object onto the feed system causes an orientation in a predetermined relative position. The method consists in particular in selectively operating a relative rotation of the object and of the handling device about their axis of rotation to achieve the orientation.
US08489214B2
There is provided a dock without a power source for a portable digital device with at least one integrated speaker driver. The dock may include a platform for placement of the portable digital device; a protrusion located at the platform for connection of the portable digital device with the dock with the protrusion including a slot for egress of air from at least one hole in a casing of the portable digital device to the dock; and at least one primary chamber to receive air from the portable digital device with the at least one primary chamber having a vented port for the egress of air. Advantageously, sound from the at least one integrated speaker driver is amplified when the portable digital device is connected to the dock. The connection of the portable digital device with the dock may be securable. A horn may be included in an exterior facing opening of the vented port, as the horn advantageously improves aspects of sound such as, for example, sound directivity, radiation efficiency or both of the aforementioned.
US08489212B2
Audio data transmission and reception methods and an electronic apparatus using the same are provided. The audio data transmission and reception methods send audio data by one bit at the rising edge and at the falling edge of a bit clock, and send audio data over a null interval carrying no data. Hence, 5.1 channel audio data can be transmitted and received using an I2S transmission scheme.
US08489211B2
There is provided a communication apparatus comprising a memory configured to store a plurality of pieces of audio contents, a playing member configured to produce a contents-based audio signal by playing a piece of audio contents stored in the memory, and a management circuit configured to identify a plurality of events occurring while the playing member is producing one of the contents-based audio signals, one of the events being associated with one of a plurality of event-associated audio signals and given a highest priority, to have the playing member pause and stop producing the contents-based audio signal and to produce one of the event-associated audio signals associated with the identified event in a case where the identified event is given the highest priority.
US08489209B2
A method is provided for analyzing and diagnosing a large scale process automation control system having a plurality of control loops. Assessments for pre-defined key performance indicators (KPIs) are automatically generated for control, process and signal sections of each control loop. The automatically generated assessments of the pre-defined KPIs may be displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer. A user may change the automatically generated assessments of the pre-defined KPIs. Different data views may also be displayed in the GUI. The data views include time series trends for measured process variable, controller output, controller set point and error, as well as controller parameter clustering views in two-dimensional and three-dimensional plots.
US08489202B2
An implantable electrode having a strong, adherent surface coating of iridium oxide or titanium nitride on a platinum surface, where the platinum surface has a surface area of at least five times that of a smooth shiny platinum surface of the same geometry. The iridium oxide coating may be formed on platinum by a physical deposition process, such as sputtering. A gradient coating of iridium oxide ranging in composition from pure platinum to pure iridium oxide is produced by sputtering.
US08489197B2
A system and method for receiving telemetry data from implantable medical devices such as cardiac pacemakers with improved noise immunity is disclosed. Ambient noise levels and signal strength are monitored and used to adaptively adjust the detection sensitivity of the receiver. Filtering of the received signal is performed to remove both broadband and narrowband noise. Removal of narrowband noise is accomplished with notch filters that are dynamically adjusted in accordance with a detected noise spectrum.
US08489196B2
A method and an apparatus are provided for interacting with targeted tissue of a patient. The apparatus comprises a central control module, a satellite module, and a lead. The satellite module comprises a processor, a communication module, a switching module, a memory, a sense amp, and a A/D converter. The apparatus is adapted for subcutaneous implantation. The central control module is coupled to the satellite module. The lead is coupled to the satellite module. A programming word comprising information to be sent to the satellite module is provided. The programming word is converted into identifiable groups of pulses corresponding to bits of the programming word. The identifiable groups of pulses are sent to the satellite module. The identifiable groups of pulses are converted to information for providing a therapy to the patient. The energy from the identifiable groups of pulses is stored to power the satellite module.
US08489192B1
A method of reducing bronchial constriction in a subject includes delivering energy to create one or more lesions on a main bronchus so as to transect pulmonary nerves sufficiently to reduce bronchial constriction in a lung of the patient distal to the main bronchus.
US08489190B2
The catheter device comprises a motor located at the proximal end of the catheter device and a drive shaft, extending from the proximal end section to the distal end section of the catheter device, for driving a rotating element located at the distal end of the catheter device. The catheter device also comprises a hose-like catheter body which encompasses the drive shaft and extends from the proximal end section to the distal end section of the catheter device. At the proximal end of the catheter device, the drive shaft is connected to a motor by a clutch. The clutch is a magnetic clutch with a proximal and a distal magnet unit. The proximal magnet unit is connected to the motor and the distal magnet unit to the drive shaft. The distal magnet unit is mounted fluid-tight in a clutch housing. The proximal end of the catheter body makes a fluid-tight connection with the clutch housing.
US08489161B2
A mobile wireless communications device includes a housing and circuit board carried by the housing. RF circuitry and a processor are operative with each other and carried by the circuit board. A receiver speaker and microphone are carried by the housing. Audio circuitry is carried by the circuit board and operative with the RF circuitry and processor. A microphone audio switch and receiver speaker audio switch are carried by the circuit board and are connected with audio connection lines that interconnect the processor. A filter is operative with the audio connection lines and operatively connected to at least one of the microphone audio switch or receiver speaker audio switch to reduce conducted and radiated interfering RF energy from coupling into the audio circuitry.
US08489154B2
Power management methods are provided for projecting the likelihood of forthcoming power outage at one or more mobile radio base sites and for mitigating the effects of such a projected power outage.
US08489150B2
Disclosed herein is a mobile terminal and an operation control method thereof in which a delay time of the screen lock execution is controlled according to the type of application, thereby improving the inconvenience of a user interface and effectively managing a battery according to an interrupt when required to continuously receive an input from the user or continuously provide visual information to the user. For this purpose, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include an input unit configured to receive a user input; an execution controller configured to execute screen lock if the user input is not received for a predetermined time; and a change controller configured to change the predetermined time based on a type of application.
US08489149B2
A mobile terminal includes a communication unit, a display, a camera for obtaining images, and a processor for causing an image to be displayed on the display and for causing images to be communicated via the communication unit. The processor may be further configured to obtain a first image from the camera, obtain a substantial mirror image of the first image to form a second image, display the second image on the display, and communicate the first image to a receiving device via a wireless communication link.
US08489147B2
A method for enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a messaging service provider is provided. The method includes associating, in the portable communication device, a first user input unit with a function to be used for connecting to the messaging service provider, sending a request, in dependence of a user actuating the first user input unit, to the messaging service provider to set up a message handling area for the user, receiving an identifier from the messaging service provider, which identifier identifies a message handling area created for the user, as well as login data for logging into the area, and associating a second user input unit with a function of accessing the message handling area, which when selected by the user, allows the user to directly access the message handling area.
US08489144B2
A push-button trigger manager for U/SIM Toolkit applications of a U/SIM card from a mobile terminal is provided which includes, a connection to a storage area associated to the trigger manager in order to register predetermined data related to, at least, one U/SIM Toolkit application loaded on the U/SIM card, being these predetermined data, at least, one identity of such application; manager activation to activate the trigger manager as a response to pushing a sequence of buttons and the call button in the mobile terminal, a display on the mobile terminal screen having a list of options corresponding to the U/SIM Toolkit application(s) registered in the sequence of buttons pushed by the user, and a trigger for the U/SIM Toolkit application selected by the user from the list of options.
US08489142B2
To realize a portable telephone which can always receive the user information via a MBMS service. The portable telephone includes: an antenna for transmitting/receiving radio waves to and from a network; a wireless section for modulating/demodulating radio waves transmitted/received by the antenna; and a control section which has a function of analyzing and processing Layer 3 messages including MBMS related messages demodulated by the wireless section and wherein, upon recognizing that there is user information which has not been received while receiving user information via a MBMS service in the PtM mode, the control section transmits a request to provide the MBMS service in PtP mode to the network via the wireless section.
US08489137B1
Data is transmitted from a first base station using a first sub-channel at a first power level. An indication that a first wireless device is in a potential interference location is received. The first wireless device is receiving data from a second base station. Data is transmitted from the first base station using the first sub-channel at a second power level when a second wireless device receiving data from the first base station on the first sub-channel is associated with an indicator of lower priority. The second power level is lower than the first power level.
US08489135B2
Systems and techniques are disclosed relating to wireless communications. The systems and techniques involve wireless communications wherein a module or communications device is configured to listen for a period of time for an incoming pilot signal from a remote terminal that exceeds a threshold power level for the purpose of acquiring such incoming pilot signal and operating under control of the remote terminal, and operating independently of the remote terminal if such pilot signal is not detected within the period of time, such independent operation including transmitting a pilot signal.
US08489127B2
In general, in one aspect, a mobile device can perform reverse geocoding based on context, in addition to latitude and longitude coordinates. The reverse geocoding can be used to determine in which geofence among multiple geofences the mobile device is located. Thus, the mobile device can be associated with a street address, a postal code, a named land feature, or a commercial, cultural, or political entity associated with the geofence. The context can include a pattern of movement, as well as an accuracy of the latitude and longitude coordinates. Information in the context can be compared to selection criteria of the geofence. A geofence having selection criteria that match the context the best can be selected.
US08489126B2
A mobile communication system is disclosed. An area information management server sends area information indicating a communicable peripheral area of a location where a mobile terminal exists, and out-of-service information indicating outside of an accessible region, to the mobile terminal. In the mobile terminal, a generating part generates a moving route and moving projection information. A planning part makes a plan for communication execution indicating a communication term in which the mobile terminal communicates with a base station and an interruption term in which the mobile terminal is outside of the accessible region, based on the moving projection information, and the area information and the out-of-service information. A suspension indicating part indicates suspending or restarting the communication of the mobile terminal and a communication partner before and after the interruption term indicated by the plan. A communication part communicates with the base station in accordance with the plan.
US08489121B2
The present invention provides an information distribution method based on geographical location information of a mobile terminal. The method includes obtaining current geographical location information of the mobile terminal; based on an acquiring mode used to obtain the current geographical location information, determining a positioning accuracy of the mobile terminal's current geographical location information; based on the determined positioning accuracy, determining a distribution mode used to distribute information to the mobile terminal, wherein the distribution mode includes a location-based distribution mode and the combination mode of location-based distribution and relation-based distribution; and distributing information to the mobile terminal using the determined distribution mode.This method may be used to accurately distribute to the mobile terminal user the information related to the nearby Points of Interest (POIs) within a predetermined distance range from the current geographical location of the mobile terminal or related to the similar POIs having the same type of the current POI of the mobile terminal user, such as coupons, advertisement information, and/or POI characteristic information.
US08489120B2
A method and system for leaving and retrieving messages at specific coordinate way points within a commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) provider network are disclosed. Users carry or transport interface devices for communicating over the network and are able to record and view messages at specific coordinate locations while traveling in the network. The location of the device is calculated by the device or by the network while the device is powered on and within the physical boundaries of the network, or through a combination of both. Messages can be made available to network subscribers when their interface devices come within an area centered about a physical coordinate location. Personalized messages can also be left by subscribers at any coordinate point within the boundaries of the network. Access of information about an asset is facilitated when a technician comes within a physical proximity threshold relative to the asset.
US08489119B1
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method is presented for mediating among a plurality of datagrams containing data, settings or preferences to produce ambience settings applicable to a location area that is shared by a plurality of users wherein at least one of said users is associated to one datagram among said plurality of datagrams.
US08489118B2
Systems and methods for event attendance notification are provided. A representative systems includes a mobile device operative to: receive member information corresponding to members of a social network; receive event information corresponding to a first event, designated to occur at a first location, wherein at least a first of the members is scheduled to attend the first event; and responsive to determining that the current location of the first of the members corresponds to the event information, enable attendance information to be sent to others of the members of the social network indicating that the first of the members is at the first event.
US08489116B2
To eliminate the problems when a handover by a mobile station UE over a radio base station eNodeB is performed during a positioning process of the mobile station UE. A mobile management node MME according to the present invention is configured to transmit a transfer signal “S1-AP Downlink NAS Transport” including an LPP signal received from a positioning calculation node E-SMLC and the identification information of the E-SMLC to a radio base station eNodeB, and when a transmission failure reason included in a transmission failure notification signal “S1-AP NON DELIVERY INDICATION” received from the radio base station eNodeB indicates a positioning failure, the mobile management node MME transmits the transmission failure reason and the LPP signal included in the transmission failure notification signal “S1-AP NON DELIVERY INDICATION” to the positioning calculation node E-SMLC identified by the identification information of the E-SMLC included in the transmission failure notification signal.
US08489114B2
A TDOA positioning system that employs a calculated initial location of a wireless network device can be implemented to minimize sensitivity to the initial location of the wireless network device. For each pair of a plurality of reference network devices, the wireless network device can determine a distance difference between itself and the pair of the plurality of reference network devices based, at least in part, on round trip transit times between the wireless network device and the plurality of reference network devices. The initial location of the wireless network device can be calculated based on a location of each of the plurality of reference network devices. A location of the wireless network device can be estimated based on the calculated initial location of the wireless network device, the distance differences, and the location of each of the plurality of reference network devices.
US08489110B2
One embodiment of the present is a method of implementing privacy control of location information. Such a method comprises defining a geographic zone for which pseudo-location information is to be reported as the current location of the user, wherein the pseudo-location information is not the current location of the user; receiving the current location of the user; determining that the current location is in the geographic zone; and reporting the pseudo-location information as the current location of the user when the current location is determined to be in the geographic zone. Other methods and systems are also provided.
US08489109B2
A mobile wireless device enables effective use of space in a case while reducing degradation of antenna gain and maintaining communication quality even if a plurality of antennas having different frequency bands are arranged close to one another. A magnetic antenna has a first switch unit, a second switch unit, and a concentrated constant circuit which are added to a wiring pattern at the side near to a main antenna, so that a first path and a second path can be selected. Under a predetermined condition, a CPU controls the first switch and the second switch to electrically connect terminal (A1) to terminal (B1) and electrically connect terminal (A2) to terminal (B2), thereby forming the first path; and electrically connect terminal (A1) to terminal (C1) and electrically connect terminal (A2) to terminal (C2), thereby forming the second path connected via the concentrated constant circuit.
US08489097B2
A method of transmitting signals from a plurality of first stations to the same second station, said method comprising the steps of transmitting first signals comprising a first communication and first associated information from one of said plurality of first stations to said second station; transmitting second signals comprising said first communication, a second communication and second associated information, said second associated information differing at least partially from said first associated information, from another of said plurality of first stations to said second station; and receiving at said second station said first and second signals, wherein said second station processes said first and second signals in accordance with the first and second associated information.
US08489091B2
The present invention provides a mobile communication terminal, an IC card, a mobile communication system, a program, and a communication charge notification method capable of easily indicating roaming communication charges and preventing a user from being unexpectedly charged for communication. A mobile phone 10 detects that it is located in a country B as a roaming area based on information transmitted from a base station 32, inquires of a charge information related server 24 whether or not a communication charge information stored in a storage section 16 is the latest communication charge information, when the communication charge information is not the latest communication charge information, updates the stored communication charge information based on the communication charge information transmitted from the charge information related server 24, reads the communication charge information of the country B from the storage section 16, and displays the communication charge information on a display section 14.
US08489067B2
Methods and systems for distributing a mobile device application for use in making and receiving payments utilizing a mobile device such as a mobile telephone (cellphone) or wireless connected personal digital assistant (PDA). A downloadable mobile device application, when installed on a compatible mobile device, is operative for communicating with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that facilitates the making and receiving of payments via wireless mobile devices. The downloadable mobile device application is provided via a download system that downloads the application to mobile devices according to download procedures appropriate for a particular type of mobile device. When a payment is made to a payee having a mobile device, system communicates a message to the payee's mobile device that informs that a payment has been made and instructs the payee about the downloadable mobile device application. If the mobile device user/payee downloads and installs the mobile device application on his or her mobile device and provides enrollment information, interaction between the MFTS and the mobile device user/payee is permitted, and payment is provided to the mobile device user as user/payee.
US08489064B2
An ISUP/SIP gateway is implemented to encapsulate SS7 location requests from a switched telephone network into an Internet protocol SIP message including one or more location objects. The ISUP/SIP gateway is implemented between a mobile switching center (MSC) and a VoIP positioning center (VPC) to provide support of unlicensed mobile access (UMA) voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call routing, e.g., for E9-1-1, 4-1-1, 2-1-1, etc. The disclosed location objects that are encapsulated into a SIP message includes calling party number, called party number, CGI, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), mobility indicator, and/or access point MAC address. At the SIP/ISUP gateway, SS7 integrated services user part (ISUP) location request messages are encapsulated within SIP. The SIP encapsulated location request message is then routed over the Internet to a destination VoIP positioning center (VPC).
US08489059B1
An apparatus including a wireless local area network transceiver, a wireless wide area network transceiver, and a portable power source. The wireless local area network transceiver is configured to wirelessly communicate with a client station using a wireless local area network protocol. The wireless wide area network transceiver is configured to wirelessly communicate with a base station. The portable power source has a state of charge and is configured to provide power to the wireless local area network transceiver and the wireless wide area network transceiver. The wireless wide area network transceiver is configured to suspend wireless communication with the base station in response to no packets of data having been received at the wireless wide area network transceiver from the base station for more than a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period of time is adjusted based on the state of charge of the portable power source.
US08489042B1
A system and method for providing a polarization feedback linearization to correct a non-linear amplitude error of an amplitude and phase detector or polar detector is disclosed. The method involves correcting a non-linear phase error of an amplitude detector via a look up table (LUT) that is driven by a radio frequency (RF) signal. The LUT provides values that are usable to correct an RF output that is a function of the RF output signal and is not a function of a device that incorporates the open loop modulation system of the present disclosure. Specifically, a detection of the corrected RF output amplitude is usable to drive a phase correction so that the RF output with corrected phase is a function of the RF output alone and not a function of a system or circuit that generates the RF output signal.
US08489041B2
An improved communication system and method employing an actively controlled antenna array architecture is disclosed. The array contains a plurality of driven radiating elements that are spatially arranged having a pair of radiating elements fed with an RF signal predistorted so as to provide a controlled variation of the antenna array's elevation radiation pattern. High power amplifier (PA) efficiency is maintained by adaptive predistortion, coupled to each high power PA, while providing beam tilt and side lobe control.
US08489040B2
A clock generator circuit generates a wanted RF clock signal by using an up-converter, a spurious tone cancellation circuit, a controller, and at least two clock driver/dividers. The spurious tone cancellation circuit includes a tone detection circuit and a tone generation circuit. The up-converter mixes modulation signals with local quadrature RF clock signals to create an up-converted signal having a frequency tone equal to a desired frequency of the wanted RF clock signal. The first clock driver/divider amplifies and clips the up-converted signal into a first-clipped clock signal. The tone detection circuit detects the amplitude and phase of unwanted tones of the first-clipped clock signal in the baseband domain and provides information to the controller, which controls the tone generation circuit to cancel the unwanted tones and create a compensated version of first-clipped clock signal. The second clock driver/divider further amplifies and clips the compensated version of first-clipped clock signal to generate the wanted RF clock signal.
US08489035B2
A radio communication transceiver includes a transformer, a switch, a power amplifier (AP), and a low noise amplifier (LNA). The transformer has a primary winding and a center-tap secondary winding, the primary winding has a first endpoint and a second endpoint, and the center-tap secondary winding has a first endpoint, a second endpoint, and a third endpoint. The switch has a gate, a drain, and a source, in which the gate receives a control signal (CS), the drain is connected to the second endpoint of the primary winding of the transformer through a coupling capacitor, and the source is grounded. The PA has at least one output terminal connected to the first endpoint and the second endpoint of the center-tap secondary winding of the transformer. The LNA has an input terminal connected to the second endpoint of the primary winding of the transformer.
US08489031B2
An apparatus, system, method and program detect and reduce interference in cell sites of a wireless communications network. A cell site from the cell sites of the wireless communications network is selected and signal code power measurements from mobile devices in the cell site are received so that the sources of signals being transmitted to the mobile devices can be determined. Interfering sources are determined based on the signal code power measurements and the active set of sources for the mobile devices. The signal code power measurements are summed and ranked, and interfering transmitters associated with the ranked signal code power measurements for the interfering sources are determined. The same procedure is repeated for all cell sites of the wireless communications network, and the transmitter that is an interfering source for the highest number of cell sites is selected as a problem (interfering) transmitter. The parameters of the problem transmitter and the corresponding antenna are altered and performance of the wireless network in a critical zone around the problem transmitter and interference in the cell sites interfered by the problem transmitter are monitored. Altering of the parameters of the problem transmitter and the corresponding antenna is performed continuously until a desired interference reduction is achieved in the cell sites interfered by the problem transmitter.
US08489021B2
An apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a communication interface unit configured to receive reference biosignal data, and a wireless interface unit configured to receive a plurality of candidate biosignal transmissions from candidate biosignal transmitters. A comparison unit of the apparatus is configured to compare the reference biosignal data with the candidate biosignal transmissions, thus resulting in comparison data. The wireless interface unit is configured to execute a pairing protocol with a candidate biosignal transmitter of a candidate biosignal transmission by utilizing the comparison data.
US08489018B2
A method for determining a frequency correction and a symbol rate correction for transmissions from a user terminal in a satellite communications system comprises determining a frequency of a signal received at the user terminal, and determining a symbol rate of the signal received at the user terminal. The method also comprises computing an error associated with an oscillator at an outdoor unit of the user terminal, and computing an error associated with an oscillator at an indoor unit of the user terminal. The method also comprises computing a transmit frequency correction for the user terminal based on the error of the oscillator at the outdoor unit and the error of the oscillator at the indoor unit, and computing a transmit symbol rate correction for the user terminal based on the error of the oscillator at the indoor unit.
US08489016B2
A method is provided for communication between at least one source entity and one destination entity, in a cooperative network that includes a plurality of entities. The method includes a step of determining, for a given entity of the network, a temporal variation of an impulse response of a transmission channel established between the given entity and another entity. The method further includes: a step of determining a temporal variation of an impulse response of at least one global transmission channel intended to be established between the source entity and the destination entity and passing through at least one relay entity, on the basis of the temporal variations of the impulse responses of the transmission channels; and a step of selecting a global transmission channel from among the set of global transmission channels determined.
US08489009B2
A fixing device includes an endless belt-shaped fixing member, a rotary pressing member disposed opposite the fixing member, a stationary member, a friction reducer, and a activation device. The endless belt-shaped fixing member formed in a loop moves in a predetermined direction and fixes a toner image on a recording medium by heating and fusing the toner image. The stationary member is provided inside the loop and pressed against the rotary pressing member through the fixing member to form a nip between the rotary pressing member and the fixing member through which the recording medium bearing the toner image passes. The friction reducer disposed between the fixing member and the stationary member reduces friction generated therebetween. The activation device provided inside the loop of the fixing member moves the friction reducer to change a portion of the friction reducer that comes between the fixing member and the stationary member.
US08489002B2
A method for delaying the start of a gage for tracking the life of a consumable item for an imaging device according to one exemplary embodiment includes counting the number of revolutions of a rotating imaging component having a correlation with the life of the consumable item and determining whether a predetermined delay threshold is satisfied based on the number of revolutions of the imaging component counted. Until the predetermined delay threshold is satisfied, starting the gage and tracking the remaining life of the consumable item are delayed.
US08489000B2
A developing apparatus includes a developer container to store a developer, a conveyance member to convey the developer, and a discharge port to discharge the developer. The discharge port is at a position that is on one end side from a central portion of the conveyance member with respect to an axial direction of the conveyance member. A first region of the conveyance member may include a portion facing the discharge port that has a conveyance capacity that is lower than a conveyance capacity of a second region or has a conveyance capacity that is zero. The conveyance member includes a positioning unit that is provided on the one end side thereof in the axial direction to position the conveyance member in the axial direction by abutting on the developer container, and an urging unit to urge the positioning unit with respect to the developer container.
US08488997B2
In an image forming apparatus of a rotary type, when a pause is made during continuous image formation, the time taken to restart image formation after the pause is shortened so as to reduce stress on the user. In the image forming apparatus, it is determined beforehand whether the next image formation mode is a color mode or a mono mode, and a developing device to be first used in the next image formation mode is moved to a developing standby position.
US08488996B2
A driving force transmission mechanism is provided. The driving force transmission mechanism includes an input member including a concave shape portion; a rotation driving shaft; and a driving force transmission member that is configured to rotate in a rotation direction of the rotation driving shaft together with the rotation driving shaft. A protrusion is formed on a surface of a tip end portion of the driving force transmission member, the surface is opposed to the concave shape portion, the protrusion is configured to be engaged, from an inner side, with an edge of the concave shape portion when the tip end portion is in a contact with the edge of the concave shape portion and is tilted.
US08488994B2
An additive manufacturing system for printing a three-dimensional part using electrophotography, the additive manufacturing system including a rotatable photoconductor component, a development station configured to develop layers of a material on a surface of the rotatable photoconductor component, a rotatable transfer medium configured to receive the developed layers from the surface of the rotatable photoconductor component, and a platen configured to receive the developed layers from the rotatable transfer medium in a layer-by-layer manner. The additive manufacturing system also includes a plurality of service loops configured to move portions of the rotatable transfer medium at different line speeds while maintaining a net rotational rate of full rotations of the rotatable transfer medium at a substantially steady state.
US08488993B2
The process unit includes a casing, a developer unit, and a switching unit. The developer unit is movable between an image-forming position and a detached position. The developer unit includes a drive force input unit and a drive force transmitting unit. A drive force is inputted into the drive force input unit from outside of the developer unit. The drive force transmitting unit transmits the drive force. The switching member is for switching the drive force transmitting unit between a transmitting state and an interrupting state. The switching member switches the drive force transmitting unit to the transmitting state when the developer unit is at the image-forming position, and the switching member switches the drive force transmitting unit to the interrupting state when the developer unit is at the detached position.
US08488990B2
A housing unit includes: a first housing that contains a cylindrical image holder; a second housing that contains a fuser unit for fixing an image to a recording medium by a heat roller; a protruding unit that protrudes outwardly from a surface of the first housing, which surface faces a circular surface of the image holder; a heat resistant member that is formed of a material having heat resistance higher than that of the protruding unit, and covers the protruding unit; a metallic supporting unit that supports an end of the heat roller; a connecting unit that is formed on the supporting unit and is shaped to contact and fit the heat resistant member; and a fixing unit that fixes the first housing to the second housing at such a position that the connecting unit is fitted to the heat resistant member.
US08488989B2
An image forming device includes a main casing, a process unit, a fixing unit, and a duct. The duct is disposed between the process unit and the fixing unit with respect to a direction in which a recording medium is conveyed. The duct defines an exhaust channel for exhausting air out of the main casing. The duct includes at least two partitioning walls extending in a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and is formed with at least three inlet ports partitioned by the partitioning walls in the first direction.
US08488981B2
A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure member, and a damage detecting unit. The fixing member includes a heat-insulating elastic layer, to which a conductive thin-film layer is provided. The pressure member presses against the fixing member to form a fixing nip. The damage detecting unit detects the electric resistance of the thin-film layer. The damage detecting unit detects a change in the electric resistance of the thin-film layer, thereby detecting damage to the fixing member. Depending on the extent of the damage, the condition of conveyance of a recording medium to the fixing nip is changed.
US08488980B2
An image forming apparatus for forming a visual image on a recording medium includes a toner replacing device that replaces toner stored in a developing device with fresh toner, and a determiner that determines if a recording medium selected by a user necessitates replacement of the toner. The toner replacing device replaces the toner with fresh toner when the determiner determines that the recording medium necessitates replacement of the toner before the latent image is formed on a photoconductive member.
US08488972B2
A directional control/transmission system adapted with a directional light projector to mark the direction of signal control or transmission; comprised of a control or transmission system having a directional infrared or ultrasonic waves as a carrier adapted with a light projector to output a visible light-spot target to indicate control or transmission direction of directional infrared or ultrasonic waves; or to project the target on a monitor for auxiliary help; or to serve as a lighting beam; or to adjust focus for functioning as the light-spot target or selection of the lighting beam.
US08488968B2
A device for connecting a plurality of assemblage-mounted optical transmitters to a plurality of assemblage-mounted optical receivers mounted on a selected side of an assemblage includes a planar frame configured to be coupled to the selected side of the assemblage. A plurality of first redirecting structures is affixed to the planar frame and each is configured to receive a first optical signal from a different assemblage-mounted optical transmitter. Each first redirecting structure transmits a second optical signal, corresponding to the first optical signal, along a preselected path. A plurality of second redirecting structures is affixed to the planar frame and each is configured to receive the second optical signal from a different one of the first redirecting structures. Each of the second redirecting structures transmits a third optical signal, corresponding to the second optical signal, to a different one of the assemblage-mounted optical receivers.
US08488967B2
A system and method for transporting encrypted data having a transmitter and a receiver is provided. The transmitter generates a sequence of optical pulses, which are copied and output as identical channels. The identical channels are modulated by a plurality of modulators using data to generate a modulated data signal. Respective spectral phase encoders coupled to each of the plurality of data modulators encode respective modulated data signals using a plurality of mutually orthogonal phase codes that are individually associated with the respective spectral phase encoder. These encoded data signals are combined and code-scrambling by a spectral phase scrambler using a scramble code as an encryption key to generate an encrypted signal. A receiver reverses the encryption to extract the data.
US08488957B2
An actuator includes a base, a stationary frame mounted on the base, a moveable frame received in the stationary frame and supported on the base, a shaft mounted on a side surface of the moveable frame, a magnet, a flexible printed circuit, a piezoelectric motor, and a position sensor. The magnet is mounted on the side surface of the moveable frame and apart from the shaft. The flexible printed circuit is mounted on a sidewall of the stationary frame in an unfolded state. The piezoelectric motor is mounted on the flexible printed circuit and matches with the shaft. The position sensor is mounted on the flexible printed circuit and apart from the piezoelectric motor. The position sensor is configured for detecting the location of the magnet.
US08488955B2
An optical device comprises a shake detection unit adapted to detect shaking of the optical device, an amplifying unit adapted to amplify a difference between an output of the shake detection unit and a reference voltage, an offset calculation unit adapted to calculate an offset component based on an output of the amplifying unit, a changing unit adapted to change the reference voltage so as to remove the offset component, a correction unit adapted to correct the output of the amplifying unit so as to cancel out a change made by the changing unit, and a focal length detection unit adapted to detect a focal length of the imaging optical system, wherein the changing unit changes the reference voltage when the offset component exceeds a threshold, and the threshold is higher when the imaging optical system is on a telephoto side than on a wide-angle side.
US08488954B2
A photographic system and integrated methods thereof that makes use of four frames and light heads on robotic brackets, which can be positioned automatically using a mechanical gantry device. The lights can be positioned, rotated and adjusted automatically in response to a user input selection based on a desired photographic result selected at a user interface.
US08488944B2
In a broadcast program recording apparatus 101 that is capable of recording an event relayed program, each of first and second receiving units 102 and 103 receives digital broadcast signals. A control unit 112 reads out program information stored in a memory 111, and determines whether the program being received by the first receiving unit 102 and recorded on a storage 110 is a relay source program or not. Then, in a case in which the receiving unit 102 is receiving the relay source program, channel selection is carried out so that the second receiving unit 103 receives a relay destination program a certain period of time before the end time of that program.
US08488937B2
A light distribution assembly includes a housing having a longitudinal length and having one or more light sources mounted to the housing. The light distribution assembly also includes a coupler section having a body extending from the housing along a longitudinal axis between a light entry end and a light exit end. The light entry end has a major axis extending in a first direction and the light exit end has a major axis extending in a second direction, wherein the coupler section is shaped such that the body is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the coupler section so that first direction is approximately perpendicular relative to the second direction. One or more light pipes are attached to the light exit end of the coupler section.
US08488920B2
The invention provides an optical printed circuit board, comprising: plural polymer waveguide sections from independent waveguides, each of the sections being doped with an amplifying dopant; an optical pump source to pump the plural polymer waveguide sections, wherein the plural waveguide sections are arranged close or adjacent to one another such that a the optical pump source is able to pump plural of the optical waveguide sections.
US08488916B2
Described herein is an interactive digital software program and hardware that enables rapid acquisition of textual or audio subject matter, its conversion to editable text and immediate compression into a user understandable summary. The software program maximizes “time on task” while minimizing the time-consuming steps of “concept capture” and “compression”. The instant invention provides an accurate condensate of textual subject matter in a fraction of the time it would take to prepare such a document by manual note taking. In a single step, mobile devices such as cameras, camera phones, tablets, iPODs™, scanners and the like rapidly capture textual images convert them to OCR and to a user understandable summary in a fraction of the time it takes to process such a document by manual note taking. With more study time available for repetitious practice of the lesson, the user improves preparedness and performance on tests and presentations.
US08488915B2
An automatic video quality (AVQ) metric system for evaluating the quality of processed video and deriving an estimate of a subjectively determined function called Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). The AVQ system has a blockiness metric, a streakiness metric, and a blurriness metric. The blockiness metric can be used to measure compression artifacts in processed video. The streakiness metric can be used to measure network artifacts in the processed video. The blurriness metric can measure the degradation (i.e., blurriness) of the images in the processed video to detect compression artifacts.
US08488910B2
The invention relates to a device and a method for providing a basis for registering a three-dimensional model of an anatomical region with two-dimensional projection images, by deriving a three-dimensional model of an anatomical region at a phase of a periodic signal; deriving two-dimensional projection images of a region which overlaps with the anatomical region re-constructed as the three-dimensional model; pre-5 selecting a subset of projection images out of the derived two-dimensional projection images, which are closest to the phase; and selecting a reference image for the registration from the subset of pre-selected projection images by choosing the projection image with the most contrast.
US08488906B2
Methods, apparatuses, systems, and machine readable media for pixel transformations. One exemplary method includes: determining a state of a pixel format transformation, wherein a pixel format includes a predetermined number of pixel data components and a predetermined number of bits for each of the pixel data components and wherein the state includes a source pixel format and a destination pixel format and at least one intermediate pixel format; converting pixel data in the source pixel format to pixel data in the intermediate pixel format; and converting the pixel data in the intermediate pixel format to pixel data in the destination pixel format. In certain embodiments, a method includes building and compiling a function, at run-time, for the pixel format transformation based upon the state.
US08488905B2
It is difficult to reproduce an input image more faithfully while enlarging a dynamic range and color gamut, in a reproduced image obtained by overlapping output images by a projector and printer. An image processing apparatus (102) transforms an input signal (101) into an RGB signal for a projector (103) and a CMY signal for a printer (104). In this case, the image processing apparatus (102) uses a transformation LUT, which is generated based on the spectral distribution characteristics of the projector (103) and the spectral reflectivity characteristics of the printer (104). By overlapping images formed by the projector (103) and printer (104) based on the transformed image signals, an input image can be reproduced more faithfully while enlarging the dynamic range and color gamut.
US08488902B2
The present invention relates to a detection values correction apparatus for correcting detection values of a projection image of a multi-energy imaging system. A scatter contribution providing unit provides scatter contributions for different intensities, different energies and different locations on the detection surface of the detection values. A scatter contributions combining unit combines scatter contributions for correcting a detection value, wherein the combined scatter contributions represent the contribution of the scatter, which is caused by radiation of the other detection values of the projection image, to the detection value to be corrected and wherein the scatter contributions are combined under consideration of the intensity, energy and location on the detection surface of the other detection values. A correction unit scatter corrects the detection value of the projection image by using the combined scatter contributions.
US08488880B2
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object.
US08488868B2
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating a depth map from a digital monoscopic color image. The method includes the following general steps: a) obtaining a first color component of the MCI, said first color component corresponding to partial color information of the MCI; and, b) assigning depth values to pixels of the MCI based on values of the first color component of respective pixels for forming the depth map for the MCI. In one embodiment, the depth values are generated by adjusting and/or scaling of pixel values of the Cr chroma component of the monoscopic source color image in the Y′CbCr color system.
US08488865B2
A method of evaluating one or more kernels of an ear of maize using digital imagery includes acquiring a digital image of the one or more kernels of the ear of maize, processing the digital image to estimate at least one physical property of the one or more kernels of the ear of maize from the digital image, and evaluating the at least one kernel of maize using the estimate of the at least one physical property of the at least one kernel of maize.
US08488850B2
A nuclear imaging system (110) includes a radiation detector (112) having a distance dependent spatial resolution. A reconstructor (124) reconstructs projections acquired by the detector to generate image data. The reconstructor (124) applies a distance dependent projection filter (134) so as to reduce angular dependent resolution variations in the image space data.
US08488840B2
A clipping processing portion is provided with: a subject detection portion that detects a main subject and a sub-subject from an input image; a degree-of-relationship calculation portion that calculates the degree of relationship between the main subject and the sub-subject; a clip region setting portion that sets a clip region based on the positions of the main subject and the sub-subject in the input image and the degree of relationship; a clipping portion that clips the clip region from the input image. The clip region setting portion sets the clip region so as to include the main subject and the sub-subject having the high degree of relationship thereof.
